Photo by fireflythegreat under a CC-BY 2.0 license

Just before Christmas, I visited my local gaming store with the intent of buying the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set to play with the kids over the holiday break. It was time to step up from RPGKids, which I started with the kids a year or two ago. I’m a terrible Dungeon Master and lack creativity, so one of the things I was excited about in buying a set was that I’d be able to buy modules to help create the adventures for the kids.

Phantasy Hobbies was out of the D&D red box and the owner asked me if I had heard of Pathfinder, which is a continuation of the AD&D 3.5 rules after Wizards of the Coast had moved on to 4.0 rules. Pathfinder had bought the license to the 3.5 ruleset and created an ecosystem to let the 3.5 rules live on. I went home that night and read up on Pathfinder and found the Pathfinder Beginner Box, with a limited and easier to use ruleset, would work perfectly to play with the little ones. The next day I returned to my local gaming store and bought the Beginner Box. One of the best features of Pathfinder is how much content they make available via PDF, both free and paid. I was able to pick up a module that continues the first adventure in the Beginner Box, among other things.

This morning I came across on Twitter a link to the Pathfinder MMO, which is being bootstrapped on Kickstarter. Today’s the last day and they’re 90% of the way to their goal. Set to launch in about two years, the Pathfinder MMO is built on the Unity engine and will be available for both Windows and Mac. The last thing I need is another MMO in my life, but even at the $35 level which gets you the game, the addons are worth it. They’ve thrown in the PDF of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, and the Guide to the River Kingdoms sourcebook, which is worth about $25 by itself.

If you’re into roleplaying, help support ’em – it’s a good cause.