Paizo To Make Kingmaker Bestiary... For D&D 5E!

Kingmaker's 10th anniversary is approaching. Paizo has announced on their blog that, along with a Pathfinder 2E hardcover Kingmaker compilation, they will be creating a hardcover Kingmaker Bestiary for D&D 5E.

The blog announcement says "[FONT=&amp]Finally, we'll add a hardcover Kingmaker Bestiary for 5E, developed in conjunction with industry leaders in third-party 5E publishing, allowing players of the current edition of the world's oldest RPG the chance to experience the rich and detailed storylines that have made the Kingmaker Adventure Path a fan favorite for a decade."[/FONT]

It is being produced "with industry leaders in third-party 5E publishing" and refers to "add-ons and unlocks" which "will be revealed as the campaign progresses". They're partnering with crowdfunding site Game On Tabletop.

They'll be revealing the details on Tuesday May 7th at noon Pacific time over at KingmakerCampaign.com.

Also in line is a Companion Guide for the PF2 Kingmaker campaign.

 

[Parmandur]

Sorry, replied before getting through the thread.

I don't understand how PF gives NPC and monster stat blocks. For a monster, I could see just giving the name and parenthetical letting you know which bestiary you need. But for NPCs, are they built like characters? Wouldn't they be treated like monsters and just have a description of their abilities in their stat block? If not, ouch! Yes, that would suck.

I also wasn't thinking of the poor game designer who would have to take into account all of the official classes and feats when designing an adventure.

One could always just run their own home-brew adventures...but that is a lot of work, which will turn away a lot of people from being game master for the system.

I concede the point.

Oh, sweet Summer child: in 3.x/Pathfinder, all monsters are built like PCs.

Every. Single. One. Classes, Feats, the whole shebang.

 

[pkt77242]

I was very excited for this but upon seeing the pricing I am out. I would gladly pay $60 for the PF version (and convert it myself) or $80 for a true 5E version but the $80 for PF and $115 for 5E is a bridge to far. This doesn’t properly gauge the market......and the late 2020 timeframe is even more baffling. Hard pass.

 

[Hussar]

, the while shebang.

The before and after shebang as well.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

I was very excited for this but upon seeing the pricing I am out. I would gladly pay $60 for the PF version (and convert it myself) or $80 for a true 5E version but the $80 for PF and $115 for 5E is a bridge to far. This doesn’t properly gauge the market......and the late 2020 timeframe is even more baffling. Hard pass.

Same. Anyone know if it will show up in normal distribution channels eventually?

 

[TheSword]

Oh, sweet Summer child: in 3.x/Pathfinder, all monsters are built like PCs.Every. Single. One. Classes, Feats, the whole shebang.

I think the other part to monsters and NPC design is that even a relatively low level monster or NPC could have a half dozen + abilities. Then there are feats, many of which need to be chained together to be effective because of pathfinders bonus progression system. What if you want to give the NPC cleaving finish, a feat released in one of the later splat books? Do you reprint the rules for the feat or go without, even though it makes the two weapon fighter less effective. It’s a quandary.If players come from different groups then they don’t want sections of the games they know cut off from them. The biggest issue with Pathfinder though to my mind are the balance issues when you get a mixed group of new players and experienced players. It’s possible because the progression system to make a character who is broken as hell or completely ineffective depending on a few feat choices and class abilities.

 

[M.T. Black]

The other issue with a bloated product line is that it makes it harder for new players to onboard. Mike Mearls spoke about this as one of the reasons behind the constrained 5e release schedule. Would-be new players were simply overwhelmed by the amount of content they had to navigate through. Sure, you can say, "Just buy the core books", but that assumes they have a trusted voice to guide them through the tangle.

There was also the sad/amusing anecdote of the would-be newbie who bought the Player's Handbook 3, thinking he would skip the older versions and just get the latest!

 

[Nightfly]

The other issue with a bloated product line is that it makes it harder for new players to onboard. Mike Mearls spoke about this as one of the reasons behind the constrained 5e release schedule. Would-be new players were simply overwhelmed by the amount of content they had to navigate through. Sure, you can say, "Just buy the core books", but that assumes they have a trusted voice to guide them through the tangle.

There was also the sad/amusing anecdote of the would-be newbie who bought the Player's Handbook 3, thinking he would skip the older versions and just get the latest!

Thanks for sharing this anecdote. It really shows why shoveling supplements out the door becomes a problem.

One of the best things about 5e is that it started with just 12 basic classes, and then over the ensuing five years, it's ballooned all the way up to...uh, still just 12 classes. That's awesome. WotC keeps players happy with a few new subclasses and spells, and doesn't foist weird classes like Warden or Witch or Paladin Except Left-Handed and Lactose Intolerant on everyone. I really appreciate that.

EDIT: 12, not 9. Counting is hard.

 

[S'mon]

It also begs the question what’s the point of playing in a system that doesn’t grow.

I don't think this is a question that even occurs to most players of most RPGs.

 

[Remathilis]

I don't think this is a question that even occurs to most players of most RPGs.

And yet...

AD&D 1e players, whose system was no longer supported as of 1989, still bought new material (either converting 2e stuff back, or later using OSR stuff). So while technically an RPG is never lacking for new material as long as you have a clever DM and some inspiration, even the deadest system's players still clamor for new material.

 

[S'mon]

And yet...

AD&D 1e players, whose system was no longer supported as of 1989, still bought new material (either converting 2e stuff back, or later using OSR stuff). So while technically an RPG is never lacking for new material as long as you have a clever DM and some inspiration, even the deadest system's players still clamor for new material.

The line I quoted was about a "system that doesn't grow", not about "material" - which could be adventures, campaign settings and such using the system without adding any more rules. I think everyone likes to see new material in the latter sense.