Pathfinder 2.0 Playtest

suenstar said:
Didn't realise we were so close to the release date for 2.0.
Decided not to look at the Playtest so I think I'll just be picking up the PDF version from Paizo's store to begin with, then I can have a good read through the new rules before committing to any physical books.
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I have a lot of faith in Paizo - maybe too much, but the Playtest had some amazing ideas in it, so fingers crossed it's made it through to the final version!
 
Having had a few games of PF2, I really do like it. It can be very deadly, but also very rewarding. Having a battle map or grid is vital though - we've not used one yet due to limited available time for prep, but I'll be making more of an effort from now on. No point having such an amazing system if people are guessing what's going on.
 
No1newts said:
I've really enjoyed it. My main takeaway though is how uncompromising the system is (in a good way) to group composition.

5e you can roll with what you like and generally win through almost anything. PF2 even low level encounters with a poorly composed group and you get stomped.

Last session, admittedly we rolled like complete horrors, but 3 basic enemies almost wipes us and I had to burn 4 spell slots and 2 battle medicine uses to keep us up and we are still pretty beat up. I like this though, a lot of 5e you can roflstomp most content in this you have to be a lot more tactical.
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That encounter was intended for 4 characters, so there was some adjustment on the run. I've no doubt an extra PC would have made it much simpler - well, that and some even remotely competent rolling. Combat is certainly something you need to think about a little more. The action economy is brilliant, in my opinion, and while it's not difficult to get your head around, it is much more satisfying than 5e (and that's coming from someone whose been playing 5e since release!).
 
suenstar said:
I've still not had a chance to play the game yet, just been reading the rules and toying with ideas.
Fingers crossed my local group are going to finally bend to my will and give it a go for a one-shot on the weekend before I head off on holiday.
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It has a lot going for it. It really throws bounded accuracy out of the window which was a bit of a bugbear for me in 5e. I want my heroes to feel like heroes - although the preprinted adventures are a little rough at times, and my party are squealing about repeatedly getting slapped down.
 
Our first PF2E game is approaching its end as the group navigated a series of nasty encounters and luckily bypassed a load more, before bumping into the BBEG last week - so now it's a case of do or die. They had some ups and downs, and the difficulty levels in this module have proved to be a little up and down. One moment they're breezing through encounters, the next they're scraping through by the skin of their teeth - there have been a fair few examples of on the fly difficulty amendments.

Next week the plan is to move onto the first published Adventure Path from Paizo, Age of Ashes. It's looks pretty cool so far! Playing a smaller game first has let the players get a little more comfortable with the system, and now they can make a more informed choice about characters. The sheer healing power of a cleric is unreal though, and almost a must for every group imo.

Overall, I am really enjoying PF2E and while I have had a lot of fun with 5e, I can't see us as a group going back there any time soon. You never know though - it's not just my call!
 
We started Hellknight Hill, part one of Age of Ashes last night and it was a blast!

@No1newts' character went from the sublime to the ridiculous in moments, and the rest of it was hilarious as well. It's a shame we were two players down, but at least this one isn't as deadly as the Fall of Plaguestone. So far.
 
suenstar said:
Finished playing in a PF2.0 mini campaign last weekend, it was a pretty fun homebrew plot where we went from a band of straight forward town's guards with no special abilities into a fairly skilled bunch of mercenaries that stormed a castle and claimed it for our own... we ended up in the final session declaring ourselves the Lords of Biggles' Keep (Biggles was the name of our Ranger's pet leopard).

In our 7 sessions, I've had to make 4 characters due to deaths. :D
The first death, I exploded in a ball of fire when I lit a torch inside a cave filled with gas deposits.
The second, one of the party triggered a trap where the floor all around us fell in segments... I failed the reflex save to move in time and landed on a bunch of large spikes before being crushed by the walls of the pit closing in.
The third death was caused when a young dragon rammed our airship, making me fall overboard and plummeting to the ground.

...My turn to DM next with what appears like it's going to be a very holy party (so far I've got confirmation of 2 paladins and 1 cleric).
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It is a very killy system. It's moved from the "hope you have a healer between encounters" kind of feel that so many current games have, to "I hope you have some means of healing during this fight or this game is over".

I often have to scale back combat a little because it is really quite deadly. My group are a bunch of cry babies though :D
 
Dis86 said:
Let me know if you need another player!
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If you're serious, we're in the market for someone to play occasionally as a sub when players drop out in advance for our Monday night game. We normally play at mine, about ten minutes from the A1 near Gosforth Park.

It might be one night a month, or it might be three weeks in a row - we never know. @No1newts started like this and he's a regular now.
 
We're running theatre of the mind at the moment, but if we do need minis, I have loads of spares. I'll be drawing up some substitute characters (a frontline fighter and a healer) for use. If you'd like any input, I'm sure that can be accommodated.

I'll get details across to you shortly. We can have a session zero on how we play, and what we expect from players, if you want.
 
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