Second Look: Pathfinder Starter Box

When my buddy Tom moved back down to New Orleans from his brief hiatus, one of the first things on his To Do list was to get back into role playing. I was running a Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition campaign with him, Adam and Mike before Tom and Mike took advantage of a career opportunity and moved to Seattle. We met on Sundays after work at +1. It was a blast and gave us something to look forward to on Sunday nights. However, I have been running D&D Encounters every Wednesday night for almost the past year, so when he suggested we get a new campaign going, I did not have it in me to run another D&D4e game.

Enter Pathfinder.

With all the new changes coming to the D&D world, I felt it prudent to step away from 4e a bit and choose a system I've not played before. I remembered how fun Pathfinder was when I ran it for Jason and Henry, so I thought I'd give it a go again. Now, I know Pathfinder is D&D 3.5+, so it did feel intensely familiar, but it was different enough (or in my case, refreshing enough) to feel like a whole new game. This time around, I took Tom, Adam, Matthew, and Davide through Raven's Gate in search of the dreaded Black Fang and it was a lot of fun. First, it was Davide's first time playing a traditional pen-and-paper role playing game, so it was great that I was using the started box. And I must say, Paizo has done an excellent job on making the components easy to read/use for first time players. The premade characters are well done, the sheets easy to read and very "how to". The game play text on the margins is a particularly brilliant idea. The two rule books (a Game Master Guide and a Hero Handbook) are easy to read, flip through, and very good at explaining core rules and concepts. The intro dungeon, ten rooms, is just challenging enough for new players. I did have to cut corners a bit for the sake of time, which I think made for a more "generic" feeling game, but we got through it in just under three hours. The Pathfinder starter box does its job of giving new players  a snapshot of what role playing is and gets their feet just wet enough to leave them wanting for more.

The refreshing thing I found about Pathfinder is that I find it less constrictive than 4e. In essence, I get to role-play and tell a story and the PCs get to do what they like. The difference is really felt I think during combat. Combat in 4e boils down to power management and timing. When to use my Daily or Encounter, or which Utility power to use. It focuses on the use of the powers instead of simply doing something a player may find interesting or cool. While this does indeed speed up combat, an argument can be made that it restricts game play. Personally, I do not find 4e that restrictive, but it was neat to hear players come up with neat things they wanted their characters to do instead of focusing solely on power card management.

However, this is something that Wizards of the Coast is addressing in the new D&D play testing. I look forward to what they come up with. While I will always be a true, died-in-the-wool Dungeons & Dragons fanboy, it is nice to see what Paizo has done with the 3.5 rules.

Our campaign starts in one a month, so once I get a few more games in under my belt I'm sure I will be singing the praises of Pathfinder, too.

Strength and Honor,

-Wicked

Heavy Gear Blitz League!

With the success of our Heavy Gear Blitz tournament and the recruiting efforts of some dedicated Pod Squad members, we have attracted some new folks to this great miniatures game. We now have enough players to run a small League over at Big Easy Comics and we have put the first week of it behind us. It takes place in the Badlands, where players fight over the resources found there. After nine weeks of play, the players with the most resources will fight one another in a single elimination play-off style tournament. There will be official prize support from Dream Pod 9 and a Painting Award, awarded to the player judged to have the best painted army.

I find small leagues like this are good and fun to participate in. For this play group, it gives us focus and a goal to work towards. The rules are simple enough and accommodate most everyone's needs and they provide some structure and narrative to what would otherwise just be pick up games. A league also fits in with our Year of the Gear concept and continues to showcase the game and expose even more people to Heavy Gear Blitz. Steve has a few starter sets in just in case someone else wants to take the plunge.

(Come October, I will be running my infamous Mordheim campaign!)

I am enjoying learning many nuances of the game. Indirect Fire and Target Designators really make my NuCoal Chevaliers and Jerboas shine. The game has many subtle layers. Discovering how those layers interact with your faction is part of the fun of Heavy Gear. Speaking of, I just love the NuCoal models. I really lucked out by choosing the New Coalition as my faction for Heavy Gear. Fun to play, fun to paint, and they look just awesome!


I hope I fair well against my opponent for this week. Jason and his Northern army is a tough nut to crack. I'll let you know how I do!

Strength and Honor,

-Wicked

A Fourth of July to Remember...

I had a great day celebrating the birth of our nation by spending time with my family. Everyone met at my brother's house and we enjoyed a delicious barbecue, beer, and swimming in the pool on a very hot day. Before the party was over, Britt and I played a game of Memoir '44. He played the Allied Forces attempting to storm Sword Beach while I took command of the Axis powers and tried to repel the invaders. However, my defense was short lived, as my left flank collapsed under his unrelenting Armor and Infantry assault and he quickly turned the tide of battle. While the dominating presence of my twin 88s Artillery in the center forced him to the right flank, my own Tiger tanks were not enough to repress his advance there, and soon my right flank fell as well. He was able to clear a path to the occupied towns and claim a Victory for Allies on D-Day.

I was very happy to get a chance to play a board game with my brother. We play online FPS games a lot together, such as the Call of Duty series and Battlefield 3, but we do not get to play "analog" games all that often. Hobby gaming is more my thing, though Britt is an accomplished Fantasy Football mastermind. A few weeks ago we did play a game of Magic: The Gathering with a Duel deck I happened to have with me, but mostly our gaming kinship is through the Xbox. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all, but I appreciated his willingness to play one of "my" games. In fact, I think it was the first time he and I have ever played one of my hobby games. It was really fun and very cool to play with him. I'm just glad he enjoyed it, as he said he wants to play again. But next time, we will up the ante with a more challenging scenario!

So thanks Britt for making this year's 4th of July truly memorable for me!

Strength and Honor

-Wicked