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Behind the Screens: Pathfinder 2e (Patreon)

Published:
2023-01-19 18:02:19
Edited:
2023-01-19 18:49:04
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

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AD-FREE EPISODE FOR $5+ PATRONS!

This week, the 2 crew delves into the world of Pathfinder 2e.

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Comments

Christopher Reeves

To each their own, but I personally am here for the players, and not the system. I would listen to the 2 Crew play 5E, Pathfinder, 13th Age etc!

Sadie (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-05 07:00 Honestly I’d really enjoy it if you guys moved away from D&D for the next season of the show. As much as I love D&D, so many other great TTRPGs are out there
2023-01-20 02:16 Honestly I’d really enjoy it if you guys moved away from D&D for the next season of the show. As much as I love D&D, so many other great TTRPGs are out there

Honestly I’d really enjoy it if you guys moved away from D&D for the next season of the show. As much as I love D&D, so many other great TTRPGs are out there

Stephanie Karisny

Would love to see another system outside of 5e and appreciate that lots like PF2E but would prefer a PBTA or a Forged in the Dark game for narrative purposes.

lawless-crows

Even is this is just like a once every other month one-shot that would be so fun, other systems are so interesting but it’s hard to learn them just by yourself

Meghan

I love 2e! It can be a little rules heavy but if ur down for chunky rpg it’s great

Meghan

Oh also for anyone who wants to try to play pf2e online I HIGHLY recommend spending $50 once to buy Foundry VTT , it’s a table top that has all the pathfinder rules, spells, items, monsters, etc online already built for you.

Ben Delahay (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-05 07:00 Start the Not A D&D Podcast era and play Pathfinder 2e
2023-01-20 03:41 Start the Not A D&D Podcast era and play Pathfinder 2e

Start the Not A D&D Podcast era and play Pathfinder 2e

Connor Bennett

can anyone tell me how caulder uses three ray of frosts in kne turn

drednauht

The OGL backlash is real, but that doesn't change how easy 5e is to run, and adapt for a radio style live play podcast. I hope y'all don't switch to crunchiness

Jeff Foresee

This is awesome! Please check out the Genesys system, I think y'all would love the narrative dice.

Tyler Sharp

He’s not using the ray of frost cantrip, he’s using scorching ray reskinned to be ice theme

foster the boneless duck

emily you've made this sound so absolutely fun, me and naddpod friends have all just decided we simply have to try it now! so thanks!!

Nathan Wilson

I would absolutely listen to y'all play some pathfinder 2E

Polly Theobald

Definitely would love to see this in action!!!

aiyana graham art

I was gonna say that emily did a great job on selling me on pathfinder, but also emily could sell me on literally anything

Ethan Armstrong

Another thing I don't think is mentioned is "Secret" checks where the DM rolls checks for stealth and recall knowledge behind the screen so players aren't sure of their level of success with some skills.

Caguro

some of the math could be offloaded to a VTT tho, plus i've heard anecdotally that once you know how the game works combat runs just as smoothly as it would otherwise in a system like 5e

Alex Moore (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-05 07:00 Hasbro will never find you and steal your money, you anticipated their move years ago by calling yourself NOT another D&D podcast
2023-01-20 06:51 Hasbro will never find you and steal your money, you anticipated their move years ago by calling yourself NOT another D&D podcast

Hasbro will never find you and steal your money, you anticipated their move years ago by calling yourself NOT another D&D podcast

The Stu

Hugh!!??

Donovan Phillips

Dnd is already fairly crunchy, I'm sure they would be able to adapt to pathfinder without too much difficulty if they decided to

Matt Kilsby

This was awesome, everyone was on great form. Em as host was 👌🏻

GC

pathfinder campaign if wotc/hasbro decide to double down on their foolishness? maybe pathfinder campaign anyways 😇

Jesper Greve Kristensen

I’ve also spent a couple of weeks wrapping my head around Pathfinder 2e! One thing I noticed is the fighter feat Exacting Strike that means that failure doesn’t count towards your multiple attack penalty. And that you can spend ten minutes to regain focus points, meaning focus spells work somewhat like 5e warlock spell slots.

Jesper Greve Kristensen

Oh and I might be wrong here, but another thing to go on the hard pill to swallow list is that movement is an action, called Stride. So those three wonderful actions get whittled down fast. It also explains why I read that characters should have ranged options

JR Lonergan

Please play P2E! I think it would match your play style so well

James Hailstone

Have you guys given much consideration to how well PF2E would work as an audio podcast? I find playing the two systems there are alot of breaks to check rules and DM needing to consult the books as the system is very internally consistent that when making quick rulings on the fly like you can in 5e it starts the crumble.

Rachel Pederson

having just grabbed a copy of the core rule book a few days ago this was perfect timing and helped wrap my head around the basic concept! now looking forward to diving in more to this system

Noah Harrison

I played Pathfinder 2e once as a halfling oracle/cavalry who rode a large saint Bernard for a couple sessions. It was delightful. Besides leveling up, I found the system is super streamlined. This has me thinking I might need to look into the starter set now..

Doleth

About Multiple Attack Penalities, many martial have feats that will let them do multiple attack without the penalities of you want to do that.

Rueben Winter

Myself and my partner just started our Pathfinder 2e campaign last night so this was absolutely an unexpected yet delightful surprise to wake up and see

Professor Pratt

The best description of Pathfinder when I started DND, 5e had just came out and I asked what are the differences among DND editions. My good friend explained that 3.5 was great and 4.0 sucked. Pathfinder started being called 3.75. Better than 3.5 but without the shit in 4. I had also just discovered Critical Role and they were still early on in campaign 1. I learned that they were now using 5.0 but had started the group on Pathfinder. Realizing now that Matt Mercier “created” gunslinger for Talisin Jaffe and that was what you guys ended up using for Brennan when he was Dead Eye. Anyhoo, love ya guys. See ya Saturday in Boston.

Jack Jones

Just to let you all know and I think I speak for most of us here when none of us are here for DnD's arbitrary rule system but here to listen to you guys tell stories!

Maia Costea

As a DnD player for 10 years, i enjoy the crunchy talks, especially since you're so good at it :) I am always milking my PCs / encounter creations for inspiration and seeing how other people view the system/classes. Thanks for introducing me to Koboldpress (changed the way i run stuff for 1-2 years) and now onto discovering more stuff! Also Murph has always been flexible with items/boons and stuff, makes me think of 5e more creatively and loosely, while still backpeddling if i mess up. Better to mess up, instead of not trying! :)

Lindsay Rodgers

As an avid pathfinder 2e player I love this system. My friends and I treat nat 20's and 1's as one degree of success better than your result, which often means a crit, and can also save you from (or cause) some pretty bad consequences. If anyone wants to play around with character creation, Wanderer's Guide is an incredible tool that makes the process really easy and guides you through every level

Oren

I think 5e is crunchier than ppl say it is. On the continuum of crunch for ttrpg’s, 5e and pf2e are both at the high end of the spectrum anyway

Charlie Hoskin

Hot Boy Summer in Pathfinder would have been fun as hell - Tread or Dave critically failing a medicine check in Mac and hurting him would have lead to even more intrateam drama beyond

Kalleberg

Would be fun if you replayed the first episode of C1 in pathfinder as a one shot

Andrew

If you like your granola so crunchy it cracks your teeth, you’ll love pathfinder (I’ve played 2 campaigns in 2e and have since switched back to dnd 5e)

Rowan T Buck

Very cool to see Pathfinder 2e get a spotlight by Naddpod! And very interesting new series, I'd love to see more like these. And I'd definitely listen to a 2e one shot (or even campaign!)

Verdigree

I love that the Oracle is that centre of the Venn Diagram of a shared domain, so if your mystery is Fire, you can have Neutral Good Sarenrae AND Lawful Evil Asmodeus, And! Chaotic Neutral Fire Elementals all whispering or yelling to you about fire

drednauht

He converted it. Gunslinger is in PF1. Needed a 5e equivalent

drednauht

This. Many in the community are lauding PF2 without realizing the crunch is there. 5e is streamlined and works better for improv and speed. It sucks when the story is lost to a rules check.

Ali T Rashed

This was such a fun episode. I would love to see future Pathfinder2e content from y'all (one-shots, mini-series, campaigns- I'd devour it all) . That said, I love the idea of y'all also diving into other systems, I think it's really cool!

Scott

Jake might never have seen a skill tree, but Hardwon has definitely played as himself on Skyrim

Colin Fitz

I'd be all in for an Emily DM-ed PF2E spin off. One shot, side quest, campaign... I'll take it all

Emma

Ready for NAPFpod

humbiglio

Id love to listen to you guys play some pathfinder itd be so sick

Ant

Would so love for you guys to switch over or at least use other systems for your mini campaigns.

Dan

Dungeon world with a d20?

Caitrin

Hell yeah! To your crit questions: Critically failing on an attack role will not have any consequence UNLESS your weapon has a critical failure quality or your foe has an ability that allows them to exploit it! And rolling a crit success or fail on a save or attack does not auto succeed— but a Nat 20 brings the success up by a degree. If a Nat 20 attack would not have hit, the Nat 20 makes your miss a hit. If you would have hit with a Nat 20, the hit becomes a crit. And reverse for Nat 1s! I would DIE to hear a PF2e oneshot! It’s my favorite system to run!

Craig Weatherhead

This was amazing to listen to. Any continued content with these 3 characters and Emily as DM would be awesome!

Mortimer Lunch

Pathfinder is a fun system to play with friends but man it seems waaaay too “crunchy” as others have said to really be a “fun” system to listen to. Not saying NADDPOD can’t do it, I believe in you! I’d love to be proven wrong.

Austin Johnson

I'm not going to lie, pathfinder was for me the worst gaming experience of my life. Character creation was fun but everything else felt like a slog. We spent half an hour trying to resolve what happened when our thaumaturge tried to trip a guy on a bridge, made a ton of rolls, and nothing happened. In 5e that failure would've taken 5 minutes tops.

Justin Miller

I would absolutely love to see you all try pathfinder. Murph said it best, there are pros and cons to both systems and every group will have their preferences. What better way to find out than by giving it a shot?

H-Train

not sure if they end up mentioning it, but movement takes up one of the 3 actions

HellishRebuker the NB DM PhD with diagnosed ADHD

Listening to the start of NADDPOD really helped me learn about D&D and got me interested enough to try it myself. I've been really curious about Pathfinder, so I'd be thrilled to passively learn about it while enjoying a oneshot for you guys!

Prince.3ric

Stop getting me excited for table top games

jawnster

Go up, Caldy

Peter J. Kremer

As someone who generally enjoys PF2E, I was super happy to hear you all's thoughts. Made my day. Thank you. :)

Donny

I'm listening to this for the third time and am comtemplating a fourth pleas help

Jack Parsons

Thank you for doing the research for this, it's incredibly hard for me to soak up a new system, but y'all killed it. I'm so excited to get home and read more about this system and i never would have without your primer!

lucilia_illustris

this genuinely makes me interested in pathfinder! yay

L'Escalade

This was just what I needed to get myself over the mental block of reading my copy of the core rulebook. I really want to hear y'all do a one shot to get a feel of the game!

Kyle Hopkins

FYI Nat 1s and Nat 20s do matter. They decrease and increase the degree of success. For example, if your bonus to attack is high and normally you hit with most attacks but you rolled a nat 1 this reduces the normal hit to a miss. If you roll an attack that missed but you rolled a nat 20 this would make the attack hit. If you roll for a strike and get 10 over their AC this would be a crit, but if you rolled a nat 1 this crit would now turn into a normal hit.

Miles Mateus

Would definitely to see you guys try this system out! Have always wanted to try it out as someone is really only played 5e

Paul Coley

I'd love to see you folks play some Pathfinder 2e!

Caitlin Sievert

I would love to see the 2 crew play Pathfinder! My first ever actual play podcast was on pathfinder and it would be awesome to see how Naddpod translates it. And for anyone interested in listening to pathfinder played/how it translates to theatre of the mind I would recommend checking Rusty Quill Gaming out! (They do have a content warning of pandemic/epidemic themes).

Nicholas Bassett

Wow - amazing score for this episode! Made it super enjoyable. Love your work Emily! ☺️

tacticalgrandma

Thank you guys so much for doing this!!! I’ve always been intimidated by Pathfinder, and this is really helpful. I would adore a one shot with those characters too!!!

Ash James

Really enjoyed and appreciated this episode. I'd love to see other game systems explored a bit and Emily was awesome at presenting one in a way that highlights what's cool about it.

Beatrix

As a series, and doubly as an episode, this is laser-targeted at me specifically and I'm so happy

Bungeon Dastard

Would love more and would love to see some oneshots using other game systems!

Jess Wagoner

There are soooo many comments so likely someone mentioned this already, but regarding making 20s and 1s still feel special, PF2E does have critical and fumble decks which can add an extra fun effect to these occurrences. Also I'll admit I'm a PF2E convert and really like a lot of the aspects of the game discussed in this episode, especially character progression from level to level.

Noah Smith

Haven’t listened to the short rest yet but jakes character literally sounds like deidara from naruto shippuden

Faith

Bon mot gave me major bahn mi and bone moat flashbacks

WolfRunner

My DnD group is ditching 5e and moving to Pathfinder 2e. I am really nervous... but they made it fun helping me switch over.... still nervous but wow the timing of this ep!

Sanjay Ramsamooj

Bon mot is actually what Brennan was talking about in the bahn mi episode

Alexis Rausch

Literally listening to this while weighing out bone collagen - I am a bone oracle

Lauren Boys

Olaf dies in Pathfinder 2

Thadius Walgamott

Please play a campaign of pathfinder that would be amazing

Rohan Kallianpur

Would really love to listen to you guys play some Pathfinder 2e one-shots or mini campaigns!

Anonymous

Please try a one-shot or a mini campaign with Pathfinder. It sounds like it'll be more fun. :)

Emily

Hope you end up doing a one shot (or more) for pathfinder 2e! Great listen. 🙂

ZZYZZXX

That sleepover to a new church analogy was the best way to describe how listening to this felt

William Bowen

Worth noting is Pathfinder 2e owns my favorite classes of all time including Magus, Summoner, and Oracle

BeanCurdHero

This may be my favorite format of any show. I would listen to Emily talk about rules all day, just an insanely solid overview of this system and the energy was infectious. Really really fun ep, would love more of this and would legit subscribe to a higher teir to get more of this kind of stuff.

caustic-laz

I really love the insane feat selection most of all tbh. The fact you can specialize in specific subskills, like Arcana(Planar), and schools like Conjuration, means I can finally live out my perfect power fantasy. Being able to teleport at will with basically no issues.

Andrew Aziz

Loved this all so much!! I really want to learn pathfinder myself now! The characters y’all made in the short rest too were so creative and fun!! Looking forward to more pathfinder 2e content from y’all!!

Excelsidorks!

And this was just a shameless comment. Yikers Pipers!

A Tiny Living Room

Ready for a Pathfinder campaign with NADDPOD. A one shot would be nice, but man I'd love to listen to Emily play PF2e

Joe D’Antonio

In my mind Emily is reading all of this from a scroll

Vincent Aguilar

Very late to the party here, but: Don’t know much about Pathfinder except for playing that Wrath of the Righteous game on PC. Gotta tell ya, as a fan of DnD style PC games, it’s probably my favorite (next to Baldur’s Gate 2) and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes that stuff. A lot of it has to do with character creation/progression, it’s so much fun and CRUNCHY.

Hoid

I love when Murph started they rolling and choosing what to do in voice😂

Mike Y

shout out to my man Caldwell for a SOLID Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer, reference

Kurgaah

Bought the first 3 core books for Pathfinder 2E after listening to this

lauren

Relistening this to prepare to play in my first Pathfinder session early next month!

Ava

wow I’ve never been so early I’m fuckin stoked !!

Grass

I’m gonna take an early lunch to listen!

Megan

YAAAAY

Noah Jay

Oh weird... My DnD group is considering transitioning our current campaign to Pathfinder. Will be interesting to hear y'all talk about it... I've only read the first half of the handbook and it's definitely different.

Chance Hofmann

This is so cool, I’ve been meaning to learn more about pathfinder but just memorizing the books seem so unapproachable

Josh O'Brien

I would kill to see the team discuss any of the World of Darkness settings - I love Mage, but Vampire is probably a better starter

Chloe Peifly

at work so i’ll listen later, but i am stoked to see them consider stuff other than wotc considering all the drama lately

Adam Golden

This is awesome. I first learned to play ttrpg from pathfinder and only learned 5e at college since that's what everyone wants to play but haven't had the chance to try pathfinder 2e yet.

Ross Minick

Figured it was coming especially after Murphs tweets. I’m excited to listen, I’ve heard good things about Pathfinder

Chloe Louise

Was literally looking for pathfinder content today, thank you for this gift

William St Peter

Don’t let WOTC bully you guys out of playing 5E- but at the same time pathfinder sounds cool

saberbear

This is so exciting guys

Aaron Burnell

I have been playing pathfinder 1e since 2011. I think it is by far the most fun system for "classic" ttrpg/dnd. 2crew, joooooooin us

Adam Gomez

Y’all petty… I love to see it 😌

Kestrel

This is so exciting!! I love this as an idea for a series. Would love to hear you talk about Greg Leatherman’s Glitter Hearts; it’s a magical girl PBTA game based around a monster of the week structure. And it’s got awesome art

Luke

My game transitioned to pathfinder 2e recently and having played it my whole group (3 DMs) have chosen to change too.

Duncan Longtrunks

Yes to this!!! 5e is more than just WOTC being capitalist bullies. I like that the community is standing up to the company but I don’t want the game to suffer.

Veronica Plante

Whoa this idea is so exciting for a series! Would love to hear you guys talk about Lancer, it's a 4e inspired system about mechs in space with Incredible art.

Omar

I would LOVE to see you guys play PF2e!!

Kelsey Griffiths

As a Pathfinder 2e player/GM/evangelist, I am SO EXCITED to listen to this. Emily running 2e oneshots? YES YES YES I need to see Emily's mad system masteries in the 2e system. The free archetype system is ripe for making unique characters.

Xacris

So excited! I've been playing Pathfinder since 2008 and always love hearing about people checking it out. 2e is a fun system

Eric G

Love to see them doing something like this! Based on all the recent wotc stuff it's great to see the crew learning about different systems. Helps others like me feel less nervous about taking the leap of faith to another system

Declan Konesky

I support y'all playing PF2e so I don't have to. Played a good bit of 1e and I did enjoy it. Not for me anymore though as I'm into old school now

David Lipscomb

Thumbs are responsible for 60% of your hand's functionality

Runcible Shaw

I also love this idea! I would love if you would talk about Blades in the Dark or the Forged in the Dark system in general. It lacks the tactical grid combat of Pathfinder or 5e, but it's an incredibly streamlined system for running high action cinematic heists. (DM me if you want to listen to someone talk for way too long about what a cool system it is)

Ben

Is this Chrono Trigger inspired bgm? Love it!

D'ran Dana

Basically, if y'all play PC games, Pathfinder is to 4e as Path of Exile is to Diablo 3.

Sam A.

Thumb chums represent

squalor and splendor

I'm currently moving my group to pathfinder 2e. We're playing our first session today

Austin Trammell

Was hoping you guys would dabble into some other things after the news this past week

Andrew Albaugh

So excited to see the 2 Crew play Pathfinder 2e! Also to anyone else interested, the Archives of Nethys website is the official rule set of the system and ALL of it is free!

YourAnimeDad

The audible drooling during the character creation part

Tyler Dhunjishaw

I love Pathfinder 2e! Please switch over! All of the character feats are so juicy and flavorful. I would love to see what all of you can do inside this system.

Andrew Schrader

I like Pathfinder a bit more than 5th edition in general. I'd love to hear one shots or campaigns in Pathfinder 2e!

Dallon Taylor

with WOTC being garbage i was hoping youd find a new system! heres hoping this leads to that

MkA7L

Agree!

Nick

Y E S S S

Chloe Louise

Yes to Pathfinder one-shots please!!!

MindFlayerInABathrobe

Pathfinder vet here. Would be so dope to see you guys get into Pathfinder, I think it would fit your playstyle really well. Also, on the nat 20/1 question: on skill checks and saves, a nat 20 means you get one degree of success better than you would otherwise (i.e. turns a failure into a success, or a success into a critical success). A nat 1 does the opposite and makes it one degree worse (success to failure, failure to crit failure). The sole exception to this is attacks: a nat 20 on an attack roll is a guaranteed crit success no matter what, and a 1 is a guaranteed crit fail. Usually crit fail attacks aren't worse than normal fails, but some feats can give your attacks effects that trigger on a normal failure, but not a crit failure.

Eric Olberding

I second the person who mentioned Blades in the Dark. It's lighter on rules and combat mechanics than DnDesque systems, but because of that the combat moves much faster. Generally in TTRPGs, there are one's that lean more towards crunchy math and combat simulation, and there are games that lean more towards narrative and fiction building. Blades in the Dark leans more towards the narrative side of things. It'd be fun to see how you guys play a more narrative/fiction based TTRPG given your improv and comedy backgrounds. Maybe like a one-shot or something.

trashclown

Pathfinder 2e is absolutely my favourite RPG of all time, it's an amazing system. PF2E Represent!!

FusRohNahSon

You gotta delve into Powered By The Apocalypse' "Monster of the Week"

H-Train

this is a classic naddpod extra epsiode

Chris

Sweeet, never heard of it but it sounds fun!

Nate Brass

In Pathfinder2e a nat 20 makes your roll 1 degree of success higher. So if you roll a nat 20 but still don't get a high enough number to crit but still succeed, the roll will count as a crit success

Shane C

I literally bought the 2E PDF a couple days ago so I’m very excited to listen to this!

DK Benjamin

if you're going to do more of these, might I recommend - Shadow of the Demon Lord - Worlds Without Number - Blades in the Dark - Apocalypse World (or any PbtA) - Errant

SnuggieWielder

I love this!! I would love to see you guys explore other systems!!

RuinedDruid

Super down for more of this! I don't think this is the best recommendation, but Shadowrun could make for an interesting conversation. I have only played 5e and 6e Shadowrun so I could only recommend those.

Donny

I'm still new to it, so IDK if it's as fun as advertised, but the FATE system is designed to let you do whatever you want regarding setting and system mechanics. So for hard shifts into systems that won't extort you for money, FATE might be an easy transition.

saavikams

My girlfriend (our gm) and I have been looking into pathfinder and I love all the character choices so much, I always have such specific ideas I cant do with dnd

Blinky

Another fun system worth looking into is Savage Worlds, which absolutely would work for something pulpy like the 3rd campaign.

Leo's All Purpose Channel

Caldwell's church analogy is so true. I remember going to my friends church once and we all sat in a circle and sang songs like it blew my mind.

roomwithoutawindow

LETS GO PATHFINDER 2E! I would really love to see you all play World of Darkness or Chronicles of Darkness. I think the fact that it throws out the class/level systems of other rpgs would be a boon to improv. There’s also a much more fine tuned focus on roleplaying stats for things like “Etiquette” or “Politics”. Also just fun supernatural horror stories to tell. I personally run Werewolf: The Apocalypse and while some of the narrative can be heavy handed it doesn’t get in the way of it being hilarious by nature of being a tabletop rpg

Mr. Dude Sky

A cool look into their thoughts on the system. I’ve tried PF2E and I can’t say it’s for me personally. I’ve played 3.5 for so long that I can’t stand seeing feat trees and attack penalties. They mention a lot of things they feel are missing from 5e combat and I would like them to take a look at chapter 9 of the DMG. There’s a lot of combat actions that they just described with concrete rules. Also on the point of the healers kit, that can also be done in 5e the same way with the herbalism kit. A lot of the things they say they were looking for can be found in the books. Personally I’d love them to take a look at some other systems, but I’d rather hear Hardwon swing 5 times than PF2E.

EggBilly

Is the intro the same as her winter solstice music?

Magnaz

A great system I would recommend is Troika! It's got a crazy character creation system where you can basically play as anything. I've played as a yeti, a tiny man inside a human-sized mech suit, and many other absurd backgrounds. This is a system that could very VERY easily support Binky Fiasco.

Dylan C

I LOVE that they did this! After the OGL stuff, I want to move my game over to a new system and this makes me excited to look at pathfinder! I hope they do more of these!

Zoe

Love to see a Lancer fan. great system, bit crunchy, but you get mechs.

Scott

Will there be a name change to “Not A D&D Podcast”?

woodsorrel

Thank you so much for this episode and new series! I’ve found Pathfinder a bit intimidating to start looking into. Having Emily, whose understanding of mechanics is so masterful, lead us all through this system was the best possible introduction!

Stephen Laster

Pathfinder skiill check numbers can get CRAZY high. If you're not trained in a skill, if you can't sing, a performance check is 25, why would you magically be able to sing if you rolled a nat 20, so it's still under? on the other hand, should a trained musician fail a basic performance check if they roll a nat1, but their bonus is +15 at even moderate levels? I've always enjoyed that PF did away with auto fail and success skill checks

MMMash

Definitely for the next episode of this Emily should cover Mutants and Masterminds.

Jonah Daw

Super excited for you guys to play pathfinder! My group might just switch over with yall!

Adam Gomez

Lmao once again Caldwell has to pivot

Steven

If this was to trial balloon moving to Pathfinder, consider me on board

lloyd hernandez

Top 4 works because it's like the Mt Rushmore of things. It's nice and tidy

Garga Lenoir

Have you played Tides of Numenera? It's a pretty cool game once you get the hang of it.

Kristen with-a-K

I've been using PF2 material as supplements for my 5e games for the last couple of years and I really like what's out there, as do my players. My group is considering taking the full leap over and will probably do so in the next month or so. This ep and the short rest couldn't have come at a better time.

James Paul McNeil

Yes! I’m trying to get my group to convert, but the newbies are scared, maybe hearing y’alls take could convince them.

Abigail Harden

My main campaign (as a player) is a Pathfinder campaign! I love it. Please do a one shot!

Jacob Schaller

This has amped me up so much to dive into pathfinder, can't wait for other Behind the Screen episodes!

Megan

just finished listening. I LOVE IIIT!! definitely sounds like a system made for shenanigans! I even dont mind the hit penalty since there is so much other stuff you can do instead! XD I was curious about pathfinder after all the OGL and you guys made me super excited for it!! ^_^ I hope you guys transition to pathfinder 2E! would love to see what you guys could do in this system!!

Kirby Glover

Another fun thing about the action economy is that monsters rarely have attacks of opportunity, so movement is much more free. The system definitely works best with a battle mat, but they have tips in the game master section of the CRB on how to best use the system for TotM

Nye-Low

Seems interesting, but a lot more going on than I’m interested in keeping track of.

Nick Neverman

This crew would work wonders with the free archetypes.

Cack

Would love to get a pathfinder one shot, but you'll have to change the podcast name to Napfpod

DemonLordSparda

That's actually sick. It means that even if a crit success is typically impossible a nat 20 makes it happen. I love that.

Roo

oooohhhhh!!! I would love to hear you all play in PF2E!!!!! Full support if you all want to explore and play in this system!!

Vivid Void

Love the presentation by Emily and the oddly mysterious/creepy piano track throughout! I really hope you all give PF2e a shot, it's an awesome system that the gang could have a lot of fun with.

An_Armed_Bear

I believe Nat 20s are one extra degree of success, not an auto crit. So a success becomes a crit success, a fail becomes a success, etc.

Toe

loving behind the screens!!! hopeful and excited for y’all to talk about more games to come!

Ivy Stocking

Please play! I’ve been checking it out for months but haven’t tried yet.

Corvo_CB

The nat 1 & 20 is still a large focus in PF2e!! A nat 20 automatically increases the success of the action by one degree! A nat 1 automatically decreases the success of the action by one degree! Example: DC 24, you have a modifier of +5 if ou roll a Nat 20 (20+5=25) rather than being a regular success the nat 20 turns it into a critical success! And the opposite for the Nat1.

Gabe Barney

Hyperborea 3e is a great system I would love to hear Emily dive into!

Zac Parker

Great ep y’all! I’m trying out pathfinder and have been wanting to hear others giving it a shot. Would love to hear these characters in action!

Thomas Kratofil

Thank you so much for this discussion! I've been PF-curious for so long, but held off between intimidation looking at the book and already being so committed to D&D. This has increased my resolve to go out and give it a try!

Gettier

❤️❤️❤️

HolyFatFish

There's no auto pass or fail to anything I'm 5e besides attacking

HolyFatFish

Well it's still technically correct lol

Nesve Fowl

I have been playing a PF 1e game and really love it.

Skootsby

If you're looking for more systems to look into, I have a couple recommendations! Spheres of Power (and Spheres of Might) started as a subsystem for Partner first edition, but Drop Dead Studios has also made a version that is 5e compatible. Basically it restructures how magic works to be more flexible (similar for Spheres of Might, which focuses on martials), so if you want to be a spellcaster who specializes in time magic, you can do that from level 1. I've only played the PF version, but it's one of my favorites to build for, because I can just pick a theme and go for it. Also, there's Lancer, a sci-fi RPG from the author of Kill Six Billion Demons. You play as mech pilots in the far flung future, building and customizing your mech.

ananarama

This got me excited about the idea of playing pathfinder

bj cox

Is this because of the OGL

Espen Hodne

As to the multiple attack penalty, there are abilities to work around it. For example, if you're dual wielding, there is a feat that lets you use two actions to attack twice with no penalty, and then the third attack gets the full -10. So it's really good if you want to run up and attack twice, or first demoralise and then smack.

TheOriginalOats

Would love to see some one shots or a mini arc in pathfinder 2e

Graham (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-05 07:00 If you think combat drags in D&D it's absolutely glacial in Pathfinder. There is a reason it's not been adopted by a lot of actual play groups. There's a lot more to keep track of when it comes to penalties and conditions.
2023-01-19 21:44 If you think combat drags in D&D it's absolutely glacial in Pathfinder. There is a reason it's not been adopted by a lot of actual play groups. There's a lot more to keep track of when it comes to penalties and conditions.

If you think combat drags in D&D it's absolutely glacial in Pathfinder. There is a reason it's not been adopted by a lot of actual play groups. There's a lot more to keep track of when it comes to penalties and conditions.

ToastyFuture

This was great! As someone who is excitedly looking into Pathfinder because of the OGL stuff this episode couldn’t be more perfectly timed! I’m thrilled that the 2 Crew is jazzed about trying it out and I’ll definitely be along for the ride!

Elizabeth Hart

Hype! I love Pathfinder and would love to see some NADDPod gameplay, and I'm also excited to see where else "Behind the Screens" goes!

Magnoliidae

Of all the things I've seen promoting pf 2e this has by far worked the best on me (And also gosh the use of my fav trineyvale track 👌👌👌👌)

Clemming

As a DM with sensibilities similar to Murph, so much of what I love about the pathfinder 2e system is the balance, 5E falls apart at higher levels and a lot of the mechanics kinda become an illusion that you balance in the moment unless you spend a ton of time playtesting encounters.

Mario Avila

I would love to see a Pathfinder campaign or short adventures

The Lady Of Cram Over A Field Of Daniels

I love this so much. Thanks for the great presentation Emily, it really shows the fun ways you can play pathfinder. I’ve only played one E in the past, but I’m super excited to try second edition. I’d love to see more of other systems like y’all did with this one

Bep Bingus

What a fantastic episode, I've been hoping you guys would try pathfinder 2e for so long. I can't wait to see everyone's reactions to the wild spells pathfinder has. I think Curse of the Spirit Orchestra is one of my favorites, it's worth a look lol

Patrick C McAuliffe

I am excited to hear pathfinder one-shots! I am definitely more interested in the group dynamic / humor and narrative aspects. I find it interesting to see how the game provides a launch point for these, so any system that does that is something I'd listen to.

Con

I had my group make the jump to PF2e with me and we're loving it. I'm still willing to play 5e, but I'm so sick of running it now that I can't make myself do it anymore. Hoping to see more PF content from y'all, but I'll always be a listener no matter what!

Potato Muffin

I'd probably play more Pathfinder if fewer people I talked to about it weren't such dicks about DnD 5e for really no reason.

Garrett Muir

This is such a cool segment, I love that you did this! I’ve always heard about pathfinder but I never really looked into it! I hope you this again, though I know it’s a lot of work figuring out a new system!

Sam Johnston

So happy you guys are looking at other stuff. I would love to see the podcast move away from 5E after C3

Sam Johnston

That’s true. There would definitely be more editing out of math

g-unit0301

Sorry but I’ll stop watching if they play pathfinder. So anyone else out there thinking the same know your not alone. To gritty, to many rules, way to munch crunch. No where near as smooth a listen. For anyone about to complain or cry. These are opinions and yours are no more valid then mine

Artemis

This isn't an airport mate, no need to notify your departure

Duke Orterra

Well done! As a pathfinder guy, I gotta say you nailed it Em! I have been playing both editions since they came out and you explained it perfectly!

THEJordonBrown

We would follow you to the gates of Mordor. Whatever the system is, we’re here.

Grass

This is a really good episode and I appreciate Emily sugar coating all the pills to make me less fearful of change!

jbyrd

I am mildly intimidated by pathfinder (sounds crunchy but tasty... Basically cool ranch corn nuts) but I feel like I could give in to this system and I think it could be big fun... And fuuuuuuck the hasBro(s)... So I'm all in. The learning curve is steep but you all are so fun that I would love to learn with you.

Garga Lenoir

For anyone who wants to discover Pathfinder's world (or just likes good video games) PLEASE try Pathfinder: Path of the Righteous. It's an amazing rpg where you command an entire crusade, you got ton of classes and subclasses, and mythical paths where you turn into a godlike entity (like angel, demon, trickster god, lich...). However it's pretty hard so please play on Normal if you're used to CRPGs, easy if you're not. And look into the mods, especially Toybox and Bubble Buff for later in the game.

Garga Lenoir

The two best campaigns I ever GMed were on Mage : The Ascension and Orpheus! WoD for the win!

Robert Z.

Emily did a great overview of the system, especially considering she just studied the rules and hasn’t played yet. I play a gnome oracle in a pf2 game and have recently started running one of the modules for some of my old high school friends. My favorite things about the system are the depth of character creation and the degrees of success. I love how it changes save or suck spells so that they still have a minor effect on any non-critical successes. Eagerly looking forward to PF2 one-shots, and I think it would be fun to see deep dives into PF2 setting lore, like a wiki wander of the PF2 gods. Hope to see some other systems get covered too!

g-unit0301

Actually there is. I’ve been a watcher since the beginning I want the creators I pay to support and the community whose watches beside me to know my feelings. Go be unnecessary somewhere else troll.

Wit & Whimsy

A good culling always helps the fan base. Also, where have you been watching? I typically listen to podcasts

g-unit0301

Do you also live under bridges?

roomwithoutawindow

Oh nice! Funnily enough I just started building a character for a Mage game. She’s a street witch Verbena who daylights as a private investigator, using the local spirits to help solve crimes

Bruce Burton

Putting the "Not" in NADDPOD! Love it

C Tomé

Firstly, I would like to say that I would LOVE to see Emily GMing Pathfinder 2e one shots. Honestly, if you guys fully switched from 5e to PF2e for your next campaign, I don't think I would be against it. Secondly, a quick anecdote surrounding how things like Aid only provide a +1 bonus: a thing to consider in PF2e is that since a +10 means a Critical Success, a +1 matters more than it does in 5e because you're not only increasing your chances of success but also your crit range! So even a +1 can make a big difference in that way.

Gurl Luigi

god i hope you all play pathfinder and i hope emily gms

Christopher Reeves

This was so much fun, and Emily did an amazing job breaking down PF2! I'll keep my fingers crossed for future installments of Behind the Screens! 13th Age, Blades in the Dark, Shadow of the Demon Lord, and the list goes on!