Wednesday 7 March 2018

Pathfinder second edition announced


It's been 10 years since Pathfinder was let loose into the world, so I guess it's time for an update.

Paizo made the announcement yesterday on their site (hey, notice how they made a brand-new site after I criticized it a couple of weeks ago? THE POWER).

The playtest launches in August with a big fat 400 book and a 96 page adventure to take you from levels 1-20. All free, of course.

Ok, so what's changed? Looks like they've taken a few leaves from 5e's page, but here's a list of changes:

- Initiative is getting an overhaul, with contextual rolls based on skills rather than a single initiative modifier
- there's a single proficiency bonus rather than loads of bonuses
- race is now ancestry. Like in 5e, you choose backgrounds as part of character creation. Although it seems like backgrounds might have more mechanical benefit
- play is split into different time phases based on downtime (days), exploration (hours/mins) and encounter (seconds)
- monster design is streamlined
- hazards are more deadly
- different reactions based on enemies
- you now get 3 of ANY action. No 'full', ''''ft' etc. This means you can attack three times, but with penalties
- less onus of magic items buffing all your stats - another 5e philosophy.

If you want to hear the playtest in action, the Glass Cannon Podcast has run a two-parter of actual play.

I'm excited about the new edition and I'm hoping my group will get a chance to play it this summer.

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