D&D 4E [4E Players, mainly] Ever thought of defecting to Pathfinder?

[buddhafrog]

Even using the CB from Hero Forge for PF, the process just seemed arcane and messy.

Is this the best CB for Pathfinder? I have another thread going where I asked this question and not one person even suggested heroforge. I'm going to be giving a few of them a try and see how it works.

Any good links to pre-gen characters so that I can look through and learn from them?

 

[The Halfling]

Is this the best CB for Pathfinder? I have another thread going where I asked this question and not one person even suggested heroforge. I'm going to be giving a few of them a try and see how it works.

Any good links to pre-gen characters so that I can look through and learn from them?

Best? I don't know. But it's free, though it does use Excel, since all it is is a macro'ed workbook.

 

[Dannager]

True, except that there's no guarantee that the online support for 4e would continue into 5e. That's the problem with the tools all being pulled back to a main server, for active use. In the past if I didn't have a 'net connection, I could always bring up a high level character in CB, to check powers, items, etc..

Well, right, but I think it's a moot point anyway. 5e will have online tool support, because I don't think the WotC guys will feel like they have a complete game until that's the case.

Yeah, there are downsides to having the tools moved to the cloud, like not being able to use them without a connection. And there are upsides, too, like being able to access your characters from any computer, and cross-OS compatibility. But the real kicker is that, as time goes on, the downsides become less important and the upsides become more important (it will be less common to be without an internet connection wherever you are in the future, but it will be more common to need to access your characters from multiple devices). The switch to online tools is a forward-thinking one.

 

[Gort]

To answer the original question - no. As far as I'm concerned, Pathfinder is just a rip-off of 3e with "Bob's D&D houserules" website appended onto it. I can houserule the game myself if I wanted to go back to 3.5e.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

5e will have online tool support, because I don't think the WotC guys will feel like they have a complete game until that's the case.

I think what we'll see, assuming some sort of 5e future, is a production environment where it's no longer considered acceptable to produce the game products before the online tools are ready to support them.

It's a very different online world than it was three or four years ago -- in another three or four years, it's going to be even more different. I don't think we'll sit patiently by and wait years again for the tools to come out to support the newly released game.

 

[moxcamel]

To answer the original question - no. As far as I'm concerned, Pathfinder is just a rip-off of 3e with "Bob's D&D houserules" website appended onto it. I can houserule the game myself if I wanted to go back to 3.5e.

I promise, I've no interest in edition wars , and I prefer 4e over Pathfinder also. Unfortunately, everything that made DM'ing difficult in 3 and 3.5 remains the same in Pathfinder, which is really the only reason I only play Pathfinder, and won't DM. But having said that, I think Pathfinder's quite a bit more than just house rules. I think they did a fantastic job of taking most of what was *still* wrong with 3.5, and making it better. If it's just a collection of house rules, them my hat's off to the house because I consider myself to be a pretty damn good DM, but I'd have never been able to pull it off.

 

[moxcamel]

I think what we'll see, assuming some sort of 5e future, is a production environment where it's no longer considered acceptable to produce the game products before the online tools are ready to support them.

It's a very different online world than it was three or four years ago -- in another three or four years, it's going to be even more different. I don't think we'll sit patiently by and wait years again for the tools to come out to support the newly released game.

Absolutely agreed 150%. With 4e, the tools were an add-on. Going forward with the next major edition (and for FSM's sake PLEASE don't let it be any time soon!), online tools are going to be part of the core product. It's even possible that we hold in our sweaty little hands the last physical version of D&D, although that might be a few versions down the road.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Absolutely agreed 150%. With 4e, the tools were an add-on. Going forward with the next major edition (and for FSM's sake PLEASE don't let it be any time soon!), online tools are going to be part of the core product. It's even possible that we hold in our sweaty little hands the last physical version of D&D, although that might be a few versions down the road.

Agreed 300%; I've noticed this, too.

I'm running a SR4 game soon, and people are looking for something along the lines of a character builder, because they're so used to having it available from DDI. One of the guys found a free one, but obviously you get what you pay for, as qualities weren't tagged properly (his girlfriend asked if she could take a quality that's meant for cyberzombies...), and it was just kinda poor in general.

Brad

 

[Dannager]

Absolutely agreed 150%. With 4e, the tools were an add-on. Going forward with the next major edition (and for FSM's sake PLEASE don't let it be any time soon!), online tools are going to be part of the core product. It's even possible that we hold in our sweaty little hands the last physical version of D&D, although that might be a few versions down the road.

This is one of the reasons I consider WotC to be the industry leader, not just barely, but by miles. They're the ones innovating. What WotC gambles on today as a new rules system, or new way of integrating their online presence, will tomorrow be seen as the industry standard, something gamers will expect of their game of choice. We will, I'm sure, eventually see Pathfinder move in this direction, whether or not it eventually releases a new edition. Assuming Pathfinder sticks around long enough, of course. It looks like it probably will.

 

[Ryujin]

Absolutely agreed 150%. With 4e, the tools were an add-on. Going forward with the next major edition (and for FSM's sake PLEASE don't let it be any time soon!), online tools are going to be part of the core product. It's even possible that we hold in our sweaty little hands the last physical version of D&D, although that might be a few versions down the road.

If it's any time soon then Wizards will be failing on the "into the next decade" statement, that they made in the forward of the 4e PHB.