TOME OF SECRETS (Pathfinder License) -- Preview #1

[GMSkarka]

Originally Posted by Sammael

Is the book going to be available through other retailers, namely Amazon? The only reason I'm asking are the usually prohibitive international shipping prices, which Amazon somehow manages to keep reasonable (I'm guessing they have their own cargo planes or at least a very good contract with one of the carriers).

It will be available through traditional distribution in November. Amazon should be able to get it.

We're offering a flat-rate for shipping, domestic OR international, with the pre-order, though -- it's one of the benefits of placing a pre-order.

[Eridanis]

Yup; the artificer pushes me over to the "buy" column. (It's what I always wanted to try in a character concept, but never had the time to work up rules for.) Guess I'll stop by Thursday at GenCon!

[Remathilis]

Ok, Pink Elephant-in-the-room time,

How compatible ARE these classes to their obvious inspirations?

Some of the classes being mimicked (knight, warlock, artificer) have unique mechanics and niches. How close do the ToS classes come to the WotC versions?

Close enough to mix-and-match (IE use artificer infusions from Eberron with my ToS artificer?)

Close enough to convert stat blocks (IE does my NPC swashbuckler need to be re-written from scratch, or merely just updated to account for new names and added abilities)

Can I convert PCs previously using the WotC versions to the ToS ones and have them fill a similiar role and party niche? (IE will my warlock PC still feel the same after converting him to ToS)

If the answer to any or all of these is yes, ToS moves up my list of purchases. If it doesn't, it becomes less important for me to purchase.

[GMSkarka]

Short answer: They aren't.

Longer answer: The compatible material that does appear is based on Open Content sources. We've got some material which was *inspired* by closed-content material, but the inspiration was as far as that goes -- original systems were designed.

That said, I would say that I can answer Yes to your last question: Can I convert PCs previously using the WotC versions to the ToS ones and have them fill a similiar role and party niche?

The role and party niches are absolutely the same -- and the feel should be similar.