Pathfinder 2 Character Sheet #3: Valeros, Human Fighter

It's another day, and you know what that means? It's time for the third of our six reveals of the Pathfinder 2nd Edition pregenerated playtest characters, courtesy the awesome folks over at Paizo. Today it's the turn of Valeros, the human fighter. A little more straightforward than the previous alchemist and cleric sheets, in this one you can see the shield mechanics which have been mentioned a few times over the past months.

Here are Paizo's Mark Seifter's thoughts on Valeros -- "So right away from his sketch, you can see something’s different: Valeros has sheathed his shortsword for now and is using his longsword alongside a shield. Of these iconics, Valeros is the king of reactions, the special action you can take when it is not your turn, usually in response to other actions. He has three different possible reactions, Attack of Opportunity to punish enemies when he’s in their face, Reactive Shield to Raise a Shield for AC when he didn’t have enough actions to do so, and Shield Block to prevent damage when he did have enough actions to Raise his Shield. Combine that with the powerful two-action activity Sudden Charge, which allows him to Stride twice his Speed and then attack, and Valeros is a force to be reckoned with on any battlefield, striking down weaker enemies, harrying stronger enemies, and difficult to fell."

On Monday, it'll be time to take a look at Seelah, the human paladin!

 

[Aldarc]

Wow, even more complexity? Now we gotta remember when to "raise shields" for defense and need actions for it? What exactly is the benefit of NOT having a shield raised? A flat shield bonus already took into account a shield providing defense.

An extra attack, movement, etc. You may be holding the shield, but not be as focused on using that shield for defense because you are prioritizing other actions.

 

[Charlaquin]

I also feel like “what, even MORE complexity in Pathfinder???” ignores the fact that the entire action economy (among other things) was significantly streamlined.

 

[Sunseeker]

I also feel like “what, even MORE complexity in Pathfinder???” ignores the fact that the entire action economy (among other things) was significantly streamlined.

And the fact that "complexity" seems to be something PF2 wants.

 

[Charlaquin]

And the fact that "complexity" seems to be something PF2 wants.

Not really. If they wanted complexity, the streamlining of things like the action economy run counter to that goal. No, what they want is depth, and they are comfortable with that depth coming at the cost of complexity. But they are also reducing complexity where it does not add depth.

 

[TwoSix]

Wow, even more complexity? Now we gotta remember when to "raise shields" for defense and need actions for it? What exactly is the benefit of NOT having a shield raised? A flat shield bonus already took into account a shield providing defense.

I don't understand this edition at all. Why do we need any of this again instead of fixing and enhancing what we already have? I can't wrap my head around it.

Because depth is FUN. That's like asking why Street Fighter has all those different combos, or why does Starcraft have so many different units.

 

[Shasarak]

I also feel like “what, even MORE complexity in Pathfinder???” ignores the fact that the entire action economy (among other things) was significantly streamlined.

The thing that I dont really understand is that having streamlined the action economy, why do there seem to be so many different types of actions?

 

[Charlaquin]

The thing that I dont really understand is that having streamlined the action economy, why do there seem to be so many different types of actions?

You mean like “Stride,” “Strike,” “Step,” “Verbal/Somatic/Material Casting,” and “Interact Action”? Those are all just actions. The keywording allows them to interact with different rules, like how 5e has “Attack,” “Disengage,” “Dash,” “Cast a Spell,” etc. They’re not different types of actions, they’re just specific things you can do with one of your three actions.

 

[Shasarak]

You mean like “Stride,” “Strike,” “Step,” “Verbal/Somatic/Material Casting,” and “Interact Action”? Those are all just actions. The keywording allows them to interact with different rules, like how 5e has “Attack,” “Disengage,” “Dash,” “Cast a Spell,” etc. They’re not different types of actions, they’re just specific things you can do with one of your three actions.

Yeah, the Action Interact Action or Action Operate Action ones. The description ones like Stride at least make sense.

 

[dco]

wow, 5 skills, one negative and you don't need to roll Athletics, how boring.

 

[Charlaquin]

Yeah, the Action Interact Action or Action Operate Action ones. The description ones like Stride at least make sense.

Those are descriptive ones too, they just have the word “action” after them. The same way that you can Strike with a longsword or Strike with a mace and both are Strikes, you can Interact with a door and you can Interact with a backpack and both are Interact Actions. You can Operate a smokestick and you can Operate a Cloak of Elvenkind, and both are Operate Actions.