Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder RPG Beta Preview 3

[Roman]

More information on the Pathfinder RPG Beta from the third preview: http://paizo.com/paizo/blog

Pathfinder RPG Beta Preview #3
Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Beta Playtest Edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is off to the printer and is due to be released in mid August. In anticipation, we are previewing some of the changes made from the Alpha stage as well as taking a look at some of the brand new content. In this preview, we are investigating some of the new rules that can be found in the Beta Playtest Edition.

Equipment: All of the basic equipment is here, plus a few new weapons to round out the list. The starknife is finally part of the Pathfinder RPG, meaning that clerics of Desna now have the correct weapon. Although this material is not strictly "new," some of it has been carefully tweaked to fit with other rule changes.

Traps: The system for creating traps has receive a significant overhaul. Although the end result is mostly the same, the formulas now allow for traps that go all the way up to CR 20. When building a trap using the Pathfinder RPG rules, the amount of damage and average number of targets is now more important, meaning that traps that hit the entire party, draining far more resources, are of a higher CR than traps that only target one character. A trap's CR can also increase dramatically if it lasts more than one round. Here are a few examples.

Swinging Axe Trap: CR 1
Type mechanical; Perception DC 20; Disable Device DC 20
Trigger location; Reset manual
Effect Atk +10 melee (1d8+1/x3); multiple targets (all targets in a 10-ft. line)

Frost Fangs Trap: CR 7
Type mechanical; Perception DC 25; Disable Device DC 20
Trigger location; Duration 3 rounds; Reset none
Effect jets of freezing water (3d6 cold damage, DC 20 Reflex save for half damage); multiple targets (all targets in a 40-ft.-square chamber)

Meteor Swarm Trap: CR 19
Type magic; Perception DC 34; Disable Device DC 34
Trigger sight (true seeing); Reset none
Effect spell effect (meteor swarm, 4 meteors at separate targets, +9 ranged touch, 2d6 plus 6d6 fire (no save on a hit), DC 23 Reflex save for half damage on a miss, 18d6 fire damage from other meteors (DC 23 Reflex save for half damage); multiple targets (four targets, no two of which can be more than 40 ft. apart)

Spells and Magic Items: Both of these chapters have been expanded to a gigantic size (with the spells chapter alone coming in at 120 pages). While much of the content in these chapters is unchanged, a number of spells and items received some updates in the Beta, mostly to bring them in line with the rest of the rules. Due to space concerns, some of the spells and magic items were cut, but will be available in a free web enhancement for the book, due out at the same time the Beta Playtest Edition is released.

You will be able to grab the Beta Playtest Edition as a free PDF here at paizo.com or as a soft-cover, 408 page, full-color book. The book will be on sale at Gen Con, through our web store, and from your favorite local game store. Check back next week for a look at the Beta playtest process as well as what is in store for the next year of development.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Interesting, though I am not sure I would have selected a trap preview...

Question: Assuming Meteor Swarm is still a Level 9 spell available for level 17 Wizards or level 18 Sorcerers - why is a one-shot trap using it CR 19?


Will the Beta also be available as a PDF (free?), or are these times gone? I am not entirely up to date here... (Maybe I should just read the link? )

 

[Roman]

Question: Assuming Meteor Swarm is still a Level 9 spell available for level 17 Wizards or level 18 Sorcerers - why is a one-shot trap using it CR 19?

I guess traps work slightly differently in terms of CR calculations - the unexpected nature of the traps if not found or other factors (for example, they essentially add actions to the enemy if utilize in sync with enemy combatants) may add to the CR. We will have to wait until the Beta is released to find out.

Will the Beta also be available as a PDF (free?), or are these times gone? I am not entirely up to date here... (Maybe I should just read the link? )

The Beta will indeed be available as a free PDF (though those that prefer a physical copy can buy the 400+ page book for a rather low price considering the pagecount).

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I guess traps work slightly differently in terms of CR calculations - the unexpected nature of the traps if not found or other factors (for example, they essentially add actions to the enemy if utilize in sync with enemy combatants) may add to the CR. We will have to wait until the Beta is released to find out.

No enemy wizards managed to surprise a party? I totally do not buy the surprise factor. Especially for Meteor Swarm - even if you are not surprised, there are good chances that even unsurprised PCs will take some damage!

Well, I suppose it's hardly a new problem (though I remember that standard traps had a CR = spell level. Which I didn't like that much, either, but it seems "fairer" judging from the XP gained this way.)

The Beta will indeed be available as a free PDF (though those that prefer a physical copy can buy the 400+ page book for a rather low price considering the pagecount).

Nice...

 

[Roman]

No enemy wizards managed to surprise a party? I totally do not buy the surprise factor. Especially for Meteor Swarm - even if you are not surprised, there are good chances that even unsurprised PCs will take some damage!

Well, it was just a quickly concocted hypothesis - in reality, we will have to wait until Beta's release to see what are the underlying reasons for that.

 

[James Jacobs]

Also: the way traps work is very much not finished. We want traps to be able to scale up as far as monsters, and the implied "topping out" at CR 10 is what we're trying to avoid. Personally... I do think that a trap that just shoots a single 9th level spell at you is not worthy of a CR 19 trap... but that's what the next dozen or so months of playtesting is for.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Also: the way traps work is very much not finished. We want traps to be able to scale up as far as monsters, and the implied "topping out" at CR 10 is what we're trying to avoid. Personally... I do think that a trap that just shoots a single 9th level spell at you is not worthy of a CR 19 trap... but that's what the next dozen or so months of playtesting is for.

The topping out at CR 10 is bad, I agree. A single level 9 spell as CR 19 doesn#t work either. I've seen one nasty/inventive trap in one of the Dungeon adventure paths, that fired off a spell twice. I think in that case, it was a little overpowered, but generally, the idea has its appeal - just ensure that not all damage is dealt in one round.

 

[Knightfall]

Fyi...

Paizo just announced the various Q1 products for 2009. Here's a link to the Pathfinder Chronicles section...

http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/paizoPublishingLLC/pathfinder/pathfinderChronicles

New under this category are the following...

• Second Darkness Map Folio (Jan '09)
• Dragons Revisited (Feb '09)
• Dark Markets -- A Guide to Katapesh (Mar '09)
• The Great Beyond -- A Guide to the Multiverse (Apr '09)

 

[Papa-DRB]

Will the Beta also be available as a PDF (free?), or are these times gone? I am not entirely up to date here... (Maybe I should just read the link? )

Yes, you can get a free PDF of the Beta, plus the online supplement for it. Or you can buy the softcover for $25.00 (USD).

-- david
Papa.DRB

 

[Lizard]

re:Free Beta
Damn, Paizo is Pure Class. (I will be buying the hardcopy at GenCon and DLing the PDF for use on my laptop. Win/win!)

Will the Beta include monsters, or is it basically the PHB+DMG?