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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook (OGL)

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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook (OGL)

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Enter a fantastic world of adventure!

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game puts you in the role of a brave adventurer fighting to survive in a world beset by magic and evil. Will you cut your way through monster-filled ruins and cities rife with political intrigue to emerge as a famous hero laden with fabulous treasure, or will you fall victim to treacherous traps and fiendish monsters in a forgotten dungeon? Your fate is yours to decide with this giant Core Rulebook that provides everything a player needs to set out on a life of adventure and excitement!

This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an open playtest involving more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook includes:

  • All player and Game Master rules in a single volume
  • Complete rules for fantastic player races like elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and half-orcs
  • Exciting new options for character classes like fighters, wizards, rogues, clerics, and more
  • Streamlined and updated rules for feats and skills that increase options for your hero
  • A simple combat system with easy rules for grapples, bull rushes, and other special attacks
  • Spellcaster options for magic domains, familiars, bonded items, specialty schools, and more
  • Hundreds of revised, new, and updated spells and magical treasures
  • Quick-generation guidelines for nonplayer characters
  • Expanded rules for curses, diseases, and poisons
  • A completely overhauled experience system with options for slow, medium, and fast advancement
  • ... and much, much more!

Available Formats

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is also available as:

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-60125-150-3

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Errata
Last Updated - 5/30/2013

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What a Pathfinder truly needs...

5/5 —

If there is any one book to have, it is this one. It is the only Pathfinder book you will ever need to start playing, but if you're like me you'll eventually want more.

When I first learned of tabletop RPGs my attention turned to D&D even though I knew next to nothing about it, nor did I know of anyone who played it. I only knew it because it was the name everyone knew when someone said "tabletop RPG" and the answer wasn't "what is that?" I wanted to play it but I didn't know where to start. I was lost, forlorn, and alone.

Then, one fateful day, I met someone online who told me about Pathfinder. I took one look at the Core Rulebook and I never looked back, and to this day I don't regret the decision one bit. The Core Rulebook is a solid start to any aspiring tabletop gamer's adventure and is a must own not only for the abundance of useful information it provides but also for the clean presentation and the magnificent art provided by Wayne Reynolds.

In short, if you want to play Pathfinder and haven't already, pick this book up immediately. It is well worth it.

Legendary

5/5 —

Legendary. It’s hard to know where to begin to review this book, but that one word encapsulates it well. There’s a reason Pathfinder is thriving a decade into its existence, and it all starts here. If you don’t know anything about Pathfinder, you can think of it as a revised and improved version of a specific edition of D&D (the “3.5” edition). Its strength is the nearly infinite capacity for customization, and its weakness is that enormous customization introduces complexity. In other words, this is a “crunch heavy” instead of a “rules light” game. Trust me, it’s worth it though. This is going to be a long review because I’ve got fifteen chapters to cover in this massive, 575-page book! If you don’t have the patience to read through the whole review, the conclusion makes it clear: buy this book. With this and the Bestiary, you have years of adventure at your fingertips.

Chapter 1 is “Getting Started” (12 pages). This chapter contains a brief introduction to the game, an overview of each chapter, a glossary of common terms, an example of play (very useful if this is your first RPG ever), and the rules for generating ability scores for a character (how physically and mentally capable they are).

Chapter 2 is “Races” (11 pages). The “Core” races presented here are: Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, Halflings, and Humans. As you would imagine, there are advantages and disadvantages to each race. The chapter spends a page on each race, and beyond the rules ramifications it takes care to talk about what members of that race typically look like, what their culture is like, why they often become adventurers, and how they relate to other races. It’s not an overwhelming amount of information (which is good for new players). For the most part, these races stick to fairly standard fantasy expectations.

Chapter 3 is “Classes” (57 pages). There are eleven “core classes” presented in this book: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, and Wizard. The spread of classes does an excellent job covering different play-styles and roles within a group. The power level of these classes has been significantly bumped up from D&D 3.5, and there are a lot more choices to be made within each class. This makes the classes more complex, but also more satisfying to see advance up through each level. If you’re brand-new to Pathfinder, it might be good to stay away from spell-casters like the Druid, Cleric, Sorcerer, and Wizard until you get more experience, as the sheer number of choices to be made can be overwhelming at first.

Chapter 4 is “Skills” (27 pages). Skills are something that every character has and they determine the likelihood of success in doing certain things. Want to leap from one rooftop to another? Roll an Acrobatics check. Want to figure out what spell that evil wizard just cast at you? Roll a Spellcraft check. Different classes get bonuses to using particular skills, but every character, regardless of class, can become good at something if they invest their “skill points” in a particular skill. Pathfinder has condensed the number of skills slightly from D&D 3.5, though it still has more than newer RPGs tend to have. I like the diversity and ability to specialize in discrete areas, but some think there should have been further consolidation. Each skill is described with great detail on specifically what it allows you to do and not do, which is quite helpful in avoiding rules arguments.

Chapter 5 is “Feats” (29 pages). Feats are special abilities. Every character gets to choose one feat at every odd level, and some classes and races get “bonus” feats. A feat might be something that lets you fight better in darkness (“Blindfighting”) or it might be something that makes certain spells you cast more effective (“Spell Focus”). There are several dozen feats to choose from, so this can be one of the parts of character creation that takes the longest to do. Their value, again, is that they allow for enormous customization of a character. Just because there are two Fighters in the party doesn’t mean they’ll be identical, because feats allow them to operate in very different ways!

Chapter 6 is “Equipment” (16 pages). Your character will need a weapon, maybe some armor, and some other gear like a backpack or a coil of rope. But in addition, you might wonder how expensive a night’s stay at an inn is, or how much it’ll cost to persuade a local wizard to cast a spell for you. All of the answers are in this chapter. I really appreciate that every item and service isn’t just listed on a table with a price, but in addition most receive a description, a picture, and (sometimes) additional rules to explain how it works in actual gameplay.

Chapter 7 is “Additional Rules” (13 pages). The title of this chapter isn’t particularly helpful, as the entire book consists of rules. Really, it’s a miscellany of various things about your character. First up is Alignment, which is whether your character is good, evil, or somewhere in between. A lot of other RPGs dispense with such questions, but it is “hard-coded” into Pathfinder in the sense that it’s not just a role-playing choice: many spells, magic items, and other effects change depending on a character’s alignment. Next, there’s a few pages on “Vital Statistics” like determining a character’s age, height and weight, and (most importantly) carrying capacity (also known as “encumbrance”). If your character has a low Strength score, don’t expect him or her to be able to carry a lot of gear. Then, there’s a discussion of movement speeds in various contexts (in the course of a combat encounter, for example, or for travelling great distances overland). Last, a bunch of little things are covered under the title “Exploration”: how far characters can see in different levels of light, how to determine if an object can be intentionally broken, etc. It’s a chapter that’s easy to overlook but provides answers to a lot of “little things” that might come up during a session.

Chapter 8 is “Combat” (29 pages). Combat is a major part of Pathfinder, and there’s admittedly a lot to digest in a short number of pages here. The way the chapter is laid out isn’t necessarily intuitive, and later Paizo products (like the Strategy Guide) do a much better job making combat clearer. You’ll find everything you need in this chapter, but you’ll be flipping back and forth for a while. I’ve been playing for years and I still refer to it occasionally.

Chapter 9 is “Magic” (19 pages). This chapter discusses different categories of spells, how characters learn them, and how to read a spell entry in the next chapter. It’s a chapter that’s easy to skip over at first, but is actually pretty important once a campaign gets serious.

Chapter 10 is “Spells” (156 pages). You read that right: about a quarter of the book consists of an alphabetical list and description of several hundred different spells! The spells have been cleaned up and improved from D&D 3.5 for better gameplay, but what hasn’t changed is that magic still rules. If pure power is what you want, play a true spell-caster and you’ll find it.

Chapter 11 is “Prestige Classes” (23 pages). Prestige Classes are special classes that characters can eventually take, well into their adventuring careers, if they meet certain prerequisites. This book has ten of them: Arcane Archer, Arcane Trickster, Assassin, Dragon Disciple, Duelist, Eldritch Knight, Loremaster, Mystic Theurge, Pathfinder Chronicler, and Shadowdancer. For the most part, and until very recent, Pathfinder hasn’t been a game where prestige classes thrive. Apart from some specific flavour reasons, a character would usually be better off simply continuing in their base class rather than taking levels in a prestige class.

Chapter 12 is “Gamemastering” (15 pages). As its title indicates, this chapter helps the person running a game (the “Gamemaster” or “GM”) prepare an adventure, referee the rules, deal with common problems at the table, etc. It’s okay for what it is, but I’ve seen better resources to help new GMs figure out what they’re doing.

Chapter 13 is “Environment” (39 pages). This chapter contains a lot of little things to help make the setting interesting. It contains rules on weather, travelling through the wilderness, dealing with traps, and so forth. It’s primarily for the GM too and shouldn’t be a priority to master until more fundamental rules are digested.

Chapter 14 is “Creating NPCs” (11 pages). This chapter gives rules for creating background (non-player) characters by using “NPC classes” like a Commoner. I have to admit I never use this chapter, as I just rely on NPC stat blocks already generated in other Pathfinder products.

Chapter 15 is “Magic Items” (101 pages). Your adventurer is going to want some cool magic gear, and this chapter explains what it does, how much it costs, and how it’s made. It’s pretty extensive and detailed.

Last up, there are appendices summarizing “Special Abilities”, “Conditions” (status effects a character might be under), “Inspiring Reading”, and “Game Aids” (other products you can purchase).
The Core Rulebook is a hefty tome for an RPG book. For players coming from D&D 3.5, it’s basically a combination of the Player’s Handbook and the Dungeon Master’s Guide in a single volume, but refined and improved. The book is, with the single exception of the deities, completely “setting neutral” (that is, it’s suitable for play in any campaign world or a homemade setting). There’s some excellent artwork taken from other Paizo products mixed in with some artwork that’s more pedestrian. Still, the production quality overall is fantastic. I would normally go into more detail, but there are hard word counts on these reviews. So I’ll sum up by saying: this is the one book you won’t leave home without, and it’s worth every penny.

Special Note: The Core Rulebook was recently released in a smaller softcover. The interior is exactly the same as the sixth printing of the hardcover, but it’s lighter and easier to carry. I’ve been using it for a few months now, and I’m quite happy with the font size, reduced price, durability, and ease of use.

Pathfinder's Heart

5/5 —

This book is at the heart of all Pathfinder games. It is great and can be picked up regularly cheap with sales all over. (Humble Bundle 1$) I myself have a PDF but plan to pickup a hardcopy one day. Either one will do the trick and is always good to keep handy. I like the PDF because you can do keyword searches. Even if you don't ever use it. The cover art is pretty awesome.

A Fresh Start

5/5 —

After years of seeing the Pathfinder rule books on the shelves of my FLGS, I took the plunge in December of 2012. I bought the Core Rulebook and began skimming it immediately. My first discovery was the character creation rules. They were fun! Characters were cool in a way that I hadn't seen in previous editions of the world's oldest role-playing game. Within three months, I was up and running my first Pathfinder adventure. That was three years ago and I have no regrets getting involved with the Pathfinder system.

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Grand Lodge

S
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Is the PDF version corrected with the errata from 13/08/2009? mr erik Mona?
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8
Rob Hillard wrote:

Can somebody point me to a link that gives a summary of the changes between D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder? I remember when WoTC changed from 3.0 to 3.5 there were bunches of files and articles delineating the changes. Does something like that exist?

The search function told me it was broken and there are just too many posts for me to go through one by one.

If it's posted some place really obvious and I'm just an idiot, please be kind as you hit me with a clue by four and point me in the correct direction.

Thanks.

There is a conversion guide, which does provide some summarizing, but does not cover all of the little differences. It doesn't cover the little fixes to spells, for example.

One thing I just noticed today is that energy attacks on objects do 1/2 damage in pathfinder and do not ignore hardness. Thank the godz. I really hated it when my players would blast through iron doors and the like.
Liberty's Edge
Seoni, Portella wrote:

Is the PDF version corrected with the errata from 13/08/2009? mr erik Mona?

Not a staff member :) but a quick look through both the pdf and listed errata show the errata has been added to the pdf's you can currently download.

Grand Lodge

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Wildfire142 wrote:
Seoni, Portella wrote:

Is the PDF version corrected with the errata from 13/08/2009? mr erik Mona?

Not a staff member :) but a quick look through both the pdf and listed errata show the errata has been added to the pdf's you can currently download.

Awesome thnak you, hope they can continue updating it so all we have to do is download again

After reading this book, I have to say I am dumbfounded. This has to be the best RPG book I have ever read, (and I have been playing since the early '80's). The list of contributors reads like a 'who's who' of Third edition authors.

IMHO, this is what fourth edition should have been. (Not that I am eager to re-ignite the threetard/fouron debate). Everything is well thought-out and completely explained. Not only that, at 560 pages, the book is bulletproof should you find yourself in a gunfight. (Only kidding....I think.)

I can't wait to see what the Pathfinder crew has in store for us next.
Grand Lodge

Someone needs to write up weapon stats like they did for the Castle Whiterock DCC boxset.

Please keep religion discussions out of this thread. As a matter of fact, please keep (polite) religious discussions in the Off Topic forums where they belong. And, yes, that goes for adding religious-themed "signatures" to your posts on a board that doesn't have signatures. The last thing in the world a product discussion should be involved with are the arguments for and against theism.
Dark Archive
James Jacobs wrote:
Asgetrion wrote:
Bibliomane74 wrote:
I just got mine from Amazon too... Wow!!!! What an incredible tome. Just awesome. And I will make this one observation. The art is WORLDS better than the 4E books. Tons better.
It's tons better than in any D&D book so far; likewise the layout and art direction in general. The two-page art pieces at the beginning of every chapter was a GREAT idea, and I even like the short pieces of fiction there -- it'd be very easy to err on the side of pathetic with such vignettes, but I think these ones capture the mood and atmosphere of the game very well! :)
Since I wrote half of those little vignettes (and Wes wrote the other half), I certainly hope they avoid being pathetic!

When you use catch-phrases or short vignettes it's very easy to "miss the mark" (for example, 4th Edition's "I am in magic and the magic is in me!"-type of stuff), but as I already said, in my opinion you really managed to nail it!

Good job, James and Wes! :)
The Exchange

Erik,

The rules have a few holes in them, which it would be nice to see an errata on.

For example, a wizard's bonded item can be a ring, amulet, weapon etc.
The bonded item is essential to cast a spell- for example if not wielded a wizard has to make a sc check.

Usually, a wizard is entitled to make a touch attack as part of delivering a touch spell - for example shocking grasp.

Does the wizard have the option of delivering the attack with the bonded item? I think the case is strong that he should be able to deliver with either item or hand. Yet it is nowhere stated.

The option of the bonded item is significantly weaker a standard familiar. A spell, + a masterwork item vs, touch delivering, skills wielding, magic item activating (raven), familiar.

A. I would suggest that delivering a touch attack be explicitly enumerated.
B. I would suggest that bonded items become tiered and more powerful with character level.
Dark Archive
cp wrote:

The option of the bonded item is significantly weaker a standard familiar. A spell, + a masterwork item vs, touch delivering, skills wielding, magic item activating (raven), familiar.

A. I would suggest that delivering a touch attack be explicitly enumerated.
B. I would suggest that bonded items become tiered and more powerful with character level.

Still, having the ability to spontaneously choose ANY spell in your spellbook that you can cast (in addition to all your standard spells for the day) is a huge boon to the Wizard class, and that reason alone was worth it (to me) in exchanging it for a familiar.

That said, I REALLY like your idea of being able to deliver touch spells through your bonded item, and whether it becomes part of the core rules or not, I think that is an AWESOME houserule!

so consider it stolen!

As for bonded items going up with level, I feel that is marginally covered by being able to enchant it without the corresponding item creation feat.
The Exchange

Further questions:

Can a wizard use a Necklace of Fireballs as a bonded item.

I would say yes. Why or why not? Does the logic apply to any item worn in the neck slot?
Dark Archive
cp wrote:

Further questions:

Can a wizard use a Necklace of Fireballs as a bonded item.

I would say yes. Why or why not? Does the logic apply to any item worn in the neck slot?

No, and here is why:

Bonded Object wrote:
Wizards who select a bonded object begin play with one at no cost. Objects that are the subject of an arcane bond must fall into one of the following categories: amulet, ring, staff, wand, or weapon. These objects are always masterwork quality. <snip...> If the object is a ring or amulet, it occupies the ring or neck slot accordingly.
PRD wrote:

Necklace of Fireballs

Aura moderate evocation; CL 10th

Slot neck (does not take up slot); Price 1,650 gp (type I), 2,700 gp (type II), 4,350 gp (type III), 5,400 gp (type IV), 5,850 gp (type V), 8,100 gp (type VI), 8,700 gp (type VII); Weight 1 lb.

Description

This item appears to be a string of beads, sometimes with the ends tied together to form a necklace. (It does not count as an item worn around the neck for the purpose of determining which of a character's worn magic items is effective.)

Bolded for emphasis...

thoughts?
Dark Archive

You'll get a quicker response by asking in the Pathfinder/Rules Question section of the forum.
cp wrote:

Further questions:

Can a wizard use a Necklace of Fireballs as a bonded item.

I would say yes. Why or why not? Does the logic apply to any item worn in the neck slot?

A) Yeah, go to the Rules Questions part of the board.

B) No, its consumable like a scroll not a wand, when used it is all gone, and not a neckalce any more. Just a piece of gold chain, you can't have a piece of gold chain as a bonded item. Unless you houserule that.

It´s great, I read it and only it seems to me that they are absent some classes of prestige (for sorcerers only there is one of bloodline and the loremaster is the only one for wizards...) though probably it is because is better in another book. It was great if the warlock appearing also. On the other hand my natal language is Spanish, I would to know if they are going to translate it in the future.
Liberty's Edge

Wow! Just what I/we have been looking for. Just gamemastered a pathfinder session this weekend with my 3.5 group. My players loved it! Combat flows much better, the skill system makes sense now and characters are very viable at low levels. Only one of my 9 players is even interested at multi-classing or taking a prestige class. Our store sold the only three books it purchased in less than a week and we can't get our hands on any more because they are sold out everywhere. Thanks for keeping my favorite game alive Paizo!!!
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

We just got a bunch of these on our Base Book Store here in Germany, If I had any players I would tell them :-(

I was ready for this to suck.

I didn't like 3rd edition, too many rules and revisions to rules, and revisions to the revisions ... It was the first set of rules about my favorite game that I just could not seem to grasp. So, for a while, I stopped playing.

Now, I like Paizo, there is a great deal of talent there and their adventures set the standard in the industry today. So, I thought I would give the new rules a chance. $50 wouldn't kill me and it would look fine sitting unused next to my unused 3.x books.

I GET IT!!

Don't ask me why; it might be the writing which is clear and concise, it might be the manner in which it is presented, or it might be that I are jist smarter than I uzed to be. ;)

Whatever, I don't care!

I GET IT!!!

Thanks, Paizo. You've somehow unlocked the door that will allow me to again pick up this hobby. You've got yourself a customer!
Paizo Employee CEO
Bear wrote:

I was ready for this to suck.

I didn't like 3rd edition, too many rules and revisions to rules, and revisions to the revisions ... It was the first set of rules about my favorite game that I just could not seem to grasp. So, for a while, I stopped playing.

Now, I like Paizo, there is a great deal of talent there and their adventures set the standard in the industry today. So, I thought I would give the new rules a chance. $50 wouldn't kill me and it would look fine sitting unused next to my unused 3.x books.

I GET IT!!

Don't ask me why; it might be the writing which is clear and concise, it might be the manner in which it is presented, or it might be that I are jist smarter than I uzed to be. ;)

Whatever, I don't care!

I GET IT!!!

Thanks, Paizo. You've somehow unlocked the door that will allow me to again pick up this hobby. You've got yourself a customer!

Welcome to the fold! I think Lilith will be by with cookies sometime soon. :)

-Lisa
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

hmmm... I wonder how many PFRPG Books Diamond sent to the Military BX/PX, Our book store on base just got some more in for a total of 10 books *Assuming none have been sold yet*
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Yay!!! I finally got my subscription copy in the mail!!! Now have 3 copies..and 0 players :-(
Grand Lodge

Get stationed at Ft. Hood. My table is open.
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
TriOmegaZero wrote:
Get stationed at Ft. Hood. My table is open.

The closest I will get to Ft. Hood is San Antonio.

Dark Archive
Dragnmoon wrote:
Yay!!! I finally got my subscription copy in the mail!!! Now have 3 copies..and 0 players :-(

I have just my own copy but several players without the book; how about I send you, say, three players, and you send me two copies in return? ;P

maybe this has already been asked, but I can't find it anywhere.

Where is the weapon entry for the scimitar? I can't find the description anywhere. Am I just blind?
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
shieldknight01 wrote:

maybe this has already been asked, but I can't find it anywhere.

Where is the weapon entry for the scimitar? I can't find the description anywhere. Am I just blind?

Page 142, near the end of the page under "Martial weapons - One handed melee weapons".

Lanx wrote:
shieldknight01 wrote:

maybe this has already been asked, but I can't find it anywhere.

Where is the weapon entry for the scimitar? I can't find the description anywhere. Am I just blind?

Page 142, near the end of the page under "Martial weapons - One handed melee weapons".

I'm sorry, you misunderstand. Every weapon has a description text, but I cannot find the one for Scimitar. I'm not looking for the entry with the cost/damage/type, but the actual descriptive text of what the weapon is like and how it works. It should be on page 148 between "Sai" and "Shield, Heavy or Light", but it's not.

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Not all items got a descriptive text due to space constraints. The scimitar seems to be one of them.

Or it was simply forgotten.
Paizo Employee Creative Director
Lanx wrote:

Not all items got a descriptive text due to space constraints. The scimitar seems to be one of them.

Or it was simply forgotten.

Probably a combination of both of those.

How do I report mistakes in the book so they would be fixed in future printings?

The game dropped the idea of skill points in favor of skill ranks, but there are still 5 occurrences of the term "skill points" in the book - they should be changed to "skill ranks".

Also the book sometimes says "minimum 1" and sometimes "minimum +1" which is inconsistent and confusing. Either using "minimum 1" or "minimum +1".
Paizo Employee Creative Director
encorus wrote:

How do I report mistakes in the book so they would be fixed in future printings?

The game dropped the idea of skill points in favor of skill ranks, but there are still 5 occurrences of the term "skill points" in the book - they should be changed to "skill ranks".

Also the book sometimes says "minimum 1" and sometimes "minimum +1" which is inconsistent and confusing. Either using "minimum 1" or "minimum +1".

You report them by posting to threads like these. When we go through and gather errors for fixing, we comb these threads and do just that, in addition to other methods of seeking out and fixing errors.

Thanks for the very fast reply Mr. Jacobs! Good to know that you are doing that. I'm very excited about Pathfinder. In fact, we'll most likely be switching our 4E campaign to Pathfinder in a few sessions :)
James Jacobs wrote:
Lanx wrote:

Not all items got a descriptive text due to space constraints. The scimitar seems to be one of them.

Or it was simply forgotten.

Probably a combination of both of those.

This is all fine and dandy, but my concern is that there is nowhere in the rules that I could find that said you could use the Weapon Finesse feat for the scimitar. Usually, this is handled in the weapon description. Maybe this is on purpose, but if it is, why can you use Weapon Finesse for the Elven Curve Blade, which is a two-handed scimitar and not for a regular scimitar? Or did I just miss a rule allowing Weapon Finesse for the scimitar?

Thanks.
Paizo Employee Creative Director
shieldknight01 wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Lanx wrote:

Not all items got a descriptive text due to space constraints. The scimitar seems to be one of them.

Or it was simply forgotten.

Probably a combination of both of those.

This is all fine and dandy, but my concern is that there is nowhere in the rules that I could find that said you could use the Weapon Finesse feat for the scimitar. Usually, this is handled in the weapon description. Maybe this is on purpose, but if it is, why can you use Weapon Finesse for the Elven Curve Blade, which is a two-handed scimitar and not for a regular scimitar? Or did I just miss a rule allowing Weapon Finesse for the scimitar?

Thanks.

You can't use a scimitar with Weapon Finesse; that's why those rules aren't in there.

You can use Weapon Finesse with an Elven Curve Blade because the elves are tricksy that way and because doing so requires a LOT of training (hence why the curve blade's an exotic weapon). The curve blade looks like a two-handed scimitar, but it's not. The actual "two-handed scimitar" is in fact the falchion.

The first footnote regarding Perception is completely wrong on both the website (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/skills/perception.html) and in the book. It says (I added the bold):

Quote:
1 Favorable and unfavorable conditions depend upon the sense being used to make the check. For example, bright light might increase the DC of checks involving sight, while torchlight or moonlight might give a penalty. Background noise might reduce a DC involving hearing, while competing odors might penalize any DC involving scent.

It should instead say:

Quote:
1 Favorable and unfavorable conditions depend upon the sense being used to make the check. For example, bright light might reduce the DC of checks involving sight, while torchlight or moonlight might increase it. Background noise might increase a DC involving hearing, while competing odors might increase any DC involving scent.

As a side note, you cannot penalize a DC. You can penalize a roll.

A similar problem in the heading of the second column in the table on page 563: it should say Perception DC, not just Perception.

This is really confusing, especially for new players, and I hope it's fixed soon. I was surprised it wasn't in the first errata.

I just realized that the book never explains the very important term line of sight. It uses the term over and over again, all over the book, without any explanation whatsoever! This is a major omission that would probably have all those who are not familiar with 3.5 play the game in a wrong way!

3.5 had a nice diagram explaining it. I guess that Pathfinder was supposed to have a similar diagram, but in the end it wasn't included in the book, leaving the term completely unexplained!

Just got the call from my FLGS that the book is finally there! Well, I picked up the German translation monday... Still, having two rulebooks is ok to me - I´m the rules guy in our group, as well as DM, so having two books should help playing.

Stefan
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Stebehil wrote:

Just got the call from my FLGS that the book is finally there! Well, I picked up the German translation monday... Still, having two rulebooks is ok to me - I´m the rules guy in our group, as well as DM, so having two books should help playing.

Stefan

Pfft.... My Store here in germany now has 12 of them...

Problem is they have had 12 for many weeks now.

Oh and only americans can buy them DOH!
Dragnmoon wrote:
Stebehil wrote:

Just got the call from my FLGS that the book is finally there! Well, I picked up the German translation monday... Still, having two rulebooks is ok to me - I´m the rules guy in our group, as well as DM, so having two books should help playing.

Stefan

Pfft.... My Store here in germany now has 12 of them...

Problem is they have had 12 for many weeks now.

Oh and only americans can buy them DOH!

Not many pathfinder fans at your base, eh? It´s a shame that the books are lying around and do not get used...

Stefan

My copy is here - no thanks to Amazon. OMG it's HUGE!

By an astonishing coincidence, I have a three-day weekend booked, so looking forward to some serious reading...

I have a friend's copy for a while and have been going through it. Big doesn't begin to describe it. You know how they say Hero 5th Edition Revised could stop some gunfire? Well, the Pathfinder book gives that one a run for its money in terms of size and, hopefully, sturdiness.

I don't forsee any trouble running D&D 3.5e characters, classes, monsters, etc. in Pathfinder with a little rudimentary work. Not that I ran 3.5 on a regular basis, mind you. But I like to see Pathfinder as a fresh start that happens to be compatible with a lot of previous source material.

I'm also looking forward to whatever you'll call the creatures book now. The vignettes indicated some interesting things....

I just my copy, and it's the easiest book to look something up that I've ever seen. Great work.

Wow!

Nicely done Paizo.

I must confess that I am a cheap-scape when it comes to purchasing new material. I've learned to live in a micro mobile environment, which means I have very little physical space for stuff, especially books. So I downloaded the PDF, expecting to see a roughly scanned afterthought for people like myself, and was suitably impressed to see that Paizo did it right.

Folks, I like the tactile experience of having a book too, I mean after all it's not so easy to curl up with your desktop. But on your laptop this will do very nicely! :)
Scarab Sages

When is the second printing? I missed the first one!
Paizo Employee CEO
Perry Snow wrote:
When is the second printing? I missed the first one!

We still have some of the first printing for sale here on paizo.com. There is also some available in the distribution channel, so hobby game stores should still be able to order this. The second printing won't be hitting stores until sometime in mid-November though.

-Lisa
Grand Lodge

I picked up the book last week, as i was impressed by how good the beta was and the final copy was well worth it (even after free beta copies). One of my DnD groups is discussing converting our 3.5 game to the pathfinder rules set.

The game fixes one of my core issues with 3.0/3.5 - its now worthwhile to take a base class all the way to 20th level, and you aren't underpowered if you don't take a prestige class. A wizard 20 and a wizard 10/loremaster 10 don't have drastically different power levels now. Even something like going the eldritch knight route, you are still balanced against a base class in what you gain vs what you give up. Kudos for making that change.

That all being said (and my apologies if I missed a previous example of this question somewhere in the thread or if this is not the forum for it), I had some questions on skills, as some things in the text were unclear to me. Skills no longer use terms like class and cross class. The terms are now class and non-class skills. Can you purchase non-class skills with class skill points, and is at a higher rate? is there a different maximum rank for class skills vs non-class skills? I get that once something is considered a class skill, once you take a rank in it, you get a +3 to use that skill. If you pick up a skill later, using skill points from another class (if possible), do you still get that +3 bonus?
Paizo Employee Creative Director
Hacklemonster wrote:

That all being said (and my apologies if I missed a previous example of this question somewhere in the thread or if this is not the forum for it), I had some questions on skills, as some things in the text were unclear to me. Skills no longer use terms like class and cross class. The terms are now class and non-class skills. Can you purchase non-class skills with class skill points, and is at a higher rate? is there a different maximum rank for class skills vs non-class skills? I get that once something is considered a class skill, once you take a rank in it, you get a +3 to use that skill. If you pick up a skill later, using skill points from another class (if possible), do you still get that +3 bonus?

The concept of a cross class skill and those annoying tricky half-ranks was too complicated and cluttered for our tastes. So we changed the rules for skills; changing the terminology to "non-class" skill was a result of us not wanting to use an outdated bit of rules terminology in the game.

There's no limit to the number of non-class skills you can purchase. All a "class skill" means now is that when you buy your first rank in a class skill, you immediately get a +3 bonus on skill checks with that skill. Basically, you're about 15% better at a class skill than you'll ever be with a non-class skill.

Maximum skill rank is always equal to your hit dice, no matter what.

If you buy ranks in a skill that's a non-class skill, and then later that skill becomes a class skill (due to multiclassing typically), then you immediatley get the +3 bonus to that skill even if you don't take any more ranks; it's only if you have at least 1 rank in a skill that it matters.

This new system makes it INFINITELY easier to build skills for monsters that have multiple classes or complex combinations of class levels and racial skills, you'll note. Which is the main reason we made the change.
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