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The family got together and made up the standard party of four (cleric, fighter, rogue and wizard). Initial hit points were constitution plus racial plus max initial, and the racial bonus for favored class. We're going through Hollow's Last Hope. Hit points haven't been a problem, and for the first time my "worrying" daughter turned down healing because she was only down one hp. They haven't sweated it at all, which has kept the adventure going at a nice pace.
The lack of skill points is great. Aside from the shopping for gear and spells, taking away the skill point figuring definitely sped up our play. I really appreciate that, and it enabled us to get characters and play through an adventure in a single day...with a trip to the commissary thrown into it!
The lack of spells, and how to get your characteristics (we used the 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 method) does slow things down. I hate having to juggle so many books. The layout of Pathfinder is much more open, and much friendlier to my old eyes.
The characters feel very competent for first level...and I like that. As a DM I am not having to worry as much about what is being thrown at them. Total Party Kills aren't really an option when the player's are our wife and two daughters. However, they can almost do too much and that is one of my gripes with 3.5. As a DM I have to know the game a bit better than what I have time for...that's a killer for active duty military. I don't have the time to prepare that I once had at another church. But the family is very excited by their competence and the options that they have to develop their characters. Increased numbers of feats enable them to break out their characters from the pack early and make something unique for themselves.
I would like to see spells broken out in the beta document along with a complete list of feats. I may have missed something, but it seems like there is a bit too much that is split between the playtest document and the originals. I know this is to be expected, but it is irritating nonetheless.
Overall, this is a blast! We haven't played 3.5 in quite a while and the Pathfinder game has really been a spark. I do like the idea of one book being released for the game. Game issues aside, I do not like WOTC releasing new sets of books every year. I rather like the way that Paizo is proceeding with their production schedule. They may produce as much paper as WOTC, but it just seems friendlier.
I like this game the way it is, and really appreciate a wonderful dungeon crawling game, that isn't some faddish video game remake. Thanks you very much for offering this game, and I will have a bit more to say after the girls have gotten through the monastery.
Thanks,
Scott Shafer