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Pathfinder Core Rulebook

4.60/5 (based on 31 ratings)
Pathfinder Core Rulebook
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Advance Your Game

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



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Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

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Pathfinder Nexus on Demiplane
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SoundSet on Syrinscape
Archives of Nethys

Errata
Last Updated - 11/9/2020

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Rulebook Subscription.

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4.60/5 (based on 31 ratings)

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Absolutely love this system!

5/5 —

I began tabletop RPG's with 4th Ed D&D. I really enjoyed myself because I didn't know any better. Then one of my buddies introduced me to 1st Ed Pathfinder and I saw all the flaws of 4th Ed, and there were many. I played Pathfinder 1e for a year or so when 5e came out and swept up my group and we never looked back...until 2e launched. I love this system! I really missed the pathfinder world, and I really missed the crunch of pathfinder. 2e does an excellent job of easy play (especially for the dm) without sacrificing the crunch and complexity of that Pathfinder is famous for. I really love this system, and now my group and I are running our first adventure on roll20 and it is awesome. Love this system, love Paizo. 5 stars

A Fantastic System

5/5 —

I never played the first edition of Pathfinder, I found it too complex for my liking. But after playing Second Edition with my friends, I refuse to go back to playing D&D 5e. I love the system of the entire system, the action economy makes the game interesting and engaging, and I could not be happier with just how much fun we are having.

Ring Side Report-Pathfinder Rulebook, 2nd ed

5/5 —

Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day!

Product- Pathfinder Core Rulebook

System-Pathfinder

Producer-Paizo

Price- $60 here https://paizo.com/products/btq01y0k?Pathfinder-Core-Rulebook

TL; DR-A solid mix of new good things, but some issues remain. 92%

Basics-It’s here! Pathfinder 2nd ed is out in the wild! Let’s dig into this thing! The basics from my previous review here: Let’s look at the big changes.

Base Mechanic-The d20 system never really changes. It’s still numbers + d20 vs other numbers. Pathfinder 2nd Ed has the player add their ability modifier, their level, AND a modifier to the roll, depending on their level of proficiency. The biggest change from the previous one is that the proficiency levels are now +2, +4, +6, or +8 instead of adding one to 4. Honestly, this feels like a change coming from 4th Edition DnD. I know the heresy of that statement, but I like that mechanic.

Action Economy- Players still have the three actions per turn of the playtest with some spells or actions requiring additional actions to do.

Skills- If you are not trained it's just a d20 + ability modifier. If you are not trained, after about 4th level, it might not be useful to even roll.

Options- This edition is labeled featfinder by its critics, but the designers use the word feat instead of options. I’m ok with featfinder as I LOVE class options.

ITEM LEVELS!!!-Items HAVE LEVELS! I love this as you know exactly what an item should cost, what kind of character should have this, and it means that some things such as alchemical items are going to be useful later as higher level options are available.

Character Advancement- Characters now level at 1000 exp. Monsters of your level give certain amounts of experience, and there are formulas for changing the experience points if you are fighting a creature of a higher or lower amount.

Those are the basics. Let’s look at my thoughts.

Mechanics or Crunch-I really love this system. Long ago, I toyed with the idea of making a 3.5/4e hybrid, and this is almost what I wanted. I get the clean mechanics of the d20, but I add my level so leveling up made things matter. I get the deep CRUNCH of 3.5/Pathfinder, but the ease of a 5e. I get cantrips that I can use all the time and not have a wizard firing crappy crossbows while still feeling like a wizard. But it’s not perfect. Skills are kind of a big deal for me. I think the system kind of forgets about skills if you are untrained. I think a fighter could pick up some basics of magic from traveling with a wizard and I liked how previously untrained actions still added your level, just with a penalty. Now you don’t add your level to untrained actions and that basically means you have silos where no untrained character can go. It’s a design choice that isn’t bad, but not one I love. Also, I really don’t like the new EXP system. Just keep creatures with different exp instead of having some crazy formula to figure out the exp! It feels like a level of simplification that some players demanded but the rest of us hate. But overall, I really do like the simplicity of the system and the variety of options in this book. 4.75/5

Theme or Fluff-Everyone has their own idea of what “fantasy” should be. Pathfinder has a niche of an almost industrial magic world where some elements of science are beginning to poke their timid heads out of the real magic with semi-magic, semi-chemistry potions and simple guns. This new game nails that vibe. Also, this edition fixes a major problem others had before: alchemy. I love the idea of alchemy, but it's always hard to add to a system Lots of RPGs add this in later due to fan demands. But that system feels bolted on and not a core of the world, with alchemy basically being a new magic caster class but with a reskin. In Pathfinder 2e, with item levels, an alchemist makes alchemy items and the items are NOT spells. They are their own special thing. I LOVE THIS! Pathfinder 2nd ed nails the Pathfinder theme even better than the original! 5/5

Execution- PDF? Check! Hyperlinked? NOPE! Come on Paizo! This book is over 600 Pages! Even random websites trading illegal PDFs have their stuff hyperlinked and for this size of document, it’s a major problem. Also, I think 3.5 has the best layout for d20 systems in regard to class advancement and feats. However, in the new system the classes get a table of advancement for each level, but you have to read deep into each specific advancement to know what is really happening. It's less at a glance and results in slower leveling and progression. I LOVE table with the character level, short descriptions of mandatory class options, and saving throw bonuses, and even spells if needed. Now we get too many words that are not helping, and two tables that are seperate for magic and character options. That is two too many! Nice concise tables would help this feel less wordy and less tiring to read. Next, feats for each class need a feat table with short, one sentence descriptions of each class option. This is going to take up space, but the current layout of listing several options and just making players read the possible rule in its entirety is too long and wordy. Even if you keep the full feat description, adding these tables would make skimming for your next class option a breeze, but instead you end up reading lots of class options you do not care about. Reading about options you don’t care about is tiring! The rest of the book is fine, but those class sections could use some serious changes to make the material easier to read! Pathfinder 2nd ed charts its own territory, but it needs to learn from its roots for its readability. 4/5

Summary-My review of this system is not glowing, but I do love it. The mechanics of 2nd edition Pathfinder are a mix of 3.5, Pathfinder, and 4th edition and 5th edition DnD. Since I love all those games, I had no issues with all the best being blended together to make the best of everything. I didn’t get EVERYTHING I wanted, but I got enough. I love the world, and the new mechanics of the new edition really emphasize the world. The low point was the execution of the book. It feels way too wordy and made reading all the different classes a slog. The book isn’t bad by any stretch, but I feel that taking some clues on how other editions of RPGs work and displayed their information would really help here. Now this might seem negative but overall I love this system. It's easy to play, characters are made quickly, and I feel it's going to be a fun system for a long time. Can’t wait to see what story I can tell with this system! 92%

Incredible work

5/5 —

I am floored by what Paizo has accomplished here. So much of the old guard DNA has finally been filtered out. The sheets and book have never been cleaner or clearer from a graphic design standpoint. This book is simply a joy to read cover to cover. All 600+ pages of it! I wasn't planning on coming back to PF, my RPG interests drift a little more indie these days. But I saw the copy at a brick and mortar store and gave it a look. I bought it on the spot.
Thank you, Paizo. Just thank you. I will be ordering many more P2 books as I go.

PS. More Iron Gods plz ;p

Pathfinder has never been better before

5/5 —

Improved in almost every single way I can think of. Bravo!

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1 person marked this as a favorite.
Papa-DRB wrote:

@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.

My books were shipped Tuesday and I got them on Thursday.

Was there any change on the list of Domains from the one in the playtest? I only want to know if there are more or less or the same number of domains.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

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.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Domains appear to be the same but some of the spells have changed.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

When will the character record sheets be available online?
Quen Pah wrote:
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.

Silver Crusade

Is there a point to expect witch class soon after core rulebook? And I'd like to see Kinetisist class
1 person marked this as a favorite.

^ 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.

But we'll see...

Carry on,

--C.
Sharktyan wrote:
Is there a point to expect witch class soon after core rulebook? And I'd like to see Kinetisist class

From what I have seen some of the non Core classes from 1st edition can be replicated by these classes in 2nd edition.

Liberty's Edge
1 person marked this as a favorite.

No tracking for international mail.

I subsist on faith alone.

That and haunting the boards actually.
4 people marked this as a favorite.

Mood.
Liberty's Edge
4 people marked this as a favorite.
The Raven Black wrote:

No tracking for international mail.

I subsist on faith alone.

That and haunting the boards actually.

OMG. The books were waiting for me at home. I am so happy :-D

Grinning like crazy for real.

10 days from Paizo to Normandy, France. Not bad.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

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.
2 people marked this as a favorite.

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.
Liberty's Edge
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Packing things for a business trip to Switzerland. I feel like I am handling one of Tabris' books :-P

The sum of worlds
Dark Archive

I need to be able to sit down and create a character to see how it works out. Herolab is no help for at least 2 or so weeks.
David knott 242 wrote:
Quen Pah wrote:
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.

Silver Crusade
1 person marked this as a favorite.
GreenShaDow wrote:
David knott 242 wrote:
Quen Pah wrote:
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.

They said they're trying for next week.

Emphasis on trying.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

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?)
GreenShaDow wrote:
David knott 242 wrote:
Quen Pah wrote:
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.

It's not as pretty, but it gets the job done!
Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
Saint Bernard wrote:
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.
Liberty's Edge

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.

There might be a shifty druidy thing.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32
2 people marked this as a favorite.

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.

Just saw my books are out for delivery! should be waiting for me when I get home from work.. I just might be coming down with a cold.
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. =(
Quen Pah wrote:
There might be a shifty druidy thing.

Monks also get a Ki blast if I'm not mistaken.

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

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!
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Mine arrived yesterday, six days after Fife. It's a beautiful book! Looking forward to digging into it.
shadram wrote:
Saint Bernard wrote:
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 #?

Quen Pah wrote:
shadram wrote:
Saint Bernard wrote:
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.

Liberty's Edge
Saleem Halabi wrote:
Mine hasn't been seen since it left Fife on the 19th. My Druma book, which left Fife ...

What the heck is Fife??

I keep seeing people mention it ...
Liberty's Edge

Anyone here who ordered from Amazon get their book yet?
Marc Radle wrote:
Saleem Halabi wrote:
Mine hasn't been seen since it left Fife on the 19th. My Druma book, which left Fife ...

What the heck is Fife??

I keep seeing people mention it ...

A city in Washington, near where Paizo is located.

Fife

-- david
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
Joana wrote:
Quen Pah wrote:
shadram wrote:
Saint Bernard wrote:
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.

5 people marked this as a favorite.
shadram wrote:
...if I'd read in alphabetical order (who does that anyway?)

Lol.

*raises hand*
Liberty's Edge
Papa-DRB wrote:
Marc Radle wrote:
Saleem Halabi wrote:
Mine hasn't been seen since it left Fife on the 19th. My Druma book, which left Fife ...

What the heck is Fife??

I keep seeing people mention it ...

A city in Washington, near where Paizo is located.

Fife

-- david

Ah! Got it!!

Marc Radle wrote:
Anyone here who ordered from Amazon get their book yet?

No, but today my order status updated from 'delivery date pending' to 'will be delivered on August 1st.'

To those of you who have the book- what are your initial impressions/reviews?
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Steve Geddes wrote:
shadram wrote:
...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.

It is a beautiful book.
Joana wrote:
Quen Pah wrote:
shadram wrote:
Saint Bernard wrote:
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.

Thank you.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
shadram wrote:
Joana wrote:
Quen Pah wrote:
shadram wrote:
Saint Bernard wrote:
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.

1 person marked this as a favorite.

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?
2 people marked this as a favorite.
The Gold Sovereign wrote:
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.

2 people marked this as a favorite.

For those asking for a character sheet, they've been released here (in case you didn't read the blog or saw the front page at release).

Also, once you receive your book(s) it might be a good idea to take proper care on how you open it the first time. Here's a video showing and describing how to open such a large book to ensure the spine of the book lasts longer.

Thank you for the sheet information!
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Joana wrote:
The Gold Sovereign wrote:
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.

Got my books today!!!!
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