Looking for Pathfinder-lite rules to get up and running quickly with Reign of Winter AP

[ibkevg]

Myself and a few friends are interesting in playing the Reign of Winter adventure path but none of us have played Pathfinder before. The problem is no one, including me, has a lot of time to devote to reading and coming to grips with the rules (having spent an evening now with the Pathfinder core rulebook, my head is exploding.)

Is there a rules-light style of play that would allow us to experience the story perhaps at the cost of the some richness of gameplay? For example, would it be feasible to play using only the rules found in the Beginner Set?

I know that there are other game systems that would be more inline with the time we have to devote to learning but in this case the draw is the adventure path itself.

 

[bruceparis]

My advice would be to pick yourself up a copy of the Pathfinder Beginner Box and use the rules therein (you can also get the PDF off the Paizo website for $9:99 - a bargain).

They are simpler than those found in the Core book. For example, they ignore Feats (which make PF way more complex). They also ignore a lot of the very tactical combat rules (which also make the game more complex). Only use the Core Rulebook for Character Class diversity, progression and Spells. Having said this, the GM *also* needs to ignore the Feats outlined in Monster Stats (both in the Adventure Path and in the Bestiary).

The game will be slightly deadlier for PCs (so be prepared for that) because players use Feats to min/max their characters to get around or get out of some rules. Your players might also find the game a bit "vanilla" as time goes on (because Feats aim to help players individualise their characters).

Good luck!

 

[JeffB]

PCs in the BB still have feats, but they are presented more like class abilities.Edit- it is a drastically reduced list, and the feats are of the much less fiddly variety.

I also highly recco the BB if the you feel the full system is overkill (IMO, it;s ridiculous, but my preference is heavy on story/action/fast gameplay, light on rules). My kids group and I used the BB for about a year, and it was the gateway system for them. 4 years later, we use a more modern narrative game (Dungeon World) but on occasion I will throw out a one shot using the old BB Characters and rules.