Paizo PDF Pricing Changes

I'm ok with mostly all of changes, except for normal Lost Omens books (not regionals, not absalom) - in my opinion, they were already overpriced, and increasing it to 29.99 will make them even more overpriced...
It really feels weird when physical books are cheaper, but pdfs are more expensive...
It is even more weird when half of lore content is priced the same (i.e. making same prices for regionals and general lore books).

I agree with everyone regarding not getting a PDF when you buy the book. I understand they want to use it as an incentive for their subscriptions, but I would be willing to pay an additional $5–10 for the PDF when I purchase the book.

I'm ok with mostly all of changes, except for normal Lost Omens books (not regionals, not absalom) - in my opinion, they were already overpriced, and increasing it to 29.99 will make them even more overpriced...

It really feels weird when physical books are cheaper, but pdfs are more expensive...
It is even more weird when half of lore content is priced the same (i.e. making same prices for regionals and general lore books).

How were they overpriced?

We regret the some details were left out of the blog. I will work with the web team to make corrections:

Starfinder Rulebooks will go from $9.99 to $19.99, matching Pathfinder.

Pathfinder First Edition Campaign Setting line was also left out because the PDF price of $15.99 is not changing.

Will the size of Starfinder rulebooks also increase to match Pathfinder?

This hurts, no gonna lie. This price change is definitely going to impact my decisions on whether to purchase a given pdf, especially as I have been losing interest in Paizo's output. At $10 I was willing to pick up the pdfs for every book in the Starfinder rulebook line. At $20 I will not.

I 100% understand this, and hope that it can make Paizo's work more sustainable in the long run, but ouch, $20 for SF/PF2 rulebooks does sting a bit, overdue as it probably is especially for Starfinder.

for the work that is put into them I think all is still more than fair. and like was said before if you are not an instant buyer, some things will show up in discount or humble bundle here or there during the year.
and with the digital shift that is going on it makes sense to not seeing your pdf as a byproduct anymore.
I for myself stopped buying printed copies of anything anymore, would know where to put it all anymore...
What I would love to see is a subscription plan for PDF only and now that I am on that a subscription plan for all that will be released in foundry too :)

Leon Aquilla wrote:

I believe it's been explained that the places where the PDF is provided gratis are boutique outfits. They certainly don't have near the level of output that Paizo does.

All the places I can think of off the top of my head (Modiphius, Free League) all maybe produce 1-2 books in a product line in a year.

That being said, you do get the PDF gratis, if you pre-order from them.

Really? Boutique outlets? Some of the largest European publishers give free pdfs with all physical book purchases (from their web store - I don't think any do it everywhere). 1-2 books in a product line per year is irrelevant when they operate close to a dozen product lines.

And who hosts the infrastructure for these PDFs? Near as I can tell, mostly a third party like DriveThruRPG. This isn't true for Paizo. There is overhead associated with providing and supporting this infrastructure, which Paizo charges for and companies like DriveThruRPG are happy to absorb in order to drive users to their site (it is their business model, after all).

Richard Lowe wrote:

emky wrote:

Odd. Paizo was already (from my perspective) at the top-end of PDF pricing for books, especially when buying a hard copy doesn't include the PDF gratis like basically everywhere else. This was the single biggest thing that kept me from adopting PF1 until the last couple years of its life.

As opposed to who? PDF Rulebooks for D&D on Beyond are $30-50, Critical Roles Tal'Dorei setting is $25, Call of Cthulhu is $23-$28, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is $30, Blades in the Dark is $20-30, etc.

Paizos pdfs are consistently some of the cheapest in the ttrpg industry.

Shadowrun is usually $20. Free League is $10 for adventures and $15-25 for rule/setting books. DSA is $17.50 per book. There are a ton of places that charge less for pdfs than Paizo.

Im not sure using a product line that at one point DIDNT PAY ITS FREELANCERS is as big of an own.

Im not sure using a product line that at one point DIDNT PAY ITS FREELANCERS is as big of an own.

“Hey, their called FREElancers, right? Haha!"

Paizo not increasing prices, now that would have been shocking. As is, these changes look like the company trying to keep pace with reality.

Twilight2k wrote:

Really? Boutique outlets? Some of the largest European publishers give free pdfs with all physical book purchases (from their web store - I don't think any do it everywhere). 1-2 books in a product line per year is irrelevant when they operate close to a dozen product lines.

Like?

I've picked up PDFs for various Gumshoe products from Pelgrane Press. They are in the UK, but that is close enough to European for me.

I've used Bits and Mortar to get PDFs from Chaosium. And I think Evil Hat does that too. Both of them are in the US. I like this because it helps support my FLGS and still gives me an electronic copy.

I think PDF with hardcopy is the norm except for Paizo and WotC.

I believe it's been explained that the places where the PDF is provided gratis are boutique outfits. They certainly don't have near the level of output that Paizo does.

All the places I can think of off the top of my head (Modiphius, Free League) all maybe produce 1-2 books in a product line in a year.

That being said, you do get the PDF gratis, if you pre-order from them.

The famously boutique Games Workshop.

These price changes are fine mostly though I question charging 5 dollars for 1 hour of content with the quests and bounties when that used to be a free product that helped onboard new players

Rysky wrote:

Twilight2k wrote:

Really? Boutique outlets? Some of the largest European publishers give free pdfs with all physical book purchases (from their web store - I don't think any do it everywhere). 1-2 books in a product line per year is irrelevant when they operate close to a dozen product lines.

Like?

I've picked up PDFs for various Gumshoe products from Pelgrane Press. They are in the UK, but that is close enough to European for me.

I've used Bits and Mortar to get PDFs from Chaosium. And I think Evil Hat does that too. Both of them are in the US. I like this because it helps support my FLGS and still gives me an electronic copy.

I think PDF with hardcopy is the norm except for Paizo and WotC.

Looking into Pelgrane Press, the HC + PDF combo is factored into the price, costing around $100.

Do these creators also put their whole ruleset online for free?

I appreciate the lowered prices for accessories (maps, pawns, cards etc.).

But personally I think the digital store here rather has a convenience problem than a pricing problem: Downloading multiple PDFs could be much more convenient. An outline how it could be:

1) You don't have to login again just to access your digital content.
2) There is a well-sorted gallery of your assets, fitting to the structure on the rest of paizo.com.
3) Names are shortened to the relevant part. Nobody needs 20 lines starting with "Pathfinder Adventure Path" in a row.
4) There are images of the book covers.
5) All these versions of a book (one chapter per file, lite etc.) are presented
6) You only have to click an asset once to mark it for download. If Paizo wants to stick with watermarks, they can be added silently before the user actually downloads (see 7)).
7) Once you are finished with selecting books, you click "Download selected" once. The result could be a ZIP with 0% compression, they are created pretty fast.
8) The files are named consistently and user-centric. My preference: When I buy the Advanced Player's Guide, I don't want PZOabcd.pdf, I want Advanced Player's Guide.pdf.

Sorry I wasn't entirely constructive, but the download section annoys me every time I have to deal with it.

Shadowrun is usually $20. There are a ton of places that charge less for pdfs than Paizo.

Have you ever read a Shadowrun sourcebook written after about 2001? They don't playtest or edit. At all.

I agree with everyone regarding not getting a PDF when you buy the book. I understand they want to use it as an incentive for their subscriptions, but I would be willing to pay an additional $5–10 for the PDF when I purchase the book.

If you want to write a check to Paizo gratis for 200$ out of some sense of guilt, feel free. There is no incentive for me to buy hardbacks brand new without the free PDF.

While I am sad to see these price increases, they are still considerably better than WotC's approach. Not as great as Modiphius, Kobold Press, or Free League, all of whom I consider equivalent in size and scope to Paizo (actual operations may vary in size but those publishers all pump out product with equivalent speed and quality), and all of them do bundle PDFs at no cost. But....for the model of "PDF as a separate purchase," Paizo is pretty affordable. Contrast with Steve Jackson Games, WotC's D&D Beyond model, Green Ronin, and probably one or two others I have forgotten about.

I think there are a lot of places where the PF1 books need to be clarified. Are you really doubling the price of PF1 rulebooks? Those are Pathfinder rulebooks, and are still $10 right now. Many other PF1 products also currently have a lower price than your 'current price' chart entry.

We'll be updating all prices, including Pathfinder First Edition. Most product line categories are the same. Rulebooks are Rulebooks, Adventure Paths are Adventure Paths, Adventures (standalone) are Adventures/Modules, Cards are Cards, etc.

What I would love to see is a subscription plan for PDF only and now that I am on that a subscription plan for all that will be released in foundry too :)

You know what, I'd love to see a PDF-only subscription plan as well. I can't maintain a print subscription since I may not want all print product, but PDFs? Heck yeah.

I appreciate the lowered prices for accessories (maps, pawns, cards etc.).

But personally I think the digital store here rather has a convenience problem than a pricing problem: Downloading multiple PDFs could be much more convenient. An outline how it could be:

1) You don't have to login again just to access your digital content.
2) There is a well-sorted gallery of your assets, fitting to the structure on the rest of paizo.com.
3) Names are shortened to the relevant part. Nobody needs 20 lines starting with "Pathfinder Adventure Path" in a row.
4) There are images of the book covers.
5) All these versions of a book (one chapter per file, lite etc.) are presented
6) You only have to click an asset once to mark it for download. If Paizo wants to stick with watermarks, they can be added silently before the user actually downloads (see 7)).
7) Once you are finished with selecting books, you click "Download selected" once. The result could be a ZIP with 0% compression, they are created pretty fast.
8) The files are named consistently and user-centric. My preference: When I buy the Advanced Player's Guide, I don't want PZOabcd.pdf, I want Advanced Player's Guide.pdf.

Sorry I wasn't entirely constructive, but the download section annoys me every time I have to deal with it.

Thanks for your feedback. We are working on e-commerce improvements, but that it outside the scope of this blog.

Not as great as Modiphius, Kobold Press, or Free League, all of whom I consider equivalent in size and scope to Paizo (actual operations may vary in size but those publishers all pump out product with equivalent speed and quality), and all of them do bundle PDFs at no cost

1. Neither Kobold Press or FL create as many products as Paizo. Coriolis has like 2-3 splats, and Aliens has had 2 in 3 years. And they're both reliant on KS for a lot of their new stuff.

2. Modiphius, while prolific, has some questionable editing.

I own Alien, Coriolis, Infinity, Conan, etc. and thoroughly enjoy them (waiting on the Kobold Pf2 products, sorry) but nobody has quite gotten the trifecta of cost, editing, and product that Paizo has.

Leon Aquilla wrote:

ShadowDrakken wrote:

Seems like predatory pricing. Products people want are going up in price, products people don't want are going down in price, and in both cases there's no reason for it because it's not a limited resource where supply and demand could actually be possibly excused as an actual thing. There's literally infinite supply and limited demand.

Faeries just show up and place the AP's and books on Paizo's doorstep in little woven baskets, just like my momma told me babies were delivered. They should be paying us to download them, I say.

Living in the United States is getting more expensive. 8% inflation annually last year and we're on track to have the same again this year. Authors, artists, office managers and support staff all gotta eat and a square meal costs 16% more than it used to this time in 2020.

You would have to have been living under a rock the past 2 years if you didn't see this coming.

Mostly true (US inflation was 6.8% in 2021). However, rulebooks are going up 33% (Starfinder by 100%), small adventures by 66%, (most) sourcebooks by 20%. A lot of the increases are significantly higher than inflation or production increases.

I don't have an issue with prices going up but I do think a lot of the increases seem way more than justified by increasing costs.

and how many years has it been since they increased prices last time? The Starfinder rulebooks have been $10 for the entirety of that product line's existance. (PS the rules are still free on AON if this really is too much to bear)

We still have free product to onboard new players in the form of Free RPG Day Adventures. I have a few other ideas I am working on. We give Society scenarios free to participating retailers. If any Society members find they don't have sufficient access to onboarding materials then I would like to hear that.

Pinktiger wrote:

What I would love to see is a subscription plan for PDF only and now that I am on that a subscription plan for all that will be released in foundry too :)

You know what, I'd love to see a PDF-only subscription plan as well. I can't maintain a print subscription since I may not want all print product, but PDFs? Heck yeah.

We have nothing to announce at this time, but never say never.

Paizo never has done a retroactive price increase like this. Every other price increase has just been that future products will cost more.

For older products, this definitely leads to ridiculousness. The PF1 rulebooks will be the same price paperback as PDF. The older 32 page modules, even the ones for DnD 3.5, will cost the same as a 64 page module written for the newest system.

Makes sense and feels right for the most part. I was cringing when I needed to get the Bestiary 1 Battle Cards PDF to finish my collection and waited for a steep sale and codes to do it.

I do think that people looking at the individual pricing as a gate keeper for new players may find that it doesn't play out that way in the long run.

New players tend to pick up the initial rule books and then piecemeal their way through what they want to play either in Physical or Digital.

Those who want the 'bulk' of everything will still have those opportunities when Humble Bundle deals come around and they get a large collection all at once. That is what I did with the PF1 pdf's and now I have enough PF1 to play for years and I only play PF2 now. Which I have been all in on for the most part since launch.

But even then there are Humble Bundles for people playing catch up there too.

Good call on making prices uniform. Not sure if the one shots at 5$ a pop will sell as well, but 5$ for an hour or so of entertainment is still cheap in the long run and a good value. Especially for people who want to run games but not design them.

We'll be updating all prices, including Pathfinder First Edition. Most product line categories are the same. Rulebooks are Rulebooks, Adventure Paths are Adventure Paths, Adventures (standalone) are Adventures/Modules, Cards are Cards, etc.

I’d like some clarity on the Player Companion and Supplements lines. Many of these are little more than 32 page booklets.

Honestly, from a marketing perspective, I think it would make sense for these aged and dated products to be discounted.

But even then there are Humble Bundles for people playing catch up there too.

This is what I was going to say. If you can't stomach a marginal increase in PDF costs (still way, WAY below what the amount of work that goes into this content should cost, but that's a market-wide problem), and you don't want to just use the freely available rules online, then you still have the option to wait for one of the frequent Humble Bundle deals to get content at a fraction of the usual cost while also supporting charity.

Twilight2k wrote:

Shadowrun is usually $20. Free League is $10 for adventures and $15-25 for rule/setting books. DSA is $17.50 per book. There are a ton of places that charge less for pdfs than Paizo.

Im not sure using a product line that at one point DIDNT PAY ITS FREELANCERS is as big of an own.

Maybe their real payment was the backyard decks that got built by others along the way.

Aaron Shanks wrote:

We'll be updating all prices, including Pathfinder First Edition. Most product line categories are the same. Rulebooks are Rulebooks, Adventure Paths are Adventure Paths, Adventures (standalone) are Adventures/Modules, Cards are Cards, etc.

I’d like some clarity on the Player Companion and Supplements lines. Many of these are little more than 32 page booklets.

Honestly, from a marketing perspective, I think it would make sense for these aged and dated products to be discounted.

Sure the Player Companions are listed above at $9.99, which is a streamlined average of the $7.99–$10.49 price. The Campaign Setting supplements are unchanged at $15.99.

From a marketing perspective, the Pathfinder setting is unique intellectual property that has decades of professional development. The setting continues to evolve, be referenced and influenced by players. PDFs don't take up warehouse space. We don't need to discount them to move inventory, more are we motived to convert players to First Edition.

I apologize for not reiterating the Pathfinder and Starfinder value propositions in the blog.

Pathfinder First Edition, Starfinder, and Pathfinder Second Edition are award-winning roleplaying games with prolific support, unique settings based on decades of professional, unbroken (except by the Gap) development by the best freelancers and artists in the industry. Our team of professionals, be they freelance or employee, are the largest such gathering in the world, are consistently hired by the world’s oldest RPG and other TTRPGs to develop their games. Our standards often lead the industry. Paizo consistently delivers immersive fantasy worlds to explore and enable cooperative strategic play. Our games and experiences help bring people together and create lifelong friendships. We express our values of quality, diversity, partnership, and adaptability through our games. We are grateful for your support and look forward to earning your patronage for years to come. Thank you for playing Starfinder and Pathfinder.

Hi!

Both as a suggestion and a question: along with the price modifications, is there any plan to work on providing a better experience for the digital products like PDFs?

Two examples of improvements that I would welcome:

1) include higher resolution images (mostly for maps) ;

2) include - perhaps in a separate zip file - complete versions of the illustrations used in the book (for those cases when an NPC or monster is placed on the edge of the page and the image is partially cut ; many examples in the Bestiaries but also in adventure path books)

Hi!

Both as a suggestion and a question: along with the price modifications, is there any plan to work on providing a better experience for the digital products like PDFs?

Two examples of improvements that I would welcome:

1) include higher resolution images (mostly for maps) ;

2) include - perhaps in a separate zip file - complete versions of the illustrations used in the book (for those cases when an NPC or monster is placed on the edge of the page and the image is partially cut ; many examples in the Bestiaries but also in adventure path books)

We have no additional announcements, no. Your suggestions are not secure and could be pirated too easily, in my opinion.

Clarification:

I apologize for any confusion, but I made a comment earlier about how, to my knowledge, the cost increase would not be used to fund additional workflow or hiring capacity. To clarify, I was specifically referring to any further Pathfinder First Edition development. Both the United Paizo Workers and Paizo Leadership Team continue to negotiate on terms, and report ongoing progress - my comment was in no way related to that, nor am I involved in those discussions. My point was that we do not have any plans for further First Edition development work at this time and that was the intent of the statement.

Do you mind if I ask again about pricing for 'Society adventures please?

Do you mind if I ask again about pricing for 'Society adventures please?

No Society Scenario changes.

I am concerned about the flat increase of $10.00 to SF rulebooks, and it's just PDFs.
This is the largest price shock of this group, with the majority of the products getting a "reduced" price.
Could you speak to this specific price increase?

Clarification:

I apologize for any confusion, but I made a comment earlier about how, to my knowledge, the cost increase would not be used to fund additional workflow or hiring capacity. To clarify, I was specifically referring to any further Pathfinder First Edition development. Both the United Paizo Workers and Paizo Leadership Team continue to negotiate on terms, and report ongoing progress - my comment was in no way related to that, nor am I involved in those discussions. My point was that we do not have any plans for further First Edition development work at this time and that was the intent of the statement.

Someone read that statement, misinterpreted it, ran *immediately* to twitter to try to start drama about it, and then blocked me when I told them they were knee-jerking and hadn't stopped to read what was actually written.

Some days I want to send you flowers to take the edge off the internet.

Aaron Shanks wrote:

Clarification:

I apologize for any confusion, but I made a comment earlier about how, to my knowledge, the cost increase would not be used to fund additional workflow or hiring capacity. To clarify, I was specifically referring to any further Pathfinder First Edition development. Both the United Paizo Workers and Paizo Leadership Team continue to negotiate on terms, and report ongoing progress - my comment was in no way related to that, nor am I involved in those discussions. My point was that we do not have any plans for further First Edition development work at this time and that was the intent of the statement.

Someone read that statement, misinterpreted it, ran *immediately* to twitter to try to start drama about it, and then blocked me when I told them they were knee-jerking and hadn't stopped to read what was actually written.

Some days I want to send you flowers to take the edge off the internet.

I fly without a net every day. It’s my job to make public posts that leave little room for misinterpretation. I have apologized and clarified here and on Twitter, and I hope to do better tomorrow.

I am concerned about the flat increase of $10.00 to SF rulebooks, and it's just PDFs.

This is the largest price shock of this group, with the majority of the products getting a "reduced" price.
Could you speak to this specific price increase?

I have no details to share on the specificities. My statement regarding the value of Paizo products as a whole is above.

Sure the Player Companions are listed above at $9.99, which is a streamlined average of the $7.99–$10.49 price. The Campaign Setting supplements are unchanged at $15.99.

From a marketing perspective, the Pathfinder setting is unique intellectual property that has decades of professional development. The setting continues to evolve, be referenced and influenced by players. PDFs don't take up warehouse space. We don't need to discount them to move inventory, more are we motived to convert players to First Edition.

Thanks Aaron.

For what it’s worth, I’ve bought plenty of 1e products while also playing PF2e. I agree the setting is top-notch. But I think we would all agree that the recent Lost Omens sourcebooks are exponentially superior to the 1e sourcebooks, and cover a lot of the same ground. I’ve bought them largely out curiosity.

Just sharing my opinion as a consumer in the event you are interested. I have no background in marketing so no basis to criticize. And I’m definitely willing to pay the higher price point for your newer products.

Wow, lets double the price of the the rule books PDF. I already struggle to get any more Paizo product on the table anymore. I was really excited with 2E and then saw the disappointment it has become. Too many balancing issues, another topic for another time.

Also I have found that the pdf's tend to be subpar. Several of the Starfinder core books have an issue with the way the inside book (the solar system) pages are. Its a single image and therefore a problem for the rest fo the page. Half of the time I can't even copy all of the text because of formatting. Then there is the issue of all the 'f' being omitted anytime I copy an pasted.

Or when I buy the character sheet pack pdf with issues and then basically told we won't fix the issue.

Not to mention you cannot print Starfinder character sheets on a Mac or iOS devices. this is really disappointing.

Starfinder has been dead with our group to to majority of the best feats still in the core rule book. Overall disappointing. Why buy the pdf when I can buy the pocket edition for the same price.

I have been trying to push this but with the price hike this basically just made it that much harder to sell. Especially with basic editing errors. Very disappointing this is.

This price increase will only be acceptable if the quality and lack of mistakes go down. Simple misspelling of words is really unacceptable. Spell checker does exist. I understand copy and paste but there need to be a BETTER quality control. When it states you need a bachelors to be an editor and this is what we get. Contradictions and ambiguous text is just plain lazy. Give an example, so many other systems do so. I need justification to pay more. I understand inflation but why am I having to pay more for the same sub par quality?

Just my 2 sense. I have tried promoting and getting the product out there but this makes it harder. Just saying.

But personally I think the digital store here rather has a convenience problem than a pricing problem: Downloading multiple PDFs could be much more convenient.

It took me literally most of a week to download everything, and I'm *still* in the process of unzipping/renaming it all like a month later.

Fine.

With these price changes, will you happen to propose higher resolution images in some of the products like pawn or map with adventure modules and adventure path ?

We are more and more using VTT for our games, I have high expectation on getting higher resolutions assets and wouldn't mind getting those with this average price increase (pay more, get more).

We have website and product initiatives that are beyond the scope of this announcement.

With inflation in the USA at 8%, this increase to cost should not be a surprise. Taking this inflation into account, PAIZO's price increase is moderate indeed and could have been even higher....so to conclude, I am glad PAIZO kept the price increase as low as possible considering everything that is happening to the economy...once again PAIZO is placing their fans first :-)

eddv wrote:

The famously boutique Games Workshop.

The famously customer-friendly Games Workshop.

You strike me as the type of highly intelligent individual who walks into a McDonalds, sees with a keen observant eye that all the sodas are 1$, then angrily demands to see the manager and ask him why if he can sell a large soda for 1$ you can't get a Quarter Pounder for the same price.

Cope and seethe, boycott Paizo, whatever. Don't insult my intelligence by comparing a book publishing company with a model-producing company that releases books on the side.

Listen, I promote paizo products all over all the time - look at my profile check the profile before you accuse me of wanting to burn down the house.

The pdf coming with subscription but not the hardcover in the store has long been a sore point for retailers - anyone who is properly obsessed with Paizo is eventually gonna switch off buying from the retailer to buying direct from Paizo.

The pdf coming with subscription but not the hardcover in the store has long been a sore point for retailers - anyone who is properly obsessed with Paizo is eventually gonna switch off buying from the retailer to buying direct from Paizo.

You seem confused: if you buy the hardcover directly from Paizo, the purchase prices does not include the PDF.

If you subscribe to a particular product line, then one of the perks of making that long-term commitment is that you get a free PDF with your purchases.

No matter where you buy the hardcover, it doesn't come with the PDF. It's only those "properly obsessed" people who get it when they give in to their obsession.