Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="kenada" data-source="post: 8387897" data-attributes="member: 70468">That’s the point. Pathfinder 2e isn’t different from earlier editions of D&D in that regard. Old-school D&D has a reputation for being very deadly exactly because PCs are fragile and tougher creatures will destroy them. The game evolved the way it did because enough people wanted balanced arena fights, but that doesn’t mean the things you identify as a problem are a problem for a creative agenda that eschews arena fights.This seems like a shift in the goalposts. So now not only combining encounters but also those with larger scares or varied terrain are problematic too? I think the idea of balance being offered has been distorted in a way that won’t resonate with those who do want balanced fights. I expect those who want balanced encounters assume they should win every fight (without having to engage in war tactics) rather than have them all be so tuned for optimal amounts of exertion from both them and the PCs in every case. 5e doesn’t even do that!I agree and disagree with you here. I burned out on PF2 because my group just isn’t into tactical play in combat, and my preferences as a GM shifted. I don’t like the way skill resolution works in PF2, and I don’t like DCs. Ironically, I declared it would be too much work to try to fix skill actions in PF2, and here I am retrocloning WWN because the book is such a mess.Pathfinder 2e would not be my recommendation if someone wanted to do an old-school or sandbox campaign. I would recommend an OSR system because there is a lot more community support for that kind of play, and those systems are more in line with my aesthetics and preferences. However, if someone really likes PF2, they can make it work.Again, Pathfinder 2e isn’t very different from OSR games in how deadly encounters can be if you follow OSR-style principles, but you have to follow all of them, and that means giving up on balanced encounters. As soon as you do that, then the issues you cite with PF2 become non-issues (because having balanced encounters is not a thing one values in this approach). Getting into those fights is a failure state. You’re not supposed to just go up and wail on everything.My advice for anyone wanting to run an old-school style game in PF2 to read the <a href="https://lithyscaphe.blogspot.com/p/principia-apocrypha.html" target="_blank">Principia Apocrypha</a> and take it to heart. You’re going to have to do things differently than one might running a Paizo adventure path where encounters are parceled out in balanced chunks. It’s different, but those differences are the point.</blockquote>

Verification