Buying into Pathfinder, what do you consider the essential books?

[mistformsquirrl]

So I've finally decided 'for certain' I'm going to go ahead and jump into Pathfinder. I figure I'll buy PDFs since I mostly play by post (and it's a good bit cheaper that way too!); but I can't afford to just nab them all at once...

So what do you think are the most essential books for someone who wants to play a Summoner in the near future?

[CigarPete]

So I've finally decided 'for certain' I'm going to go ahead and jump into Pathfinder. I figure I'll buy PDFs since I mostly play by post (and it's a good bit cheaper that way too!); but I can't afford to just nab them all at once...

So what do you think are the most essential books for someone who wants to play a Summoner in the near future?

Well, you need the Core Rulebook and Advanced Players Gguide at a minimum. CRB has the basic ruleset and APG has your class. I would suggest Ultimate Magic as well, there is a bunch of good stuff in there for the summoner. You might want to also look into Advanced Race Guide if you have an interest in playing something outside the core races.

You can, of course, get most of your material off the SRD, as the whole system is freely available on the web. Or you can look through the SRD and decide which sources have things you want to use. d20pfsrd has sources credited on all their pages, so you can look up the bits you want to use and find out what book they are in.

[Krazzman]

Well, you need the Core Rulebook and Advanced Players Gguide at a minimum. CRB has the basic ruleset and APG has your class. I would suggest Ultimate Magic as well, there is a bunch of good stuff in there for the summoner. You might want to also look into Advanced Race Guide if you have an interest in playing something outside the core races.

You can, of course, get most of your material off the SRD, as the whole system is freely available on the web. Or you can look through the SRD and decide which sources have things you want to use. d20pfsrd has sources credited on all their pages, so you can look up the bits you want to use and find out what book they are in.

If actually playing only "play by post" games, then he does not need any books. As you said: d20pfsrd.com is sufficient to enable him to build a character with the limitations the DM sets. Thanks to footnotes you can even see in what book this would be in. The "save" books are Core Rulebook, Advanced Players guide, Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Combat and Advanced Race Guide. Really needed for a Summoner would be the Feat sections of CRB, APG and UM. For the Class APG + UM (basis and archetypes) and CRB + APG for equipment.

[mistformsquirrl]

Right, sounds like a good place to start then <o.o>b thanks!

[mcv]

There are lots of great books that add cool and useful stuff, but the only one that's essential is the Core rulebook. It has everything you need. But if you want more, there is a lot more. The Advanced Player's Guide definitely tops that list, as it will not just add more classes, feats, spells and equipment, it also adds the concepts of Archetypes and traits. Traits are cool because all Pathfinder Adventure Paths have their own set of campaign traits that tie into the campaign.