Starting PF2. Confused on what books to get.

[Squaba]

I got the Player Core and the GM Core, but now I am wondering if I should have bought "Core Rulebook" instead. I'm planning to buy a few extra rulebooks for the players and I want to make sure I get them the right version of the core rulebook. Do I need to have the "Pathfinder Core Rulebook" to play, are we okay just having the "Pathfinder Player Core," do I need to get both?

Thank you for any clarification.

[Finoan]

No. The Core Rulebook should be out of print now - though some bookstores and sites online may still be selling their old copies.

Core Rulebook, Advanced Player's Guide, Gamemastery Guide, and Bestiary 1 are all deprecated. If you are buying new books you will want the replacements of Player Core, Player Core 2 (upcoming), GM Core, and Monster Core.

Other books such as Secrets of Magic, Dark Archive, Guns and Gears, and all of the various PF2 adventures are all still valid and current.

[Squaba]

Finoan wrote:

No. The Core Rulebook should be out of print now - though some bookstores and sites online may still be selling their old copies.

Core Rulebook, Advanced Player's Guide, Gamemastery Guide, and Bestiary 1 are all deprecated. If you are buying new books you will want the replacements of Player Core, Player Core 2 (upcoming), GM Core, and Monster Core.

Other books such as Secrets of Magic, Dark Archive, Guns and Gears, and adventures are all still valid and current.

Perfect, thank you. I figured that was the case but Paizo's online store has both available and it was throwing me.

[Finoan]

I think you can still buy the .pdf version of the Core Rulebook. Because why not? There are still some people who don't like the updated rules and miss things like Alignment.

[Easl]

Squaba, some other things to look into for your group as new to the system.

Archive of Nethys is a free website containing all the rules from all those books you're thinking of getting. It coordinates with Paizo (not piracy).

Pathbuilder is an website- and app- based character building site, and has both a freeware (basic) and payware (everything) version. It also coordinates with Paizo.

Paizo semi-regularly offers humble bundles which allow you to get a ton of the previously released books and some adventures in pdf form, for relatively cheap. The last one ended on April 18, but if you keep an eye on their public announcement page, another one might come along later this year (I am not associated with Paizo and have no inside information, this is merely an educated guess).

[Perpdepog]

I think you'll be fine just getting Player Core. That was part of the reason for the reorganization in the Remaster, so that player and GM-facing stuff could be a bit more separate and the books would be a bit less intimidating for new players.

Also, I'm sure someone's told you this already, but if you want to browse other books' contents, maybe to find bits of lore you're interested in, or to see which books you'd like physical print copies of, I'd definitely recommend Archives of Nethys Pathfinder 2E. It has all the rules and stuff up for free, though a lot of the lore and setting-specific flavor isn't present.

Edit: Lol, yep. Someone did tell you; ninjaed.

[Jonathan Morgantini]

Player Core for the players is a great idea! GM Core and Monster Core for the GM of the group will allow you to perfectly be able to play a game. We have Player Core 2 coming out with even more classes soon, and Wardens of Wildwood is the first Adventure Path to use the Remastered rules.

[RogueWraith909]

Is Monster Core out yet? I can't find a copy anywhere (I'd prefer the Sketch version if possible as I'm trying to get the full set and love that style). Got my GM Core and Player Core and excited to see what's in Player Core 2 when that gets released in the UK.

[Errenor]

Jonathan Morgantini wrote:

Wardens of Wildwood is the first Adventure Path to use the Remastered rules.

... and the older APs are still compatible with the Remastered rules with mostly minor changes for a GM or completely compatible ;)

RogueWraith909 wrote:

Is Monster Core out yet? I can't find a copy anywhere (I'd prefer the Sketch version if possible as I'm trying to get the full set and love that style). Got my GM Core and Player Core and excited to see what's in Player Core 2 when that gets released in the UK.

Yep: Monster Core Don't know about Sketch version particularly though. It was limited I think?

[Phredd]

The sketch variants are Friendly Local Game Store only for three months I think? After that, it's released on their web store. Since Monster Core was released after the others in March, it's still in that three month window.