There’s a dozen other RPGs I could have used as well, but Pathfinder is the meme one.
Step 1: Pathfinder Step 2: Savage Pathfinder Step 3: Other Savage Worlds games Step 4: Become a proper TTRPG nerd
I’m currently on step 2, running Curse of the Crimson Throne. Not the official conversion though, because I bought the 3.5 version (it actually predates Pathfinder 1e) of that AP like 10 years ago. And converting to Savage Worlds is really easy anyway.

An annoying part about wanting to break away from D&D is that all the “experimental” games etc. Get away with having fewer rules. I want another system that can be as complex as D&D but with different focuses.
Forged in the dark is a good example of something close to what I like. What it lacks in combat/interaction diversity it definitely makes up for with the gamified secret base you can customize and the various “down time” interactions you can have.
My DnD 3.5e group is trying out GURPS and it’s pretty fun so far.
I mean, Pathfinder is literally D&D with a few changes.
I mean, the three action system alone puts it over DND, imho.
Specifically, it’s DND 3.5e with some changes.
So, you have the best full version of DND (3.0) with all the changes made to make the system function the way it was intended and be much more balanced (3.5), with another total revision to balance, the introduction of many new mechanics, over a decade of new content, and an active publisher who makes massive use of the OGL (PF 1.0).
Less so in 2e, but yeah.
But the name is pretty dumb. You know what you’re getting with D&D. Dungeons, Dragons, probably a fantasy world. Pathfinder is… you go hiking? I have no idea.
A “Pathfinder” isn’t just hiking. It’s a person who goes first into the unknown to make the path so others may follow. It’s a name for an adventurer/traveler or another way to say “Trailblazer”.
It’s named after the main adventuring guild in the world, the Pathfinder Society. Which is also the name of Paizo’s irl community
To be fair, there’s a lot of people arguing for D&D to be about Dungeons and Dragons. That implies that lots of people play it without neither Dungeons nor Dragons.
Pathfinder is the sooo good. So much customization!
I’m glad my friend got me into D&D. Definitely daunting at first, but once you start to realize no one is the main character and you can focus on your own story as an individual, the ability to play how you want starts to open up. It’s all about committing to the bit.
That and it takes time. Lots and lots of time.
As a player, I can certainly say that the choices my character makes are not the ones I would.
My character spent an entire session running towards the fight where he knew that there were like fifty people fighting the rest of our team. He was looking for the first opportunity to let loose a fireball to assist his teammates.
I, the player, knew that the team was surviving pretty ok and didn’t need me to cast anything. I, the player, knew that up casting fireball at forth level was a terrible idea. I, the player, knew there was only one enemy left with 3hp.
My character on the other hand did 32 damage to this lone zombie and alerted the other 150 enemies further away down the battlefield to our presence.
Now, we had to scramble to come up with a way to get an 8h long rest to heal and get spell slots back even though the army was less than 2 hours away and coming towards us.
I want to play Starfinder again. I had a single session…
Time to meet my weekly quota of recommending that someone try Stars Without Number.
I had a short campaign and feel the same.
Dark & Darker has entered the chat
Fire sdf






