Greetings
First off: Thumbs up for going separate ways from Wizards. I never thought I would leave D&D, but Pathfinder just seems better in many ways, and although I was dismayed at first when I heard that Paizo was considering doing a 3.75 instead of jumping on the 4th ed I have been just taken by storm by this new initiative. :)
To my question: I have been away from the D&D game from quite some time (mostly played AD&D, and a bit of 3.0), and I want to start DM'ing for a small group of friends, starting off with the first Pathfinder series.
It is possible just to play with the alpha rules of Pathfinder RPG, and use those as the basis for a new Pathfinder-campaign? I do have a set of core 3.5 books that I can use for further reference, but instead of reading up on the whole DMG and PHB I would rather just start playtesting Pathfinder RPG with my new group.
I know that this is alpha stage, and more stuff will be added later, but my basic question is simply this: Are the rules complete enough to use as "stand-alone", or are they simply adjustments to the 3.5 rules which requires me to be fairly aquainted with the 3.5 system, going back to the core books all the time?
I hope I can just use the rules as they are. I am aware that a lot of details are not in place yet, but I guess that is fine for a "newbie"-group - too many rules will just kill the speed.
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I hope I can just use the rules as they are. I am aware that a lot of details are not in place yet, but I guess that is fine for a "newbie"-group - too many rules will just kill the speed.
I'd say put together a few sample characters to get a feel for the difference, then try running a short sample adventure and give everybody a chance to really try out their skills and abilities. In the little reading I've done so far it seems they're at least complete enough to drop into a game; whether they're completely balanced or not is another matter ;)
Edit: sorry, should have added you'll still need to use the regular 3.5 core books to do anything beyond make some test characters and maybe some light combats.
As the rules currently are, there going to need the core books, as there are references to the core(or the SRD if you want to use that) and places where only adjustments to 3.5 rules are layed it.
I agree with you. I will make the break from WotC as well. Too much invested personally to start completely over from scratch.
My two cents on this topic is themed (I love themes) 'life is what you make it' ( I love clichés too).
What I mean by this is that every game I have ever run a game( and I have been playing 21 years), in any system, changes were made at the table. So you can play it 'as is', but the morphic nature of the game will see changes being made necessarily.
The name of the game is fun afterall. Rules are a guide, and if being literally bound to them becomes painful or illogical ( i.e. broken rule), change it!
Worried about speed. Add rules (by this I mean rule sub-systems) as the players gain 'experience'. Start off with the basic mechanics, and add more options as they get used to the ebb and flow of the game.
I did that once to positive results in 3.0 with noobs. I remember one PC who said "I'm 5th level, what new rule to I get to use?" Maybe it would work for you.
Tried it a bit today since the weather was bad... Yes, it is very playable right now as is. Granted, for the most part its just like having an optional rules pack for something... I'm not saying this is bad, its quite good. Pathfinder as it stands right now was quite complete for me.... I'm able to immediately grab the rest of my game stuff and delve fully into the game. Now granted, I've not tried something along the lines of paring an old stat elf up against a new stat elf, but I might do that tonight or tomorrow.
There is only one thing so far I really don't care for... that's the Xp progression. The game gives you three selections... fast advancement, medium, and slow. I can see where they are trying to be considerate to DMs that want their parties to advance either a bit slower or quicker than others, but even the fast starts at 1,300xp to next level, which is a bit slower than the original (1,200 would be easier to divide, especially amongst a 4 character party, than 1,300 btw). I'd prefer to see one xp rung and one only.... if the DM wants the characters to advance more slowly then simply giving out less XP or adding a a percentage depletion at the end of the game would work (say, for a slower advancement, knock off 10%).
The reason that I don't like the 3 rung as it stands, is that I wish there was one set degree of points... perhaps the medium advancement would work best (its closer to the older advancement of 1st and 2nd anyways I think).
Honestly, that's the only thing that I really don't care for so far. That and the illustration of the elf is a bit too stout for being a more "frail" race... but thats pointless fluff (and otherwise the image looks awesome). Truly, its a good game and the variations of the 3.5 standards are more of the evolution that we hoped to see all along.
I know that this is alpha stage, and more stuff will be added later, but my basic question is simply this: Are the rules complete enough to use as "stand-alone", or are they simply adjustments to the 3.5 rules which requires me to be fairly aquainted with the 3.5 system, going back to the core books all the time?
Will the Pathfinder RPG Players Handbook work alone without other books? I think so. First, they said one reason for it is that the Core Rulebooks of Wizards will go out of print, so I guess that means they want to make the game also available to people who didn't allready have them.
Second, the Warcraft RPG has a Players Handbook, that contains all the stuff from the core PHB, as does Arcana Evolved. So I guess there's no problems with the OGL either.Monster Manuals don't pose any problems either.
Now the DMG could be interesting. But when you think about it, there's not really that much in it. All the magic items are part of the SRD and they have their own XP-system. Doors and Walls are not really "original content" as they are only examples of the hit points and hardnes system from the PHB. The rest is either just encounter tables and the like, or simply text with no real rules whatsoever. And that practically all that's in that book.
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As a note about the XP progression, the chart makes it seem a bit slower, simply because the number is slightly higher in the fast progression. However, if you look at how quickly you hand out XP, it actually comes a bit more quickly.
For instance, if you have 4-5 people in your party, a CR 1 fight gives each person 100xp(I think thats right, doing this off my head right now). In 3.5 a CR1 was 100xp/# of party members. So it would be more like 60xp per person.
-Tarlane