So, a while ago I made a post about how the content in Grimdark & Dangerous is already largely in Pathfinder 2e. And I love that, it means I won’t feel the need to wade myself down in converting my existing content from that book (which honestly is just a huge task a pain in the butt that I’m glad I don’t feel compelled to do). But also, some of these things that are comparable don’t have the same vibe I want.
Looking specifically at ancestries (PF2′s version of “race” options), a lot of the defining information for the ancestries is weighed down in context for the primary setting of the game. In this way, it can be hard to peel the mechanics away from the setting and make them more universal. To be clear, if you can ignore the setting specific stuff (like everything about the “monstrous” ancestries) the mechanics are absolutely fantastic. Character leveling and choosing features in PF2 is so... just feels so much better than d&d. Because you don’t have class levels, you just have levels.
Tangent aside, there’s also built in mechanics for how to apply these ancestries (and most every aspect of the game) to different settings. Almost everything has a sub-whatever. Ancestries have heritages, classes have sub-classes (with unique facets relevant to the class, e.g., the rogue has “rackets”), backgrounds can even have specific variants (often for different types of lore). And if that gets too messy, there are archetypes that you can build for new settings. They’re like paths for you to follow to achieve a specific build.
Honestly, I think pf2 might be the perfect system (for me, at least), but the thing it lacks the most is organization and visual design. It needs more 3rd party creators, small projects to make the information in the system simple to understand and easy to digest. 5e has those in spades (like 5e.tools which is just... a gorgeous little application), but I think it’s time for pf2 to get that same treatment.
