Well, it's about time for a brand new RPG, Pathfinder Second Edition. We've spent several months getting various bits of info, spoilers, teases, and other such things. I'm personally very excited, and thought a topic discussing the aspects we're most interested in/excited for could be fun.
So, what are some of the things you're looking forward to most?
For me, one thing that comes to mind is the focus on Skills. My first major attempt at a Bard in Pathfinder during my Hells Rebels game was where my appreciation for skills truly grew. Sadly, I found a lot of classes were more limited in their skilling options, and the need for feats to optimize many classes for combat did eat into what I could do them.
PF2e's split of feats letting us have ten entire feats dedicated to skills (eleven with the background) plus another five general feats that could also be used for skill feats has me particularly excited. No more will I have to ask how much must I give up in skills to be the best I can for my party in my combat role, instead I can be damn good in those skills on top of having a large number of options for combat.
Of course, if I want to go full Skillmonkey, there's still the Rogue, which has the unique advantage of getting twice as many skill feats and skill improvements, one of each per level, rather than alternating between the two every other level. I've heard the Bard still has some means of taking care of some skills with their performance, but I'm not 100% on that.
Naturally, the improvement of skills also means giving martial characters some options that improve their capabilities. Let the Cleric become an Avatar of their god with their fancy Tenth Level Spell, I'll use Cloud Jump to get to Mr. "Circle Strafe and Breath Weapon", grapple his giant ass with Titan Wrestler, and German Suplex him through a mountain. Got Catfall at Legendary Acrobatics? You just dust yourself off like it was nothing. You can turn into Zeus, I'll be Hercules.
Casting does seem fun, though. I really like the change of spellcasting to include four traditions of magic. Arcane and Divine are classics, but letting Druids rock Primal and Bards enjoy being freaky with Occult is quite nice. As is bloodline dictating what king of Sorcerer you are. A party of four Sorcerers could be quite different based on said bloodlines.
I'm also down with full caster Bards. It's a class near to my heart and one I can't wait to try out. In addition to standard Cantrips (which are no longer 0th level, but scale by level), I'm always down with Compositions whether Cantrip or otherwise.
Tenth level magic is also a nice touch. You only get one slot though (unless you drop a 20th level feat for a second), but hey, the good stuff is bound to be amazing. Like Fabricate Truth, where you make multiple people believe anything you tell them...and if they crit-fail? They believe your BS forever. Why kill that Devil when you can convince him that his life's calling has always been that of a Druid, and that he's just been hiding his passion for gardening?
Speaking of Crit-fails, the four degrees of success system is something I'm really into. No longer just Save or Die as it were. Now while a Critical Success can be consequence free and a Critical Failure can leave you with some life-ending condition, standard successes and failures can be used to meet a middle ground area so even a success doesn't waste the spell and even a failure isn't necessarily the end.
Of course, that also applies to attacks. Critting isn't just natural 20s now, but beating a foe's AC/DC by ten, and Crit Failing is failing to beat a foe's AC/DC by ten. Meaning, a lot of lower level foes will feel your full power, and you'll truly struggle against foes in another realm of power. That said, natural 20s and 1s alter the degree of success by one, so a natural 1 would turn a guaranteed crit into a normal hit, and a natural 20 make the worst case scenario a normal miss.
That's just a few things I'm personally excited for, I'd love to know what comes to mind for everyone else.
So, what are some of the things you're looking forward to most?
For me, one thing that comes to mind is the focus on Skills. My first major attempt at a Bard in Pathfinder during my Hells Rebels game was where my appreciation for skills truly grew. Sadly, I found a lot of classes were more limited in their skilling options, and the need for feats to optimize many classes for combat did eat into what I could do them.
PF2e's split of feats letting us have ten entire feats dedicated to skills (eleven with the background) plus another five general feats that could also be used for skill feats has me particularly excited. No more will I have to ask how much must I give up in skills to be the best I can for my party in my combat role, instead I can be damn good in those skills on top of having a large number of options for combat.
Of course, if I want to go full Skillmonkey, there's still the Rogue, which has the unique advantage of getting twice as many skill feats and skill improvements, one of each per level, rather than alternating between the two every other level. I've heard the Bard still has some means of taking care of some skills with their performance, but I'm not 100% on that.
Naturally, the improvement of skills also means giving martial characters some options that improve their capabilities. Let the Cleric become an Avatar of their god with their fancy Tenth Level Spell, I'll use Cloud Jump to get to Mr. "Circle Strafe and Breath Weapon", grapple his giant ass with Titan Wrestler, and German Suplex him through a mountain. Got Catfall at Legendary Acrobatics? You just dust yourself off like it was nothing. You can turn into Zeus, I'll be Hercules.
Casting does seem fun, though. I really like the change of spellcasting to include four traditions of magic. Arcane and Divine are classics, but letting Druids rock Primal and Bards enjoy being freaky with Occult is quite nice. As is bloodline dictating what king of Sorcerer you are. A party of four Sorcerers could be quite different based on said bloodlines.
I'm also down with full caster Bards. It's a class near to my heart and one I can't wait to try out. In addition to standard Cantrips (which are no longer 0th level, but scale by level), I'm always down with Compositions whether Cantrip or otherwise.
Tenth level magic is also a nice touch. You only get one slot though (unless you drop a 20th level feat for a second), but hey, the good stuff is bound to be amazing. Like Fabricate Truth, where you make multiple people believe anything you tell them...and if they crit-fail? They believe your BS forever. Why kill that Devil when you can convince him that his life's calling has always been that of a Druid, and that he's just been hiding his passion for gardening?
Speaking of Crit-fails, the four degrees of success system is something I'm really into. No longer just Save or Die as it were. Now while a Critical Success can be consequence free and a Critical Failure can leave you with some life-ending condition, standard successes and failures can be used to meet a middle ground area so even a success doesn't waste the spell and even a failure isn't necessarily the end.
Of course, that also applies to attacks. Critting isn't just natural 20s now, but beating a foe's AC/DC by ten, and Crit Failing is failing to beat a foe's AC/DC by ten. Meaning, a lot of lower level foes will feel your full power, and you'll truly struggle against foes in another realm of power. That said, natural 20s and 1s alter the degree of success by one, so a natural 1 would turn a guaranteed crit into a normal hit, and a natural 20 make the worst case scenario a normal miss.
That's just a few things I'm personally excited for, I'd love to know what comes to mind for everyone else.
