Pathfinder - Overview

In 2007-08, when Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons and Dragons edition 3.5 was wrapping up and work was progressing on their 4th edition, Piazo released the beta test edition for their Pathfinder game system. This system was a modified version of the Dungeons and Dragons open SRD. In mid-2008, while Wizards released their 4th edition, Piazo was still working on their open beta and in mid-2009 they released their Pathfinder Role-playing game. Although I appreciated what Wizards was trying to do in their 4th edition, I embraced the Pathfinder system more fully. Here's why...

-At 576 pages in a hardbound volume, it has everything you need to play except for monsters/adversaries (for that you need the Bestiary guide). So at two books, you can have years of play. Piazo has come out with other core-type books to expand what classes/feats/spells/etc you can play. I find they spend more time making good products than Wizards. For example, Piazo has come out with 2 main expansion books each year (not including the two more Bestiary books they have published) while Wizards was printing a new one about once or twice a month. Not nice on the pocketbook.

-The wonderful concept of Campaign Paths. The idea that you can start in a themed area and setting, download the player's guide for that path for free, make characters with the helpful hints provided in the guide, and play a character from 1st to 20th level in six modules and two years (of once a week play) is exciting. It harkens back, and i'm dating myself here, when TSR (the company that started D&D and whom Wizards of the Coast purchased) made multi-part modules and you could share a longer themed adventure with your friends. The amount of materiel in the Pathfinder Adventure paths is also astounding. I started storytelling a game a few years back and was impressed at the background given on primary and secondary characters that the players might never interact with. But be sure that the extra materiel gave extra meat in my role-playing that character in order to give the players a better experience. There's an adventure path for just about any common setting or Earth-like place. I've played the first four-and-a-half parts of the Rise of the Runelords (on very long term pause with my Human Cleric/Paladin), the first three of Kingmaker (on long term pause with my Human Cleric) and the first one-and-a-half of the Serpent's Skull (on pause with my Human Magus). Currently I've started playing the Carrion Crown path (Eastern European gothic horror) with a Halfling insult-comic Bard.

-Pathfinder Society Organized Play- Imagine being at a convention or local game store. You are new in town but you have a few characters that are part of the organized play program. You simply find a person running a Pathfinder Society adventure and ask to play. Once you're done, you can level-up or purchase items while the person running the game logs your participation online. You can also purchase the Society adventures and play them with your friends. Kind of like the TSR/Wizards RPGA system.

Now there are critics of the Pathfinder system, especially with the more role-playing (vice roll playing) based systems coming onto the market. Yes you can 'game up' a character as extremely powerful, as you can in just about every other system, but that's not for me. I want to make an interesting character that’s fun to play. Examples of recent story-focused RPGs are Mouse Guard and the One Ring. I own a copy of Mouse Guard and love the simplicity and focus on storytelling. I've tried One Ring RPG at Trumpeter Salute 2012 in Vancouver and now own it. I was blown away by the feel of Middle Earth that it has and the way it is designed to tell a true saga.

So give Pathfinder a try for a great descendant of Dungeons and Dragons style RPGs. Perhaps the upcoming 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons next year might give Piazo a run for their money.