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“Take the first step into an amazing world of fantasy adventure! The Pathfinder Beginner Box contains everything you need to learn how to play the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, including rules to create your own fantasy hero and tools to make your own amazing stories. Will you be a courageous fighter, charging headfirst into battle, or a sly rogue, moving quietly to strike at foes from the shadows?
Maybe you will be a knowledgeable wizard, wielding incredible arcane spells or a wise and pious cleric, using the power of your deity to shape the world for the better. It is all up to you! Inside you will find a rich toolbox, filled with everything you need to get started, including rules for character generation, an introductory adventure, guidelines to build your own campaign, character sheets, a full-color map, character pawns, and dice. This deluxe box set is the ideal introduction to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, leading the way to a lifetime of adventure!”
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You may or may not be aware of the recent balls up of the D&D PR campaign from Wizards of the Coast and the ramifications it could have not for only D&D, but also for the wider TTRPG community. The reaction in the community has been nothing short of seismic.
In response to Wizards of the Coast’s new version of the Open Game License, Paizo have spearheaded the development of a system-neutral open RPG license that can be freely used across the tabletop RPG industry. Chaosium, Green Ronin, Kobold Press, Legendary Games, and Rogue Genius Games are already on board, and other companies are expected to join.
In addition Chaosium issued its own (non-WotC) Open Game License for its Basic Roleplaying System in 2020, enabling designers to create their own roleplaying games using the Basic Roleplaying rules engine, royalty-free and without further permission from Chaosium. Free League Publishing also joined in the fun by recently presentingtwo new open game licenses for community creators – a Free Tabletop License (FTL) for the Year Zero Engine and a third-party license for the upcoming Dragonbane fantasy RPG. The Year Zero Engine FTL comes with a massively updated Standard Reference Document (SRD).
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So one major consequence of the WOTC debacle has been the shift from many in the D&D community to explore the plethora of other gaming delights – and boy have the likes of Free League Publishing, Chaosium and Paizo benefitted – both in terms of online interest but also in oodles of hard cash been spent on these other gaming systems. In fact some companies have found it something of a challenge in keeping up with the incredible demand – especially regarding a certain Pathfinder 2e TTRPG!
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So we were delighted when the fine folks at Paizo sent us PDF versions of the Pathfinder Beginner Box and the Starfinder Beginner Box, the second of which will feature in an upcoming article.
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The Pathfinder Beginner Box includes:
- An 80-page Hero’s Handbook, including rules for character generation, a solo adventure, skills, spells, and equipment.
- A 96-page Game Master’s Handbook, containing an introductory adventure, over 20 pages of monsters, rules for building your own adventure, and magic items.
- Four premade characters so you can jump right into the action and four blank character sheets if you want to make your own hero.
- Over 100 character and monster pawns to use on the full-color double-sided adventure map.
- Four game reference cards to help players remember their actions.
- A complete set of polyhedral dice, including a d20, d12, d10, d8, d6, and d4.
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I’ll say this straight away – I’ve had the pleasure of exploring a number of high quality starter, or beginner sets in the past couple of years with likes of Chaosium’s RuneQuest & Call of Cthulhu starter sets being the pick of a high quality bunch. But the Pathfinder Beginner Box is potentially a bone fide rival for anything that I have seen before. It’s excellent – especially for introducing newbies to what can for some be a daunting and complex mechanical system.
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To begin with, the two rule books are of a good, but not daunting length for readers. The main adventure could be argued to be a little on the short side for more seasoned Pathfinder familiars, but the presentation is both attractive and intuitive with more than enough to get those gaming juices flowing new visitors. The adventure is well-written and provides plenty of opportunities for combat, exploration, and roleplaying. It also includes helpful tips and guidance for the game master, making it easy for even a new GM to run the adventure smoothly.
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The books are beautifully designed – the covers are stunning and the artwork throughout is gorgeously powerful and downright gorgeous. Throughout the book, the artwork not only supports and exemplifies the basics of Pathfinder, but also looks beautiful as a separate entity on its own with an impressive attention to lore and narrative detail that clearly shows as a labour of love from the game’s writers. The feel for the authentic nature of the mythos is rarely seen to this level of quality
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The pre-generated characters come complete with filled out character sheet at level 1, including a detailed description of each of their initial abilities and actions, and enough information to start ‘getting into their headspace’. Many starter sets have included similarly helpful and attractive pre-generated character information, but what sets this product apart is the fact that they also include here blank character sheets for the bolder ones among us who also want to create our own personal characters. This omission form other starter sets is something that I’ve always found strange so I’m delighted to see the inclusion here.
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Sometimes the details are in the little things, as it were. Two elements that I think are inspired are that the inclusion of reference cards, as they are a huge help both the player and the novice GM. The second element is that each die is of different colour, and the character sheets include these colours to identify the dice. This simple concept does away with one of the most common questions from new Rpg players……er, which one is the D20, D6 etc?
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The Pathfinder Beginner Box includes a set of pawns that can be used as character tokens, monsters, and NPCs during gameplay. These pawns are made from thick, durable cardboard and feature full-color artwork on both sides. The pawn set includes a variety of different creatures and characters, ranging from goblins and skeletons to heroic adventurers and powerful wizards. The pawns are designed to be compatible with the included game mat, which features a grid pattern that makes it easy to keep track of movement and combat during gameplay.
One of the great things about the pawn set is that it provides a lot of flexibility when it comes to creating encounters and scenarios. Since the pawns can be easily moved around on the game mat, the game master can quickly and easily set up battles and encounters with different creatures and characters. The artwork on the pawns is impressive, with detailed illustrations that bring each character and creature to life. The pawns are double-sided, with different artwork on each side, which provides even more options when it comes to creating encounters.
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Some final thoughts
The Pathfinder Beginner Box is an excellent introduction to the world of tabletop roleplaying games. It is designed specifically for new players, providing everything needed to start playing the Pathfinder RPG right out of the box.
One of the strengths of the Beginner Box is that it includes a simplified version of the full Pathfinder ruleset. This allows new players to learn the basics of the game without feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of the full rules. However, the simplified rules still provide plenty of depth and complexity, allowing players to experience the full range of Pathfinder gameplay.
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Another great aspect of the Pathfinder Beginner Box is its expandability. Once you have mastered the basics, you can easily move on to the full version of the game, which offers a much wider range of options and content. The Beginner Box is also compatible with all of the other Pathfinder RPG products, so you can continue to use the same characters and materials as you progress.
Overall, the Pathfinder Beginner Box is an excellent product that provides everything needed to start playing the Pathfinder RPG. It is well-designed, easy to use, and includes high-quality components. Whether you are a seasoned tabletop gamer or completely new to the hobby, the Pathfinder Beginner Box is a great choice for anyone looking to explore the world of roleplaying games.
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