
TabulaRasa |

Simplifying and making DMing easier does not seem to be one of the goal of Pathfinder RPG or at least I fail to see how your proposed changes will reduce my workload during prep time or during the actual game.
So far, you've shown us with the Alpha what is in store for the players but nothing about what you are planning for the DMs.
Please, free us from the tedious bookeeping that comes with 3.5 for us poor overworked DMs.

![]() |

Simplifying and making DMing easier does not seem to be one of the goal of Pathfinder RPG or at least I fail to see how your proposed changes will reduce my workload during prep time or during the actual game.
So far, you've shown us with the Alpha what is in store for the players but nothing about what you are planning for the DMs.
Please, free us from the tedious bookeeping that comes with 3.5 for us poor overworked DMs.
The skill change reduces the prep work on NPCs.
Beyond that, bear in mind that 1) this is just the first Alpha release, and 2) you can make suggestions and come up with ideas for reducing the bookwork on the DM's part.
So let's hear it, what things are you wanting to change and simplify?

TabulaRasa |

So let's hear it, what things are you wanting to change and simplify?
Many things but beforehand I would like to know what I call the "red lines". In short, my answer will depend on how far does Pazio want to take the game from 3.5
I have ideas for combat, health, magic, feats, skills but it is hard to know if they are worth posting until I have a better grip of what kind of "feel" Pazio wishes to achieve with the Pathfinder RPG.

Heaven's Agent |

I believe the "red line" is backwards compatibility; they want existing 3.5 material to be usable with little or no conversion (the less changes involved, the better).
That said, there's really no reason to withhold your ideas, even if you feel they would change things too dramatically to be used. If nothing else, others will read them and may come up with a variation or similar concept that would work extremely well.
As I see it, being able to bounce ideas off of such a diverse and sizable group is the greatest advantage of an open playtest such as this. In the long run, I imagine this format of development will make the difference between a failed or successful Pathfinder RPG.

![]() |

As I see it, being able to bounce ideas off of such a diverse and sizable group is the greatest advantage of an open playtest such as this. In the long run, I imagine this format of development will make the difference between a failed or successful Pathfinder RPG.
I wouldn't be surprised to see lots of highly-customized versions of Pathfinder after the final rules are published. There's going to be too much discussion of too many variations of rules here for everyone to end up playing the exact same game ;)

Wayne Ligon |

You could simplify a heck of a lot of things with a simple arbitrary rule such as 'the maximum bonus to anything, from any combination of sources, is x', where 'x' is your balancing factor. Set it to, oh, +3 and you kill off the stat race, the arms race, and the magic items race all at once :) Thus, if you had a 16 strength, your BAB, damage and anything else figured off Strength would be at it's maximum forever. Put a +6 sword in his hands, it does no good.
Another one would be 'any spell that cannot be adequately described in four sentences or less gets cut'.
Otherwise, I'm thinking there is a certain lower ceiling to the amount of simplification we can get by the very nature of D&D.

John Robey |

You could simplify a heck of a lot of things with a simple arbitrary rule such as 'the maximum bonus to anything, from any combination of sources, is x', where 'x' is your balancing factor. Set it to, oh, +3 and you kill off the stat race, the arms race, and the magic items race all at once :) Thus, if you had a 16 strength, your BAB, damage and anything else figured off Strength would be at it's maximum forever. Put a +6 sword in his hands, it does no good.
I like the core idea, but I wouldn't include stat bonuses -- otherwise giants, dragons, and other huge Str monsters lose a lot of their punch.
"Situational" bonuses (e.g., magic, buffs, and equipment) maxing out at +5 would be great!
-The Gneech

Arelas |

Simplifying and making DMing easier does not seem to be one of the goal of Pathfinder RPG or at least I fail to see how your proposed changes will reduce my workload during prep time or during the actual game.
So far, you've shown us with the Alpha what is in store for the players but nothing about what you are planning for the DMs.
Please, free us from the tedious bookeeping that comes with 3.5 for us poor overworked DMs.
The last page (65) of the Alpha mentions that the second download (Alpha release pt 2) will have for the dm one unified system of diseases/curses/posion, a guide to creating monsters, and "simple rules for designing NPC's on the fly. This section will also include simple short-cuts for assinging magic items and adjucating wealth totals."
That at least should help prep time and simplify one part of combat.