this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 year ago (7 children)

This is why I like Pathfinder. The core of the game is still to make a ruling if you need to to keep the game moving, but there is so much more mechanical support for the things the players might want to do.

[–] Linuto 8 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I'm really happy for you that this has been your experience. For the campaigns I have played in, the abundance of rules has always felt like it has gotten in the way of the game being played for fun.

The games I GM for are either 5e or another type of game entirely, like Call of Cthulhu. In any of those other games, the rules feel like they exist to support the game. I am a player in a few PF2E games, and in every single one, our sessions barely ever accomplish more than 2 rooms of a dungeon, or a single combat encounter; we spend the entire session checking how exploration actions work, or what the standard DC is supposed to be for a level X creature.

I am glad people enjoy Pathfinder, but so far it has not been for me. I just want other people like me to see that it is okay not to click with a certain game, no matter how popular it is.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (5 children)

It comes with familiarity. The first few Pathfinder sessions I played were rough. There were a few things working in our favour:

  • listening to an actual-play podcast made me a lot more comfortable with knowing what PF2E sounds like when it's being played well (Shoutout to Tabletop Gold!)
  • most of the players I started my PF2e group with were eager to play a TTRPG, but didn't have much previous experience. So they had the drive to pick up the game as well. I definitely think it wouldn't have gone as smoothly if the whole group was 5e veterans.
  • forcing ourselves to stick with it got us over the hump. I was determined to get through the PF2E beginner box no matter how much of a grind it felt like at times, and that made it so the game eventually started clicking for us.

All that being said, it's definitely not for everyone. I personally think it's a far better game than D&D 5e, but neither is the perfect TTRPG for everyone. Lots of people aren't looking for that sort of heroic fantasy action game at all.

[–] Linuto 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Necroposting

Just wanted to come back and say we have been playing PF2E for almost 2 years, so I'm not sure it's an issue with familiarity. I think anyone would agree PF2E just inherently has more rules than a game like 5e that are relevant to the game every session.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

While that's true, as someone who's GM'd both, I'd say PF2E is a lot less mental work to run. In 5e, if something weird comes up, I have to actually use my brain and game design something on the fly. It's entirely possible I come up with something that breaks the game balance, and basically the only tool in my toolbox is giving things advantage and disadvantage, which makes it hard to model what players are actually trying to do. In PF2e, if a player mentions they might want to try something, I can do a quick AON search while the players are debating what to do next, and have an answer at the ready.

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