Pathfinder 1E PATHFINDER: A First Look

[Nightfall]

Erik,

Don't you mean "Whenever I feel like it!" *is kidding*

 

[James Jacobs]

Yup; the blog will be updated daily. The content of the posts will probably vary; we certainly can't post Exciting New News every day once we get rolling, but there'll be stuff there every day.

As for Pathfinder itself, the basic goal is indeed to have about half of each volume be adventure; that's about 50 pages or so. The remaining pages will be things like explorations of cities and unique regions, articles about deities and other powerful figures in the world, ecological explorations of major monsters from the current campaign, and support articles that help with unusual situations that pop up now and then, such as how do PCs maintain a castle at the edge of civilization, or how exactly DOES this mysterious brand of ancient magic work? Now... there certainly isn't room for all of those in every volume; we'll probably have two sections of this type of material in each Pathfinder, each from 10 to 15 pages.

Each Pathfinder will also feature a gazetteer style section called the "Pathfinder's Journal" that'll give tidbits about the world Pathfinder and our GameMastery modules take place in. Finally, each volume will end with six or so new monsters, some of which will be featured in that issue's adventure, and some that only fit the adventure's themes and could be used anywhere.

The basic goal of this non-adventure section of Pathfinder is to maintain each volume's use after you run its adventure, or if you aren't currently running the adventure, or if (SCANDAL!) you aren't interested in the adventure. Think of it as a source book themed to support the Adventure Path but usable in all manner of situations beyond just that issue's adventure.

I'm sure I missed someone's question somewhere along the thread, but I'll be around these boards watching for questions, so if you've got any, fire 'em up!

 

[Treebore]

Ow! Ouch! Oof! OK! OK! Hit me with/Tell me that a pdf copy is part of the subscription and I'll surrender!

So basically each "issue" is kind of a combination of an issue of Dungeon and Dragon, with no ads?

Man! You guys hit hard!

 

[Alzrius]

James, is the first Pathfinder AP's topping out at 15th level going to be standard for what we can expect from the books? A six-month AP where you gain two-to-three levels per adventure seems to want to top out in the mid-to-high teens. As a fan of epic material, it's a bit disheartening that these campaigns might not even get to level 20, let alone beyond (this would, I'd think, make it much harder to fight any demon lords or whatnot in the future).

EDIT: Just wanted to mention that I understand the decision to top out around 15th level from a marketing/business standpoint, since that's about as high as the majority of campaigns go. But still, I personally like material that goes further.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Pathfinder sounds great, but I just don't think I can bring myself to pay $AUD 24.00 for any publication in electronic format. :\

Thurbane, Pathfinder will be a 96 page softcover perfectbound book. It will cost $19.99 US off the shelf or $13.99 US to subscribers (30% discount). I think the shipping costs for international customers is $5. This makes it about $24 AU after shipping.

The other option is to buy it in PDF format for $13.99 US (approx $17.50 AU). Of course, if you get a subscription you get a PDF of each issue for free.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Jakar]

Pathfinder sounds great, but I just don't think I can bring myself to pay $AUD 24.00 for any publication in electronic format. :\

I am there as well. If the electronic format was cheaper then the print, maybe.

 

[Treebore]

You do get a pdf copy with subscription? So a print AND a pdf?

OK, enough pain. I'm in.

 

[Jakar]

Thurbane, Pathfinder will be a 96 page softcover perfectbound book. It will cost $19.99 US off the shelf or $13.99 US to subscribers (30% discount). I think the shipping costs for international customers is $5. This makes it about $24 AU after shipping.

The other option is to buy it in PDF format for $13.99 US (approx $17.50 AU). Of course, if you get a subscription you get a PDF of each issue for free.

Olaf the Stout

I work at Oz Post, so I think if it is only $5.00 an issue to ship, it must be coming by sea, and the can take up to 3 months to get here.

Glad the PDF is cheaper.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Ow! Ouch! Oof! OK! OK! Hit me with/Tell me that a pdf copy is part of the subscription and I'll surrender!

So basically each "issue" is kind of a combination of an issue of Dungeon and Dragon, with no ads?

Man! You guys hit hard!

Treebore, if I have read correctly, provided you subscribe, you get a PDF copy of each issue for free. So I guess you will be surrendering. I thought you said that you don't do the AP's though? Because that's what Pathfinder is.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Treebore]

Treebore, if I have read correctly, provided you subscribe, you get a PDF copy of each issue for free. So I guess you will be surrendering. I thought you said that you don't do the AP's though? Because that's what Pathfinder is.

Olaf the Stout

I don't. I use them piece meal. Plus with James describing the other 50 or so pages of content, the usefulness of each book has greatly increased in my opinion.

So with a pdf to allow me to easily print stuff out on top of it, I will at least try the first six months.