Pathfinder 2e Basic Rules Doc

Basic Rules and Info for Pathfinder 2e **So this document is 8 pages long. It’s not necessarily needed to go through the whole thing right at the start. However, I would suggest taking at least a quick look/skimming Basic Actions, Hero Points, Exploration Mode, and Downtime Mode to get a general feel for how these concepts work in the game.
Degrees of Success There are four degrees of success within Pathfinder 2e. Critical Failure, Failure, Success, and Critical Success. The DC for a task is the divide between the Failure states and the Success states. A Critical Failure is a result that fails to meet the DC by 10 or more. A Critical Success is a result that exceeds the DC by 10 or more. Additionally, a natural 20 on the d20 roll increases your level of success by 1 (From critical failure to failure, failure to success, and success to critical success). A natural 1 on the die roll lowers your level of success by 1.
Flat Checks When a flat check is called for, you roll a single d20 and add nothing to it. The result is simply the result of the die. These typically represent things that succeed or fail purely based on chance.
Multi-Attack Penalties If you make multiple attacks during your turn, all attacks past the first one (Unless stated otherwise by the ability granting you the attacks) suffer a Multi-Attack Penalty. This penalty is -5 for the second attack on a turn, and -10 for the third, and all subsequent attacks in one turn. If your attack has the Agile trait, the penalties are -4 and -8 instead. In addition to weapon and unarmed attacks, spell attack rolls and certain skill actions, such as Shove, also count towards and use your Multi-Attack Penalty. Multi-attack penalties do not apply on turns other than your own, such as when a reaction or triggered free action would allow you to make an attack.
Doubling or Halving Damage Certain effects, like a critical success on a strike, may cause you to double your damage. When you double your damage both the dice rolled and the normal modifiers, bonuses and penalties are all doubled. You may choose to either roll twice the normal amount of dice, or roll the normal amount of dice and double the resulting value. Additional benefits gained specifically from a critical hit are not doubled. When halving damage, you roll the standard number of dice, add all relevant modifiers, bonuses, and penalties, and then half the resulting total (Rounding down if necessary)
Unconsciousness and Dying When brought to 0 HP, you become unconscious. Your HP’s do not drop below 0. Your initiative, if in combat, immediately moves to directly before the turn in which you were knocked unconscious and you gain the Dying 1 condition. If you were knocked out by a critical hit (Or a critical failure on a saving throw) you are set to dying 2 instead. If your dying condition ever reaches Dying 4 you are dead. If you take damage while you have the dying condition, your dying condition increases by 1 (or 2 in the case of a critical hit or your own critical failure). When your dying condition is reduced to 0, you gain the Wounded 1 Condition. If you already had the Wounded condition, it instead increases its value by 1. While you have the wounded condition, anytime your dying condition would increase, either by being brought to 0 HP, or being damaged while dying, your dying value increases by 1 (or 2 for crits) + the value of your Wounded Condition. While dying, at the start of each of your turns you may make a recovery check. A Recovery Check is a flat check with a DC of 10+your dying level. On a critical success, you reduce your dying value by 2. On a success you reduce it by 1. Failure increases it by 1 and Critical Failure increases your dying value by 2. If your dying value is reduced to 0, you remain unconscious but are stable. If your HPs are ever brought above 0, your dying value is immediately reduced to 0. You can reduce your Wounded condition by either having someone restore hit points to you with the Treat Wounds Skill action, or by being at full HP and resting for 10 minutes. Either of these conditions fully remove the wounded condition. . Light Levels There are three general light levels in Pathfinder, Bright light, Dim light, and Darkness. In Bright light, creatures and objects can be clearly observed by anyone with average or better vision. In Dim light creatures and objects are considered Concealed unless the viewer has dark-vision, low-light vision, or a precise sense other than vision. In Darkness creatures and objects are considered hidden or undetected unless the viewer has Darkvision, or a precise sense other than vision. Creatures without these senses in darkness have the Blinded condition (although they are still able to see illuminated areas normally. Sudden transitions from Darkness to Bright Light may temporarily dazzle creatures.
Detecting Creatures There are four levels of detection in Pathfinder that relate to how well you can see and target creatures or objects. Observed: Creatures or objects that are observed can be seen and targeted normally. Observing requires a precise sense (Such as vision for most player characters) Hidden: A creature that is hidden is only barely perceptible. They may have just gone behind cover, be in a thick fog or smoke, or be hidden by a semi-opaque material such as a waterfall. You know what space a hidden creature is in, but cannot precisely target them. When targeting a hidden creature, you must first attempt a DC 11 Flat Check. On a failure, the targeting action is wasted. You are considered Flat-footed against Hidden creatures Undetected: When a creature is Undetected you don’t know what space it is in, but you know that it is present. You may use the Seek action to render an undetected creature simply Hidden instead. You can not directly target an undetected creature, but you can guess at where it is and attack that roll. In this case, a DC 11 Flat check with the same effects as the Hidden Flat check is rolled. However, both your attack roll and the Flat Check become Secret rolls and are rolled by the GM, and you won’t be told if a miss was due to a low attack roll, failing the flat check, or because the targeted space was actually empty. You are considered Flat-Footed against Undetected enemies. Unnoticed: You are unaware that Unnoticed creatures are in the area. Certain abilities can only be used against creatures that you are unnoticed by and you are considered Flat-Footed against Unnoticed Enemies. Related Conditions: Concealed and Invisibile: Two conditions, Concealed and Invisible, are closely related to levels of Detection. A Concealed creature is hidden by something that obscures sight lightly but does not provide a physical barrier to attacks. When targeting a Concealed creature you must first attempt a DC 5 Flat check. A failure means the targeting ability is wasted. Invisible creatures can not be detected by sight, making Invisible creatures automatically Undetected to creatures whose only precise sense is Sight. Precise senses other than Sight ignore the Invisible condition. You may use the Seek action to try to target an Invisible creature, rendering them only Hidden on a success as normal for Undetected creatures. Other conditions and effects may make an Invisible creature hidden rather than undetected, such as heavy dust or snow showing footprints when they move, you seeing them turn invisible and hence knowing where they were, or throwing some sort of substance over the target leaving a physical marker of its location.
Hero Points Hero points represent truly heroic or extraordinary efforts of skill or willpower. You start each session with 1 hero point, and may gain additional hero points during play. You never have more than 3 hero points at one time, and lose all unspent hero points at the end of a session. The GM awards hero points in play for particularly daring, heroic, difficult, or poignant/in-character acts. Hero points may be spent in two ways, Neither of which are an action and which can both be used even if you are otherwise unable to use actions. You may also spend hero points on the behalf of your familiar or animal companion. You may Spend one hero point to reroll a check, including attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws. You must accept the result of the second roll, and this counts as a Fortune effect meaning you can only spend 1 Hero Point per check. You may spend all your Hero Points (at least 1) to avoid death. Whenever your Dying condition would increase, you may instead spend your Hero Points. Doing so causes you to lose the Dying condition and stabilize with 0 HP. You do not gain the Wounded condition or increase its value when you lose the Dying condition in this manner, although if you already had the condition you don’t lose or reduce it either. Basic Actions During your turn in combat rounds, you have three actions to use as you seen fit. Abilities are widely divided into Actions (which take a single action) and Activities (Which take 2 or more actions to complete)

The Following are a series of basic actions available to all characters Aid (Reaction) Trigger: An ally is about to use an action that requires a skill check or attack roll Requirements: The ally is willing to accept your aid and you have prepared to help (See below) You spend a single action on your turn to prepare to help, explaining to the GM how you intend to aid the ally. When you use this reaction you attempt a skill check or attack roll as determined by the GM, typically with a DC of 20. On a critical success, your ally gains a +2 Circumstance bonus (+3 if you are a master and +4 if you are legendary with the skill used) to the triggering check. On a success you only grant a +1 and on a Critical failure the ally takes a -1 Circumstance penalty Interact (Single Action, Manipulate) You use your hand or hands to manipulate an object or the terrain. This includes actions such as grabbing an object, opening a door, or pushing a crate. Some interact actions may require a skill check to succeed. Leap (Single Action, Move) You may leap up to 10 horizontally if you have at least 15’ of movement speed and up to 15 feet if your speed is at least 30, landing in the final square of that movement. If you leap vertically you can travel up to 3 feet vertically and 5 feet forward onto elevated surfaces. Longer or higher jumps require an Athletics check. Ready (Two Actions, Concentrate) Choose a single action or a free action you can use and designate a trigger to activate it. Your turn then ends. If the trigger you designate occurs before the start of your next turn you may use your readied action as a reaction. If you have a multiple attack penalty and the action you take is an attack action, it takes the multi-attack penalty you had at the time you readied the action. This supersedes the general rule that attacks outside of your turn don’t normally take multi-attack penalties. Seek (One Action, Concentrate, Secret) You search for creatures or objects. Choose an area you are scanning. You can scan a 30’ cone or a 15 foot burst with line of sight to search for creatures, and a 10 foot square adjacent to you to search for objects, hidden doors, and hazards. The GM attempts a single secret Perception check for you against the relevant Stealth DC’s. On a Critical Success any undetected or hidden creatures become observed by you (unless something like invisibility or cover prevents them from being seen, in which case they remain Hidden but not Undetected) If you were searching for an object, you find its location. On a success any undetected creatures become hidden and any hidden creatures become observed. If you were searching for an object you determine a clue about its whereabouts, or learn its location as determined by the GM. Stand (Single Action, Move) You stand up from Prone Step (Single Action, Move) Requirements: you have a speed of at least 10’ You carefully move 5 feet. Stepping does not trigger reactions, even ones typically triggered by move actions. You may not step into difficult terrain, and you may not step using a speed other than your land speed. Stride (Single Action, Move) You move up to your speed Strike (Single Action, Attack) You attack with a weapon you’re wielding or an unarmed attack. On a critical success you double your damage. On a success you deal your normal weapon damage. Take Cover (Single Action) Requirements: You are benefitting from Cover, are near a feature that allows you to take cover, or are prone. You gain the effects of standard cover (+2 circumstance bonus to AC, Reflex saves against AoE and to stealth checks to hide, sneak, or avoid detection). If you would already have cover, you gain greater cover instead (+4 Circumstance bonus to the same). This effect lasts until you move, use an attack action, become unconscious, or end the effect as a free action. Point Out (Single Action, Auditory, Manipulate, Visual) Requirements: A creature is undetected by one or more of your allies, but isn’t undetected by you. You render the creature hidden instead of undetected to your allies. This only works for allies who can see you and are in a position where they could potentially detect the target. If your allies can’t hear or understand you they must attempt a Perception check against the targets Stealth DC or they misunderstand where you are directing their attention.
Skill Actions: These actions are associated with specific skills. There are many more skill actions that you may want to check out, but here I am only listing actions that may be used untrained and are likely to come up in combat situations. Recall Knowledge (Single Action, Concentrate, Secret) Multiple Skills Attempt a skill check to remember a bit of knowledge about the subject. On a critical success you remember the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context. On a success you remember the knowledge accurately and gain a useful clue or piece of info about your current situation. On a critical failure, you remember the information incorrectly and gain an erroneous or misleading piece of information. Balance (Single Action, Move) Acrobatics You attempt to move along a narrow surface or uneven ground, moving your full speed on a critical success and half your speed on a success. On a failure you must remain stationary to keep your balance, losing the action. On a critical failure you fall and your turn ends. Tumble Through (Single Action, Move) Acrobatics You stride up to your speed and attempt to move through the space of one enemy. Attempt your Athletics check against the enemies Reflex DC. on a success you move through the enemy, treating its space as difficult terrain. On a failure your movement ends and you trigger reactions as though you had moved out of the space you started in. Grapple (Single Action, Attack) Athletics Requirements: You have at least one free hand or have your target grappled or restrained. Your target is no more than one size category larger than you Attempt an athletics check against the targets Fortitude DC. On a Critical Success the target is restrained until the end of your next turn unless you move or your target uses the Escape action successfully. On a success your target is grabbed until the end of your turn unless you Move or they Escape. On a failure the target is no longer grappled, even if they were grappled by you. On a Critical Failure they are no longer grappled by you and may either grab you as though they had succeeded at a grapple check or force you to fall and land prone. Shove (Single Action, Attack) Athletics Requirements: You have at least one hand free and the target is no more than one size category larger than you Attempt an athletics check against the targets Fortitude DC. On a critical success you push the target up to 10 feet away from you and may move after, but only the same distance and direction that you shoved them. On a success you push the target back 5 feet and may follow in the same manner as a Critical Success. On a Critical failure you lose your balance and fall prone. Trip (Single Action, Attack) Athletics Requirements: You have at least one hand free and the target is no more than one size category larger than you Attempt an Athletics check against the targets Reflex DC. On a Critical success they fall prone and take 1d6 bludgeoning damage. On a success they simply fall prone. On a critical failure you lose your balance and fall prone. Create a Diversion (Single Action, Mental) Deception With a distracting gesture, trick, or words you draw a creature's attention elsewhere. For a gesture or trick this gains the manipulate trait, and for words it gains the Auditory and Linguistic traits. Attempt a single Deception check against the Perception DC of the creature or creatures you are attempting to distract. Regardless of the result, these creatures gain a +4 Circumstance bonus against future attempts to Create a Diversion from you for 1 minute. On a success you become Hidden to these creatures until the end of your turn, or you use an action other than Hide, Sneak, or Step. On a failure the creatures are aware you tried to trick them. Demoralize (Single Action, Auditory, Concentrate, Emotion, Fear, Mental) Intimidation Choose a target you can see within 30 feet of you and attempt an Intimidation check against their Will DC. If the target does not understand the language you are speaking, or you aren't speaking a language, you take a -4 circumstance penalty to the check. Regardless of your result, they become immune to further Demoralize attempts from you for 10 minutes. On a critical success the target gains the Frightened 2 condition. On a success they become Frightened 1 instead. Administer First Aid (Two Actions, Manipulate) Medicine You administer first aid to a creature with the Dying or bleeding conditions. If they have both you must choose which you are treating for. The DC to stabilize a dying creature is 5+the creature's Recovery Roll DC (typically 15+Dying value). The DC to stop bleeding is usually the DC of the effect that caused the bleed. On a success the target loses the dying condition but remains unconscious, or may attempt another flat check to remove the bleeding condition. On a Critical Failure the creature's dying condition increases by 1, or they immediately take damage equal to the persistent bleeding damage they have. Hide (Single Action, Secret) Stealth While behind cover, greater cover, or concealment, attempt a stealth check against the Perception DC of each creature you are observed by. On a success you become hidden to creatures that you were observed by. You cease being hidden if you take any action other than Hide, Sneak, or Step. Sneak (Single Action, Move, Secret) Stealth Stride up to half your movement speed (rounded down). On a success you remain undetected during your movement. On a failure you remain hidden, but not undetected by observing creatures. On a critical failure you become observed. If it is impossible for you to be observed by the target (Such as by being invisible, or the target is blinded)treat this as a failure instead.
Reactions and Free Actions Reactions are abilities that may be used outside of your turn. You may use one reaction per round, regaining spent reactions at the start of your turn. Each reaction has a trigger that dictates when it can be used. Free actions are actions that can be used on your turn, but do not take one of your three actions to use. You may use any number of free actions on your turn. Some free actions have triggers like reactions. These free actions may be used outside of your turn and may only be used when their trigger states. Unlike reactions, you may use multiple free actions with a trigger in a round. However, each trigger may only activate one free action or reaction, even if the same triggering event has the potential to activate multiple reactions or free actions from a character. You choose which action is actually activated Flanking You are considered flanking an opponent if you and an ally are on opposite sides of it. This is determined if you can draw a line from the center of your square to the center of an allies square and it passes through opposite sides or opposite corners of the enemies space. A creature is considered Flatfooted towards opponents that are flanking it. Cover There are three types of cover. Lesser cover provides a +1 bonus to AC, Standard cover provides a +2 to AC, Reflex, and Stealth checks, and allows you to hide behind it. Greater Cover provides a +4 to AC, Reflex, and Stealth and allows you to hide behind it. All bonuses are circumstance bonuses. Exploration Mode Exploration mode takes place while traveling, through wilderness, along roads, within cities, and within dungeons. Given the nature of this campaign, large portions of the campaign will take place in Exploration mode. While traveling, there are a number of Exploration activities you can take. Common exploration activities include the following: *Avoid Notice: Move at half speed and attempt a stealth check to remain unnoticed while traveling. *Defend: Move at half speed, keeping a shield raised. If combat breaks out, you start combat having the benefits of the Raise a Shield action. *Detect Magic: You move at half speed or slower and intermittently cast detect magic. You detect all magic auras as long as you are not traveling faster than 300 feet a minute, and detect them before the party encounters them if traveling no more than 150 feet a minute. *Follow the Expert: Choose an ally attempting exploration activities requiring a skill check that they are at least an expert in. You may add your level as a proficiency bonus to such checks even if you are untrained, and you gain a circumstance bonus to the check based on the experts skill proficiency (+2 for expert, 3 for master, and 4 for legendary) *Hustle: You move double your travel speed. You may only hustle for up to 10*Con Mod minutes (minimum 10). If a group is hustling together, you use the lowest Con modifier among the group. *Investigate: You travel at half speed and seek out information about your surroundings. You use the Recall Knowledge action as a secret check using a skill of your choice. The GM determines if the given skill has any useful bearing on the region you are currently in. *Repeat a Spell: You repeatedly cast the same spell, or sustain an already cast spell, while traveling at half speed. Typically, in the case of repeat castings, the spell is a cantrip and the spell must not take more than 2 actions to cast. *Scout: You scout ahead or behind the group, searching for danger. You move at half speed, and at the start of the ent encounter your entire party receives a +1 Circumstance bonus to initiative rolls. *Search: You search for hidden doors, concealed hazards, obscured items, and so on. You may move at half speed, making educated guesses as to which spots are best to check, or you may move at 300 feet per minute (or 150 feet to ensure you find things before walking into them). The Expeditious Search skill feat increases these paces. If you encounter a hidden, concealed, or otherwise obscured item the GM will make a free secret Seek check to see if you notice it Other Exploration skills and Actions: Feel free to come up with your own ideas for what you would like to do during travel and we’ll decide how to best run them/what their effects are”
Rest and Daily Preparations A standard rest is 8 hours of rest over a 24 hour period. After resting you regain HP equal to your Con. Mod (Min 1)* level and certain conditions are improved or removed. Sleeping in armor or going for more than 16 hours without rest gives you the Fatigued condition, which cannot be removed until you have rested at least 6 consecutive hours. Daily preparations happen after finishing a rest. They can happen only after finishing a rest and only once per day. During these preparations you regain spell slots and prepare spells if you have any, regain Focus points if you have any, and regain and abilities that refresh during daily preparations or can only be used x times a day, such as charges for some magical items. During Preparations you may also don armor, weapons, and other gear and invest up to 10 worn magic items. Downtime Mode During downtime, you rest, craft items, perform research, train or retrain, perform long term care or healing, such as treating diseases, and perform other activities that take days, weeks, or longer to perform.