Do whatever feels best! If this is your first experience with a roleplaying game, it is recommended that you take on the role of a player to familiarize yourself with the rules and the world. Some players enjoy acting out (or roleplaying) what they do as if they were their characters, while others describe their characters’ actions as if narrating a story.
The GM resolves the outcome of these actions. During the game, players describe the actions their characters take and roll dice, using their characters’ abilities. In general, the only limits to character concepts are the players’ imaginations and the GM’s guidelines. The GM might limit the options available during character creation, but the limits are discussed ahead of time so everyone can create interesting heroes. Before the game begins, players invent a history and personality for their characters, using the rules to determine their characters’ statistics, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. The PlayersĮveryone involved in a Pathfinder game is a player, including the Game Master, but for the sake of simplicity, “player” usually refers to participants other than the GM. Ultimately it’s up to you and your group to determine what kind of game you are playing, from dungeon exploration to a nuanced political drama, or anything in between. Alternatively, it could include negotiating with a baron for rights to a fort, infiltrating an army of lumbering frost giants, or bargaining with an angel for a strand of hair required for an elixir to revive a slain friend. If the Game Master enjoys telling the story and the players are entertained, the game can go as long as you like.Ī session can be mostly action, with battles with vile beasts, escapes from fiendish traps, and the completion of heroic quests. A complete Pathfinder story can be as short as a single session, commonly referred to as a “one-shot,” or it can stretch on for multiple sessions, forming a campaign that might last for months or even years. Pathfinder is played in sessions, during which players gather in person or online for a few hours to play the game. Dice rolls, combined with preassigned statistics, add an element of chance and determine whether characters succeed or fail at actions they attempt. As each scene leads into the next, each player contributes to the story, responding to situations according to the personality and abilities of their character. The GM prepares, presents, and presides over the game’s world and story, posing challenges and playing adversaries, allies, and bystanders alike. The game is typically played in a group of four to seven players, with one of those players serving as the group’s Game Master. Danger comes in the form of monsters, devious traps, and the machinations of adversarial agents, but Pathfinder also provides political schemes, puzzles, interpersonal drama, and much, much more. A world of endless adventure awaits! What is a Roleplaying Game?Ī roleplaying game is an interactive story where one player, the Game Master (GM), sets the scene and presents challenges, while other players take the roles of player characters (PCs) and attempt to overcome those challenges.
A Pathfinder character’s adventures might take them to forsaken underwater ruins, haunted gothic crypts, or magical universities in jungle cities.
Pathfinder adventures take place in a perilous fantasy world rife with ancient empires sprawling city-states and countless tombs, dungeons, and monster lairs packed with plunder. More importantly, this is a game where your character’s choices determine how the story unfolds. Pathfinder is a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game (RPG) where you and a group of friends gather to tell a tale of brave heroes and cunning villains in a world filled with terrifying monsters and amazing treasures.