Pathfinder

[BobChuck]

I'm thinking about maybe running a Pathfinder game come the new year, and I wanted to find out if there would be any interest.

[kenada]

I’d be interested in giving it a try. I considered running it for my current game, but most people were hesitant to change systems again after they had just invested in 4e stuff.

[BobChuck]

ah, well there pathfinder has an advantage. It's free. All of it. It's all based on the OGL stuff from D&D 3.5 (heavily refined and re-balanced, which is nice), but it's all open gaming content.

Links:
Full Hyperlinked Rules: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/
User Created Database: http://www.pathfinderdb.com/ (get the excel character generator)
Site containing a variety of links: http://www.madbrewlabs.com/index.php/2009/09/07/pathfinder-rpg-resources/

I'd like to stick to just pathfinder rules, so nothing from 3.5, but that means all you need to worry about is the core book.

I also have both PDFs of the game, the full one and the chapter by chapter. I purchased it for five bucks when I picked up the hardcover at Gencon. Technically giving those out is file sharing, but it's not like you can't get the information for free legally online anyway.

[Jims]

Interesting looking game. It seems to me to be a D&D 3.0/3.5 game with slightly powered-up classes/races.

[BobChuck]

Well, slightly powered up on the whole, yes. Druids actually lost some abilities; really, they just lost part of one, but it's a big hit. Wild Shape doesn't grant the physical ability scores of the new form, just a size bonus/penalty to Strength and Dex, so it's no longer possible to drop all three to 8 and get massive boosts to them for free.

Wizards and Clerics got a very minor power boost, but again, lost access to all of the supplemental spells (assuming those books are not available, which they wouldn't be in my game). The remaining classes got power boosts that leave them roughly even with the Cleric, Druid, and Wizard, so the classes mostly even out. At 1-2 and 18-20, things get wonky again, but 3.5's fair and balanced range was only 5-9, so it's a big improvement.

[Teh Bagder]

I've got a buddy who has just fell in love with Pathfinder and has been espousing how its reinvigorated his interest in playing. He recommended it profusely, so I'm in, if my schedule works out.

[BobChuck]

That's at least two confirmed willing players. We could probably thump Zero into joining as well, so that's three, which is theoretically enough (though less than I'd want).

So...scheduling? Starting in early January, so I can put things together and such. What day? What time?

[kenada]

Mondays and Wednesdays are my best days. Fridays are negotiable but difficult. Sundays would have to be in the afternoon.

[Teh Bagder]

I work from 5-8pm Mon-Thu, and from 1:30-6pm on Fri. Staggered Sats from the morning until 4:30pm. I'll have that schedule in hand in the next week or two. They schedule the entire quarter at the testing center in advance so we can handle test and traffic flow. Some Sats I'll have completely off.

I'd love to do Sundays, but I've promised those to the family as a full family day so we can hang out and do stuff. I've taken next quarter off from school to allow me to prep for a solid two year block of classes, so I might be able to convince Her Nibs that I'll be around enough through the week that gaming on Sundays would be a nice break.

Sat nights are probably the best. I guess it depends on how late you guys normally play or want to play. How long do sessions normally run?

[kenada]

My games typically go 6–7 hours (so wrapping up 8–10 PM depending on if we start late). I have no idea how long Rob intends to run, but if we gamed on the days I ran, we’d be starting late.

[BobChuck]

balls.

I go to bed around 10 or 11 pm. I can stay up longer, particularly if it's a movie theater or video game at home, but my brain starts shutting down around 9ish.

So between your two schedules, the current pair of saturday games, and my needing sleep, we've eliminated the entire week.

hmm.

[Teh Bagder]

balls.

I go to bed around 10 or 11 pm. I can stay up longer, particularly if it's a movie theater or video game at home, but my brain starts shutting down around 9ish.

You're lucky. Mine shuts down not long after I wake up. I've been up since 4:30am studying organic chemistry and doing housework. My brain shut down around 5am and I'm running on automatic.

So between your two schedules, the current pair of saturday games, and my needing sleep, we've eliminated the entire week.

hmm.

Let me speak to the missus. I'm pretty sure I can swing Sundays for this quarter, simply because I'll be around most Sats and through the week at home. I've bought her dark chocolate today from the store, so I think I can bribe her.

[Teh Bagder]

She's bribed. I can come out to play on Sundays, at least for the next quarter.

[kenada]

Hoo-ray!

Since Mike’s game has been canceled, I’ll spend tomorrow looking over the Pathfinder stuff. Any hints on character creation?

[kenada]

PCGen appears to support Pathfinder RPG.

Edit: I should note that PCGen is one of the most hideous programs that I have ever used, and the character sheets it generates are quite awful to look at. It’s amazing after all these years that the UI is still so dreadful.