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HappyDaze wrote:
I don't object to it. Why, I take it all the time. :P I'm just pointing out that it blows traits like Anatomist and Charming clean out of the water, and I'm more inclined to think these should be boosted and more traits should give these unconditional bonuses. To saves, spells, attacks with weapon x, etc. Most of us have enough to keep track of. Don't we?
Things I like:
Things I dont like:
Edit: I also think alignment is silly, but that's mainly because people treat it as if it's modelling something which exists in real life. As a game concept, in a universe with real 'forces of good/evil/law/chaos' then it all makes sense and works fine. The trouble, imo, is that because PF alignment affects how a character acts - the assumption follows that in the real world we all have some 'alignment' which affects how we act. Dropping that flawed assumption and accepting that this points to a fundamental, metaphysical difference between the fantasy world and our world would reduce a lot of the alignment angst, in my view.
In no particular order Like:
Dislike:
Like -
Dislike -
Like: The lack of distance between the devs and fans The flavor added to the sorcerer class by way of mechanics. They're actually DIFFERENT than wizards now. Something to look forward to at every level A reason to stay in a class, or even single class. in 3e there was no reason for a barbarian not to snag 2 levels of fighter or a fighter not to snag a level of barbarian. The arch types allowing you to play the character you want without waiting till level 6 and snagging a prestige class. Rogues can sneak attack things now. (in 3.5 everything, its brother and its brothers familiar were immune to sneak attack) Dislike: Not so much pathfinder in particular but the difficulty in being a melee class and having to move. Terrain and obstacles should make fights interesting for melee types to hop around on and interact with without halving their effectiveness. The stealth rules (hopefully that will be moving to the other column soon) The magic item creation rules are horribly confusing. (but getting clarified by the errata.. i think) The effects of all day long detect magic haven't quite rippled through the gaming system yet. It was a relatively minor change with far reaching implications that haven't been addressed. For example, magic traps may as well now have a sign on them. Grapple: most of what grapple does depends on conditions which aren't listed in the grapple rules. Its still unclear if you can cast in a grapple or not. Its also confusing for non bipeds. hey, how do you make those bullet thingies?
BigNorseWolf wrote:
It's an asterisk inside square brackets. Enclosing it within [list] and [/ list] indents it.
I don't know why some of you guys even play... Disliking experience and hit points? Likes: 1.Artwork. Hands down some of the best out there. The amount of detail added into the artwork by Wayne Reynolds boggles my mind.
Dislikes:
I really don't think I have more griefs than this. I think D&D 3.5 was good. Pathfinder is just plain wonderful.
Darktoasty wrote: I don't know why some of you guys even play... Disliking experience and hit points? We've already ditched experience points. If Paizo ever come up with some alternate wound/recovery rules (and it I get around to reading them) we'll ditch them too. They're not that essential to the game.
Aloquis wrote:
Oooh. That's a whole new thread. My votes are for Greenwood on Alkenstar. Dan Abnet on anything. Ditto on William King.
Love: 1) Skill system changes from 3.5
Hate:
cp wrote:
I feel like you must not have played 1E/2E very much because that never worked out well at all as a balancing mechanism. It was a terrible idea on paper and a worse one in practice. Hey, the casters can outdo every single ability the thief gets with a level 1 or 2 spell, but he gets to be a level higher than they are. Woo! Yeah... that's not balance.
Frogboy wrote:
+1. Really, most of the things I dislike about Pathfinder come directly from 3.5 and older editions of DnD (such as alignments, rolling for hit points, level drain, etc.). Considering that the designers were constrained by the OGL and had to make something that, while new, was still backward compatible with 3.5, I am quite forgiving of those things, as far as Paizo is concerned. But just taking the things that are unique to Pathfinder as opposed to things I've liked or dislked about DnD for years, here's my top ten: Likes (in no particular order)
Dislikes (also in no particular order)
Love: Relatively balanced class variations. condensed skills, more information with fewer sources, better organized content, better artwork, bard love, expanded options for spellcasters, additional base classes, easier to use spell sections..... and adorable shocker lizards. Hate: Auto success/fail on many things (you shouldn't trip a colossal dragon 1 in 20 tries), few viable ranged classes comparatively, typos, halflings (why do they still exist?), heal checks no longer used for forensic purposes, monster templates (CR values are deceptive), dispel magic rules (how you can dispel a 9th level spell the same as a 1st level spell), druid wildshape, needs more prestige classes (variants outshine most current ones), needs epic monster stat blocks
There are a few big reasons why I chose PFRPG and those are still largely my biggest Loves of PF. #1 Open Gaming License - I know, it's not a PF invention, but Paizo has embraced it and really turned it into something much closer to what the original intent was. They support and encourage third parties to use and abuse the rules system to do amazing things like the Dreamscarred Press' psionics rules, Midgard, The Breaking of Fostor Nagar, Super Genius Games products... etc... #2 Pathfinder Adventure Paths - My wife is running a kick a** campaign using Carrion Crown. She is having a ball, we are all loving the campaign. There is absolutely zero chance she would be running something this complex and just awesome without the support of a flexible game system and a team of amazing authors. #3-10 PAGE TWO OF ULTIMATE COMBAT, plus Sewer Dragons ;) Biggest hates? I have none. I do have a few frustrations but none really stand out. Well maybe intimidate rules and the slumber hex :P
Steve Geddes wrote:
Ultimate Combat has something simplistic that might be up your alley. I myself really dig the new called shot rules.
I am having trouble coming up with a list of "Ten" things. So, here is what I have. Likes
Dislikes
Love:
Hate:
Okay, I am going to restrict this just to the Pathfinder RPG rather than the Pathfinder setting (as I already commented in the Things you love about Golarion and What about Golarion Bugs You? threads). I also will stray away from stuff that was in D&D3.5 and focus more on the changes Pathfinder made and new stuff PF added. These are all of course IMHO... Loves
Hates
Love:
Hates:
Summary:
Quote: Not true - detection spells is easy to block and with th cost the lead coating Line of sight and effect goes both ways. If the wizard can't see the magic trap because there's a coating of lead on it then the magic trap can't see the wizard because of the coat of lead. Quote: or Magic Aura can get in there without saying. Which seriously adds to the cost/cr of the trap.
Alright, I'm not going to even bother trying to make it 10 and 10, and I'm going to replace "hate" with "dislike or think could be improved". Like:
• Wayne Reynolds' art. Discovered it in Magic: the Gathering, actually. I was delighted to find so much of his work when I was introduced to Pathfinder. • It's pretty balanced. I'm not really comparing it with any other system when I say that; rather, I just know that every week when I play PFS, I run into all kinds of different characters, and they all manage to contribute without any of them disgusting me with their brokenness. Sure, there's an overpopulation of greatswords, but overall it still feels wide open to me. • Love the PFS organized play. It's actually all I play (currently), and I really have no complaints about how it works. The missions are varied and interesting, I don't have to make long-term time commitments, etc. It's fantastic. • Ability identity. What I mean by that is that STR has certain things it does, and you can't really make it do other things or make other abilities do its things (for the most part). I used to like the way 4E gave you more flexibility in that regard (like your choice of WIS or CHA for will saves), and that method does have certain merits, but I now find that I enjoy having to work within those restrictions. • The willingness of Paizo staff to stay connected with the player base. That really makes me feel like I matter, and that I could be helpful (like with the recent Stealth blog). Dislike:
• Vancian magic. Granted, Pathfinder uses a fantastic execution of it, but by its very nature Vancian magic is a bit weird. • Needs better-standardized templating/vocabulary in the rules text. It's often tough to distinguish between "fluff" and functional rules text, because it seems like a lot of rules are defined in "plain language". Another effect of that wording is that sometimes several similar effects will use the same word/expression for something, leading people to believe that the word/expression used has a specific meaning, but then something else that seems like it should fit the mold uses different wording (or something that doesn't fit the mold does use that wording), and leaves a lot of people scratching their heads. In Magic: the Gathering (granted not an RPG, but still), if you see Term X, you can look up exactly what it means, and every usage of that word means the same thing; no uncertainty. You can actually get to a point where you know the rules well enough that when a new ability/mechanic comes out, you can read it once and know exactly how it works because it uses the same standardized templating for how it's written. Getting closer to this in PF would be FANTASTIC. • High barrier to entry. Ever seen Dorkness Rising? Lodge (the GM) gives Joanna (who has presumably never gamed before) a PHB and sets her loose. She arrives at the first session with a competent character who allegedly took two hours to create, with no help. Bull. That doesn't happen, and for those of us with loved ones who aren't gamers but want to get more involved in our hobbies, it would be nice if it could. • The fact that Reflex and Touch AC, both representing your ability to use your quickness and agility to avoid danger, are two separate mechanics that are so different that their only overlap is the use of your DEX mod. That's all off the top of my head. I'm sure I'll think of more later.
Like:
Dislike:
BigNorseWolf wrote:
Well, when you see the trap, the trap already has a LOS on you and can be triggered. Visual sensor can just fire away just as you look at it. Mechanic triggers can be anywhere and detect magic can't see them. The area AoE effect spells fired by a trap can target a square to which the trap has the LoS and from which the place containing the trigger is within LoE. Many spells also have greater range than Detect Magic. Lightning Bolt or even Magic Missile can be at the end of a long corridor simply because when you can detect them, you are already under fire probably. For shorter ranged spells you can just have a sliding metal plate covering the magic source, or additional spells around (the trap's aura can be hidden under the aura of the item it's protecting). An obvious magic trap is a thing to restrict party's movement, or to divert attention from something nastier. There are quite a few things you can do to make the life miserable for the fool who thinks Detect Magic solves his trapfinding problems.
Things I love about Pathfinder: 1. Stream lining things
Things I dislike about Pathfinder: 1. The magic item creation system
But I really am happy over all. Heck I'm actually playing a fighter right now- Just hit level 16 two nights ago.
Jiggy wrote:
I kind of regret that I named the thread love and hate, they are perhaps a bit strong words for what I intended for this thread to be. Oh well, to late to change that now.
Frogboy wrote:
Yup. There are better systems out there. I just don't want to learn them. d20 is very logical for a lot of things. It's also been proven to have issues with other things. It might be easier to blow it up all someday, but that day still hasn't come.
more things I hate about pathfinder 1. skills still suck
6. Wizards, masters of the universe get 2+int. As a game balance its ok. For versimilitude it bites donkey.
I have to say, cp, that makes 18 'dislikes' to zero 'likes' for you. Why do you even play this game? But I've been dithering long enough. I should make my own list. There's probably not going to be 10-to-10. Likes:
Dislikes:
Likes:
Dislikes
Ayrphish wrote:
its called hero lab love1. changes to skills, i frakin hated having spot listen and search as different skills 2. bonus feats every odd level 3. advanced players guide, and UC 4. diversity in base classes opposed to prestige classes, honestly i thought i would hate this but its actually easier then remembering prerequisites. 5. cmb 6. cmd 7. making bards playable 8. changes to undead, making them cha based made a huge difference, and lets not forget champions and gory skellys 9. DEATH MASTER!!! BRING THIS BACK PLEASE 10. making the monk so bad ass hate
EntrerisShadow wrote: I have to say, cp, that makes 18 'dislikes' to zero 'likes' for you. Why do you even play this game? Oh, theres a bunch of things that are good or good enough. Saying the bad bits has the tiniest chance of leading to improvement. Saying the good bits.. not so much. The best thing about pathfinder - its a chance for friends to get together and envision worlds and play. ~~~~~ As for not playing D&D much in 2nd edition or earlier... my h/s college grades beg to differ. ~~~~~ As for examples of fluff: APG (off the top of my head) Every race has about a page of fluff explaining why that race would (or wouldn't) play a particular class. Why dwarves don't usually play mages. Every race has alternate class features - half of which never get used. There are 3224 weapons. Of which 3220 of them will never be used. Not specifically APG: Does anyone ever take a feat that allows them to cast 2 0 level cantrips 1/day? How many times have you ever memorized arcane mark? (oops, sorry, prior to magus).
~~~~~ Final rant! I hate when mechanical balance trumps realism. Alchemists can brew bombs and reagents..
Drink one mutagen - and the previous one ends? What? Why not instead just make a table that says how they interact like the old potion interaction chart. Perhaps they explode inside the alchemist. Perhaps they work fine for 1d6 rounds - then blows up. Perhaps the alchemist can figure it out - and swallow a reagent to avoid poisoning himself..... The alchemist is a master chemist (or the closest thing to it).. why not come up with rules allowing the alchemist to improvise weapons, depending on his alchemy skill? Let him look for reagents: dragon dung, and troll blood.. with all the fantastic and amazing interactions possible.... they had to use a mechanical balancing mechanism? Rather than mechanically follow a spell caster progression and spell effects.. why not give the alchemist truly interesting abilities.. potions that allow regeneration for a variable time period (which the alchemist does not know) depending on the result of his brewing. Or create decanters of (almost) endless water. Or draw upon classical alchemy and make essential fire, essential earth, the philosophers stone Or allow polymorph if he has found reagents relative to the creature polymorphed to? Perhaps a Jekyl & Hyde elixir. Why not make alchemists equipment - perhaps a cinnabar retort would be necessary for potions of speed. Each piece of equipment allowing the alchemist to build upon his knowledge and skill. Perhaps brewing should have a penalty to skill if you are fatigued - and worse if you are exhausted. Perhaps better elixirs should take days to brew - and the alchemist is limited by his carefully hoarded trove of priceless magics... Bottom line: the name had fantastic potential but paizo chose to shoe horn it into a caster progression - which while bad enough in itself but even worse when paizo can't even use the excuse of consistency. Power is all over the map. And worse the game mechanisms used to balance may make sense for vancian magic system - which after all at least fits the milieu of Cugel the clever etc. But it makes NO sense whatsoever for an alchemist. Or a witch for that matter. Why does an alchemist stay home with his retorts and alembics. Why does a witch keep a cauldron bubbling - in pathfinder.. they dont - and yet there's no real explanation of why they dont either. The game is about imagination - and this class fell short.
Quote: Well, when you see the trap, the trap already has a LOS on you and can be triggered. Visual sensor can just fire away just as you look at it. No. Traps use alarm as the basis for detecting. The censors 20 foot radius emanation centered on a point in space is itself a magic effect. The whole thing shows up on detect magic, not just a single point in space. Quote: Mechanic triggers can be anywhere and detect magic can't see them. The area AoE effect spells fired by a trap can target a square to which the trap has the LoS and from which the place containing the trigger is within LoE. Many spells also have greater range than Detect Magic. Lightning Bolt or even Magic Missile can be at the end of a long corridor simply because when you can detect them -Lightning bolt might work, magic missile will not. Magic missile cannot be fired at a square, it needs to be launched at a target that is seen.
BigNorseWolf wrote:
Magic Missile: Again, mechanic trigger Magic Triggers: Proximity triggers USUALLY use alarm spells, but there are others at hand. See the trap section in the Environment. You can even use the very Detect Magic spell you are using to find the trap for triggering the effect ;)
Things i like: skills - the original system was stupid, and while this one isn't perfect, its better. upgrade to some classes - martial classes mostly, casters didn't need a lot of help, but thats something else. PDFs - being able to buy the books as PDFs is pretty awesome, since i run everything from either a laptop or my droid tablet, makes it easier to do everything. things i don't like: AP focus - i hate adventures, so i'm biased, but a lot of the focus is on adventure paths, and i'm not interested in someone elses idea of what my game should be. YMMV lack of setting in the PF core book - i guess is supposed to be generic, but when the gods are just a list on a page with portfolio / domains / favored weapon, that does me no good, it says if i want to use the core setting, i have to buy more books. Pass. Alignment - its stupid, and is just a crunch/fluff crutch that we should move past already. spellcasting - i hate it now, i hated it in 2E, i want something better. Words of Magic from UM is cool, but i can't use it in PFS, which is all anyone i know does, so its useless. which brings me to... Organized play in general, not specific to PFS, so its solo, but unless its a Battletech Campaign or a Blood Bowl league, i'm not interested in organized play, especialy when you release interesting toys and then say that i can't use it in your sandbox. thats just dumb
Magic Missile: Again, mechanic trigger A mechanical trigger won't work. There's no mechanical ability for the trap to see an intruder unless you mount a warforged head on a stick or something. Something with blindsense can shoot a lightning bolt at a someone prowling around in the fog. They cannot launch a magic missile at them. The most a mechanical trap can convey is "shoot this square" , it can't target a creature.
Let's see: 10 things I like about Pathfinder: 1.- Vancian Magic: I know it has some issues, but I can't play D&D without Vancian Magic given at least as an alternative. 2.- Emphasis on Core Classes: I've always liked focusing on a handful of well-rounded clases that aim at an archetipical concept than having to work with lots of PrCs/Multiclassing/Dualclassing/whathaveyou. And Pathfinder does a good job making the standard core classes work well that way. 3.- Production Quality: I'm a sucker for hardcovers, and with Paizo's books being so high quality, I'm really happy about my Pathfinder collection. I do admit that if they released the Core Rulebook split in two parts a la PHB and DMG I would buy them, for as much as I love the big book, it does suffer from additional wear due to its size. 4.- Golarion: Ignoring a few bits here and there I dislike (which is logical, since every kitchensink setting will have stuff for different tastes; that's the whole point), I've truly come to appreciate the setting and some of its distinctive locales (Katapesh is a personal favourite). And the new setting book is top-notch. 5.- Developer-Player Interaction: Wether I need to find errata on a monster stat block or trying to set up a wireless monitor through a concrete wall, these forums are a constant source of quick, thoughtful and valuable input from the devs. We roleplayers invest a lot of ourselves in this hobby, so it's nice to see the devs more as fellow players than just service providers. 6.- Prehensile Hair: Really, all I want right now is for one of my players to start DMing so I can make a dwarf witch called Beardfist and start going all Chuck Norris on people with my facial hair. 7.- The NPC Section of the GMG: Few chapters of any book have seen a more intensive use in my games than this one. I have literally used every single session since I got the book, and I love it. 8.- Traits: Things like this give me high hopes for what Paizo might accomplish in time. I'm one of those DMs that houserule stuff to make the rules assist the roleplaying aspect whenever I can, and adding these little bits really helps to spice things up. 9.- CMB: In our 3.5 days, almost no one ever grappled, bull-rushed or disarmed, because we always forgot the rules or ended up confused about what to do next (so I usually winged it and made a ruling depending on the situation). But with the CMB rules, I can hardly keep my players from doing tripple mortal jumps with an inverted greek lock to the neck every single time. It has really, really spiced up combat, plus it being such a simple mechanic has allowed me to expand on it a lot (we don't really use pre-packed CMDs besides grapple; everything is improvised and rules on spot, and having a single pair of numbers decide the outcome has allowed for a lot of awesome things to happen). 10.- The Bestiaries: Besides the excellent production quality, I really appreciate a return to the ways of AD&D of putting a lot of background information on monsters (well, on those that need background. I don't really suffer if I'm not briefed on the pantheon of giant dire bees). It makes the bestiaries an entertaining read, and helps spark a lot of ideas while checking the monsters. And so far the amount of "Blergharglhorg, Half-Horse Dire Midget Winged Mermaid With Seven Heads" type of monsters have been kept to a minimum, which is always nice (AD&D Monstrous Compendium Anual Volume 3 and your blue camel with an elephant's trunk that disenchants stuff, I'm looking at you). 10 things I dislike about Pathfinder: 1.- The Summoner, Cavalier, and Alchemist: Well, in general, all the additional classes have me a bit uneasy. It's not that I dislike how they work; it is that I think it would have been much better if their mechanics and concepts had been folded in as more options for the core classes. I do find a lot of great ideas in them (except the Summoner and Cavalier, which seem far too redundant, and the Alchemist, because it doesn't feel like the type of medieval alchemy I like to put in my games), but I think that making an entire class upon those ideas kind of waters-down the whole thing. 2.- Cool Combat Stuff Turned into Feats: This really comes from 3.5, but that doesn't mean I like it any better in Pathfinder. I'm all for options, but I dislike the notion that everything different from swinging a sword has to be some kind of special power. The CMB has helped aleviate this a bit (and in turn devalued combat-oriented feats in my games, where characters don't need a feat to sacrifice precision for power and stuff like that), but it is still something that nags me. Truly unique and awesome tricks belong as feats, but not stuff that anyone could try out if they get creative. 3.- Lack of Long-Term Support: Again, this is not exclusive to Pathfinder, but the fact that the game focuses so much on short-term stories that almost everything has to be feasible within a spectrum of days rather than months or years is something I constantly fight against and house-rule to avoid. I'd really like some sort of section in a future continuation of the GMG that focuses on campaigns that span long periods of times, with rules about adjusting experience/wealth gain, reasonable crafting times, long-terms effects, etc. 4.- Crafting Rules: Horrible in 3.5, equally horrible in Pathfinder. Practical in some aspects, yes, but it really seems that since 3e came out, devs have been tying themselves up more and more with a system that really seems to cause them -and us- more problems than enjoyment. 5.- New Polymorph Rules: This not so much something I hate, rather than something I'm torn with. I really appreciate the attempt at fixing an otherwise problematic subsystem, and I'm not sure how much more can be done without creating a sprawling new ruleset for it, but I'm not really content about how it turned out in Pathfinder either. It fixes some issues and causes others, so it's not like it's a terrible thing either. 6.- The Iconics: I know I'm in the minority here, but so far none of the iconics has been able to draw my interest and in general I don't really like them. For that matter, none of the 3e-3.5 did either, so maybe I'm just a bad person. 7.- Lackluster Support for less combat-oriented games: Granted, this is something that has been with D&D since always, but I really feel that Pathfinder has the opportunity to throw us more than a bone in the non-combat area. There are lots of great starting points here and there (Traits and Archetypes, for instance), but everytime I get a new book loaded with 100 feats of which 90% are related directly or indirectly to combat, it rustles my jimmies. I really enjoy combats and action-packed stories, but I feel the game already has more than enough stuff there, and that it could really do more in other aspects (this also relates to my complain about lack of long-term support). It's not that I want a complete chapter devoted to growing potatos, but there is a lot more stuff in D&D/Pathfinder-type stories that could get bumped up a notch with some creative new material (expanded Leadership rules or stuff on builing strongholds would be a nice thing, for instance). 8.- No Para- and Quasi-Elementals: What can I say, I miss them being called that way. I know the Bestiary 2 brings them back without the prefix, but I'm a sucker for those kinds of nostalgic details. Same with Beholders and Mind-Flayers (which certainly it is not Paizo's fault. I hope you guys don't mind that I involved the Pactmasters of Katapesh with some Eye Tyrants for my current campaign). I'm kind of out of ideas here, and I don't want to start making up issues just to fill up 10, so I'll leave it there. I guess that if it doesn't jump right to mind, it's not really something I should be complaining about. Oh, right! 9.- Lack of a manly book about dwarfs, with rules on beer-making, beard-grooming, and extended duels of gruffy-eyed stare contests!
BigNorseWolf wrote:
Of course you can just have a visual sensor covered behind mechanical contraption. It may seem complicated, but it's sometimes convenient.
Love
Not so Much
Outside Golarion, some things I've always hated about 3rd/3.5/PF is the Grease spell being on the Bard list and Half-Orcs in general.
Love: Well thought out spell rebalancing. Several of the save-or-dies become different, many of the overpowered spells tweaked. Hate: Mindless and silly nerfs, such as Forcecage (which still functions as it did in 3.X, with no functional save- sure it says Reflex negates, but the spell doesn't actually affect you, and a save doesn't move you). Spells that are too powerful should be rebalanced, moved higher in level, or edited. If the point of a spell is "works without a saving throw", then work with that. Love: Artwork. Easily the best art. Duelist and Gunslinger are especially aces. Hate: Nothing related to this. Love: Archetypes. Bringing back the old kits is a great idea. Hate: Complete lack of new prestige classes. Surely SOMETHING can be a prsetige class still! Also, some archetypes are a tad too weak or strong, something that is hard to fix. Love: Overall good balance and well thought out stuff. Hate: The few unedited outliers, such as the insulting Falcata, the mind control taunt feat, and... I think that's it. Love: Good support on fixes. Love: A ninja base class that is actually cool. Love: The summoner, a seriously impressive piece of design work. When I read that I was like, oh wait, this is like craftsmanship in this game. A lot of stuff is formulaic, but then we see high art like that, stuff I thought was lost. Love: Their impressive take on all the iconic base classes. Refusing to throw out classes that have problems, and instead working on the problems. Love: Refusal to reprint garbage like that lolcharge barbarian or those crazy 9swords things. Good riddance to stuff I always had to ban anyway. Hate: The new discrepancy betwixt martial classes seems a bit much? Love: Seriously, that page that has the picture of I think the daredevil, or maybe it's the dervish, in Ultimate Combat. Corset-coat thing on an elven chick with a Rapier? ACES
Arnwyn wrote:
Spoiler:
Weren't they all but openly stated to be Witchwyrds? Dark Markets heavily implied it at any rate. That said, while I like that a lot of the Golarion secrets aren't explained in detail (how the test of the Starstone works and the death of Aroden for starters) so that GMs have the freedom to run them how they'd like, I am itching to know the designers' opinions for them. I can see why they might never be revealed, though, since it would end up going from authorial speculation to canonical fact right fast.
This thread looks like fun! Love: 1) Vancian casting. Not having that kind of a system is one of the reasons I play 4e less frequently.
Hate: 1) Firearm rules/the Gunslinger. Characters that wield firearms should not use a totally different set of rules than other characters for arbitrary, poorly-supported reasons. It slows the game down and doesn't feel right.
Speaking mostly as a gm here. Thumbs Up:
2. support of the OGL and the PRD, generous community engagement. Besides the obvious benefits, it has enabled a number of free fan-made programs like combat manager which is such a lifesaver to a harried gm. 3. The alchemist- I think this may be my favorite class ever to run adventures for. Plenty of neat little tricks and of course the classic quest for knowledge, merging the mechanics of the wizard's spellbooks with a little bit more grounded basis than the wizard is at mid to high levels. Something here for everybody. 4. Spontaneous casters (oracles, sorcerers, bards, and inquisitors)- so much easier to create spellcaster mooks than detailing full blown spellbooks every time you need a caster to wreak some havoc on the PCs. Plus, the bloodlines/mysteries/curses/etc. really lend themselves easily to making different "themed" opposition and supporting NPCs. 5. the monster creation guideline by CR table. I use this a lot in creating/converting monsters and sometimes NPCs to get general frameworks. 6. NPC stock character stat blocks from the GMG and the NPC guide. Always good for filling in a few goon spots when you need them on the quick. I can't believe how much use I'm getting out of the stock brigand. 7. Trimmed down spell capabilities. Glad to see some of these have been reigned in a little bit. The polymorph changes are nice and simple. 8. CMD/CMB- seems to simplify things a bit putting them all under one banner. 9. Backward compatibility- thankful as it allows me to get use out of Dungeon Magazine adventures I never got around to using in the era of 3.X Thumbs down:
2. a few of the splatbook options available are somewhat uneven, particularly considering the usual spread between casters and noncasters. I'm not really sold on the power level appropriateness of the wizard arcane discoveries from Ultimate Magic. And on the opposite side of the coin, some of the rogue archetypes sprinkled throughout the books leave something to be desired, for example. 3. Crafting system. I'm going with the third party supplement Making Craft Work as a replacement. 4. Keeping up with awarding treasure. This can sometimes be a challenge to keep up with as a gamemaster and also keep it fresh/varied.
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