Pathfinder Playtest: Rulebook (2018)

Pathfinder Playtest: Rulebook (2018)The evolution of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game begins here! This 416 page rulebook contains everything you need to create and advance your Pathfinder Playtest character from level 1 to 20, as well as hundreds of new and updated spells, magic items, feats, and Game Master rules necessary to run a complete Pathfinder Playtest campaign! Delve the deepest dungeons with a brand new goblin alchemist hero, or convert your favorite existing characters to

The evolution of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game begins here! This 416-page rulebook contains everything you need to create and advance your Pathfinder Playtest character from level 1 to 20, as well as hundreds of new and updated spells, magic items, feats, and Game Master rules necessary to run a complete Pathfinder Playtest campaign! Delve the deepest dungeons with a brand-new goblin alchemist hero, or convert your favorite existing characters to the new system! With gorgeous interior art from Pathfinder cover artist Wayne Reynolds and new rules concepts on nearly every page, the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook is your gateway to the future of Pathfinder. The only thing missing is your playtest feedback!
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Our first goal was to make Pathfinder Second Edition feel just like the game you know and love. That means that as a player, you need to be able to make the choices that allow you to build the character you want to play. Similarly, as a Game Master, you need to have the tools and the support to tell the story you want to tell. The rules that make up the game have to fundamentally still fill the same role they did before, even if some of the mechanics behind them are different.
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At its core, the story of both games [1st & 2nd Editions] is essentially the same. You still build your own character, venturing off on daring adventures, risking your life for a chance at fame and glory, defeating deadly foes that threaten your friends, your family, and perhaps the very world itself. Beyond the narrative, there are many things that have changed, but mostly in the details of how the game works. You still pick a race, even though it is now called your ancestry. You still decide on your class—the rulebook includes all of the core classes from the First Edition Core Rulebook, plus the alchemist. You still select feats, but these now come from a greater variety of sources, such as your ancestry, your class, and your skills.

Where the changes really shine through is in how the game is played. Gone are the confusing action types like move, standard, swift, and immediate, instead replaced with a simple system of three actions and one reaction each round. All of the varied systems and formulas for determining your character's bonuses and statistics, like saving throws, attack bonuses, and skills, have been unified in a single, easy-to-use proficiency system based on your choices and your character's level. You no longer need to collect a specific set of magic items to be a balanced character, relying on specific magical statistic bonuses. Instead, you get all of the bonuses you need from your regular armor and weapons, allowing the rest of your items to be truly wondrous.