PF 2E

[Rock of the Fraternity]

***SPOILERS AHEAD!!!***
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

I got the Pathfinder 2nd edition CRB in the mail today.
Some parts of it intrigue me, and the notion of a feat almost every level speaks to my greed... And I loved the notion of the Goblins evolving to occupy a new niche. Knowing the rift in the Worldwound has been closed was great!
Other developments were deeply saddening to me, like Tar-Baphon ruining the Lastwall area. Something needs to be done about that guy.

To the gameplay: I was uncomfortably reminded of D&D 4E in places, such as the class pages' layout, multiclassing rules and some of the skill names, not to mention the appearance of rituals. Mind you, I think PF 2E has D&D 4E beat on basically all fronts (just my opinion, and you should know I pretty much loathe 4E).
Buuut... I think PF 1E will remain my go-to system for the foreseeable future. 2E has its good sides, yes, but I prefer the baroque options and unique builds of 1E. To me, PF 1E is the perfection of D&D 3.5, which was my first roleplaying love after (Advanced) Fighting Fantasy. I like prestige classes and class archetypes. I like multiclassing that involves actually taking levels, not building feat chains. (Still, again, PF 2E does it better than D&D 4E, allowing for multiple multiclassing, rather than enforcing a single chain.) I like rules for item crafting that require multiple feats, not just the one.

I love the vast scope of options.
(Mind you, I feel tempted by the 2E feats that give you some genuine spellcasting power. )

I don't regret picking up the 2E CRB, and I might play it if given the opportunity. My creations will continue to draw on 1E though, I think. 2E is supposed to be easier to play, bit it doesn't speak to me as clearly as 1E, or not yet.

Has anyone else given the new system a go yet?
What are your experiences?

[Jester of the FoS]

Several of my players are a little unhappy with 5e and wanted something with a little more character building, so I looked at PF2 when it came out, hoping it'd be somewhere between PF and 5e. Instead it felt like PF1+. PF1 with even more complexity and almost as many fiddly rules.
I had a bunch of problems with PF that drove me away from that system and to 5e back in 2014-15, and PF2 didn't resolve most of those issues, and in some cases doubled down on them. It evolved the game in probably the opposite direction I wanted.

The 4e-isms really stood out to me as well. I think PF2 very much is an evolution of the system in the same direction as 3e > 4e. But better; it's closer to what 4e should have been.

It's curiously retro. There's almost nothing in the design that doesn't feel like an evolution of 3e that wasn't already done in 4e or Star Wars Saga. It feels like an RPG pulled from a parallel 2009 where Paizo decided to make Pathfinder not backwards compatible. It ignores all the innovations in design and play style that have happened in the intervening decade.


It just doesn't seem fun to play for me. It's just too heavy. It feels like it would be slow with a lot of referencing rules and "playing the game" rather than "running the story." And oh so much rules lawyering.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

If you like a simpler, faster to play system, you might enjoy taking a look at Advanced Fighting Fantasy.
It's more limited in several ways, but also easy to start playing.

[Five]

If you like a simpler, faster to play system, you might enjoy taking a look at Advanced Fighting Fantasy.
It's more limited in several ways, but also easy to start playing.

And here I thought I was the only one...heh

Lone Wolf Adventure game (Cubicle 7) is another rules light rpg. https://www.cubicle7games.com/our-games ... ture-game/

Both AFF and LWAG are based on gamebooks from an era long past but because of the need for a quick rules explanation to get the reader actually reading and immersed in the adventure of their choosing it's effective at the table for those DMs and Players that don't need anything more than pencils, paper, and their imagination to get going on an adventure.

Both rpgs do justice to their source material, IMO, and the Luck stat from Fighting Fantasy/AFF was something that I actually put into play a few times in my other non-affiliated games.

Advanced Fighting Fantasy: https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki ... ng_Fantasy

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Pencils, paper and two standard d6'es.

It's nice to find another fan of AFF. We seem to be a bit thin on the ground.

[Five]

Heh Touche.

Though LWAG has a random number generator built in, with a d10 optional roll, but yeah. Your words be true.

AFF is not a much talked about game, anywhere I've been anyway, so we are indeed a rare breed. Could it be the focus on adventure, on customising PCs through adventure (as opposed to pre-trip, in the garage) is not what the average gamer wants? Lack of mainstream marketing? A spitty system? Something else (see below)? Either way, I like it and I'm glad someone else has heard of it.

If you haven't already, I suggest you think twice before ordering the AFF deluxe hardcover. It includes AFF 2E, Out of the Pit, and Titan yet the quality of print is garbage. Printer coulda used a ink cartridge change, something. I dunno where I ordered it from (DriveThru I'm thinking) so my warning will have to end at that. Absolute shit quality! To the point where I'll not order PoD again, nor printed product from a pdf website . But that's just me. Too bad, too. I love the idea of walking to my bookshelf and hauling out a tome to play. One book, one game. And for settings like AFF where the rules and setting details aren't overkill it's a wasted opportunity IMO. Oh well. I still have all of the original 1E singles...

Edit: It was DriveThruRPG. Ordered early months of last year.