Those of us raised on 1st edition's Tomb of Horrors are having our own little giggle now...

And feeling old.

Never really found their stuff all that funny - too vulgar, too much juvenile cussing, for one thing. Though I do appreciate that their comics are timely and usually related to current events.

It's the new old school, Dave. Just let it mellow you out, man...

It makes you wonder what kind of message this is sending out to RPGers. Is it saying that Pathfinder is more difficult than 4E? That they should only try it when their experience with 4E has staled? Just thoughts I've had...

The challenges of player power in Gabriel’s campaign (“Pursuit Of Destiny,” which I always liked as a name) are such that we’re hauling in ideas from every attainable source - availing ourselves of every lash, every hot brand.

This is the phase, a relatively common phase for roleplaying enthusiasts, that he never had. He never needed to; he was exposed early on to a system that worked for him, and his players were new to the form as well. Starting late, and beginning his career as a Dungeon Master, he never toured those other ways-of-doing. He had no Buck Rogers phase. No Robotech phase, and hence, no mega-damage. No Paranoia phase. No Savage Worlds phase, no Burning Wheel phase. No Deadlands phase. No Wraith, no Vampire. One game of Mage.

Seventeen years ago. I tried, people! I tried.

So there are many ways of dealing with what are classic problems, drawn from a host of different inspirations. Have players control a stable of characters, so that true lethality isn’t synonymous with Game Over. Alternate ways of dealing with criticals. Combat as an elemental, almost abstract element. Less ornamented systems that focus primarily on table rapport, or more strict, simulationist approaches that focus on broad tactics. Fourth Edition suffers under an especially heavy yoke when it comes to power creep in our experience, and after so many expansions there’s a lot of homogeneous abilities and uniformity as an ironic result of having so many options. I still think it can be fixed, but I am sometimes accused of optimism.

Changing the engine of a campaign while the car is in motion is a tough sell, which is why the hiatus gives us some opportunities to approach these concerns in a broad way. You will note that the blade of a guillotine is also broad.

What we are hearing from longtime players of Pathfinder is that they, too, run into the same Wall Of X when it comes to creep - four or five smirking demigods enslaving the system, warping it like an event horizon. This has only widened the search pattern for us, delving into what is sometimes termed Fourthcore - aftermarket dungeon philosophy designed to curb these nascent world-eaters.

Perhaps horrified by what we might be setting into motion, Kiko came in yesterday to tell Gabriel that whatever crisis of faith might be happening behind the screen, the players are having a blast. They are the end purpose, right? They’re enjoying it. But moving into the third act, it’s clear that Gabriel is exhausted trying to maintain the energy of his earlier successes. It’s time for a change.

And I think we’re getting close.

I started playing table top RPG’s with D&D 4e. My group was also almost entirely composed of players new to D&D. We learned with 4e and so I think it has a special place in our hearts. Our game ran for about three years and I chronicled a lot of it here on the site. As time went on and I got more comfortable with the rules I started doing some pretty crazy shit.

I feel like the level 1 to 12 run was incredible. The character advancement seemed perfect and we all had a blast. By the time we quit my players were level 21 and I felt like mechanically the game just didn’t work as well. They all had big stacks of power cards and I felt like more time was spent thinking about these cards rather than interacting with each other and the world. Also it became very difficult to challenge them. So I started getting a little burnt out. The sense of wonder and excitement that I had in the beginning of the campaign just wasn’t there anymore. I put the game on hold and that was about a year ago.

I started feeling like I wanted to DM again about a month or so ago. While in Card Kingdom I saw the Pathfinder starter box and decided to pick it up. I ran it for some people here in the office and came away feeling like I did four years ago when I first discovered 4e. People have told me that Pathfinder is D&D 3.75. A bridge between old D&D 3.5 and the new 4e. It’s more complicated in someways but refreshingly streamlined in others. So far I’ve picked up the core rule book as well as one of the bestiaries. My plan is to get my group to play a game of Pathfinder and then put the option to them. Do we like this? Should we continue our old campaign with this new rule set? personally I’m ready to jump in with both feet but this story isn’t just mine. This was an adventure that all of had for three years and a change this fundamental is something I want the whole party to agree on. If they aren’t ready to make the jump to Pathfinder I’ve at least been inspired by the material. I’ll approach our 4e game with a bunch of new ideas and that’s well worth the money.