Pathfinder… on the shoulder of giants…
June 2, 2011 by elromanozo
If you're into pen and paper RPG, you've heard about Pathfinder... That is, if you haven't been living under a rock for four years. Here's the latest chapter of a long story...
Once upon a time, Wizards Of The Coast, publishers of D&D, decided that the next edition of the game would be open to everyone. 3rd edition was released under the now famous Open Game License (OGL) so that anyone could sell supplements for the shiny new D20 system... And for a while, all was right in the world. Well, not quite... They re-released an updated set of rulebooks as D&D 3.5. There were grunts and moans, but we begrudgingly complied, because they did correct the most obvious flaws.
Years later, after a gazillion supplements were published under the OGL by pretty much everyone on the planet, WOTC decided that 3.5 had had a good run. They retired it, and published 4th edition... But they backtracked : D&D4 wasn't OGL, Only WOTC would be able to release material for D&D from now on.
That ticked off a lot of gamers. Many thought there was nothing wrong with 3.5, and that D&D4 wasn't the game they knew and loved... Harsh words were exchanged, flames were sent, forum were trolled... Even today, it's a tender, bitter subject.
There are now two heirs to D&D : 4th edition, supported by WOTC, and Pathfinder, owned by Paizo Publishing. Each have their fans, and claim legitimacy. Working under a new OGL of their own, Paizo, after open Beta testing (a welcomed first !) and ironing out all the kinks, has published a revised version of the 3.5 rules... Many call it the 3.75 version.
The miniatures combat system, although less streamlined than the D&D4 version, is a thing of beauty... Combat maneuvers allow for actions which weren't possible (or useful) under 3.5. Multiclassing is easier, but the main races and classes have been amped up and made more customizable to compete with the myriad of powerful prestige classes available elsewhere. To allow for adaptation, the GM can chose one of three rates of level advancement.
But the key word here is retrocompatibility : Pathfinder also thrives because it works with every D&D3 and 3.5 product ever published... And that's quite a lot. So, yes, you can still play in your favorite setting, be it one of the official ones (Faerun, Krynn, Rokugan...), one from another publisher (Scarred Lands, Iron Kingdoms...), or one of your own. Almost everything can be made to fit your own game !
If you want a fresh start, Paizo continuously releases a stream of modules for their own setting, Golarion. You'll find all kinds, from Gods and Magic to Princes of Darkness, about races, magic, people, places... And ongoing campaigns ("Adventure Paths" such as the Kingmaker or the Serpent's Skull) provide enough material to thrill your players for months.
On Paizo's website, you can order any of the books in PDF, and even download beta-testing for upcoming supplements, which allows you (yes, you!) to influence the future of the game. Paizo even offers subscriptions to the Pathfinder Society, allowing GMs to report their games and have an impact on the Pathfinder Campaign Setting !
The Pathfinder Core Rulebook, a hefty tome of about 700 pages, contains every rule you'll need to play the game, and then some. The traditional D&D races and classes are all here, as well as the combat system, the spells, magic items... Everything else. And you don't even have to buy it. The rules, devoid of fluff, illustrations and a gorgeous book to have at home, are presented in the Pathfinder Reference Document, available for free on the Paizo website !
If you don't already have a full library of 3.5 material, you'll probably need to refer to the Bestiary for monsters. You might want to look at the GameMastery Guide, an invaluable tool for GMs containing advice, rules, and a plethora of useful NPCs. If your players need more options, you'd do well to pick up the Advanced Player's Guide, replete with gold nuggets for your games... And of course, there's the beautiful and sturdy GM screen.
Sourcebooks are out on a regular basis. The latest one, Ultimate Magic, features, among other things, a whole new magic system, more fluid, that can replace the original one, or be used alongside it ! Oh, and I can smell gunpowder coming from Ultimate Combat, soon to be released...
As usual with Paizo Publishing, you can playtest beta versions of most core supplements and download free samples of them in .pdf format from their website...
You want my opinion ? I say Pathfinder is a great game based on a good one, and so versatile that you can truly make it your own. So if you're still keen on vancian magic and you long to use those 3.5 supplements gathering mold on your shelf, why not give Pathfinder a try ? You might like it...
And you might also like D&D4. Contrary to what the flamers say, you're allowed both chocolate and vanilla !
Here are some helpfull links to get you started on your own Pathfinder adventures:
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Some friends and I recently started a Pathfinder campaign. I’m playing an inquisitor from the advanced player’s guide. We’ve also got a monk, a sorcerer, a druid, and an alchemist. I will say I prefer Pathfinder over D&D 4th edition (though frankly I’d rather play L5R then either XD) for a number of reasons.
I just started doing anything D&D with my friends and they all play Pathfinder, Elven undead Sorcerer fun, here I come!! 😀
i want to like pathfinder by i hated 3rd ed so much im not sure its worth my time. Is a free pdf light version around?…but hey I still rate red and blue box basic/expert dnd
There’s always the Pathfinder reference Document, that’s completely free, and you can see what’s changed from 3rd ed.
If you prefer it in a wiki form, there’s always
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/
BoW Romain
@elromanozo
awesome…..the Pathfinder guys are great and the support, art etc is what TSR should have done before the fall. Oh well ancient history. Ill enjoy the PRD but i think i may prefer the wiki edition
ta
It may not be free, but this fall Paizo is bringing out a Beginner Box.
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8kgt
It looks like a great intro box. To me its what the new ‘Red Box’ should have been.
You got that right !
And did you know there’s a Smart Phone app with the Pathfinder Reference Document as well ? Just search for it on that famous store for that famous phone…
I have it. All of the core books in my pocket, indexed, and with hypertext links… Coupled with a character generator app and a dice-lauching app, it’s everything you’ll ever need to play… Except friends, of course.
Amazing what they do nowadays, isn’t it ?
BoW Romain
I guess I am one of those rock dwellers referred to in article. I know nothing of Pathfinder. However do want to learn more. I was so turned off by rule changes starting off w/ 3.0 DnD. That I stopped RPG’s altogether.
Made one feeble attempt to go back with new red box only to fail. (4.0)
I hope there is more coverage of this game and maybe other alternatives to DnD if they exist.
Thanx for the heads up looking into it now…
Knew about Pathfinder, but a cool article nevertheless, thanks! I’d be also happy to read more about various RPG systems, at the moment I’m most interested in Savage Worlds – might be interesting for others here as well, as it’s supposed to offer easy “cross-gaming” with miniatures.
I’ve been interested in Pathfinder, seems like I should pick up the Core Book(s) and try it!
I play a lot of 4th Edition, and 3/3.5 so I would like to at least give Pathfinder a good go. Will be interesting to see what my group think of it.
The person that wrote this article is wrong about 1 thing: dnd 4th edition is stil OGL. Several other companies are publishing books for the 4th edition game system.
All in all pathfinder is alright. I still prefer 4th edition dnd though. Its a good stystem, just not for me.
I heard the OGL for 4th is totally different to the old ed version meaning for 3rd parties it not as good or appealing…but yes there is a way of doing stuff under 4th
4e isn’t OGL, but has a GSL (Game System License). It’s similar, but gives WotC more approval over stuff published for 4e. There was a lot of crap published for 3.5 by some folks that was just of such low quality that WotC felt it hurt the hobby or the impression of gamers to the general public (Book of Erotic Fantasy, anyone?)
Plus some very good stuff that lessened the impact of some of the material that WotC released – Frost & Fur was dramatically better than Frostburn, several very good maritime sourcebooks were in competition with Stormwrack, etc.. Though, i honesty, I think that the existence of several good supplements, including WotC’s, made using those environments much more attractive.
Right now Pathfinder is hitting my sweet spot – the addition of archetypes in the Advanced Player’s Guide just adds so very much flexibility. 🙂
The one plus for me that comes from 4E over 3.5 is the fact that everyone always feels like they are doing something useful when they play. I love 3.5, it was the longest and probably best campaign we have done yet – and like I said above, Pathfinder looks interesting indeed.
In the end, it all depends on what you’re looking for in a game… I find there’s very little to D&D4th edition outside of combat situations. I prefer Pathfinder for loads of reasons, mainly customization, the fact that you can’t make a true level 1 character anymore, one with one measly attack and who actually fears an encounter with one goblin… and I don’t approve what’s been done with the wizard… But that’s another story… But that doesn’t mean I don’t have loads of fun playing D&D4 every once in a while ! For me, it’s just not the same… Read more »
I had enough cash today to pick up the Core Rulebook – so far I’m quite pleased with the book and I’m looking forwards to diving into it!
Huge huge fan of Pathfinder. Been playing it since early beta after giving 4e a fair shake. The game is well crafted and the designers are super responsive to their forums.
I have to say the amount of care, love, art and total awesome sauce that goes into these books makes them worth every penny.
I’ve done a quick read-thru of the Core Rulebook and now I can say that I’m excited to run a Fantasy RPG, which is something that DnD wasn’t giving me.
Videos of Pathfinder sessions here if you want to see how it plays :-
http://www.houstonpathfinder.com/
That is an excellent initiative !
Thank you for that…
BoW Romain
Just want to say I love the Pathfinder games and would recommend them before the dicey waters of 4th edition. I’m not necessarily a “hater” of 4th, I just fell in love with Pathfinder years ago. The combat feels smoother and simpler than 3.5, your characters have tons of little options and perks that made them feel unique, there are less skills and they make more sense… it really is a simpler and smoother game. I have played in 3 campaigns (all unfinished tales) and can strongly say Pathfinder is worth your time. There are also some great wikis out… Read more »
Might be worth a read, even if I D&D-wise been under said rock for a long time, AD&D anyone – I still have the Gary Gygax penned first edition somethere. But my love always been skillbased systems over class/level based, RQ3 or the offshoot that became the Swedish Drager och Demoner