Hi all!
I want to introduce the three friends I'm currently playing PF1 with to the second edition. One of them has got the CRB and has quickly read part of it, while the others only know what we told them.
We will play via vtt, as we are scattered across Europe.
My goal is to show them how the new edition works, its strengths, and its main differences with PF1, without getting into things that are too complicated.
So I'm going to write a small, mostly railroaded adventure, a few sessions long, with just 2-3 encounters and probably something that involves skills before every level up. My idea is something like this:
Level 1: mostly humanoid opponents in a city setting; simple straight fights and some social interaction.
Level 2: a large, abandoned warehouse; fights against rats or insects, including swarms, maybe an ooze, and one or two hazards.
Level 3: graveyard, leading to a small dungeon; lots of undead enemies, maybe another hazard, and some skill challenge;
Level 4: final battle against the necromancer behind it all (severe or even extreme encounter, an eventual TPK is not a problem).
About the characters, I'm thinking about pregens so I can keep things simple, show my friends what has changed and some new mechanics of the game, and not force them to learn anything beforehand.
Considering that there are three players, I was thinking:
- Angelic sorcerer: my friends are well used to vancian casting, but this has the advantage of showing how the Sorcerer has changed, including Focus spells, while keeping things rather simple, and covers healing both inside and outside of combat (I would prefer having Medicine on another character, actually, but I can settle for this).
I could give them human ancestry to grab a decent attack cantrip (probably Produce Flame); at level 2 they will get Divine Blood and add Burning Hands (Sarenrae) to their repertoire, for an offensive AoE option.
- Champion, Liberator of Sarenrae: a sword and board frontliner that will allow my players to try a bunch of new mechanics (shields, weapon traits, reactions, Focus spells again).
- Monk, probably Halfling or Goblin. Another melee character, but with a very different combat style, based on dexterity and mobility. The sneaky one of the group. Will probably have Wolf Stance so they can play with flanking, the flat-footed condition and the Backstabber trait of their attack.
I've got a lot of ideas, but nothing really settled; so I would really like to listen to some suggestions about the adventure or the PCs. Remember my goal: showing as much as possible, but keeping thigs simple.
Thank you in advance!
I guess it's better if I add my idea for the story. Nothing very detailed, it's just an excuse for playing with the new rules.
The warehouse's owner has disappeared long ago, and the place is abandoned. The city's council finally decides to put the building for auction.
A merchant wants to buy it, but he knows that his ruthless competitor will do anything to keep the price low; so he hires the PCs as bodyguards.
The opposing merchant sends thugs to attack a couple times, then he exposes himself offering to pay the PCs much more if they switch sides. In any case, it's a trap. I still don't know how, but I'd like to give the group a chance to talk their way out of this third combat.
Fast forward: the PC's employers has won the auction, and sends them to check the warehouse. Among some deadly traps and every kind of vermins, they discover a lot of bodies, including the old owner's. The bodies have been stolen from the city's graveyard using an hidden tunnel, and the warehouse has been used as an hideout for necromancy practices.
Graveyard: large fight with low-level undead, then the group will explore a crypt with more enemies and some traps. Before getting to the BBEG (guess who he is!), they find a hidden stash with the magical weapons that will give them some hope to win the final clash.
I think it's important to show off a more mobile game early on in PF2 for people coming from PF1 because of how different moving in combat works. I'd include a low-level encounter where enemies are highly mobile (the mercenaries sent by the merchant serves well) to show how effective movement-focused tactics can be, a later encounter with a slow monster that is best dealt with by a mobile party (I like oozes for this, especially ones like the Giant Amoeba which hold the party in place if they let it), and not include enemies with Attack of Opportunity until the last fight so the party knows it's still a thing, but not too common.
So far, I had thought the first attack to be masked as a tavern brawl, and the second an ambush from rooftops to try ranged combat (and maybe climbing).
But yes, a mobile opponent would be a good thing to have, I will consider that.
And I could move the ooze to the crypt to give them more space to move, but maybe it will be more fun to do that in an environment that is full of obstacles, like the warehouse.