The length of the 2E Corebook is mostly due to it containing basically the PHB+GM Guide. It might look intimidating, but it's really not as crunchy as it seems. So I really recommend trying to find a game in your LGS or online to join just to test out the system. Imo, Savage Worlds is a decent alternative to Pathfinder, even has a pathfinder setting. It's a bit more rules-light as 2E but still offers good amounts of depth. Plus it is a setting agnostic system, so you can play Fantasy, Horror, SciFi, Cyberpunk, pretty much anything you can think of.
I really want to get into this system. I don't have it in me currently to seek out in person gaming groups due to some social isolation bout I'm going through these days, but I'd love to try it out if I can find a casual group to meet online with a schedule I can fit in.
It may not be for you, but there are online groups as well. Sites like Roll20 or "games" like Tabletop Simulator allow visualizing what's going on in the game.
The Pathfinder video games (Kingmaker and Wrath Of The Righteous) are based very closely on tabletop sourcebooks. They're an excellent way to experience Pathfinder without having to put together a group and meet once a week. Highly recommend. If you enjoy the video games you'll probably enjoy the tabletop and vice versa, if you hate WOTR you'll probably not like the tabletop version either.
(Also, hi Cyn, I think I've replied on like 4 of your comments in a row, I promise I'm not stalking your profile lmao you're just making good conversation)
If you're not opposed to paid, you can find and join games posted on sites like startplaying otherwise there are always discord groups with lfg channels.
PF is my fave system! Though in my case, I adore PF1e. Been running a game for the past 7 years or so. The players are gradually getting to the end of this one. 2e seems fun, but I love the amount of options in 1e.
And FoundryVTT is a complete goddamn gamechanger when it comes to GMing it.
If you can, end sessions at safe spots (i.e. not in the middle of a pressing adventure) and then just make up a character-appropriate explanation for someone sitting it out.
The dwarf got too drunk at the tavern after the last adventure and is sleeping it off.
The druid is communing with nature to realign herself.
This week-end, I’m painting this pentadrone I sculpted and 3d printed, after being done with my two helmed horrors (sorry, I’m not exactly an artist 😅).
Beside that, funny enough, I won’t be playing a RPG this week-end, as I already do it every night of the week. :) (I play solo, so I can play as much as I want). Or maybe a little dungeon crawler with one-off characters, we’ll see. :P
Having been on both sides DM and Player of both DnD5e and PF2e, PrinzKasper said it perfectly. I also want to note that in PF2e as a player, both combat and social encounters felt more interesting. With actual rules in place defining the barriers, I felt like I was free to try different things; to explore. Unlike DnD, rarely does it feel like there is one and only one answer. From character creation and development to combat to exploration activities, there isn't a right way, only your way. I don't think I can ever go back to DnD after playing PF2e.
Having ran PF2e for about ~40 sessions and listening to several actual play podcasts using it, I absolutely love it, and I would be hard pressed to come up with any reason to pick DnD 5e over PF2e.
As a GM, it provides a ton of useful tools that are either broken or straight up missing in 5e, for example when creating encounters, calculating the difficulty of encounters based on the monster's challenge rating actually works, all the magic items have an explicit cost, all the player races have actual lore and "this is how others percieve you" that you can work off of instead of just "you make it up :)", the monsters have actual interesting abilities instead of just being big sacks of hitpoints, and a solo boss monster can still be seriously dangerous instead of just immediately being overwhelmed by the action economy.
The language in the rules is more technical, but in doing so it drastically reduces the room for misinterpretations. The trait system also helps this, for example most undead have the "mindless" trait, which means they are immune to any spell effect with the "mind affecting" trait. Everything being tagged, and interactions being spelled out in this way, just makes resolving spells so much easier.
On the player side, PF2e offers you meaningful choices at every level, and not just picking class, race and subclass and then being stuck on train tracks like in 5e. The action economy is simplified, and instead of action, movement action, bonus action, interact action you just have three actions. Those can be spent on anything you want. Skills like athletics, acrobatics, intimidation, diplomacy, deception and probably more I'm forgetting right now have actual codified uses in combat instead of requiring on the fly house rulings from the GM to be useful. Martial characters actually scale well into late game and aren't just completely overshadowed by casters.
Finally, I just want to note that our group uses FoundryVTT to play our games, and the way the system is implemented there is just incredible. So many useful Quality of life features that I never even knew I wanted until I had them, and now they're glaringly absent in other systems. Foundry and PF2e really go together like PB & J.
Most people who I see saying they prefer 5e say that it's more "rules-light" and roleplay oriented, but it really isn't, at least by RAW. It's only rules light when you ignore half the rules. And there's really nothing in the rules that directly facilitates roleplay either. So if that's your preferred playstyle, there's other systems that would suit your preferences better than both 5e and PF2e
40 minutes into the video (it's two hours long) and some of my impressions.
Yes there is some D&D bashing but on the lighter side. And not the focus but rather used a comparison and baseline for the discussion.
Enthusiastic. But then OSP are always enthusiastic.
They brought in an irregular guest who really, really likes to talk about rpgs.
So far good spread and variety on system recommendations. Begun with combat heavy (Lancer, Wyrdwood Ward and Panic at the Dojo) and are now talking about PbtAs (WorldWide Wrestling, Legacy and blades is coming up).
Found one system I really need to play - Panic at the Dojo
Thank you for the write-up. I might report back when I watch this myself, I’m a fan of dm-less narrative systems (so hard to get a group together…) So that segment interests me.
Had a big rant about "forever GM whine". Talked how the "burden" could be mitigated and shared. But very ranty.
Felt the pace slowed down and they started to drag things out. Partly because they got into a series of systems I'm not too interested in, really narrative and often GM-less games. Wanderhome, Bleak Spirit, Good Society and Miss Bernburg's Finishing School for young ladies. Just not my cup of tea. But the very creative presenters had lots to say about these systems.
Some sections towards the end about game engines and rpg designing.
Lightning round with another bunch of systems.
All in all well worth the two hours the video took watching.
Who would? Gary Gygax. Probably Steve Jackson, too. After all, they both suggested rudimentary social encounter models for their otherwise complex games, suggesting that they didn't really have adequate data to work with.
Fair. I was kinda joking, but yeah. I wonder what they would have done if they had this raw data. How would they have adapted this to a playable mechanic.
Good luck! Was the first thing I DM'd too. Could have definitely gone smoother, hahaa. Fun little campaign though! If I had any advice, it'd be to prepare for the unexpected.. That is, have a rough outline of how to steer things back to the 'main' quest / couple of NPCs you can throw in if your players really, really decide that they want to ignore the plot hooks the book gives you.
There's nothing wrong with going off script, but it can be daunting for a first time DM, especially if your players are also learning the rules.
That is definitely my biggest worry. I have studied the entire module and prepared but you never know. I did DM some 2nd edition games but that was a long time ago.
“Creation” is the term used by religious people to describe the universe, etc., whereas the rest of us tend to default to more scientific terms, like: “reality”. The former insinuates it was created rather than forming as an effect of various natural forces and events, and largely belies some personal belief on the user’s part in any number of “higher” powers. 🙄
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