re
Glad you joined the Pathfinder crowd.
It's an improved version of 3.5. It still has the feel of D&D in terms of the archetypes.
The CMB/CMD mechanics make combats go faster. They don't let things get too out of hand. Though you can build a crazy grapple monster that kicks everyone's behind. But hey, grapplers mostly win in UFC too right?
The arcane casters feel like arcane casters in Pathfinder. They have their non-damage spells that work in combat now. So you can plan magical tactics and feel like the bad to the bone wizard again pulling all sorts of mysterious arcane tricks out of your hat in battle. Makes arcane casters enjoyable to play again. No illusion of power, you have real power as an arcane caster in 3.5 as it should be.
All the other classes received boosts as well. The Paladin feels like the unstoppable destroyer of evil. The fighter feels like a weapon master (though I do think they should get 4 skill points to show their non-combat military training), rangers feel like masters of the outdoors, and barbarians feel like forces of destruction (though the APG is what brought the barbarian in line with the other classes).
Cleric is the cleric. I was hoping for more tweaking. They are the only class that gets nothing at lvl 20 other than a progression of earlier abilities.
Rogue is slightly better. But still the red-headed step child of the classes in terms of combat effectiveness.
Bard is the ultimate support class.
Sorcerers much cooler with bloodlines.
Wizard schools mean something now. Which makes them pretty darn cool. The feel of the wizard staff, ring, or other arcane object gives real power now. It isn't only an affectation, now that item is important to the wizard like Gandalf's staff.
Monsters are tweaked some. Dragons are even more cool now. Demons as well.
Overall, I'm very happy with Pathfinder. An excellent iteration of the 3.5 rules. Probably the best thing I've seen done with the D&D rules in 20 years.
I've haven't enjoyed DMing in ages. Even in 3.0 I didn't want to DM. I'm now DMing the entire Kingmaker adventure path and buying the modules myself. I'm not dreading DMing my weekly game.
Like the rules. Love the adventure paths. The Paizo adventure paths blow anything I've seen from WotC away since they were TSR and did Slavelords, Temple of Elemental Evil, or Against the Giants. They are that good.
It's like a new Golden Age of gaming was launched with Pathfinder. I hope they can keep up the quality.
