Core Books - What are they?

[Aus_Snow]

The Core Book (obviously) and the Bestiary. That is all.

That I would consider "core", that is. Other things might be really neat and useful, sure, but still.

 

[Jadeite]

Anything that's part of the PRD.
Rulebook, Bestiary I, GameMastery Guide, Advanced Players Guide.

 

[Steel_Wind]

If you are a player, the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and the Advanced Player's Guide are must haves.

If you plan to GM, the Core Rulebook, APG and Bestiary 1 is the required core, but of course I would add Bestiary 2 and the Gamemastery Guide to those, sooner rather than later.

In the nearly one year since its release, the APG has become a default book at the overwhelmingly vast majority of Pathfinder tables. I think you should pick it up either way. The Adventure Paths and modules, furthermore, assume it is in use at the table.

While Ultimate Magic and the soon-to-be-release Ultimate Combat may someday become a default assumption, right now, Ultimate Magic has not yet taken on the ubiquitous nature that the APG has earned in terms of popularity.

The last thing to get? Why, Episodes 1-14 of Chronicles: PFPC of course! We don't attempt to cover the whole wide world of gaming. We cover Pathfinder and that's it. And we do it in-depth. If you are a Pathfinder GM, especially, you will find the podcast highly informative.

 

[Jadeite]

Ultimate Magic and Bestiary 2 are now also included in the PRD. Swift and appreciated.

 

[Wiseblood]

You could get by using the online reference documents for monsters, probably for a long time.

True and if you have old 3.5 Monster books they will do in a pinch. PF Beasiary is a better fit but then you also can use IP from others such as the Beholder.

 

[redwullf]

 

[Aus_Snow]

Um, what?

Or, more to the point, who and/or how so?