As someone who knows the game quite well and ran 3.5e games for years, but usually runs low level games and very often starts campaigns with most players completely new to the game, would the Beginner Box be a good purchase for me? Or would I be better served with the Core Rulebook and just keep teaching the rules to new players as I always did?
|
Hi Yora,
I think that even if you use the Core Rulebook, Bestiaries, Adventure Paths etc to GM games, the Beginner Box is still an excellent way to introduce new players to those games.
If you often have players completely new to Pathfinder, showing them the 64-page Hero's Handbook is much less daunting than dropping the 576-page Core Rulebook in their lap.
You could even loan them the Hero's Handbook and a new player should be able to create their own character step-by-step without too much trouble.
Though Beginner Box characters are limited to Human, Elf, Dwarf, and Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard out of the box (and Barbarian with free PDF download), players can start to look at other sources for feats, equipment, spells etc, as soon as they feel comfortable doing so.
They can also play side-by-side at the same table as Core Rulebook, APG, Ultimate Combat etc characters (if you have a mix of new and experienced players), because they're all built from the same core rules base, albeit a smaller selection of those rules.
Download the various Free Beginner Box Resources and have a look over them for layout/presentation for an idea of how easy they are for new players to understand and follow, this may help you decide.
Might be a good idea to get the handbooks as pdf. The other extra stuff is nice, but nothing I'd have use for.
7,50€ for guides to introduce new players seems a good price, if there'd be an easy way to pay for them from europe.
But it's expensive for getting a pamphlet with only a fraction of the material I already have.
