First and foremost, this IS a serious question. :P
The set up:
I started D&D in 2e, but only played a handful of times over a couple of years before 3e came out.
I played a lot of 3e and eventually started to DM.
I first started reading and subscribing to Dungeon at about issue #114. #114-150 are what I consider to be Dungeon Magazine.
When the option came around switch to pathfinder I chose the store credit (I am/was an Item Card wh***). I wasn't sure what I was going to do. What was this Pathfinder thing? Was it going to take off? What about 4th edition? What was that going to hold?
That is where I was at shortly after the Gen Con 2007. And then my life changed quite a bit and I fell off the gaming map.
Now I'm back. There has been A LOT of changes in the past 1 1/2 years. I'm a bit overwhelmed, but I have narrowed it down some. I tried 4e. It's simply not my D&D. 3e is where I cut my teeth as a DM and where I'd like to stay, and I want to give Pathfinder a try.
I've read the PFRPG Beta. I like a lot of the changes, but I'm not overly concerned with the rules per say. (I have no problems houseruling, and at the core, it's the same game)
So, there's been like 3 adventure paths, a bunch of modules, all of the Chronicle stuff, the Society stuff, Companion stuff, ahhhh! Where do I start?
I'm not planning on running a full fledged PF campaign until after Gen Con. Generally speaking campaigns I run last well over a year.
I will have about $250 to spend solely at the Paizo booth at Gen Con.
I won't have nearly that much to spend before the Con.
I like hardcover tomes for reference material, but prefer pdfs for adventures.
So what do I do? Will any of the things published already be updated to the new RPG rules? (It annoys me when older books don't match the new core rules) What's the best PF adventure path or module series? Do I wait until Council of Thieves comes out to buy an AP, essentially starting Pathfinder off with the release of the RPG?
Sorry for the rant. I want to jump in and I just want to know where!
My recommendation:
Pathfinder campaign setting.
Gods and Magic.
Into the Darklands.
Bestiary.
Core Rules.
Start with "Council of Thieves" or "Kingmaker" adventure path.
Pathfinder A.P has a lot of great background information, which is tempting, but trying to buy the back catalogue of the A.Ps will break your budget, and the Guides cover some of the same ground.
Optionals:
Choose a region in the campaign setting and get the guidebook for it.
The Monsters revisited are really good. Not essential, but really good.
The new A.Ps should have 3d paper terrain from Worldworks, and Nwah's paper minis. They are pretty damn good, and will enhance the campaign more than most of the books will.
Legacy of fire is the best A.P so far, in my opinion. If you don't mind converting to PFRPG from 3.5, it is a gas to read, and I expect it will be great fun to run.
Currently published (OGL) material I'd strongly suggest
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Pathfinder Campaign Setting
Gazetter (great for players)
Gods and Magic
Classic Monsters Revisited
Upcoming PFRPG stuff I'd strongly suggest
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Bestiary
Core Rules
Ongoing subscription to Pathfinder (PFRPG starting in Aug)
Ongoing subscription to Pathfinder modules (PFRPG starting in Aug)
Personally, as someone on the fence until I see the final Pathfinder RPG, I know will be getting at least the Bestiary, Corebook, the first mod, and the first issue of the new adventure path at Gencon. If I decide to go with Pathfinder as my system of choice, I will be re-subscribing to the APs and mods myself. As a former subscriber in the 3.5 days, I can't speak too highly of the value offered by both subs.
First and foremost, this IS a serious question. :P
The set up:
I started D&D in 2e, but only played a handful of times over a couple of years before 3e came out.
I played a lot of 3e and eventually started to DM.
I first started reading and subscribing to Dungeon at about issue #114. #114-150 are what I consider to be Dungeon Magazine.
When the option came around switch to pathfinder I chose the store credit (I am/was an Item Card wh***). I wasn't sure what I was going to do. What was this Pathfinder thing? Was it going to take off? What about 4th edition? What was that going to hold?
That is where I was at shortly after the Gen Con 2007. And then my life changed quite a bit and I fell off the gaming map.Now I'm back. There has been A LOT of changes in the past 1 1/2 years. I'm a bit overwhelmed, but I have narrowed it down some. I tried 4e. It's simply not my D&D. 3e is where I cut my teeth as a DM and where I'd like to stay, and I want to give Pathfinder a try.
I've read the PFRPG Beta. I like a lot of the changes, but I'm not overly concerned with the rules per say. (I have no problems houseruling, and at the core, it's the same game)
So, there's been like 3 adventure paths, a bunch of modules, all of the Chronicle stuff, the Society stuff, Companion stuff, ahhhh! Where do I start?
I'm not planning on running a full fledged PF campaign until after Gen Con. Generally speaking campaigns I run last well over a year.
I will have about $250 to spend solely at the Paizo booth at Gen Con.
I won't have nearly that much to spend before the Con.
I like hardcover tomes for reference material, but prefer pdfs for adventures.So what do I do? Will any of the things published already be updated to the new RPG rules? (It annoys me when older books don't match the new core rules) What's the best PF adventure path or module series? Do I wait until Council of Thieves comes out to buy an AP, essentially starting Pathfinder off with the release of the RPG?
Sorry for the rant. I want to jump in and I just want to know where!
Firstly, welcome back! :)
Stuff to buy at the Con ...
Core Rulebook is a no-brainer, you'll want that massive tome.
I would recommend the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaing Sourcebook. This gives you a good overview of the world, the two continents they've been playing with so far, the countries and people and lots of goodies. It is pre-PFRPG, and there will be things that you'll have to self-upgrade to match, but it is a gorgeous hardback with lots of information.
So, having spend about $100 of your cash, I would look through the Chronicles line, and see which of those books tickle your fancy. They all have good information, expand on areas in the game, and give more flavor of Golarion :)
The Companions then deserve a browsing, as these give some good "crunch" to expand specific parts of the campaign world -- Elves, Osirion, Taldor and the AP info currently being covered. Depending on where you set your first campaign will depend on which of these you chose to get at first. But definitely pick up the AP companion for the AP you pick :)
As to which AP, we all have our favorites, I would want to know what kind of adventure you like to run? Here is my "take" on the four current APs from playing or GMing them:
Rise of the Runelords (Player view) - this strikes me so far as the most "typical" of the APs. It hits all the core styles of gaming--dungeon crawls, town interaction, mystery solving, kill the baddies, etc. It also has the best use of Goblins ever! I soooooo hate those li'l buggers now!
Curse of the Crimson Throne (GM view) - predominantly a city adventure (two of the chapters do take our poor city kids out into the wilds to survive and find a needed toy to kill the BBEG), lots of intrigue, and a wonderfully detailed city to play around in. If you chose this AP, definitely get the Guide to Korvosa from the Chronicles line :)
Second Darkness (Player view) - Drow, Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy City, and the Mysterious Blot ... this one is a grittier feel so far, with lots of questions to be answered :) You will want, according to my GM, the Darklands chronicles book for this.
Legacy of Fire (Future GM View) - Arabian Nights, Genies, and GORGEOUS. This is an awesome looking adventure to date, very rich and detailed and definitely has the feel down pat. Definitely get the Dark Markets chronicles book if you chose this one :)
Council of Thieves - This one looks like intrigue and a lot of city work again, definitely gritty being set in Cheliax, and one I am looking forward to. Read the preview blurbs on the store page for these for a feel for it, because, as you mentioned, it will be the first one set fully in the PFRPG ruleset.
To answer your concerns, I switched from 3.0 to 3.5/PFBeta partway through the first episode of Crimson Throne, and have had no difficulties adjusting the written material nearly on the fly to match the more current rules. Mostly we've been caught slightly off-guard by the spells when we find a change there :) Some really good surprises, I must say.
Welcome to the fun of Pathfinder! I think you're going to be happy in your new gaming home :)
I think one of the problems I'm having is that I enjoy reading about the world as much if not more than actually playing in it!
I'm afraid that if I don't pick up an AP or certain module, or whatever, I may miss some great writing about a particular region or race in the world.
edit: And I'm also a huge fan of poster maps. Gotta collect 'em all! ;)
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I think one of the problems I'm having is that I enjoy reading about the world as much if not more than actually playing in it!
I'm afraid that if I don't pick up an AP or certain module, or whatever, I may miss some great writing about a particular region or race in the world.
edit: And I'm also a huge fan of poster maps. Gotta collect 'em all! ;)
You'll definitely want to pick up the campaign book, then. This thing will have you drooling. It is mostly "fluff" so there is very little to have to convert, if anything. And I had to dry-mount the poster map that came with it to hang on my game room wall... it is that cool.
Once you've found a particular region that catches you fancy, The "Pathfinder Chronicles: Guide to...." give you more detailed looks at a city or region, and are a decent replacement for (or supplement to) any backdrop articles in the Adventure Paths.
I've been running my camapaigns using the Adventure Paths and Gamesmastery/Pathfinder Modules using the Alpha then Beta playtest rules, and have really only taken the time to convert a few of the npcs, using most as written with on-the-fly skill and spell conversion. It has worked well. That being said, I will probably start fresh with the new AP when it comes out with the Rules. I can't help loving shiny new things!
I think one of the problems I'm having is that I enjoy reading about the world as much if not more than actually playing in it!
I'm afraid that if I don't pick up an AP or certain module, or whatever, I may miss some great writing about a particular region or race in the world.
edit: And I'm also a huge fan of poster maps. Gotta collect 'em all! ;)
Bless you, sir. :)
Agreed, welcome back to the hobby. I'd say your almost four months early in a way :D.
Again in agreement, you should not worry about products being in 3.5 form. It is actually rather easy to adjust on the fly. Likewise your shelf of 3.0/3.5 material should still provide you with a wealth of back support, from equipment to monsters. That was part of the development of the PFRPG, maintaining backwards 'compatibly.' After all Paizo still wants its pre-PFRPG material to still be usable with its new revision :D.
Fortunately most of the Chronicle books are rather rules light. Most of the setting details in the Adventure Paths is targeted to help expand that AP, although they are very useful in the wider Pathfinder Chronicles setting. Such as the deity focused articles which go into more depth then the Gods and Magic Chronicle. I would point out that scope of the world is rather large and diverse. It would almost be better to pick a location that appeals to your (and your likely players) and expand from there. The campaign setting book will really help with that.
If you haven't already I'd check out the player guides for Rise of the Runelords and the Curse of the Crimson Throne in the downloads section of you Paizo account.
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I think one of the problems I'm having is that I enjoy reading about the world as much if not more than actually playing in it!
I'm afraid that if I don't pick up an AP or certain module, or whatever, I may miss some great writing about a particular region or race in the world.
Well.. the campaign setting is your best bet. one of the early pathfinders has a brief overview of Varisa area.. after that, pick a part of the world you like and look for adventures set there. You can prepare by using The Wiki to get a brief encyclopedic overview of the countries.
But to answer your thread's title Question:
All! Now!
Agreed. Need more money? Sell some organs. You don't need both lungs, do you? Not a marathon runner or anything, are you?
Other than that, it really depends on what you want.
Regardless, I do recommend the upcoming RPG hardcover and Bestiary (and i strongly recommend downloading the free Pathfinder RPG Beta pdf so you can see where this is going).
I also recommend the Campaign Setting. Beyond that, be on the lookout on what there is to get, and what you want.
For example, there's a number of books about regions and/or cities, like Guide to Absalom, Guide to Korvosa, Into the Darklands (that's about the winding realms below the surface, where all manner of nasty critters dwell, like some subraces whose names begin with D), and so on.
Then, there's The Great Beyond (a regional book of sorts, except that it is about Golarion's Cosmology).
Gods & Magic is another great one, if you're into Golarion's deities (and if you're not, I suggest using the money to get a shrink, because there's something wrong with your head ;-P. But seriously, those deities manage to cover all the angles you need in your fantasy pantheon and still have a metric petatonne of fresh ideas - like a god of alcohol and bravery, who managed to ascend to godhood by taking what is probably the hardest and most dangerous test you can ever take. And he was hammered at the time!)
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I would suggest the campaign setting, Guides to ..., Gods and Magic, and just start with the New Council of Thieves AP. I would go back and get the Pdf's of the AP's that have the detailed looks at the gods. If you do that you can read the actual AP adventures and decide if you want to get the rest to complete the entire AP.
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Hey there, welcome back. I am sure you are getting tired of hearing that by now! lol But the sentiment is real.
You said you have $250 to invest. My suggestions...
PRPG released at GenCon, get the Paizo guys to sign it. $49.99
PRPG Bestiary released in September $39.99
This gets your core books in, for about $90+ (not sure if there is tax at GenCon-don't remember). Why use these instead of 3.5? Because everything going forward will be in PRPG and you will need to do a bit of backwards conversions to work with 3.5, which while not that bad is still a pain.
Campaign Setting is an obvious choice. At $49.99 you will have weeks worth of reading enjoyment, nice map, and loads of ideas. You will learn about deities, cosmology and more. This book I personally consider a core book to have. This puts us about $150ish.
The next $100 is really up to your personal tastes.
I personally suggest trying Legacy of Fire. So far I have LOVED it. PDFs are $13.99, so a cheap price to pay to see what you like. However, you will need to make some conversions for PRPG. If you prefer to not mess with conversions (which I understand) then pick up Council of Thieves PDFs.
I honestly would not worry about Gods & Magic just yet. The Campaign Setting has all of the gods and more in fact. After you have finished that book, and are hungry for more, then pick up Gods & Magic later. While a fantastic book, not an urgent book to have if you have the Campaign Setting.
That leaves Companion and Chronicle choices left. Honestly at this point, only you can figure it out. Look through the selections and decide what places you would like to learn about first. My personal favorites are Osirion and Absalom. You can easily flesh out your library to suit your personal tastes.
So, to recap:
PRPG $49.99
Bestiary $39.99
Campaign Setting $49.99
At least one Adventure Path PDF $13.99
$153.96 before any taxes, leaving you $100 to flesh out to your taste.