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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Herremann the Wise" data-source="post: 5317900" data-attributes="member: 11300">I have always appreciated Paizo's efforts in the past in regards to Dragon And Dungeon (and their customer service is head and shoulders above anyone else in the RPG/gaming industry). They produce top quality stuff and so their "flagship" was an obvious thing to take a look at and try out.I play 4e and have had a DDI subscription since the start, and DM a 3.5Ed campaign and a Pathfinder campaign. While 4e has some nice ideas, it also has a lot of things that I really don't like almost completely overfocusing on what characters can do in combat. It took D&D in a direction polar opposite to my gaming preferences which for me is a shame (although essentials seems to be a swinging back of the pendulum, even if only slightly). While I like 3.5, it does have it's issues at higher levels (15th plus) and combat taking too long. My 3.5 game has character's between 16th and 18th level at the moment and so this is sharply in focus. Pathfinder while still technically 3rd edition is in my opinion the best evolution of the ruleset. It cleans up most of the stuff it had to and has a lot of nice ideas that parallel my gaming interests. It still has too much magic for my liking but this can be stripped back. If you happily moved from 3.5 to 4e, then straight away I'm not sure whether Pathfinder will be for you. Perhaps if you could further explain your situation, I might be able to tell you more accurately why you may or may not like Pathfinder. In essence though, it is well supported, takes the 3.5 ruleset and gives them a good freshen up, and emphasizes the good aspects of the ruleset while attempting (and succeeding in the main) in cleaning up the bad.The most obvious thing is the Pathfinder adventure path modules. Paizo's adventure writing is top notch and full of stuff to steal and rebadge. Heaps of enthusiastic and good ideas. I think there is more room to tailor the gaming experience than in 4e. As for 3.5, with the APG released, I think the "core" is now big enough to provide suitable variety as agaisnt 3.5's massive catalogue. In fact, now that you can pretty much run "Pathfinder only", I think having it light on supplemental rules is a plus (where as when it was just the Core rules, you really were looking to supplement it with the complete series and others from 3.5). And yes the books are gorgeously produced. While the covers are not as "pretty" as 4e's, the inside of the product seems more professionally and aesthetically put together.Hard to say as something that is a plus for me might be a minus for someone else. From my point of view though it's primary strength is a neat clearing up of the ruleset combined with the entire Pathfinder experience (adventure modules, core books and gaming supplements). As for it's weaknesses, I would say that wizards still rule after 15th level but up to this point, things are quite balanced and stable. I think there has been significant power creep which I findly mildly irksome. In addition, the core rules assume a level of magic item use that I find excessive (although this is easy enough to manage).There are a few major changes and a lot of minor ones. Save or dies have been addressed (dealing hp damage rather than killing outright), Combat maneuvers have been all brought under a unified umbrella making for a significantly more fluid gaming experience. There is greater emphasis on base classes and less on prestige classes and strange optimised mixes of weirded out class combinations. They have focused on having no dead levels and so if levelling up is an enjoyable gaming experience for you, then Pathfinder succeeds at this more so than 3.5.There are also numerous small changes that change and smooth the gaming experience: Spells fixed (casting requirements or compete clean ups such as with Polymorph), Channeling energy (taking over from turning undead), skills easier to predict (cross-class skills cost one for one but class skills receive a +3 bonus and so on. The little things make the experience better overall,  although if you have played a lot of 3.5, it is these subtle changes that are so easy to miss and fuddle up. Going from 4e to pathfinder would reduce this issue I think.Essentially, Pathfinder is my favourite version of D&D out there at the moment. Hope this helps and if you can provide more info in regard to your preferences, I'll add to the above.Best RegardsHerremann the Wise</blockquote>

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