Venture-Captain, Nebraska—Omaha
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With the PDF sale going on right now I have been looking to pick up a few PDFs. Any helpful suggestions of what I might consider?
Right now I am thinking of the following:
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Technology Guide (PFRPG)
Pathfinder Player Companion: Animal Archive (PFRPG)
Pathfinder Player Companion: Pathfinder Society Primer (PFRPG)
Thank you advanced.
Venture-Captain, Washington—Spokane
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The Animal Archive and the Pathfinder Society Primer are great choices. The Technology Guide is a good one, especially for certain scenarios from Season 6. As far as recommendations on others, it would really depend on what you already have and what activities (GM, player, or both). Another factor to consider is if you travel to attend conventions.
Some I would recommend regardless:
Any of the Hard Cover books (except Gamemastery Guide)
Pathfinder Society Field Guide
After that it really depends on usage. Anyway, I hope this helps.
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I dig the "flavor" hardcover books- -Inner Sea World Guide, Inner Sea Gods, (I expect) the upcoming Inner Sea Races will be of similar quality.
As far as the thin books go,
PFS Field Guide, and the PFS Primer are both solid (though the Field Guide is PACKED with awesome mechanical options- -its probably the single best 'bang for your buck' book).
Inner Sea Magic and Inner Sea Combat are both excellent for all-around caster or martial options.
If there's a particular flavor you want, you can probably find a thin book to support it. The Harrow Handbook for Varisians, or People of the North for Ulfen/Kellid/High Ice natives, etc.
And Bastards of Golarion if you want an awesome picture of Irmjirka and Seyltiel fighting an owlbear. (Or if you really like half-elves and half-orcs. But really for the cover art).
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Venture-Captain, Nebraska—Omaha
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Jayson,
Thank you for the great ideas. I have made the conscience decision to buy hardback books from our local game stores. I am looking forward to Black Friday for the sales to hit!! :)
As for flavor, I have so many options with the books I have now that I am just trying to fill in some the gaps that some of the older players already have and use.
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I'm going to politely ask everyone to stop posting in this thread. My cart is overflowing and my wallet is about to murder me.Sorry Andrew I like to help guide people on books but my CFO (wife) put a moratorium on spending right now. I feel your pain.
I'd really be in trouble if not for the fact I just got a raise backpaid to April... my $200 shipping cart only puts my wallet in the ICU instead of the morgue.
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I tried
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: NPC Codex (OGL) PDF
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Monster Codex (OGL) PDF
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Campaign (OGL) PDF
Pathfinder Chronicles: Gods & Magic (OGL) PDF
Pathfinder Chronicles: Seekers of Secrets—A Guide to the Pathfinder Society (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Chronicle of the Righteous (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods Hardcover (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Combat (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Technology Guide (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Monster Codex (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Player Companion: Inner Sea Primer (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Player Companion: Pathfinder Society Primer (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Player Companion: Undead Slayer’s Handbook (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Player Companion: Melee Tactics Toolbox (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Module: Plunder & Peril (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Society Scenario #5–08: The Confirmation (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–10: The Wounded Wisp (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–01: Between the Lines (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–02: Six Seconds to Midnight (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–03: The Bronze House Reprisal (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–04: The Ironbound Schism (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–05: School of Spirits (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Legends Subscription
S Pathfinder Legends—Mummy's Mask #1: The Half-Dead City CD Set
The only ones not discounted were the Season 7 scenarios, a Player Companion, a Campaign Setting, and the three RPG products. Pretty sure I have every RPG Additional Resource and every Campaign Setting that has more than a handful of legal choices in PFS. I'm not looking at my bank account for a while...
What's funny (Or sad? I don't know lol) is that when I first played PFS in May, I only bought the CRB and played Core because I didn't want to spend all that money. Then I looked at all the characters I wanted to build, "Not Core... not Core... ooh I can -- nope, not Core... craaaaap" lol.
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Sadly, the Advanced Players Guide and Advanced Race Guide weren't on sale. But I'm loving my kitsune rebuild of my aerokinetic. Forgot to print the rebuild off in time this morning, so figured "Eh, I'm not even 100% sold on it anyway". Got to the convention at 10, saw EVERY vender (yeah, all 25 of them) in ten minutes. Noticed I had a blank char sheet (other then my character folio). So spent the hour and fifty minutes till the session started doing a rebuild of Kahel. I'd warned the Gm about this, and showed my PDF to verify the watermark (and let him read the class's info since he doesn't have the book). Since I'd been human, I figured and the GM agreed to hand wave it as "Kahel has always been a kitsune, you just never saw his birth form before."
Upon realizing there was only very dim light ahead, and that the group had no casters and no torches... Kahel shifted back into his Kitsune form, and IC jaws dropped. one person was going "What the hell happened to you Kahel? Did you lose a fight with a rug?"
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If you want to worship any Tien deities, then you are pretty much stuck picking up the Gazetteer. It's the only legal source for five of the fourteen Tien-only deities (the evil ones), while the only other legal source for the good and neutral Tien gods are Champions of Purity and Champions of Balance (for the good and neutral deities, respectively).
While the AR page lists the Dragon Empires Primer as a legal source for gods, it doesn't actually have any of the information you would need to make a divine character that would worship a Tien deity (domains, favored weapons, subdomains).
With the PDF sale going on right now I have been looking to pick up a few PDFs. Any helpful suggestions of what I might consider?
First, I'd check whether I'm interested in the topic. A good book about a lame topic is still a lame book for me. Blood of Angels would be wasted on me though it's appearantly well-written and famous. In doubt, check the bullet points of the official description, to get a better impression of the content.
Second, I'd check the ratings and reviews. A book with at least 4 stars in average is going to be good usually - given you enjoy the topic. Sometimes people give poor or perfect ratings for little reason, but it somewhat evens out. And you are free to ignore such reviews.
Third, I'd check the price in comparison to page amount. Player companions (just 32 pages) are less interesting for me (I spend more time GMing than playing), campaign settings (64 pages) are better, RPG books (256+ pages) are best. But luckily I have some time to read Pathfinder books, some people might be more interested in a short burst of excellent content.
Personally, I like both fiends and halflings, bought some according books and really enjoyed them - especially Blood of Fiends with its table of random fiend traits. But that's a personal preference.
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No clue... But you know what I find rather annoying? I bought the Advanced race Guide on Friday evening. Saturday while waiting for the convention session I was joining to get started I used my "you haven't played at level 2 yet" rebuild to make my character a kitsune, after showing the GM I do have a legal copy of the book and letting him read the entry. Part of the rebuild was adding an archtype. The GM too has the Occult Adventurers book and is familiar with the archtype, so I'm good. But this means I had to print off a couple pages so I can continue playing my kineticist. You know, race info and archtype info.
Okay, fine. Well I do have a backup character I wanted to get started on playing too. So I applied my aasimar race boon to that one and tweaked stats a bit. I'm good, or so I thought. Remembered I'd have to print off any additional resources I used on the character. That's 3 pages from Blood of Angels for race, alternate heritage, and an aasimar social trait, another 2 pages for my archtype... Ran out of ink and paper before I can print off the eight pages needed for the Spiritualist class.
Damn it! I was planning on playing that spiritualist in the next PFS session. But I can't since I don't have a printout of the class's info :(
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If you have a way to access the PDF electronically during the game, then that is sufficient. As I understand the requirements, you only need to have a physical copy of your character sheet, not everything from the additional resources list that you use.No clue... But you know what I find rather annoying? I bought the Advanced race Guide on Friday evening. Saturday while waiting for the convention session I was joining to get started I used my "you haven't played at level 2 yet" rebuild to make my character a kitsune, after showing the GM I do have a legal copy of the book and letting him read the entry. Part of the rebuild was adding an archtype. The GM too has the Occult Adventurers book and is familiar with the archtype, so I'm good. But this means I had to print off a couple pages so I can continue playing my kineticist. You know, race info and archtype info.
Okay, fine. Well I do have a backup character I wanted to get started on playing too. So I applied my aasimar race boon to that one and tweaked stats a bit. I'm good, or so I thought. Remembered I'd have to print off any additional resources I used on the character. That's 3 pages from Blood of Angels for race, alternate heritage, and an aasimar social trait, another 2 pages for my archtype... Ran out of ink and paper before I can print off the eight pages needed for the Spiritualist class.
Damn it! I was planning on playing that spiritualist in the next PFS session. But I can't since I don't have a printout of the class's info :(
Correct. I understand the "Print it once, and done." point of view, I try to do that too. Which is why I have to replace my toner cartridges all-too-often. And why my PCs, past a certain level, tend to wind up moving from a two-pocket folder into a 1/2" or 1" binder... Some of them (My wizard, for instance, because his spells come from all over) earlier than others (My plain vanilla fighter-with-a-bow is mainly Core...)
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Reading the Guild Guide, it was saying I'd need a watermarked printed copy to had the GM so he/she can adjudicate my character properly, AND access to the PDF so they can verify the watermark if requested. Wait, let me double check. Aaaah, missed that final "or" in there. Still, best to have it on hand in physical copy. That way I can hand the GM the physical copy and use my tablet to look stuff up.
And tell me about it. 30 pages of additional resources for Kahel initially (printed the entire Kineticist section up front), then I added an archtype and Kitsune race. And now eyeing equipment/feats I have access to with the new books. And eyeing feats from books I don't have yet... Gah.
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And without distracting this into the painful discussion of tablet/no-tablet dichotomy overmuch, some of us DON'T have tablets. Assuming that everyone does is a very jerk-ish assumption.
They are still pricey, which is why printing beforehand is kind of a thing.
Completely empathize with you, Kinevon. I've been using file folders but that's clumsy at best and the weakness of the system was evident at GenCon. Probably going to have to shift to thin binders or something for the next big convention...
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And without distracting this into the painful discussion of tablet/no-tablet dichotomy overmuch, some of us DON'T have tablets. Assuming that everyone does is a very jerk-ish assumption.
They are still pricey, which is why printing beforehand is kind of a thing.
Completely empathize with you, Kinevon. I've been using file folders but that's clumsy at best and the weakness of the system was evident at GenCon. Probably going to have to shift to thin binders or something for the next big convention...
There's a 50 dollar kindle coming out, and walmart has a tablet for 50 bucks. You'll save that in 4 purchases.
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Me, I use an android Nextbook. Set me back a hundred, but so very handy. At least it is when the battery doesn't give out mid session due to spending 2 hours working on a character rebuild, then 5 hours gaming. :( Fortunately I wasn't the GM that day.
But that's besides the point.
The point is that having a physical copy on hand is a good thing. If you have an electronic medium to view your pdfs on the go, great. But the GM might need that info while your looking up something in your books, say rules for that spell you rarely use or that bead of force you found that you've never encountered before. And even if you do have a tablet, the PDFs may not be loading very fast. It took about 20 minutes when I was doing my rebuild for one PDF to load enough that I could read the page with kitsune racial information on it. Let alone the time it took for another one to load so I could get info on an archtype, or the time it took for a third pdf to load so I could see the costs for attributes. Then waiting for it to reload each pdf when I had to switch between them.
Physical copies would have been much faster.
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There's a 50 dollar kindle coming out, and walmart has a tablet for 50 bucks. You'll save that in 4 purchases.
And without distracting this into the painful discussion of tablet/no-tablet dichotomy overmuch, some of us DON'T have tablets. Assuming that everyone does is a very jerk-ish assumption.
They are still pricey, which is why printing beforehand is kind of a thing.
Completely empathize with you, Kinevon. I've been using file folders but that's clumsy at best and the weakness of the system was evident at GenCon. Probably going to have to shift to thin binders or something for the next big convention...
Link?
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There's a 50 dollar kindle coming outLink?
HERE (I make no claims about the quality/suitability of the product)
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There's a 50 dollar kindle coming outLink?HERE (I make no claims about the quality/suitability of the product)
Thank you.
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Venture-Captain, Nebraska—Omaha
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I have a Kindle Fire that I download my PDFs onto.
Someone may be able to find used Kindle Fire that would be more powerful than the new $50 Kindle for a cheaper price.
But completely understand the concern from some people about paying for an electronic device. I had my device before I started to play Pathfinder.
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Physical copies would have been much faster.
They're just not practical to drag to a game day, much less a convention. (much less a convention by public transportation)
Speak for yourself. I've gamemastered the Palladium system for two decades, often needing to bring 6 to 15 books along to run my game. By comparison bringing along 3 or 4 books isn't that big of a deal. Yeah a pdf is lighter and takes up much less space. Not to mention is cheaper. But having a physical copy of the book (or even 2 to 3 of them) can be a good thing. Especially when it comes to character creation.
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I mostly run Heroes Unlimited games, but include stuff from Nightbane, Beyond the Supernatural, and Ninjas & Superspies too. Then there's somethings the 2nd edition rule book for HU left out, like the stats and prices of guns, so I have to bring my copy of Revised edition too (which may have the adventure I'm running in anyway). Then if starting a new campaign, I usually am supplying the books for others too so I need to bring at least 2 copies of each book needed for character creation... It's a lot of books.
My pathfinder society characters don't need as many books. And when GMing I bring a printout of anything I need from the bestiary(s), my core rule book, the GM Guide, and the scenario/module it's self. Oh, and maps. It's up to the player to supply any additional rules I'll need to adjudicate their character properly.
As a PFS player I bring printouts of the stuff needed for my character, but also have the books needed on my tablet (which I need anyway since it's got my ID card on it). Oh, and a copy of the core rule book.
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Completely empathize with you, Kinevon. I've been using file folders but that's clumsy at best and the weakness of the system was evident at GenCon. Probably going to have to shift to thin binders or something for the next big convention...
My setup shows me which PCs are, more-or-less, in which tier.
Two-pocket folder? 1st to 4th level or so.1/2" binder? 5th-9th or so
1" binder? 10th +
I still have low level PCs whose folder is overstuffed, like my Dhampir PC, or other boon races; my Thassilonian WIzard PCs, who need the rules for Thassilonian Specialist, a copy of the chronicle that unlocked it, and any non-Core spells in their books.
And I tend to try and limit the number of PCs in my rolling (dying) backpack to the one I signed up with, and one or two possible alts, depending on tier.
For my highest level PC, there are no alts for him, he is 16th level, and my next highest PCs are 12th level.
1x16, 2x12, 2x8, 2x5, and a bunch lower level. Lots of evergreen credits, so lots of 1-3 XP PCs.
Back on topic, what I carry with me in physical book format:
CRB, B1
I might carry one of the splat books I received during the time period where I was a subscriber, but I have them all as PDFS, and both a tablet and a smartphone to pull them up on.
Printed out, usually, is the scenario or module, any monster stat blocks, possible magic item cheat sheets (did that for Race to Seeker's Folly), chronicles, sign-in sheet, combat pad, maps, etc.
I recently trimmed my dice carrying to just my primary rolling dice, and my different colored crit confirmation dice.
My character folios, one for me with my GM card in it, and one in plastic, as I misplaced mine while I was at PaizCon a couple of years ago, and bought it for rerolls there... Oddly, I don't use my rerolls that often.
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Oddly, I don't use my rerolls that often.
Tell me about it. I bought my character folio for the reroll middle of last month. Used it as a reference for various stuff during the session, but forgot I now had a reroll.
On the other hand on the 26th I used my reroll for day job check. I'd rolled 11(+4), figured "I can do better then that". Then rolled a 9... If I'd kept my initial roll I'd have gotten more gold due to having a 15 total.