Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder Alpha "crunch" discussion

[Hunter In Darkness]

Okay, I guess maybe I do need to break down and download the Alpha 1.1 book... becuase depending on what gets lumped into the "combat feat" category, that strikes me was one of the dumbest things I've every read.

So a 3.5 character use both Cleave and Dodge in the same round (I recall those being "combat" feats), but a Pathfinder character can't?

Well Cergorach put it better then me put yes go download the alpha and give your feed back

 

[Evil Monkey]

I haven't read through the whole thread, so apologies in advance if anything I say has already been hashed to death.

Let me start by saying that I absolutely LOVE what Paizo is doing with Pathfinder. What I've seen of 4e really doesn't do it for me, even though there are some things I will probably incorporate into my 3.x game. However, Pathfinder has me geeking out about D&D again in the same way 3E did back in 2000.

On to the crunch:

RACES: Mostly, I like what they have done with the races. The only issue I have is the additional ability bonuses. While I will probably keep the floating +2 bonus for half-elves and humans, I am leaning towards dropping the other races' additional bonuses (bonii?). I already dropped the Charisma penalty for half-orcs in my homebrew setting, and I just don't think that all the races need to have a net +2 ability score bonus in order to be a worthwhile choice. That's what all those special abilities are for, right?

CLASSES: For the most part, I love what they've done with the four classes in the Alpha 1.1 release. The low-level rogue talents and fighter training/mastery powers are great. Domain and school powers for clerics and wizards are just what the doctor ordered, though I do take issue with the fact that most of them are simply spell-like abilities. The flavorful powers (hand of the apprentice, artificer's touch, touch of chaos/evil/good/law, etc.) are SOOOOO much more interesting than chain lightning 1/day, etc. I would really like to see future releases replace as many spell-like abilities as possible with more flavorful powers.

SKILLS: I prefer a skill point system over the "choose these many skills, get max ranks in those skills" that Pathfinder is doing. However, I love the way they consolidated the skill list (esp. Perception; rules for all 5 senses is pure awesome!), and so in my home games I will still be using skill points, just with the smaller list of skills that Pathfinder uses.

FEATS: No complaints about this chapter whatsoever, especially since they got rid of the whole "to use this feat, you must have used X feat in the previous round."

SPELLS: I haven't actually looked at the spells yet, but I'm assuming they are pretty much the same as in 3.5, just incorporating the changes to combat maneuvers.

Overall, I am mighty stoked about Pathfinder, so much so that I will be renewing my subscription (which I had let lapse after 4e was announced, thinking my days of buying D&D products were done). In my personal opinion (and it is only MY OPINION, so please no flames), WotC is producing a whole new game, while Pathfinder is continuing the traditions of D&D that I've known and loved for the past 16 years.

Great job, Paizo! I can't wait to see what you guys do with the rest of it!

EDIT: Any chance of getting a release date (or even estimation) of Alpha release 2?

 

[Psion]

(And it seems it's not only Psion that does like skill points )

Humph. So much for my investment in "crazy pills".

 

[doghead]

pathfinder - crunch

Chained combat feats are gone. Good. I was just about to have a rant over that.

I'm still not that sure I see the advantage of splitting the old feats into general and combat, with the only one feat in the latter category active in any one round. Part of it, I admit, is resistance to the idea of having to go through and resort all the feats in my mind, power attack is a ordinary feat (that can be used in combat), cleave is a 'combat' feat. At first glance, the reasons for making one one type and the other another don't seem particularly clear.

My other concern relates to two of the supposed goals of the Pathfinder system - streamlining the game and keeping it backward compatible with 3.5. This splitting of the feats seems to be moving the game in the wrong direction in both cases.

doghead
aka thotd

 

[Psion]

pathfinder - crunch

Chained combat feats are gone. Good. I was just about to have a rant over that.

Have you listened to the 3.5 Private Sanctuary podcast? Consider your rant "had".

 

[doghead]

Consider it considered.

doghead
aka thotd

 

[Nyarlathotep]

So have many people had a chance to try the grappling rules out yet?

I've completed our third session under the Pathfinder Alpha rules (playing Rise of the Runelords) and am seriously... underwhelmed about grappling. It reads great on paper, but sure doesn't seem to be much fun in actual play. Anyone else get this feeling or is it just me?

 

[catsclaw227]

Have you listened to the 3.5 Private Sanctuary podcast? Consider your rant "had".

Linky??