Pathfinder 2E Wish me luck: starting a Pathfinder 2 game via Foundry

[SteveC]

Just to confirm with folks: I am using the Beginner's Box and Abomination Vaults content from Paizo/Foundry. If you are considering this path, I can't recommend it enough. I went through a test run and everything just looks great.

I'll update as soon as we get everyone setup with characters. It's kind of frustrating to run games where everyone playing is also a parent. I can at least control my bedtime routine with my spouse (subject to my kiddos willingness to cooperate...) but I feel like I'm rolling on a wandering monster table at times for the others.

 

[Blue]

You mentioned last playing 5e. A little tidbit mentioned earlier is most healing is out of combat. In PF2, encounter difficulty seem to be tuned expecting full (or near full) heal ups between encounters unlike 5e. Also combat adds, such as calling for reinforcements, can get very ugly very fast in the system.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Just to confirm with folks: I am using the Beginner's Box and Abomination Vaults content from Paizo/Foundry. If you are considering this path, I can't recommend it enough. I went through a test run and everything just looks great.

I'll update as soon as we get everyone setup with characters. It's kind of frustrating to run games where everyone playing is also a parent. I can at least control my bedtime routine with my spouse (subject to my kiddos willingness to cooperate...) but I feel like I'm rolling on a wandering monster table at times for the others.

This is why an awful lot of middle-aged and older gamers are either childless or have someone who will regularly take care of the kids, or are old enough the kids can take care of themselves.

 

[Thomas Shey]

You mentioned last playing 5e. A little tidbit mentioned earlier is most healing is out of combat. In PF2, encounter difficulty seem to be tuned expecting full (or near full) heal ups between encounters unlike 5e. Also combat adds, such as calling for reinforcements, can get very ugly very fast in the system.

Yes, as needs to be frequently noted, the PF2e CR equivalent is not kidding, which means doubling or trippling up on an encounter can be a real problem.

 

[Blue]

I'll update as soon as we get everyone setup with characters. It's kind of frustrating to run games where everyone playing is also a parent. I can at least control my bedtime routine with my spouse (subject to my kiddos willingness to cooperate...) but I feel like I'm rolling on a wandering monster table at times for the others.

I remember this period of my life. Each of us gamer-parents handled it in different ways, but I had arranged with my wife to be sole kid wrangler on D&D night, and I wrangled them by myself on a different night when she was out at bellydance practice. We fell in love with each other, and were very supportive of making sure that we had time to still be ourselves as well as be spouse and later parent.

Though I do have video of my first still in crawling stage sitting in the middle of the battle map fascinated by us and by the dice (don't eat!) as we all RP'd around her. When still at the "luggage" stage I could run while having her cradled in an arm. Never tried running with a sling but that would likely have worked as well.

Now they can watch after themselves, and that same one is just about to have her second session of an online Monster-of-the-Week RPG. So I guess it rubbed off.

 

[Thrawn007]

I remember this period of my life. Each of us gamer-parents handled it in different ways, but I had arranged with my wife to be sole kid wrangler on D&D night, and I wrangled them by myself on a different night when she was out at bellydance practice.

I see lots of plusses for you... what did she get out of the deal?

 

[Campbell]

My biggest recomendation on both sides of the screen is to approach the game like you would any other new game. A lot of built in instincts from other versions of D&D will not necesarrily serve you well. Timing and coordination can be really important in PF2. Players should be mindful here, but GMs especially should be mindful that a well coordinated group will do much better and the encounter building guidance assumes a certain level of coordination and skilled play. This also extends to monsters. How coordinated you play them is going to have a very strong impact on encounter difficulty.

 

[Eric V]

For the first time in over two years, I'll be running a game for my group, and we're going to try Pathfinder 2. The last game I ran was Curse of Strahd in 5E so this will be a different experience.
We are going to the the Beginners Box to learn the system (and how Foundry works) and then move into Abomination Vaults.
Any thoughts, suggestions, or advice in general are greatly appreciated. I will try and update this with what happened to maybe give you some help if you're in the same situation.

Best of luck! I hear great things about Foundry for PF2E. As an aside, isn't there another adventure that is directly related to Otari that acts as a direct sequel? Might be worth checking out!

 

[SteveC]

Just an update that the group has come into focus. We are going to have six players after the Beginner's Box, but I have four players for that session. The characters are:

• Human Bard
• Catfolk Swashbuckler
• Human Fighter
• Halfling Rogue

...and that looks like a pretty solid group. We have lots of medicine training and healer's kits, and the Bard has Soothe.

Edited to add:
The two other characters that should be joining later are an Aasamar Champion and a human Cloitstered Cleric.
And yes, no spellcasters with strong AOE options. We will have to see where things go.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The only thing I can see is that you're not high on magics for dealing with opponents groups. There's only one spellcaster, and PF2e bardic magic doesn't have much in longer ranged area spells, being from the Occult list. That may make some encounters rougher than they otherwise would be.

That said, you have three one-on-one specialists that will likely work out really well with some encounters, at least after they start coming into their own and people learn how to start using them (swashers and rogues actually require a little experience before you learn how to use them effectively; other than learning the particulars of their specifics (sword-and-board, two-weapon, two-hander, archer) fighters are more straightforward.).