Gray Tiger's page

Hello.

I'm looking to run a swords and sorcery game with relatively low magic, horror elements, and a human campaign world. (Think Robert E. Howard's Hyborean Age with the horror aspects dialed up.)

I was wondering which pawn sets would be the best as sources of potential characters -- PCs and normal-type NPCs. I have the various Bestiary boxes, but those don't really apply. Naturally, there are the NPC Codex Box and the Inner Sea Pawn Box sets. Still, I was wondering if any of the various Pawn Collection products featured a greater-than-usual concentration of human characters.

Also, what would be the best Pawn Collections to get for the horror elements? (Obviously, the Bestiary boxes are of much greater help there, but I just don't know the Pawn Collections that well.)

Thanks in advance for any guidance you folks can send my way!

Hello.

I'm looking to run a swords and sorcery game with relatively low magic, horror elements, and a human campaign world. (Think Robert E. Howard's Hyborean Age with the horror aspects dialed up.)

I was wondering which pawn sets would be the best as sources of potential characters -- PCs and normal-type NPCs. I have the various Bestiary boxes, but those don't really apply. Naturally, there are the NPC Codex Box and the Inner Sea Pawn Box sets. Still, I was wondering if any of the various Pawn Collection products featured a greater-than-usual concentration of human characters.

Also, what would be the best Pawn Collections to get for the horror elements? (Obviously, the Bestiary boxes are of much greater help there, but I just don't know the Pawn Collections that well.)

Thanks in advance for any guidance you folks can send my way!

Are there any pictures anywhere?

Check out the Beginner Box preview video here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/PaizoPublishing

The figures are at about 8:15, although the whole video is worth checking out if you're at all interested in the box set.

We just put them right back in and ignored the 'accidental omission'...

A healthy attitude, but I was far more disgusted than that.

Admittedly, the point was a bit of a sore spot for me, since I had been living through the anti-D&D hysteria for several years by that point (and was pretty much the perfect age to be vulnerable to it). The idea of making concessions to that crowd infuriated me.

... I have to say Pathfinder is pretty good.

Stick with it and you should find it fairly rewarding.

Thanks for the encouragement. I like what I see so far. Here's hoping!

I do miss 1st ed though...

As do I.

Still, I like the feel of both Pathfinder and Paizo, and there is plenty of room on my shelves for my classic D&D and AD&D books plus new products in the Pathfinder line. ("Something old, something new..." as the saying goes....)

Dont worry GT, I came from 2nd ed to Pathfinder as well, so the demise of facing came as a shock to me as well.

Thank you, Shifty.

I'm actually coming from a B/X Basic D&D and first edition AD&D background, and I have only limited experience with second edition. (When the then-new rules came out, I quickly got annoyed with some of the decisions TSR made -- the cutting of the demons and devils from the game, for instance -- and switched to GURPS, then to the Hero System. Things got better in the second edition line, of course, but by then, I was well into the other systems.)

Still, I appreciate the moral support.

Did you know that the Beginner Box (and the Core Rulebook) don't use facing at all?

That, I did not know. Interesting.

The point certainly explains why the figures have no backs, since it means Pathfinder players would have no need of them. (Of course, I suspect that cardboard figure sets would have a little wider market appeal if they had backs as well as fronts. Merely a thought....) Still, as I mentioned, the issue is a minor one and quite easily gotten around.

As you can no doubt tell, I'm very new to Pathfinder -- and for that matter to post-TSR D&D. The release of the Beginner Box was very well timed for me, as I've only just started looking into the system.

Sadly, although I've gotten my box set, I've had no real time to read it thus far, since almost all my gaming efforts right now are going into the looming Halloween session for my current game (which uses the fourth edition of the Hero System, incidentally). Once the eve has passed, I hope to explore the Pathfinder system.

Agreed.

I very much like the figures in the Beginner Box. The heavy stock cardboard will make them a lot more durable than the equivalent from the Cardboard Heroes line. As mentioned above, they'll be easier to store (and transport, for that matter) than bulkier metal or plastic figures, and they should also be a good deal more economical.

My only complaint with the Beginner Box figures is that they aren't two-sided. A front and a back picture would be useful when running combats to eliminate arguments about the character's facing. Still, there are ways around that -- a piece of stout paper or light cardboard stuck in the base on one side of the figure to indicate the back, for instance.

At any rate, I'd be delighted to pick up a pack of figures in the Beginner Box style for each of the Bestiary books, as well as extensive character (PC and NPC) sets -- perhaps organized by race so DMs can choose packs that fit the race selection available in their respective worlds and campaigns, and players can focus on the races they tend to play most frequently. This style of figures seems a good compromise between economy and sturdiness.

All in all, excellent!