Pathfinder

I went to the most recent Tucson RPG Guild gathering this weekend. It was much better attended than the last one I went to in June when I ran my first public game. There were over twenty people there with four games going. Thankfully, the venue had fixed their cooling problem, so it wasn’t hot and uncomfortable like the one in June. I also managed to score the latest Dragon Magazine Annual in the prize give away which was a fun bonus. I was hoping to play in a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen game using the Savage Worlds game system. Unfortunately, the guy who planned to run couldn’t make it due issues outside of his control. I ended up jumping into a game of Pathfinder.

Pathfinder is a fantasy RPG put out by Paizo. Paizo took Dungeons & Dragons Edition 3.5, cleaned up some of the rules that bugged people, and created Pathfinder. Basically, people who love 3.5 and don’t like 4th edition can move to Pathfinder for new content. I think adventures written for 3.5 are easily portable to Pathfinder as well. For all intents and purposes it can be considered D&D 3.75. I had fun during the game session. The DM did a great job, the other players were good, and the story was interesting with a nice twist at the end. But, I didn’t care much for Pathfinder itself. The first game of D&D I ever played (and subsequently the first campaign I played in) used D&D 3.5. That was only a little over a year ago. While, obviously, I fell in love with the hobby, I wasn’t particularly crazy about D&D 3.5. Pathfinder really hasn’t change anything about 3.5 that would improve upon my initial impression.

I have several problems with Pathfinder (and 3.5 in general). First of all, it’s a very rules heavy game. Combat rules are complicated without adding any tactical depth. While Pathfinder has apparently cleaned up some problems from 3.5 like grappling and combat maneuver rules, they still seem too complex. Also, the game seems to expect you to have a near encyclopedic knowledge of spells, potions, and items. I played an Alchemist which was a fun class in concept, but I spent a lot of time looking up the effects of potions and mutagens. I wasn’t the only one looking up things for their character either. When you do look up something, you are presented with a wall of text that you have to wade through in order to figure out how it works. I feel like 4th edition (which is rules heavy, too) does a better job of managing the complexity with concise, standardized stat blocks for items, spells, and abilities. Also, a lot of the rules heavy lifting for PCs is taken care of by the character builder. The 4th edition game I recently ran involved mostly people new to 4th edition and I don’t anyone needed to crack a book. With Pathfinder, several people needed to spend time looking things up. It just seems like you need to keep track of a lot more minutiae in Pathfinder and 3.5 and I don’t care for that.

Also, the combat wasn’t any more tactically compelling than combat in my regular Swords & Wizardry game (an Original D&D clone and very rules light game) but ran longer because of the more complex rules. So, Pathfinder combat ends up being the worst of both worlds for me. It can be long and tedious without the tactical complexity of 4th and without the drama, danger, and speed of S&W combat.

Oh, yeah. One thing that really drives me nuts is critical hits. In Pathfinder and 3.5 when you roll a 20, you have to roll again to “confirm” the critical hit. It really dulls the excitement of rolling a 20 for me if I have to roll again to “confirm” it and just seems complex for the sake of complexity. Drives me bonkers.

While I’ve been knocking Pathfinder for the past few paragraphs, like I said, I still had fun playing. With the right group of people and DM, I’d play Pathfinder again but it wouldn’t be my first (or second) choice for game system. I also really enjoyed my PC. Alchemist is a fun class to play and the concept is fun. I may see if I can find an alchemist class for Swords & Wizardry or make one of my own for fun.

I’m glad I made it out to the Meetup and hope to make it out again soon.

August 9, 2010 | Level 1 Gamer | 6 Comments »

First. Game. Ever. The story of my first RPG experience.

Way, way back in June of the year 2009, I played Dungeons and Dragons for the first time.  This was my first experience with a pen and paper RPG.  (Actually, it’s not quite my first experience, but that’s a story for another time.) Since it was not very long ago, I thought it would be a good idea to write a post about it before the memory melts into the recesses of my brain.  Without further ado, here is my gamer origin story.  Although, don’t expect any radioactive spiders or super-soldier serum.  It’s not that exciting.

I’d been interested in RPG’s for a long time, specifically D&D, since it was the only one I was really aware of .  I’ve been a computer gamer since I was a wee lad and I’m into many other geeky things.  Also, my mom and dad played D&D for a while before I was born.  I even have my mom’s dice and set of minis that she painted.  So, D&D was in my blood and it seemed like it would be right up my alley.  I just never had the opportunity to play.

Tucson RPG GuildIt is actually pretty difficult to get into the hobby if you are completely new to it and know no one who plays.  I’ve walked into game stores out of curiosity, but I barely knew what I was looking at let alone knew how to get into a game and actually play.  Thankfully, here in Tucson, we have a very active Meetup group called Tucson RPG Guild sponsored by SAGA, the Southern Arizona Gamers Association. I’m going to go off a little bit of a tangent here, but this is important to the story.  If not for the existence of the Tucson RPG Guild and SAGA, I wouldn’t be a gamer right now.  It brought me into the hobby.  From what I’ve read, tabletop RPGs are waning as a hobby.  The peak of the hobby was two decades ago.  Sales are down, etc.   With that in mind, I believe organizations like SAGA and meetup groups like Tucson RPG are vital to the future of the hobby.  I have more to say on this subject, but I’ll leave that for another post.

On to the story: Finally, in June, I had a free Saturday that happened to fall on one of the monthly Tucson RPG meetups.  My wife and daughter were out of town, and I had no other commitments.  I’d done a little research before hand.  I knew there was a new version of D&D called 4th edition and that the last edition was 3.5.  I came in wanting to play 4th edition because it was the shiny new thing.  Alas, when I arrived at the meetup, the 4th edition table was full.  Luckily, that week, there was someone running a 3.5 game and there was room at the table.  A young woman named Erin and her boyfriend, Nick were at the table.  Erin was the DM.  They had pregenerated 10th level characters.  With Nick’s advice, I chose the human rogue, because he was the least complicated mechanically.  A third player, Paul, joined us and chose a cleric. Nick played human ranger and also played a warrior to round out the party.

Once acquainted, we started to play.  I was bewildered at first.  The character sheet was a mystery to me.  I didn’t know what a D20 was.  The first call to roll initiative was met with a blank stare from me. Everyone was helpful and I picked up things pretty quickly.  The session started with all the PCs magically transported to a clearing after being bitten by a magical golden snake.  We introduced ourselves and set out to try to discover where we were and why we were there.  After finding various strange clues (dead bodies with plants growing out of them, giant glowing foot prints) and overcoming a few obstacles, we made it to another clearing.  The DM got out a battle mat.   A fairly long, but fun combat ensued between us and several magical wild animals.  We used quarters for our PCs and little pipe cleaner figures for the monsters. Despite my confusion and flailing about, I had a great time and managed to be fairly effective in combat.  At the end of the session, we all exchanged information and agreed to continue on the game as a home game.

Several things about this first session really clicked with me and drew me into the hobby.  First, I really liked combat.  I’ve always been a avid computer gamer.  In fact, my favorite computer of all time is X-COM, a tactical, turn-based game that features combat quite similar to D&D 3.5 combat.  So, combat really scratched that gaming itch for me.  Second, it’s a social hobby.  Most of my hobbies are solitary and it’s not always easy for me to make new friends.  So, it’s a great way to be more social and meet new people.  Third, I immediately recognized the creative outlet that D&D can provide.  I have an active imagination and like to plot out stories in my head.  I just don’t have the ability and/or the discipline to write them out.  The framework of D&D (and RPGs in general) for creating and telling stories really seems like it can be a creative outlet for me.

We continued to meet throughout the summer to continue the campaign.  Somewhere along the way, role playing really started to click for me.  My character started to crystallize in mind and I began to make decisions based on what the character would do instead of what makes the most sense from a meta-gaming standpoint.   Meanwhile, I ravenously browsed the internet to learn more about D&D and RPGs in general.   I attended another meetup and got to play 4th edition finally.  While I really enjoyed the 3.5 campaign I was in, I found I preferred 4th edition as a system.

After quite a few scheduling conflicts, the campaign ended with a satisfying conclusion in August.  Nick and Erin moved to Chicago.  I’m now playing Paul’s home brew campaign using the Swords and Wizardy system. He is chronicling it on his blog, The Warlock’s Home Brew and I’ll be writing about that soon.

This campaign was a great introduction to the hobby for me.  I’m actually glad I ended up at that table during that meetup.  I got play in and finish a D&D campaign.  I got to play 3.5 which, while it’s not my preferred system, I’m glad to now have experience with the system so I have the frame of reference.  And, of course, I was introduced to a great hobby which I hope to enjoy for many years to come.

November 10, 2009 | Level 1 Gamer | 6 Comments »