Vidmaster7 |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I don't know why I didn't think of this one sooner.
I think for me as someone who learned playing first and experienced positives and negative as well as the same for 3 and 3.5. My favorite thing is the character options that help me make the characters that I come up with and In a meaningful way let me feel that the character is different then what other people might create given the same class point buy and etc.
Derek Dalton |
Character options I'd say. Although I like the system better then 3rd and lower. 4Th sucked period. 5Th, while people love it I find it a bit restrictive in character options. A fighter in Pathfinder can be just that or a lot more. In 5th you get locked in on one of three. You don't have that option of being just a fighter. The same with any of the classes.
Boomerang Nebula |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The setting is my favourite part. My favourite book is the Inner Sea World Guide. I also like the adventure paths. I love the maps and the art design and the high fantasy/steampunk feel.
The rules are not my favourite, my feeling is that if Paizo wasn't limited by backwards compatibility the Pathfinder system would be much better.
Steve Geddes |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |
The approach of the company behind it - I like the fact they keep trying new things and that I'm on my twentieth AP and they're not seeming tired at all. If anything, I think they're getting even better.
I really liked ultimate campaign, mythic adventures and horror adventures - things which expand the rules "sideways" rather than adding more of the same.
Luthorne |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Definitely Pathfinder's modularity. Both with Paizo's rules and with many others, including many alternate systems and various subsystems you can add or subtract to really create the kind of game you want to, whether it's Automatic Bonus Progression, Dynamic Magic Item Creation, or Hero Points from Paizo, or 101 New Skill Uses, Akashic Mysteries, Pact Magic, Spheres of Power from third party publishers, or even my own homebrewed houserules...
Fourshadow |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |
The Setting (Golarion is by far my favorite RPG world--I used to say that about Faerun, the Forgotten Realms) and diverse Character Options.
However, I also love the fact that I have not had to deal with resets! Pathfinder continues to expand rather than reset, so my previously bought books stay current/relevant over the years.
PK the Dragon |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
In terms of utility, I have to say the SRD is probably my favorite thing. It makes it possible to play the game online without people having to spend a cent, or having to resort to measures of shady legality. It also makes it super easy to look up whatever I need to find.
The other major reason is the wealth of GM content. Between Adventure Paths, third party adventures, and 3.5 content that's easy to convert, I've got a ton of premade scenarios I can use in a pinch. Many other systems don't have that.
DungeonmasterCal |
I've mentioned it before, but a 2e PF wouldn't sell to my group. We've decided to stick with Pathfinder until we "retire" someday, so we'd just keep on truckin' with what we have. My only worry is that a 2e would cause the SRD and d20pfsrd to change and that would be a real tragedy for me and my group.
Viriato |
Pathfinder continues to expand rather than reset, so my previously bought books stay current/relevant over the years.
On that note, Pathfinder allows me to make seamless use of my extensive 3.5 library, which I barely got the chance to use due to some prolonged RPG doldrums. That alone makes it a-okay in my book.
ShinHakkaider |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
My favorite thing about Pathfinder are the support and options.
It also helps that there are deliberately characters that look like me in the campaign setting. By deliberately I mean purposefully and prominently displayed in the materials.
The other thing that I really like about Pathfinder is that you can learn alot about the world through the adventures. You never really have to read ANY of the campaign setting material. You can just read through or play the AP's and have a fairly good feel for the world and it's history. I welcome the fact that it's a game and not some history course.
Bob_Loblaw |
I really enjoy the way Paizo supports and encourages 3rd Party Publishers. I like the inclusiveness. The things that Paizo does, such as the contests to create new content (I can't remember what it's called right now, but it happens every year.) I like that Paizo asks the community to playtest a variety of things before those things hit the market. Paizo seems to want gamers to participate in gaming rather than being spectators.
RyanH |
Character options was and is the main draw. But I also love PFS (as my secondary mode of play, will always prefer the home game), I love the community, Paizo staff are awesome and available, PaizoCon is awesome, Play-by-post on the boards here allow me to play a little every day... again, community. So, Character options and community.
Klorox |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
err, given how some books were edited into nonplayability (the unplayable because incomplete Ecclesitheurge in ACG, spells attributed to alchemists that are incompatible with alchemy in the Arcane Anthology, the fact that many feats were errataed into making the book they camme from irrelevant as a reference...) I just can't agree with you, Walter.
Cyrad RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16 |
The Shifty Mongoose |
My favourite thing would have to be its inclusivity.
Whatever you'd want to do for your character, they try to give support to it; whatever sub-genres you'd want to mix and match, they have a place in their setting where it can happen. You don't want to have to put up with the sort of bigoted cliches that ooze into fictional stuff all over the place? Their job with sweeping that stuff away has been improving ever further. Afraid of having to purchase every book for whatever reason? Between having official support for having the rules online, and being careful about balance, it isn't the issue it was in 3.5 and 4th.
It aims for having appeal for everyone, and I'd say it does a pretty good job of it.
walter mcwilliams |
err, given how some books were edited into nonplayability (the unplayable because incomplete Ecclesitheurge in ACG, spells attributed to alchemists that are incompatible with alchemy in the Arcane Anthology, the fact that many feats were errataed into making the book they camme from irrelevant as a reference...) I just can't agree with you, Walter.
I was referring to the adventures (modules, AP). They tell excellent stories. Incompatibilities such as your example don't tend to bother me as player or GM. But, I can see how they frustrate many players, including several in my group.
But I really think the creative writing team is exceptional.
As for options, which seems to be every ones favorite thing, I can take'em or leave'em, except classes I can leave'em. We have to many!
Charon's Little Helper |
I like that Paizo asks the community to playtest a variety of things before those things hit the market.
I don't think that that's rare. Lots of RPG publishers ask people to playtest stuff. Paizo just has a big & enthusiastic player base willing to do it. I know that indie RPG publishers have a tough time getting anyone to playtest their stuff.
Oli Ironbar |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Definitely Pathfinder Society. I got hooked on 3.5 in college with a small group that hung together well after we graduated. Eventually however we moved one by by.
After that, I thought about going to cons and the like, but schedule conflicts always arose... Then PFS entered my world! Everyweek there were several games on several days and a steady rotation of players that I got to know better and better. Greatest. Part. Ever.
Adjule |
The APs, and their continuous support for classes that they add outside of the Core player book (APG, ACG, etc), unlike WotC with 3rd edition, they made new classes and then forgot about them in subsequent books.
Also, the character options. It is nice to have a number of different options for the classes that can sometimes let you do things from other classes.
Those would be my top 3, probably in that order. Just need to find a decent group to play with.
ClingClong |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In my view, pathfinder and ilk are the only non-elite forums where individuals can bond via the imagination. It is very important to me for this reason.
I think we lost touch with what makes us human when we stopped telling stories around a fire. DnD, pathfinder are the only modern equivalent.
There are other such forums but the price of admission is years of dedication. Such as being a musician in a group for instance.
But tabletop roleplay is available to a wide range of societal strata. This is my favourite thing. I can bond with friends via the imagination. They express themselves in their play style, the ideas they come up with for characters, the choices they make that affect the world we created together.
It is a reminder of the true power we all wield, to transform the world around us.
Val'Ross the explorer |
I love Pathfinder Society. I like the fact that I can play a character with different GM's at Different locations. I have played some games on Roll20. Which was great to level up characters and start new ones.
I have made an investment in PF books and have Not looked at 4th &5th ed D&D. Don't plan to.
I have played several table top miniature war games. Going from D&D 1st/2nd ed. To 3.5 was not too hard. I found PFS at a game convention and got hooked.
Cole Deschain |
The campaign setting- it manages a heck of a lot.
But it must be said, the way the APs develop and expand the setting without pushing it too hard might be my favorite subset of that rather broad source of satisfaction.
Getting to know Varisia through Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne left one heck of an impact.