Pathfinder 1E What Made You Switch To Pathfinder?

[KahlessNestor]

I didn't. I play both. But I prefer 5e. I just spent 6 hours converting a 12th level PFS druid to paper from HeroLab. :/ I do enjoy PF, but find myself with splat paralysis. I own most books and hav3 yet to use anything outside of core.

 

[fjw70]

I play in a Pathfinder game since that is what the group is playing. 3/3.5/PF is actually my least favorite version of D&D.

 

[Queer Venger]

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.

I actually switched from PF to D&D 5e. PF was fun, but when it took me 2 hours to create a 9th level character I decided it didn't work for me anymore.

 

[messy]

pathfinder took my favorite edition and removed xp costs for spellcasting and item creation. works for me.

 

[qstor]

I actually switched from PF to D&D 5e. PF was fun, but when it took me 2 hours to create a 9th level character I decided it didn't work for me anymore.

I think if you're familiar with any system you can make a character pretty easily. I've played a little 5e but I really liked 3.5e and its more of a progression to Pathfinder.
I recently got HeroLab and its pretty easy to make a character with. But a lot of times I still use the old fashion pen and paper.

 

[Queer Venger]

I think if you're familiar with any system you can make a character pretty easily. I've played a little 5e but I really liked 3.5e and its more of a progression to Pathfinder.
I recently got HeroLab and its pretty easy to make a character with. But a lot of times I still use the old fashion pen and paper.

The 2 hours was with Herolab, my friend has the entire suite of rules. Don't get me wrong, I like the customization/optimization aspects of PF, but sometimes you just want to jump into the game and play, and I don't always want to play a pregen.

 

[Aura]

When Pathfinder launched, our gaming group was still playing 3.x. There was a bit of trepidation about 4E, although one of the members was quite comfortable with the system, he wasn't running a game. So, none of us had considerable 4E experience at that point it time.

Additionally, all the 4E experience I did have was entirely negative. I had been in three 4E games at local gaming conventions, and every single one of them was a disaster. Even though the reasons these games were so horrible had little to do with the system (all three DMs were terribad), it was hard to look past the association.

Then here comes Pathfinder. I noticed it existed, but didn't really do anything about it. I was enjoying the games I played in, so I was happy. However, the next gaming convention I went to, the 4E games were almost entirely gone. In their places was a large, apparently happy community of Pathfinder players. Since I like to try new things at conventions, I signed up. It was some big adventure with multiple tables of players all working towards the same goal (later found out this was an early generation PFS special). Even playing a level 1 pregen, I had a pretty good time of it.

However, that doesn't cause a switch. I go home, sleep it off, and the next Sunday, I'm back to running my 3.5 Forgotten Realms campaign. Life goes on. However, a convention or two later, I'm thinking of making my own PFS character so I don't have to use pregens, and I actually started to look at the game. I was really happy with character creation, mostly in terms of being able to get the look and feel I wanted.* This is when I started increasing my involvement with the game.

* I generally feel if players are not happy with their characters, they are not happy with the game. It sounds a bit simplistic, but seems to hold true more often than not.

 

[Aura]

The 2 hours was with Herolab, my friend has the entire suite of rules. Don't get me wrong, I like the customization/optimization aspects of PF, but sometimes you just want to jump into the game and play, and I don't always want to play a pregen.

For the most part, I find character customization and time to create a character to be competing variables. Within my personal criteria, the time to create a character is a minor issue to optimize a game system around, as I play characters for years at a time. One of my DM's started a 1st Edition campaign, and by the time it was over, 3rd Edition was out. I realize this is something of a YMMV sort of endeavor--if you're playing short scenarios with different characters each time the generation time might have more meaning to you. Or, maybe there is something I'm not seeing here. However, I'm surprised to hear someone complain about a 2 hour in-time on an mid to upper level character.

 

[KahlessNestor]

Hell, I might spend 2 hours on a first level character! Making sure I get all the piddly little numbers right, reading guides so I'm halfway competent, etc. Don't get me wrong. I still play, and enjoy it, but have to create new characters for PFS every few levels. But I would dump it for 5e in a heartbeat if I was forced to choose. I have also met quite a few players and DMs that got annoyed if you didn't know what you were doing. 5e doesn't have that (yet?).

 

[Hereticus]

When Pathfinder launched, our gaming group was still playing 3.x. There was a bit of trepidation about 4E, although one of the members was quite comfortable with the system, he wasn't running a game. So, none of us had considerable 4E experience at that point it time.

Additionally, all the 4E experience I did have was entirely negative. I had been in three 4E games at local gaming conventions, and every single one of them was a disaster. Even though the reasons these games were so horrible had little to do with the system (all three DMs were terribad), it was hard to look past the association.

Then here comes Pathfinder. I noticed it existed, but didn't really do anything about it. I was enjoying the games I played in, so I was happy. However, the next gaming convention I went to, the 4E games were almost entirely gone. In their places was a large, apparently happy community of Pathfinder players. Since I like to try new things at conventions, I signed up. It was some big adventure with multiple tables of players all working towards the same goal (later found out this was an early generation PFS special). Even playing a level 1 pregen, I had a pretty good time of it.

However, that doesn't cause a switch. I go home, sleep it off, and the next Sunday, I'm back to running my 3.5 Forgotten Realms campaign. Life goes on. However, a convention or two later, I'm thinking of making my own PFS character so I don't have to use pregens, and I actually started to look at the game. I was really happy with character creation, mostly in terms of being able to get the look and feel I wanted.* This is when I started increasing my involvement with the game.

* I generally feel if players are not happy with their characters, they are not happy with the game. It sounds a bit simplistic, but seems to hold true more often than not.

For the most part, I find character customization and time to create a character to be competing variables. Within my personal criteria, the time to create a character is a minor issue to optimize a game system around, as I play characters for years at a time. One of my DM's started a 1st Edition campaign, and by the time it was over, 3rd Edition was out. I realize this is something of a YMMV sort of endeavor--if you're playing short scenarios with different characters each time the generation time might have more meaning to you. Or, maybe there is something I'm not seeing here. However, I'm surprised to hear someone complain about a 2 hour in-time on an mid to upper level character.

As someone who still plays four character concepts created in the early 80s and had gone from AD&D, 2e, 3e, 3.5e to Pathfinder, you are correct about the game being much better if you like your characters!

I tried 4e, and despite it being a completely different game I enjoyed the experience. But it was very flat before the changes. Then again we had a creative and fair DM, and interesting players.

To be honest, I did not like 5e at all. I had always preferred playing spell casters, and that system killed the magic both literally and figuratively.

Creating the simple framework of a character is easy, you pick a class, a race, assign stats, buy equipment, then portion out skill ranks. It is the customization that takes hours, and a couple of game sessions. Picking the right traits, drawbacks, feats, alternate racial traits and archetypes to completely flesh out the personality and quirks.