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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wik" data-source="post: 6720002" data-attributes="member: 40177">I've played both.  And the answer is, without a doubt, 5e.  Allow me to explain:1.  Pathfinder is a game with a lot of rules.  They cover EVERYTHING.  5e is a game that has much fewer rules, much like 2e did, and it expects the GM to be making things up.  8 year olds are going to be doing that anyways.  Why not have the game that's made for that sort of play?2.  Pathfinder's rules are balanced with the framework that all the rules will be followed.  This means that when someone isn't following them due to a misunderstanding, things get wonky fast.  We mostly know how sneak attack works, but what happens if you have a player (say, an 8 year old), who doesn't know that "surprise" is a rules term, and not actually being "surprised" that a combat is happening?  In short, now the rogue is always landing sneak attack.  5e, with fewer rules, has therefore fewer rules interactions.  This means that misunderstandings are handled better.3.  Pathfinder probably has better support, and a better fanbase.  But it also means there's a huge glut of material out there.  If we're just using 5e materials, there's a much better chance that high quality materials will wind up in the kid's hands, as opposed to one of the many, MANY "this product exists just to fill a hole in our production cycle" products of PF.  4.  5e is free.  At its basic level, at least - the basic rules exist with enough to go on that the child can play with absolutely no investment!  Now, this is technically also true of Pathfinder... but not really.  Trying to run a game off the SRD is hard... probably out of the reach of a child.  I mean, even the basic rules would be pretty hard for an eight year old...5.  5e has all the cool D&D monsters that were never made available to the OGL.  Trust me, it's a LOT of fun to fight a mimic, displacer beast, umber hulk, beholder...6.  5e has fewer moving parts.  In PF, everything is customizable, even pretty much just in the core rulebook.  This leads to a lot of decisions... and many of them are bad.  (Imagine a fighter taking iron will as a feat at first level.  It seems cool at first, but in reality, it's a sub-par entry level feat).  5e, by contrast, has fewer choices, which allows new players to focus on playing the actual game.  Obviously, I'm in favour of 5th.  I've run a few pathfinder games, and I've had huge problems every time.  The nature of buff spells, save or die effects, and the all-or-nothing damage game aren't what I love.  I also hate how monsters are tied to character level fairly strongly (orcs cease to be a threat completely, for example - whereas in 5th, they can still scare PCs when encountered in groups).  And I strongly disliked the power disparity between PCs in the same party, and the "buildiness" that seem to almost be required.  So, that's where my own bias lay;  make of it what you will.  Some things I can say in favour of pathfinder, to play devil's advocate to my own arguments:1.  Pathfinder is better supported, and the Paizo guys are much more communicative with the fanbase than wotc these days.  2.  Pathfinder has a much better "core world" than any edition of D&D.  Golarian trumps the vagueness of Greyhawk we see presented in the core books, the small scale of the Nentir Vale, or the blandness of 5e's sword coast.  3.  Pathfinder Adventure Paths are centred around (usually) awesome ideas, and there are enough out there these days that you can find one that is exciting.4.  Once you get the core book, pathfinder has a lot of different directions you can go, using the (free!) SRD... whereas in 5e, to do that requires kitbashing rules yourself or going through blog after blog after forumpost.5.  Pathfinder adventuring days are smaller than 5e adventuring days, which some players find more "realistic".  Granted, that's no 8 year old I've ever encountered, but still.Honestly, though?  5e is closer to 2e than pathfinder is.  I mean, does Pathfinder have THAC0 in the index?  Nope!  But 5e does... And since you stress you're a 2e player, why not stick closer to something you love?</blockquote>

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