Khonnir

Mark the Wise and Powerful's page

Organized Play Member. 387 posts (390 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 10 Organized Play characters.


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Happy Pathfinder 2e Remaster Eve Day!

Thank you, Paizo, for all the hard work!


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Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:

I'm very much looking forward to the "Remaster" series of books. I think it is the right move to publish Paizo material under the ORC license. I'm very much hoping that Paizo is very careful to remove all WotC intellectual property from the books. I don't want a protracted lawsuit. I just want to put the whole thing behind us and move on without WotC or their interference.

I can't wait. Thank you, Paizo, for all the hard work.

Happy Pathfinder 2e Remaster Eve Day!


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I'm very much looking forward to the "Remaster" series of books. I think it is the right move to publish Paizo material under the ORC license. I'm very much hoping that Paizo is very careful to remove all WotC intellectual property from the books. I don't want a protracted lawsuit. I just want to put the whole thing behind us and move on without WotC or their interference.

I can't wait. Thank you, Paizo, for all the hard work.


Any feedback on where Starfinder is going with respect to the ORC licensing?


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I'm very excited to get my hands on this. Thank you for all the hard work!

It is a very good idea to split up the GM and player information into separate core books. Probably will help a lot with rule lawyering -- and generally make this a lot more fun to play. GMs will now be more able to use these rules as guidance rather than law. They will have more of an ability to alter rules for their games as needed. Very, very good move!!


Are there any plans to update this product for FVTT 11?


Cori Marie wrote:
You know you can pull the map images out on their own without the text right? Just use TokenTool to extract them.

Thank you.


I'll be buying a lot more of those. Awesome.


Cori Marie wrote:
You know you can pull the map images out on their own without the text right? Just use TokenTool to extract them.

She's right. I didn't think to try that. I used a PDFArea "PDF Image Extractor" Version 4.0 and it worked. Great! Much better!


I looked at the PF1e and PF2e Pathfinder Society scenarios -- and I'm just amazed that text is written all over the maps, requiring hours of rework or a complete redraw to use in a VTT.

One of my major issues with the PDFs and other materials is all the rework required to use them. I just don't have the time for that. It's becoming a barrier to playing RPG with Paizo materials.


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I played AD&D in the 80s. When I started playing again in 2012, I chose Paizo over WotC because Paizo would provide me with my favorite media -- PDFs. Paizo was also friendly to emerging technology like VTTs and always seemed like a foreward thinking company. WotC has always been the opposite. I told them in their survey during the licensing scandle that it seems like they hate their players.

I am glade to finally be able to separate completely from WotC and make Paizo wholey my RPG provider! Thank you!


Good!!! I'm very glad. It's long overdue to separate from WotC craziness. I fully support your efforts -- and I'm very excited and relieved!

Thank you, Paizo!


Elfteiroh wrote:
Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:
I would purchase this product, except I don't like the "tokenized" images. We use full-profile images just like those available from the pawn PDFs Paizo sells.

The pack also come with "raw"* full body images, both for using it as "portraits", and for making your own tokens from it.

If you want to use that art as the tokens, it shouldn't be hard to manually assign them as tokens. They just won'T nbe auto-mapped like that. So would still be a great source of unique images for every single "bestiary" monsters.

* Here by "raw" I mean the full body arts without the token ring.

Thank you.


Dancing Wind wrote:
Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:
Does the artwork in this collection reuse the artwork from the PF1e collections?
It's all new art.

Thank you very much.


Does the artwork in this collection reuse the artwork from the PF1e collections?


I would purchase this product, except I don't like the "tokenized" images. We use full-profile images just like those available from the pawn PDFs Paizo sells.


Reddevil wrote:
Havn't bought a book from WOTC since 3.5 and I will be continuing that for the foreseeable future. Glad to see Paizo and others working together.

I bought three 5e books a while ago to have a look and now I very much regret it. Didn't use it much because I also need PDFs and they don't sell them. Make 5e games too hard to run.


Ezekieru wrote:
Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:
Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:
Leon Aquilla wrote:
Does PF1e on FoundryVTT not have a statblock parser like Starfinder does?
Yes, it has one. Works great with a module that provides the statblocks. Very reliable.
It's tiresome, though, to keep doing that because it can only do one at a time. It's much nicer that Paizo has an offering to give you all of the PF2e bestiaries for $60 with really great art work -- all ready to go for your compaigns.
To be clear, the $60 pack is to have the art and tokens, and to have the module tie the art/tokens to the already existing statblock. All of the statblocks are already available for free in the PF2E system baseline.

Sounds awesome. Thank you.


Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:
Leon Aquilla wrote:
Does PF1e on FoundryVTT not have a statblock parser like Starfinder does?
Yes, it has one. Works great with a module that provides the statblocks. Very reliable.

It's tiresome, though, to keep doing that because it can only do one at a time. It's much nicer that Paizo has an offering to give you all of the PF2e bestiaries for $60 with really great art work -- all ready to go for your compaigns.


Leon Aquilla wrote:
Does PF1e on FoundryVTT not have a statblock parser like Starfinder does?

Yes, it has one. Works great with a module that provides the statblocks. Very reliable.


Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:
UnArcaneElection wrote:

I still greatly prefer Pathfinder 1st Edition, so I'm still waiting to see what falls out for that (even if Paizo never makes anything more for it, somebody might do it, if only they won't be strangled by a horde of Hasbro lawyers).

I do, too. However, the reality I'm seeing on Discord servers is that it is much harder to find PF1e players. Also, trying to build a PF1e campaign in Foundry VTT takes work because you've got to, more or less, build all your NPCs at least to the extent of importing statblocks and assigning images to the actors (aka tokens or pawns). I've got a better setup in MapTool with my own macros, but people seem to prefer Foundry VTT. Took me 1 1/2 years to develop that. When Paizo marginized PF1e immediately after announcing PF2e, they basically killed it and the PF1e community.

I'm not happy about that because I spent over $1000 on my PF1e material. Not sure I'll ever get much out of it.

All I can say is that it appears to be time to move on and hopefully Paizo does NOT do it that way to PF2e when PF3e comes out -- or at least that doesn't happen till the 10th anniversary of PF2e.

Sadly, PF1e became its most fun to play when it finally got to its 10th anniversary because it was finally finished. We finally had all the books -- most of which are still missing from PF2e.

Paizo is professionally maintaining a PF2e game system and now has prebuilt actors (tokens) with their images for Foundry VTT -- making it a very appealing VTT environment for game play. PF2e is becoming very hard to ignore and there appears to be a lot more players versus PF1e. I'm looking at the PF2e situation very seriously this weekend to evaluate switching to PF2e. Finally, going to learn the PF2e rules and character classes to help me make a decision. I can always use home rules to change a small number of things I don't like.

Due to WotC's new OGL 1.2 "Play Test", I think it's likely that owners of OGL 1.0a material are safe with using it. What I don't know is when Paizo prints additional PF1E material, is that called publishing or printing. If it's publishing, Paizo will be able to use the new "Community Commons" license WotC is working on for that, instead of OGL 1.0a -- provided WotC does not pull a fast one. If it's not considered new publication because nothing was changed in the PF1e printings, then it appears they can continue to use OGL 1.0a (I think without a court battle).

Still, everything WotC is doing is confusing, changes almost daily, and could be potentially far reaching. You still can't get 5e PDFs of their books and other materials -- my preferred medium. That's why I like Paizo. Time to break away from WotC insanity!


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UnArcaneElection wrote:

I still greatly prefer Pathfinder 1st Edition, so I'm still waiting to see what falls out for that (even if Paizo never makes anything more for it, somebody might do it, if only they won't be strangled by a horde of Hasbro lawyers).

I do, too. However, the reality I'm seeing on Discord servers is that it is much harder to find PF1e players. Also, trying to build a PF1e campaign in Foundry VTT takes work because you've got to, more or less, build all your NPCs at least to the extent of importing statblocks and assigning images to the actors (aka tokens or pawns). I've got a better setup in MapTool with my own macros, but people seem to prefer Foundry VTT. Took me 1 1/2 years to develop that. When Paizo marginized PF1e immediately after announcing PF2e, they basically killed it and the PF1e community.

I'm not happy about that because I spent over $1000 on my PF1e material. Not sure I'll ever get much out of it.

All I can say is that it appears to be time to move on and hopefully Paizo does NOT do it that way to PF2e when PF3e comes out -- or at least that doesn't happen till the 10th anniversary of PF2e.

Sadly, PF1e became its most fun to play when it finally got to its 10th anniversary because it was finally finished. We finally had all the books -- most of which are still missing from PF2e.

Paizo is professionally maintaining a PF2e game system and now has prebuilt actors (tokens) with their images for Foundry VTT -- making it a very appealing VTT environment for game play. PF2e is becoming very hard to ignore and there appears to be a lot more players versus PF1e. I'm looking at the PF2e situation very seriously this weekend to evaluate switching to PF2e. Finally, going to learn the PF2e rules and character classes to help me make a decision. I can always use home rules to change a small number of things I don't like.


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I've been committed to PF1e and have not yet moved on to PF2e. However, I am exhausted with WotC licensing. Paizo, if with PF2e you can finally break us away that and use other licensing, I'm all in.

Please finally come into your own, Paizo. Stop the WotC insanity! Thank you for your efforts and rising to lead the RPG community to sensibility!

I've read OGL 1.2 "Play Test" and, honestly, I'm still very concerned about WotC. I don't trust them. I feel very boxed in with their VTT policy and restrictions not to use the monster images from the books you've bought and paid for in your own games. Good thing I only bought three 5e books to look at them. No way I could use 5e with that type of restriction. Time to move on.

Playing groups need to have flexibility to use the material they bought as long as they use it exclusively within their campaigns with a reasonable number of players in their group. Otherwise, there's no point buying the material.


Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:
Ageron wrote:
HLO isn't a paizo product. Abandoning PF2 because you don't like HLO doesn't make a lot of sense.

No, I disagree with that. As a GM, there's no way in PF1 I could have nearly as good of a gaming experience without Hero Lab. I'm into VTT using MapTool with my own macros. I import NPCs into my macros from Hero Lab, giving me access to thousands of NPCs. Takes only seconds for me to import one. For the same level of detail entering info for PCs from character sheets my players give me (because they don't have Hero Lab) takes me hours. With my macros, I have full resource tracking for everything (equipment, spells, special abilities, etc.).

For me to consider PF2, Hero Lab is absolutely needed. I very much prefer the Classic version. I prefer when I buy digital assets to be able to download them and maintain backups -- and being able to continue to use it even if the provider goes out of business. With HLO, I just don't get that pease of mind -- unless I can export all the data I wanted to use (which I can do with Hero Lab Classic even though it's a Windows app).

Being able to do the same for PF2 with HLO is absolutely required ... and, then, I'd have to modify my macros. No small task. That means being able to export NPC content for the Bestiaries, APs, modules, etc. is necessary to make that effort worth it. I like to organize this exported data into libraries so it's ready to go for our games (and protect those and use them only privately because it's only fair to the IP owners and being a professional software developer I totally get that).

I've got to add that in addition to my PF1e framework (or game system) for MapTool, there's very good support for Hero Lab Classic's PF1e game system in Foundry VTT and D20Pro. Because there's no online charges, it is very cost effective to use. For MapTool, I've prebuilt a private library of nearly 7000 NPCs to drag and drop onto my maps.

I'd have to have the same thing in PF2e to give it serious consideration. There's no way I would buy into the online version of Hero Lab to get PF2e. Just way too expensive, and I have no idea whether it is as easy to use to do the same thing.

The PF2e community should push for Hero Lab Classic support!


Ageron wrote:
HLO isn't a paizo product. Abandoning PF2 because you don't like HLO doesn't make a lot of sense.

No, I disagree with that. As a GM, there's no way in PF1 I could have nearly as good of a gaming experience without Hero Lab. I'm into VTT using MapTool with my own macros. I import NPCs into my macros from Hero Lab, giving me access to thousands of NPCs. Takes only seconds for me to import one. For the same level of detail entering info for PCs from character sheets my players give me (because they don't have Hero Lab) takes me hours. With my macros, I have full resource tracking for everything (equipment, spells, special abilities, etc.).

For me to consider PF2, Hero Lab is absolutely needed. I very much prefer the Classic version. I prefer when I buy digital assets to be able to download them and maintain backups -- and being able to continue to use it even if the provider goes out of business. With HLO, I just don't get that pease of mind -- unless I can export all the data I wanted to use (which I can do with Hero Lab Classic even though it's a Windows app).

Being able to do the same for PF2 with HLO is absolutely required ... and, then, I'd have to modify my macros. No small task. That means being able to export NPC content for the Bestiaries, APs, modules, etc. is necessary to make that effort worth it. I like to organize this exported data into libraries so it's ready to go for our games (and protect those and use them only privately because it's only fair to the IP owners and being a professional software developer I totally get that).


A major problem with the character sheets is that they use way too much ink. There should be printer friendly versions.


Very good move! Thanks, Paizo!


I've released version 10.0.6.3 and 9.15 of my macros supporting Pathfinder 1e on MapTool. It's tested on 1.5.8 and 1.4.1.8, respectively, but should work on other MapTool versions such as 1.4.0.5 -- however for 1.4.0.5 you'll need to install a later MapTool version and export the "Example Campaign.cmpgn" from there to 1.4.0.5.

MapTool can be downloaded from here:

MapTool Download

My Pathfinder 1e macros for MapTool can be downloaded from here:

MapTool Macros For Pathfinder 1e Download

They are both free for you to use! Now, with easy to follow instructions -- and an "Example Campaign.cmpgn" file you can open directly in MapTool and get started building your campaign!


I've released version 9.14 and 10.0.5 of my macros supporting Pathfinder 1e on MapTool. It's tested on 1.5.7 and 1.4.1.8, but should work on other MapTool versions such as 1.4.0.5 -- however for 1.4.0.5 you'll need to install a later MapTool version and export a campaign from there to 1.4.0.5 and then save all the tokens and macro sets and import them into a 1.4.0.5 campaign.

Download MapTool and the macros for you to use for free at the following locations:

Download MapTool

MapTool macros for Pathfinder 1e


I've released version 9.12.3 of my macros supporting Pathfinder 1e on MapTool. It's tested on 1.5.4, but should work on 1.4.0.5 and 1.4.1.8 -- unless the files are incompatible (if not, I'm using compatible macro library functions and have been using my macros on 1.4.1.8 till now).

This code is very solid and we use it for our games every week. Lots of very powerful features such as:

* Party Treasure management

* Campaign Time tracking (you'll now be able to deal with complex issues such as PCs crafting while the party moves on to further adventures)

* Automatic spell DC calculations

* Spell management (complete for both prepared and spontaneous spell casters)

* Easy to use interface

* Greatly improved macro layout

* Resource tracking (equipment, ranged attacks, spells, special abilities, money, etc.)

* New skills can be added by the GM (and they are automatically made available to all the tokens)

* Temporary Adjustments for abilities, size, movement, saving throws, energy resistance, AC, attacks, etc. are automatically applied and can be enabled/disabled.

* "Character Sheet" makes reviewing PCs and NPCs easy -- can be used in conjunction with WinMerge to compare the old token's sheet and the new token's sheet.

* "Player Token Editor.cmpgn" enables players to edit their tokens offline.

Click these links below:

Pathfinder 1e macros for MapTool 1.5.4, 1.4.1.8, and 1.4.0.5

Easy instructions for GMs to setup an RPG campaign with MapTool:

How to Setup a VTT Campaign with MapTool

NOTE: If you don't play Pathfinder 1e, these macros can go a long way to helping you get started with writing your own for your own RPG.


Joana wrote:
Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:
Is there a guide available to help convert 1e characters to 2e?
Conversion Guide

Thank you.


The 2e Bestiary has ability modifiers but no ability scores.

What if an NPC suffers ability drain or damage? Assume the NPC has the odd or even ability score for that modifier?


Is there a guide available to help convert 1e characters to 2e?


Bringing us back on topic ...

So, does Paizo create the same volume of rule books for 2e as it did for 1e -- just try to make them better?

Or should 2e be constrained to a much smaller set of books?


But the beauty of it is that you don't have to stop playing 1e to put 2e on your radar. I don't. I still have a goal of mastering all the material in the 1e rule books. I really have to with all I've invested. I've also got 3rd party material I want to use.

2e has some good ideas and where appropriate you might apply them to a 1e campaign as home rules using 1e material. Some concepts 2e seems to have been greatly refined from 1e.

We have a way to go for 2e to get caught up with a volume of material. For the 1e dedicated GM (such as myself), I recommend looking at 2e to gets some useful ideas.

I felt that stopping 1e development was like throwing out the baby with the bathwater-- but ignoring what 2e is attempting to become just because there's some (major) items we find hard to swallow with our existing perspective is also throwing another baby out with the bathwater. There's lots of good stuff in there that should not be ignored.


Luna Protege wrote:
Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:

Hm. I've been watching a review of 2e on YouTube. I am hearing some very impressive things.

I may have expecting 2e to be too much "like" D&D and 1e, rather than a major rethinking of these RPGs.

I'm hearing about a lot of issues in these other game system being resolved. I didn't really expect that.

I'm committed a huge amount of time and money to 1e (including 9 months of work on VTT macros), but I can see the possibility of 2e in my future.

I just don't have the resources right now, but I will be taking a much deeper look at it.

I have not heard what kind of issues have been "solved" in 2E, or even what issues they had With PF1E to begin with.

What I do know, is that its taken up at least one of the same problems of D&D 5e that annoys me there, and continues to annoy me in PF2E: Class Rigidity.

Here's a simple exercise to illustrate, by attempting to fill in the brackets with random combinations:

"I play a (Class) who specializes in (technique)"

... And ask yourself if that build is at all as viable as it would have been in another system; would playing such a character in one of the systems be needlessly handicapping yourself?

For example:
A Paladin who specializes in Unarmed Combat
Or A Barbarian who specializes in Ranged Combat

These two examples are two I could find immediately as implausible in PF2E... They're also implausible in D&D 5e as well. Both are POSSIBLE to make without handicapping yourself in PF1E however.

Special note for Unarmed in PF2E, not even the multi-class Archetypes allow you to become anything above trained in Unarmed.

This is somewhat a shame, because I really liked Saint Seiya, and so an armored champion of a god that forsakes weapons by their god's command in favor of fighting with their bare fists really appeals to me.

One example is spell lists in D&D and 1e have become too generic. Sometimes we can't even tell the difference between a divine and an arcane spell caster. So, in this case, I'd say there isn't enough class rigidity. At least part of this issue has been addressed in 2e.

Another issue that has been addressed is better roleplaying. Apparently, each character not only has not only traditional skills but, for example, might also have social skills.

Skills become more interesting in 2e, for example, because some characters (classes) can not only intimidate as we know it but they could intimidate someone to death (out of fright).

There's parts of 2e I wasn't thrilled with and I still see a lot of value in 1e, but I'm beginning to see the point of 2e development. Seems like there's enough there to overlook some things that might rub traditional, older players the wrong way and consider a new perspective. It's hard because 2e tries to be different and fix a number of issues we're so used to overlooking in D&D and 1e because many have been there since or near the beginning.

Different is sometimes hard. I've heard enough about 2e, though, that it seems worth it to tough it out and consider a very new (perhaps revolutionary) perspective. For the parts you just don't like, consider using home rules to fix it.

But, really, I think an amazing number of issues never addressed before may have been ironed out in 2e and it's worth a good hard look.


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Hm. I've been watching a review of 2e on YouTube. I am hearing some very impressive things.

I may have expecting 2e to be too much "like" D&D and 1e, rather than a major rethinking of these RPGs.

I'm hearing about a lot of issues in these other game system being resolved. I didn't really expect that.

I'm committed a huge amount of time and money to 1e (including 9 months of work on VTT macros), but I can see the possibility of 2e in my future.

I just don't have the resources right now, but I will be taking a much deeper look at it.


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Rysky wrote:
Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:

I worry also about trying to formulate a future for Paizo based heavily on Starfinder.

Check this out ... Stargate RPG based on 5e

I don't know if Starfinder can stand up to that. Stargate has a lot of appeal and is perfect for an adventure-based RPG.

They don’t have to for the same reason they don’t have to stand up to Star Wars RPGs.

Starfinder is a Science Fantasy roleplaying game.

A Star Wars game is not a Scifi nor Science Fantasy game, it’s a Star Wars game.

Same with Stargate.

Good point. Maybe not. Starfinder also has a magic element that can't really be explained in a Stargate RPG. That might very well give Starfinder an edge, but I don't connect with the Starfinder artwork on the core rulebook cover. Just looks to childish for me.


Gorbacz wrote:

I can and that's what I do, what these quotes do is show the context. And the context is your view that PF2/5e are simplistic games undeserving the attention of a sophisticated gamer. Apart from the fact that PF2 is significantly more complicated than 5e and lumping them together has little merit, these quotes pretty much paint the whole picture of your position one needs to make an educated opinion of it.

I have been looking at 2e in detail. I admit I have not looked at 5e so much.

What are the primary advantages of 2e over 5e?


I worry also about trying to formulate a future for Paizo based heavily on Starfinder.

Check this out ... Stargate RPG based on 5e

I don't know if Starfinder can stand up to that. Stargate has a lot of appeal and is perfect for an adventure-based RPG.


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I hope that 2e is a success and that everything I've said here doesn't matter about my impressions. Those of you who are the next generation of RPG players deserve to have your time ... and I wish you the best!


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Gorbacz wrote:
Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:


a more sophisticated group

people don't want to do the math in their head

middle school kids are the primary demographic

insult its players with simplifications

The fact that you prefer complicated game systems does not mean that you are more intelligent or sophisticated than a person who prefers less complicated game systems. There's no correlation between the preference and mental capability.

My 5e group has three people with degrees in Law, one M.D. and one PhD. They are extremely intelligent people, they just prefer more streamlined gaming systems where they spend less time fiddling around with rules and more time storytelling for their weekly RPGing.

Your error in understanding this leads you to groundless elitism where you see yourself as superior on the count of your gaming preferences. You're doing no favour to yourself, your position, your chances of anybody taking you seriously or frankly the hobby as a whole. It's neither wise nor powerful.

Your edits to my text somewhat put it out of context. Can't play by the rules or are you trying to over simplify things?


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Luna Protege wrote:
Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:

By creating 2e has Paizo opened the door to losing more market share to D&D 5e?

I've looked at 2e. I'm staying with 1e, unless we lose all our players.

I very much like Pathfinder. With the colorful PDFs, it's very accommodating to the VTT environment I've grown to love.

For reasons that still perplex me, D&D 5e (last I check) still has no material in PDF format -- but 1e through 4e do.

Given the choice between oblivion (the loss of our 1e players) and playing 2e, I'd probably be forced to give up the ghost and go back to D&D.

Pathfinder 1e is really my most favorite RPG -- and I very much hope it doesn't come to that!

Paizo, I really think that to compete with 5e that a simplified variation of 1e would have had a better chance -- one that could have allowed players to scale up to full 1e if they decided too after becoming more experienced players.

I can't really stand looking at 2e.

I mostly agree with you... But I don't see how simplifying 1E is going to help; the fact they gutted everything about 1E to make 2E is why I dislike 2E.

D&D 5e appeals to people who didn't even play pen and paper RPGs, or anything remotely similar before they started; its "easy to learn"... Pathfinder's appeal was NOT about that, it was the system for people who were familiar with more complicated systems, and were having trouble gearing down into a system gutted of all its subtle interactions and choices.

I got into Pathfinder... Because when I was a kid, I played Baldur's Gate, and I wanted to have a chance to play more of it given the series was "over" back then.

I think reproducing that is probably going to be the main way Pathfinder may get some new life in it. Pathfinder: Kingmaker is probably going to bring quite a few people into Pathfinder, assuming it gets advertised.

Its a great option for people who can never manage to find enough people to form a group for Pathfinder; and people who don't play Pathfinder are going to find it easier to...

Simplifying 1e as a gateway to full 1e for those who may eventually seek out a more complex game. This is something that neither 5e nor 2e can offer. 2e strikes me as a me-too attempt to have a 5e but may not have done it as well.

I think the error here was to fail to do something smart and interesting in a new addition, but, rather, focus on a very young demographic that will quickly out grow and tire of 2e. 2e just doesn't adapt to a more sophisticated group, from what I see. Probably should start thinking about a 3e, if there's enough creative energy left.

Regardless of all the chatter, I still believe Pathfinder 1e was the best RPG I have ever experienced. Yes, it had flaws, but from what I see in 2e it looks like the baby was thrown out with the bath water.

I hope I'm wrong because I'd like to see Paizo continue to be successful.

What I think will happen is players, when given a choice of 5e or 2e, mostly it will be 5e. 2e is kind of a head scratcher. In a number of different places, such as the Bestiary that lists ability modifiers instead of ability scores because people don't want to do the math in their head, it just seems like we the fans have been greatly underestimated -- or middle school kids are the primary demographic.

Does 5e insult its players with simplifications like that? I'm really asking because I don't know. Given the choice between the two, I'd rather succumb to the RPG that at least still respects me.

But as long as I can still play 1e, I don't have to worry about it.


Anguish wrote:
Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:
I'm just proposing a fail back position for Paizo if 2e doesn't work out.

We've been down this road. The fallback position is: forward.

PF1 didn't produce enough income for Paizo to justify continuing it as-was. They will have shed PF1 popularity, even if you only consider the people who do shift to PF2.

This is math.

Let X = the number of sales required for long-term survivability
Let Y = the number of sales below X that Paizo was already at
Let Z = the number of sales below X that Paizo will be at in two years

X - Y -Z = still lower than X

There's no addition sign anywhere in that equation because there's no influx of new sales. "Not enough" minus "anything" is still "not enough".

If PF2 fails, Paizo will shift to PF3, or pure Starfinder, or, or, or, but revisiting the past is not very likely at all.

Says you.


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CrystalSeas wrote:
Mark the Wise and Powerful wrote:
a simplified variation of 1e would have had a better chance -- one that could have allowed players to scale up to full 1e if they decided too after becoming more experienced players.
That would be the PF1 Beginner Box

No, the beginner box is too simple. There's simplifications that were applied to create 2e. Instead, direct those motivations to producing a paired down 1e. Just a thought if 2e doesn't catch on.

I've already talked to a DM for 5e who was laughing at all the different types of feats. I'm afraid 2e might be an easy target for things like that. It's going to affect mind share.

I'm just proposing a fail back position for Paizo if 2e doesn't work out.


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By creating 2e has Paizo opened the door to losing more market share to D&D 5e?

I've looked at 2e. I'm staying with 1e, unless we lose all our players.

I very much like Pathfinder. With the colorful PDFs, it's very accommodating to the VTT environment I've grown to love.

For reasons that still perplex me, D&D 5e (last I check) still has no material in PDF format -- but 1e through 4e do.

Given the choice between oblivion (the loss of our 1e players) and playing 2e, I'd probably be forced to give up the ghost and go back to D&D.

Pathfinder 1e is really my most favorite RPG -- and I very much hope it doesn't come to that!

Paizo, I really think that to compete with 5e that a simplified variation of 1e would have had a better chance -- one that could have allowed players to scale up to full 1e if they decided too after becoming more experienced players.

I can't really stand looking at 2e.


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Odd. I'm facing a lot of conflicted emotions as Pathfinder 2e approaches its launch Aug. 1 and 1e becomes history.

First of all, I'm absolutely dying to see what's changed in 2e since the PlayTest. I'm very much hoping there have been major changes to the action economy from what it was in the PlayTest -- which I very much didn't like. It's a critical factor. If it's still pretty much the same, a lot of other stuff is going to have to be really good to overcome my objections. I did like some of the readability enhancements I saw in PlayTest books -- and the new concept that some spells could have a crit. fail or crit. success. That's kind of cool.

Second, I hope 2e is successful -- even though I'm still committed entirely to 1e. I've got way too much of an investiment in 1e to really move forward to 2e. I'm not convinced it's going to be worth the effort to do conversions, on the fly or otherwise, to get 1e material to work in 2e or visa versa. Unless 2e is really good (and not just dumbed down as some people possibly unfairly claim), to me an elf is just an elf -- is other words in one way all these different systems are really the same thing. The challenge is really working within the systems to "win". Not really sure it matters which one in a way.

So, I'm also a bit depressed because my 1e world has become frozen in time. It now only has a past. There won't be more future. No point checking for all the exciting 1e new releases -- except, curiously, while very happy with the breadth of 1e rule books, and in spite of their flaws, I'm very happy that this set of really great books is finally finite. There won't be more rule books to overload GMs. We now have an opportunity to master the existing material -- and will do so excitedly probably for the next 10 years or so as long as we have players.

There's a number of people that really love 1e because it seems to fit the natural progression from the now overly simple D&D. I started with D&D in the 80s. We called it AD&D -- you can think of it as D&D 1e. When you play that long enough, you want more than just the core races and classes, more equipment, more spells, etc. There's no way Pathfinder 1e fans can really go to something as vanilla as D&D 5e.

I hope that as Pathfinder 2e evolves that it leaves room for people like us to continue to embrace complexity even as, perhaps, others don't. Please don't forget us. Pathfinder 1e will be in our hearts forever.


I've released version 9.7 of my macros supporting Pathfinder 1e on MapTool. It's tested on MapTool 1.4.1.8, but should work on 1.4.0.5 and 1.5.2.

MapTool and these macros are completely free. If you like it, a donation to RPTools (the developer of MapTool) would be a nice thing to do.

New Features:

* New "Character Sheet" button added that allows you to see the entire online character sheet in one window. This feature will help players know what parts of their online character sheet are filled out. You can also copy-and-paste it all to a text file in a readable format. GMs can use that along with WinMerge (a free, open source tool that's easy to find) to easily compare changes made to the online character sheet vs an earlier version for a token (see below for an example).

* Big performance enhancement for the "Party Treasure" view.

This code is very solid and we use it for our games every week. Lots of very powerful features such as:

* Party Treasure management
* Campaign Time tracking (you'll now be able to deal with complex issues such as PCs crafting while the party moves on to further adventures)
* Automatic spell DC calculations
* Spell management (complete for both prepared and spontaneous spell casters)
* Easy to use interface
* Greatly improved macro layout
* Resource tracking (equipment, ranged attacks, spells, special abilities, etc.)
* New skills can be added by the GM (and they are automatically made available to all the tokens)
* Temporary Adjustments for abilities, size, movement, saving throws, energy resistance, AC, attacks, etc. are automatically applied and can be enabled/disabled.
* New "Character Sheet" button enables the entire online character sheet to be viewed in a single window -- and you can copy-and-paste from it. WinMerge is a great, free tool to use in conjunction with this feature.

MapTool macros for Pathfinder 1e

Easy instructions for GMs to setup an RPG campaign with MapTool


Zioalca wrote:

1. What is your favorite VTT?

Currently Roll20 but I don't have a ton of experience with anything else.

2. What features do you see missing in VTTs that you would like to have?
Not sure, like I said in question 1 I am still new to working with them.

3. What do you like most about your favorite VTT?
Dynamic Lighting

4. Do you prefer VTT over traditional tabletop? Why or why not?
I am very mixed on that. Traditional tabletop and being there with real people that you can physically interact with is a lot of fun. Virtual does have the advantage of letting you display the information for a module much more easily though. Also not having to perform math on the fly is a help some times.

5. Is Pathfinder better done over VTT?
I think 1st edition is. We will see after 2nd edtion is out.

6. Are their any VTTs you are thinking about trying and want more info about them?
I've been experimenting with Astral Tabletop. I may end up switching to it.

7. How would you rank (between 1 and 10 with 10 the best) the VTTs you've come into contact with?
Have only really used Roll20 for a game so I don't have anything to compare it with yet.

8. If you're using a VTT, what other tools do you use with it to:

a. Develop your campaign?
Herolabs

b. Run your campaign?
Herolabs

9. Are you having any trouble with recruiting?
No

10. Do you prefer combat, role playing, or both?
I like a mix of both.

Thanks for responding.

Yes, I'd agree that dynamic lighting and FoW (fog of war) are my most favorite features BUT way on top of that is the ability to write macros that automate a lot of the mundane activities that most GMs ignore that are central to the game but are also too burdensome.

Examples include resource comsumption, date and time on the AR calendar, day of the week, season of the year, the passage of time, weather, damage to weapons used in combat, etc.

And, then, there are issues very difficult for GMs such as how to track situations where multiple PCs want to craft items, the durations are all different, and the rest of the party wants to move on and continue the adventure. One of the PCs in my campaign has become infected but symptoms won't show for a week. Got to also track situations where it takes multiple saves to resolve a condition.

Players have a bit of paperwork to do each time they rest.

All these things are easy to handle with macros to either automate dealing with these issues or helping the GM keep track of them.

I can create a much more realistic campaign in a VTT environment than I ever could in straight traditional tabletop.

Some GMs are doing a hybrid of VTT and traditional tabletop -- even by placing an HD TV down on the table and using it for the map.


BTW, I forgot to mention that another major feature for my MapTool macros is:

* Temporary Adjustments for abilities, size, movement, saving throws, energy resistance, AC, attacks, etc. are automatically applied and can be enabled/disabled.

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