Pathfinder Remastered Player Core First Look

[@richardjimenez8060]

I'm going to be running the beginner box of PF2 this weekend with my friends. If all goes well, we'll hopefully be transitioning to the new rules. Great video as always!

[@Thegaminggang]

Thanks a bunch! Enjoy playing the beginner's box!

[@caelb9764]

Pretty excited to try Pathfinder out with the remastered edition. I think the biggest appeal for me is the flexibility in character building. I was sorta turned off heroic fantasy by the class rigidity of 5e and Pathfinder seems to adress this pretty handily.

[@Wraithing]

Really glad and quite excited to see this first page thru. Looks excellently organised and seems much clearer to learn and reference. I must admit, until seeing the new Starter Set and now this remaster, I've thought PF2 too densely packed with mechanics written for the die-hard "insider" types and not me. It just looked too much effort to 'unpack' the necessary stuff from the deeper, more niggly rules. Since they introduced the three action combat round, PF2 has certainly intrigued me though. From your first look, I particularly like the clarity; e.g. the way the Feats (and advancement) are presented looks great, and as though it would be easy to share and work out with players. Definitely could see myself enjoying digging into this new book, and with the new Seven Dooms for Sandpoint coming out it would be very tempting to bring it to the table in 2024.

[@paulll47]

I mean it's nice but I kinda wish they did more work on the feats, plenty of circumstantial or straight up useless stuff that is only there to clutter the book, I've done the switch to Savage Pathfinder now so I don't care all that much but I was kinda hopeful that this remaster would have addressed this kind of stuff.

[@dmnyght8247]

My interest in the Player Core is not merely the name changes and anything else that they altered to get away from the OGL, but rather to see the subtle and not-so-subtle changes made to the character creation and any other systems contained inside of the books - I believe that they did not make any major changes (it is a great system to begin with!), but I wanted to see what did get altered from the non-Remaster version...

[@matthewconstantine5015]

In as much as my interest has been sparked, it's by the potential of a more streamlined system, especially as it moves away from its D&D 3e roots.

[@confessionsofafrustratedga6465]

I'm excited for the new ancestries! Let's go, plantfolk!

[@wingusryu8289]

The thing that I liked the best is that there is a witch class. We need more dark characters. Need a plague doctor class

[@jasonr.6123]

The whole revamp of character creation, especially ditching the old alignment for more nuanced character motivations, is epic. I'm also stoked about the fresh takes on ancestries and classes, like adding the Witch and tweaking those weapon feats. And the Nephilim heritage? That's going to be a blast to play around with. It feels like they've really listened to the players and packed in a ton of awesome updates.

[@Akeche]

For my own opinions... it's very expensive errata. Would not recommend a purchase, wait until Archives of Nethys is updated.

[@Thegaminggang]

I do feel Paizo is marketing this as a way for newcomers to more easily get into Pathfinder not so much that those who are already part of the flock need to partake. Of course, it's not like Paizo is dissuading anyone from buying the books either.

[@Akeche]

@@ThegaminggangThe layout is worse than the original core books, in some ways. If they feel this way, they are mistaken. Even the sidebars actually coloring the edges of the page, allowing you to quickly see where to open when looking at the book from the side is now gone. Overall this was rushed, out of their irrational fear of Hasbro hitting them with lawsuits. Nothing about how this book is setup suggests it being easier, and I actually dislike the fact they removed treasure from the player facing book. There's some questionable decisions as well, such as not at least including the original core 12 classes in this book. But more importantly not at least including the classes which would be affected by the removal of alignment. Why is there no Champion here?

[@keithcraig9220]

Looking forward to higher lethality

[@puente29712]

Awesome first look, Jeff. I'm looking forward to the new game system. And what will be truly different from the old system.

[@neuromancer9k]

I think I'm more sold on Savage Pathfinder, but I hope that this is a good move forward for PF2E and everyone who plays it. ⚔🍻

[@Thegaminggang]

To be honest, Savage Pathfinder really doesn't capture what makes second edition Pathfinder unique. I'm not saying it's bad at all but feels far more like standard fantasy RPG. I'll have my Savage Pathfinder review next week so stay tuned! ~ Jeff

[@johnsnyder4653]

@@Thegaminggang Savage Pathfinder looks good and all, but seems superfluous. One is likely better off just getting SWADE and the Fantasy Companion. Then if you need Golarion pick up an old 3.x sourcebook. That's just my two cents. Also, looking forward to the Savage Pathfinder review.

[@Thegaminggang]

What it boils down to is the fact that Savage Pathfinder is far more like standard fantasy RPG fare than Pathfinder 2E. The three action economy and all of the abilities and feats are the selling point for PF2E, whereas those traits and feats are very different and far more bland in Savage Pathfinder. Plus, the SWADE edition is built off of Pathfinder 1E which is more like D&D 3.5+ than anything else. ~ Jeff

[@kadmii]

"Mathfinder" is especially odd coming from people who started in older editions of DND. Im really looking forward to the way they've used the move away from OGL to do more than merely stripping things. Alignment, for instance. They didnt just eliminate it, they created another alignment system that is MUCH more evocative, meaningful, and importantly, tied into the mechanics

[@dylanhyatt5705]

Love the idea of 'colleges' of magic - which really allows the GM to root wizards in their setting. The Holy/Unholy mechanic a breath of fresh air - the alignment system was too much of a 'sledgehammer' and often led to the 'villains' being uncovered if the alignment could be detected.

[@ribbitribbit4707]

I played PF1 but skipped out on PF2. I'm thinking about getting this version though. I want to see what they do with class updates. Id like to see spells toned down quite a bit.

[@BryanYang-o2b]

Great review. Paizo made much needed improvements to the Cleric and Witch. Clerics don't need Charisma for the Divine Fonts. For the Witches, their Patrons and Hexes are so much better.

[@charlestabor9950]

I'm looking forward to building out a witch NPC for my campaign. I've also heard they made some quality of play improvements like simplifying Spellcasting DC and Attack Mods for caster PCs that pick up a variety of spellcasting abilities from sources other than their main class like archetypes and innate abilities. Hoping to read up more on that.

[@PohatuEudyptulaMinor]

For this book, I'm pretty stoked to check out the new Witch remaster, as it seems to be finally making itself properly distinct from the Wizard!

[@kathyevans3251]

Our group had discussed plying it.This edition looks easier to explain .We have people in our group who have never played this system The multi clas feature is one I like. Thank you for the first look

[@Ascendedthor]

My group has been wanting to move away from D&D, maybe it's time now that Pathfinder is doing the same itself.

[@kevinrsmith2947]

I agree with you about the endpapers. I like the endpaper art for these books, but the one for Player Core is particularly cool.

[@RodPriester]

Great information…glad they tweeking this to future proof potential problems

[@calvinjim8829]

I’m looking forward to a fresh take on epic fantasy that doesn’t utilize alignments and allows for incredible customization.

[@jeffjones4654]

I'm looking forward to seeing what all's changed.

[@chrisphillips1974]

Thanks Jeff. I’m looking forward to creating new characters to see how the feel is with just modifiers, rather than traditional stats. Chris

[@GamemastersHobby]

Thank you Jeff! I have to say... I never got to play/GM Pathfinder 2e because my gaming group sees Pathfinder as a clone of DnD. Personally, I've always liked Pathfinder more. With the changes in this new remastered edition, I'm really looking forward to finally GMing Pathfinder!

[@Thegaminggang]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@XanSollo]

I think, with all of those new changes, i really can try pathfinder.

[@nutherefurlong]

I like that the second edition didn't take a certain expression of a class or ancestry for granted, they piled on a lot of options for expression that even though I don't tend to lean toward combat-heavy games I really dug what they did. I do miss the alchemist in this, though. I think it's a cool test of the flexibility of a class-based options system is how different two characters can be, and I think they did a good job. Curious with this one how much variance they can manage with the witch class, and what sort of changes they've made with spells to split it off from the OGL. Thanks for the pagethrough. They have any conversion kits coming up or are they saying it's pretty much compatible with their 2e?

[@Thegaminggang]

I do know there's an errata which came out which features some conversion info for the classes which didn't make it into the first two of the Remastered volumes. ~ Jeff

[@TrampasWhiteman]

What I am most interested in is compatibility with Starfinder 2e (coming in 2025). Finally, a comprehensive way to have a perfect science fantasy character.

[@johnsnyder4653]

That type of character is already viable with Starfinder 1e.

[@Subcomandante73]

The fundamental lack of understanding about alignment is staggering after 50+ years of D&D. I have to conclude that it is a deliberate misrepresentation rather than a genuine misunderstanding. I simply cannot take anyone seriously who claims to be OG roleplayer who spouts this nonsense.

[@Thegaminggang]

I can't take anyone seriously if they claim D&D has been around for more than 50 years... On top of that, when have I EVER claimed to be an original gangster in regards to something game related? Or anything, period? That would be never. As for the why of alignment being done away with by many RPG companies, I'm just repeating what they have shared as their reasoning. If you'd like to get into the topic of alignment, OD&D had law, chaos, and neutral. Holmes Basic is where we see the other axis of good, evil, and neutral appear. According to people from TSR I've spoken to over the years, alignment was to serve two original purposes; to provide game masters with a gauge on how to use monsters and NPCs and, less importantly, to provide players with something to put on their character sheet to indicate the sort of personality their characters had. I've said time and time again, my friends and I bailed on D&D back around 1982 or 1983 as we got into other RPGs; I began to run Call of Cthulhu near exclusively. I've also pointed out, I've never cared for the concept of alignment outside of maybe for important NPCs because it's far too cut and dry, too limiting for players. Some editions have had alignment really baked into the game while others have played a lot more fast and loose. ~ Jeff

[@chuckterrell6086]

Thanks for another great video. I much prefer this artstyle.

[@Thegaminggang]

Glad you like it!

[@HozyFlynn]

I have never played Pathfinder before, your videos make me want to try it out. I’ve only played a little D&D 5e, so jumping in on a new version that isn’t D&D sounds like good timing to me!

[@Thegaminggang]

What I would recommend is heading over to Humble Bundle and picking up the Pathfinder 2E bundle they have going for another two weeks - www.humblebundle.com/books/pathfinder-second-edition-legacy-bundle-paizo-books. The remastered books aren't radically different than the core PF2E books; just some tweaks. The bundle allows you to check out the system for a very small price and decide if it's worth diving into. Seriously, I like PF2E far more than I do 5E D&D. ~ Jeff

[@HozyFlynn]

@@Thegaminggang Thanks for the advice Jeff, I’ll definitely look into it.

[@mikestephan1228]

While I have the Pathfinder 2e original book, I am looking forward to the remaster as I try to assist my daughters in trying PF out. They are big DnD fans but also play other RPGs (Old School Essentials and Savage Worlds) but they looked at PF2e and, while they like the feats and customization, they balked at trying to create a character and running the game. I would like to see this remaster try and smooth that process for newcomers.

[@briangronberg6507]

Thanks again as always! I’ve wanted to see if my D&D group would consider a ruleset other than D&D 5e. This is mainly because I’d like to step away from WotC products and so I’m looking forward to using this book and the revised rules as a way of making it easier to sell the idea of trying PF 2e to my group.

[@Gusseig]

Thanks, Jeff. I'm looking forward to the GM Core review. Never played Pathfinder before, but I'm willing to giving it a try. It looks like they give you a ton of customization options while still keeping the overall rules very simple. Before I commit, I would like to see whether the GM Core complicates things too much or maintain the direction of the Player Core with tons of customization options + straightforward rules.

[@leandronc]

I never got into PF before, so I'm looking forward to a 1st contact with Pathfinder 2 moving on from 5e. I do know it gets quite a bit of inspiration from D&D 4e, an edition dear to my heart, so I'm hyped!

[@Corshclaw_RPG]

Thanks Jeff. I'm really, and more than ever considering recent news, looking forward to finally picking up Pathfinder and trying out that deep and rich character creation. That remaster edition will be a great opportunity to start fresh!

[@TravisWilliams_]

Not sure I’m a fan of that page layout. That black border seems like a waste of space

[@jacobrodgers7743]

Note that it has a chapter header on the top, and a section header on the outside border, plus the page number at the bottom of the outside border. So it's not wasted, just info for being able to flip to a section.

[@nicholaswolfe86]

i agree. if you want to make tabbing easier, do cutouts or ink the side or the page. the border overall wastes too much space as is

[@Akeche]

2:00 No, it's because they didn't want people realizing the vast majority of the books are completely reprinted.

[@kellynewman-e3v]

Wow! You come across as having a serious axe to grind with Paizo. Jeff's just sharing a first look at the book - and doing it in a way which might get him in trouble with Paizo, if you read between the lines - and you've already posted three comments to voice your displeasure on a video which has only been live a few hours. You must really despise this book.

[@n.ludemann9199]

I am looking for a concise core roolbook easy to use at the table. The pocket editions letters have become to small for my aging eyes

[@Drasai]

I doubt they’re too worried about pirates. The full text is (or soon will be) available via Archives of Nethys for free. The hard copy or PDF is for those of us who like pretty things.

[@Thegaminggang]

You would be wrong about pirating; Paizo Inc is actually very active in combating RPG piracy.

[@CesarIsaacPerez]

Kind of glad I skipped Pathfinder 2.0. Even though I bought the Beginners box. This remastered version is much more of a different version, should probably be called 3rd ed.

[@Akeche]

It's not really very different at all, a couple of class touch-ups here or there. Cutting out important narrative things here (alignment), changing names of stuff mostly to avoid the Eye of Hasbro.

[@paulll47]

@@Akeche Calling alignment "important" is way overselling it, nobody used it anyway, the rest is clearly them covering their asses in case Hasbro try to pull some shit with the OGL again.

[@Zr0din]

Thanks again for good honest thorough coverage. Pirates?!? Can't people buy PDFs of these books? Like, from the store? Look, these books are HUGE so they really do need a paperback player summary that a DM can print from PDF. With no art.