Paizo Publishing, LLC Pathfinder Core Rulebook (P2)
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Price: £53.99
Brand: Paizo Publishing, LLC
Description: This comprehensive 640-page guide to the Pathfinder roleplaying game provides everything you need to set out on a world of limitless fantasy adventure! Choose from ancestries like elf, human, and goblin and classes like alchemist, fighter, and sorcerer to create a hero of your own design destined to become a legend! Based on more than 20 years of active development and playtest feedback from more than 125,000 gamers, the new Pathfinder rules are easy to learn and exciting to master! This indispensable volume contains all rules for players and Game Masters, and is your first step on a heroic new journey! The Pathfinder Core Rulebook includes: ● More than 600 pages of game rules, advice, character options, treasure, and more for players and Game Masters! ● Six heroic player character ancestries, including elf, dwarf, gnome, goblin, halfling, and human, with variant heritages for half-elf and half-orc! ● More than 30 backgrounds like bartender, soldier, or apprentice to further immerse yourself in your hero's backstory! ● Twelve character classes, including the alchemist, barbarian, bard, champion, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and wizard! ● Hundreds and hundreds of spells, class feats, and other exciting abilities to help you customize your character to become the hero YOU envision them to be! ● Streamlined and revised rules to help ease new players into the game while providing the depth of character options and tactical interest that have defined Pathfinder from the beginning!. Paizo Publishing, LLC Pathfinder Core Rulebook (P2) - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9781640781689
Delivery cost: 0.00
ISBN: 9781640781689
Author: Feral Bob
Rating: 5
Review: The first edition of Pathfinder (2009) was a masterpiece of game design that easily outclassed its main competitor of the time, Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition (which had somewhat neglected the cooperative roleplaying aspect of the game in favour of tactical combat). Over the following decade Pathfinder became swamped with options as more and more titles were released, so perhaps it was time to hit reset and release a revamped game that could compete with the much-lauded fifth edition of D&D. Fifth Edition D&D is relatively easy to get your head around as a new player, and the rules are streamlined and intuitive for the Game Master. The artwork is atmospheric and well-judged, and there are some great rules mechanics, like the Advantage/Disadvantage system, that keep the game from getting weighed down by endless modifiers. It's fun and it's fast, but this comes at the expense of a degree of realism (which may or may not be important to you in a fantasy RPG); for example, you take an eight hour nap and all your near-fatal wounds have miraculously healed! Pathfinder Second Edition, by contrast, is a behemoth. The Core Rulebook has twice the page count of the 5E Player's Handbook (although admittedly it contains some information, like magic items and some GM advice, that 5E puts in the Dungeon Master's Guide). P2 also has some cool mechanics, like the three-action economy for encounters, but the artwork (which I believe is important in an RPG for setting the tone) doesn't quite reach 5E's very high bar. P2 does blow 5E out of the water as a simulation. The rules are excellent and, whilst they're well written and well set out, would be pretty mind-boggling for a new Game Master or player. It's certainly an improvement on the original game, too, but it does suffer from its own admirable dedication to realism. There is a rule for everything, which could potentially leave the Game Master endlessly flicking through pages and players sat scratching their heads instead of getting on with play. Where P2 really shines compared to 5E is character creation. It's so flexible that it really facilitates your building literally any kind of character you can think of, especially when you combine the Core Rulebook with the Advanced Player's Guide. Another thing to keep in mind is that as a GM you'd only really require the Bestiary as a minimum, whereas to run a game of 5E you'd need the DMG and the Monster Manual. The simplicity of 5E is elegant and allows all involved to focus on roleplaying instead of rules; but if you were prepared to spend some time getting your head around P2 and committing it to memory (good luck!), I'd have to say it probably comes out on top overall as a game system. The Special Edition is well-made, too, with good quality stitching and two useful page marker ribbons. One other consideration is the quality and quantity of supplements. Of course, the original Pathfinder comes out on top here. There are adventure paths and modules for every conceivable setting, and copious materials on rules expansions, character options and styles of play. There are no less than six core bestiaries in hardcover, two unparalleled books on NPCs and equipment, and seemingly endless releases covering various locations in the default campaign world, Golarion. And then there's the reams of excellent material available from third party publishers. It's really well supported, but you might find yourself over-faced by it all. Wizards of the Coast have kept rules 'splat' books for 5E to a minimum, concentrating instead on published adventures and campaign settings, along with a couple of monster books. The quality is almost universally outstanding, and this strategy has maintained the easygoing identity of the Fifth Edition rules. By contrast, so far Paizo's output for P2 has been variable, with some supplements being rather overpriced and thin on content compared to those of its predecessor. On balance, I'd say Pathfinder Second Edition is technically a superior game to Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons, but with D&D's streamlined feel, great artwork and superb line of supplements, it's unlikely that P2 will usurp 5E in the marketplace. It's a shame, because P2 has a lot going for it and the original game was second to none in its day. I'm really impressed by the Second Edition's mechanics, versatility and immersive, simulation-like play style, but D&D does leave you with more room to breathe and concentrate on running a fun and well-paced game, instead of getting mired in details. In summary, then, if you like realism, complexity and a breadth of options, go with P2; if you want smooth, easy play or have rookie players, go with 5E. Both are top class games - it just depends on your own personal preferences and experience.
Author: Daniel Ward
Rating: 3
Review: Initial impression was one of absolute love. The textured hard cover binding with the ribbon book marks left a wonderful first impression. People who saw this book also remarked on the quality of this book. After having used it for a week I have two main issues... not deal breakers but something to keep in mind. 1) Later I learned that all of Pathfinder's "Special Edition" books are the first printing. So despite being on the fourth printing - this was still the first printing with no errata applied. Despite this however, I've ordered Special Edition for all the other books too. I think the Core Rulebook gets far too much traffic however - so if you want your books for display, maybe get the Core Rulebook for show and to match your collection, and pick up the latest printing for regular (ab)use. 2) While the book appears to be pretty solid, I am not sure on book bindings. I'm not a book expert but when passing the book when its own, I notice a fair bit of shearing action. I attribute this to the spine binding being separated a bit from the main pages. They may have done this to make it open flat better, but to me it just doesn't seem as durable as some of the other hardcover books I have had for years.
