Pathfinder vs D&D 3.5 - OG Myth-Weavers

Notices


Gaming Discussion

For all things gaming related.


Pathfinder vs D&D 3.5

 
Pathfinder vs D&D 3.5

Hello, I'm kind of new to both this site and to role playing in general.

I have been playing 3.5, but I keep hearing about Pathfinder and it sounds interesting, but I just don't have a lot information about it or a clue about where to get it, when I searched Google, it just kept showing me cars. >.>

The big reason I'm interested in it, is that I have heard that it is similar to 3.5 but more balanced, I was wondering about how that was accomplished.

If anyone could tell me some of the major differences or point me in the right direction to where I could gather the information myself I would be very grateful.

Edit: I wanted to let everyone know that I have been reading over the SRD ever since Sorsha posted it (thank you again) and have decided to run a game with some of my friends, irl.

To me it looks simpler, but not oversimplified, which is exactly what I was looking for. The classes look like they all have a good bit of variability, but not to the point where they all feel the same. And when I saw how combat maneuvers work, I actually almost squealed from excitement. They, for whatever reason, are one of the hardest things for me to remember the how their mechanics work in 3.5e.

The Pathfinder SRD http://www.d20pfsrd.com/ contains the majority of the Pathfinder rules, including third party stuff.

Have a read and see what you think.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ShepPuffingtun View Post
The big reason I'm interested in it, is that I have heard that it is similar to 3.5 but more balanced, I was wondering about how that was accomplished.

If anyone could tell me some of the major differences or point me in the right direction to where I could gather the information myself I would be very grateful.
Fighters have class features, but are more-or-less the same.

Druids had one of their major 3 class features nerfed, but I forget which.

Pretty much everything else is the same or close to it.

In Pathfinders spellcasters can cast zero level spells once a round all day. Which doesn't sound like much unless one of their zero level spells is a combat spell. Won't do much damage but it does give sorcerers and wizards something to cast at low levels.

Elizabeth W.

Quote:
Originally Posted by longtimeteenager View Post
In Pathfinders spellcasters can cast zero level spells once a round all day. Which doesn't sound like much unless one of their zero level spells is a combat spell. Won't do much damage but it does give sorcerers and wizards something to cast at low levels.

Elizabeth W.
That was one problem fixed by Pathfinder. Low-level Wizards are still Wizards, not maladroit Rogues without armor.

The whole issue of special attacks and maneuvers (like grappling or disarm) have been concentrated into a single, easy to use system of 'Combat Maneuvers'.

While I'm sure you can find some people who dispute this in my own experience it has been a positive reduction in complexity and increase in ease of use over earlier editions.

Melee got buffed in PF. Unfortunately, so did spellcaseters. The caster spell list got hit by the nerf bat, but that applied most heavily to low level spells - mid to higher level spells are mostly the same. Even at low levels, there are some rather powerful spells still present.

And there are a lot of interesting feats, some of which I strongly suspect are traps.

Another link that is helpful is the official PRD pages. The benefit of them is that the content is organized by book so it's easier to be compliant if games allow certain books and don't allow others.

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/

Pathfinder has lots of options in the base rulebook that are fun and has a system of templates that are almost like 2nd edition Kits in that they modify base classes while remaining very balanced so far. It gave the melee classes some expanded damage ability (arguably not as much as some of the combinations you can get after 10 years of supplements for D&D3.5 but certainly more than core 3.5) and it gives characters something to aim for in the higher levels (no dead levels for advancement).

What drew me to PF, was that every 3.5 game I saw here on MW was ultra-complicated; people would post their intention to play a character with a non-core race, non-core class with ECL, maybe even psionics, whereas I wanted to play a halfling rogue.

PF is expanding in content, so that splatbook bloat could become a similar problem, but so far it's still more back-to-basics than 3.5. I suppose the problems I experienced are more about the community than the game itself, but the streamlining of rules (polymorph/shape changing/wildshape deserves special mention) do help it be more entry-level gaming.




 

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Last Database Backup 2024-03-19 04:25:56am local time
Myth-Weavers Status