Monstrous Mondays: Pathfinder Bestiary 1

Last week I talked about the last of the D&D 3.x monster books to be published, but that was not the end of the d20 "3rd Ed era" monster books by a long shot.  When Wizards of the Coast moved on to D&D 4th Edition, Paizo (who had been publishing d20 material this whole time) came back with Pathfinder. 

The Pathfinder core combined the Player's and Game Master's material into one place and there was a rumor that the book would also have monsters. That was not to be and that was good in retrospect since it would have given us a 900+ page book.

Pathfinder Bestiary

Print and PDF. 328 pages. Color cover and interior art. For this review, I am considering the hardcover I bought in 2010 and the PDF I got from Paizo's webstore.

At this point, people were calling Paizo's Pathfinder "D&D 3.75."  It was an update, via the OGL, of the D&D 3.5 rules with many of their own rules added on. Not sure if it was a coincidence or choice but both Pathfinder and D&D 4 featured cover art from Wayne Reynolds. This helped what came to be known as the "Dungeon Punk" style and gave us Pathfinder's unique-looking goblins, kobolds, and trolls.  

This bestiary features 309 monsters. Like their godfather, D&D 3.x all the monsters feature robust stat blocks and full-color art.  Like 2nd Ed AD&D before and 4th ed D&D currently, each monster is present on a single page. Again the value add for me is the ability to print the PDFs and place them in the order I like along 3rd party Pathfinder monsters.

The stat block of the Pathfinder monsters is easy enough to read for native D&D 3,x players.  There is some reorganization and added details that greatly improve both the readability and playability of these monsters. 

Nearly all of the "classics" and "usual suspects" monsters are here. What makes this book so much fun is seeing how a familiar creature changes between the D&D 3.x worlds to the Pathfinder ones.

I would argue that anyone playing D&D 3.x can get a lot of value out of the Pathfinder Bestiary books.  The rules are not so dissimilar as to have problems. And unless I am misreading here, it really does appear that ideas in this book would later manifest in D&D 5e.

The value of the Pathfinder Bestiaries comes not in so much how they are alike the other "Monster Manuals" or even monster books derived from the SRD, but how they are different. At some level, these differences are cosmetic or even campaign world specific. It will be interesting to read the future ones and see what they have to offer outside of this core set of monsters.

100 Days of Halloween: Heroes Weekly, Vol 5, Issue #3, Witchcraft

Some more Pathfinder tonight. This time for the Heroes Wear Masks RPG.

Heroes Weekly, Vol 5, Issue #3, Witchcraft

PDF. 13 pages. Color covers and interior art.

This one is a bit of a mixed bag really.

I love the idea of having an evil witch class. This one is also different enough from the base Pathfinder witch to make it worth a look.

I don't love that they chose to call their evil witch a "Wiccan."  After all no one would make an evil cleric class and call it a "Catholic" or anything like that.

These witches get powers but no spells to speak of; though the powers take place of the spells.

There are some print and fold minis near the end.  The art is mixed. I am not a fan of the cover. If this was for a modern sort of game it feels out of place.  The witch on page 2 would have been a better choice.

In the end, there is not enough here for me to recommend it. 

100 Days of Halloween: Bloodlines & Black Magic - The Witch

Back to a little bit of Pathfinder tonight, though with a modern twist. 

Bloodlines & Black Magic - The Witch

PDF. 21 pages. Black & White art.

This is a supplement for the Bloodlines & Black Magic RPG. A dark modern RPG based around Pathfinder. This one presents a witch class. 

It is largely the Pathfinder witch class with 5 levels. There are some new hexes presented here so that is nice. 

The art is really nice. Black & white, but fits the mood and tenor of the game, so it works here. Color would be a distraction. 

It could work with Pathfinder proper or even with D20 Modern 3rd edition as a Prestige or Advanced class.  Personally, that is what I would like to try with it.

I'll have to check out the full Bloodlines & Black Magic RPG.

100 Days of Halloween: #30 Magic Tools (PFRPG)

Going back to Pathfinder tonight with some (28) magical tools for all classes not just witches.  

#30 Magic Tools (PFRPG)

PDF. 13 pages. $2.95. 1 cover page, 1 title page, 2 pages of ads, 1 page of OGL. 8 pages of content.

A collection of 28 tools for Pathfinder characters.

The tools are varied from a Brass fastener to a spoon to gloves.

Each one has an associated skill attached to it and what magical aura it gives off. It describes the item/tool, what it does, how it looks and there is even some lore attached to each item.

While built for Pathfinder, it could be used with any version of D&D really, with some tweaks. The Lore is good and the effects can be translated easily.

100 Days of Halloween: Talented Adventurers - The Witch: Marena Lenoire

Ok, this is a bit harder to give a fully objective review to because I have worked with nearly everyone involved on other projects.  That being said I will be following my rules for this work. 

Christina Stiles Presents: Talented Adventurers - The Witch: Marena Lenoire

PDF. $3.95. 24 pages. 1 cover page, 1 credits page, 1 about the author page, 3 pages for the OGL. 18 pages of content. Color cover and interior art.

This product does one thing and does it really, really well.  It presents us a single witch, the titular Marena Lenoire, from 1st level to 20th level.

We are given a little bit of background on her and then detailed stat blocks for her 20 levels.

It is a great product for any Pathfinder DM/GM who needs a reoccurring NPC to aid the party. She is a Lawful Good witch (rare and nice to see) so she would not make a good "bad guy" for them. 

Use in War of the Witch Queens

I mean, yeah, she really begs to be used.  I have worked with everyone involved with her creation, so I owe them at least that much to have her show up in the campaign at some point.  I see her in the exact role she was designed for; as something of a folk hero.  She is not a witch that would seek out the title of Witch Queen but would accept it if her peers willed it and she could use it to help her people.

I just need to find a good spot for her.

100 Days of Halloween: Stock Art: Curlee Witch's Ritual

Some stock art tonight. This is another Marc Curlee piece. It was featured as the cover for The Talented Witch I reviewed last night.

Stock Art: Curlee Witch's Ritual

I knew Marc only tangentially, but I am friends with many people that were very close to him.

You can buy this piece and use it in your projects.  I think I would like to use it in one of mine, just need to find the right one.

It has a solid Pathfinder feel to it with the inclusion of the hag.

100 Days of Halloween: The Genius Guide to the Talented Witch

Rogue Genius Games does a LOT of great stuff. Their "Talented" line for various classes was always something I wanted to look into, but since I haven't been playing Pathfinder all that much so I never bought any of them.  But of course, I had to buy the Talented Witch.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews, moreover, many of the people involved with these products are people I have worked with in the past. So I am going to try be extra careful in how I review these.

The Genius Guide to the Talented Witch

PDF ($4.95) and Softcover Print Options, 57 pages. 1 cover, 1 table of contents, 1 credits, 1 OGL, rest content.  Color cover and interior art. 

There is a lot to like about this really. The cover art is from the late Marcum Curlee and features an interesting trio of witches. There is art from Other Side friends Jacob E. Blackmon, Brian Brinlee, and Gary Dupuis.  I really love the art, but that is expected. Hell, even that Morpheus font is like they are flirting with me. 

The talented witch is a little different than the base Witch class in the Pathfinder book. It gets various Edges and Talents at alternate levels. These largely replace all the powers of the witch, including the Hexes.  

Edges are first and there are 40 of these. Edges are a lot like Feats in how they are presented. They include Combat, Cunning, Elemental, Hag, Patron, Spellcasting, and Spellcasting Conduits.  Hag for example can give the Edges of Bite or Claws to do damage. 

Talents are more like magical powers, like Hexes, and also have groupings. There are 140 of these in Blessing, Crafting, Curse, Necromancy, Personal, Spellcasting, and Utility. There are also Major and Grand Talents. Talents that are Hexes are marked with an asterisk.

The idea here is customization. Basically, if you can imagine a witch, you could build it from these options.  There is a dizzying array of choices here. There is even an appendix on familiars here and another on patrons and a compiled witch spell list from various Pathfinder products. 

There is an absolute ton of information here and more than I know what to do with.

The Genius Guide to More Witch Talents

PDF. ($2.95) 25 pages. 1 cover, 1 table of contents, 1 credits page, 1 OGL page. 

This adds more Edges and Talents to the witch class.

This gives us 5 new edges and 95 new witch Talents. And I thought I had options before. Talents that are Hexes are marked with an asterisk.

This one leans more into the curses which are nice. 

Like the Genius Guide to the Talented Witch, this book provides a lot of options for nearly any sort of witch.  Also, like that book the art here is really good.

I am not exactly sure where or when the Talented idea came about but checking the Rogue Genius Games listings there are lot of these. I am not sure how they change the game, but I do love the ideas here as a designer and player of witch classes. As a player, it would also be fantastic especially if you love character customizations.  As a Game Master, keeping track of all of this would be a bit of a chore I think.

I'd have to print these both out I think to get a real feel for them.  

One thing I didn't like about both books was the huge border around all the text. It makes the book pretty, but it is not as efficient when it comes to displaying the text. 

100 Days of Halloween: Echelon Reference Series: Witch Spells (3pp+PRD)

Something a little different today, although I am not moving on from Pathfinder just yet. Today I want to explore the amazing reference that is the Echelon Reference Series from Keith Davies.  There are a bunch of these, but I am going to focus my attention on the witch.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Echelon Reference Series: Witch Spells Compiled (3pp+PRD)

2 PDFs. $33.99. 186 pages (PF) and 544 pages (3PP).

Yes. 730 pages total. This compiled collection covers both spells from various Pathfinder products and the 3rd Party Pathfinder products.  There is no fluff. Very little art.  Here is how each book breaks down.  There is a cover page, and OGL statement of Open Content page, a table of contents, and two pages on what this book is.  For the Pathfinder book there is three pages of OGL. For the 3rd Party book there are seven pages for the OGL. There is a hyperlinked index for both and hyperlinked table of contents.

The rest is solid text of spells.

And by spells. I mean every single witch spell ever published by the date of this book.  The 3rd Party book for example has nearly 30 pages of cantrips, 50 pages of 1st level spells, 60 2nd level spells and so on. 

The spells are given an editorial clean-up so that they all look similar and can flow well. 

What these books lack (and were never trying to cover) is all the fluff or explanatory pieces that might go with the background of a spell.  For example "Air Bubble" mentions a firearm can be loaded within an Air Bubble, but makes no attempt to explain anything more.  This is perfectly within the scope of this product.

The number of spells break down as follows:

Witch 3pp
Cantrips: 123
1st level: 200
2nd level: 251
3rd level: 221
4th level: 188
5th level: 163
6th level: 142
7th level: 131
8th level: 122
9th level: 109
Total 1,650

Witch Prd
Cantrips: 15
1st level: 83
2nd level: 107
3rd level: 88
4th level: 70
5th level: 51
6th level: 39
7th level: 40
8th level: 28
9th level: 22
Total 543

That's insane really. 

He also has these per level and for every spell casting class in Pathfinder.

You might ask if you buy this does that get rid of the need to buy other Pathfinder spell books? I say no since there is nothing here but the spells.  Other products often have the spells, explanatory notes, monsters, feats, and items that might go with them.  These books are a fancy SRDs. Highly organized and very useful ones at that.

If you are like me this is a treasure trove.

100 Days of Halloween: Character Options: Witches

Going back to some Pathfinder tonight. I can't help it there is a lot of great Pathfinder content out there. 

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Character Options: Witches

PDF. $1.49. 7 pages. 1 page cover.  ½page OGL. 5½ pages of content.

This PDF gives us what I consider the "usual bag" of options for the Pathfinder Witch class. NOTE that is not a slight on this book or even a bad thing.  It is very, very often exactly what people want.

There are 10 new Patrons with their bonus spells. There are 10 new hexes as well.

There are three (3) new archetypes as well. These include the Devoted Witch (I might call this a Divine Witch or Witch Priestess), Green Witch (largely the same as mine in feel), and the Storyteller Witch which is a lot of fun.  It is closest to my "Good Walker" witch.

So for just under $1.50 you can get all of this. Not at all bad really. If you need some new witch options then this is a good choice.

100 Days of Halloween: Incantations from the Other Side: Spirit Magic

We are back to Pathfinder today, but honestly, with a name like this how can I possibly say no? 

Incantations from the Other Side: Spirit Magic

PDF. $9.99. 38 pages. 1-page cover. 1 credits page. 1-page table of contents. 1 page for OGL and index. 34 pages of content. Landscape page orientation (sometimes this cuts off art).

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

This book is divided into four major sections, each with a different author from the cover.  Each covers a different type of magic.

The Spirit World by Scott Gable introduces us to the book and the three types of spirit magic we will cover here. 

Vodou by Scott Gable. This is our first and is familiar by name. It involves working with various spirits, the Loa, many listed later in this section.  There seems to be some campaign setting specifics here. This is not a surprise because in our world Vodou, Vodun, and Voodoo are very location specific. This is mentioned in a sidebar here. 

There are some new spells, but beyond that there is plenty of information on how these spells are supposed to be used.  This section will not replace any of the works of say C.J. Carella on the subject, but it works great for Pathfinder.

The Middle World by Uri Kurlianchik. Covers the magic found in the tales from Russia and the Slavs. This includes a number of "House spirits."  Again we are treated to some familiar names; the Leshy, the Domovoi, but here they are spirits and not fae creatures exactly. Here we also have a few spells associated with the various creatures.

The Arcanum by Clinton Boomer. Lastly we have the Arcanum. This one covers "Starry Patrons" but there is a solid "from beyond the stars" feel to these. You can read these as Lovecraftian horrors, but they seem more aloof and alien even than that. 

This book succeeds in giving us a very different felling magic system that still works with the rules of Pathfinder. Since the publication of this book there have been more book on magic for Pathfinder, so it would be interesting to see how this works with these new works.

The art is full color and quite good.

100 Days of Halloween: Witch Feats

A couple of PDFs tonight. Both giving me some new feats for the Pathfinder 1st Edition Witch.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Witch Feats
from Island Of Bees

PDF. 5 pages, PWYW, suggested $1.00. No cover. No OGL.

This one is oddly presented and I had to go back and make sure I had the right file. But once I got into it then yes it is the right PDF.  The cover to the right is not in the file (as a cover) and it jumps right into the content. The art takes up half of every page, so not really 5 pages, but 2.5 pages of content (more like 2). The art is good, very visually striking and I like it (our cover girl here is on page 4 for the Witch Brew), but there is one of what looks like a young girl in a Civil War-era Union uniform with a rat familiar.  It is good and I rather like it, but it looks very out of place, to be honest.

While presented as feats, these are really patron pacts.  So you get these if you take the feat. The text is mostly fluff. The advantage to this is you could use them with Pathfinder 2nd Ed or D&D 5th Ed warlocks too. It's just not what I thought it might be.

Fantastic Feats Volume XXVII - Witches
from Ennead Games

PDF. 5 pages. $1.25. 1 page for cover, 1 page for Preface/Table of Contents, 1 page for the OGL. 2 pages of content.

This file has seven witch feats presented in the traditional manner for the Pathfinder 1st Edition RPG. There are some interesting ones here too. The Stable Spell gives the witch more control over the damage she can do while Unstable Spell adds some randomness. Aura of Menace should be taken by all witches I think!

Certainly some fun ideas here. 

100 Days of Halloween: Witch Options (PFRPG)

More Pathfinder material tonight.  

Full disclosure, I am friends with the author, Robert W. Thomson. Also, I will be following my rules for this to remain fair.

Witch Options (PFRPG)

PDF. 10 pages, 1 cover, 2.4 pages for OGL. 6.6 pages of content. $2.00

I like Purple Duck Games. They produce a lot of material so it is a good chance there is something out there that you will enjoy.  This book has a lot of different options for the witch class as the title says. 

There is a little bit of everything in this book too.

There are five new hexes. Five new Major hexes and four Grand hexes. Six New Patron Themes. Ten new feats.  I am rather fond of the Triple Moon Tattoo feat to be honest.

Ten new spells, including "Summon Hag."  Four new pieces of equipment.

There is the hagborn template to add to any monster for creatures born to hags.

There is not a lot of any one thing here, but a lot of different things. For $2.00 how could I say no?

100 Days of Halloween: Into The Breach: The Witch

Making my way through various Pathfinder books this one caught my eye a while back. 

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Into The Breach: The Witch

PDF. 32 pages. 1 cover, 1 title, 1 credits page, 1 table of contents, 1 OGL, for 27 pages of content.  $5.99.

This book has quite a bit of good content. 

There are new archetypes: Bailiwick Hermit, Bog Builder, Bulwark Theurgist, Dweomer Weaver, Foul Temptress, Gluttonous Crone, Marjara Bound, the Scorned Heart, and Voodoo Crafter.

Each archetype has a number of new associated powers. 

There is a new  Base Class related to the witch, the Sèvitè which is the worshiper of a lost creator god. Essentially this is a Voodoo practitioner in Pathfinder terms.  The interesting thing for me is their ability to Syncretize various gods. Very interesting to be sure. 

There are a couple of very interesting Prestige Classes presented as well. The Heathen and The Scarred Shaman. 

Like all good witch books for Pathfinder, this one has a number of Hexes, Major Hexes, and Grand Hexes.  There are also four new Patrons and quite a few new feats.

I rather like it to be honest. Lots of fun options here. The Voodoo-themed elements are nice and I would love to explore more with the syncretism of the gods. 

100 Days of Halloween: Advancing with Class: The Witch

Been spending some time with various Pathfinder supplements. Tonight I want to look over the Knotty Works book Advancing the Class.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Advancing with Class: The Witch

PDF. 27 pages. 1 cover, title page, back cover, 1 ad, 2 pages of ogl. 22 pages of content.

This book has a bunch of new material for the Pathfinder 1st Ed. Witch class.

There are five new Patron themes (with patron spells listed); Arcane Patron, Courtly Fey Patron, Nature Fey Patron, Summer Patron, and Whimsy Patron.

There are 54 new hexes in four categories along with the general, major and grand hexes.

The 17 new feats are interesting since I do like to play with the idea that witches are almost a different type of human.  So there are lot of "blood" nature feats.

The witch Archetypes give you different roleplaying ideas, with some mechanical advantages. We have the Eldritch Witch, Fey Touched Witch, Harrowed Harlequin, Madness Matriarch, Mystic Astrologer, Occult Scholar, and Shadow Mistress. 

There are also three NPC witches using them material above.

There are certainly some great ideas here and some archetypes I'd love to try out.   

The layout is ok. The font is very readable, but the blue boarder seems unnecessary.  The art is a bit of a mixed bag.  But for just under $3.50 it's a good deal.

100 Days of Halloween: Witch Archetype Sampler

Yesterday I featured a Witch Archetype, the Charmbrewer Witch, and thought it would be fun to look at some more. Tonight's choice has a price no one can argue with. It's free!

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Witch Archetype Sampler

From Knotty Works. PDF. 6 pages; 1 cover, 1 title page, 1 page OGL, 1 back cover. So two pages of content. The price is PWYW with a suggested price of $0. 

This book is essentially an ad for Advancing with Class: The Witch. This is not a bad thing.  I think I'll have a look at that one later.

This free file includes three witch archetypes; Abyssal Bound Witch, the Infernal Bound Witch and the Tribal Witch.  They all do about what they sound like. There are some new powers and suggestions for hexes the witches can take.

Seriously though while these are "easy" archetypes to do (Demon and Devil worshipers) they are still quite good and worth the minimal effort needed to take download them.

100 Days of Halloween: The Charmbrewer Witch Archetype (2013)

I have mentioned my love of the Pathfinder system, both the 1st and 2nd editions, and their witch classes. I am obviously not the only one, as there is a lot of great Pathfinder-compatible material for witches. 

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Class Expansions: The Charmbrewer Witch Archetype

This PDF is 5 pages; 1 for the cover and 1 for the OGL. $1.25.

This is a class archetype. This one mixes the witch with a bit of the alchemist. She exchanges some of her hex ability for a connection to a cauldron.  

With this cauldron, she can brew potions and elixirs. She gets two new hexes and 21 elixirs they can brew. These elixirs take the place of hexes and the witch can gain them at various levels.

The concept of a witch using a cauldron is a powerful one and this one is well executed.  

I rather like it to be honest. The price is rather nice as well.

100 Days of Halloween: Class Expansions: Witch Hexes [PFRPG]

Pathfinder gave us a really fun witch class. I was very pleased with a lot of the material that came out to support it.

Hexes are to Pathfinder witches as Occult Powers are to my witches and invocations are to D&D warlocks.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews.

Class Expansions: Witch Hexes [PFRPG]

This PDF is four pages, 1 for cover, 1 for OGL statement, 2 for content. Price is $1.00. So 25 cents per page, or 50 cents per page of content.  Still, one buck is still cheap.

Ther are 12 witch Hexes presented here. 

There are some really nice thematic hexes here like Broom-a-mancy (which is not a thing but really works well here) to "Suffer the Slings and Arrows."

They are all quite fun.

Class Expansions: Witch Major Hexes

This PDF is four pages, 1 for cover, 1 for OGL statement, 2 for content. Price is $1.00. So 25 cents per page, or 50 cents per page of content. 

Aside. When judging these prices I should include a minmum and then adjust from there. I could be $1 is the minimum.  

This file includes an appropriate 13 Major Hexes for Pathfinder 1st Edition Witches. They are of a good varieity and many very useful ones.  The various "Vision" Hexes are quite nice in fact.

--

I would add these to my arsenal of Pathfinder releated Witch materials.

Skylla: Pathfinder 2nd Edition

I thought it might be nice to break up the reviews here and see if I can build one of my favorite characters for Pathfinder Second Edition.  And that means I am building a witch.

My girl Skylla here has gotten a lot more popular since I started this series almost 10 years ago. Since then she has gotten new official D&D 5 stats, a mini, and a new action figure release. All of that in the last year alone.  I'd love to take credit for it, but it is really just part of the same thing I was doing 10 years ago; discovering a cool, but under-used character.

What is great about this is I can compare and contrast the official D&D5 Warlock Skylla to a possible Pathfinder 2e Skylla.  I can also compare and contrast her with the Pathfinder 1st edition witch I did years ago.   

In this case, I cleaved a little closer to her Base stats found in module XL1 Quest for the Heartstone and her warlock stats found in The Wild Beyond The Witchlight.

For this build I kept her at 6th level to correspond base stats and the D&D5 stats and not the 7th level I have typically been using.  I have not seen a lot of Pathfinder 2e statblocks online, so I am going with my own format here.

Skylla
6th level Witch, Human (Wintertouched)
CE Medium Humanoid

Background:  Student of Magic

Ability Scores
Strength: -1 (8)
Dexterity: 0 (10)
Constitution: +2 (14)
Intellignece: +4 (19)
Wisdom: +3 (16)
Charisma: +3 (16) 

AC: 18 (+8 prof)
HP: 62
Perception: +11

Saving Throws
Fortitude: +12
Reflex: +8
Will: +13

Resistances and Immunities: Cold 3

Speed: 25

Melee Strikes
Staff +7, 1d4 (1d8 two-handed) +1d6 electricity

Skills
Acrobatics +0, Arcana +12, Athletics -1, Crafting +4, Deception +13, Diplomacy +11, Intimidation +13, Lore (Academia +12), Medicine +3, Nature +11, Occultism +12, Performance +3, Religion +11, Society +4, Stealth +8, Survival +11, Thivery +0

Feats

Ancestry Feats and Abilities
Wintertouched Human, Adapted Cantrip, Adaptive Adept

Skill Feats
Recognize Spell, Arcane Sense, Charming Liar, Intimidating Glare

General Feats
Toughness

Class (Witch) Feats and Abilities
Hexes, Familiar, Basic Lesson, Rites of Convocation, Magical Fortitude, Steady Spellcasting

Spells

Spell Attack Roll: +12
Spell DC: 22
Traditions: Occult
Focus Points: 2

Inante Spells: Detect Magic
Focus Spells: Blood Ward, Phase Familiar, Spirit Object

Cantrips: Chill Touch, Daze, Detect Magic, Light, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Protect Companion
1st Level: Charm, Chilling Spray, Floating Disk, Mage Armor, Magic Missile
2nd Level: Dispel Magic, Invisibility, Knock
3rd Level: Enthrall, Lightning Bolt

--

I like this. She compares well to her D&D5 counterpart. Lots of spells all over the place and LOTS of feats, but that's Pathfinder Second Edition.  

In both cases her Patron is Baba Yaga. So that's really nice. I thought about taking a magical tatoo to cover her mark from Baba Yaga, but I am still reading through the Secrets of Magic book so I am not sure that works just yet.

I feel she might have more magical might than her D&D5 counterpart. I thought this would happen which is why I wanted to set her at the same level (6th level) for a better comparison.

Review: Pathfinder 2nd ed Advanced Player's Guide

Continuing my exploration of the Pathfinder Second Edition I am going to examine the book you all knew I was going to get to sooner or later. 

Like the previous edition of Pathfinder the Advanced Player's Guide introduces some new classes to the Pathfinder game, and like the previous edition, one of those classes introduced is the Witch.

Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide 

As before I am considering the hardcover Special Edition version of this book. The book is 272 pages and has full-color interior art.

This book is Player focused and shares a lot in common with its predecessor. It also follows the format of the Second Edition Core rules.

Introduction

This introduces us to the book and gives us an overview of what we can expect.

Ancestries & Backgrounds

Now here are some neat ideas. We get five new Ancestries here. They are Catfolk, Kobolds, Orcs, Ratfolk, and Tengus.  

The Catfolk are fun and comparable to the D&D Tabaxi and Rakasta (not Rakasha).  Likewise, the Tengus are like the D&D Kenku.  Orcs are orcs, but I like what they are doing with them. Orcs has always been the "Klingons" of D&D. Someone to fight in the TOS ("The Original Series" or "The Old School") but that changed later on. We have Klingons in Starfleet in TNG and beyond and now we can have Orcs as a player race.  Orcs are still described as being mostly chaotic (which I like) and even, maybe just a little bit evil. Player Character Orcs don't have to be.  Also like Klingons, these Orcs seem to see their gods as something they should strive to kill. A little John Wick influence here? (The game designer, not the character).  These orcs would be interesting to play.  We also get Ratfolk (anthropomorphic rats) and Kobolds.  Now I will admit, I really don't like Pathfinder's ultra-reptilian Kobolds.  I am certain they have their fans, but if I am going to play a small annoying creature why would I choose anything but a goblin? 

Each ancestry gets a set of ancestry feats to choose at 1st, 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels.  

There are new heritages as well including the new versatile heritage which gives you lineage feats as well. I know the "feat haters" are already screaming. Yeah, that might be justified. The lineages are Changeling, Dhampir, and Planar Scions which include Aasimar, Duskwalker, and Tiefling.  These feats are also taken at 1st, 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels.  

More feats are given for the Core Rules ancestries as well. I think the next goblin I play is going to need the "Extra Squishy" feat.

There are more backgrounds as well including Common and Rare backgrounds. 

Classes

Ah. The real reason I bought this book!

In addition to the four new classes, Investigator, Oracle, Swashbuckler, and Witch, there are new features for the twelve Core Rules classes.

The Investigator is an interesting class and one I can see working well in an FRPG.  Basically is Sherlock Holme could fit into your game then this class has a place too.  The Oracle is a staple of classic mythology and is a divine-powered class. A nice alternative to the cleric.  The Swashbuckler is neat and all but I didn't "get it" until I started thinking of them as a DEX-based fighter as opposed to the normal STR-based one. That leaves just one more class.

The Witch has been a great addition to Pathfinder since 1st Edition and I rather like this one too.  This witch is an Intelligence-based spellcaster. Like many interpretations of the witch she gets a Patron and Familiar.  This is how she learns her spells. Now for me this points more to Charisma, but there are a lot of Charisma-based casters in Pathfinder. Wisdom would have also been a good choice.  These witches also get Hexes which are powers they can use that are not spells but spell-like. 

While clerics are clearly divine spellcasters and wizards are arcane, witches as a class can move about these distinctions. So depending on their Patron Theme, they can be Arcane, Divine, Occult, or Primal.  A Rune Witch is arcane, but a Winter Witch is primal. This time also grants a skill, a cantrip and a spell.

In addition to spells, hexes, patrons, and loads of feats, witches also get Lessons, each lesson gives the witch a hex and their familiar a spell. Witches don't use spell books here, just their familiars.  There is so much customization I could make 1000s of witches and no two would be the same. 

Witches in Pathfinder fill the same ecological niche that Warlocks do in D&D 5.

Following the witch we get new feats for the twelve core rules classes. Typically a two- or four-page spread continues with PF2e's design aesthetic. Sorcerers, I should note get new bloodlines as well. 

There is also a section on animal companions (largely stats) and familiars. 

Archetypes

Like the Core Rules of PF2e this has several archetypes that can be applied to classes via the applications of various feats and skills. I do see where some of the 3.x Prestige Classes are now living on here as archetypes. There are also the multi-class archetypes for all the new classes. One of these new archetypes is the Cavalier. I can complete my "Dragon 114" duo with a human witch and an elven cavalier!  Some of these archetypes can be be taken as early as 2nd level, others (typically the former Prestige Classes) need more requirements and have to be taken at higher levels.  I would need to compare and contrast the archetypes to the old Prestige Classes to see how they work out.  I can see where you can build your own Batman now with the monk class, the investigator multi-class feat, and vigilante archetype. 

One thing though. I can see these archetype being adapted to D&D5 or even OSR D&D with some care and attention. 

Feats

Feats are either the boon or bane of Pathfinder. This chapter has more of them.

Spells

New spell casting classes mean a need for new spells. 

Items

New magic items.

All in all this book is a lot of fun. The art is great, and the layout and design is fantastic. There are a lot of great ideas here and I would love to try them out.  Hell. I would be content in making a different PF2e witch a day just to see how many I could do.  But don't worry, I am not going to that except maybe for myself.

There is a lot here I would love to see find a home in some way for D&D, maybe for D&D6.  

Review: Pathfinder 2nd ed Bestiary

Spend any time here and you know there is one thing that is always true. I LOVE monster books. I can fairly say that monster books, bestiaries, and the like are not just my first love of RPGs but are largely why I am into RPGs, to begin with.

So I knew that even if I never bought anything else for the Pathfinder Second Edition game I was going to buy the Bestiary.  And much like it's Great-Grandfather AD&D, I picked up the Bestiary first. I grabbed the Core Rules (that I discussed yesterday) based entirely off of what I read in this book.

I guess I really should have done this one on Monday instead of a monster, but I wanted to do the core rules first.

So what does this book have and why did I like it so much?  Well, it has a lot going for it.

Pathfinder 2nd ed Bestiary

For this review, I am considering the Hardcover version I purchased at my FLGS.  For Pathfinder 2e I have been going with the Special Edition covers. My oldest gets the Special Ed covers of the D&D 5 books and I get the regular ones since D&D 5 is "His" game.  I normally like to get the Special Ed covers since I am a sucker for a book with a ribbon in it.  Plus he has no plans to play PF2e and we even combined our PF1e books into one collection and sold off the rest (which is how I can buy these!)

The book is 360 pages with full-color art. You know when you walk into the floor of the Gen Con trader hall and the smell of new books hits you?  That's how this book smells. Like Gen Con, but in a good way.

This book contains about 415 different monster stat blocks.  Before I get into those blocks I want to speak about the layout.  The PF1e Bestiary worked hard to get monsters down to one page per monster. Sometimes there were variations, but it was obvious the Paizo crew (and many others of the d20 boom) liked the presentation of one monster per page as in the AD&D 2nd days.  PF2e takes this design strategy and extends it to the next level.  Sometimes we get one monster per page. Many times we get a monster type (for example the Alghollthu) that extends across 2-, 4- or more pages (always an even number) that are facing each other. So in this case the Skum and Faceless Stalker.

This continues throughout the book. The practical implications here are 1.) finding something is easy IF you know the group it might be under. 2.) you can lay your book flat and have access to everything you need for the monster.  There is of course one other.  While I love my special editions, if I went to the Paizo website and got all of these as PDFs I could do the exact same thing I have done with the AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendiums and the various S&W Monster books, I can print them all out and organize them all into one large folder.  Note you can do the same things with the D&D 4e Monster books too.  Maybe this is something I should consider when doing my Basic Bestiary. 

Continuing on.  The stat blocks are easy to read and honestly understand if you have played any form of D&D form the last 20 years.  There is the Name, it's level (which replaces HD and CR).  Under that there are the descriptor tags, this includes Alignment, Size, and Traits.  So our faceless stalker is a Chaotic Evil medium-sized aberration and it is level 4.  There are some basic "monster stats" such as skills, perception and abilities mods, and what items if any it has. It's Defence block is next with AC, saves, HP and resistances, immunities, or vulnerabilities.  It's attack block follows.  The feel is very much like that of D&D 5e.

The block is smaller than that of PF1e (thank goodness!) and all the important bits are readily visible,

Like the Core Book this features sidebars with more details. This often includes rumors, mentions of other types, and more.

About the Monsters

Most monster books take a LOT of cues from the 1st Edition AD&D Monster Manual. Many feature the same set of monsters. Enough that I often refer to the Demons Type I to VI and the Succubus as "The Usual Suspects."   Does this Bestiary follow suit? Almost, the Hezrou (Type II) and Nalfeshnee (Type IV) are missing but the others are here.  

Either due to space or to make the the stat blocks come out right there are a lot of creatures here that you do not normally see in a "core" monster book and some that I expected are missing. Nothing game-breaking mind you.  In fact it gives a great flavor to the book. There are many you expect, all the dragons for example, and some I didn't, like the gug and lillend. 

One of the neatest things about this book is reading over what are classical monsters too many of us and seeing how they are different not just through the lens of PF2e, but from different creators and a different world.  I have already talked about how much I enjoy Pathfinder's goblins, but they really do feel different here. This change is then reflected in other creatures like the barghest. Some are quite different, like the kobolds, and others are largely still the same, like orcs.

Speaking of orcs. A while back I did a post discussing what should be part of a universal stat-block and I used orcs as my example. The reasoning was that orcs are one creature that has appeared in all versions of D&D (yes there are others, but they are ubiquitous) and they are a good typical foe for 1st level adventurers.  How do the Pathfinder (PF1e and PF2e) orcs stack up?

Orcs in D&D 3.x were (are) CR ½.  This meant they were a good, but not necessarily deadly, challenge to a party of 1st-level characters. In Pathfinder 1e they are now CR ⅓, so even easier really.   Pathfinder has the Orc Brute at Creature 0 and Orc Warrior at Creature 1 with 15 and 23 hp respectively.  Still something a group of first levels could take on, but maybe slightly harder. 

How does this book stack up to my Monster Manual test?

My Monster Manual Test is how I feel when I first open a game book. While this book can't reasonably live up to the hype of when I first picked up the AD&D Monster Manual it does do the exact same thing; It made me want to buy the system so I could know more about it.  Like PF2e Core this book is gorgeous and just wonderful to read through. The designers have made me invested in their world and I want to know more.

 Enough that I have more books to cover!