Aside from small details, like what feats you get and what not, the biggest difference in character creation is ability score allocation. Your ability scores are provided at steps rather than in one big point buy. At each step, aside from the bonuses and penalties provided by class/ancestry/etc, you get free boosts that can be spent on any ability.
To put it simply, you build up your ability scores while you select your character options. I find it quite intuitive compared to the traditional point-buy.
Other big changes include the action system, which is now a flat 3 actions like the revised action economy from Pathfinder Unchained. Also, all of the math has been unified under a "Level+Proficiency+Modifiers" system, rather than the fraction math inherited from 3rd edition.
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I'm sure I'm probably late to this topic, but I've been reading a few threads that just brought the question to the forefront of my mind.
What are the major differences between Pathfinder 1st and 2nd editions?
IN SHORT, Unchained can be considered a prototype of many concepts that were baselined in Second Edition. (:
So for character creation... translating PF2 terms to PF1.
1. Start with all 10s, as though using point buy.
2. Choose your race and alternate race traits (called ancestry and heritage.)
- Assign the racial modifiers to your stats, and then another +2 that can't go into something that got a bonus.
- For example, a dwarf gets +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Cha, and then +2 (not Con or Wis).
2. Choose your background. This gives you the following benefits:
- One skill and one Knowledge (called a lore skill) as class skills.
- One general feat (called a skill feat) related to one of these two skills.
- +2 to either of two stats defined by the background, and +2 to any stat that you didn't pick in this step.
- For example, a blacksmith gets Craft and Knowledge (guild lore) as class skills, a feat resembling Skill Focus (one Craft subskill), +2 {Str or Int}, and +2 to some other stat. If you pick Str between the two, you can't pick Str with the free stat, but could pick Int or anything else.
3. Choose your class.
- This gives you +2 to your class's key stat. For fighters, champions, monks, and rangers, you can choose between Strength and Dexterity. For rogues, you can choose Dexterity, or a different stat defined by which archetype you're using. Otherwise, it's defined as you would predict:
- Alchemists (which are core in 2E) and wizards = Int
- Barbarians = Str
- Clerics and druids = Wis
- Bards and sorcerers = Cha
4. Finally, apply four +2s to four different stats.
The result will create characters with 78 total stat points and +9 of total modifiers, ranging between
12/12/12/14/14/14
8/10/12/14/16/18
As a note, ITERATIVE stat boosts occur every 5th level. You get four selections (as in step 4); however, if you raise a stat that is at 18 using this boost, it only goes up by 1 instead of by 2.
Also as a note:
You have one racial Hit Die (that doesn't get your Con modifier), on top of your class Hit Dice and Con modifier as usual. A dwarf fighter with 18 Con, for example, has 10 (race) + 10 (class) + 4 (Con) = 24 hp at level 1, and will get 10 (class) + 4 (Con) hp every level after that. This makes low level characters more resilient.
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Some system differences:
1. Skill system:
PF2e simplifies skills. Either you're untrained (meaning you only roll from your stat,) or you're some sort of trained (stat + character level + 2-8 depending on the level of training.) You can improve your level of training with a skill at every odd level, within some restrictions.
Perception is, on some level, a class skill for everyone; rangers and rogues get to start out with the expert training instead of the merely trained.
It also treats combat values as skills. Weapon proficiency, armour proficiency, and saving throws all use the skill system. Note that this causes your AC to scale with level, meaning that level difference becomes a greater indicator of damage.
2. Feats:
There are now general feat, race feats, skill feats, and class feats. At odd levels, you alternate getting general and race feats; at even levels, you get a skill feat and a class feats.
Archetypes are defined by giving alternate feat trees. These are usually considered class feats, though some are skill feats instead.
Multiclassing is handled just like VMC, using archetype feats.
3. Class mechanics:
- Generally, more classes get to make early build decisions, similar to cavalier orders or sorcerer bloodlines in 1E. Barbarians, for example, can choose a taboo (sorta like a code of conduct) that modifies their Rage, but do have a null choice (that just makes them classic Barbarians.)
- Paladins and rangers are no longer casting classes; the notion of 4-level casting has been removed.
- Bards are now full casters; and bards and sorcerers, while still being spontaneous, are not delayed in progression compared to prep casters.
4. Casting classes:
- Instead of just three casting traditions (Arcane, Divine, Psychic), there are now four (Arcane, Divine, Occult, Primal).
- These are now 10-level spell lists, with each tradition having its own version of Wish as a 10th level spell.
- Bards are now Occult casters.
- Druids are now Primal casters.
- Sorcerers now use a casting tradition based on their bloodline:
--- Dragon and "imperial" (arcane) still use the Arcane tradition - the Wizard list.
--- Elemental and fey now use the Primal tradition - the Druid list.
--- Angelic, demonic, diabolic, and undead now use the Divine tradition - the Cleric list.
--- Aberrant and hag now use the Occult tradition - the Bard list.
5. Actions:
- You now get three acts and one reaction per round; actions take up 1-3 acts depending on what you're doing.
- Actions that provoke AoO now have keyword traits identifying them as such.
6. Magic weapons and armour:
- "Masterwork" doesn't exist anymore. Now, for weapon and armour enchants, you apply the following runes:
- Potency: Limit 1. A potency rune gives +1 to +3 to {hit or AC}, causes the item to count as a Magic Item, and provides that many slots for effect runes.
- Striking / Resilient: Limit 1. This gives +1 to +3 to {damage or saves}.
- Effect: Limit (based on potency rune). These are the special enchantment qualities, such as flaming or fire resist.
- Clothing can take armour enchants that don't require a type of armour, thus allowing armour-restricted classes such as monks and sorcerers to benefit from improved defenses.
That's a quick overview... for a certain definition of quick, of course.
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I think you would have benefit possibly more making this thread on the 2E forums.
Well, it has been a long time since release so I already forgot many of my grips with it. Keeping the bias about my greatest gripe, which is the one I certainly wont forgot, in check is quite hard, so take this with some salt.
It is worth pointing out that what goes for magic in PF1 and 2E is hardly the same. 2E made a point to "balance" spellcasting. Personally i found it a horrid attempt.
- Some spell duration are pretty... restrictive. Many of them being utility spells now quite restricted.
- The new DC system of 4 states in theory is a method to help mages land spells. As now it isnt a simply binary success or fail state when passing a save DC. You can critical success, success, fail and critical fail. In practice, many effects on 2E now require a critical failure by the enemy, by 10 or more, to land the effect you would have in PF1. So often now you need to find ways to decrease a enemy DC before you can land what you want. In simple terms, it is easier to land spells, but they will be weaker when they land too.
- Some spells were completely removed or just rewritten so their to have effects distributed among different levels. For example, haste, which is single target at first, but if you cast it at a much higher circle can target multiple party members. If I remember right, it was for example circle 3 for single target, circle 7 for multiple.
Anyway, like I said, mine is a biased view. The point of the written above is to call your attention to this, so what you check the rules in the future you can see for yourself the changes to this aspect of the game.
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They aren't really comparable systems. They are designed with different purposes and with different play expectations. You'd be better off asking PF2 players how the system plays out if you want an explanation of the system, adding a comparison to PF1 would just confuse things. Just have a good idea of what the game needs to do in order for you to use it, and ask the PF2 part of the forum how it deals with those things.
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I guess I could clarify:
PF2 is built around mechanical balance, scaling difficulty to ability, and facilitating module play. It has the sort of tightly controlled experience you expect from a board game, and I think it would make an excellent one with a bit more polish.
PF1 is focused more on fulfilling the fiction or fantasy of various archetypes. There's little to no mechanical or narrative balance as the archetypes tend not to be balanced in most stories. Many player options are built with game expectations that aren't universal, such as party cooperation, day length, or genre related benefits. This leaves a game that's very reliant on DM/player communication.
Neither system fulfills their goal perfectly, but, from where I'm sitting, these are the apparent design goals.
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What annoys me is that they made all these changes to spellcasting (not to my taste) but they STILL appear to have the sacred cow of only divine/primal casters can heal. Give wizards the option to heal so while you still want a caster you don't NEED a cleric. Yes I know there's rest recovery and the like I just hate that even after all these years we have healer = cleric tone.
What annoys me is that they made all these changes to spellcasting (not to my taste) but they STILL appear to have the sacred cow of only divine/primal casters can heal. Give wizards the option to heal so while you still want a caster you don't NEED a cleric. Yes I know there's rest recovery and the like I just hate that even after all these years we have healer = cleric tone.
Sorcerers can heal in Second - if their bloodline is one of those that uses the divine or primal traditions.
sacred cow of only divine/primal casters can heal
Hrm, there are numerous options for arcane healing in PF1, some are more hidden that others though. Some arcane classes directly get cure spells onto their lists (bard, witch, sorcerer with unicorn bloodline etc.), while wizard is probably the most restricted class when it comes to healing. Still he has access to infernal healing (heals more than CLW actually) and summon monster (some celestial creatures can heal). There is also the life subschool, though it seems relatively weak.
Hence I guess PF2 wizards will get something over time.
ErichAD nailed it IMO, though I think it could do with a bit more polish as an RPG before the fine buffing needed to make it something else.
If you take a look at the subjects of threads over on the second edition forums you can see this divide play out - the considerable majority are about combat balance issues and optimisation. Very few are about roleplaying, worldbuilding, adventure design, or random what-ifs as you may see on the first edition forums. Though of course we have some about combat balance & optimisation here too that's not all of them and never has been.