Pathfinder Core Rulebook

No longer anchored in its 3.5 traditions , the developers have completely rebuilt a new system for the game they love.

Character Customization is still the strength and spotlight, yet the game feels balanced. The three action system is brilliant, leading to many more options in combat and strategy. The Proficiency system, levels of success and archtypes are all great , clean and simple additions, yet they had depth and room for expansion.

The book is also beautifully layed out with many many great pieces of art.

Many adventures await with 2e! :)

Full Review : http://www.5mwd.com/archives/5692

The final product of Pathfinder 2 is very much like the playtest product; while there are numerous changes, the overall foundation of the game and its classes are largely the same. If you didn’t like the playtest, you probably won’t like the final product. And if you loved the playtest product, this is largely the same thing with tighter balance, refined rules, and better presentation.

Pathfinder 2nd Edition is almost retro. If there was a term for 3e OSR style play, Pathfinder 2 would be that style of game. It’s Labyrinth Lord for d20. (d20SR?) It streamlines and cleans up the rules while improving balance but doesn’t really innovate much.

Pathfinder 2 reduces the number of skills while removing skill ranks; it adds Encounter powers; classes are designed around lengthy chains of feats/ powers; powers with keywords and tags; monsters that don’t follow PC rules; bonuses that increase based on your level; treasure is awarded by handing out magic items of set levels. To say nothing of the heavy combat focus and tactical play that requires a battlemap. It’s all very 4th Edition… but 4e arguably done in a way that retains a lot of classic elements and curiously kills fewer sacred cows than 4e despite being far more able to make hamburger.

The game is a direct evolution of 3rd Edition and Pathfinder. But it evolves the d20 game system in a lot of the same directions as 4th Edition and Star Wars Saga Edition. Games that ironically predate Pathfinder 2e. It’s an evolution of the game, but an evolution that could have taken place almost a decade ago. It feels designed in a vacuum, ignoring innovations of its competitors and rivals. Which would be problematic at the best of times, but is even more curious at a time when 5th Edition D&D has become the best selling RPG ever.

It’s also a dense system that requires a lot of system mastery. You need to know what keywords do, and memorize conditions, and keep track of specific jargon like “Step” and “Stride”, which are different things despite starting with “S” and relating to movement. This is not an easy game to learn. While arguably simpler (or at least more streamlined) than Pathfinder 1, it’s still one of the more complicated RPG rulesets currently being published. If not the most complicated in-print RPG. We’re currently in a time when most other roleplaying games have been moving towards narrative play (or even the emotional play of Nordic RPGs), when theatre-of-the-mind gameplay is a major focus as it enables & supports the live stream games that have become so essential for new player acquisition.

All of the above is a pretty big feature/ bug. If you like complexity, everything I just said is probably a selling point. If you don’t, then Pathfinder 2 is probably not your jam. And that’s okay. Because so many other games are drifting towards the narrative end of the spectrum, it’s probably a good thing to have a big name game providing an alternative.

Pathfinder 2 evolves Pathfinder in a direction I have very little interest in playing. It doesn’t fix or resolve any of the issues that caused me to burn out hard and drove me away from the game. It’s still complex with a lot of work to build character and ridiculous amounts of magical items without even an optional inherent bonuses system. And it encourages roleplaying and acting in character largely as much as Battletech or Warhammer 40k. In a world where 5e didn’t exist, I could probably hammer Pathfinder 2 into something playable with a barrage of house rules… but 5e does exist, so I don’t need to do all that work.

But that’s just me. I’m sure there are lots of people who want a heavier game than 5th Edition and are unsatisfied with its character building. It should also appeal to D&D fans who are unhappy with 5e’s “rulings not rules” attitude and want a game with less arbitration and firmer rules. It should also appeal to many fans of 4th Edition who might be in the market for a new game. To say nothing of Pathfinder 1 fans who just want a little more balance, or desire a version of the rules that has a clean slate and far less bloat (at least for a year or so). Pathfinder 2 might easily appeal to all the above. And it’s certainly the go-to game I will recommend to people who want that kind of experience.

I primarily bought this to stick it to 5th Edition, but boy is it fun!

This might be a bit of a "rant" because, frankly, I can't contain my excitement enough to write out a "well-thought out review".

I've been able to thoroughly analyze the book and experienced the system first-hand at Paizocon. I was extremely hesitant after the playtest and approached the Second Edition with a sort of cautious optimism. While I could feel even during the playtest that the new system was a labor of love, I just wasn't feeling especially enthused with what I saw after playing through the playtest scenarios. Then I saw the final product.

The modular nature of the new system can be somewhat daunting. If you just skim the class section like you would any other d20 system, you may be a little disappointed at what looks like a lack of options. But once you sit down and make your first character, you'll begin to realize that the breadth of options here manages somehow to bridge that gap between a level-class system that defines ecah character by a set role and a point-buy system that allows for modular character option selection!

This isn't a "nerf"; on the contrary, this opens up characters we could only dream of playing in 1e. In the core rulebook alone there are at least 11,880 viable class and class/dedication combinations (and I could get more ridiculous if I wanted to claim it's possible to have a decent 4 dedication PC). Each book being released will add even further depths of customization given the fabulous "archetype" system from 1e has been seperated from individual classes and instead given out freely.

Essentially, you are no longer building a "class" in 2e. You are building a "character".

Skill feats ensure that the "modifier race" has been replaced by choosing cool abilities that help define your character beyond "+25 to diplomacy!"

Codified saves and DCs help both players and GMs make quick table calls that won't result in a 25 minute forum search and debate as to whether or not a player can or can't do something. Ask for their proficiency. Have them roll the die. Set the DC based on the chart in the book or the DC of the target being opposed.

Ancestries are customizable right off the bat, with the tantilizing promise of BALANCED CHARACTER TEMPLATES for the first time in 1pp d20, potentially allowing for all sorts of "hybrid races" like Dhampir Elves without overly specific trade-offs that might not make sense for your specific character!

The combat rules are somehow simpler and yet more tactically satisfying even if we don't go into what the action economy does for us. Skill-based maneuvers without the need for a feat tax let everyone potentially "grab the guy trying to run away" without being grossly punished for it. Rules like enlarging and the debuffs are so clean and clear that I don't think I'll ever need to reference the rulebook once I play for a few months. And yet there is no missing depth to the tactical decision-making both players and GMs can make here...especially due to the action economy (being able to 'spring attack' with zombies in the playtest was so freaking fun).

The environment and hazard rules in this system are tight! Balanced rules for things like jumping on enemies or bypassing different types of hazards without just relying on the same old "class check".

The multi-classing system is brilliant, and this is coming from someone who multi-classed and even prestiged classed a majority of his PCs in 1e. Allowing for trade-offs they way they do helps further customize what your character is defined by, without the skill/save/BAB problems in 1e or the need for prerequisites that limited most prestige classes in older editions to only be accessible to "certain classes".

The weapon traits in this system are a wonderful addition. I can't wait to see more than the dozen or so "optimal weapons" we saw in 1e. Almost every weapon in this book serves a role beyond "it exists in the real world, so we better give it stats, even if its worse in every way than something else we already have".

And the best part?

The very best part?

I can get someone playing this system after maybe an hour of rules explanation and character creation. And I mean actually playing. As in making the decisions for themselves. As in having your creative solutions be a feasible check rather than having a group of experienced gamers roll their eyes because they know the rules don't support what your trying to do without some obscure feat.

Paizo has completely hit this edition out of the park. Somehow they've managed that perfect balance between clarity and complexity. This is truly a game that you can learn in an afternoon, but take a lifetime to master. One that's as fun playing as it is GMing. And one that goes the extra mile to make sure no player option is "too weak", without making everything feel "the same".

Now go roll some dice.