Paizo Tells You About the PATHFINDER STRATEGY GUIDE

The Pathfinder Strategy Guide releases next month, and Paizo has posted an article entitled "10 Things You Didn't Know Were in the Strategy Guide". The 160-page book is a teaching tool for optimization, with detailed walkthroughs of the 11 core classes. "Unlock the secrets of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game! Whether you’re a new player eager to jump into the action or an experienced roleplayer looking for insights and a convenient teaching tool, this 160-page guide is your new advisor at the gaming table. Unsure which feat to choose or spell to prepare? Detailed walkthroughs of all 11 core classes help you create and customize exactly the characters you want to play, and continue to offer advice as you take your adventurers all the way to the heights of power. At the same time, this book provides a quick and easy introduction to combat and advanced rules options, tips for battlefield domination and better roleplaying, and more!"

The ten things you didn't know are described in detail on Paizo's site, but here's a quick list:

1. Themes
2. Character quiz
3. Class specific introductions to spellcasting
4. Tactical advice for combat
5. Overview of non-combat roleplaying situatons
6. How to start running your own games
7. Character sheet help
8. Beginner's guide to reading spell descriptions and other mechanics text
9. Detailed instructions for levelling up
10. Pointers toward further exploration on nearly every page

​

 

[Morrus]

I would really like to see Paizo take everything they have learned about rpgs since Pathfinder came out and make their own system from the ground up, perhaps one that is set in its own unique world. Something like Exalted, Anima, Alpha-Omega, or Rifts where it is their own sandbox to play in, no need to meet the themes and rules expectations of players looking to them to fill the void left by 3.5

That's not really what it's core audience wants, though. They want Pathfinder.

I guess they could as a side project.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I bought the 4E Strategy Guide and it was... interesting. It was fascinating to me to see what the designers decided were common playstyles and typical player actions. Some of it was right on point and some was alien to my group. In the end, it was definitely entertaining reading.

I expect this will entertain me as well.

 

[turkeygiant]

That's not really what it's core audience wants, though. They want Pathfinder.

I guess they could as a side project.

Oh yeah for sure, if much smaller publishers like onyxpath and monte cook games can have multiple systems, Paizo should most definitely be able to swing it

 

[itsjustsoup.com]

I wonder If I really need this book. I have like all of them and we only play out of 3.

 

[Henry]

I still laugh at the fact that they are publishing a book about how to play their game well (meaning: how to play it as a clever gamer, surfing and manipulating the rules for mechanical ends), when they already have a core rulebook. It's a tacit admission that their system - the rules plus all the expansion material - is simply too big and too complicated...

Are you aware that WotC published a book on how to "play their game well" within a year of its release? (called the Hero Builder's Guidebook). Plus, this book's focus is primarily on the core rulebook, not combing through splatbooks - they's not "admitting" anything, they originally designed this for gamers moving from their Basic box set to the core rulebook to better transition to the full game with all rules turned on. They had "Basic Pathfinder" before 5e did.

That said, it's not for everyone, despite the ad copy - but it will be handy for people who are at first overwhelmed. I know there are plenty of gamers out there who don't want the full level of complexity that Pathfinder offers - I would steer those people to 5 e instead. however, there is quite a sizable market for gamers who want the ability to tweak their characters that 3.x scratches that 5e does not - I'm not happy with the way skills were implemented, myself, even if I do find vast improvements in everything from Magic levels to monster handling for DMs. But there's quite a market for Pathfinder, one which keeps Paizo happily employed and about two to three times the size of the RPG team, so it's not exactly doomed to failure just yet.

And with THAT said, I consider the Advanced Class Guide the first major misstep they've made In terms of expansion products. Fantastic ideas, terrible execution IMO. Ultimate Combat had some bombs, but not to the level of ACG. Both development and editing I think need a little more review time, because both books were riddled with unclear rules and needed errata, and there has been tons of discussion on the Paizo boards on class balance for Gunslingers, Slayers, Investigators, Swashbucklers, and Arcanists.

 

[itsjustsoup.com]

Did they really kick it up a notch in here? Like is there a section that specifically lays out how I can play my own Elven Machine-Gunner of death from level 1-20? That's a book they shouldn't publish, but they SHOULD publish it!

 

[Minicol]

All is good, if it allows new players into the hobby an easiest ride !

 

[Starfox]

I think this book is the link from the beginners box and the core book its to help people catch up with players who have been playing since 3.5 days.

I bought the 4E Strategy Guide and it was... interesting. It was fascinating to me to see what the designers decided were common playstyles and typical player actions. Some of it was right on point and some was alien to my group. In the end, it was definitely entertaining reading.

I expect this will entertain me as well.

Wise words.

My experience with official optimization guides is that they're not really very optimized at all - its more a guide to avoid pitfalls. Very basic stuff. If they have merit at all, it is in establishing a "bottom tier" - you have to be this good or better. They also disclose many of the company group's playstyles and notions of what goes into the game - which often directly contradicts rules as written. I am not going to by this, but if I played in Pathfinder Society or was a beginner, I think it could have been very useful to learn many of the base assumptions of the game and how it is played at Pazio.