Who will play Core?


Pathfinder Society


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So, Im trying to decide what to play in the Core campaign, and so I'm thinking about WHO will play.

1) people who play so much they're out of mods.

My guess is that this group is a bit smaller, but will have good system mastery. I expect to see a wide variety of builds, but that variety might steer clear of weaker options like monks or fighters.

2) people who like hard mode.

This group may decide to go with mechanically weaker options, like small size barbarians, crossbow users, or rogues. I'm not sure how big this group actually is. I suspect that very few live near me.

3) people who are on a budget.

This group makes sense to me, but I don't think i'll see too many. If PDFs are expensive, then traveling to a con and getting a hotel room is probably also expensive. I'll guess this will be common in people's homes and dorm rooms, but tough to get an invite.

These people will build like new players, making whatever strikes them as cool.

4) the beer and pretzels crowd.

Potentially a large group, this could include casual gamers, gamers like myself who now have home and work commitments greater than they once did, or perhaps some 1st edition people who feel that one book is all right if it comes with a community of players.

Here, I'll guess a lot of old favorite characters get remade, and the stereotypes of elf wizard, half king rogue, human fighter...all come back out.


So, I'my going to guess that we'll see a severe shortage of skill points.

Perhaps wizards and rogues will have some skills, but sorcerers, clerics, fighters, barbarians, and Paladins will be really short on skill points.

Raw muscle will be available in plenty, I suspect, fighters are easy to build and play.

Groups 3 and 4 might not have the contingency items that are important for circumstances, like a silver weapon.

What do you all think?

Grand Lodge

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We just moved from an area with a large established group that had been playing since season 0 to an area that had no PFS play. Core is a great way for the three of us who have played all but the new stuff to sit at a table with new players and help show them the ropes.

We also get to dust off some of our favorites from the past and run them again.

Core has been good for a few of the new players who were interested in trying to GM, but were intimidated by all the books they had to digest.

We have some younger players who were overwhelmed by all the options. Core has been great for them.

Dark Archive 5/5

Core is all I GM...
our local con next month is going to be half core tables..

Silver Crusade 2/5

Anonymous Visitor 163 576 wrote:

So, I'my going to guess that we'll see a severe shortage of skill points.

Perhaps wizards and rogues will have some skills, but sorcerers, clerics, fighters, barbarians, and Paladins will be really short on skill points.

Raw muscle will be available in plenty, I suspect, fighters are easy to build and play.

Groups 3 and 4 might not have the contingency items that are important for circumstances, like a silver weapon.

What do you all think?

Well, you can have a skill point as a favored class bonus, and the special FCB's aren't available in CORE to compete. Humans cannot trade away their bonus skill point per level, as there isn't anything to trade for in CORE. So, humans can have 3 skill points per level, even with INT 7 and a 2 point class.


Three isn't what I would call a lot. I suspect there will be an opportunity for bards and rangers to really shine in some scenarios.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

People looking to replay mods for one reason or another.

Scarab Sages 4/5 **

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

7) People that don't want to sit at the table with all the non-core options. It's a round-about way to "ban" gunslingers, summoners, et al.

Grand Lodge 4/5 ** Venture-Agent, Colorado—Denver

I'm with what Grandpoobah said. Keep it simple & sweet. No gunslingers, obscure rules & extras, etc...

Liberty's Edge 4/5

8) Newcomers to the game. Those who don't find it fun holding the coats of the tweaked out uber builds.

Personally, I'm in group 7.

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

9) The "I remember when" crowd. I.E., Dads 'n' Daughters, or Fathers and Sons.

Kinda fits in with the beer and pretzel crowd, but remember that younger players love their "pets." You'll see lots of druids piloted by kids while the parent plays an elf ranger, halfling rogue or some other old school fantasy RPG trope.

10) The Couple.

Again, kinda the casual crowd, but more likely to include one hard-core player with a better half who is dipping their toe in to see what it's all about. Here you will find the Fafhrd/Grey Mouser or Conan/Red Sonja characters.


Is there anything we can infer from the above list, to figure out what kind of characters we are likely to see?

Liberty's Edge 2/5 *

I ran a CORE Mists of Mwangi on 1-2 , Sunday with 4 players.

I loved it!. THe Monsters were a challenge, I was seeing Class abilities used I had not seen in a long time. It was awesome.

Now my wish is for all the rest of the Season 0 stuff to be updated to PFS. We know you have done this already for convention play Paizo, I was sitting next to a table playing a Pathfinder'd Season 0 scenario. Make it so!

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

Anonymous Visitor 163 576 wrote:
Is there anything we can infer from the above list, to figure out what kind of characters we are likely to see?

I think you're going to see the same kind of characters you see in regular play: a wide scope that encompasses all kinds of personalities and play styles. The list of options to build a PC with may be narrowed down dramatically, but peoples' imaginations are anything but narrowed down.

For perspective, when I started playing PFS in Season Zero, the CRB was the only available set of options. I saw LOTS of different PCs and styles of play. A narrow range of options did not limit what people actually played.

Sczarni 5/5 5/55/5 ***

I suspect a large influx of different character options and diverse party makeups.

I've made a:

Human Bard (with a whip)
Dwarf Fighter (crossbow)
Half-orc Ranger (double axe)
Gnome Cleric (high AC)

Three are level 1, and one is level 2. Pretty much no matter what table I sit at, I'll have something that can fit.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Not from the above list, but remembering the past:

Even though the archetypes, and non-Core classes are not going ot be generally available, that doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of options.

Fighters, as one example, can be built into what can look like totally different classes.
Archer, two-handed weapon, switch hitter, sword and board, two weapon, reach, combat maneuver (which has at least two sub-types: Trip/disarm & sunder), just to name a few.

Most Core classes, even with just the CRB, have a lot of options.

Clerics, given domains, can play as totally different types, not even counting melee or caster, healer or buffer.

Sorcerers and Wizards also have a lot of options in Core, as the bloodlines and schools can change a PC's focus.

11 classes, tons of options. ;)

5/5 *****

I have run and played a few Core games recently and what I am largely seeing is a lot of Half Orcs. +2 to your choice of stat, free greataxe proficiency and darkvision are a great choice for clerics, druids, rogues, bards and bascially anyone who doesn't start with a martial weapon proficiency.


Do you think it will be any different from year zero, or he same? I remember being impressed with rogue talents and skill consolidation in year zero, only to realize that rogues only grew in comparison to 3.5, they were still bad compared to other classes.

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

Anonymous Visitor 163 576 wrote:
Do you think it will be any different from year zero, or he same? I remember being impressed with rogue talents and skill consolidation in year zero, only to realize that rogues only grew in comparison to 3.5, they were still bad compared to other classes.

If you're talking about those of us who have been in the game that long, and have opinions on the veracity of various classes, then the mix will be completely different. But I don't think players with those kinds of strong opinions are so high in number that they're going to impact the playing public at large. The wider range of players will be people who want to play a character that amuses them. Just like in regular PFS. And those people are really creative (or not) just like in regular PFS. So they are going to make characters that are optimal to given situations (or not) just like in regular PFS.

And then there are all the players who are in between those two extremes.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is this: play what you think is fun. Analyzing things to figure out the "right" thing to play is too dependent on your own play group and situation. Seeing as PFS is open play, I think the only person who can answer your questions to your satisfaction is you, based on your own observations. Do that and you'll end up playing the right thing. (-:

Sovereign Court

Im of the (1) out of scenarios. I have AP's some modules and core opens 5 years of content.

I am also (2) and (3) core is an easier system to DM has less problems of strange things disrupting the game. It also puts a lot of items out of reach for my rogues, monks, and fighters. Goodbye UE, APG, and ISG

I have a triple class Fighter 1, Monk1, Rogue 10 that will be my first run.

3/5

I play CORE because it's Pathfinder. I like playing Pathfinder, so I look for opportunities to play it. My CORE characters currently are a Druid 2, a Fighter 2 (archery focused), a cleric 1 (first pfs dwarf for me!), and a bard 1 focused on smacking dudes in their faces.


This is definitely an interesting topic. I personally prefer Core rules and encourage the players not to try and stack numbers to play an uber character. All the extra character races / class options have made it where the average core classes are rarely seen about.

If players could come up with a theme for their characters and build around that then core class/races should be proficient in options. As for skills, well all characters are assumed to be the youngest age group when starting their career as adventurers therefore skills in many areas will be limited. If you think the starting skill points are too low, its your game so give them bonus skill points.

The great thing about this game system is that you can start off as a fighter, multi-class as you need to finish building your concept as your character levels. Make your character have personality and be more than mere numbers on the page.

As Drogon, mention only you will be able to truely answer the question to your satisfactions. We are just dropping our personal opinion and inssight.

3/5

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I suppose I should note that my standard pfs characters are pretty optimized, my most recent being a weird conglomeration of Barbarian, Archaeologist Bard, Lore Warden Fighter, and Dragon Disciple. The reduction of options is neither a pro or a con for CORE to me, it's Pathfinder, so I'll play.

Shadow Lodge 4/5

I play core because it's been a way for me to finally get to play some of the old scenarios I missed playing that everyone else I game with has played already So I wouldn't get to play them normally. The other reasons I've heard expressed for playing core are nostalgia, wanting to replay their favorites, wanting a challenge, and wanting a simpler game.


Quote:


I think the only person who can answer your questions to your satisfaction is you, based on your own observations. Do that and you'll end up playing the right thing. (-:

Thank you for the kind words. I know myself well enough to know that I prefer versatile characters like Rangers and inquisitors, and that while I know how to optimize numbers, I'd rather optimize for fun.

But I suppose I'm starting at: do I want to bother with Core at all? And this thread is giving me some things to think about. I hadn't considered newer players, but core makes sense as a follow up to the Beginner box, and I like new players, we need them.

The greater ease of recruiting judges is interesting. I like the idea, I wonder if that will change the character of the experience in any way?

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

Anonymous Visitor 163 576 wrote:
Quote:


I think the only person who can answer your questions to your satisfaction is you, based on your own observations. Do that and you'll end up playing the right thing. (-:

Thank you for the kind words. I know myself well enough to know that I prefer versatile characters like Rangers and inquisitors, and that while I know how to optimize numbers, I'd rather optimize for fun.

But I suppose I'm starting at: do I want to bother with Core at all?

Well, in that case, yes you should. As someone mentioned, it's Pathfinder. If you know you'll have fun playing Pathfinder, why wouldn't you take this opportunity to play *more* Pathfinder?

Anonymous Visitor 163 576 wrote:

And this thread is giving me some things to think about. I hadn't considered newer players, but core makes sense as a follow up to the Beginner box, and I like new players, we need them.

The greater ease of recruiting judges is interesting. I like the idea, I wonder if that will change the character of the experience in any way?

I doubt it. There will be a larger number of players who are aware of what's going to happen in any given adventure. Rather than just the GMs who have run before playing an adventure you'll get guys who played any given adventure a few years ago, and are now able to experience it again. But the number of new players (or players whose memories are terrible) will likely outweigh those guys. And, frankly, most of those guys will be very professional and take a back seat so that someone who hasn't played through it isn't given spoilers.

Again, I think this is all just like regular PFS. People are playing to have fun. If that's what you want to do, what are you going to lose from the experience?


Drogon wrote:
Anonymous Visitor 163 576 wrote:
Quote:


I think the only person who can answer your questions to your satisfaction is you, based on your own observations. Do that and you'll end up playing the right thing. (-:

Thank you for the kind words. I know myself well enough to know that I prefer versatile characters like Rangers and inquisitors, and that while I know how to optimize numbers, I'd rather optimize for fun.

But I suppose I'm starting at: do I want to bother with Core at all?

Well, in that case, yes you should. As someone mentioned, it's Pathfinder. If you know you'll have fun playing Pathfinder, why wouldn't you take this opportunity to play *more* Pathfinder?

Because for many it's not *more* Pathfinder, it's other Pathfinder. Unless you've played all the available scenarios, you're likely to be choosing Core or Normal.

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

Huh. I'm not seeing that in my area. Core is being run in addition to regular PFS. I, myself, will be adding 8 tables of Core per month to my already scheduled 18 tables of regular. They'll be run on different days at different locations. No need to choose which, unless you just can't play that much (which would be understandable).

Meaning: You have my pity, if you are forced to make such a choice.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Are your events running Core at the same time as regular, or are they at different times? Because if they're running at the same time, like in my area, it's not more Pathfinder, it's a choice between Pathfinder and other Pathfinder.

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

Nope. Different times. Different dates. Different locations. No mixing.

I'll highlight that part of my last post. d-:

Grand Lodge 4/5

Anonymous Visitor 163 576 wrote:
Do you think it will be any different from year zero, or he same? I remember being impressed with rogue talents and skill consolidation in year zero, only to realize that rogues only grew in comparison to 3.5, they were still bad compared to other classes.

A couple of minor corrections:

Season 0 was using 3.5 rules.
Season 1 used the new Pathfinder rule set.

So: Some of Core will be very similar to Season 1, when you would have people playing Season 0 & 1 scenarios with CRB-only PCs.

For new players, their PCs will be reminiscent of what we were building, for the most part, back then. For more experienced players, who have been playing Pathfinder for a while, even our CRB-only PCs will probably be a bit more optimized than when we were just learning the new system.

I am not going to go anywhere near the Rogue controversy, as, IMO, it is a player issue, not a Rogue issue. If you don't know how to utilize the Rogue, it is going to look bad to you. If you do understand how they work, and their area of focus, they'll be just fine. YMMV.

Now, the main thing will be that, while there will be a lot of customization options for every class, there isn't quite the depth that the full set of splatbooks offers these days. Unfortunately, of course, some of the options that remain are the god-wizard and the AC druid.

4/5

kinevon wrote:
Unfortunately, of course, some of the options that remain are the god-wizard and the AC druid.

Just goes to show that regardless of whatever X item from Y splatbook you might have, nothing will ever be as broken than what came from the Core Rulebook. XD

My local area has started to do abit of core mixed in with out usual night in addition to adding a separate day for it. Usually one table since most of the player base is still very fresh in terms to what adventures we can run in the standard campaign.

I, myself, have been playing core lately mainly out of just wanting to have a few character options in the event that a Core game is the only game I can play. (I'm not fond of playing pre-gens.) I'm not quite in Crowd 1 as of yet, more in Crowd 2. I got to GM a couple last week thanks to Core. They made dwarves, one a monk, the other a paladin. It was an enjoyable run.

3/5

Drogon wrote:

Nope. Different times. Different dates. Different locations. No mixing.

I'll highlight that part of my last post. d-:

This accurately reflects my local scene, except we don't divide by venue fully. One venue has become defacto core, but our primary venue mixes the two, albeit on different date/times.

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