HELP WITH GAME SESSIONS and game progress

[SzasTam]

Friends, due to the language barrier I am writing with the help of google translator. I'm new to the system, coming from 5th edition D&D, and I'd like to know how do you get players to "spend" their character resources: class skills, spells, and so on without weighing your hand? In D&D 5th edition they give you an idea of ​​how many encounters are needed for this, but in pathfinder 2nd edition I didn't find it. I would like to know if anyone has experience in this matter or has any ideas. Thanks

[Ashbourne]

D&D 5e is more balanced around an adventure day for resources, whereas PF2e is balanced per encounter. Most of the time in PF2e, it's good to let the party have time to recover after each encounter especially going into a harder encounter. So no need to worry about characters not spending resources.

[The Raven Black]

You can check PFS scenarios to get some references.

Their framework is usually 3 encounters per scenario, with the last being the Boss fight (so higher difficulty).

Note though that PFS encounters are often on the easier side so that even an underoptimized party can avoid a TPK.

[Ashbourne]

I've only been playing PFS for three months now. I haven't seen any TPKs, but the number of near TPKs is very high from what I'm used to in Starfinder or D&D3.5. But I think that's a sign the tight math in PF2e is working.

[The Raven Black]

Ashbourne wrote:

I've only been playing PFS for three months now. I haven't seen any TPKs, but the number of near TPKs is very high from what I'm used to in Starfinder or D&D3.5. But I think that's a sign the tight math in PF2e is working.

Alright. I would be extremely interested in what caused this difference of perception. Because I really go at PFS without optimizing at all and it usually felt from very easy to a little hard.

But this thread might not be the best place for this. If you wish, you can PM me the specifics for what caused the near TPKs.

[SzasTam]

Ashbourne wrote:

I've only been playing PFS for three months now. I haven't seen any TPKs, but the number of near TPKs is very high from what I'm used to in Starfinder or D&D3.5. But I think that's a sign the tight math in PF2e is working.

I understood. I had thought of two encounters and a "boss". I'm unsure since it's my first time in pathfinder 2 edition. D&D never again.

[Ashbourne]

The Raven Black wrote:

Ashbourne wrote:

I've only been playing PFS for three months now. I haven't seen any TPKs, but the number of near TPKs is very high from what I'm used to in Starfinder or D&D3.5. But I think that's a sign the tight math in PF2e is working.

Alright. I would be extremely interested in what caused this difference of perception. Because I really go at PFS without optimizing at all and it usually felt from very easy to a little hard.

But this thread might not be the best place for this. If you wish, you can PM me the specifics for what caused the near TPKs.

I'm just saying the math for encounter balance works. If the goal is to have an exciting fight but not die, a near TPK is a good thing. But if we hadn't had time to heal between encounters, they would have been TPKs.

As for why we have so many near TPKs, the GM has very lucky dice, several times getting critical hits on the first three attacks, taking 1/2 the party to zero Hp before we even get to attack. Meanwhile, one of our front line fighters hasn't rolled higher than an 8 in 4 weeks. The other cause is fighting creatures that can paralyze.

[HumbleGamer]

I think it depends whether you intend Limited resources ( spells, for example ) or Unlimited ones ( focus spells, hit points, etc.. ).

Also if you intend to put the players against more encounters before giving them the chance to rest.

Talking about AP, I think each single map is meant to be completed within a single dayl, with just small rests without any need to wait until daily preparations.

As for putting more fights on the line before giving players a chance to get at least 10 minutes rest, I think it's up to the DM depends how strong the party is.

for example, during the second and third extiction curse book I had to put 3 fights altogether / in sequence for players ( starting with the boss fight ) in order to make them somehow appealing in terms of challenge. But it was just because the party they had was way too strong ( partially because of their composition, and partially because FA ).