We have spent the last two Monday nights indulging our curiosity about the new PFRPG system within the sprawling streets of Korvosa, ala Nic Logue's new instant classic, "Edge of Anarchy", Chapter 1 of CotCT. Very little adaptation was needed for the first part of this adventure, proving that PFRPG, is as promised almost entirely backwards compatible.
My basic blanket change was to give all the antagonists their racial HP bonus (seeing as that was the system elected by the players for PC's) as I felt that to be fair and balanced, and necessary as the PC's pack a not insubstantial extra punch. Aside from that, little was needed to balance the encounters.
The group consisted of the following on Week 1: (followed by their background trait ala the campaign setting)
Halfling Wizard 1 (Conjuration, Familiar) -Tortured
Halfling Rogue 1 -Missing Son
Half-Elf (haven't seen one of those in a while) Cleric of Serenrae 1 (Sun and Fire)- Dropout
Dwarf Fighter 1 -Personal Addiction (alcohol)
on Week 2 we added a Human Fighter 1 but he won't be a regular part of our playtesting group
Week 2 everyone leveled to 2 about 3/4 of the way into the session. Everyone was ecstatic at their new skills and abilities.
Nobody kept detailed notes, although notepads were at everyone's sides. Mostly I suspect that this was due to the fact that there were zero disagreements, disputes and very little confusion and flipping (electronically) through the rules.
I feel that all of the players were very happy with their new toys and while the Fighter (Teela, a female Dwarf) didn't have too many new abilities (yet), the novice player controlling the warrior felt unabashedly free to Grapple, Disarm and Bull-rush enemies at will, often choosing such maneuvers instead of traditional chop-socky.
Play proceeded briskly in spite of our liberal beer policy and spirits were high. The casters loved being able to be effective in every combat and I found they both moved and thought more tactically because their off turns didn't consist of "I reload my crossbow, shoot and... miss. Pass!".
There was no group tension (rather rare for our group Im ashamed to say), and when they decided to rest after 6 encounters it was a tactical decision with the group in 100% consensus.
Combats on average lasted a round or two longer, but flowed more efficiently. Everyone felt more involved and less discussion dammed the flow of combat to combat.
Non-combat encounters also seemed to be slightly more fluid, perhaps because PC's had often selected RP skills such as professions, interpersonal and even the revitalized intimidate skills to bolster their arsenal of options.
The series of encounters that follows the Fishery set-piece went smoothly with nobody bored and almost everyone contributing. The players felt freer (IMHO) to come up with creative and non-mechanical solutions.
Next week we will head further into the adventure and I promise to try to find a serious critique or two of the rule-set (I have been trying) but mostly I feel that many of the changes are similar to house-rules I already had in effect or changes we had discussed many times around the table, making us eager to try them out in a codified context. The blush is still on the rose for us after two 4-6 hr sessions.
The consensus was that it was very enjoyable, well paced and so far there is nothing to really remove or redact aside from the changes made in the updates. We will see what happens at higher levels, but I remain optimistic.
We all universally look forward to the upcoming additions and appreciate the hard work and graciousness of Paizo in providing us with this unprecedented opportunity to participate in the process. Thanks and great job.
So Far, So Good,
-ZC