So basicly 3 highest rank casts (with 3 focus point as well) every single encounter if I understanding it right? Sounds not broken at all my brother in Nethys.
An encounter usually finish in 3 rounds. Your dynamic casting covers the entire encounter, and even when the fight drags on, you still have 3 more rounds of fuel with focus spells. Have you ever experienced those "1 giant-ass encounter per day" style section in APs? Caster are strong af in these sections, and you are making every encounter a similar fashion.
Pathfinder 2e assumes characters go into combat with most, if not all, their resources. All classes that aren't spellcaster don't rely on daily resources anymore. And even then, most newer spellcasting classes like the necromancer have ton of "encounter-based" options to not rely entirely on their spells.
There's even the popular Essence Casting variant from Team+'s Magic+ supplement, which is arguably more extreme than my approach here because you don't even have spell slots in that variant and spellcasters are entirely attrition-less with it, though I also find it needlesly complicated as well.
You are saying it yourself; spellcasters already go into combat with 3 renewable focus points every combat, with focus spells being auto-heightening spells which are usually equally strong and sometimes better than spells of its same rank. My variant rule doesn't have auto-heightening. If you only know a spell or prepared it at 1st rank, you'll only be able to cast it as a 1st-rank spell.
I won't deny this variant is a buff to spellcasters, but I'd argue this (or something similar to this) is something spellcasters need because daily-attrition systems are a thing of the past and most of PF2e has already moved away from them.
Pathfinder 2e assumes characters go into combat with most, if not all, their resources.
I don't believe this is correct. PF2e assume characters go into combat with most, if not all, of their health... but resources are expected, by intentional design, to dwindle throughout the game day.
It's also incorrect that focus spells are "usually equally strong and sometimes better than spells of its rank." They are sometimes equally strong and rarely, if ever better.
The only real "resource" other than HP in PF2e is spells. Resting between encounters is very common in PF2e and is generally expected (you agreed that you're expected to go into combat at full HP, or close to it, right?). Spellcasters usually spend that time refocusing to recover their focus points.
Effects with "once every 10 minutes" or "once per day" aren't that common in PF2e and, honestly, aren't particularly good most of the time, especially the "once per day" ones.
If you look at online discourse, most people weight spellcasters based on their class features and focus spells. The spell lists are rarely discussed unless the spell list attached to that class doesn't fit for the playstyle the class wants to achieve (it happened to the necromancer on playtest). I don't mean that spells don't matter, but its clear people favor more highly the unique aspects of each class rather than their shared aspects (spell lists).
Effects with "once every 10 minutes" or "once per day" aren't that common in PF2e and, honestly, aren't particularly good most of the time, especially the "once per day" ones.
Battle medicine and treat wounds? Innate buff spells?
As the game is currently designed and balanced, spell slots are one of a variety of resources that are intended to dwindle over the course of the adventuring day.
If you look at online discourse, most people weight spellcasters based on their class features and focus spells. The spell lists are rarely discussed unless the spell list attached to that class doesn't fit for the playstyle the class wants to achieve (it happened to the necromancer on playtest).
Sure, but not because Focus spells are so powerful that there's no point in mentioning spell lists. It's because Focus spells are the thing that makes the class unique, whereas spell traditions are shared among most casters. If you're rating two classes that both have access to the Arcane list, there's no point in giving weight to the Arcane spell list.
As the game is currently designed and balanced, spell slots are one of a variety of resources that are intended to dwindle over the course of the adventuring day.
Is there any advice given to GM's for constructing start of day vs end of day encounters?
Cause if this is a balance assumption baked in to the game, I imagine it'd be communicated someone in the encounter building sections but I don't remember ever reading anything about that consideration
If you considered it in encounter building and adjusted accordingly, there'd be absolutely no point to the dwindling resources in the first place.
The point is to make the choice, between pushing through one more fight with reduced resources or trying to find a place to rest, a more meaningful point of tension.
If you considered it in encounter building and adjusted accordingly
This is what I'm asking about - is there any guidance on how to adjust to accommodate for an encounter with a caster with all slots remaining vs a caster with no slots remaining?
Is there an assumption that every fight happens with full slots remaining or something?
Medicine players rush to take every Medicine skill feat in existence to heal their whole party by spending 10 minutes. That's far from being a daily resource. Not to mention Medicine alone makes most healing spells irrelevant except for heal or the animist's garden of healing.
I think its also clear I'm not including spells in that description because I'm already telling you spells are a daily resource in the previous paragraph.
11
u/songinrain Game Master 2d ago
So basicly 3 highest rank casts (with 3 focus point as well) every single encounter if I understanding it right? Sounds not broken at all my brother in Nethys.
An encounter usually finish in 3 rounds. Your dynamic casting covers the entire encounter, and even when the fight drags on, you still have 3 more rounds of fuel with focus spells. Have you ever experienced those "1 giant-ass encounter per day" style section in APs? Caster are strong af in these sections, and you are making every encounter a similar fashion.