Most of the PF2 blogs have been focused on class mechanics, skills, ancestries, etc. - the building blocks of player characters, and rightly so.
With the lessons learned over 10 years of publishing Pathfinder and specifically with respect to the RPG line, Beginner Box, Strategy Guide, and most recently the Starfinder CRB, the how & what of explaining RPGs at Paizo has evolved. Given Eric Mona's charter for the PF2 CRB of "it can't be bigger than PF1's CRB" combined with those lessons learned, it seems less likely that PF2's CRB will follow PF1's CRB chapter-for-chapter. We also know that Paizo no longer sees the hard division of setting-neutral RPG content vs. Golarion setting content as being more trouble than it's worth. Despite the fact that I don't set my campaigns in Golarion, I can see why they would arrive at that assessment from a business perspective.
Using the Starfinder CRB as our most recent reference point, the system for generating NPCs was pushed to Alien Archive, while a chapter on Starfinder's setting made it into the SFCRB. Starfinder is a different beast, however, and the inclusion of setting info makes sense given that Starfinder was carving out a new(ish) setting and lesser supported genre (science fantasy). The move to put NPC-generation rules into a "monster" book, however, seemed to me like a missed opportunity for a "core rulebook" that is supposed to serve both players and GMs.
I'm a world-building GM and the GM "game within the game" is as much a part of the hobby for me as running the game itself, so I certainly hope NPC rules make the CRB cut. If Downtime is core, I'd also like to see rules for the construction of buildings/strongholds as well.
While I'm not interested in a Golarion primer/summary in the CRB (and would vote against its inclusion), I wouldn't be shocked by it's inclusion as part of a PF2 "teaching mindset".
While we know (or strongly hinted) that Downtime will be in the PF2 CRB, what are your thoughts on other non-character-building content?
Should rules for generating NPCs be in the CRB or is the Starfinder approach preferred?
Should Golarion setting information (beyond deities) be in the CRB or reserved for a PF2 setting guide?
With the insight into the four essences, how much detail are you hoping to see in the CRB?
What other GM-specific content are you hoping to see in the PF2 CRB?
While we know (or strongly hinted) that Downtime will be in the PF2 CRB, what are your thoughts on other non-character-building content?
Should rules for generating NPCs be in the CRB or is the Starfinder approach preferred?
Should Golarion setting information (beyond deities) be in the CRB or reserved for a PF2 setting guide?
With the insight into the four essences, how much detail are you hoping to see in the CRB?
What other GM-specific content are you hoping to see in the PF2 CRB?
What I expect for each of these questions is:
1) I suspect that we'll have just enough in the CRB to run the game effectively without the need for a Gamemastery Guide, same as with 1e, and if they also have a Gamemastery Guide it'll be a bit of a blend of the 1e GMG and the optional rules section of Unchained. Which means, I think we will get some non character building options, but it won't necessarily be the focus.
2) I suspect basic NPC building rules will be in the CRB, but since NPCs can either be built like PCs or Built like monsters, I think we'll see it more fleshed out in the Bestiary.
3) I can't say as to what I expect, because I don't really know, but what I'd like to see is the CRB to be mostly setting neutral, but designed to incorporate some of the particularities of Golarion, without being expressly tied to them.
4) I think the four essences would probably be better served in another book. I would definitely like to know more about them, but I think devoting page space to them in the CRB would do a disservice both to the the essences, and to the rest of the book, since page count could be an issue.
5) I want to see as much of the rules systems that they've incorporated in PF1e (such as mass combat, settlement stats, maybe even kingdom building) in the CRB as they can fit, so long as they don't include it at the cost of other things. I feel like those things can be ported over in a separate book, where other things couldn't, but I think if there's space, it would be useful additions.
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While we know (or strongly hinted) that Downtime will be in the PF2 CRB, what are your thoughts on other non-character-building content?
There should be all the content necessary to play the game in all three modes of play (Encounter, Exploration, and Downtime).
Should rules for generating NPCs be in the CRB or is the Starfinder approach preferred?
This is sort of a false dichotomy. You can, according to the designers, build NPCs via the PC building rules, or build them as monsters.
That being the case, the version for building them as monsters should be in the Bestiary, but there remains a way to build NPCs in the corebook.
Should Golarion setting information (beyond deities) be in the CRB or reserved for a PF2 setting guide?
It's gonna have at least some in the corebook. They've said so. I'm pretty cool with that.
With the insight into the four essences, how much detail are you hoping to see in the CRB?
That's high metaphysics. I'd love to see it explored some time, but in the corebook? I'd expect no more than a cursory overview.
What other GM-specific content are you hoping to see in the PF2 CRB?
Aside from the sort of thing there is in the PF1 corebook? I'd like a much more thorough discussion of the social contract and how important that is. About how you need to all be on the same page regarding, say, what Alignment means.
It should be pointed out that while the Starfinder CRB is the closest reference we have, that book is a little smaller than the PF1 CRB and included rules for starships. On the flip side, PF1 has almost double the classes and will likely have larger spell and feat sections. Depending on how they organize everything, much of the length of class entries might wind up kicked over to the feat section, and the class entries themselves only containing class features (and so might actually be 3-4 pages compared to the much larger SF entries). But they also might not do that.
I would prefer the monster builder rules to be in the CRB, perhaps with an abbreviated list of universal monster abilities and simple templates, so that no one beastiary winds up suffering from page count. But if they release the Beastiary at the same time as the CRB, I won't be too bothered.
My preferences:
While we know (or strongly hinted) that Downtime will be in the PF2 CRB, what are your thoughts on other non-character-building content?
I'd like Paizo to decide what they see as the core Pathfinder experience and focus on providing that in the rulebook. From the sounds of it, that's encounter/exploration/downtime mode. I look forward to the game expanding, but would prefer to see stuff outside the core experience pushed to supplemental books.
Should rules for generating NPCs be in the CRB or is the Starfinder approach preferred?
Core Rulebook. I like the idea of being able to hypothetically running a game with one book alone, although doing otherwise is hardly a deal-breaker.
Should Golarion setting information (beyond deities) be in the CRB or reserved for a PF2 setting guide?
I'm hoping for setting information added naturally into the text (one might even say "infused"), but preferably without a chapter dedicated specifically to setting stuff. I appreciated the setting chapter in Starfinder, even though I use a homebrew setting instead. I don't think it's as necessary in Pathfinder.
With the insight into the four essences, how much detail are you hoping to see in the CRB?
I don't really care if they get explicitly called out in the Core Rulebook or if they remain a behind-the-scenes bit of worldbuilding for the folks writing the books.
What other GM-specific content are you hoping to see in the PF2 CRB?
Pretty much the same as in 1st edition, possibly with a bit of added detail on how to adjust challenges for high-magic and low-magic games.