Stumbled across your video about how Pathfinder 2E was easier than 5th edition. I've been playing 5th edition since 2015 and a lot of your points really resonated with me. I spend so much time in 5th edition agonizing over how to balance combat encounters and to make them interesting. Pathfinder 2E looks like it does a lot of the heavy lifting for me as a GM. So I'm going to binge your videos and try and get my brother to play some one-on-one Pathfinder 2E with me.
Just for a giggle, I decided to go completely random on absolutely everything in character creation...and made up 5 different characters. Just to see exactly how workable/playable they were... so the first step, concept, was ignored, and I just went with what was rolled and created a concept AFTER it was completed. The result was NO optimisation, past the ingrained elements (like stat bonuses for specific classes). I found that there were a couple of weaknesses, in the skills selection mainly, but all were workable, playable, and importantly, interesting. Oh, and I started them at 2nd, using the Free Archetype Feat.....
Just a quick note (and please correct me if I've been misled on this point): The "Take Two Flaws for a Free Ability Boost" rule (mentioned at 9:25) has seemingly been depreciated, and has been functionally replaced by the "Alternate Ancestry Boosts" rule on page 26 in the fourth printing of the CRB. This new(?) rule serves the same purpose of giving goblins a chance at being top-tier clerics.😋 But I imagine that this video might eventually benefit from a thorough revision/re-upload, what with PF2 Remastered looming on the horizon. But until that happens, I thought I'd best leave this comment here. Just to save any other newbies the trouble of diving down this hyper-specific rabbit hole.😅
what I really love about Pathfinder 2e is how easy it is to generate scores, and it makes sense too, your average gnome would probably only have the Ancestry portion done because they're your joe schmoes, then you got player Gnomes who have just a bit more competency, it's like you're building from the ground up in regards to your character's actual life, Childhood being Ancestry only (give or take), young adult/teenhood being Ancestry + Background (Depending on how old they are), then their adventuring Career being Level 1, from both a conceptual standpoint and a character building standpoint the score system is wonderful plus it's like, literally the easiest math ever because you're only ever adding 2 to a score at a time
I am a new viewer. The gentle music, patient and articulate explanation of everything and especially the gentle tone you used is something I have not had the pleasure of hearing from... well... anyone... in a long... long time. I was starting to wonder if anyone was still able to exhibit this kind of well-meaning demeanor. So, well... thank you for that really...
Random event: i have been watching your videos for the past 5 days and said at the beginning "yes yes, subscribe, I already am....oh wait, I am not". So thanks for the reminder.
Just found this (a bit late, I know). Pretty good walkthrough. I did have one problem: your link to the HeroLab character sheet is apparently dead, so I tried to follow along and make my own HeroLab sheet. The stumbling block came in that while I don't think you mentioned it in the video, it looks like you applied two voluntary ability flaws in order to be able to boost your WIS to 18. In HeroLaw, I applied the flaws by deducting one from the base value of each of INT and CON (because that was the only way I could see to do it) but it wouldn't let me increase the base value of WIS. I submitted a bug report to the Wolflair. Will try to remember to let you know what they say. I'm pretty sure it's a HL bug, because I had no problem making everything fit in Pathbuilder. 🙂
I checked Hero Lab just now. Did you go to Build --> Character Settings --> scroll down to Other Character Options? There is a checkbox to allow for Voluntary Flaws Not sure which link was broken? I see there is a link to Hero Lab Online which still works, and the links to the character sheets I tested and they seem to work, too.
@@TheRulesLawyerRPG Ah, it's in "House Rules". I didn't look there. Now I can make it work. The "download Poog" link gives me a "Page not found" error with the message that the file I'm looking for doesn't exist. In both Safari and Firefox. I dunno, maybe I'm just getting senile. Anyway, I'm gonna go back to watching part 4 of your beginner box walk-through. 🙂 The three character sheet links work fine.
Unfortunately not with the official rules as written. But one could easily pattern a "half-halfling" heritage using the examples provided by Half-Elf and Half-Orc as your basis: give low-light vision and open up the Halfling feats.
The one thing I will say till pathfinder 2e them labeling everything a feat vs Ancestry feature, class ability, skill trick and general feat makes tracking a character a bit taxing, especially if your trying to build say a 5th level character. Add in the road maps they give you does not account for the rules letting you take a general feat to get a new ancestry feat that can let you get a skill feat that can let you get another feat. So
Your videos are so enjoyable to listen to. Would you still say that those playing casters don't need to worry about optimization? People make this claim all the time and it just doesn't jive with my experience. I came into the game picking options mostly for flavor and theme, but I shortly learned that loading up on all of one kind of save really bites you in this game. Ultimately I had to choose spells that I don't think my character would actually know if it were solely based on roleplay. Others have said that the game is balanced for martials to be "on the curve" even if they don't make the most mechanically favorable choices, but that casters are only "on the curve" if they build their character optimally. Do you agree?
I dont know if that's what i said exactly, but my view now is it helps to use your slots in the situations best suited for them. Targeting different saves while preparing is useful. In general tho there is a higher floor for playing a caster "well" i would say, while at the same time i think that's what many who choose to be a caster are looking for. In the first few levels they are definitely more challenging, but that changes as you get more slots and start facing mooks much lower level than you, and the more dramatic spells do come at higher levels
A few questions and then I think I should be able to finally learn to DM (maybe)? Inventory Space/Burden: Does every 10 "Light Bulk" get counted as 1 "Bulk" - or - does it solely count as 1 "Bulk" total/regardless? Ex: 20 Light Bulk = 2 Bulk? Confused about Accuracy Section: Why does Crossbow have +6/+1/-4 < where does the +1 come in? I think I understand that -5 per extra attack (2nd attack -5, 3rd attack -10, 4th attack -15...so on). So the -4 is because it gets the +1?
Not sure what you're asking: 9 Light Bulk is treated as 0. But if you get a 10th Light item it is now +1 Bulk -4 is 10 less than +6 (Also, even your 4th attack if you somehow get one, is going to have the same -4 modifier, the MAP doesn't get any bigger from there)
Im a day or two late, but assuming you haven't learnt this yet, it's very important. You and the enemies both scale similarly, its better to look at it as a percentage, based on 5%'s. These aren't accurate numbers AT ALL, but they can display the logic. (im too lazy to be accurate) You are a barbarian with 16 str, your chance to hit a enemy thats weaker than you in a 1v1 is lets say 70%, your crit chance is 15%, if your str was 18, it would be 75% and 20% chance to crit. an enemy of your level of cr, at 16 str, hit chance would instead be like 45% with a 10% crit, with 18 str it'd be 50%, and 15% crit Against a boss encounter, which is higher level than you. at 16 str your hit chance will be 30%, while crit would be lets say 5%, with 18 str itd instead be 35% and 10%. The jumps are small, but the more powerful the enemy, the more relevant the 5% becomes, since it is a higher percent of your current accuracy. Against a strong enemy having +2 str could easily double your chance to crit, which is huge. These bonuses then stack with Ac debuffs and your own hit chance being buffed, lets say by a spell caster and you can go from needing a nat 20 to crit, to only a 15+ against a strong enemy, it's completely doable to play with 16 in your main attribute, but the math is designed around you actively trying to increase your odds of hitting/critting. One of the bonuses to these chances being absent is fine, but the most reliable one is from your stats, and since enemies scale with your attack increases, your chance to hit being lower will be notable, and can easily make you quite a bit weaker in your worst case scenario in a meaningful way.
The main difference is not having to worry about optimization nearly as much - pick what you want! Feats are silo'd into categories. Pathbuilder and Wanderer's Guide makes this easier. If you stick to Core Rulebook only, only need to choose from 4-8 class feats at Level 1. Other differences: Ability scores are not rolled Ancestries (formerly Race) : choose an Ancestry Feat as well Choose a Background
What's in the Backpack is its own special case, where you get to disregard up to 2 Bulk of items in it. (It looks the caltrops belong in the backpack, the formatting makes it look like it isn't)
dude he took half an hour to make a 1st level with mostly pre-chosen options. He does not have time to edit down to a 50 year video (with guaranteed 0% retention).
Honestly, multi-classing in this system is one of the easiest, and probably most balanced I've seen. It's all done through class feats. So when you would normally take a class feat that would improve aspects of your starting class, you instead pick a dedication feat that unlocks class features from a different class. Inevitably this makes it so that you are not as good at that class' thing as if you were fully focused on it, but it does make it to where you could, for example, have both the full arcane and full divine tradition spell list on one caster. There are some features that you cannot get just from a dedication feat, such as an oracle's curse, but most features seem to be available through dedication feats.
Ability boosts give +2 until you reach 18 in the score. Additional ability boosts to that stat give +1 each, so you can get a stat to 18 at level 1 but it takes until level 16 (I think) to go from 18 to 22 by taking boosts at level 4, 8, 12, 16.
HEY man I need help. Baleful polymorph and how to cure it. I am the gm and the character crit failed the save!! AHHAHH.. Ok they deserved it. but hey I could use some help.
Yes, Charisma gives you daily uses of your Divine Font. But if you're a cleric who is attacking with your spells regularly (including Heal) you increase your spell attacks and DCs with Wisdom. Both have their reasons. (I tried to stick to safe, more universal beginner advice for this vid.)
@@AyameAkito He's not wrong. Charisma is far more important for a Cloistered Cleric (which Poog is) than STR or even CON. For a healing cleric I usually try to get both CHR and WIS to 16 if possible (which it usually is). STR is a dump stat, pure and simple.. Even for a war priest I wouldn't totally ignore CHR. Healing is still nice.
@@Geallach83 Because the Divine Font ability is so powerful and is the keystone ability for a cleric. Other than role playing reasons, there is no other reason to play a cleric over a druid. Their domain spells are horrible and neither doctrine is all that great. An animal companion trumps anything that clerics get other than Divine Font. IMHO. The sole benefit of wisdom is increasing spell attacks and DCs. Charisma gives you extra heal/harm spells automatically maximized to your highest spell level. Getting an extra +1 to hit for heal undead/harm is nice but getting 1 extra attempt is even better. In pathfinder 2e, even 1 extra 32 hp heal at 7th level can make or break a fight. Clerics (and spellcasters in general) don't get as many spells as they used to so each one is more precious, especially if they are of your highest spell level. At 5th level going from 2 3rd level spells to 7 3rd level spells is super powerful. CHA is definitely more than a secondary/tertiary attribute which is more my point, especially for a cloistered cleric who will want to stay out of combat range as much as possible with no armor. Hitting things with weapons is silly so STR is of no importance whatsoever. For a heal/buff bot, CHA is definitely the way to go. For the balanced build TRL said he was going for, I'd give both of them equal priority which is why I suggested 16/16 but if you had to go 18, I'd still choose CHA over WIS (I know you can't with CHA being a class key ability but I would if I could) . Divine spells are just not great for attacking. If I weren't going for heals/buffs (cloistered's strength) then I'd probably either choose a war priest or druid. Actually, I'd choose a war priest over cloistered every time.
Stumbled across your video about how Pathfinder 2E was easier than 5th edition. I've been playing 5th edition since 2015 and a lot of your points really resonated with me. I spend so much time in 5th edition agonizing over how to balance combat encounters and to make them interesting. Pathfinder 2E looks like it does a lot of the heavy lifting for me as a GM. So I'm going to binge your videos and try and get my brother to play some one-on-one Pathfinder 2E with me.
I hope you enjoy them! May want to check out the Level 20 combat which was relatively easy to balance compared to 5e.
Have you tried PF2? How do you find it to play compared to 5e?
"A lot of my students really like to be Goblins."
I loved this sentence, 🤣
Goblins can do anything in PF2E, so Goblin Master Race FTW! 😂
Hey man, just found your channel a few weeks ago and I'm loving it. Never seems to be enough Pathfinder content. Glad and hopeful to see it grow
Just for a giggle, I decided to go completely random on absolutely everything in character creation...and made up 5 different characters. Just to see exactly how workable/playable they were... so the first step, concept, was ignored, and I just went with what was rolled and created a concept AFTER it was completed. The result was NO optimisation, past the ingrained elements (like stat bonuses for specific classes). I found that there were a couple of weaknesses, in the skills selection mainly, but all were workable, playable, and importantly, interesting. Oh, and I started them at 2nd, using the Free Archetype Feat.....
That's a great idea! Yes you can have workable characters with a bunch of dice rolls in PF2 and it won't be underperform, and still be interesting!!
Just a quick note (and please correct me if I've been misled on this point):
The "Take Two Flaws for a Free Ability Boost" rule (mentioned at 9:25) has seemingly been depreciated, and has been functionally replaced by the "Alternate Ancestry Boosts" rule on page 26 in the fourth printing of the CRB. This new(?) rule serves the same purpose of giving goblins a chance at being top-tier clerics.😋
But I imagine that this video might eventually benefit from a thorough revision/re-upload, what with PF2 Remastered looming on the horizon. But until that happens, I thought I'd best leave this comment here. Just to save any other newbies the trouble of diving down this hyper-specific rabbit hole.😅
You should remake this, your production quality is much better now and could help bring in new players. Like the video nonetheless 😉
Thank you for putting this together. The sound changes significantly at 7:44, and it becomes a distraction.
Yeah unfortunately my production skills aren't enough that I know how to fix that. It does return to normal at around the 14 min mark however.
what I really love about Pathfinder 2e is how easy it is to generate scores, and it makes sense too, your average gnome would probably only have the Ancestry portion done because they're your joe schmoes, then you got player Gnomes who have just a bit more competency, it's like you're building from the ground up in regards to your character's actual life, Childhood being Ancestry only (give or take), young adult/teenhood being Ancestry + Background (Depending on how old they are), then their adventuring Career being Level 1, from both a conceptual standpoint and a character building standpoint the score system is wonderful
plus it's like, literally the easiest math ever because you're only ever adding 2 to a score at a time
I am a new viewer. The gentle music, patient and articulate explanation of everything and especially the gentle tone you used is something I have not had the pleasure of hearing from... well... anyone... in a long... long time. I was starting to wonder if anyone was still able to exhibit this kind of well-meaning demeanor. So, well... thank you for that really...
Random event: i have been watching your videos for the past 5 days and said at the beginning "yes yes, subscribe, I already am....oh wait, I am not". So thanks for the reminder.
Another PF2e channel found, and subscribed to!
I've been binging your videos. Do you address party makeup? Does pf2e need to generally have a tank and healer?
Just found this (a bit late, I know). Pretty good walkthrough. I did have one problem: your link to the HeroLab character sheet is apparently dead, so I tried to follow along and make my own HeroLab sheet. The stumbling block came in that while I don't think you mentioned it in the video, it looks like you applied two voluntary ability flaws in order to be able to boost your WIS to 18. In HeroLaw, I applied the flaws by deducting one from the base value of each of INT and CON (because that was the only way I could see to do it) but it wouldn't let me increase the base value of WIS. I submitted a bug report to the Wolflair. Will try to remember to let you know what they say.
I'm pretty sure it's a HL bug, because I had no problem making everything fit in Pathbuilder. 🙂
I checked Hero Lab just now. Did you go to Build --> Character Settings --> scroll down to Other Character Options? There is a checkbox to allow for Voluntary Flaws
Not sure which link was broken? I see there is a link to Hero Lab Online which still works, and the links to the character sheets I tested and they seem to work, too.
@@TheRulesLawyerRPG Ah, it's in "House Rules". I didn't look there. Now I can make it work.
The "download Poog" link gives me a "Page not found" error with the message that the file I'm looking for doesn't exist. In both Safari and Firefox. I dunno, maybe I'm just getting senile. Anyway, I'm gonna go back to watching part 4 of your beginner box walk-through. 🙂
The three character sheet links work fine.
Can i play a half-halfling half-dwarf?
Or a quarterling as i will call them
Unfortunately not with the official rules as written. But one could easily pattern a "half-halfling" heritage using the examples provided by Half-Elf and Half-Orc as your basis: give low-light vision and open up the Halfling feats.
Is that golden sun playing in the background?
The one thing I will say till pathfinder 2e them labeling everything a feat vs Ancestry feature, class ability, skill trick and general feat makes tracking a character a bit taxing, especially if your trying to build say a 5th level character. Add in the road maps they give you does not account for the rules letting you take a general feat to get a new ancestry feat that can let you get a skill feat that can let you get another feat. So
So tracking your level choices can take up way more then 1 little line!
Your videos are so enjoyable to listen to.
Would you still say that those playing casters don't need to worry about optimization? People make this claim all the time and it just doesn't jive with my experience. I came into the game picking options mostly for flavor and theme, but I shortly learned that loading up on all of one kind of save really bites you in this game. Ultimately I had to choose spells that I don't think my character would actually know if it were solely based on roleplay. Others have said that the game is balanced for martials to be "on the curve" even if they don't make the most mechanically favorable choices, but that casters are only "on the curve" if they build their character optimally. Do you agree?
I dont know if that's what i said exactly, but my view now is it helps to use your slots in the situations best suited for them. Targeting different saves while preparing is useful. In general tho there is a higher floor for playing a caster "well" i would say, while at the same time i think that's what many who choose to be a caster are looking for. In the first few levels they are definitely more challenging, but that changes as you get more slots and start facing mooks much lower level than you, and the more dramatic spells do come at higher levels
"Lets make a pathfinder character"
**Opens 50 windows with tables and hyperlinks**
only 50? damn
A few questions and then I think I should be able to finally learn to DM (maybe)?
Inventory Space/Burden:
Does every 10 "Light Bulk" get counted as 1 "Bulk" - or - does it solely count as 1 "Bulk" total/regardless?
Ex: 20 Light Bulk = 2 Bulk?
Confused about Accuracy Section:
Why does Crossbow have +6/+1/-4 < where does the +1 come in?
I think I understand that -5 per extra attack (2nd attack -5, 3rd attack -10, 4th attack -15...so on).
So the -4 is because it gets the +1?
Not sure what you're asking: 9 Light Bulk is treated as 0. But if you get a 10th Light item it is now +1 Bulk
-4 is 10 less than +6 (Also, even your 4th attack if you somehow get one, is going to have the same -4 modifier, the MAP doesn't get any bigger from there)
how pertinant is it that the key ability is 18? is pf2e designed to have a few 10's, 1x 18, 1-2 16s for ballance?
Im a day or two late, but assuming you haven't learnt this yet, it's very important. You and the enemies both scale similarly, its better to look at it as a percentage, based on 5%'s.
These aren't accurate numbers AT ALL, but they can display the logic. (im too lazy to be accurate)
You are a barbarian with 16 str, your chance to hit a enemy thats weaker than you in a 1v1 is lets say 70%, your crit chance is 15%, if your str was 18, it would be 75% and 20% chance to crit.
an enemy of your level of cr, at 16 str, hit chance would instead be like 45% with a 10% crit, with 18 str it'd be 50%, and 15% crit
Against a boss encounter, which is higher level than you. at 16 str your hit chance will be 30%, while crit would be lets say 5%, with 18 str itd instead be 35% and 10%.
The jumps are small, but the more powerful the enemy, the more relevant the 5% becomes, since it is a higher percent of your current accuracy. Against a strong enemy having +2 str could easily double your chance to crit, which is huge. These bonuses then stack with Ac debuffs and your own hit chance being buffed, lets say by a spell caster and you can go from needing a nat 20 to crit, to only a 15+ against a strong enemy, it's completely doable to play with 16 in your main attribute, but the math is designed around you actively trying to increase your odds of hitting/critting. One of the bonuses to these chances being absent is fine, but the most reliable one is from your stats, and since enemies scale with your attack increases, your chance to hit being lower will be notable, and can easily make you quite a bit weaker in your worst case scenario in a meaningful way.
Pathfinder 2e "don't worry about optimizing" also pathfinder 2e an additional +2 to hit will often result in critical hits twice as often :)
Hey, I'm coming from 1st edition. What's changed if I may ask
The main difference is not having to worry about optimization nearly as much - pick what you want!
Feats are silo'd into categories. Pathbuilder and Wanderer's Guide makes this easier. If you stick to Core Rulebook only, only need to choose from 4-8 class feats at Level 1.
Other differences:
Ability scores are not rolled
Ancestries (formerly Race) : choose an Ancestry Feat as well
Choose a Background
What do you mean by "the light bulk equipement doesnt add upt to 10?" I added them all and 15 is my result... 27:40
What's in the Backpack is its own special case, where you get to disregard up to 2 Bulk of items in it. (It looks the caltrops belong in the backpack, the formatting makes it look like it isn't)
Can you show what making a level 5 dual class character would look like?
dude he took half an hour to make a 1st level with mostly pre-chosen options. He does not have time to edit down to a 50 year video (with guaranteed 0% retention).
Honestly, multi-classing in this system is one of the easiest, and probably most balanced I've seen. It's all done through class feats. So when you would normally take a class feat that would improve aspects of your starting class, you instead pick a dedication feat that unlocks class features from a different class. Inevitably this makes it so that you are not as good at that class' thing as if you were fully focused on it, but it does make it to where you could, for example, have both the full arcane and full divine tradition spell list on one caster.
There are some features that you cannot get just from a dedication feat, such as an oracle's curse, but most features seem to be available through dedication feats.
OOh and the Links for the Character sheets doesn't seem to work for me.
Thanks for pointing it out. They should work now
hey so do ability boosts add 1 or 2 points cause i just read it gives to points on nethys but that doesnt make sense
One boost adds two to the score. So long as the end result is 18 or lower, you will have increased the modifier by one.
Ability boosts give +2 until you reach 18 in the score. Additional ability boosts to that stat give +1 each, so you can get a stat to 18 at level 1 but it takes until level 16 (I think) to go from 18 to 22 by taking boosts at level 4, 8, 12, 16.
Can you make another video with better audio? People will be migrating soon.
HEY man I need help. Baleful polymorph and how to cure it. I am the gm and the character crit failed the save!! AHHAHH.. Ok they deserved it. but hey I could use some help.
I think Dispel Magic, and some abilities that can counteract polymorph effects...?
didnt know pathfinder 2e was made back in 2004
Microsoft Word - Product Authorization Failed
Actually, Clerics, especially Healers, want more Charisma than Wisdom
Yes, Charisma gives you daily uses of your Divine Font. But if you're a cleric who is attacking with your spells regularly (including Heal) you increase your spell attacks and DCs with Wisdom. Both have their reasons. (I tried to stick to safe, more universal beginner advice for this vid.)
WRONG, Charisma is a secondary/tertiary attribute, it should be prioritized after your CON or your STR (If you are planning on using a melee weapon)
@@AyameAkito He's not wrong. Charisma is far more important for a Cloistered Cleric (which Poog is) than STR or even CON. For a healing cleric I usually try to get both CHR and WIS to 16 if possible (which it usually is). STR is a dump stat, pure and simple.. Even for a war priest I wouldn't totally ignore CHR. Healing is still nice.
@@jasonweible2834 More than WIS? Which is what OP asserts, CHA>WIS for a Cleric. Why?
@@Geallach83 Because the Divine Font ability is so powerful and is the keystone ability for a cleric. Other than role playing reasons, there is no other reason to play a cleric over a druid. Their domain spells are horrible and neither doctrine is all that great. An animal companion trumps anything that clerics get other than Divine Font. IMHO.
The sole benefit of wisdom is increasing spell attacks and DCs. Charisma gives you extra heal/harm spells automatically maximized to your highest spell level. Getting an extra +1 to hit for heal undead/harm is nice but getting 1 extra attempt is even better. In pathfinder 2e, even 1 extra 32 hp heal at 7th level can make or break a fight. Clerics (and spellcasters in general) don't get as many spells as they used to so each one is more precious, especially if they are of your highest spell level. At 5th level going from 2 3rd level spells to 7 3rd level spells is super powerful.
CHA is definitely more than a secondary/tertiary attribute which is more my point, especially for a cloistered cleric who will want to stay out of combat range as much as possible with no armor. Hitting things with weapons is silly so STR is of no importance whatsoever. For a heal/buff bot, CHA is definitely the way to go. For the balanced build TRL said he was going for, I'd give both of them equal priority which is why I suggested 16/16 but if you had to go 18, I'd still choose CHA over WIS (I know you can't with CHA being a class key ability but I would if I could) . Divine spells are just not great for attacking. If I weren't going for heals/buffs (cloistered's strength) then I'd probably either choose a war priest or druid. Actually, I'd choose a war priest over cloistered every time.
just use pathbuilder