Starting a Pathfinder2E Game? Advice for GMs!

[@Hughes81]

One thing I love about PF2 is we had a party of all 5 Human Fighters and we were a viable team.

[@CollectiveArcana]

Viable, and with fairly different playstyles I bet!

[@amystone7407]

LIAR 😅jk I'm a long time dnd player and rmtrying to run a pathfinder campaign

[@thorinbane]

Yes as long as it's all fighting it works, which is why I can't stand pf2 a 4e clone. The skills list is pure garbage.

[@EricHockridge]

@@thorinbanehow so?

[@TyphosTheD]

​@@thorinbane A Human Fighter with the Field Medic Background, Battle Medicine, Risky Surgery, and Combat Assessment can play a very supportive combat role while helping keep the party healthy between encounters. A Battle Ready Orc Fighter with the Guard Background, Intimidating Glare and Quick Coercion can be a strong controller and social figure. A Tailed Goblin Fighter with the Junker Background, Snagging Strike, Combat Climber, and Hefty Hauler can provide a vital role in scaling climbing encounters or sneaking around to elevated areas while managing the carrying of heavy items for the party and with a reliable access to Off-Guard. An Ancient Elf Fighter with the Investigator Dedication and Barrister Background, Combat Assessment, Woodcraft, and their various skills, can be a huge Boon in the social and political elements of the game, in addition to providing useful access to tracking, crafting, and finding information.

[@samuelturner3081]

as someone who's only gmed dnd 5e before and is starting to gm a longform pathfinder 2e campaign in a few weeks this is very useful! thank you :)

[@RAYBURN99]

You had me at "healing barbarian". I had always wanted to make a medical healer that 5e never really supported. Good stuff, liked your examples showcasing customization and feats.

[@CollectiveArcana]

The customization is VERY rewarding!

[@cobra1060]

I played a fighter for my very first character in PF2E and was able to do field dressings. It was an amazing feeling of not just being a physical combat monkey and had other utility in sticky situations.

[@jeremylaviguer4648]

I appreciated the information without the "this is good" or "you're going to hate this", a lot of time this kind of video is more of an opinion piece rather than a run down of solid facts about the game. I just converted to pathfinder 2e after running D&D 5e and this gave me a good general rundown of the rules that I needed to know, as well as some of the pitfalls I would want to avoid. This was by far the best video I've seen compared to stuff offered by Mat Colville or the dude from taking 20. As a humble critique from someone who watches a lot of these kinds of video's, keep practicing at eliminating those "ahhh" and "ummm"s. Thanks for putting this together for us!

[@CollectiveArcana]

The eternal struggle! Glad you enjoyed/git use of the video! Thanks for watching!

[@claudiolentini5067]

Matt Colville has done a video on Pathfinder 2e?

[@someonewithsomename]

Did you stuck to Pf2e in the end?

[@jeremylaviguer4648]

My group did, In the end in spite of a few procedural problems with the system, my players LOVED the 3 action economy. I started putting magic items that scaled effect on the number of actions you took to activate them and it made the game (feel) way more tactical than its progenitors. @@someonewithsomename

[@theenchantedzombiebrothers791]

I love that the dog just suddenly comes into camara view like ''I also want to be in the video'' xD

[@johnharrison2086]

Good review. The three action system and archetypes are really good. I like the cameo from your doggie as well!

[@CollectiveArcana]

Thanks! That's Tegan, she loves to pop in when the camera is on, ha!

[@makeshiftkitchen]

Super glad I found your channel! I’m late to the party but have been looking at pathfinder for years. Think I’m finally gonna pick it up and try to get a game together, especially since it’s cheap on humble bundle right now! Loved the video, great work

[@CollectiveArcana]

Welcome! Its a great game, you are going to love it!

[@TheMapleTable]

Thanks for the tips on Pathfinder 2E since its one system I'm still on the fence about getting. I have been really happy with Starfinder thus far.

[@CollectiveArcana]

While I haven't played Starfinder, my understanding it bridges the gap between 1E and 2E so I encourage you to give it a shot! This is my favorite system so far out of my 14 years of TTRPGing. It is very clean and streamlined but still offering plenty of crunch and customization. It's also easy to homebrew with, which is important to me.

[@geraldstacy3658]

It's definitely an upgrade from any of the games I play. I do reccomend.

[@mattmoening8495]

Good to see some PF2 content keep it up man

[@CollectiveArcana]

Lots more coming!

[@TazztheEvil]

This video aged like wine. Thanks❤

[@CollectiveArcana]

Thanks for watching!

[@coolio3267]

I think the main reason that pathfinder monsters are accurate to their level is cuz they add their entire level to most things

[@CollectiveArcana]

Yes, the way proficiency is integrated to everything is kept to Pathfinder's balance. Its why you can have a player roll just about anything at almost any creature's DC for a weird one-off check. Like, if the player is a performer, and trying to impress an NPC and wants to see if they can break glass with their voice? Roll Performance against the item DC, if its a mundane glass, kaboom! Easy to conceptualize, makes sense, easy to resolve!

[@myrojyn]

Thank you! Looking to start a Pathfinder 2e campaign

[@academic0chris]

Thanks for this, this answered a lot of questions I had about bonus archetypes and feats

[@CollectiveArcana]

Happy to help!

[@ren_dhark]

One free feet I give away is the lineage feet of the versatile heritages, otherwise you end up with a tiefling that has to decide between having a lineage or having a horn tail. I don't like the idea of having "generic" versatile heritages, if a tiefling is neither pitborn, hellspawn or grimspawn (or other 1st edition lineages like Rakasta etc.) what is he then?

[@CollectiveArcana]

I think thats a great idea! Personally I dont see anything wrong with permitting 2 ancestry feats at 1st level to help people really "feel like a dwarf."

[@austinhadley6086]

Excellent video. Subscribed and shared in a pf2e discord server. Hope to see this channel grow

[@CollectiveArcana]

Thanks so much! Let us know if there's anything specific you'd like to see us cover. Welcome to the Collective!

[@austinhadley6086]

@@CollectiveArcana I think a conversation about low level adventure with a sample combat would be really useful for both new GMs and new players. I've struggled explaining combat to my players who are used to 5e and it takes a few sessions to really grasp the action economy for them.

[@CollectiveArcana]

@@austinhadley6086 great idea! We can definitely cover that. Thanks!

[@CollectiveArcana]

Circling back to this comment, we just did a demo on the action economy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3aceYSlmNZ3l9E

[@austinhadley6086]

@@CollectiveArcana fantastic! So glad I subscribed. This is very useful for the younger folks who want to play in my game/have no experience with RPGs

[@Rslick96]

First off thanks for uploading GM tips i definitely gonna give this a couple of watches. That said I needed this video a few days earlier because I almost TPKed my 3 person party 😂.

[@CollectiveArcana]

Ha! We were hoping to get the video out sooner but our work schedules just did not cooperate this week. Glad your party survived 😆

[@Rslick96]

@@CollectiveArcana I played up the insanity of their adversary plus a little gravity. And no problem this is a pretty extensive video to put together so I appreciate it.

[@CollectiveArcana]

@@Rslick96 happy to make it!

[@gabrielfabri2707]

very cool video keep it up man! you seem to be a really nice person

[@CollectiveArcana]

Thanks for watching! I try to be!

[@travisbaggett2813]

I love all Collective Arcana videos!

[@markcampbell4080]

I just started a Pathfinder 2e game online. I must have missed the part where some classes get an attack of opputunity. I was going off the premis first addition movement rules. I'm going to have to look that up.

[@CollectiveArcana]

Yeah, it can be very tricky coming from other systems, especially PF1 and 5e, the similarities can lull you into a false sense of security sometimes and then a big change will pop up like that! Good luck with your game, I think you're going to love it!

[@AminWT]

Amazing content! Very informative 😎

[@CollectiveArcana]

Thanks for watching!

[@AminWT]

@@CollectiveArcana thank you for the valuable information! I needed an overview of the system, since I'm used to 5E, but I really wanted to jump to PF 😁

[@CollectiveArcana]

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[@ElementalShogun]

Wonderful video!

[@geraldstacy3658]

I've decided to gice my players a free feat at every even level that can be used for either an Archetype feat or an ancestry feat. They can only choose one of the two, and they aren't allowed to use their class feats for any kind of archetype.

[@CollectiveArcana]

I really believe that free archetypes are going to be standard for games I run. Your idea to give an option to choose ancestry feats is a wonderful addition for players that don't feel they need an archetype - or all the feats in an archetype. A great idea!

[@geraldstacy3658]

I do my best. Really all I did was take two of the optional variants from the Gamemastery Guide and mash them together in one progression. Now if only I can find a DM to run for me with the same system.

[@CollectiveArcana]

@@geraldstacy3658 Thats the struggle of all homebrew GMs. You start GMing cause you want to make the game "just right", so you make a perfect thing... but you can't actually play in it. Its a tragedy!

[@tabunga4669]

Hay man all of this info is great. But editing is the playmaker, put in what you're talking about on screen and divide info up in clusters so people can skip to what they want to hear about

[@CollectiveArcana]

Thanks for the feedback! This is Sara typing, I edit the videos. This is something we've been wanting to do and will be going forward, we actually just planned this out last night. Thank you for being patient with us, its been a lot to learn and we've both been working a lot of overtime at our day jobs so time was also a factor, but things have calmed down a bit and now I can focus more on editing. Please bear with my while I learn, I'll get there, ha! Thanks for watching!

[@Aznpockeygirl]

Is there an IOS app anyone would recommend for character creation etc? Coming to 2E for first time from 5E

[@CollectiveArcana]

There's a thing called Pathfinder Nexus which is being made by some of the folks who developed D&D beyond. In the meantime there's herolabs, and Pathbuilder now works in a browser!

[@dvh5277]

I’m fed up with dungeons and dragons and the company behind it. PF2e is much better and the company is one I really like.

[@CollectiveArcana]

I definitely like a lot of things about Paizo as a company.

[@joelat4674]

Good stuff.

[@flareinc7413]

So so many cool things. I'm pretty sure PF2 will ruin DnD5e for me ^___^

[@CollectiveArcana]

we can't go back, that's for sure, ha!

[@Sol-ph4xc]

You forgot to tell, that Spellcasters got nerved to the ground. You told that many spells could be replaced by skills, but not that skills increase to expert and master much earlier then spellcasting. Blasting got nerved with the drastic increase of HP and not scalling with level anymore. Save or Suck spells got nerved with the "incapacitate" trait. In my Experience a spellcaster isn't fun in the first 1-6 levels. Havn't played higher level yet.

[@CollectiveArcana]

Its true epellcasters got some nerfs... they also got some buffs. Spell saves are universal across the board vs PF1, where only your highest level spell slots were likely to have DC's high enough to matter. The way weaknesses work means spell damage can get pretty nasty. Cantrips scale very well, and combined with focus spells, you'll always have something useful instead of running out of spell slots and being only a hinderance. Spells can critically succeed. And most spells, even incapacitate ones, have some effect even if the target saves, often only losing duration, not quality of the effect. So the enemy is still hindered for at least a round. Finally, the recall knowledge action can tell you a creatures weakness, and tell you its worst save. This save thing is HUGE. With the crit system in 2e, attacking a bad save vs a good save is a difference of 6ish points. Thats a massive boost to monster chance to fail or critically fail. Its wider than the gap between a martial's first and second attack. If you're feeling ineffective as a caster, roll those recall knowledge checks.

[@aevum6667]

A lot of people dislike how casters cant just trivilize encounters and do anything a martial can do but better anymore

[@SirNilzey]

@@aevum6667 As much as I like 1e it really was some Angel Summoner and BMX Bandit shit.

[@someonewithsomename]

Yeah, I like when my spellcasters hit 1/5 of the party's fighter at the very best. And misses half the time and uses resources for that. Really fun stuff!

[@b9904]

Hi!

[@CollectiveArcana]

Hello!

[@Wolfphototech]

🌟

[@Hatchet80]

Thank you for posting this! Info = gold. Small CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, do your best to prepare before recording. There are a lot of stutters, false starts, and saying filler words like umm, ahh, long pauses while you collect your thoughts, etc. This video could quite a bit shorter without them. I hope you continue to post content and hopefully your views per video grows!

[@CollectiveArcana]

Sara here! I edit these videos and am the other half of The Collective Arcana. Thanks for the feedback, this video was posted two years ago when we were still learning the ropes. Hopefully you'll notice big improvements in our newer and future videos :)