I got 2 of the hardcopy versions of the core book (one for posterity, the other for play). You all did a fantastic job on the product. From the writing of the rules to the art; I would say that my only issues with it are that the Bard is still fundamentally the same as he is under 3.$ & I would've liked to have seen what the Blackguard would've been like.

Future stuff I'd like to see would be more Prestige Classes (PrCs) and a dataset for RPGXplorer (or whichever company U use for character generating programs). Again, great job

I only own this mighty tome in PDF form, so my review necessarily limits itself to that. So no flowery praise for production values, or other aspects limited to the physical product.

The content is good, however. It carries over the best innovations of the Beta editions, while cutting the dross and improving compatibility. In fact, most of the rule messes in 3.5 seem to have been cleared up without violating the "core concepts" and making the game drastically different from what I have grown to love.

For the PDF only, I had to knock off a star for problems with the bookmark navigation. A true pity, given that Paizo worked very hard to produce a great PDF. Hopefully, an update will become available soon, allowing its full glory to be restored.

I am highly impressed with not only the physical quality of the book (I am still waiting for mine, but have seen friends') but with the content (I bought the PDF and have been reading it - and once the bookmarking issues are sorted out.......). Congratulations on revitalizing *my* favourite edition of the rules and doing a damn fine job of cleaning up. I know some think it didn't go far enough... but this isn't supposed to be a new game with all new rules. An excellent job of balancing fixes with backward compatability that ensures people will be able to use the excellent Paizo PRPG products whether they choose to use the PRPG rules or not. Great job, folks. This is the most important gaming book on my shelf. :)

The production values on this book are great, the layout, border, interior art are all incredible. There are errors of course, and everyone has different tastes...having been part of the alpha & beta testing, I'm impressed with the way the final version evolved from alpha.

Can't please all the people all the time. (And the 4e supporters are especially vocal in their dislike of Pathfinder.)

I only have a few gripes, I don't like the armor pictures taken from the Gamemastery cards, they're not very accurate versions of real armor (particularly the banded mail, which doesn't even match the description, and the dwarven plate looks like a samurai armor knock off instead of a thickened version of Platemail.)

The maneuver system is a blessing compared to the old grapple rules. The new skill system makes character/NPC creation much easier.
Some of the weapons (spiked chain) have been changed, character classes expanded in an attempt to equalize the classes. Sorcerors and wizards are now mechanically and thematically different rather than just in name and meta-game stats.

As a veteran Grognard with 27 years of gaming experience under their belt, I definitely support PATHFINDER.

V impressed with the finished product. Not as scarily heavy as I feared (think Ptolus). Great art. Like the new class options, esp. Paladin. Channel Energy rules addresses 15 min working day somewhat. Loads of small fixes to help balance. Most importantly, the game I love is in-print and has ongoing support. Here's to many more years!

If you like class features and don't mind a bit of overall power creep then you are likely to really enjoy this book. All of the classes got upgraded, with the weaker classes getting the most upgrades. Overall the game is more balanced than 3.5 but the cost is increased complexity in almost all the classes and increasing power relative to it's predecessor. While you can use 3.5 material the PfRPG classes are more powerful, in particular the ones that were weak in the past so anything you have designed for 3.5 should be ramped up a bit.

What is a bit frustrating to me is that many of these changes make the game even less accessible to beginning players. Almost all the classes, including the fighter are more complicated and tougher to learn than their predecessors.

So overall a great product but a questionable direction for the game.

Boy, was this a tough review to write.

First of all, here's what you get: A much prettier version of 3.5 w/ some of the proud nails removed. DMG and PH in one book. In other words, if you've been following Pathfinder Roleplaying Game (PFRPG), pretty much exactly what you should be expecting to get.

Did I mention this book is beautiful? Huge, sewn binding, ink that doesn't smear, amazing art (including armor that doesn't appear to do double duty as S&M gear). The physical quality of this book is 5 stars, and it's a steal at $50.00.

The game itself, in its attempt to clean up the biggest problems with 3.5, intoduces some great ideas. Enter Combat Maneuver Bonus (CMB) and Combat Maneuver Defense (CMD), which act in tandem to unify combat maneuver resolution mechanics. The math may need some tweaking, but the idea is sound and delivers a noticeable effect in speeding up the use of maneuvers.

But for the most part, under the (very pretty) hood, this is just mostly 3.5. Which, again, is to be expected. If you really enjoyed 3.5, and/or you main concerns are easily addressed with houserules, this is a five-star book. There is also Paizo's great content to consider, which just sweetens the pot.

But (and this shouldn't be a secret to anyone):

If you dislike D&D 3.5, you probably won't care for Pathfinder. I don't think it is different enough to really turn many people around. For those folks, this book is probably 3 (or even 2) stars.

Fighters have been beefed up, Ranger's animal companions aren't completely worthless, Rogues don't have to plink away with their un modified damage as the party faces yet another immune-to-sneak-attack beasty.

Pathfinder has addressed many of the biggest concerns with 3rd edition. Grapple is handled by easy to use mechanics. The XP sink of magic item creation has been eliminated. Level loss is a thing of the past, and good riddance to it.

Unfortunately the bar was set so high in Beta that when they toned things back for the final version some things feel like they don’t go quite far enough.

Over all this is an excellent rules set and I look forward to many years of future gaming with Pathfinder.

After doing much much more than simply flipping through this book at the shelf of a stor, I have to say I am overjoyed with this book.

From the writing, to teh art, to the rules, down to even the presentation of the material - this revitilizes a beloved game system while fixing issues and moving it forward.

Reading it rekindled the sense of wonder and magic that I haven't had since playing D&D back in high school nearly 15 years ago.

After browsing through this book out of morbid curiosity at my LGS, I saw it as exactly what I expected it to be - a ripoff of 3.5 with minor, bad house rules.

Pathfinder fails to fix ANY issues that can be found in 3.5, and although some broken spells (spells being a HUGE issue in 3.5) are "nerfed," the wizard is still the god of utility, and has enough save-or-suck capabilities that what HAS been thrown away is negligible.

If you want some pretty art for fifty bucks? Be my guest, because that is all this game has going for it.

If I could drop a 0 star review on this, I gladly would.