Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder Just Keeps Looking Better

[Wulf Ratbane]

Is there a Trailblazer thread somewhere on ENWorld (I should become a community supporter when I get my US tax refund). It looks very interesting (and I am less than halfway through)

I'll put a link to the teaser thread in my sig.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Not for very long. I think the subset of folks who don't want anything new, ever, is pretty small.

Most folks will go where there is new stuff to keep their creative fire stoked-- ergo, 4e or Pathfinder.

Yeah - I am pretty happy with Pathfinder in that regard. If anything I like the adventures that have shown up in the Adventure Path better than the ones that were in Dungeon. Though I really miss the ads. (I have nothing against focussed advertising - I think that I have clicked darn near every banner ad on The Miniatures Page, as an example.)

And yeah - I may have been overly literal in my take on '10 Minute Adventuring Day' - lately I have been breaking my games down into 'Scenes', where travel time counts in regards to regaining spells, etc.. Given that my games seem to involve a good deal of to-ing and fro-ing it kind of amounts to the same thing. (Or in other words if a confrontation with bugbears outside of the woodcutter's cottage leads to an attack on a bugbear redoubt ruled by a hag then I don't bother asking if the team rests between the two parts, and I don't really track time beyond 'after a short journey you arrive in an area of the woods marred by twisted and stunted trees, dried corpses twist and turn from the branches, hanging by their hair...' I like Pathfinder bugbears. ) A good deal of hand waving.

The Auld Grump

 

[nnms]

My favorite thing about Pathfinder is the art. I absolutely love it.

http://paizo.com/image/content/LegacyOfFire/PZO09019-PersianPrincess.jpg

http://paizo.com/image/content/RiseOfTheRunelords/Pathfinder4_Cleric02.jpg

It's just all so awesome.

I also like the presentation, the background fiction, the campaign setting, etc.,.

I'm just not a fan of the rules. I played OD&D/AD&D and then 3.0 came out and even though I gave it a try, it wasn't for me. Tried it again when 3.5 came out-- same thing. Same thing with Pathfinder.

That said, some of the pathfinder books are some of the most useful things regardless of the rules you're using. I have no problems running adventures in Golarian using 4e, for example.

 

[Betote]

I for one can't imagine my life running 3.x without CMB or Pathfinder skills. When the Beta came out, we fully converted to it and never looked back. It's like playing the game we knew and loved (D&D 3.5), with some clarifications here and some added options there.

And Golarion is just... beautiful. I love how everything is classic and new at the same time. I've described it as "your D&D basic world, but with Howard and Moorcock instead of Tolkien". This, and the fact that setting books are really setting books, not "feats and prestige classes with setting toppings". I'm running a PFRPG Rise of the Runelords game, and a sandbox-y 4e game set in Darkmoon Vale, and I'm happy as a dog with two tails

 

[nnms]

And Golarion is just... beautiful. I love how everything is classic and new at the same time. I've described it as "your D&D basic world, but with Howard and Moorcock instead of Tolkien". This, and the fact that setting books are really setting books, not "feats and prestige classes with setting toppings".

That's a really great way to put it. If anyone is wondering how useful the setting books are if you're not playing Pathfinder per se, all I can say is that as someone who detests 3.x (and it's derivatives), I find huge amounts of value in the Golarion setting books. Get them. All of them.

I'm running a PFRPG Rise of the Runelords game, and a sandbox-y 4e game set in Darkmoon Vale, and I'm happy as a dog with two tails

From the designers notes for Guide to Darkmoon Vale:
[sblock]"As you flip through it, you might notice something peculiar
about this game accessory: a lack of game. With the exception
of the title page, parts of this page, and the appendix, this
entire book is written in character, just as it might appear
to your PCs."[/sblock]

It's just such an awesome approach.

 

[Hereticus]

After reading five pages of posts, nobody said why Pathfinder is better than 3.X, or what it does differently.

Can anyone elaborate on the differences?

Thank you.

 

[nnms]

After reading five pages of posts, nobody said why Pathfinder is better than 3.X, or what it does differently.

Can anyone elaborate on the differences?

Thank you.

I'm not going to go into it, but I did find a thread about this exact question:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/247844-pathfinder-vs-3-5-a.html

Can someone tell me why I'd rather one over the other?

I'd really like to hear both sides, figure what improved, what got clunkier in Pathfinder.

 

[Betote]

After reading five pages of posts, nobody said why Pathfinder is better than 3.X, or what it does differently.

Can anyone elaborate on the differences?

Thank you.

The main differences are:
* You have a new bonus called "Combat Maneuver Bonus" (CMB), which is used for every non-attack combat maneuver (trip, grapple, sunder, disarm, bull rush, etc). Instead of opposed checks, you make a CMB check against a DC of 15 + opponent's CMB.
* One skill rank = +1 to that skill, be it class or cross-class. Class skills with ranks on them get a +3 bonus.
* You get 1 feat every 2 levels, instead of every 3.
* Some feats and spells have been slightly changed, mainly to prevent "save or die" effects or accumulation of bonuses.
* Classes have been "turned up to 11", with some added abilities. Think of 3.0 vs. 3.5 ranger. The biggest change is that turn/rebuke undead became "channel positive/negative energy", which is a blast that heals/damages living creatures and do the opposite to undead.

Besides that, it's basically the same game as 3.5, so you'll like it if you liked 2.5, and hate it if you hated 3.5. I'll tell you to have a look at it. After all, it's a free download on Paizo's website, and you'll be able to form yourself a first-hand opinion about it