List features of Pathfinder 2 that you like and might use in D&D 5e

[5ekyu]

I say things like this, too.

And then I have to remember that the 70s was forty years ago, and will soon be 50 years ago.

To put that into perspective, if you were a kid or a teen in the 1980s, it would be like someone telling you that "The 1930s really weren't that long ago, what, with the Jim Crow laws, and the no televisions, and the black and white movies, and the having no idea what World War 2 was because there was only the Great War ...."

Man, getting old sucks.

Wasn't that "The War to End All Wars"?

 

[5ekyu]

While i find a number of things intriguing for a design perspective and will keep abreast once official playtest material shapes up... so far there is nothing i am inclined to port over without knowing a lot more.

thats in part because i find in complex interwoven systems (DND5e and PF are these) "single elements" often have a lot more scope than obvious. Also, each system is built with certain assumptions in mind and they may not apply as well.

On the idea of splitting combat feats and other feats and making the latter more readily available - that fts the pathfinder "theme" of being very very combat focused and combat output focused. For my games, the balance point between those is very different. Combat plays a big role, but as often or not, so do the non-combat stuff and even on big combat challenges, the "other stuff" either has a role there at resolution or had a role in providing setup and prep info for that scene (giving them either a direct impact, an indirect impact or both - akin to combat spells vs buffs sort of thing - at times i have described the other skills and such as "buffs that dont take slots or concentration" to get the point across.)

i am sure elements in PF2 will spawn ideas that i can use, either directly or indirectly or even inverted) but need more before i can see clearly what those will be.

Shield reaction is likely not going to be one of them - depending on how it turns out - as right now shield seems to be very common used and very effective in my games.

making down and rolling death saves more severe - also likely not going to be a thing - its already a great drama source when it occurs and my players tend to do everything possible to stop the drop with ongoing healing etc while they are up. i suspect part of the reason it might work in PF2 is the three actions + reaction... where it might "seem" to be a two-stage process but really is more like "when they are down we need an extra tic in our healing tic-toc."

 

[dave2008]

I wouldn't make them skills specificly. But non-combat feats.

Maybe just make a small list of things like "you can lift an extra 50lbs.", "you can hold your breath longer", "you instantly know the price of anything".

Oh... give out extra background features (not skills, just the features).

I think what I want are universal training units that you apply to: feats, class features, ASI, proficiency, spells, skills, languages, etc.

Kinda like real life. The issue is in real life we can never devote ourselves just to combat. How do you model this without making it feel forced? Maybe you can't. Maybe you just have to force it.

 

[Yaarel]

I like the split of skill feats and combat feats.

I might just give everyone a non-combat feat or 3.

I like the split too, but I might make further divisions.
• Attack feats (accuracy, damage, damage type, conditions)
• Protection feats (ac, saves, hit points, resistance)
• Mobility feats (speed, fly, barrier, initiative, athletics/acrobatics)
• Perception feats (knowledge, senses, find, stealth, detection, prescience/divination, deception, insight)
• Social feats (persuasion/intimidation, charm, fear, language, communication, empathy)

Some feats count as more than one category. List by whichever aspect is more prominent or impacting.

 

[BookBarbarian]

This is the first time I've heard of the word "race" being problematic. It's also used by World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, Warhammer 40k, Star Trek Online, Final Fantasy, and just about every other fantasy game on the market.

It might not be problematic, but I do find it limiting.

Expanding to Cultures (or whatever) lets me have more human options than just Standard and Variant for one. Or lets me make High Elves more different from Wood Elves without having to make new, more different "Elves" with a different and stupid name.

 

[Yaarel]

Thinking about feats reminds me. I like the way PF2 organizes time.

• Combat by round
• Exploration/Social by hour
• Downtime by day

Shifting back-and-forth between time scales seems sensible and useful.



I am fond of decimal time. I might use it for the social/exploration time scale.

• 1 Day
• 1/100 Day ≈ Encounter (about 15 minutes)

In other words, I would track the social/exploration encounters as percentages of the day, rather than hours.

For example, most short rituals require about 15 minutes or an ‘encounter’ or 1% of a day. Most long rituals require about 33% of a day.

Combats are so short − lasting less than a minute − they are negligible in the social/exploration scale.

 

[mellored]

I think what I want are universal training units that you apply to: feats, class features, ASI, proficiency, spells, skills, languages, etc.

Kinda like real life. The issue is in real life we can never devote ourselves just to combat. How do you model this without making it feel forced? Maybe you can't. Maybe you just have to force it.

You could have diminishing returns. Like the ability score point buy.

Combat feats 1-3 cost 10 XP each.
Combat feats 4-6 cost 20 XP each.
Combat feats 7-10 cost 50 XP each.

non-combat feats 1-3 cost 10 XP each.
non-combat feats 4-6 cost 20 XP each.
non-combat feats 7-10 cost 50 XP each.

So while you can be pure combat, it becomes increasingly easier to pick up non-combat stuff.

 

[dave2008]

You could have diminishing returns. Like the ability score point buy.

Combat feats 1-3 cost 10 XP each.
Combat feats 4-6 cost 20 XP each.
Combat feats 7-10 cost 50 XP each.

non-combat feats 1-3 cost 10 XP each.
non-combat feats 4-6 cost 20 XP each.
non-combat feats 7-10 cost 50 XP each.

So while you can be pure combat, it becomes increasingly easier to pick up non-combat stuff.

I like that, I was think a long the line of a dice pool instead of flat bonus (thus diminishing statistical returns), but that is not as simple as what you propose.

 

[the_redbeard]

Maybe

Heritage (race)
Tradition (subrace)




(All useful words: heritage, tradition, culture, ancestry, ethnicity.)

What I used in my house rules was "Peoples", as in different kinds of.

 

[Wrathamon]

nothing from the rules

maybe the adventures I'll port over if they have any that are interesting, but I think they're starting to run out of ideas.