Do you still call Pathfinder "DND" in conversation?


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion

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My gaming group has switched to PF for over a year now, maybe close to two, and we still call it "DND" when we're discussing it with other people. Like, we say "Are we playing DND on Friday?" instead of "Are we playing Pathfinder on Friday?" I also notice that when I stick PF games into my schedule, I type "DND." My wife still calls it DND.

Anyone else notice the same thing? Note for the sake of discussion, nobody I've talked to bothered playing DND4thED.

Liberty's Edge

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Nope, I call it Pathfinder. If someone says to me they are playing D&D I would likely assume they're playing D&D3.5 or 4e, not Pathfinder RPG.

Though if someone said they were playing Pathfinder I wouldn't rule out they meant they were playing D&D3.5 with the Pathfinder setting or a Pathfinder Adventure Path (one of the problems with the RPG and setting having the same name).


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Of course. Actually there are two levels.

1. Thursday night is DnD night. This is true whether we're playing Gamma World, PF, Torg, or Amber, it's still DnD night.

2. What are we playing this Thurs? Generally we are still playing DnD, which means PF. If youare speaking to non-gamers, most of them know what D&D is, none of them know what Pathfinder is. If you're speaking to pure gamers, most of them now know what the difference is between PF and 3.5.

But it will always be Dungeons & Dragons, no matter how much better the PF rules are, it's still D&D. That's why we love it.


major tom nailed it on the head.


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When speaking to Muggles, yes. Though I do my best to explain to them that it's a gross oversimplification. They don't care. They ask if I wear a wizards hat at the game. *le sigh*


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Tiny Coffee Golem wrote:
When speaking to Muggles, yes. Though I do my best to explain to them that it's a gross oversimplification. They don't care. They ask if I wear a wizards hat at the game. *le sigh*

I tell them that a cape and elven ears are a must!

and you must speak in your best comic guy voice form the simpsons


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As far as I'm concerned, Pathfinder IS D&D 4e. Or, rather, D&D 4e as it should have been.

The Dungeons & Dragons brand name was merely bought by another company and attached to an unrelated fantasy RPG.

(I'm not hating on WOTC's 4e, it's a perfectly fine game, it's just not D&D anymore.)

Grand Lodge

Quantum Steve wrote:


(I'm not hating on WOTC's 4e, it's a perfectly fine game, it's just not D&D anymore.)

Yes it is. Can we please stop mentioning 4E in a thread that has nothing to do with it?

Moving right along, I call Pathfinder Pathfinder and D&D D&D. But since I still play 3.5 D&D, that is to be expected.


Yes. Pathfinder is D&D 3.5 ("3.5" was a few errata from 3.0. Sould havebeen called 3.00001) I don't know what 4.0 is, but its not dungeons and dragons.


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I call it D & D among people who don't game (because it is a kind of D&D), and Pathfinder among those that do.

In my mind, Original, Advanced, Advanced 2E, 3.0, 3.5, Pathfinder and 4.0 are all D&D, just different flavours of the same game.


TriOmegaZero wrote:
Quantum Steve wrote:


(I'm not hating on WOTC's 4e, it's a perfectly fine game, it's just not D&D anymore.)

Yes it is. Can we please stop mentioning 4E in a thread that has nothing to do with it?

Moving right along, I call Pathfinder Pathfinder and D&D D&D. But since I still play 3.5 D&D, that is to be expected.

4E does have something to do with it. To some if I say dnd it means fantasy roleplaying game. To others if I say DnD it means the current edition of dungeons and dragons published by wizards of the coast, which is 4th Edition.

For myself I alternate. Sometimes I say pathfinder other times I say dnd, but they can pry terms like DM away from me when I am cold and dead. I will always bee the dungeon master, not the game master.


Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Dark Archive Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games

beej67 wrote:

My gaming group has switched to PF for over a year now, maybe close to two, and we still call it "DND" when we're discussing it with other people. Like, we say "Are we playing DND on Friday?" instead of "Are we playing Pathfinder on Friday?" I also notice that when I stick PF games into my schedule, I type "DND." My wife still calls it DND.

Anyone else notice the same thing? Note for the sake of discussion, nobody I've talked to bothered playing DND4thED.

It depends who I'm talking to. If I'm talking to my fellow gamers, I call it Pathfinder. If I'm talking to non-gamer laypeople (like my wife), I call it DnD - otherwise I have to spend additional time explaining what Pathfinder is.

Since my wife and most non-gamers know DnD is a role-playing game, it's easier to refer to Pathfinder (or WoD, or Cthulhu, or any RPG) as DnD so they can better understand what I'm talking about.


Larry Lichman wrote:
beej67 wrote:

My gaming group has switched to PF for over a year now, maybe close to two, and we still call it "DND" when we're discussing it with other people. Like, we say "Are we playing DND on Friday?" instead of "Are we playing Pathfinder on Friday?" I also notice that when I stick PF games into my schedule, I type "DND." My wife still calls it DND.

Anyone else notice the same thing? Note for the sake of discussion, nobody I've talked to bothered playing DND4thED.

It depends who I'm talking to. If I'm talking to my fellow gamers, I call it Pathfinder. If I'm talking to non-gamer laypeople (like my wife), I call it DnD - otherwise I have to spend additional time explaining what Pathfinder is.

Since my wife and most non-gamers know DnD is a role-playing game, it's easier to refer to Pathfinder (or WoD, or Cthulhu, or any RPG) as DnD so they can better understand what I'm talking about.

Muggles.


I still refer to it as D&D. I make the distinction only as required. Especially as I tend to think of 4E as a game but a world of warcraft game.


Yes, because PF is heir to the house that Gary and Dave built, not 4th edition.


I call our sundays "D&D night" But typically I call the game we play Pathfinder. For 4th edition i refer to it only as Dungeons and Dragons. While we haven't played a 4th edition game in a while, because we have on occasion played it we try to differentiate between the two. Some of my players call both D&D, but for the most part we use 3.5 (for old rulebooks, feats, and such), pathfinder (for anything paizo produced, the setting, or the general ruleset we play in), or dungeons and dragons (4th edition) to refer to the various games.


Déjà vu

Liberty's Edge

Depends if I'm speaking to a gamer or not. For example, compare:

NON-GAMER: Hey, can you do this thing Thursday night?

ME: Nope, sorry. I'm playing Pathfinder.

NON-GAMER: What's Pathinder?

Me: It's like D&D.

NON-GAMER: That's still around? Crazy.

vs.

NON-GAMER: Hey, can you do this thing Thursday night?

ME: Nope, sorry. I'm playing D&D.

NON-GAMER: That's still around? Crazy.

Of course, if it's a fellow gamer:

Me: Hey, can you do this thing Thursday night?

GAMER: Hey, can you do this thing Thursday night?

ME: Nope, sorry. I'm playing Pathfinder.

GAMER: Oh, let us have a conversation on the merits of PF vs 4th Ed in the manner of gentlemen.

Me: Yes, let us!


I call it Pathfinder, but then again I never called the game D&D, it was more like "tonight we play 2nd edition", then it was "tonight we play 3rd edition", then it was "tonight we play 4th edition".

Now it is "tonight we play Pathfinder".


The NPC wrote:
Especially as I tend to think of 4E as a game but a world of warcraft game
EWHM wrote:
Yes, because PF is heir to the house that Gary and Dave built, not 4th edition.

A WINNER IS YOU!


beej67 wrote:

My gaming group has switched to PF for over a year now, maybe close to two, and we still call it "DND" when we're discussing it with other people. Like, we say "Are we playing DND on Friday?" instead of "Are we playing Pathfinder on Friday?" I also notice that when I stick PF games into my schedule, I type "DND." My wife still calls it DND.

Anyone else notice the same thing? Note for the sake of discussion, nobody I've talked to bothered playing DND 4thED.

I use a combination of D&D and Game Day. I have been referring to D&D as Gaming (i.e. Going gaming, getting our game on, gonna do some gaming) for about 7 years now. However, when I reference the rules specifically I talk about either D&D or 3.75. Then again, I also call my FLAG the Geek Store and did not realize at first that I did not even know the name until a few years later.


4E KILLED ADOLF HITLER!


Nerdrage Ooze wrote:
4E KILLED ADOLF HITLER!

Wait, wouldn't that be a good thing? :P


Nerdrage Ooze wrote:
4E KILLED ADOLF HITLER!

Oh yeah? Well 4E kicked me!

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
bugleyman wrote:
Nerdrage Ooze wrote:
4E KILLED ADOLF HITLER!
Wait, wouldn't that be a good thing? :P

*Grabs the popcorn while waiting for someone to disagree with Bugley.*


beej67 wrote:

My gaming group has switched to PF for over a year now, maybe close to two, and we still call it "DND" when we're discussing it with other people. Like, we say "Are we playing DND on Friday?" instead of "Are we playing Pathfinder on Friday?" I also notice that when I stick PF games into my schedule, I type "DND." My wife still calls it DND.

Anyone else notice the same thing? Note for the sake of discussion, nobody I've talked to bothered playing DND4thED.

My gaming group calls it D&D. We play a Pathfinder campaign (mine) and a 3.5 D&D game that is due to have it's final game soon. But we refer to both as D&D, I think that is all we will ever call it.

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 8

To people who don't play RPGs, I refer to PF as D&D to make life easier. In addition, when I was telling people about RPG Superstar, a "game" design contest, everyone assumed I was talking about computers. Saying it was for Pathfinder didn't help. Saying it was for D&D did as most people know through pop culture that it's a pen and paper game. A friend of mine at work asks me if I have to dress up to play...


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber
Gorbacz wrote:
bugleyman wrote:
Nerdrage Ooze wrote:
4E KILLED ADOLF HITLER!
Wait, wouldn't that be a good thing? :P
*Grabs the popcorn while waiting for someone to disagree with Bugley.*

That would be a terrible thing. Why would we leave Hitler alive until 2008 and then kill him?


John Benbo wrote:
A friend of mine at work asks me if I have to dress up to play...

Tell your friend that dressing up is only for crazy, on-the-fringe people...like, say, football fans.


It depends on whether or not I have to explain "Pathfinder" to them. In which case, I may toss in "sort of a variant D&D."

deinol wrote:
That would be a terrible thing. Why would we leave Hitler alive until 2008 and then kill him?

Well played. :)


Yes we still call it "D&D".

In addition I can read "Pathfinder" books in public and no one knows what they are. When you read a book in public that has "Dungeons & Dragons" on the cover everyone has at least some idea of what it is and most non-players don't have good impressions about it or the people that play it. With Pathfinder, no problem, if you know what it is you probably play it already.

Sovereign Court

I call it pathfinder. Not calling it that would seem like an insult in my opinion.


Given I currently run two Pathfinder-based games for the same group of people, I refer to it as either "Kingmaker" or "XCrawl" most of the time. When I'm talking to uninvolved people, I usually go with D&D or "a variant of D&D" for the sake of simplicity.

Paizo Employee Developer

I tend to alternate. Most of the people I talk to about gaming are going to be playing a game we've agreed on beforehand, so we'll just say "gaming night," or "are we playing this weekend." The system is rarely actually specified unless we plan to switch it up. If we do so, it's pathfinder, as DnD would generally refer to us putting a 4th ed game together.

In general conversation it depends entirely on context and audience. If someone's familiar with tabletop games, I tend to be more specific (but with such people I'll go as far as referring to the edition of Shadowrun, etc). If not, it's DnD. People outside the gaming community know what that is more often than any other tabletop.

The biggest thing I have is "GM" vs "DM". I often slip up and claim to DM something like Shadowrun, which has no real dungeons (well... if you go to some of the really bad parts of Seattle...), though such games are supposed to be "GMed".


To gamers, I say Pathfinder.

To the heathens, I call it D&D because "pathfinder" to them means a nissan SUV, and yields a rather clueless look when I say I "play it".
:)

-S


I call it Pathfinder to the mundanes (sorry, ancient Xanth fan here) both because they usually don't know what I'm talking about but also because if they ask, sometimes it might lead to meeting a new prospective gamer....and Pathfinder as a name may be less well known, but it also carries less of the reputation that poor old D&D has. Also, I run both Pathfinder and 4E (and 2nd edition periodically) so amongst my gaming circles its necessary to draw a distinction; calling Pathfinder D&D to my Saturday night group could lead to a lynching....luckily, my Wednesday night group likes all games equally and has no hang ups on any single system, so they get to enjoy it all (PF, 4E, SW, RQ...you name it).

Shadow Lodge

I quickly explain the difference:
"I play Pathfinder. It's a continuation of the previous edition of DnD."

Grand Lodge

Oooh,
What's the matter with the game I'm playin'....?

.
Don't ya know that WotC sucks.
.

Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout a new way of rockin'
But it's still D&D to Meee

Liberty's Edge

When I talk about Pathfinder, I call it Pathfinder. Generally I still say AD&D instead of D&D because I still play 2e. I never played 3e/3.5, and never wanted to, because to my mind, it was not (much to most of your minds 4e is not) D&D. That's why I can gladly play Pathfinder. It's not calling itself D&D, it's not pretending to be D&D. It's taken the rule of something I never liked and improved them to make them viable and playable, but still very much not D&D, and that makes me happy. So, no, I do not call Pathfinder D&D.


Me and my gaming buddies, we call it Pathfinder. When our friends ask about what we're playing at any given time, we say "Pathfinder" and briefly explain what it is. In our hearts it's Dungeons & Dragons, the very first rpg we ever played. And of course we have DMs, not GMs.


Tiny Coffee Golem wrote:
When speaking to Muggles, yes. Though I do my best to explain to them that it's a gross oversimplification. They don't care. They ask if I wear a wizards hat at the game. *le sigh*

This.

Liberty's Edge

I tell people I play DnD, then specify Pathfinder.

With people that already play Pathfinder, I'll call it Pathfinder.

Sczarni

beej67 wrote:

My gaming group has switched to PF for over a year now, maybe close to two, and we still call it "DND" when we're discussing it with other people. Like, we say "Are we playing DND on Friday?" instead of "Are we playing Pathfinder on Friday?" I also notice that when I stick PF games into my schedule, I type "DND." My wife still calls it DND.

Anyone else notice the same thing? Note for the sake of discussion, nobody I've talked to bothered playing DND4thED.

As long as there are halflings involved....it is called awesome....

Grand Lodge

brreitz wrote:


NON-GAMER: Hey, can you do this thing Thursday night?

ME: Nope, sorry. I'm playing D&D.

NON-GAMER: That's still around? Crazy.

Of course, if it's a fellow gamer:

Me: Hey, can you do this thing Thursday night?

GAMER: Hey, can you do this thing Thursday night?

ME: Nope, sorry. I'm playing Pathfinder.

GAMER: Oh, let us have a conversation on the merits of PF vs 4th Ed in the manner of gentlemen.

Me: Yes, let us!

Please tell me you own at least one monocle and have a handlebar mustache. TELL ME!

Anyway, our group always calls it D&D. Pathfinder is a rather recent initiate into our gaming lineup, although it has all but completely replaced its 3.5 predecessor. Old habits die hard.


For a limited time I was playing in a 3.5 game, playing in a 4e game, and running a Pathfinder game. Some of the players overlapped, so I had to call it Pathfinder to avoid confusion.

Now, I only run Pathfinder, but the habit stuck, and I still call it Pathfinder, not D&D.

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