Been a while since I've played an RPG like this. If you like old-school CRPGs
like Baldur's Gate 1-2 or Icewind Dale, definitely give this a try. Hell, if you
liked BG3 but felt like the character build options were a bit lacking, go for
it as well; Character levels go all the way to 20 (plus Mythic ranks) and
there's a ludicrous amount of classes and sublcasses to choose from.
Multi-classing works the same as in BG3, just with way more choices. Or you
can just go all in on a single class to get its capstone ability at 20.
There's two types of combat you can switch between at any time: Realtime with
pause like the old-school games mentioned above, and turn-based combat. The
latter works basically the same as in BG3: At combat start everyone rolls for
Initiate to determine the turn order, then every actor gets a round per turn.
One round consists of a move action, a swift action, and a standard action. You
can also spend your standard action for a second move to double your speed,
akin to how you can use your action in BG3 to sprint. Lastly, certain
spells/abilities require a full action, so you can only use them if you don't
move this turn. One notable difference is that your move action can also be
used to drink a potion or use other items from your belt, unlike in BG3 where
doing so would normally use your quick action.
It should be noted that this game is running on Pathfinder 1e, which was in
turn a spinoff from DnD 3rd Edition. Most things work as you'd expect when
coming from Baldur's Gate 3 (DnD 5e), but spell slots are very different.
There's two types of casters: Spontaneous and Prepared. The former work
basically how you're probably used to: They get a certain number of spell slots
per spell level and can use them to cast any spell of that level that they
know. For the latter you have to go into their spellbook on their character
sheet and assign spells to their appropriate slot. Say, you want to have three
Fireballs prepared. Then you need to fill three lvl 3 spell slots with Fireball
and can then cast that spell three times per rest. Generally speaking,
spontaneous casters are more flexible in the moment, but prepared casters learn
more spells in total and are thus more adaptable when you have time to plan
ahead. Just don't be me and forget to have your Cleric or Wizard actually
prepare their spells, then wonder why they underperform half the time lol.
Last but not least: Instead of upcasting, most spells scale with your class
level. A lvl 6 Sorcerer casting a Fireball will deal 6d6 damage. The same
sorcerer with the same spell at lvl 10 will deal 10d6 damage while still only
using a lvl 3 spell slot. This tends to cap out, but just because a spell ist
1st level doesn't mean it is useless at later levels.
