Hello, all.
As one in a growing number who have been horrified by the release of
WotC's D&D version 4.0, I find myself drawn to these forums and the
promise of the Pathfinder RPG. I just wanted to get some clarification
on a couple of things:
The Adventure Path series are collections of extended adventures?
The Chronicles series are background information on the setting?
And the main RPG product is the game itself?
I hope I got that right.
Also, a quick question. There are a number of products coming out
in the next few months that I'm interested in. The Pathfinder
Chronicles: Campaign Setting ... and the Pathfinder Chronicles:
Gods & Magic, for example. But I was wondering: Have these items
already been updated to conform to the upcoming RPG game release?
Or will they be re-issued later, after the game comes out in 2009?
Thanks for your help.
~ CONTARUS
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The Adventure Path series are collections of extended adventures?
Yes. Like the Dungeon Adventure Paths of old. Also, don't forget the Gamemastery/Pathfinder Modules.
The Chronicles series are background information on the setting?
Yep. Picture Golarion like Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Eberron, and other campaign settings and the Chronicles give you background on the land, the people, politics, history, and regional feats, equipment, spells, critters, and so forth.
And the main RPG product is the game itself?
Yep. Pathfinder is being primed to replace the PHB and DMG, which are no longer being published. So, starting with Beta (as a test version), and then the final release in August 2009, the Pathfinder RPG will be the "3.5 Core Rulebook" ... or rather, the 3.5 Replacement.
Also, a quick question. There are a number of products coming out in the next few months that I'm interested in. The Pathfinder Chronicles: Campaign Setting ... and the Pathfinder Chronicles: Gods & Magic, for example. But I was wondering: Have these items already been updated to conform to the upcoming RPG game release? Or will they be re-issued later, after the game comes out in 2009?
That I can't even attempt to answer. Sorry.
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Also, a quick question. There are a number of products coming out
in the next few months that I'm interested in. The Pathfinder
Chronicles: Campaign Setting ... and the Pathfinder Chronicles:
Gods & Magic, for example. But I was wondering: Have these items
already been updated to conform to the upcoming RPG game release?
Or will they be re-issued later, after the game comes out in 2009?
Paizo will not be producing products for the PRPG system until it has been released in August 2009. The books you mentioned will be published under the 3.5 ruleset. If Paizo achieve the goal of backwards compatability they will still be usuable in 3.5. To my knowledge they have not mentioned a re-release, but I doubt they would.
Hello, all.
As one in a growing number who have been horrified by the release of
WotC's D&D version 4.0, I find myself drawn to these forums and the
promise of the Pathfinder RPG. I just wanted to get some clarification
on a couple of things:
Welcome to the boards!
The Adventure Path series are collections of extended adventures?
Yes.
The Chronicles series are background information on the setting?
Yes.
And the main RPG product is the game itself?
Yes.
Also, a quick question. There are a number of products coming out
in the next few months that I'm interested in. The Pathfinder
Chronicles: Campaign Setting ... and the Pathfinder Chronicles:
Gods & Magic, for example. But I was wondering: Have these items
already been updated to conform to the upcoming RPG game release?
Or will they be re-issued later, after the game comes out in 2009?
No products have been converted to the Pathfinder RPG rules, yet. Everything still assumes 3.5, for now. I think the first campaign to use the rules won't be until the campaign after the campaign after "Second Darkness."
We're on "Curse of the Crimson Throne" now. Next is "Second Darkness." I'm not sure on the names of what's after that. I think I read that somewhere, but I'm sure someone will speak up if I'm wrong on that.I haven't heard anything on whether they will re-issue anything later after the rules come out, but my gut says they won't. In theory, the rules are supposed to be easy to convert to, so it would be pretty unprofitable to re-write and publish something almost identical.
Wow, both Saurstalk and Forgottenprince ninja posted before me. I thought I was writing fast, too. ;p
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The Adventure Path series are collections of extended adventures?
An Adventure Path is a series of adventures that takes your characters from 1st Level up to at least 15th. The first three AP's were published by Paizo in Dungeon Magazine. They went up to 20th level. Now Paizo publishes the AP's under the name Pathfinder. The first of these is called Rise of the Runelords and takes characters to 15th level. The second AP (the current one) is called Curse of the Crimson Throne and takes characters up to 17th level.
Welcome. You're among like thinkers here (most of us don't like 4e, or don't like it as D&D and still want a real D&D)
Most has been said already. Just one or two things:
There's a lot of different things called Pathfinder:
While the Roleplaying game bears the name of Paizo's flagship product (Pathfinder Adventure Paths), it's not tied to the setting at all. There will be the deities from Golarion in it (just as GreyHawk deities were in the 3e PHB), but beyond that, it will be usable with any d20/OGL stuff that used the 3.5e core rulebooks.
To further clarify what the Adventure Paths are:
They're released monthly, and 6 of them make up a complete Adventure Path (which means you get a full HP in 6 months). They're 96 or so pages, and about half of it is the adventure itself.
The other half is comprised of additional articles that augment the adventure. Every Pathfinder has a bestiary with something like half a dozen new monsters. Though not all of them are in the adventure itself, they do fit well into the area where it takes place, so the GM has something to throw at the players if they walk off the beaten path.
The same's true for the other articles, for they further flesh out the campaign setting (or, more precisely, the part of the campaign setting the adventure takes place in). In a Pathfinder where you encounter lots of Stone Giants, you might find an article about Stone Giants; the two main deities in an AP (one for the good guys, and one for the bad guys) get an article (so far, good was in the 2nd installment, evil in the 5th); if the adventure calls for a trip into the highest mountains around, there's an article about adventuring in the frozen heights. Cultures that play an important role in an adventure get articles, and the same is true for villages or cities.
Finally, each Pathfinder (at least so far) contains a Journal - one part in an ongoing story - so far about Pathfinder Eando Kline. They're written in the form of Eando's journal entries and are a really good read.
Beginning with the third Adventure Path (Second Darkness), the main adventures will be about 10 pages shorter, but you'll also get an extra "set piece" adventure of about 10 pages, which can be tied into the running adventure or used separately. Those kinds of adventure used to be within the main adventures of older and current APs, but now they're explicitly pointed out as "sidetracks" you can use both in the AP (with no less than three hooks to tie thim into the adventure) and separately.
The adventure paths so far all started on level 1. The first AP ends somewhere between levels 15 and 17 (you usually go into the last installment with a 14th-level party, and since it's another full installment, it's likely that you level up at least once). The second will probably end at about the same time (since it's only up to the 4th book right now, we can't be quite sure, but the two 4th books both start with level 10...).
Those start and end points need not be true for later APs, though. Maybe one will start a bit later to go up all the way to 20, or maybe one will be a bit "slower" and go only up to level 13. I personally think it's okay the way it is, though higher-level and even epic adventures are always welcome.