D&D 3E/3.5 3.5 E, older D&D and Pathfinder. What do D&D vets think of pathfinder

[Samurai]

I started with the Erol Otis covered Basic set, then 1e, 2e, 3e, 3.5, and a little bit of 4e. I've been a gamer for 30 years, and played tons of games besides D&D too. Currently, my group is playing nothing but Pathfinder and we are loving it! It's a great evolution of the game we love, where we felt 4e was too big a departure from the game's history.

 

[dmccoy1693]

Love it. Its a natural progression of the system.

 

[Stormonu]

I've been DMing since about '79, so a lot of 1E/2E/3E. My players just made 2nd level, but I am enjoying the game so far; it really feels like 3.75.

Characters do get a bit of a bump at the starting level, but it's not enough to make them any less heedless of death than in previous editions, they can just adventure for a little longer before heading back to town than before. Death is always still just around the corner, waiting for the careless to stroll by.

 

[Shoe]

I love Pathfinder and I think it definitely represents an evolution of the 3.5 rules. I'm guessing that it will be my RPG of choice for a long time.

That said, I'm not sure I would call it 'old school'.

The art direction is very emo/anime -- spiky hair, too-big weapons, big eyes. I'm not a fan of the new look, but I guess it's for the younger generation. Get off my lawn!

It's moved further away from 'save or die' -- a mainstay of 1E D&D. Everything just does damage now -- even Disintegrate.

Ken

One of my few qualms with 3rd edition was the streamlining of spell effects. I imagine that keeping the save or die spells doesnt change the system much tho. I DO still own the 3.5 books.

I hated how all spells in 3.X had one of the same 4-5 durations, ranges and areas of effect. I missed the old sleep spell that allowed for a roll and no save (low level wizards need SOMETHING when they only have 1-2 spells and crumple on the windshield if a Kobold hits them)

How much more generic are spells? Did they do anything to affect variety of them? I am not sure i like the damaging discentigrate spell. What happens if the damage dealt isnt lethal...does only part of the creature disintigrate?

 

[Particle_Man]

I have played Basic, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3.5, 4th and numerous d20s.

I am loving Pathfinder.

Rogues can sneak attack undead! (Gasp!) Spellcasters can cast their 0 level spells all day, which gives them something to do if they run out of higher level stuff.

I feel plugged in when playing it, so I must say it works for me.

And darkness can be dark again.

 

[jeffh]

It's moved further away from 'save or die' -- a mainstay of 1E D&D. Everything just does damage now -- even Disintegrate.

Disintegrate doing damage is a 3.5 change.

 

[Celebrim]

If I wasn't already happy with my homebrew 3.X rule set, I'd be playing Pathfinder.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I like Pathfinder- it has some version of many of the HRs I've tried out over the years, so its become one of my favorite 3.5 FRPG variants, alongside AU/AE, Midnight 2Ed, and True20.

 

[Dark Mistress]

I am an oldschool D&D player at heart, i still play 3.5 and splash elements of 2.0 and even 1.0 into my games. I recently have been considering getting into pathfinder as I love the 3.5 system for the most part, and it appears that Pathfinder has ironed out some kinks from the system. However it seems that several changes in pathfinder arent very "traditional" in that all the races get an extra +2 to a stat now, classes get a TON more abilities and all sorts of other stuff has been changed dramatically.

So i have a few questions:
1. people who have been playing since 2nd edition, what do you think of pathfinder? Does it feel like classic D&D?

Yes and no, if you thought 3e felt like classic D&D then you will feel the same about pathfinder, the reverse is also true.

2. How does Item creation work, I LOVE that you do not loose XP now, but what DO you do?

Others covered this.

3. I am not so big on balancing the rules as I am the flavor of the game and the RP being a good simulation of real life + fantasy. Does the changes to the base classes that were made to make them less weak take away from the realism?

I think the classes are better balanced without losing any of the "realism" and it adds a few more options to the classes, so players can more easily make what they want IMHO.

4. How hard is it to use CR on 3.5 monsters with pathfinder. I notice that they do not use CR any more and I am a DM 1st and a player second so if this change is big and for the better I will be excited.

I have used 3.5 adventures as is, it is a little easier with pathfinder classes. As a rule of thumb I would say add 1 CR to get about the same result you would in 3.5.

THanks,
Shoe

your welcome.

 

[Dark Mistress]

....time to find some cheap copies of the pathfinder rulebooks

You can buy the PDF from Paizo for 10 bucks. If you mean the HB book then good luck finding a cheap copy. It has sold once and they are working on a 3rd printing already and it is less than a year old. So just saying I have doubts you can find a cheap copy unless you get lucky.