I haven't played Pathfinder 2e, but from what I've read if you want something like D&D but deeper and with rules that work, it's the superior choice. If you want shallow but still somehow complex, D&D is an okay pick. Some people legitimately do like that D&D 5e just has some initial weirdness to learn, and then you can coast on "I move and attack" for the rest of your career.

Personally, I prefer Fate for a light weight game. It's also free. https://fate-srd.com/fate-core

[–] ProfessorOwl_PhD@hexbear.net 5 points 9 months ago

I brought a 5e-only player and 2 5e-over-PF players in for my current PF2e campaign and quickly converted them completely, because while 5e is, as you say, shallow but somehow complex, PF2e is deep but somehow simple. Three action economy, save and skill DCs, degrees of success - they're simple and easy to remember and use, so you can still make a move-attack-raise shield character, but it's just as easy (and worthwhile) to do more complex things like combat manoeuvres and spellcasting as they use the same mechanics.

I honestly think most 5e players would much prefer to play PF2e but are scared away by the percieved complexity and choices, and could be quickly convinced with a few sessions of play. I onboarded all my players with a couple of the free RPG day oneshots.