Big thing I like: Monk Flurry of Hits.
Small thing I like: Fighter Bonus Feat retraining.
more to come, I'm sure.
The paladins' lay on hands and "mercy" boosts, definitely. Also the barbarian's rage powers.
Lists of elective abilities such as those are an awesome way to give definition to a character and were underutilized in the core rules.
Lots of things I like. My current 'Ah, cool' factor is the expanded feat lists for Ranger combat styles. Seeing Improved Shield Bash on the TWF list gave me a whole concept for my upcoming Keleshite Ranger. :-D
Wow! Three posts about what we like and 600 about Clerics losing heavy armor proficiency.
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- Darkvision now penetrates darkness. I love love love love this. It makes so much gorram sense.
- Death comes at -CON score, instead of -10. I instituted this in all my 3.x games when I first saw it in Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed.
- New feats that let fighters contribute to battles with spellcasters.
- Better hit dice for wizards, sorcerers, and rogues.
There are lots of things I like. :D
There is a lot of stuff to like, but off hand, I really like the favored terrain for rangers, as it adds back in some of the "hard to surprise" flavor of past editions and makes the ranger a little less "I track things and kill them" focused.
Favorite things about Pathfinder RPG:
New rules for staffs
Animal Companion rules
Great feats for melee types (Lunge, Stand Still, Vital Strike, etc)
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Chalk up another point of love for darkvision now working in a darkness spell.
I also love that clerics don't give off a strong aura related to their alignment components, but instead one related to their deity's alignment components. No more 'Oh, he's a cleric of Asmodeus, but he doesn't detect evil. I think we can trust this one.' Now it's 'Asmodeus's taint clouds my perceptions. I can offer no guidance as to his sincerity.'
And on the subject of alignment, I also like that paladins radiate a powerful aura of good, not of both good and law. Finally you can say that paladins can be played of paragons of good who wish to work within the law, rather than having a GM insist they need to be inflexible exemplars of both that will explode when confronted with a good vs law dilemma.
Oh, and I also love the fix to the gate spell. 'Sure, you can summon that 35 Hit Dice advanced planetar! There's just one small catch..*evil grin*'
Actually, clerics always radiated their god's alignment, not their own.
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Actually, clerics always radiated their god's alignment, not their own.
Huh. You know, I never realised that. Guess that shows how many clerics I played under 3.5...
Why, next thing you'll tell me that paladins only radiated an aura of good under 3.5, and that's not changed either!
Whoops. Guess that shows how many paladins I played under 3.5...
Well, this hasn't been a very successful thread for me! If you need me, I'll just be over here, checking the 3.5 wording of darkness and gate. :P
(This message brought to you by Paizo.com: The More You Know!)
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Asmodeus's taint clouds my perceptions.
XD *snicker*
A few more things I like:
- Option for bonded items instead of familiars.
- Sorcerer bloodlines.
- Wizards and sorcerers having clearly defined roles, i.e. depth vs breadth of spellcasting options.
- Having all the info in just one book!
- Sneak attacks affecting undead and constructs.
- The new spell entry format (very nice, very clean).
I like the skill system, much better then 3.5. I would like jump to be moved out of acrobatics but otherwise better system over all. Same as beta for the most part mind you.
I like the table for what magic weapons it takes to effect creatures with DR/Good*Silver*Cold Iron and all. Makes having a Cold Iron sword much more sensible then it was.
There are some other things, but those jump out at me.
Arcane Trickster, Dragon Disciple, Arcane Archerer, Duelist, Fighter, Rogue, Sorcerer, BARD, cleric, Favored Class, Skills, Races (iffy about the half orc)
And O M G
The lay out is incredible. MUCH better than the old PHB or DMG, and the artwork is nice. The book feels solid and well crafted as well.
Finally, that wonderful new book smell. I think it might be addictive.
- With the addition of bloodlines, Sorcerers don't feel like "spontaneous wizards" anymore, so much as focused magical powerhouses.
- Barbarians are way more flavorful now, switching from "I rage. Ok, I keep raging... got 12 more rounds of this." to "I bite him! Now I hit him with a chair!"
- Fighters aren't a dip class anymore. They actually work 1-20.
- Monks! Straight up, there wasn't a single bad change to this class.
- Clerics lost heavy armor proficiency, and rangers gained medium armor proficiency, thus furthering the existence of medium armor in the first place.
- Bards can cast with a shield now, making them even better secondary front liners.
- Half-casters got their magic boosted, and full casters got their magic slightly diminished.
- Cleric domains rock. They actually feel like you're emulating your god's portfolio, rather than just casting a bonus spell.
- Druids got struck pretty hard with a nerf bat, and they deserved it. Animal companions are better than ever, and easier to use!
- Wizard specializations actually feel like specializations now, and have mechanical advantages to each.
- Druids/Rangers/Sorcerers/Wizards/Paladins now have the option to ditch their companions in favor of equally powerful class features.
- More feats means more love, and furthers a diverse character build.
- The new favored class system rocks!
- Half-Elves rock!
- I love the new skill system.
Umm ... yes? :)
I'm still getting used to finding things in the book, like how far to flip back and be in the right section, but I truly love how the headings and titles of things "pop" out, making it so much easier to find a specific spell on a page or a skill or a feat or a magical item, etc.
I love that the things that should be grouped, are! (Such as Domains with Clerics and Schools with Wizards) And if they put something about the item you're reading elsewhere, they tell you where to find it.
I love the feel of the pages, the sturdiness of the book, and the gorgeous art. I work with kids and they are wowed by the sheer size and look of the book, which I let them peer over my shoulder and view (No touchee! My book <G>)
I love he feeling that the rules were all thought about, and even if I don't agree with it, I have the deep down feeling that all the nuts and bolts were looked at and nothing was thrown in 'just cause' as has happened in past editions.
I love having all the rules I need to run or play in ONE massive book. It may be heavy, but it is easier to lug one book than two slipping around in your arms. And a lot harder to misplace part of your books around the table.
I love that things don't feel "skimped" over, and that everything I need, I have now, not three years from now. All my races and classes and goodies are here, ready for me to go.
Thank you, Paizo!!
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Things I like:
1) Cleaning up of Domains to give them tangible benefits beyond initial level and access to out of class spells.
2) Loss of Heavy Armor on Clerics, who didn't need it in the first place.
3) Restriction of the Druid's ability to wild shape, who didn't need to be so varied in the first place.
4) Bard's Loss of reliance on the perform skill to craft their wily music.
5) Bard's gain of new reasons to up a performance skill.
6) Bard's gain of Melodic Casting as a free feat, through class feature rather than bonus feat giving.
7) The subsequent fix and reparation of the Paladin's class features to function in a game that long since lost its respect for the class beyond dipping.
8) The return of the Ranger to a class that invokes fear when it becomes your turn to become the hunted.
9) The Inclusion of Clerics to be my favorite build. (A preacher of the Many)
10) Inclusion of feats to make casters fear fighters, rather than laugh as they five foot step away and begin casting anyways.
11) The layout is crisp and tight, and with only one minor complaint, (HP rules should be closer to the building a character guideline than in the HP definition) I can't think of much I hate about it.
- Darkvision now penetrates darkness. I love love love love this. It makes so much gorram sense.
Chalk up another point of love for darkvision now working in a darkness spell.
Really? I actually hate this one. Coupled with the new spell description for Darkness, they pretty much nerfed it into oblivion. I will probably make darkness a cantrip. At least the line "Light can be used to counter or dispel any darkness spell of equal or lower spell level" won't be a total waste of ink. :)
I don'tI like how Clerics lost Heavy Armor Prof. LOL
You aren't alone but many like to spread that debate to each thread they can.
You aren't alone but many like to spread that debate to each thread they can.I don'tI like how Clerics lost Heavy Armor Prof. LOL
Isn't this the "what do you like?" thread?
Isn't this the "what do you like?" thread?You aren't alone but many like to spread that debate to each thread they can.I don'tI like how Clerics lost Heavy Armor Prof. LOL
True but since others decided that topic needed more debate here, I am glad to join in on it. It was a bad rule change after all.
This thread was an attempt at a positive counterpoint to the pages and pages of negativity in certain other threads.
If you simply CANNOT read a contrary opinion on that issue without arguing, then argue, but you'll be arguing with yourself.
This thread is about things people like.
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So I haven't gotten my book yet and I want to hear more about what people like in the new rules instead of hearing another complaint about nerfing. So what do you like?
I'm fond of the new, simpler skill system. I hate the half-ranks and formulas. I like that I can just make a few choices and I'm ready to go.
Although I suspect you're talking about the system itself, I have to add that I like the production of the book, as well. It's just a nice looking product. Good illustrations, clean lay-out and durable binding. High quality.
Also throwing my hat in with the skill system. Not only is it simpler to use, it also gets the job done better (I've always felt that cross-classing was too harsh, but I wanted class skills to count for something. That was a handy fix.)
Overall, the whole thing. The book is a fine piece of RPG design and beautiful to boot. It's not perfect but it's significantly better than it's predecessor while keeping to the spirit.
Classes are *more* balanced.
Sorcerers are *more* awesome.
Rogues are super, I love the talents. I love the arcane trickster too!
Barbarians are a little more fun.
GM Stuff
CMB/ CMD is a big improvement to GM sanity
Channel Undead. I can explain this to new players and doesn't require a chart!
Magic Item stores are nixed (mostly)
Throw Anything... woot now my ogre cleric can throw halflings!
Stuff I like:
Death occurring and -Con score. An 11 con is now better than a 10.
Reincarnation now being able to bring back those who die of old age, rather than the former scenario, where it couldn't, but it could bring back those with the foresight to commit suicide just before they died of old age.
Sorcerers now having actual magic in their blood and bloodline powers that make sense. They are now cool, and not just an obvious rules mechanic twink of wizards.
Wizards now having bonded items rather than automatic familiars, as well as cantrips at will, plus cool powers if they decide to be specialists and non-lame powers for universalists.
No race being the retard race. This always smacked of the "little brown cousin" school of social Darwinism thinly tarted up as the "little greenish cousin."
Magic items now requiring crafting checks or spellcraft checks to make, with curses occurring when these are failed. And Master Craftsman as a skill so it's not just wizards who can make magic items.
The thing I like the most about the PFRPG is certainly the process through which Paizo opted to go.
They certainly didn't pick the easy path! And the result is such an improvement!
DW