Pathfinder 1E Sell me on Pathfinder

[MortonStromgal]

Heres a list of things I dont like about D&D 3.X
The Magic System, I hate the whole spells per day thing
Confirming Crits
Levels/Hit Points

But Pathfinder seams soo well done and seams to have soo much love invested into it. The books seam worth the cost (unlike 4e IMHO) and the fact that they are on board with the OGL is awesome.

Things I liked in D&D 3.X
Multi-classing
Skills
Killing cool monsters
Planar travel

So what do you like about Pathfinder?

 

[Henry]

Heres a list of things I dont like about D&D 3.X
The Magic System, I hate the whole spells per day thing
Confirming Crits
Levels/Hit Points

But Pathfinder seams soo well done and seams to have soo much love invested into it. The books seam worth the cost (unlike 4e IMHO) and the fact that they are on board with the OGL is awesome.

Things I liked in D&D 3.X
Multi-classing
Skills
Killing cool monsters
Planar travel

So what do you like about Pathfinder?

I do like their change to when you get feats - the number of feats in 3E felt a bit too stringent to me. I also enjoy what they've done with fighters and rogues -- definitely more fun to have a stack of tricks to pull from. Its biggest downside to me however is still some of the swinginess that happens in the outcome of a combat. It seems most Pathfinder combats I've seen so far, I can't tell if we're winning or not until the last round - which is fun sometimes, but not ALL the time, to me. Last combat, I was running out of the room at 0 hit points, barely hanging on, one guy paralyzed, one guy dead, the witch was sleeping people and running away in desperation, and the cleric pulled a victory from his rear by hanging on long enough for the paralyzed character to come out of stasis. Our last big fight before this? Same way. Fight before that? Same way. It's been CRAZY swingy for us, and we're one shot away from a TPK, it seems -- this being with an equivalent challenge!

I do also like the toning down they've done of problematic wizard and cleric spells (the shapachange/polymorph stuff, etc.).

 

[dmccoy1693]

Last combat, I was running out of the room at 0 hit points, barely hanging on, one guy paralyzed, one guy dead, the witch was sleeping people and running away in desperation, and the cleric pulled a victory from his rear by hanging on long enough for the paralyzed character to come out of stasis. Our last big fight before this? Same way. Fight before that? Same way.

Sounds to me like you need to have a talk with your GM more than a system change. If he's running an AP, maybe you guys should be a level higher before taking on these kinds of encounters. Either that or on the less important combats, he needs to pull a monster or two from the encounter.

 

[BlubSeabass]

Maybe just a little detail, but if you didn't like the spells per day because of the limited early arsenal of the spellcasters, it has been improved aswell. Orisons and Cantrips can now be casted at will, with no limits per day. This means that even without any level 1 spells left, the sorcerer/wizard can support the party with a Daze spell, Resistance or a Ray of Frost. You can only memorize a few spells like that though.

Our fighter(s) are also really enjoying the boost they get, since now they get something at each level. Same goes for some other classes. Increases of feats, once every 2 levels instead of 3, also gives the characters a bit more depth.

The reduction of skills and the usage of exp also suits me. You can't lose exp anymore, which makes it easier to keep the party evenly strong.

 

[Anguish]

Heres a list of things I dont like about D&D 3.X
The Magic System, I hate the whole spells per day thing

A few things have happened to ease the pain but it's absolutely still in place. As mentioned above, cantrips and orisons (0th level spells) are at-will as much as you like. Additionally, most spell-casting classes have other abilities which they can use many times a day that give them at least something to do that isn't "fire a crossbow". There's no per-encounter spell mechanic like 4e though.

Confirming Crits

That would be a decent place to throw in a house-rule. All crits auto-confirm. That was easy.

Levels/Hit Points

Not sure what this means. I can say that in PFRPG, characters get more hit points. You get to pick a favored class at 1st level and all levels you take in that class give you an extra hit point (or a skill point - your choice). Also, Toughness as a feat gives you what amounts to 1 hp per level (though you get your first 3 all at the start). Also, you die at negative <your Con score>, so for most it's deeper than the old -10 figure. Also, there are spells like breath of life that allow penalty-less raising within one round. Also also also, raising the dead doesn't have the mechanical penalty it used to.

Multi-classing

You're going to love this: there's no multiclass penalty in PFRPG. (Aside from not getting your favored class bonus hp/skill point.) You can mix & match all you like.

Skills

Skills are much like 3.5 only with some consolidation. Hide and Move Silently together are now Stealth for instance. Also, the choice mechanic is simpler but 100% compatible. You don't need to dink around with class vs non-class skills the same way, which is awesome.

Killing cool monsters

The monsters have been revised, which is probably the hugest PFRPG change. Eight years of learning what was wrong about various monsters. The bestiary is awesome.

Planar travel

That's a DM/plot thing, not a rules-set thing, really.

 

[MortonStromgal]

I'll clarify a couple of the 3.X dislikes

Concerning The Magic System = The crossbow problem & the not being able to cast magic missile again even though I have 3rd level spell like fireball still ready (cant I just cast 3 magic missiles instead or something?). Also I dislike the memorizing the spells ahead of time so I avoided classes that had to do that.

Concerning Levels = I dislike instantly better, much prefer skill systems where you get better at one thing at a time rather than waiting for a new level. Part of this is also hit points increasing.

I understand both these things are innately D&D and not likely to change. I'm looking for can the good stuff outweigh the bad stuff.

 

[Truth Seeker]

Problem solved--Use the Mana system from Unearthed Arcanca 3.5

I'll clarify a couple of the 3.X dislikes

Concerning The Magic System = The crossbow problem & the not being able to cast magic missile again even though I have 3rd level spell like fireball still ready (cant I just cast 3 magic missiles instead or something?). Also I dislike the memorizing the spells ahead of time so I avoided classes that had to do that.

Concerning Levels = I dislike instantly better, much prefer skill systems where you get better at one thing at a time rather than waiting for a new level. Part of this is also hit points increasing.

I understand both these things are innately D&D and not likely to change. I'm looking for can the good stuff outweigh the bad stuff.

 

[Truth Seeker]

Everything said by others here.

I concur with. I am using the PF system for my variant World Campaign.

Heres a list of things I dont like about D&D 3.X
The Magic System, I hate the whole spells per day thing
Confirming Crits
Levels/Hit Points

But Pathfinder seams soo well done and seams to have soo much love invested into it. The books seam worth the cost (unlike 4e IMHO) and the fact that they are on board with the OGL is awesome.

Things I liked in D&D 3.X
Multi-classing
Skills
Killing cool monsters
Planar travel

So what do you like about Pathfinder?

 

[Walking Dad]

Heres a list of things I dont like about D&D 3.X
The Magic System, I hate the whole spells per day thing
Confirming Crits
Levels/Hit Points

Pathfider has all of it

But Pathfinder seams soo well done and seams to have soo much love invested into it. The books seam worth the cost (unlike 4e IMHO) and the fact that they are on board with the OGL is awesome.

Could you explain what you think is well done compared to 4e? I would help to assess your preferences.
And yes, OGL is awesome

Things I liked in D&D 3.X
Multi-classing
Skills
Killing cool monsters
Planar travel

Still can do everything in pathfinder, but IMHO they didn't updated it compared to 3.5 (only the skills, and I don't know if you like that change more).

So what do you like about Pathfinder?

I like the OGL, updating 3.5 rules and (foremost) the fluff of the books.

What I don't like:
Multi-classing
Skills (liked the Beta more)
Magic system could be better balanced.

 

[MortonStromgal]

Could you explain what you think is well done compared to 4e? I

Artwork, page layout (ie how much wasted space is there), less grammatical errors (at leased in the books I have read cover to cover), and lastly I don't feel like I HAVE to buy book X. To DM 4e I feel like I have to have PHB1&2, MM1, and DMG1 & 2. Just to even get started. They also to my knowledge don't have a free SRD so my players are forced into buying books as well. With Pathfinder I could just buy an Adventure Path and use the SRD because the SRD has more of the rules in it than 3.X did. Fortunately their books are so pretty and I like to read in places that a computer is less than ideal and I'm too lazy to print the whole thing so I would be buying the books anyway