Savage Pathfinder - More of a Slog Than PF1?

[Deadstop]

Pinnacle has confirmed that is the case, they are not allowed to adjust the APs or make new ones.

That’s weird, I have not read the AP material but I remember the rulebook (or maybe some preview material) talking about how the structure of adventures would need to be modified to not have as many filler or trash fights of the sort that PF1 uses to make sure the PCs are at the right point on the XP curve. The implication I took was that they were going to modify the SW versions of the APs to fit that difference.

 

[MGibster]

Yeah, I would only have Wildcard enemies be trying to soak. Even then, it feels better to use GM bennies to re roll damage against players vs trying to stay up.

Each Wild Card has their own Bennie pool they can draw from. There's also a general Bennie pool the GM can use for Extras or Wild Cards. While I don't typically use Bennies for Extras, depending on how many Bennies I have and what's happening in the game, on occasion I do use them for Extras.

 

[Dalekdad]

Each Wild Card has their own Bennie pool they can draw from. There's also a general Bennie pool the GM can use for Extras or Wild Cards. While I don't typically use Bennies for Extras, depending on how many Bennies I have and what's happening in the game, on occasion I do use them for Extras.

Yeah, I will use the pool for Extras, but sparingly and only when it feels like it will add to the fun

 

[Thomas Shey]

My group are all quite new to SWADE and I suspect that this is one of the issues we're having.

But how do you lower parry without lowering the attack dice?

You shouldn't need to, unless that is too high too. After all, an opponent with a D8 attack die has a parry of 6. That should hardly be unhittable for a typical PC combatant, and vice versa. After all, most PCs should have at least a D8, too, and they're all Wild Cards which gives them a leg up before even getting into any Edges.

 

[BrokenTwin]

Having played a lot of Pathfinder 1E and Savage Worlds Pathfinder, my experience does not match yours. I don't think I've ever had combat in SWPF take as long as combat in PF1, even in the wiffier combats. I think the biggest difference is just that in PF pretty much everything the players need to remember is right on their sheets, while in SW remembering and using the generic combat options (tests, attack options, etc) in conjunction with your character sheet options is critical. If you're not actively using those options, it can feel even staler than PF's combats usually do.

Having said that, I DO think that a lot of the SWPF monsters are unnecessarily beefy, and them being hamstrung in how they were able to adapt the APs negatively impacted the quality.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Rules as writen, Bennies are given to each player every time one of them draws a Joker. In addition, I tend to give out Bennies to a player if they do something really cool, when they advance the plot, have their Hindrance affect them negatively, or they make me laugh. But they don't flow like water. I want the use of Bennies to be a source of tension. Do I use my Bennie now or should I save it for a tougher fight?

I think all I did was the Jokers and that did seem to exactly flood the board.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Yeah, I would only have Wildcard enemies be trying to soak. Even then, it feels better to use GM bennies to re roll damage against players vs trying to stay up.

Sometimes you want the enemy Wild Cards to stay up a bit, but that shouldn't be a major problem unless you're getting a lot of dice explosions. I have to admit I'd find it odd to spend Bennies on mooks.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Each Wild Card has their own Bennie pool they can draw from. There's also a general Bennie pool the GM can use for Extras or Wild Cards. While I don't typically use Bennies for Extras, depending on how many Bennies I have and what's happening in the game, on occasion I do use them for Extras.

I'll use them offensively, but I always figure mooks brittleness is part of the gig, so don't tend to use them defensively much.

 

[mikeawmids1]

I DO think that a lot of the SWPF monsters are unnecessarily beefy

The amount of monsters with the Unstoppable edge (where they can only take one wound per attack, regardless of their Toughness or exploding damage) felt kinda' excessive. I get giving that ability to a Dragon or Tarrasque, but it feels like the Pathfinder for Savage Worlds books gave it to every other big baddie to mitigate swingy damage (which I do see as a feature of the system rather than a bug) taking out the named villains in a single round.

 

[Blue]

That's great news for people who are looking for a grity game.

I don't equate swingy to gritty. Swingy, as this was described, means more dice and luck dependent (which translates t less skill and tactics dependent). So hard encounters might be simple for the players just as easy encounters might be hard. Going into a something the players are scared of and having it be a cakewalk doesn't read as gritty to me, even if it means an occasional encounter isn't as easy as expected.