Goblin Squad Member
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There are no plans to actually have any classes at all. Characters will have abilities and train via skill trees or skill lines. For example, if you want to be a Cavalier, you could train riding, spears/lances and perhaps something to do with leadership or nobility along with the standard melee combat skills.
While there are no classes per se, you will be able to use most of the archetypes available in PFO - to what extent remains to be seen. For example, I've seen nothing mentioned about Ninja (thankfully) or Psionicists.
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Goblin Squad Member
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We want the Pathfinder Online design to capture as much of the flavor of the tabletop game as possible, and we need to address the issue of classes and levels to achieve that. The Goblinworks team brainstormed on this idea extensively, and we think we've come up with a pretty novel solution.In the tabletop Pathfinder RPG, you earn the benefits of a level all at once as you hit an experience point threshold. In Pathfinder Online, we've turned the system on its head: instead of using experience points as a prerequisite for improving in a skill, improving skills are part of the prerequisite for gaining new abilities. Your character must earn all the things needed to qualify for a new "level," and then you're rewarded with a special bonus. If you want to be a better rogue, you do roguish things and train roguish skills, and at a certain point, you receive a special merit badge recognizing a development milestone, rewarding you with a benefit for your persistence. Like class levels in the tabletop game, there will be 20 of these rewards available for each class type, creating a way to simulate a 20-level progression within our unique system.
Each of the base classes in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook will be represented in the online game in this way, and in time we intend to add additional development paths to simulate prestige classes, archetypes, and base classes from other Pathfinder RPG content such as the Advanced Player's Guide and the Ultimate rulebooks.
Hope it helps :) I'm hoping to make a sellsword that dabbles in magic.
Are there any plans to include classes from the Ultimate series of books, such as the Cavalier, Alchemist and Magus?
Here is a quick copy and paste for you from the kickstarer page FAQs.
Pathfinder Online has a unique character development system and doesn't use classes the same way the tabletop RPG does. You can read more at goblinworks.com in the blog titled "Your Pathfinder Online Character".
Here is the relevant info from the blog entry mentioned in the previous copy and paste.
Each of the base classes in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook will be represented in the online game in this way, and in time we intend to add additional development paths to simulate prestige classes, archetypes, and base classes from other Pathfinder RPG content such as the Advanced Player's Guide and the Ultimate rulebooks.
These are the 11 basic development paths, which we refer to as archetypes. The key to each archtype is a skill tree that encourages characters to train a skill that is directly linked to their development in that archetype, in addition to many other skills.
Barbarians—masters of rage. In the ways of their people, in the fury of their passion, in the howl of battle, conflict is all these brutal souls know.
Bards—masters of inspiration. These characters capably confuse and confound their foes while inspiring their allies to ever—greater daring.
Clerics—masters of divine power. These characters' true strength lies in their capability to draw upon the power of their deities, whether to increase their own and their allies' prowess in battle, to vex their foes with divine magic, or to lend healing to companions in need.
Druids—masters of nature empathy. Allies to beasts and manipulators of nature, these often misunderstood protectors of the wild strive to shield their lands from all who would threaten them.
Fighters—masters of weapons. Lords of the battlefield, these characters are a disparate lot, training with many weapons or just one, perfecting the uses of armor, learning the fighting techniques of exotic masters, and studying the art of combat, all to shape themselves into living weapons.
Monks—masters of ki power. These warrior-artists search out methods of battle beyond swords and shields, finding weapons within themselves just as capable of crippling or killing as any blade.
Paladins—masters of smiting evil. These noble souls dedicate their swords and lives to the battle against evil.
Rangers—masters of tracking. Knowledgeable, patient, and skilled hunters, these characters hound man, beast, and monster alike, gaining insight into the way of the predator.
Rogues—masters of stealth. Ever just one step ahead of danger, these characters bank on their cunning, skill, and charm to bend fate to their favor.
Sorcerers—masters of blood magic. Scions of innately magical bloodlines, the chosen of deities, the spawn of monsters, pawns of fate and destiny, or simply flukes of fickle magic, these characters look within themselves for arcane prowess and draw forth might few mortals can imagine.
Wizards—masters of hermetic magic. These shrewd magic-users seek, collect, and covet esoteric knowledge, drawing on cultic arts to work wonders beyond the abilities of mere mortals.
We also wanted to capture the idea from the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game that dedication to one path would have additional benefits. Therefore, if your character chooses to stay committed to one of these archetypes until it has achieved all 20 archetype merit badges, your character will earn an additional capstone ability! (A character can train in many other skills outside of their archetype skill tree and still progress towards the capstone ability—they just need to avoid training in the skill tree of a different archtype. Don't worry—if you accidentally start to train a skill tree outside your archetype, you'll be warned, the consequences will be explained, and you'll have a chance to change that decision before it's irrevocable!)
Of course, if you decide that it would be more interesting or fun for your character to training in the skills of more than one archetype, you'll still earn the appropriate class-type bonuses when you meet the prerequisites—you just won't be eligible for the final special capstone ability when you achieve the 20th merit badge in that archetype.
Reaching 20th Level
It won't be easy or quick to reach the 20th-level capstone in an archetype. Some of the prerequistes for archetype merit badges will be hard to achieve and will require your character to succeed in some extraordinary adventures. In terms of sheer time, I'd like to see the first 20th-level characters emerge around two-and-a-half-years after launch. Capstone-level characters should be unique, powerful individuals not commonly encountered.
And of course, reaching the capstone doesn't mean your character has to retire—you can continue training the same character with a different archetype if you like.
What about Everyone Else?
While we've focused somewhat on adventurers in this blog, it is our intention to give other types of characters similar goals and objectives—and similar rewards. If you choose to focus on crafting, you should be able to become an epic crafter with the perks and recognition due such a character. As development proceeds, we'll share more of our ideas about that with the community, and we'll get your feedback as we shape those plans.
to long did not read version: 11 core classes from the core book will be represented in the MMO character development system, and as the game progress all of the classes from APG, UM,and UC, as well as some of the prestige classes will eventually be represented in the development/level up system of PFO. Also crafters will be their very own "class" in the mmo system.
And i did not realize i was sharing the same thing Marthian did. oh well.
There are no plans to actually have any classes at all. Characters will have abilities and train via skill trees or skill lines. For example, if you want to be a Cavalier, you could train riding, spears/lances and perhaps something to do with leadership or nobility along with the standard melee combat skills.
While there are no classes per se, you will be able to use most of the archetypes available in PFO - to what extent remains to be seen. For example, I've seen nothing mentioned about Ninja (thankfully) or Psionicists.
I doubt we will see psionics as that was a third party book. Ninja on the other hand, unless its just a rogue variant and not an actual class will most likely be included when they do all of the ultimate books.
Not sure if they plan on incorporating any of the class variants. i hope they don't as some of them are just terribly broken.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I doubt we will see psionics as that was a third party book. Ninja on the other hand, unless its just a rogue variant and not an actual class will most likely be included when they do all of the ultimate books.
Well, we will have to wait and see with regards to the Ninja. I just find it too overpowered compared to the rogue with the only downside being not able to detect traps. Broken class in my opinion.
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Goblin Squad Member
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"...(A character can train in many other skills outside of their archetype skill tree and still progress towards the capstone ability—they just need to avoid training in the skill tree of a different archtype. Don't worry—if you accidentally start to train a skill tree outside your archetype, you'll be warned, the consequences will be explained, and you'll have a chance to change that decision before it's irrevocable!)..."
This section puzzles me. If I want to build a druid but include a weapon ability belonging to the Ranger archetype and not the Druid tree I cannot do so until after I cap the druidic archetype?
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Goblin Squad Member
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You are only rewarded if you stay on a single path up through and including acquisition of the Capstone.
Actually, that's no longer correct.
From Roles and Role advantages (Capstones!):
So what we're proposing now is the idea of a "Dedication" or "Focus" bonus.
Essentially, whenever you only have feats from one role slotted (rounded out with generic feats that aren't role-specific), you'll gain a bonus to doing what that role is supposed to do. This bonus is pegged to making the pure build competitive with the best synergistic multi-role build, may shift over time as new synergies are discovered, and may scale up in power based on your level (becoming similar in power to tabletop's Capstone at 20th level if high-level synergies are really powerful).
And from Prestige Classes: A solution to the Capstone Problem?:
As currently conceived, the "Dedication" system replaces the previous idea of "Capstones" (as something you would only get if you take all 20 levels of a role in sequence).
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Goblin Squad Member
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Thank yet again Nihimon: You are admirable.
I STILL haven't received my core rulebook (but then it IS Sunday) but what I am gathering is that if, as I had been intending, I trained a skill in, say longbow, but then fulfilled my intent to otherwise train exclusively for Wizard, then I would have already have gimped my Wizard irreparably.
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Goblin Squad Member
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i wouldnt mind races keeping their bonuses as in the table top. There is no reason why not. I know some races tend to be more popular but in the games iv been in for the most part they are not deal breakers.
not only that but GW can take a look at different things, for example why a human is by far the best choice for sorcerer when using the extra books, and determine to do something like change the human sorcerer favored class bonus to make it not outshine the other races bonuses.
Thank yet again Nihimon: You are admirable.
I STILL haven't received my core rulebook (but then it IS Sunday) but what I am gathering is that if, as I had been intending, I trained a skill in, say longbow, but then fulfilled my intent to otherwise train exclusively for Wizard, then I would have already have gimped my Wizard irreparably.
being did you order the corebook from the paizo store? or are you refering to the one included in the pdf super pack from the kickstarter?
if it is the later then you most likely wont have access to it for download until later in January after the survey gets processed when the kickstarter closes.if you bought a physical book from paizo website then you should have a free pdf of it you can download and look through.
Hardcopy from the Paizo store. Still waiting.
There are no downloadables other than various .pdf errata sheets in my downloads area.
that is odd, I suddenly feel the need to see if my PDFs are still available for download. Never mind. my bad, the PDFs i have are all separate purchases from the hard copies. I was mistaken, but hey at least I tried to be helpful right?
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Goblin Squad Member
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that is odd, I suddenly feel the need to see if my PDFs are still available for download. Never mind. my bad, the PDFs i have are all separate purchases from the hard copies. I was mistaken, but hey at least I tried to be helpful right?Hardcopy from the Paizo store. Still waiting.
There are no downloadables other than various .pdf errata sheets in my downloads area.
Yes, friend, you did. Thank you for your willing effort.
