Pathfinder 1E Are people still playing Pathfinder 1e?

[Alzrius]

That reminds me …

What do folks think of the Companions in Pathfinder: Kingmaker, and/or the iconics?

I was thinking about them this morning.

From Pathfinder: Kingmaker, I remember after years, with a little help from looking at the list.

Amiri. The female human barbarian with a giant’s sword. The most iconic of the iconics, and I believe the only iconic who made it to the console. I remember her fight with the boar.

Linzi. Your female Halfling bard chronicler. Fun character concept, acted well.

Valerie. Female Human Fighter specialized with Tower Shield. Fairly fun, specialized in drawing attacks rather than dealing damage.

Regongar. Male Half-Orc Magus. I didn’t particularly like the Magus concept, but he was effective in his own odd melee caster way. I remember rescuing him and …

Octavia. Female Human Wizard/Rogue. Sort of boring. I remember her relationship with Regongar, but I forgot her name. I forgot the name and anything about the others below until seeing them in a list.

Harrim. Male Dwarf Cleric. Eeyore personality. I kept him around feeling I needed a cleric, but didn’t like him much - or remember his name - I had him confused with Harsk the iconic.

Ekundayo. Male human Ranger. I remember meeting him, but I don’t recall using him much.

Jaethal. Female undead elf inquisor. Seemed like an interesting concept. I remember learning some lore from her.

From the iconics, my players once met several in a party. I think it was: Amiri, Seoni (female human sorcerer), Valeros (male human fighter), and Harsk (male dwarf ranger).

Off topic for PF, but my newest D&D 3.5e party met Karlach from BG3 (converted by me to 3.5e, and stranded in Greyhawk - she comes from the BG in the Forgotten Realms, went to Avernus, and was hit with Dismissal back to the Prime Material Plane, “randomly” ended up on a planet she never heard of). I had fun with her not being able to speak Common, and they decided to recruit her.

Fun fact, the following companions appear in the Kingmaker Bestiary (PF1 version), with two stat blocks each: Amiri, Ekundayo, Jubilost Narthropple, Linzi, Nok-Nok, Tristian, and Valerie.

 

[haakon1]

My group never played like that and still doesn't today, we don't run into the issues that other people cite. We like the power level of 3rd edition characters more, PF1e ramped them up across the board, more abilities and feats for everyone each level, as if 3e wasn't already a lot of bookkeeping. "Dead levels" don't scare us

Agree with all that on why we prefer 3.5e (Core Rules, no splat books and only a few rules approved one-by-one from books beyond the PHB, DMG, MM’s, Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, and Legends & Lore) as well.

We also prefer that cantrips are not infinite.

That’s a big one my group agrees on, for AD&D/3x over PF1 and later D&D.

or the Golarian setting being so ingrained in the books.

I’m a huge Greyhawk fan, but I appreciate Golarion as a setting. I haven’t used it per se.

<<We like prestige classes and use them as they were intended (our campaign has a select handful that are flavored for the campaign and have certain RP requirements to acquire). >>

We have very little use of Prestige classes.

<<Basically 3e is quite rooted in AD&D, 3.5 was a very small step away from that, Pathfinder was a much bigger step.>>
I often think 3.5e was the final edition of AD&D.

We are a group who finds the "deadliness" and "balance" in games like AD&D to be just fine. 3.5 "issues" sure don't occur to us. We don't use content from the second half of the 3.5 run, with a few exceptions here and there.

Same.

3e really does feel like a culmination of AD&D 1e, 2e Combat & Tactics with a healthy dose of Runequest and Rolemaster thrown in (all of these, in addition to Ars Magica, indeed having been cited as the main influences for the edition), and that's pretty perfect for us.

Yup.

 

[haakon1]

Fun fact, the following companions appear in the Kingmaker Bestiary (PF1 version), with two stat blocks each: Amiri, Ekundayo, Jubilost Narthropple, Linzi, Nok-Nok, Tristian, and Valerie.

Ooh, is this it? I never noticed it existed. paizo.com - Pathfinder Kingmaker Bestiary (PFRPG)

Or this? paizo.com - Pathfinder Kingmaker Companion Guide

Both mention companions - perhaps in both.

 

[Alzrius]

Ooh, is this it? I never noticed it existed. paizo.com - Pathfinder Kingmaker Bestiary (PFRPG)

Or this? paizo.com - Pathfinder Kingmaker Companion Guide

Both mention companions - perhaps in both.

I was referring to that first one (i.e. the first link you posted). The second one appears to be for PF2.

 

[haakon1]

I was referring to that first one (i.e. the first link you posted). The second one appears to be for PF2.

I bought them both. The first is indeed PF1 (“PFRPG”) rules with a tiny bit of story (and stats for many monsters , NPC’s, and traps), and the second is PF2 but isn’t so much about stats as stories and adventures related to the companions - and also meals they like and camp activities.

The companions covered by stats in the first book and stories in the second are:
1) Amiri (CN female human barbarian)
2) Ekundayo (LG male human Ranger archer)
3) Jubilost (CN male gnome alchemist)
4) Linzi (CG female halfling bard chronicler)
5) Nok-nok (CE male goblin rogue)
6) Tristian (NG male Aasimar cleric)
7) Valerie (LN female human Fighter shield expert)

The second book also has a few pages but no stats while glossing over:
8) Harrim, grumpy male dwarf cleric of the end is nigh - 2 pages
9) Jaethal, undead female elf inquisitor bounty hunter - 2 pages
10) Kalikke/Kanerah, twin Tiefling sister elementalists sharing one body - 4 pages
11) Olivia, CG female half-elf wizard/rogue - 2 pages
12) Regongar, CE male half-orc magus - 2 pages

 

[Esme_Bancroft]

<raises hand>

I'm also chomping at the bit for Corefinder...meanwhile I am working on my own Pathfinder 1.5 as well.

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

I would like to, especially using the various Spheres systems from Drop Dead Studios.

 

[nevin]

For my group, a lot of the changes in PF1e were a reaction to how people were playing (and in reality, mostly just how people were talking about playing on internet forums) 3.5 towards the end of its cycle. My group never played like that and still doesn't today, we don't run into the issues that other people cite. We like the power level of 3rd edition characters more, PF1e ramped them up across the board, more abilities and feats for everyone each level, as if 3e wasn't already a lot of bookkeeping. "Dead levels" don't scare us and indded there could even be less of them and we would be fine. They added a lot of mechanics that looked like what 3.5 was doing towards the end, "dissociated" mechanics if you will, rather than simulationist ones. We didn't like that either. We also prefer that cantrips are not infinite. Vancian casting is cool to us, especially as some of us are actually long time fans of the Dying Earth stories, Pathfinder (and much of later 3.5) moves away from that. We don't love the artwork (to be fair we don't love the 3e artwork either, but it is less over the top at least in the early books) or the Golarian setting being so ingrained in the books. We like prestige classes and use them as they were intended (our campaign has a select handful that are flavored for the campaign and have certain RP requirements to acquire). Basically 3e is quite rooted in AD&D, 3.5 was a very small step away from that, Pathfinder was a much bigger step.

We play 3.5 with some 3e stuff mixed in (natural spell doesn't exist, keen and improved crits still stack, some prestige classes etc, small things like that). We are a group who finds the "deadliness" and "balance" in games like AD&D to be just fine. 3.5 "issues" sure don't occur to us. We don't use content from the second half of the 3.5 run, with a few exceptions here and there.

3e really does feel like a culmination of AD&D 1e, 2e Combat & Tactics with a healthy dose of Runequest and Rolemaster thrown in (all of these, in addition to Ars Magica, indeed having been cited as the main influences for the edition), and that's pretty perfect for us.

Honestly if you don't have MinMaxers (and to be fair the type of encounters DM's throw at parties can turn anyone into a min maxer) and lean more towards roleplaying then 3e is probably the best so far. But if the Min Max mindset takes over it's a race to see who gets Nukes first.

 

[haakon1]

Again, nobody asked, but I was curious having been stirred up in thinking about old Pathfinder 1 things - especially the iconics - from earlier in my life.

From 2010 in my still going email campaign, it was Valeros, Merisiel, Seoni, Harsk, and Kyra they met. A well-balance mix of classes compatible with 3x.

<<
The scarred fighter has just gotten a refill into his battered metal tankard from the elvish barmaid. The elf in black leather seems to be making an emphatic point directed at the fighter, as the dwarf and the Baklunish priestess listen stoically. The Suel sorceress stage whispers her reply with a calm face, which seems to only anger the elf woman more.

As you approach, the dwarf booms out, “Hello”, and the others stop their conversation. It was too loud in here for you to overhear what they were discussing, whispering together in a tight group.

... <<my characters saying things>> ....

The elf woman replies, “We’re trying to have a private conversation.”

The scared veteran says, “Be civil, Merisiel. Sure, come join us, if you can fit.” He then bellows out to the elf barmaid, “Hey Snevet! Babe, we need more beer over here!”

He then turns back to your party and says, “I’m Valeros. You’ve just met Merisiel.” The elf woman glares at you. “This is Seoni.” He shrugs toward the tattooed Suel sorceress, who nods to you. “The tea-addicted dwarf muscle down the end of the table is Harsk.“ The dour dwarf smiles at you. “And our cleric is Kyra.” He nods towards the Baklunish cleric.

 

[earthsea_wizard]

Honestly if you don't have MinMaxers (and to be fair the type of encounters DM's throw at parties can turn anyone into a min maxer) and lean more towards roleplaying then 3e is probably the best so far. But if the Min Max mindset takes over it's a race to see who gets Nukes first.

And arguably nobody should have min-maxers if they don't want them, it isn't difficult to simply not add those players to your campaign and to set the tone so that it doesn't arise during play from those who you thought wouldn't do it. If the whole group is doing it then you screwed up somewhere when putting your game together, and no gaming is better than bad gaming so I would just stop running the game. I see a lot of "3.x is great if you don't have people breaking the system", which I can't understand. Although nowadays people often settle for strangers online rather than making an effort to forge gaming friendships in person, which is risky I imagine.