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Et In Arcadia Ego





Canterbury

http://paizo.com/pathfinderplaytest


The Pathfinder Playtest officially launches on August 2, 2018!

In 2008, Paizo launched an unprecedented public playtest aimed at updating the third edition rules to make them more fun, easier to learn, and better able to support thrilling fantasy adventures. More than 40,000 gamers just like you joined in the fun by playtesting the new Pathfinder RPG rules and providing feedback, and the rest is gaming history. Now, 10 years later, it's time to put the lessons of the last decade to use and evolve the game once again. It's time for Pathfinder Second Edition!

Pathfinder Playtest Features
The new Pathfinder Playtest rules are the first step in the evolution to the new edition. We have incorporated the best innovations and lessons of the last 10 years to move the game forward in new and exciting ways. As we count down the days to the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook release, we'll be revealing more information on the following topics (and more!) on the Paizo blog:

10th-Level Spells and 4 Spell Lists
Alchemists in Core
Archetypes and Multiclassing
Class Changes
Classic Monsters and Magic
Clean, Modular Information-Based Design
Combat Maneuvers that Rock
Designed for All Levels of Play
Easier to Play
Goblin Player Characters
Golarion-Infused
Heroic Storytelling
Innovative Initiative
More Customization
New Background System
Pathfinder Society
Production Values
Race Changes and Feats
Rebalanced Magic Items
Simplified Actions
Streamlined Proficiencies
Support
True to Pathfinder
Wayne Reynolds Art

Pathfinder Playtest Products
All Pathfinder Playtest products will be released as FREE downloads exclusively at paizo.com on August 2, 2018. On the same day, we'll release limited-edition print versions of the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook, Pathfinder Playtest Adventure, and Pathfinder Playtest Flip-Mat Multi-Pack for players and Game Masters seeking the ultimate playtest experience. These print editions will be available for preorder from local retailers now and paizo.com between March 20 and May 1. We'll also have copies at the Paizo booth during Gen Con 2018 in Indianapolis on August 2–5.

Paizo will not reprint the Playtest Rulebook or Pathfinder Adventure, so players must preorder to ensure they do not miss these items. We have created a preorder form you can print out and take to your local retailer, or you can preorder print editions from paizo.com between March 20 and May 1.



more info and a Q & A etc through the link.

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Beyond the Beltway

Launches in August, 5 months from now. People will forget all about it by then. Internet attention spans and all that.

Offering to sell a premium LE Playtest book is a bit audacious.

It will be interesting to see what the 2e Pathfinder really entails. I've found 1e to be not my cup of coffee at all. I have enjoyed the card game, which is also under revision.

Also interesting to note the CTO's statement in the Q&A section that Paizo is doing better than ever financially.

I'll get the free PDf, if I remember.

 
   
Made in us
Loyal Necron Lychguard





Cautiously optimistic. PF is kinda overbloated with a lot of useless rules right now, but the main reason I love Pathfinder and loathe 5E is the complexity and build game. It sounds like they're committed to build variety and choices when you level, which is good, but it also seems like they're taking some "lessons" from 5E, which is bad.
   
Made in us
Incorporating Wet-Blending





Houston, TX

So Pathfinder is spawned from 3.5ed, so I assume 2nd ed will be built on that chassis? Cleaned up, but still following the D20 model. Interesting.

-James
 
   
Made in us
Winged Kroot Vulture






According to Cam Banks (does not work for Paizo, but has friends who worked on it) on Facebook, they are changing the term races and going with ancestries.

An interesting change in terms, honestly. I wonder how this will affect the game overall or if it is just a minor semantic change?

https://www.facebook.com/boymonster/posts/10155587849195735

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/03/08 23:37:21


I'm back! 
   
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Member of a Lodge? I Can't Say





Philadelphia PA

I'm looking forward to it, slightly concerned about some of the changes to monsters (they'll be types that the DM can juggle the stats on, which gives me a 4th ed vibe of "minion, bosses etc") and the new action economy (if everyone can blow their actions on multiple attacks starting HP is going to have to be higher since a fighter could be throwing out 3x great axe hits).

It's been 10 years and as someone else said there's been some book bloat, so I think a new edition is the right move. 3.5 sort of dragged on with more and more splats when it should have stopped sooner.

So Pathfinder is spawned from 3.5ed, so I assume 2nd ed will be built on that chassis? Cleaned up, but still following the D20 model. Interesting.


That was one reason I liked Pathfinder starting up, I'm hoping we'll see some divergent evolution as the 3.5 based PF and WotC's DnD try different ideas.

I prefer to buy from miniature manufacturers that *don't* support the overthrow of democracy. 
   
Made in us
Loyal Necron Lychguard





Apparently they've already committed to a highly modular class design system with rogue talents/rage powers/etc being folded into different types of "class feats" that everyone will get access to (so every even level your monk gets a monk feat, or your wizard gets a wizard feat, etc) which is A) a reflection of one of the main things I like about Pathfinder and B) completely different from 5E's "this is what your class does and if you don't like it then feth you". As such I would expect PF2 to still reward high system mastery and have a lot of fun in the build game.
   
Made in gb
Soul Token




West Yorkshire, England

 Arachnofiend wrote:
Cautiously optimistic. PF is kinda overbloated with a lot of useless rules right now, but the main reason I love Pathfinder and loathe 5E is the complexity and build game..


Huh, that's the exact reason I've really gone off Pathfinder (though that was a continuation of burning out on D&D 3e hard a few years before). The character build minigame was fun if you were a real gearhead player (and I was), but having characters ranging severely in competence / brokenness was where the problems started to come up. Between the book-keeping of stacking buffs, the arms race of big numbers and the joy of being a DM trying to design encounters at higher levels, I was very ready for something simpler.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/03/11 00:49:38


"The 75mm gun is firing. The 37mm gun is firing, but is traversed round the wrong way. The Browning is jammed. I am saying "Driver, advance." and the driver, who can't hear me, is reversing. And as I look over the top of the turret and see twelve enemy tanks fifty yards away, someone hands me a cheese sandwich." 
   
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The Battle Barge Buffet Line

 jmurph wrote:
So Pathfinder is spawned from 3.5ed, so I assume 2nd ed will be built on that chassis? Cleaned up, but still following the D20 model. Interesting.


I think this time the changes made are significant enough (in addition to those made in 1st edition that are ported over) to legitimately allow folks to call it its own game rather than a followup to D&D3x.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Red Harvest wrote:

Offering to sell a premium LE Playtest book is a bit audacious.


I'm a fan of physical core books at the gaming table myself (although I use digital to peruse the same things in between games) but I'd personally never buy something that had a very limited shelf life still significantly in flux. That said.. they're asking people to preorder well in advance and everyone knows what they're choosing to get into so power to them as people who order get what they want and the company makes money; the free PDF is always a legal option for the masses like me instead. I see this entirely more favorably than the Palladium style of releasing "raw" unfinished books that they were just too lazy to get around and properly finish in time for gencon.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/03/12 17:34:50


We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
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Combat Jumping Ragik






Beyond the Beltway

I understand people wanting a printed book, no problems with that. The idea of a limited edition premium playtest book, with the foil embossed hard cover etc. seems really silly.

 
   
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Willing Inquisitorial Excruciator





Pathfinder has been on their 'First Edition' for...a long time now, haven't they?

I suppose a new edition as ultimately necessary inevitable?

Is D&D 5th Edition doing that well, and stealing back some of the thunder that was stolen from them by Pathfinder?

Insidious Intriguer 
   
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Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

10 years. It's a very respectable length of time. Anything over 5 years isn't premature while 10 years is the cusp of too long in the tooth. Ymmv.

We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
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Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

The main thing in 5e's favour is accessibility; the RPG genre as a whole is growing rapidly thanks to something of a resurgence off the back of stuff like Stranger Things and Critical Role, and for most people stepping into RPGs, 5e is a very easy place to start. It's the easiest to find players for, the rules on the player end are not really that daunting once you actually start playing and there's a ton of resources out there. Pathfinder's target share of this new demographic is probably the people for whom D&D is a nice introduction, but who want something a little more complex.

A new edition of Pathfinder isn't necessarily that interesting to me, but it certainly gives them a chance to really double down on emphasising the difference between it and D&D and the choice it offers players. With 5e being fairly streamlined and 'simplified' (certainly not a bad thing, mind), a new edition of Pathfinder is an opportunity to take its crunch-heavy, mechanically-driven roots and go even further with them, as well as bringing in some of the more popular elements from 5e such as the Backgrounds system and ultimately 'modernise' a bit as the original is nearly a decade old at this point and there has to be lessons that have been learned there, simply from the hundreds of thousands of hours of experience people have had with the system. Pathfinder 2nd is an opportunity to strengthen its identity and capture a share of the new market, rather than relying on the 3.5 legacy that for any new players, won't carry that much weight.

I'll certainly take a look at the PDFs if I remember to (I do think announcing it this far in advance means a lot of people will forget by the time it actually rolls around), 5e is pretty much perfect for the sort of game I like to run but I'm open to experiencing different approaches, there's always going to be something to learn from it.

 
   
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It looks interesting, and I'll give it a go, but to me it isn't Pathfinder without the (frankly horrendous) crunch.
   
Made in us
Combat Jumping Ragik






Beyond the Beltway

The playtest material is now available, for any who are interested, here http://paizo.com/pathfinderplaytest You'll need an account with Paizo to get it. The bundled download includes info about a soundtrack app for the game. Syrinscape? Never heard of this before, me.

 
   
Made in us
Norn Queen






Ive been reading through the stuff. Some of it is interesting. It has all the same problems most level/class systems have but also has some neat ideas for simplification. I really like the Bulk rules for equipment instead of dealing with weight. I also like way your character is a combination of racial feats, class feats, and backgrounds. The spell lists have an interesting division between occult, primal, divine, and arcane.

Just my initial thoughts.


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
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Member of a Lodge? I Can't Say





Philadelphia PA

Well... session 1 of the 2nd edition. We rolled up characters, got the basic adventure intro for Doomsday Dawn and made it most of the way through the first dungeon.

That's when the trouble started, because none of the encounters seem to have any balance. I get that first level suffers from the problem where low HP characters can get crit'ed to death easily, but it was kind of frustrating.

Also we found out post- game the DM had removed all the locked doors in the dungeon. That's because an average lock now requires 3 DC 20 checks, when a player is adding maybe +4 to the result of a roll that's absolute bullgak. Who makes these apparently common locks that are harder to open than a bank vault?

In addition we found the book to be pretty bad at explaining what you add your level to. It's poorly laid out and not really intuitive. Some more examples may have helped - I brought up the comparison to 4th ed Shadowrun which has an example character build all the way from picking stats to finishing equipment loadout.

I've heard the original alpha playtest for 1st ed Pathfinder had some really janky ideas that got cut, I have a feeling these are probably those same ideas that they're trying to make more palatable. It's still not working.

I prefer to buy from miniature manufacturers that *don't* support the overthrow of democracy. 
   
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This about sums up what's wrong with 2E (Well, at least part of it...)

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0006.html
   
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 skyth wrote:
This about sums up what's wrong with 2E (Well, at least part of it...)

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0006.html


So.... it plays like a level/class based dungeons and dragons game?


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
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More of a case of the cleric being mandatory.
   
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Norn Queen






 skyth wrote:
More of a case of the cleric being mandatory.


Yeah. A level/class based game ala DnD.

Pathfinder is tied to it's dnd roots. and dnd has always required the trinity (tank/healer/dps) to some degree because it's always been built around classes that fulfill those roles in a game whos every mechanic and progression is more about winning fights then anything else.


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Yes, but the point is the healer role could be filled by anyone previously. It didn't have to be a cleric or even a dedicated healer.

We're back to the new person or the person who came late being forced to play the cleric instead of what they actually want to play.
   
Made in us
Norn Queen






So druid paladins and rangers cant heal anymore? Thats not what i saw in the test docs. Also they added alchemists. Which im pretty sure can make potions. On the fly even!


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
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They can heal if they want to use all their limited resources to heal at the expense of doing anything fun. Plus it won't be enough to deal with the damage that monsters put out.

And forget about alchemists healing. It requires resonance from the alchemist AND the person they are healing.
   
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Terrifying Doombull




 Lance845 wrote:
So druid paladins and rangers cant heal anymore? Thats not what i saw in the test docs. Also they added alchemists. Which im pretty sure can make potions. On the fly even!

Rangers can't.

With the right feats (4th level channel feat) paladins can, much like clerics, the rest can't keep up with damage output. Not with their spell slots.
Alchemists are just... ugh. The 1e class was one of the best paizo ever put together. This one can be replaced by any other class buying crap off the shelf (and the other classes have their own actual abilities on top).


Efficiency is the highest virtue. 
   
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Beyond the Beltway

 Lance845 wrote:
 skyth wrote:
More of a case of the cleric being mandatory.


Yeah. A level/class based game ala DnD.

Pathfinder is tied to it's dnd roots. and dnd has always required the trinity (tank/healer/dps) to some degree because it's always been built around classes that fulfill those roles in a game whos every mechanic and progression is more about winning fights then anything else.
A small point of correction. The original D&D, and for that matter AD&D 1e, were much more about accumulating treasure. Fighting was something to be avoided in most cases. Experience points for fighting were insignificant compared to XPTS for gold and magic items. With 3E D&D came the over-emphasis on fighting. Players in my campaigns (OD&D and AD&D) avoided clerics for some reason. I saw all of 1 cleric in the 15 years or so that I DM'ed OD&D/AD&D. Only 1 Monk and no Druids.

Back On Topic. Pathfinder released an update to the playtest rules already. I still have not managed to read through the full playtest rulebook. The feat system is a hot mess. Or the presentation of it is. Paizo needs a good technical writer and editor. Badly.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/09/12 01:08:14


 
   
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Also, D&D 4e handed out both a bunch of viable options for healing classes, as well as spreading some healing out among non dedicated healers. Also, healing surges and short rests.
   
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But 4e D&D also... kind of sucked, in a whole lot of ways.

There was a reason why Pathfinder overtook 4e and passed it by..

PF2... my wife hates the new Pathfinder with the fiery hate of a thousand suns - starting with the terrible organization, character generation, and resonance points. More time spent creating a less effective character.

Me, I like the action economy, but that was also covered in Pathfinder Unchained. (That said - I did not adopt it until PF2 was announced.)

I think PF2 may well be Paizo's 4th edition.

The Auld Grump

Kilkrazy wrote:When I was a young boy all my wargames were narratively based because I played with my toy soldiers and vehicles without the use of any rules.

The reason I bought rules and became a real wargamer was because I wanted a properly thought out structure to govern the action instead of just making things up as I went along.
 
   
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4th edition D&D is not a bad system, just really different. The biggest problem was 3.5 just needed some simple repairs not to be completely
thrown out and replaced. The customers didn't ask for this and that's why Pathfinder took off because most where happy with the current edition.
The other thing was 4th edition was giving players things they did not ask for or felt that was not needed.. That caused the big rift between players
that enjoyed the different system.

I have not followed the new pathfinder that close, but from what I am hearing I hope the publishers listen to what their customers want
instead of doing something they didn't ask for.. The sad thing is if Piazo does mess it up, I think players will move on to other games and
It will be very difficult to get them back with all the other games out there competing for peoples attention.

There has been way to many games over the years that came out with a new edition and really damaged their fan base. (I am looking at you 4th edition D&D; Age of Sigmar; Epic 40k)
Maybe we are about to see another.

 
   
Made in us
Norn Queen






 Genoside07 wrote:
4th edition D&D is not a bad system, just really different. The biggest problem was 3.5 just needed some simple repairs not to be completely
thrown out and replaced. The customers didn't ask for this and that's why Pathfinder took off because most where happy with the current edition.
The other thing was 4th edition was giving players things they did not ask for or felt that was not needed.. That caused the big rift between players
that enjoyed the different system.

I have not followed the new pathfinder that close, but from what I am hearing I hope the publishers listen to what their customers want
instead of doing something they didn't ask for.. The sad thing is if Piazo does mess it up, I think players will move on to other games and
It will be very difficult to get them back with all the other games out there competing for peoples attention.

There has been way to many games over the years that came out with a new edition and really damaged their fan base. (I am looking at you 4th edition D&D; Age of Sigmar; Epic 40k)
Maybe we are about to see another.


I disagree with your take on 4th. And not because I am one of those people who loved 3.5 or pathfinder.

DnD has a problem, in my opinion, in that it's VERY "gamey" as a RPG. By that I mean it doesn't do a great job of having it's rules facilitate the players taking on a role within a world. It facilitates the players playing a game. Between loosing health not having any impact until you hit 0 (whether it's 4 dmg or 100 it has no impact on you), that it's every mechanic and progression is focused on combat, and how much of an impact loot has on players and their progress, to the majority of the exp points coming from monsters slain instead of story or personal goal progression.

DnD has always been more game than role playing.

4th took that gak to another level. It was even less role playing then dnd has traditionally been and it took the people who played dnd who enjoyed the role play aspects and shook them a bit. They didn't like how much MORE gamey it became. As gamey as 3.5 and pathfinder are 4th is so shallowly and transparently just a game that it turned away a lot of people.

5th has some of 4ths innovations in concept if not in iteration but they are layered and hidden under more role play elements like the backgrounds, bonds, etc etc... which makes it all more palatable. It's STILL a REALLY gamey set of mechanics with all the same problems level/class systems have in that regard. But at this point thats what people play dnd for. But clearly they want the trappings of the rp around the game. The game just isn't enough.


If PF2 is Pazios 4th, its because it got even more gamey. They created different "modes" of defined game play depending on what you are doing with abilities and feats set up like talents and powers. The RP trappings are falling away.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/09/21 12:54:24



These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
 
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