Using PF in 3.5 - Keeping Balance

[Necron]

I've been considering for a while making use of the Races in PF over the standard 3.5 ones. As well as making some considerations with regards to classes.

My group has access to pretty much every 3.5 splat, so pushing a real PF game is unlikely. But some of the variations in PF-Core seem worth considering for my 3.5 table. The other thing that I need to remember with anything PF material is any other changes I'll have to make to 3.5 NPC's/adventures.

Races
Is it possible to just straight import PF races to use for PC/NPC's? Will it impose noticable impact with the rest of the 3.5 game? Personally I'm looking at this because I can't stand the 3.5 half-elf or half-orc. I feel like all of the races are just done better (given that PF had quite a few years of 3.5 to playtest the changes).

Also, how would this change for someone who wanted to be a subrace within (i.e. ghostwise halfling, wood elf, etc)?

Classes
I'm mostly considering the PF Sorcerer vs the 3.5 Sorcerer. My current campaign is using Gestalt with Daily Spell List variant (both from UA)... and I really feel like Sorcerers are gimped in my world.

Should I replace the existing Sorcerer with PF Sorcerer?
Would this impact my game negatively? (well atm there are no PC sorcerers)
Should I do an all or nothing type thing (replace all classes)?
Are there any other classes that you feel aren't up to par in 3.5 that PF would make better FOR 3.5?


Thanks for your advice. I've been trying to figure out what to use (if anything) from PF for a while now, but a PF-Core game just won't work for my group (we all love our splats).

[LibraryOgre]

Funny, I've been meaning to post the opposite question: What of 3.5 can you use in PF. However...

Races
Is it possible to just straight import PF races to use for PC/NPC's? Will it impose noticable impact with the rest of the 3.5 game? Personally I'm looking at this because I can't stand the 3.5 half-elf or half-orc. I feel like all of the races are just done better (given that PF had quite a few years of 3.5 to playtest the changes).

Also, how would this change for someone who wanted to be a subrace within (i.e. ghostwise halfling, wood elf, etc)?

Rule of thumb is that PF races are about +1 LA, so remove +1 LA from everything to get their new LA. For example, while Hobgoblins don't have a stat penalty, nor do they have much in the way of awesome (I believe they get a +4 to Stealth and Darkvision, and that's it), so they work fine. Most other +0 LA critters, though, you're going to want to fiddle with, even if it's only a +2 to a stat (ghostwise halflings, for example, would do well with a +2 to Wisdom).

Classes
Should I replace the existing Sorcerer with PF Sorcerer?
Would this impact my game negatively? (well atm there are no PC sorcerers)
Should I do an all or nothing type thing (replace all classes)?
Are there any other classes that you feel aren't up to par in 3.5 that PF would make better FOR 3.5?

Except perhaps for the fighter (and, to an extent, all of the non-casting and half-casting classes), you should go either part way or all the way. I would also suggest switching to the PF Druid and PF polymorph rules, as those make people a fair bit weaker, rather than more powerful.

[Necron]

Rule of thumb is that PF races are about +1 LA, so remove +1 LA from everything to get their new LA.

Given this is a Gestalt campaign and I'm already treating PC's as ECL+1... I think making it ECL+2 would be overkill on them in the beginning. Plus a base 8, scaled point buy 32... I think ECL+1 using the races isn't too bad.

I'm less conflicted about using the races as I am about using the classes. I might just as well not use the classes (since there aren't any sorcerers anyways), and then just straight port the races right over.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Mostly agreed with Mark here. The non-Pathfinder races are going to require some boosts. Probably the easiest thing is to give most races a mental stat boost; kobolds get +2 CHA, shifters get +2 WIS, etc. etc. Certain races might make more sense with another physical boost, typically to CON, such as Orcs or Goblins.

As for the classes... I think the PF sorcerer is not too overpowering. I would be cautious with the at-will 0 level spells, though. Psionics, for instance, does not have any 0 level spells, and thus would not have at-will abilities unless you custom made them. 3.0 psionics had 0 level powers, though, so maybe those could be at-will...

Some classes don't need a boost to make them comparable to the PF core classes, like Tome of Battle classes, or the Beguiler or Duskblade. Others might need some kind of help, like the Favored Soul or Hexblade.

[Mongoose87]

If you look in the bestiary on the Pathfinder SRD, they've got most LA +2 and lower races adjusted to be LA 0. It's very nice.