I'm really loving my trip thru the Pathfinder Basic Box. It's not what I expected (I guess I was expecting something like the D&D 4e Starter Set - thank God it's nothing like it) and that is a good thing. It has a lot of punch and value for the money. But I want more ;)
I can see the point of a second box set being both cost prohibitive and possibly splinting the Pathfinder market, but there is still a way for Paizo to extend the life of the Basic Box without going to a 2nd box. Heck, they are doing it now with adventures and a Barbarian class write up on their site - PDFs.
An expansion to the Basic Box could be as simple as a $5 (or whatever price) PDF extending play to 9th level, including new feats, perhaps introducing Attacks of Opportunity, adding some classes as new options, maybe adding back some of the lower level spells (maybe 5 more per level). It would be written and presented in the same format at the Basic Box material.
This would be the "bridge" product to bring the Pathfinder game together, because the natural progression from Pathfinder Basic Box - Extended would be to the Core Pathfinder Rules. I'm not sure if the Basic Box quite gets you there on it's own.
I would also love to see a PDF / posting / whatnot on how to bring the Pathfinder Core Book(s) to more Basic Box complexity without causing the house of cards to come tumbling down.
Hey Tenkar,
ReplyDeleteAs you may have read in Loviatar, I recently got fed up with Pathfinder. The feat trees, min/maxing, optimization, etc really, really got to me. The more we played, the more I realized that the game was more like 4e in terms of power levels than 3.5.
However, the box set you are describing sounds much less crunchy. It seems to offer a, well, basic experience that strips out a lot of the elements that made our sessions feel more like RIFTS and less like D&D.
I may have to check it out!
PDFs and web only products were things that Paizo fans have regularly asked about in the past, and the general line here is, "They take just as much work as a book does." The staff get worked pretty hard, so exceptions to that line are, for me, a real cause for excitement.
ReplyDeleteWe live in exciting times, and who knows? Success has a way of changing things, obviously. One thing is for sure: Paizo has a solid track record of listening to their customers, so new (or returning) customers should make their voices heard.
They may take as much work, but the risk is less then a printed book.
ReplyDeleteTime will tell, and I'm hopeful :)
@Christian - I really like what i see so far. Read less like a text book and more like a guide. Works for me :)
ReplyDelete