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I eagerly read all the blogs on the new Pathfinder edition and I find it very interesting. I would like, however, to make a small criticism about your presentation of the new rules.
So far, I find that what is presented titillates especially the interest of the players and not that of the GMs. I understand that you want to distinguish yourself as much as you can from D&D 5e by giving players the most options to allow them to create a character as they imagine it. But who says more options, says more preparation time! As a GM who has a limited time, it scares me and, to tell the truth, throws me away from the new edition of Pathfinder.
What did you imagine to make life easier for the GMs? What about the supposed fast mechanics to create monsters and NPCs?
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IMHO GMing for PF2.0 should be no more difficult than for PF1.0. Perhaps less. Espcially since one of the design goals was to mid to high level characters easier to manage.
Sure, there will be new stuff to learn. But overall, it's looking like it'll be somewhat less complex for the DM to manage.
IDK, monsters playing by their own rules could go two ways. Either they will have their own system that is complex, but easy once you learn, or the system is simple and boring taking life out of NPC and monster building.
A monster blog would be most welcome.
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What did you imagine to make life easier for the GMs? What about the supposed fast mechanics to create monsters and NPCs?Well, this system isn't actually in the playtest, only some of its results in the form of individual monsters. So advertising it has a distinct issue of being false advertising.
What's your source here? I must have missed this.
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What's your source here? I must have missed this.
I don't have the time to hunt it down right now, but the folks at Paizo have noted it a couple of times (mostly when talking about the playtest bestiary). What we get with the playetest is a stripped down bestiary of converted monster stats and the promise that the PC rules can be used to make level appropriate foes by the system.
The actual 'separate from PCs' NPC creation system would be in the Bestiary, which is not what they are playtesting.
Honestly, I'd be pretty shocked if the optional quick build rules didn't make a GM's life a lot easier. In PF1, every creature's abilities were focused on a million smaller variables. Your ability to grapple or to hit was based off your strength score, your size category, your BAB, your hit dice, your feats, and any special abilities you had. And if a player hit you with strength or dex damage, you had to recalculate a whole lot of stuff in a convoluted manner.
Now, if I get Enfeebled 3, I know exactly what to take off of what rolls. And when I build a character or monster, I can just make sure I am hitting the right benchmarks for the to hit/AC/HP/saves, without sweating how all those parts are conjoined. I won't need to assign X number of feats just because my monster has Y number of hit points.
A lot of this will depend on how good the guidelines and benchmarks are of course. And how well those benchmarks adjust for special abilities, spells, or traits like incorporeal or swarms.
The action system seems like its going to streamline things on both sides of the screen.
It sounds like magic is getting a good overhaul, which should reduce the ability for a single spell to close off a lot of good story angles or plot twists. So that might be a plus.
The action system seems like its going to streamline things on both sides of the screen.
It sounds like magic is getting a good overhaul, which should reduce the ability for a single spell to close off a lot of good story angles or plot twists. So that might be a plus.
I assume by "good overhaul" you mean "significant nerf".
I assume by "good overhaul" you mean "significant nerf".The action system seems like its going to streamline things on both sides of the screen.
It sounds like magic is getting a good overhaul, which should reduce the ability for a single spell to close off a lot of good story angles or plot twists. So that might be a plus.
I'm assuming spells can still;
-Charm
-Transport
-Revive
-Remove Environmental threats
-Scry
-Battle Control
So I don't think a significant nerf is coming. Or even an overhaul. We'll just have to see with the actual Spell list
What problems does PF2 present to GMs? As a GM I'm not seeing specific problems that are an across the board issue.
What problems does PF2 present to GMs? As a GM I'm not seeing specific problems that are an across the board issue.
The only difficulty I see is that I will want to convert a lot of PF1 material to PF2 to keep the wealth of diversity in the setting that the PF1 source material provides. From the reviews I have seen so far, Paizo is keeping PF2 sufficiently similar to PF1 that I will be able to convert. So, all is good.
I hope for a swift publication of the most common monsters in the 2nd edition version of Bestiary I to reduce the number of conversions necessary.
What problems does PF2 present to GMs? As a GM I'm not seeing specific problems that are an across the board issue.
Monsters and NPC having their own rules. Could be easier or could be more complicated. We dont know until we know.
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I have yet to see ANY "design goals" of PF2. Could you please refer me to the design goals you're referencing?IMHO GMing for PF2.0 should be no more difficult than for PF1.0. Perhaps less. Espcially since one of the design goals was to mid to high level characters easier to manage.
There's load of stuff that's been mentioned from all sorts of sources. The blog posts, devs posting on the forum, Paizo interviews on podcasts or other publications, etc. Goals include:
--Maintain depth of choice and tactics while reducing unnecessary complexity.
--Make the math of the game better tuned
--Make magic items feel wondrous rather than just give you more +1s so you can keep up with the Joneses.
--Make the action economy easier to learn, while still providing lots of tactical decisions.
--Make mundane characters feel extraordinary at higher levels
--Make initial character creation much easier.
--Make high level play easier to run.
--Don't make creating a high level NPC or monster as time consuming as a high level PC. (But still let you use the PC rules for NPCs if you want to take that time.)
The last two are particularly relevant to this thread.
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What problems does PF2 present to GMs? As a GM I'm not seeing specific problems that are an across the board issue.Monsters and NPC having their own rules. Could be easier or could be more complicated. We dont know until we know.
This is a slightly misleading statement. They have their own character generation rules, not their own rules for things like skills, or at least not to our knowledge.
What problems does PF2 present to GMs? As a GM I'm not seeing specific problems that are an across the board issue.
What I see in the new edition is that it allows a multitude of details to add on different elements of the game. (Weapons, spells, class features, etc.) There is, therefore much more choices to be made than what we had to do in Pathfinder first edition. This is, in my opinion great news for players who want to create a character that seems unique and has their own flavor.
However, I am afraid that all these details weigh on the creation of NPCs. I am the default GM in my group of friends, the option to be a player is not available to me. I have little time in my life to dedicate to the preparation of my adventures. What I need most is efficiency in the rules. I would not want to spend precious hours developing a single high-level NPC.
Honestly, if I think it's too long and complicated to get ready for a game session, I think it's better for me to stay at the first edition. It may not be the simplest system on the market, but at least I master it well since I've been playing from the very beginning.
That's why I am very curious about the NPCs creation system that has been mentioned slightly so far. I think it's high time we talked about it!
I remember reading about that, but without specific information it's too hard to say, and I don't expect in depth details until the playtest begins.