(PART 2!) Learning Pathfinder as a D&D Veteran: d4  

I can't wait for the day he discovers the Magus.

Hurry get that algorithm boosted

I'll just say, "multiclassing" through archetypes is a lot more interesting/versatile than you might initially expect; especially when you take into account the many dozens of different archetypes featured in other books. The gamemastery guide also features an optional (though popular) rule that allows players to take an archetype feat alongside every class feat. This allows for a ton of extra customization (while still managing to not make it too much extra power). It's definitely quite different to previous versions though so I understand the initial hesitance.

13:30 don't forget that frightened also lowers AC! Ac is considered a dex-based DC, so by frightening someone, they lose AC as well!

Watch part 1 here! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ekCVday_fu4.html Also: Errata! You only recover 1 focus point when you Refocus ("short rest"), and you can't Refocus again until you've spent a focus point (so you can't get them all back until a "Long Rest").

Funny thing about surprise: Being surprised means expending your actions getting up, picking up your stuff and raising your defenses. The same thing is true for your enemies. When you pick them by surprise they will need to expend their actions to get their stuff ready to fight. This if they don't need to seek too to find where you are.

Regarding spell preparation: This is why scrolls and magic items (staff, amulet, ring, etc.) exist! Any spell that is highly useful but niche you prepare in these ways. Who anticipates jumping from the top of a tower to escape?! Well, the wizard may not have prepared feather fall but he DOES have a scroll of it.

Small correction at 5:25, in case anyone gets confused: the Refocus activity allows you to regain 1 Focus Point, not all of them. You also have to have spent a focus point since you last regained any Focus Points, meaning if you have 3 and spend 2, leaving you with 1 focus point, you can't get back above 2 in your pool (at least from Refocusing) until your next daily preparations. I'm still getting into PF myself, so please correct me if this is wrong, but that's how I'm reading it in the Core Rulebook

When it comes to multiclassing, I can understand that being a concern if you limit yourself to just the core rulebook. But in the entirety of Pathfinder 2e there are currently 22 classes and dozens upon dozens of archetypes. I don't think you'll find yourself hurting for variety!

For your "build around sustaining spells" idea, the advance player's guide has the witch class, which is generally considered one of the weaker classes, but has the wonderful niche of being the being the best at sustaining spells thanks to their "cackle" focus spell.

The multi-attack penalty is actually a catch-up mechanic. Optimizers like yourself find diminishing returns and need to have all your ducks in order to eek out an extra 25% more damage than a stock martial. The same goes for casters as imposing a -2 penalty often requires a critical failure, which is harder to achieve. I find this incredibly thoughtful of the designers. They have made space for min-maxer while keeping them confined so as to not outshine casuals.

If you really want to try out the Cantrip Based Blaster you should definitely check out the Psychic! It's an incredibly flavorful class that adds a lot of interesting alterations to cantrips.

Love your take on the rules. Very thorough! Crazy idea: maybe do the same character in both systems occasionally. Keeps everyone here and happy and cuts some work duplication. Pathfinder is flexible enough to work around DND in this regard I think. Once again, loving this! Thanks for doing it!👍😁👍

Archetypes really let you get a decent multiclass experience or, with the later books, more roleplay interesting other choices. There is an optional rule that is pretty commonly used, that gives you a free archetype, so at every even level you get an extra feat for archetypes only. There is a less commonly used optional rule for dual-classing as well, so you could be a paladin-angel-sorcerer dual class for example. A lot of people don’t use multiclass archetypes much, because the archetypes tend to be more interesting and somewhat more powerful, whether they’re extending what you can do with your main weapon, granting you extra spells, or taking a class that is limited in one pillar of the game and strengthening it there. Barbarian is typically weak in social skills for example, but add dandy or another social-heavy archetype and you round it out nicely.

A small correction on focus spells: when refocusing, not all spent focus points are restored, but only the last spent one. That is, even if the character has 2 focus points, and he spent both in battle, he will restore only one for refocusing (no matter how many times he uses refocus activity). Some classes have abilities that increase the amount of restored focus points when refocusing, the rest need to take feats for this

Taking account what you said about your worries about the system, once you go even deeper into the system (APG, Secrets of Magic, Dark Archive, Guns and Gears) you will like it even more. Playing with the free archetype rule, the versatile heritage options and the new Archetypes gives just endless possibilities of combos and builds

I'm a freelance editor for a few D&D third-party publishers. Due to this OGL business, it's super likely (I've been approached on the topic) that these publishers start preparing content for P2e. I'm in a position where it's best that I learn pathfinder and this last hour and a half was a great jumpstart, filling in the blanks from my own reading. This is the first time I've checked out your channel, but you've been super informative so far. Thanks!

Clarifications: All spontaneous casters get signature spells at 3rd level, one signature spell per spell level. You ONLY get 1 focus point back per refocus (short rest). You get all back during daily preparations (long rest). Otherwise LOVED the video and excited to the se builds!!!

Spending multiple actions just to get up and pull out weapons vs the monk that just jumps into action-I love this. It’s a strength of the monk!

I am so thankful for the breakdown in these last two videos. Like I said on the previous video, moving forward i would love to see PF2e and DnD5e builds alternating weeks.

To scratch the multiclass itch many optimizers preface their build saying it relies on the optional rule of free archetype. This frees up your main class feats to focus on your main class and gives you a free side-channel just for archetype feats. Recall you can take multiple archetypes, making the possibilities endless

Important note to Grapple the Escape action has the [Attack] trait, which makes it susceptible to MAP. making Grapple REALLY good!

Keep the Pathfinder content coming! Do what you do best, character creation ❤️

Minor correction in regards to focus points: The general rule is that you can only recover one focus point per refocus, and you can only use the refocus activity if you have expended a focus point since you last refocused. This means that if you have 2 FP, spend two, you can recover one, but the second will remain spent until your next daily preparations. In sum, one focus points is a per encounter resource, but the second focus point is a daily resource. Of course, as many things in 2e, there are feats and class features that can change that, but for most characters that's how it'll work. Also, if you are interested in a cantrip blaster try having a look the the Psychic from the Dark Archives book.

Literally just finished part 1, looking forward to this one now!

Re: Sustained Spells. When you get to this, check out the Witch and its focus spell called Cackle, which allows her to as a free action sustain a spell. With three focus points you could sustain a bunch of spells. Especially fun when you check out how summoned monsters work. A witch could summon a ton of monsters and still have fun directing their actions, while spending her turn casting and sustaining.

The clearest communicator and the table top RPG youtuber who conveys emotion and excitement the best about anything he's talking about. What an amazing channel

I love every single time you just go "that's a fun idea to build around" every so often right before moving on to explaining further

Pathfinder 2 is designed to solve the martial/caster gap that 5e has and I think they do a great job with it!

A general guide to Pf2e is to think of your party as a team, as opposed to a collection of individuals. Casters are better at AoE damage, battlefield control, and (de)buffing, whereas martials are better at single target damage. This is why some spells can be seen as weaker to their 5e counterparts in terms of raw damage.

Hands down the best D&D to PF2e video I have every watched. I don't know if it's because we share the same perspective coming from D&D where most other videos I have seen seem to come from the perspective of Pathfinder but I will be sharing these videos for fellow PF2e-curious gamers

I would love to see a little pathfinder along with the regular content. I've always liked some crunchy bits in my games and I would like to learn more about theory crafting in pathfinder.

Electric arc is the top pf2 cantrip spell if you wanted to try and optimise it. Also the psychic class has more focus on cantrip spamming.

One good thing about long duration spells, is that some spells that are concentration in 5e aren't in PF2e. Fly, Invisibility and Haste are great examples.

That’s one hell of a good review of the game for a self-proclaimed ”noob”. From a veteran : great job !

Hearing “the middle” after the video has been such a good fckin moment. Highlight of the day, really, thank you!

I'm really excited to see your Pathfinder builds

Part one was awesome! It’s interesting seeing the progression of pf2, since it seems like 3.5 was to 3rd edition

I have to leave a comment because I want to see more of this content and I just freaking love you man. One dad to another.

One thing i want to say, in case you are unaware, in regards to "Multiclassing": There are the "Multiclass Archetypes" for every single one of the classes that (from my experiences playing around, building characters) end up feeling very similar to multiclassing in DnD. The important part about them to know is that those Archetypes all include certain Feats, firstly Feats that let you get (slightly weakened) versions of the Class Features, but more importantly a "Basic [...]" Feat (the gap in the name is filled with something related to the class, like Trickery for Rogue or Arcana for Wizard) that lets you take a 1st or 2nd level Class Feat of the Class the Archetype is based on and once you take that one, it will allow you to take the "Advanced [...]" Feat which lets you choose any Class Feat where your Characters level divided by 2 counts as your level for the sake of prerequisites. ("Advanced [...] can be taken any number of times) This means that you could make a character who over the course of their 20 levels spends a couple feats to pick up the Monk Dedication (immediately granting the Powerful Fist Feature for better Unarmed Attacks), as well as a Feat each for getting Flurry of Blows and a 10ft. status bonus Unarmored Movement and also pick a 1st or 2nd level Feat followed by however many Level/2 Monk Feats they want, *all without* ever preventing you from reaching your sweet, sweet level 18-20 Class Feats/Features in your main class. This to me feels roughly equivalent to taking "dips" into other classes in DnD 5e, grabbing the feats you want most, but doesnt come with the frustrating restriction of not letting you get to your high level stuff or even really delaying it (past having a few less feats for your main class), so I really do believe once you read into this your worry about "no multiclassing" will be at the very least reduced a lot. And once you get comfortable with the system, I cannot recommend looking at the "Free Archetype" variant rule enough, which simply grants all characters a free Feat every time they get a Class Feat that can only be used for Archetype Feats, letting you get everything you want from your main class while also including Archetypes (or let you take *more* Archetypes, my Thrown Weapon based Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Duelist says Hi") Anyways, loved the part 2, especially the multiple instances of hearing "this sounds fun to build around", I am very much looking forward to what that leads to, notifications are on for sure xD Keep it up! :3

Pathfindin' Time!

Minor correction on 3:50 about cantrip scaling: They scale up to half your level, rounded up, which is almost the same scaling as spell levels for a caster class, but crucially not tied to it. Makes a big difference when learning cantrips from archetypes or various feats. Focus Spells also scale the same way as cantrips, which you did mention :) (others touched on the refocusing already so not repeating it) 11:40 You can't open with an attack RAW, the intent to do hostilities would start the initiative, because in the process of getting ready to attack, you might get noticed or someone might react faster than you. Just something, anything might tip off one of the opposition that something is about to go down, even if the entire opposing party is invisible and far away. This is also one of the main ways to get to use something other than perception for initiative. For example, talking to someone in a bar, but unwittingly sling a grievous insult and a fight breaks out? using diplomacy for initiative is easily on the table. Bust through a door into a room? Doorbuster definitely has grounds for rolling athletics for initiative. And of course the good old sneaking around to use stealth for initiative. (dc5 check is 20% failure odds, not 25%) Great video, hope you enjoy your time in PF2e and otherwise :)

I absolutely love how Pathfinder handles spellcasting, gives me that old Jack Vance vibe.

I've got some exciting tips you might like to hear about PF2e! 1.) Although traditional multiclassing is out, the Multiclass archetypes are a lot more potent than they first appear. A level 20 Fighter with the Wizard multiclass archetype can cast up to 8th level spells, which would normally take 15 Wizard levels, leaving you more Wizard than Fighter. But here all you give up are class feats, and you gain more magic than any Eldritch Knight ever did! 2.) For your eventual DoT character, there's a fun exploit you can take advantage of. The Administer First Aid action can be performed on enemies, and if you critically fail your check you automatically trigger whatever Bleed damage they're currently taking. You need to be trained to take the action, but a level 5 Gnoll can use the Right-Hand Blood feat to automatically critically fail an Administer First Aid check. The largest source of Bleed damage is the Blood Vendetta spell, which is cast as a reaction and has a max damage of 10d6 if upcast. If you hit someone with the spell, you can then spend all 3 actions failing to administer first aid to them, causing them to take the damage 3 separate times, only to take it again when their turn comes up. It's incredibly potent, and it doesn't have to deal with Multi-Attack Penalty like most melee characters do.

5:28 Hey Colby! Correction on the Refocus activity: You regain a single spent focus point, and you can’t refocus again until you have spent at least one focus point again. So at higher levels, you can spend two focus points in a single combat, but for the rest of the day, you only have a single focus point you can get back. There are feats and features at higher levels that let you get 2 or 3 focus points back during the activity, but until then it’s only a partially renewable resource Happy Gaming!

I feel about as excited for pf2e now as I did when I first started reading and build crafting in dnd5e. Thanks so much for making this video! I can tell how hard you worked on it

Just finished the video and then a minute later part 2 popped up!

I fully expect a full video of all outtakes at the end of 2023. Thanks, Colby, in advance.

When it comes to cantrip casters - psychic is where it is at. They can make one cantrip do 19d6 damage on a normal hit at level 19.

So I watched both parts and I was not super hopeful they would be that informative on such a short learning timeline - but boy was I wrong! You did an AMAZING job going over SO much content and I am so proud of you!!

Spells!! Thanks for hanging in there despite the upload weirdness Colby!

A caster that runs multiple sustained spells sounds neat.

The Gamemastery Guide has optional rules for multiclassing in PF 2e. I know these videos were based just on the core rule book, but I’ll be interested in your thoughts on those rules when you get to them

Your energy and excitement for the system is just such a delight to experience. You've done a remarkably great job of explaining the system and exploring it. Very interested to see your opinions if you're able to explore it more in the future. :)

1.) I need that Pooh Bear shirt. 2.) I have never played Pathfinder, and only know it came from an older edition of D&D. I've been playing 5E since 2017 though. After watching both videos, I want to thank you for this deepest of dives! There are a lot of cool ideas here. Although as someone who has played a lot of D&D clerics, and loves their spell casting, I'm not that interested in trying out PF's spell casting system. I love the flexibility in D&D's system, and hate to think that "Oh cool, I could learn a 5th level spell, but if I want to have the option of upcasting another spell I can't actually prepare this." And, ya know, sometimes I want to demolish a field with my Spirit Guardians and wreck everything! Especially since my guardians looks like winged wheels made of eyes! I love having that as an option. That aside, the feat system sounds very cool. I've always wished that D&D would put the ASI/Feat progression in a single track along with Proficiency Bonus progression (and leave the fighter and rogue their special bonus ones in their class progression).

Hey man, thank you for taking the time to do this. I know it takes a lot of time and effort and it means a lot. I'm a year old DM for DnD and plan to move my group over to P2E at the end our campaign. Great vocals also!

So excited for all these concepts, especially the PF2e Cantrip Blaster!

Part 1 was amazing, thanks again for being the best content creator on youtube!

Singing 'The Middle' at the end made me smile a lot actually.

Well I usually watch your videos 3 times, once to actually intently listen, once to fall asleep and then once on a higher speed to consolidate it but since this was a 2 parter I got 2 full sleeps in. What a week 😂

Best part of the day has arrived!

The singing at the end. Wasn't expecting that. Loved it.

The community needs to push more pf2

I got such a kick out of harmonizing with you on "it just takes some time"! (at least, I think it was harmonizing. I may have been butchering it. But it was fun anyway!)

Mooore! Best run-through of PF2! I want part 3, 4...... 20 episodes about your journey into the PF2 world!

I whole-heartedly agree with you, diversity of equipment is amazing. Fun fact: when I created my first character, I actually spent more time studying and weighing the various weapon options than my ancestry or class feats!

I watched both videos without speeding up or walking away from the computer! I really like them. I think you maybe missed the single coolest thing about PF2 is how the 3-action economy combines with the 4 degrees of success to eliminate save-or-suck effects. Take color spray as an example. If they fail the save, they are stunned 1 which means they lose only a single action instead of their entire turn! (plus some other nasty conditions). If they succeed, they are only dazzled for one round, and if they crit succeed then they are unaffected. So even if your target passes, then something still happens and it wasn't a complete waste. That is just *chef's kiss*.

Take a class archtype feat and boom you are "multi-classed" at that point you can take feats from either list when it is time to pick a class feat. And with the free archtype varient rule you never have to choose! You get an archtype feat and a class feat at even levels.

Another thing about Refocusing - you can do it at the same time as another appropriate short activity (GM discretion). The example in the rules is that a healing cleric can refocus to recover a focus point at the same time as treating wounds. As a paladin with the divine shield path, I used to refocus while repairing my shield. Regarding prepared spell choices - wizards also get a bonded item, which they can drain 1/day to recover an already cast spell (free action). So that lessens the need to prepare duplicates of a spell. Flat checks are treated like other checks, you need to meet or exceed the DC. So a flat check of 5 is actually a 20% chance of failure. One of the best DOT choices is a bomber alchemist. Acid only does 1 initial damage, but is all about the persistent. However, know that persistent damage of the same type does not stack, only the higher value applies. Enjoy!

Demoralize action applies frightened 2 on a critical success, 1 on a regular success (by default)

Nice ! Can't wait to see some builds

This is (by far) the best description for us 5e players looking to try PF!! I really enjoyed this video series!!

A great finale to your two-part series. I learned a lot, so thank you! And please consider more PF2E content, after you get that nap. I ask this because you kept breaking out in little smiles talking about the system. You genuinely seem to like what you’ve seen, so far. So you have a great opportunity to grow your channel, learn more about the game you like, and teach a horde of new subscribers what you’ve learned. Regardless of what you decide, thanks again for making these two videos.

More pathfinder 2e content please and thank you 😀

You know, I’m sure there are a lot of people who would listen to this and think, “That’s so many rules! Ugh!” Having had similar thoughts, I just recall trying to explain the world we were going to be playing in to new players, and having what I imagined to be a “10 minute summary”, then realizing we’d been going for 2 hours, and that didn’t even include rules! Chin up, everyone!

These two videos are amazing for players transitioning to 2e from 5e.

You are really selling me on pathfinder. I'm just holding on tightly to my tiefling warlock.

Thanks for this two-parter! I appreciate recognizing that PF2 is crunchier, and that may not be good for everyone. It could be who I've run across, but you're the first person that has mentioned this. As someone who would definitely not like more crunch, I appreciate this.

Came here straight from Part 1! LOVE THIS!!

Haha, loved the outtakes! Do you usually include them? "You're a note reader," as am I! We come off as much more articulate than we actually are due to the magic of Editing! lol I'm glad you're enjoying the PF2 game and am THRILLED to hear you want your group to have a PF2 campaign! Huzzah!

Vancian Casting - probably the single biggest hang up for 5E players used to the "Prepared Casting" of 5e. There is a mitigation mechanic built in, and that is that Casters do not have to purchase weapons for the most part, so they can use that budget for Staves, Wands, and Scrolls. Staves are like having an entire spell point based sub-system for a spells, and they grant access to additional cantrips for free. They are particularly good for giving one extra cast of the highest level, and giving multiple casts of lower-level spells. And casters can charge staves with a spell slot for more spell points... Note that if you look them up in Archives of Nethys, that the Greater Staves have all of the spells of the staves under them. Wands are a single extra cast of that spell per day, though you can push your luck at the expense of "overcharging" a wand and losing it. Wands are best for untility spells that the caster wants every day with a long duration, like Mage Armor or Longstrider. And for spells where you need them occasionally but infrequently enough to not want to pay for a Wand? Scrolls.

This was great! One thing I would like to point out though: magic items are important. Getting those fundamental runes on your weapons is a significant part of scaling your character up if you don’t cast spells. Magic items are included in the system balance, and it’s typically assumed that, if the players are in a sufficiently established settlement, they’ll be able to purchase magic items up to a certain level. I bring this up because when you start making higher level character builds, especially for non-magic characters you should definitely keep in mind what Runes and gear a character of that level would have.

Sustained spells sounds like a fun way to play a pacifist/buff spellcaster in the game. Just bump with whatever spells you want to sustain, maybe two of them so you can have a third action for moving/defending.

I love that you are covering other systems!

one thing I really liked about weaknesses is that since it's flat damage, even if your character isn't built for doing the most amount of damage you can hurt a monster a lot by exploiting their weaknesses if they have any

For anyone worried about the lack of multiclassing, there is an optional rule in the Game Master's Guide. You get a free archetype feat every even level. This means you don't have to spend precious class feats on archetype feats, and can further customize your character. It doesn't really overpower characters, just adds some extra options.

Thank you. Sent both parts to my players. Looking forward to more Pathfinder content!

With that relaxing voice, you're like the Bob Ross of TTRPGs, lol. Hope you continue to add in PF2 content. Thank you for awesome videos!

Listened to both Parts 1 & 2 several times, and the mystery of 'What exactly IS Pathfinder?' is no longer a mystery. Great content with literally zero filler. The internet needed this!

Hi, great job on summarizing all the content. I'm DM-ing PF2e for over a year now and still learned some things. Minor errata to the "Demoralize Action" there are 3 degrees of success: (crit. + ) Fail: unaffected / Succeess: Target becomes Frightened 1 / Crit Success: Target becomes Frightened 2. This effectively reduces EVERYTHING by 1 or 2 if you succeed (AC / Damage / Skill-Checks / ...) Additional Info: If you attempted a Demoralize Action, this Target is immune to other attempts from you for 10 minutes, regardless of outcome.

God I came here for the pathfinder tutorial and ended up finding my new favourite Ttrpg RU-vidr in general! Love your video style :))

Showing my love and support for the delicious crunch of PF. Gotta see that sustained spells-based caster

This is super helpful not only as a player but for new GMs as well. This video helped me understand the mechanics better than any other resource I've watched/seen. Would love to see you continue making more Pathfinder 2e content. I've convinced my table to try pathfinder 2e. Cheers to years of pathfinder adventures!

About that ending... ...good news, PF also has a Bard class.

Great video! Couple notes: - Rangers dont automatically get focus spells, as you mentioned, but they can choose to take them! You just also have the option of a nonmagical ranger if you prefer - Spells are generally less overtly powerful, but are also way more consistently useful because even a successful save will have a useful effect! I personally prefer pf2 spell-casters as a player

Definitely do more PF videos. I'm sending both of these to our D&D group for help understanding the differences. I love your writing and performance style.

More Pathfinder information please. I am not sure where the best place to start would be. Maybe a basic character build? Do a sample build video for each of the pillars of an adventuring party and then do a video on combat. This would show all of the rules, conditions, and mechanics in action.

Aw, the end left me teary-eyed. I guess I needed to hear that. It's probably daddy issues. Thanks internet dad.

Can't wait to see what Pathfinder builds you do.

Something worth mentioning about the Concealed condition: It also applies to your allies! If you are Concealed from your Cleric, and they want to cast Heal on you, they also must roll the flat DC5 check, risking the spell being wasted! Be careful about how and when you conceal yourself!