Pathfinder 1E Stop thinking of Pathfinder as magazine issues

[ShinHakkaider]

How many people here currently spend over $200 a year on just adventures? And I know Pathfinder has more than adventures, but I think it's clear it's marketed primarily as an adventure series of books, and most content is based on the adventure. So, how many people were already spending that much elsewhere on adventures?

My guess...not many. It's too much money for published adventures.

I don't, at least I dont think so. But as someone who DM's about 95% and doesnt craft his own adventures anymore (lack of time and interest) I'd rather spend the money on good quality published adventures with electronic support than the latest splat book.

I also say this as someone who has purchased premium gaming products like Ptolus, Rappan Athuk Reloaded, and Gazateer of the Known realms, if it's something that's quality and I'm interested in I'll probably shell out for it and find away to incorporate it into my game.

So for me, no. It's totally not too much money.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

My guess - more than you'd think. $200 is about £100 - I know I spend that easily on adventures in a year (and then some)

This last years purchases - Aerie of teh Crow God, 2 or 3 other DCC's, Red Hand of Doom, Expeditions to the Demonweb Pits and Ravenloft, Barrow of the Forgotten King, The Sinister Spire, various FR adventures, Subscription to Dungeon, The Witchfire Collection, Necropolis, The Redwood Scar..... and probably a few I've forgotten (oh, and some CoC adventures, and a CDROM with all the old TRaveller modules on it, and a few WFRP adventures)

EDIT: And yes, I have subscribed to Pathfinder

But I don't know how many people would be in the same boat as you. It doesn't matter if you and 100 friends are willing to spend that much. Obviously I don't know the numbers but I imagine that Paizo need several thousand people willing to spend that much. Whether they can convince that many people to do so, I don't know. They may be able to do it in the short-term but I have my doubts over them doing it in the long-run.

I have subscribed to Pathfinder but I probably won't be continuing beyond the first 6 issues. My group would struggle to get through an AP in 12 months, let alone 6 months. I am willing to give Pathfinder a try but I think once I have collected the first Pathfinder AP, I will have reached my adventure limit for a while. I already have the SCAP, AoW AP and a whole heap on Necromancer and Dungeon adventures to run. Sure, I could keep subscribing for the campaign information but $20/month is a lot to pay for something that I would effectively only be using 48 pages of.

Of course I could be totally wrong and Pathfinder is a huge success (I hope it is). We will have to wait and see. Only time will tell. I hope I'm wrong but I have this nagging doubt that I'm not. :\

Olaf the Stout

 

[jdrakeh]

$200 a year is a lot to spend on adventures, but is it a lot to spend on a campaign?

That's what cinched it for me (although my subscription has to wait until next pay period due to my eBay spending spree over the weekend). Getting the information to run an entire campaign for $200 sounds like a pretty good deal. Simply collecting the whole run of setting books for most official D&D settings will cost one at least double that amount. Adventures then cost extra. Yes, $200 sounds just dandy.

 

[Glyfair]

Getting the information to run an entire campaign for $200 sounds like a pretty good deal. Simply collecting the whole run of setting books for most official D&D settings will cost one at least double that amount. Adventures then cost extra. Yes, $200 sounds just dandy.

But I have a setting. In fact I have at least half a dozen settings I'd like or at least be willing to run, but I prefer the one I have now (not to mention my homebrew game that's I haven't run in years).

The last thing I need is another setting, although a really cool one might make my list of "want to run sometime" settings. The real issue that has me wary is I really don't want an adventure series that's tied strongly to another setting. Sure, I can adapt it. But there is a small sweet spot between being so different it's a lot of work to convert and the setting being so generic that it's pointless calling it a setting.

Now, I'm confident that Paizo can hit that sweet spot. However, I'm not confident that they will hit it.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

It's sad however we won't have any monsters with templates from MMV, or a swashbuckler or warlock villain or other official monsters referenced.

Bah, Wizards can keep'em, I have every faith in Paizo to make interesting encounters without weird templates, and be able to make a proper swashbuckler without that suboptimal class, or a magical opponent with other classes.

 

[Davelozzi]

Bah, Wizards can keep'em, I have every faith in Paizo to make interesting encounters without weird templates, and be able to make a proper swashbuckler without that suboptimal class, or a magical opponent with other classes.

Plus, I'm sure that a lot of that extra (non-adventure material) in Pathfinder will be Paizo's take on exactly this kind of stuff.

 

[Steel_Wind]

$200 a year is a lot to spend on adventures, but is it a lot to spend on a campaign? Pathfinder is much more than just adventures. Half of each volume includes background information on the campaign, player and GM advice on running it, new monsters, information on a new campaign setting, etc.

People interested in getting one-off adventures are better off taking a look at our GameMastery Module line.

--Erik

More to the point, campaign_S_ As that would be for two of them, not merely one.

And I would be one of those people who spends that on a campaign, easily.

Looking at a years' worth of material, 1152 pages of material, and comparing that to the costs of similar campaign/adventure books such a Ptolus and WLD/WLC, and SCAP, each about thalf that size in length for $100ish or so, that's easily "in the zone" and quite comparable in both price and scope.

Let's face it - expense is a factor for some and is not so much for others. There are many, many people here who spend that amount on gaming stuff a month.

And there are others on ENWorld who remark that their players don't bother to even buy a PhB and look a little bug-eyed when they hear of other groups who would kick such players unceremoniously out of their groups for such parsimony.

We each have different means and different expectations of what is reasonable.