Pathfinder 2E Pathfinder 2e Remastered for the 5e players (+)

Yeah, the biggest thing for players to understand is that being full-speed ahead may not work as well as you like (which doesn't mean characters like Barbarians are not viable; my wife played one in the last campaign and did fine). Also, the thing about finding something to do with your third action but just swing again is entirely valid--that's usually only an improvement over doing nothing.
 

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Yeah, the biggest thing for players to understand is that being full-speed ahead may not work as well as you like (which doesn't mean characters like Barbarians are not viable; my wife played one in the last campaign and did fine). Also, the thing about finding something to do with your third action but just swing again is entirely valid--that's usually only an improvement over doing nothing.

I'd also say, personally, try to maximize your usage of all actions. Don't let it go to waste. Especially with spellcasters. It's easy at times to just use a spell that uses some actions, but then forget to do anything else. Think of something to do
 


What's your advice for casual 5e players switching to PF2r? Between everyone we'll have read the rules and try to have those right, but just what mechanically plays a lot different that they should be aware of? Where will going in assuming it's "like 5e" will trip them up in terms of things like character design, party synergy, pitfalls/traps, skill usage, tactics, etc.?
The PF2E rules have a lot of internal logic consistency. They will seem overwhelming at first but there is a "grammar" to the system and once you 'get it' every new rules falls into place.

Some basics:
  • It's unbounded bounded. As in you're pretty tightly 'sync'd' to things around your level but you can be massively different to things above or below you. That said - the oft repeated statement that an army of low levels can't take on a single dragon is only 'mostly true' - I think you need about 17 levels of difference before even a natural 20 with all possible tactics mods can't do better than an almost crit-failed fail (and a 20 is always bumped up one so that fail becomes a success). And once it's a numbers game, if 1000 footmen have a 5% of hitting, then every turn 50 of them score a hit. But it's a fool's game to get caught on the extremes like this rather than paying attention to the normal game - however that game is very popular on this forum in particular.
  • You win in tactics, not on the character sheet. Some builds will be a little more powerful, but not massively so.
    • That said, if you use either Free Archetype, Gradual Ability Bonuses, or Automatic Bonus Progression some builds will "win" on the character sheet while some others will "lose" there. So if you like "power gaming", add in those variants and then don't restrain their use with any sanity checks.
    • Do not underestimate the value of passing around a +1 mod. I play in Foundry with the mod "every +1 matters" and it spams the face of a certain YouTuber every time that is exactly what mattered... and we get to see him at least a half dozen to a dozen times per 2-hour game session.
    • Tactics goes beyond flanking. There's all kinds of moves people can do. My game has a spirit barbarian that loves to grapple and trip ghosts. It's so effective it's become "a thing" now and it's one of those things that seems most effective against the enemy's that are usually hardest. Players that look for "what's a different angle to this" or "how can I line up my ally for greater odds" will be so powerful you'll begin wondering if you need to nerf things. But it's just the difference between good and bad tactics.
  • Everything is just different enough that players from D&D can't seem to stop noticing it a dozen times per game session. As someone who hasn't played D&D in about 20 years this is... draining... on me. The Uncanny Valley issue will be extremely strong.
  • Do not expect a class that is weak or strong in D&D to be weak or strong in Pathfinder. For many it's flipped. Unless you're very experienced with Pathfinder classes like Ranger and Fighter can be very dynamic and powerful while classes like Wizard and Witch can seem underwhelming and 'lack options'. That's NOT how they play out with hardcore players, but with casual players yes.
  • Stop trying to remake your D&D characters in Pathfinder. It often translates poorly.
  • If your GM doesn't follow the advice for how many magic items you're supposed to have, martials will not do well. If the GM uses the 'automatic bonus progression' variant so they don't have to allow magic items (as many D&D GMs try to do), then casters will suffer. Pathfinder is balanced around the world being a magic-item pinata. You can even craft magic items without knowing how to use them. That noted - mostly you will start with some normal gear and rip apart magic items you find to get their 'runes' out and put those into your own gear. So if you want to explore the 'lore' of a family weapon, armor, or other legacy item - pathfinder is built for that kind of story.
  • I don't know what page of the D&D PHB has the rule that says that PCs are not allowed to move during combat, but that page doesn't exist in the Pathfinder Player Core. ;) (Non-joke translation: Attack of Opportunity's Pathfinder version, called Reactive Strike, is extremely rare outside of the fighter class. So you can spend you 3 actions of a turn just running a circle around an NPC if that's your thing.)
There is no Elminster, but we do have a Lich King.

It's called the Dark Lands and the Drow and Mind Flayers don't exist in it.

The setting lore gets better the more recently the book came out. So World Guide < Absalom book < Mwangi Expanse < Impossible Lands < Highhelm < Howl of the Wild < Tian Xia. This is just because they got their writing process down, and also started hiring 'experts' in various cultures.

For people wanting to play in the 'main setting region' this is starting to look dramatic as World Guide is so thin. Travel Guide, Treasure Guide, and Grand Bazaar that all came out between Absalom and Highhelm help, but they're addons and not general content. The difference between what you get out of World Guide and what you get out of Tian Xia is rather extreme and I hope we get an Inner Seas region guide at some point to make up for that but I'm not expecting it.
 
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  • I don't know what page of the D&D PHB has the rule that says that PCs are not allowed to move during combat, but that page doesn't exist in the Pathfinder Player Core. ;) (Non-joke translation: Attack of Opportunity's Pathfinder version, called Reactive Strike, is extremely rare outside of the fighter class. So you can spend you 3 actions of a turn just running a circle around an NPC if that's your thing.)
Yeah, ending your turn next to a monster or NPC is a bad idea. They have 3 actions too!
 

Yeah, ending your turn next to a monster or NPC is a bad idea. They have 3 actions too!
To add to this... a lot of 'boss' fight enemies in Pathfinder will have some 'mega attack' that requires 3 actions. Half the time simply walking away as your third action locks the boss out of using that ability.

"I step back" is a meta move in Pathfinder.
A counter to it that equally extreme as the opposing move is "I grapple them." Which is a great way to put an enemy right where you need them for another person's 3-action kill move.

I've also seen the new 'reposition' move uses to extreme:
On my first action I reposition that guy to this other side of the door here. On my second action I close the door, trapping that one guy in the room with all of us. On my third action I step back so the caster can drop an AoE on the spot, or I grapple him, or I attack, or whatever... ;)

Reposition is only one roll: athletics with their save as your DC.
- Suddenly your "basic martial" can be all about terrain control and putting people exactly where you want them to be.

Best use of this I saw was when our barbarian's third action after that reposition was to 'shove' the NPC further into the room, right where the other PCs were standing - so they all got all 3 actions without needing to move in first.
Too bad he did that against the weakest enemy in the fight. But he's done similar since against tougher targets.
 

To add to this... a lot of 'boss' fight enemies in Pathfinder will have some 'mega attack' that requires 3 actions. Half the time simply walking away as your third action locks the boss out of using that ability.

"I step back" is a meta move in Pathfinder.
A counter to it that equally extreme as the opposing move is "I grapple them." Which is a great way to put an enemy right where you need them for another person's 3-action kill move.

I've also seen the new 'reposition' move uses to extreme:
On my first action I reposition that guy to this other side of the door here. On my second action I close the door, trapping that one guy in the room with all of us. On my third action I step back so the caster can drop an AoE on the spot, or I grapple him, or I attack, or whatever... ;)

Reposition is only one roll: athletics with their save as your DC.
- Suddenly your "basic martial" can be all about terrain control and putting people exactly where you want them to be.

Best use of this I saw was when our barbarian's third action after that reposition was to 'shove' the NPC further into the room, right where the other PCs were standing - so they all got all 3 actions without needing to move in first.
Too bad he did that against the weakest enemy in the fight. But he's done similar since against tougher targets.
On the subject of classes feeling different, boss fights are good to highlight. Since level is so important in PF2, a boss (which is likely to be severe or extreme) is going to have better saves than you imagine. Spells now operate on a degree of impact. The boss is likely to save on all the biggest spells, but some may have an annoying rider that forces the boss to eat an action on their turn. That is helpful to the group, but can often seem like a massive power downgrade for a caster. Particularly coming from PF1/3E.
 

Yeah, ending your turn next to a monster or NPC is a bad idea. They have 3 actions too!

Unless you've got what feels like a better use of your third action.

(It only really matters with monsters with multi-action attacks--which can often be really ugly).

Of course its an area where people used to other D&D-adjacents can subconsciously just think everything has AoO capability, when its actually relatively rare in PF2e.
 

On the subject of classes feeling different, boss fights are good to highlight. Since level is so important in PF2, a boss (which is likely to be severe or extreme) is going to have better saves than you imagine. Spells now operate on a degree of impact. The boss is likely to save on all the biggest spells, but some may have an annoying rider that forces the boss to eat an action on their turn. That is helpful to the group, but can often seem like a massive power downgrade for a caster. Particularly coming from PF1/3E.

In general, it probably pays to let people who are used to playing offensive casters to know their strengths in PF2e are not in taking out single targets, but in the combination of setting those up for other people and in some cases dealing with groups.
 

Unless you've got what feels like a better use of your third action.

(It only really matters with monsters with multi-action attacks--which can often be really ugly).

Of course its an area where people used to other D&D-adjacents can subconsciously just think everything has AoO capability, when its actually relatively rare in PF2e.
Yep, my group is up to level 10 on our first campaign and they have gotten so comfortable with most monsters not having Reactive Strikes that it surprises them when they come across something that does.

Cauthooj with their Hop-Dodge reaction was fun too!
 

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