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Overview
An updated and “spruced up” version of 3.5, Pathfinder's main touting point was that it was backwards compatible. Overall, this is something I have to agree with. While the classes have had changes, and so have many spells, you can use 3.5 era material in game with little to no adjustment, and the reverse is mostly true as well. As is usual for Paizo, the art is absolutely fantastic. I have been a fan of their art ever since I saw their first adventure path in Dragon, and it has only gotten better. While it does maintain some of the “dungeonpunk” feel that 3.5 had, it is its own beast and has a very set look to it, not a bad thing at all when dealing with an RPG core rulebook. I have seen too many rulebooks that use wildly varied art styles, and end up looking quite bad.
Chapter by Chapter
For the most part, the game is pretty much the same as 3.5, so these will be brief overviews of each chapter. One nice thing is that the book is a combination of the PHB and huge chunks of the DM's Guide. And shows it. HUGE book. I was shocked on picking it up, even knowing how big it was.
Chapter 1: Getting Started: Your standard overview of gaming. Nothing really unique here, just a basic going over of the game's chapters and common terms. However, it is worth reading, as some things you might miss are here. Such as hit points. I am not sure why, but this seems to be the only spot in the book where it mentions how to determine hit points at first level. It includes the standard example of play, then delves into generating your character's ability scores, with a few methods of generating them, and what the numbers mean.
Chapter 2: Races: The list and description of the races, nothing new added, but nothing taken away either. The races are slightly changed from their 3.5 incarnations, and the way the writeups are set up is excellent. The top half of the page is all the fluff material, and in a box on the bottom is all the game rules info. Makes it easy to reference and to ignore the fluff if your gnomes happen to be insane cannibals for instance, rather than the “normal” gnomes.
Chapter 3: Classes: One of the chapters with the most changes, definitely one you will want to read over if you are making a character. Each class is listed in alphabetical order, and at the very beginning of the chapter is the advancement table, split up into three separate speeds of advancement. The biggest change I think, is the removal of dead levels. Classes stay interesting all the way to 20 now, and at 20 there are “capstones”, which give a very nice bonus to the character that sticks with it.
Each class gets a full write up of course, and the changes are many. Most of the melee classes got definite boosts in power and viability, bringing them more in line with casters (compared to 3.5), and the casters got their own neat changes and nerfs. Animal companions and familars all work the same now, which makes things much easier to deal with, and if your druid wants a T-rex companion at first level, it is possible to work with that, without overshadowing the other PCs. Some of the biggest changes include Barbarian's rage, which now has additional bonuses that they can call on during their rage, Clerics turn undead has been changed to channeling energy (which gives a lot more options) and domains have been changed as well. On the Cleric note, all the domains are included in the Cleric chapter, with a small sample list of gods as well. Druids have been toned down a bit, and wild shape has been brought in line to function like the polymorph spells. The Fighter gets a few new bonuses (like Armor Mastery), though it still feels a bit weak to me. Monks at first glance seem unchanged, though they got their own working over as well. Monks now have a Ki Pool to let them do more unusual things, as well as increase some of their “standard” powers by spending Ki. Paladins got a decent amount of changes as well, the mount being able to be exchanged for a bond with a weapon not being the least of those changes. Rangers did not get changed too much, mostly some minor things added, like Favored Terrains. Rogues got a boost with how sneak attack works, in that they have a much wider array of things they can filet and gut. Undead not being immune to sneak attack for instance. Sorcerers got a big write up as well, with various bloodlines giving them a few extra powers, bonus feats to choose from, and extra spells related to the bloodline. A very neat idea, giving them a lot more flavor! Wizards had only minor changes, the biggest being how specialization works, with schools acting much like a cleric's domains. Definitely interesting, and even unspecialized wizards are not penalized.
Chapter 4: Skills: Not a huge chapter, but one with a decent amount of changes as well. The skills list from 3.5 was consolidated (Spot and Listen and Search all rolled into Perception for instance), and how you gain and figure skills was changed as well. Gone are cross class skills, definitely something that makes figuring out higher level NPCs easier. Instead, class skills are simply a +3 bonus. Much nicer, I think.
Chapter 5: Feats: Another large chapter, and one with enough changes to read through carefully. Close to 200 (well, 175) feats. While many are the same as in 3.5, there are a number of new faces, such as Vital Strike, and even some of the old ones got facelifts and work differently (Power Attack, Dodge and the like). Feats are split up into groups, such as general feats, combat feats (the ones that a fighter can take as bonus feats), metamagic, and a new category, critical feats (feats that trigger an effect on a critical strike, usually quite powerful).
Chapter 6: Equipment: The gear chapter. Nothing super new, this includes all the weapons, armor, adventuring gear and what have you.
Chapter 7: Additional Rules: This is a mix of stuff from the old PHB and DMG. Alignment, Vital Statistics, Carrying Capacity, Exploration and rules for smashing stuff.
Chapter 8: Combat: While on the surface, this chapter looks much the same as the ones from 3.5, it is yet another that deserves a bit more attention when reading it. The changes are minor, but definitely there (cover being an example). It feels much more streamlined to me, and definitely seems aimed at making combats run more smoothly and quickly. The newest addition, is the Combat Maneuver Bonus (and Defense). The CMB is a figured stat, much like AC and To Hit, which is used to resolve special maneuvers such as the Bull Rush, Trip and Grapple. Definitely faster in play and easier to deal with. Grapple is MUCH simplified from the mess it was in 3.5, and because of CMB I think it all works together well. In my last game, a goblin grappled our priest, and one of the players was able to use a bull rush to force it off (and kick it across the room), simply using the CMB rules to run the whole thing. Definitely easier to rule on than it would have been in 3.5
Chapter 9: Magic: Probably the start of the biggest changes in the book. It starts out with basic descriptions of schools and effects, what all the spell descriptions mean, that sort of thing. One big change is that the Concentration skill is gone. Any concentration checks are now caster level checks modified by ability score modifiers and possibly feats. This makes casting defensively much more important and casting in melee can be harder (as it should be, in my opinion). Sadly, counterspelling is still the same, something that was a bit annoying.
Chapter 10: Spells: And now comes the chapter that is probably almost 1/3 of the book in length (or at least it seems like it). While almost all your old favorites should be here (I have not found any missing, yet), many of them got minor to drastic changes. The biggest offenders (save or die) have been changed to “save or take massive damage”. Several of the “save or suck” variety still exist however, and how problematic those are depends on a DM's game I suppose. Polymorph spells have mostly been broken down into bite sized pieces, such as Beast Shape, Dragon Shape, etc. Each “rank” of those spells gives set bonuses and abilities, making them much easier to deal with in play, while maintaining the flavor. Your character might look like a gryphon, for instance, and be able to fly, but does not have to deal with completely re-figuring stats, just adding on some bonuses and gaining a few new abilites. More balanced, and the same spells are used for Wild Shape, making it easier in play as well. Definitely another chapter that needs a serious read through to be familiar with all the changes.
Chapter 11: Prestige Classes: What used to be in the DMG, is now here. While not all the DMG classes are present (Dwarven Defender is missing, for instance), many are here, and Paizo included one of their own world's PrCs. All have been re-written and adjusted, quite nicely I think. Assassins for instance no longer cast spells. PrCs now feel more like they were “meant” to be, back in 3.0, additions to a base class, something to add flavor and focus to a setting, and not overpowered reasons to leave a base class as soon as possible. This is one area where I don't feel all the old 3.5 stuff is backwards compatible. It is in a purely numbers/rules sense, but not in flavor/feel.
Chapter 12: Gamemastering: This is the start of the GM material, beginning with how to design encounters. Feeling almost 4e-ish in design, it is a much more balanced setup than just using CL, I feel. Wealth per level, designing a campaign, tips on play, all that sort of info follows in the chapter, and while maybe not all useful for a veteran DM, it is still a useful read and good to have in the book for new players.
Chapter 13: Environment: This covers all the goodies about adventuring, indoors and out. Traps (including samples and how to make them), info on doors and walls (mostly for breaking them), and wilderness setting information is all here. Everything from drowning to blizzards to deserts, including a bit on the planes.
Chapter 14: Designing NPCs: This is the list of the NPC classes and how to use them, as well as rules on designing class level NPCs if needed. While the full list of sample characters in the DMG is not present, the rules used here are simple enough that you can whip up a character on the fly if you really need to, and if you have time outside of game, it won't take long to develop an NPC at all.
Chapter 15: Magic Items: Closing in on the end of the book, we have magic items, from potions to artifacts. While not as “complete” as the DMG, it does include all the important ones, and is quite a selection. The rules on creating magic items are also here, which are worth a look over, as doing so no longer takes XP. Quite a change from 3.5, but a nice one I think.
The last few pages are taken up by the appendixes. These include definitions of special abilities, rules on curses and poisons and diseases (which work slightly differently from their 3.5 counterparts), a list of conditions and what they mean in rules terms, and finally a short list of suggested reading and possible game aids.
Summary: To me, a definite improvement over 3.5. A nearly complete game (all you are missing is monsters, and if you have your 3.5 Monster Manual or a computer (for the SRD), you have that, should you choose not to buy their version of the MM ), with lots of nice crunch, but not too much. Too much crunch was what finally pushed me away from 3.5, that and the book bloat. While many of the 3.5 books are completely compatible with Pathfinder, I don't necessarily think you need them. Feats and such from other books will take looking over, as many simply won't work now because of how things have changed in the rules, and others will work with minor adjustments. If you are looking for a replacement for 3.5 that maintains the same feel and fixes a number of the problems, Pathfinder might be exactly what you are wanting. While it does not fix everything (some of the things in Beta that were wonderful ideas, were deemed to be too great a change for the goal of backwards compatability and were left out), it does fix a number of issues and, for me at least, makes me want to run a game again.
Overall Rating
Style 5: Excellent format, the art is fantastic throughout the book. It is well organized, the book has an index that is useful (something that seems a rarity these days for RPGs), the binding seems quite sturdy, especially considering the size of the hardcover. While some folks have mentioned a particular ink smell, I have not seen that to be an issue. Mine did have that smell to it, but it has faded over the couple weeks I have had it, and I do not doubt that with time it will be gone completely. It is something I don't think could be avoided considering the size and the fact that the book is in full color!
Substance 4: Well written, it covers 90% of what you need to run a game (monsters being the only thing missing of course), and is well supported. Much of it is released as open content and if you are waffling on getting it, take a look at the Pathfinder SRD online. Substance is one that I am edging towards giving it a 5 on, but held back as it was not as many changes as I would have liked to see. While an improvement over 3.5, there are still some hobgoblins from that system left over that I feel would have been better off being removed. And of course Fighters still feel a bit weak to me, but not as drastically so as they were in 3.5.
