Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Beginner Box (OGL) PDF

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Adventure Awaits!

Take your first step into an exciting world of fantasy adventure with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box! Within you'll find simple rules for creating and customizing your own hero, as well as a robust system for running your character through challenging adventures and deadly battles against villainous monsters like goblins and dragons! Will you master weapons and magic to become a courageous fighter, a wise cleric, a witty rogue, or a brilliant wizard? All the details of your character are yours to control. The only limit it your imagination!

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box is packed with everything you need to get started with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, an imaginative tabletop fantasy adventure game for 2-5 players. Tons of monsters, challenges, and advice give gamers the tools to create their own worlds and adventures, providing countless hours of gaming excitement. With streamlined rules and a focus on action-packed heroic adventure, this deluxe boxed set is the ideal introduction to the world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and the best starting point for a lifetime of pulse-pounding adventure!

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box includes:

  • A 64-page Hero's Handbook, detailing character creation, spells, equipment, and general rules for playing the game
  • A 96-page Game Master's Guide packed with adventure, monsters, magic treasures, and advice on how to create and narrate tales all your own
  • A 16-page Transition Guide to bring your hero to the full Pathfinder Roleplaying Game!
  • A complete set of 7 polyhedral dice
  • More than 80 full-color pawns depicting diverse heroes and monsters
  • Four pregenerated character sheets to throw you right into the action
  • Four blank character sheets to record the abilities of your custom-made hero
  • A durable, resuable, double-sided Flip-Mat play surface that works with any kind of marker

And don't forget to check out the prepainted Pathfinder Beginner Box Heroes Miniatures Set from WizKids, featuring the pregenerated heroes included in the Beginner Box!

Pawns Included in the Beginner Box
Air Elemental
Animated Statue (2)
Barghest
Black Dragon
Boar
Boggard
Dire Rat (3)
Doppelganger
Dwarf Cleric (Female)
Dwarf Cleric (Male)
Dwarf Fighter (Female)
Dwarf Fighter (Male)
Dwarf Rogue (Female)
Dwarf Rogue (Male)
Dwarf Wizard (Female)
Dwarf Wizard (Male)
Earth Elemental
Elf Cleric (Female)
Elf Cleric (Male)
Elf Fighter (Female)
Elf Fighter (Male)
Elf Rogue (Female)
Elf Rogue (Male)
Elf Wizard (Female)
Elf Wizard (Male)
Ezren (Iconic Wizard)
Fire Elemental
Gargoyle (2)
Ghost
Ghoul (2)
Giant Centipede
Giant Spider (2)
Goblin (4)
Goblin Boss
Goblin Dog
Gray Ooze
Green Hag
Hell Hound (2)
Human Cleric (Female)
Human Cleric (Male)
Human Fighter (Female)
Human Fighter (Male)
Human Rogue (Female)
Human Rogue (Male)
Human Wizard (Female)
Human Wizard (Male)
Kyra (Iconic Cleric)
Manticore
Medusa
Merisiel (Iconic Rogue)
Mimic
Mummy
Ogre
Orc (2)
Orc Boss
Reefclaw
Salamander
Serpentfolk
Skeletal Champion
Skeleton (4)
Troglodyte (2)
Valeros (Iconic Fighter)
Venomous Snake
Water Elemental
Werewolf (2)
Will-O'-Wisp
Wolf (2)
Zombie (2)

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-630-0

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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Beginner Box (OGL)

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4.70/5 (based on 39 ratings)

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Simply Brilliant

5/5

Frankly, it just doesn't get any better than the Beginner Box when it comes to an introductory role-playing product. This sturdy little box contains an impressive assortment of materials, all play-tested with sample groups of RPG newcomers to ensure clarity. I got this for my son when he was around eight, and I can safely say he's spent more time with it than any other gift I've ever bought him.

* PAWNS: Dozens of characters and monsters are represented in thick cardboard pawns designed to slot into little plastic bases (also included) so they stand upright. There's a really nice assortment of possibilities for a PC, as well as at least one for every monster in the box's Game Master's Guide. I've also used a few of them in my normal gaming tables because they're hard to find elsewhere! These pawns are durable little things, and hold up well to heavy and repeated play. They're really the nicest and most cost-effective alternative to buying (and sorting, and storing) dozens of plastic miniatures.

* FLIP-MAT: This double-sided mat has one-inch grids on each side (so the pawns fit like they should). One side is blank so the Game Master can draw whatever scene they want (buildings for an urban encounter, trees for a forest, etc.), while the other side contains a dungeon that cleverly matches the introductory adventure. This side has lots of little detail and features, and is very cool. The idea with flip-mats like this is that that you can use wet erase markers or dry erase (whiteboard) markers and easily wipe your drawing away when you're done.

* PRE-GENERATED CHARACTER SHEETS: The game comes with four pre-made character sheets for a Fighter, a Wizard, a Rogue, and a Cleric. These are lovely little four-page sheets that show exactly how the blank character sheets should be filled out. But in addition, they have customized instructions in the margin to remind players what particular abilities or numbers mean. There's a full-colour picture of the character on the front, and a background and personality section on the back. A lot of time went into designing these for new players, and it shows.

* BLANK CHARACTER SHEET: A very smartly laid-out sheet for players to make their own characters. You'll want to make several photocopies of this before using it (or print out extras from the Paizo website).

* DICE: A standard, quality set of dice.

* TRANSITION GUIDE: This 16-page book is designed to help players who love the Beginner Box but are starting to feel ready for the "real thing" to make the transition to the full Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. The guide goes over what books are the most important ones to buy when starting out (essentially, the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, a Bestiary, and perhaps a module). The emphasis in this guide is on how to add what you like from the Core Rulebook without feeling overwhelmed by its size and options. The guide spends four pages summarising things from the full game (like attacks of opportunities and combat maneuvers) in a very clear way, complete with page numbers. Other pages show how to read a spell stat block from the Core Rulebook and a monster stat block from the Bestiary. There's a section on how to take 5th level PCs from the Beginner Box up to sixth level and beyond using the Core Rulebook, and a really handy intro to using pre-made adventures with Master of the Fallen Fortress (a free download) as an example. It's a really nicely-done guide that serves well as either an intro or a review.

* HERO'S HANDBOOK: This 64-page book is designed for players, and features excellent artwork and brilliant layout. It starts with a solo adventure called Skeleton's King Crypt that teaches a player some of the rules by using a short "choose your own adventure" style experience. The book then moves into character creation, presenting three races (human, elf, and dwarf) and four classes (fighter, wizard, rogue, and cleric). It presents suggested "packages" of feats, skills, and equipment for players who want to get started quickly, but also allows individual choices for players who like to spend more time and thought on your character. I especially like how the game limits options to reduce "choice paralysis" but doesn't change the rules of anything from normal Pathfinder (thus making a future transition far easier). The last third of the book goes through things like moving and exploring, and spends several pages on combat. I think perhaps this combat section could be better organised by emphasizing the most common options first. The book concludes with a glossary of common terms and the back cover's Combat Reference Guide is great.

* GAME MASTER'S GUIDE: This 96-page book starts with a full introductory adventure, Black Fang's Dungeon. The adventure includes tons of extra guidance to the Game Master on how to run it, as well as a good variety of encounters, traps, and puzzles. After a clear overview on what it means to be the Game Master, the book goes into how to create a new adventure, using a follow-up to Black Fang's Dungeon as a natural starting point. The remainder of the book presents useful resources to the Game Master, such as details on various environments and terrain features (I'm envious of how clearly this is all presented compared to the Pathfinder Core Rulebook!), magic items, a bestiary (stat blocks for monsters and other characters, with special abilities presented in a masterwork of concision), tables for rolling up random encounters, a introduction to a sample town (Sandpoint) that could serve well as the group's home base, and more. It's important to realise that this book contains a lot that's useful for the Game Master, but it's not like the instructions to a board game--a Game Master certainly doesn't need to learn all 96 pages in order to get started and have fun!

It's really an impressive package--especially when compared to the cheap "starter sets" for other RPGs I've seen. My kid has spent untold hours with the stuff in this box, and, a year later, still takes the Hero's Handbook and Game Master's Guide with him on trips and in his school backpack! I always try to give balanced reviews with the pros and cons of a product, but I really can't praise this one enough. As a side note, don't forget that the Paizo website has free supplementary material (like extra adventures and the barbarian class).


Best Way to Start Pathfinder

5/5

I recently gave this to my brother and his 7 year old kids, since he was unsure of whether his kids would like the game.

The box includes everything you need to start: An erasable flip mat, some paper minis for your characters and monsters, dice, a starting adventure, and easy rules.

It's really too bad this box wasn't promoted more in game shops and conventions, it's a cheap and easy way to get into Pathfinder.


They fixed the flaws!

5/5

To anyone who's read the reviews in this page and are bothered by the following:

1. No large bases for the large creature tokens
2. Errata (found in the GM's Kit and Player's Pack downloads)

Note that Paizo has rectified this! I bought the Beginner Box recently and found that there are large bases included in my set, and that the errata has been incorporated in the Hero's Handbook and GM's Guide! So I'm very happy with the product.

On top of these, once you are ready to move on to the full Pathfinder experience via Corebook and Bestiary, note that the smaller softcover Pocket editions fit inside the box with room to spare for dice and minis :)


5/5


This Box Rocks!

5/5

After I bought the Core Rulebook, I was a bit overwhelmed. So I picked up the Beginner Box next. The rule books made the game much more accessible to me. Rules I didn't quite get from the Core Rulebook were simplified in a way that made sense to me. Also, the introductory adventure was easy to run and the suggestions for expanding sparked my creativity. I liked the explanations the GM's book gave for the several different kinds of adventures and the content that makes them up.


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Contributor

With a knowledgeable person guiding the first game session, I'm sure a 10yo can manage it. After all, at the heart of it, the system is just "roll a d20, add your modifiers, tell the GM the total, and ask if that's enough to succeed."

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Sean K Reynolds wrote:
With a knowledgeable person guiding the first game session, I'm sure a 10yo can manage it. After all, at the heart of it, the system is just "roll a d20, add your modifiers, tell the GM the total, and ask if that's enough to succeed."

When I was a kid, in the middle of 5th grade, my family moved (from LA to Orange County in Cali) and I changed schools. I was 10. At my new school, two of my new friends invited me over one day to play this cool game called D&D that was in a small white box. AD&D was just about to come out, the Monster Manual was not even out yet. If we could figure out those incomprehensible rules on our own as 10 year olds then a set of equally smart 10 year olds today can figure out the much more clear rules from Paizo.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Exiled Prince wrote:
Will this really be good for a 10/11 year old ? It seems a little complicated.

I think it's perfect for a child of that age. My 5th grade teacher used the blue box back in the day to pretty much teach my entire class how to play D&D. He used it as a trick to get us to write—he split the class up into several groups and ran us through encounters at lunchtime one after the other... but wouldn't run the next encounter for any one group until they wrote up the previous one as a short story.

Anyway... a whole classroom of 10-11 year olds learned to play the game using a much less graphically intensive product, so I think this one will do quite well.

The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6

I more or least taught myself to play at age 8 with a blue box set back in 1980. There were mistakes along the way, but it's doable. Especially with a rule set this much cleaner.


As someone with experience from teaching 10/11 year olds I'm just going to comment that a lot of adults need to stop underestimating how incredibly good at taking in information and applying it to good use a lot of kids are.

(And I do hope this doesn't come of us snarky, or an attack on anyone, since it is meant as a "kids are great - hooray!" comment.)

Contributor

Kajehase wrote:
As someone with experience from teaching 10/11 year olds I'm just going to comment that a lot of adults need to stop underestimating how incredibly good at taking in information and applying it to good use a lot of kids are.

I'm just being cautiously optimistic. :)

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

James Jacobs wrote:
Exiled Prince wrote:
Will this really be good for a 10/11 year old ? It seems a little complicated.

I think it's perfect for a child of that age. My 5th grade teacher used the blue box back in the day to pretty much teach my entire class how to play D&D. He used it as a trick to get us to write—he split the class up into several groups and ran us through encounters at lunchtime one after the other... but wouldn't run the next encounter for any one group until they wrote up the previous one as a short story.

Anyway... a whole classroom of 10-11 year olds learned to play the game using a much less graphically intensive product, so I think this one will do quite well.

I like your school better than my school.


Exiled Prince wrote:
Will this really be good for a 10/11 year old ? It seems a little complicated.

I will be running this for my soon to be 8 year old. Of course I've already introduced him to Pathfinder Core with the rules toned down a bit and he does well with that. I expect the beginner box to be a piece of cake for him.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Exiled Prince wrote:
Will this really be good for a 10/11 year old ? It seems a little complicated.

I think it's perfect for a child of that age. My 5th grade teacher used the blue box back in the day to pretty much teach my entire class how to play D&D. He used it as a trick to get us to write—he split the class up into several groups and ran us through encounters at lunchtime one after the other... but wouldn't run the next encounter for any one group until they wrote up the previous one as a short story.

Anyway... a whole classroom of 10-11 year olds learned to play the game using a much less graphically intensive product, so I think this one will do quite well.

That sounds like a great teacher. I'm curious -- was this before the "D&D = The Devil" hysteria or after?

I'm personally EXTREMELY excited about seeing Pathfinder get more exposure via the Beginner Box. Perhaps there can be a plan to donate it to local libraries if it's not cost-prohibitive? Also, maybe bookstores and toy stores can have it on display, or perhaps even have it available for free play at a table. Will you guys ship out cardboard stands to various chains perhaps?


The problem today isn't so much that kids aren't smart enough to get it, but more along the lines that kids aren't as interested in learning a ttrpg. As a 10yo back in the day, it was awesome. Today, 10yo's say, "okay, that's cool. I'm gonna go play WoW now." (not to bash WoW, I play it too.) Without flashy graphics and a big screen, it's a little harder to find kids that still like to use their imaginations. I did, however just get my 10, 6, and 5 year old cousins to play Gamma World, and they loved it. And I think this might just be the next step we take together in gaming.


I just picked up the old Star Frontiers games. They are easier to run than I thought. I plan on using them to bring people into role playing games. They are scifi and quick. Character sheets are about a page long with everything you need. Most of the rules are for the game master. Rereading it after 20+ years, it looks like 75% of the book is set aside for GMs.

Once I've got them hooked on role playing, then it's time to bring out other games based on the genre they like.


Exiled Prince wrote:
Will this really be good for a 10/11 year old ? It seems a little complicated.

The shocking truth is that the beginners box is not that much needed for novice players as it is for novice GMs.

I teached my son the Dungeon! board game at the age of 4, proceeded to Hero Quest when he was 6 and to Pathfinder when he was 8.

No problem at all (he is now playing "Race for the Galaxy" fairly well and regularily beats adults in it).

Sooo, if you are able to GM Pathfinder fairly well I guess you could teach it to a 10 year old. The beginners box will only make it a bit easier.


Sean K Reynolds wrote:
With a knowledgeable person guiding the first game session, I'm sure a 10yo can manage it. After all, at the heart of it, the system is just "roll a d20, add your modifiers, tell the GM the total, and ask if that's enough to succeed."

The Dungeons and Dragons Basic edition purple box with the Erol otus green dragon said for ages 10 and up. That was a lot more difficult to play than the Beginners box I would wager.


James Jacobs wrote:
Exiled Prince wrote:
Will this really be good for a 10/11 year old ? It seems a little complicated.

I think it's perfect for a child of that age. My 5th grade teacher used the blue box back in the day to pretty much teach my entire class how to play D&D. He used it as a trick to get us to write—he split the class up into several groups and ran us through encounters at lunchtime one after the other... but wouldn't run the next encounter for any one group until they wrote up the previous one as a short story.

Anyway... a whole classroom of 10-11 year olds learned to play the game using a much less graphically intensive product, so I think this one will do quite well.

But this set is much more complicated than the BCMI set. In those days I could write up a character on a beer mat. The rules of the red box has been so simple that I could explain them to a newbie in 3 minutes.

Now even with the simplified pathfinder in this box I need a full sized sheet of paper and I have to explain all these bonus modifiers, spells, skills etc. This says all. Maybe you as a designer and hard core fan you are too much into the rule system to be able to correctly evaluate the complexity of pathfinder (even the version in the new box) to a newbie.

Thats not to say that I dont appreciate your effort to produce this great set. I absolutely like it. IMO its a beginning that rpg companies finally recognize the value of simpler rules sets for the future of the industry and their own future. This makes me optimistic.


Enpeze wrote:
Maybe you as a designer and hard core fan you are too much into the rule system to be able to correctly evaluate the complexity of pathfinder (even the version in the new box) to a newbie.

They did do some playtesting with RPG newbies, giving the Beginner's Box to a group of teenagers with no moderator and watching them figure out how to play through one-way glass. Granted, that's not 10 to 11 year olds, but it is without a veteran explaining anything to them, if I'm remembering the story correctly.


Enpeze wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Exiled Prince wrote:
Will this really be good for a 10/11 year old ? It seems a little complicated.

I think it's perfect for a child of that age. My 5th grade teacher used the blue box back in the day to pretty much teach my entire class how to play D&D. He used it as a trick to get us to write—he split the class up into several groups and ran us through encounters at lunchtime one after the other... but wouldn't run the next encounter for any one group until they wrote up the previous one as a short story.

Anyway... a whole classroom of 10-11 year olds learned to play the game using a much less graphically intensive product, so I think this one will do quite well.

But this set is much more complicated than the BCMI set. In those days I could write up a character on a beer mat. The rules of the red box has been so simple that I could explain them to a newbie in 3 minutes.

Now even with the simplified pathfinder in this box I need a full sized sheet of paper and I have to explain all these bonus modifiers, spells, skills etc. This says all. Maybe you as a designer and hard core fan you are too much into the rule system to be able to correctly evaluate the complexity of pathfinder (even the version in the new box) to a newbie.

Thats not to say that I dont appreciate your effort to produce this great set. I absolutely like it. IMO its a beginning that rpg companies finally recognize the value of simpler rules sets for the future of the industry and their own future. This makes me optimistic.

The Original Basic set with the Erol Otus cover was written on a higher reading level than most 10 year olds are capable of handling. The rules were definitely easier, but it was not Rules LIGHT. I think even though the Beginner Box is starting with more complex rules, I think it is actually easier to learn than D&D basic set.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
Enpeze wrote:


But this set is much more complicated than the BCMI set. In those days I could write up a character on a beer mat. The rules of the red box has been so simple that I could explain them to a newbie in 3 minutes.

Now even with the simplified pathfinder in this box I need a full sized sheet of paper and I have to explain all these bonus modifiers, spells, skills etc. This says all. Maybe you as a designer and hard core fan you are too much into the rule system to be able to correctly evaluate the complexity of pathfinder (even the version in the new box) to a newbie.

Thats not to say that I dont appreciate your effort to produce this great set. I absolutely like it. IMO its a beginning that rpg companies finally recognize the value of simpler rules sets for the future of the industry and their own future. This makes me optimistic.

I'm not worried at all. I went through the original Red Box when I was around 10. Granted, I was kind of an advanced reader, but if a kid is really interested and excited in something they won't really stress about this or that rule. They'll jump in and make mistakes.

I have my own copy of the Beginner Box now. It has a solo adventure that is about as easy to go through as the original Red Box's solo adventure. Then the bulk of the Hero's Handbook deals with character creation step by step. One thing that's very useful are the letters in bright green circles on the character sheet -- every single instruction in the Hero's Handbook tells you which letter to go to fill in information.

There's a lot of math, especially when you get to Skills. None of it goes beyond basic plus/minus arithmetic, however.

And come on, let's face it -- unless you're math-averse, part of the FUN of the game is dealing with all that math and seeing how powerful your character is going to become at the end of the process. :)

Also, let's not forget that Pathfinder might have the appearance of being more complicated, when actually it's because it's more user friendly. The original BECMI box has very simple stat blocks: but that's because you had to page-flip to find saving throws and To Hit charts in the middle of battle. With Pathfinder, having AC and saving throw bonuses all right there makes things much easier. Where Pathfinder gets more complicated is when options and powers are added on top of the basic foundation, which comes at higher levels.

The flip side of the statblock is the character creation process (because your character sheet is a giant statblock after all). Granted, "rolling up" a character is much longer in Pathfinder than in BECMI, but the purpose of this is to create a PC statblock that is robust and can be easily used in play.

Another thing about the Beginner Box is that every spell description is now reduced to four lines, which actually is simpler than the original Red Box.

Grand Lodge

I am picking up the beginners box set for no reason other than to have on hand for the purpose of teaching newbies the hobby. After they learn this I can then plunk down the Core Rulebook; and then watch them run screaming from the room as they fail their FEAR saving throw.....

Later,

Mazra


1 person marked this as a favorite.
ronaldsf wrote:
Enpeze wrote:


But this set is much more complicated than the BCMI set. In those days I could write up a character on a beer mat. The rules of the red box has been so simple that I could explain them to a newbie in 3 minutes.

Now even with the simplified pathfinder in this box I need a full sized sheet of paper and I have to explain all these bonus modifiers, spells, skills etc. This says all. Maybe you as a designer and hard core fan you are too much into the rule system to be able to correctly evaluate the complexity of pathfinder (even the version in the new box) to a newbie.

Thats not to say that I dont appreciate your effort to produce this great set. I absolutely like it. IMO its a beginning that rpg companies finally recognize the value of simpler rules sets for the future of the industry and their own future. This makes me optimistic.

I'm not worried at all. I went through the original Red Box when I was around 10. Granted, I was kind of an advanced reader, but if a kid is really interested and excited in something they won't really stress about this or that rule. They'll jump in and make mistakes.

I have my own copy of the Beginner Box now. It has a solo adventure that is about as easy to go through as the original Red Box's solo adventure. Then the bulk of the Hero's Handbook deals with character creation step by step. One thing that's very useful are the letters in bright green circles on the character sheet -- every single instruction in the Hero's Handbook tells you which letter to go to fill in information.

There's a lot of math, especially when you get to Skills. None of it goes beyond basic plus/minus arithmetic, however.

And come on, let's face it -- unless you're math-averse, part of the FUN of the game is dealing with all that math and seeing how powerful your character is going to become at the end of the process. :)

Also, let's not forget that Pathfinder might have the appearance of being more complicated, when actually it's because it's more user friendly....

I am not worried either. I am sure most clever teens can handle the rules in the new PF box. So no prob here. But the question was if children can handle it.

And of course you are right, the presentation (clunky language, tedious layout etc.) of the BECM boxes was bad, but they didnt know it better in those days, so I have no problems with it.

What really counts for me is understanding and memorizing rules of a game, and I think its sure to say that BECM is far easier and superior in this because its lacks all the elements which makes Pathfinder so complex.

I can understand it from Paizo PoV because the real reason to bring out the box is not to change the current paradigma into "complex is bad for newbies and veterans alike" but to lure newbies into the "the more and complex the better" cash-cow paradigma of the current edition. If this leads to more customers I strongly doubt, because such a policy again serves only to usual suspects, a minority, the nerds, and not the majority which are casuals. (contrary to the BECM boxes which despite their failures in presentation were simpler to memorize and thus perfect to serve millions of casuals too)


My just turned 12 year-old needed a fair amount of help with it. She insisted though on making her own character first and agonizing if each decision was right or not (she rolled up stats but refused to assign them until she went through skills & feats).

My recommendation: Really encourage them to look over the fighter pre-gen to get a feel for things and have them do the pick your path adventure in the hero book. After that, they'd probably handle the complexities of building a character a lot easier (or even do the intro adventure with pregens).

The Exchange Kobold Press

2 people marked this as a favorite.

The pick a path adventure is a very smart and approachable way in for new players.

There's Party of One pick-a-path adventures in Kobold Quarterly #18 and #19, and if things work out right, maybe a Beginner Box pick-a-path in KQ #21.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Enpeze wrote:
...the question was if children can handle it.

It's not aimed at children. It's aimed at teens and up; that's why the age recommendation on the box says "13+".

I'm sure that many folks out there have younger kids that won't have any problem with the complexity, but in general, purchasers should realize that if they give it to a younger person, they might have some additional explaining to do.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

ronaldsf wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Exiled Prince wrote:
Will this really be good for a 10/11 year old ? It seems a little complicated.

I think it's perfect for a child of that age. My 5th grade teacher used the blue box back in the day to pretty much teach my entire class how to play D&D. He used it as a trick to get us to write—he split the class up into several groups and ran us through encounters at lunchtime one after the other... but wouldn't run the next encounter for any one group until they wrote up the previous one as a short story.

Anyway... a whole classroom of 10-11 year olds learned to play the game using a much less graphically intensive product, so I think this one will do quite well.

That sounds like a great teacher. I'm curious -- was this before the "D&D = The Devil" hysteria or after?

It was in the early 80s, so pretty much right in the middle of the hysteria.


Wolfgang Baur wrote:
The pick a path adventure is a very smart and approachable way in for new players.

Let me immediately concede that I'm arguing with a figure of considerable authority in the field, so am probably wrong. Nonetheless,...

The choose-your-own-adventure choice is one of only two quibbles I have with this product. I'm not a fan of this as a way to teach RPGs (I had the same view of the DnD red box's use of the concept) largely because it is considerably removed from the actual experience of a tabletop RPG.

It's easy enough to work through such a story, but it conveys an impression of limited choices and also de-emphasises the social element of play. In my view, an introductory product should be simpler but still moving in the same direction as the ultimate version being taught. I thought the intro 'mini-dungeon' adventure was excellent as a way of gradually talking the GM through how to run a game. I would have preferred more material on how to run (for example) roleplaying encounters, rather than a focus on how to walk yourself through an adventure - an experience you will then not use once you move onto the real thing. It seems to me to be teaching people what an adventure game is - I would have take that as written in this world of computer games and focus on the features unique to face-to-face roleplaying.

As I said though, I can hardly argue with a course of action chosen by both Paizo and WoTC and now endorsed by Wolfgang Baur. Nonetheless, it was one of very few gripes I had with this product. (Not that I've paged through the actual printed version yet..)

Contributor

The point of the pick-a-path adventure is, if you are alone when you open the Beginner Box, to let you experience a simple dungeon adventure and learn the basics of making attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks. Armed with that knowledge, it's really easy for you to be "the knowledgeable player" who can help out your friends when you're showing them the rest of the game.

If you have friends with you when you open the box, you should grab a pregenerated character and play through Black Fang's Dungeon.

Is the pick-a-path adventure as fun as an actual roleplaying experience? No, in the same way that watching the Fellowship of the Ring movie by yourself isn't as fun as watching it with friends and raving about it together as a group, but seeing it alone is still opening your mind's doorway to epic fantasy adventure that you want to share with your friends.


Sean K Reynolds wrote:
Is the pick-a-path adventure as fun as an actual roleplaying experience? No, in the same way that watching the Fellowship of the Ring movie by yourself isn't as fun as watching it with friends and raving about it together as a group, but seeing it alone is still opening your mind's doorway to epic fantasy adventure that you want to share with your friends.

I'm of this mindset, and I like the Choose Your Own Adventure format. When I was ten years old with the Mentzer Red Box, I couldn't find anyone to play with me. :( (It actually took about 23 years (2010) until I played my first group game.) Anyway, the solo adventure gave me the thrill of rolling dice and imagining what it would be like if I had more people with me.

One thing I thought was needed in the Beginner Box was a "WELCOME!" section that shows why someone should get into tabletop gaming, at a time in which many young people have so many other things like video/computer games to choose from. Doesn't have to be long -- it could have been a short paragraph saying something like: "WELCOME to the world of PATHFINDER!" "Unlike in a computer game, YOU get to make the story along with your friends!!"

As it is now, the book goes straight to instructions without saying first that here is something special that you hold in your hands, that you will remember this moment, that this will grow into a lifelong passion, that this is the game that was so great that it started it all and was the original roleplaying game, etc., etc. The Beginner Box is a huge win as it is now, but I think something like this too would've been great.


Enpeze wrote:

But this set is much more complicated than the BCMI set. In those days I could write up a character on a beer mat. The rules of the red box has been so simple that I could explain them to a newbie in 3 minutes.

Now even with the simplified pathfinder in this box I need a full sized sheet of paper and I have to explain all these bonus modifiers, spells, skills etc. This says all. Maybe you as a designer and hard core fan you are too much into the rule system to be able to correctly evaluate the complexity of pathfinder (even the version in the new box) to a newbie.

Really? Because I have my Red Cover Basic Rulebook from (1980) open in front of me right now. The Moldvay one. And to me because of text density there's ALOT to absorb here.

Clerics have that additional layer of complexity with their wacky turning table. Thieves have their percentile Thieves Abilities table.

There's the saving throw table: a different series of numbers dependent on the Character Class and the Type of Attack.

A combat matrix for Character Attacks and a separate one for Monster Attacks?

Now Pathfinder is a little more complex with Feats and an actual Skill system, but to eliminate those and the game would cease to be Pathfinder and be closer to Castles and Crusades.

My point is Basic is pretty much columns and columns of text with few pictures here and there. It's pretty densely packed and not exactly reader friendly and it was marketed towards 10 year olds? I think that the the Pathfinder Beginners Box is just fine for what it is.


Sean K Reynolds wrote:

The point of the pick-a-path adventure is, if you are alone when you open the Beginner Box, to let you experience a simple dungeon adventure and learn the basics of making attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks. Armed with that knowledge, it's really easy for you to be "the knowledgeable player" who can help out your friends when you're showing them the rest of the game.

If you have friends with you when you open the box, you should grab a pregenerated character and play through Black Fang's Dungeon.

Is the pick-a-path adventure as fun as an actual roleplaying experience? No, in the same way that watching the Fellowship of the Ring movie by yourself isn't as fun as watching it with friends and raving about it together as a group, but seeing it alone is still opening your mind's doorway to epic fantasy adventure that you want to share with your friends.

Not only do I hope you're right, but I suspect you are (given the consensus of professionals is contrary to my view, the chance of me being "right" is pretty slim). I didn't really present that as an argument, more my impression - with a view to informing any potential future products.

My opinions are no doubt colored by my own experience and prejudices. I imagine the generic BB opener being someone whose played several computer games, maybe played PF at a friend's place and has been given a box for Christmas (or saved up for it). As such, I probably undervalue the introduction to mechanics you outline here and am overstating the importance of distinguishing tabletop games from computer games.

It's nonetheless my favorite RPG line product - even moreso than the GM guide (my previous favorite) or the Core Rules. The thought and care you put into it is obvious on every page.


Sean K Reynolds wrote:

The point of the pick-a-path adventure is, if you are alone when you open the Beginner Box, to let you experience a simple dungeon adventure and learn the basics of making attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks. Armed with that knowledge, it's really easy for you to be "the knowledgeable player" who can help out your friends when you're showing them the rest of the game.

If you have friends with you when you open the box, you should grab a pregenerated character and play through Black Fang's Dungeon.

Is the pick-a-path adventure as fun as an actual roleplaying experience? No, in the same way that watching the Fellowship of the Ring movie by yourself isn't as fun as watching it with friends and raving about it together as a group, but seeing it alone is still opening your mind's doorway to epic fantasy adventure that you want to share with your friends.

I remember when this was done for Alternity. The adventure was called The Omega Variant and was only 10 pages. It wasn't a complete adventure. It was enough to help you get a grasp of the basics of the mechanics. I managed to find it again and I plan on running an Alternity campaign soon. I gave a copy to all my players so they can come with some basic knowledge.

I think this is a great way to get started. Giving someone an infinite number of options with no understanding of how to use those options tends to create frustration.

Shadow Lodge

The handbooks seem very well put together. Lots of imagery to assist the learning process. I was amused to see the layout style, with its colored bar headings, reminded me of the 4E PHB.


TOZ wrote:
The handbooks seem very well put together. Lots of imagery to assist the learning process. I was amused to see the layout style, with its colored bar headings, reminded me of the 4E PHB.

Yeah, me too. I liked the PF design better though (kudos to Sarah, I presume?).

The only style issues I had were the overuse of exclamation marks. By the time the cleric gets to fourth level it's probably not that exciting to get an extra spell.

The more I look at this, the more I like it. I hate PDFs but I'm still really enjoying paging through it. Really exceptional work, Paizo people.


TOZ wrote:
The handbooks seem very well put together. Lots of imagery to assist the learning process. I was amused to see the layout style, with its colored bar headings, reminded me of the 4E PHB.

I see I wasn't the only one...


I just picked up the PDF and I hope that they 'tile' oversized items like the pregenerated characters in the future. I am finding them difficult to print.'


Once again Paizo impresses with high quality box set. This box set is the hook up! I am impressed with the very nice books done inside with cool colorful artwork throughout. The books describe the game in the most basic and well structured format to get started. It only takes a short time to start playing with this fantastic box set. The box comes with a generous selection of cardboard figures to use with the marker map. Some dice of course and a practice dungeon to learn to play. This is perfect for people that are new to Pathfinder. Money well spent at my local game shop. I highly recommend this, even to people that own the Core Rulebook. Fantastic work Paizo and Pathfinder.


Any plans to sell these things in retail stores such as Target, Walmart, and toy stores to reach a wider audience?


Now that i've seen the "pawns", can we get a "hardcopy product" version of the paper mini pdf's like this? I know we've got the plastic's and metals from reaper, but these are great too!

As for the rest of it, I like the condensed stat block, and a few other things. A very good product.

Grand Lodge

AnthonyRoberson wrote:
I just picked up the PDF and I hope that they 'tile' oversized items like the pregenerated characters in the future. I am finding them difficult to print.'

I did a little experimenting with the fighter pregen file in Acrobat and found that printing it to "tile all pages" at 95% of the original size will put it on 4 sheets of letter sized paper. You can then tape it together to make it a simulation of the tabloid sized file.

Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

fjw70 wrote:
Any plans to sell these things in retail stores such as Target, Walmart, and toy stores to reach a wider audience?

Our mass market penetration at this point is limited to pretty much all of the major chain bookstores. We don't have an easy "in" with mega-retailers like Target and Wal-Mart.

Those companies generally demand a price point that wouldn't allow us to put as many good components in the box, and they are very likely to order tens of thousands of copies and then return them a couple weeks later.

Even the D&D Red Box was only in my local target for 2 weeks, and I'm frankly not convinced that kind of "mass market" distribution is worth it. Potentially, it could be very dangerous to our business.

So no. The game will not be in Target or Wal-Mart.


Erik Mona wrote:
fjw70 wrote:
Any plans to sell these things in retail stores such as Target, Walmart, and toy stores to reach a wider audience?

Our mass market penetration at this point is limited to pretty much all of the major chain bookstores. We don't have an easy "in" with mega-retailers like Target and Wal-Mart.

Those companies generally demand a price point that wouldn't allow us to put as many good components in the box, and they are very likely to order tens of thousands of copies and then return them a couple weeks later.

Even the D&D Red Box was only in my local target for 2 weeks, and I'm frankly not convinced that kind of "mass market" distribution is worth it. Potentially, it could be very dangerous to our business.

So no. The game will not be in Target or Wal-Mart.

This makes me sad, but I trust that you guys know the business realities of something like this.


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

I have just received my subscription copy. To all interested: I have not been charged any customs here in Germany, so anyone interested to order the box directly from Paizo shipping to Germany, you will only paying the box and shipping.

Sovereign Court

$53 to get this from Paizo or $27 through Amazon.... I'd love to give Paizo my money directly, but dayum, I'd like to keep more than a couple of coins in my poket too.

Liberty's Edge

Can anyone tell me what weight paper the extra Character sheets in the Beginner Box are printed on so I can match their quality if I print my own?

Looks like they might be around 45# or so. But I wanted to be sure.

Thanks.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Maps, Rulebook, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I've been slowly going thru my BB and noticed a typo on the Fighter Pregen.

His Melee attack is listed as +1 BAB +3 str for a +4 melee.
Then it lists Weapon Focus: Longsword as his feat.
When you get to the Longsword stat block, the Attack bonus only shows a +4 instead of a +5!

Liberty's Edge

Tim Statler wrote:

I've been slowly going thru my BB and noticed a typo on the Fighter Pregen.

His Melee attack is listed as +1 BAB +3 str for a +4 melee.
Then it lists Weapon Focus: Longsword as his feat.
When you get to the Longsword stat block, the Attack bonus only shows a +4 instead of a +5!

If you download the BB add ons there is eratta for both books.

Liberty's Edge

CapeCodRPGer wrote:
If you download the BB add ons there is eratta for both books.

I'm not noticing corrections for the pre-gen sheets, only the books.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

So there is something I did notice with the Beginner Box...

It is Much easier and quicker for a Bunch of new players that never played to pick this up and to teach themselves how to play then it is to add an experienced players using the Beginner Box to teach them how to play.

In my experience, the experienced player finds it hard to unlearn what he knows from the Core book and only confuses the new players with rules that are not in the book that can be more complicated and that can slow things down.

Also it took much longer for a veteran player to make a PC then a new player. Veteran player would think out their builds while building the PC taken almost twice as long to build a PC while a new player would be able to make a PC in minutes!

Contributor

Pygon wrote:

Can anyone tell me what weight paper the extra Character sheets in the Beginner Box are printed on so I can match their quality if I print my own?

Looks like they might be around 45# or so. But I wanted to be sure.

Thanks.

I think 45# should be right Pygon. Little thicker than standard copy paper, but not quite 90#.

Liberty's Edge

Liz Courts wrote:
I think 45# should be right Pygon. Little thicker than standard copy paper, but not quite 90#.

It turned out I had some 32# paper sitting around so I did a comparison. The 32# paper seems stronger. So, the paper the pre-gens are printed on are probably between 24-28#.

Contributor

The PDFs of the Game Master's Guide and Hero's Handbook have been updated to include hyperlinks. Enjoy!


I just purchased my beginner's box only to find out that the Valeros and Merisiel character sheets were missing from the box. Has this happened with any other purchasers of this product?Also, I guess I a going to have to return it and look through another one to remedy this situation. I know the PDF's exist, but not the same thing as what should have been included in the box to begin with. ... Anyway, I would appreciate any feedback on this concern.

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