Pathfinder 2E I played my first PF2e game this week. Here's why I'm less inclined to play again.

[dave2008]

I have figured out ways to jailbreak the math and make boss fights fun after multiple on the fly mods. But I don't love doing that.

Interesting, I have had another gamer tell me that boss fights were one of the best pasts of PF2e. IDK, I haven't played, but that was on of the drivers for potentially pushing me to play PF2e.

 

[payn]

Interesting, I have had another gamer tell me that boss fights were one of the best pasts of PF2e. IDK, I haven't played, but that was on of the drivers for potentially pushing me to play PF2e.

Really depends on what you want the feel to be? I found boss solos to be disappointing because the tight level math. Saves for example, for a solo boss are gonna be so high you have a 10-20% chance of a spell landing. So, instead of going with really cool spells, you go with cantrips that might have a slightly inconvenient rider to slow the boss down. Maybe take out one of its three actions so it cant clobber your martial characters too badly. Speaking of which, since the crit system is <10>, it means that the boss is gonna hit on attacks, thats not even a question, but what is up for die roll is if its going to be a critical hit or not. Something, again, the PCs have a tiny chance of happening on their behalf.

What that does is cause a nerve wracking encounter where if the party doesnt work in mechanical unison like a volleyball team bumping, setting, spiking, then the party will be wiped. 5E, for example, works great under that paradigm, but isnt required to be successful. While I dont like the feel of it, it does make solos a capable combatant without any assistance like legendary actions or minions.

 

[BryonD]

Interesting, I have had another gamer tell me that boss fights were one of the best pasts of PF2e. IDK, I haven't played, but that was on of the drivers for potentially pushing me to play PF2e.

I suspect that there are very different ideas of what makes the experience great. And I'm good with that.
I think the experience is also very different at Level2 than at level 7, for example.

I broadly agree with payn's comment above.
A few bad rolls and you get slaughtered and feel like the system was just bad. A few good rolls and you win, but it feels like luck rather than heroism and tactic. In between and it is just probability playing out without any agency.

Ironically, the reverse is really fun in small doses. Throw a small crowd of L2s at a L7 party and watch their eyes light up when they roll and 7 and hear "crit!". That wears off fast but thats ok every 6 sessions or so.

 

[dave2008]

Well this person was speaking from a DM perspective and being able to threaten their PCs

Really depends on what you want the feel to be? I found boss solos to be disappointing because the tight level math. Saves for example, for a solo boss are gonna be so high you have a 10-20% chance of a spell landing. So, instead of going with really cool spells, you go with cantrips that might have a slightly inconvenient rider to slow the boss down. Maybe take out one of its three actions so it cant clobber your martial characters too badly. Speaking of which, since the crit system is <10>, it means that the boss is gonna hit on attacks, thats not even a question, but what is up for die roll is if its going to be a critical hit or not. Something, again, the PCs have a tiny chance of happening on their behalf.

What that does is cause a nerve wracking encounter where if the party doesnt work in mechanical unison like a volleyball team bumping, setting, spiking, then the party will be wiped. 5E, for example, works great under that paradigm, but isnt required to be successful. While I dont like the feel of it, it does make solos a capable combatant without any assistance like legendary actions or minions.

I suspect that there are very different ideas of what makes the experience great. And I'm good with that.
I think the experience is also very different at Level2 than at level 7, for example.

I broadly agree with payn's comment above.
A few bad rolls and you get slaughtered and feel like the system was just bad. A few good rolls and you win, but it feels like luck rather than heroism and tactic. In between and it is just probability playing out without any agency.

Ironically, the reverse is really fun in small doses. Throw a small crowd of L2s at a L7 party and watch their eyes light up when they roll and 7 and hear "crit!". That wears off fast but thats ok every 6 sessions or so.