Pathfinder RPG

I have spoken many times about various aspects of Dungeons & Dragons, including one of my more recent posts on changing to the 4.0 rule set. A new friend recently made me aware that a company called Paizo has a license to use the older 3.5 set and make changes to it, called Pathfinder. Many in the DnD world refer to it as "3.75" or "3.51" due to its close use of the 3.5 rule set but changes for playability.

Paizo is currently offering a free download of the full rule set, so I did. Read through the majority of it today, and I have to say I am impressed. It is a huge leap forward for the 3.5 rule set without being a completely new game (like 4.0 is). One of the biggest issues with 4.0 is that our group is stuck with years of experience using 3.5 and those rules don't always apply or have been changed radically or done away with. The Pathfinder rules, however, are simple additions or alterations to the existing 3.5 rule set, so are much easier for one with all that 3.5 knowledge to grasp and understand without confusion.

Nearly ever class has a subtle or obvious change to make them more playable. For example, one 3.5 complaint from players is that any class without access to spells becomes useless compared to those who can cast spells (or, in essence, minions to those who cast). We saw this in our last group; the wizard, druid, and cleric became god-like in ability due to the spells they could cast, while the others were merely the cannon fodder and front wall to keep enemies off the spell casters. Even the DM got frustrated-- he would set up these interesting situations but the cleric would just ask his god for guidance, the druid would commune with nature and teleport the party to the location, and the wizard would destroy whatever the problem was.

Pathfinder has given classes like the Fighter interesting new abilities to counter that. Now, the Fighter gains weapon and armor bonuses during class advancement. These bonuses are in addition to the normal 3.5 rules for the Fighter. There are new and useful Feats to add to the fighter's capabilities. Certain combat options have been simplified and expanded so they are more useful. Skills have been combined, redefined, and more fully explained. And this is just one class and some examples; every class has had some sort of change or addition to make it more playable throughout the leveling process.

Paizo has managed to make interesting, unique, and worthwhile changes that make the game more fun, easier to understand, and more playable. It is roughly equivalent to the same amount of change from 3.0 to 3.5.

I'm very excited. A new DnD group I'm joining uses, in essence, these same rules, so I will get to put them in play. Hopefully, knowing this rule set won't further impede my ability to DM and learn the 4.0 rule set my other group enjoys!