3.5 Veteran New to Pathfinder

[MesiDoomstalker]

My group is starting a new Pathfinder game soon, and myself and a few other players (not the GM however) have only seen Pathfinder from a distance, so to speak. I that the difference between the two systems is relatively minor (comparing 3.5 and 4e is what I call different systems). I've been pouring over the Pathfinder Core book, but its hard to actually find the exact differences. Can anyone summarize the main differences? Out of the players who don't know PF, I'm the only one who would actually look for the differences (I'm the resident and accepted Rules Lawyer), so I want to help the GM transition everyone to PF.

[TheOneHawk]

In case you aren't aware of it, there's an incredible resource for Pathfinder in the SRD (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/). Everything is on there, ruleswise. Every splat, every third party book all of it. Being a rules lawyer is much easier when you have a search function!

[Venger]

My group is starting a new Pathfinder game soon, and myself and a few other players (not the GM however) have only seen Pathfinder from a distance, so to speak. I that the difference between the two systems is relatively minor (comparing 3.5 and 4e is what I call different systems). I've been pouring over the Pathfinder Core book, but its hard to actually find the exact differences. Can anyone summarize the main differences? Out of the players who don't know PF, I'm the only one who would actually look for the differences (I'm the resident and accepted Rules Lawyer), so I want to help the GM transition everyone to PF.

as far as system-wide things go:

you get a feat every odd level since the mundane chains are all a lot longer
the skill system works completely differently
combat maneuvers are all replaced with your CMB (offensive) and CMD (defensive) so trippers and the like will have very different stats
die at 10-HD hp
undead are not immune to crits
giant is no longer a type. giants are now humanoid (giant) so you can hit them with x person spells.
you don't have to pay xp to do items. if you want to, just pay 5x the amount in xp in gp instead if you want to.

that's all off the top of my head, but like you said, it's a lot of little things changed all over the place rather than a few system differences

[Sayt]

Well, for a short list:

Combat maneuvers got overhauled
Favoured Class is now an incentive, not a penalty
There are rewards/a point to taking each class through all 20 levels (Some people view this as a punishment for multiclassing)
Class features that used to be fixed duration, x times per day such as bardic music or rage are now a number of discrete rounds of use.
Core classes got a bump up, compared to PHB classes in isolation (PF doesn't have the same support in ACFs and variants). Paladin got less MAD, Ranger got a HP buff, and more flexible Combat styles, Favoured Enemy now includes a to-hit bonus. Rogue and Monk didn't get buffed that much, But they did get buffs in Pathfinder Unchained [x] (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/unchained-classes/monk-unchained) [x] (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/unchained-classes/rogue-unchained)
ALL of their material comes under the OGC, so can be found here (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/)
Cross-class skills only cost one point, but class skill get an uptyped +3 so long as you have at least one rank. Ranks in a skill are capped at your HD. Skill synergies are no longer a thing.

[Red Fel]

Here's a guide from these very forums on the major changes from 3.5 to PF (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?136890-The-3-5-Pathfinder-Handbook). Read it well, and enjoy.

[Psyren]

Saph's Handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?136890-The-3-5-Pathfinder-Handbook) is a good place to start, and I was working on a more in-depth one for the spell differences - in general, the main advice is regarding the spells, read any you use closely and don't assume they work the way they did in 3.5.

Also, there are no XP costs anymore, and focus on these rules changes in particular: negative levels, darkness and light, crafting, and the CMB/CMD maneuver rules.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Instead of quoting, I'll just address people who said more less the same things:

@TheOneHawk: I'm aware of this. We also have PDF's of the vast majority of PF (personal preference, I prefer hardbooks or PDF's versus the mess of the SRD. The SRD is really only good for finding one specific thing). The first session is this Friday, I simply don't have the time to comb through the entirety of even the Core book much less the entirety of the PF library, to find all the minutia.

@Sayt and Venger: Awesome, thank you.

@Psyren and Red Fel: Friggin' awesome, than you!

[Frosty]

Paladins no longer suck. Archetypes has replaced a lot of the need for prestige classes.

[Zubrowka74]

About spells : polymorphs got nerfed. Now you only get a set number of boni for each spell rather than by the creature. This means that if you suck at melee you'll basically still suck whatever the form you take unless you build around it.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Just finished the lovely link. I'm saving it to share with my fellow players on Friday (I'm sure there will be some rushed correcting of skill points). Something I noticed with passing look at the SRD, there are a TON of feats, many of which seem somewhat worthwhile (especially with the greater number of feats you get). Are there any standout feats in general I should be aware about?

[Psyren]

That depends on a near-impossibly large number of factors, chief among them the character's chosen class and the desired role they want to play. Just direct your players to the respective handbook (http://zenithgames.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-comprehensive-pathfinder-guides.html) for the class they're interested in (and it should go without saying that you would read this too) to pare the feats down to a more manageable list.

[MesiDoomstalker]

The classes are Barbarian (not an optimizer, the GM will make his character for him because he can't be bothered to do it himself. No I'm not butt-hurt, why do you ask?), an Alchemist and an Incanter (Myself).

EDIT: and a Cleric of Corellon Lorenthian (I can never spell that right).

[Psyren]

Again, the feats you/they'd want to consider are in there :smalltongue: *waves towards handbooks*

About the only general, class-agnostic feat-related things I could point out to you are:

1) The combat maneuver feats have been subdivided further than they were in 3.5, going from "Improved X" (e.g. Improved Grapple) to "Improved X, Greater X and some tertiary form of X." Unfortunately, in many cases this has nullified or at least muted the impact of the greater number of feats for the martial classes since they now have to spend a few more feats to get similar functionality that they had in 3.5, though in some cases they do get at least a little something extra. This page (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/feat-tree) can help you spot the various tertiary feats out there.

2) Style Feats (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/style-feats) are cool, especially with Combat Style Master (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/combat-style-master-combat) - check them out!

3) Now anyone can craft magic items - well, wondrous items and magic weapons/armor anyway - thanks to Master Craftsman. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/master-craftsman---final) You can also ignore prerequisites for crafting magic items (including the necessary spells) by adding +5 to the DC to make the item.

4) FAQ is an official rules source (http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm) in PF, so if you find yourself thinking "X is overpowered" or "Y is really unclear", consider looking there for an explanation first. (Or just ask us in our handy-dandy PF Rules Q&A thread, stickied at the top of the forum, and we'll be glad to help.)

[MesiDoomstalker]

Again, the feats you/they'd want to consider are in there :smalltongue: *waves towards handbooks*

About the only general, class-agnostic feat-related things I could point out to you are:

1) The combat maneuver feats have been subdivided further than they were in 3.5, going from "Improved X" (e.g. Improved Grapple) to "Improved X, Greater X and some tertiary form of X." Unfortunately, in many cases this has nullified or at least muted the impact of the greater number of feats for the martial classes since they now have to spend a few more feats to get similar functionality that they had in 3.5, though in some cases they do get at least a little something extra. This page (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/feat-tree) can help you spot the various tertiary feats out there.

2) Style Feats (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/style-feats) are cool, especially with Combat Style Master (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/combat-style-master-combat) - check them out!

3) Now anyone can craft magic items - well, wondrous items and magic weapons/armor anyway - thanks to Master Craftsman. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/master-craftsman---final) You can also ignore prerequisites for crafting magic items (including the necessary spells) by adding +5 to the DC to make the item.

4) FAQ is an official rules source (http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm) in PF, so if you find yourself thinking "X is overpowered" or "Y is really unclear", consider looking there for an explanation first. (Or just ask us in our handy-dandy PF Rules Q&A thread, stickied at the top of the forum, and we'll be glad to help.)

Ya, unfortunately, I'm only in charge of building the Incanter (because its my character) and the Cleric (my husband, whose trying out tabletops. I walked him through how to make a character). I don't want to complicate his Cleric with optimization, not till he gets a handle of the basics. And there are no Incanter/Spheres of Power guides yet that I've seen. If it matters, I'm a Drow Cha-Focused Incanter.

[Psyren]

There is a Spheres of Power thread around here somewhere you can likely ask for Incanter advice in. I'm afraid I'd be of no help there.