Thread by @MichaelJSayre1

1/ #Pathfinder2e Design Musings- Balance and texture often get conflated but are two very different things. Balance speaks to a system's sustainability and quality; how well and how long can people play this game before they start running into systemic issues that affect (cont.)

2/ their experience, particularly as it relates to their interactions with the GM or other players. Strong math and a consistent and reliable framework can achieve balance and function in a variety of different environments. Sometimes you'll get the complaint that balance (cont.)

3) homogenizes the gaming experience. But a homogenous experience is actually speaking to the texture of the game. A game that everyone plays and Interacts with in exactly the same way can be balanced and also homogenous (sometimes interpreted as "boring"), but those are (cont.)

4/ two different things. Balance needs texture to come to life. It needs there to be options that interact with the game in different ways, even if those ways are all functioning under balanced paradigms. Homogenous balance is relatively easy to achieve. Textured balance (cont.)

5/ is not. PF2 strives for textured balance by giving everyone the same framework of math and action economy, and then giving different characters their own way to express themselves within that framework. A fighter and a gunslinger both have legendary weapon (cont.)

6/ proficiency, but they don't play the same at the table. Even if you give them both the same type of gun, they still won't play the same way because the tools they have to apply to it and the ways they excel are different. (cont.)

7/ The fighter has bigger advantages in using a bayonet and a variety of ways to control the enemies around them. The gunslinger compresses their action economy and has more ways to control their own position. The way action economy is utilized in a class and (cont.)

8/8 the most seemingly minor of changes in the toolsets can lead to broad and sweeping changes in the dynamic play experience at the table, as long as you're utilizing the tools your class gives you.