Best Place to Start?

[Harles]

I'm coming from a group that has been mostly following 5E for years, though we've occasionally played other systems, including Call of Cthulhu and Savage Worlds.

A subset of my group and I tried the playtest for PF2E (as well as a few convention playtests), and we found it not exactly to our liking. I'm aware that the final version has been released, but it's going to be a tough sell to the group to try it after the bad experiences they had with the playtest.

So buying the core book and bestiary isn't really an option at this stage until I get some group buy-in.

Is the SRD enough to play the game?

Also, are there any good starter adventures? I wouldn't mind shelling out a little for a PDF for an adventure if it's a good experience. (I heard the demo adventure recently released doesn't do the system justice. And that it's not really a "system-seller.")

Thanks in advance!

[Alyran]

The SRD (2e.aonprd.com) has the rules, classes, and all other (non-setting info) content from every book released. It even has the little bits of setting info attached directly to those rules.

There is also the d20pfsrd site (pf2.d20pfsrd.com) that has all the same information with the setting-specific stuff stripped down to be more setting-neutral. They take a little longer to get some things up since they don't work directly with Paizo and do the extra changes to the setting.

I don't have any advice on adventures. I know there are Pathfinder Society scenario PDFs available for like 5 dollars, but I haven't played any. I've been reading through Age of Ashes and like what I see so far, but haven't had a chance to actually run it yet.

[Ediwir]

Age of Ashes starts a little slow, but apparently Fall of Plaguestone is really good (haven't run that myself).

Archive of Nethys has all the info you need, as long as you're ok with doing your system-learning on screen.

[cavernshark]

The SRD (Arhives of Nethys) has all of the rules. One of you probably should have a CRB as it helps piece it all together but everything is available.

If you want something self contained, there are already 3 Pathfinder Society scenarios published and two more coming in October. They are basically 4 hour self contained adventures. I enjoyed both the Mosquito Witch (1-02) and Escaping the Grave (1-03). Mosquito Witch is a cryptid hunting themed adventure in a small town. Escaping the Grave is a rescue/recovery mission in hostile territory.

The Absalom Initiation (1-01) is also a good intro to a lot of the different kinds of encounters, but its heavily versed in Pathfinder Society lore so might feel disjointed for your group. It's also a little more complicated to run since it's repeatable with random elements.

[CrystalSeas]

What's available so far

Free 1-hour demo adventure
Torment And Legacy

Stand-alone Adventure
Fall Of Plaguestone
Flipmap for Fall Of Plaguestone

Adventure Path
Age Of Ashes
1 Hellknight Hill 1st-4th level
2 Cult Of Cinders 5th - 8th level
3 Tomorrow Must Burn 9th level
4 Fires of the Haunted City 12th level
5 Against The Scarlet Triad 15th - 17th levels
6 unreleased 20th level

Pathfinder Society Quest
The Sandstone Secret

Pathfinder Society Scenarios (mostly levels 1-4)
Origin Of The Open Road 5th level; pregens available
The Absalom Initiation
The Mosquito Witch
Escaping The Grave
Bandits Of Immenwood
Trailblazer's Bounty

[Harles]

There's certainly a lot of material. I guess I should investigate to see what would fit best for my group. Probably one of the Society Scenarios, as we're looking for a 3-4 hour initial experience.

[krazmuze]

Throw in the 1hr free one - it has lots of readaloud for the GM to explain some of the unique mechanics of PF2e (like action economy) and a very good cliffs notes version of the rules and 1st level pregens. If good then jump them to the 5th level pregen adventure so they can see more interesting abilities yet not waste time making a PC when maybe they are not that committed.

Someone recently posted they hated the playtest but are loving it at release - tried to find the thread for you but they way mods move things around could not find it.

[John Lynch 106]

Ediwir wrote:

apparently Fall of Plaguestone is really good (haven't run that myself).

From what I've heard it's somewhat of a killer module. So I would be careful in running this (has some very hard fights that actually go against the advise in the CRB in their construction). That said I am only going off what people have described here.

Having tried to reference rules on the SRD I find it difficult to find rules I already know (I ultimately have to use the search function). I would highly recommend the GM buy the PDF at a minimum. (At $15 it's the price of a movie ticket. So long as you get at least 2 hours of potential enjoyment of it then it seems like a fair price).

[Joana]

John Lynch 106 wrote:

Having tried to reference rules on the SRD I find it difficult to find rules I already know (I ultimately have to use the search function). I would highly recommend the GM buy the PDF at a minimum. (At $15 it's the price of a movie ticket. So long as you get at least 2 hours of potential enjoyment of it then it seems like a fair price).

You may not be aware, but if you click on Rules in the left sidebar, it takes you to a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of each of the books so you can look things up just like you do in the PDF. I prefer AoN to the PDF because you can click from place to place in it.

[NielsenE]

I'd also recommend Mosquito Witch as the strongest stand-alone PFS scenario to use. (Of course two more are releasing this week, so that might change my recommendation)

The one aspect that can select against it:

Spoiler:

There's no combat for a very long time, so if you're a combat focused group, the players might be chomping at the bit/bored. If you're a mystery roleplay friendly group its perfect.

[John Lynch 106]

Joana wrote:

John Lynch 106 wrote:

Having tried to reference rules on the SRD I find it difficult to find rules I already know (I ultimately have to use the search function). I would highly recommend the GM buy the PDF at a minimum. (At $15 it's the price of a movie ticket. So long as you get at least 2 hours of potential enjoyment of it then it seems like a fair price).

You may not be aware, but if you click on Rules in the left sidebar, it takes you to a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of each of the books so you can look things up just like you do in the PDF. I prefer AoN to the PDF because you can click from place to place in it.

Yup. I'm aware. I still have trouble finding things (e.g. any specific condition).

It may be the information can be navigated to via the menu. But wherever it is, I certainly wouldn't consider it as intuitive as a book. YMMV of course.

[Harles]

I went ahead and took the plunge and ordered the Core Rulebook and Bestiary. I'm glad I did. They're a joy to read, beautifully produced. I wasn't on board after the playtest, but I'm definitely curious to give it a try now. Thanks for the advice.

If I did have a gripe from the cursory look at the Bestiary, I feel that NPCs are a crucial part of the game that should've been included. I am aware that the Gamemastery Guide will address this, but I feel that guards, bandits, etc., are such a core part of any GM's arsenal that they should've been included in the Bestiary.

[Captain Morgan]

Harles wrote:

I went ahead and took the plunge and ordered the Core Rulebook and Bestiary. I'm glad I did. They're a joy to read, beautifully produced. I wasn't on board after the playtest, but I'm definitely curious to give it a try now. Thanks for the advice.

If I did have a gripe from the cursory look at the Bestiary, I feel that NPCs are a crucial part of the game that should've been included. I am aware that the Gamemastery Guide will address this, but I feel that guards, bandits, etc., are such a core part of any GM's arsenal that they should've been included in the Bestiary.

I definitely wish I had more NPCs, but it is only really a problem past level 5. For the early stuff there are plenty of humanoid entries whose stats you can use. Your players will never know the difference between a gnoll slaver and a human bandit.

Given you are dipping your toe in the pond, I imagine you are going to be at low levels.