Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Pathfinder Lite?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Mallus" data-source="post: 6128419" data-attributes="member: 3887"><p>I've just started running a Pathfinder campaign -- 3 sessions so far, just set up the campaign message board, 3rd level PCs, homebrew setting & custom adventures. </p><p></p><p>Here's how I'm making Pathfinder more palatable (after running a much-rules-lighter AD&D campaign for almost 2 years).</p><p></p><p>First, acknowledge the Pathfinder rules are mostly <em>for the players</em>, not the DM. Let them spend hours building their builds. Don't try to compete with them in that arena. </p><p></p><p>Grab pre-built NPCs from published adventures and supplements like the NPC Codex. Reskin as needed. If you need to up the challenge level, add more monsters per encounter, increase the level of classed opponents, and/or slap one or more simple templates onto them, ie break the XP budget for a given encounter when necessary.</p><p></p><p>Second, realize that speed is better than accuracy at the table. Don't spend a lot of time looking up rules. Make judgment calls. Eyeball DCs. Don't make each session an exercise in rules-research. So long as these calls don't all go <em>against</em> the players, they should thank you (because no one really enjoys watching people flip through rule books/Google stuff). </p><p></p><p>The thing about Pathfinder's (and 3e's) complexity (and rules/options-bloat) is that <em>it's why a lot of people like the game in the first place</em>. The trick is to let the players have that complexity, while the DM uses every trick & shortcut in the book to speed up play and reduce prep-time, ie judiciously ignore the rule specifics when they're not really needed.</p><p></p><p>My aim is to run a Pathfinder campaign like it was AD&D. We'll see how that works out...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mallus, post: 6128419, member: 3887"] I've just started running a Pathfinder campaign -- 3 sessions so far, just set up the campaign message board, 3rd level PCs, homebrew setting & custom adventures. Here's how I'm making Pathfinder more palatable (after running a much-rules-lighter AD&D campaign for almost 2 years). First, acknowledge the Pathfinder rules are mostly [i]for the players[/i], not the DM. Let them spend hours building their builds. Don't try to compete with them in that arena. Grab pre-built NPCs from published adventures and supplements like the NPC Codex. Reskin as needed. If you need to up the challenge level, add more monsters per encounter, increase the level of classed opponents, and/or slap one or more simple templates onto them, ie break the XP budget for a given encounter when necessary. Second, realize that speed is better than accuracy at the table. Don't spend a lot of time looking up rules. Make judgment calls. Eyeball DCs. Don't make each session an exercise in rules-research. So long as these calls don't all go [i]against[/i] the players, they should thank you (because no one really enjoys watching people flip through rule books/Google stuff). The thing about Pathfinder's (and 3e's) complexity (and rules/options-bloat) is that [i]it's why a lot of people like the game in the first place[/i]. The trick is to let the players have that complexity, while the DM uses every trick & shortcut in the book to speed up play and reduce prep-time, ie judiciously ignore the rule specifics when they're not really needed. My aim is to run a Pathfinder campaign like it was AD&D. We'll see how that works out... [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Pathfinder Lite?
Top