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I don't see how this is possible. In DD3.5 and PF1, you only get a critical hit on a nat 20, and must still confirm that critical with an additional roll (with the exception of a few weapons with expanded crit ranges). In PF2, nearly every nat 20 is a critical hit (unless that roll would...

To be clear, "ABP" stands for "Automatic Bonus Progression." What it means is that all +x weapons and armor, as well as striking runes (which increase damage) and resiliency runes (which are placed on armor and improve saving throws), as well as skill bonus items, IIRC, are eliminated from the...

Getting critical successes or failures at +10/-10 is already problematical in its frequency, shifting that to +5/-5 would exacerbate the situation. I don't advocate using variants like ABP or PWL because the system isn't designed for that. ABP removes the place of many magic items which both...

Dragonsbane, it sounds like your game is working very well. I totally agree that magic items are optional, as long as the DM takes the lesser powers of the PCs into account when deciding what sort of threats they will face. Many folks moan about how PF2 simply doesn't work if players don't have...

Well, last night's session was a very close call indeed, in part because the PCs' actions allowed the adversaries to prepare for their entrance into the final room by pre-casting several key spells. More importantly, it allowed two separate encounter groups to combine into one, which many folks...

Honestly, the "disparate power levels" conundrum has existed in any RPG ever invented. In OD&D, if you sic a troll or a red dragon on low-level adventurers, they are going to bite the bucket, guaranteed. The difference with PF2 is that those differences have been codified, and you know in...

What I hear, is folks bemoaning the fact that PF2 has fairly tight mechanics dictating what a group of adventurers can and cannot be expected to fight. While that's true, you also have to account for the DM's instinct, his rule of thumb. You're not going to sic a family of cloud giants or an...

I agree that the close calls are often the most memorable. But I don't agree with Retreater that we need 4e-style minions. As I tried to illustrate, adversaries that are "party level -4" are "minion-y" enough. Once you get to the level of my last adventure, with 12th-level PCs and 8th-level...

You need to have more NPC adversaries, then. It's easy to have zero-level thugs, sailors, beggars or whatever as adversaries. I use a lot of NPC adversaries, especially in low-level campaigns. Especially in city-themed adventures, but really you can do this in any environment, and it feels good...

Early in our current campaign (session 8 out of 54) the PCs were fighting in a cavern split by a deep chasm, with a bridge at the far end. While a horde of zombies were busy running around the long way, the PCs leapt the chasm and took out the main adversaries (mostly spellcasters) and the horde...

It's not an exact science, and so much depends on the terrain and tactical situation. If the PCs can use the terrain to isolate one part of the adversaries and deal with them while the rest are busy running around, that goes a long ways towards making an objectively impossible fight into a...

Yes, you may have noticed that I don't have any "party level +3" or +4 adversaries. This gives a lot more leeway for making interesting and varied encounters, and also leads to a lot less player frustration. Now that my players are 12th level, I probably could throw a level +4 adversary at them...

In previous systems, I was always having to finesse encounter design, because it always felt like the PCs were hitting way above their level, and to make an encounter dangerous, without going too far, I had to beef up adversaries considerably, especially if I was running part of a published...

Have it be a rival - the first one's sister, or similar. And you can drop hints about the first one in its dialogue. Then, later on, you can re-introduce the first one as an adversary to the adversary. It's often fun to show the PCs that they aren't the only ones with an agenda.

I second the Rakshasa, since it has an innate power to change shape into any humanoid creature, and also a number of key spells like suggestion, detect thoughts and minor image. I've been using one in a highly modified version of books 2 & 3 of the Serpent's Skull AP, adapted to PF2, and so far...