Pathfinder Playtest: Part I

Originally published on 8/12/18

Introduction

I will be chronicling my experiences with the new Pathfinder Playtest here, as it happens.

Today, my normal Pathfinder game that I run on Sundays was cancelled.  Instead, I ended up getting the Playtest rulebook and some people to test it out with me.

I will be referring to the new game as "Playtest" and the old version as "Pathfinder", and the system Pathfinder is based on as 3e or 3.5/OGL.

Background Information

My background

I am an old 3rd Edition DM, been playing about 20 years with small groups off and on.  Switched to Pathfinder a few years ago, and currently host a Pathfinder game at a local game store.  I still don't know all of the Pathfinder rules, despite playing for years.

We will be going into this without any advanced notice or preparation.  Take that into account - we literally just got the book and got to work before even reading it.

Player background

For this test, there will be two players.  Both are experienced GMs in their own right.  Because of our small numbers, I will be using a GMPC, to bring our group up to 3.  I am hoping we can flesh out the group with one more player.  So each of us bring our own familiarity and understanding to the game.

I will be referred to as GM or Player 1.  Player 2 is an online GM known for making unusual characters and heavy RP.  Player 3 is an established local GM, however I have never played with him before.  He has a better familiarity with systems such as 5e.

Playtest background

I previously downloaded the Playtest bundle from Paizo.com, and had not read over it.  I skimmed the files, but had no idea what changes were made.  Today I picked up the rulebook and printed the relevant materials to start the first part of the adventure, Doomsday Dawn.   We will be using a printed version of the flip-mat, the Playtest Doomsday Dawn Module, Playtest Bestiary, and paperback version of the Rulebook.  We also also be using the tracking sheet, and I have asked my players to fill out the survey online.

Thoughts on the Playtest

The Rulebook

First thing was opening the book and looking through it. Now, a major pet-peeve of my in Pathfinder is the editing of the Core Rulebook.  It took a step back toward the mess that was 3e - that book was great in content, and terribly organized.  3.5 was a step up, and 4e, for all of its faults, was much easier to use as a reference.  It was organized in a way that made sense.  Pathfinder, however, feels much like the original 3e in editing.  Pathfinder Playtest does not seem difficult to consult - the information is apparently logically placed.  That said, the book contains a few typos and errors, such as an entry in Alchemist referring to a page number, however it left out the number ["see the Crafting Trained Activities section on page for more information", Rulebook, pg 45].

So far as finding stuff, so far I'm pleased.  Where the page referenced was missing, I managed to find the content easily without it - under Skills > Craft.

Doomsday Dawn

Reading the word "alien" in the description has me a bit nervous. I'm up for something weird and crazy, but adding aliens to Pathfinder seems a bit disquieting.  I think some players will be off-put.  I'm eager to see how this concept plays out. [Editing note: this was before I was familiar with Numeria and the Iron Gods AP - 4/11/21]

The module is quite large, over 100 pages, and broken into three chapters.  To use it, you need to have the Bestiary, which is part of the download package.

Investment

The rulebook is $30-60, depending on quality.  Doomsday Dawn is $25.  The flip-mat is $25.  I did not see the bestiary.  This playtest could easily set you back over $100.  All of the books are available as free PDFs on paizo.com, however printing them out is a pain.  When I considered just printing it, it was about 700-800 pages of material (450ish for the Rulebook, 100+ for Doomsday Dawn, 150ish for the Bestiary, 36 for the flipmats, plus character sheets, tracking sheets, and other miscellaneous).  It was cheaper to buy the rulebook.  

The sad thing is that next year, this will be outdated and useless.  So know that you're buying a game that will soon be obsolete, and has not been entirely tested yet.

Reactions

First Impression

First impression was that a lot of things were streamlined.  I assumed that meant character creation would be a breeze, however, it actually took us and hour and a half to make three characters.  The main reasons were complete unfamiliarity with the new system, and having to share a single copy of the rulebook with three people.  The process was not entirely easy, because some of the concepts weren't readily explained right away (had we had individual copies of the book, we could have been able to consult this stuff more easily). 

I think that because of our long-familiarity with 3e/OGL systems, the new mechanics were just jarring, and won't be such a problem for newer players.  Playtest is very, very different in character design from Pathfinder.  We struggled with adapting, but I believe, having worked with the mechanics a bit, that character creation will be really fast in the future.  If we compare our ease at making Pathfinder characters to our struggles with Playtest characters, we have to account for our years of experience with the 3e ruleset.  We've made countless characters and can do it in our sleep.  It wasn't so easy the first time we played.

Group Reaction

None of us were happy, though.  Player 2 was hesitant over changes to Druids.  Player 3 had a number of complaints with the rigidity of the design.  I agree on that.  We all felt that the characters we would create will end up being very generic, and far less personal.  We did not feel invested in the process - it was more a matter of consulting rather than choosing.  Serious 4e flashbacks occurred.

After the two-hour session, we still don't understand character creation entirely, but I feel I have a decent grasp on the basics, and I intend to make a few practice characters tonight to get a more broad understanding.  One player actually gave up in frustration, and I had to take over part of their character creation.

Mechanics

Character Creation

The character creation process is streamlined.  Races have been replaced with ancestries (probably due to the weight of using the word "Race" and the effects on race in the game vs current social matters).  Most racial traits have been removed.  Instead, you now get an ancestry feat at first level, and every four levels after, which acts as a racial bonus.  Once again, the 4e sense of "pick from a pre-ordained list" comes to mind.  Half-elves and half-orcs have been merged with human as a single entry, with the half-breeds being subtypes.  Goblin has been added to the core races.

Classes are the same as Pathfinder core, with the addition of alchemist.    Classes still have class abilities and traits, however like races, some features have been relegated to class feats.  Some classes get feats at first level, others don't.

This leads to feats themselves.  There are now many kinds of feat.  Feats replace a lot of what used to be features.  You can get an ancestry feat, class feat, skill feat, and general feat at different times.

Characters also choose a background, I suppose this is similar to Pathfinder traits, except mandatory.  I was frustrated, as a GM, when I read over Doomsday Dawn and found it actually restricted players from using the Rulebook's backgrounds, and instead provided its own list.  Especially when Player 2 already had chosen one.  This annoys me quite a bit - Doomsday Dawn is supposed to demonstrate the game, let you test out the mechanic, but forbids some of those mechanics off the bat.  I don't like that at all.

Skills, along with weapons, armor, and almost anything else, use proficiencies.  By default, you may use any skill at a -2 penalty (adding your ability modifier and armor penalty as well) plus your class level.  There are four training levels - Trained, Expert, Master, and Legendary.  At Trained, you get + 0.  For each level above, you get +1.  So your skills for Legendary at level 3 would be 3 (training) + 3 (level) + ability modifier + other modifiers.

Gone, apparently, are bonus spells, etc.

The big change is the removal of dice rolls from character creation.  Point-buy is also removed.  Characters start at 10 for each score.  A race gives +2 for certain abilities, and -2 for others.  This is identical to Pathfinder, except you are given some choice in the matter.  Character backgrounds further modify this.  You also are given 4 points to spend on abilities with a cap of 18 at level 1.  HP is calculated by Ancestry hit points (8 for human), class hit points (6 for Druid) and Constitution modifier.  This is a static number - all characters of the same race, class, level, and constitution will have the same HP.

Characters will be consistent, but it gives them a canned feeling.

Conclusion, Part 1

The plan to run Doomsday Dawn was cut short.  We were only able to do character creation, and even that is not 100% finished.  

The character creation took a long time.  This could have been reduced had we had three copies of the rulebook, and were given time to read it prior to starting.  I actually expected to have a week to read it, instead of immediately jumping in - but it was more fun and a better way to experience the drastic change I think.  

We don't like the character creation process, and the problems are fundamental.  They cannot be easily fixed without remaking the system.  We have not actually played yet, however, and for all we know, this will be fun and versatile.  I believe character creation will start to feel very natural from here on.  

We're nervous.  Player 2 doesn't like it at all.  Player 3 has a lot of problem with it.  I have reservations, but I am holding off judgment.