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I love the Tabletop RPGs and the Pathfinder RPG seems to me to be the best of the lot, but looking over the history of Tabletop RPG publishing it seems even the Pathfinder RPG has and will continue to have a fragmentation problem.
What I mean by fragmentation problem is say you want to be a Dwarven Cleric and you want all the options for creating one in one place, you don't really have that.
I am currently running the Beginner Box and I transcribed all the necessaries of the adventures (I am the GM) into a comp book for quicker reference. It seems like I will have to do something similar(though probably more electronic in nature) so I can reorganize all the available information for each subject in one place. Even the PRD is organized by book instead of by subject. There are feats across multiple books, which also makes looking them up more of a problem as time goes on.
When the Advanced Race Guide comes out I will have to take all that info about the core races and reintegrate them with what I know from the previous books.
A decent, but at the same time unpalatable, option would be like Ultimate Dwarves, or Ultimate Feats or something, but then that book becomes out of date almost instantly, ha.
I guess it is a problem I will just have to manage on my own - like sorting magic cards in my younger days. How do other people handle the fragmentation?
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I love the Tabletop RPGs and the Pathfinder RPG seems to me to be the best of the lot, but looking over the history of Tabletop RPG publishing it seems even the Pathfinder RPG has and will continue to have a fragmentation problem.
What I mean by fragmentation problem is say you want to be a Dwarven Cleric and you want all the options for creating one in one place, you don't really have that.
I am currently running the Beginner Box and I transcribed all the necessaries of the adventures (I am the GM) into a comp book for quicker reference. It seems like I will have to do something similar(though probably more electronic in nature) so I can reorganize all the available information for each subject in one place. Even the PRD is organized by book instead of by subject. There are feats across multiple books, which also makes looking them up more of a problem as time goes on.
When the Advanced Race Guide comes out I will have to take all that info about the core races and reintegrate them with what I know from the previous books.
A decent, but at the same time unpalatable, option would be like Ultimate Dwarves, or Ultimate Feats or something, but then that book becomes out of date almost instantly, ha.
I guess it is a problem I will just have to manage on my own - like sorting magic cards in my younger days. How do other people handle the fragmentation?
Perhaps a digital or web only file for something like Ultimate Feats that is updated periodically or when new books come out.
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There are electronic sources available to deal with this. d20pfsrd is the officially unofficial version of the prd, and is organized by type (feat, class, race, etc) rather than book. Many people seem to like Hero Lab to organize their options and rules for them. There is still a lot of material to sort through, but The Guide to the Guides can link you to sources that separate the wheat from the chaff for you (though, fair warning, they are of variable in quality and few are constantly updated for new material). Together, these sources and others make dealing with this issue much, much easier.
The ARG has all the non holstein specific race info in one place. Really handing them the arg followed by the appropriate race book once they have an idea should not be heard. But from a business point of view they Won't want to discourage buying rutter other books. So roots cannot be avoided. That the soft stuff was in it surprised me.
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Perhaps a digital or web only file for something like Ultimate Feats that is updated periodically or when new books come out.I love the Tabletop RPGs and the Pathfinder RPG seems to me to be the best of the lot, but looking over the history of Tabletop RPG publishing it seems even the Pathfinder RPG has and will continue to have a fragmentation problem.
What I mean by fragmentation problem is say you want to be a Dwarven Cleric and you want all the options for creating one in one place, you don't really have that.
I am currently running the Beginner Box and I transcribed all the necessaries of the adventures (I am the GM) into a comp book for quicker reference. It seems like I will have to do something similar(though probably more electronic in nature) so I can reorganize all the available information for each subject in one place. Even the PRD is organized by book instead of by subject. There are feats across multiple books, which also makes looking them up more of a problem as time goes on.
When the Advanced Race Guide comes out I will have to take all that info about the core races and reintegrate them with what I know from the previous books.
A decent, but at the same time unpalatable, option would be like Ultimate Dwarves, or Ultimate Feats or something, but then that book becomes out of date almost instantly, ha.
I guess it is a problem I will just have to manage on my own - like sorting magic cards in my younger days. How do other people handle the fragmentation?
If somehow the PRD was organized by subject instead of by book, this would be the ideal. I understand that that would be a lot of work on Paizo's part. Maybe an official wiki, so that Pathfinder players can do the heavy lifting for them. Then again someone arguing over the wiki rules could start some fights, ha. Though house rules could be the books (w/ errata) trump the wiki. Something to ponder...
Wiki websites and smartphone apps...
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/
and there is some android apps flying around on the marketplace... I'm sure there is something similar for I-Whatevers too?
If somehow the PRD was organized by subject instead of by book, this would be the ideal.
It is. Check out the left sidebar under Index. It has all of the feats, spells, and magic items all in one spot. In the case of magic items and spells, it even lets you filter them very much like d20psrd's messy database.
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If somehow the PRD was organized by subject instead of by book, this would be the ideal.It is. Check out the left sidebar under Index. It has all of the feats, spells, and magic items all in one spot. In the case of magic items and spells, it even lets you filter them very much like d20psrd's messy database.
That's nice, but I guess when they add new Race or Class options I still need to consolidate those.
It's unofficial, but is rather permeable. Like very open. Just get in touch with the John Reyst, it's director.
I do sympathize though, that there are no Great Lists in the fashion that you, and to a limited extant, I would like. From a publishers angle though, such consolidation would be time-consuming and drive-down profits. With tabletop RPGs, we're just going to need to stick to lotsofbookkeeping! that's a hallmark of this type of hobby.
But the future yawns bright, and things like the MMO will alleviate a lot of this issue, in my opinion, since one game environment is easily to reference than 20 books.:)
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It's unofficial, but is rather permeable. Like very open. Just get in touch with the John Reyst, it's director.
I do sympathize though, that there are no Great Lists in the fashion that you, and to a limited extant, I would like. From a publishers angle though, such consolidation would be time-consuming and drive-down profits. With tabletop RPGs, we're just going to need to stick to lotsofbookkeeping! that's a hallmark of this type of hobby.
But the future yawns bright, and things like the MMO will alleviate a lot of this issue, in my opinion, since one game environment is easily to reference than 20 books.:)
I cannot share your enthusiasm for the MMO. I have played almost all of them and have always been left wanting. They can never replace the type of experience that the table top and a group of real life friends in the room provide.
I think you're the demographic they are targeting. Just wait for VR. :P
The 'Spells' app for iPad sorts info by type, not source. You can open the options to include/exclude sources as desired.
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Why do you always need all the options?
For new players, you don't need to (and IMO, shouldn't) throw them at every book in the catalog looking for that last feat or spell.
Start with just Core, and when they're ready, they'll naturally start exploring other books and options. Point them towards d20pfsrd or similar sites along the way, and let them peruse in their spare time.
Having All Possible Options =/= Being Ready To Play.
The mindset of "all my options have to be visible or I'm missing out" is a very dangerous one that most interactive media has shoved down our throats for a while now. What's wrong with not seeing every feat? I'll happily build a Core-only Monk any day!
Think of the other books like Tomes- you dig through them along the way (your adventure!), finding little awesome bits here and there, and going back to some of them the next time you build something that could use it.
It's an experience, not just a character-gen screen before the "real" game starts.
EDIT: I don't mean for this to come off as condescending or finger-wagging, it's just my take on it.
If you would like something that effectively pools all your options, I'd suggest looking at Hero Lab. Yes, it costs money, but it's amazing.
I find I don't need anything other than CRB, APG, and -- if I'm feeling lazy -- a Bestiary or two. But that's just me.
What I mean by fragmentation problem is say you want to be a Dwarven Cleric and you want all the options for creating one in one place, you don't really have that.
The d20pfsrd is organized in the way that you want. Wikis have it organized in that way too for world fluff. The internet is a wonderful thing.
