Necromancer Games' Clark Peterson swears off 4E, says "Pathfinder is the D&D I love"

[Alzrius]

I didn't see a thread about this over here, so here's the post Clark made from the Paizo forums:

That's right.

I am swearing off 4E. You heard it first here.

I'm about to start up a new RPG campaign and you want to know what I am playing? What Clark Peterson the President of Necromancer Games is playing? PATHFINDER.

Why? Because Pathfinder is D&D--its the D&D that I love.

Now don't get me wrong. There are lots of things I like about 4E. But when push comes to shove and I have to choose a rules system to use for my home game its Pathfinder. 4E may work for you, I am not criticizing. But for me, its Pathfinder.

And I am going to run the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path (updated to Pathfinder) from Paizo and with a first adventure by my pal Erik Mona.

Clark

 

[Filcher]

Meh.

The Peterson name doesn't carry much influence for me after the 4e silliness. I'm glad a fellow gamer has found a system that he enjoys.

 

[catsclaw227]

Good for him! I am glad he has found a system that he wants to DM.

Personally, I enjoy 4e and look forward to playing it into the future, but I have nothing against Pathfinder in general. I dig Paizo as a company, but I stopped enjoying 3.x at higher levels (12+) and I am having trouble seeing where Pathfinder has cleaned up some of my concerns.

I just wish WOTC would develop some adventures of the same quality as Paizo, using the 4e ruleset.

Though.... with old school style sandboxing becoming vogue again, I am not sure if the Paizo AP model will be a popular with people clamoring for better adventures from WOTC. It is looking like some of the feedback that Rodney got in his thread were more about opening up the adventure framework a bit and eliminating some of the A1 => A2 => A3 => B1... linear encounter stuff.

 

[VictorC]

Well, it's a good thing Clark isn't the one who decides what D&D is. But I am glad he's found a system he likes.

 

[Rechan]

It's nice that he's decided what he wants to pay, but oy, "PF is D&D" going to kindle some more edition wars.

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

wow

Necromancer Games was my go-to company for site-based 3E adventures... Tomb of Absynthor (which Clark Peterson wrote) and Rappan Athuk are still my favorites. But the company hasn't done anything (or even updated their website!) in ages.

It would be awesome if Clark's change of heart (he was a huge 4E booster early on) leads to Necromancer Games producing adventures for Pathfinder. IMO, Pathfinder needs more big, site based dungeons for people who want something besides an Adventure Path.

Ken

 

[S'mon]

Where 3e was only playable to about 12th (and creaked after 8th), on my cursory inspection Pathfinder looks playable to around 15th, enough to cover a Paizo Adventure Path. I'd prefer if they'd made bigger changes to the clunkiest bits of the 3e combat system, but it's certainly a fine game. It's not impossible that I might actually use it for 'Kingmaker'.

As for Peterson, I'm glad he's having fun, but he's no longer a games publisher AFAICT.

 

[Votan]

I think there is always a tendency for people to have find memories of a system that they put a lot of time and energy into. In that sense, I think it is a wonderful development that there are good game options for all of the --- the hobby is stronger for a diverse set of options. In my early gaming days (anybody else remember the '80s) there were many options and it made for a very strong gaming community.



So this is all good news.

 

[billd91]

It's nice that he's decided what he wants to pay, but oy, "PF is D&D" going to kindle some more edition wars.

Notice that Clark isn't saying that 4e isn't D&D. Just that Pathfinder is, specifically, it's the D&D that he loves (as opposed to the D&Ds that he doesn't love...).

 

[Rechan]

Notice that Clark isn't saying that 4e isn't D&D. Just that Pathfinder is, specifically, it's the D&D that he loves (as opposed to the D&Ds that he doesn't love...).

I am aware. But regardless it's going to spark/add fuel.