GM's Starter Guide
[[TOC]]
There's a load of modules for PF2e, but the best advice is to start without any of them and only add them if you think you need them - the system is designed to be complete without using modules!
There's a list of currently recommended modules in the FAQ on the Community Discord.
All published Paizo monsters are included in the system. Don't import all the NPCs at once - just import them as you need them. If you import every single NPC, your Foundry world will grind to a halt, and you'll miss any corrections to the NPCs.
Artwork isn't included, as we're not allowed to share that. You can get the artwork from official PDFs, extract and apply them with the PDF to Foundry module (you need to drag the creatures out of the compendium to see the art, not all creatures have art that can be added this way), google image search, or from the Archives of Nethys. If you'd like to update the artwork en masse, the Compendium Image Mapper module can help automate most of the process.
The best way to do this is by hand - start typing!
If an NPC has a button for a saving throw (like a dragon's breath weapon) you need to edit the text according to the Style Guide
Adding items to an NPC won't give them new attacks or increase their AC, or do anything else really. Items for NPCs are there for PCs to loot!
If you want to give an NPC a new attack, you need to create a new attack action, using the advice from the Gamesmaster Guide to set the appropriate values.
There's a clock in-built with the system, which lets you tracks rounds, hours, days and weeks. If you advance time too far, you can go back by entering a negative value in the 'advance' box:
These work similarly to NPCs. All the Paizo ones should be included, and the simplest way to make custom hazards is to type them in.
One very useful actor type is the Loot Actor. There are two modes for this sheet: loot and merchant. To make a merchant version, create a loot actor, press ‘configure loot’ and select ‘merchant’:
A common practice is to create a single loot actor called "Party Loot."
When the party have defeated some NPCs, drag the party loot actor onto the scene. Open up the loot actor, and select the defeated foes, and press "Loot selected tokens." That will move all the loot from the NPCs into the party loot chest. The PCs can now merrily loot the chest!
The items you add this way are only placed on the loot token within the scene, and not in the main actor directory. This means you can re-use the same party loot actor across multiple rooms/scenes, with each copy having different items on it.
One thing to be aware of is that a lot of stock NPCs don't have "real" items. An item might say "+1 striking longsword" but it’s effectively a placeholder item. This is something that will be corrected going forward, but there is quite a list of such items and will take some time to update.
Mystification
When you add items onto a loot actor, you can press the ? symbol to obscure the identity of the item. The GM will see the real name in brackets, but the players only see “Unidentified Weapon”: GM's view
Player's view
If you click the ? again, it will show you the standard DCs to identify the item, based on it’s level and rarity. If you press Identify Item, it will reveal the identity.
You can also set an item as unidentified by editing the item:
The mystification tab also lets you set a different icon, name and description text for the unidentified version. By default, unidentified items are called "Unusual (item)" and have the same description.
If a player takes an item from a merchant, it will automatically deduct the relevant amount of gold from the PC. The exceptions are if the PC owns the merchant actor or the merchant still has the edit box checked - in which case, all the items are free!
You can adjust the price of items within the merchant manually, but there’s no way to set a global discount.
PCs also can’t sell automatically to merchants - if they transfer an item, they don’t get any money back.
If you toggle on this option:
Then players can open up the sheet of an NPC that has zero HP, and take their loot. This is what the player will see:
A lot of people make use of the Quick Rolls module. This guide focuses on how to run combats without that module.
All NPCs have 0.5 added to their initiative rolls, to ensure they go before PCs on a tie. To have a PC use a different skill for initiative, there’s a drop down on the sidebar:
For NPCs, you need to the roll the correct skill, and press this button from chat:
If you know that all of your kobold rogue NPCs will always use Stealth for initiative, you could make their perception equal to their stealth to speed up rolling initiative. Just remember to note down the real perception value in case it becomes relevant!
Flanking is detected automatically, taking into account position, reach and abilities that prevent being flanked. It only applies to creatures on the same 'team', e.g. two player-owned tokens can flank a GM-owned token, or two GM-owned tokens can flank a player-owned token. There's no way to indicate temporary allies for the purposes of flanking.
If you target a creature with a specific condition (like flat-footed), situational effects (like a rogue's sneak attack) will automatically activate.
You can also indicate that you're attacking a flat-footed target by using the toggle at the top of the PC's action tab. This won’t apply the condition to the target. What it does do is activate sneak attack and other effects that care about a flat-footed target.
If you have a target selected and attack them, the GM (and only the GM!) will see this information in chat:
Note, if you're using Token Action HUD, this doesn't work right now.
If a PC or NPC casts a spell, anyone who’s affected can press the ‘Save DC’ button to make their character roll a save. If the spell has a trait (e.g. fear) and you have a bonus against such effects, it will be automatically applied.
Monster abilities that ask for a save (like a dragon's breath weapon) also have a button for players to press. The GM can see the DC:
But the player can't:
If the player presses the save button, the GM will also see the result of the save:
The player doesn't see the DC or the save outcome line.
In some cases, other information will be GM-only, e.g. recharge rolls. This is slowly being added into the existing monsters.
There’s a compendium called Action Macros which has macros for every skill-based action you might do in combat. If a PC uses one of these macros, it will roll the correct skill and apply all the relevant modifiers, and show the traits of the action.
There's in-build support for all of the Pathfinder 2 conditions. Select a token, right click, and select the middle right icon to bring up the condition menu
You can increase the value of a condition with left click, and decrease with right click. The effects of conditions automatically apply to everything PCs do, and everything NPCs do (so long as you use experimental strikes).
You should be able to see all the conditions and effects on an actor in the top right-hand part of the screen. You can right-click on the icons here to remove the condition or effect, and can also mouse-over them for their name and remaining duration.
If you can't see them, you can re-enable the setting from here:
To adjust the Damage taken by a creature according to circumstantial changes you can use the buttons on a damage roll. (in order: Normal damage, half damage, double damage, toggle shield block state (if you have a shield equipped and this button is dark it will automatically reduce the final damage taken by the shields hardness and apply it to both the worn shield and the actor) and healing.
If you hold shift while clicking on any of these buttons (save the shield block toggle) a menu will come up that allows you to increase the damage by typing in the number of additional damage taken (like weakness 3 to positive damage)
If you go to the system option pages, there's support for the following optional rules:
- Stamina
- Automatic bonus progression
- Free archetype
- Proficiency without level
The 'Homebrew settings' option pages lets you add new traits, languages, magic schools, weapon groups, which you can then apply to custom items.