First Pathfinder 2E session

[Lord Mhoram]

The wife and I play rpgs a lot with just the two of us (I met her decades ago when she was the Champions GM when I moved in the area). We have played D&D 3rd, PF 1 and others together.

Today we did our first PF 2e (revised) today. Just using the beginner box (for reminders). The biggest things we had to remember was the 3 action system and the critical success/ Success/ Failure / Critical Failure structure.

We only played for an hour and a half, got through some roleplaying (which came easy) and one combat. We use the "Solo Heroes" rules by Kevin Crawford, for Labyrinth Lord, but the concepts work with just about any d20 level based game. I'm running a gestalt Monk/Kineticist.

We loved it. But it will take some time to get comfortable with the changes.

[pixierose]

Glad you had fun!

[steelhead]

Welcome to 2E! Glad you enjoyed it despite the rules being so different than PF1. That said, after getting used to the differences of the system, the elegant simplicity of the game compared to 1e is a nice change. If you play with a larger group, another thing that takes getting used to is the reliance on team tactics rather than the monolithic PC power builds of 1e.

[Lord Mhoram]

I saw saw the elegant simplicity reading the rules. We haven't had group play since he start of Covid, so it is just going to be the two of us. I was reading (and watching) a lot of stuff about teamwork in the system to try and figure out how to play an effective solo characters - as the team work to buff and debuff wouldn't really be present in what we play. We have done things like that before. This first game is basically us getting used to the system. The "real" game will the Strength of THousands adventure path.

[Lord Mhoram]

I expect we will get used the new way of doing things pretty quickly. When I ran PF1, I used more 3rd party content (Dreamscarred, Legendary, Spheres of Power, Rogue Genius) than I did actual Paizo stuff.

[steelhead]

Either a bard or a cleric would make good buffers for a team of two. Plus you’ve got strong healing options with either of those.

[whiteowl23]

I was first exposed to Pathfinder through the video games, both Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous. I haven't played either game in any great depth but loved both from what I've played so far. I have the Beginner's Box but think I'd like to learn how to DM. Where should I start? I have the Player Core book and suppose I should get the GM Core as well. Any suggestion would be appreciated. Paizo has published so many resources it's hard to know where to start. Thanks in advance.

[Pronate11]

So, first thing to keep in mind is that the beginner box, player core, and GM core are all for pathfinder 2nd edition, while the video games are based on 1st edition. There is a huge difference between the two systems, and if you want to learn 2e I would forget all the game mechanics from the video games and treat it as its own thing. With that being said, running the Beginners Box is the best way to learn how to GM (DM is a dnd term so you will hear the term GM for game master here). I would run that first with some friends, and then you can move on to a pre written adventure path (not kingmaker. It has been ported over to 2e but without a computer running kingdom rules its a pain to GM) or you can create your own adventure.

[whiteowl23]

Thank you. I appreciate your response. Yes, I did know that the video games were based on 1st edition and yes I am interested in learning 2e. It's funny but whenever I talk about Pathfinder now I say GM but for some reason I slipped back into "DM" here. Old habits are hard to break! Most of my friends live out of state so I was looking to find a group to game with online (either as a player or GM). Probably better to start as a player since I'm new to the system. Any suggestions on where to find a group and/or platforms to play on?

[Pronate11]

If you're going online, your best bet is the PF2 subreddit discord, which has more or less become the semi official paizo discord. It's been a bit sense I last found a game there, but when I did it you will have no problem finding players, and will likely be in the very nice position of being able to choose between like 10 potential players to find who will be the best fit for your table.

As for running the game online, discord for voice is very nice, and you can use it to roll dice with bots. However, if you're willing to spend a little bit more (or get your players to chip in), Foundry VTT is great, automates almost everything you will want automated, its constantly updated, and is a 1 time purchases of $50 USD with no subscription. Plus you can upgrade your beginners box pdf to the foundry version which makes set up extremally easy. The only downside of foundry is that you either need to pay a subscription to run it on a server, or requires that you set up port forwarding on your computer, which isn't hard but does require access to your router.

[whiteowl23]

I appreciate that. Yes, I'm on the PF2 subreddit from time to time so will check there for a game. I do have Foundry but haven't had time to learn how it works yet.

[Pronate11]

please note, it is only the subreddit discord thats great for finding players. The subreddit itself not designed for that.

[Ravingdork]

Gestalt? Are you referencing alternate rules from previous editions, or are you referencing the dual-class subsystem from the GameMastery Guide?

I've heard from a great many people that trying to bend 2e to meet the expectations of older editions doesn't work very well. I fear attempting to do so may sour your experience with 2e before you really get a chance to see what it's like.

A chef should not season a dish that they have never tasted before.

For your first session, I recommend that you try vanilla rules, in which you each play two characters. That way you have a whole party that can take full advantage of the team tactics that PF2e is so well known for, will have more opportunities to experiment with different classes and abilities (and how they interact with one another), will likely experience less problematic or unexpected game element interactions, and you'll get to experience the core mechanics of 2nd Edition. This would provide a more reliable basis on which you can then decide how best to alter future games in the system to your needs.