Welcome to Paizo

Friday, August 21, 2009

With the release of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, there are a lot of new faces here on the board, so we thought that this would be a good time to say hello and to give folks a quick tour of the site.

I suspect that many of the new folks are here because of the Pathfinder RPG, so there is no better place to start than our new Core Rulebook. Of course, we have much more in store for this game, so you definitely want to visit the Pathfinder RPG main page where you can see a summary of all of our upcoming products. Be sure to check out the Bestiary Preview and the Pathfinder RPG Conversion Guide, both of which can be downloaded for free. All you need is an account. Tip to the wise, make sure you have the most recent version of Adobe Reader installed on your machine to read these pdfs. Both of these free products, along with a host of other valuable free documents, can also be found on the Pathfinder RPG resources page, which also contains our community use policy (for those thinking about setting up a fan website) and the compatibility license (for those planning to make products using the Pathfinder RPG rules). The resources page also has the most recent errata document for the Core Rulebook, which contains a number of small changes and fixes to ensure that your game is running smoothly.

Next up, if you need to quickly reference the Pathfinder RPG online, there is no better resource than the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (or PRD for short). The PRD contains all of the rules from the game, organized just like the Core Rulebook, making them easy to find. If you are playing your game in reach of a computer, I might recommend a bookmark or three.

We really want paizo.com to be a great community for gamers of all stripes, whether your passion is the Pathfinder RPG, other RPGs, board games, card games, or anything in between. Our messageboards are home to thousands of gamers just like you, looking for advice, sharing stories, forming groups, and getting answers to rules questions. If you are navigating the messageboards, look out for the following forums.

First up is the Pathfinder RPG messageboard, which includes a large number of useful forums. The General Discussion Forum is where you can discuss nearly anything related to the game, from reviews to announcements. The Rules Question Forum is where you can ask questions about the game. If one of your fellow fans does not help you out, one of our staff will try to help get an answer to your question. There is a lot of great discussion going on right now on the boards about the game, but I do want to take this moment to offer some advice. The rules are brand new, and there is a lot of information to digest. Before posting, make sure to take a good look through the book to see if your question is answered elsewhere. Since the game is a revision to the 3.5 rules, there are a number of discussions going on right now comparing the two and weighing the pros and cons of each change. While this is only natural, I do want to remind folks that many of these changes are designed to have a specific effect or to work in combination with other changes, making the whole of the game easier and better to run. If the rule in question still doesn't work for your group, do not hesitate to change it. It is your game after all, and you should feel free to change it in any way that would add to the fun and excitement of your campaign. Alright, back to the tour.

Next up in the Pathfinder RPG section is the Pathfinder RPG Products Section, which includes two forums for discussing individual products. One for Paizo products and one for any 3rd party product that is compatible with the game. After those forums are the Community Content forums. The first of these is the House Rules Forum, which contains a host of tips, tricks, and suggestions used in the games of fellow messageboard members. This forum also includes brand new rules content created by fans. The second forum is the Conversions Forum, which contains fan-made conversions of a host of 3.5 rules and products, making them easier to use with the Pathfinder RPG.

In addition to the Pathfinder RPG forums, you will find an array of other forums for our other products. The Pathfinder General Discussion Forum is for talking about any product with the Pathfinder logo, focusing on products that are compatible with the Pathfinder campaign setting (such as the Pathfinder Chronicles, Pathfinder Companion, Pathfinder Modules, and Pathfinder Accessories products). The Pathfinder Adventure Path Section contains a forum for each one of our Adventure Paths. These products represent complete campaigns, taking your characters from 1st level to the heights of power. The forums contain tips, tricks, and tools to use for each Adventure Path, as well as a number of great stories and anecdotes from the campaigns of fellow members.

This is also a good time to talk about the Pathfinder Society. This program allows you to play the Pathfinder RPG around the world, using the same character for each event. Pathfinder Society events can be found at most major conventions and in a number of game stores. In addition, your GM can download these PDF adventures and run them for you at home. For discussion about these exciting events, check out the Pathfinder Society Forums.

Concluding our tour of the messageboards, you might want to investigate the Paizo Community Forums, which includes forums for 3.5, 4th edition, board games, card games, play-by-post games, movies, books, television, and the always busy off-topic discussion (drive up your post count with a 3-word game today!).

Before this blog gets way too long, I want to take a moment to talk about the Paizo Store, which features just about every RPG, board game, card game, miniatures game, and accessory known to man. Be warned, there are a lot of good products hiding in there, and my wallet has paid for my curiosity mightily over the years.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer