Pathfinder 2e: Partial Level Proficiency

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Partial Level Proficiency
SECOND EDITION

Proficiency Changes

When calculating proficiency for your characters, instead of adding your level to your proficiency, instead add half your level, rounded up. Your total proficiency bonus for each rank then becomes this:

Proficiency Rank Total Proficiency Bonus
Untrained 0
Trained (Level/2) + 2
Expert (Level/2) + 4
Master (Level/2) + 6
Legendary (Level/2) + 8

Example: Firag the Dwarf is level 5. Her proficiency bonus for anything she is Trained in is +5 (+3 for her level, +2 for being Trained). Her proficiency bonus will be increased by 1 at level 7, and every odd level after that.

Improvization Feats

Feats that would normally let you add half your level in lieu of your Proficiency bonus instead add 1/4 your level (rounded up).

Feats that would normally let you add your level in lieu of your Proficiency bonus instead add 1/2 your level (rounded up).

Opposition Adjustment

For creatures, hazards, magic items, and so on, reduce each statistic that would include a proficiency bonus by half the level of the creature or other rules element, rounded down. These statistics are typically modifiers and DCs for attacks, ACs, saving throws, Perception, skills, and spells.

Finally, decrease the skill DCs of most tasks to account for the level being removed. On the next page are modified versions of the tables used to determine DCs of tasks (normally found on Core Rulebook pg 503), or you can use the Listed DC Adjustment Table on the next page to more directly convert DCs for this rule variant. The new DCs are about as hard as the Dcs in the Core Rulebook, but you may find that characters that have specialized towards a specific skill or attack will succeed more often than those who did not, even against tasks that are a few levels above them. Combat encounters will tend to spread out a bit, especially with spell saves, where correctly targeting a monster or PC's weak save will more often result in critical failures on their part.

This variant presents a change to the proficiency bonus system, scaling it differently for a style of game that’s outside the norm. This is a significant change to the system.

The proficiency rank progression in the Core Rulebook is designed for heroic fantasy games where heroes rise from humble origins to world-shattering strength. The proficiency rank progression in the Gamemastery Guide is designed for gritty games about hedging bets in an uncertain world. For some games, neither narrative arc quite fits the arc your players want. Such games are usually about characters growing in power, but in a world where truly epic power is out of reach for the players, and monsters from a wide range of power can still threaten and challenge the players. In games like this, your group might want to consider keeping level-based proficiency, but limiting its growth to a more reasonable level.

Adjusting Encounters

Under the math in the Core Rulebook, two monsters of a certain level are roughly as challenging as a single monster 2 levels higher. However, with level being halved from proficiency , this assumption is no longer true. The XP budget for creatures uses a different scale, as shown in the adjusted Table 10–2: Enemy XP (Half Level). You’ll still use the same XP budget for a given threat level as shown on Table 10–1: Encounter Budget on page 489 of the Core Rulebook (80 XP for a moderate-threat encounter, 120 for a severe-threat encounter, and so on).

TABLE 10-2: Enemy XP (Half Level)

Creature's Level XP
Party level - 5 11
Party level - 4 14
Party level - 3 18
Party level - 2 23
Party level - 1 31
Party level 40
Party level + 1 54
Party level + 2 70
Party level + 3 96
Party level + 4 125

Elite and Weak

When adjusting creatures using the Elite and Weak rules (Bestiary pg 6), only increase or decrease their AC, attack modifiers, DC's, saving throws, Perception, and skill modifiers by 1. All other changes stay the same.

Adjusting Treasure

Use the same guidelines for adjusting treasure as noted in the Levelless proficiency option (Gamemastery Guide, pg 196).

TABLE 10-4: Simple DCs

Proficiency Rank Simple DC
Untrained 10
Trained 14
Expert 18
Master 24
Legendary 30

TABLE 10-5: DCs by level

Level DC
0 14
1 15
2 16
3 17
4 17
5 18
6 19
7 20
8 20
9 21
10 22
11 23
12 24
13 25
14 25
15 26
16 27
17 28
18 29
19 30
20 30
21 32
22 33
23 35
24 36
25 38

TABLE 10-5B: Spell DCs by Level

Spell Level DC
1st 15
2nd 17
3rd 18
4th 20
5th 21
6th 23
7th 25
8th 26
9th 28
10th 30

Listed DC Adjustment Table

Listed DC Adjusted DC
16 or less no adjustment
17-18 17
19-20 18
21-22 19
22-23 19
23-24 20
24-25 20
25-26 21
26-27 22
27-28 22
28-29 23
30-31 24
31-32 25
33-34 26
35-36 27
36-37 28
37-38 29
39-40 30
41-42 31
43-44 33
45-46 34
46-47 35
48-49 36
50 38

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