PF2 Structure Part 4 - Other Scenario Structures

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The Ring Goes South to Mordor

Hey folks!

In our last article, we talked about what I consider to be the best example of Scenario Structure in PF2 - the Infiltration Subsystem. We talked about its strengths, how it's used in adventures, and what changes or variations might be worth making.

Today, unfortunately, we're going to be a bit more negative. We're going to be talking about Pathfinder 2e's other Scenario Structures, or, in many cases, the lack thereof. We'll start by talking about the other "official" Scenario Structure - Hexploration (yes, this is the only other "official" one) - before going into the less defined structures. This includes Investigations (essentially several Research libraries stapled together in Gatewalkers), Dungeon Crawls (which do not have explicit rules in PF2), Linear Sequences (where things just happen in a given order), and various less detailed structures in APs. We generally won't be going into quite as much detail for each of them, but there's a solid chance I'll remake some or all of them in Part 5.

We've got a lot to get through, so let's jump on in!

PF2 Structure Part 3 - The Infiltration Subsystem

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Source

Hey folks!

Today, we'll be talking about the Infiltration Subsystem, which is in my opinion Pathfinder 2e's best example of a Scenario Structure.

Let's jump right in!

PF2 Structure Part 2 - Non-Scenario Subsystems

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Hey folks!

by Satibalzane on Deviant Art

Today, we're going to be going through the non-Scenario Structure Subsystems in PF2 to ground our analysis going forwards. We'll be doing some amount of analysis of these systems, but will mostly be setting up for future articles.

Part 1 hogged all the intro space, so we're gonna keep this intro short. Let's jump in!

PF2 Structure Part 1 - Whither the Scenario Structure?

Somethings been rattling around in my head for a long time.

The core structure of the Alexandrian
Dragon Heist Remix

I've been running RPGs for about a decade now. I started with 5e when it was pretty new, had a good time, and slowly became disenfranchised with its myriad problems. Along the way I found a lot of great advice, especially from Matt Colville and The Alexandrian, but for a long time I mostly ran either published modules or homebrew adventures that were in a similar style.

When I switched to Pathfinder 2e in 2020, I didn't really have problems with the rules themselves. There are still things that don't quite match my preferences, and certain things that I'd probably have done differently, but for the most part the system just works. If I'm too tired to make a call, the game has me covered. I don't have to worry about PCs accidentally becoming overpowered or trivializing an encounters due to a broken rules interaction. And if I do have the energy to make a call that's outside-the-box, or the players come up with an idea clever enough that I want to let them trivialize an encounter, I always have the freedom to do so.

With less work to do hammering the rules into place, however, I could focus more on the adventures themselves. My first real project on this blog was Remixing Strength of Thousands Book 2 in the style of the Dragon Heist Remix, where I deconstructed the grab bag of random quests and put them back together into a more cohesive whole. To date, it's my second most popular series after my Red Hand of Doom Conversion. Ever since, most of my blog has been doing the same - tinkering with adventures to make them more fun to run and play - but the series that finally crystalized my main point today was the one about Negotiations in Mzali.

Now, you might say, "Why do you need to tinker with Pathfinder 2e Adventure Paths? They are so much better than 5e adventures!" And that's true! Genuinely! I love APs, but they still often have problems of their own. Probably the most common complaint about them is about how over-complicated a lot of subsystems are, and I think that is often true! If you've been following this blog for a while, however, you might guess that to me those are just symptoms of a larger issue: structure.

This series is about Scenario Structures: what they are, why they're important, and why Pathfinder 2e would benefit from more of a focus on them. That's right, I said series - as you might be able to tell from the length of that intro, this is a topic I've thought a lot about, and it's gotten a bit away from me. Here's my plan for this series (I'll update it as things develop):

1. Introduction & Defining Terms (this post)
2. Pathfinder 2e Subsystem Analysis (focusing on Encounter Structures)
3. Pathfinder 2e's Infiltration Subsystem
4. Pathfinder 2e's other Scenario Structures
5. Towards Better Scenario Structures
1. Dungeon Crawling
2. (I plan to add several other articles on different Scenario Structures, but that's likely a ways off unless I feel unexpectedly inspired)

Let's jump into Part 1!

SoT Book 6 Chapter 3 - The Ant-Pocalypse

SoT Masterpost

I wish our Bugzilla was this cute...

Hey folks!

My group is gearing up for the epic finale of Strength of Thousands, and I'm super excited! I love the concept of a massive larva breaking free, wrecking havoc on the place the PCs have spent the last several years (both in-game - for my group, it's been about 7 years - and out-of-game - we've been playing for almost 4 years!), and the final ritual is a really appropriate finale to a magic school AP.

Perhaps my favorite thing about this chapter is the "Coming Late" section of the three encounters under "The Larva Spawns" - making the choice of what order to do these in matter is amazing design, 10/10. Unfortunately, this design doesn't extend to the rest of the chapter, and the PCs have effectively limitless time to complete the other encounters with no consequences for wasting time!

My least favorite thing, however, is just how many combats there are. It's kind of overwhelming! Most of them are low or trivial threat, which is great for making the PCs feel baddass but bad for giving enough XP to fill out a chapter (IMO less important in the finale where they're already level 20, but the design intent is clear). So, there's a ton of them!

In this post, I aim to address both of those in one fell swoop! Essentially, the PCs will have limited time. Prioritizing some fights over others might gain them allies that they can dispatch to solve those situations for them! And for every situation the PCs don't successfully resolve in time, the final waves of enemies get harder as there are fewer allies in other areas to draw them away.

PF2 Structure Part 5.1 - Dungeon Structure

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Hey folks!

From Shadowdark RPG

This is a weird one, because it's part 5a of a series for which I have not yet published part 1 - the overall series is about what I see as a need for more thoroughly fleshed out Scenario Structures in Pathfinder 2e. I have part 1 about 90% done, and the other parts are well under way as well, but I decided to go ahead and publish this one first because I think folks might find it useful!

Today, we'll be outlining a core dungeon procedure for PF2 that aims to fit as neatly into PF2 as possible without changing any rules. Ideally, it should work even if you implement it in an existing AP without doing a whole bunch of extra work. I'll also include some extra credit for if you do want to put in the work, or you want to change more about how you run dungeons.

Let's jump in!

RHoD Addendum - The Hammerfist Holds

RHoD Masterpost

Dwarves! Everyone loves Dwarves... unless they're on the receiving end of their mighty axes! The Red Hand therefore did everything it could to keep those axes FAR away...

This post includes three things across two documents. First, basic details about the Hammerfist Holds. Second, some miscellaneous sidequests and sandbox/travel details. Third, and most importantly, the case of the Absent Clanlord, which the PCs must navigate in order to gain Dwarven allies for Brindol's defense!

SoT Book 6 Chapter 2 - The Endless Table!

SoT Masterpost

Hey folks!

From Tiny Fables by Josiah Moore

I'm really excited for this one. I love a good area crawl. This chapter is decent as written, but I think there's a lot that we can do to help organize it better and flesh certain aspects out.

So, in each section I'm going to start with what the book already includes (so I don't have to find those details in the middle of a 10 paragraph section), and then below that I'll add in some new changes of my own to help streamline things.

Let's jump in!

RHoD Sidequests - The Blackens

RHoD Masterpost

Hey folks!

Today we're going to be talking about the sidequests/sandbox elements for The Blackfens! I actually already added the Document to the bigger Sandbox post (sorry for the delays, I was waiting to flesh out the last section), and will let it speak for itself mechanically, but I want to add some more context and fiction here.

Let's jump in!

SoT Book 6 Chapter 1 - Unshadowed Academy

SoT Masterpost

Hey folks!

Unshadowed Koride

Probably a short one today, but I wanted to flesh out the Mystery in Book 6 Chapter 1 a bit more. You can just run it as written, though I'm already kind of revamping the Influence in Chapter 1 - but what if your players disagree?

In my game, one of my players basically noped out of the social challenge early to go check in on Koride, after being very suspicious that neither she nor most of her classmates were present. The rest of the party stayed to chat, but she basically gave polite greetings (hero-pointing a failed check to do it without giving offense) and went off on her own!

I kept the focus on everyone else in the moment and finished up that encounter, but now I've got to figure out what her investigation might look like!