Pathfinder 2E Advice for a 5E DM moving to PF2E

[Reynard]

Our "Fall of Plaguestone" test run ended with a TPK last night -- Harrod is pretty terrifying versus level 1 PCs.

Overall, the consensus was that while the players really enjoyed the depth of character generation and everyone really liked the tactical complexity, everything else was a burden. It felt like every time we did something we had to flip to multiple places in the rulebook to get all the details, and that the "MtG" style tags and definitions slowed things down inexorably. We all agreed that if we learned the game, it would probably run more smoothly and be more fun, but we just don't have the time, interest or bandwidth to spend months and months learning to play a game we already all know.

Plus, frankly, the players prefer the "easy mode" inherent to 5E to the "hard mode" of PF2.

It was well worth testing out and there are some systems I might incorporate into 5E but we don't think PF2 is the game for our group.

 

[kenada]

Having not run the official adventures, I can’t speak to their difficulty. However, I can sympathize with your experience on learning the system. Not feeling like I had mastery after running for over a year is one of the things that burnt me out.

 

[Reynard]

Having not run the official adventures, I can’t speak to their difficulty. However, I can sympathize with your experience on learning the system. Not feeling like I had mastery after running for over a year is one of the things that burnt me out.

For what is essentially the goal of "playing D&D" it is just too great a learning curve to bother with, in our group's opinion (as a bunch of 30 year-ish vets).

 

[willrali]

Our "Fall of Plaguestone" test run ended with a TPK last night -- Harrod is pretty terrifying versus level 1 PCs.

Overall, the consensus was that while the players really enjoyed the depth of character generation and everyone really liked the tactical complexity, everything else was a burden. It felt like every time we did something we had to flip to multiple places in the rulebook to get all the details, and that the "MtG" style tags and definitions slowed things down inexorably. We all agreed that if we learned the game, it would probably run more smoothly and be more fun, but we just don't have the time, interest or bandwidth to spend months and months learning to play a game we already all know.

Plus, frankly, the players prefer the "easy mode" inherent to 5E to the "hard mode" of PF2.

It was well worth testing out and there are some systems I might incorporate into 5E but we don't think PF2 is the game for our group.

More than understandable. Glad you gave it a shot.

 

[Justice and Rule]

Our "Fall of Plaguestone" test run ended with a TPK last night -- Harrod is pretty terrifying versus level 1 PCs.

Overall, the consensus was that while the players really enjoyed the depth of character generation and everyone really liked the tactical complexity, everything else was a burden. It felt like every time we did something we had to flip to multiple places in the rulebook to get all the details, and that the "MtG" style tags and definitions slowed things down inexorably. We all agreed that if we learned the game, it would probably run more smoothly and be more fun, but we just don't have the time, interest or bandwidth to spend months and months learning to play a game we already all know.

Plus, frankly, the players prefer the "easy mode" inherent to 5E to the "hard mode" of PF2.

It was well worth testing out and there are some systems I might incorporate into 5E but we don't think PF2 is the game for our group.

You might be interested Spheres of Might and Power for 5E. Check it out.

 

[dave2008]

Our "Fall of Plaguestone" test run ended with a TPK last night -- Harrod is pretty terrifying versus level 1 PCs.

Overall, the consensus was that while the players really enjoyed the depth of character generation and everyone really liked the tactical complexity, everything else was a burden. It felt like every time we did something we had to flip to multiple places in the rulebook to get all the details, and that the "MtG" style tags and definitions slowed things down inexorably. We all agreed that if we learned the game, it would probably run more smoothly and be more fun, but we just don't have the time, interest or bandwidth to spend months and months learning to play a game we already all know.

Plus, frankly, the players prefer the "easy mode" inherent to 5E to the "hard mode" of PF2.

It was well worth testing out and there are some systems I might incorporate into 5E but we don't think PF2 is the game for our group.

Thank you for sharing!