Help...

[Kyberwulf]

I am thinking about getting Pathfinder. I am just kinda curious how close it is to 3.5 and if its just cheaper to stay with the D&D products.

How simular is it mechanic-wise. How fast will we be able to pick up on it, if we read the books. I flipped through the Players handbook, at the Local store..but wasn't able to read alot of it.

Please help me ^_^

[Goober4473]

Pathfinder is very similar to 3.5 in most of its mechanics. There are a few differences. Combat maneuvers (trip, disarm, grapple, etc.) work differently, a lot of the classes and races have been updated, favored class is a different thing entirely, there are new/altered feats, some skills have been combined (Perception instead of Spot, Listen, and Search, Stealth instead of Hide and Move Silently, etc.), shapeshifting is different, etc., but the core rules are pretty much the same.

The SRD is online, free, and has all of the rules: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

[Edit]: There is also a free Conversion guide that explains a lot of the differences: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy89m6

[Pisha]

They are pretty similar. Personally, I like Pathfinder better - I think the rules run a little more smoothly, and they made a couple mechanical changes that make sense to me. I suppose you could just read through the conversion and apply the changes yourself, but I'd recommend getting at least one copy of the player's handbook for your group.

[alchemyprime]

I'd vote upgrading to Pathfinder, and converting anything from 3.5 you particularly loved. My group plays Pathfinder with a lot of the later books modified up (Psionics Unleashed instead of EPH, a MoI fix I found on EnWorld, and slightly more powerful ToB classes and Binder) and we love it. It's made the game feel new to us. I especially like that dead levels are just that: dead.

I also later plan on showing off the Pathfinder class I made for one of my players, the Boneknight. It's just like when we started playing 3.5 back in high school, and it's making me so happy I could ride a pig.