Pathfinder 1E Will Pathfinder be the fix?

[Storminator]

I'm scratching 3 right now.

I'm in a once a month 4e game (lord! once a month is not enough!) that is great fun. It's D&D at it's wood-pushing kill-things-and-take-their-stuff finest. RPing is pretty much limited to mocking the other PCs, mocking your own PC, and fearing the constantly imminent character death.

I'm running a once a month M&M Golden Age game that is the best RPG campaign anyone has ever run. Each session is a standalone issue. We have brilliant villains, the best heroes ever made, and furious quipping in the middle of the fist fights.

And I'm running 4e for my 10 year old and his friend. This might be the best game yet. Imaginative kids that don't know or care about the rules?! Awesome. I recommend that everyone try it. Tho, when your son asks if you want to act out the final defeat of the mummy priest, say no! You'll be the mummy priest!

PS

 

[Dark Mistress]

Well I think it depends on what you are wanting. I mean each game has good and bad about them, i have never seen the "perfect" system and I doubt i ever do.

I personally play different games for different reasons. For scifi it is Iron Crowns Space master(space version of Rolemaster for those that don't know.) yet for fantasy so far 3e was the closest to what appeals to me the most.(I am hoping Pathfinder fits better) I tried Rolemaster and while there is much I liked about it, there is a couple of things I can't stand about it.

So what game scratches my RP itch depends a lot on what exactly it is I am itching to play.

 

[malkav666]

Ewww,

Itch Scratching.....Not at my table. As for the games that I am playing right now? I am running a crew of folks through Monte Cook's dungeonaday.com (we are almost to the second level of the dungeon) using the 3.x rule set and I run a bi-weekly game for my wife and a few of our mutual friends that is a RotRL using 3.x/PF beta hybrid. This game will likely be fully converted to the PFRPG when it is released, but we may wait until we finish the campaign and just start the Curse series using the new rules.

I do play other systems. Last weekened my group demoed Hackmaster Basic and had a blast. Combat tracking took us a little getting used to, but it was a really good time. And even though 4e is not really my thing, I do play it with another group of friends every so often. While I don't particularly care for the system all that much, I usually have a really good time at thse games anyway, as I really enjoy the company.

And that is really where the itch is for me. I just want to hang out with my friends and have a few beers (and my friends even let me drink even though there is a chance I may misbehave ) and chuck some dice.

love,

malkav

P.S. Arkham Horror is a fantastic boardgame. My crew has yet to actually "Win" yet, but we have had a blast every time we play it.

 

[Sylrae]

Pathfinder, from what I've seen/played, is good. It's a revision of 3.5e D&D. But they were trying to keep alot of compatibility with 3.5e D&D, and in the process, didnt revise as much as they should have. (In My Opinion)

4e D&D is a completely different game, with some ties to the last game. It's kindof like going back to 2e, but then altering 2e to be more like world of warcraft. It's enjoyable, but you have many less options in character design, more options for melee characters in combat, strictly defined roles that are hard to deviate from, and in my opinion, makes a good 1 shot, but a bad ongoin game.

 

[the Jester]

My "real" campaign is presently 4e, but I am working on what I am referring to as "dnd jazz edition", taking bits of design philosophy from each edition with some explicit goals of my own (such as everyone starts at 1st level) and am gradually refining it. I've been running a few playtest games of it as I go- I'm ready to test the cleric, and may have the elf done before long!

What scratches the itch for me?

4e's monster design system. Oh god it's beautiful. Also, the way it does traps, hazards and (in theory, though not always in execution) skill challenges. 4e makes the game easy and fun to run again.

1e's flavor. It drips into my mind like gravy of the soul. Level titles, name level, followers, all the random dungeon dressing charts, the assumption that random encounters would actually be random encounters and not be tailored to the pcs but rather to the area the pcs were in- ahhh, it's a heady, heady thing, 1e flavor.

2e's priest system, if executed right. My old campaign world's religion- which had a huge, well-developed pantheon of gods with unique specialty priests, hundreds of god-unique spells, many 'champion of _________' classes, etc. was awesome and inspiring. Coolest, most interesting edition for clerics- as long as there were no generic clerics.

3's major innovations- feats, the standardization of the d20-higher-is-better mechanic, a truly integrated skill system, etc. Making fighters interesting (again, feats). Fortitude, Reflex and Will. Ascending AC. I could go on for a while here.

I didn't play much before that- a bit of B/X but already admixed with 1e. So I can't speak to earlier editions. But man, if I can capture what I love about each edition in the flavor of my "Jazz Edition" homebrewed DnD, I will be stoked.

 

[Darrin Drader]

You don't find it unsettling that you can kill a Great Old One with a Tommy Gun? That was a game that had great potential until my group of newbs beat it handily the first 10 times out of the gate.

<snicker> He said gate...

Well, I also find it unsettling that when Azathoth wakes up, it's immediately game over. It's a strategy game, not a roleplaying game, so there are bound to be some things that don't convert properly. At least you can still win the game if the Great Old One awakens.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

It's all about the tinkering, man.

3.X allows access to a vast library of mechanics that can be cobbled together into the game that I want to run. The OGL actively encouraged a degree of compatible systems that had not been seen before.

So, when I wanted steampunk there was plenty of material, from Fantasy Flight to E.N. Publishing to play with, and when I wanted 17th century wars of religion Mongoose and WotC were both standing by.

Most of this library will also work with Pathfinder, so it keeps my inner rules mechanic happily covered in grease, and waving his wrench merrily, then going back to cussing at the one gear that doesn't quite fit into place.

The Auld Grump

 

[kitsune9]

So, I'm wondering if I'm the only one with that itch?

1e, 2e, 3e, 4e...been there, done that.

Loved it, by the way. I've had a great time in every edition. I've also got some mad love for Hero Games (particularly Champs), Rolemaster, and my new love: Hackmaster.

So, we started up a campaign of Hack recently, which went parallel to our 4e campaign. It wasn't really close, Hack by a mile. Even though the combat was at times stifling, the party balance is completely out of whack, and my character's "combat effectiveness" is ridiculously bad (I'm a pirate)...we're having a blast.

So, why? I love 4e. Insanely easier to DM, prep, etc. But the characters in Hack are so much RICHER!

I listen to all the podcasts that talk about RP, character aspects, building CHARACTER into your stories, and handing over the reigns of narration. That's sweet. I bought Burning Empires, but....wow. Where would I start, exactly?

So, what exactly's going to scratch that itch? Is it Pathfinder? Is it Hack? Is it 4e? Is it some INDIE HIPPIE GOODNESS, as yet undiscovered?

Is anyone else...here? Has anyone been here, and found a road out of this dense forest?

So here's the rules:
1) No edition wars. Love them all. Don't go there. Tell me how YOU scratch your itch.
2) No rules-systems wars. Love aspects of them all. Let's not go there.
3) Keep it to YOUR experience. I'd like to hear about what you did that WORKED. If you'd like to comment on others experiences, feel free to start your own thread.

Fork off, as it were.

Think this will pass the mod test? Can't wait to find out....

Ah, I see where you're going with this. Sometimes to scratch that itch, I like Warhammer FRP for fantasy and Herogames and Traveller. Back in the early 90's, Top Secret S.I. was da bomb for me.

 

[LordPsychodin]

for me, its always been - flavor is mutable. I'd just as easily change the elemental descriptors for free for players for spells, and I don't care about reflavoring. PrCs are just add-ons for characters if thats all they want them to be, but if they want to take the full flavor and work with me to make it relevant, I will try as the DM. I like to give my players a large amount of control of where they go an the choice they make. (I've learned very quickly, never pull the "stop or I'll harm the hostage!" anymore, needless to say

 

[carmachu]

My favorite is still Shadowrun, but mostly for it's setting and atmosphere. The system was interesting, but I ran it for a year and still had to flip through the books during combat. If Paizo comes out with a spellpunk-themed version of Pathfinder and licenses it to WizKids or whoever is holding onto the Shadowrun IP, I'll be their biggest fan. (And yes, I know about Urban Arcana. It's fine, but is missing too much of the flavor. I need my spell drain mechanics to be happy.)

Gods no. I've played/followed shadowrun up to wizkids/whoever is doing it now and 4th ed shadowrun has really sucked the flavor of the game out of the supliments. Its sad.