Re: OOC - Discussion
Ok, I’ll bite. Played through the first adventure of doomsday dawn with the family. (I was the GM) and the kids liked it in general. My daughter enjoyed making her character, and I think actually got her more interested in making characters in general. (Not just 2nd ed)
I converted the doomsday dawn adventure to go with the new published 2nd edition rules and we ran through it again. They had forgotten several parts, and had actually skipped a few rooms in the first run through that they explored this time through. We used the APG playtest classes and everyone seemed to enjoy playing it. The NPC was a hobgoblin witch, and my daughter played a leshy oracle of fire.
Not going to say there aren’t things that I’d have thought I’d have done different, but in general I also really enjoyed it. I’ve mostly converted the Black Fang dungeon as well and the plan is to have them go through it as well since the have really fond memories of it and the Steel Talon Starfinder Beginner box adventures, as they were their first forays into the games.
One of the biggest things I sort of miss is masterwork weapons and armor, that level between magic and normal weapons. That and to a degree, their changes to wands make them permanent magic items leaving a bit of a treasure gap between scrolls/talismans and permanent magic items that used to be filled by mostly spent wands.
At first the Ancestries seemed a bit shortchanged, but there is an optional rule in the GMG to have them get more ancestry feats. I think that might almost be a necessity if you are trying to convert an existing story over, and some may simply prefer that play style, and use the optional rule as a standard. But I think I eventually got to feel like even without it the game can be fulfilling as per core rules if you aren’t stuck thinking about what some ancestry used to get by baseline.
Some might find HP healing without magic kind of hmmm gamey if they are used to a more gritty setting, but you could houserule some limitations on healing, but it would impact play style. (But that would presumably be the intent if you did it). As it is it reminds me a bit of default play style of 5th edition, with respect to healing back up quickly without necessarily using magic. Really it plays pretty good though in my opinion.
It seems easier to adjust things with less unintended consequences which should help people make their own house rules on their own to make the game play their way. I think that is a big plus for it.