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Thinking of getting Pathfinder 2e and I'm just wondering what is generally recommended for buying, I was thinking of getting 2e's CRB, but is the Remaster better? The CRB seems the better choice price wise, I plan on getting the pdf, and I'd rather buy 1 book than 3...
No, the CRB isn't really a better deal and you should get the remaster. Player Core, GM Core, and Player Core 2 are not just the CRB. They represent the CRB, Advanced Player's Guide, and Gamemastery Guide, just split into a slightly different configuration. It is the 3 most essential PF2 books either way. Monster Core and Bestiary 1 are closer to direct analogues with each other. Monster Core might be worth purchasing too if you want to browse monsters for homebrew adventures.
Also, I HIGHLY recommend getting a Pathfinder GM screen. I haven't checked if there's a remastered version of it but the pre-remaster version has tons of incredibly helpful information. It is the single most important purchase a first time GM can make since the rule books themselves can largely be read for free off Archive of Neyths. (Personally, I find reading the book much easier for learning the rules but Nethys is better for looking up a rule later.)
Here are the pros and cons of buying the remaster.
Pros:
-Better balanced, with lots of feats and spells getting buffed.
-Better organized.
-Will soon be used for all future content.
-Lots of fun flavor additions.
-Kills some legacy sacred cows that needed killing to make an objectively better game once you take off the nostalgia glasses.
-Moving GM content out of player core makes it easier for players to find what actually matters to them.
Cons:
-Player Core 2 isn't out yet, so the remaster isn't yet a "complete" game.
-Older books will still reference pre-remaster content like spell schools and alignment.
-It will be more expensive because cover prices/page counts have adjusted for pandemic inflation. Plus businesses will likely run sales on the CRB and other outdated books to clear space in their inventory.
-You lose a lot of legacy D&D stuff. If you're emotionally attached to things like alignmment and ability scores, this will be upsetting. But you can still easily blend in most legacy monsters and spells without issue because the remaster changed so little. So hanging onto alignment may be hard, but owl bears are still fair game.
I think you'd be better served spending the extra money now on better books, especially when you might want to get them anyway down the line. The "missing" content from Player Core 2 can all be found in Archive of Nethys. But you might value those cons enough to stick to the CRB, APG, and GMG.
If you don't go remaster, DO NOT SKIP BUYING THE GMG. The advanced player's guide offers some key content from archetypes, but broadly speaking the advanced player's guide is meant for advanced players. Your new players shouldn't need it and its classes are much harder to play effectively than any CRB equivalent but the alchemist. Meanwhile the GMG is chalk full of good advice, fun variant rules, useful subsystems, and the rules for building your own monsters and hazards.
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Oh, and whichever way you go, I recommend leaning on this forum for first time GM tips, like:
-Pain points when moving from 5e or PF2.
-Encounter balance.
-What APs fo buy and what do be careful of.
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Oh, and whichever way you go, I recommend leaning on this forum for first time GM tips, like:
-Pain points when moving from 5e or PF2.
-Encounter balance.
-What APs fo buy and what do be careful of.
I will add, also on the forums, tips for new players too, especially those coming from similar-looking but actually fundamentally different systems (5e and PF1).