Paizo Paizo Price Increases and Sustainability Efforts

Paizo announced a new pricing structure for their entire product line. The changes will go into effect for PDF products (Bounties, Quests, and Scenarios) effective October 25, 2023, and will apply to all PDF products. No other PDF prices will be changed. The new MSRP changes go into effect in April 2024 for all print products.

The first printing of the new Pathfinder core rulebooks – Player Core, GM Core, Monster Core, and Player Core 2 – will maintain the current $59.99 MSRP for at least the first printing as “We feel these books are essential first purchases for Pathfinder players and want to hold the line on price increases as long as possible to reduce the barrier of entry for new players.”

The new pricing structure:

• Bounties/Quests1 from $4.99 to $5.99
• Scenarios2 from $5.99/$7.99 to $8.99
• Special Interactive Scenarios from $14.99 to $19.99
• Flip-Mats from $16.99 to $19.99
• Flip-Mat Multi-Pack from $24.99 to $29.99
• 96-page Adventure Paths from $26.99 to $29.99
• Pocket Editions will range from $24.99-$29.99 to $26.99-$34.99 (varies by page count)
• Hardcover Prices will vary by page count:
  • 128 Page: $44.99
  • 192 Page: $59.99
  • 256 Page: $69.99
  • 304 Page with map: $79.99
  • Special Edition covers add $20 to the retail price

1: Bounties and Quests are short, stand-alone digital adventures designed for 2-hour sessions

2: Scenarios are Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society adventures previously priced based on play tier with higher-level adventures costing more. The prices will now be the same regardless of the level of the adventure.

Paizo also updated its current environmental and sustainability actions. The company already printed using soy-based ink that requires less ink per page with no toxic chemicals. Paizo is changing to FSC-Certified paper coming from ecologically sourced forests that prohibit deforestation and require protection of old-growth forests and biodiversity as well as protections for the rights of Indigenous peoples. Changes have also been made to shipping from the Paizo warehouse by changing shipping product partners and moving from foam packing materials to starch and cardboard. Full details are available on the Paizo Blog.

 

[Ghost2020]

What IS the best dedicated tablet for reading RPG PDFs?

I'm an android OS user, and prefer Samsung tablets with an SD slot for additional storage. Foxit PDF reader does the trick.

 

[Reynard]

In Paizo's case, they need to improve their digital delivery system. I can link my Paizo account to my Demiplane account and immediately see discounts applied, but if I buy a Foundry module on Paizo's site I need to grab a code, go into Foundry's site and enter it to add it to my Foundry account, then go somewhere else to actually add the module as an option in the game I'm running. It would be great if once I've purchased it on Paizo, that purchase just syncs across to where I see it as an option for my Foundry game without extra steps in between. Their PDF system is a bit of a mess to find stuff too.

Hopefully that's all things on their radar for the work they've said they're doing on their site in the near future.

I use Fantasy Grounds and it talks easily to Paizo's store, so it is probably more of a Foundry problem?

 

[Velderan]

I use Fantasy Grounds and it talks easily to Paizo's store, so it is probably more of a Foundry problem?

Sounds like it if that’s the case, which to be fair it’s not some impossible hurdle. Just room for improvement in the user experience.

 

[Velderan]

They might not be essential, but they are part of what Paizo assumes people have. And I'd reckon there are quite a few things in the GMG that I consider essential to the game, primarily the rules for creating your own creatures and hazards.

And if you want to go cheaper, the Archives of Nethys are that way.

Yep, because if you’re running a print AP it absolutely will refer to a stat block in the GMG with a page number and assume you have the book to get the rest. I’ve seen references to APG material handled the same way.

 

[Marc Radle]

Im curious how much exactly WotC and Paizo are even worried about physical book prices? I mean, WotC is dropping a lot of investment into digital space. Paizo has gotten pretty friendly with VTT folks. I know many of us EN worlders are older, but the days of physical RPG products being the main driver are likely over.

I hear this comment from time to time, but print as the main driving force in publishing is still very much the reality.

 

[payn]

I hear this comment from time to time, but print as the main driving force in publishing is still very much the reality.

What is that based on? Im not saying you are wrong, I just dont know this is correct. I mean, Paizo has been doing direct digital sales for a long time now and thats not accounted for in things like ICV/Amazon.

 

[delericho]

I'm torn on this one. My job requires me to be staring at a computer screen all day, so that's the main reason I have an aversion to wanting my TTRPG stuff in PDF format.

For a really long time I was in exactly the same position. Eventually, running out of shelf space forced me to make my peace with PDFs, and the truth is that I've found I just don't miss physical product all that much - the truth is that almost all of it got read once and then filed, and then maybe referenced very occasionally. That latter use is just much easier with digital copies.

These days the bar for me buying any physical RPG product (or, indeed, anything other than PDF) is really high. Even D&D 2024 is unlikely to make the cut.

 

[Abstruse]

What IS the best dedicated tablet for reading RPG PDFs?

Honestly, PDF is a crappy format for ereaders and tablets. PDFs require more RAM to display and load, which a lot of tablets sorely lack. I've got a Kindle Fire 10 and a Lenovo P11 Gen 2 tablet and while the P11 is a bit better (because the Fire is about 2 years older), both aren't great with PDFs. You also typically can't change font size, set dark mode, use text-to-speech, or make use of other accessibility features a lot of tablets have. That makes navigation difficult as you're constantly zooming in to make the text big enough to read, which interferes with page turning shortcuts and makes for a generally bad experience. I'm not saying you can't use tablets and ereaders for PDFs, but don't expect it to be a fun time.

There are a rare few RPGs that publish books in epub or mobi format. I know Stars Without Numbers and its spinoffs and a few of Evil Hat's releases are available in epub. That format is specifically designed for ereaders and is much better to read on them, plus you can use all the accessibility features. The downside is that it doesn't support the kind of intricate layout and formatting in most RPG releases. The formats are designed for reading novels, not RPG books with lots of tables and artwork. Also, it requires doing yet another layout for the entire book because, well, you can change the font sizes and use dark mode and all that. So any layout gets thrown out the window because the user can change it. Some games like Mork Borg have their design as a huge selling point, so epub/mobi formats wouldn't work for them.

All that said, if you do want a tablet mostly for RPG PDF files, your best bet is to check for something pretty hefty. At least an octocore processor and 4 GB of RAM. If you want to look up the stats on my P11, it's probably the bare minimum of what I'd consider for that purpose. Also, make sure the tablet's scheduled for getting updates to Android 14 that's just now rolling out this month. This is not just for features but also for security. This is something you have to check carefully because Samsung announced a bunch of their tablets that just came out within the last year or so are not getting updates to Android 14. Oh, and make sure it can take a decent sized SD card expansion because PDFs can add up in file size fast and with the bloat of app sizes, you're likely going to run out of internal storage faster than you expect. Just keep in mind it's not going to be the best reading experience and you'll probably be better off sticking with a PC.

Oh, and I have no experience with iOS devices since the iPhone 6, so I have no idea how well they handle PDFs.

 

[Velderan]

This is something you have to check carefully because Samsung announced a bunch of their tablets that just came out within the last year or so are not getting updates to Android 14.

At the risk of this becoming an Apple/Android debate, this in a nutshell is why I went with iPad over Samsung. My 6 year old iPad just fell off of Apple's supported list for feature updates with iOS 17, but still received a security update a couple weeks ago despite the drop in support. I'll likely replace it in the next couple months if I find one at a good price. Overall they seem to handle PDFs fine in the default books app.

 

[Retreater]

I use a Chromebook with removable keyboard. It's been pretty good, overall.