Pathfinder Second Edition Readthrough, Part 2: Continuing through the Introduction, I confirm I have not stumbled into 5th edition DnD

Disclaimer: I was not a fan of the PF 2e dev diaries, or of the play-test. This does not mean I'm going to do nothing but bash this book, and I legitimately hope to be pleasantly surprised, but keep in mind this read-through is likely to be very biased. A fair bit of it is also for comedic purposes. It is by no means a declaration that people should not play PF 2e, that people are wrong for enjoying it, or anything along those lines.

Basics of Play

Really not much to cover for this section to start with, mostly just definitions of various Fantasy RPG terms that have been in use ranging back to the first edition of DnD. There is a sidebar abut the world as a participant and about how it also falls game terms such as traps having levels and so on, which gives me hope that pit traps will not be level 10 traps in this. There's also a definition of the narrative terms and how a narrative is constructed, and in this case does say that Player histories and personalities should be a part of the adventure, which is advice I applaud.

Playing the Game

Our first rule at the actual rules, and a lot of it is unchanged definitions from before, except for some changes which I will cover here

Modes of Play: I like splitting it into Encounter, Exploration, and Downtime, although the really depends on how the Exploration side is constructed. If it's all wilderness exploration style rules and there is little for social intrigue, urban campaigns, and extra-planar it might be a disappointment as one of the three modes. I remain cautiously optimistic till I see the actual rules. Given the Exploration section here is relatively small and entirely describes outdoor exploration, that might be misplaced.

Critical Success: Has been changed from a nat 20 or a range of numbers depending on weapon and feats to just beating a check by ten. I'll have to check on the math before I pass judgment, but off the top of my head this doesn't sound like it offers much more than regular PF 1e crits, at least in combat. Crit confirm rolls being gone is probably an improvement, but being able to score a crit if you beat it by ten will possibly make combats very swingy, and depending on where the math falls, very unbalanced. I don't see why they couldn't keep the various new effects crits can cause but keep the old rules for triggering them (Minus the confirm rules). Or maybe they just wanted them to happen more often so the classic Greatsword orc can really TPK your entire group. Also crit fumbles because they also want an equal chance your character fails horribly I guess. Still need to see the effects

Proficiency: A concept I'm not a fan of for trying to keep a player on rails, this really lives and dies on the size of the proficiency bonus itself. Is it big enough that having it actually makes your character feel like they are proficient, or does it fail to make the distinction. The scaling with level numbers makes this look like it's done correctly, but the five tier system is something that will have to be looked at later. Hopefully there is more of a distinction than the ranks, which are a simple +2 bonus. If it's all "This proficiency in Climb can let you climb increasingly tall walls" I'll set this section on fire via stubby-nose dragon.

Multi-attack, and three-action structure: No longer tied to BAB, since it no longer exists, instead you can make up to three attacks per round, one action for each, with the second being at -5 and the third at -10. Essentially BAB with no fourth attack and you can do it at 1st level if you are whacking a blind toothless kobold. Preferably with Gout or painful joints. There is also the new action structure, with three actions per round instead of a Move, Standard, and Swift Action, with the option of Full Round actions. Again withholding judgment till I see how these actions add up together, and whether or not this change was needed or is a sidegrade.

Downtime is downtime...I don't think anything has changed given the brief paragraph, although I imagine I am in fact mistaken.

Key Terms show up, and it's confirmed that this edition has 5e style background that you pick and choose, and hopefully good create a background rules that DM's will actually let me use so I don't end up limited to however many come in this book. Race is now ancestry, so I guess I can claim that my 8 feet tall orc get Halfling Ancestry because he is adopted. I mean, the definition is the broad family of people that a character belongs to. In all seriousness, if this means concepts like warrior halfling, wizard orc, and so on actually become more viable, I'm down even if the biology makes no sense whatsoever.

The definitions also confirm we are on Golarion, and not Forgotten Realms, so that's a nice change to fantasy RPG's I play and setting materials for them. Apparently, NPC's and monster range from level -1 to 30, so maybe that means you can now fight Iomadae and her trumpets of trivia challenge damage from Wrath of the Righteous.  Also, maybe they fixed the game so commoners no longer die to house casts. Many terms defined earlier are defined again for those with short-term memory loss of a few pages. Traits are new but are essentially just ability and spell keywords, unlike 1^st edition which were additional things you could get for your character.