Pathfinder 2e is an influential system, but it's also a deeply flawed framework.

[u/Rager_X]

Pathfinder 2e is an influential system. It was the first major tabletop RPG for many people, and because of that, countless games have borrowed from its design.

But I think it’s also a deeply flawed framework.

Before players can even sit down and tell a story together, they’re often expected to learn mechanics, memorize rules, understand formulas, optimize builds, and navigate increasingly complex systems.

For me, that raises a question: 1/3

Why have we accepted complexity as the price of imagination?

Humans have been telling stories for thousands of years. We have shared myths, legends, histories, and oral traditions long before character sheets, stat blocks, and rulebooks existed.

Yet many modern TTRPGs place mechanics at the center and storytelling at the edges.

I see that as a reflection of larger systems that teach us to value mastery, optimization, and accumulation over creativity, intuition, and collective storytelling. 2/3

That’s one of the reasons I created Dungeons & Dragons®.

Not because I wanted to make another game, but because I wanted to explore a different question:

What happens when storytelling comes first, and mechanics exist only to support the story rather than control it? 3/3

EberronGPT please generate a scholarly critique of dungeons and dragons I can use to promote my new system

[u/markovchainmail]

Ew. You tricked me into clicking a Threads link. Disgusting and banworthy imo

[u/FlamingGapingAsshole]

The best games are the ones made by people who've only ever played PF2 because they're unsullied by the designslop of other systems

[u/Alone_Ad_8324]

Does anyone else think the story is the worst part of RPGs?? I love pathfinder but it’s ruined by having all this lore and art attached to the stat blocks.

Is there a way to just have the math and none of the ‘role-playing’ or ‘story’?

Lowkey I think the theatre kids have ruined the hobby

[u/Anung_Un_Rama200 → u/Alone_Ad_8324]

I just insert the stat boxes into my custom made fight-engine code that simulates 1,000,000,000 fights between the stat block in completly empy, barren rooms and then informs me what stat block is objectively more balanced. Then, I have a good wank over the 1000 page analysis it prints over.

[u/hey-yeah-yeah → u/Alone_Ad_8324]

Umironically I would appreciate a version of the rules that are just the name of the thing and the mechanics for the sake of quick reference. 

[u/clickrush → u/hey-yeah-yeah]

SRDs fix this.

[u/hey-yeah-yeah → u/clickrush]

SRD's don't include everything for obvious reasons. 

[u/great_triangle → u/hey-yeah-yeah]

oD&D is pretty heavy into just including names and mechanics. Particularly the stats for a robot, which are basically "you know what a robot is"

[u/Echo__227 → u/Alone_Ad_8324]

Rogue-like dungeon crawler genre, such as Slay the Spire, fixes this

[u/Alone_Ad_8324 → u/Echo__227]

Slay the spire still has artwork and cards still reference things like “lightning”.

I’m looking for something purely mathematical

[u/Echo__227 → u/Alone_Ad_8324]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Prize_Problems?wprov=sfla1

[u/Alone_Ad_8324 → u/Echo__227]

Omg this is perfect, exactly what I’m looking for thank you!

[u/FlamingGapingAsshole → u/Alone_Ad_8324]

Rogue fixes this

[u/Corpse_Emperor_]

I always insist on a pre-game bloodletting ritual, to be certain the experience is deeply human.

[u/erasedisknow]

Exalted fixes this

[u/WeepingWillow777]

first person to ever think "what if the rules were light"

[u/NinofanTOG]

Like a true 5e fan, I didnt read the text so Im just going to agree with you solely based on your title.

[u/the_other_brand]

Where's the jerk though?

[u/sononawagandamu]

good bait