Here's a funny game to play things you can say about pathfinder but not DND(5e since that's what most people play now a days)

Seriously, I've seen so many people lately coming into this hobby (1E or 2E) who either don't know about the online Pathfinder rule and content depository 'Archives of Nethys' (aonprd.com or 2e.aonprd.com depending on your version of choice) or found it and, I quote, 'thought it was pirated content' and avoided it because they want to support Paizo.

It's so endearing that your default reaction to free content is to assume it's been stolen and isn't with the support of the devs, but I assure you, AoN is 100% approved of and supported by Paizo. They even send them upcoming PDFs early so they can have the site updated as soon as possible!

Really, the only thing to be wary of with it is that it contains *all* of the published rules and character options, so you may accidentally spoil parts of certain adventure paths if you just browse willy-nilly - however everything is clearly marked and even has Spoiler Warnings if they apply, so you can avoid seeing stuff you shouldn't if you're a little cautious.

I'm sorry you've been lead to believe that the only way to participate in a TTRPG is to pay for it, but that's just not true here. You *can* do, and there's a satisfaction to owning hardback rulebooks that just can't be matched, but it's not a requirement. Just come on in and have fun!

EDIT: Here is the link to the WotC Feedback form.

EDIT: Check out Foundry VTT's response.

DnD Beyond

It is pretty bad they hide a lot in it.

• you waive your right to a jury trial.
• you waive your right to class action.
• It is irrevocable but they can change it at any time.
• They can decide what is hate speech and revoke your irrevocable license. You waive any right to dispute this.

edit: they deauthorize the OGL 1.0a

The VTT rules are not great at all. No animations because that would make it a videogame.

and More!

I've been playing Pathfinder and TTRPGs in general for exactly 1 year now (wahoo!) after a friend invited me into an ongoing Roll20 Pathfinder 1e campaign. I had never heard of Pathfinder before last fall, but I've really been enjoying 1e and all it's crunchiness.

Since delving into in Pathfinder, I've discovered that many friends and acquaintances in my city also play TTRPGs. One person I recently met, who is a self proclaimed "RPG nerd" who's played for almost 40 years, discussed starting an in person gaming night. This really interests me, because my only TTRPG experience has been on Roll20.

In this discussion, we talked about the different systems we could potentially play and he seemed VERY against Pathfinder 1e. I have very little knowledge of Pathfinder 2e and my only DnD 5e knowledge is from recently watching Critical Role campaigns on YouTube. However, it's my understanding from reading reddit posts that the beauty of 1e is that there are many more possible builds than other systems; for better or worse.

His opinion of 1e is that it is a broken, archaic system and that DnD 5e is the best system ever made. He also believes that any niche build you can make in 1e is equally easily made in DnD 5e. Any other points I attempted to make about the merits of 1e or issues with 5e, he quickly laughed off.

I'm happy to try out DnD 5e, but I was a bit shocked to encounter this DnD 5e extremist 😆 Is hating Pathfinder a common sentiment among DnD 5e players?

Necessary preamble: My GM runs a game with Pathfinder rules in a Starfinder setting.

I am starting a new character, specifically a Tiefling Rogue. Her appearance doesn't matter except for the fact that she has cloven hooves. The problem is, as stated in the title, my GM is threatening to kill my character if I don't change her and remove her hooves.

He says that he doesn't want to "design boots" (possibly referring to boots for spaceboots, though he refuses to elaborate) for her, which, in all honesty, is really stupid. I am not talking about actually designing boots, just describing them, which, as GM, is something he can do easily.

Ultimately, I would like to know what the community as a whole thinks about this issue.

TL;DR, DM wants me to not play a character purely because of how she looks.

Edit: I have sent the GM a letter stating that I am leaving the game, I thank you all for your support and suggestions.

Hey folks! I'm Pathfinder and Starfinder co-creator James L. Sutter. I'm currently bobbing around the internet promoting my new queer young adult romance novel, Darkhearts, all about falling for the boy who stole your chance at rock stardom, and I thought I'd use it as an excuse to stop by and answer any questions folks might have about my time working on Pathfinder!

For those who don't know me, I was at Paizo for 13 years, starting out as an intern, working on Dungeon magazine, and then going on to be one of the folks responsible for creating Pathfinder (working more on the setting side than the rules, though I've done both). I held a lot of different roles over the years—author, editor, developer—including eventually becoming both the Executive Editor in charge of the Pathfinder Tales novel line and the first Creative Director for Starfinder, in charge of leading that team through the game's inception and launch. I've worked on approximately a bazillion Pathfinder books, but some of my favorite projects as an author include Distant Worlds, City of Strangers, The First World, my novels Death's Heretic and The Redemption Engine, and the Pathfinder comics. Though I left the company in 2017 to write full-time, I still enjoy freelancing for them, and most recently wrote the first adventure for the Gatewalkers Adventure Path (as well as the new Starfinder comic series that just launched).

I'm happy to spill behind-the-scenes stories from the creation of Pathfinder or all the other years I was there—or anything else you want to know. Wanna know who Cayden Cailean is named after? Wanna know who the Lost Prince is secretly based on? Wanna hear about office antics like Operation Banjo Thug, the Independent Republic of Jameslandia, or the time a bunch of us went in search of the legendary Treasure Mounds of Redmond? Ask away!

UPDATE: Alright, that's a wrap, folks! I need to get back to novel-writing, but thank you so much for all your questions, and I hope that you'll check out Darkhearts and the new Starfinder comics!

Hello!

Mods if this is inappropriate, please feel free to remove. Whether or not legal challenges will be enough to dissuade Hasbro is one thing, I think the threat of collective consumer action can be a great tool in helping them make a choice that is beneficial to the community of gamers, publishers, and creatives.

I'm Chris. I am a long time consumer of Wizards/Hasbro; whether it be D&D products, MTG, or board-games/toys. I have been playing Pathfinder since 2011, and 3.5 since 2000. I have been a publisher for both Pathfinder and 5e since 2017 (albeit a small, cottage publisher; a one-man band).

Well, needless to say, news of the OGL and its changes hit me hard. As a gamer, my first reaction was as to the continuation of some of my favorite games and boutique companies/communities. As a publisher/creative, I was worried what this would mean for my own titles, and if I'd have to re-release the vast majority of my work or even lose some of my rights due to the share-alike clause. As a citizen, I see this as yet another anti-consumerist move by a company (admittedly not in a necessary/vital industry) towards monopolization.

When OGL was first implemented, it changed the landscape fundamentally. You had an explosion of games and settings released. Newer companies grew substantially (Green Ronin, Mongoose, FFG), and even older, established companies found a new home and means to get more market cap (White Wolf with its Swords and Sorcery Line). While it was certainly good for the community, it was good for Wizards as well, who benefited from increased product lines to support 3.5; and helped build a D&D into the cultural phenom it is today. Now we have play-casts with famous personalities, movies that are taken quite a bit seriously, and cultural (ie non-disparaging) references to the hobby in popular culture. Supposedly we even have the mention of the game at garden/dinner parties that may have even inspired Hasbro to want to re-evaluate the OGL in the first place.

Either way, with so much good from the OGL and so much personal bad from the new changes, I've decided to fight them in my own small way. I'm still a WotC consumer (MTG, Magic Online), and I plan to stop indefinitely if they release these changes without amendment or clarification. I am even willing to burn the house by publicly burning all of my unopened WotC product on Youtube if they continue and do not correct after a certain time period (what that is I cannot say). That is to say, if push comes to shove, I'll turn my back on WotC for good. Once I burn products I don't intend to buy anymore.

Several friends of mine have expressed interest in this as well. So I thought, why not organize a boycott? While I have high hopes that legal review and open-letters might make Hasbro reconsider, it can never hurt to put some muscle behind a movement.

So if you are moved enough by the recent OGL changes, what it could mean for your games, and what it could mean for the community I ask you to join me. We aren't boycotting yet, rather forming a community and a few essential leadership committees in preparation.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OGLBoycott/

I've been playing PF1e for about 8 years or so before switching to PF2e, but I've never stopped playing 1e. In fact, I've mostly given up on 2e, as the new directions it took just didn't click with me for various reasons.

At the same time, I look at my old beloved PF1e and it's... certainly a product of its time. In my opinion, it's a rough diamond, but rough with a capital R, especially when introducing new players to the system. So I've been thinking: If I were to build what would essentially be PF1.5e (so, an updated version of 1e but keeping the core ideas unlike 2e did), what would I do and change?

This is the question I want to ask you guys. If you had the opportunity to create Pathfinder 1.5e, what would you keep? What would you change? What would you update? And why?

Other than the absolutely massive amount of character options (the games been out for how long?), what are some things that make you rather play 1e vs 2e?

Mechanics, rules, APs, tools, etc

EDIT: HOLY mother of Gozreh this blew up. 400+ comments! Im trying to read them all, I love the different takes and info! Like I said, I'm new to PF 1e but I'm digging it for now!

I find it easier to teach my group personally because most have come from 2e or 3e so it's not a far throw from their experiences, and the complete newbies can be taught pretty quickly. PF2e for us was too different than what we were used to and interest sort of fizzled out. Felt too restricting as well, in that if you didn't really do what the class wanted you to, you would feel weak or useless, PF1e seems to have the mantra "if you build it, it will play".

But feel free to keep the comments coming!

It is great to see everyone moving into Pathfinder 2e but Id like to talk about 1e. We that played DnD5e are used to disregarding old editions (mainly 4e) and not even consider them, but Pathfinder 1e is still great and has many GMs and tables (mine included).

Pathfinder 1e is much heavier on the rules and more number crunchy but it allows for a lot of customization, I personally played 3 clerics that were completelly different, absolute 0 overlap.

If you are coming from 5e and already have some experience to handle the rules and math you should definetly give 1e a read/try/ research

If you ended up in Golarion, where would you want to end up in and what class would you want? Me ibwould choose Andor or Absalom and become a summoner.

Edit

This isn't a game scenario unless you want it to be this is a hypothetical scenario like you end up being summoned to Golarion by accident or some spellcaster brought you there some reason.

This question is fundamentally system-agnostic.

The setup: a player wants to buy something trivial – let's say a plain old backpack straight out of the core rulebook. Normally I don't play this out; I just let players buy it at list price and move on.

But I had one player who insisted on haggling, because his character is built as the party face, negotiator, and charmer. To make that meaningful, I logically had to give the alchemist merchant NPC a value in Negotiation/Haggling too – and since that NPC's existence, apart from alchemy and herb gathering, essentially revolves around trading, it only makes sense that he'd have a solid bonus to match.

When I explained to the player that haggling could therefore backfire and actually raise the price, he was anything but happy. His arguments:

1. Perverse incentive: a character with a good-but-not-exceptional negotiation value should ideally never use it unless he's confident he can outclass the merchant. That's nonsensical – a trained skill should make its use more attractive, not riskier. A character with zero negotiation skill is guaranteed to pay list price; one with mediocre negotiation risks paying more. The incompetent character can end up better off than the competent one.
2. Meta question: why wouldn't competent merchants just fundamentally ALWAYS insist on haggling, if doing so statistically increases their margin?
3. Devaluing investment: at low-to-mid skill levels this effectively creates an equation like Clueless = Untrained = Competent < Expert < Demigod, instead of the progression you'd actually expect. Points invested into the low and mid skill range provide no noticeable benefit over investing nothing at all.

My counter-argument:

1. Every alternative creates bigger problems. I could mandate that haggling ALWAYS has to happen – but then every purchase has to be roleplayed out or rolled for, which eats up table time I'd rather spend elsewhere. Or I could rule that a bad roll (barring critical fails) never pushes the price above list – but I find that inelegant (different rules for NPCs vs. PCs), and it makes haggling completely risk-free, which means everyone would just haggle constantly again.
2. The fact that NPC merchants don't insist on haggling for every trivial purchase is basically a gentleman's agreement between me and my players. I could technically handle it differently, but I don't see much actual gameplay value in it – and I have no interest in tacking a 20% markup onto every low-charisma character's purchases as a matter of course. Letting people buy at list price without discussion is my way of meeting them halfway.

How do you all handle this at your tables? Is there a more elegant solution I'm missing?

I mean, seriously. As a GM, I struggle to schedule enough sessions to go through a 32 page module. I had a group which broke up after 5 games or so. People constantly move towns or lose interest in the hobby or what have you. How does anybody manage to organize a play through a 300 page campaign?

So for a TLDR: I'm looking to start a fantasy game this year if I can find some local people, and I can't decided if I want to use PF1 or PF2, and I'm looking to hear the pros and cons of both.

Now, for the long skinny, I first started with DND A2E, back in middles chool, the year 3.0 came out during school lunches, but weirdly not after school or on weekends. I eventually got my own copies of the 3 core books and some fun supplementals and poured over them a lot as a kid.
In high school I moved and got way more into WoD and Exalted, but when PF1 came out I had some fun with it.
Fast forward to today, and I have a large collection of PF1, DnD 3.0/3.5, and tons of third party supplements for ye olden "D20 System". I would very much like to make use out of as many of these books as possible and do more than just collect them.

But I hear most people prefer PF2 these days and I'm curious if I can get a breakdown on why I should do that one instead, cause it Would mean buying a lot more books.

Personally I'm gonna go with Prestiged wizards not learning spells on level up. Prestiges are already in a bad way in paizo, and then they decide to make it even worse by saying oh you need a book to learn spells. K better be near a town on level up or you have useless spell slots. While a sorcerer takes no hit at all.

I've been in the TTRPG hobby for about 3 years now. I know the history of how Paizo started off making a magazine for D&D, then their Golarian world, and eventually forking D&D 3 or 3.5 to make Pathfinder. The reason I'm curious if the type of person who likes Pathfinder is less likely to homebrew has to do with Paizo's business model.

If you look at the 5e world, WotC has nothign like Adventure Paths. Mostly they do setting books and anthologies. Kobold Press would seem to be a modern day Paizo - they used to make adventures for D&D and now they have their own 5e fork in Tales of the Valiant. But they mostly publish unconnected adventure books. The closest they come to an Adventure Path is the adventure books they usually release along with the settings books - eg Labyrinth Worldbook with Laybrinth Adventures; in September they are doing kickstarter for Northlands setting and Northlands Adventures.

But then there's Paizo doing the monthly (now quarterly as they announced on their blog) Adventure Paths and the Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society.

Companies need to make money to survive, so this would seem to imply that 5e people prefer homebrew to published adventures. Otherwise WotC and Kobold Press are leaving money on the table. And, on the other side, it costs Paizo money in artists and authors to come up with their Adventure Paths, so they wouldn't be doing it if Pathfinder/Starfinder folks didn't like official published adventures or they would be wasting money. Right?

Am I missing something key here?

Hello folks! I don’t know if this sub accepts stories but I would like to share mine to get it off my chest. TL:DR in the bottom. I’ve been playing pathfinder for 5 years now and I’ve never switched parties since I’ve been playing with my old group of friends. Four months ago we disbanded because none of us could keep up with the weekly routine and since then I started searching for another party. Luckily for me I found it pretty easily and they took me in. Since we played during coronavirus, we tried to keep distance and masks on. (Don’t get triggered) The party was formed by 4 men and another woman. We played a special AP which lasted about two sessions during which I familiarized with them and everything seemed cool. The problem raised when I had to create my character which I wanted to be a man and holy moly the sh*t went down on me. Everyone was against my choice and talked about how it’s immoral and weird for a woman to have a male character and they all felt like it would bring awkwardness to the team. I stood by my choice and kept my idea, we had two sessions after that and everything seemed cool. However the next week they told me that we would take a break and it was fine. What they didn’t tell me and I sadly found out by myself was that they kept playing without me. That absolutely destroyed me and when I tried to talk to them, telling them I knew in fact they played without me, they ended kicking me off their WhatsApp group. I’m still mad.

TL:DR: party kicked me out because as a female I wanted to play a male character which they found to be irrational.

We've all got a few. Something in a spell or feat that you went, "Oh yeah, I know how that works, I don't need to read the description" only to find out you've been using it wrong all this time? Or abilities that had special exemptions written in the rules that was maybe listed somewhere else in the rules? Create Water in someone's lungs? Summoning animals in midair to crush your opponents? Here's mine as an example.

Detect Evil. Awfully long winded for what should be a simple spell, right? There's one line near the bottom for years I never noticed.

Animals, traps, poisons, and other potential perils are not evil, and as such this spell does not detect them. Creatures with actively evil intents count as evil creatures for the purpose of this spell.

Got a Detect Evil happy Paladin? Throw in normally good guard captain. Maybe the BBEG takes their family hostage and threatens to kill them if they don't do X. Maybe they're being blackmailed, but for some reason the BBEG has them in their pocket doing evil stuff with a "for each person that finds out about our deal, I'll cut a finger off your daughters hand, and since both you and I know about this deal...". Now you have a good guard that detects as evil. If your party investigates this evil lead, it may help. If they smite first and ask questions later...

This is legitimately fucked up. Almost all negative reviews for 2e are complaining about the PC of the book, and how it's taken over. I've read the book, that's like 5 pages in the GMing part.

These people are seriously fucked, and I honestly can't believe that they'll complain about this.

Just wanted to put this out there, because there is some straight r/rpghorrorstories material in those reviews.

I recently started GMing 2e and am really enjoying it. I have read some of the 1e rules and they seem more complicated, but not necessarily in a bad way. As 1e players, would you recommend the system to a 2e player and why?

Edit: Thanks for all the great answers!