Core Books - What are they?

[Anderon]

Greetings, all!

I am abandoning 4th edition D&D after a few years of playing it. The reasons are numerous, and for another post entirely.

But, I am very intrigued by Pathfinder, and set about to pick up the books, when I realized I wasn't sure which books would be a representative "core set".

What rulebooks for Pathfinder would you consider to be the best set to get started with? (Going beyond, of course, the main core book).

Any input is appreciated.

David

 

[Mojo_Rat]

the only actual core book I'd the one labeled as such. hover I would say core rule book + apg + Beastiary. if your newish to dming the game mastery guide is useful and has a number of pre made npcs that ate useful.

if cost is n issue the core book is all that's needed, the crest of h info is available online.

 

[Nebten]

Pretty much just the PF Core Rulebook and the Beastiary. Everything else are nice optional additions, but not needed to run & play the game.

 

[darjr]

Yea, core book and bestiary is all you need to start.

Though I don't think you'd suffer from buyers remorse for many of the others beyond those two.

 

[Crothian]

All you need is Beastiary and the Pathfinder rules. While the suppliments are well done they are in no means needed and in our long running Pathfinder campaign they have rarely been used.

 

[pawsplay]

Core book + Bestiary. I can only say good things about the bestiary 2, APG, and GMG, but you don't need them.

 

[Walking Dad]

I would consider the APG and the Game Mastering Guide as core in addition to the 'core' book and the Bestiary.
Just because this four books are in the official PRD:

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document

 

[dagger]

After all the books and options from both 3.5/4e we have a core book only rule right now with Pathfinder.

It has really worked nice and I could see a 3.5 game played with only the PHB as well. We also have a no prestige class rule at the moment because we want to see how PF runs at high level with fewer options.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

The Core combines both a PHB and a basic DMG, it and the Bestiary are all that you really need.

After that I highly recommend the Advanced Player's Guide. Not necessary, but the archetypes allow so much customization. Allows tweaking PCs in new and entertaining ways. (And Witch has replaced Adept for a lot of my NPCs.)

Ultimate Magic, the GMG, and Bestiary 2 are also nice, but definitely less important than the APG.

The Auld Grump

 

[Tovec]

IT all depends on what you considered core in 3E.

Core - PHB + DMG
APG - PHB2
Bestiary - MM1
Bestiary2 - MM1.5 - something I'm going to get soon, a very good book filled with stuff I wish the B1 had (which was in MM1)
GMG - DMG2? Idk but a good book nevertheless. Not really needed however but is is part of my very limited library. Something very central to the game and helps with DMing.