Pathfinder 1E My New Pathfinder Policy

[Jared Rascher]

So, lately, I've come to be a bit frustrated with a few things about Paizo. They still put out some really excellent adventures and some really interesting campaign setting material, but I'm leery of rules bloat with books like Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat following so closely on the heels of the APG, and I think that the new policy of the Adventure Paths to not reprint anything in Pathfinder RPG books that an adventure uses, assuming, essentially, that everything is "core," is an unproductive change and a little hostile to new adoptees of the ruleset.

In Paizo's defense, the response has been that every Pathfinder RPG book will be added to the PRD site that Paizo maintains. As a counter to this, the first installment of the Carrion Crown AP references monsters from the Bestiary 2, but that source has yet to be added to the PRD.

Also, while the game is far from unplayable, there are several rules questions that have gone unanswered, and the goal post for when the questions will be answered seems to always be moving to "after we get the next big release out," at which time a new release is announced, and the FAQ gets pushed further back.

I've been a fan of Paizo for a while, but I've decided to adopt a few new policies for my own campaigns and my own purchasing habits, based on the above.

1. If something does not make it into the PRD, its not legal in my campaign.

2. If a product isn't in the PRD, I'm not purchasing it. This gives multiple benefits, as it holds Paizo to their promise of getting rules posted on the PRD, and it allows me to look at the rules before I implement them or buy the book, and thus can spot potential power creep or unaddressed rules problems before I use them.

3. If a product references a source that isn't in the PRD, I'm not getting that product until the rules show up in the PRD. Since I didn't have this rule in place before I picked up the first installment of the Carrion Crown AP, I already picked that up.

I'm just hoping that, at least in my corner of the Paizo consumer universe, I can slow things down a bit. Just something I'm trying out, in an attempt to remain positive but still address what I see as some potential problems.

 

[joela]

So, lately, I've come to be a bit frustrated with a few things about Paizo. They still put out some really excellent adventures and some really interesting campaign setting material, but I'm leery of rules bloat with books like Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat following so closely on the heels of the APG, and I think that the new policy of the Adventure Paths to not reprint anything in Pathfinder RPG books that an adventure uses, assuming, essentially, that everything is "core," is an unproductive change and a little hostile to new adoptees of the ruleset.

In Paizo's defense, the response has been that every Pathfinder RPG book will be added to the PRD site that Paizo maintains. As a counter to this, the first installment of the Carrion Crown AP references monsters from the Bestiary 2, but that source has yet to be added to the PRD.

Also, while the game is far from unplayable, there are several rules questions that have gone unanswered, and the goal post for when the questions will be answered seems to always be moving to "after we get the next big release out," at which time a new release is announced, and the FAQ gets pushed further back.

I've been a fan of Paizo for a while, but I've decided to adopt a few new policies for my own campaigns and my own purchasing habits, based on the above.

1. If something does not make it into the PRD, its not legal in my campaign.

2. If a product isn't in the PRD, I'm not purchasing it. This gives multiple benefits, as it holds Paizo to their promise of getting rules posted on the PRD, and it allows me to look at the rules before I implement them or buy the book, and thus can spot potential power creep or unaddressed rules problems before I use them.

3. If a product references a source that isn't in the PRD, I'm not getting that product until the rules show up in the PRD. Since I didn't have this rule in place before I picked up the first installment of the Carrion Crown AP, I already picked that up.

I'm just hoping that, at least in my corner of the Paizo consumer universe, I can slow things down a bit. Just something I'm trying out, in an attempt to remain positive but still address what I see as some potential problems.

It's always your campaign.

 

[Nikosandros]

As an online reference for PF, I use d20 PFSRD, which is a fan maintained site that includes most of the open rules.

 

[thundershot]

As an online reference for PF, I use d20 PFSRD, which is a fan maintained site that includes most of the open rules.

That's what I always use, too.

 

[Crothian]

APG came out in August (Gen Con) and Ultimate Magic is due in May, 10 months later. How is that close on the heels of the APG? How much time between rule books should there be?

 

[Dingo333]

I believe the OP means that the playtests were right on the heels of APG, and in that respect, Ultimate magic and Ultimate Combat are very close to one another, Magic isn't out yet and they are already in round 2 for combat

Note that this isn't a bad thing in my reckoning, I would like to see an Ultimate Divine (gods and magic is alright but not quite what I was hoping for) and something that focuses more on skills (book for bards and rogues really)

As for the beastiary 2 monsters, I bet the stuff will be clarified with or just after ultimate magic, as there are a number of spells that could use an update with the new beastiary (see my post Beastiary 2 and spells for a list I am looking/waiting for)

 

[Mojo_Rat]

generally speaking all the statement of the OP is saying is " I will not purchase anything right as it comes out" which is fine. take things at a pace that works for you.

however the don't purchase anything not already I'n the prd seems a bit silly as you don't need the rod if you have the actual book. generally when the stats of things are from a book your not likely to have they usually provide all the info. I hanent read any AP but te modules I have read follow this trend.

don't confuse the speed of the play tests with the books though. were 4 months into the new year and it will still be a bit for the first hardcover book.

 

[BobROE]

I believe the OP means that the playtests were right on the heels of APG, and in that respect, Ultimate magic and Ultimate Combat are very close to one another, Magic isn't out yet and they are already in round 2 for combat

But isn't that a good sign? That they're using the time they have between releases to do playtests? And that allows them to find problems earlier and gauge people's response more easily.

 

[Jared Rascher]

The playtests were indeed hot on the heels of the APG, but there is a little more to my trepidation than that.

First, the question was asked, "how much time would you have between books?"

Well, that depends on the type of book. The APG was largely a "player's option" book, along the line of the Complete series for 3.5. I've not done a line by line analysis, but the APG actually seemed to have more actual rules than any of the "Complete" books, due to the fact that there was very little flavor text and none of the example characters that WOTC used, nor were there any organization write ups or the like.

Also, Paizo had indicated that the APG was suppose to constitute the majority of the "player option" style books, and the statement was made that they didn't want to go the path of the Complete series, so the APG was largely suppose to be "it."

However, it wasn't.

That having been said, I've said before on Paizo's forums that if Ultimate Magic had come out at Gen Con this year (one year between big player option books), and Ultimate Combat came out next year, I'd be a lot more comfortable with the pacing.

As to not buying a book that references things that are suppose to be in the PRD until they are actually in the PRD . . . honestly, I know I'm one person, but I really want to make sure I hold a company to their promises.

Its not that I don't think the people at Paizo are good people, but I think that anyone can succumb to the temptation of pushing back a promise when they are pinched for time, and if everything sells well, and no one seems worry about the PRD, its easy to push it back and not do it, much like the pushing back that has gone on with the FAQ system in order to keep new RPG books coming out.

Now, if there are good sales for the AP, why would this even be a problem? Because I'm still worried about the entry level player, someone that is just getting into the system and the APs. I really worry that the model that is being adopted is eventually going to result in selling more and more stuff to the same group of players, until burnout occurs within that closed set of buyers.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I understand where you are coming from. I myself am largely a core rules + setting (Such as Dragonlance or Ravenloft) rules person. So, I do not really bother with all of the extra rules supplements that come out.

It does seem like a lot of new content is being released, or at least previewed in the playtests lately.