A (free) great place to start is the Pathfinder Reference Document website. All the information you'll need for a good start.
d20pfsrd.com is another great place to get free information.
For Game material other than the Beginner Box, which is a really nice way to start...well, the Core Rulebook!
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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It depends on what you're looking for. I'd recommend the Rise of the Runelords Anniversay Edition if your looking for a way to get started right away. It's a great adventure path full of classic monsters and a good introduction to Pathfinder generally.
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As Lamontius has mentioned, the PRD is a great source of information - and is worth checking out when deciding which of the main hardcovers to buy next.
If you're getting the beginner box, you can start adding in the full rules from the core rulebook bit by bit using the PRD until you're ready to buy a hardcopy.
Oh, and coming out next April is the Pathfinder Strategy Guide which will contain tips on building your character, should you start feeling overwhelmed with options!
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I would echo what lamontius says. Once you are comfortable with whats in the begginer box, get the core rulebook and the bestiary (the one without a number on the end). That is the core ruleset and everything you actually 'NEED' to play the game.
Once you are comfortable with that material, I would look at the Advanced Players Guide. That is the book that (in my opinion) made pathfinder what it is, its where paizo branched out in their own space instead of just continuing 3.5. After that it will depend on what you like in the game. You might want some setting material or some published adventures, or maybe some more source material. But start with the begginer box first and get your feet under you.
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We are currently playing "Carrion Crown" which is an adventure path based on undead creatures if you like that stuff.
Here is what I recommend if you are going to GM. First, read all the responses on this and the derailed thread for information about Pathfinder and how to master its rules.
Then prepare physically for being a GM. That means the following:
1. Have a secured location to game on a regular basis. If that's your basement, great, if it's a local Friendly Neighborhood Gaming Store, that's great too. Just make sure you have a place you can reliably game.
2. Acquire, or make yourself, some critical gaming items. A short list would be the following:
a - Game mat to draw out your encounters. You can buy one, or you can make one. I have both. The key is to have a large enough blank grid that you can provide a battle grid for your encounters.
b - Dry erase markers (or wet erase if that's what sort of mat you have). Get at least four colors so you can draw different terrain in clear and understandable ways (green for vegetation, blue for water, brown for ground and black for walls etc.) More colors is better.
c - Dice. You will need a complete set of dice. I have found that GMs tend to need more than one set. I have enough dice to choke a carnosaur. It is much better to loan the player who forget their dice your "dice of shame" than it is to try to share dice in the game. Just be sure to get them back when the session ends.
d - Index cards. Truly an important thing to have. I use index cards for everything from sending notes to individual players to keeping track of summoned critters in combat.
e - Miniatures of some sort. You don't need super expensive sculpted miniatures, but they are nice when you have them. At the least you should have a wide range of different sorts of markers you can use to indication the position of creatures in battle. I have used everything from coins to custom made sculpted minis. What I find to be very good to use are colored glass pebbles you can buy for pennies or simple "pawns" of different colors like the kind used in the game "Sorry!". You can even use pebbles if they are distinct enough.
f - a laptop with the program "Combat Manager". This will make preparing and running your adventures much, much easier than doing it all on paper.
That should be enough to get moving. Welcome to Pathfinder!
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Base Class: The classes in the Core Rule Book - rogue, fighter, wizard, barbarian, sorcerer, etc. I'd recommend starting with just the core book and the core classes for now. If you use the Beginner Box as your intro, I believe it only has 4 classes and does a good job introducing those (fighter, rogue, cleric, wizard or sorcerer). They go from levels 1 through 20.
Core Class: These are classes introduced in the Advanced Players Guide, Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat and are a little more advanced (alchemist, summoner, magus, gunslinger, inquisitor, etc.) They are balanced against the Base Classes and also go from levels 1 through 20.
Archetypes: Archetypes take an existing Base or Core Class and replaces some of the class abilities. For example, the Invulernable Ranger is a barbarian, except instead of getting dodge based abilities, it gets better damage reduction. Archetypes are not in the core rules, but are fairly easy to use and implement.
Prestige Classes: These are advanced classes that require pre-reqs. Back in the 3e days, you'd typically plan your character around the prestige class you wanted to qualify for, but Paizo has done a lot to make the base/core classes better and the prestige classes aren't as important or powerful. You can't typically qualify before level 5 or higher, and these classes only go from levels 1 through 10.
As a new gamer, I'd recommend sticking with the core rules classes and maybe introducing archetypes.
WNxTyr4el, GMing on the cheap, eh?
Combat manager allows you to load monsters and NPCs from a database and put them into encounters. It will allow you to keep track of all of their critical combat information, and to update it as combat progresses. It allows you to roll initiative and tracks initiative for you. Plus you can use it in place of physical dice if you want. I set up encounters in advance of the game session and load them when the party reaches an encounter area.
You can save a lot of money by going to dollar stores to get supplies. I have some battle grid tiles that I created by cutting a large sheet of foam core posterboard into 8x10 sections, then drawing a 1" grid on them, and finally covering that with cheap clear plastic shelving paper. That will give you a lot of area to play with and you can pick up the individual tiles as you play and replace them if the party moves back in a previous direction. Dry erase markers work well on that sort of setup.
Of course you can just use regular old paper to draw, it's just more convenient to be able to erase and redraw things.
Question though:
I'm really confused from reading about the classes...which ones are playable. There's base classes, core classes, archetypes, prestige classes and such, but what are they all? It's all a little confusing for me being new to tabletop games and all.
Core Classes: The classes introduced in the core rulebook such as Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Barbarian, etc.
Base Classes: The classes introducted in the Advanced Players guide and other books, such as the Magus from Ultimate Magic and the Gunslinger from Ultimate Combat.
For all intents and purposes, they're all just classes that you can select from. Certain GMs might say "Core only" for their game, but that is essentially the main distinction.
Archetypes: These are 'templates' that you can apply to a class, in order to make the class more focused on a certain method of play. For example, you could apply the "Lore Warden" archetype to the Fighter class. You would give up the ability to use heavy armor, shields and medium armor in order to gain more skill points and a better understanding of knowledge skills. Archetypes allow you to customize a class to something that you are more interested in playing.
Prestige classes: These are classes that you can later on delve into. Most have requirements that you must meet before entering into them. To keep it simple, most Prestige classes won't become available for choosing until your character already has 5 or 6 levels in a core or base class.
Hope that helps.
I'm really confused from reading about the classes...which ones are playable. There's base classes, core classes, archetypes, prestige classes and such, but what are they all?
In theory, a Base Class is any class that presents a progression from 1st to 20th level. All base classes are playable, though some might not be suitable for certain types of adventures.
The core classes are the traditional D&D classes, which can be found in the core rulebook. These are: bard, barbarian, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer and wizard. Although they are also base classes, they are usually referred to as the "core classes".
Other base classes were later published in different books. In the Advanced Player's Guide, six new base classes were introduced to the game: alchemist, cavalier, inquisitor, oracle, summoner and witch. Ultimate Magic gave us the Magus and Ultimate Combat introduced yet another three base classes: samurai, ninjas and gunslinger. These may be the most controversial of the base classes, as they are very thematic. The summoner is also a bit controversial because not everyone agrees whether it is well balanced. Thus, some GMs may not allow you to play some of these classes in their games.
On top of that, you also have the antipaladin, which is the evil version of the paladin.
All the classes I mentioned are playable.
Now, to archetypes. Archetypes are a nice way to customize and focus your character without having to multiclass or take a prestige classe. They replace some class abilities with others, fitting the archetype's theme. Archetypes are not classes per se, but they modify aspects of the class they are associated to.
I've seen the Paizo battlegrids and they aren't that expensive so if I got into DMing/GMing that's probably what I'd get along with some dry erase markers. I have a good job, but at the moment I'm just broke. I won't mind shelling out the $35 for the new box but I just have to wait a little ;)
You can probably get some decent practice in just reading through the online PRD for now, especially the character generation and combat parts of the Core Rulebook. Maybe even roll up a couple of level 1 characters, grab a friend, draw a paper grid and get a couple of counters to use for the characters, and have them duel each other to get comfortable with the rules - of course if you have any minis/stand-up figures/maps from 4e they'll work equally well in Pathfinder!
When learning a game, most find it extremely helpful to game with others that already know the system.
I would see if there is a gaming group in your area that you could join or if you local game store has a PFS event that you could join.
Thanks! I'll definitely look at all those resources. I'm really interested in the adventure aspect of roleplaying games but PF in general. I've heard they're really well written and lots of fun so I'm excited to get into my first one hopefully soon. I'll take a look at that Anniversary Edition Sebastian, thanks for that.
Question though:
I'm really confused from reading about the classes...which ones are playable. There's base classes, core classes, archetypes, prestige classes and such, but what are they all? It's all a little confusing for me being new to tabletop games and all.
About the free resources, they are nice, but it's nice to actully have a book in front of you to flip pages, as it gets annoying for me sometimes to flip throug like five-ten different tabs.
All the names called base classes and core classes those only reference which book they are in, and mean absolutely nothing (core=core rulebook, base=advanced players guide.
Archetypes are just modifications of the classes, which may (or may not) help you create a character with a concept you want.
Prestige classes you generally don't have to worry about, but they also provide options to create concepts in at slightly higher levels.
Basically monthly for new material.
I understand the class system now, thanks! How often does Paizo come out with new material that adds to the game (i.e. new classes, new items, new areas, new powers/spells, new feats, etc.)?
Every month theres:
an Adventure Path book (1/6th of a campaign designed to run characters from 1st to about 15-17th level)
a Player Companion book (a slim volume with new character options)
a Campaign Setting book (Usually a Gazetteer of an area of Golarion, the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, or a focused look at something from Golarion such as a monster book)
These are all very optional, though.
Oh, you will also find in the core rulebook something we call the NPC classes: Adept, Aristocrat, Commoner, Expert and Warrior.
These are... well, they are playable, but they are really underpowered. Common people have levels in these classes, while heroes and adventurers have levels in all the others we mentioned.
So peasants and farmers have levels in Commoner; merchants, blacksmiths, artisans have levels in Expert; local priests are Adepts (while adventuring priests are clerics); soldiers and townguards are Warriors; noblemen, mayors and kings are very likely Aristocrats.
It is interesting to know these classes exist, but players are not supposed to take them.
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I’ve seen some new players think they need to have all kinds of accessories to play just because said accessories are available. Keep in mind, all you need to play are the core rules, some paper, pencils, dice, a blank battle map and markers (if you want – it used to be standard to not play with a battle map), some friends, and a lot of imagination.
All of that can be found in the Beginner Box (except the friends and the imagination - that would be horrible). The beginner box bashes are great mini-adventures to start with for new GMs, as well, and are free. If cost is an issue, get the friends you are planning on playing with to shell in their portions. $35 split four or five ways isn’t so bad.
All the other stuff can come later if you and your group enjoy yourselves. I would say most of us started playing with a Core Rulebook and a Bestiary. Many still play that way by choice.
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you dont NEED to buy any book. Paizo puts them all up for free. And d20pfsrd.org has many of the 3rd party books. Its one of hte more fascinating instances in business I've seen where a market pays for something that the producers willingly give away for free.
You can go to those sites and print all the relevant information (or write it down) and bring that with you instead of the books.
Now adays I bring the books on my kindle in pdf (or internet form) and print material directly relavent to my character (or my adventure if I am dming). Its alot easier on my back then the 20 books I used to carry about.
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Great! Thanks for the fast response and good answer :). I don't have anything like that so I could write it down. They aren't expensive though. So say I wanted to play an Oracle...what would I need book wise (If I wanted to bring print books).you dont NEED to buy any book. Paizo puts them all up for free. And d20pfsrd.org has many of the 3rd party books. Its one of hte more fascinating instances in business I've seen where a market pays for something that the producers willingly give away for free.
You can go to those sites and print all the relevant information (or write it down) and bring that with you instead of the books.
Now adays I bring the books on my kindle in pdf (or internet form) and print material directly relavent to my character (or my adventure if I am dming). Its alot easier on my back then the 20 books I used to carry about.
I think I wasnt clear, i meant i print (as in the verb involving a computer and a printer) what I need for my character. So if I were to play an oracle, I would make my character using the prd (choosing spells and mysteries and such), and then copy the relevant sections of the prd to a word document, and print it.
And specifically for spells I use perrams spell card generater at thegm.org. So I would print out my spells there.
If you wanted to bring actual hardcovers, you would need the core rulebook(most of the spells are here, as well as basic feats and such skills), and the advanced players guide (oracle is here) at least. But you might also use something from Ultimate Magic depending on your choices, so you might need that too. This is why I like printing things on paper, then I only need to carry what I am actually using.
I understand the class system now, thanks! How often does Paizo come out with new material that adds to the game (i.e. new classes, new items, new areas, new powers/spells, new feats, etc.)?
you get some thin books pretty much monthly.
The Player Companion is about $12 kind of a magazine thing that covers a different topic each month. This month I think is Werecreatures. You can either get it each month or you can just pick up the ones on Topics you are interested in.There is also a Setting book each month that is pretty Much GM info for Pathfinder's core setting. It's cover a kingdom or a specific Monster Type or some other important element of Golarion. If you aren't using that as your game setting it's not important.
They also do a stand alone adventure each month and a chapter of an Adventure Path each month. Adventure Paths are full campaigns start at 1st level and go to about typically 16-18 by the end.
The Hard cover books come out roughly every 6 months give or take. There is no real fixed schedule on it. Most recent was a new Beastiary, I don't think there is another hardcover till April.
Everything in the Hardcovers so far has been made free online with the PRD, very handy little reference document that Paizo has up on their site. We generally have it called up on a laptop during our games to quick ref spells and feats or resolve rule debates before they derail the game.
I personally use an iPad with PDFs of the books I bought, a free app that holds most of the basic rules (Scry Free) and custom PDFs of stuff I need during play (I play a summoning-focused wizard so I need lots of information about my spells and summoned creatures on hand).
This works perfectly (it's pretty much the only thing that made buying a iPad worthwhile for me in the end) but could work just as well on a laptop.
If you play a melee focused character you need very few resources, so you would need few books. As a group, the only really essential ones are the Core Rulebook and the Bestiary for the GM. Almost everything else you could easily get from the free online databases.
If you have a steady group, just buy the Core Rulebook and the Bestiary together and share it, that's what I did when I started out with my friends. If you get into it, you could buy your own books or buy people out of their shares of the books.
I understand the class system now, thanks! How often does Paizo come out with new material that adds to the game (i.e. new classes, new items, new areas, new powers/spells, new feats, etc.)?you get some thin books pretty much monthly.
The Player Companion is about $12 kind of a magazine thing that covers a different topic each month. This month I think is Werecreatures. You can either get it each month or you can just pick up the ones on Topics you are interested in.There is also a Setting book each month that is pretty Much GM info for Pathfinder's core setting. It's cover a kingdom or a specific Monster Type or some other important element of Golarion. If you aren't using that as your game setting it's not important.
They also do a stand alone adventure each month and a chapter of an Adventure Path each month. Adventure Paths are full campaigns start at 1st level and go to about typically 16-18 by the end.
The Hard cover books come out roughly every 6 months give or take. There is no real fixed schedule on it. Most recent was a new Beastiary, I don't think there is another hardcover till April.
Everything in the Hardcovers so far has been made free online with the PRD, very handy little reference document that Paizo has up on their site. We generally have it called up on a laptop during our games to quick ref spells and feats or resolve rule debates before they derail the game.
@Greylurker: Thanks for that. I'll consider a subscription when I actually start playing lol.
@Kol: When I go to that spell card website (which is awesome btw - that's going in favorites), what do the different color codes for the cards mean (yellow, red, purple, etc.)?
The colors are the school of magic (evocation, divination, conjuration etc) That is the default selection. In the new one (perrams spellbook 2) you cant customize that yet. But in the older version you could turn that off, or make them all the one color of your choosing.
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I would recommend just starting with the beginner box to see if you and the others like it before you break your wallet. This is if you are starting a new group of people that have never played.
After that (or if you join a group of people already playing PF) then buy the Core Rule Book (CRB). Most of our group played with just the CRB for about a year. There is more than enough in just that to have fun effective characters for a long time. In fact I think one of our guys is still playing 99% CRB after almost 3 years.
Then once you have a good handle on that you can add other books as desired. I often find that someone that tries to start with 3 or 4 of the hardcover books takes longer to learn the system because the get confused over the multitude of options and exceptions that become available.
Have you found a group to join that already plays PF or do you have a group of friends that are willing to give it a try?
Ah, I've never used meetup.com so I don't know if they will have games playing the Beginner Box or not.
If not, you may need to start with the CRB.