A Merc's Life [OOC 01]

[Leif]

My copy of the Core Rules came in today! Just glanced over it for a few moments, inhaled the heady aroma, gazed in awe at the cover.

At first glance it appears as though character classes have changed very little (at least the ones you guys have chosen for this game). If that proves to hold true on deeper reading, I'll likely change to the core rules once I'm familiar with them. DON'T TAKE THIS AS GOSPEL, THOUGH. There's no huge hurry to come to a decision.

OK, I'm off to read!

Danggit! Something else I have to buy!

**just visited Paizo.com***
Maybe it won't be so bad, after all. The hardcopy is $49.00, but the .pdf will be available starting this Wednesday for only $9.99.

 

[Scott DeWar]

I am getting the pdf, personally.

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

Most stuff I just get as PDFs now-a-days. But for some things there's just nothing like the feel of a good old fashioned book (I'll be getting both versions of the Core Rules). Also, I'm plenty old enough that I still maintain focus, organize incoming information and absorb material better with books than electronic documents.

 

[renau1g]

Any book I'm planning on referencing often (like PHB's) I'll buy a physical copy. I struggle to use PDF's for home use. I use pdfs for the games I play here though.

 

[Leif]

My copy of the Core Rules came in today! Just glanced over it for a few moments, inhaled the heady aroma, gazed in awe at the cover.

At first glance it appears as though character classes have changed very little (at least the ones you guys have chosen for this game). If that proves to hold true on deeper reading, I'll likely change to the core rules once I'm familiar with them. DON'T TAKE THIS AS GOSPEL, THOUGH. There's no huge hurry to come to a decision.

OK, I'm off to read!

Most stuff I just get as PDFs now-a-days. But for some things there's just nothing like the feel of a good old fashioned book (I'll be getting both versions of the Core Rules). Also, I'm plenty old enough that I still maintain focus, organize incoming information and absorb material better with books than electronic documents.

As to the "heady aroma", etc. were you talking about a physical copy of the Beta, or did you already get in a hardcopy of the final release? I thought you meant the final release at first, but the second message from which I quote above leads me to question that. I've had hardcopy of the Beta for months now, and I pretty much loathe and despise the whole pdf thing, but I just don't know how eager I am to shell out $49.00 for a hardcopy of a book that's basicaly a re-issue of two books that I already own.

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

As to the "heady aroma", etc. were you talking about a physical copy of the Beta, or did you already get in a hardcopy of the final release? I thought you meant the final release at first, but the second message from which I quote above leads me to question that. I've had hardcopy of the Beta for months now, and I pretty much loathe and despise the whole pdf thing, but I just don't know how eager I am to shell out $49.00 for a hardcopy of a book that's basicaly a re-issue of two books that I already own.

It's the final edition. But as an AP Subscriber I get 15% off, and as an RPG Subscriber I get the PDF free (so $42.50 for the hardcopy and the PDF). Not quite the best deal out there, but easy for me and I get my copies a few days in advance.

As far as typical use, I use the hardcopies for anything that's gonna require fairly significant time (e.g. character creation) but for quick rules questions it's hard to beat the searchability of a PDF.

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

After cursory reading of races, here a the changes that jumped out at me:

Players now choose their character's favored class without restriction - you just pick one. Half-elves get two.

Elves, half elves no longer passively detect secret doors.

Half orcs now add +2 to one ability score (like half elves).

Humans are no longer automatically proficient with a martial weapon.


It's possible some of these won't hold up to further reading - for example, favored classes aren't mentioned in the race descriptions (other than half-elf) so I originally thought they'd been removed.

 

[renau1g]

As far as typical use, I use the hardcopies for anything that's gonna require fairly significant time (e.g. character creation) but for quick rules questions it's hard to beat the searchability of a PDF.

This is why I really like the Character Builder from WOTC. It cuts character creation time down dramatically. Take Sunday this past week for example. My 3.5e game kind of sputtered out as I realized that the 3.5e ruleset wasn't doing it for my group. We had great time RP'ing for the first few sessions, but then when we came to battles, etc, the mechanics were just meh. So on Sunday my friend was over and my wife and I were enjoying some fine coffee with him when he asked if we could play tonight. (I had mentioned that I'd like him to try 4e previously). During the boys nap (2 hours) I had gone through all the different characters and races with him and my wife, rolled up PC's (we still use 3d6, but choose the order), picked out gear and powers, and printed off character sheets in readiness for the game that night. We played Sunday for a few hours after the boys went to bed for the night and then again last night he called us up and asked if we'd play again. The powers are all printed off in the character sheet, so no rulebook referencing, and the game flew by. In just over 1 hours last night we fought two battles, roleplayed through a skill challenge and did some rp'ing around the watch fire at night.

All in all it works very well for us. (If anyone cares, I'm playing a Goliath Battle Cleric of Tempus, my wife's a Shifter Warden, and my friend's a human rogue)

 

[Leif]

After cursory reading of races, here a the changes that jumped out at me:

Players now choose their character's favored class without restriction - you just pick one. Half-elves get two.

Elves, half elves no longer passively detect secret doors.

Half orcs now add +2 to one ability score (like half elves).

Humans are no longer automatically proficient with a martial weapon.


It's possible some of these won't hold up to further reading - for example, favored classes aren't mentioned in the race descriptions (other than half-elf) so I originally thought they'd been removed.

1 The Favored Class thing is really cool! (Both aspects of it.)

2 I find it something of a bummer that Elves cannot passively detect secret doors.

3 I don't remember what Half-Orc's ability adjustments were before, but I'm thinking that +2 str and -2 cha were probably part of it. The new way is ok, I guess, but I like the old way, too. The new way just makes it seem more of a "You're ok, I'm ok," touchy-feely, there are no bad guys kind of a deal, and that nauseates me a little.

4 I find it to be a MAJOR BUMMER that humans are no longer proficient with the one martial weapon of their choice, and I implore our Gracious and Kindhearted GM to house-rule that one back to Beta Status!

...And that's all I've got to say about THAT!

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

1 The Favored Class thing is really cool! (Both aspects of it.)

2 I find it something of a bummer that Elves cannot passively detect secret doors.

3 I don't remember what Half-Orc's ability adjustments were before, but I'm thinking that +2 str and -2 cha were probably part of it. The new way is ok, I guess, but I like the old way, too. The new way just makes it seem more of a "You're ok, I'm ok," touchy-feely, there are no bad guys kind of a deal, and that nauseates me a little.

4 I find it to be a MAJOR BUMMER that humans are no longer proficient with the one martial weapon of their choice, and I implore our Gracious and Kindhearted GM to house-rule that one back to Beta Status!

...And that's all I've got to say about THAT!

If we go with the final rules set (looking more and more likely), I will not ask players to give back anything that you've already been playing with (Harnry's battle axe proficiency, Aodhán's domain powers (they've changed slightly with final ruleset), or Keeland's ability to passively detect secret doors).

However, if after looking over the final rules set you decide you like the 'new' versions granted abilities better you may switch. But it's all or nothing - you can't pick bits of the Beta version and bits of the final release.

Does that sound fair to everyone?