Welcome! Some honest answers:
a) I have grown accustomed to sifting through pages and pages of splatbooks to find the perfect feat/skill trick/prc/item/animal form etc. Now much of that stuff will rely on mechanics that Pf has changed; has anyone run into severe compatibility issues?
Severe? No. I houserule about as much as I used to. I run a 3.5 module (runelords) with no real advance preparation, just sticking to the old statblocks, and everything has worked out fine. Still a challenge for the PCs.
b) I have acquired a general understanding of what mechanics/classes/spells/feats are strong, and which are weak...would I need to essentially re-learn all that, what with new feats, the affliction mechanic, reworked base classes, etc.
Yeah, probably. Basic things like power attack have changed. Some of the rules changes are deeper than they first appear (infinite cantrips, I'm looking at you). If you survived the 3.0 to 3.5 switch, you understand how a lot of little changes can be harder to adapt to than a few large ones.
c) how much have the spells been revised? Are they core-only?
Fewer than you might think. A lot of the save or dies were changed. Polymorphs were split into several categories. I'd say 98% of the spells are completely unchanged.
There are only the core PHB spells in the core rulebook to my knowledge. Which spells you include in your own game is up to you as always, though I recommend policing spells closely as a GM.
d) is all the old 3/5e stuff underpowered now?
Not really, no. A good deal of it was overpowered before, and it either still is or its just right. I have a warforged in my game, for example. He's still ridiculously invulnerable to many things.
e) if my group ends up not switching to Pf, am I likely to start mixing up Pf rules/mechanics with legit 3.5e, or are they distinct enough?
Not distinct enough, but similar enough to be advantageous. Yes, there will be confusion at the table over the way things used to work. You'll want a solid arbitration policy for getting past these moments without argument. Either "Play the rules as written" or "Play the way we know and discuss the change after the game." I tend to the latter.
f) now with my group in haitus, is not playing Pf going to torture me? Is it that good? Because the extra feats, skills, class abilities etc. look pretty awesome...
Sounds like the process has already begun.
|
My views on this:
a) Conversion
While you will hit some minor compatibility issues, most things work as is. I.E. skill tricks would work as is and even the Tome of Battle classes would work fine as is.
b) Relearn crunch
As per Lincoln, you'd have to re-learn it. Fighters are significantly better damage dealers than they used to be (the changes are minor, but they make a big difference).
c) Spells
Most spells should work as is. Because balance was a major concern with PFRPG I would check power levels though. Some of the spells from spell compendium, for example, might want to be disallowed because they are simply *too* good.
d) 3.5e Underpowered
Much of 3.5e was underpowered before even. The difference was that there was a large amount of sourcebooks to glean those overpowered feats, spells, etc. from. As before if balance is a concern you could up the power of some things. Most of the overpowered content should be relatively equal in power, with a couple exceptions.
e) Mixing rules
You're definitely going to have to segregate them in your head. The rules are very similar.
Don't forget an extra feat every six levels and an extra skill point at favored class levels if you convert your characters from 3.5 to PF.