Is the $650 to play Pathfinder 2E worth it?
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Is the $650 to play Pathfinder 2E worth it?
That level of expenditure isn't necessarily needed. It depends on exactly what you're wanting to do/play. For example, the Core Rules and an adventure would get you playing quite nicely, you don't need to buy everything Paizo has released.
Buying everything available for PF2E would easily get your ten or twenty years of gaming. Maybe even more. So if you are going to use everything they have published and you look at it in a cost per year/month/etc, it's a pretty inexpensive hobby. Of course I don't know why you would buy stuff you may never use or might not use for 20 years. So just buy the parts that you need now. Invest the rest of the money until you need the other products.
Humble bundle and smiteworks did a pretty good sale earlier that got you a lot of content for a modest donation. I did pf1 but there was lots for pf2, at least enough to get you started.
Welcome to the forums and FG Community!. If you are just a player you only really need the base program.
This is like the equivalent of walking into a game store and asking the guy. "So I really need to buy this entire book shelf to play pf2e?" Short Answer no. Longer answer is no, if you want to buy the books and input the data yourself.
Let's try this again. The title of my thread might have been misleading. If that was the case, I apologize Currently, it's $630 for the complete rules of Pathfinder 2E on FG. (Which does include Lost Omens.) I'm obviously wanting to DM. I shouldn't need to point out that there are competitors but I've already bought the Ultimate Edition so I'm already at least partially invested. The question is "Is $630 for the complete rules for Pathfinder 2E on FG worth it?"
If someone asked me if my $56,000 Tesla was worth the price, I would say, "Yes." If instead I answered:
"You can just buy one the the Telsa motors for $6000 and try that out - you don't have to buy the whole thing . . . "
"Teslas will last like 20 years and you'll be saving money on gas and it will eventually pay off . . . "
"I'm sure there will be a sale on Teslas and you can buy them for less . . . "
"You don't have to buy a Tesla, you can just call an Uber or ride a bus . . . "
"Your question is like someone going to a Chevy dealership and asking for a $100,000 Corvette and the dealer says no, you only need a $13600 Spark! You don't have to spend all that money, you can buy salvage and build it yourself - just look at Rich Rebuilds . . . "
Now, if I gave these answers instead of a "yes", would anyone want to buy a Tesla for $56,000 after I talked to them?
If I wanted to say more than yes, I could describe how much of a joy it is to drive a car thats always on, how secure I feel leaving my Tesla with 6 cameras constanly recording as part of the security system, how well the adaptive cruise control and auto-steer work, the excellent acceleration, infotainment system, etc.
So, let's try this again and if you previously misunderstood my question, I apologize. If you want to stick with your answer, I thank you for your honesty.
Is $630 for the complete rules for Pathfinder 2E on FG worth it?
Since the Summer sale just ended, I would do what Trenloe suggests. Also I know Paizo does some sort of deal if you already purchased the pdf you get a discount? (Right guys?)(with PF1 anyway)
You can always complete the bundle LATER for the discounted price if you decide you want to go all in.
I'm biased - Pathfinder Second Edition is currently my favourite fantasy RPG system - both for the mechanics and the background and adventures that Paizo produce. Over 90% of what Paizo has produced has been officially converted to Fantasy Grounds Unity. With those conversions you get a lot of automation (with more to come) and PC creation guidance from the character generation tracker when creating and leveling up your PC. And I'm also biased because I'm heavily invested in Pathfinder Second Edition on Fantasy Grounds Unity, as I'm the ruleset developer (not employed full time by SmiteWorks).
If you're planning on playing a lot of Pathfinder Second Edition, then any answer to your question is going to be "it depends"... For some people $630 is a lot and spending that amount of money on any RPG system will probably result in the answer tending towards "no, it's not worth it for me", for others with more expendable income the answer would tend towards "yes". If you're not going to play it much then the answer is probably "no" - but if you're not going to play it much, you don't need to spend $630 (as I previously mentioned in my earlier post).
The official Pathfinder Second Edition conversions are more than just copy/paste of data from the original product, they come with individual data records of the various system information (ancestries, heritages, backgrounds, classes, feats, spells, items, NPCs, etc., etc.) some with pre-assigned FGU automation. Plus artwork, tokens, portraits for use in FG. With formatted reference manuals that all of the connected players can access and individual pages the GM can share with the players. The cost will also include a PDF of the Paizo product - if you already own the PDF, the cost of the PDF will be discounted from your FG purchase. But, some people may find individual Paizo products not to their liking and so some products may not be worth it for some individuals.
Only you can make the decision on whether it's worth it for you - based off your Pathfinder Second Edition goals, whether you like all of the base Paizo products or there's some you don't, and how much use you're going to get out of it.
The photo below is what has been currently converted to Fantasy Grounds from the Rulebooks and the Lost Omens Setting (I've included the soon to be released Knights of Lastwall as I can't find my copy of the Lost Omens World Guide). If you're going to play face-to-face around a table, ask yourself "is this worth $630 to me and my gaming group?" - keeping in mind that the cost would be higher if you wanted multiple copies of any books to share with the players. The same question would be applied if you're going to play on Fantasy Grounds Unity - is all of that on Fantasy Grounds, with all connected players able to access the data the GM allows them to access, plus the Paizo PDFs worth $630? For me, it is worth it, but it might not be for others...
And keep in mind, if you buy on the Fantasy Grounds Store, there's a 30 day no questions asked refund policy. So if you end up thinking it's not worth it and decide not to use some of the products on Fantasy Grounds, you can request your money back.
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...chmentid=53466
IMO the price of the individual items are worth the price charged for them on FG. Some of the reasons for me are:
- I don't buy physical copies of my RPG books, I only buy them on/for FG.
- The automation they enable is very valuable.
- The time saving for me and my players is worth it.
- Updates and bug fixes are done at a pace I find to be excellent.
Now, would I buy every PF2E product? Nope, there are ones I simple will not use, enough of them that buying the whole bundle is not cheaper. Even if it is a great deal, I refuse to buy things / pay extra for things I wont use.