Pathfinder Second Edition
PLAYTEST
RULEBOOK
WELCOME TO PATHFINDER!
You hold in your hands the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook—your doorway to the evolving world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game!
If you’re new to Pathfinder, or to tabletop roleplaying games in general, we intend this book to bid you a hearty welcome into one of the greatest hobbies in the world. Using these playtest rules, you can build any kind of sword and sorcery story imaginable to explore with your friends, family, and acquaintances whose love for imagination and camaraderie matches your own. Pathfinder is a game for people of all backgrounds and life experiences to play and enjoy, and we can’t wait to share our game with you and learn from your feedback.
This rulebook represents the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game’s next evolution. For the past 10 years, we’ve worked hard to make Pathfinder a game that we could all call home, filled with robust options and supported by a rich setting. We’re proud that you came with us on that journey and that you’ve shared your insight into what worked and what we should strive to improve. Now, we hope that you’ll come with us on the next step of our adventure!
This book is the culmination of more than two years of designing and developing a new edition of Pathfinder. Our aim is to make the game easier to learn and simpler to play, while maintaining the depth of character and adventure options that has always defined Pathfinder. In this version of the game, for example, players can still build a dual-wielding ranger or an elemental-focused druid, but doing so is easier and more streamlined. Along those same lines, a lich is still the same terrifying foe that it’s always been, but now Game Masters can build one to add to their stories in about half the time.
In this new edition, we have expanded the options available in the game’s core rules. Alchemists are now
a core class, brewing mutagens and crafting elixirs to aid in their adventures. Goblins are a core ancestry for player characters, mischievous as always but now ready to explore the world alongside more traditional heroes.
We’ve ratcheted up the wonder of magic items, including reimagining them as truly special belongings and
designing new consumables, called trinkets, as the martial counterpart to scrolls. At every turn, we’ve seized the opportunity to expand the game’s options, but not at the cost of removing the ones you know and love.
We’re attempting bold strides in this new edition of the game, but it’s far from finalized. This is where you come in—this book is only a playtest of the final version of the game, which we’ll release in August 2019. Over the next few months, we hope you’ll help us refine the game to make it even better.
We’ve released a playtest adventure, Pathfinder Playtest Adventure: Doomsday Dawn, which is available at your local game store and as a free download at paizo.com. Divided into seven sections, this adventure is carefully crafted to test various parts of the game. We’ve set up surveys specific to each part to gather your feedback about the experience. You can find links to these surveys at paizo.com/pathfinderplaytest. Also make sure to download the Pathfinder Playtest Bestiary while you’re there.
There are also a number of organized play offerings available to help playtest these rules through the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. So far, we’ve released a package of four quests and two scenarios, all available at paizo.com. In September, we’ll release another scenario that uses these playtest rules. Separate surveys specific to each of these offerings will gather your feedback from these experiences.
Regardless of how you interact with the playtest rules, you are welcome to submit feedback about the playtest on the forums at paizo.com/community/forums.
So, grab the playtest adventure and gather a group of stalwart heroes! The next evolution of Pathfinder is here. Will you help guide it into the future?
Jason Bulmahn, Director of Game Design;
Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Senior Designer;
Logan Bonner, Designer;
Mark Seifter, Designer;
and the entire team at Paizo Inc
