What has been fixed?

[Ravellion]

Hi there,

About a year ago I downloaded the beta, and Pathfinder seemed like a slightly altered 3.5 to me. Has the final release resulted in a more radical departure than some class, skill, and spell changes? I never had a problem with the 3.5 classes and spells, it was the prep time and the constantly changing buffs (and resulting math) of my players that made me seek out other games, as well as the fact that some players took very long turns compared to other players (Yes, you, the druid with summons and animal companion and a cohort, I am talking to you).

So basically, my question is: is Pathfinder a fixed 3.5 for you, or a continuation of 3.5 with some extra polish. If it is a fix, what did it fix (in your opinion)?

 

[AngryMojo]

Hi there,

About a year ago I downloaded the beta, and Pathfinder seemed like a slightly altered 3.5 to me. Has the final release resulted in a more radical departure than some class, skill, and spell changes? I never had a problem with the 3.5 classes and spells, it was the prep time and the constantly changing buffs (and resulting math) of my players that made me seek out other games, as well as the fact that some players took very long turns compared to other players (Yes, you, the druid with summons and animal companion and a cohort, I am talking to you).

So basically, my question is: is Pathfinder a fixed 3.5 for you, or a continuation of 3.5 with some extra polish. If it is a fix, what did it fix (in your opinion)?

It's pretty much the same, as far as what you're listing. The rules are certainly cleaned up, and I agree with all the changes, but there is still a lot of DM prep time, and not much has been done to decrease turn length. It's very much worth picking up though. Paizo did a bang up job with the book. It's purdy.

 

[frankthedm]

Divine Power (Pathfinder_OGC)
Now gives a Luck bonus that won't stack with Divine Favor at all.

power attack is FAR more sane. Also, it is ON / OFF. No more metagamig Excel tables based on target AC. Also, 1 handed weapons steal some of the damage away from 2 handers.

BaB___Off-Hand___One-Handed__Two-Handed
+1______-1/+1_______-1/+2______-1/+3
+4______-2/+2_______-2/+4______-2/+6
+8______-3/+3_______-3/+6______-3/+9
+12_____-4/+4_______-4/+8______-4/+12
+16_____-5/+5_______-5/+10_____-5/+15
+20_____-6/+6_______-6/+12_____-6/+18

Much more in line with a low level feat.

 

[Umbran]

You probably want to look at:

Subtle Rule Changes Thread

and

Points to note

 

[pawsplay]

The skill system is simpler, which simplifies leveling as well as play.

Special combat maneuvers are mostly unified, which makes things simpler, and certainly helps for animal companions that trip or grapple.

Templating monsters is now simpler.

Many spells are more straightforward in a variety of ways.

 

[Stalker0]

I consider it a 3.6 more than a 3.75 a lot of people are saying, though I haven't taken a full look at the spell yet, and that may change my mind if they made radical changes to a lot of spells.

For me the biggest change was the classes, I love the changes they made there.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Hi there,

About a year ago I downloaded the beta, and Pathfinder seemed like a slightly altered 3.5 to me. Has the final release resulted in a more radical departure than some class, skill, and spell changes? I never had a problem with the 3.5 classes and spells, it was the prep time and the constantly changing buffs (and resulting math) of my players that made me seek out other games, as well as the fact that some players took very long turns compared to other players (Yes, you, the druid with summons and animal companion and a cohort, I am talking to you).

So basically, my question is: is Pathfinder a fixed 3.5 for you, or a continuation of 3.5 with some extra polish. If it is a fix, what did it fix (in your opinion)?

I'm pretty much in agreement with you on what drove me from 3E. While many have stated that 3E prep time wasn't a problem for them it did become a major one for me. I was disappointed that PF failed to address this issue in any meaningful way and it the reason I won't be bothering with it. I might still pick up the book as it has some beautiful artwork and has some great ideas in it but it not worth it, to me, to start playing over my house ruled 3E version.

 

[Liquidsabre]

I'm pretty much in agreement with you on what drove me from 3E. While many have stated that 3E prep time wasn't a problem for them it did become a major one for me. I was disappointed that PF failed to address this issue in any meaningful way and it the reason I won't be bothering with it. I might still pick up the book as it has some beautiful artwork and has some great ideas in it but it not worth it, to me, to start playing over my house ruled 3E version.

You might check out NPC creation and gear section (the new skill system also makes stat prep easier), the XP budget encounter design, and the new design rules for monsters in the upcoming Bestiary if you're interested in reducing prep time for 3.x.

 

[Elbeghast]

So basically, my question is: is Pathfinder a fixed 3.5 for you, or a continuation of 3.5 with some extra polish. If it is a fix, what did it fix (in your opinion)?

The latter: Pathfinder is a continuation of 3.5 with extra polish, adding some gimmicks to character classes and races (a +2 here, a bloodline there), making some aspects of game play less bothersome (skill ranks), et cetera.

By and large, it was intended for people who loved 3.5 and still is 3.5, however. If you had severe issues with the system, Pathfinder RPG is unlikely to solve them, and you'll be better served by more extreme modifications of the system (like say, the Book of Experimental Might), or entirely different systems altogether (Savage Worlds, OGL variant systems, 4e, etc. Take your pick).

 

[Voadam]

Templating monsters is now simpler.

How so?