Pathfinder 2e: Concluding Thoughts

Finding My Path Forward

Paizo Publishing impresses me favorably as a company. They have done so since I first became aware of them back in the Dragon and Dungeon magazine days (their publishing of the physical magazines ended about 2007). I consider Paizo to be an industry leader. Their art, cartography and the layout of their books is all top quality. They have excellent writers as the Pathfinder core books and the adventure paths clearly demonstrate. They are a professional publisher and I cannot recall finding a proofreading error. Yes, all this matters to me and I find it enhances my enjoyment of the products - especially while reading and gaining inspiration for my games.

When choosing a system to run, I consider many things. Like most, I suppose, I like to have fun running a game (as well as playing). In order for me to get excited about the role of referee (judge or GM if you prefer), the game system has to offer me tools that I can use to bring the vision I have for the game to life through actual play at the table. Even as the guy behind the screen, I like to be immersed a bit. I like to have control over pacing and tempo and I like having the ability to run something that seems logical and at times "real" to me. Humor is good, but not silliness. I like a serious game - one with "dark" and sinister undertones. 

I have found that Pathfinder 2e and its default setting can provide that. Have I mentioned the addition of the Paizo goblin as a playable ancestry? Paizo long ago adopted their iconic toothy-grin goblin as a sort of company mascot. In expanding the choices players have in ancestries, the lore is that some goblins are getting tired of getting kicked about and have "come in from the cold" and are now attempting to live peacefully alongside the other playable ancestries, such as humans, elves and the like. I have had a few goblin characters at my table and they present some interesting narrative possibilities as they interact with "unreformed" goblins and encounter the usual bias and associated challenges. It may not be to everyone's liking, but so far it's added to our games.

The mechanical completeness of Pathfinder 2e - it is anything but "rules-lite"- is something I go back-and-forth on. I really enjoy the referee's art of making "rulings" at the table - using my experience and imagination to improvise sub-systems on-the-fly in response to the creative actions players come up with. Rules-lite systems provide a freedom that just isn't available to a more comprehensive system, but sticking to the rules-as-written is a lot more satisfying when the rules are logically thought out and well written.

Although I a can enjoy solo play, the real fun in role-playing is found at the table with others. (This is a social hobby as I see it.) As anyone who has read this blog knows, I prefer the original three little brown books above all other systems - but one needs players in order to engage in the social act of playing the game with others. In this aspect, I find it much easier to entice others to my table with a contemporary system equipped with nice colorful illustrations and lots of character options - in other words, with a game such as Pathfinder. Unfortunately, many players today find the idea of playing a traditional magic user with 2 HP, one spell and a dagger a bit "underwhelming". It does not seem to matter to them when I explain, "That's intentional, to the point and exactly why so many of us played more fighting men than any other class back in those days!"

I like to design my own adventures. Even though I do purchase a number of published play aids each year, I mostly read them for ideas - ideas which can either inspire my own creativity or occasionally ideas that I may out-right borrow and insert into my home-brew campaign. Over the years, I have found Paizo products to be unequaled in containing good ideas and inspirational artwork.

My most recent acquisition in the Pathfinder 2e line of products is the Gamemastery Guide. The Guide contains several sections including some "How To" advice, which may be aimed at newer GMs, but in which I can still find the occasional bit of useful information that helps me in my evolving perspective on the game. There is material on building lots of things from worlds and monsters and NPCs to magic items - all specifically aimed at the Pf 2e mechanics. (Customization is indeed what I like in my game.) There are rule additions, as if the 600+ pages of core rules are not enough. The additions do offer options and although no essential, may help the GM tailor the system to their liking.

Hexploration is not a word I have used, but the folks at Paizo have included this short section as a nod to what I term the hex-crawl or sandbox style of play. In this and many other aspects, Pf 2e contains elements which clearly mark its DNA as being a descendent of earlier editions dating back to the days when I started in this hobby. Yes, I appreciate that!

The variant rule offerings in the Gamemastery Guide cover (among other things) Stamina - which can supplement Hit Points as an additional resource that also helps distinguish between actual damage and loss of vitality - additional interpretations of Alignments and the introduction of level-0 characters allowing players to explore with their characters during the days before they become heroes.

Chases can be fun and exciting and although the Core Rules provides guidance, the Gamemastery Guide offers a more detailed mechanic (which can benefit from use of the Chase Cards sold separately by Paizo). In the Gamemastery version, rules for encountering various obstacles during the chase and pursuit are introduced and how one navigates (mostly through the use of Skill checks) those obstacles can greatly affect whether the chase ends in being caught or getting away.

The Pf 2e Bestiary includes a number of creatures, but notably absent from the list of potential foes are humans. The Gamemastery Guide includes an extensive section on creating NPCs - humans and other ancestries - who can be friendly, neutral or adversarial to the player characters and therefore offers the GM a host of human-like monsters - bandits, pirates, greedy merchants, evil priests and cultists.

So how do I sum up my thoughts and feelings about Pathfinder Second Edition. Well, I like it a lot! From the default setting (which can be ignored, though with some effort) to the presentation and actual rule mechanics, Paizo has done an excellent job creating a product that appeals to my gaming sensibilities. The line is very well supported with adventure paths, add-on products and additional rule books (which I hope doesn't become too unwieldy in number as time progresses). What is perhaps most important is that I have fun with Pf 2e - as do my players. 

Will Pathfinder Second Edition ever join the short list of my all-time favorite games, or perhaps will it even surpass White Box as my favorite RPG, period? Check back with me in about 40 years and we'll see!