Thinking of Adding 5E To My Library

[JHale1966]

I cut my teeth on 1e back in the 80's and am currently an avid Pathfinder GM/Player.

I'm considering adding 5E into my realm of game playing (starting as a player) and needing to know what I need to get to get started. I know the Player's Handbook but not sure of what else. Do they sell PDF versions of the 5E Books? I'd rather not buy hardbacks that can wear out, get damaged or stolen as I keep everything on my iPad so that I can easily find stuff and highlight/markup the pages. Is the only electronic version of the books those available through the FG store?

Without starting a bash thread, I'd like honest opinions regarding the difference(s) between 5E and Pathfinder.

Thanks!

[Nickademus]

About 40 rulebooks.

[Zacchaeus]

There are no pdf versions of the 5e material anywhere.

If you are only going to be a player then you don't need anything; you can get a good idea of the general rules/character classes/spells etc from the SRD modules which comes free with FG (I'm assuming you have at least a standard license). But the PHB does expand considerably on what you'll find in the SRD.

The differences between pathfinder (3.5) and 5e are way too many to go into. 5e is a much less complicated rulesystem (as Nickademus is alluding to in his brief post). There's just the PHB for class creation (if you ignore all the UA stuff) and so you don't have the hundreds of possible classes/variations/feats etc etc that clutter up the 3.5 rules. Combat and character management is simpler. Now if you are an avid 3.5 fan then you may not like that simplicity since there is far less choice and many game mechanics have been pared down or are completely missing. The best thing you can do is get yourself into a 5e game. Check out FGCon and find out if there's spaces open still for a 5e game there and see for yourself.

[damned]

There are no pdf versions of the 5e material anywhere.

If you are only going to be a player then you don't need anything; you can get a good idea of the general rules/character classes/spells etc from the SRD modules which comes free with FG (I'm assuming you have at least a standard license). But the PHB does expand considerably on what you'll find in the SRD.

The differences between pathfinder (3.5) and 5e are way too many to go into. 5e is a much less complicated rulesystem (as Nickademus is alluding to in his brief post). There's just the PHB for class creation (if you ignore all the UA stuff) and so you don't have the hundreds of possible classes/variations/feats etc etc that clutter up the 3.5 rules. Combat and character management is simpler. Now if you are an avid 3.5 fan then you may not like that simplicity since there is far less choice and many game mechanics have been pared down or are completely missing. The best thing you can do is get yourself into a 5e game. Check out FGCon and find out if there's spaces open still for a 5e game there and see for yourself.

Both the SRD and the Basic Rules are available in PDF direct from teh Wizards.
Id grab the Basic rules - they are over 200 pages still and have plenty of meat - and are of course in readable digital format.
:)

[Zacchaeus]

Both the SRD and the Basic Rules are available in PDF direct from teh Wizards.
Id grab the Basic rules - they are over 200 pages still and have plenty of meat - and are of course in readable digital format.
:)

Ok, okay apart from the pdf for the SRD data, SRD monsters and the SRD magic items and the pdf for the basic rules what have the Romans done for us? :)

[damned]

Players basic Rules: hhttps://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/PlayerBasicRulesV03.pdf
GMs basic rules: https://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/DMBasicRulesV05.pdf

Systems Reference Document: https://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/SRD-OGL_V5.1.pdf

You would use either the SRD or the Basic rules - generally not both.

[Nylanfs]

https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/53766/differences-between-5th-edition-dd-and-pathfinder

[JHale1966]

Thanks guys - I'll download the stuff and take a look. :)

What about Adventurer's League? Is that similar in theory to PFS?

[JHale1966]

https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/53766/differences-between-5th-edition-dd-and-pathfinder

Thank you also for this. It does make a lot of sense.

I'm also wondering if there are a lot of people that use something like Hero Lab for character creation as I have it for Pathfinder.

[Zacchaeus]

Thank you also for this. It does make a lot of sense.

I'm also wondering if there are a lot of people that use something like Hero Lab for character creation as I have it for Pathfinder.

If Hero Lab works at all for 5e all you'll get is the SRD stuff; since I don't think they have any kind of license to use material other than that.

[JHale1966]

So basically everything is already there in FG for Character Creation, I just need to do more reading of the material and not worry about HL. I like the fact that you can drag a class onto a character and it automatically imports the information.

[Gwydion]

So basically everything is already there in FG for Character Creation, I just need to do more reading of the material and not worry about HL. I like the fact that you can drag a class onto a character and it automatically imports the information.

Yes. That's the case. I have HL for 5e and they do have a lot of community modules built that allow for the detailed 5e build into a character sheet (in their file format), but I've found that since I DM/play exclusively on FG I just don't have a need for HL. That's just me, though. Others may have other views. So much automation with FG its a blast to create characters!

[LordEntrails]

I go back to BECMI and have at least played some of every edition since.

I greatly enjoyed 3/3.5 because at that point in time I enjoyed memorizing a great deal of facts. Enjoyed exploring the mechanics of bizarre options and combinations. Now, all that complexity bores me. Now I'm more interested in simplicity, stories and spending enjoyable time with friends and family. My attitude is going to greatly color the following comments.

5E is a game that allows for simpler rules, focuses on enjoyability and story telling, and encourages DMs to make rulings for special situations rather than to have an official rule for every situation. You can see this in that there is no attempt to have vast numbers of weapons. Rather than worry about the difference between a broad, long, or other of the numerous types of swords; they really just have a few sword classes or categories (short, rapier, long, great).

The other big difference is advantage/disadvantage mechanic and philosophy of bounded accuracy. I like it. 20th level characters are not gods, they are just superheroes :)

[JohnD]

About 40 rulebooks.

Truth has been spoken.

[JHale1966]

OK - took the plunge and bought the Core Character Pack and now just looking for a game looking for a newbie. :)

[TMO]

OK - took the plunge and bought the Core Character Pack and now just looking for a game looking for a newbie. :)

If you aren't doing so already, monitor the LFG thread for DMs advertising games. You'll find a lot of players posting that they are looking for a group, but I've found that it is more effective when DMs look for players. I see a lot of games starting up around your timezone quite often.

[celestian]

I cut my teeth on 1e back in the 80's and am currently an avid Pathfinder GM/Player.

I'm considering adding 5E into my realm of game playing (starting as a player) and needing to know what I need to get to get started. I know the Player's Handbook but not sure of what else. Do they sell PDF versions of the 5E Books? I'd rather not buy hardbacks that can wear out, get damaged or stolen as I keep everything on my iPad so that I can easily find stuff and highlight/markup the pages. Is the only electronic version of the books those available through the FG store?

Without starting a bash thread, I'd like honest opinions regarding the difference(s) between 5E and Pathfinder.

Thanks!

Unfortunately they do not sell the books in PDF. I nag them once every other month on twitter about that. I am not buying the books till they do. That said they do sell a digital version of the books for FG. I do not own them but I hear good things about the product.

If you're familiar with 3e/Pathfinder you've already got a good handle on some of the 5eism. That said it's a lot slimmer so all those feats and combat rules have been drastically compressed. You'll notice a big difference in scaling. You won't have like 40AC and +30 attacks (at least that I've seen). If you're looking for an lighter version of game from Pathfinder 5e is absolutely going to meet that requirement.

Beyond that there are a ton of differences and honestly I couldn't begin to explain them all. As a bird's eye view tho that's my opinion.

I've a friend that runs a 5e game for us (I'm a die hard AD&D DM myself and won't run anything else) so my experience is not as extensive as a longtime DM but... I'd certainly play 5e over 3e/Pathfinder myself because the bloat (hp/BaB/AC and books) is hugely different.

[Gwydion]

OK - took the plunge and bought the Core Character Pack and now just looking for a game looking for a newbie. :)

Rob2e runs a 5e game called salvage encounters that is open to anyone. He's on the forums here a lot as well as twitch, youtube, etc.. You can see his schedule on twitch but if I recall Mondays and some Saturdays are typically the days for these games. A lot of great DM's here so hopefully you'll find a game quickly!

[JohnD]

How are you finding it so far?

[JHale1966]

Let's put it this way...

I have pretty much purchased everything for Fantasy Grounds including the Fifth Edition Foes and Tome of Beasts Books and I have 2 orders coming from Amazon that include 8 Hardbacks and the Starter Set (since I bought the Lost Mine module for FG). I'll still PLAY PFS, but I'll be PLAYING & RUNNING D&D. Just need to find more games to join so I can learn the system better. :)