I haven’t played D&D 4, but Pathfinder 2e (and its remaster) is a great system, aside from some parts of the philosophy I disagree on which is a minor thing. It is really well written, coherent, streamlined and edited.
Sheesh, I was trying to be vague so I wouldn’t have to justify my opinion :D
I dislike spell slots and level based progression. I also think d20-based is the most boring dice-system, aside maybe from the very basic d100 “roll below your skill” (which is kind-of the same thing, but GMs keep forgetting to adjust the difficulty of the role). That is very much subjective and I understand that most people don’t mind.
I appreciate the action economy, the very (VERY) well written rules - I am playing Shadowrun right now, and the editing and writing is atrocious - and I’d pick it over D&D any day.
I’m assuming there’s a translation issue here. Those are mechanics that you don’t enjoy, which, yeah, can be seen as disagreeing with the designers on their pholosophy of game design.
But Paizo has taken rather firm choices around inclusion which has casued some people to call out the company for being “woke”, so saying you “disagree with their philosophy” might raise some eyebrows and have people searching for your red cap.
I’d love to find a classless and leveless system as well written as PF2e.
d20 feels like a decent default to me but I like systems where rolls don’t fail but succeed with caveats at least where the PC is attempting to do something.
Heh, I feel that.
If you are ~ fluent in German, I can recommend Splittermond. Classless, Levelless (there are 4 levels which only serve to limit the maximum you can achieve in each particular skill as well as roughly track progression/power levels) and with a well balanced and designed magic system - No 5E bullshit of “can this spell do that”. It also beautifully avoids the problem where occupying any portion of a niche restricts you to only that niche via attributes. Skills each have two attributes, so even if one is a dumpstat you can still use the skill. Weapons each have their own two attributes, making strength-less combat characters easy to build (aka some swords take agility and intuition, a mace may use constitution and strength). Magic is divided into 19 schools with overlapping spells and each school uses two attributes as well (Although all schools share the same first attribute) - and some schools straight up use CON or STR, so fighter mages are green to go.
Disadvantage: Only in German.
Amazon.de doesn’t seem to be the place to order the books. Splittermond Rules "Usually dispatched within 4 to 7 months " and €37.34 +
€19.69 delivery 14 October - 13 December, 2024.
I’m checking out the publisher’s store right now. Thank goodness for translate built into the web browser!
Hah, glad to hear that enthusiasm!
Yes, the Grundregelwerk is free as a pdf. Uhrwerkverlag has the rest, don’t use Amazon or other resellers.
To play I highly recommend Mondstahlklingen (Weapons, Armour, Equipment and Crafting - which is a really cool system) and Die Magie (Magic, duh). I’ll check which of the other books I use regularly once I get home.
There are tons of regionalia (Zhoujiang is my favourite, it adds china made-in-china) as well as Die Welt (which gives a nice overview).
I haven’t played D&D 4, but Pathfinder 2e (and its remaster) is a great system, aside from some parts of the philosophy I disagree on which is a minor thing. It is really well written, coherent, streamlined and edited.
Alright, I’ll bite. Which parts of the philosophy do you disagree on? :D
Sheesh, I was trying to be vague so I wouldn’t have to justify my opinion :D I dislike spell slots and level based progression. I also think d20-based is the most boring dice-system, aside maybe from the very basic d100 “roll below your skill” (which is kind-of the same thing, but GMs keep forgetting to adjust the difficulty of the role). That is very much subjective and I understand that most people don’t mind. I appreciate the action economy, the very (VERY) well written rules - I am playing Shadowrun right now, and the editing and writing is atrocious - and I’d pick it over D&D any day.
I’m assuming there’s a translation issue here. Those are mechanics that you don’t enjoy, which, yeah, can be seen as disagreeing with the designers on their pholosophy of game design.
But Paizo has taken rather firm choices around inclusion which has casued some people to call out the company for being “woke”, so saying you “disagree with their philosophy” might raise some eyebrows and have people searching for your red cap.
Goodness, no! I meant design philosophy. If I had political issues with it I would say so …
Vancian Magic makes me mad 💢.
I’d love to find a classless and leveless system as well written as PF2e.
d20 feels like a decent default to me but I like systems where rolls don’t fail but succeed with caveats at least where the PC is attempting to do something.
Heh, I feel that. If you are ~ fluent in German, I can recommend Splittermond. Classless, Levelless (there are 4 levels which only serve to limit the maximum you can achieve in each particular skill as well as roughly track progression/power levels) and with a well balanced and designed magic system - No 5E bullshit of “can this spell do that”. It also beautifully avoids the problem where occupying any portion of a niche restricts you to only that niche via attributes. Skills each have two attributes, so even if one is a dumpstat you can still use the skill. Weapons each have their own two attributes, making strength-less combat characters easy to build (aka some swords take agility and intuition, a mace may use constitution and strength). Magic is divided into 19 schools with overlapping spells and each school uses two attributes as well (Although all schools share the same first attribute) - and some schools straight up use CON or STR, so fighter mages are green to go. Disadvantage: Only in German.
Time to learn to read Deutsch!
Translate seems off, not sure if that comma is supposed to be there:
No no, that comma is correct. It’s actually a fairly good translation!
Amazon.de doesn’t seem to be the place to order the books. Splittermond Rules "Usually dispatched within 4 to 7 months " and €37.34 + €19.69 delivery 14 October - 13 December, 2024. I’m checking out the publisher’s store right now. Thank goodness for translate built into the web browser!
FREE PDF!!! from the publisher: https://shop.uhrwerk-verlag.de/media/pdf/63/03/b2/Splittermond_GRW_dritte-erratierte-Neuauflage.pdf
Translating the PDF right now. Page 3 partially done but I have to go to work! To be continued…
Hah, glad to hear that enthusiasm! Yes, the Grundregelwerk is free as a pdf. Uhrwerkverlag has the rest, don’t use Amazon or other resellers. To play I highly recommend Mondstahlklingen (Weapons, Armour, Equipment and Crafting - which is a really cool system) and Die Magie (Magic, duh). I’ll check which of the other books I use regularly once I get home. There are tons of regionalia (Zhoujiang is my favourite, it adds china made-in-china) as well as Die Welt (which gives a nice overview).
Looks like I have a lot to learn! 😓