| ClaraPandy |
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Hi,
First let me tell you about me. I'm an old git who has played D&D since 1979. Red book basic edition. I've also been an avid tabletop gamer, both historic and fantasy. So I've read and played a LOT of different rulesets. A few of which work brilliantly, and very many of which fail badly. Currently playing Original Pathfinder (OP) and DND5.
My group tried a few games of Pathfinder Playtest (PP). I was going to post a big list of comments, but there is one which is so huge I want to talk about it first:
Any ruleset which uses alternate movement has to be very careful that it doesn't allow the phasing player to completely outmanoeuvre his opponent before the opponent gets to react. Running right around behind him and stabbing him in the back before he can turn, that kind of thing.
Unfortunately, the 3 generic actions per round permitted by PP fails this test badly. With 2 (or 3) times movement and attack, it is possible to run right around a defensive line to attack the wizard/treasure/princess the defenders are trying to defend. It makes defence impossible. Worse, the lack of attacks-of-opportunity for most creatures often means you can often run right THROUGH the opponent's defensive line.
Note that you cannot move so fast in OP (charge must be a dead straight line), nor DND5 (can only dash OR attack)
It's a shame, when I originally read it I thought the 3 generic actions was quite a nice rule. But it doesn't work. It's far too fiddly. We all spent ages micromanaging what's in our left hand, no-one bothered with a shield cos it was too much faff. But worse by far, it's too open to abuse of alternative movement as described above. I don't know how you can fix this as it seems utterly fundamental to PP. But for me, it just doesn't work at all.
Other thoughts:
The +-10 crit system is too complex. Spent ages calculating exact hit probabilities for every attack - yawn!
Wizards cannot "ready" a spell. So you can run right up to a wizard and hit him before he can get a short range spell off.
Mutliple attacks per round unbalances the AC. Low AC is really fatal as even a lowly goblin or peasant can pummel you with multiple attacks.
The PDF rulebook was awful. Never seen a set of rules that needed hyperlinks so badly (yes, I noticed someone has finally done one)
Races in PP are really unbalanced. Elves get lowlightvision and feats AND faster movement than anyone else. They're awesome. Why would anyone play anything but an elf?
Blasting off back to space now. And leaving the PP behind. Thanks for trying.
I'll leave you with a thought:
DND5 made everything simpler, and has lost very little by doing so.
PP has made everything more complex. And has gained nothing by doing so.
Clara Pandy