There will be plenty of people combing through the rules and offering their commentary there so I wanted to take a different approach and discuss the layout of the book. As a graphic designer (and not a professional game designer), I thought my feedback in that area would be more helpful than trying to direct rules changes.
Below is a list of initial impressions I jotted down as I skimmed through the book. Some are may not be well thought out, and some might just be down-right arguing for aesthetics over practicality. Keep in mind this is just one man’s opinion(s), and while I recognize that Paizo isn't exactly asking for input along these lines I do think feedback on this end could also contribute to improvements to the final result of Pathfinder 2.0.
Also, this might seem like I’m more critical than I am. In general I think the playtest rulebook looks great. I just think there’s room for improvement to a lot of the (for lack of a better term) “legacy” approach to the layout in general.
The Good
* The artwork, obviously, is gorgeous
* The character sheet looks great.
* The first page for each ancestry. I love the simplicity of this layout. All of the important game related info in a sidebar with the “fluff” on the other side. Just great.
* Class layouts - the “splash page” with the large artwork is great visual inspiration for what that class embodies and certainly worth the space it takes up even if it less practical then the class layouts for 1st edition where the text could flow around the image of the iconic.
* Class layouts pt 2 - the second page is also great design with the sidebar pulling the big picture info away from the details.
* Class layouts pt 3 - can’t say enough about how these are presented. They each feel like their own section as they should. One of the worst parts about 1st edition (which most game books suffer from) is how rules for a class would just randomly start 2/3s of the way down a page where the prior classes rules ended (For a particularly egregious example of this, reference 1st edition Core Rulebook pg 38. This type of creativity in the layout should be utilized more often throughout the book (more thoughts on this below)
* Class Feats pt 1 - Glad these were listed by level instead of alphabetically with all levels mixed in (ala: spell lists (though I understand why those are listed the way they are)).
The So-so
* I’m not sold on the symbols for actions. It seems like a solution in search of a problem. I don’t see how this is an improvement over “Action: Do this….” or “Action 2: Do this….”
* Class layouts pt 4 - the class advancement table seems to get lost. Especially after the 2-page class introduction spread. I feel that more attention needs to be called to this somehow. Even though it doesn’t contain as much info as the level tables of first edition it still feels like it should span the width of the page as those did rather than be constrained into the column of test (though I suspect a lot of that decision was a space-saving measure - the space taken up by the 2-page initial spread for each class has to be made up for somewhere.
* Class Feats pt 2 - Not sure that the sidebar which lists all of the class feats alphabetically and shows what level they are is necessary. I can’t see myself referencing that often if at all.
* Equipment chapter. This is very similar to how these chapters have been laid out for edition after edition. Not sure how it could be improved without really ruminating on it, but this has always felt unwieldy and cumbersome to go through.
The Bad
* This is a pet-peeve of mine of RPG books in general and I largely understand the enormous pain in the ass this would be to adjust (not to mention the ripple effect it would have to page count if undertaken over the course of the whole book), but it is incredibly irritating when a specific rule starts on one page (or column even) and is continued on the next. I’m not talking about paragraphs of text, but when a feat whose explanation is, say, 5 sentences long, and 3 are in one column and 2 are in the other (example that staring at at the moment - Attack of Opportunity on pg. 109. But more egregious to me is Shining Oath on the prior page)
* The placement of Traits in a left-justified bubble that indents the text that it interrupts. Yuck. In the final rulebook, please right-justify these so they do not impede the text. The is an eye-sore.
* Table 1-3: The Nine Alignments — the vertical alignments of Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic are driving me nuts. They should be vertically centered inside of that cell instead of aligned to the top. While we’re at it (and I recognize this is most likely a space saving measure) but since the point of this grid is to see how the two parts of your alignment come together as a 3x3 grid, this would be much more aesthetically pleasing if the chart was actually square (ie-the cell’s height was the same as their width). Right now it just looks like a mess.
* Feat presentation. Similar to my disdain for trait bubbles interrupting the text justification, I don’t like how the action symbols (more thoughts on those below), interrupt the justification of the feat names. I understand why this was done, but aesthetically it feels off. From a pure aesthetics perspective, it should be FEAT NAME and then SYMBOL
* Tables 3-9 and 3-10 Cleric dieties and domains. These are just a mess of information. Because I’m moving through this quickly to just down initial impressions I don’t have a suggestion for improving (especially because its a lot of information to present and you can’t just cut any of it to make it look nicer), but these are an eyesore, like someone vomited words onto a page (not that similar tables in 1st edition were any better)
* Table 3-15: Monk Attacks. The placement of this feels so random. Why is it after Tiger Stance but before Wolf Stance? Why Not Crane Stance or Dragon Stance? Or at the end of the section? Of even better - a sidebar since it details rules that are spread throughout the section
* Table 4-2 Skils. See comments about Tables 3-9 and 3-10 above
* Skill listings in general. Now that there are less skills than in the prior edition, it would be great if each skill and its accompanying options were presented on a single page (2 if necessary) similar to how Ancestries are presented (or the aforementioned 2 page spread for each class). This would make finding the necessary rules much easier not to mention break up the walls of text after text after text that these types of chapters have been in the past (and continue to be at the moment). You guys got creative with out Ancestries and Classes were presented - let’s do that across the board! Get rid of the legacy layout thinking that has been with us for several editions!
* Table 5-1 Feats. This will be the last time I bring up this criticism (and again, without really thinking about it, I’m not sure of a better way to present this information), but more tables that are eyesores.
* Spell lists. See my comment about text relating to one rules element flowing into another column. I’d rather see distinct columns for each spell level rather than a continuous flow of text. Again, I recognize this results in blank space and adds to page count so its unlikely to happen. But it would present itself much nicer if this was done throughout the book. At the very least, section off the spell lists so that the Devine Spell List doesn’t start 2/3s of the way down the page after the last bit of arcane spells. Reformat so each spell list takes up a 2 page spread with a header across the top that says what spell list it is. That would look 10 times better with minimal effort. (Occult and Primal could probably fit on 1 page each.
* Spell descriptions. This is the culmination of a lot of previous criticism so I won’t repeat again. And also from a practicality standpoint there’s probably no better way to present this info, but I’ve always hated the encyclopedic feel of spell list chapters.
* Archetypes. Please give each one it’s own page so it is presented like a scaled down version of how classes are presented! (See comments on skill listings above)
* Calculating results table on page 292. As mentioned previously, vertical centering is your friend.
* At Deaths Door sidebar on pg 296. This feels like it should be offset more to draw more attention to it so it can be found quickly when someone is scanning the rules for the specifics like with other sidebars.