Hello all
I haven't played pathfinder or any RPs since 2014 and have kind of gotten out of touch with all the stuff it involves and how the games are run.
Does anyone know where I could find games running mix of PBP and Discord in GMT+2 friendly zone?
I'm looking for a mix PbP with chat (not voice) based Discord as I do not speak English very well. The optimal for me would be that we mostly play PbP and then occasionally gather to run discord encounters. If not. I'll look into PBP.
Does anyone run returning player friendly games and/or short refresher campaigns?
The "you shalt not do this in PBP" rules in the PBP section are a bit overwhelming. I don't really want to join a game where your head is bit off simply because you didn't use bold or italics in a correct spot. That doesn't sound like fun so I'd rather have a campaign where GM gently guides to proper PBP etiquette.
How do GMs and players feel about non-human races like Kitsune and non-optimal builds?
I like character building but I'd rather have a character that is fun to roleplay than optimized killing machine (though I do optimize within the concept). I have also developed a mild dislike for playing humans, including humans with pointy ears (elves) or short stature (dwarves).
I'm a human in real life so I'd rather play something else in a game, but I'm slightly worried that the general consensus here might be that you have to "prove" that you are capable of playing one. Still. I'd rather stay within humanoid range than play... say... a pegasus (albeit I did play awakened wolf Druid once).
For me roleplaying is important and I can't do that if I don't actually enjoy playing the character, so I'd also expect the non-human nature being treated more than just stats - that is, I'd expect NPCs to react to it for good or for worse. Are these reasonable expectations?
I don't want to create characters only to get frustrated if they are not picked for a game cause GM just sees red flags.
Speaking of roleplaying and RAW vs RAI
For me roleplaying is important BUT I also need encounters for the game to progress. I think also part of the reason why our previous games died was mixed expectations. Either too much RP for rollplayers in the group or too little RP for the roleplayers in the group.
However, as I said, I tend to play characters that are more fun than super efficient so I might at times need a bit RAI rather than RAW during encounters. I do respect rules cause they provide a good framework but I also enjoy finding creative uses for spells and effects. How do people feel about this?
Finally touching character appearances
I don't think character creation rules specifically touch this but how much you are allowed to tweak character appearances based on the concept in your head? I realize I said I tend to pick fun over efficiency but having both is the optimal and I don't intentionally want to gimp my chars.
For example I've plans for a Kitsune Sorcerer with Kitsune Bloodline (or Rakshasa bloodline if Kitsune bloodline is not available) in the theme of nine-tailed fox. However I absolutely do *not* like the magic tail feat. For my character concept he would get a new tail every time he gets a new spell level (i.e. at level 6 he would have three tails cause he has access to 3rd level spells).
This is purely visual representation of his growing power with no game mechanics involved so in my head there's no conflict as it's merely RP flavor. Is this perfectly reasonable or a red flag?
Would the character work in organized play?
Back in the day while I was still playing DnD I skipped organized play cause I just played online and all the chronicles stuff with hundreds of pages of reading and rules felt overwhelming. They still do but I kinda would like to try since you can apparently have Pathfinder society games online. I'd just need a good and patient GM to explain all the stuff to me and I'd definitely would like to try playing the Kitsune as described here (since Kitsunes are apparently available from the get go - unless I misunderstood).
Thanks for reading!
Edit: I should probably mention this concerns d20 and not 2E as d20 is the only system I know. There just doesn't seem to be any separate forum for that...
Found the correct forum so flagged this myself for transfer since I can't delete it anymore.
On races and non-optimal builds:
In PF2 you could expect most races that are tagged as common to be available, with varying access to uncommon or rare based on the GM you connect with. You may be unfamiliar with these terms, so I suggest you check out the new PF2 rules on Archives of Nethys. As far as optimal builds go....there's no so much in the way of optimization like there was in PF1. Typically 80% of your character's power comes from leveling up alone. You can do things to make your character more effective than others, but it's a much smaller gap than the kind of things could achieve in PF1. In general making flavorful choices will not end up creating a character that cannot effectively contribute. That said, a few classes have a harder time contributing than others. I think the most common complaints are alchemist and witch. Although alchemist was recently buffed by Treasure Vaults having some more interesting and powerful alchemical items added.
|
The "you shalt not do this in PBP" rules in the PBP section are a bit overwhelming. I don't really want to join a game where your head is bit off simply because you didn't use bold or italics in a correct spot.
On the site here, just say you are new when you apply to join. If you are accepted, then the GM is willing to put up with mistakes. As late Ng as you post regularly, pbp players are pretty nice.
As for class advice. New players should stay away from the witch (weak), alchemist (weak and requires researching items) and summoner(complicated). If you are coming from pf1e or 5e, you may want to avoid spellcasters, as a lot has changed about them. I recommend champion as a great place to start.
Yeah, spell casters are a significant change from PF12 where they were incredibly dominant. I also recommend playing something with a martial flavor to get familiar with the system.
The "you shalt not do this in PBP" rules in the PBP section are a bit overwhelming. I don't really want to join a game where your head is bit off simply because you didn't use bold or italics in a correct spot. That doesn't sound like fun so I'd rather have a campaign where GM gently guides to proper PBP etiquette.
I haven't ever seen a GM enforce formatting.
The only time formatting was ever brought up was when one player had their character doing all of their dialog in italics - which is considered mental comments rather than something that the other characters can interact with. So some of the other players asked if those comments were intended to be spoken. Turns out that he had the formatting correct and was just a very mental character.
I like character building but I'd rather have a character that is fun to roleplay than optimized killing machine (though I do optimize within the concept).
Well, while this thread is still here, I will mention that I find that PF2 is much better at doing this than PF1 ever was. PF2 has a much stricter power ceiling for the characters, but it also has a very solid power floor. You have to deliberately build a character to be ineffective in order to have them be unplayably bad.
Thanks for the replies.
I was actually thinking PF1 when I wrote the stuff as I didn't expect such big changes between PF2 and PF1. Now that I've read about PF2 rules, they are like two different games!
Also for some reason I missed the PF1 section with its advice corner, so... whoops?
I'm intrigued by PF2 as it looks very interesting. It's just that I don't own the PF2 rulebooks so can't play, and I'm a bit leery about getting the books if I can't find games.
Now that I've read about PF2 rules, they are like two different games!
I'm intrigued by PF2 as it looks very interesting. It's just that I don't own the PF2 rulebooks so can't play, and I'm a bit leery about getting the books if I can't find games.
Well, PF2 is in fact a different game, lol. Not trying to be rude though this may come across as so, but what did you expect with a 2nd edition? Like did you expect the rules to be mostly the same? Because when it comes to edition changes I expect radical changes, and we got that with PF2. So I find your reaction of "they're like two different games" to be very humorous. I'm sitting here thinking "yeah, that's exactly the point".
Don't let rule book ownership stop you from playing. You can find everything you need to play the game over at Archives of Nethys, all for free. It's the official Paizo PRD at this point (it started out as a "fan" website and became official). The only thing I will say, is that the format of AoN isn't great for learning the game but is amazing as a reference. I would strongly suggest purchasing a PDF to help learn the core rules of PF2 only because of the formatting of the book. It's possible to learn the basics otherwise, but definitely not as friendly to do so.
Yes, PF2 is very much a new game rule set. It has the same theme - but that is about it. Including character build priorities and optimal combat tactics. A lot of PF1 players have a bumpy entry into PF2 when they try to use PF1 mentality in it.
As for using the Archives of Nethys for learning the game, you can read the rules for character building and combat from the rules links and get a pretty similar experience to reading it from the book.
Though I would agree that AoN is designed for reference rather than teaching. The rules tab isn't where I would instinctively go first on the site in order to learn how to build a character. So it may be a bit non-intuitive.
Yes, PF2 is very much a new game rule set. It has the same theme - but that is about it. Including character build priorities and optimal combat tactics. A lot of PF1 players have a bumpy entry into PF2 when they try to use PF1 mentality in it.
As for using the Archives of Nethys for learning the game, you can read the rules for character building and combat from the rules links and get a pretty similar experience to reading it from the book.
Though I would agree that AoN is designed for reference rather than teaching. The rules tab isn't where I would instinctively go first on the site in order to learn how to build a character. So it may be a bit non-intuitive.
I have played DnD starting with red box and moving through to 3.5 and did some 4E experimenting - and I feel the changes here are bigger. The entire terminology has changed in many places (i.e. ancestries instead of races) as is the way to create characters (i.e. ability boosts instead of rolling or point buy). This is the biggest hurdle for me.
By comparison I find for example the action system and acccess to different spell lists to be iterations of the old system. The spells are still on a list and gated behind classes so not much change there. The actions seem to be still largely the same, only now you are not stuck into specific types and some stuff (like spells) use variable number of actions.
I'm indeed using Archives of Nethys to figure out the rules but I was under impression they are not OGL material and you need to own the rulebooks to actually use them?
|
The Pathbuilder app has been useful for me to create new PCs from the PF2 playtest. And it's free.
It will not teach you the rules though.
There are several threads here on the Advice board with advice for new players and warnings for those who come from PF1 by others who took the same path.
You can always ask any question you have on this board. People will definitely try and help.
I'm indeed using Archives of Nethys to figure out the rules but I was under impression they are not OGL material and you need to own the rulebooks to actually use them?
Currently they are still OGL - though that will be changing once the ORC license is finalized ;)
The only place I know of where owning the rulebooks is needed in order to play is in Pathfinder Society. There may even be option to use the Core Rulebook in PFS without owning it. Not sure on that though.
I believe you're correct that you can play Pathfinder Society with the core rule book without owning it, but I don't play Society at all so I'm not the best to ask on that kind of thing.
But it looks like OP is looking for a PBP game, perhaps with occasional online gatherings so it's unlikely they're going to run into an issue where owning the rule books is required.
I'm indeed using Archives of Nethys to figure out the rules but I was under impression they are not OGL material and you need to own the rulebooks to actually use them?Currently they are still OGL - though that will be changing once the ORC license is finalized ;)
The only place I know of where owning the rulebooks is needed in order to play is in Pathfinder Society. There may even be option to use the Core Rulebook in PFS without owning it. Not sure on that though.
Ah thanks for the info. I guess I can always get the books later, too, if this is the case.
Also thanks to The Raven Black for suggesting Pathbuilder. It definitely helps sorting through some of the stuff.