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A question about Paizo/PF adventure design
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<blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 8129956" data-attributes="member: 12731"><p>I would say there's a huge shift between PF1 and PF2.</p><p></p><p>Part of this I think is related to the two very different systems. PF1 is after all just a tweak on D&D 3rd edition, which attempts to a large degree to "simulate" a world, where monsters have "fair" statistics. A low level small and weak creature simply ends up having only 5 hit points in d20 systems. And "it makes sense" to have the world populated mostly by small and weak creatures.</p><p></p><p>So it's partly mechanics, and partly tradition.</p><p></p><p>PF2 is a huge break with both.</p><p></p><p>Monsters are <strong>LETHAL</strong> in PF2 (both in the absolute sense, but mostly in comparison to d20/PF1). They simply don't play by the rules (the rules that govern player characters). Instead there are tables suggesting what values a monster of a certain level should have, and the question of "how did the monster get there" is simply dismissed as irrelevant.</p><p></p><p>Also the pretense of simulating a world is dropped. 19 out of 20 fights in official PF2 APs are hard or harder. The number of fights designed to make the heroes shine, fights where the heroes clearly outclass the opponents are simply non-existant at low levels, rare at mid levels, and uncommon at high levels.</p><p></p><p>But your answer is that d20 did that.</p><p></p><p>The system did not meaningfully rein in players from creating über powerful characters, and especially NPCs were hosed by the need to play by the rules. At high level it is not uncommon to have to spend hours designing NPCs that will die in seconds at the player characters hand. (Or, more likely, spell).</p><p></p><p>PF2 has shut down that silliness for sure. As you can read from other replies, there's now a sense of longing back to the times where you could once in a while meet an enemy you could defeat with one arm tied behind your back... :-/</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CapnZapp, post: 8129956, member: 12731"] I would say there's a huge shift between PF1 and PF2. Part of this I think is related to the two very different systems. PF1 is after all just a tweak on D&D 3rd edition, which attempts to a large degree to "simulate" a world, where monsters have "fair" statistics. A low level small and weak creature simply ends up having only 5 hit points in d20 systems. And "it makes sense" to have the world populated mostly by small and weak creatures. So it's partly mechanics, and partly tradition. PF2 is a huge break with both. Monsters are [B]LETHAL[/B] in PF2 (both in the absolute sense, but mostly in comparison to d20/PF1). They simply don't play by the rules (the rules that govern player characters). Instead there are tables suggesting what values a monster of a certain level should have, and the question of "how did the monster get there" is simply dismissed as irrelevant. Also the pretense of simulating a world is dropped. 19 out of 20 fights in official PF2 APs are hard or harder. The number of fights designed to make the heroes shine, fights where the heroes clearly outclass the opponents are simply non-existant at low levels, rare at mid levels, and uncommon at high levels. But your answer is that d20 did that. The system did not meaningfully rein in players from creating über powerful characters, and especially NPCs were hosed by the need to play by the rules. At high level it is not uncommon to have to spend hours designing NPCs that will die in seconds at the player characters hand. (Or, more likely, spell). PF2 has shut down that silliness for sure. As you can read from other replies, there's now a sense of longing back to the times where you could once in a while meet an enemy you could defeat with one arm tied behind your back... :-/ [/QUOTE]
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