Talking Pathfinder RPG with Lead Developer Jason Bulmahn
No matter how well designed a tabletop game is, when it grows to be as large and expansive as Dungeons & Dragons’ 3rd edition, certain complexities are bound to arise. The 4th edition changed D&D greatly, streamlining the game to be more accessible to a growing audience, just as video games have opened up to millions of non-gamers. But as 3e & 3.5e came to a close, what happened to those still in love with that edition who were reluctant to just drop 3.5e entirely? Well, Jason Bulmahn happened. As lead developer heading up a team with centuries of combined experience with d20 systems, and one of the largest playtesting groups to get behind a single game, Paizo’s newest creation is an intuitive, refined, all-encompassing successor to 3.5e, with some of the best art I’ve seen in any rulebook. Enter the Pathfinder Role Playing Game.
In a very successful attempt to keep 3.5e alive, but also completely revamped, one major point for Pathfinder is that it exists as a separate game from D&D, yet all 3.5e materials are completely compatible. Thus, that bookshelf full of Monster Manuals, Quintessential Guides and Spell Compendiums can see a lot of use alongside all forthcoming Pathfinder material. However, you may find yourself letting them collect dust anyway. The Bestiary for Pathfinder has recently been released, along with several campaign guides, and an Advanced Player’s Manual out sometime in 2010, featuring 6 new core classes, a plethora of new spells, Prestige classes and much more. Check out our interview with Jason for details and the Paizo website to get early access to playtest materials for these new classes!
Along with providing ease in playability, Pathfinder also provides ease of access: the massive tome of a Core Rulebook contains both your Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide, giving you everything you’ll need to run or play a game in one sourcebook. While hard copies are widely available, you won’t have to dole out a ton of cash for the book: PDF copies are available online for $10. While it’s hard to match having the book in hand to thumb through at your leisure, the PDF is entirely linked (any underlined word is a link to specific rules about that subject). No more browsing the index here, when you see that a weapon does piercing damage and want details on that, just click “piercing” and it’ll take you right to that section.
The core mechanics of 3.5e are all intact as to ensure complete compatibility, yet several key changes stand out. According to lead developer Jason Bulmahn, “if we have to open up the rule book every time on a rules mechanic, it’s probably got a problem”. One of the biggest of these changes is the new concept of combat maneuvers. Rather than separately calculating your grapples, disarms, trips, etc, you simply roll your CMB (combat maneuver bonus) against your opponents CMD (combat maneuver defense) and you’ve got your result. This is a perfect example of how the entire feel of playing 3.5e is left perfectly intact, yet has been refined to make play straightforward while still not overly simplified. Additionally, each of the core classes have been buffed up a bit, giving your character more depth and options while still remaining balanced and not too overpowered.
With complete compatibility, tons of 3rd party support and its own array of miniatures whose quality matches the stunning art in the books, Pathfinder has a bright future ahead of it. So rest assured, yon 3.5e fans, our beloved game system lives on, and it’s safely in the best hands possible.
You can directly download the interview with Jason Buhlman here. Alternatively, you can listen to the interview via our regular podcast feed for Talk Is Cheap.
A link to their site would be nice in the article.
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG
Thanks, good on ya! I figured a little Google-ing would prove easy enough, plus most 3.5ers know Paizo anyhow.