Alphadork's page

@Verdyn Fair - have never been one to play an RPG simply because it's popular and have never had real trouble finding players for any game I run (probably because I'm a Forever GM)

Usually when folks ask me if I like PF2 or 5E more my answer is Symbaroum or Forbidden Lands

PF2 isn't D&D 5e, it doesn't have that must-play factor going for it.

Genuinely interested in what the "must-play factor" in 5E is

Said from the perspective of a Year Zero Engine/Forged in the Dark guy who GMs 5E and PF2 for friends that prefer d20 systems

I tend to favour PF2 over 5E because I find monster design more interesting

@OCEANSHIELDWOLPF 2.0 - My group will be playing again this coming Saturday, will make best efforts to keep notes of how the session goes for our brand new Thaumaturge and then post in the Feedback Thread

Extra skill ups for rk skills was another idea I pitched, though I suggested 9 increases over odd levels, Investigator style

Thought about that as an option but figured tying the extra RK skill to the regular skill progression felt more unique to the Thaumaturge, plus the regular skill increase could also be spent on an RK skill too

Finally had some time to playtest last weekend and have three ideas for tweaks to the Thaumaturge (that are far from fully formed or thought out and might simply be the incoherent ramblings of an aged GM)

1) Move the ability to swap implements as a free action to 5th level (when their second implement becomes available) rather than 7th level

2) Whenever the Thaumaturge gains a Skill increase they also gain an additional skill increase in Arcana, Nature, Occultism or Religion - this would reflect their growing knowledge of Esoterica and still allow other skill development

3) Combine Find Flaw (FF) and Esoteric Antithesis (EA) into a single action that I call "Impose Esoteric Flaw"

Critical Success: as FF and EA combined and a +1 AC modifier vs the target
Success: as FF and EA combined and a +1 Attack Bonus vs the target
Failure: as FF and EA combined
Critical Failure: Flat-Footed

My group found the Thaumaturge struggled with action economy - hoping suggestion three inspires other to come up with more well developed ideas

After reading Seifter's explanation now I wish the Thaumaturge was Con-based

Suggest that someone would need incredible stamina to channel the forces needed to "sway the universe" plus we don't have a Con-based class yet

Slightly radical idea but I trust the Paizo design team to sort out "the maths"

My preference would have been Wis based - feels thematically better to me in terms of drawing on "the wisdom of the ages" (perhaps a bit corny)

Will hopefully be able to more fully absorb/digest the class later this evening.

Other than Cha primary like what I see at first glance

145) Someone let Tiax "point and click"

146) Golarion (which is actually a wildly successful VR game) is still there but hidden somewhere in the source code

Folk getting very passionate and occasionally argumentative about the hobbies they enjoy pre-dates the existence of social media (as some of the discussions I had at Cons in the 80's taught me)

Ultimately there is no wrong way for someone to have fun but since different styles of RPGing exist just try to be respectful of each other as part of the "gaming social contract".

I suggest being positive about what you like rather than negative about what you don't.

Just two coppers worth from an aged gamer.

My GM "gotcha moments" have tended to be story driven over the years.

I once deposited my players in a "Mirror, Mirror"(Star Trek reference) alternative reality of the campaign world after a magical portal mishap.

They were almost immediately attacked by soldiers wearing insignia's they'd never seen but that looked very similar to ones worn by the troops of their current home city. A masked figure comes to their aid and delivers the classic line "Come with me if you want to live"

They spend two sessions working with him before that mask comes off revealing one of the big bads from their world. A few sessions later they defeated their evil dopplegangers and returned home with the aid of the NPC.

Yup, I've tweaked every default RPG campaign setting/lore from The World of Greyhawk back in 1980 on up.

For the last couple of decades its been more about adapting the lore specific stuff from an RPG my group wants to play into one of my home brew settings or building a fresh world specifically for that new campaign.

competing demands that will require compromises to achieve

Great statement - competing demands are a common problem whenever a group of people gets together to play an RPG.

The time and effort spent on finding good compromises that work for both the GM and the players are what creates the campaigns you'll talk about for years.

Other folks have suggested trying different RPGs, which could help. But ultimately your enjoyment of any game/system will still rely heavily on the shared experience the GM and players create.

Each and every RPG provides a framework to help the GM and players achieve the three points your looking for.

1) Decisions - do you mean story arc related, in combat, interactions with NPCs, building you character etc?
For PF2 combat, the feedback from my players has been that the three action economy makes it feel like the choices they make in combat matter. Any campaign related decisions are influenced by the GM and players learning how they want to tell a shared story together, not the rule set of whatever RPG system to choose to use.

2 & 3) Boundaries and a Robust Fantasy framework - As I said above, while most RPG systems provide players with a default "house setting" that world isn't brought to life by the books. The real meat and bones of any setting comes from the GM and players working together to create a shared experience with the rules there to provide guidance and support.

It really sounds to me like your fledgling RPG group is simple experiencing the learning/growing pains that every GM or player whoever picked up a polyhedral die has felt at some point in their gaming history.

I suggest you folks talk to each other in a safe "no blame assigned" debrief discussion after each session to build on what when right and learn from what went wrong. Trust me, this hobby is worth that effort.

Just two coppers worth from an old gamer.

I did in fact mean the Advanced Players Guide. Please forgive Grampa GenX memory, sometimes the editions blend together . . .

We using THAC0 or the combat matrices this edition?

Just a shout out to the Paizo design team for how much me and my group are enjoying the game

Have been doing this RPG thing for some time (GMed my first session in 79) and have played every edition of D&D/Pathfinder. Despite my grognardian age, I've never been an edition warrior - every iteration of the game I love brought some new ideas that I enjoyed.

That said, D&D 5E didn't hold my interest for long (love what the game has done for the hobby but found it a bit too retro for my own personal preference).

Have learned that I like two styles of RPG - heavily narrative (this is when I bust out Blades in the Dark or Apocalypse World) and rules crunchy but without excessive bloat or "White Tower design" issues. Had been looking for an RPG that would fill that second niche when Pathfinder 2E released.

Is the game perfect? What system is . . .
But 10 sessions into a campaign set in my old homebrew D&D world me and my players are loving the game. The rules set and design philosophy are great - looking forward to test driving the upcoming ACG play test to see if that trend continues.

Just two coppers worth from an old gamer