Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Not Likely to Buy the New Pathfinder Rules

So the 2.0 version of Pathfinder which Paizo steadfastly insisted for years they had absolutely no intention of working on at all will be published in August of this year. I did read through the free playtest rules when the came out--and I do want to applaud Paizo for their open playtests to involve the fan base.  There were some good ideas in there, some "meh" ideas in there, and some ideas I couldn't make up my mind about. Overall I was not immediately thrilled. Intrigued, perhaps, but not thrilled.

At the moment my current group is running three concurrent campaigns with Pathfinder 1.0 (1E? Classic?) so we're pretty darn invested, both psychologically and financially. Most of the group bought D&D 5E when it came out and one of our members ran a short multi-session playtest for us. I like the new 5E rules, both for what they are and for the refreshing escape they present from the bloat and hyper-detailing of Pathfinder.  The rest of the group was mixed in their reactions to 5E. I'm still considering using it for my Next Big Campaign when we finish the Shackled City Adventure Path I'm running now.

As for buying the Pathfinder 2E rulebook, I am daunted by the sheer size of it: over 600 pages. Granted that's the Player's Handbook and DM's Guide combined in one massive tome but it gives the impression that there is almost immediate rules bloat. The idea of making the climb up the side of a new Mount Everest of crunch-bloat is a huge turn-off. It would have to be something really exciting to be worth that effort. Nowadays I really do think you can achieve the same results at the table with more streamlined rules. My gaming group, however, mostly either positively enjoys the super-customization possible with Pathfinder 1E or is fine with crunchy rules in general. I'm not sure if a majority will buy the new rules or if either of my fellow GMs are considering converting their campaigns.

So at present I do not plan to buy the new edition of Pathfinder. If someone in our group converts their existing game or starts a new one with the new edition then I may let myself be dragged in, but otherwise no.

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