Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder Intro Set - What Do You Want To See?

[Treebore]

I just don't think it will be a good idea for Pathfinder to try to support two different games that compete for the same audience.

That exact same argument was proposed when they announced doing Pathfinder in the first place.

Plus they will not be competing, they are doing a lead in set of rules that will be aimed at leading people deeper into the system.

If not, so what? The vast majority of their product line is adventures, monster books, and other supplementary material. They can definitely make a basic system which stays highly, if not completely, compatible with all of that material. So why would Paizo care if your playing with the stripped down and more basic version of Pathfinder or the full fledged version, both are meant to get people to buy the meat and potato products of the company, the adventures and other supplementary material.

 

[Perram]

That exact same argument was proposed when they announced doing Pathfinder in the first place.

I don't really think so, Treebore. At least if you are referring to 4e as the other game... because Paizo isn't and never has supported 4e. Paizo only supports 1 game: Pathfinder.

They don't even directly support 3.x any longer except through the built in backwards compatibility. The moment Pathfinder launched, all their products were written with Pathfinder stats.

Plus they will not be competing, they are doing a lead in set of rules that will be aimed at leading people deeper into the system.

If not, so what? The vast majority of their product line is adventures, monster books, and other supplementary material. They can definitely make a basic system which stays highly, if not completely, compatible with all of that material. So why would Paizo care if your playing with the stripped down and more basic version of Pathfinder or the full fledged version, both are meant to get people to buy the meat and potato products of the company, the adventures and other supplementary material.

It would be extremely difficult to continue to write support material for a full Pathfinder and a Pathfinder Lite. It would constantly be a struggle to keep the stats and tactics equally feasible and balanced without essentially writing two sets of stat blocks for each creature / encounter.

 

[Treebore]

I don't really think so, Treebore. At least if you are referring to 4e as the other game... because Paizo isn't and never has supported 4e. Paizo only supports 1 game: Pathfinder.

They don't even directly support 3.x any longer except through the built in backwards compatibility. The moment Pathfinder launched, all their products were written with Pathfinder stats.



It would be extremely difficult to continue to write support material for a full Pathfinder and a Pathfinder Lite. It would constantly be a struggle to keep the stats and tactics equally feasible and balanced without essentially writing two sets of stat blocks for each creature / encounter.

The way I see it you wouldn't have to write two sets of stats. The simpler rules would just have you pair down the existing write ups, not rewrite them from the ground up.

So all they would have to do, if they do it the way I would, is write up the basic rules and then do all their other product lines as normal, because for the basic rules you will just edit, or pare down, the full rules product to work for it.

 

[bagger245]

Since we have the Advanced Player's Guide, it would be nice to have a Basic Player's Guide for a PF lite.

I would think that intro sets nowadays are only crippleware where they just serve the same purpose of those free rpg day giveaways. The only way a successful intro set would work is that the it act as a foundation of the game rules ala 80s Redbox or Dragon Age rpg.

 

[Jorunkun]

Or maybe not, for reasons spelled out in this thread:
What the World needs: E6 in Book Format

In short: When people hear E6, they have much different expectations.

Well, opinions on what E6 is or is intended to be may differ. My point is not that the set must be labled "E6" or even include the "feats instead of levels" rules - just that it might be clever if they did indeed cut off class info, spells and all the rest of it at that point, and signal this on the cover of the box. This way, newbies would know what they are getting and veteran gamers interested in E6 would have a reason to buy the set as well.

Kids are not stupid... but I think the intro game should not use maneuvers, for example.

I didn't say (or mean) that. But I think it is fair to say that, on average, the reading ability of 12-to-15-year-olds is less developed than that of adults. And that the current edition of the core rules was written primarily for people already familiar with tabletop role-playing games in general and the 3.5 rules in particular. So a clearer re-statement of the rules with a different target-group in mind would make sense, IMO.

Similarly, a "simple English" ruleset would probably also benefit role-players whose native language is not English.

And a map and tokens, to help them visualize the first few sessions.

Good point, agree.

 

[Walking Dad]

Well, opinions on what E6 is or is intended to be may differ. My point is not that the set must be labled "E6" or even include the "feats instead of levels" rules - just that it might be clever if they did indeed cut off class info, spells and all the rest of it at that point, and signal this on the cover of the box. This way, newbies would know what they are getting and veteran gamers interested in E6 would have a reason to buy the set as well.

I agree with all of this but the use of the term E6. If the rules just end at level 6, same veteran gamers would doubt the reason for calling it E6. And newbies will not know the meaning of E6.

I didn't say (or mean) that. But I think it is fair to say that, on average, the reading ability of 12-to-15-year-olds is less developed than that of adults. And that the current edition of the core rules was written primarily for people already familiar with tabletop role-playing games in general and the 3.5 rules in particular. So a clearer re-statement of the rules with a different target-group in mind would make sense, IMO.

A clearer format and formulation of the rules is always nice and shouldn't be only done for intro sets, but I agree.

Similarly, a "simple English" ruleset would probably also benefit role-players whose native language is not English.

To be honest, it isn't that hard to understand (my native language isn't English, neither) and for those who need it, a translation will work even better. Pathfinder has a translation into my native language (but I'm used to play PBP, so I prefer the English version to get the technical terms right. It's sometimes hard to translate it back).

 

[Skytheen]

Is there any word on when the Pathfinder intro set would be expected to be released?