In the interest of providing as much feedback as possible, I’ve listed my thoughts as to the first Alpha release of the Pathfinder RPG below. These thoughts are based on a read-through of the rules only – I have not had a chance to playtest the game as of yet.
Overall: This first packet of information is very exciting. Assuming that the rest of the rules are the same level of quality, I would buy this game if it were on the shelves right now. It is a definite improvement over 3.5, but maintains a great deal of compatibility with the old system. One thing that does bother me, though, is that it seems there is little simplification for high-level play. In fact, the plethora of new abilities attached to the classes makes it seem likely that there will be more bookkeeping at high levels now. That is a huge turn off to running 3.5 as it stands, and it’s something that should be streamlined in Pathfinder. The longer I can run a campaign without it turning into a rules-induced headache, the happier I will be.
Races (page 4-7): Although none of the races turn me off, I don’t think a lot of the changes are completely necessary. Races aren’t something I hear a lot of people complaining about in the 3.5 rules. Although I don’t mind the alterations that have been made, I think most of the races are not broken and therefore don’t need to be fixed. The only races that I think need an overhaul are half-elves and half-orcs.
Keen Senses (mentioned in race writeups): I don’t like the bonus to specific sense-based Perception checks. In fact, the division between sight-based, sound-based, smell-based, etc. checks make an excellent argument not to roll Listen, Search, and Spot into one check. I say toss out the division and give races with keen senses a flat bonus to Perception – the simpler it is the adjudicate, the better.
Unnatural Beauty (page 5): I like that elves finally get a feature that reflects their unearthly grace. However, this seems to be a very “Mother may I?” kind of feature, where it will only be used if the GM wants it to be. I think it would be easier just to add a mention to the flavor text that many races react more favorably to elves because of their beauty and grace.
Half-Orcs (page 6): While half-orcs are improved, I think they are still the worst of the racial options. However, if the racial boost to hit points ends up being used, they become a better option due to the sheer number of hit points they’ll have at 1st level.
Favored Class (page 7): I like the fact that favored classes provide a bonus, rather than a penalty now. However, I don’t know if the rule entirely makes sense. Why is an elven wizard better at taking hits than a dwarven wizard, when hardiness really has nothing to do with wizardry? I would recommend giving favored classes the ax entirely, and mentioning the preferred classes in the racial flavor text rather than assigning them rules.
Character Advancement (page 9): I like the three experience tables, depending on the pace of the game. However, I think it would be better to have GMs who wish to run slower-advancing games to instead divide the XP awards by two or three. That would make it easier to bring a character from one game to another without having to recalculate experience based on a group’s preference.
Cleric Weapon Proficiencies (page 9): Giving clerics proficiency in their deity’s favored weapon makes perfect sense, and is a house rule I have employed in my own 3.5 games. Extra turning also becomes much more useful, since the ability now doesn’t require the GM to throw undead into an adventure just to give the cleric a chance to shine.
Domain Powers (page 10): Domain powers are a definite improvement over the existing rules. However, domain powers, and school powers for arcane classes, seem to add a lot of extra spells and abilities in the long run. One problem with playing clerics and wizards (and especially with making high-level cleric and wizard NPCs) is the vast number of spells that need to be chosen, many of which will never be used in game. I think if you’re going to use domain powers as is, then the number of spells a caster has to choose from should be scaled back somewhat. Focus on what is going to be used in game, rather than cluttering a character sheet with dozens of powers and spells that will almost never be used.
Orisions (page 10): At-will orisions and cantrips is a very good idea. None of the effects are terribly powerful, but they all allow spellcasters to be somewhat magical, even when their big effects are spent.
Starting Hit Points (page 11): My own campaigns use a character’s Constitution score + the maximum result of their first hit die as starting hit points for characters with adventuring classes (monsters and NPCs are left as is). That said, the racial hit points idea is very intriguing to me.
Turn Undead (page 11): An excellent expansion of the cleric’s abilities.
The Fighter (page 11-12): I like the boost the fighter gets, especially since it doesn’t add a lot of complexity to the character unless the player wants to invest in long feat chains. Part of the fighter’s appeal to me is that he doesn’t have all the bookkeeping associated with other classes. The addition of many combat feats also gives a chance to really customize the fighter.
The Rogue (page 13-15): I like the expansion of rogue abilities. It makes the class more of a jack of all trades, with the ability to allow for specialization if desired.
Arcane Bond (page 16): I absolutely love the arcane bond. It provides an excellent alternative to the familiar, and gives a lot of flavor to the wizard class. It also allows for the classic trope of breaking a wizard’s staff to break his power. I’m hoping the sorcerer class has something different than the arcane bond, to differentiate the classes some more. The way I’ve always seen it, the wizard requires external forces, while the sorcerer’s magic is internal.
Class Hit Dice (page 18): I like tying hit dice to base attack bonus. At the same time, I think it would be worth being flexible, since certain classes, like the ranger, should not automatically follow those rules, in my opinion.
Acquiring Skills (page 20): I like this system, although I think it could use some work. It will definitely cut down on bookkeeping for creating NPCs. I think skill acquisition could probably be made a bit slower – maybe make it every 3 levels or even every 4 levels. I also think adding a way for PCs to dabble in skills without being masters would be useful. Perhaps, keeping the skill progression as written so far, one could spend one skill slot to gain the skill at a cross-class level and a second slot to gain full proficiency in the skill. In such a case, though, there would probably have to be a bit of an increase in starting skill points, as the two-skill classes would be severely hurt by this system.
In terms of specific skills, I think Deception, Diplomacy, and Intimidate could be easily rolled into one “Persuasion” skill. Also, while I understand the reasoning behind the Fly skill, I think it should be dropped entirely.
CMB (page 41): A nice simplification, even if it means another number to put onto a character sheet. The difficulty makes it so that most characters who are not fighters with a special feat or two won’t try for a special maneuver – not sure if this is a good thing or not.
Grapple (page 42): This rule looks like a good simplification, although it will need a trial by fire in play. I think the most broken thing about grapple is the number of large-sized or larger creatures that have a form of improved grab. Facing a purple worm, for instance, can mean a quick death for a lot of the party. Remove the frequency of improved grab, and I think the grapple problem becomes significantly lessened.
Abjuration and Divination schools (page 46): Kudos on making these oft-ignored schools a useful option to character who want to play an abjurer or a diviner.
Identify (page 58): Yay! No more spending 100gp to identify each potion and magical dagger!
That’s that for now. Unless noted above, I either like the new rules or I’m interested enough in them to give them an in-game test. As I said before, I would buy this RPG if it were out now. I’m looking forward to future Alpha releases, and I think the 2009 release will be absolutely terrific with the benefit of an extensive playtest.
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