As I close the Pathfinder game down and look to what I want to run next, I think about the three systems I can choose from to run next. As well I bid farewell the nightmare box of rules that was Pathfinder, the endless charts, graphs, cross references, perplexing systems, and god builds that made the game the hateful thing it became.
(3.5) Still itching to get back into the days of 3.5, so many books, so many unfinished adventures and we can even go back to the "lost years". The 16 years that the PC's were in the floating fortress and play with all new PC's in the old world with our old NPC friends. The old map was so much more fun, so much more balanced and made sense, the NPC's we grew to know and enjoy seeing them. The skip to the future just didn't feel like we were in the same world, with all our friends gone.
(3.5) The books, the endless books between 3.0 and 3.5 and all the information, games, items, spells, feats and stuff. We never go to explore as much of it over 15 years as I would have liked and when I think back to 3.5 I think "old school d&d" to me.
(Pathfinder) While fun and had soooo many options to do things and cleaned up a lot of 3.5 became too overbearing with rules in the end. Though I do look forward to Starfinder the space book coming out this summer and at times loved the stats that were in that game. So many options and so many abilities that it could be endless fun, but when the PC's abused the rules, it became the worst game I ever played.
(Pathfinder) The art was 100 times better than the shit art of 3.5 and you had a better feel for the game, immersion and tools of every make and use down to firewood. But them rules, oh man, them rules. Even the designers flip flopped over years on the forums about what each ability did or didn't do. While I love the look, layout and style of these books, there is just no RPG to be found.
(5E) Is the future, it's what is hot now, it is what people looking to play are trying to get into. Since the book is so light on rules, cut's back on combat and relies on RPG to enjoy it, it fit's well with me. More about the story the fun and less about the "rules" so to speak.
(5E) I can take any old book, any old adventure and affix it to 5E just like I did in 3.5 and Pathfinder, but this time I don't have to spend hours revamping the stats, the rules the DC's. It's so much easier to just say 5 easy, 10 hard, etc or strength check vs strength check to determine a winner and move on. The lack of insane rules give the PC's more strength to flex their RPG muscles and tell me what they want to do and how with out the charts, graphs, pausing to look up a rule or endless debate over them. Yes a rules lawyer could exist in 5E, but he/she would not have much to stand on in the few pages about rules that are in the core books.
Well that is about that. While I really get excited thinking about trying a 3.5 game, I am ordering the "Curse of Strad" DM's screen on Amazon and picking up the Yawning Portal guide. This time around I am going to get the stuff I want, no matter the cost as it's available and not let it slip by like 3.5 when I was young, broke and things were harder to come by.
The only thing I will do different this time is not allow anything past core (unless it's an option in a published adventure) because that spells disaster for all the games I have played. So far though 5th has many options in core that I am sure no one will feel restricted to the same core classes of a 3.5 or Pathfinder. Unless we are doing a sword coast adventure as well we will not be allowing anything from there either, but with Forgotten Realms in 5E and Ravenloft in 5E, if my 2nd all time favorite campaign comes along "Dark Sun" I will be getting that for sure.
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