So, I am a little scattered at the moment. I had a change of work, now employing myself and have had to adult a lot recently. So, not had much time for reading the rest of the Bladerunner RPG (in fact there is a new download I have not gotten to yet). My online game has been plagued with sickness and no plays, as has my in-person Pathfinder 2E game, but we had our third game today so I thought it an excellent time to give you an update on where I am at with the system.
Pathfinder 2E Players know their characters
Coming into this game I gave the players a clear directive. Know your character. If you go back to the readthrough reviews I did you will see these books are loaded with massive amounts of rules. So many rules that a reasonable Games Master (GM) would have to be an idiot savant to keep a track of them all. More power to you if you are a GM and are across the plethora of rules in the game. I am not that person.
Luckily, on the whole, most of my players have taken up that banner. For those that have not done as well as others, they have tried. That is all I ask. I did notice at the table today that those that are not in full comprehension of their characters, others are assisting them, and I am truly grateful for their attention.
The setting and the play
The players are still in the initial area that I designed. I did not anticipate it would take this long. looking at the area though it has a lot of moving parts and is a living breathing environment. Things changed quickly and this made things tough on the players. But like the true murder hobos they are, they continue trudging through and doing well considering.
I think the setting is interesting to them. There is stuff that I wanted to highlight to draw them into the overarching story, and I think that they are picking up what I am putting out there. I hope it leads them to further investigation into the areas I want to explore. But let us face it. This is my world, but their story. I am happy to see what they make of it, no matter where it leads.
The one thing I like about this system is that there have been three sessions so far and the players are still at first level. It feels like there is some real building of the characters to me. None of this 4-5 encounters and you level up. It is more about the story in this game and that is what it should be. At the most basic level, every Role Playing Game (RPG) is a storytelling game. Just quietly, there is little chance that the players will be at second level, even after they leave this area. They will be close, but not likely to level.
What I don’t like
Honestly, what I don’t like is not the game’s fault. It is that I do not know the rules I need to know well enough. I had hoped that regular play would cement the rules in my brain. But we have had three games in three months. Largely because of sickness, and that frequency is not enough to cement rules. I am having to revisit the same rulings in each session, and I need to do a refresher before we play again to hopefully stop this from recurring.
What I am looking forward to?
I have some more design to do. The group are nearing the end of this leg of the tale and I need to look forward to likely paths. Once they are free of the Spirit Dragon Temple (an old installation perverted by Kobolds) there is likely to be some investigation. That investigation will open up the campaign world a little to them and from where I sit there are logically two paths that may be followed.
Of course, I just used the word logically and we all know that as a GM the logic can go out the window real quick. So, I have a bit of design to do over the next couple of weeks to cover the two paths that I see as logical choices. But I also need to continue the development of “random” encounters. If the players decide on something left of field I need material to cover the eventuality. I have been working on this material to bolster the theme of a “fairy tale” style.
In summary…
I am still liking this system. I feel that the mechanics of the basics are pretty well understood, and the past few games have led us all on a path of discovery. We have discovered the wisdom of the three action economies and all felt our character roles and the world. I have kept a relatively tight reign on the amount of material for the game allowed, and I think it is working for the best. As we become familiar with what we have, we may begin to open it up.
For now, it seems to be progressing slowly, but well. We will see what the next few sessions bring to the table. Keep rolling!