Pathfinder 1E What Made You Switch To Pathfinder?

[Starfox]

As an ancillary to the Thread: What made you stick with 3.x?, what made you take the leap from 3.x to Pathfinder?

For me, it was largely the OGL. Everything in Pathfinder is under OGL, which means it can all be published at places like d20pfsrd.com. I also like the general trend of the PF changes, tough they often didn't go far enough for my tastes. Still, shortened buff durations, unified combat maneuvers, more abilities for mundane classes, and more color to spellcasters all contributed.

The downs? In the beginning, there were lots and lots of small changes that crept up on me - it took a long time to become a confident Pathfinder GM. The changes are subtle, but the overall effect is remarkable - PF is another game than 3.5.

 

[Tonguez]

Pathfinder was 3x done well and OGl was a bonus. The Adventure Paths were good material and 4e sucked so there is no reason to change

 

[billd91]

Paizo was writing some good adventures and had won my appreciation as a customer.
I liked many of the changes while still appreciated the backward compatibility.
I didn't like 4e.

 

[Kinak]

I'd largely dropped out of the 3.x loop, waiting to see whether 4e would be an improvement (like we found 3.0 over 2e).

Part of it was the changes, like channel energy and sorcerer bloodlines, but a lot was just being impressed with Paizo's general corporate ethos and approach.

We got the Beta and Core Rulebook, but didn't start seriously playing until we jumped into APs with the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition. They've been pulling us along nicely and there are still a few my players are excited to have me run.

I also agree with the above that the OGL is a huge bonus. I like having all the feats, even for books I own, in one place. And knowing that work I do customizing the system can be shared and sold adds a layer of value to the game for me.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[gamerprinter]

I finally wanted to try and publish a homebrew setting with my Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG) in 2008. Since 3x was officially gone, replaced by 4e with the GSL and not the OGL. Pathfinder RPG was soon to be released in its final version with the OGL (I had been playing with the Beta already). So it was all about timing. Since I'm still publishing Kaidan material on an ongoing basis, I'm fully committed to using PF as a creator and a GM.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

In retrospect, had I known how D&D 4e was going to turn out, I would’ve done Pathfinder instead. That being said, I’m currently enjoying both D&D 5e and Pathfinder. What convinced me to give Pathfinder a try was not actually D&D, it was Shadowrun.

At conventions I was playing both D&D Adventurer’s League and Shadowrun Missions (their organized play). And I got increasingly frustrated with Shadowrun Missions. Love the setting, and have been playing it since 1e. But their organized play system has loose to no tiers. So it’s like going in with a 1st level character and finding out that everyone else is playing 20th level characters. That and it seemed like in every SRM module, there was always someone getting stuck with nothing at all to do, repeatedly.

Anyway, to cut to the chase, I wanted something to play at cons instead of Shadowrun, so I decided to give the Pathfinder Society a try. And ended up having a blast.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I switched from 3.5 to Pathfinder because 3.5 had too many supplements, and it wasn't worth the effort to try and find a whole group of players willing to play 3.5 core only.

I switched from Pathfinder to 5E because Pathfinder had too many supplements, and it wasn't worth the effort to try and find a whole group of players willing to play Pathfinder core only.

 

[DaveMage]

Cuz 4E was the suckiest bunch of suck that ever sucked.



(And WotC's promotion of 4E was even more of a turn-off than the game itself.)

 

[Thotas]

I was another one not impressed by 4e. Didn't so much hate it as just didn't feel that "Oh, I gotta play this" burn that the 3rd edition gave me when I opened that book. I didn't jump on the Pathfinder bandwagon immediately, though. I looked at how much 3rd edition material I have, both .0 and .5, the fact that I was about 50 years old, and how much opportunity I get to game ... and realized that I was set for life. I'm going to die before I could ever burn through this stuff, I don't need any more gaming material. I kept hearing that Pathfinder was an improvement over 3.5, but I didn't think it could be enough to justify the expense. So I just saw 3.5 as a complete game. And then I got bored one day, wanted something new just to read ... and picked up the first installment of the Kingmaker Adventure Path. Looking at stats, I got curious about "CMD" and "CMB". So looked them up in the Core Rulebook, and thought. "Oh, this is better." Still didn't need to have it to use it ... but eventually, I had to know what was different and if all of it was better. So I bought the book and ... I think you can guess the rest.

 

[Ezequielramone]

The relation customer-company feels more humanly.
Everything free on the internet.
Backward compatibility.
Tons of fixes to the game. Lots of mechanical changes and additions I love. (Huge amount of mechanical things, could write an entire message about this).
Structured product lines which I can choose from.
Nice setting.
Great support.
Still can play dnd with beholders and stuff.
Less classes (until very recently). the archetypes system work wonderfully for me. The same for race customization.
Options for classes that didn't have them.
Hardbooks redefine the game every time (not with codex or ultimate equipment).
Nice comics.
4e wasn't my thing. Still playing and loving 5e.
The style of the art may be childish, but has great quality.
Adventures are great (been playing rise of the runelords, playing kingmaker and some modules for a while).