Whether to invest in Pathfinder or 5e

[Ripskreig]

Again all very useful and sensible comments - must be something wrong with you people =)
I feel confident investing in Pathfinder. Thank you.

Now I'm thinking about what I need to purchase. I'm time poor and need all the automation I can get my hands on. I don't have time for coding or data entry.

Helping me out with answers to any one of the following questions would be awesome.

1. Which of the available APs do you think suits FG well and is most engaging - perhaps CotCT, RotRL, Hell's Rebels (at face value this one looks most interesting to me)?

2. If I wanted to run any of these, what would I need to purchase to run the game effectively, and to have all the required monsters and npc builds (abilities, feats, items, spells) ready at my FG fingertips? IS it as simple as purchasing the Core rules, and AP 1?

3. Is there a pathfinder equivalent to the 5e complete bundle (which seems rather cheap compared to PF)?

4. Where would you recommend purchasing the products? FG site? Steam? Drive-Thru? Somewhere else?

5. Is there a yearly promo sale of some sort somewhere (e.g. prior to a FG event)? Do Humble Bundle ever have the FG PF stuff?

6. If I purchased a product on the FG site and another on Steam, will they work together in the FG program or are there compatibility issues of some sort?

[corwynn]

1) Go with what sounds good to you.
2) AFAIK yes, Core and AP1 gives you what you need to run. You will (obviously) not have all the extra stuff from the other books, but you can either use community resources or code in anything you want to use from the line.
3) Not really. There's a link between Paizo and FG which modifies pricing in some manner, but I forget how.
4) I personally just buy them on FG, but if Steam makes you feel better for whatever reason, buying there is essentially the same.
5) Steam sales are mirrored by FG. Some things are on sale weekly. There's no guarantee that any given content will be on sale at any given time. Humble Bundle has not yet had any FG stuff AFAIK, though they have had Pathfinder stuff.
6) The FG client reads from the FG store and Steam. There's no issue with buying on different sites. I just keep mine all on FG because it is "neater" in my opinion.

[damned]

it is much easier to manage buying from one or the other. if you are in the US, CA, UK, AU pricing is the same from either including sales. Some countries get some additional price breaks on Steam and if you are in one of those countries Steam is the better option. if you are on a mac you cant buy DLC from steam.

if going 5e your best entry point is PHB (CCC) + adventure of your choice. if going pathfinder its basically the same - Core + your choice of adventure.

and then of course work out what base license will work for you - get an ultimate (have the players chip in a few dollars towards your startup costs?) or have everyone buy a standard license (or go the subscription route).

[ddavison]

Core Rules + Adventure of your choice should cover your basic needs.

Additional Bestiary modules would be nice if you plan to modify the included encounters from the adventure or add your own. It doesn't sound like this fits for what you want to do, so you can skip those.

Advanced Players Guide and Ultimate Magic add additional character building options that your players can use. They can run characters without these but will only have full drag and drop support for characters within the Core Rules or any other add-ons you pick up.

[Full Bleed]

2. If I wanted to run any of these, what would I need to purchase to run the game effectively, and to have all the required monsters and npc builds (abilities, feats, items, spells) ready at my FG fingertips? IS it as simple as purchasing the Core rules, and AP 1?

Oh yeah... one more thing not accounted for when comparing Pathfinder and 5e. The Pathfinder "Core Rules" is, essentially, the "Player's Handbook" and "Dungeon Masters Guide". Paizo broke from that format with they released Pathfinder.

But for some first tier expansion material, as Doug mentioned, the Advanced Players Guide is a nice add. You can take a look at the kind of stuff you'll get from the APG here: https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/index.html

3. Is there a pathfinder equivalent to the 5e complete bundle (which seems rather cheap compared to PF)?

Not yet. And given the sheer amount of material available for PF... that might be calling for a pretty steep investment to maintain the discount. Might not be practical.

5. Do Humble Bundle ever have the FG PF stuff?

Not FG stuff... and I'm not sure how they handle the applied discount of having the Pathfinder PDF's from a Humble Bundle. Normally, if you've bought something from Paizo you get to discount your FG purchase of the same material.

[ddavison]

Regarding Humble Bundle, Paizo gives people a boatload of PDFs as part of that deal. As long as the PDF is registered on your account at Paizo, then you get the full PDF price off the purchase here on Fantasy Grounds. Humble Bundles are definitely worth backing.

[Ripskreig]

Thanks a bunch guys.
Great to know that Core rules are essentially PHB and DMG in 1 book.
I grabbed a Humble Bundle with Core rules and Bestiary for $8 which seems like a good start.
I'll take a look at the magic guide and players guide.

[Full Bleed]

Great to know that Core rules are essentially PHB and DMG in 1 book.

Yeah, it's a 576 page beast.

I grabbed a Humble Bundle with Core rules and Bestiary for $8 which seems like a good start.

You'll be getting $9.99 off each of the FG versions since you'll have credit for having purchased the PDF's from Paizo. So you saved a little money, contributed to a good cause, and have all of the other stuff the Humble Bundle came with.

Sounds like a good deal to me.

[Ripskreig]

What would you consider essential or highly beneficial
community addons? Perhaps theres an established thread on this?

[Blahness98]

What would you consider essential or highly beneficial
community addons? Perhaps theres an established thread on this?

Depends on what you want to do. I personally get a lot of use out of the community bestiaries (granted they don't have the tokens/pictures) when I am building my own modules, the magic items tables module by Trashkicker is excellent just for the sheer fact someone entered in a boat load of magical items that I don't need to make myself, there is the spell archive by Ken which contains nearly every spell released. You know what.. just look at the module sticky thread in the Pathfinder forum and pick and choose. They are all pretty good, but some are older than others and do not have the new drag and drop automation. The three that I linked I have gotten loads of use from.

While you are in the PF forum, take a look at the extensions as well. There are good things in there (like Ken's on the fly npc importer) that make life as a DM easier.