Well well guys, I'm new to Pathfinder, I got my Begginer Box not so much time ago, then I started buying used books on my local book market; Advanced Players Guide, Core Book, Bestiary 3 and Dragon Empires Gazeteer.
BUT I've found myself struggling to learn the rules even after Begginers Box.
We are ALL 4E Ex-Players, and we're loving just EVERYTHING about Pathfinder, save it's overwhelming complexity that has turned some battles into rule debates, specially when I have to check every 2 rounds monster Feats...
I've asked my players what they WANT and DO NOT WANT in the campaign... they said: "You pick it e_e". The problem is that we're playing with a summoner in the group, he's happy, and I like the class, but I'm sure I can remove/twak some rules without changing much the core gameplay.
My ideas so far are:
1.- Diagonal movement costs the same, since we're very used to it since 4E and D&D Next Playtest.
2.- Monsters CAN'T HAVE, WILL NEVER HAVE, AND WILL NEVER USE FEATS, it slows down the combat TOO MUCH.
Well, I'm still reviewing the rules but we kinda want to play it "Keep it Simple and Stupid", so, any suggestions?
If you take away all monster feats, you REALLY gimp the challenge of some. All flying enemys with flyby attack are being considerably nerfed for example, since they need to stay in range after their attack and probably eat a full attack from whatever they were attacking. Not a good idead Imho.
And what about hostile NPCs? Do they get to use their feats? If not, you can completely forget using them to any effect...
Taking all feats away from all monsters really takes away a lot from the game, since the monsers become way more similar to each other.
Monsters using feats does not really slow down the combat, it's just more prep work for the GM.
Simple rule at my table:
The monsters work the way I play them. I try to be as well prepared as possible, but of course I make mistakes from time to time. We just assume that the negative and positive mistakes cancel each other out on the long run.
As for Monster Feats the Summoner is trying to use, another rule on my table is: If you want to use any ability/feat/spell, you have to know exactly how it works and if you don't you check the details BEFORE your turn.
The diagonal rule is a little illogical in terms of distance traveled, but should not break the game in any way I am aware of.
1.- Diagonal movement costs the same, since we're very used to it since 4E and D&D Next Playtest.
We did this to speed up combat. It makes area effect spells look weird, but it does speed up gameplay.
2.- Monsters CAN'T HAVE, WILL NEVER HAVE, AND WILL NEVER USE FEATS, it slows down the combat TOO MUCH.
This will change the game far too much. Just play at low levels until you develop familiarity with feats and move on when you are ready.
This is one of the huge differences between PF and 4e. 4e is made to play with less mechanical prep for the GM and quicker gameplay, whereas PF gives a huge amount of flexibility and options, at the cost of more prep time and need for system mastery.
I've been playing 3.x for ages now, and I still need to prepare for each and every battle by sitting down and writing out my own notes for every creature about what gear they have, their spells, special abilities, and certainly feats. I do the simple math that holds me up for 4 seconds before I reach the table. Also, I used to forget heaps of stuff that the monsters could do until I started writing it all out on a pad.
Even for simple feats like Power Attack and Vital Strike, I sit down and do the numbers for every permutation that I can think of before game time. It means when it's time to play I can concentrate on RP, tactics, setting the tone, keeping things interesting. Even 10 seconds looking up a rule or doing some simple addition can be enough to break the mood.
Ok, well, gettign ready is not much of a problem for me since I LOVE the monsters, and I try to use them only once per campaign; or at least sometimes I use the same things but with different name and appareance to make a change :/ I'll try to deal with it, love learning more about creatures.
However, I still feel too many rules are overwhelming me... and the group.
I've been thinking as well to eliminate the concentrarion rule: If they hit you while casting, you stop the casting, but don't lose the spell.
Another rule I've been thinking about was letting the characters gain full health after an extended rest, just as in 4E; we roleplay 2-3 times a week, 3 hours, so I want to make things more agile... sometimes an encoutner takes us 2 hours.
House rules are the bread and butter of tabletop games, so if you want to eliminate or alter some of the rules which make little sense to you, or that slow down your enjoyment of the adventure, go for it.
As for monsters... Yeah, the options are more than a little daunting, since as a general rule monsters can do everything a PC can plus some other stuff. My best suggestion would be to start off slow (or, if you have the chance, run some test encounters with no consequence to your ongoing adventure): humanoid monsters tend to have only class levels and very little else, making them no more difficult to manage than a PC, then move onto one type of other monster, say undead, to get a feel for how creature type changes things. Keep doing that, and pretty soon you'll get a feel for the different options.
Welcome, Aldath.
1) My group has played with diagonals always being just 1 square of movement ever since 3.0 -- perhaps even longer. We've encountered very few strange rule interactions due to this, so you can probably implement it with no (or very little) difficulty.
As a fair warning, however, you should expect similar headaches and greater if you ever go into 3-D combat. This happens infrequently when you run adventures underwater ... but it happens a little bit when you attack the party with flying monsters, and a lot if the party makes frequent use of Fly and Air Walk. One creature attacking characters that are essentially stuck on a flat plane is no big deal, but handling the movements of multiple airborne creatures that are constantly maneuvering with halved movement rates to get high-ground attack bonuses and flank benefits turns into a real headache, especially when determining whether creatures are receiving Cover against airborne attacks or when you have a flat battlemat but one creature is occupying a cube above another and you have to figure out how to place the mini.
2) You really should run monsters with feats. As said, stripping them really removes the challenge from them (and also creates weird questions like 'so do my summoned monsters have feats?').
Thankfully, you're going to find that feats work much more easily than the infinite versatility of Spells and Spell-Like Abilities. If you figure out how to work the Cleave tree, Combat Expertise, Fly-by Attack, Power Attack, Precise Shot, the Vital Strike tree, and maneuvers then you'll already understand the most common feats for monsters.
Here's a little piece of advice you might enjoy. When I'm preparing a game, in the bottom of a monster's OFFENSE paragraph I'll add a "Combat Options" line. Here I add in all of the actions a monster can use above and beyond normal creatures, plus any notes that I find difficult to remember or annoying to calculate
For example, if I have a level 10 Fighter NPC with a Greatsword, I might have a Combat Options line with: Cleave (-2 AC), Combat Expertise (-3/+3), Power Attack (-3/+9), Sneak Attack +1d6. When I ask myself "what does he choose to do" I can tell with a glance what he's trained for, and what the bonuses will be. Though nowadays I'd leave off the AC penalty of Cleave since I've already memorized it.
3) I'd keep the Concentration rule. Casting is a really powerful mechanic, and it's important enough to balance spellcasting that Pathfinder actually made it a lot harder to cast defensively than it was in 3.5.
4) Given your group's hindered ability to play, I could see giving the healing for the sake of keeping the game moving quickly. However, you should do this knowing that it will have a few side-effects.
One, stuff like hit-point damage and ability damage are tools in a DMs' arsenal that can be used to increase the threat of an up-coming fight -- a fight with a strong warrior is bad, but a fight with a strong warrior when you've got 6 Dexterity damage is even more nerve-rattling. Saying that damage is healed from full takes away this stress.
Two, part of the game's balance is based on the conservation of resources (you should understand this from the careful use of Encounters and Dailies from 4E). Characters that are able to go through encounters knowing they don't have to worry about another fight perform better than they normally would.
And third -- this is player-candy. Players love things that make their lives easier, and once you give this to them, it may be hard and stressful to undo. Perhaps you'll just let them keep it and accept the easier encounters it brings, or perhaps you'll go through the stress of taking it away once you have expanded play-time and can afford to have grittier adventures, but I prefer to avoid giving the players things I might have to take away.