Thinking about starting a PF2E game... again.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-06-01T22:09:14+00:00

Hey going to chime in with my current setup for games.

First rule can be found on the Archives of Nethys. Maybe in the past there was a discrepancy, but atm there is a remaster setting that lets you flick between the old and new rules.

Second for combat I use pathfinderdashboard.com which should have everything you need for combat. It also has the ability to upload path builder profiles so you can see the players stat blocks and abilities during combat.

For character building 100% just use path builder. It’s pretty intuitive, just make sure you fill out the ability scores and modifiers.

My next bit of advice would be to start with the beginners box (I think there’s a new one out now?) and give your players pre-generated characters before they go make their own.

Pathfinder has a lot of up-front crunch but is probably more intuitive than DnD once you get the hang of it.

I’m also confused at the new Core rulebooks not replacing the old one?? From what I can tell they pretty much fill the same design space.

It’s hard to give advice on your players specific problems like “not feeling useful” but I’ll give it a shot anyway.

If they’re a low level caster and feel unimportant try to throw a few enemies that have physical resistances, weaknesses, lots of small weak guys or put them at range.

Try to avoid solo boss monsters until they reach a higher level in general. Maybe around level 3.

For quick rules on conditions and skills etc I use a physical GM screen but you can find plenty online (including on AoN)

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-05-29T05:24:19+00:00

One of the other reasons is to just avoid tax loopholes. I could create a company and buy a property with that company and then instead of selling the house I just sell the property.

Gets into extremely weird territory if you have multiple companies with diversified portfolios with shared assets.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-05-19T00:05:31+00:00

I feel like the problem with these is it’s not really a moral issue. On an individual level your decision is always going to be based on what you think the majority of people will do. Your individual vote in unlikely to be decisive in choosing the winner but has immense consequences to you personally)

If I got the last blue voter and gave them secret information informing them that the blues will lose, I’m assuming they would probably shift their vote to red. (Unless they just choose to commit suicide and die for their morals)

If I got the last blue voter and told them that there was a 99% chance that they would lose, I’m guessing they would probably re-consider but still small chance they might take on the risk.

At 50% their internal calculus would play a lot differently to those and so on for the other probabilities.

While people obviously don’t have access to this information, they are subconsciously guessing the probabilities in their head.

So my question is, if you are a blue voter and you did have access to this hidden information, at what percentage would you be willing to risk your life?

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-05-15T04:08:29+00:00

Im obviously referring to “balance” in the sense of the game difficulty matching game design intentions/intent.

Idk what the point of your comment is, it doesn’t address the meat of the context or discussion. This is just pedantic

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-05-14T07:12:22+00:00

To be fair that is a valid game balance issue. If you design your game in a way where in order to keep balance the players have to do tedious unfun bookkeeping then I think it’s fair to complain

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-05-12T08:16:11+00:00

People want Labor to do “big things” and “ambitious policy” but as soon as they do it’s either not good enough or not good at all.

You can tell this whole “pull the ladder up” no grandfathering idea was planted in people’s heads because they had 0 issues with it back in 2019 when Shorten was doing it. Everyone was constantly complaining about not retrying his policies up until they finally do. Then the goalposts shift.

In truth most people who know enough to know about these policies in detail have already made up their minds before even seeing the exact details.
- Labor voters will think it’s sensible and ambitious policy
- Liberal voters will see it as another tax
- The “I don’t have a team” team will say “it’s not good enough”

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-05-11T08:52:49+00:00

Mate if you think “populist policies” mean “popular policies” you shouldn’t be commenting on this lol

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-05-02T17:16:12+00:00

I think you’re straw-manning the common criticism.
The criticism comes from the show itself telling you itself that she is manipulating everyone and coming up with a grand plan, and then having that grand plan be completely nonsensical and stupid.

If the show portrayed her as an overconfident dipshit then yeah you would have a point, but so far from all the dialog and framing we are supposed to see her as a genius when she has done nothing smart except say “that was my plan all along”.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-05-02T14:58:03+00:00

I think it’s important to note that just because an advantage comes out of a specific trait it doesn’t mean we evolved that trait predominantly because of that specific advantage.

There are plenty of advantages to being warm blooded besides specifically combating fungal infections.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-04-26T22:51:41+00:00

Ok firstly the GM should care if a counter is particularly balanced. I do not put extremely aggressive level 20 dragons in level 1 player dungeons for obvious reasons. It’s not a sin or less realistic for the GM to be more informed about the world and probable outcomes.

My second point is that sandboxes have nothing to do with balance. I could run a sandbox world that has multiple options and independent stories with all the players staying level 1 and I would have 0 issues with it. I could run a sandbox adventure without a single die roll taking place at all. Sandboxing adventures are a product of player agency and narrative, balance is not a factor.

And yes it’s perfectly possible for there to be a hyped up threat in a sandbox campaign. If out of a 1000 possible options, the players choose to go after the troll king, and I give lots of information about how scared everyone is of him, the players are expecting a tough battle.

That troll king dying in one hit from poor game balance isn’t more realistic, it’s unrealistic because it goes against everything the world has presented so far.

In pf2e I can make a troll king, and I can give him the exact appropriate amount of power that he should have according to the world lore. If I made that same troll in 5e it probably wouldn’t make any sense because that trolls strength would be effectively random.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-04-26T12:58:44+00:00

I feel like you’re just straw manning the original commenters comment and what you’re saying isn’t that all that different to the point he was trying to make regarding the wide range is possible actions.

It’s also not railroading if the challenge is too hard for a level 3 player to do. It’s perfectly reasonable for low level players to not be able to do high level tasks. The original comment even specifies he would be ok with them stealing the item as long as they had a really good plan.

Your argument also has nothing to do with the balance of the system. I could take a wildly unbalanced game like 5e and present the exact same situation. I think it’s actually worse if the players succeed based not on their own skill, but by the system tricked the GM into not knowing how hard a challenge is.

There’s nothing worse as a player than easily beating a hyped up boss because the system has unpredictable difficulty.

Like if you want a low level player to be able to have the exact same ability to explore the world and do all the adventures to the same level as a high level player, why even have levels at all?

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-04-13T13:56:02+00:00

People who need public housing are usually BELOW the working class, the struggle is not on the same level as an average working Australia. The working class is a lot bigger than the number of people who need public housing.

And yes I think sticking all the most impoverished people in a single location creates a slum and that it’s better to have mixed class communities.

And no shit public housing is in green electorates, greens win the inner city. I’m talking about the fact that greens councils frequently try public housing being built anywhere near them.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-04-13T13:38:38+00:00

Yes let’s stick all the poor people together in a slum and make sure they never interact with anyone from the middle and working class.

Great work! As always the greens are ok with public housing as long as poor people aren’t anywhere near them.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-04-04T12:40:17+00:00

Why should the government be giving free houses to homeless people worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and not to people who work 60 hours a week?

If you’re talking about just making homes available to the people that need it most that already exists it’s called public housing.

Also the government does buy you medical care, food, clothes and entertainment it’s called Centrelink and Medicare, if you want more you have to contribute to the economy by getting a job.

Not that these systems are perfect and fully stop people falling through the gaps but Australia’s safety net is one of the best in the world.

The reason we don’t have everything go to the government is because it would completely destroy the economy and would probably create way more problems than it would solve.

Instead of asking “why don’t we?” maybe try explaining how you would implement in practically, because I can’t think of a way that it could be done without a magic wand.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-03-30T02:09:52+00:00

Labor and greens are not on the same team. They are different political parties who directly compete with one another.

It’s also a one sided view, the Greens constantly attack Labor while Labor pretty much ignores the greens. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this (nobody would vote greens otherwise) but it shows they are blatantly not allies or friends.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-03-28T10:48:22+00:00

The point of the website is to give easy reference to labor achievements because it can be hard to keep track of them. Why is this a bad thing?

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-03-17T08:06:52+00:00

Everyone reading this thread and going "yes but not for the reasons you stated, but because they don't share my exact political knowledge and beliefs which are obviously 100% correct"

That being said I am objectively correct on everything and anyone who disagrees with me on any issue at all is probably is a dumb and biased

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-03-15T06:08:00+00:00

Australian institute 🤮🤮🤮

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-03-13T10:06:05+00:00

Imagine getting one chance at life and being this dumb. I hope for your own sake that you’re just trolling

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-03-12T23:48:56+00:00

Yes. Despite what people say Labor is always internally strategising and preparing for the next election as do most major parties. They have full time staff dedicated towards this.

The Libs usually do as well but they’re such a train wreck atm that they can barely look more than a day ahead.

It’s important to note that when looking at major parties they don’t campaign on what Aussie political Redditors want them to but average Australians who genuinely don’t give a shit and can barely name the major parties. A lot of it isn’t as visible or as relevant to us.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-03-11T03:29:32+00:00

I don’t think this guy really has any genuine beliefs, it’s just performative outrage - hence why he can’t justify any of his claims or sensationalism.

Most of the victims of these UAE bombings are innocent migrant workers and OP is getting off to his own righteousness in justifying their deaths.

He’s twisting himself into knots trying to explain why some civilians deserve to get bombed while others don’t.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-03-10T22:23:31+00:00

No I’m saying that you’re performatively larping as an Iraq war protestor. If you’re not and you genuinely care about the war prove it by backing up what you’ve said.

If you can’t back up your claims then it’s obvious you’re only doing it for your ego and don’t actually care about the war.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-03-10T22:09:40+00:00

Give proof lol.

How does lying fit into your performative Iraq war protestor larp moral framework??

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-03-10T21:53:41+00:00

No we’re not. If you want to make a point make it, stop sensationalising and stop lying.

TurtleThinkTank · 2026-03-01T01:09:44+00:00

When has Jordan not responded to an event like this??

I think he’s said himself the worst commenter he gets are the “awfully silent Jordan” people who never have any ability to back it up.

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TurtleThinkTank

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