Going from 5e to PF, what to know?

[Protato]

At some point, I would like to play Pathfinder but all I know right now is 5e. This isn't to start a 5e vs. PF thread, but rather to ask, what should I know? Are Cantrips all day every day? What is BAB? How do skill/skill proficiencies work? What makes archetypes and multiclassing different than 5e? How easy is homebrewing spells, classes, archetypes, and races vs. 5e? What else do I need to know about the gameplay compared to how 5e works?

[Psyren]

This is a huge ask, much bigger than 3.5 vs. PF was.

My suggestion is to find a friend that knows the game and run a one-shot with them, preferably using the Beginner Box. Failing that, find a beginner-friendly PF game on roll20 or something.

[MrSandman]

A very basic, short list that is far from exhaustive:
- BAB is similar to 5e's proficiency bonus but it only applies to attacks.
- You get a number of skill points that you can use to increase your bonus in skills. Rather than just getting a list of skills with which you are proficient and that's it, you can change which skills to increase each level.
- Numbers get a lot bigger.
- Cantrips are at-will.
- Archetypes aren't standard class features, they are ways to customise your class, but they change some of the class's base abilities.

[Kyrell1978]

At some point, I would like to play Pathfinder but all I know right now is 5e. This isn't to start a 5e vs. PF thread, but rather to ask, what should I know? Are Cantrips all day every day? What is BAB? How do skill/skill proficiencies work? What makes archetypes and multiclassing different than 5e? How easy is homebrewing spells, classes, archetypes, and races vs. 5e? What else do I need to know about the gameplay compared to how 5e works?

Okay, I'll answer your specific questions. You have a limited number of cantrips that you can have memorized at any one time, but you may cast them at will. BAB stands for base attack bonus and varies by class, this is tied to the die that the class uses for hp as well in most cases (all but the barbarian follows this if I recall correctly). d6 get the worst bab, d8 classes get a medium, and d10 classes get a +1 for every level. There are iterative attacks at higher levels. You get a number of skill points to spend each level. You may put your points into any skill, but there are class skills that you get bonuses to if you use your points to put ranks in those skills. You also get bonuses from high ability scores. I've never actually played (I have looked at it but only briefly) 5e so I can't really answer the "how is it different" questions other than all of those things exist and there are rules for all of them. I would put the caveat on that last bit that even though they all exist they are not necessary to play them game. I certainly would not suggest trying to become an expert on the game before starting, a great deal of that information can be learned as you are playing.

[TheFamilarRaven]

Others have answered your question reasonably well. But I'll throw in a few others things that a good to know about PF compared to 5e (that you may or may not know).

-You don't need to attune magic items, instead, each character as an item slot for; Head, headband, Eyes, Neck, Body, Chest, Armor, hands, Wrists, Belt, Feet, Ring 1 and Ring 2

-Magic items have a listed market value

-On that note, higher levels of gameplay, (meaning character levels not skill level) have the built in assumption that the party has access to many magical items and higher level spells.

-Spells are easy to homebrew but there is a plethora of them so any given caster can probably find a spell that works for them, decreasing the need for homebrew outside of plot specific spells.

-There are numerous types of bonuses/penalties. The general rule is that bonuses/penalties do not stack, unless they are a dodge or circumstance bonus.

-Not listed on the class progression tables, but every class can increase an ability score by 1 at levels 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20. Likewise, every character gains a feat at every odd level. So 1st, 3rd, 5th etc.

-Classes that grant access to spells get a number of bonus spell slots based on their casting ability modifier.

-Ability scores for players can go beyond 20.

-there is no damage resistance. Instead there is damage reduction (DR) that reduces damage but a specified amount unless hit by a specified type of attack/material.

-Casters can lay down multiple spells without needing to concentrate on them.

-There are no short rests. Healing is incredibly slow without the use of magic or class abilities.

-If there is no time pressure and no immediate danger, if a skill check allows for retries (such as opening a lock), a player can just "take 20", spending 2 minutes in game time to treat his skill check as if he had rolled a 20.

-Never use the Deck of Many things. Although I think that's true in 5e as well :smalltongue: