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I would subscribe instantly. Please feel free to go ahead and sign me up.
As for what I would like to see in these books:
Of course, an occasional beastiary would be necessary.
Epic rules system is a must.
I am tired of prestige classes, but I am a big fan of new core classes. A book of new core classes and character options would be great. I feel that bloat occurs when you have fifteen books, each with one or two useful rules, and nobody can remember where to find the right book. If you can keep most of the new core classes and prestige classes (and new feats and traits, for that matter) confined to one book a year, I don't think that would bloat the system too much.
You could easily explore these options, as well as those posted by all of the other worthies on this forum, in two or three books a year. Hopefully that would keep you Paizo folks from being even more overworked than you already are!
Just my 2 cents.
Being the speaker for my gaming group, it is unlikely we would purchase either a psionic or epic Pathfinder book. The Bestiary books we will pruchase. We want as a group to just have a set of core rules and moduels we can run using those rules. I intend to subscribe to the first AP which uses the final PF RPG rules and maybe the modules but we are not interested in new classes, feats and spells.
I realize we are a minority but still thought you would like to know not everybody is interested in Paizo going the WotC route of newer and better rule sets every quarter. Your APs, modules and campaign setting are what we are interested.
Sorry,
Doug
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If we were to do an Epic Level book or a Psionics book... would you still be interested in said book if what we did with them kept the basic flavor of the ideas but did something entirely different with the crunch side of things?
YES to both of these!
I'd love to have a Pathfinder version of these rules.
-Psionics
-Tome of Magic suggestion from above, new flavor
-Character/class variants
-Epic stuff
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As an addendum to my post, above:
I would also be happy with a part of the book's content being previously published material. I don't necessarily want to have to remember what issue the Sandpoint Devil was in to find it. Having some of the monsters, abilities, traits, feats, etc that are in other Paizo products collected in one place would be okay with me, as long as a majority of the book contains as yet unreleased material.
Also, add me to the list of people who would be interested in a collection of magic items.
And Psionics would have to be completely re-worked for me to even have a passing interest. I have never been a big fan of psionics. Could there be an option to subscribe to everything except the psionics books? (just kidding.)
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Also, I've said it before, but I would absolutely love it if you guys would release a single volume campaign book (which probably does not fall under the guise of a core rulebook) that is a campaign setting for the Pathfinder red planet and is, in effect, a recasting of Dark Sun. Such a book would have a chapter about the red planet races (including feral halflings, nomadic elves, or whatever other elements of Dark Sun you deem worthy of keeping/tweaking), a new base class or two, alternate base classes, new spells, and a brief overview of the world, and a more detailed description of the campaign setting location itself. Basically, like the big Pathfinder campaign book, but a bit more narrowly focused on a particular valley region of the red planet and with a greater deal of crunch.
And, if I could get you to do the same for Spelljammer...well, let's just say that you would need to obtain a restraining order to prevent me from expressing my love for you. Such a product could easily convince me to run my next campaign using the PFRPG rules instead of 4e.
I would do a subscription of 2-3 books a year, providing my economic situation gets no worse. $35 sounds about right too.
I would like to see books ranging from extra flavor and mechanics for classes or class groups (without falling prey to the power creep of the "complete" series) to Bestiaries galore to Draconomicon style treatises on individual groups of monsters. Really anything is fine with me. I enjoy reading game books and material and generally am not too picky.
Perhaps the format I hold out the highest hope for is the site based book which features information on a locale including spells, monsters, terrain and environment (with lots of maps) and of course stuff for the players too. I really like maps, gazzetteers and other dense information that can be parsed by the players and DM to create a more immersive enviroment.
Yes, I am sick of PrC's too. I could truly live without them.
Thanks!
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Time to make myself unpopular: I'm not sure a rule book subscription is a good idea. The top three reasons are below:
It runs the risk of spreading Paizo too thin. Despite the level of talent involved, it is still a small company and producing 6 regular subscriptions, even if three are not monthly is a hell of a lot of work.
It also runs the risk of spreading the supporters too thin. I'll likely be subscribing, but it's still an extra $120-$160 a year. That might be too much for some people.
The main reason though is that I'm concerned that having a guaranteed book to produce will lead to increasingly dodgy choices being made. The first few choices (Epic, Psionics, possibly Oriental) are fairly straightforward, but after that you start to get into the Dungsweeper's Handbook territory. I'd rather Paizo produced the rulebooks on an as needed basis, i.e. only produce the rules when there isn't a good alternative. This would also limit the rule bloat. If each rule book is more feats, more spells, more classes, etc, well, isn't that what a lot of people complain about 3.5 under WotC and 4E?
Despite this, if it's produced, I'll probably subscribe, yes, even with the concerns above. Just because I think it might have significant problems doesn't mean I can't be proven wrong.
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?
I think this is an exciting opportunity to weigh in on the direction of my new-found RPG home. I'd like to thank the folks over at Paizo for this chance, and preface this with: you guys are immensely talented and creative. I'm sure anything you guys come up with will be a breath of fresh air in the once stagnant swamp of D&D.
Expanded Playable Races - I always thought one of the most ingenious books by WotC was the Savage Species. I'd love to see Paizo not only give us new races (with some twists) to play, but also rules for playing powerful races, preferably by using something like the racial levels system, but only works.
Epic Level Handbook- We all get there eventually. I think you guys could come up with some really interesting ways of dealing with these upper levels that are often seen (at least in my opinion) as the most bureaucratic, slow, and unwieldy levels.
Base Class Books - Someone already mentioned the spirit of 2e books that offered insight, rules and options to the existing classes over making new lame-duck classes. Its seems Paizo already started down this road of build options with the Gazetteer and Campaign Setting, options for classes from certain regions, orders, etc. This is exactly the direction I would like to see it go, but more systematized.
Uncovered Paths (Unearthed Arcana) - I think this could be a super fun addition to the PRPG rules. I'm sure the team that worked on the project, those that contributed to it, and the community itself had tons of ideas that couldn't fit or weren't in the spirit of "backwards compatible." With the UP (Uncovered Paths) you guys could change things to your hearts content and I'm sure it would be a brilliant take on the rules.
Templates - What build options are for classes, templates are for monsters and a great tool for DMs. I see them as the "all spice" of making encounters.
Feats - I like the idea of including selective, interesting, and compatible feats into new releases (such as the Epic book or Base Class books mentioned above), but please, please avoid the classic WotC attitude of "newer is better". This killed D&D for me. Every new release was a stream of new feats, classes and prestige classes that were judged as: is it better than before? keep it. Is it worse than before? toss it.
Thanks again!
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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At what rate will this expansion material appear in other Paizo products? To what extent will the material appear? Will I "need" those books for Adventure Paths 5+, or the modules released in 2010 and beyond?
I can say how I'd like to see this done:
Monsters should show up fairly frequently, but a DM lacking the books should be able to just look through their existing books and find something of similar CR and tactics and swap it in. It should be no more traumatic than my including blues in Burnt Offerings.
When Book of X comes out, I'd like to see a pathfinder module that uses X within a month or two somewhat heavily. I mean, if the book of psionics comes out, I want a psionic module. If the writing is solid enough, I should be able to swap core classes out for the psionics and not foul up the plot. Heck, I'm going to be doing it if I run a home game in HamunOsiron, mixing the two Egypt amalogues, and maybe putting Aegypt references in as well
Same thing goes for Gazetteers. I expect to see the green planet, or the Vurdani (sp) gazetteer hit the shelves soon after the psionic book, with psi-goodness. do I want a year of psionics? Or a year of Epics? No, because then we will see quality sacrificed. But 1 module from 12, or 1 gazetteer of 6 won't foul it up.
In years following? I'd like to see 'stripped down' classes/features show up or be reprinted in the adventures. Remember. STAP had binders in it, and I don't think people's heads exploded. Silent Tide has
If two years after I get my Pathfinder -Psionics book, I see an occasional psionic nod, I'll be happy. I don't recall howls of outrage at the psionic stats in Into the Darklands, for example.
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?
I've never subscribed to anything pathfinder puts out... is it like subscribing to a magazine? If so, I prefer to pick and choose which products I purchase as I see them. But yes, I'd definitely be interested in seeing 2-3 books a year.
What titles/ideas would you like to see us explore?
I would love to see an adventure designed in the fashion of the original "Temple of Elemental Evil". I really first got into your products with the Age of Worms adventure path in Dungeon Magazine and my group has been playing that adventure and enjoying it for the past 2 years.
I've also collected the Savage Tide adventure path, and it looks to be exciting as well. The only criticisms my group collectively has with the adventures are:
1) They occur over too many levels (The players wish they accomplished more adventures rather than having all they strive for be toward one all encompassing goal)
2) They are very linear ( I find myself gently nudging them toward the next magazine)
I would love to see an epic adventure that is meant to occur over several levels, but not all the levels or even most of a character's levels in the PC's career. Perhaps 5-10. Also, it would be nice to have a setting in which the players have more freedom of choice as to which direction they want to go (even if it means that they skip ahead and get way in over their heads!) or how they accomplish the adventure. ToEE was great because it laid out everything in one go. If there were an adventure that had a fully fleshed out locale, as well as a lot of background on the surrounding areas... well that would be grand.
We're all worried about rules bloat. What is your opinion of new classes and races?
I personally am not a fan of them. They have to be really good to pique my interest. I would rather see expansions on existing classes: new spells, feats, options, variants and such.
Are you as tired of prestige classes as I am?
Yes! Most are very ill conceived. If you eliminated prestige classes altogether, that would be great. Instead, make them classes. The most obvious example I can think of is the Assassin.
BTW, this is exciting news. Looking forward to more info. Thanks Paizo.
I'd like to throw another side question in here...
If we were to do an Epic Level book or a Psionics book... would you still be interested in said book if what we did with them kept the basic flavor of the ideas but did something entirely different with the crunch side of things?
Say, an Epic level book that didn't assume 21st level was the start, but went with an entirely new way to track character advancement (at the simplest, starting over at level 1 or something, but a level 1 epic character would be more powerful than a 20th level standard character).
Say, a Psionics book that presented rules for psionics that ditched the point-based system and did psionics in a method that dovetailed easier and more gracefully into the core rules (The goal here being to ease concerns that adding psionics to an existing campaign tends to break that campaign.)
Basically: would folk still be interested in books like these if we took pains to stay true to the expected flavor of the book but rebuilt the rules drastically? Or would that be a deal-breaker?
I know I'm late, but really, the thread just barely started!
I would be very interested in what you said above, James. I'd be fine with a complete overhaul of the crunchy rules, but keeping the flavor similar. In fact, that might really be the best option.
I like the idea of bestiaries, as long as the monsters are interesting. That shouldn't be a problem for you guys.
I agree with the folks who have said that the 2nd edition Complete Handbooks are a good example to go by. They included new gear/proficiencies/spells that were easy to ignore if you didn't like them, and had a lot of role-playing material that made the books worth picking up even without the rules material. The only thing that those books suffered from was quality control, which again shouldn't be a problem for Paizo.
I'd buy an Epic Level Handbook if it was done creatively and well. Honestly, though, I don't think there's a need for mortals to go beyond 20th level. By that time, PCs are already pretty epic, and I'd prefer rewards that don't come in the form of levels.
I doubt I'd buy a Psionics Handbook. I'd prefer not to purchase a rulebook that includes a whole new subsystem to graft onto the rules.
One thing I didn't like about WotC's D&D releases was that so many of them seemed focused around the idea of "fixing" D&D. I might be off base here, but a lot of designers seemed to view the game as fundamentally broken, which would also explain why 4th edition is such a radical departure. Examples include the warlock, which amounts to a spellcaster who doesn't run out of spells, or the Book of Nine Swords, which assumes that the warrior classes are so fundamentally flawed that they need a complete overhaul. I personally like a lot of D&D/Pathfinder's implied setting, such as spellcasters having a limited amount of magical power or combat-based classes being the simplest and most straightforward classes to play. I'd rather see options that build on the core rules rather than replace them. If the designers see massive flaws and feel the need to "fix" the game, I'd rather see a whole enw edition or even a whole new game.
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Also, I've said it before, but I would absolutely love it if you guys would release a single volume campaign book (which probably does not fall under the guise of a core rulebook) that is a campaign setting for the Pathfinder red planet and is, in effect, a recasting of Dark Sun. Such a book would have a chapter about the red planet races (including feral halflings, nomadic elves, or whatever other elements of Dark Sun you deem worthy of keeping/tweaking), a new base class or two, alternate base classes, new spells, and a brief overview of the world, and a more detailed description of the campaign setting location itself. Basically, like the big Pathfinder campaign book, but a bit more narrowly focused on a particular valley region of the red planet and with a greater deal of crunch.
And, if I could get you to do the same for Spelljammer...well, let's just say that you would need to obtain a restraining order to prevent me from expressing my love for you. Such a product could easily convince me to run my next campaign using the PFRPG rules instead of 4e.
What he said, but without the need for a restraining order.
CEO
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Also, I asked the FR designers many times over the years for a "mini-dungeon"/mini-adventure book that could have included small and "generic"/adaptable adventures (and also the "first look"/update to FR's many dungeons). Now they're publishing 'Dungeon Delve', which isn't exactly the same, but it got me thinking: as PF RPG is coming out, this sort of "adventure compilation" might be a great idea. Many GMs are often all too busy to constantly write their own material, and yet I'm fairly sure almost every GM could use such "mini-adventures" as "bonus quests" in between longer adventures.
Erik, do you think there'll be any chance for books such as these?
While not exactly what you are asking about, I wanted to point out that we have a clearance sale going on our Compleat Encounter line of mini adventures right now. The Compleat Encounter line originally came with a mini adventure, the map tiles to play out that adventure, and three unpainted miniatures that went with the adventure. We've broken out the minis and you can now buy them separately, but the mini adventure and map tiles are what is on sale. So if you haven't picked them up already, here is a good chance!
In general, I agree with you that I would love to have more mini adventures to plug into an ongoing campaign. It just occurred to me that another great source for these mini adventures are the Pathfinder Society Scenarios. These mini adventures are meant to be played in a four hour slot at conventions, so they are the perfect mini adventures to plug and play in a campaign.
-Lisa
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?
I think there is some room for new classes that cover common niches like a swashbuckler or the 3.5 Warlock, but I don't like most of the weirder new classes that seem too specialized for a base class, like that Hex-blade or whatever it was called.
I have pretty much no interest in new races. The current core races are all I want to feature prominently in my game, most other races are far better featured as NPCs if at all, which is a call that the DM should make. I especially don't want new races that make their way out of their source book and into other materials. I would find it really annoying if weirdo races from PFRPG books started cropping up with any regularity in your APs or PFC books, living in cities amongst the core races.
I'd like to add my voice in support of a psionics book and an Epic-play book, especially if those books were to reinvent the crunch associated with those systems. I'd like to see Paizo's take on Psionics and play beyond 20th level.
I think there are enough presitge classes. I would hope that Paizo will make new prestige classes when the campaign or setting calls for them (like for the Hellknight and Pathfinder Chronicler, etc) and not just for the sake of having filler material. I'd much rather see variant rules for existing classes to fit different character concept flavors rather than PrC's and additional Core Classes.
A book of new magic items would be nice - it could even include some Pathfinder-ized magic items from earlier GameMastery and Pathfinder 3.5 products and items from RPG Superstar.
Moster books are always good! Keep them coming.
A subscription would be OK, as long as we didn't get too many products per year. 2 a year sound nice.
A couple more ideas for invaluable hard cover books:
1) One all-encompassing book detailing notes on how to flesh out campaign settings. Detailed rules on how to create towns, castles, dungeons, and lists with items to dress them all up. Lots of lists (of encounters, civilized establishments, titles of rulers, name generators, etc.) that a DM can look to on the fly and roll up or choose from.
2) A book on how to get the most out of monsters. I'm not looking for a book with more monsters in it, but how to enhance existing monsters in ways to make unique species and such.
3) Unearthed Arcana style book filled with alternative rules. There are many great alternative rules suggestions (as is evidenced from the boards), that just won't make it into the core rules.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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And, if I could get you to do the same for Spelljammer...well, let's just say that you would need to obtain a restraining order to prevent me from expressing my love for you. Such a product could easily convince me to run my next campaign using the PFRPG rules instead of 4e.What he said, but without the need for a restraining order.
That's only because they already have a restraining order on file for you...
I'd like to throw another side question in here...
If we were to do an Epic Level book or a Psionics book... would you still be interested in said book if what we did with them kept the basic flavor of the ideas but did something entirely different with the crunch side of things?
Say, an Epic level book that didn't assume 21st level was the start, but went with an entirely new way to track character advancement (at the simplest, starting over at level 1 or something, but a level 1 epic character would be more powerful than a 20th level standard character).
Say, a Psionics book that presented rules for psionics that ditched the point-based system and did psionics in a method that dovetailed easier and more gracefully into the core rules (The goal here being to ease concerns that adding psionics to an existing campaign tends to break that campaign.)
Basically: would folk still be interested in books like these if we took pains to stay true to the expected flavor of the book but rebuilt the rules drastically? Or would that be a deal-breaker?
Yes, and yes.
I will add my agreement to most of what has already been posted with these additions:
1) I believe that the Beastiary stopping at #3 is probably a good idea. There weren’t too many I was interested in past MM3, oops did I forget Spawn of Tiamat came out in MM4? Oh well, blow that suggestion out of the water.
2) I do like the suggestions of maing the books softcover before you do the actual compilations. Say a softcover Arms and Equipment before the Magic Item Compendium comes out in hardcover? I especially liked some of the new materials for armor out of the Arms and Equipment Guide. They helped arm my Druids.
3) The suggestion for a compliation of a “side Quests” book is understandable. I have Fast Forward Entertainment’s Enchanted Locations which has side quests from ECL 2 through ECL 21. Possibly something along those lines?
4) I am a fan of Psionics. I am not too attached to the way WotC did theirs so I would be interested in how you might approach it.
5) I am also a fan of Tieflings, not so much asimar. However, I did find an interest in the Races series. So something along those lines would make it to my bookshelf and reading list.
6) I would like Epic level play to be reworked so it is easier and more interesting. By easy I mean easier to run as a DM.
7) As for would I subscribe? Note the tag by my name. That should explain louder than anything I could say.
That is all I have to say at this point. Just my 2 cp.
I would like to see a bestiary per year with them organized by environment or terrain type (maybe after Bestiary II.) This would make it easier to design adventures and encounters for specific terrains. For example, they could be organized in such a fashion:
Forest/Jungle
Mountain/Hills
Plains/Steppe
Swamp/Marsh
Aquatic
Underground/Dungeon
Undead
The Planes
Constructs
Dinosaurs/Pleistocene
etc.
Include new monsters, monsters from other sourcebooks as well as provide a large expansion on a group of core specific monsters included in Bestiary I/II (adding lots of design info and background flavor as well as NPC and class additions). For example, for the Aquatic Bestiary, expansions on Merfolk, Sahuagin, Locathah, Scrags, Merrow, etc. would be sweet.
Also in agreement on needing an awesome Epic rules expansion. I think 2-3 hardcovers a year would be acceptable.
Also, as far as the number of hardcover books per year go... I'd rather see 2 excellent books per year to 3 or more mediocre books per year. I don't see how you can put out say 4 great hardcover books per year... look how long it's taking to create the Core rulebook, which I feel is going to be excellent.
- 2-3 rulebooks per year sounds good.
- I would definitely subscribe, as long as a PDF was provided to sweeten the deal just like with the other subs. $35 seems about right.
- Bestiaries, Epic, Player-specific (how to make/RP a really cool character within the core PRPG rules), Spell and Magic Compendium. I also like the idea of focused books (Feats, etc, etc). I'd love to see Paizo find a cool area that hasn't been tread and re-tread to plant some fertile seed.
- Prestige classes: I think these should be specific to the setting, so I would prefer they stay in the Chronicle line.
** The more I think about this and how many 3.5 rulebooks there are out there, I'd rather just see Paizo find either an area that has not been overdone, or an area that is in serious need of being redone.
Best.
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This thought will probably get completely lost in this thread but here goes:
I am one of those completionist folks who likes to have everything for the game I am playing (Superscriber). I am starting to see a point where there are going to be so many products that I cannot possibly keep up. Instead of picking and choosing certain product lines to keep up with, I am more likely to just stop all of them.
This is not necessarily specific to the PRPG rules line, but the combination of rules expansions along with the Pathfinder AP, Chronicles, Modules, Companions, etc.
I sense my same reaction that I had with 2e. There was just SO much stuff coming out, so rapidly, that I lost interest in "keeping up" and just hunkered down with what I currently owned.
Lot's of options for folks to pick and choose from is a good thing on one hand, but it also becomes overwhelming for others too. Something to consider.
Maybe I am the only one who feels this way. Maybe not?
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I have already encouraged the keepers of The Grand OGL Wiki to include as much of Paizo's Open Content as they can.
Can we put up the cover image, product information and link to your store. We have done that for all the others, and do need permission to do that.
The problem with this is that you risk alienating the people who already like psionics in order to make it appeal to people who don't already like it.The question is which group is larger? I wonder.
To help answer your question... our group just doesn't like psionics, so we would not be interested no matter how the rules were presented. IMO, you and those who like psionics would be better served by designing psionics in a way that would appeal most to those that already like them.
I can say how I'd like to see this done:Monsters should show up fairly frequently, but a DM lacking the books should be able to just look through their existing books and find something of similar CR and tactics and swap it in. It should be no more traumatic than my including blues in Burnt Offerings.
When Book of X comes out, I'd like to see a pathfinder module that uses X within a month or two somewhat heavily. I mean, if the book of psionics comes out, I want a psionic module. If the writing is solid enough, I should be able to swap core classes out for the psionics and not foul up the plot. Heck, I'm going to be doing it if I run a home game in HamunOsiron, mixing the two Egypt amalogues, and maybe putting Aegypt references in as well
Same thing goes for Gazetteers. I expect to see the green planet, or the Vurdani (sp) gazetteer hit the shelves soon after the psionic book, with psi-goodness. do I want a year of psionics? Or a year of Epics? No, because then we will see quality sacrificed. But 1 module from 12, or 1 gazetteer of 6 won't foul it up.
In years following? I'd like to see 'stripped down' classes/features show up or be reprinted in the adventures. Remember. STAP had binders in it, and I don't think people's heads exploded. Silent Tide has ** spoiler omitted ** but everything needed to run them was in the adventure.
If two years after I get my Pathfinder -Psionics book, I see an occasional psionic nod, I'll be happy. I don't recall howls of outrage at the psionic stats in Into the Darklands, for example.
This would be great and would more then likely cause an increase in my purchase of Paizo Modules
What titles/ideas would you like to see us explore?
Psionics book
more monster booksGeneric Oriental Class Book (adapting existing classes and intrducing a few new ones)
Generic Arabian class Book (see above)
Adventuer's Survival Guide (similar to the 1e survival guides. It does not need to be as detailed as the 1e books, but it should expand on adventuring in the different environments)
Planar Adventure Book (similar to the survival guid, but covering the planes)
We're all worried about rules bloat. What is your opinion of new classes and races?
I would not mind seeing limited new classes, specifically tied to a specific setting. For example, I would love to see a Paizo take on a runecaster or samurai. Of course, I would be completely fine with the use of feats and alternateclass abilities that would accomplish the same goal through multiclassing.
Are you as tired of prestige classes as I am?
Yes and No. I want prestige classes to fit a specific concept. A five level prestige class for the different religions are fine. Likewise, a few 5 or 10 level presige classes designed to cover some fantasy concepts (eldrtich knight for example) are fine. We do not need the glut from the 3.X books. I like Sebastian's idea to draw from 2e for class expansions without creating a prestige class for every concept.
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There’s been many threads on these boards about changing the paradigm of high level play: moving away from “dungeon-type” adventures and into the realm of territorial conquest, leading armies and the like. One of my favorite adventures from the old days of “Basic” D&D was Test of the Warlords .
I would be very much interested in buying any rulebooks, support material and adventures for high level adventures similar to "Test of the Warlords".
My 0.02 gp :)
I'll throw things out, making a complete list, even if it includes things that you're already discussing, or that have been said a thousand times.
Epic Level book. No-brainer
Psionics book. Another must-have
Alternative Rules and Rules Variants book. Not much to talk about here, since it is brought up about once per day on the boards, I'm sure you've seen a couple hundred of those posts. ;-) Make it a lot like Unearthed Arcana, add your own ideas, make sure there's interesting stuff in there, yada yada yada. Have several sets of generic character classes in there, like warrior/expert/spellcaster, or one for each ability score.
Oriental Adventures book, complete with new classes and/or orientalised core classes and all that. I think there's some guy with a gold dragon avatar who would like to write it.
More Bestiaries, of course.
Monsters as Characters book. I'd be very interested in that! Rules and advice on how to play kobolds and orcs and so on. And of course rules and advice on how to play pretty much everything else, including a decent system to keep characters of powerful races on par with their adventuring buddies, ideally without big discrepancies in HD or power.
One important thing here is that it should have advice on integrating those characters into the party, into the world and into the campaign. A human, a dwarf, an elf, and a balor walk into a tavern, and it's sure to raise some eyebrows. The book should cover this.
And, for a more radical idea, have different eras of play. Have a book that is set into an area that, in our world, would be called 19th or 20th century. And one for sci-fi/futuristic adventures. Like the OA book, it would have either new classes or ideas and variants to make them work in the era. And, by popular choice, talk about campaigns without anything supernatural, or where supernatural stuff isn't common, or commonly known.
About rules bloat: Since those are RPG books, they can have more rules than Chronicles stuff, especially when they go beyond the game's normal areas.
I'm not against new classes, especially when you go off the areas I just mentioned. If you talk about something inspired by Japan, give me Samurai. Beyond that, there's some things that would work as a class, like a noble, or a marshal, or a couple of other things.
PrCs: Not sick of them. Like them. But they should have something going for them. You should have a real reason for taking them. And they should be more than a multiclass jury-rig solution, or something else that can be done quite well with the existing core classes and maybe a new feat or two. Make them prestigious.
PrCs for special divine servants, or for members of organisations like the PF society or the Red Mantis - those are good PrCs. PrCs that have a very unique angle like combining archery and magic to shoot spells at people, or using knives and psionics to stab at someone's back and mind at once - those are decent PrCs. A "Master Archer" is just a fighter or ranger with a couple of feats that need to be invented.
I'd rather see new PrCs than new bases classes, unless the new base class does something that just cannot be done with the current base classes.
PrCs for organizations and churches are good. Multiclass enablers (like the Eldritch Knight or Mystic Theurge) are also good.
If new races are introduced, it should be done with a nod to geography, and where they live, instead of just thrusting them into the middle of a campaign world as if they'd been there the whole time.
I'd worry about rules-bloat too. Fortunately, a 1-2 book a year schedule (assuming an annual bestiary as the second or third book) helps minimize that problem. Especially if Paizo keeps up a reasonable Fluff/Crunch ratio.
Alternate setting rules also help draw off bloat. For instance, a Modern book wouldn't bloat the current rules base.
I'd like Paizo to time it's releases together, similar to how the Guide to Korvosa came out at the same time as CotCT. For instance, if/when a psionics book comes out, it should come out around the same time as the Guide to Vudra.
Good questions Erik. I'd like some kind epic rules, epic monsters and more character options.
I leave the epic stuff for the other thread.
I am bored to tears with prestige classes, and am really looking for a way to cap the rules, not get more of them. I really don't want a rules bloat.
By character options I want feats and talents (if you will) to cover a few more archetypes. Specialty priests, a proper knight, a shapechanger druid, a swordmage, a spellcasting thief, templar knights.
I hope you incorporate design space for more variants without relying to duds like substitution levels and (less so) variant classes. Well designed core classes should leave space for more elegant additions.
I want Divine Feats and more ways to use Turn Undead. The current 3.5 cleric is extremely bland. In my game none wants to play cleric, even if they all recognize cleric as the most powerful class.
I want more magic items. The booster items are boring and essential at the same time. A horrible combination. Wotc has done a fantastic job with the core 4e items by spicing up booster items with cool features. Well done by the corporate lads and lasses!
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I would be very interested in seeing 2-3 RPRG books a year, and would pay as much as forty dollars for them. I would even probably pay as much as fifty dollars, if there were only 2 a year.
What would I like to see? I'm clamoring for the books everyone wants to see; Psionics, Epic Play, and Asian Fantasy (although Asian Fantasy would probably be more suited to PF Chronicles than the RPG itself. I've been interested in just about every suggestion made thus far, but I think my interest in the other books would be colored by how these three turn out. How Psionics is treated, and whether it remains a distinct subsystem, might affect how badly I need seperate rules for Pact Magic.
I would hesitate to say yes to a subscription until I see the product schedule, but based on 2009 releases alone, I'm about 66% committed to one.
I'm very interested in Pathfinder setting support.
I have no interest at all in Pathfinder RPG system rules support.
WOTC really lost me as a customer coming out with a splatbook every month.
I'd hate to see Paizo do the same thing.
Too many player's options books would put too much of a strain on both my interest in the system, and my ability to run it. That said, I wouldn't be opposed to a new bestiary coming out on an annual basis.
WOTC really lost me as a customer coming out with a splatbook every month.
That's why Erik said '2-3 books a year' with one of those being a bestiary.
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Books Paizo should seriously consider publishing:
Oriental Adventures. This book should cover culture-specific rules for all of Asia, not just the Far East: Persia, India, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, everything in between. There'd better be samurai, ninjas, great walls, spirits, genies, and four-armed gods with avatars and shaktis all in the same book.
It seems to me like this type of book could be covered in the Chronicles series just as well.
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Chief Technical Officer
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I have already encouraged the keepers of The Grand OGL Wiki to include as much of Paizo's Open Content as they can.Can we put up the cover image, product information and link to your store. We have done that for all the others, and do need permission to do that.
Yes, please!
Thanks!
How about a set of rules, classes, feats, and items for adding steampunk to a setting?
I would be so down for that.
WOTC really lost me as a customer coming out with a splatbook every month.That's why Erik said '2-3 books a year' with one of those being a bestiary.
2-3 books a year adds up pretty quick though. My players, god bless 'em, never saw a new rule they didn't like. As a DM though, i feel there's definitely such a thing as too many rules and options.
1st edition had enough optional extra rulebooks. Every edition since then has had far, far too many and it's made me not only lose interest in the systems, it's made me actually start to resent them. I'd hate to see the same thing happen with Pathfinder. I like the setting and adventures way too much to want to lose interest in it in just a couple of years due to rules bloat. That'd be a shame.
In 3.5, I was a bigger fan of books like Sandstorm, Frostburn, Heroes of Battle, Lords of Madness, and Weapons of Legacy than I was any of the "Complete" books. Based on that, it should probably come as no surprise that the 12E books by my desk include Wilderness and Dungeoneer's Survival Guides, but not Unearthed Arcana. Nevertheless, "Complete" books are important to keep providing players with more options, so I'd recommend doing one book full of new player options a year. I'm not so sure I'd recommend breaking them up by class or concept though - might be kind of hard to pull off without going the PHB II, PHB III, etc. route.
One of the things worth considering is filling in some of the holes left by 3.5. While they did a couple books on outsiders, aberrations, and undead, they never got around to constructs,magical beasts, elementals, humanoids & goblins, giants, oozes (yeah, like that one would sell!), and vermin.
A true mass combat system was never designed, although I'd only be interested in this if it wasn't overly complex.
A few more ideas....
Book of Noncommittal Neutrality?
A book of more optional rules similar to the 3E version of Unearthed Arcana.
More optional non-Vancian magic systems.
A book that takes on vehicles - ships, chariots, airships, sandgliders, etc.
A book on world building.
Oriental Adventures. This book should cover culture-specific rules for all of Asia, not just the Far East: Persia, India, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, everything in between. There'd better be samurai, ninjas, great walls, spirits, genies, and four-armed gods with avatars and shaktis all in the same book.
High-Tech Handbook. Rules for steampunk, modern, and futuristic technology, each with its own chapter and genre overview. Guns, vehicles, radiation, mutations, surgery, cyborgs, computers, virtual reality, mad science. New tech-related base classes and races. (Tinker gnomes? Warforged?) New alien and/or artificial monsters.
How could I forget these two? Perhaps I don't see too much crunch in the first one. Especially in connection with Golarion these would be great! Tian Xia and Alkenstar! Yeah!
Thanks Epic Meepo. :D
I will buy everything that comes out for at least the first couple of years! I like what I see so far, and I want to support the game that I have grown to love over the years... and let’s just say that Paizo with the PFRPG is the company that is doing that! :)
I would be very interested in something along the lines of a PHBII with some other core classes and maybe some rules for either additional races, or monster races modification. A new monster book every year would be a staple.
Ideally a new take on Epic and Psionics would be grand. They both have lots of flavor for many worlds, and they both are not as set in stone rule wise as there has been great variation from day one... especially with Psionics.
The class specific books are good, but a variation on that theme would be along the lines of Tome of Magic (for wizards, sorcs, bards). You could do additional ones like a Tome of Combat (any melee based characters). And a Tome of Faith (Paladin, druid, cleric). By keeping them flavor or goal based you can create the rules so that it is ideal for a cleric, but maybe a devout fighter or mage would be interested in it as well.
Finally, something on the planes and underdark would be a future option as well. Covers exotic adventuring locals.
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Just don't destroy the point system. It rocks.Is there something I'm missing about the point system that makes it fun for everyone, and not just the psionic character?I don't think that it has more to do with the Point System being better, but more to do with it being different. Psionics really needs something to differentiate it from Magic. It shouldn't just be lumped in as another (Arcane/Divine) Casting Archetype with Spell Levels. Psionics can be used throughout all four Base Archetypes and shoudln't be pigeonholed by using a similar system to regular Magic.
Blowing all your points in one hit is a good way to get yourself dead. I know for sure my group wouldn't make camp (15 Minute Adventuring Day Scenario) if my Psionicist blew all his points in one hit. It would only happen if there was a general consensus from all party members with finite ability uses. In that case they'd just be an average fighter or non-casting caster for a couple of encounters.
I think that nailed it on the head... but this also leads itself to abuse. My experience has been that veteran players are usually the players attracted to psionics and they know the system mechanics very well... which leads them to abuse it because the choices offered to overlay with the system (feats and prestiage classes) are not balanced.
If asked a DM the same question your answer would be have a rewrite. :)