Paizo is releasing its own "Beginner Box" later this year (November?).
However, if you want to get started now, I'd recommend buying the core rulebook in PDF ($9.99) only and read through that first to decide if the game grabs you.
There are also some free online tools (such as the Pathfinder PRD under the "Links" section to the left) which cover a lot of material.
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You can start fairly cheaply with PDFs.
Also you don't have to buy the entire adventure path at once.
And yes this hobby was expensive in the old days too.
The Core Rulebook is definitely enough to play. (after all that's all us players had in the beginning :)
I'd agree with the PDFs suggestion. Also, rather than go for an AP you could start with a series of three linked modules (Crypt of the Everflame, Masks of the Livign God and City of Golden Death) which is far cheaper and easier to manage than an entire AP.
The PRD gives access to all the rules, but obviously you'd need internet access while using it (or purchase some of the apps that duplicate the PRD).
The Bestiary would also be reallty helpful if you're going to GM. The PRD has the stats, but the pictures make describing just what's chewing on the player's leg much easier. Also available as a PDF for $9.99
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I think November is a little (2 months) late when I'm on the edge of starting as soon as I/ we can. Would the Core Rulebook be enough to play? What I mean is, if I'm going to be the GM I could use some help in the form of a prewritten adventure that slowly introduces various aspects of the game/ the adventure to me and the players. I sort of understood from reading these forums that Modules are kind of like that, but I'm not sure if I understood this correctly.
Welcome to the community!
What you need to play the game is a copy of the Core Rulebook and the Bestiary, though as DaveMage said all of the stuff that's in there is available for free through the PRD links. If you have a wireless laptop at the table, you can get away with neither, though it is nice to have a copy of the core rulebook to pass around and flip through.
You also need dice, of course.
You are absolutely correct about the modules: A module is a self-contained adventure, all planned out and ready to go. The module is ready, that is - most people will tell you (quite correctly, in my opinion) that the GM (Gamemaster) will need to spend a little time beforehand reading it through in order to be familiar with it beforehand. In particular, they should look up all the special abilities that monsters have and know what they do - that way, you're not stopping all the time during combat to look stuff up.
I would actually make an alternate suggestion, depending on where in the world you're located - I would see if there is a public Pathfinder Society (PFS) game happening near you and see about taking a group of your friends to that night. PFS is an organized play system that Paizo supports, where you can play a single short adventure in a four-hour block. I have found the people who GM at PFS events to be extremely welcoming, patient, and friendly, as they are trying to share their love for a game. All of the GMs that I've met would be happy to show you the basics of play, and you don't even have to take a character with you - most PFS GMs have a stock of a few different characters that you can just pick up and play.
To find out if there is a public game near you, you can click on the Pathfinder Society logo on the left of the screen, near the top of the page, and from there you can search for nearby games.
All the best!
If I was you, I might just buy the core book, and download Hollows Last Hope Module, which is free in the pdf version.
You can use the prd or d20pfsrd.com for your bestiary needs until you now for sure that you and the others are going to play more than once or twice.
This way your initial expenditure is kept relatively low, although you are going go need dice as well.
You could also buy the core book in pdf, but since you are all new to pathfinder and table top rpg, then I expect having a book at the table is going to be easier (and probably a better experience).
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The module Crypt of the Everflame came out before the Bestiary was released, and therefore it contains the necessary stats for all of the monsters/NPCs in the adventure. The only other thing you need to run it is the core rulebook (either in hard copy or PDF). It's also written for a novice GM, with advice in sidebars, so might be just what you need.
If you find that it's right up your street, you could continue by getting the Bestiary and the modules Masks of the Living God and City of Golden Death, which form a loose trilogy with Crypt of the Everflame.
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I don't think there is anyway for money not to be spent if your going to buy books for Pathfnder. Rpgs are imo an expensive hobby. As long as you have the core book, Bestirary and Inner Sea Campaign guide along with dice imo you have all you need. You can wait for the beginner box yet I would if moeny is an issue go with the PDFs.
Well, if you wanted to try it out with $0 investment you could use the PFSRD for the Core Rulebook and the Bestiary (they're also available as very cheap apps for the iPhone) and try out the three FREE PFS adventures for season three.
In terms of what you need to play; I'd say just the core rulebook. You could also do a lot worse that start out with the PFS adventures - many of them are really great and very cheap. Alternatively, starting with one of the 1st-level Modules is also cool.
Crypt of the Everflame is specifically designed to start people off on PF rules, and it has two excellent sequels.
I don't think there is anyway for money not to be spent if your going to buy books for Pathfnder. Rpgs are imo an expensive hobby. As long as you have the core book, Bestirary and Inner Sea Campaign guide along with dice imo you have all you need. You can wait for the beginner box yet I would if moeny is an issue go with the PDFs.
I'll respectfully disagree with the Inner Sea World Guide as being on the "need" list, especially if Barricade is concerned about dropping a lot of money at once.
Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful book, and I wouldn't part with my copy for a gazillion dollars. (Well, okay, maybe for a gazillion dollars.) But Campaign Setting information, as helpful as it can be to some players, is never NECESSARY to play the game.
Also, I just have to say ... the more I think about it the more amazed I am by the fact that the main webpage does not have a 'how to get started' section, or even a forum sticky detailing the things new players would need to get into the game. I've checked out the PRD 'getting started' but that is more on how to get started on an actual adventure, not on getting started as in what a new players needs to invest in.
If I hadn't done my research on the internet and found that Pathfinder is generally considered the better of the two systems (between Pathfinder and D&D4.0) I'd just het a 20 US starter kit from them.
(PS: To clarify, this is not a response to everyone so kind to help me out by replying. Nor is it meant to bash Paizo. I merely expressed my thoughts in the hopes that Paizo takes them into consideration when thinking of ways to attract new players to their game!)
I agree - there should definitely be some sort of online guide for new players such as yourself.
Wow guys... Just wow. I'm more amazed by the kind and helpful feedback than I am with the lack of guidance on the main webpage! And that says something ;)
@ Feegle:
Thanks a lot for all the ideas. I will definitely see if their is a public event coming up close to me.I also understand the GM is required to familiarize oneself with the adventure beforehand, but thank you for noting this just in case :) Would you then recommend starting with a Module or an AP?
As a last question, how many dice (and with how many sides) should I need to get started?
If you're not sure that you're really going to enjoy it, then a Module is a better bet. It's a shorter adventure, generally, than even one volume of an AP.
You need dice with 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, 12-, and 20- sides. This is a standard package of gamers dice. (And because I'm a math teacher I feel the need to describe them as "All the platonic solids plus a decahedron.")
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Wow guys... Just wow. I'm more amazed by the kind and helpful feedback than I am with the lack of guidance on the main webpage! And that says something ;)
@ Feegle:
Thanks a lot for all the ideas. I will definitely see if their is a public event coming up close to me.I also understand the GM is required to familiarize oneself with the adventure beforehand, but thank you for noting this just in case :) Would you then recommend starting with a Module or an AP?
@Paz:
Wow, thank you so much! That sounds SO awesome. I will get a PDF version of the rulebook after finishing this post and download that Module as well. Kind of strange Paizo does not have a beginners section with just this kind of information in there. Maybe, if I enjoy playing this game, I will write up an article for on the forums and hope for a sticky.@Everyone else:
Thanks a lot for all the responses. It really helped to get me on the way to what I'm hoping will be great adventures!As a last question, how many dice (and with how many sides) should I need to get started?
Bare minimum: 1 20 sided, 1 12sided, 2 ten sided in different colours ( for percentile rolls), 1 8 sided, 1 6 sided and 1 4 sided, but you'll be rerolling a LOT. You'll probably want to double that, and quadruple the 6-sided ones so you're covered for most things. There'll still be a lot of rerolling. Get your players to buy the same sort of volumes.
Well one thing you could do is look at the SRD (Standard Reference Document)
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/
It's not as fun as a book, and can be a little intimidating on where to go, but you can look at classes, monster stats, spells, and everything else.
Then you could get an Adventure (module or path) and use the SRD to figure out what the premade characters from the adventure can do and sort of test run the system to see if you like it.
And get some dice. D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D20 (as many of each as you want) Generally the only one you will need more than one are D6 and maybe D20.
Have fun.
Some smart cookie tagged the first post in this thread as a FAQ candidate. I would respectfully suggest that others do so as well; Barricade has made an excellent point as to the fact that there are a LOT of products here and for non Roleplayers it may be an intimidating list that leaves one confused about where to begin.
Master of the Fallen Fortress is a really short, 7 pages of actual adventure content, 1st level adventure which is available as a free pdf download.
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Welcome to the hobby!
-Some of my starving postgraduate student friends just buy the Bestiary pdf and print the monsters sheets they need before a session. That's one way to avoid purchasing another hardcover.
-The core rulebook, dice, and some sort of wipeable battle mat with tokens/figures are pretty much essential imho.
-Your local Pathfinder Society games will have GMs that can get you straight into the game easily and show you what a good session is like. This could be useful if you've read the core rulebook and need to actually experience it to see how it all works.
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A font of wisdom for GMing. If nothing else, read these two articles.
Hopefully I don't get in trouble for this but if you are indeed a brand new group of players to table top RPGs, I think you might be better off starting with a different, lighter system than Pathfinder. Pathfinder is a fairly complex game with a lot rules and nuances. I don't know if a cold start with it when no one else is familiar with the rules or even how a table top RPG works or generally plays out is the best option.
I would try out one our both of these first ...
Dragon Age RPG seems like a nice light game that might be perfect for getting started. The rules are simple; everything follows a unified mechanic; and you only need a handfull of d6s to play. Better yet, the Players Guide, GMs Guide, dice (if you want to share), campaign setting, map and starting adventure all come packaged in a box for $30 or less depending on where you buy it from. This game was practically made for people in your situation. The downside is that this starter box only advances you to level 5 (out of 20). If you want to continue on with it, you'll have to keep plunking down money to pick up each 5 level increment when they come out. I think it would be a great, inexpensive way to learn the lbasics either way, though.
Another one that you may want to check out is Castles and Crusaders. It's based on the same system as Pathfinder (d20) but is a little more rules-light. It might be easier to digest and would offer a nearly seamless transition to Pathfinder when the time comes.
The reason I suggest this is because I started out playing D&D about 11 years ago and I was lost when I began playing. Everyone else knew the rules (sort of, 3.0 just came out) and they helped me out but you guys don't have that and that complicates things when you're just starting out. The amount of options and abilities make Pathfinder a great game, my favorite in fact, but also makes it confusing to start out with.
Now if and when you find that you want more crunch (options and customisations) and are more accustomed to this kind of gaming, I would definitely recommend coming back to Pathfinder. It's fantastic.
Great people here, and great help ... I can't stress this enough. I just looked at www.d20pfsrd.com as well and this, combined with the Rulebook should makes things manageable, if not easy!
You may also wish to bookmark Paizo's Pathfinder Reference Document, which are the basic, setting-stripped away, core rules and central supplementary rules and guidelines from the Advanced Player's Guide (marked as "advanced"), GameMasteryGuide (not marked as anything, but it's all setting stuff like "hazards" and "the planes"), and Ultimate Magic (all marked "ultimate magic) (I imagine Ultimate Combat's additions will be added shortly).
The reason I point this out even d20pfsrd.com has these things as well is that d20pfsrd.com has the shiny double-edged blade of having EVERY thing supplementary that is covered by the Open Game License, including tons of Adventure Path and setting based materials---making their database utterly HUGE and possibly overwhelming to a newcomer, who may neither need nor want all of this extra material (of course, they might). The way it's indexed, you don't necessarily see what is core and what is supplementary in the indexes (I'm not sure about the databases)--though to d20pfsrd.com's credit, when you click on a given entry, they do clearly mark what is core and what is supplementary, but it's just a lot of stuff--it's a great site, I just want to point out the difference in content and make sure you're aware of it.
You'll need to buy dice.
You can buy as much setting as you want, or make your own. If you choose the latter, I recommend the Game Mastery Guide.
The books are absolutely worth owning, even though the rules are free. They are lavishly illustrated and a joy to read.
Welcome to Pathfinder!
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I think, no one mentioned the three part beginners adventure for pathfinder society (bottom page here. I haven't run it yet, but it reads as if it would be an amazing start for new players (just ignore the bits meant for organized play).
I would recommend delving into the game in the following order:
1) Buy the Core Rulebook, either hardcover or pdf.
2) Get one of the free modules
- Horror at Dagger Rock
- Hollow's Last Hope (You will need to add Combat Maneuver Ratings and streamline some skills for adversaries, but that isn't too hard, even for a beginner)
- Master of the Fallen Fortress
, the aforementioned free pathfinder society adevntures or purchase the excellent Crypt of the Everflame.
3) Visit the PRD to look up and print out the stats of monsters, that are not included in the adventures (or of all monsters in case of Hollow's last hope)
4) Play the adventure(s)
5) If Interest persists, buy the Bestiary and the Gamemasters Guide (really helpful for beginners)
6) At this point you should be quite sure if you will want to run games in Golarion, hence boy the Inner Sea World Guide, and if you want to continue wit more or less self contained modules or start a longer campaign, aka Adventure Path, there are lots to chose from either way.
If a computer is available at the table I would suggest, Combat Manager if running a Windows compatible system, as the go to source over an online reference site such as those mentioned earlier.
It includes:
- Rules database
- Feats database
- Spell database with ability to create/customize
- Monster database with ability to create/customize
- Treasure database with a random generator
- Combat Tracker
- Dice Roller
One thing I'll throw out -- even if you're planning to run for a group of your friends, you might want to try a game or two of Pathfinder Society or some other local game if possible.
I don't think the game, overall, is that complicated once you've experienced it being played but if you never have I think it can be harder to see how everything fits together. I feel like the quickest way to really understand the game is to see it in action.
Here's another idea I haven't seen mentioned yet: come up with your own adventure.
Don't get me wrong, Paizo and other companies write some darn fine adventures, but you're in a position of little to no expectations, and a universe of possibilities. Have fun with that.
Read as much of the rules as you can. Study the bestiary and the Challenge Rating guidelines. Then, throw some monsters at your friends' characters. It doesn't have to be an elaborate plot with twists and turns. It can be, "go into the abandoned crypt, fight the undead guardians, and claim the prize."
As you and your friends develop a better understanding of the rules, you can experiment more and more. But remember, a lot of us got started with just a rules book and a monster manual. The story, we took care of ourselves.
I enjoy the APs, but every now and again, I want to meet up in a tavern and take the quest from the old man in the corner.
Also, I just have to say ... the more I think about it the more amazed I am by the fact that the main webpage does not have a 'how to get started' section, or even a forum sticky detailing the things new players would need to get into the game.
This is a great idea, and I'm going to poke some people about it, seeing as how it's going to be very relevant when the Beginner Box comes out. :)
The one reason I'm still looking into this system is the community I encountered here on the forums.
Hey thanks dude!
If you think this was a good community response, you should try GMing an adventure path sometime... I swear the community here has doubled the value of the adventures I've run. Having an army of GMs who have played through the same campaign can be an incredible boon.
Yeah, the Paizo front page can be daunting, partly because they don't just sell their own products. Once you sink your teeth in, though, I'm sure you'll see the appeal of Pathfinder.
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if you did not have such a great community I would have been long, long gone and settled for another game system that does at least leave a minimal impression of caring about the players.
I think if you hang around here long enough you'll discover the irony of that statement.
The last thing I would accuse the Paizo staff of is not caring. I think the issue here is that most Pathfinder players (staff included) are simply not used to having to learn the basics of the game and therefore such an idea probably never occurred to them.
I wish I had the link, but the 3.5 Private Sanctuary Podcast recorded a lot of the seminars at PaizoCon, and in one of the seminars the team went in depth about how so many of the facets of Roleplaying that we old timers take for granted are almost completely alien to new players.
I think your thread is on to something here, and I wouldn't be surprised if you see something along the lines of what you were looking for appear within the next few weeks.
As an aside: The beginner box (though it will be too late for you) is not just a collection of "what you need to play" but is also designed to help new players and a new GM slide into the game without feeling overwhelmed. Even if you dive in feet first now, it may still be a huge help to consider it for a future purchase.
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One thing I'll throw out -- even if you're planning to run for a group of your friends, you might want to try a game or two of Pathfinder Society or some other local game if possible.
I don't think the game, overall, is that complicated once you've experienced it being played but if you never have I think it can be harder to see how everything fits together. I feel like the quickest way to really understand the game is to see it in action.
Welcome aboard.
Dire Mongoose offers good advice here. You won't just be playing, you'll be DMing for your friends.
If you can, try to find a game somewhere where you can test it once or twice, it should help you a lot afterwards.
Oh, and don't worry about getting things right the first time. As long as you have fun with your pals, you're doing well.
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Oh, and don't worry about getting things right the first time. As long as you have fun with your pals, you're doing well.
This, this, a million times this. I really think this is the most important piece of advice you can take into your learning experience with you, especially since you are the one to be GMing.
When you are first starting out, try to familiarize yourself as much as you can with the rules obviously, but if you are unsure of how to resolve something, and cant figure it out exactly, run with something that makes sense! Using the basics and skeletons of the rules and improvising on some of the more complicated stuff in the name of learning and having fun is paramount to this, IMO. In other words, don't be concerned with playing exactly to the letter of the law your first time out, play within the skeleton frame work of the rules as you understand them. The rules are designed to be guidelines anyway. Even for those of us who are familiar with the rules, we change things up all the time to better suit our needs and personal tastes!
As far as what you will need, there have been a lot of solid recommendations, so Ill just chime in with my personal opinion.
1) One of the free modules or PFS scenarios will give you a solid starting adventure to get going with. Plus the free ones are usually designed with newer players in mind anyway, so they might not be as complex or use obscure rules as AP books or other modules might do.
2) Core rulebook pdf, book, and PFSRD. About the book, I don't suggest everyone get one, but you might consider having everyone interested in learning throw in on purchasing one copy of the core rulebook to share at sessions. That way you have one hard copy for play, and can use cheaper pdfs/ srd when not there to help learn the rules.
3) Don't be afraid to ask questions here on the forums! As you said, the community here is, overall, a solid and extremely helpful one. There are instances of snark and bickering over silly/non-silly things, but if there is one thing that is a hallmark of the community on a whole, its their willingness of being helpful to new players. Once you get to be a grizzled old veteran you can take park in discussions on if metemagic is broken or not, or if <insert anything here> is evil or not ;)
4) Repeating what I said earlier. The first few times you play, dont worry about getting the rules 100% correct. Worry about playing the game the way you understand it, and learning the rules as you go along. Dont be afraid to wing something if you dont understand the rules. The number one priority of this hobby is to have fun, that makes rule number one to be "have fun".
With all that said, welcome to the community and hopefully this is something that at least some in your group will enjoy and want to stick around with!
Chief Technical Officer
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Also, I just have to say ... the more I think about it the more amazed I am by the fact that the main webpage does not have a 'how to get started' section, or even a forum sticky detailing the things new players would need to get into the game.This is a great idea, and I'm going to poke some people about it, seeing as how it's going to be very relevant when the Beginner Box comes out. :)
When you come to our site and click on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game logo (or navigate to the main Pathfinder RPG page by any of several other ways), one of the very first things you see is a brief explanation of the Pathfinder RPG, which includes the following:
Players need only the single 576-page Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook to play, while the Game Master who controls the action will also want the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, a massive tome containing more than 350 fantastic foes for your adventurers to face.
That's where you should start. (And yes, there are free sources for the rules online, but we think that the Core Rulebook itself, whether in print or PDF, presents a much more approachable way to learn the game, so we point you to those first.)
There are a number of reasons that we don't tell you where to go from there in that summary. First, we don't want to overload you with options before you've begun (though we apparently managed to do that with you). Also, as you've seen from the multitude of answers you've received in this thread, there are many ways to go from there: Modules, Adventure Paths, Pathfinder Society, homebrew campaigns, third-party products, and more. Further, the Core Rulebook itself gives you some explanation of where to go from there—and by the time you've digested it, you'll hopefully have a better idea of what you and your gaming group might want to do, and thus which of those many directions is right for you. In short, you need to go there before you need to know where to go from there.
The Beginner Box will change the equation a lot—not only does it give you all the tools you need to start, but it also covers where to go from there; when it comes out, we'll be revising our message significantly: If you're new to the game, start with the Beginner Box. If you're an experienced gamer (or you just enjoy learning complex game systems), you might want to start with the Core Rulebook and the Bestiary instead.
(We probably should update our RPG FAQ to cover some more of your questions, though.)
Some late recommendations here, partly because I disagree with some of the earlier recommendations, and partly because I have some recommendations of my own.
First off, do not start with Hollow's Last Hope. It's not a Pathfinder module, it's a 3.5e module (D&D 3.5e is the game that became Pathfinder, and there are rules differences between the two), and frankly I don't really think it's all that great for an intro group - it's got some pretty tough elements in it and it is pretty sandboxy for an intro group.
A better choice is probably Master of the Fallen Fortress - like all the free RPG modules. Note that you won't want to use the pregenerated characters in that module - they are all special new classes from an additional book, the Advanced Player's Guide. But that's okay, you can download any number of pregenerated characters from the Paizo web site.
I also do not recommend We Be Goblins! as that is meant to be an interesting variant for people who have played a lot, not an intro to the game. Nor do I recommend any of the PFS modules - PFS modules are written with a different goal in mind than ordinary modules (fitting into a 4-hour play window at a convention and making use of lots of power factions), making them less fitting for what you want to do.
To keep playing after that first module, I'd say go with the Carrion Crown adventure path; the first part of that is one of the best adventures I've ever read.
Also, while the Bestiary is useful, it's not mandatory. It will save you a pile of cash to just go to the PFSRD or d20pfsrd.com and print out the monster or two you need.
Another thing to consider is the SORD, not available here, but available on other web sites (I think rpgnow.com is the place to get it - yes, it's here). It consolidates a lot of the rules in a smaller, better organized manner but doesn't include classes or spells.
Finally, I recommend getting a blank flip mat and something to use as miniatures. While you can get away without them, it's a lot easier to deal with combats with them. If someone has a HeroScape set, those work okay, if not, you can pick up singles or boxes at Paizo or other sites like trollandtoad.com or even eBay. No need to obsess about matching miniatures exactly, virtually nobody does even though it's obviously nicer.
I'd also like to point out the very affordable Pathfinder Paper Minis to start off your mini collection. :)
Just want to add my greetings and wish you hours of enjoyment in our own particular rabbit hole.(It's like Wonderland here sometimes..only crazier)