I bought the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook the day it was released, over a year ago. And yet, when I riffle through the pages just inches in front of my face, I still get a decent whiff of new book smell. It's a beautiful thing.
Its just like when I started playing D&D yeas ago, back in First and second Edition. Back when we Played Greyhawk, and when Forgotten Realms first came out. We hung on Ed Greenwoods every word and Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman wrote for TSR. It is fun and new and exciting, even though its the same old stuff. I want to get everything and play everything and read everything... :) The world is wonderful and the game is awesome :)
the fact that it exsists.
that it takes my favorite game of all time (dungeons and dragons 3.5) and fixed mostly everything that was wrong with it and made things better that were a little underpowered.
that there is so much versatility in the races, classes, and personalities due to abilities gained through classes.
that there are multiple archetypes to play different styled character classes.
and lastly that it recreated a game many people loved the system for and didnt fall in love with 4E.
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the fact that it exsists.
that it takes my favorite game of all time (dungeons and dragons 3.5) and fixed mostly everything that was wrong with it and made things better that were a little underpowered.
that there is so much versatility in the races, classes, and personalities due to abilities gained through classes.
that there are multiple archetypes to play different styled character classes.
and lastly that it recreated a game many people loved the system for and didnt fall in love with 4E.
+1
The best thing about Pathfinder RPG is the fact that the half-elf is not an underpowered race anymore, unlike the 3.X half-elf.
Oh, and, also, with the help of the APG's archetypes, you can play a ranger with 1d10hp/lvl that fight with a two-handed greatsword: EVIL, MEET MY SWORD! SWORD, MEET EVIL!
I never liked prestige classes, but archetypes/kits are awesome!
I also like the fact that I can play a barbarian above 1st level and a fighter above 2nd level.
That's about all I can think for now, and it's getting late. Good night folks!
I truly appreciate the quality of the products that Paizo puts out. It's nice to see a company that puts real work into their releses rather than just churning out little 100 page suppliments month after month.
When one of my players picked up the Bestiary he was surprised by how much "book," they gave him for $40. The artwork is beautiful, the layout is much crisper and less confusing than previous 3.X stuff (one monster to a page!), and there are enough monsters to fill at least two Monster Manuals from that "other," company.
The GM screen is also hands down the best screen I have ever used. Thank you for spending the extra $.25 to make it out of actual cardboard instead of card-stock.
The best thing about the Pathfinder RPG is that it allows for a 3.x based living campaign that has the backing of a decent sized company.
For me, it's because the game draws upon the rich history of the editions that have gone before while remaining respectful of the vast body of literature and stories that birthed the first role-playing game.
the best thing about Pathfinder is that is it not owned by Hasbro/WotC.
And the fact that it is just an awesome game products.
Actually, to flip that coin over, I would say one of the best things (there are many) about Pathfinder is absolutely the company and people behind it. All good people, doing things the right way.
Rock on, Paizo. Rock on.
the best thing about Pathfinder is that is it not owned by Hasbro/WotC.
And the fact that it is just an awesome game products.
Actually, to flip that coin over, I would say one of the best things (there are many) about Pathfinder is absolutely the company and people behind it. All good people, doing things the right way.
Rock on, Paizo. Rock on.
Seconded. The complete lack of "We decided to screw you over some more while making it sound that we're doing you a favour" stunts alone make Paizo an awesome company.
The fact that in Pathfinder it is not a "no-brainer" that a fighter is aiming for some prestige class. That core classes are interesting and compelling for a whole 20 levels is what I like best. Even as a multiclass fan I am overjoyed that I can see taking a single core class the whole time.
The goblins.
1) It requires very few resources: Core Rules and Bestiary
2) It is written by gamers for gamers and in general uses plain language
3) PC Options! As Dragonsong pointed out--it is no longer a race to Prestige. A Fighter20 is just as good as a Fighte 4/Duelist10/Samurai6 (sic) :D
4) I have yet to read a product that is simply *bad*
5) +1 to Taxi's Goblins!
GNOME
I have two answers.
It's not 4e! No really, not to start more edition wars, but I'm glad someone is putting out d20 material. It's a great system and I'd hate to see it die just because its original creators changed directions. I think after 10 years the 3PP market has settled down, the wheat has been separated from the chaff so to speak, and with PF putting out solid core rules and backwards compatability with an OGL license, I can't wait to start seeing more 3PP making PF compatable products.
The APs. I haven't yet run an AP, but I've bought some, and they really are awesome. It's like the old saying in the console wars, it's the software that sells the hardware. I think this is very much true for PF, it's the AP's that sell the system. It's their forte, they had years to refine it when they were publishing Dungeon and Dragon. It's just wonderful to see adventures, both modules and paths, produced and played again. WotC really never had the stomach for it and its attempts in the last 10 years have been mediocre at best, or rehashes of classics. I look forward to the day when people talk about classic adventures and say Rise of the Rune Lords or Kingmaker along with Keep on the Borderlands, Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth or Tomb of Horrors.
What I loved of 3.x is that was an enormous toolbox to build my worlds.
Different classes, mechanics, spells. Magic walks like magic and quacks like magic.
Pathfinder went on tat route, improving several aspects, and I love it.
Even when the Alpha playtests were out for the core rulebook, there were a couple things that made me excited about Pathfinder. The first is that most of the staff of the Dungeon and Dragon magazines were a part of the process (so awesome adventures guaranteed) as well as getting Monte Cook as a consultant.
The second is that they
*showed their content to the gaming public and asked for their input*.
This is the biggest reason I like the Paizo company so much. Rather than just say "You'll still enjoy the game we promise." and then receive a new edition with a "Here ya go kids it's all sorta there. The rest of the base classes will come with another book in a couple months."
Paizo approached their crowd of potential customers with an open stance and wanted to make a new RPG based off of 3.5 that both they as developers, and their potential buyers could *make together*. Open playtesting is one of the most honest approaches I have seen from a gaming company.
One of the best fights in my experience with the PFRPG so far was against a simple 20th level Fighter. Our entire party was freaking out trying to figure out how to *beat a 20th level fighter*. It was AWESOME.
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1. Paizo - The "big people" in the company hang out on the message boards and pay attention to what their customers say. They ask us to help playtest a product so that the final book is more valuable. All parts of the community and fanbase are given attention and care.
2. No filler. I've yet to see a feat, prestige class, spell, etc. in any of the PF books that I could not imagine anyone ever choosing to take. Some elements are more "niche" than others, but I don't feel like I paid $40 for two brokenly good feats and 50 awful ones. Buying Pathfinder means I'm getting all gold.
3. Maturity. PF contains references to "mature subjects" (unlike many 3.5 supplements) but never strays into too many references to mature subjects or presenting them tastelessly (like some other 3.5 supplements).
4. PDFs at affordable prices.
5. The evolution of 3.5. Instead of insisting 3.5 was perfect, or insisting 3.5 was broken beyond repair, we get a 3.5 revision built on the recognition that 3.5 was good enough to keep, but not perfect, and a dedication to working towards that perfection.
I really love the writing, but the BEST thing about the Pathfinder RPG was the timing.
It came out just as my wife was getting curious about pen/paper RPGs.
Now she's a RPG geek like me. :)
It's not 4e! No really, not to start more edition wars, but I'm glad someone is putting out d20 material.<pedant>Technically 4e is d20, more correct to say 3.x material</pedant> :)
no it really isn't. it uses a d20, but so did 2nd edition. concepts like rolling for 3 saves (fort, ref, wil), skill points, class abilities, vancian magic, etc are part of the d20 srd (d20srd.org).
Perhaps the best thing about Pathfinder is they Respect us :)
Mind I like the Indiana Jones and Cthulhu mix with the fantasy too!
Apart from the awesome quality of the products, what absolutely floors me when I think of PFRPG is the fact that you can come here, on these messageboards, and check out the cool stuff other folks have made for the same game/adventure that you're in right now. And, on top of that, you can ask questions to the folks at Paizo or even to the folks that actually wrote the very book you're using and have straight intelligent answers... Often in a matter of hours.
Hats off to you folks (all of you!) on these message boards... Other posters, the writters and producers at Paizo. You all rock!
Ultradan
These are a few of my favorite things:
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
Oh, damn, wrong list!
How about:
-- the writing talent Paizo has amassed
-- the APs
-- their willingness to engage with their fanbase
I love the fact that Paizo has made the core classes MUCH more appealing to play from 1st to 20th level, but more than that, its the midset that I love.
When I say mindset, its that other 3PP are putting out more core classes as well. Back in 3.0 and 3.5, 3PP would usually put out PRESTIGE classes. It was almost impossible to find new core classes. You could accidently fart and find a new prestige class, but you'd find atlantis before you found new core classes. I love that Paizo has changed that, especially for people like me who aren't very good at multiclassing.
Yeah mine still smells like new book, too!
But frankly, I'm more impressed by the fact that 90% of that book is still relevant. Unlike other game systems I will not stoop to condemn... I just want to say that MY favorite part about the RPG is that the books I bought so long ago are still relevant / correct! Keep that errata not coming, Paizo!
Chief Technical Officer
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... I can't wait to start seeing more 3PP making PF compatable products.
There are already more than 50 publishers selling compatible products!
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I like that they release the PDF for all of the books. I can spend $10 and get the material even if I am broke when it comes out and buy the book later when I have the cash.
Definitely +1 to this.
I've had to do this myself. I get the $10 pdf as soon as it comes out, print it out and then a couple of months later buy the book. I know that may seem wasteful, but I'm still getting two products and I'm not having to wait until I have an extra $30+ to get what I want. Plus that also gives me a spare book to use at the table. Given how cheap some players can be about buying books or if they just forget their books, I have a black & white printed copy in a binder for them to use during the game. Which means they keep their grubby little, cheetos covered hands off my books.I've very picky about my books.
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Apart from the awesome quality of the products, what absolutely floors me when I think of PFRPG is the fact that you can come here, on these messageboards, and check out the cool stuff other folks have made for the same game/adventure that you're in right now. And, on top of that, you can ask questions to the folks at Paizo or even to the folks that actually wrote the very book you're using and have straight intelligent answers... Often in a matter of hours.
Hats off to you folks (all of you!) on these message boards... Other posters, the writters and producers at Paizo. You all rock!
Ultradan
I recently started using Linux on several of my home machines and I think Pathfinder is Linux to D&D's Microsoft.
Your comment reminded that when I have issues with Linux I can just hit the messageboards and I'll get responses from people who are not only more knowledgeable about it than I am but often worked on the development of the system.I've mentioned this in another thread but it seems appropriate here too. Paizo doesn't suffer from IP paranoia, the "all our customers are crooks" mentality of some other companies and they seem ok with us doing what we want with the products once we pay for them.
They have a very popular, well selling system that is just as susceptible to piracy as anyone else's and what do they do? They "give away" full rulebooks for playtesting, sell pdfs and still manage to tie for the #1 spot in sales.
I can't imagine how a company that puts out quality products and treats its customers with respect could possibly pull that off and instill loyalty. It just boggles the mind.
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I recently started using Linux on several of my home machines and I think Pathfinder is Linux to D&D's Microsoft.
Your comment reminded that when I have issues with Linux I can just hit the messageboards and I'll get responses from people who are not only more knowledgeable about it than I am but often worked on the development of the system.
+1
I've been using Ubuntu Linux for 2 years, and since that time, I've never had any computer problem I could not solve with a bit of forum-searching, nor have I ever found a task for which someone had not already written a program.
The whole OGL movement reminds me of Linux (I know, it's intentional), and Pathfinder proves why it is a good thing - when consensus leans against an update or patch that the owner of the program is gung-ho about, another developer can take the open code and fork the application into another project developing in a new direction. Pathfinder is a fork of 3.5 when WotC dropped support for the "application". Since 3.5 is open source, Paizo stepped forward and offered to start supporting a fork of 3.5 designed with the input of all of the people who decided that 3.5, even with it's problems, was better than 4E at doing what they wanted it to do. Using an OGL game, and making all of the mechanical content of their books OGL, proves to me that Paizo is interested in making a product we want to buy.
The open playtest was a genius move, IMHO - Paizo came to all of the people who rejected 4E and simply said, "Okay, so what would you rather have than 4E? Tell us what you want in your own words, and then our expert game designers will turn your needs and wants and opinions into the product you just told us you wanted to buy." Who needs cheap marketing gimmicks when you can just ask people "What will you pay us for? This? Okay, we'll sell it to you!" They asked, we answered, and they used their expertise to give us a nice, polished version of what we asked nicely for.
Best. Market research. Ever.
*That* is why Paizo has my loyalty, and why I'll pay for PDFs that I could have pirated.
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<pedant>Technically 4e is d20, more correct to say 3.x material</pedant> :)no it really isn't. it uses a d20, but so did 2nd edition. concepts like rolling for 3 saves (fort, ref, wil), skill points, class abilities, vancian magic, etc are part of the d20 srd (d20srd.org).
Yes, it really is - "d20 System" is a Trade Mark of WotC and they have chosen to use it in the branding of 4e as well - the back of my 4e PHB has a "d20 system" logo on it.
So I would argue that 4e is as much "d20" as D&D3.5 and Pathfinder - the reason being that "d20" isn't a strict definition of a ruleset.
Anyway, I was just being picky and don't want to derail this thread further - I know what you mean.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Paizo came to all of the people who rejected 4E and simply said, "Okay, so what would you rather have than 4E?
I wouldn't paint it quite that way. We issued the first Alpha playtest on March 18, 2008. At that time, only Wizards employees and a small number of playtesters had actually even *seen* 4E; it wasn't released to the general public until that August.
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Paizo came to all of the people who rejected 4E and simply said, "Okay, so what would you rather have than 4E?I wouldn't paint it quite that way. We issued the first Alpha playtest on March 18, 2008. At that time, only Wizards employees and a small number of playtesters had actually even *seen* 4E; it wasn't released to the general public until that August.
Apologies...my mistake. I drew too much from my personal experience - My group tried 4E shortly after it's release and came to the conclusion several months later, when the beta for PF was in full swing, that we preferred 3.5 or PF. We made the decision to switch from 3.5 to PF a few days after the core hit.
I definitely like the OGL nature of the game.
Best thing about Pathfinder:
Being able to tell Vic Wertz, and all the other great Paizo folks from CEO on down, "How it should be!". And even when you are wrong, they still listen and provide feedback. Having participated in the playtests, I feel like I can point to some of the rules, and think that I had some minor role in getting it changed. Even the changes I might not have agreed with, I now understand in a much broader context.
Then there are things like the melee vs. caster balance being improved at all levels, and the million other minor rule changes that make the game more fun to play, yet the same game it has been since I started in the '80's.
Best thing about Pathfinder:
Being able to tell Vic Wertz, and all the other great Paizo folks from CEO on down, "How it should be!".
Now this may be just me, but I like not having to do that. As far as I can tell, the Paizo people are just on the same wavelength we me as a gamer. I don't know if it's because there are a lot of midwestern roots represented or some similar age thing, but (and I've said this before) Paizo simply gets me and where I'm coming from as a gamer.
The best thing about Pathfinder is the best thing about 4e: it's a fun game.
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The best thing about Pathfinder is that I can play it without having to hear someone trying to sell 4E.
Would you be abkle to elaborate on that please? If I was playing any game I imagine it may be during a PF or 3.5 game that someone was most likely bring up 4e (be it to say how good it was or how bad it was) purely because of the fact that they are all effectively "D&D".
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NYEEEAAARGH ! Can we have a "good things about PF" thread without somebody raising an argument that 4E gave him herpes, killed Gary Gygax and Adolf Hitler, burned the kittens, helped establish American hegemony over the universe ? And finally can you guys stop flamebaiting using arguments pulled out of a local dung heap, because it was briefly fun 2 years ago, but now it's just beating the dead horse again ? Thanks.