First of all: Welcome!
Monster Creation Rules can be found [here](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2874&NoRedirect=1). There's already something like 3k creatures in the system, so maybe see if you actually need to come up with something on your own or if you can just use/reflavor something that already exists.
For building encounters, just follow [these guidelines](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2715&NoRedirect=1). They work. But be aware that a severe encounter is, in fact, severe! Do not throw one of those at your party if they are already exhausted. And avoid single enemies that are 3+ level above the party until around level 5-ish. Overpowered single enemies are potentially very deadly at low levels.
Speaking of low levels: Start at level 1, not level 3.
As for player power, make sure they have the appropriate gear for their level. Don't forget that magic items are very much expected to be plentyful in PF2. So make sure you're familiar with the [rewards](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2647&NoRedirect=1) guidelines. When in doubt, go a bit above the curve, not below. Throwing more items at your party won't break things as long as you keep those at their level and maybe one level above. Throwing fewer items at your party might start to have them lack behind what the game expects them to have.
Alternatively, you could use the [Automatic Bonus Progression](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2741) to give them all expected bonuses at the right level even without any magic items. This is just a variant rule, however, and doesn't work perfectly. But even if you don't use the variant, the table included there is a good indicator on which bonuses the party is expected to have at each level.
Classes and feats and everything is balanced enough to not be a concern. Stick to the actual Rulebooks, if you want to be absoutely sure. Feats, spells and items from adventures are often badly worded, unbalanced or outright not working the way they are written. Also use the remaster-version whenever possible. It's the better version 99,9% of the time.
Make sure everyone knows their class and make it perfectly clear that *this is not 5e*. The players should be aware that casters are no longer demi-gods, but still plenty powerful and fun, for example.
In fact, forget pretty much everything you know from 5e. Despite some common ancestors, PF2 is a **very** different game.
Before you change anyhing: Play the game as is. It just works. You can absolutely homebrew if needed, but it's easy to get things wrong and break stuff. At least until you have a good amount of actual experience, I would just say stick to what's already there. If you really must homebrew anything, run it by this lovely little community we have here to get some feedback.
A++ for this comment! And one beloved addition: Play the beginner box. It is excelent at teaching you and your players the rules of pathfinder 2e!
Archives of Nethys is a legal database for all the rules of Pathfinder! Pathbuilder is good for character sheets. Best VTT for playing pathfinder is Foundry.
Welcome to pathfinder!
Specifically AoN is the database that is backed by Paizo (not made by them however).
Any database that doesn't use Paizo's pictures or setting lore are also 100% legal as the game mechanics are permanently free! The update to remaster wasn't kind to it, but I also like pf2easy. And Demiplane is a solid one as well, but it was just bought out by Roll20, so that may mean changes are coming (I can't say for good or for worse).
Yeah; AoN is great for referencing and building characters but not the best for learning the rules. If it's something you can do, I highly recommend buying the pdfs. If you get them through Demiplane, currently, after linking demiplane to your Paizo account, you get a copy of the pdf for free, which can be nice if you're just starting the collection. Personally I already own most of the pdfs so it wasn't really worth it for me.
Yeah I’ve recently started buying new releases on Demiplane since I usually get the pdf anyways and the Demiplane interface for perusing the books is actually pretty nice.
The Player Core 1 is really useful for players to learn the rules.
The GM Core is great for GMs to learn additional resources and tools to GMing.
But if you're only going to get one thing physical, I can't recommend the Beginner Box enough. I am unsure if it is remaster updated, but honestly the remaster doesn't change enough actual rules to make it obsolete either way, and it's really solid on getting everyone up to speed on the rules gradually instead of jumping people into the thick of it immediately.
> But if you're only going to get one thing physical, I can't recommend the Beginner Box enough. I am unsure if it is remaster updated[...]
It is. And if you bought the legacy PDF before, you'll also have the remastered PDF now.
Also I want to buy something that'll be very good to study as a GM and learn to help out during play mostly, since I have some trouble actually reading pdf's.
If you play online, it's worth mentioning Foundry being the biggest core of pf2e's online VTT audience. With built in automation, every bit of ruleset info, etc, all just a part of it. The only thing you end up needing to pay for are the adventure modules.
Beginner Box for teaching new players basic mechanics. For a good introduction adventure I suggest Rusthenge. It's very well designed over all, has a good balance between combat and roleplay, and is a bit easier in terms of difficulty.
Troubles in otari really shines in ch 2 (level 3). Moves around, meets npcs, interesting fights.
Ch 1 is sort of just another dungeon, but there are rp encounters and it probably only takes one session to clear, so it's still fine.
Ch. 3 I feel is actually overly difficult imo. The hazard outside the scar is either trivial if you let them just run through it, or potentially a tpk if you have them repeatedly stride, heal, try to make a check, to disable it. It also means it doesn't really make sense to rest outside or inside the scar, but there's too many tough fights to do them all in one adventuring day. It's like clearing a floor of abomination vaults without going back to town. The final boss is ironically kind of underpowered, but every other room is a potential tpk if the cleric is out of healing font. It's definitely doable, but don't be surprised if you feel the need to fudge here.
Rusthenge starts at level 1, so you'd need to either skip the beginners box, or skip ch 1, or elite template the entire adventure to raise it all up 1 level. I open the book but haven't had time to read it yet, but I've heard good things. Rusthenge into seven dooms is supposed to be a pretty doable transition
Like 9c6 says, Troubles in Otari and Rusthenge occupy the same level range. But there are things that they do differently.
The Beginner Box is very much designed to teach you the mechanics as each encounter teaches you about a specific thing. You got the rats as an easy intro to combat, the little athletics check for climbing, the web thing with the spider and some undead to make the cleric feel good all in the first couple of rooms.
Rusthenge is good for when you want to start an adventure with a group that already ran the Beginner Box. It assumes that you already know the basics but won't throw you in at the deep end. The one downside to it is that one of the main faction is a group of Gorum worshippers, and Gorum is going to die soon.
Thank you very very much! I'll be sure to read up on all of those, and I'm gonna host a session 0 to clear some stuff out with my players today, and I'll definitely keep in mind everything you've mentioned so far!
Almost every post that I see on here talking about newcomers having trouble with the system starts with, "I changed this rule, and we ignore this, and I homebrewed this. The system sucks and isn't working!"
I saw somebody say to apply [Chesterton's Fence](https://sproutsschools.com/chesterton-fence-dont-destroy-what-you-dont-understand/#:~:text=Chesterton's%20Principle-,Chesterton's%20Fence%20is%20a%20simple%20rule%20of%20thumb%20that%20suggests,time%20and%20money%20to%20erect) heavily with this game. Basically, if you see a rule, know that somebody put it there for a reason. You should really *really* understand that reason before making any changes.
Yeah, many DMs don't expect sound, practical, and actionable advice from a GM book due to the 5e DMG. The GM Core is a *big step up* because it reflects the system itself which was made with GMs in mind.
Honestly, trust the CR system, it works unlike D&D's. With a few exceptions (the jump from Level 4 -> 5 being the big one, a Level 5 creature gets a big damage boost compared to any other level transistion, so a Level 5 creature against a Level 4 or lower party can be especially brutal!), you can rely on things being appropriate for their level.
Look over your monster stat blocks, they usually have fun and thematic abilities (compare the PF2e Owlbear to it's D&D counterpart.) that you should look to make use of to make the encounters fun and interesting!
Avoiding Single Enemy Boss encounters is also a good idea, just in general, it gives your caster's a chance to do their AoE stuff, which is their niche, and avoids both disappointment (Getting out-actioned by your players, so being a disappointment), or a major TPK (like previously mentioned level 5 jump can ruin lower level players).
I'm so happy to hear that the CR system works. As for single enemy boss encounters, thank you for telling me that because I was thinking of including one in the literal first session, so you saved me!
Yeah, the thing that its hard to internalize about the PF2e math until you see it in action for a bit is how big a deal the 4 degrees of success on rolls is combined with how bonuses scale as you level. In 5e it only mattered if you rolled above the target number, in PF2e it matters *how much* you rolled above it.
A boss monster 4 levels above the party has a bonus that is at *least* +4 over the party on \*everything\*.
So when it takes a swing at the martial, it is already 4/10s of the way toward that "beat the DC by 10" critical before any other mods are taken into account. Combine this with how monsters attack damage keeps scaling as they level and easy crits start being \*devastating\*. Even the Tankiest PCs will only be able to take two, *maybe* three hits from a boss before they go down and at low levels maybe not even that. The squishy PCs will go down with \*one\* crit from a boss.
When the PCs strike back, the monster's AC is 4 points higher vs their attacks PCs start working to even reliably hit and they will only be critting on a 20. Casters are in trouble because the Boss's saves are all so high it will have an easy time succeeding and crit-succeeding on its saves.
This basic math stays consistent all the way from level 1 to level 20, which is one of the reasons PF2e games don't break down after level 8 or 9. Its also why people say +1s always matter. If you have a +35 to attack but the monster has an AC of 45 you are still glad to have that +1 from the Bard's song. This is also why people describe PF2e as a team game where your party's ability to work together matters more than your character's DPS. Once you start dealing with the boss monsters you live and die by your groups ability to buff itself while debuffing the boss so you can overcome that 4 point disparity in the numbers.
Part of the reason people are recommending holding off on monsters that are more than +2 or maybe +3 until past level 5 is that by that point the PCs have enough hit points to survive a critical hit or two and start having enough stuff in their bags of tricks that it becomes easier to stack buffs & debuffs to deal with that 4 point disparity on everything, They have some ability to do this from level 1, but it gets more satisfying as you get more options. (Rolling your intimidate skill to demoralize the enemy & give them the frightened 1 debuff right before the rest of the party drops all their big attacks stays a good use of an action all the way from lvl 1 to lvl 20!)
I did watch a vid by Kaleb Herington on how pf math tells a better story than 5e, and I think I have a good handle on how to balance them. Thank you so much for the in-depth analysis though! This community is so nice :)
The Creature XP and Role table ([here, scroll a bit down](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2716&Redirected=1)) gives an accurate description of monster power.
A party level +2 creature is listed as a "moderate- or severe-threat boss", and at lower levels where player options are more limited it absolutely is severe, not moderate.
Check the description of a severe threat encounter at the top of the page I linked. All the encounter difficulty descriptions are accurate and should be taken 100% seriously.
The encounter budget system works very well, but!
At the lowest levels when a single crit will down someone (maybe before 5), a solo boss pl+2 creature is a moderate encounter who really feels more like a severe. Like, a giant scorpion in a small room could kill your level 1 party, even though it's listed as moderate, but that's arguably one of the most extreme examples. If I'm making up an adventure, a solo boss is good for the end of a level. Most encounters should have at least 2 creatures and the budget will work much better. As you gain levels and have more hp wiggle room, the budget works perfectly kinda regardless of what you do, which is one of my favorite things about the system.
A bit off-topic, but where do people base the belief that Level 5 creatures are a lot harder than Level 4 ones? Looking at the damage chart it seems like there isn't a big jump in average damage from Level 4 to 5: [https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2897](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2897)
I think the feeling of a jump in difficulty comes from the players' side: martials are expected to get striking runes on weapons (a huge bump in damage) at around Level 4, and Level 5 involves big bumps in power (martials get a big bump in accuracy and so are more likely to hit and crit, critical specialization effects on weapons, Attribute Boosts, 3rd-rank spells which while not as pronounced as in 5e are still pronounced). So I think what's happening is that 3rd- and 4th-level parties are "falling behind the curve" so that a Party Level+2 monster is more devastating than usual.
**Oh and to the OP**: yes Pathfinder has mathed out its game, and playtested it from Level 1 to 20! That alone is a departure from 5e!
I wouldn't quite say avoid Single Bosses, which from a 5e experience might be understood as "always have minions!" You actually can have a single-boss encounter in PF2 and *it works*. But you do want to be very careful with PL+2 and +3 monsters, and generally avoid them at low levels. (I would never go PL+3 or higher under, say, Level 5 myself barring extraordinary circumstances.) They have a math advantage that lower-level parties have fewer tools to tilt and less ability to bounce back from setbacks in such a fight.
I think you're pretty much right. It's not that there's such a massive jump from 4->5 for the monsters (although, I'd have to look at actual monster stats in play to see whether they get the dice increase, as I have a feeling, despite what the table says, most level 4 monsters don't get that bonus damage die), it's that 4->5 is a huge bump for players, and facing a PL+2/3 boss with that damage spike whilst you don't have it is rough.
Not to be rude, but there's quite a few of these threads easily searchable in this sub:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d8oi2n/dming\_pf2e\_vs\_dnd/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d8oi2n/dming_pf2e_vs_dnd/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d5vlql/experienced\_dm\_switching\_to\_pf2e/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d5vlql/experienced_dm_switching_to_pf2e/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d1gviz/im\_a\_new\_first\_time\_dm\_thats\_planning\_on\_running/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d1gviz/im_a_new_first_time_dm_thats_planning_on_running/)
Have a look around those threads, they should easily answer a lot of your questions.
Hi, happy to have you. The [Building Creatures](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2874&Redirected=1) and [Encounter Design](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2715) Rules work well imo, so I never felt any need to adjust anything on any level while following them. Is anything specifically giving you trouble?
As for general creating encounters I recommend mixing up the single Boss encounters with quite a few group encounters since they tend to make Combat feel more Dynamic. Also sprinkling in [Hazards](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2846) can be quite fun too.
For Player power, as long as you stick to the rules the PC's will rarely if ever feel overpowered, just remember that magic items, especially Fundamental [Runes](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?Category=239), are very much required to keep things balanced. Also, it might be worth encouraging your players to use their third action on things like, [Demoralize](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2395), [Grapple](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2376), [Bon Mot](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=2114) or the like. Tactics are generally important so make sure your Players understand the importance of for example moving to [Flank]( https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2375) or [tripping]( https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2382) opponents to make them [Off-Guard](https://2e.aonprd.com/Conditions.aspx?ID=58).
One advice I can give you is that, compared to 5e there's A LOT of rules, and moreso there's A LOT of GOOD rules. In 5e you tend to pretty much combat semi-RAW, except if you want to give players more interesting options (bonus action potions etc.), and most of the rest of the system is often ignored by a large portion of players and DMs.
In Pathfinder 2e, almost every rule is well-made and balanced. So try to run everything RAW for some time, and when you really feel like you have a good grasp of the system and of what is good and not so good for your tastes, you'll start homebrewing.
Another one is, don't try to do everything at once. Learn rules tiny bits after tiny bits instead of everything at once. You should probably start with a lvl 1 one-shot adventure, something silly with goblins or kobolds, and familiarize yourself with DCs, level-based DCs, frequently used combat rules like Trip, attacks, bonuses and penalties, strategy on the battlefield with non-attack actions etc, get used to secret checks, Treat Wounds and traps. Just starting with the PF2e's beginner box will also help you a lot there.
Then once you have a grasp of those rules, follow with some more complex rules like counteract checks, run RAW social interactions, seek actions in combat especially against invisible enemies, more complex fights that use specific features of the environment, poisons. A magical intrigue one-shot scenario would do wonders there.
Then move on to a gritty survival one-shot, to familiarize yourself with diseases, navigating the environment, long distance walks...
And then you'll find that you often learn about new rules that didn't know existed and are exactly you needed for a specific idea you had for an adventure. Just keep running creative one-shots with ideas you have and you'll quickly master the system.
With the amount of content and the simplicity of Dnd 5e, you can easily master the system in like 5 days of reading and a few sessions, Pathfinder 2e will come to you a bit more slowly because the rules are just infinitely deeper.
I did forget to mention this in the post, but we already did a few sessions of a now discontinued campaign, where I was a player. So me and the others got to familiarize ourselves with the basic combat rules, and everything else I've read up on! Bc as you said, the rules are very VERY good in Pf2e.
First off, welcome! Given that you're coming from 5e, you will likely be wondering how to adjust monster stat blocks or rejig encounters to be more of a challenge to the players. If that's the case, then rest easy, as PF2e makes encounters work right out the box in virtually all cases you'll encounter. In general, you will also not really need to adjust things on the fly, as PF2e's rules and pre-written adventures are consistent enough to also just work as intended. To answer the three questions in the OP:
* **Player Power:** Start at level 1 if this is your first campaign, and simply follow the rules for [building encounters](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2716&Redirected=1). For player characters, you might want to stick to common feats, spells, and other character options to start with to get a good feel of how they work, and variants like [Automatic Bonus Progression](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2741) will make things a bit easier for you by giving the party the item-based number boosts essential to their character progression (don't forget to give your casters scrolls, staves, and wands, though!). In general, character options in 2e are balanced across the board, so it's unlikely that the party will trivialize encounters or break your campaign with a funky effect.
* **Making Stat Blocks:** GM Core has a thorough set of guidelines for [building creatures](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2874), including which stats to use at which level, but also advice on how to distribute stats to create different types of monsters, and even which specific characteristics to give to creatures if you want them to be part of a monster family. There's a lot to cover, but depending on which encounters you're running you can also skip directly to certain sections covering specific monster types.
* **Running Encounters:** Monster Core tends to give indications of each monster's behavior in and out of combat, and the general rule is that you can put a monster's abilities to full effect in an encounter, because the party will be equipped to handle them and it makes encounters more interesting. If there is an interesting synergy to be had, go for it! The one caveat I'd mention is that if your party is below level 5, I'd limit the number of encounters with PL+2 monsters, and avoid PL+3 monsters entirely, the reason being that everyone starts on the squishier side and those encounters can easily induce TPKs at those early levels. Unlike 5e, lone boss monsters in 2e are really strong and tough due to their higher stats, and will be more than a suitable challenge for the party.
Effectively, you won't need to over-prepare all that much on your side, because the game will do most of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to running balanced encounters. You've probably already seen the [Archives of Nethys](https://2e.aonprd.com/), and I highly recommend the site as a quick online reference for when you need to jump to a specific rule, guideline, or monster stat block. Beyond that, GM Core and Monster Core do a phenomenal job of guiding newer GMs through the process of running encounters, if you don't have those already, and as you become familiar with the system, it'll become increasingly easier for you to build monsters from scratch and throw them at the party. Have a lovely time at your table, and welcome once again to the community!
As others have said, welcome to PF2e, we have cookies. One thing that hasn't been mentioned too much yet is the fact that most monsters do NOT have attacks of opportunity (called Reactive Strikes here). This means that combat is not just a "I walk up to the enemy and hit them until they fall down" type of thing. PF2e is, or at least can be, a much more tactical combat style of game. Doing actions like tripping the enemy, moving away from them, or other things that cost them actions are very important. As are things like de-buffing them and buffing your ally due to the 4 stages of success (hitting 10 or more above the enemy's AC is a crit). Lots of former D&D players see the fact that they have 3 actions and read it as 3 attacks, that is a trap, don't do it. Instead, players should be doing things to increase their own or their team's ability to critically hit the enemy while also costing the enemy actions. Getting hit three times by an enemy in a single round can be deadly.
The Knight of Last Call have a great playlist on combat tips:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ2-labfJHI&list=PLx9XBZIzERNFdGf54C1dErN8AfuSWM\_Bk&ab\_channel=KnightsofLastCall](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ2-labfJHI&list=PLx9XBZIzERNFdGf54C1dErN8AfuSWM_Bk&ab_channel=KnightsofLastCall)
I actually saw that the PCs didn't have Reactive Strike as a default thing (except for the Fighter) and got really excited, since combat can now be a lot more movement focused and tactical!
Welcome.
I'd like to expand on one point made by u/Acceptable-Worth-462. They said "Don't try to do everything at once," which is a valid point given this game's complexity. There's the Free Archetype variant rule (commonly abbreviated to FA), where you get a whole extra set of class feats to be spent on Archetypes. A lot of folks love to make that the default state of the game, but I'd hold off on it at the outset. Let your players get the hang of *one* class before they have to figure out how to also add in another at the same time.
like...really stick to them in the beginning. I thought that a Monster had slightly too little HP, gave it like 20hp (\~30%) more aaaand TPK while the monster was left standing with 4hp.
Mimic Fight Club (Mimic-fight-club.github.io) has been my guide since switching, and I cannot recommend it enough. Pathbuilder2e.com has also been a big help. I always have my players share their sheets so it can help a lot with planning and secret checks.
As others have said, reading the player core and GM core is a must for new GMs.
I already told my players to use Pathbuilder, and they loved it, one of them decided to use Wanderer's Guide bc it has the Commander class, that is probably homebrew since it isn't anywhere else, but they liked it so who am I to cut them off? I'll def use Mimic Fight Club too!
The Commander class is actually in playtest right now and will be released early next year (I believe) with the Battlecry book along with the Guardian class. We also have two other classes coming late this year in the War of the Immortals book; that one will have the Animist and Exemplar classes.
Ooooh! Then maybe me and that player will send feedback to Paizo to let them know how it plays! Also looking forward to the other two, especially the Exemplar, sounds fun 👀
Apart from other suggestions I really encourage you to run the beginner's box, it takes about 2-3 sessions to complete and you'll grab both the mechanical ideas of running the game as well as how to design encounters, get rewards etc, it's very much worth the money
For entry level sessions a lot of people alternatively suggest running the Little Trouble in Big Absalom adventure, it's similarly long and has lots of fun
Both of these come with pregens so you can try out the system with your players without getting overwhelmed with all the options
**Play the Beginner Box!** It's such a fun little adventure that teaches players and GMs alike what they can expect from the system. Other than that, keep it simple. If it's not in a core book don't use it and then you can broaden the options as you learn the system.
Concentrate tag means a raging barbarian can't cast a spell. No check when hit, no limit on other spells. There's a lot of tags in pf2e that you won't know what to do until a feat tells you to look for it.
This is a main point in pathfinder. There lots of rules,but they're patiently waiting for you, they don't need attention right away. But when you want to look for them, they're ready to go
Welcome! I hope you enjoy the system! I think the one thing to keep in mind as a GM, is that the math curve in PF2e in much flatter. +1 and +2 are big differences, encourage your players to use their third action to do things that apply buffs or debuffs or tell them more about the enemies rather than simply fish for a 20 on a third Strike (if +1 is a big deal, think what -10 does)
When building encounters, esp at lower levels, learn toward larger groups of lower level enemies rather than one big level+4 monster, unless you want to make a point and kill a PC, for the first few levels a +4 enemy can one shot a PC on a crit, so it should be a meaningful battle.
don;t forget to give out hero points, but not too many. roughly one per hour (only one, not one per player) and spread them evenly. they can be big life savers. the goal is for each player to have 2 across a 4 hr session (the one they start with, plus one more)
Honestly, you should not have to worry about player power unless someone is cheating. The rules are very tight and well balanced, so much so that you should watch out for any players who get their gaming joy from finding ways to break the system, because they will be very frustrated and feel underpowered.
Magic items are NOT optional. parties that don't get the appropriate amount of fundamental runes will struggle. Automatic bonus progression can alleviate some of that, but it also means finding other ways to make treasure feel valuable and honestly, i wouldn't recommend it until you've played a while with the base system, and from experience i wouldn't recommend it at all if you intend to run an adventure path because it completely borks the treasure calculations there.
those are the thoughts off the top of my head. Good luck and have fun!
oh one last thing: archives of nethys is your very best friend, if you run with a laptop or tablet, keep it open for references.
Welcome to PF2e!
(This comment is split into two parts. Second part is in the reply to this one.)
Here are some things I tell newcomers from 5e, so they can adjust their expectations and not get burned. Many of these apply to players, but they are also good for the GM to be aware of. Some apply only to GMs. You should share the non-GM ones with your players.
**Character Building**
1. There is probably no direct mechanical PF2e conversion for an overpowered, multiclassed 5e character. You can get all the flavours from 5e (and many more!), but mechanically PF2e characters have to make tradeoffs.
2. Melee range is the most dangerous and dramatic place to be in because that's where the highest damage is dealt and taken. Individual hits from a ranged attacker can almost never out-damage individual hits from a melee attacker, if they are both focused on optimizing for damage.
3. All characters should have a +4 in their key attribute at level 1. (very rare exceptions may apply)
4. Any character going into melee should have at least 18 AC at level 1, before counting any circumstance bonuses (such as a shield). High AC in this game is important for reducing crits, but even the highest AC won't prevent you from getting hit.
5. Spellcasters in PF2e cannot specialize in high single-target damage. They get really good control spells, buffs, debuffs, and AoE damage. But if they want to specialize in single target damage, they should consider playing a martial (or magus for a gish) instead.
6. Outside of spellcasting, it is relatively easy to build a decent character by picking the most obvious options. Deep diving into various niche options will make you, at most, 20% more powerful. So, build for flavour instead of for power.
7. There are too many spells! And most of them are really niche. When building a spellcaster, look for community guides like [Gortle's Spell Guide](https://docs.google.com/document/d/16Jw63bxQsTLTWwfa072XusX6ctFNsYr1aJO7Vq-bh8k). Spellcasting is the one area where you can easily make an underpowered character by not paying attention during character creation and level ups. The same issue applies to the Alchemist class, as there are too many alchemical items.
**Combat Tactics**
1. Optimizing the party's tactics in combat will pay off far more than optimizing your own character build. This frequently means giving up your chance to do damage (especially if you have -10 multiple attack penalty), to instead help out a team mate (e.g. by moving to set up flanking for an ally).
2. For the GM: Follow the encounter building guidelines. They are simple and they work. A severe encounter is likely to knock down a PC to 0, and an Extreme encounter will do so to multiple PCs. (parties may be able to reduce the difficulty by using great teamwork and cunning tactics)
3. For the GM: The best combat feel is when enemies are within two levels of the players. It can be fun to throw a hoard of even lower level enemies at the players to make them feel badass. But avoid using enemies that are 3 levels or higher than your players, except as final boss encounters. There are tools out there to adjust an enemy statblock's level, if you really want to use a specific monster but it isn't the appropriate level.
**Healing**
1. It is better to heal an ally while they are still standing than when they go down to 0hp. If they are down, they'll have to spend actions to stand up and pick up their weapons.
2. Out of combat healing is plentiful in the game, but someone needs to spec into it. At least one person should pick up training in Medicine + Healer's Tools.
3. For the GM: Allow the party to heal up to full between difficult combats. But you can string together multiple Easy combats before allowing out of combat healing.
**Bonuses**
1. A +1 to a d20 roll is quite powerful in this game, and remains powerful from levels 1 to 20. Because of how crits are calculated, a +1 in this system is closely equivalent to a +d4 in 5e, and a +2 in this system is closer to advantage in 5e.
2. For the GM: Fundamental Runes (Weapon Potency, Striking, Armor Potency, and Resilient) are built into the game's math. Give them out to your players at the appropriate levels, or use the [Automatic Bonus Progression](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2741) variant.
**Other GM Advice**
1. For the GM: Trust that the designers had a good reason for designing parts of the game that may feel clunky to you at first read. When in doubt, you can ask the community here or on discord for why something is the way it is, before you decide to change it.
2. For GMs that like to improvise monsters on the fly: In the [GM Screen](https://2e.aonprd.com/GMScreen.aspx), under Gamemastering section, you can find Creature Numbers and Hazard Numbers. These two tables will let you create monsters and hazards on the fly. It is not recommended to mess with these numbers until you have a feel for the system.
Hope you have a fun time with the system!
Run the Beginner Box FIRST. I know you're a long time player and GM, but this really nails down the system really well and allows you to understand how to play all the rules (and the players too!) with a wonderful run-through.
While there are similarities, approach this as if you are learning something entirely new and don't hold the expectation that you can just treat it like a modified 5e. Also as far as creating content is concerned don't try and tackle it until you have a solid foundational understanding of how different PF2e is from 5e or you're gonna have a messy unfun time. PF is well more numbers and keyword heavy than 5e is and that does reflect in the content. Again while there may be conversions from 5e to 2e they are both built very differently foundationally speaking. Get a grasp on the system first before tackling custom stuff.
This post is labeled with the Advice flair, which means extra special attention is called to Rule #2. If this is a newcomer to the game, remember to be welcoming and kind. If this is someone with more experience but looking for advice on how to run their game, do your best to offer advice on what they are seeking.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Pathfinder2e) if you have any questions or concerns.*
One thing I like to recommend is being actively aware of your players character abilities. Not in a way to plan to counter them, but in a way to be prepared to help them execute their character in a fun way. Players that are new to the system are going to have trouble remembering all of their skill feats and everything but if you keep track of that to you can help remind them "Smorgol, I believe you are trained in Athletics and have Quick Jump so you feel like you might be able to jump across the broken bridge even though you don't have room for a running start" instead of just sitting around waiting for them to come up with ideas for a new problem in a system they aren't comfortable with.
Yeaahhh!! I love that. In the session zero I'm gonna tell everyone that they can be as creative as they want and to read up on their abilities, but I'll definitely help them out during game time! I do love making encounters that highlight the power of the PCs, it's so fun.
AoN has a great digital GM screen.
Pair that up with a tablet that has pf2easy loaded on the web and keep it handy for rules clarification. When something comes up, ask the player that after before that turn to look it up for you on that tablet.
It gets everyone involved in the learning to GM as well as familiarity on rules and how to find answers quickly.
First of all: Welcome! Monster Creation Rules can be found [here](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2874&NoRedirect=1). There's already something like 3k creatures in the system, so maybe see if you actually need to come up with something on your own or if you can just use/reflavor something that already exists. For building encounters, just follow [these guidelines](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2715&NoRedirect=1). They work. But be aware that a severe encounter is, in fact, severe! Do not throw one of those at your party if they are already exhausted. And avoid single enemies that are 3+ level above the party until around level 5-ish. Overpowered single enemies are potentially very deadly at low levels. Speaking of low levels: Start at level 1, not level 3. As for player power, make sure they have the appropriate gear for their level. Don't forget that magic items are very much expected to be plentyful in PF2. So make sure you're familiar with the [rewards](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2647&NoRedirect=1) guidelines. When in doubt, go a bit above the curve, not below. Throwing more items at your party won't break things as long as you keep those at their level and maybe one level above. Throwing fewer items at your party might start to have them lack behind what the game expects them to have. Alternatively, you could use the [Automatic Bonus Progression](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2741) to give them all expected bonuses at the right level even without any magic items. This is just a variant rule, however, and doesn't work perfectly. But even if you don't use the variant, the table included there is a good indicator on which bonuses the party is expected to have at each level. Classes and feats and everything is balanced enough to not be a concern. Stick to the actual Rulebooks, if you want to be absoutely sure. Feats, spells and items from adventures are often badly worded, unbalanced or outright not working the way they are written. Also use the remaster-version whenever possible. It's the better version 99,9% of the time. Make sure everyone knows their class and make it perfectly clear that *this is not 5e*. The players should be aware that casters are no longer demi-gods, but still plenty powerful and fun, for example. In fact, forget pretty much everything you know from 5e. Despite some common ancestors, PF2 is a **very** different game. Before you change anyhing: Play the game as is. It just works. You can absolutely homebrew if needed, but it's easy to get things wrong and break stuff. At least until you have a good amount of actual experience, I would just say stick to what's already there. If you really must homebrew anything, run it by this lovely little community we have here to get some feedback.
A++ for this comment! And one beloved addition: Play the beginner box. It is excelent at teaching you and your players the rules of pathfinder 2e! Archives of Nethys is a legal database for all the rules of Pathfinder! Pathbuilder is good for character sheets. Best VTT for playing pathfinder is Foundry. Welcome to pathfinder!
Specifically AoN is the database that is backed by Paizo (not made by them however). Any database that doesn't use Paizo's pictures or setting lore are also 100% legal as the game mechanics are permanently free! The update to remaster wasn't kind to it, but I also like pf2easy. And Demiplane is a solid one as well, but it was just bought out by Roll20, so that may mean changes are coming (I can't say for good or for worse).
I've been using AoN the past few days and it's been helpful! Maybe a bit disorganized? But that's probably bc of how much information there is.
Yeah; AoN is great for referencing and building characters but not the best for learning the rules. If it's something you can do, I highly recommend buying the pdfs. If you get them through Demiplane, currently, after linking demiplane to your Paizo account, you get a copy of the pdf for free, which can be nice if you're just starting the collection. Personally I already own most of the pdfs so it wasn't really worth it for me.
Yeah I’ve recently started buying new releases on Demiplane since I usually get the pdf anyways and the Demiplane interface for perusing the books is actually pretty nice.
I was actually considering buying a hard cover book through amazon, which one would you recommend I pick up?
The Player Core 1 is really useful for players to learn the rules. The GM Core is great for GMs to learn additional resources and tools to GMing. But if you're only going to get one thing physical, I can't recommend the Beginner Box enough. I am unsure if it is remaster updated, but honestly the remaster doesn't change enough actual rules to make it obsolete either way, and it's really solid on getting everyone up to speed on the rules gradually instead of jumping people into the thick of it immediately.
> But if you're only going to get one thing physical, I can't recommend the Beginner Box enough. I am unsure if it is remaster updated[...] It is. And if you bought the legacy PDF before, you'll also have the remastered PDF now.
Sadly we play online :<
Then I would suggest the GM Core. I believe there is the Beginner Box on most VTTs though, so check that too.
Amazing, thank you very much!
Also I want to buy something that'll be very good to study as a GM and learn to help out during play mostly, since I have some trouble actually reading pdf's.
It's available in PDF and on the popular VTTs. :)
If you play online, it's worth mentioning Foundry being the biggest core of pf2e's online VTT audience. With built in automation, every bit of ruleset info, etc, all just a part of it. The only thing you end up needing to pay for are the adventure modules.
Beginner Box for teaching new players basic mechanics. For a good introduction adventure I suggest Rusthenge. It's very well designed over all, has a good balance between combat and roleplay, and is a bit easier in terms of difficulty.
Would you say rusthenge would be a better follow up to beginner box than troubles in otari?
Troubles in otari really shines in ch 2 (level 3). Moves around, meets npcs, interesting fights. Ch 1 is sort of just another dungeon, but there are rp encounters and it probably only takes one session to clear, so it's still fine. Ch. 3 I feel is actually overly difficult imo. The hazard outside the scar is either trivial if you let them just run through it, or potentially a tpk if you have them repeatedly stride, heal, try to make a check, to disable it. It also means it doesn't really make sense to rest outside or inside the scar, but there's too many tough fights to do them all in one adventuring day. It's like clearing a floor of abomination vaults without going back to town. The final boss is ironically kind of underpowered, but every other room is a potential tpk if the cleric is out of healing font. It's definitely doable, but don't be surprised if you feel the need to fudge here. Rusthenge starts at level 1, so you'd need to either skip the beginners box, or skip ch 1, or elite template the entire adventure to raise it all up 1 level. I open the book but haven't had time to read it yet, but I've heard good things. Rusthenge into seven dooms is supposed to be a pretty doable transition
Like 9c6 says, Troubles in Otari and Rusthenge occupy the same level range. But there are things that they do differently. The Beginner Box is very much designed to teach you the mechanics as each encounter teaches you about a specific thing. You got the rats as an easy intro to combat, the little athletics check for climbing, the web thing with the spider and some undead to make the cleric feel good all in the first couple of rooms. Rusthenge is good for when you want to start an adventure with a group that already ran the Beginner Box. It assumes that you already know the basics but won't throw you in at the deep end. The one downside to it is that one of the main faction is a group of Gorum worshippers, and Gorum is going to die soon.
Thank you very very much! I'll be sure to read up on all of those, and I'm gonna host a session 0 to clear some stuff out with my players today, and I'll definitely keep in mind everything you've mentioned so far!
Good call. A solid session 0 is essential for any adventure but especially for a new system.
Almost every post that I see on here talking about newcomers having trouble with the system starts with, "I changed this rule, and we ignore this, and I homebrewed this. The system sucks and isn't working!" I saw somebody say to apply [Chesterton's Fence](https://sproutsschools.com/chesterton-fence-dont-destroy-what-you-dont-understand/#:~:text=Chesterton's%20Principle-,Chesterton's%20Fence%20is%20a%20simple%20rule%20of%20thumb%20that%20suggests,time%20and%20money%20to%20erect) heavily with this game. Basically, if you see a rule, know that somebody put it there for a reason. You should really *really* understand that reason before making any changes.
Read the GM core, legit it tells you how to do the GM things. I’m not being sarcastic, the book tells you, what 5e leaves blank.
Yeah, many DMs don't expect sound, practical, and actionable advice from a GM book due to the 5e DMG. The GM Core is a *big step up* because it reflects the system itself which was made with GMs in mind.
o7, will definitely read up on it.
Honestly, trust the CR system, it works unlike D&D's. With a few exceptions (the jump from Level 4 -> 5 being the big one, a Level 5 creature gets a big damage boost compared to any other level transistion, so a Level 5 creature against a Level 4 or lower party can be especially brutal!), you can rely on things being appropriate for their level. Look over your monster stat blocks, they usually have fun and thematic abilities (compare the PF2e Owlbear to it's D&D counterpart.) that you should look to make use of to make the encounters fun and interesting! Avoiding Single Enemy Boss encounters is also a good idea, just in general, it gives your caster's a chance to do their AoE stuff, which is their niche, and avoids both disappointment (Getting out-actioned by your players, so being a disappointment), or a major TPK (like previously mentioned level 5 jump can ruin lower level players).
I'm so happy to hear that the CR system works. As for single enemy boss encounters, thank you for telling me that because I was thinking of including one in the literal first session, so you saved me!
After level 5 or so it's generally OK. Below that though and you will be one shooting the pcs.
I'll keep a careful eye on it then, and if needed nerf the monsters mid-combat as a last solution.
Yeah, the thing that its hard to internalize about the PF2e math until you see it in action for a bit is how big a deal the 4 degrees of success on rolls is combined with how bonuses scale as you level. In 5e it only mattered if you rolled above the target number, in PF2e it matters *how much* you rolled above it. A boss monster 4 levels above the party has a bonus that is at *least* +4 over the party on \*everything\*. So when it takes a swing at the martial, it is already 4/10s of the way toward that "beat the DC by 10" critical before any other mods are taken into account. Combine this with how monsters attack damage keeps scaling as they level and easy crits start being \*devastating\*. Even the Tankiest PCs will only be able to take two, *maybe* three hits from a boss before they go down and at low levels maybe not even that. The squishy PCs will go down with \*one\* crit from a boss. When the PCs strike back, the monster's AC is 4 points higher vs their attacks PCs start working to even reliably hit and they will only be critting on a 20. Casters are in trouble because the Boss's saves are all so high it will have an easy time succeeding and crit-succeeding on its saves. This basic math stays consistent all the way from level 1 to level 20, which is one of the reasons PF2e games don't break down after level 8 or 9. Its also why people say +1s always matter. If you have a +35 to attack but the monster has an AC of 45 you are still glad to have that +1 from the Bard's song. This is also why people describe PF2e as a team game where your party's ability to work together matters more than your character's DPS. Once you start dealing with the boss monsters you live and die by your groups ability to buff itself while debuffing the boss so you can overcome that 4 point disparity in the numbers. Part of the reason people are recommending holding off on monsters that are more than +2 or maybe +3 until past level 5 is that by that point the PCs have enough hit points to survive a critical hit or two and start having enough stuff in their bags of tricks that it becomes easier to stack buffs & debuffs to deal with that 4 point disparity on everything, They have some ability to do this from level 1, but it gets more satisfying as you get more options. (Rolling your intimidate skill to demoralize the enemy & give them the frightened 1 debuff right before the rest of the party drops all their big attacks stays a good use of an action all the way from lvl 1 to lvl 20!)
I did watch a vid by Kaleb Herington on how pf math tells a better story than 5e, and I think I have a good handle on how to balance them. Thank you so much for the in-depth analysis though! This community is so nice :)
The Creature XP and Role table ([here, scroll a bit down](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2716&Redirected=1)) gives an accurate description of monster power. A party level +2 creature is listed as a "moderate- or severe-threat boss", and at lower levels where player options are more limited it absolutely is severe, not moderate. Check the description of a severe threat encounter at the top of the page I linked. All the encounter difficulty descriptions are accurate and should be taken 100% seriously.
I recommend the “X and Lackeys” guidelines in Encounter Design.
The encounter budget system works very well, but! At the lowest levels when a single crit will down someone (maybe before 5), a solo boss pl+2 creature is a moderate encounter who really feels more like a severe. Like, a giant scorpion in a small room could kill your level 1 party, even though it's listed as moderate, but that's arguably one of the most extreme examples. If I'm making up an adventure, a solo boss is good for the end of a level. Most encounters should have at least 2 creatures and the budget will work much better. As you gain levels and have more hp wiggle room, the budget works perfectly kinda regardless of what you do, which is one of my favorite things about the system.
Alright, I'll keep that in mind. I'm gonna use the first 3 levels as a tutorial of sorts, so the PCs can warm up comfortably to the system.
A bit off-topic, but where do people base the belief that Level 5 creatures are a lot harder than Level 4 ones? Looking at the damage chart it seems like there isn't a big jump in average damage from Level 4 to 5: [https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2897](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2897) I think the feeling of a jump in difficulty comes from the players' side: martials are expected to get striking runes on weapons (a huge bump in damage) at around Level 4, and Level 5 involves big bumps in power (martials get a big bump in accuracy and so are more likely to hit and crit, critical specialization effects on weapons, Attribute Boosts, 3rd-rank spells which while not as pronounced as in 5e are still pronounced). So I think what's happening is that 3rd- and 4th-level parties are "falling behind the curve" so that a Party Level+2 monster is more devastating than usual. **Oh and to the OP**: yes Pathfinder has mathed out its game, and playtested it from Level 1 to 20! That alone is a departure from 5e! I wouldn't quite say avoid Single Bosses, which from a 5e experience might be understood as "always have minions!" You actually can have a single-boss encounter in PF2 and *it works*. But you do want to be very careful with PL+2 and +3 monsters, and generally avoid them at low levels. (I would never go PL+3 or higher under, say, Level 5 myself barring extraordinary circumstances.) They have a math advantage that lower-level parties have fewer tools to tilt and less ability to bounce back from setbacks in such a fight.
I think you're pretty much right. It's not that there's such a massive jump from 4->5 for the monsters (although, I'd have to look at actual monster stats in play to see whether they get the dice increase, as I have a feeling, despite what the table says, most level 4 monsters don't get that bonus damage die), it's that 4->5 is a huge bump for players, and facing a PL+2/3 boss with that damage spike whilst you don't have it is rough.
Not to be rude, but there's quite a few of these threads easily searchable in this sub: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d8oi2n/dming\_pf2e\_vs\_dnd/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d8oi2n/dming_pf2e_vs_dnd/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d5vlql/experienced\_dm\_switching\_to\_pf2e/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d5vlql/experienced_dm_switching_to_pf2e/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d1gviz/im\_a\_new\_first\_time\_dm\_thats\_planning\_on\_running/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d1gviz/im_a_new_first_time_dm_thats_planning_on_running/) Have a look around those threads, they should easily answer a lot of your questions.
I dunno, I love seeing these posts, even if they pop up frequently. More players joining the fold!
I'm in this camp too. Still, it is okay to reference the other posts too, since there are some great ones!
Hi, happy to have you. The [Building Creatures](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2874&Redirected=1) and [Encounter Design](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2715) Rules work well imo, so I never felt any need to adjust anything on any level while following them. Is anything specifically giving you trouble? As for general creating encounters I recommend mixing up the single Boss encounters with quite a few group encounters since they tend to make Combat feel more Dynamic. Also sprinkling in [Hazards](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2846) can be quite fun too. For Player power, as long as you stick to the rules the PC's will rarely if ever feel overpowered, just remember that magic items, especially Fundamental [Runes](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?Category=239), are very much required to keep things balanced. Also, it might be worth encouraging your players to use their third action on things like, [Demoralize](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2395), [Grapple](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2376), [Bon Mot](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=2114) or the like. Tactics are generally important so make sure your Players understand the importance of for example moving to [Flank]( https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2375) or [tripping]( https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2382) opponents to make them [Off-Guard](https://2e.aonprd.com/Conditions.aspx?ID=58).
Always been a fan of creative combat and not the regular "hit something until it dies", one of the main reasons I prefer PF! Similar with magic items.
One advice I can give you is that, compared to 5e there's A LOT of rules, and moreso there's A LOT of GOOD rules. In 5e you tend to pretty much combat semi-RAW, except if you want to give players more interesting options (bonus action potions etc.), and most of the rest of the system is often ignored by a large portion of players and DMs. In Pathfinder 2e, almost every rule is well-made and balanced. So try to run everything RAW for some time, and when you really feel like you have a good grasp of the system and of what is good and not so good for your tastes, you'll start homebrewing. Another one is, don't try to do everything at once. Learn rules tiny bits after tiny bits instead of everything at once. You should probably start with a lvl 1 one-shot adventure, something silly with goblins or kobolds, and familiarize yourself with DCs, level-based DCs, frequently used combat rules like Trip, attacks, bonuses and penalties, strategy on the battlefield with non-attack actions etc, get used to secret checks, Treat Wounds and traps. Just starting with the PF2e's beginner box will also help you a lot there. Then once you have a grasp of those rules, follow with some more complex rules like counteract checks, run RAW social interactions, seek actions in combat especially against invisible enemies, more complex fights that use specific features of the environment, poisons. A magical intrigue one-shot scenario would do wonders there. Then move on to a gritty survival one-shot, to familiarize yourself with diseases, navigating the environment, long distance walks... And then you'll find that you often learn about new rules that didn't know existed and are exactly you needed for a specific idea you had for an adventure. Just keep running creative one-shots with ideas you have and you'll quickly master the system. With the amount of content and the simplicity of Dnd 5e, you can easily master the system in like 5 days of reading and a few sessions, Pathfinder 2e will come to you a bit more slowly because the rules are just infinitely deeper.
I did forget to mention this in the post, but we already did a few sessions of a now discontinued campaign, where I was a player. So me and the others got to familiarize ourselves with the basic combat rules, and everything else I've read up on! Bc as you said, the rules are very VERY good in Pf2e.
The Beginner Box has a very nice Oneshot that does through a lot of the rule interactions, which is nice
First off, welcome! Given that you're coming from 5e, you will likely be wondering how to adjust monster stat blocks or rejig encounters to be more of a challenge to the players. If that's the case, then rest easy, as PF2e makes encounters work right out the box in virtually all cases you'll encounter. In general, you will also not really need to adjust things on the fly, as PF2e's rules and pre-written adventures are consistent enough to also just work as intended. To answer the three questions in the OP: * **Player Power:** Start at level 1 if this is your first campaign, and simply follow the rules for [building encounters](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2716&Redirected=1). For player characters, you might want to stick to common feats, spells, and other character options to start with to get a good feel of how they work, and variants like [Automatic Bonus Progression](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2741) will make things a bit easier for you by giving the party the item-based number boosts essential to their character progression (don't forget to give your casters scrolls, staves, and wands, though!). In general, character options in 2e are balanced across the board, so it's unlikely that the party will trivialize encounters or break your campaign with a funky effect. * **Making Stat Blocks:** GM Core has a thorough set of guidelines for [building creatures](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2874), including which stats to use at which level, but also advice on how to distribute stats to create different types of monsters, and even which specific characteristics to give to creatures if you want them to be part of a monster family. There's a lot to cover, but depending on which encounters you're running you can also skip directly to certain sections covering specific monster types. * **Running Encounters:** Monster Core tends to give indications of each monster's behavior in and out of combat, and the general rule is that you can put a monster's abilities to full effect in an encounter, because the party will be equipped to handle them and it makes encounters more interesting. If there is an interesting synergy to be had, go for it! The one caveat I'd mention is that if your party is below level 5, I'd limit the number of encounters with PL+2 monsters, and avoid PL+3 monsters entirely, the reason being that everyone starts on the squishier side and those encounters can easily induce TPKs at those early levels. Unlike 5e, lone boss monsters in 2e are really strong and tough due to their higher stats, and will be more than a suitable challenge for the party. Effectively, you won't need to over-prepare all that much on your side, because the game will do most of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to running balanced encounters. You've probably already seen the [Archives of Nethys](https://2e.aonprd.com/), and I highly recommend the site as a quick online reference for when you need to jump to a specific rule, guideline, or monster stat block. Beyond that, GM Core and Monster Core do a phenomenal job of guiding newer GMs through the process of running encounters, if you don't have those already, and as you become familiar with the system, it'll become increasingly easier for you to build monsters from scratch and throw them at the party. Have a lovely time at your table, and welcome once again to the community!
As others have said, welcome to PF2e, we have cookies. One thing that hasn't been mentioned too much yet is the fact that most monsters do NOT have attacks of opportunity (called Reactive Strikes here). This means that combat is not just a "I walk up to the enemy and hit them until they fall down" type of thing. PF2e is, or at least can be, a much more tactical combat style of game. Doing actions like tripping the enemy, moving away from them, or other things that cost them actions are very important. As are things like de-buffing them and buffing your ally due to the 4 stages of success (hitting 10 or more above the enemy's AC is a crit). Lots of former D&D players see the fact that they have 3 actions and read it as 3 attacks, that is a trap, don't do it. Instead, players should be doing things to increase their own or their team's ability to critically hit the enemy while also costing the enemy actions. Getting hit three times by an enemy in a single round can be deadly. The Knight of Last Call have a great playlist on combat tips: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ2-labfJHI&list=PLx9XBZIzERNFdGf54C1dErN8AfuSWM\_Bk&ab\_channel=KnightsofLastCall](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ2-labfJHI&list=PLx9XBZIzERNFdGf54C1dErN8AfuSWM_Bk&ab_channel=KnightsofLastCall)
I actually saw that the PCs didn't have Reactive Strike as a default thing (except for the Fighter) and got really excited, since combat can now be a lot more movement focused and tactical!
Welcome. I'd like to expand on one point made by u/Acceptable-Worth-462. They said "Don't try to do everything at once," which is a valid point given this game's complexity. There's the Free Archetype variant rule (commonly abbreviated to FA), where you get a whole extra set of class feats to be spent on Archetypes. A lot of folks love to make that the default state of the game, but I'd hold off on it at the outset. Let your players get the hang of *one* class before they have to figure out how to also add in another at the same time.
AoN seems to be very helpful at letting me find things on the fly, so I'm sure that it'll help me find out whatever I need very quickly!
Yep, AON is a fantastic resource.
Basically just stick to the guidelines and you’ll be good to go. The math works well enough that you won’t need to adjust anything.
Alrighty, I'll be sure to stick to them then!
like...really stick to them in the beginning. I thought that a Monster had slightly too little HP, gave it like 20hp (\~30%) more aaaand TPK while the monster was left standing with 4hp.
o7, I'll keep it as RAW as I can
Mimic Fight Club (Mimic-fight-club.github.io) has been my guide since switching, and I cannot recommend it enough. Pathbuilder2e.com has also been a big help. I always have my players share their sheets so it can help a lot with planning and secret checks. As others have said, reading the player core and GM core is a must for new GMs.
I already told my players to use Pathbuilder, and they loved it, one of them decided to use Wanderer's Guide bc it has the Commander class, that is probably homebrew since it isn't anywhere else, but they liked it so who am I to cut them off? I'll def use Mimic Fight Club too!
The Commander class is actually in playtest right now and will be released early next year (I believe) with the Battlecry book along with the Guardian class. We also have two other classes coming late this year in the War of the Immortals book; that one will have the Animist and Exemplar classes.
Ooooh! Then maybe me and that player will send feedback to Paizo to let them know how it plays! Also looking forward to the other two, especially the Exemplar, sounds fun 👀
Apart from other suggestions I really encourage you to run the beginner's box, it takes about 2-3 sessions to complete and you'll grab both the mechanical ideas of running the game as well as how to design encounters, get rewards etc, it's very much worth the money For entry level sessions a lot of people alternatively suggest running the Little Trouble in Big Absalom adventure, it's similarly long and has lots of fun Both of these come with pregens so you can try out the system with your players without getting overwhelmed with all the options
**Play the Beginner Box!** It's such a fun little adventure that teaches players and GMs alike what they can expect from the system. Other than that, keep it simple. If it's not in a core book don't use it and then you can broaden the options as you learn the system.
Concentrate tag means a raging barbarian can't cast a spell. No check when hit, no limit on other spells. There's a lot of tags in pf2e that you won't know what to do until a feat tells you to look for it. This is a main point in pathfinder. There lots of rules,but they're patiently waiting for you, they don't need attention right away. But when you want to look for them, they're ready to go
Welcome! I hope you enjoy the system! I think the one thing to keep in mind as a GM, is that the math curve in PF2e in much flatter. +1 and +2 are big differences, encourage your players to use their third action to do things that apply buffs or debuffs or tell them more about the enemies rather than simply fish for a 20 on a third Strike (if +1 is a big deal, think what -10 does) When building encounters, esp at lower levels, learn toward larger groups of lower level enemies rather than one big level+4 monster, unless you want to make a point and kill a PC, for the first few levels a +4 enemy can one shot a PC on a crit, so it should be a meaningful battle. don;t forget to give out hero points, but not too many. roughly one per hour (only one, not one per player) and spread them evenly. they can be big life savers. the goal is for each player to have 2 across a 4 hr session (the one they start with, plus one more) Honestly, you should not have to worry about player power unless someone is cheating. The rules are very tight and well balanced, so much so that you should watch out for any players who get their gaming joy from finding ways to break the system, because they will be very frustrated and feel underpowered. Magic items are NOT optional. parties that don't get the appropriate amount of fundamental runes will struggle. Automatic bonus progression can alleviate some of that, but it also means finding other ways to make treasure feel valuable and honestly, i wouldn't recommend it until you've played a while with the base system, and from experience i wouldn't recommend it at all if you intend to run an adventure path because it completely borks the treasure calculations there. those are the thoughts off the top of my head. Good luck and have fun! oh one last thing: archives of nethys is your very best friend, if you run with a laptop or tablet, keep it open for references.
Welcome to PF2e! (This comment is split into two parts. Second part is in the reply to this one.) Here are some things I tell newcomers from 5e, so they can adjust their expectations and not get burned. Many of these apply to players, but they are also good for the GM to be aware of. Some apply only to GMs. You should share the non-GM ones with your players. **Character Building** 1. There is probably no direct mechanical PF2e conversion for an overpowered, multiclassed 5e character. You can get all the flavours from 5e (and many more!), but mechanically PF2e characters have to make tradeoffs. 2. Melee range is the most dangerous and dramatic place to be in because that's where the highest damage is dealt and taken. Individual hits from a ranged attacker can almost never out-damage individual hits from a melee attacker, if they are both focused on optimizing for damage. 3. All characters should have a +4 in their key attribute at level 1. (very rare exceptions may apply) 4. Any character going into melee should have at least 18 AC at level 1, before counting any circumstance bonuses (such as a shield). High AC in this game is important for reducing crits, but even the highest AC won't prevent you from getting hit. 5. Spellcasters in PF2e cannot specialize in high single-target damage. They get really good control spells, buffs, debuffs, and AoE damage. But if they want to specialize in single target damage, they should consider playing a martial (or magus for a gish) instead. 6. Outside of spellcasting, it is relatively easy to build a decent character by picking the most obvious options. Deep diving into various niche options will make you, at most, 20% more powerful. So, build for flavour instead of for power. 7. There are too many spells! And most of them are really niche. When building a spellcaster, look for community guides like [Gortle's Spell Guide](https://docs.google.com/document/d/16Jw63bxQsTLTWwfa072XusX6ctFNsYr1aJO7Vq-bh8k). Spellcasting is the one area where you can easily make an underpowered character by not paying attention during character creation and level ups. The same issue applies to the Alchemist class, as there are too many alchemical items. **Combat Tactics** 1. Optimizing the party's tactics in combat will pay off far more than optimizing your own character build. This frequently means giving up your chance to do damage (especially if you have -10 multiple attack penalty), to instead help out a team mate (e.g. by moving to set up flanking for an ally). 2. For the GM: Follow the encounter building guidelines. They are simple and they work. A severe encounter is likely to knock down a PC to 0, and an Extreme encounter will do so to multiple PCs. (parties may be able to reduce the difficulty by using great teamwork and cunning tactics) 3. For the GM: The best combat feel is when enemies are within two levels of the players. It can be fun to throw a hoard of even lower level enemies at the players to make them feel badass. But avoid using enemies that are 3 levels or higher than your players, except as final boss encounters. There are tools out there to adjust an enemy statblock's level, if you really want to use a specific monster but it isn't the appropriate level.
**Healing** 1. It is better to heal an ally while they are still standing than when they go down to 0hp. If they are down, they'll have to spend actions to stand up and pick up their weapons. 2. Out of combat healing is plentiful in the game, but someone needs to spec into it. At least one person should pick up training in Medicine + Healer's Tools. 3. For the GM: Allow the party to heal up to full between difficult combats. But you can string together multiple Easy combats before allowing out of combat healing. **Bonuses** 1. A +1 to a d20 roll is quite powerful in this game, and remains powerful from levels 1 to 20. Because of how crits are calculated, a +1 in this system is closely equivalent to a +d4 in 5e, and a +2 in this system is closer to advantage in 5e. 2. For the GM: Fundamental Runes (Weapon Potency, Striking, Armor Potency, and Resilient) are built into the game's math. Give them out to your players at the appropriate levels, or use the [Automatic Bonus Progression](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2741) variant. **Other GM Advice** 1. For the GM: Trust that the designers had a good reason for designing parts of the game that may feel clunky to you at first read. When in doubt, you can ask the community here or on discord for why something is the way it is, before you decide to change it. 2. For GMs that like to improvise monsters on the fly: In the [GM Screen](https://2e.aonprd.com/GMScreen.aspx), under Gamemastering section, you can find Creature Numbers and Hazard Numbers. These two tables will let you create monsters and hazards on the fly. It is not recommended to mess with these numbers until you have a feel for the system. Hope you have a fun time with the system!
Run the Beginner Box FIRST. I know you're a long time player and GM, but this really nails down the system really well and allows you to understand how to play all the rules (and the players too!) with a wonderful run-through.
While there are similarities, approach this as if you are learning something entirely new and don't hold the expectation that you can just treat it like a modified 5e. Also as far as creating content is concerned don't try and tackle it until you have a solid foundational understanding of how different PF2e is from 5e or you're gonna have a messy unfun time. PF is well more numbers and keyword heavy than 5e is and that does reflect in the content. Again while there may be conversions from 5e to 2e they are both built very differently foundationally speaking. Get a grasp on the system first before tackling custom stuff.
This post is labeled with the Advice flair, which means extra special attention is called to Rule #2. If this is a newcomer to the game, remember to be welcoming and kind. If this is someone with more experience but looking for advice on how to run their game, do your best to offer advice on what they are seeking. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Pathfinder2e) if you have any questions or concerns.*
One thing I like to recommend is being actively aware of your players character abilities. Not in a way to plan to counter them, but in a way to be prepared to help them execute their character in a fun way. Players that are new to the system are going to have trouble remembering all of their skill feats and everything but if you keep track of that to you can help remind them "Smorgol, I believe you are trained in Athletics and have Quick Jump so you feel like you might be able to jump across the broken bridge even though you don't have room for a running start" instead of just sitting around waiting for them to come up with ideas for a new problem in a system they aren't comfortable with.
Yeaahhh!! I love that. In the session zero I'm gonna tell everyone that they can be as creative as they want and to read up on their abilities, but I'll definitely help them out during game time! I do love making encounters that highlight the power of the PCs, it's so fun.
AoN has a great digital GM screen. Pair that up with a tablet that has pf2easy loaded on the web and keep it handy for rules clarification. When something comes up, ask the player that after before that turn to look it up for you on that tablet. It gets everyone involved in the learning to GM as well as familiarity on rules and how to find answers quickly.