Unboxing: The Pathfinder Beginner Box

Shiny! Both literally and figuratively.

When I first heard of Pathfinder I was immediately intrigued.  As I have, no doubt, mentioned before I was inducted into tabletop geekdom with AD&D 2nd Edition.  For years the term RPG was synonymous with D&D to me.  When I started looking into other games I felt like a traitor calling myself a GM instead of a DM. Once I separated myself more and more from D&D the switch became easier.  I now run a modern campaign but I can’t deny that sometimes I crave a good fantasy setting.  At first I thought that setting was going to be D&D 4E and it very well may be, but I am open to switching things up and discovering a new world and new game system with Pathfinder.

Overview, anyone?

Box Components (courtesy of Paizo):

• 64-page Hero’s Handbook, detailing character creation, spells, equipment, and general rules for playing the game
• 96-page Game Master’s Guide packed with adventures, monsters, magical treasures, and advice on how to narrate the game and control the challenges faced by the heroes
• A complete set of 7 high-impact polyhedral dice
• More than 80 full-color pawns depicting tons of heroes, monsters, and even a fearsome black dragon
• Four pregenerated character sheets to throw you right into the action
• Four blank character sheets to record the statistics and deeds of your custom-made hero
• A durable, reusable, double-sided Flip-Mat play surface that works with any kind of marker

Monster Tokens

The thing I noticed first was the great artwork by Wayne Reynolds and the heft of the box.  There is tons of stuff included in here!

Hero Tokens

I am excited to see how this game runs and how this particular box can transcend into the already existing game books.  But I will leave that to Matt since he will be reviewing the game on Monday.  I am just here to show off the pretty components and my photography skillz (yes, with a “z”).

Prefabricated PC's

It should be noted that the character sheets are very in-depth.  The sheets above open up to reveal a ton of character stats and information.  It makes for an easy start up by using these characters, however, you don’t have to.  There are also four blank characters sheets and the books included allow to make different characters.

All of us are new to Pathfinder and have heard it plays a lot like, if not exactly, like D&D 3.5.  Have you played Pathfinder?  How do you like it?