I only included the bits that deal with the mechanics of my Pathfinder game. If you want to see the full write-up (including Campaign Journal), you can find it at http://okayyourturn.yuku.com/topic/14904/
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My Pathfinder/Savage Tide campaign kicked off Saturday with a short session consisting mostly of character creation. There were four players in attendance, I shall call them Player N, Player M, Player A, and Player L (or just the letter for short). They chose the starting HP variant allowing them double max starting hit points plus their constitution modifier. They also all got a free regional feat based on the district of Sasserine from which they hail. I allowed them to choose deities from either the PHB or the Pathfinder RPG. We used a 32-point point buy for generating ability scores.
Player N created a halfling rogue named Garrett. He's a longspear-wielding rat catcher from the Merchant District (Merchant's Tongue). Player M created a human wizard named Claudius from the Azure district (Water Rat). Claudius took advantage of the human racial ability of a free weapon proficiency and chose a bastard sword. He also chose to specialize in Conjuration. Player A created a human cleric of Gorum named Dana from the Champion District (Arena Blood). She chose Destruction and Strength as her domains and wields a great sword. Player L created a dwarven fighter named Brot from the Noble district (Academy Graduate). He wields a dwarven waraxe and is bit gluttonous.
I'll let them flesh out their backgrounds over the next couple of weeks, as we wanted to get some actual gaming done.
The biggest rules question with Pathfinder was the working of skills. It was quite different from what they were used to with 3.x and even I had to read the mechanics a couple of times to get it. They liked the truncated skill list, particularly the skills like Perception, Acrobatics, and Stealth (though N wondered if some skills, like sleight of hand, couldn't be grouped both under Theft and Deception (so you had access to those abilities regardless of which of them you chose to train).
They did have to do more calculations when they used a skill, but part of that was due to my choice of character sheet. Unfortunately, it isn't quite suited to Pathfinder, so I'll have to find a better one and modify it a bit at work on my copy of Acrobat Professional.
M liked the fact that wizards could cast their cantrips at will and made judicious use of that during the combat. Though he briefly lamented not taking combat casting he did like the fact that power attack was a viable option for a wizard (at least, a human wizard that chose a big weapon like bastard sword for his free weapon proficiency).
They all liked the bonus HP for advancing in their favored classes.
The combat lasted no more than three rounds. Poor rolling on my part (for the Will save vs. color spray) and good rolling on their part made mincemeat of the warriors on the ship. I did managed to injure a couple of the characters, but no so severely that even 3.x-style starting hit points would have been a hindrance. It just goes to prove that sound tactics and a little luck can make a HUGE difference in the difficulty of a fight in D&D.
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Player M had this to say about Pathfinder (so far--edited only for layout):
I really liked the changes to the wizard, as they allow you to have a character that plays very differently from someone else, but essentially have the same powers. I think the school specialization is much better, probably more powerful than before. It is good that casting spells from your prohibited school just means you lose your specialization bonus, not a true prohibition of the school. Maybe they should clarify if casting prohibited spells from scrolls or other means will also affect the specialization bonus. Also, please find out if crafting your bonded item costs half the gold in market value or crafting costs. I assume that it is crafting costs, making your bonded item one quarter market value to enchant.
I liked that they fixed some of the broken feats like power attack and cleave. I know it hurts fighters a bit, but it also means that monsters can't abuse those feats either. I know Hans didn't tend to abuse those feats, but I have definitely seen abuse in RPGA. Speaking of balance, I like that rogues can now be more useful in more combats due to changes in sneak attack. Now they are nearly as good as fighters.
I like the changes to the skills, eliminating skill points. I think this will allow the skill feats to actually be useful now, if one wants to specialize in a skill. Before, why would I use a feat to get +3 on a skill, when I can just spend more skill points. Is there still skill synergy?
Oh, finally, I liked the changes to the races. It allows far more versatility in character construction. It seems like before, some races were obviously better at some classes and you would never see a half-elf fighter.