dave2008
Legend
Can I run it on my laptop? If I can't, probably a no go for me. Not sure why I even asked about my phone as I hate using my phone for this type of stuff.
EDIT: look like it is just android.
Pathfinder 2E Rate Pathfinder 2E
EDIT: look like it is just android.
dave2008
Legend
EDIT: A tablet would be an option, but I would need to find a game and make sure I like it first before I purchase a dedicated tablet.
First Age
Explorer
CapnZapp
Legend
dave2008
Legend
No luck, I few years ago I would have had access to a Chromebook, but not at the moment.It runs on my Chromebook, but expect that isn't helping!
CapnZapp
Legend
Some additional observations:
- I can't get the rules for Recall Knowledge to work the way I think the devs intended them to work.
- While the Hero Point rule makes sense in the context of a four-hour session in a tournament where players don't know each other, I absolutely refuse to be wrenched out of the story every hour to think about meta issues. Plus, the rulebook Hero Points are narratively weak.
- The crafting rules does provide benefits and discounts, but it's heavily obscured by byzantine rules and entirely dependant on adventure assumptions, and worst of all: Crafting gets better the worse off the rest of the party is.
Philip Benz
A Dragontooth Grognard
Well, Capn, I've followed a number of your threads, and I just don't see the problem with the PF2 rules that you take exception to.
1) Recall Knowledge is an adequate mechanic for putting more information in the players' hands, what's lacking is clear guidance on how extensive that information should be. Naturally so, I would argue, since the PF2 devs would need volumes to dish out all the variations and permutations of possible successes at recall knowledge for all creatures, NPCs, habitats, special locations, and on and on. This is exactly the sort of thing that a DM will fill in at the table, according to his own imagination and understanding of the game world and the critters that inhabit it.
2) Hero points, as things stand, either give a reroll or save a PC (however briefly) from certain death. I can kind of see the logic behind wanting to give players more narrative power and augmenting the list of options that a hero point could grant access to, but the base PF2 mechanism works fine as is.
3) Crafting, as it currently exists in the PF2 core rulebook, is indeed rather problematical. It seems to be intended exclusively for crafting high-ticket magic items and the way it interacts with the Earn Income mechanic is weird. I think a lot of people are suggesting variations and homebrew rules to improve the crafting system (at least in their own eyes) but a lot more will simply ignore it and let players buy their magic items in a shop, and get on with their adventure. I've never been a big fan of crafting as a game-enhancing activity. It seems much more often to be a vehicle some players use to get more cool loot to toss around. I'd much rather have players set their minds to resolving whatever quests or enigmas the DM puts in front of them. This said, I'd bet the upcoming GMG will have some more crafting love, then we can start these discussions all over again.
Lastly, regarding the Pathbuilder app that was discussed above, I just don't see the point. With the PF2 CRB in front of you, you can whip up a fresh 1st-level character in 15 minutes with no app required. Much faster than in PF1, in my experience.
1) Recall Knowledge is an adequate mechanic for putting more information in the players' hands, what's lacking is clear guidance on how extensive that information should be. Naturally so, I would argue, since the PF2 devs would need volumes to dish out all the variations and permutations of possible successes at recall knowledge for all creatures, NPCs, habitats, special locations, and on and on. This is exactly the sort of thing that a DM will fill in at the table, according to his own imagination and understanding of the game world and the critters that inhabit it.
2) Hero points, as things stand, either give a reroll or save a PC (however briefly) from certain death. I can kind of see the logic behind wanting to give players more narrative power and augmenting the list of options that a hero point could grant access to, but the base PF2 mechanism works fine as is.
3) Crafting, as it currently exists in the PF2 core rulebook, is indeed rather problematical. It seems to be intended exclusively for crafting high-ticket magic items and the way it interacts with the Earn Income mechanic is weird. I think a lot of people are suggesting variations and homebrew rules to improve the crafting system (at least in their own eyes) but a lot more will simply ignore it and let players buy their magic items in a shop, and get on with their adventure. I've never been a big fan of crafting as a game-enhancing activity. It seems much more often to be a vehicle some players use to get more cool loot to toss around. I'd much rather have players set their minds to resolving whatever quests or enigmas the DM puts in front of them. This said, I'd bet the upcoming GMG will have some more crafting love, then we can start these discussions all over again.
Lastly, regarding the Pathbuilder app that was discussed above, I just don't see the point. With the PF2 CRB in front of you, you can whip up a fresh 1st-level character in 15 minutes with no app required. Much faster than in PF1, in my experience.
CapnZapp
Legend
No I disagree. I am an experienced GM, and I don't know what to do with abilities like True Hypercognition or the Hypercognition spell , and I dislike having to come up with misleading info per Dubious Knowledge.
In short, your reply reads as if you haven't read my lengthy dissection of the Recall Knowledge rules and how they are both hyperexact and hypervague at the same time.
I invite you to address my points directly (preferably over at the linked thread), but if all you want is to dismiss my findings without more than your opinion to base it on, then I'm afraid I'm just not interested.
Ok. Your opinion is noted.
Most people simply doesn't fully understand the consequences of Crafting. I myself was one of them, until a Paizo forumist explained it to me, with hands-on examples from Age of Ashes.
If you basically ignore Crafting, then of course the rules as written are fine. I offer an alternative for those wishing more clarity, more consistency but without making Crafting considerably better than it actually already is.
The app is especially good for those wanting an overview of your character's future choices. The more time and effort you invest in your character, the more you will appreciate the app.
Philip Benz
A Dragontooth Grognard
Sadly, after a few interesting comments, that other thread devolves into what one poster called "pomp and overwrought hand wringing", so I can't say it goes very far in encouraging thoughtful discourse.
This said, in actual play, so far, we haven't encountered any significant problems with Recall Knowledge checks. Yes, in combat, they eat an action, so players are not choosing that option very often. Yes, in many cases players can use Recall Knowledge outside of combat, so the one-action cost is irrelevant. If the PCs can scout whatever strange critters they're about to face from a nearby hilltop, they could certainly call for Recall Knowledge checks without any meaningful action-based cost.
Indeed, in our current campaign, these checks happen most often outside of combat, when players are investigating clues and trying to wring additional information out of the bits and bobs they've discovered. It's seemed very useful for me, like a built-in delivery mechanism for information that I as the DM want my players to have. The fact that the players are actually asking for information instead of just soaking up a lengthy DM monologue is just spice for the pudding.
If we're restricting the discussion to using Recall Knowledge on critters in combat, I still fail to see the problem. Sure, the DM has to make up interesting tidbits to feed players' successful rolls, and misleading tibits for critical failures, on the fly. That's not hard to manage. I tend to think about what sort of character is making the check and how he would have come by the information. Maybe a scholarly PC recalls having read about this critter in a book of lore. Maybe a PC from a small village recalls hearing "The Legend of the Mean Bandershatch" at the knee of Old Man Bart when he was a kid, or some traveller telling about his narrow escape from the Crypt of Naughty Secrets down at the inn.
Most times, though, I don't think the DM needs to give it much thought, since the focus is on keeping the combat flowing quickly. I'll just reel off "It is said that the worm-like ankhrav disolves his foes' armor with its acidic spittle," without taking a 30-minute pause in the battle to describe the old bard Persnickety singing the "Ballad of the Acid-Drenched Knight" to a full house three years ago last Tuesday.
dave2008
Legend
He was responding to me, as I do have an issue wrapping my head around all the possible feat choices. It is not just level 1, but advancement beyond that. Every level is just a ton of options (or so it appears) to review. I really haven't been a player for 25+ years (only DM) and did not play (or DM) 3e or PF1, so the fact that it is less than those doesn't make much of a difference to me. From looking through the CRB, I think an app would be very helpful.
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