If you were willing, I'd love to see a recording of your first go at the beginner box. As raw and unpolished as your first session might be I think showing your stumbles is an important way to show people they can do it themselves, that they don't have to be perfect.
I also would love this! I got my Beginners Box last week. After i got the massive humble bundle i became kind of obsessed to get the physical box because of the insane and very well done content. I'm really excited for our first playthrough of the adventure :)
Nonats 1 and rules lawyer are probably the best ones at the moment. Both are focused in different ways. With nonat1 being more casual takes vs rules laywer having a much more in depth look into rules and potential things pathfinder 2 does.
My favorite part of the PF2E beginner box is actually that it gives the GM monsters and rules to make their own adventures after they finish the first dungeon. Most of those monsters and weapons and things in the books don't even come up in the adventure they give you.
A lot of them do come up in 'Troubles under Otari' which is a level 2-4 adventure that's built to be run straight after the box set, so if people do decide to go that path, then you already have those pawns.
You two are so great. Impeccable vibes, great open and friendly energy, and thoughtful commentary. You trying Pathfinder 2E is huge for me taking the same step.❤
Please note: the PF2e box set is also available for foundry and it both teaches you how to gm/play pathfinder 2e it also walks you through foundry, how to use it and it’s features, both it’s universal use and features as well as those specific to the pathfinder ruleset
I bought the Beginner Box for Foundry as I have been using it to run my DnD 5E games. I was equally blown away by how complete everything was in Foundry. I'm "playtesting" it with a couple of friends, all of whom have been playing DnD since 1976 and the original 8.5 x 11 folded and stapled rulebook debuted. Yes, we're that old...
I concur. The foundry VTT modules for Pathfinder are truly exceptional. Everything is setup down to the lighting. Perfect companion for a tv tabletop setup.
Foundry made it so much easier to run and learn and track conditions. It automatically accounts for flanking, it just made life so much easier. Obviously we were then learning both Pathfinder and Foundry at the same time, but it still felt like we learned pathfinder more smoothly because of it.
Lol the DnD doom in the chat is funny. I ran the beginner box for my friends and have start abomination vaults. I'm also dm'ing icewind Dale. And what I can already say is PF2E an order of magnitude better at writing. The fact that I don't have to think about fixing every part of game to balance it or make it make sense is so incredible. I work full time and not having to fix WoTC's game makes PF2E much more enjoyable from the DM perspective.
What a user friendly Beginner Box, very impressed always liked pathfinder 1e as it was my first Rpg I ever played and was the dm right away. I really need to dive into 2e and very soon I will
Never seen the box in detail, thank you guys for reviewing it - watching reactions of someone with fresh eyes who is new to Pathfinder is very eye opening as to how good a job they did with this box!
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I've been waiting for this episode!! My playgroup got into Pathfinder 2e in January following the wake of controversy and after finishing our 4 year 5e Campaign and as the Game Master of both games I could not be more in love with all of the nuance of P2e and all of the options it gives you. ❤❤❤
I'm with you. Once I got over the anxiety of swapping systems, I found GMing pf2e much more enjoyable. My players always find ways to surprise me with their builds, and CR actually works which takes a huge amount of prep and stress off my shoulders. I thought having more rules would make it a slog to run, but I am so happy I was mistaken.
@@pndmike6330 100%! The rules come as you play and having a tool like Archives of Nethys pulled up as I play always means my questions are immediately answered and we have an absolute blast with it.
@@pndmike6330 AYe, one of my most exciting ideas regarding PF is that most of the huge pile of 3.0 and 3.5 content is easily converted to or straight up transferred into PF. There is so much there, so many supplements, books and options that a player like me who really likes to create unique characters with specific themes etc.
I love the PF2 Beginner Box! It's the friendliest intro to RPGs I've seen yet. Unlike the 5e Starter Set or Essentials Kit, it doesn't assume that the GM has experience with RPGs. The Beginner Box adventure actually teaches you as you play instead of just assuming you've ran an adventure before. Very impressed with what Paizo has produced.
To your point about player options Monty, Paizo took good care in order to make things easier on the GM. There are way less player options at early levels that trivialize certain aspects of the game. If those options exist, they're usually tagged with a rarity to make it obvious that it could impact the kind of game or story the GM wants to run. Players only have access to things are Common, anything Uncommon or Rare is either specific to an Adventure Path or requires permission from the GM to take. Most things like flight, fast travel, mindreading and the like are tagged Uncommon or Rare and usually are not available until higher levels.
Very true. A handful of the short text for skill feats make it sound like they will actually give you fun and exciting abilities, but mostly they are very minor upgrades once you read the full rules description - so much so that one of our players said "ask the designers where the mean players hurt them?"
Ironically, getting the original Pathfinder Beginner Box through a Humble Bundle and trying it out with my son, nephew and niece six or seven years ago was what led me to get back into Dungeons & Dragons and becoming a Dungeon Master again after a two-decade hiatus from TTRPGs.
Some of the features in the PF2 Beginners Box used to be in the 3rd Ed. D&D Adventure Game (2000). WOTC droped them over the years and Paizo retained and perfected them! Go Paizo!!
If you read the Pathfinder 1e forward you’ll learn that Pathfinder was a side project funded by TSR based on transitioning from Thac0 to d20. Something fishy happened back in the day but they were able to keep their work as well as the similar D&D theme (I believe that’s why D&D 3e and Pathfinder 1e are incredibly similar) Need a Pathfinder to Confirm this. This is also why it’s a complex system cause it’s rooted in AD&D 2e.
I have found that the adventure in the beginners box is as well thought out as the box itself. It does a really good job slowly introducing new mechanics over the early encounters, so your group is only learning one new thing at a time rather than needing to fully drink from the fire hose. I also agree that the core rule book is very intimidating at first but it is well layed out and a signifigant portion of it is a world guide for golarian and tables of items so it is not as bad as it seems.
Yeah, I've found the CRB is less-daunting to new folks when you introduce it as basically a DMG and PHB in one. A lot of the book is spells, equipment, magic items, and basic game rules for everyone at the table -- GM included. So while I wouldn't recommend reading it cover-to-cover, it's pretty easy to find what you need specifically and pick it out (especially with the Glossary/Index at the back). Funnily enough, that means the Gamemastery Guide has less ground to cover, but I've still found it to be a great resource for running the system! Maybe I'm just used to the 5E DMG, but I was really impressed with the GMG.
Nice, honestly didn't expect this so soon. Question for Kelly: Have you seen that Evil Hat is doing a Kickstarter for a new Monster of the Week book called Codex of Worlds?
My group just moved to Pathfinder 2e and I can’t say enough good about it. I jumped right in to an adventure path called Outlaws of Alkenstar and we’ve had such a blast just do to it’s openness. There is so much I used to homebrew and Pathfinder 2 has a lot of it baked in. It’s been really nice.
Not kidding, my serotonin levels boosted just watching your reaction to the unboxing! I’ve never played PF, but I think I’m going to have to now!! Thanks for the enthusiastic and informative review, epic dudes!!
Regarding preparing for player options as a gm, you don't really have to worry for anything gamebreaking since it just is well-balanced. The encounter design works, player options allow for more versatility and support for different playstyles but vertical scaling remains on the level for everyone.
The beginner box adventure, while not the most interesting thing you’ll ever play from a story standpoint, is excellent for guiding the GM and players through the system. It gradually implements more mechanics as the players delve further into the dungeon, while not overwhelming players all at once. The only warning I would give for the beginner box is do not through the players into the final encounter without having them reach level 2. The final encounter is designed to be a difficult fight for level 2 characters, and the book expects the players to be level 2 by then. For level 1 characters, it will likely be a TPK.
Yeah, I definitely recommend GM's read that section at the end of the adventure carefully. If you run it by the book, the encounter is less daunting, but it's not uncommon to see folks skirt past the text explaining that the party should level up, or how to use a specific creature ability to balance the encounter properly (no spoilers).
Welcome to Golarion and to the beautiful Pathfinder 2e system friends. Hope you have an amazing journey. Have a fantastic day everyone! Thanks for the vid.
As an experienced GM one of the most noticeable and really well done elements for me was the way that the adventure is specifically structured to teach you the mechanics of the game as you play it. I literally ran this box for my coworkers sight unseen and just going room by room it explains each little element of gameplay SO WELL. I think you're going to have a great time with this.
I'm really happy to see you two checking this system out. I remember a while ago you had made a wishlist for things you hope to see in the next edition of d&d, and as a 5e to pf2e convert myself, I can attest that nearly every feature you had mentioned in that video is RAW in pf2e. From damage types that actually matter, to CR that works, to archetypes unlocking sooooo much character building potential, I think there is a lot of content that you folks will really enjoy here. Can't wait to hear how the beginner box adventure goes for you!
One of the really cool things is, in the GM book it tells you how to adjust encounters based on how many people are in the party. Don’t worry too much about the player options unbalancing anything either because none of the options I have had thrown at me so far as a GM have made anything difficult. Have fun with the beginner box, looking forward to hear your thoughts once you have been able to play
Man, the vibe in this vid is such a throw back to the dudes 3-4 years ago just expressing joy in RPGs. Keep it up and just have fun, I’m here for the fun!
My group is about 2 quests into PF2 now. Its much more math heavy than 5e for sure with needing to know your margins of success or failure. So far we're loving it but it'll be taking us a while to feel super confident with it. Thankfully we're all learning so nobody feels left behind and we've instituted a Lemon Law allowing everyone to swap out abilities while we adjust.
Good news! Retraining is an actual built in rule, so players are never locked in to choices they don't like. Lemon law is a great call, and even with experienced groups I think it's a great feature to have -- sometimes the concepts we have in our heads aren't as fun on the table as it seemed, so having options to tweak stuff just makes for a more fun experience for everyone.
Yeah, good idea on the Lemon Law since PF is a lot like 3rd & 3.5 which was so full of content of varying power levels that it had a great deal of potential for huge variety in build power etc.
You dudes gushed over this box set. Honestly I tend to agree. It is above the vast majority of other starter boxes for an RPG. I am glad to see alternate game systems on your channel.
16:09 The Pathfinder Core Rulebook is actually very well made too, like the Beginner Box. It's way easier to navigate in than PHB as well as more clearly written.
The genuine joy on their faces when they opened the box. Who else thinks as soon as the camera was off the dudes were rolling dice for a pf2 encounter?
I played the Beginner Box at an event organised by The Rules Lawyer at the beginning of February, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Paizo has truly excelled itself with this!
I've been running PF2 since it came out (and a little before that if you count the playtest), and- I gotta admit, I might personally love the Core Rulebook, but the Beginner Box is 100% the place to start for anyone coming in fresh. The CRB has everything you need, but its layout has some issues for new players- a lot of page-flipping is involved, and that can definitely put a new player off (especially if you're flipping through a book thick enough to stop a Disintegrate). The BB is wonderful because it's supremely approachable. Great video, and I hope you have fun with the box, and your time with Pathfinder 2E! Happy gaming!
Agreed! I honestly wish they'd waited to launch the system with the Beginner Box, because I feel like some of the earlier adventures had some tuning issues -- particularly "Fall of Plaguestone." I can't help but wonder if Paizo would be in an even better spot if they'd found their going a little earlier. But it's hard to complain when their recent content has been so good!
YES! You two are easily my favorite TTRPG channel, and I'm really excited for what will hopefully be a lot of PF2 content. After playing Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous I got interested in PF, and after the whole OGL drama I bought the Pathfinder TTRPG Humble Bundle. Since then I've really come to appreciate how much more balanced and varied PF2 is mechanically when compared to DnD. Martials in particular are a LOT more interesting. I look forward to hearing your opinions, because I think the tier lists that you guys do so well are going to be a lot more nuanced/difficult if you do them for PF2. Hope you two have a great time diving into something that is similar to DnD while at the same time being very much it's own unique system, especially mechanically. Edit: After finishing your video and hearing you express some nervousness about learning things like the 3-action economy... Please forgive me for advertising another channel on your video, but if you two (or anyone else) is feeling that the PF2 combat may be overwhelming, I'd recommend a series by the Rules Lawyer channel called "D&D Fighters, But Good". Particularly this video: th-cam.com/video/DV5onNeePSc/w-d-xo.html which showcases a combat with 5 different level-1 fighters and shows how the system isn't as confusing as you'd think and also highlights the variation in it. I think you'll see that although there are a lot of options, there's not as much as you'd think that you need to know turn-by-turn.
Our group swapped from 5e to PF2e and started with the beginner box and loved it! We're now on Abomination vault. I'd love to watch videos of you guys talking about pathfinder!
I ran this box having eyeballed the system for a couple of years but never really taking the plunge before. I ran it where I only had a basic grasp of the system, I knew the 3 action thing but that was basically it, 3/4 of the players were from my 5e group, the other player was new to TTRPGs. It was easy to run and nobody struggled with rules much and anything that came up was easily explained with a few seconds of referencing. The individual encounters in the adventure are even designed to teach a new rule with each one so there's no mindflooding. It's such a positive beginner experience I had the same reaction as Kelly, it's suitable for people that have never played a ttrpg before. I ran it for family over Christmas and they had a good time with it. I think that Phandelvr in 5e has a good reputation as a starting adventure and I think it's legitimately a good module, a fun game that creates shared experiences for players to discuss. But it's not good as a tutorial or intro to the system. The opening feels like it assumes the same level of player knowledge as any other module in the system and the first encounter is super easy to just wipe the players with if the DM plays it tactically on the enemy side and/or just rolls well. And I don't mean that in a way where ttrpgs just shouldn't be dangerous for the PCs, the PF beginner box can absolutely TPK in the last encounter of the adventure. It's about easing people into mechanics one step at a time.
I've been a long-time viewer of you guys and you guys have really created your brand as experts in DND 5e but it's so honest and refreshing to see you guys admit that you're not experts in this new system but you're willing to give it a try anyway. that makes it feel much less intimidating for people who are new and also haven't tried it experiencing this new system through your guys perspective and learning it along with you even though you may stumble at times has got to be so beneficial to the community
Really appreciate you going through the Box with open minds and thoughtful comments. I've just started PF2e and have been using the digital beginner box, which is good, but the physical set is amazing. It reminds me of the original D&D 1e Red Box - there was also a solo adventure and dice of different colors. I didn't think about it then, but your comments about multicolored dice make a lot of sense. I wonder if someone from Paizo remembered the Red Box and brought those features forward - a good legacy. Super excited to see you get into PF2e content and play because you always bring thoughtful and constructive analysis. Also: The real victory was getting a Beginner Box set and a CRB - grats!
I've never heard the term "Pawn" in this context so I was super confused until you actually pulled those out of the box. Looks super useful as a starting point if you are playing physically!
Honestly, seeing this Beginner's Boxset has me a little sad that WotC didn't make their first Starter Boxset this extensive of help. I think if they did this much care, I would have understood DnD 5e even more than I did back then instead of me learning all the things I didn't understand today. I started 5e around 2018, and so I feel like I'm *just* starting to fully understand the differences between TTRPGs. Yeah, the second "starter boxset" for the 5e does have more, but it also feels a bit more of a supplement to the first than really an better curated box. This Pathfinder 2e beginner's boxset combines the two and actually makes it so much more useable and beginner friendly. I got with the Humble Bundle, but seeing you open that box actually has me thinking I can actually in the future run a pathfinder 2e game easily as either a player or a DM where we can actually learn the rules at our own pace. (most of my group have played Pathfinder 1e before as well as 3.5e DnD, and I'm more of a noob in comparison, but I don't feel as worried now to dive into it in the future. So far the only games I've played and DM/Judged is 5e and Dungeons Crawl Classics (DCC) ) It would be intresting to see how you guys react to the DCC Starter set because from what I heard of it.... it's as extensive as the Pathfinder 2e, or at least close to it. (I started off with the main book actually with DCC, so I wouldn't be able to tell you, but one of my players actually got the starter set and he *loved* it. Suprised how extensive it was.)
Glad to see you guys getting into my favorite Fantasy system. PF2 is so amazing and diverse when compared to WotC/Hasbro. It's the true inheritor of the original D&D.
I bought a copy of the BB after some reviews as an introduction for my 8 year old to start TTRPGs. While nothing is perfect the aids and the way the info is laid out has made learning the system a much easier process for him. The starting adventure is also great for ANYONE(Player or GM) starting from TTRPG/PF2E scratch, the adventure does an awesome job slowly introducing game mechanics and complexity as well as doing a wonderful job explaining how to handle things as the GM. It's money well spent.
I jumped in with both feet after 35 years of D&D and got almost all of the books for p2e (including the box), I am glad to see you both looking into it more. It would be interesting to covert dungeons of drakkenheim to p2e. Then get like the "Rules lawyer" or someone do the campaign in their style, cross promote etc.
The PF2e box set is so good and the adventure is amazing and it literally walks gm’s and players through the rules and their abilities like a really good video game tutorial, but one that’s actually fun in itself,
This looks like it'd be perfect for teaching younger kids too. Thanks for making this video, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to find a video like this. Going to try and pick this up this weekend!
Something I really really love about the beginner box adventure, is that if you pay attention, each new fight is teaching you about specific mechanics, and how to exploit teamwork (teamwork is NECESSARY, this is the actual biggest change from 5e!) and avoid common dangers. This one shows you the basics, this one teaches you weakness and immunity, this teach you about flanking, etc. The adventure is as well-structured as the box itself!!
My pet topic in the "5e vs PF2e" discussion is always how superior the Beginner Box is to the Starter Set as a gateway for BRAND NEW players, even accounting for the price difference. Not just the PCs too. A brand new GM, one who has never GM'd before but has the desire to try it can be gifted both boxes, and only one would be properly guided on how to run and play the game. Starter Sets almost always assumes that the DM is someone who knows the game and is guiding new players, but both LMoP and DoIP are so onerous to a completely brand new DM! OTOH, Menace Under Otari is a guided adventure that actually teaches the basics of GM-ing and guides you on how to do it. No matter what your preferred system is, the Beginner Box's approach is what you should demand from your publishing company of choice, WotC or Paizo, if we want the hobby to grow!
One thing I really like about PF2 is how the check resolution system has more than a simple pass/fail to it. Meet or exceed the DC passes, but may not be optimal. Exceeding the DC by 10 is a critical success, and may include a bonus effect. Below the DC fails the check, but may not be abysmal. A check 10 or more the DC is a critical failure, and is more likely to be interesting in the negative sense. Rolling a natural 1 moves you down a step and natural 20 moves you up a step. One nice thing is that a natural 20 doesn’t imply that you auto-win (or natural 1, auto-fail, though you generally don’t bother rolling for extremely simple tasks) so it has a bit more plausible verisimilitude.
recently we changed from d&d 5e to pf 2e with my group and as an experienced player the system gave me a sense of wanderlust to discover and explore its mechanics that ive never felt before, truly an amazing TTRPG, hope that you guys like it!!
Legitimately, the best beginner box I've ever used. My group found it easy to pick up, and those character cards and action tokens helped them so much. And those cut out minis? Amazing! 10/10 for me as well.
hey, I found you guys when my group looked into 5e, but that only lasted us few months before we fled to pf2e. Stoked to see you guys cover some pathfinder! Restarting my subscription :D
You guys should talk to Ronald the Rules Lawyer! He's been running pathfinder campaigns for DnD youtubers and I bet he'd love to ease y'all into the system and give you the sort of crash course. Also it'd be really cool to see you both play in a game together, I bet that would be really fun to watch
We have chatted with Ronald! We hope we get to play together soon, but we want to learn the system "on our own" so we can speak to the experience most others will have where they might not have a veteran of the system to guide them through learning it.
@@DungeonDudes That totally makes sense. I hope you have an awesome first time. I ran the beginner box for my family being new to the system myself, with my mom and dad who're in their 50s and my baby sister who's 12, and everyone had a blast. I'll be looking forward to hearing about your experience with it, and maybe even two of my favorite TTRPG channels collabing sometime in the future! Thanks for all the awesome content
@@DungeonDudes if you could arrange AV (abomination vaults) with the Rules Lawyer after your initial learning sessions and actually have all four of you play that would be incredible to watch.
I see a new Dungeon Dudes video: I click on it. I see a new Dungeon Dudes video about Pathfinder 2E: I click EVEN QUICKER. Also, that Core Rulebook is more than 600 pages, BUT a large portion of it is just character options; the rules for game mechanics are only a section of that huge book.
I'm really glad you are getting to do the beginner box. It's how my groups started as well, and we had a blast with it on foundry (online). Hopefully if you all end up enjoying it, it'll lead to more content creators in pf2e, which it's desperately short on. Your DND stuff is great, and I think your formats for previous videos would play well here.
I can't tell you how excited I am that you two are covering Pathfinder 2E products. When I quit Dungeons & Dragons two months ago for Pathfinder, I was hoping you guys would cover it. I have always enjoyed your in-depth reviews and insights and when you held up the Pathfinder Core Rule Book and the Beginner Boxed set I couldn't wait. Funny story, two hours before I caught this video, I ran my first Pathfinder adventure from the Beginner Box. It really does give you everything you need to fully immerse you and your players in the Pathfinder 2E world. Keep up the good work, and I too would love to see your live-play of the Pathfinder Beginner Box. Thanks so much for all of your hard work.
As a recent convert to PF2e, I wanted to thank you guys for giving this coverage. I ran the beginner box for my players in December and am now running my home brew campaign and am having a blast. It truly is a GM’s blessing to have such a well built, balanced system. Can’t wait for more videos!!
I love pathfinder, i grabbed the core rulebook on a whim from a humble bundle deal back during the pandemic, and instantly fell in love. Just seeing the character choices i could make excited me. It definitely took me sometime to rewrite a few things in my head coming from dnd 5e, but after some sessions (honestly thanks to the fantastic community of organized play) ive been a fan since I still and will forever love and accept a 5e game but i think pf2e has become my system of choice. Im very excited to see you guys starting to check out the system as you have been one of my favorite dnd youtubers. I wish you the best of luck and keep up your amazing work
The one thing the dudes didn’t mention (because it wasn’t relevant) was that picking up the Foundry VTT module for this box set is also the best intro to foundry I’ve ever seen. Every. Single. Thing. Has been explained. When they implemented it to Foundry they took this same level of care and added in “how to DM in foundry” to it. It’s FANTASTIC. I cannot sing it’s praises enough. I ran this box for my group and let my players play whatever they wanted (no one wanted the pregens) and the amount this box preps you cannot be understated. We had an AMAZING time. I have one complaint. The adventure in the box took me about 10 hours. Which is to say 2 and a 1/2 sessions. Which sucked because we had one normal session. And then one super long session where everyone wanted to finish and people were checking watches because they had to get home to get ready for work the next day. It is probably not great for a weeknight game unless you want to run two longer sessions instead.
Having been playing Pathfinder for several years now, I am constantly impressed by the sheer versatility of character creation. Just recently I thought I would have to homebrew some rules to make a cyborg character because there's no cyborg class or ancestry. Only to discover that Paizo had already said, "there's rules for that " Paizo _knew_ players would try to Frankenstein together things that at first glance would never be Frankensteined. And I would advise you two to grab the Game Mastery Guide for its various alternate rules. Like Free Archetype, Level Zero characters, or my favorite: Gestalts. Where you get the full benefits of two classes simultaneously. Gestalts are what 5E's multiclassing _wishes_ it was.
Is Gestalt the same as dual classing, that seems extremely broken? Free archetype multiclassing works just fine without over complicating or over-powering players.
GM here. Did the same steps. Buy the core rules, get a bit overwhelmed, buy the starter set, run the starter adventure with my players, then, last weekend we run our first “proper” PF2E session and was really smooth. We are incorporating some things slowly without pressure to do everything right, improvisoning a lot (to keep the flow) and so far the experience has been great. Just wanted to share. As always guys, great content ❤
I just ran this last week for part of my regular 5e group. It was the first time I had DM'd a game in almost 20 years and I was worried about how rusty I would be along with having to be the one to explain the system as well even though I was just learning it myself. I got it through the Humble Bundle so I didn't have the pawns or the proper flip mat but the guides they include made things so much easier and everyone had a blast. I loved how they tried to make almost every encounter introduce a new aspect of the system, that helped make sure you didn't feel overwhelmed by how much depth there seems to be. We got through half of it in one session and we're gonna be finishing it off with our full table next weekend and I'm really excited for it.
When I first dm’d and didn’t have enough money to buy proper mini’s I would use chess pieces all the time. Pawns: Mooks or tools to convey the larger size of a more important piece. Bishops: Casters. Black pieces were arcane, and white pieces were divine. Rooks: Tanky guys. Knights: Sneaky/trickster type enemies. Queens: Powerful support/second in command. King: Dungeon Boss.
I have been playing Pathfinder since the system came out. I used to play D&D in my early days of role playing( since 1st edition ) and played until 5th edition. I was not impressed with the direction D&D went. I felt they dumbed down the game to much in order to encourage new players. So I played Pathfinder 1 for awhile. Then when PF2 came out I was blown away and never looked back. What you see in the Beginners Box is a refection of the quality of PF2 overall. Do not be intimidated by the Core rule book. It is the players guide and D.M.`s guide in one book. Once you begin reading you will find the book is very well organized. The first third of the book is for player creation.(the scope and depth of character creation far exceeds anything that D&D attempts.) The rest is for D.M.`s and rules clarification ( the book covers so many rules and ideas that 5th ed. only vaguely , or does not, cover). Some will say the game is too crunchy and rules heavy, but the game is designed that way. It is a role playing game but it is also very tactical in nature. Only Fighters get Attacks of Opportunity (as do some monsters) And with the Three action economy system combat is very fluid and players need to work together to achieve a desirable out come in combat and exploration. For D.M.`s the game balance and ease of encounter creation is phenomenal. The system is not perfect (no game is) but a lot of thought and planning went into creating a very unique and enjoyable game (IMHO) and you will see that reflected in the Beginner`s Box. I have been enjoying your content for years and love your Drakkenheim series. I think you will really enjoy PF2. My players and I (D.M.) always have a blast when we play. Until we meet again.
My group and I moved from 5e to PF2e a year and a half ago and have loved it. We just got to level 16 playing through the Agents of Edgewatch AP and will make it through level 20 if we don't have a TPK. The system is so much fun and I hope you guys enjoy your time with it.
I know this video was about the Beginner Box (excellent video, BTW, I'll be sharing that with others), but the "intimidating" Core Rulebook was brought up at the beginning. I just wanted to point out a few things about the Core Rulebook in case you didn't know. First, Pathfinder 2E's Core Rulebook is the equivalent to the D&D Player's Handbook and the D&D Dungeon Master's Guide combined into one volume. So the Core Rulebook not only has the character creation options, but it has the general lore of the primary setting of the Pathfinder games, Golarion, as well as a huge list of magic items and the various treasures that can be found. (There is a separate Gamemastery Guide for Pathfinder, but from what I've seen it has mostly supplemental information and variant rules along with a large list of NPCs... good to know and have, but not as critical as the DMG is.) And like those D&D books, you don't need to know everything from the Core Rulebook. I'm actually reading the Core Rulebook now cover-to-cover and can say with absolute certainty that reading the book cover-to-cover is NOT the best way to learn the system, but I'm a nerd and am trying to get an overall feel of the game. I did the same thing with the PHB a while back. (I'm only now up to the chapter called "Playing the Game" which is chapter 9 and starts on page 443.) Yes, it is intimidating at first glance, but like the PHB and DMG, the Core Rulebook is mostly reference.
It also has some layout issues. You will occasionally find a rule that is scattered across 2-4 different areas of the book, and you will NOT get any pointer references to them. Like, you use crafting skill to add or move runes (enchantment) to your weapons, which you find as loot on runestones or weapons - but nothing in the Craft Skill tells you that, all the rules for that use of Crafting are buried about 50 pages into the Magical Treasure section of the book. (I mean, crafting is a trap that loses you money, but still).
When I first dipped my toes into the awesomeness that is Pathfinder 2e, I gave up. Bought a pdf bundle and read through the core rulebook and I was like "nope, this is too much. I'll stick to 5e." Months later, I sat down and read the book again and this time I stuck around longer and found that this thing is soooo much better than 5e. I've been missing out! So the lesson is, it may seem daunting at first, but keep at it and hopefully, like me, you will find that this is a superior system :)
hey guys the great thing about this adventure is that every room teaches you a new thing about the system mechanics. its designed in that fashion. once you understand that it makes you really appreciate how its designed.
Pathfinder 1e was my favorite for many years, but when 5e everyone went back to wotc. I'm happy new players are taking interest in PF2. Im excited to teach people a crunchier rpg!
The leshy familiar for the druid is the most adorable thing (I shaped mine like a cactuar from Final Fantasy). They also really boost your spellcasting in combat. I had a lot of fun playing a druid in this game.
I am so glad that your exploring Pathfinder 2e. We were 4 sessions into Dungeons of Drackkenheim, when the OGL fiasco happened. So now I am running it in PF2e and it is a challenge. So I am glad to see you your input on PF2e
A little more than halfway through the video, and this is where my head went right away: I started playing 1e. Played them all except 4e. Been playing PF2e for about a year, too. I'm starting to lime PF2e a tiny bit better than 5e, but I also thought that 5e was better for a group that has never played any RPG before. This box resolves those issues. If I was introducing PF2e to new players, I would pop for this product. This is fantastic!
Yes PF2 content The 8 months of stock sold in 2 weeks is true. This was post by Paizo on their website to advise people the hardcover corebook was no longer in stock. It is still out of stock and won’t be available until April when they get their new print run in.
It's a steal at that price. Especially given how reusable the components are. The maps have very usable sections, the pawns are pretty common monsters, there's play tokens, got a set of dice that aren't awful. Even not factoring in the two tutorial quests (there's a 1 player adventure the DM can run himself through) this is worth the price.
If you were willing, I'd love to see a recording of your first go at the beginner box. As raw and unpolished as your first session might be I think showing your stumbles is an important way to show people they can do it themselves, that they don't have to be perfect.
Second this, there are a bunch of actual plays of the beginner box, but not a lot of people playing for the first time
Totally!! I'd love to see such casual game, just mates having fun figuring out PF2 without any previous experience of the system. 👍
That's a great idea. With people experienced with RPGs in general, it'd be kind of cool for people to see how easy it is for you guys to pick up on.
Yes please!
I also would love this! I got my Beginners Box last week. After i got the massive humble bundle i became kind of obsessed to get the physical box because of the insane and very well done content. I'm really excited for our first playthrough of the adventure :)
PF2 needs more TH-camrs to showcase it.
Check out NoNat1, he's pretty good.
Fucking Facts!
Nonat1s is about the best I know of
Nonats 1 and rules lawyer are probably the best ones at the moment. Both are focused in different ways. With nonat1 being more casual takes vs rules laywer having a much more in depth look into rules and potential things pathfinder 2 does.
NoNat1's, D4 is also dipping his hand into the pool too.
My favorite part of the PF2E beginner box is actually that it gives the GM monsters and rules to make their own adventures after they finish the first dungeon. Most of those monsters and weapons and things in the books don't even come up in the adventure they give you.
A lot of them do come up in 'Troubles under Otari' which is a level 2-4 adventure that's built to be run straight after the box set, so if people do decide to go that path, then you already have those pawns.
It actually gives a decent amount of pawns to use in a custom adventure too. Compared to 5e this is the gold standard.
Adds more value
I literally just ordered the box set as I was watching this video. Thank you for helping me take the leap I was unsure about taking!
Have fun!
The real fun for me is starting to transition the amazing setting and world you created to PF2e
You two are so great. Impeccable vibes, great open and friendly energy, and thoughtful commentary. You trying Pathfinder 2E is huge for me taking the same step.❤
ditto. You dudes are my favorite TTRPG content creators. Imma have to pick up this box.
Please note: the PF2e box set is also available for foundry and it both teaches you how to gm/play pathfinder 2e it also walks you through foundry, how to use it and it’s features, both it’s universal use and features as well as those specific to the pathfinder ruleset
I bought the Beginner Box for Foundry as I have been using it to run my DnD 5E games. I was equally blown away by how complete everything was in Foundry. I'm "playtesting" it with a couple of friends, all of whom have been playing DnD since 1976 and the original 8.5 x 11 folded and stapled rulebook debuted. Yes, we're that old...
I concur. The foundry VTT modules for Pathfinder are truly exceptional. Everything is setup down to the lighting. Perfect companion for a tv tabletop setup.
This is amazing. I think I have it from humble bundle, just need to pull the trigger on buying foundry...
Foundry made it so much easier to run and learn and track conditions.
It automatically accounts for flanking, it just made life so much easier. Obviously we were then learning both Pathfinder and Foundry at the same time, but it still felt like we learned pathfinder more smoothly because of it.
So excited to see you guys getting into PF2e
Man the dungeon dudes are on fire recently! Love your stuff!
Lol the DnD doom in the chat is funny. I ran the beginner box for my friends and have start abomination vaults. I'm also dm'ing icewind Dale. And what I can already say is PF2E an order of magnitude better at writing. The fact that I don't have to think about fixing every part of game to balance it or make it make sense is so incredible. I work full time and not having to fix WoTC's game makes PF2E much more enjoyable from the DM perspective.
What a user friendly Beginner Box, very impressed always liked pathfinder 1e as it was my first Rpg I ever played and was the dm right away. I really need to dive into 2e and very soon I will
Never seen the box in detail, thank you guys for reviewing it - watching reactions of someone with fresh eyes who is new to Pathfinder is very eye opening as to how good a job they did with this box!
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I've been waiting for this episode!! My playgroup got into Pathfinder 2e in January following the wake of controversy and after finishing our 4 year 5e Campaign and as the Game Master of both games I could not be more in love with all of the nuance of P2e and all of the options it gives you. ❤❤❤
I'm with you. Once I got over the anxiety of swapping systems, I found GMing pf2e much more enjoyable. My players always find ways to surprise me with their builds, and CR actually works which takes a huge amount of prep and stress off my shoulders.
I thought having more rules would make it a slog to run, but I am so happy I was mistaken.
@@pndmike6330 100%! The rules come as you play and having a tool like Archives of Nethys pulled up as I play always means my questions are immediately answered and we have an absolute blast with it.
@@pndmike6330 AYe, one of my most exciting ideas regarding PF is that most of the huge pile of 3.0 and 3.5 content is easily converted to or straight up transferred into PF. There is so much there, so many supplements, books and options that a player like me who really likes to create unique characters with specific themes etc.
I love the PF2 Beginner Box! It's the friendliest intro to RPGs I've seen yet. Unlike the 5e Starter Set or Essentials Kit, it doesn't assume that the GM has experience with RPGs. The Beginner Box adventure actually teaches you as you play instead of just assuming you've ran an adventure before. Very impressed with what Paizo has produced.
To your point about player options Monty, Paizo took good care in order to make things easier on the GM. There are way less player options at early levels that trivialize certain aspects of the game. If those options exist, they're usually tagged with a rarity to make it obvious that it could impact the kind of game or story the GM wants to run. Players only have access to things are Common, anything Uncommon or Rare is either specific to an Adventure Path or requires permission from the GM to take. Most things like flight, fast travel, mindreading and the like are tagged Uncommon or Rare and usually are not available until higher levels.
Very true. A handful of the short text for skill feats make it sound like they will actually give you fun and exciting abilities, but mostly they are very minor upgrades once you read the full rules description - so much so that one of our players said "ask the designers where the mean players hurt them?"
Ironically, getting the original Pathfinder Beginner Box through a Humble Bundle and trying it out with my son, nephew and niece six or seven years ago was what led me to get back into Dungeons & Dragons and becoming a Dungeon Master again after a two-decade hiatus from TTRPGs.
Some of the features in the PF2 Beginners Box used to be in the 3rd Ed. D&D Adventure Game (2000). WOTC droped them over the years and Paizo retained and perfected them! Go Paizo!!
If you read the Pathfinder 1e forward you’ll learn that Pathfinder was a side project funded by TSR based on transitioning from Thac0 to d20. Something fishy happened back in the day but they were able to keep their work as well as the similar D&D theme (I believe that’s why D&D 3e and Pathfinder 1e are incredibly similar) Need a Pathfinder to Confirm this. This is also why it’s a complex system cause it’s rooted in AD&D 2e.
Sort of the founders of paizo worked on 3e and the compony was founded by fans of 3e after 4th edition was such a let down
I have found that the adventure in the beginners box is as well thought out as the box itself.
It does a really good job slowly introducing new mechanics over the early encounters, so your group is only learning one new thing at a time rather than needing to fully drink from the fire hose.
I also agree that the core rule book is very intimidating at first but it is well layed out and a signifigant portion of it is a world guide for golarian and tables of items so it is not as bad as it seems.
Yeah, I've found the CRB is less-daunting to new folks when you introduce it as basically a DMG and PHB in one. A lot of the book is spells, equipment, magic items, and basic game rules for everyone at the table -- GM included. So while I wouldn't recommend reading it cover-to-cover, it's pretty easy to find what you need specifically and pick it out (especially with the Glossary/Index at the back).
Funnily enough, that means the Gamemastery Guide has less ground to cover, but I've still found it to be a great resource for running the system! Maybe I'm just used to the 5E DMG, but I was really impressed with the GMG.
Nice, honestly didn't expect this so soon. Question for Kelly: Have you seen that Evil Hat is doing a Kickstarter for a new Monster of the Week book called Codex of Worlds?
I have! Very excited!
My group just moved to Pathfinder 2e and I can’t say enough good about it. I jumped right in to an adventure path called Outlaws of Alkenstar and we’ve had such a blast just do to it’s openness. There is so much I used to homebrew and Pathfinder 2 has a lot of it baked in.
It’s been really nice.
Not kidding, my serotonin levels boosted just watching your reaction to the unboxing!
I’ve never played PF, but I think I’m going to have to now!!
Thanks for the enthusiastic and informative review, epic dudes!!
This legit looks like one of the best TTRPG starter sets I've ever seen.
Nice fellas! I'm loving Pathfinder 2e. The precise math makes it far easier to create encounters and estimate your party strengths.
Regarding preparing for player options as a gm, you don't really have to worry for anything gamebreaking since it just is well-balanced. The encounter design works, player options allow for more versatility and support for different playstyles but vertical scaling remains on the level for everyone.
Dungeon Dudes trying out Pathfinder - you love to see it!
The beginner box adventure, while not the most interesting thing you’ll ever play from a story standpoint, is excellent for guiding the GM and players through the system. It gradually implements more mechanics as the players delve further into the dungeon, while not overwhelming players all at once. The only warning I would give for the beginner box is do not through the players into the final encounter without having them reach level 2. The final encounter is designed to be a difficult fight for level 2 characters, and the book expects the players to be level 2 by then. For level 1 characters, it will likely be a TPK.
Yeah, I definitely recommend GM's read that section at the end of the adventure carefully. If you run it by the book, the encounter is less daunting, but it's not uncommon to see folks skirt past the text explaining that the party should level up, or how to use a specific creature ability to balance the encounter properly (no spoilers).
Welcome to Golarion and to the beautiful Pathfinder 2e system friends. Hope you have an amazing journey. Have a fantastic day everyone! Thanks for the vid.
As an experienced GM one of the most noticeable and really well done elements for me was the way that the adventure is specifically structured to teach you the mechanics of the game as you play it. I literally ran this box for my coworkers sight unseen and just going room by room it explains each little element of gameplay SO WELL. I think you're going to have a great time with this.
Pathfinder!!! Awesome guys!
I'm really happy to see you two checking this system out. I remember a while ago you had made a wishlist for things you hope to see in the next edition of d&d, and as a 5e to pf2e convert myself, I can attest that nearly every feature you had mentioned in that video is RAW in pf2e.
From damage types that actually matter, to CR that works, to archetypes unlocking sooooo much character building potential, I think there is a lot of content that you folks will really enjoy here.
Can't wait to hear how the beginner box adventure goes for you!
One of the really cool things is, in the GM book it tells you how to adjust encounters based on how many people are in the party. Don’t worry too much about the player options unbalancing anything either because none of the options I have had thrown at me so far as a GM have made anything difficult. Have fun with the beginner box, looking forward to hear your thoughts once you have been able to play
Man, the vibe in this vid is such a throw back to the dudes 3-4 years ago just expressing joy in RPGs. Keep it up and just have fun, I’m here for the fun!
My group is about 2 quests into PF2 now. Its much more math heavy than 5e for sure with needing to know your margins of success or failure. So far we're loving it but it'll be taking us a while to feel super confident with it. Thankfully we're all learning so nobody feels left behind and we've instituted a Lemon Law allowing everyone to swap out abilities while we adjust.
Good news! Retraining is an actual built in rule, so players are never locked in to choices they don't like.
Lemon law is a great call, and even with experienced groups I think it's a great feature to have -- sometimes the concepts we have in our heads aren't as fun on the table as it seemed, so having options to tweak stuff just makes for a more fun experience for everyone.
Yeah, good idea on the Lemon Law since PF is a lot like 3rd & 3.5 which was so full of content of varying power levels that it had a great deal of potential for huge variety in build power etc.
Commenting to support the Pathfinding Dudes! More please!
You dudes gushed over this box set. Honestly I tend to agree. It is above the vast majority of other starter boxes for an RPG. I am glad to see alternate game systems on your channel.
The pathfinder 2e beginner box (particularly the module for FoundryVTT) is the best introduction to any system I've seen
Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion is actually more robust.
Welcome to the Second Great Pathfinder Migration, guys. May we see a great deal more Pathfinder content from you soon.
Can confirm, am playing through this with my 70 year old father and his church friends. They have been having an absolute blast. This box rules.
LOVED that you gave it an S TIER : That was a perfect rating that I totally understood!!
Thanks!
Yes! I have been waiting for some alternative ttrpg content!
Im really glad u made this review! I love both systems, but man Pf2e is my 😍
16:09 The Pathfinder Core Rulebook is actually very well made too, like the Beginner Box. It's way easier to navigate in than PHB as well as more clearly written.
PF2E deserved more attention, sooner. Better late than never.
It was really nice of WotC to give Paizo all the free publicity
Thank you.
YEAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PATHFINDERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Glad to see you are branching out to look at other systems. Very intrigued to hear that there is a solo adventure in this box.
The genuine joy on their faces when they opened the box. Who else thinks as soon as the camera was off the dudes were rolling dice for a pf2 encounter?
I played the Beginner Box at an event organised by The Rules Lawyer at the beginning of February, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Paizo has truly excelled itself with this!
I've been running PF2 since it came out (and a little before that if you count the playtest), and- I gotta admit, I might personally love the Core Rulebook, but the Beginner Box is 100% the place to start for anyone coming in fresh.
The CRB has everything you need, but its layout has some issues for new players- a lot of page-flipping is involved, and that can definitely put a new player off (especially if you're flipping through a book thick enough to stop a Disintegrate). The BB is wonderful because it's supremely approachable.
Great video, and I hope you have fun with the box, and your time with Pathfinder 2E! Happy gaming!
Agreed! I honestly wish they'd waited to launch the system with the Beginner Box, because I feel like some of the earlier adventures had some tuning issues -- particularly "Fall of Plaguestone."
I can't help but wonder if Paizo would be in an even better spot if they'd found their going a little earlier. But it's hard to complain when their recent content has been so good!
YES! You two are easily my favorite TTRPG channel, and I'm really excited for what will hopefully be a lot of PF2 content. After playing Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous I got interested in PF, and after the whole OGL drama I bought the Pathfinder TTRPG Humble Bundle. Since then I've really come to appreciate how much more balanced and varied PF2 is mechanically when compared to DnD. Martials in particular are a LOT more interesting. I look forward to hearing your opinions, because I think the tier lists that you guys do so well are going to be a lot more nuanced/difficult if you do them for PF2. Hope you two have a great time diving into something that is similar to DnD while at the same time being very much it's own unique system, especially mechanically.
Edit: After finishing your video and hearing you express some nervousness about learning things like the 3-action economy... Please forgive me for advertising another channel on your video, but if you two (or anyone else) is feeling that the PF2 combat may be overwhelming, I'd recommend a series by the Rules Lawyer channel called "D&D Fighters, But Good". Particularly this video: th-cam.com/video/DV5onNeePSc/w-d-xo.html which showcases a combat with 5 different level-1 fighters and shows how the system isn't as confusing as you'd think and also highlights the variation in it. I think you'll see that although there are a lot of options, there's not as much as you'd think that you need to know turn-by-turn.
I would love to watch you guys play the adventure in the begginer box!
.I'm so excited about switching to Pathfinder 2e and starting the beginner box with my friends. I'm glad to see you experts starting there too
Our group swapped from 5e to PF2e and started with the beginner box and loved it! We're now on Abomination vault. I'd love to watch videos of you guys talking about pathfinder!
I ran this box having eyeballed the system for a couple of years but never really taking the plunge before. I ran it where I only had a basic grasp of the system, I knew the 3 action thing but that was basically it, 3/4 of the players were from my 5e group, the other player was new to TTRPGs. It was easy to run and nobody struggled with rules much and anything that came up was easily explained with a few seconds of referencing. The individual encounters in the adventure are even designed to teach a new rule with each one so there's no mindflooding. It's such a positive beginner experience I had the same reaction as Kelly, it's suitable for people that have never played a ttrpg before. I ran it for family over Christmas and they had a good time with it.
I think that Phandelvr in 5e has a good reputation as a starting adventure and I think it's legitimately a good module, a fun game that creates shared experiences for players to discuss. But it's not good as a tutorial or intro to the system. The opening feels like it assumes the same level of player knowledge as any other module in the system and the first encounter is super easy to just wipe the players with if the DM plays it tactically on the enemy side and/or just rolls well.
And I don't mean that in a way where ttrpgs just shouldn't be dangerous for the PCs, the PF beginner box can absolutely TPK in the last encounter of the adventure. It's about easing people into mechanics one step at a time.
I've been a long-time viewer of you guys and you guys have really created your brand as experts in DND 5e but it's so honest and refreshing to see you guys admit that you're not experts in this new system but you're willing to give it a try anyway. that makes it feel much less intimidating for people who are new and also haven't tried it experiencing this new system through your guys perspective and learning it along with you even though you may stumble at times has got to be so beneficial to the community
Really appreciate you going through the Box with open minds and thoughtful comments. I've just started PF2e and have been using the digital beginner box, which is good, but the physical set is amazing. It reminds me of the original D&D 1e Red Box - there was also a solo adventure and dice of different colors. I didn't think about it then, but your comments about multicolored dice make a lot of sense. I wonder if someone from Paizo remembered the Red Box and brought those features forward - a good legacy. Super excited to see you get into PF2e content and play because you always bring thoughtful and constructive analysis.
Also: The real victory was getting a Beginner Box set and a CRB - grats!
I've never heard the term "Pawn" in this context so I was super confused until you actually pulled those out of the box. Looks super useful as a starting point if you are playing physically!
Just think of chess pawns :) they’re like that!
@@mduckernz I'm not a native speaker so we have a different name for that chess piece in here!
Unfortunately the pathfinder owns stopped being produced :(
Honestly, seeing this Beginner's Boxset has me a little sad that WotC didn't make their first Starter Boxset this extensive of help. I think if they did this much care, I would have understood DnD 5e even more than I did back then instead of me learning all the things I didn't understand today. I started 5e around 2018, and so I feel like I'm *just* starting to fully understand the differences between TTRPGs. Yeah, the second "starter boxset" for the 5e does have more, but it also feels a bit more of a supplement to the first than really an better curated box. This Pathfinder 2e beginner's boxset combines the two and actually makes it so much more useable and beginner friendly. I got with the Humble Bundle, but seeing you open that box actually has me thinking I can actually in the future run a pathfinder 2e game easily as either a player or a DM where we can actually learn the rules at our own pace. (most of my group have played Pathfinder 1e before as well as 3.5e DnD, and I'm more of a noob in comparison, but I don't feel as worried now to dive into it in the future. So far the only games I've played and DM/Judged is 5e and Dungeons Crawl Classics (DCC) )
It would be intresting to see how you guys react to the DCC Starter set because from what I heard of it.... it's as extensive as the Pathfinder 2e, or at least close to it. (I started off with the main book actually with DCC, so I wouldn't be able to tell you, but one of my players actually got the starter set and he *loved* it. Suprised how extensive it was.)
Glad to see you guys getting into my favorite Fantasy system. PF2 is so amazing and diverse when compared to WotC/Hasbro. It's the true inheritor of the original D&D.
posting a stream of you guys running your first learning games of PF2 would be fun
I bought a copy of the BB after some reviews as an introduction for my 8 year old to start TTRPGs. While nothing is perfect the aids and the way the info is laid out has made learning the system a much easier process for him. The starting adventure is also great for ANYONE(Player or GM) starting from TTRPG/PF2E scratch, the adventure does an awesome job slowly introducing game mechanics and complexity as well as doing a wonderful job explaining how to handle things as the GM. It's money well spent.
I jumped in with both feet after 35 years of D&D and got almost all of the books for p2e (including the box), I am glad to see you both looking into it more. It would be interesting to covert dungeons of drakkenheim to p2e. Then get like the "Rules lawyer" or someone do the campaign in their style, cross promote etc.
The PF2e box set is so good and the adventure is amazing and it literally walks gm’s and players through the rules and their abilities like a really good video game tutorial, but one that’s actually fun in itself,
This looks like it'd be perfect for teaching younger kids too. Thanks for making this video, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to find a video like this. Going to try and pick this up this weekend!
Something I really really love about the beginner box adventure, is that if you pay attention, each new fight is teaching you about specific mechanics, and how to exploit teamwork (teamwork is NECESSARY, this is the actual biggest change from 5e!) and avoid common dangers. This one shows you the basics, this one teaches you weakness and immunity, this teach you about flanking, etc. The adventure is as well-structured as the box itself!!
Made the switch from 5e to Pathfinder 2e and I'm mad at myself for not playing it sooner. Love 5e, but don't think I'll be going back.
My pet topic in the "5e vs PF2e" discussion is always how superior the Beginner Box is to the Starter Set as a gateway for BRAND NEW players, even accounting for the price difference. Not just the PCs too. A brand new GM, one who has never GM'd before but has the desire to try it can be gifted both boxes, and only one would be properly guided on how to run and play the game. Starter Sets almost always assumes that the DM is someone who knows the game and is guiding new players, but both LMoP and DoIP are so onerous to a completely brand new DM! OTOH, Menace Under Otari is a guided adventure that actually teaches the basics of GM-ing and guides you on how to do it. No matter what your preferred system is, the Beginner Box's approach is what you should demand from your publishing company of choice, WotC or Paizo, if we want the hobby to grow!
MORE OF THIS!!! Please!!! I cannot stress this enough, this is gold! Thank you for this!
One thing I really like about PF2 is how the check resolution system has more than a simple pass/fail to it.
Meet or exceed the DC passes, but may not be optimal.
Exceeding the DC by 10 is a critical success, and may include a bonus effect.
Below the DC fails the check, but may not be abysmal.
A check 10 or more the DC is a critical failure, and is more likely to be interesting in the negative sense.
Rolling a natural 1 moves you down a step and natural 20 moves you up a step.
One nice thing is that a natural 20 doesn’t imply that you auto-win (or natural 1, auto-fail, though you generally don’t bother rolling for extremely simple tasks) so it has a bit more plausible verisimilitude.
recently we changed from d&d 5e to pf 2e with my group and as an experienced player the system gave me a sense of wanderlust to discover and explore its mechanics that ive never felt before, truly an amazing TTRPG, hope that you guys like it!!
I have four (two Beginner Box) Pathfinder 2E games under my belt and I love it.
Legitimately, the best beginner box I've ever used. My group found it easy to pick up, and those character cards and action tokens helped them so much. And those cut out minis? Amazing! 10/10 for me as well.
The smoothness of the 3 action system as a gm is amazing.
Perfect timing ! Bout to play My first game in two days. Been a 5e DM for a few years. So excited.
Pathfinder 2e is just an amazing game! Glad you did this review. Thank you for it and I'm waiting for new PF2e-related videos from you. Cheers!
hey, I found you guys when my group looked into 5e, but that only lasted us few months before we fled to pf2e. Stoked to see you guys cover some pathfinder! Restarting my subscription :D
You guys should talk to Ronald the Rules Lawyer! He's been running pathfinder campaigns for DnD youtubers and I bet he'd love to ease y'all into the system and give you the sort of crash course. Also it'd be really cool to see you both play in a game together, I bet that would be really fun to watch
We have chatted with Ronald! We hope we get to play together soon, but we want to learn the system "on our own" so we can speak to the experience most others will have where they might not have a veteran of the system to guide them through learning it.
@@DungeonDudes That totally makes sense. I hope you have an awesome first time. I ran the beginner box for my family being new to the system myself, with my mom and dad who're in their 50s and my baby sister who's 12, and everyone had a blast. I'll be looking forward to hearing about your experience with it, and maybe even two of my favorite TTRPG channels collabing sometime in the future! Thanks for all the awesome content
@@DungeonDudes now that something I realy want to watch :)
@@DungeonDudes if you could arrange AV (abomination vaults) with the Rules Lawyer after your initial learning sessions and actually have all four of you play that would be incredible to watch.
I see a new Dungeon Dudes video: I click on it. I see a new Dungeon Dudes video about Pathfinder 2E: I click EVEN QUICKER.
Also, that Core Rulebook is more than 600 pages, BUT a large portion of it is just character options; the rules for game mechanics are only a section of that huge book.
I'm really glad you are getting to do the beginner box. It's how my groups started as well, and we had a blast with it on foundry (online). Hopefully if you all end up enjoying it, it'll lead to more content creators in pf2e, which it's desperately short on.
Your DND stuff is great, and I think your formats for previous videos would play well here.
I can't tell you how excited I am that you two are covering Pathfinder 2E products. When I quit Dungeons & Dragons two months ago for Pathfinder, I was hoping you guys would cover it. I have always enjoyed your in-depth reviews and insights and when you held up the Pathfinder Core Rule Book and the Beginner Boxed set I couldn't wait. Funny story, two hours before I caught this video, I ran my first Pathfinder adventure from the Beginner Box. It really does give you everything you need to fully immerse you and your players in the Pathfinder 2E world. Keep up the good work, and I too would love to see your live-play of the Pathfinder Beginner Box. Thanks so much for all of your hard work.
As a recent convert to PF2e, I wanted to thank you guys for giving this coverage. I ran the beginner box for my players in December and am now running my home brew campaign and am having a blast. It truly is a GM’s blessing to have such a well built, balanced system.
Can’t wait for more videos!!
Would love to see you guys film your first time playing the game. It's going to be great to see you guys figure out what's what.
I love pathfinder, i grabbed the core rulebook on a whim from a humble bundle deal back during the pandemic, and instantly fell in love. Just seeing the character choices i could make excited me. It definitely took me sometime to rewrite a few things in my head coming from dnd 5e, but after some sessions (honestly thanks to the fantastic community of organized play) ive been a fan since
I still and will forever love and accept a 5e game but i think pf2e has become my system of choice.
Im very excited to see you guys starting to check out the system as you have been one of my favorite dnd youtubers. I wish you the best of luck and keep up your amazing work
The one thing the dudes didn’t mention (because it wasn’t relevant) was that picking up the Foundry VTT module for this box set is also the best intro to foundry I’ve ever seen.
Every. Single. Thing. Has been explained. When they implemented it to Foundry they took this same level of care and added in “how to DM in foundry” to it. It’s FANTASTIC. I cannot sing it’s praises enough. I ran this box for my group and let my players play whatever they wanted (no one wanted the pregens) and the amount this box preps you cannot be understated. We had an AMAZING time.
I have one complaint. The adventure in the box took me about 10 hours. Which is to say 2 and a 1/2 sessions. Which sucked because we had one normal session. And then one super long session where everyone wanted to finish and people were checking watches because they had to get home to get ready for work the next day. It is probably not great for a weeknight game unless you want to run two longer sessions instead.
Having been playing Pathfinder for several years now, I am constantly impressed by the sheer versatility of character creation. Just recently I thought I would have to homebrew some rules to make a cyborg character because there's no cyborg class or ancestry. Only to discover that Paizo had already said, "there's rules for that " Paizo _knew_ players would try to Frankenstein together things that at first glance would never be Frankensteined.
And I would advise you two to grab the Game Mastery Guide for its various alternate rules. Like Free Archetype, Level Zero characters, or my favorite: Gestalts. Where you get the full benefits of two classes simultaneously. Gestalts are what 5E's multiclassing _wishes_ it was.
Is Gestalt the same as dual classing, that seems extremely broken? Free archetype multiclassing works just fine without over complicating or over-powering players.
@@XanderHarris1023 Same mechanic, different names.
GM here. Did the same steps. Buy the core rules, get a bit overwhelmed, buy the starter set, run the starter adventure with my players, then, last weekend we run our first “proper” PF2E session and was really smooth.
We are incorporating some things slowly without pressure to do everything right, improvisoning a lot (to keep the flow) and so far the experience has been great. Just wanted to share.
As always guys, great content ❤
I just ran this last week for part of my regular 5e group. It was the first time I had DM'd a game in almost 20 years and I was worried about how rusty I would be along with having to be the one to explain the system as well even though I was just learning it myself. I got it through the Humble Bundle so I didn't have the pawns or the proper flip mat but the guides they include made things so much easier and everyone had a blast. I loved how they tried to make almost every encounter introduce a new aspect of the system, that helped make sure you didn't feel overwhelmed by how much depth there seems to be. We got through half of it in one session and we're gonna be finishing it off with our full table next weekend and I'm really excited for it.
When I first dm’d and didn’t have enough money to buy proper mini’s I would use chess pieces all the time.
Pawns: Mooks or tools to convey the larger size of a more important piece.
Bishops: Casters. Black pieces were arcane, and white pieces were divine.
Rooks: Tanky guys.
Knights: Sneaky/trickster type enemies.
Queens: Powerful support/second in command.
King: Dungeon Boss.
And use a chess clock to make the players not take forever on their turns!
I have been playing Pathfinder since the system came out. I used to play D&D in my early days of role playing( since 1st edition ) and played until 5th edition. I was not impressed with the direction D&D went. I felt they dumbed down the game to much in order to encourage new players. So I played Pathfinder 1 for awhile. Then when PF2 came out I was blown away and never looked back. What you see in the Beginners Box is a refection of the quality of PF2 overall. Do not be intimidated by the Core rule book. It is the players guide and D.M.`s guide in one book. Once you begin reading you will find the book is very well organized. The first third of the book is for player creation.(the scope and depth of character creation far exceeds anything that D&D attempts.) The rest is for D.M.`s and rules clarification ( the book covers so many rules and ideas that 5th ed. only vaguely , or does not, cover). Some will say the game is too crunchy and rules heavy, but the game is designed that way. It is a role playing game but it is also very tactical in nature. Only Fighters get Attacks of Opportunity (as do some monsters) And with the Three action economy system combat is very fluid and players need to work together to achieve a desirable out come in combat and exploration. For D.M.`s the game balance and ease of encounter creation is phenomenal. The system is not perfect (no game is) but a lot of thought and planning went into creating a very unique and enjoyable game (IMHO) and you will see that reflected in the Beginner`s Box.
I have been enjoying your content for years and love your Drakkenheim series. I think you will really enjoy PF2. My players and I (D.M.) always have a blast when we play. Until we meet again.
My group and I moved from 5e to PF2e a year and a half ago and have loved it. We just got to level 16 playing through the Agents of Edgewatch AP and will make it through level 20 if we don't have a TPK. The system is so much fun and I hope you guys enjoy your time with it.
I know this video was about the Beginner Box (excellent video, BTW, I'll be sharing that with others), but the "intimidating" Core Rulebook was brought up at the beginning. I just wanted to point out a few things about the Core Rulebook in case you didn't know.
First, Pathfinder 2E's Core Rulebook is the equivalent to the D&D Player's Handbook and the D&D Dungeon Master's Guide combined into one volume. So the Core Rulebook not only has the character creation options, but it has the general lore of the primary setting of the Pathfinder games, Golarion, as well as a huge list of magic items and the various treasures that can be found. (There is a separate Gamemastery Guide for Pathfinder, but from what I've seen it has mostly supplemental information and variant rules along with a large list of NPCs... good to know and have, but not as critical as the DMG is.)
And like those D&D books, you don't need to know everything from the Core Rulebook. I'm actually reading the Core Rulebook now cover-to-cover and can say with absolute certainty that reading the book cover-to-cover is NOT the best way to learn the system, but I'm a nerd and am trying to get an overall feel of the game. I did the same thing with the PHB a while back. (I'm only now up to the chapter called "Playing the Game" which is chapter 9 and starts on page 443.) Yes, it is intimidating at first glance, but like the PHB and DMG, the Core Rulebook is mostly reference.
It also has some layout issues. You will occasionally find a rule that is scattered across 2-4 different areas of the book, and you will NOT get any pointer references to them. Like, you use crafting skill to add or move runes (enchantment) to your weapons, which you find as loot on runestones or weapons - but nothing in the Craft Skill tells you that, all the rules for that use of Crafting are buried about 50 pages into the Magical Treasure section of the book. (I mean, crafting is a trap that loses you money, but still).
@@ryuteki Yeah, but the layout issues and rules scattered around the book are hardly unique to PF2.
My game group started playing Pathfinder in protest of the O.G.L. changes . After a few stumbles we found we like it, alot.
When I first dipped my toes into the awesomeness that is Pathfinder 2e, I gave up. Bought a pdf bundle and read through the core rulebook and I was like "nope, this is too much. I'll stick to 5e." Months later, I sat down and read the book again and this time I stuck around longer and found that this thing is soooo much better than 5e. I've been missing out! So the lesson is, it may seem daunting at first, but keep at it and hopefully, like me, you will find that this is a superior system :)
hey guys the great thing about this adventure is that every room teaches you a new thing about the system mechanics. its designed in that fashion. once you understand that it makes you really appreciate how its designed.
Pathfinder 1e was my favorite for many years, but when 5e everyone went back to wotc. I'm happy new players are taking interest in PF2. Im excited to teach people a crunchier rpg!
The leshy familiar for the druid is the most adorable thing (I shaped mine like a cactuar from Final Fantasy). They also really boost your spellcasting in combat. I had a lot of fun playing a druid in this game.
I am so glad that your exploring Pathfinder 2e. We were 4 sessions into Dungeons of Drackkenheim, when the OGL fiasco happened. So now I am running it in PF2e and it is a challenge. So I am glad to see you your input on PF2e
A little more than halfway through the video, and this is where my head went right away:
I started playing 1e. Played them all except 4e. Been playing PF2e for about a year, too. I'm starting to lime PF2e a tiny bit better than 5e, but I also thought that 5e was better for a group that has never played any RPG before.
This box resolves those issues. If I was introducing PF2e to new players, I would pop for this product. This is fantastic!
This looks so much more high quality compared to the 5e starter set
Yes PF2 content
The 8 months of stock sold in 2 weeks is true. This was post by Paizo on their website to advise people the hardcover corebook was no longer in stock. It is still out of stock and won’t be available until April when they get their new print run in.
It's a steal at that price. Especially given how reusable the components are. The maps have very usable sections, the pawns are pretty common monsters, there's play tokens, got a set of dice that aren't awful. Even not factoring in the two tutorial quests (there's a 1 player adventure the DM can run himself through) this is worth the price.