Pathfinder 2E Pathfinder 2e Remastered for the 5e players (+)

[Thomas Shey]

Yep, my group is up to level 10 on our first campaign and they have gotten so comfortable with most monsters not having Reactive Strikes that it surprises them when they come across something that does.

Cauthooj with their Hop-Dodge reaction was fun too!

I bet this is a constant problem for people who play both games that do and don't do that; assume AoOs when they aren't there (and therefor impair your mobility options) then don't assume them when they are (and get smacked).

 

[SteveC]

I want to recommend the thing that I recommend for all new PF2 players and GMs: the Beginner's Box. The only problem is that it hasn't been updated to Revised yet. I play on Foundry, and I know all of the Iconic characters have been updated to Revised, so they must be out there. I would really recommend picking it up for in-person play or for the VTT of your choice. It really does teach the game, and takes a single play session of 4 hours or so to finish.

 

[Velderan]

I want to recommend the thing that I recommend for all new PF2 players and GMs: the Beginner's Box. The only problem is that it hasn't been updated to Revised yet. I play on Foundry, and I know all of the Iconic characters have been updated to Revised, so they must be out there. I would really recommend picking it up for in-person play or for the VTT of your choice. It really does teach the game, and takes a single play session of 4 hours or so to finish.

The physical and PDF release has been updated to the Remaster. If you find it in a store, if it doesn't say "Second Edition Remaster" in the upper right corner of the box it's the legacy version. If you have the PDF version in your Paizo library, it should show both the ORC and OGL version with 1 purchase.

I haven't looked at the Foundry module since we finished it over a year ago but the Foundry devs do a great job keeping up with changes so I'm guessing it's also current.

 

[Staffan]

To add to this... a lot of 'boss' fight enemies in Pathfinder will have some 'mega attack' that requires 3 actions. Half the time simply walking away as your third action locks the boss out of using that ability.

Some have that, but in steps. For example, the Dire Wolf has a bite attack with Grab, meaning if they hit with their bite they can spend an action to automatically grapple the target. And if they have a grappled target, they can use their Worry ability, dealing damage and debuffing without a hit roll (though there is a basic save, but basic saves are way better than attack rolls because you deal half damage on a successful save). So it's not a single three-action ability, but three actions that synergize.

 

[KidMidnight]

These reiterate some of the above points a bit, but I'd like to emphasize:

You can use your knowledge skills to learn a creature's strengths and/or weaknesses. You can use one action to Recall Knowledge on a creature (the skill used depends on the creature type), and can ask questions like "What's its weakest saving throw?" or "Does it have any notable offensive abilities we should watch out for?"

Using Intimidate to Demoralize a creature can be devastating. Making a target Frightened 1 means it has -1 on basically everything (attack rolls, AC, saves, Perception, etc.) until the end of its next turn. A critical success makes them Frightened 2 (-2 on everything) until the end of its next turn, then Frightened 1 for another turn. All of this means better chances to hit and crit it, and lowered chances for it to do the same to you and your friends. One downside is that you need to share a language with the target for Demoralize to be most effective, but there are feats that can help you get around this (e.g. Intimidating Glare).

 

[payn]

These reiterate some of the above points a bit, but I'd like to emphasize:

Using Intimidate to Demoralize a creature can be devastating. Making a target Frightened 1 means it has -1 on basically everything (attack rolls, AC, saves, Perception, etc.) until the end of its next turn. A critical success makes them Frightened 2 (-2 on everything) until the end of its next turn, then Frightened 1 for another turn. All of this means better chances to hit and crit it, and lowered chances for it to do the same to you and your friends. One downside is that you need to share a language with the target for Demoralize to be most effective, but there are feats that can help you get around this (e.g. Intimidating Glare).

That is a really good example in that its also things that can happen to the PCs. Any +/-1 is a big deal whenever you can give them, and look out when your PC gets them.

 

[Velderan]

These reiterate some of the above points a bit, but I'd like to emphasize:

You can use your knowledge skills to learn a creature's strengths and/or weaknesses. You can use one action to Recall Knowledge on a creature (the skill used depends on the creature type), and can ask questions like "What's its weakest saving throw?" or "Does it have any notable offensive abilities we should watch out for?"

Using Intimidate to Demoralize a creature can be devastating. Making a target Frightened 1 means it has -1 on basically everything (attack rolls, AC, saves, Perception, etc.) until the end of its next turn. A critical success makes them Frightened 2 (-2 on everything) until the end of its next turn, then Frightened 1 for another turn. All of this means better chances to hit and crit it, and lowered chances for it to do the same to you and your friends. One downside is that you need to share a language with the target for Demoralize to be most effective, but there are feats that can help you get around this (e.g. Intimidating Glare).

Going back to my earlier comment about repetitive play being a potential problem for some classes, on tough fights our bard uses 2 of his 3 actions each round to use Dirge of Doom to put Frightened 1 on a group of monsters, then Courageous Anthem to boost the party, and with his 3rd action either a stride, a ranged strike with his sling, or a single action heal if someone he’s near needs it. He doesn’t seem to mind, but that’s not fun for everyone.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

Its also worth emphasizing how good Aid is. Aid will stack with most other bonuses and penalties, and isn't subject to MAP. The DC for Aid is low enough that it will quickly become a nearly guaranteed +1 or +2 to any roll.

It make a fantastic Third Action.

 

[Staffan]

Using Intimidate to Demoralize a creature can be devastating. Making a target Frightened 1 means it has -1 on basically everything (attack rolls, AC, saves, Perception, etc.) until the end of its next turn. A critical success makes them Frightened 2 (-2 on everything) until the end of its next turn, then Frightened 1 for another turn. All of this means better chances to hit and crit it, and lowered chances for it to do the same to you and your friends. One downside is that you need to share a language with the target for Demoralize to be most effective, but there are feats that can help you get around this (e.g. Intimidating Glare).

Demoralize is good, but has some issues. The main one is that the target drops one point of Frightened at the end of its turn, so you want to time it right after the target going in order to gain maximum benefit – the target will be at -1 offensively on its turn regardless, but you want that -1 to AC and saves as well. The second one is that once you have Demoralized someone, they're immune to your Demoralize for the rest of the fight (10 minutes).

Also, you want to plan your use of Demoralize. You want to start your turn with Demoralize, so ideally the target will be at -1 AC/saves against whatever other shenanigans you have planned. You don't want to go "Stride, Strike, eh I guess I'll Demoralize." Much like a pun, Demoralize is a tool to be wielded with intent.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Going back to my earlier comment about repetitive play being a potential problem for some classes, on tough fights our bard uses 2 of his 3 actions each round to use Dirge of Doom to put Frightened 1 on a group of monsters, then Courageous Anthem to boost the party, and with his 3rd action either a stride, a ranged strike with his sling, or a single action heal if someone he’s near needs it. He doesn’t seem to mind, but that’s not fun for everyone.

Usually (note the emphasis) that's a consequence of deliberate player build choices to optimize a tactical set rather than something you fall into.

Its a good general point that it helps to try and understand the way a given class and build is liable to play out before diving into it, though. I played a Gunslinger in my last campaign, and while I found her fun in other ways, the nature of what worked for her was more dice dependent than I'd normally pick.