Yeah I get you. I think as for your offer, I played pathfinder once, a long time ago, right when 5e was new and when pathfinder was at it's prime. I can't say I enjoy pathfinder deeply and prefer 5e due to the simplicity of 5e. Pathfinder gets real numbery and becoming "broken" gets easy whereas 5e, there isn't much to do (unless you really really try). I also personally despise the madness/sanity rules. My own personal taste is that I detest any debuff that "interferes with personal agency" (Now if you take a cursre weapon and an incredibily stupid decision or under some super special condition then I'm fine with that). I also hated that in Descent into Avernus that you had to make wisdom saving rolls and a failure lead to becoming "Lawful Evil" to which I dipped immediatly (playing the same paladin, so you can imagine my oath was broken very early on because I had to act my new alignment). I also incredibly despise the Ravenloft gimmick of "All of your spell effects become spooky gothic horror oooooo spooooky." It really takes away the creative freedom of describing what you do, and just kills the vibes very early on. When it comes to Curse of Strahd, I like the aesthetic and I like gothic literature but every time I join one with my buddy it becomes the same issue. That issue being that the DM tries to turn it into "spooky ghosts and horror" and I roll my eyes every time I see it. Its always a DM vs players feeling where the DM is just "messing with players for the sake of it," and then there's always stacking debuffs via madness, lingering injuries or unnecessarily nerfing the paladin because the paladin isn't afraid of the vampires and it just gets so tiresome. The theme is fine but the game just becomes a survival game like Darkest Dungeon, where I'm hoping for more something akin to Castlevannia or "gothic lord of the rings" (If that makes sense). I along with a buddy of mine are looking for something that feels more heroicy, like Diablo 4. Not easy baby mode, like it can be spooky, but it's always the same old "This isn't a game for heroes, its a game for survival and heroics are pointless and just get you killed." If that makes any sense, and I hope it isn't too much to ask for.
