The 3rd Party Pathfinder Thread for Good Products

[Libertad]

Just as Wizards of the Coast was the big dog of D20 in 2000-2007, so is Paizo in the current era. Their product schedule is well known and anticipated among online fans. Their adventures, classes, and material have been discussed, analyzed, and extensively used among gamers.

But just like Wizards of the Coast in its time, they overshadow the 3rd Party Publishers due to the excessive glut of material on sale.

This thread is the winnowing process for these products, separating the wheat from the chaff. Post the products you think are good, why they're good, and what they offer.

This might not happen, but this is not the thread to hawk your wares. If you write/publish 3PP books, you can't promote your own stuff. Only other's people's stuff is allowed. Additionally, it must be for sale. Homebrew design and free stuff doesn't count, for you don't lose anything if you "get" the product.

Other than these rules, post away!

Format Template:

Name of Product: Self-Explanatory
Why It's Good: What it brings to the game.
Buy this if... What demographic of gamers will benefit the most from this work?
Link to a place where you can buy it. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/) Drive-Thru RPG, Paizo.com, and D20pfsrd.com are the major online sellers of Pathfinder products.


Here I'll start off.

http://i.imgur.com/GeUlw3R.gif
Cerulean Seas Campaign Setting and Undersea Sourcebook
Why It's Good: A unique and interesting all-aquatic campaign, does a thorough job of converting existing D&D tropes, equipment, and mechanics to a plausible-sounding undersea civilization (ink comes from "milked" squids, fire spells manifest as boiling geysers, etc), and has the best rules I've seen for 3 Dimensional Combat. Some of the best artwork out there for Pathfinder, pretty to look at.
Buy This If... You enjoy for a new D&D experience under the waves, and for good material for undersea adventures in more traditional campaign settings.
Drive-Thru RPG Link. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/86538/Cerulean-Seas-Campaign-Setting?term=cerulean+seas)
Paizo Link. (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8i1m?Cerulean-Seas-Campaign-Setting)
D20 Pathfinder SRD Link. (http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/collections/alluria-publishing/products/cerulean-seas-campaign-setting-and-undersea-sourcebook)


http://i.imgur.com/QxFcd5n.jpg?1
Conflict PvP: Tactics & Teams Rulebook
Why It's Good: An extensive system for tournament-style player versus player matches, partially inspired by online MMOs. Incorporates various types of matches beyond just violent encounters, such as "capture the flag" retrievals, who can gather the most treasure in a time limit, and takes into account caster/noncaster disparity by offering options to help bridge the gap (terrain which launches a person into the air to melee a flying opponent, spells with long casting times are off-limits, etc).
Buy This If... You want to pit your character-building skills against your fellow players in an "arena" environment.
Drive-Thru RPG Link. (http://"http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/114208/Conflict-PvP-Tactics-%26-Teams-Rulebook-%28for-Pathfinder%29?term=conflict+pvp&filters=0_0_44235_0_0")
Paizo Link (Hardcover Only) (http://"http://paizo.com/products/btpy8wpy?Conflict-PvP-Tactics-Teams-Hardcover")
D20 Pathfinder SRD Link (http://"http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/collections/conflict-games-llc/products/conflict-pvp-tactics-and-teams-rulebook")


http://i.imgur.com/hIAeHsq.jpg?1
The Ethermancer: An Eldritch Reboot
Why It's Good: The Warlock class updated to Pathfinder. With more versatility and based upon an "infinite space and cosmos" fluff text as opposed to a demonic/fey one. Powers cost Ether Points which recharge round by round, adding a more tactical dimension to the class.
Buy This If... You want a cool Warlock equivalent for Pathfinder.
Drive-Thru RPG Link. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/123214/The-Ethermancer-An-%22Eldritch%22-Reboot-%5BPFRPG-%26-D%26D-35%5D)
Paizo Link (http://paizo.com/products/btpy939f?The-Ethermancer-An-Eldritch-Reboot)
D20 Pathfinder SRD Link (http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/products/the-ethermancer-an-eldritch-reboot)


http://i.imgur.com/IXPecn9.jpg?1
Midgard Campaign Setting
Why It's Good: A world inspired by Central and Eastern European folklore, puts new twists on standard fantasy settings: Notable for being set on a flat world surrounded by a world-serpent, capricious gods beyond morality who wear masks to disguise their divinity, a clockwork city full of kobolds, a mighty empire where arrogant dragons rule and seek to expand their boundaries for more wealth and power, and a network of ley lines and shadow roads used by the elves in ancient times to power their magic and travel across the world.
Buy This If... You want a well-designed, thematic campaign setting with fantasy elements both old and new which managed to gel well together.
Drive-Thru RPG Link (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/105276/Midgard-Campaign-Setting?term=midgard+campaign+setting)
Paizo Link (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8txm/discuss?Midgard-Campaign-Setting)

http://i.imgur.com/t8H5ggm.jpg?1
Path of War Subscription
Why It's Good: Adopts the Tome of Battle system to Pathfinder, gives martial characters nice things and a diverse grab-bag of tricks, tastes great, less filling.
Buy This If... You're unhappy with martial characters and Linear Warriors in Pathfinder, want to spice up your martial NPCs or PC, you like buying from a company which views game balance as an important goal.
Drive-Thru RPG Link. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/121472/Path-of-War-Subscription?term=path+of+war)
Paizo Link. (http://paizo.com/products/btpy92ti?Path-of-War-Work-in-Progress)
D20 Pathfinder SRD Link. (http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/collections/dreamscarred-press/products/path-of-war-subscription)


http://i.imgur.com/iPQ6eEP.png
SORD PF
Why It's Good: Is a clean, well-formatted and hyperlinked collection of common rules in the Pathfinder RPG to help speed up play.
Buy This If... You feel that combat rounds are taking too long in your games.
Drive-Thru RPG Link. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/81817/Sord-Pf)


http://i.imgur.com/0bjKF0o.jpg
Tales of the Old Margreve
Why It's Good: Is set in a forest mini-setting inspired by Central/Eastern Europe folklore, a very atmospheric spooky forest setting where the woods themselves are conscious, a series of 10 adventures which do a good job of "reskinning" existing monsters in interesting ways and invoking a very "fairy tale" like atmosphere. Yes, I plan on reviewing it at some point.
Buy This If... You're a fan of folkloric settings, want a series of challenging adventures to take PCs from 1st to 10th level.
Drive-Thru RPG Link. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/84266/Tales-of-the-Old-Margreve-%28PFRPG%29)
Paizo Link. (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8hp6?Tales-of-the-Old-Margreve)


http://i.imgur.com/ZKwxUgj.jpg
Tome of Horrors Complete-Pathfinder Edition
Why It's Good: A massive collection of classic monsters from the Old School Editions of Dungeons & Dragons (and more than a few new ones), converted to the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game.
Buy This If... You need to get one product which will set you for life for monsters.
Drive-Thru Link. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/93671/Tome-of-Horrors-Complete---Pathfinder-Edition?term=tome+of+horrors)
Paizo Link, special Print & PDF Bundle. (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8ody?The-Tome-of-Horrors-Complete-Unlimited-Edition)
D20 Pathfinder SRD Link. (http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/collections/frog-god-games/products/pf-the-tome-of-horrors-complete)


http://i.imgur.com/qOMg2ax.jpg?1
Ultimate Psionics (supersedes Psionics Unleashed)
Why it's Good: Combines Dreamscarred Press' existing psionics material into one convenient book, plus some brand-new stuff! Also tips on reflavoring psionics to fit into the right campaigns (uses a rune magic example).
Buy This If... You want to buy $80 worth of books for the price of $20, love psionics.
Drive-Thru RPG Link (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/124281/Ultimate-Psionics)
Paizo Link (http://paizo.com/products/btpy91t5?Ultimate-Psionics)
D20 Pathfinder SRD (http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/collections/dreamscarred-press/products/ultimate-psionics)


http://i.imgur.com/KinTRNW.jpg?1
Way of the Wicked Adventure Path (consists of 6 separate adventures)
Why It's Good: An adventure path which handles the dilemma of evil PCs well, has a cool premise (PCs work for an Asmodean cult overthrowing a Lawful Good holy nation), and is open-ended in all the right parts and encourages stealthy and non-combative approaches to encounters with "story award" experience.
Buy This If... Your gaming group totally wants to play as the bad guys for once in a manner fun for both player and Dungeon Master.
Drive-Thru RPG Link. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/100098/Way-of-the-Wicked-Subscription----6-PDF?term=way+of+the+wicked)
Paizo Link. (http://paizo.com/companies/fireMountainGames)
D20 Pathfinder SRD Link. (http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/collections/fire-mountain-games)

[watchwood]

I'll gladly plug my own stuff, since you're offering. :P

Name of Product: d20 Redshirts
Why It's Good: It's a science-fiction expansion I'm writing for Pathfinder. There was a noticeable lack of sci-fi material when I wanted to start a sci-fi campaign a while back, so I decided to start writing my own. (as an aside, I'll be putting a large chunk of NPC and campaign material up on the site as well in the near future. I just didn't want to give my players any spoilers while I was running through a war zone)
Buy this if... I'm putting it all on the website for completely free. No purchases at all. I'll gladly take tips if you're feeling generous and like what I'm doing, though.
Link: www.d20redshirts.com

[afroakuma]

Well that took no time at all to fail. Good job.

[Fax Celestis]

Name of Product: Genius Guide to X
Why It's Good: These are $2 PDFs with a collection of themed spells: I plunked down some change on the Genius Guide to Earth Magic when I was making my *deep breath* Earth Dwarf Rootwalker Druid (Earth (Cavern) Domain)/Stonespeaker Guardian/Earth Dreamer with Earth Elemental grafts (long story), loved it, and immediately bought a few others.
Buy this if... you need spells within a theme.
It's on paizo.com; can't link because Paizo is blocked where I'm at currently

[Libertad]

If anyone wishes to self-promote their own products, they're more than welcome to start their own thread.

In the meantime, more recommendations. From now on I'll incorporate my posts into the OP if the time limit hasn't passed:

Conflict PvP: Tactics & Teams Rulebook
Why It's Good: An extensive system for tournament-style player versus player matches, partially inspired by online MMOs. Incorporates various types of matches beyond just violent encounters, such as "capture the flag" retrievals, who can gather the most treasure in a time limit, and takes into account caster/noncaster disparity by offering options to help bridge the gap (terrain which launches a person into the air to melee a flying opponent, spells with long casting times are off-limits, etc).
Buy This If... You want to pit your character-building skills against your fellow players in an "arena" environment.
Drive-Thru RPG Link. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/114208/Conflict-PvP-Tactics-%26-Teams-Rulebook-%28for-Pathfinder%29?term=conflict+pvp&filters=0_0_44235_0_0)
Paizo Link (Hardcover Only) (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8wpy?Conflict-PvP-Tactics-Teams-Hardcover)
D20 Pathfinder SRD Link (http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/collections/conflict-games-llc/products/conflict-pvp-tactics-and-teams-rulebook)

[schoklat]

Psionics Unleashed and Psionics Expanded
Why It's Good: Updates the 3.X Psionics system to Pathfinder, gives lots of love to the Soulknife, has some sexy new stuff so it's not just a straight reprint.
Buy This If... You love psionics
Drive-Thru RPG Link (Unleashed) Drive-Thru RPG Link (Expanded)
Paizo Link.
D20 Pathfinder SRD Link.

Just a small warning here, because it affects such a big group of things (that many people like).
Paizo certainly did not close all loopholes from original 3.5. But from some looks at those lists, a lot of the problem powers from Psionics made it over completely unscathed by the Dream port. So keep an eye on those as DM.

[Fax Celestis]

Just a small warning here, because it affects such a big group of things (that many people like).
Paizo certainly did not close all loopholes from original 3.5. But from some looks at those lists, a lot of the problem powers from Psionics made it over completely unscathed by the Dream port. So keep an eye on those as DM.

sauce plz?

[Vanitas]

Well that took no time at all to fail. Good job.

Yeah, it was kind of sad.

[schoklat]

sauce plz?

A quick skimming already reveals...
L4 Psychic Reformation (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/p/psychic-reformation): Yea, a completely new Character anytime. What's T1?
L4 Modify Matter (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/m/modify-matter): Instantaneous duration, works on any material. Enjoy.
L6 Temporal Acceleration (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/t/temporal-acceleration): Makes Time Stop look like a bike in a race car competition. Augment or chain cast at your discretion.
L6 Defer Fatality (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/d/defer-fatality) -> Trigger Power (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/t/trigger-power) -> Psychoport (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/p/psychoport): Invulnerability has never been easier.
L9 Microcosm (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/m/microcosm): No-Save-WorseThanDeath (outside stupendously high PR / HP). No True Resurrection, no Clone, no nothing. Wanna get rid of someone completely? Let them live out their "dream" live on a highly time accelerated demi-plane, with an automaton tending to their bodily needs, until the die of old age.*
L9 Timeless Body (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/t/timeless-body): One of the worst offenders in 3.5. Lacks a bit of feat support now, but still a 1-by-1 copycat, and you still have at least Delayed and Selective Power, and IDK what other ppl can come up with.
Fusion / Fission / Schism: Always great ways to break things, blowing ahead at full steam.
etc etc...

Basically, it's a cheap attempt that looks like a copycat more than anything, and I really don't appreciate these things. Hell a whole bunch of powers seem to completely undermine what little spell-per-level balance was maintained for full casters. So yea, there you go...

* Worst: PF nerfed Mind-Blank (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/m/mind-blank) to hell and back. In 3.5 you could assume anyone semi-smart had it up / in an item / ... Not so much in PF. Really shows how sloppy DSP "converted" that stuff. The cream topping: The psionic equivalent (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/b/barred-mind) is available two bloody spell levels earlier.

[Psyren]

A quick skimming already reveals...
L4 Psychic Reformation (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/p/psychic-reformation): Yea, a completely new Character anytime. What's T1?
L4 Modify Matter (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/m/modify-matter): Instantaneous duration, works on any material. Enjoy.
L6 Temporal Acceleration (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/t/temporal-acceleration): Makes Time Stop look like a bike in a race car competition. Augment or chain cast at your discretion.
L6 Defer Fatality (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/d/defer-fatality) -> Trigger Power (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/t/trigger-power) -> Psychoport (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/p/psychoport): Invulnerability has never been easier.
L9 Microcosm (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/m/microcosm): No-Save-WorseThanDeath (outside stupendously high PR / HP). No True Resurrection, no Clone, no nothing. Wanna get rid of someone completely? Let them live out their "dream" live on a highly time accelerated demi-plane, with an automaton tending to their bodily needs, until the die of old age.*
L9 Timeless Body (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/t/timeless-body): One of the worst offenders in 3.5. Lacks a bit of feat support now, but still a 1-by-1 copycat, and you still have at least Delayed and Selective Power, and IDK what other ppl can come up with.
Fusion / Fission / Schism: Always great ways to break things, blowing ahead at full steam.
etc etc...

Basically, it's a cheap attempt that looks like a copycat more than anything, and I really don't appreciate these things. Hell a whole bunch of powers seem to completely undermine what little spell-per-level balance was maintained for full casters. So yea, there you go...

* Worst: PF nerfed Mind-Blank (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/m/mind-blank) to hell and back. In 3.5 you could assume anyone semi-smart had it up / in an item / ... Not so much in PF. Really shows how sloppy DSP "converted" that stuff. The cream topping: The psionic equivalent (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/b/barred-mind) is available two bloody spell levels earlier.

Psyreform: If you have a day of recovery time every time you want to redo your character, your campaign is pretty boring. Or you're so high level that every caster has the tools to redo their character quickly (e.g. Limited Wish, retraining on fast-time plane etc.)

Modify Matter: You realize this is just Psionic Fabricate (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/f/fabricate) right?

Temporal Acceleration: I don't know if you noticed, but getting the same number of rounds as the arcane version effectively requires a 10th-level slot.

Defer Fatality: This is actually useless in your chain as you could just set the Trigger Power to be "if I would sustain enough lethal damage to kill me" and save power points. And again, this is no different than a spellcaster setting a contingency for the same thing.

Microcosm: This is no worse than Power Word Kill (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/p/power-word-kill), merely trading death for compulsion and being a softer SoD. The area effect is useless as anything with that little HP at these levels would die next round anyway.

Timeless Body: This is perfectly in line with what a 9th-level spell should be capable of. Notice also that a strict reading shuts off your buffs, making it not the best idea in many circumstances as well.

Your problem seems to be with caster power in general, none of your complaints really apply to psionics in particular. In which case this just may not be the game for you, there are others that tone caster potential down to levels you may prefer.

[Larkas]

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/2373/86623.jpg
Sutra Magic
Why It's Good: It's a nice little PDF detailing a narrow, but useful, form of spellcasting that can be taken up by anyone. Yes, even mundane characters.
Buy this if... You want a "Rune Magic" system that anyone with sufficient training can access. Alternatively, if you think it's a neat idea to let mundane characters have things to do besides "I hit him in the head", or when "hitting in the head" could use a little buff.
Drive-Thru RPG Link. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/86623/Sutra-Magic-%28PFRPG%29)
Paizo Link. (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8i54?Sutra-Magic)
d20PFSRD Link. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/variant-magic-rules/sutra-magic)
Observations: The system has a heavy Asian feel, since it was made for the Jade Oath setting (in fact, this whole book is but a chapter contained within the "Heroes of the Jade Oath" campaign setting - which I bought just because of this sub-system). However, it is very easy to remove the Asian feel and fluff it like a "Rune Magic" system, for example. Furthermore, there could be a few more "sutra spells" available, but the book's writers made a honest attempt to give guidelines to create new powers. You can find it for free in the d20pfsrd site. Give it a read!

[Axinian]

Name of Product: Advanced Bestiary
Why It's Good: Ok ok I know it's technically a 3.5 book, but Paizo has used in official Pathfinder material and really doesn't need hardly any conversion, so I've always thought of it as a Pathfinder book. It's a book of monster templates, and most of them are pretty good, or at least interesting. The stand-outs for me are the Amalgam, a super easy way of fusing multiple monsters together, and the Jotunblood Giant.
Buy this if... You want some cool and simple to use templates.
Linky to DriveThru (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/18896/Advanced-Bestiary?it=1)

[Greenish]

Ok ok I know it's technically a 3.5 book, but Paizo has used in official Pathfinder material and really doesn't need hardly any conversion, so I've always thought of it as a Pathfinder book.This (http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lfld?This-Bestiary-is-Advanced) is the Pathfinder book. :smalltongue:

[schoklat]

Psyreform: If you have a day of recovery time every time you want to redo your character, your campaign is pretty boring. Or you're so high level that every caster has the tools to redo their character quickly (e.g. Limited Wish, retraining on fast-time plane etc.)

Modify Matter: You realize this is just Psionic Fabricate (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/f/fabricate) right?

Temporal Acceleration: I don't know if you noticed, but getting the same number of rounds as the arcane version effectively requires a 10th-level slot.

Defer Fatality: This is actually useless in your chain as you could just set the Trigger Power to be "if I would sustain enough lethal damage to kill me" and save power points. And again, this is no different than a spellcaster setting a contingency for the same thing.

Microcosm: This is no worse than Power Word Kill (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/p/power-word-kill), merely trading death for compulsion and being a softer SoD. The area effect is useless as anything with that little HP at these levels would die next round anyway.

Timeless Body: This is perfectly in line with what a 9th-level spell should be capable of. Notice also that a strict reading shuts off your buffs, making it not the best idea in many circumstances as well.

Your problem seems to be with caster power in general, none of your complaints really apply to psionics in particular. In which case this just may not be the game for you, there are others that tone caster potential down to levels you may prefer.

First and important to remember:
Meta-psionics / augmentation doesn't care about your power (=spell) level, but it cares about your manifester (=caster) level. There are so many things to augment that, from items to feats (just start with Overchannel (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/feats/overchannel-psionic)), it's not even funny.

But let's go through the list again.
Psychic Reformation: For just +2pp you can do it before a night's rest. Remember how the tiers go up by versatility... Well, new skills+feats+powers for every day, starting as early as level 7 (Overchannel, Setting Stone of Invigoration) is certainly something way out of the ordinary. And at L10 you get to do it on the spot...
Modify Matter is available at power level 4, compared to Wizard at spell level 5 (which still allows all kinds of shenanigans). But the other big advantage for Psion is that he can cast it around 10 times a day from the start if necessary, without locking all his slots in the morning, while a wizard starts out with 3/day two levels later, and then is locker on these for the day. (Yes, this is by design and has its own drawbacks, but those two factors coming together here really make an impact.)
Temporal Acceleration: First you get it three spell levels earlier now (six vs nine), and you can chain it as long as you have PP, thanks to the fact that you get a full extra round, which gives you yet another swift to recast it...
Defer Fatality: Maybe its how we play it as the table, but for Contingency to trigger, the trigger must be met. (Please explain why and how this can work differently.) Hence you died with Contingency, but with Defer Fatality you avoid death, then you have Trigger Power trigger off DF. Besides that it makes it much more controllable (cf Miron in recent OOTS, for example.)
Microcosm: PWK is also a Death effect, which makes a big difference (cf Death Ward and all). Then you cannot pump your HP limit on PWK. But worst, PWK kills and then your high level backup plans kick in (hidden Clone, waking up in your body after Astral Projection, ...) With Microcosm you can just get locked away somewhere, forever until natural death / XYZ. You can't be resurrected or anything, because you never die. Hell you couldn't even Contingency the counter because its spell level limit.
Timeless Body: Alone it's tame. But look around how other people broke it in 3.5. I didn't put that much effort into researching the big options (and I don't intend to), but considering you can pump your ML well beyond 20 easily, you can have it go off selectively (if needed), delayed and for easily two rounds... Well, I'm sure someone can break it easily, and there was no need to carry over a notoriously edge case power 1:1 to begin with.

PS: I almost exclusively play casters, usually full casters even, so I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about. Paizo certainly didn't fix everything in the regular spell lists (hello Planar Binding / Efreeti and friends), but DSP's port of Psionics is lazy, sloppily executed and littered with loopholes. A not so OP-savvy DM coming to PF with casters being at least somewhat more in line, and on that basis allowing Psionics in that shoddy quality, is in for an ugly headache.
PPS: My main "problem" with casters is spotlight hogging. I can easily limit myself, but between vastly different ability to optimise and people not recognising how they steal spotlights from others at the actual table, it is something that I tend to keep a pretty close eye on as DM. Party power is something I can easily deal with and even appreciate, but vastly different PC power tends to create big problems.

[Libertad]

http://i.imgur.com/IzaO436.jpg
1001 Spells
Why It's Good: An impressive array of spells of all levels for all classes. A great variety of effects, from grafting a tattoo monster onto your skin, transforming into a golem, tearing a rift in reality and inviting in unbridled chaos, and more are just a few of the sample spells.
Buy This If... You can't get enough spells.
Drive-Thru RPG Link (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/95738/1001-Spells-(PFRPG))
Paizo Link (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8qz9?1001-Spells)
D20 Pathfinder SRD Link (http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/products/1001-spells)

[Libertad]

http://i.imgur.com/hIAeHsq.jpg?1
The Ethermancer: An Eldritch Reboot
Why It's Good: The Warlock class updated to Pathfinder. With more versatility and based upon an "infinite space and cosmos" fluff text as opposed to a demonic/fey one. Powers cost Ether Points which recharge round by round, adding a more tactical dimension to the class.
Buy This If... You want a cool Warlock equivalent for Pathfinder.
Drive-Thru RPG Link. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/123214/The-Ethermancer-An-%22Eldritch%22-Reboot-%5BPFRPG-%26-D%26D-35%5D)
Paizo Link (http://paizo.com/products/btpy939f?The-Ethermancer-An-Eldritch-Reboot)
D20 Pathfinder SRD Link (http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/products/the-ethermancer-an-eldritch-reboot)


http://i.imgur.com/qOMg2ax.jpg?1
Ultimate Psionics (supersedes Psionics Unleashed)
Why it's Good: Combines Dreamscarred Press' existing psionics material into one convenient book, plus some brand-new stuff! Also tips on reflavoring psionics to fit into the right campaigns (uses a rune magic example).
Buy This If... You want to buy $80 worth of books for the price of $20, love psionics.
Drive-Thru RPG Link (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/124281/Ultimate-Psionics)
Paizo Link (http://paizo.com/products/btpy91t5?Ultimate-Psionics)
D20 Pathfinder SRD (http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/collections/dreamscarred-press/products/ultimate-psionics)

[Psyren]

Psychic Reformation: For just +2pp you can do it before a night's rest. Remember how the tiers go up by versatility... Well, new skills+feats+powers for every day, starting as early as level 7 (Overchannel, Setting Stone of Invigoration) is certainly something way out of the ordinary. And at L10 you get to do it on the spot...

Changing skills doesn't matter much in PF, and changing powers is no different than any wizard or cleric, so that's out too. That leaves us with feats, and because you're still limited to choices you could make at the time you made them, this is actually weaker than the retraining rules in Ultimate Campaign. Sure it's a lot faster, but I still think you're blowing it out of proportion.

Augmenting it before bed is really the only way the penalties aren't relevant. Doing it "on the spot" still requires 10 minutes of dilly-dallying after you realize there's a specific feat or power you need - even a Sha'ir is going to be coming up with a solution faster than that. It's really not that big a deal.



Modify Matter is available at power level 4, compared to Wizard at spell level 5 (which still allows all kinds of shenanigans). But the other big advantage for Psion is that he can cast it around 10 times a day from the start if necessary, without locking all his slots in the morning, while a wizard starts out with 3/day two levels later, and then is locker on these for the day. (Yes, this is by design and has its own drawbacks, but those two factors coming together here really make an impact.)

Sure, you can blow all your PP on Fabricate and be useless for the day. I'm not sure why you'd want to unless you were opening some kind of smithy, but you could. (And again, that says something about how dull your campaign is that you have the time/inclination to do this.)



Temporal Acceleration: First you get it three spell levels earlier now (six vs nine), and you can chain it as long as you have PP, thanks to the fact that you get a full extra round, which gives you yet another swift to recast it...

Of course you get it earlier - just like you did in 3.5. But at 6th, you're getting 1 round instead of 4 at 9th.

Each chain is 11 PP, plus whatever you're actually buffing with or otherwise manifesting in there. If your DM only has one combat per day then this limitation won't be as meaningful, but nova potential is a quality of psionics itself in both editions - it's inherent to a points-based system. The book offers several pieces of good advice to DMs about how to deal with this issue ("The Nova Phenomenon," pg. 139) - more encounters/day, waves of enemies, double-checking the psion's math, and as a last resort, reducing the class' PP/day.



Defer Fatality: Maybe its how we play it as the table, but for Contingency to trigger, the trigger must be met.

This comes down to the DM and what he accepts as a trigger. In my playgroup "if I'm about to die" is acceptable, thus Defer Fatality would be a waste of PP since I can just set the trigger to that condition directly without a middle-man. In yours it's not, so the power isn't needed. But either way, I don't see the big deal with this power. It doesn't even work if they knock you out first, so if you fall to -1 or below before dying - as most players do - your entire "easy immortality" chain becomes useless, again.


Microcosm: PWK is also a Death effect, which makes a big difference (cf Death Ward and all).

Sure, but the price you pay for losing that descriptor is the fact that Microcosm can be reversed before death takes place.

You can't be rezzed, but you will die pretty quickly anyway, and even if you don't, it's actually worse because then they can teleport to your location or wish you to theirs. Kill + Soul Bind is much harder to deal with. Also, if you die from Microcosm you can be raised pretty easily as even Raise Dead/LW/BR will work.


Timeless Body: Alone it's tame. But look around how other people broke it in 3.5. I didn't put that much effort into researching the big options (and I don't intend to), but considering you can pump your ML well beyond 20 easily, you can have it go off selectively (if needed), delayed and for easily two rounds... Well, I'm sure someone can break it easily, and there was no need to carry over a notoriously edge case power 1:1 to begin with.

Most of the broken uses you put zero effort into actually finding rely on other 3.5 material. Things like Jade Phoenix Mage, Temporal Reiteration, Transcend Mortality etc. etc. Even Persistent Power didn't make it from 3.0/Hyperconscious.



PS: I almost exclusively play casters, usually full casters even, so I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about.
...
My main "problem" with casters is spotlight hogging. I can easily limit myself, but between vastly different ability to optimise and people not recognising how they steal spotlights from others at the actual table, it is something that I tend to keep a pretty close eye on as DM. Party power is something I can easily deal with and even appreciate, but vastly different PC power tends to create big problems.

Your e-credentials notwithstanding, I find your opinion on what constitutes "quality" to be highly suspect at best.

Most spotlight-hogging problems are due to maturity issues with the players. If they're not willing to limit themselves as you do, you should restrict them to lower-tier classes; if they're not willing to go along with that, then either everyone should play power or a different system may be in order. None of those are a fault of the book, it may simply not be the playstyle you want.

[Libertad]

http://i.imgur.com/IXPecn9.jpg?1
Midgard Campaign Setting
Why It's Good: A world inspired by Central and Eastern European folklore, puts new twists on standard fantasy settings: Notable for being set on a flat world surrounded by a world-serpent, capricious gods beyond morality who wear masks to disguise their divinity, a clockwork city full of kobolds, a mighty empire where arrogant dragons rule and seek to expand their boundaries for more wealth and power, and a network of ley lines and shadow roads used by the elves in ancient times to power their magic and travel across the world.
Buy This If... You want a well-designed, thematic campaign setting with fantasy elements both old and new which managed to gel well together.
Drive-Thru RPG Link (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/105276/Midgard-Campaign-Setting?term=midgard+campaign+setting)
Paizo Link (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8txm/discuss?Midgard-Campaign-Setting)

[thorr-kan]

Lonely Coast Campaign Setting

Why It's Good: A isolated Pathfinder setting on the edge of a roaring wilderness. It evokes an Old School feel with modern design. It's free to download and ready to play. There are also expansions of some settings and some adventures available for purchase.

Buy This If... you want a fully detailed, well supported, self-contained setting with top-notch production values. Plus, FREE!

http://www.ragingswan.com/lonely.html