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So, currently I have a pretty large collection of 3rd edition D&D stuff. I love 2nd & 3rd edition D&D, but due to having two kids and a full time job, I'm always looking to increase my fun/roleplaying time and decrease the complexity of rules (especially for my friends/family I play with, who are D&D players, but not a big fan of rules/complexity).

The Pathfinder Beginner Box caught my eye for all the stand ins you get and the (seemingly) simple ruleset. I wanted to chat with fans of the larger game, how is Pathfinder in relation to 3rd edition?

Also, I know 5th edition D&D is currently out, but I think it'd be cheaper to pick up Pathfinder items than 5th edition currently.

Pathfinder is basically 3.75 D&D. It’s a more refined version of the 3rd edition line.

If you liked 3rd, you should like Pathfinder.

The Beginner Box is a simplified version of Pathfinder. It limits characters to 3 races, 5 classes, and 5 levels. I think it is a quality product and fun can be had in it. There have been some fan made additions that add more classes, races, and monsters but not the complexity of the full Pathfinder rules. Check out http://www.pfbeginner.com/home and https://edowarsblog.wordpress.com/downloads/ if you want to see what the Beginner Box can do without the added complexity of the core Pathfinder rules.

spect_spidey wrote:
The Beginner Box is a simplified version of Pathfinder. It limits characters to 3 races, 5 classes, and 5 levels. I think it is a quality product and fun can be had in it. There have been some fan made additions that add more classes, races, and monsters but not the complexity of the full Pathfinder rules. Check out http://www.pfbeginner.com/home and https://edowarsblog.wordpress.com/downloads/ if you want to see what the Beginner Box can do without the added complexity of the core Pathfinder rules.

Could you run one of the Pathfinder Modules using the simplified rules? Or not really?

 jreilly89 wrote:

spect_spidey wrote:
The Beginner Box is a simplified version of Pathfinder. It limits characters to 3 races, 5 classes, and 5 levels. I think it is a quality product and fun can be had in it. There have been some fan made additions that add more classes, races, and monsters but not the complexity of the full Pathfinder rules. Check out http://www.pfbeginner.com/home and https://edowarsblog.wordpress.com/downloads/ if you want to see what the Beginner Box can do without the added complexity of the core Pathfinder rules.

Could you run one of the Pathfinder Modules using the simplified rules? Or not really?

I think you could. You would need to read over it first to ensure that you were aware of any things in the module that are not accounted for in the Beginner's Box rules. For example, check any creature listings to make sure you understand their abilities and have a plan to account for an ability that is not covered within the simplified rules of the Beginner's Box. I would also look for any feats that might not be in the rules. If you want to make use of some of these abilities then you should be able to find the descriptions and rules for them in the Pathfinder SRD website.

The neat thing is, you can try both Pathfinder and D&D 5th without buying anything at all.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules

Pathfinder is D&D 3.5 with some adjustments here and there. If you have played 3.5 then you pretty much already know what Pathfinder offers, at least at a mechanical level.

D&D 5th is more flexible than 3.5/Pathfinder and has become my favorite overall edition of D&D in terms of mechanics. I played 3.5 and early Pathfinder for several years and would pretty much never go back. Pathfinder as a product line seems really tempting because there is so much of it and the production values are fairly high. D&D 5th is ultimately the cheaper game because there is simply less of it and the game itself is not really about endlessly bolting stuff onto the essentials.

If you like a more old school feel, you might want to try Dungeon Crawl Classics. It has a very interesting magic system. But it is also one in which your race if not human is your class. It is inspired by the old Appendix N from the 1st Edition AD&D Dungeonmaster's Guide. I currently run it at home and the adventure's written for it are fantastic. What other game can allow zero level peasants to travel to a chaos realm, free a demigod, and slay a 60 ft. tall titan! We have tons of fun with this one.

 Manchu wrote:
The neat thing is, you can try both Pathfinder and D&D 5th without buying anything at all.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

Paizo actually puts a lot of their rules out on their own site, no need to go 3rd party:

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