Now that I looked up the book you referenced, I don't think there is... next to continually searching all the multitude of Pathfinder lines on an ongoing basis.
I'm very surprised that that Armory thing is in the Companion line... Weird.
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How does one who is not interested in the setting, ensure that he does not miss out on a lot of crunchy goodness? I know I have been rambling, so I hope you get what I am trying to ask. I really don't mind missing out on fluff, but I don't want to miss out on any of that tasty crunch!
Anything in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Product line is Rules/Crunch only and separate from the Setting.
I think because Paizo decided to use Pathfinder for the name of thier RPG people are confused about the Setting books, but this is a misconception. Any books in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Product line have no connection with the setting other then the setting now uses those rules.
Right now only Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Book & Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bonus Bestiary are out, but future products include:
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game GM Screen
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game GameMastery Guide
And an Advanced players guide.
Many of the Books for the setting do include Feats,Prestige Classes, Traits and Items, but most of them if not all of them are Setting Specific, though alot of it can still be used in other settings if tweaked.
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Now that I looked up the book you referenced, I don't think there is... next to continually searching all the multitude of Pathfinder lines on an ongoing basis.
I'm very surprised that that Armory thing is in the Companion line... Weird.
It is not just an Item Book according to Vic.
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Well, all the crunchy stuff is supposed to be OGC. So keep an eye on the Grand OGL Wiki and eventually the crunch will appear there I believe.
(most of RotRL is already converted)
Creative Director
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How does one who is not interested in the setting, ensure that he does not miss out on a lot of crunchy goodness? I know I have been rambling, so I hope you get what I am trying to ask. I really don't mind missing out on fluff, but I don't want to miss out on any of that tasty crunch!
Your best bet is to just do research, keep abreast of the products we anounce, read reviews, and check out new products as they show up in local game stores, honestly.
The rulebook line will be, of course, mostly rules, but now and then we'll have a book in the Companion or Chronicle line that's VERY crunch heavy. The upcoming equipment-focused Companion is an example, sort of an experiment on our parts to see if there's a desire for crunchier Golarion-specific products. That said, many volumes of Pathifnder contain a fair amount of crunch; there's ALWAYS 4–6 new monsters in a Pathfinder, for example. And the upcoming Seekers of Secrets Chronicle book has a pretty big chapter on magic items (focusing particularly on ioun stones).
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You best bet is to just look at each one on their own as they come out. Most of the Companions have few rules in them, mostly feats, a few spells and the like. The Chronicles normally only have a few pages of monsters in them. Both are pretty world specific stuff, you could mine them both for idea's but both are geared to support their own world.
Now AP's while set in their own world I personally think the adventure could be transported fairly easy in most cases to a home brew world. Some of the fluff about locations, races, demons are more world specific but once more could be mined for idea's.
And I wouldn't be shocked if at some point down the road the feats, spells ect show up in the game line products. Like the Advanced player book. I am not saying they will only i wouldn't be surprised if they did at a later date.
And I wouldn't be shocked if at some point down the road the feats, spells ect show up in the game line products. Like the Advanced player book. I am not saying they will only i wouldn't be surprised if they did at a later date.
If this is the case hopefully they are VERY selective. The really good stuff bears reprinting but rehashing stuff generally leads to bad product. Spell Compendium is my least favorite book in the 3.5 series, it's just a huge rehash of all the spells from previous publications and many of them are repetitive or just plain lame. The quality of Paizo's stuff is up there but even so any reprinted stuff should be the cream of the cream.
Companions have more crunch in them than other PF lines, except maybe the Adventure Paths.
Of course, it's always related to Golarion, but a lot of the stuff (probably all of it, or nearly so) could be ported to a setting that has the appropriate flavour.
Example: The Dancing Dervish feat (which lets scimitar wielders use dex instead of strength and allows them to become duelists with scimitars) is made for Quadiran dervishes, but if you have any nation, region, religion, or culture that has a dervish fighting style, you can use it.
Chronicles usually have less crunch in them and again, it's related to Golarion (but not impossible to use elsewhere).
Modules have very little in the way of crunch (not counting the adventure itself, of course), or at least those I saw had little.
Adventure Paths usually have some crunch in them (again, not counting the adventure). Sometimes it's a lot, and sometimes, it's little. But there are always a number of critters there. And again, Golarion related but not exclusive.
Spell Compendium is my least favorite book in the 3.5 series, it's just a huge rehash of all the spells from previous publications and many of them are repetitive or just plain lame.
I love the idea. One big huge book with extra spells, collected from years and years of churning out spells.
Of course, there was some really broken stuff in there, and other stuff was quite lame. Still, I liked the concept.
Spell Compendium is my least favorite book in the 3.5 series, it's just a huge rehash of all the spells from previous publications and many of them are repetitive or just plain lame.I love the idea. One big huge book with extra spells, collected from years and years of churning out spells.
Of course, there was some really broken stuff in there, and other stuff was quite lame. Still, I liked the concept.
I like the idea of a sort of "Best of" spell compendium. But there was no effort to be selective at all, they just dumped all of it into one book so they could brag about 1000+ spells...
I like the idea of a sort of "Best of" spell compendium. But there was no effort to be selective at all, they just dumped all of it into one book so they could brag about 1000+ spells...Spell Compendium is my least favorite book in the 3.5 series, it's just a huge rehash of all the spells from previous publications and many of them are repetitive or just plain lame.I love the idea. One big huge book with extra spells, collected from years and years of churning out spells.
Of course, there was some really broken stuff in there, and other stuff was quite lame. Still, I liked the concept.
I kind of like that there are some dumb spells mixed in there. It kind of induces what one might actually be doing as a wizard. Pouring through ancient or recent tomes filled with spells, some of which are useful, some of which are interesting, and some of which are just dumb. After all the spells are created by fallible people. I've been reading the dying earth series recently, supposedly part of the original influence for the system that is dnd magic. And it makes me enjoy pouring through the books all the more. It is in essence how it should be based on the original fluff.
I myself wish there had been an official spell compendium for 3.5e.
There's some great spells and items in "Gods & Magic". Nearly every spell is eminently useful to either players or DM, instead of the usual 5 pages of cruft and one decent spell that I came to expect of 3.5e-era sourcebooks.
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3.5 Spell Compendium was a pile of random ash with a few gems hidden deep inside. Also, Ray of Stupidity.
3.5 Magic Item Compendium on the other hand, is a great book. Dozens of balanced, clever items that help to diversify the gaming experience. One of the finest 3.5 wotc books.
Wow such wide varying opinions on this book. For me it is one of the most used books I own printed by WotC.
Spell or Magic Item? Both get a lot of use in my groups, but especially the Spell Comp.
Are ranger rules written in a small font with low contrast so you need good perception? Are the rules about two-handed weapons written on stone tablets so you have to do heavy lifting? Are the pages with the combat rules edged with wire so you can hurt yourself?
No, no, no, and no (and maybe no again, I haven't counted really).
And because of that, I don't see why it would be good to pay for a bad product just because it's more realistic. :P
I kind of like that there are some dumb spells mixed in there. It kind of induces what one might actually be doing as a wizard. Pouring through ancient or recent tomes filled with spells, some of which are useful, some of which are interesting, and some of which are just dumb.Are ranger rules written in a small font with low contrast so you need good perception? Are the rules about two-handed weapons written on stone tablets so you have to do heavy lifting? Are the pages with the combat rules edged with wire so you can hurt yourself?
No, no, no, and no (and maybe no again, I haven't counted really).
And because of that, I don't see why it would be good to pay for a bad product just because it's more realistic. :P
QTF. You could similarly take all the good spells and randomly glue them throughout an encyclopedia set and make your players flip through that to find their spells. Ultimately, crap is crap.