What form would you like these books to take?
The previously mentioned binder system for things like monsters and spells is a tempting idea. I would be concerned about the quality of them, even though the utility would be really great.
Would you be interested in subscribing to such a line, provided the books cost somewhere around $35 a pop?
I don't subscribe because I like to support my local store. They are great people that do a lot to drive the hobby. If I could afford to do both, I would, but I can't... and yes, I realize a subscription would be cheaper.
What titles/ideas would you like to see us explore?
Complete style books, including racial books, especially Human racial books that deal with setting specific subraces. I really enjoyed the alternate class feature type stuff that showed up in PHBII and Unearthed Arcana. I'd love to see setting specific things in that vein also.
We're all worried about rules bloat. What is your opinion of new classes and races?
Even though they often cause problems, I'd still like to see new classes and races. More options keeps things from feeling stale for some players.
Are you as tired of prestige classes as I am?
Not really, though I would like to see more setting specific things along with general ones.
I know this is a little off topic, but what I would like to see with subscriptions is a pdf compilation of multiple books. For example, if we have access to the Beastiary I and Beastiary II, then we can download a pdf of both, organized alphabetically. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard if the monsters were saved in a database. I'm sure there would be plenty of volunteers to help build the database. I would. :)
I have not read all the posts on this thread so I don't know how popular this idea would be, but I would like Paizo to publish an additional setting instead of just Golarion.
Our group has 2 DM's. One of them has ALL your adventure paths and products set in Golarion. The other DM is using what product he can find in used book stores and online that we have not played in the last 9 years of 3rd. If Paizo published another setting, he could finally just begin buying all your NEW product! (that the other DM does not need)
Maybe 3rd party publishers will make product for Pathfinder, but it will probably not be the quality of the stuff you guys put out.
The current plan is to release between 2-3 hardcover rulebooks per year, including additional Pathfinder Bestiaries.
Awesome... 2-3 books is reasonable. Bestiaries are always fun, well, when you're a DM.
What form would you like these books to take? Would you be interested in subscribing to such a line, provided the books cost somewhere around $35 a pop?
$35 is perfectly reasonable in my opinion. Particularly if there's a Pathfinder Adventure Path discount and free PDF's involved. As for what form? Physical form? Hardcover I'd say. Yes on the Subscription, big fat yes.
What titles/ideas would you like to see us explore?
Hmmm.
PRPG Guide to Epic Level PlayPRPG Psionics Handbook
PRPG Game Mastery: Running for levels 1-7 (with advice on handling a group of power gamers)
PRPG Game Mastery: Running for levels 8-14 (see above)
PRPG Game Mastery: Running for levels 15-20 (again)
PRPG version of Unearthed Arcana with nifty PC and DM options and all that fun stuff.
PRPG Modern. Pretty much describes itself. Just please, none of that Stat Based Class B.S. I hated that about D20 Modern.
PRPG Future. Also describes itself.
PRPG Other Themes. Basically whatever themes you guys and cook up.
PRPG Class books. Yes. Class books. Because players love splat. Perhaps stick to three or four. Martial, Divine, Arcane, Psionic. None of that extra stuff. Or if you go this route but do them class by class then make them soft cover a'la Green Ronin and the old 2nd edition ones.
I'm sure if given enough time I could think of more but that's a fair start. Oh, and it's no where near in order of importance.
We're all worried about rules bloat. What is your opinion of new classes and races?
I like them in moderation. I think it's clear that the vast majority of people, on these boards at least, thought that the splat books WotC put out were far too crammed with them. Use that as a basis for comparison and you should be fine if you reduce down to... say... a third of that. I think one opinion I've seen repeated around here is that it would be nice if you stayed away from niche classes. Classes that were far too focused and specialized to merit being a core class. Then again the Paladin is pretty damn focused and specialized....
Are you as tired of prestige classes as I am?
In a word: Yes. As a DM prestige classes tend to be what make monsters out of PC's. Sure feats have something to do with it. Another flaw is a prestige class is either too powerful, grants a powerful ability early on that encourages dipping, or is insanely weak. If you can find a balance that makes players actually consider them viable options for their base classes without
A. Render the base classes obsolete or undesirable.B. Suffering from "Omigod I don't want to make this class too powerful so I'll castrate it instead!" syndrome.
C. Making a DM slit his wrists with the cardboard of their DM screen.
Then you're on the right track.
Personally I think it would be cool if you had prestige classes focused on a specific type of class that offered to continue some of their abilities while supplying a different flavor to the class. For example: a Cleric prestige class that allows a cleric to keep advancing their turn undead or their domains. The class goes in a different direction than a standard prestige class but does so for the latter portion of their advancement rather than the earlier portion that class options would cover.
All in all. If additional crunch is brought in, moderation and keeping it balanced without rendering it useless or undesirable is a good design philosophy. Not that you guys didn't know that or anything :P
Awesome... 2-3 books is reasonable. Bestiaries are always fun, well, when you're a DM.
My mother likes them the most. They have the largest numbers of interesting pictures. ^^
It's a bit sad that everyone feels "we need the stuff we had in 3.5".
I want stuff we never got in 3.5. If I need obscure feats, I have an entire collection of thousands of them.
Hence, I'd love to see something akin to Magic of Incarnum: A new magic system, including suggestions for how to use it in pathfinder campaigns, as a complement to the existing or replacing it. It's also a way to add personality to a setting. It's no coincidence that one of the first Realms novels was Spellfire.
I wouldn't ask this of WotC, but I trust you to make a good thing of it.
I would also love more planar content. The main error of thinking about planar content is (apart from planar beasts) that you have to go there for it to be relevant. Find ways to incorporate it anyway.
Oh, and please, publish an elemental-themed super-adventure/adventure setting. =)
Hence, I'd love to see something akin to Magic of Incarnum: A new magic system, including suggestions for how to use it in pathfinder campaigns, as a complement to the existing or replacing it. It's also a way to add personality to a setting. It's no coincidence that one of the first Realms novels was Spellfire.
I second this! I would love to see a new magic system. Personally I think the Sorcerer should have originally been something other than a lazy spell caster who doesn't want to bother with collecting spells :P But something handled better than Incarnum. An alternate magic system, not a complimentary one, one that might replace the vancian style should a DM so desire.
|
I would like you to do class books ala Sword and Fist or the Complete Fighter's Handbook from 2e. But, I don't want a buttload of feats and prestige classes. I want design information. I want variant fighter options and abilities (not new sucky base classes). I want thoughts on how to design good classes that are like the fighter. I want to know how the fighter works best in the game, how to play the fighter most effectively, and what type of player likes fighters the best. I want fighters that are tailored to the player races and some of the applicable monsters. I want a mini-campaign in the last chapter that gives me a garrison for my all-fighter campaign set in Absalom with a handful of adventure seeds, and a few NPCs (friendly and not-so-friendly). I want to know if an all-fighter campaign is even possible. And if you absolutely must, I will accept a small small small handful of feats and prestige classes - but no filler. I only want stuff that is so awesome, I need my Paizo Fighter Handbook. As a litmus test, if the feat is "you get +2 on two skills" it is filler and should be cut.
Then I want the above for rogues, wizards, druids, etc. I want a single definitive book for each class and I want it to be made of pure 100% awesome.
Think: the Thieves Handbook or Fighters Handbook from 2e, each of which set the bar for what a class book should be (and which, sadly, none of the...
I've got second this: one of the things I hated about the 3E splatbooks was the overabundance of feats and prestige classes. Yes, they're neat options in the game, but I don't need that much. There is plenty of other things that can go into such books. I do want to see Pathfinder splatbooks on classes and races, but I want a lot of material besides feats, PrC's and "new core classes" that aren't needed.
|
|
In July we officially kick off the Pathfinder RPG with the release of the Pathfinder Bestiary. The massive Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook follows in August, but beyond that we have not yet announced additional rules support for the game.
That support IS coming, and we're in the process of finalizing what form it will take.
The current plan is to release between 2-3 hardcover rulebooks per year, including additional Pathfinder Bestiaries.
What form would you like these books to take? Would you be interested in subscribing to such a line, provided the books cost somewhere around $35 a pop?
What titles/ideas would you like to see us explore?
We're all worried about rules bloat. What is your opinion of new classes and races?
Are you as tired of prestige classes as I am?
Discuss.
I am definitely looking forward to new Pathfinder releases. I would like to see 3-4 books a year, but understand if its less. Now that said, here's what I'd like to see:
Within the first year or two, I'd like to see updated, "Pathfinder-ized" versions of most of the core 3E/3.5 material - PHB, DMG, MM, ELH, XPH, class splatbooks, race splatbooks. After that, I'd like to Pathfinder take on a life of its own. Any book that features new options - alternate class and race abilities, ways to modify monsters, new "power sources", a la Tome of Battle, Tome of Magic and Magic of Incarnum (though not necessarily updates of those three books; just examples). Books that take the game in new directions, without just being updates of old TSR/WotC books. Books that give both DM's (sorry, GM's) and players options. I know that's a little vague, but that's what I'd like to see.I definitely want to see hardcover books. They're more durable, and cheaper by the page than paperbacks. I'd like to see all material presented clearly and well-indexed. I don't want to have to hunt down rules. I would subscribe for good, useful books and would enjoy a free pdf of the books purchased.
New classes and races are occasionally useful, but rarely so. I'd rather see ways to alter existing ones, a la Unearthed Arcana. There are a couple of classes I can think of that I'd like to see - a knight and a pirate - but even these could be made using existing core classes. Likewise, pretige classes are an interesting idea, an have their place in the game, but I don't need nine thousand of them! A few really good/useful/iconic PrC's, please. Same goes for feats - feats are a great addition to the game, but I don't need so many. And I hate useless feats - x feat grants a +2 to x skill and x skill. Boring.
To sum up, I want to see a handful of "updated" 3.5 books, and then new concepts that give the players and DMs options, without a ton of feats, prestige classes, and spells. The occasional new monster book, too.
You know what one of the things I did like, for the most part, in the racial splat books was? Racial substitution levels. It was a great way, at least in theory, to reflect differences in racial approach to the various classes. An example could be an alternate set of specialization abilities, similar to the generalist wizard, but for the elven approach to wizardry. Maybe a completely unique set of barbarian abilities for a little known group of gnomes.
Expanded abilities for existing classes could be a way to cut down on useless PrCs. Some are great, but I get tired of ones that exist only to railroad a character into certain feats that they could have just taken the set of feats & not have lost class abilities, like qualifying for fighter feats. A Swashbuckler could easily just be a specific build for a fighter or rogue, depending on you vision of said swashbuckler.
Unlike many replies, I'm NOT interested in Psionics or Epic-level rules. The kind of rules books I would favor are those that expand the character options for existing classes.
I'm not talking about a bit of a variant class ability for each core class (a la PH2). I'm talking about a host of full-fledged, far-reaching options for my characters that are meaningful from level 1 onwards. An off the cuff set of examples:
* more rage powers, and dexterity based rages(frenzy?) for barbarians
* more bardic performance options, ability to forego arcane progression for divine progression (gaining a single domain as well as divine spells in the process)
* move away from the good/evil dichotomy of cleric, option to reduce all spells known by 1 but cast spontaneously (like sorcerer)
* give druids the option to have beast bloodline (rather than gaining wildshapes)
* additional alternates such as allowing fighters to chose "maneuver training" over "weapon training" and "movement training" over "armor training" (other options such as "college training", "war training", "officer training", etc)
* additional ki powers, the choice to give up some benefit to gain the unarmed damage progression with a chosen weapon
* paladin options to give up high base attack progression to improve ability to help party (more auras that aid all party members), new uses for smite evil, choice to gain paladin spells from level 1 onward
* ranger to gain additional combat styles such as "skirmish", choice to gain ranger spells from level 1 onward
* rogue option to forego sneak attack to instead gain spells as a sorcerer would at sorcerer level equal to sneak attack level
* 6 additional wizard schools
* 6 additional sorcerer bloodlines
Additionally, for each class I would love to see an unused attribute be made more important. This would allow new options such as dexterity-based barbarians (perhaps via frenzy), or intelligence-based fighters, perhaps even constitution-based sorcerers that draw their power from the essence of their lifeforce.
What titles/ideas would you like to see us explore?
Psionics. Unearthed Arcana. Manual of the Planes. A sea splatbook. If you want an alternative magic system, go with psionics first.
We're all worried about rules bloat. What is your opinion of new classes and races?
If you release one rules book and one monster book a year, rules bloat should be constrained; it may take 10 years to get where 3e got in five.
Well-designed new classes can be OK, but most of the races that were designed to put a new race in a splatbook seemed really pointless to me. Goliaths? Maenads? Dromites? Warforged? You have to come up with a whole new campaign setting to work stuff like that in.
Races that already exist in fantasy are cool, though: ratmen, gnolls, lizardfolk. Everybody likes to play a monster sometime.
Maybe you could do something like AD&D's "Savage Species" in the vein of "Classic Monsters Revisited": "A Guide to Monstrous Campaigns"... with options for humanoid levels, &c.
Are you as tired of prestige classes as I am?
Prestige classes were always designed for specific campaign organizations, but then became the ultimate "player's option" character optimization tool. I've always thought the original idea was great, but it became something terrible.
PrCs seem like something you would introduce in an Adventure Path, one PrC at most per path.
IDK if this was mentioned before but I always like the idea of a base Armored/Caster, something like the duskblade, would be great.
As for races, I would like a Draconic ECL 0 race please.
Kobolds!
I'm going to be in the minority here and say that I don't really need a lot more character creation options.
QFT. The core rules are hundreds of pages of options that would take many years of play to explore fully.
|
|
I know I'm going to draw some 4E aggro here, but maybe you could adopt that strategy; each year sees a new rulebook with new options for the existing game, as well as a new monster book. Next year is "Pathfinder II" with psionics rules, epic level rules and options for classes and races at all levels. In 2011, "Pathfinder III", with still more options and variants, and so on. To expand on earlier comments by myself and others, variants and options could include variant magic systems, new combat options, rules for thieving characters, new uses of bardic magic, etc. Monstrous races seems to be a semi-popular subject; tack that into an expanded rulebook.
So when do we get the Pathfinder Bestiary with all the new monsters introduced in the various Pathfinder issues?
|
|
In July we officially kick off the Pathfinder RPG with the release of the Pathfinder Bestiary. The massive Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook follows in August, but beyond that we have not yet announced additional rules support for the game.
That support IS coming, and we're in the process of finalizing what form it will take.
The current plan is to release between 2-3 hardcover rulebooks per year, including additional Pathfinder Bestiaries.
What form would you like these books to take? Would you be interested in subscribing to such a line, provided the books cost somewhere around $35 a pop?
What titles/ideas would you like to see us explore?
We're all worried about rules bloat. What is your opinion of new classes and races?
Are you as tired of prestige classes as I am?
Discuss.
I am interested in a psionics book that keeps the 3.5 mechanics and fixes the uninteresting parts (aka soulknife & wilders). I really feel that psionics needs to be more about telepathy, seers, and changing one's own physical structures rather than flinging balls of fire as well.
As far as races and classes go, I feel that each class and race needs to fill a distintive area. A psionic that seeks to serve a god would be different enough, while a psionic that seeks to explore "different" areas is not.
Prestige classes sell books to players. While I agree there are a ton of prestige classes, as long as the prestige class is balanced I do not have issues with them. The problem is alot of prestige classes were not balanced and can dominate gameplay.
After rereading my copy of Dungeon #90/Polyhedron I decided that one alternate setting could be a Pulp Heroes campaign.
|
In July we officially kick off the Pathfinder RPG with the release of the Pathfinder Bestiary. The massive Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook follows in August, but beyond that we have not yet announced additional rules support for the game.
That support IS coming, and we're in the process of finalizing what form it will take.
The current plan is to release between 2-3 hardcover rulebooks per year, including additional Pathfinder Bestiaries.
What form would you like these books to take? Would you be interested in subscribing to such a line, provided the books cost somewhere around $35 a pop?
What titles/ideas would you like to see us explore?
We're all worried about rules bloat. What is your opinion of new classes and races?
Are you as tired of prestige classes as I am?
Discuss.
IMHO, I'd like to see the books focus on a particular type of region/world setting or style of play. For example, instead of being flooded by a deluge of class/race specific splat books, each book could focus on a different terrain type (desert, tundra, jungle), world setting (medieval, oriental, tribal), or style of play (combat, stealth, magical) and offer options for all the existing classes and races. This would also allow tie-ins with Golarion's varied regions and cultures.
One thing I've noticed with PRPG is that players seem to be able to stick to one class to create whatever character they envision. Any future supplements should encourage this.
As for prestige classes, we already have plenty. The point of PRPG was to be backwards compatible. I already have all the class and racial splat books I'll ever need via 3.5 and I don't mind updating them myself, as needed. What I'd pay 35$ for are books that build upon the spirit of the PRPG core by giving me new and intriguing options for the races and classes that already exist.
Psionics: Yes, please rescue them from 3e oblivion! My favorite system was the one developed for DarkSun in 2e with the mental attack rolls and mental ac's. I think such a system would work very easily now (attacking one's saves as a DC perhaps, like force powers on Star Wars Saga). The 3e version that did ability damage was too cumbersome in my opinion--one would have to recalculate so much over the course of combat. I also didn't like how it was reduced to basically just another form of magic. The cool thing about 2e psionics was that power progression didn't work like spells at all and a low-level psionicist would have at least one or two nifty abilities that spellcasters wouldn't get until much later. It should feel different, look different, smell different. And what's with those stupid crystals? At least Gygax's almost impossible to use version from 1e let you blow people's heads up (a la "Scanners"), not sound like a simpering new ager.
On sourcebooks: My beef for the last few years is that most of what WOTC produced seemed to be fairly trite and useless garbage. Maybe 2-4 pages in each book were really creative and usable. I got hooked on Paizo because of the quality, in Dungeon magazine. The Adventure Path concept is great, and the stories being told are excellent. That is what IMO has been lacking from the industry overall--great stories. Great characters, great locations, great villains, great big pictures. If Paizo goes the way of producing rulebooks ever few months (and as a publisher, you got to make a product and sell it, I understand), I hope you will continue to redefine the standards for the whole industry. Don't treat us like morons is all we ask. 4e is for that audience.
|
|
Below is a list of ideas that I e-mailed to Paizo a few days ago but because of the Pathfinder RPG already at the printers they said i should post it somewhere. This seems like the right place. Remember this is a copy from the original e-mail that i sent
Firstly. My group and I recently got hold of a copy of the AEG mercenaries and they had non magical upgrades for weapons such as laminated (p91), serrated (p92) and for armour there was also Dwarven and Elven forged armour. These things I thought would be really interesting and add something to the game.
Secondly. I have always wanted a definitive list for alchemical potions, something separate to the magic potions that divine and arcane casters can make. This was done to a certain degree in the World of Warcraft: More Magic & Mayhem but my group felt that it was overpowered in comparison to other 3.5 products.
Finally. I guess after the release of the pathfinder roleplay book there will be a conversion guide but until then have you got any help to convert things like warforged and other PC races to those in a Pathfinder setting.
|
|
What I'd like to see :
More additional rules which we can pick, a bit like the unearthed arcana. Somethings like "wild magic" was cool but needed a bit more taste.
- Prestige classes with a background and not just a list of capabilities.
Psionics of course but not just something LIKE magic.
Please keep in mind the BALANCE of the classes you are going to design over the PHB classes.
- Monsters ? Well if you want but I won't buy it myself except the first book (mind you I already bought the monsters revisited and I think it is a VERY COOL idea)
If you design monsters make them look like monsters which could really exist.
In the 3.X edition I really did not like most monsters because they looked too damn "unreal". Mind you, I already thought we reached the end with the Modron.
- A book of different planes would be so cool.
- Finally keep in mind ONE THING : QUALITY MORE THAN QUANTITY!
As for, will I subscribe ? I'd say no as I like to choose what I buy and I am not looking for the newest thing but think more like "will it be of any use to me ?"
I will probably buy things from my local bookstore if I can.
|
Just wanted to say one thing: please stop inventing new races all the time. its annoying and frankly rather pointless. I would truly dislike any sort of rulebook that features many new races (or many new races being added over time), since I belive the core races are more than enough.
PrCs are fine in limited quanteties, and only when the themes are cool.
I have seen many suggestions that you could use feats in the main book to make most of the old prestige classes. I would like to see a book that shows you how to use the feats to make a duskblade or warmage, etc. In addition as someone who rarely plays (43 years old-no one in the area my age)I would like to see examples of picking feats to make specialized characters. The mobile fighter, combat sorcerer, a bard I could actually like, etc.
|
Epic level play rules (and not just scaling the levels up past 20).
Psionics (and not point-based psionics, thanks)
New setting books: I love Golarion, but I have plenty of love to go around. I would particularly like to see something that is Paizo's answer to Dark Sun or Ravenloft in the same way that Golarion is sort of an answer to Forgotten Realms. (A horror setting particularly would sell me without thought.)
Class Book: That is, a book with new classes and variants for old classes, a la Player's Handbook 2 or Unearthed Arcana.
Options Book: A full-on Unearthed Arcana treatment of rules variants, race variants, and ideas for campaign styles.
And I'm pretty much content after that. ^_^
Jeremy Puckett
Focus on quality over quantity, and I'll likely buy much of what you publish.
Psionic rules would be amazing to have, but only if done well.
I suggest a "Core Rulebook 2" that would contain psionics as a core component of the game. It would also include new classes, new variants and options for existing classes, quality prestige classes (that are not overpowered, and that are as interesting to level up in as the base classes), and quality, quality, quality stuff overall.
I don't think that an entire rulebook is needed for psionics, if its put into a core rulebook 2. I do believe, however, that it should be more unique than current psionics, rather than less (so keep the power point system, while adding in limitations to it and theming the powers to body/mind manipulation, telekinesis, and similar things).
Remember - quality over quantity.
|
|
ADnD 1st edition had great artwork. Third edition artwork was aweful and dumbed down the game seemingly putting the focus on adolescents. I don't see why we can't have better artwork and the flexibility to have a more realistic mature theme.
Even as a twelve-year-old kid I remember looking at the art in the 1E books as I got them and thinking it was all terrible. The only exceptions that still stand out were the work by Erol Otus (of course) and Tim Truman. 2E managed at times to make me fondly miss the amateur work from 1E (God bless Tony DiTerlizzi and Brom or the entire thing would have been a wash). It wasn't until 3E that I finally thought "Hey, someone involved in with D&D finally got hipped to the advantages of giving a budget to the art department." I remember swooning when I saw pieces by WM Kaluta in the Monster Manual, and everything by Todd Lockwood and Wayne Reynolds blew me away. But to each his own. :)
A 2nd Ed style Monstrous Compendium binder for spells would be awesome.
The 2nd Ed Compendium binders were doomed from the outset, because they could not function as advertised: few monsters could occupy a full page front and back, so you got pages with things like Vampire on the front and Vegepygmy on the back. When the next release came out, the Varguille couldn't be placed alphabetically.
You'd have the same problem with a spell compendium unless you were willing to waste a great deal of paper; by foregoing the back side of the paper, you begin by doubling the size of the book. It just gets worse when multiple short/simple spells can't share a page.
I know this is a little off topic, but what I would like to see with subscriptions is a pdf compilation of multiple books. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard if the monsters were saved in a database.
Similar problem; unless each individual monster takes up exactly one page in the PDFs of the original bestiaries, you can't integrate multiple volumes as you might shuffle a deck of cards. You have to do a layout for a whole new volume, which would be 100% redundant with the [multiple] originals in terms of content.
It couldn't realistically be a free product, given the work involved in the new layout; but few people would be likely to buy it having already paid for Bestiary I & II. And fewer still would keep re-purchasing the integrated three-volume and four-volume versions -- how many times do you want to pay for Bestiary I, after all?
I haven't gone through all 630+ posts in this thread yet, so I don't know if it's been mentioned, but, I'll mention it:
I WANT SOFTWARE!
To me, something like e-Tools was one of the greatest things about 3E/3.5 - or, at least, it had the potential to be.
As someone who dumped a ton of money into that software, I found it incredibly handy to be able to stat up just about any character with spells/feats/abilities/classes/gear/etc from the official tomes.
It made (and makes) DM'ing a whole heck of a lot easier.
I'd want it to have the ability to add in custom rules.
Of course, I'd also like to see better support, and a more reliable development team, behind any theoretical Pathfinder RPG software than what existed for e-Tools.
Has any thought been given to this? I know that there's plenty of "generic" software out there, but the thing that made e-Tools important/special to me was that the data entry had already been done, and I could purchase those datasets for a reasonable price. I have little desire to have to input data from Pathfinder RPG into any of the available software that exists today.
FWIW, my 5 cents
Strongly feel that:
I have hordes of 3.5 books - I'm with the person who said "don't repeat whats already done", with exceptions like the psionics & epic which are badly broken.
I like the idea of the MM & Magic spells being done in a binder form - kudos to the original poster. Either that or a magic spellcards product - strikes me that this is already a product range Paizo are going (the magic item & critical fumble/hit decks)
Having watched the videos from Paizocom: As someone who is trying to get younger players into the game I'd also like to see "Basic intro to Pathfinder" product. If Paizo are interested I have some ideas on that, drop me a mail.
Less strongly feel about:
Prestige classes. Agree that about half of them of them were useless/pointless/an excuse to sell books/potentially gamebreaking in places. Also, see my comment about repeating...
Hordes of Monster manuals. To be honest I prefered stuff where 5 or 6 monsters are given a fuller treatment (such as the Classic Monsters revisted book and...um...Lords of Darkness, I think it was, especially the Mindflayers!).
Psionics need doing in a way that is both in keeping with the flavour of the rest of the game and isnt over-powered (wotc failed extremely badly in both regards to my mind). If it cant meet both criteria I;d never use it... and given my reduced circumstances probably never buy it.
Would also love to see some sort of Epic level rulebook done properly.
|
|
I saw some one mention a book of ITEMS!
I would love a book of mundane items. Their cost, weight, etc. These could also coincide with the Game Mastery cards that I love.
I love the things like chalk or glasses. You can use them to have the players solve a puzzle or something along the lines. Abstract items that I can not even think of right now would be great!
Of course I have already signed up for the subscription so doesn't matter but hey I think that would be great.
Sean
|
|
Just wanted to say one thing: please stop inventing new races all the time. its annoying and frankly rather pointless. I would truly dislike any sort of rulebook that features many new races (or many new races being added over time), since I belive the core races are more than enough.
PrCs are fine in limited quanteties, and only when the themes are cool.
I second this keep the new races down to a minimum.
Sean
I'd love to see the "Pathfinder II - MCDIV" with each book offering more options to players. I don't think adding more classes or races is that big of a deal, just pick the ones that you'd like to use. Also, these books could also be used for new "power sources" like psionics and alternate magical/divine classes. On the same note, I would also like to see a yearly "Pathfinder Bestiary", as we can all use new monsters here and there.
I think the 2-4 HCs a year philosophy is a good one. I'd also love to see a few nice/affordable box sets also come out. Maybe with a poster world map and tokens/paper figs/tiles. Of the stuff I'd like to see: a Planar book (w/ maybe a nod to Planescape/Spelljammer), an expanded spell book (w/ alternate classes, new spells and maybe even a few new magic systems), and maybe some genre books (like Heroes of Horror, but a bit better).
Looking at a few previous posters, let me share my support for a Pulp Heroes book, and maybe some other genre/setting for science fiction or modern action? I know a few at Paizo were also involved in Meta-4 for M&M, how about an expanded setting for that? I know I'd be happy to see that (and if you needed help with it, I'd be glad to lend a hand ;)).
Really looking forward to Pathfinder and to what the future may hold for Paizo :)
What form would you like these books to take? Would you be interested in subscribing to such a line, provided the books cost somewhere around $35 a pop?
I was never really into the Complete books, and the Environmental books just seemed really ridiculous to me (big book of boats? cold weather? sand? really?). Just not a great organizational focus. I'd like a book where the central theme is really exciting and interesting.
Probably not into subscribing, no. I'd probably just flip through them from the comfort of my local gamestore and grab the ones I like.
What titles/ideas would you like to see us explore?
Regional books would be great. The kind of book that breaks Golarion into 3-5 country chunks, the sort of area that defines where a campaign usually happens. Pack them full of plot hooks, organizations, politics, villains, and history. If you wanted to add races and classes too, this is where I would do it. That way you've got a race that's native to Tian Xia, or the Varisia/Linnorm King/Mammoth Lord frontier. Seems like a nice hook to introduce more specific stuff than you can in a core book about the whole world.
I'd love to see books of Golarion exclusive magic items--especially if they were also packed with legends and lore from the setting, famous archmages, lost treasures and places of power.
Another good one would be something that lets you explore Golarion's other era's of play. There's a lot of history to the setting and it'd be fun to jump in and explore it. Plus, that's another good hook for some more anachronistic classes that thrum with the power of a forgotten age--or some fun pulp "lost races" that existed in previous eras long since passed.
We're all worried about rules bloat. What is your opinion of new classes and races?
I think as long as you tie them into the world, and introduce them in the right books, they'd be wonderful. I always hated to have to buy a terrible 3.5 book just to get a single race or class they packed into it as an afterthought because it shared a theme or whatever. Hate that. I'd say wrap the classes and races you introduce around a fun enough premise though and I'd totally buy it.
Are you as tired of prestige classes as I am?
I'm tired of the execution. Having to slog through levels, taking skills or abilities that you don't want, or that don't fit your character in the hopes that you can someday qualify to be something cool--but never cool enough to justify all the time and levels and prerequisites. They always feel like a letdown.
The idea of Prestige Classes are still really exciting though. Making your character a real part of his homeland, or some secret society or important organization. I love the flavor of Prestige Classes. I just wish you could make it happen mechanically in some other way--a feat maybe, or perhaps a Variant Class like used to appear in Dragon Magazine periodically back in the day.
Prestige Classes are just too much headache for too little payoff.
|
|
Are you as tired of prestige classes as I am?
Wanted to address this in a separate post: no, not at all.
I think that prestige classes are one of the best parts of the system, and I would hate to see support for them fall by the wayside. I don't think that whole books full of them are necessary at this point, but having one or two PrCs per book (or more for a book that includes a slew of new options) is good, in my opinion. I think they need to be better-designed than the majority of PrCs on the market, and they should fill needed niches instead of being there just because.
Jeremy Puckett
Rules for expanding and at the same time streamlining level 14-20 play.
One of the things I liked from my very limited time with 4e was the "classed" monsters. This was something that was hated by the 3e crowd with MM IV, but I really enjoyed having fully stated Orc clerics, or Goblin archers, or other classic monsters with roles (actually classes weren't/aren't necessary). This saved me a ton of time as a GM. Where I think MM IV went wrong was including them in a book that was historically a tomb of different monsters. I think this idea could succeed in an "expanded" book similar to the Revisited series, but more crunch instead of fluff. If I want to throw an encounter together with a bunch of kobolds, it'd be great to have a resource that would give me 10 different crunchy kobolds to pick from, all optimized for their role. Yes I can do this myself, but I'm busy... and lazy. ;)
The only place I would like to see new races would be when expanding into different continents of Golarion. I hate the sudden appearance of new playable races. Where did they come from? The key here is they must add something significantly different than the races already offered.
PrCs are a mixed bag. As a player, I had the mentality that if I wanted to specialize in doing something cool, I had to have a PrC. I couldn't have a permanent thrall unless I took the Mindbender PrC. If I wanted to channel a spell into my weapon, I needed the Spellsword PrC. If you can add those kinds of options to the rules for base classes, then we don't need PrCs. If add PrCs to the world, they should be regionally themed. Golarion is perfect for this. A Chelaxian Devil Summoner or Demon Binder for example (what Chelaxian wouldn't want to abuse demons?). Also, there should never EVER be a PrC that allows full casting progression. Give them SLAs to simulate lost spells perhaps, but a full wizard/cleric/druid should be the first character to reach 9th level spells. And perhaps there shouldn't be a PrC that offers full BAB either. (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 at most?). The first character to reach that 4th attack should be a base class w/ full BAB. This also prevents "dipping."
I'm not a fan of psionics, but I agree that if(when?) they show up in Golarion they should focus on telepathy, telekinesis, and self manipulation instead of "casting" spells that are almost the same as a wizard. Again, here, it would be nice if Psionics are "discovered" on a different continent. Of course you can play an adventurer from this far off land, but they shouldn't become commonplace in Avistan.
I'm a big fan of fighter/mages, but one of the things I hated of 3e were the War Mage, Duskblade, Hex Blade, etc base classes. They weren't "optimal" as a player. As a GM, they added a huge new burden. Almost every spell and ability they had was unique to the class. So designing encounters around them was a pain. (I like to design encounters that exploit and high-light the pros and cons of each player class at the table). So I guess what I'd like to see are feats that a player can use with existing base classes to make a character similar to these fighter/mages. Perhaps a low prereq. feat to reduce eliminate arcane spell failure (10% +5% every 4 levels?)(prereq prof. w/ martial weapons & 1st level arcane spells?) or a feat to increase caster level (again in a progressive format). They should never be better straight up fighters or better straight up casters, but they should be equally effective at all levels. There's nothing wrong with a Fighter2/Wizard4 wearing studded leather armor and casting at a 5th level CL. We shouldn't need a new base class or "mandatory" PrCs to accomplish this.
"Tournament of Champions" type modules. Challenges and puzzles (and to a lesser extent, riddles).
Just wanted to say one thing: please stop inventing new races all the time. its annoying and frankly rather pointless. I would truly dislike any sort of rulebook that features many new races (or many new races being added over time), since I belive the core races are more than enough.
PrCs are fine in limited quanteties, and only when the themes are cool.I second this keep the new races down to a minimum.
Sean
In general, yes. But in my oppinion, Inspired, Warforged, Raptorans and Goliaths are all really cool and well thought off races. There are more than ten times as many which are really stupid or useless, but if it's well don't I really like new races. But only then!
|
|
A few people have mentioned wanting to see more Golarion themed material in the Pathfinder RPG support products. I, for one, do not. After all, that's what Pathfinder Companion and Pathfinder Chronicles are for. I would be more apt to buy Pathfinder RPG products as long as they remain generic. I want an RPG that can be used for any setting, not one filled with setting-specific material. No offense to Golarion, mind you. :)
A few people have mentioned wanting to see more Golarion themed material in the Pathfinder RPG support products. I, for one, do not. After all, that's what Pathfinder Companion and Pathfinder Chronicles are for. I would be more apt to buy Pathfinder RPG products as long as they remain generic. I want an RPG that can be used for any setting, not one filled with setting-specific material. No offense to Golarion, mind you. :)
After all these posts it is easy to not realize that they have already commented that this thread is NOT for Golarion materials. The material that goes on your 'wish list' here is strictly for RPG stuff. PFRPG will be setting neutral.
After all these posts it is easy to not realize that they have already commented that this thread is NOT for Golarion materials. The material that goes on your 'wish list' here is strictly for RPG stuff. PFRPG will be setting neutral.
Nevertheless, lots of people have commented in this thread along the lines of "I like prestige classes, as long as they're tied into some kind of setting".
(I prefer some separation between setting and "crunch", myself.)
I WANT SOFTWARE!
PCGen currently has the Pathfinder BETA rules in it and everything is free.
The "final" rule set will be in there, some time after August 13th, and it will be free also.
-- david
Papa.DRB
PCGen Yahoo-Groups moderator and sometimes LST coder.
I WANT SOFTWARE!PCGen currently has the Pathfinder BETA rules in it and everything is free.
The "final" rule set will be in there, some time after August 13th, and it will be free also.
-- david
Papa.DRB
PCGen Yahoo-Groups moderator and sometimes LST coder.
It's an option I may reconsider one of these days. Never did care too much for the PCGen/Java interface, however. :(
While the core RPG itself may be OGL, and lend itself to this, I'm not sure that all future releases would be, and I'd like to see official support for those (much like the WotC/D&D 3.5 datasets).
Speaking as a frequent DM, what I want from rulebooks after the core-set is simple... Nothing. Subscription ends after the Bestiary or the GM's screen, whichever comes last.
I know that might not sound helpful, but please, hear me out. ^-^
I've been the designated GM of one group or two for about... two-to-three years straight, up until my last game for a while a few weeks ago... and most of the time, it's been a 3.5 game, and as a GM, I've discovered 3.5 puts a lot of onus to track a lot of different books, to see this feat that came from book X, this spell from book y, this prestige class that came from book z for almost every PC and calculate the interactions of each in reference to the game I'm running. And as much as the saying goes, "You're the GM, you decide what flies or not," sometimes it's an uphill battle convincing certain willful players you aren't gimping their creative character building by dissallowing book X, particularly since it's not fun to tell good friends 'My way, or run the game yourself.' Frankly, I don't like to tote around a bunch of extra splatbooks (if you'll pardon the vernacular,) or keep a box of index-cards as a measure against my absent-minded forgetfulness, so I know what my PCs' abilities mean.
Then, the PF Beta came around, and I convinced everyone to generate characters only using that book, since we were testing the Beta. It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. Literally, since the only tomes I needed in my bookbag were the Beta Playtest & Monster Manual. I knew what my players were capable of because it all came from a controlled list, and if I didn't remember, I didn't need to sort notecards or find a certain rulebook, or cross my fingers that I wouldn't be blindsided by a 'Remove Dungeon, Go Directly to Win, Collect 2,000 gp,' spell I didn't know.
It felt so simple, so clean, so low maintainance.
I suppose what I'm saying is please don't bloat things too much with new character option books.