This comprehensive 640-page guide to the Pathfinder roleplaying game provides everything you need to set out into a world of limitless fantasy adventure! Choose from ancestries like elf, human, and goblin and classes like alchemist, fighter, and sorcerer to create a hero of your own design, destined to become a legend! The new Pathfinder rules are easier to learn and faster to play, and they offer deeper customization than ever before!
This indispensable volume contains the core rules for players and Game Masters, and is your first step on a heroic new journey!
The Pathfinder Core Rulebook includes:
More than 600 pages of game rules, advice, character options, treasure, and more for players and Game Masters!
Six heroic player character ancestries, including elf, dwarf, gnome, goblin, halfling, and human, with variant heritages for half-elf and half-orc!
More than 30 backgrounds like bartender, soldier, or apprentice to further immerse yourself in your hero's backstory!
Twelve character classes, including the alchemist, barbarian, bard, champion, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and wizard!
Hundreds and hundreds of spells, class feats, and other exciting abilities to help you customize your character to become the hero YOU envision her to be!
Streamlined and revised rules to help ease new players into the game while providing the depth of character options and tactical interest that have defined Pathfinder from the beginning!
Written by: Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and Mark Seifter
ISBN: 978-1-64078-168-9
Available Formats
The Pathfinder Core Rulebook is also available as:
Pathfinder 2 is a fun and faithful evolution to Pathfinder 1. It still has the same feel and familiarity. While I like both systems, I’ve played Pathfinder 2 for the past 5 years and it’s my preferred system.
The best parts of Pathfinder 2 are three action rounds, the condensed skill list, and how easy it is to make and modify characters, while still allowing for many different character builds and options. It’s also easier to make an effective character, and more difficult to make a character that's better than everyone else's. Multi-classing is brilliant and balanced.
Monsters in PF2 are improved and have unique abilities. It helps to make fights different from each other and interesting. The math around PF2 also makes it very easy to build encounters of various difficulties, which is great for homebrew GMs.
Most players will appreciate how easy it is to make a character that has meaningful choices at every level. PF2 should be popular with D&D 5E players that want less generic characters. However, some players in Pathfinder 1 liked to spend hours on their character, looking through splatbooks, looking for ways to make the ultimate character. For these players, they might not like the simplicity of PF2.
PF2 also cleaned up a lot of rules, which makes it easier to play. High level play also scales really well, with fast play, and isn't a burden on the GM, which is a real accomplishment.
It's not all good however. I didn’t like that PF2 nerfed the classes that were too strong in PF1 (alchemist, monk archetypes, spellcasters, gunslingers) and made weak classes in PF1 too strong (rogues, barbarians, fighters). Spellcasters are further nerfed in the sense that they no longer have a niche. Most magical problems in PF2 can be solved with skills that any character can easily attain. The only nerf that was good was that ranged martials are no longer overpowered.
The real failing in PF2 is that there’s too much variation in the damage output between martials and spellcasters. Spellcasters, even with cantrips, do 50% or less damage compared to martials, and it gets worse at higher levels. Spellcasters claim to fame is basically fireball. I could write an essay, but the main problem is the game nerfed the utility of most spellcasters, spellcasters don’t have the same attack modifiers as martials (less hits/crits), and spells do less damage yet take 2 actions. Except for cantrips, spells no longer improve as you level up, so the only spells that are viable are your highest spell level, which is only 3 spells, which is NOT good enough for a typical adventure day.
At one time, spellcasters were "glass cannons" (less AC, HP, saves, perception) but now they do less damage, so they are just glass. At high level tables, if I see we have more than 2 spellcasters, I know we’re in trouble. Those casters are almost always clerics, because clerics get free heals at their highest level, effectively doubling their spell pool.
The Core rulebook, while big and unwieldy, is one of the best purchases in the RPG market. The book itself is presented and explained very well, and is a joy to read.
Pathfinder 2 is my favorite game and I love it, but I really think spellcasters need some love in the future.
@Phaedre - Is it sitting in Fife, or does it say "Package transferred to dest MI facility" like mine currently does, which means that it has left Fife, but has not been received at the UPS-MI facility near where you live to be injected into the USPS system.
-- david
Yep it's "Package transferred to dest MI facility". My guess is that it'll show up around Tuesday this week and a half dozen tracking updates will all go in at once. That's how it usually happens.
I personally hardly looked at the play test in months (play testing wasn't for us) so I can't tell you for sure but there seems to be more of everything that was in the play test.
For example clerics can now choose a doctrine to help guide them on which path to bad assery they take.
^ I think that the soonest we can expect new classes would be sometime next year (probably in the "big book" release of 2020, so maybe a year from now?).
Not wanting to derail ^^':
I mean, the new edition only launches on the 1st of August officially, i.e. it's not actually out 'yet'.
Also, while I understand the desire to get as many of the classes that were present in P1 as soon as possible, I would prefer that the developers take some time to get them as near-perfect (& fun to play!) as possible rather than just rushing out with lackluster & disappointment.
Aaaargh, the package arrived today (I think. It's the only package I'm expecting that I have to pay customs for.) and I was at work. With a little luck my father will be home tomorrow to take it.
I am slowly coming to grip with the new CRB. The organization is not intuitive for me. The index and TOC are not that helpful. Took me half an hour to find the focus powers. Great material there so it is just a learning process for me.
When will the character record sheets be available online?
Good question. My best guess would be August 1st. At this point, the site is so buggy that I cannot even find the 1st edition character sheets.
I've been endlessly searching for pdfs of character sheets. I dont have a good way of scanning the book ones and we have to wait until Aug 1 to get our PDF in our account. I find this odd since I have the physical book so it would be nice to have the pdf as well.....I guess i'll just wait to test character creation until august.
When will the character record sheets be available online?
Good question. My best guess would be August 1st. At this point, the site is so buggy that I cannot even find the 1st edition character sheets.
I've been endlessly searching for pdfs of character sheets. I dont have a good way of scanning the book ones and we have to wait until Aug 1 to get our PDF in our account. I find this odd since I have the physical book so it would be nice to have the pdf as well.....I guess i'll just wait to test character creation until august.
People HAVE their books already?! Lucky! (And I would have expected the PF2 character sheets by now, too, but I can't find them. How are people gonna be ready to play and, more importantly, RUN for GenCon?)
When will the character record sheets be available online?
Good question. My best guess would be August 1st. At this point, the site is so buggy that I cannot even find the 1st edition character sheets.
I've been endlessly searching for pdfs of character sheets. I dont have a good way of scanning the book ones and we have to wait until Aug 1 to get our PDF in our account. I find this odd since I have the physical book so it would be nice to have the pdf as well.....I guess i'll just wait to test character creation until august.
I decided to do it the old fashioned way, with a notebook.
I am slowly coming to grip with the new CRB. The organization is not intuitive for me. The index and TOC are not that helpful. Took me half an hour to find the focus powers. Great material there so it is just a learning process for me.
Yeah, I struggled to find the focus spells too, and eventually found them accidentally while randomly flipping through.
For anyone else struggling: Focus Spells are in their own section at the very end of the Spells chapter, grouped by class.
Will 2nd edition material be able to be converted to first, and vice versa. I know the new edition is coming up in a while, but still want to see if its possible to run through something like age of ashes with some kineticists or shifters. if not, i can understand the reasoning, but if it is possible, i will be quite pleased.
Just got mine yesterday and boy is it a beautiful book. As an experienced PF1 player, I can't wait to dive in.
But I can't help but feel that the sheer size of this tome (over 600 pages) has to be quite intimidating for someone brand new.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Mine hasn't been seen since it left Fife on the 19th. My Druma book, which left Fife on the same day arrived yesterday, although the tracker still says it hasn't been delivered yet either. My book could be almost anywhere in the US. =(
Just wanted to pop in and say, this book is not only gorgeous, but the layout is AWESOME. One of the best design layouts I've seen in a while. Kudos to all involved!
I am slowly coming to grip with the new CRB. The organization is not intuitive for me. The index and TOC are not that helpful. Took me half an hour to find the focus powers. Great material there so it is just a learning process for me.
Yeah, I struggled to find the focus spells too, and eventually found them accidentally while randomly flipping through.
For anyone else struggling: Focus Spells are in their own section at the very end of the Spells chapter, grouped by class.
I am slowly coming to grip with the new CRB. The organization is not intuitive for me. The index and TOC are not that helpful. Took me half an hour to find the focus powers. Great material there so it is just a learning process for me.
Yeah, I struggled to find the focus spells too, and eventually found them accidentally while randomly flipping through.
For anyone else struggling: Focus Spells are in their own section at the very end of the Spells chapter, grouped by class.
I am slowly coming to grip with the new CRB. The organization is not intuitive for me. The index and TOC are not that helpful. Took me half an hour to find the focus powers. Great material there so it is just a learning process for me.
Yeah, I struggled to find the focus spells too, and eventually found them accidentally while randomly flipping through.
For anyone else struggling: Focus Spells are in their own section at the very end of the Spells chapter, grouped by class.
Can you post a page #?
386-407.
I've also since noticed that some classes (e.g. Bard) give page numbers for their focus spells, but other (like Monk and Druid) do not. I read the Monk class first, but if I'd read in alphabetical order (who does that anyway?) I wouldn't have had that problem. It's also a problem you have exactly once, and then never again, so it's not a major issue.
...if I'd read in alphabetical order (who does that anyway?)
Lol.
*raises hand*
Raises hand
Brocimus wrote:
To those of you who have the book- what are your initial impressions/reviews?
Format-wise it’s beautiful. The new art looks wonderful and unique!
Crunch-wise I can see why some would be a bit disappointed (legacy spells like cloudkill got nerfed, and spell durations got an overhaul), but I’ve got a feeling (call it senseless optimism if you wish) that it’ll end up better in practice than on paper. I find focus spells interesting and am curious how that’ll end up in play. As a GM I find the tight math to be better because then CR doesn’t break down horribly at higher levels. Casters have fewer spells per day but the DCs for a 1st level burning hands and a 9th level meteor swarm are the same when cast by the same caster.
I know that a good chunk of this was also in the playtest, but I still think vocalizing said things is good too.
Honestly, with my read thus far (going cover-to-cover and just getting to Ranger; sometimes jumping around occasionally) I only have a few complaints, and they’re nitpicky:
The book is GIGANTIC!
If you’re proficient in Performance then you’re just as good at singing as you are at playing a violin—which is NOT how that works!
(Not Core, but Bestiary) Of all the nine standard outsider species (demons, archons, psychopomps, etc.) literally ONLY agathions (NG species) don’t have any representation in it!
I had/have others, but I’ve forgotten; that’s how nitpicky they are.
TL;DR: It’s definitely different from 1e, but I personally think it’ll be for the better.
I am slowly coming to grip with the new CRB. The organization is not intuitive for me. The index and TOC are not that helpful. Took me half an hour to find the focus powers. Great material there so it is just a learning process for me.
Yeah, I struggled to find the focus spells too, and eventually found them accidentally while randomly flipping through.
For anyone else struggling: Focus Spells are in their own section at the very end of the Spells chapter, grouped by class.
I am slowly coming to grip with the new CRB. The organization is not intuitive for me. The index and TOC are not that helpful. Took me half an hour to find the focus powers. Great material there so it is just a learning process for me.
Yeah, I struggled to find the focus spells too, and eventually found them accidentally while randomly flipping through.
For anyone else struggling: Focus Spells are in their own section at the very end of the Spells chapter, grouped by class.
Can you post a page #?
386-407.
I've also since noticed that some classes (e.g. Bard) give page numbers for their focus spells, but other (like Monk and Druid) do not. I read the Monk class first, but if I'd read in alphabetical order (who does that anyway?) I wouldn't have had that problem. It's also a problem you have exactly once, and then never again, so it's not a major issue.
The location of Focus Spells are also mentioned in the "Spell Lists" paragraph on pg 307. But yeah, a bit hidden, but as you say not a major issue.
The book is indeed beautiful, but leafing through it left me with an indistinct "meh" feeling. I'll have to buckle down this weekend and read it in detail from cover to cover to form a solid opinion, but what I've read of ancestries, spells and feats doesn't give me great hopes that it'll wow me.
I can see the appeal for other people though, as it seems like a solid system.
How many page were dedicated to the gods? Did each of them get at least half-a-page?
No, it's pretty bare-bones. They fit about three to a column, or six to a page. It's just the basics you need to make a cleric with; I would expect more detail in the Lost Omens World Guide.
How many page were dedicated to the gods? Did each of them get at least half-a-page?
No, it's pretty bare-bones. They fit about three to a column, or six to a page. It's just the basics you need to make a cleric with; I would expect more detail in the Lost Omens World Guide.
The Gods and Magic book in January is a more likely source for fleshed out details.