So our
PF2 campaign might be falling apart.
The pirates theme is fun and we are enjoying the storyline, but at least one player has now temporarily bailed because he is really frustrated with PF2 so much. (The campaign was originally a PF1 campaign being ported into PF2.)
We moved to PF2 because of dissatisfaction with D&D 5e (some of the play elements) + the scumbag WOTC unpopular policies over the last few years.
We used to play PF1 but some of the group hates all the number crunching. (I like PF1 and still play it on Fridays -- but I'm a nut who likes to really synergize a lot of things including traits, feats, classes, subclasses/backgrounds, and gear to really push the envelope lol.) The Lovecraftian style campaign we did in PF1e Mythic was one of my favorite campaigns ever.
We still like Aberrant and will keep playing that from time to time
We liked JRPG Fabula Ultima and will cheese around with that maybe on occasion.
Also Chronicles of Darkness -- I can't wait until Round #2 of our Deviants run.
The big problem is that PF2e survivability elements / imbalances are just not fun. It was supposed to clear up after level 3 (the first few levels can be lethal, and we were still adjusting to playstyle) when your characters finally have enough HP to survive some weird dice rolls + the caster DCs are now higher and able to do things.
Current Roster of Sixth level chars (after last night)
Elementalist (tank + heal-bot): Struggling a little but really sturdy + does okay damage + great heals
Monk (melee DPS): Dishes out a ton of damage but TAKING a lot of damage
Barb/Cleric (melee DPS + some heal): Dishes out a ton of damage but TAKING a lot of damage
Alchemist (ranged weapon/poison DPS): Dead
Druid (ranged spell DPS): Ineffectual
The prior week was a boss fight we had planned for, it still was touch-and-go, but we won after we rearrange the battlefield / drew away some enemy to gank them elsewhere when we were losing. But it was a scary fight with a win we squeaked by on.
This week was a fight we did not pick, that we tried to avoid, and that we were not allowed to avoid.
It had effectively TWO bosses in it -- a water devil and a pirate captain (recurring campaign foe).
Either of them was deadly. Both in the same fight was ridiculous.
The demon's AC was too high (27) so a crit aside from nat 20 was impossible.
The pirate captain had way more HPs than we each did.
Both dished out a lot of damage with just two attacks each round.
Tyria (monk) and Aeon (barb) both had the most hit points of the group and dished out a LOT of damage.
I've checked the charts and our ACs were appropriate for our level, and we're geared for output a bit higher than average.
However, we also would thus be the targets of the boss attacks and it was just ridiculous.
While with multiple attack penalties we typically would only hit a boss once in a round, each boss often would crit his first attack and hit on the second.
Based on charting they were tuned 2-3 levels higher than us, which is absolutely nuts.
Tyria has 86 hit points.
For 2-3 rounds Tyria literally went from around 70 hps to 4 hps from boss attacks.
She would then chug a potion, and someone else would heal her to get her back in the 60-70 range.
Then the very next round she would take two more hits (with an AC 25) and drop back to 3-5 hit points.
In the meanwhile, she'd typically only hit a boss once.
And then the boss would heal somehow.
The fight ended up with two players unconscious, the tank at half health, the barb almost killed twice, and the monk almost dropped three times, where the team had to spend as a whole 4-5 actions (out of 15 total) per round to just heal people enough to keep them alive.
The only reason we won was from just really laying into the captain until he dropped under the magic number (apparently 20% of his health), whereupon he rode the devil away to safety.
I dunno. I don't think it's necessarily the system.
The DM has been solid in other systems, but I feel like his fights here have been overtuned.
PF2 is very tightly wed to sweet spots. A 1-2 level difference quickly swings the balance of the fight, unlike other game systems, mainly because of crit generation.
It also isn't very fun to go from full-health by a 40 point hit + 20 point hit down to almost dead, and wonder how you'll make it through the round.
Understanding the number scale and how the resolution mechanic works is central to mastering any tabletop RPG. Pathfinder 2e is no different. For players of
rpgbot.net
The game also doesn't allow for crazy 5e crap.
If you go under 0, you are making death saves that are incremental.
There are additional penalties for the amount of times you've already gone down in a fight (closer to death).
You either want to NOT ever go down or if you DO go down, you might want to stay down if you can stabilize.
Anyway, I don't want to switch systems because I really like my monk in THIS system.
it's fun and feels unique.
I've already played a monk in 5e.
I really feel like it's a tuning issue.
The GM just cannot double bosses on us like that, if we even kept trying to escape the fight and not engage, and when they are effectively 2-3 levels higher.
We've already had one party wipe before, and now multiple deaths in our second core group.
The other issue is ineffectual magic use / secondary spells.
We don't have a buffer/debuffer.
The goblin druid has ineffectual spells, only casts damage spells that don't do much damage, and/or just keeps rolling like shit.
We need spells that actually either buff us or debuff others.
My witch would have done that but... well, she died in the First Great Purge / TPK.
I will also need to do more striker-style fighting instead of toe to toe which unfortunately I was getting stuck in due to lack of damage dealers / 3 ranged characters (until the barb/cleric showed up).
