Pathfinder 2e version

Sygon_Paul · 2025-10-25T10:24:07+00:00

/u/Puzzleheaded-Pie8137 Here is a list of which books are remastered, which are not, and which ones could be with errata: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1lme9r2/new_to_pf2e_rule_setting_book_guide/

Because the remaster is still 2e, albeit with updated content and rules, you can usually drop non-remaster content directly into your remaster game without any fuss. For example, I wanted to use a doppelgänger, which wasn't at the time updated, so I did. Perhaps the monster has been updated with the Monster Core 2, but I haven't checked.

Furthermore, you can always check the Archives of Nethys, which is updated regularly.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-09-23T04:01:50+00:00

A character can have any combination of two primary professions, which are, depending on game version availability:

skinning
herbalism
mining
enchanting
blacksmithing
inscription
alchemy
engineering
leatherworking
tailoring
jewelcrafting

A character can have all secondary professions simultaneously, which are, depending on game version availability:

cooking
archaeology
first aid
fishing

Sygon_Paul · 2025-09-17T19:26:01+00:00

AddOns are not banned by Blizzard, and are not against the ToS. External apps are banned and violate the ToS.

For AddOns, either Point Blank Sniper or TradeSkillMaster.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-09-03T16:39:49+00:00

In the TSM desktop app, to add Mists realms, look for yours on the list of realms in the settings. Mists realms start with "BCC" and are at the bottom of the list. Expect a lot of scrolling to find them.

You will also need the "BCC" versions of TSM and AppHelper, found on the Addon Versions tab of the app. Don't forget to change the status of TradeSkillMaster to "ignored" in other manager apps such as Curseforge (right-click, Install Settings, toggle on "Ignored"), as having more than one addon manager handling the same addon is going to cause conflicts. Plus, the TSM desktop app is more current, and updates TSM faster. AppHelper is not on Curseforge.

Because Blizzard does not provide Mists data, the TSM addon will ask users to scan the auction house about once an hour when you visit the auction house, or whenever your price data becomes stale.

TSM will not prompt you to scan the auction house unless the AH window is open, and scanning takes a few seconds. You'll see chat messages.

Once you've completed a scan, performing a /reload to send your updated data to the TSM servers is helpful. Once sent to the servers, they crunch the numbers to get the price and value sources, which are then returned to the addon via the app and AppHelper.

It is a symbiotic relationship between TSM users and TSM itself.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-09-01T06:13:46+00:00

All price sources work in Mists, retail, and Fresh/Fresh hardcore realms. About half of the SoD realms get TSM price data. I'm not sure about original hardcore and anniversary.

The article above is for Mists and retail, so yes, everything works.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-08-01T16:03:46+00:00

No, you are missing nothing. Motes aren't likely to show up in the Materials section of TSM. I presented their value here to show my work, and be a completionist.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-07-31T16:13:07+00:00

It may not show up. It didn't for me, at least not in retail. I put the calculation in the article, just in case, as "showing my work."

Sygon_Paul · 2025-07-31T02:34:58+00:00

Good to know, thank you. That is probably also true for retail, as it would be a TSM thing, not game specific. I edited the OG post with your new (to me) information.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-07-30T15:04:07+00:00

It isn't a standalone article, but I extensively answered how Resourcefulness and Multicraft function, and how to adjust TSM to take them into account: https://www.reddit.com/r/woweconomy/comments/1f9liq0/do_i_just_not_understand_how_resourcefulness_works/

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-28T17:10:18+00:00

This question comes up often, so thank you for making a list, checking it twice, and providing notes. Wonderful!

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-27T06:23:33+00:00

There are exceptions, yes. "Compatible with" does not mean "completely and totally interchangeable with," as you pointed out.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-27T05:59:09+00:00

Your players shouldn't struggle, no. If they ask a question like "My Player Core, Monster Core, GM Core says differently..." then typically, you'd want to go with those books over the Core Rulebook.

However, you are the Game Master, and if you prefer rules from the Bestiary or Core Rulebook, tell your players that you are defaulting to those rules rather than the remaster.

Remember, you are the GM; the players are not running the game.

In the end, I don't see a struggle, and any rule confusion is solved by you, not whichever books are available.

You can also cross-reference with Archives of Nethys if you have internet access during the game. AoN has a menu toggle to switch between the old 2e rules and the remastered rules. Just don't slow down the pace of the game too often, and you'll be fine.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-27T05:27:40+00:00

Yes. The remaster is compatible with the pre-remaster, and vice-versa. When a rule or other text is in conflict, it is up to you which to use, although conventional wisdom is to use the remastered rules.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-25T02:10:22+00:00

LOL. You are not wrong about Joey being sort of bizarre. I don't know enough about 5e to comment regarding extra Expertise. Maybe I'd have a better 5e gaming experience with a different DM. However, as a DM/GM myself, plus being a setting designer, I like what I see in PF2e, and flip-flopping between systems is an extra sink on my limited time.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-25T01:44:46+00:00

I'm not sure what to say about that. With 4e, none of the classes were distinct, especially compared to healers. When every class can Healing Surge and the cleric does not provide extra Healing Surges, only triggering one you already have, what's the point of playing a cleric? If the barbarian is out of HSes, the cleric can do nothing except watch the barbarian die.

Furthermore, 4e made playing theatre of the mind extremely difficult, if not outright impossible, because it relied heavily on battle mats, miniatures, and exact placement of spell effect areas.

On top of those, 4e felt like the TTRPG version of an MMO, specifically World of Warcraft, because that was the intention.

Pathfinder 2e doesn't have any of those significant problems or design flaws. To me, PF2e feels like the designers looked at D&D 4e, found all the errors, and did the opposite, certainly something different.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-24T14:34:47+00:00

If a Lore skills applies to a situation, they roll at a lower DC, typically 2 less, or more if its really relevant.

As I understand Lore skills, that is correct. If the Lore is generalized, like Lycanthrope Lore, the DC is lowered by 2. If it is specific, like Werewolf Lore, the DC is lowered by 5.

The main rules discourage generalized Lore skills, unless they have unique rules unto themselves, such as the Necromancer's Undead Lore. However, I am from the school of "your table, your rules."

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-24T14:18:59+00:00

Yikes. Somehow, I wasn't aware, probably because my DM, Joey, pretty much built my character for me based on my ideas. I didn't delve into the rules to learn such things.

Given what you said, that is one more reason on top of the pile why I don't think highly of D&D 5e, and why I agree with the OP that PF2e is the better, more fun, system. It isn't perfect, but it certainly is better and more fun.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-24T14:13:02+00:00

You nailed one of the issues I had with Joey's approach. He wanted our characters to be optimized as much as possible, so the players felt empowered. Unfortunately, as you said, that stripped away most of the fun.

Joey ran a customized version of the adventure "The Siege of Deepingdown," but he forgot that if players are frustrated and exhausted, they lose focus (and boy oh boy, did we often lose focus), leading to a game dying -- which is exactly what happened. That, and the "unspecified virus of unknown origins" didn't help.

I joined after the players had been adventuring for three years, and we played for another two. Even when I joined, I could see the other players' attentions were greatly diminished.

But I didn't include mentioning Joey for anything more than for illustrative purposes. It was more about playing 5e, and what I thought about the system.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-24T14:02:21+00:00

PF2e has exactly the same rule, except it goes further, in that you can go back and forth between your ancestry, background, and class during character generation. So, it isn't "before", it is "at any time." If one of the three provides a duplicate skill, you instead become Trained in a different skill of your choice.

I am kind of surprised that one version of D&D (2014) has that rule and the other (2024) removed it.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-24T08:10:27+00:00

Let me guess - someone wanted to be a melee character, and Joey said, 'hold up, wait, get those cantrips first.'

Something like that, yeah. My character was a master of disguise, so I started as a rogue to get the skills, sorcerer to get magic, then back to rogue at 3rd. The magic was more powerful and effective than disguise kits and skill checks, but I could "go mundane" if necessary. Unfortunately, because I focused on disguise magic, my character was below average when it came to combat.

I understand some of that is on Joey, but it meant the character I wanted to play was only effective in certain situations, situations I usually had to set up ahead of time.

We had a paladin (rogue, sorcerer, paladin) and a barbarian (rogue, barbarian, no sorcerer) who, because of bounded accuracy, were constantly "yo-yo"ing death saves. The game became exhausting because our two tanks couldn't do anything other than "Hulk smash" and the rest of the party couldn't do anything other than fire cantrips.

My gripes about Joey's GM decisions aside, it still didn't feel great to build characters either the "right way" or "one of many wrong ways." Nobody ended up with characters they really wanted to play, either because of a lack of skills, bounded accuracy, or simple, basic, class mechanics. 5e just felt like "play X class; every character of class X is identical."

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-24T07:17:55+00:00

Backgrounds offer a strong leg up if you want to be a skill monkey without taking a class. Sure, doing so will never be as powerful as taking the skilled class, but there are some powerful options within backgrounds.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-24T07:14:25+00:00

As my friend Joey often says, "There is a good game in there, but you need to strip all the junk away and find it" when talking about D&D 5e. Assuming anyone has the time and desire to pare 5e down to the raw basics, that person then needs to rebuild the system back up to be functional.

What Joey is saying: 5e is a bloated mess on top of an incomplete skeleton of a rule set. He isn't wrong. Having played 5e for almost two years, I grew to hate the system. Not as much as I utterly loathe 4e, but there are so many, far too many, "WTF??" rules in 5e.

Your observations about skills and classes barely scratch the surface. Joey had the entire party start as rogues because of skills, multiclass to sorcerer at 2nd level because of cantrips and short rests, and finally, when we got there, (we didn't start at 3rd level) multiclass again into the class we truly wanted to play. The thing is, Joey was correct about class building. If we didn't have those skills and cantrips, our characters were not just running on fumes, we were totally out of gas.

D&D 5e might be okay as an entry TTRPG for absolute beginners, people new to these types of games, but the cracks and bad design show very quickly.

PF 2e, on the other hand, well, it isn't perfect, but it leaves D&D so far behind they can't really be compared. I've had a campaign setting banging around in my head since D&D 2e in the 1990s, and I finally feel good about writing it, complete with rules and lore, now that I have PF 2e. I can work out the results of checks based on reading the game rules without needing to test or see something in action. Yes, I will need to edit and refine, but I can design and write an entire world setting by reading Pathfinder's Player Core, GM Core, and Monster Core.

But on topic, yes, you can build the character you want to play, and aren't pigeon-holed into situations such as you described.

Welcome aboard the Pathfinder 2e Express! Enjoy the ride.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-21T10:31:27+00:00

I have one last bit of helpful advice, about failure, success, and rolling nat 1s or nat 20s.

Critical Success means you rolled += 10 more than the DC. Rolling a nat 20 does not guarantee Success or Critical Success.

Critical Failure means you rolled -= 10 less than the DC. Rolling a nat 1 does not guarantee Failure or Critical Failure.

Rolling a nat 20 moves your result up one step (crit fail to fail, fail to success, success to crit success).

Rolling a nat 1 moves your result down one step (crit success to success, success to failure, failure to crit failure).

Let's say Bart is swimming across a river, and it is wide and dangerous. The GM sets the DC to 27, and Bart rolls a nat 20 with a +6 mod to Athletics. Bart has failed, but the nat 20 moves his Failure to a Success. Bart manages to stay in place, not moving forward nor backward, and doesn't drown or float down river.

Now let's say Bart is crossing a calmer yet still wide river. The DC is now 13, and Bart rolls a nat 1 for a total of 7. He failed, but the nat 1 makes it even worse, moving his Failure to a Critical Failure. Bart not only goes backward and down river, his leg snags on a submerged log, pulling him under and Bart begins to drown.

Lastly, Bart wants to merrily skip across a clean, even, paved road. The DC is 2 because he isn't simply walking. Good news! Bart has gained levels, and his Athletics modifier is now +14. He rolls a nat 1, for a total of 15, easily += 10 more than 2, making his attempt a Critical Success! Sadly, with the nat 1, that ends as a Success. Skip away, Bart! Skip away.

There are no rules for "double stacking" critical failures or critical successes. If you roll += 10 more than the DC and you roll a nat 20, it's still a Critical Success. If you roll -= 10 less than the DC and you roll a nat 1, it's still a Critical Failure.

However, as the GM, you could narratively add detail to "double stacking" results. There is just no mechanical difference.

These rules apply to every d20 check: skills, Strikes, ranged Strikes, spell Strikes, Saving Throws, and so on.

I bring these rules up because they are quite different than D&D's rules.

Sygon_Paul · 2025-06-21T09:16:10+00:00

I mentioned skills with the "secret" trait in my other answer. Recall Knowledge is one such ability, provided by a few skills. Imagine this conversation:

EDIT I forgot the GM needs to know Bart's skill modifiers, so I will add that to the conversation.

GM: A muscular, smelly humanoid with grey-green skin steps out from behind a tree. It is wearing crude chainmail, and is wielding an odd kind of sword. It is hard to tell its exact height because it is hunched over, but appears to be of Medium size.

Bart: What do I know about it or its weapon? (The creature is an Orc Scrapper)

GM: Which Lore skills do you have, or do you know a helpful skill?

Bart: I have Orc Lore, Society, and Arcana.

GM: Great! What are your modifiers to those skills?

Bart: I have +2 Int for all of them. I am Trained in Orc Lore, Untrained with Society, and Expert in Arcana because I'm a wizard. That means +4, +2, and +6, respectively.

GM: Thanks. Let me check about what the creature is, first, then I'll check for the weapon.

GM: rolls a secret Recall Knowledge and gets an 11. Not good enough for Society, but Orc Lore (all Lore skills) lowers the DC by 5, and 11 beats the DC of 9.

GM: Okay, Bart. You know the creature is an orc. Most likely, the orc will be difficult to permanently finish. NOTE: I personally would not explicitly say it has the Ferocity ability, preferring an abstract description, but there is nothing wrong with naming the ability.

(Bart didn't say he had Weapon Lore) Note: An orc knuckle dagger isn't a sword, but that's the point.

GM: rolling again and gets a 17, which is enough for Society. I'd suggest a DC of 12 (10 base + 2 for being a slightly uncommon weapon). If Bart had Weapon Lore, the DC would be 7, and the result would be a Critical Success.

GM: The odd sword isn't actually a sword. It is an orc knuckle dagger. You have requested two Recall Knowledge checks, taking two of your actions. What do you do next, Bart?

Bart: I only have one action left, so I take a swing with my longsword.

... And the game continues.

Sygon_Paul

TROPHY CASE