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Thursday, January 21, 2021

D&D 5e x Pathfinder 2 (beating a dead horse)

This is old news by now. By this point, everyone has made their choice between these two... or something else.

I wrote about my first impressions of Pathfinder in 2019, when it was released. It has some interesting stuff. I've never actually played it. 

I did, however, watch a video about it, and found it very interesting. It illustrates lots of stuff I try to say here with actual examples from PF2. Mainly, about lots of complexity and lack of meaningful choices.

This is not a jab against PF2 specifically; I see it in 5e and lots of other games, even old school ones.

Anyway, I think it is worth watching not only for PF2 and 5e players but also people who are interested in RPG mechanics. 

Without further ado:


There is a follow up video, too, but this only deals with very specific comparisons between 5e and PF 2. Still interesting.


The channel is full of good stuff, especially for 5e fans. Take a look!

3 comments:

  1. There is a lot to critique about Pathfinder 2 but that video definitely fails at it and completely misrepresents the system.
    Pathfinder’s character creation is cool, its just fun to pick an ability instead of get one. Its the one thing it has to compete against 5e.
    Like when he said his character made a Druid and kept turning to a dinosaur, I’ll tell you, you definitely don’t have to do that to be “optimal”. Honestly in our fame the druid hasnt done that once. Its like slapping yourself and saying “why am I slapping myself”

    Just dont transform into a dinosaur if you dont want to??

    Just as an example. I can detail actual critique on the system in another comment if anyone cares

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    Replies
    1. IIRC, he addressed this in the second video.
      But like I said, I'm no expert; I'd certainly appreciate hearing your critique of PF2, feel free to comment!

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    2. This is precisely the problem, the things said in the video and then perpetuated by others is mostly hearsay, he makes a very convicing case to anyone who does not play Pathfinder 2 because anyone who understands exactly wht he is saying and that it isn’t good or fair criticism. Now, just like anyone else, his opinion doesnt need to be thorough or fair or good to be allowed to have it. Its his opinion and that’s fine.

      The “illusion of choice” doesnt exist. Basically what pathfinder 2 did was just throw more features in every class and then tell you “pick one” every 2 levels. (Instead of just giving you one every 2 levels) its really not that different or even special. All it does is make levelling up a little more interactive.

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