Prepping a homegame, some issues came up.

[VampByDay]

Apologies if this has been asked before. Or if they are covered in the rules and I'm just a dunderhead.

So a lot of my friends are REALLY excited about pathfinder 2 . . . like I should call someone excited. Anyway, I've decided to do a throw-together seat-of-my-pants stress test of the system, going as many levels as I can before 1)My homegame falls apart or 2) the game comes out. So I started statting up a standard dungeon crawl using the encounter rules from the book . . . it all looks fairly good and straightforward. Given how tough my group had with the society playtest (the quests) I question how a group of four level 1s can take on a level 3 monster . . . but hey, that's what the test is for, right?

But when I went to start assigning loot, that's where things got problematic. See, for a party of level 1 adventurers, you are supposed to get 1 level 2 item (Bracers of armor +1 do just fine here) and two level 1 permanent items. But . . . there are no level 1 permanent items. Scrolls, trinkets, bombs, elixirs . . . nothing permanent.

Likewise expert weapons and the like aren't on the list. I assume they are level 2 (Expert handwraps are level 2) but . . . how are PCs supposed to get expert weapons if they don't build them on their own? Are weapons just not part of treasure? Am I just supposed to give them Regular but more expensive armor for level 1 permanent?

[CommanderCoyler]

VampByDay wrote:

Apologies if this has been asked before. Or if they are covered in the rules and I'm just a dunderhead.

So a lot of my friends are REALLY excited about pathfinder 2 . . . like I should call someone excited. Anyway, I've decided to do a throw-together seat-of-my-pants stress test of the system, going as many levels as I can before 1)My homegame falls apart or 2) the game comes out. So I started statting up a standard dungeon crawl using the encounter rules from the book . . . it all looks fairly good and straightforward. Given how tough my group had with the society playtest (the quests) I question how a group of four level 1s can take on a level 3 monster . . . but hey, that's what the test is for, right?

They're not, you're meant to use on-level challenges. Using off-level monsters will make it trivial or unreasonably difficult to hit, get of spells etc

VampByDay wrote:

But when I went to start assigning loot, that's where things got problematic. See, for a party of level 1 adventurers, you are supposed to get 1 level 2 item (Bracers of armor +1 do just fine here) and two level 1 permanent items. But . . . there are no level 1 permanent items. Scrolls, trinkets, bombs, elixirs . . . nothing permanent.

Mundane, normal quality gear is level 1 (unless specified otherwise)

VampByDay wrote:

Likewise expert weapons and the like aren't on the list. I assume they are level 2 (Expert handwraps are level 2) but . . . how are PCs supposed to get expert weapons if they don't build them on their own? Are weapons just not part of treasure? Am I just supposed to give them Regular but more expensive armor for level 1 permanent?

Might need to be reiterated in the treasure section, but:

Expert, Master and Legendary items, p190 wrote:

Expert-quality armor and weapons are 2nd-level items, except expert heavy armor, which is 3rd level. Master-quality armor and weapons are 7th-level items, and legendary-quality armor and weapons are 15th-level items.

[VampByDay]

CommanderCoyler wrote:

VampByDay wrote:

Apologies if this has been asked before. Or if they are covered in the rules and I'm just a dunderhead.

So a lot of my friends are REALLY excited about pathfinder 2 . . . like I should call someone excited. Anyway, I've decided to do a throw-together seat-of-my-pants stress test of the system, going as many levels as I can before 1)My homegame falls apart or 2) the game comes out. So I started statting up a standard dungeon crawl using the encounter rules from the book . . . it all looks fairly good and straightforward. Given how tough my group had with the society playtest (the quests) I question how a group of four level 1s can take on a level 3 monster . . . but hey, that's what the test is for, right?

They're not, you're meant to use on-level challenges. Using off-level monsters will make it trivial or unreasonably difficult to hit, get of spells etc

I will adjust my dungeon accordingly.

Quote:

VampByDay wrote:

But when I went to start assigning loot, that's where things got problematic. See, for a party of level 1 adventurers, you are supposed to get 1 level 2 item (Bracers of armor +1 do just fine here) and two level 1 permanent items. But . . . there are no level 1 permanent items. Scrolls, trinkets, bombs, elixirs . . . nothing permanent.

Mundane, normal quality gear is level 1 (unless specified otherwise)

Just found this while tooling around on page 174:

Core rulebook 174 wrote:

Each item has an item level, which represents the complexity
of the item and any magic used in its construction. Simpler
items with a lower level are easier to construct, and you
can’t Craft items that have a higher level than your own (see
page 148). If an item’s level isn’t listed, its level is 0

The only armor or weapon listed in the base book with an item level is full plate (at 2)

[CommanderCoyler]

VampByDay wrote:

I will adjust my dungeon accordingly.

I haven't looked at the bestiary (looking at playing rather than DMing), but I would at least hope that there's some D&D 4e style way of levelling up/down monsters. Especially as the +level to everything should easily support that

VampByDay wrote:

Just found this while tooling around on page 174:

Core rulebook 174 wrote:

Each item has an item level, which represents the complexity
of the item and any magic used in its construction. Simpler
items with a lower level are easier to construct, and you
can’t Craft items that have a higher level than your own (see
page 148). If an item’s level isn’t listed, its level is 0

The only armor or weapon listed in the base book with an item level is full plate (at 2)

Took some digging, but found it:

Party Treasure Gain, p347 wrote:

When assigning level 1 permanent items, your best options are weapons, armor, and gear from Chapter 6 worth between 10 and 20 gp

[VampByDay]

CommanderCoyler wrote:

VampByDay wrote:

I will adjust my dungeon accordingly.

I haven't looked at the bestiary (looking at playing rather than DMing), but I would at least hope that there's some D&D 4e style way of levelling up/down monsters. Especially as the +level to everything should easily support that

VampByDay wrote:

Just found this while tooling around on page 174:

Core rulebook 174 wrote:

Each item has an item level, which represents the complexity
of the item and any magic used in its construction. Simpler
items with a lower level are easier to construct, and you
can’t Craft items that have a higher level than your own (see
page 148). If an item’s level isn’t listed, its level is 0

The only armor or weapon listed in the base book with an item level is full plate (at 2)

Took some digging, but found it:

Party Treasure Gain, p347 wrote:

When assigning level 1 permanent items, your best options are weapons, armor, and gear from Chapter 6 worth between 10 and 20 gp

Thank you!

And yes, there are rules for 'buffing' and 'weakening' a monster. But I just substituted a level 3 monster + 2 minions, for 4 lvl one monsters, which is, apparently, the same XP.

[Soldarc]

Dont know if its already been answered but all standard equipment exept platemail (level 2) is level 1 loot... a sword or a dagger or a backpack or a rope.. basicly anything xD