Pathfinder Tabletop RPG Announces Second Edition

Paizo Inc. has announced plans to publish a revised ruleset for its Pathfinder roleplaying game.

The tabletop publishing company announced that it would start playtests for its "Second Edition" ruleset of Pathfinder, which should streamline some of the game's many mechanics.

Pathfinder was started in 2008 as an alternative to Dungeons & Dragons, which had recently shifted away from its popular "3.5" edition ruleset. Pathfinder used many of the mechanics from 3.5, meaning that it was easy for established tabletop fans to jump into the game.

Pathfinder received praise for its well-developed world, lore, and ability to create just about any type of character within its ruleset, but the game had received criticism for being too bloated in recent years, especially after Dungeons & Dragons released its Fifth Edition ruleset, which greatly streamlined that game for casual players.

In a blog post announcing the Second Edition ruleset, Paizo Director of Game Design Jason Bulmahn assured fans that Pathfinder Second Edition was still the same game fans know and love. While specific rule changes will be introduced over the coming week, Bulmahn explained some of the biggest changes in their new edition.

One of the biggest changes to Pathfinder will be how players build their character. Instead of choosing a race, players will choose an ancestry and a background that provides a basic backstory to each character. Players will still choose a class, but they'll now have an option to become an alchemist along with the other 11 original core classes.

Combat has also been streamlined by simplifying what actions a player can take during a turn. The new moveset does away with things like swift actions, standard actions, full actions, immediate actions, and move actions, which causes a ton of confusion during combat. Instead, every player will have three actions per turn, along with an optional reaction. Some spells will take two actions per turn, but other spells can be cast multiple times in a single turn, greatly increasing their use in battle.

Another big change is how Pathfinder players use items. Currently, most players use items to optimize characters, with a focus on improving certain saving throws or adding larger proficiency bonuses. Most players see these items as necessary to help shore up certain classes or races that would otherwise lag behind in big campaigns. The new edition's items will be more focused on doing what players want them to do instead of compensating for perceived game flaws.

Paizo will start rolling out regular previews of the new edition starting tomorrow and will release its first full Playtest Rulebook on August 2nd. Stay tuned for continued coverage of this big change to the tabletop gaming world!