Gnorr's page

It is amazing to see Paizo seriously considering wider support for FoundryVTT!

My group has been a Pathfinder-only group ever since 2010. And the only reason we have jumped to 5E in these socially-distant times is the availability of ready-to-use adventure content for Foundry, in the form of DDB imports.

I sincerely hope that Paizo will indeed make their full APs available for Foundry, in comprehensively prepared form (artwork, journal entries, maps with pins, lighting, preplaced tokens), maybe even packaged music and sound effects provided by Syrinscape.

Even when things will return to normal, we will continue to use Foundry for our in-person-games, driving a touch-screen lying on the table. And having officially-provided quality-controlled content that does not require the fixes that DDB-imported content sometimes does, would be of significant value for me, now that I have less and less time to (prep a) game.

Note: I am aware that the APs are already available for Fantasy Grounds. But personally, I found that UI/UX to be less than accessible, and still feel that they have missed their chance to modernize when moving to Unity.

But why complicate things to this extent?

Are you and your friends getting bored with Pathfinder?
Aren't the PF rules complex enough as it is?

To the contrary: Most of us believe that PF is already overly complex, and many of the more recent books just add unbearable (for us!) rules bloat. This has led to some of the PF groups that I know switching to CRB-only games, getting off the rulebook treadmill once and for all.

And indeed, there has been talk about switching to 5E. But, for now, that is off the table, as my groups all agree that 5E character customization options are too limited (compared to what we are used to and enjoy). Additionally, we just love Paizo's AP material!

So, I am instead looking to improve our Pathfinder games within the existing rules framework.

What would I consider an improvement? Examples could include ...

- ... more streamlined combats (that is going to be difficult, IMHO, but one can hope)

- ... sensible character customization that does not complicate/slow-down actual play. Here, sensible is intended to mean stuff like the Background Skills Gark mentioned above (many thanks!), or the Slashing Grace feat, which is a key component of DEX-based fighting (a common fantasy trope). What my groups do not need are 1500+ feats, many which appear to be highly situational (at best), or simply broken in conjunction with other game mechanics (at worst, this has already been discussed in the thread I mentioned in my initial post).

- ... class/mechanics cleanups (e.g., my Rogue players are delighted in the Unchained rogue)

- ... anything that reduces GM prep time. An example could include the Simple Monster Creation rules, but that is actually not that critical for me as (due to RL time constraints) I can only manage published APs these days instead of writing my own scenarios.

I am actually familiar with many of the more complicated RPG systems you mention (if memory serves, I considered FGU's Aftermath! to be the pinnacle of overly complicated systems ...). But with less and less time to game (RL catches up with all of us ...), we are looking for more manageable D&D-like systems that still give more class customization options than 5E.

So, until PF 2.0 shows up (note that this thread is not intended to discuss that can of worms, please see above for a pointer to a more suitable venue ;-), I would like to better tailor the existing PF system for our use by (very selectively) introducing optional rules (ideally, replacing earlier iterations, such as the CRB Rogue with the PFU Rogue).

@Gark: Many thanks for the pointers, I have already looked up some of your suggestions and they look pretty interesting, with only low mechanics overhead!