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Beginner Box
176 pages, Game
First published November 24, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 12, 2023
Ring Side Report- RPG review of The Pathfinder Beginner Box
Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day!
Product- The Pathfinder Beginner Box
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer- Paizo
Price- $29.99 here https://paizo.com/pathfinder/beginnerbox
TL; DR- Probably my favorite beginner box. 100%
Basics- Let’s learn Pathfinder! This is the Pathfinder 2nd Ed Beginner Box. It’s got a double sided map and two level adventure. It’s got an introduction to character building, character sheets, AND pregens. It’s got dice. It’s full of standees and cardboard characters. It’s got it all!
Mechanics or Crunch- If you want the full Pathfinder experience, this is it. You get four pregens, rules on how to play, and even a multilevel dungeon. Now, the dungeon and the fights are nothing crazy complex, and you might even say they're a bit easy, but as a new player, this will be fun. And as a new GM, this is a blast as well! You get the basics of Pathfinder 2nd Ed with real rules, so you don't learn a system that doesn't exist. You can also learn character building! This is a great intro on how to play. 5/5
Theme or Fluff- I don’t expect a ton of crazy things from beginner boxes, but I honestly got a solid intro to the world and a great adventure. You get a basic introduction to the world. It can’t be an epic tale of the world's creation and current state, but you get a good, solid idea of the basics of the world’s story. You also get an interesting adventure where you can play and get a few sneak peeks into future adventures. It’s just a great way to invite both players and GMs to the world of Pathfinder. 5/5
Execution- I’ve gushed about this box so far, and this won't be an exception. You get great dice, great books, great standees, EXTRA standees, solid pregens, and amazing books that help the players know how to play, and the GM run an an adventure on the fly. This is what I want as a player and a GM. 5/5
Summary- I’ve loved Pathfinder for a long time and played Pathfinder 2nd Ed since it came out. I also love Starfinder, but you can see there is more love for Pathfinder 2nd Ed from this box. Two levels of adventure, character generation guides for a few levels, dice, and standees make a great product. Also, that the rules in this box set are the same as the real game, makes me amazingingly happy. This is the kind of thing I will give to anyone who wants to learn Pathfinder. If you are on the fence, get this now! 100%
Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day!
Product- The Pathfinder Beginner Box
System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed
Producer- Paizo
Price- $29.99 here https://paizo.com/pathfinder/beginnerbox
TL; DR- Probably my favorite beginner box. 100%
Basics- Let’s learn Pathfinder! This is the Pathfinder 2nd Ed Beginner Box. It’s got a double sided map and two level adventure. It’s got an introduction to character building, character sheets, AND pregens. It’s got dice. It’s full of standees and cardboard characters. It’s got it all!
Mechanics or Crunch- If you want the full Pathfinder experience, this is it. You get four pregens, rules on how to play, and even a multilevel dungeon. Now, the dungeon and the fights are nothing crazy complex, and you might even say they're a bit easy, but as a new player, this will be fun. And as a new GM, this is a blast as well! You get the basics of Pathfinder 2nd Ed with real rules, so you don't learn a system that doesn't exist. You can also learn character building! This is a great intro on how to play. 5/5
Theme or Fluff- I don’t expect a ton of crazy things from beginner boxes, but I honestly got a solid intro to the world and a great adventure. You get a basic introduction to the world. It can’t be an epic tale of the world's creation and current state, but you get a good, solid idea of the basics of the world’s story. You also get an interesting adventure where you can play and get a few sneak peeks into future adventures. It’s just a great way to invite both players and GMs to the world of Pathfinder. 5/5
Execution- I’ve gushed about this box so far, and this won't be an exception. You get great dice, great books, great standees, EXTRA standees, solid pregens, and amazing books that help the players know how to play, and the GM run an an adventure on the fly. This is what I want as a player and a GM. 5/5
Summary- I’ve loved Pathfinder for a long time and played Pathfinder 2nd Ed since it came out. I also love Starfinder, but you can see there is more love for Pathfinder 2nd Ed from this box. Two levels of adventure, character generation guides for a few levels, dice, and standees make a great product. Also, that the rules in this box set are the same as the real game, makes me amazingingly happy. This is the kind of thing I will give to anyone who wants to learn Pathfinder. If you are on the fence, get this now! 100%
January 18, 2023
As part of a sales bundle we got loads of pathfinder 2e and starfinder pdf-s for less than 20€, among them the beginner boxes. With work and family obligations it sounded a better idea to skim through the Heroes Handbook (76 pages) before the skin-dive into the 600 something pages tome of the Core Rulebook.
Now, the beginner box does not replace the Core Rulebook, and I won't advise anyone to buy it. BUT if you have the possibility to add it to your cart with not too much extra cost, if you're not certain whether or not PF 2e is your game, or if you could borrow it from a friend, it's a great introduction to the game, the way games should be introduced: by playing a round or two. The pdf is more than enough for us and we don't feel the need for a physical copy. It's designed for levels 1-3.
Both Beginner Box and Core Rulebook provide a guide into Gamemastery, so you don't have to buy the GmG to play, remember.
I can't tell you when was the last time I read 70 pages of non-fiction so quickly. The Heroes Handbook is well structured and the chapters come in an intuitive order for people familiar with TTRPG and in easy to follow for those unfamiliar. There's always some little intro for those first time ever gamers but kept short enough.
Both options and rulesets have been kept to that right optimum of enough to give you the right notion about the game and mechanics but not too much to overwhelm people with choice before they get to know the game flow. It's also filled with loads of shorthand guides and charts both to learn and to use a quick reference.
To be fair it was my first time doing the beginner version of a game and it's been a blast so far.
Now, the beginner box does not replace the Core Rulebook, and I won't advise anyone to buy it. BUT if you have the possibility to add it to your cart with not too much extra cost, if you're not certain whether or not PF 2e is your game, or if you could borrow it from a friend, it's a great introduction to the game, the way games should be introduced: by playing a round or two. The pdf is more than enough for us and we don't feel the need for a physical copy. It's designed for levels 1-3.
Both Beginner Box and Core Rulebook provide a guide into Gamemastery, so you don't have to buy the GmG to play, remember.
I can't tell you when was the last time I read 70 pages of non-fiction so quickly. The Heroes Handbook is well structured and the chapters come in an intuitive order for people familiar with TTRPG and in easy to follow for those unfamiliar. There's always some little intro for those first time ever gamers but kept short enough.
Both options and rulesets have been kept to that right optimum of enough to give you the right notion about the game and mechanics but not too much to overwhelm people with choice before they get to know the game flow. It's also filled with loads of shorthand guides and charts both to learn and to use a quick reference.
To be fair it was my first time doing the beginner version of a game and it's been a blast so far.
October 5, 2021
One of the best beginner's boxes that I've ever run for a crunchy fantasy roleplaying game. It succeeds at gradually introducing Pathfinder 2E's mechanics at a slow incline, bringing forward concepts like the three action economy, monster tactics and traps in an easily digestible format perfect for any new GM. The amount of stuff packed into the box is also a steal, with cardboard minis, a laminated map, dice and pre-gens all included. Notably, the pre-gen sheets have little identifiers on them telling newbies exactly what a d4, d8, d12 and all the other polygonal dice look like, which is a fantastic accessibility and learning tool that I now think all RPG starter sets should come with.
I ran this over the course of five sessions that were about three hours each, with my players spending most of their time in the dungeon with a few hours of brief roleplaying in the town. So that's about 15 hours worth of content, and while the last battle can be a bit tricky to run without falling into a TPK (it's a dragon, after all), I think this box is perfect at encapsulating the PF 2E experience and offering a fine bang for your buck.
I ran this over the course of five sessions that were about three hours each, with my players spending most of their time in the dungeon with a few hours of brief roleplaying in the town. So that's about 15 hours worth of content, and while the last battle can be a bit tricky to run without falling into a TPK (it's a dragon, after all), I think this box is perfect at encapsulating the PF 2E experience and offering a fine bang for your buck.
November 18, 2022
Background
I read through this product, and then ran the beginner box adventure (about 50% shortened and a bit remixed) with a group of three kids aged 8-12 who were beginners to RPGs plus one adult who has played plenty of Pathfinder 1st and 2nd edition. I was also very familiar with both editions already, but it was my first time GMing this system.
Summary
This box is good and recommended for anyone having (or hoping to find!) a group to introduce to Pathfinder 2nd Edition. The box comes with everything needed to get going: rule books, pre-created character sheets plus blank sheets, a dice set, a pre-written adventure, plus maps and standees for the adventure. That's a lot of bang for the buck bundled for convience. The GM's book continues to give ideas and tips for future adventures plus plenty more monsters (with standees), material for more than enough adventures to bring the characters up to third level (which is the maximum in this box).
While some rules, and the character creation process especially, are simplified compared to the full rules, characters and all rules elements are fully compatible with the full Pathfinder 2e game. So you can, for example, keep playing Beginner Box characters in campaigns using the full rules, or import rules elements from the full game into the Beginner Box adventures.
Among the negatives are slightly uneven production quality and editing/proof-reading, and I have some personal qualms about the pre-written adventure.
Score: 7/10
Rules, content
PF2e is one of my favourite systems so yeah, I like these rules. I find it pleasant to both play and GM apart from some minor grievances. The three-action system was easy to understand for the young players and after getting their footing, they started to confidently figure out their turns, utilizing their character's special abilities. The robust encounter building rules make it very easy for the GM to fiddle around with the encounters.
The rule books are slimmed down in large part thanks to having reduced the player options down to three ancestries, four classes, a handful of backgrounds, and much fewer spells. This may disappoint players who know of and want to play other classic fantasy RPG characters like halflings, gnomes, bards, and paladins. But, for my beginner players, this was plenty enough of differentiated choices to get them excited in making characters. Several less important rules (or less palatable for beginners?) are removed, such as encumbrance and some traits.
A good selection of magic items and monsters are included.
Production value, editing
The books are good-looking with excellent artwork and nice layout, not to mention their 150 pages are lot less intimidating than the 640 page tome that is the full core rulebook. The dice set is highly readable and brightly colour coded, very smart! "Which one do I roll again?" "The d20; that's the red one".
The many standees were a very nice inclusion, but on many of them, a big chunk of the art goes outside the area you punch out, leading to characters with hands/weapons and so on not being included on the standee itself. Very weird, not sure if intentional or misprinted. Also the cardboard doesn't seem like great quality.
There are some misprints in the books and papers too, a rather glaring one is that the pre-generated character sheets lack the symbols for one-action and three-action activities. Luckily the blank ones are printed correctly. The rule for recovery checks is stated differently in two places, and in either case doesn't take into account the "Diehard" feat. The adventure has a room described as "totally unlit" when the PCs look into it, but when they enter, there is suddenly a torch casting light. Room 12 has the wrong name, duplicated from another room. Nitpicks? Maybe. I think at least the mistake on the pre-generated sheets should have been caught.
The map is sturdy and looks nice, but I would have preferred it cut up into tiles rather than the huge flip-mat, because:
- It takes up the whole Abadar-darned table
- The players can see the whole map unless I cover it up with paper
- Tiles make the maps easier to remix, reuse, and adapt
The adventure
This section does not go into any plot or detailed spoilers, but it goes into the general design of the included adventure.
I read through this product, and then ran the beginner box adventure (about 50% shortened and a bit remixed) with a group of three kids aged 8-12 who were beginners to RPGs plus one adult who has played plenty of Pathfinder 1st and 2nd edition. I was also very familiar with both editions already, but it was my first time GMing this system.
Summary
This box is good and recommended for anyone having (or hoping to find!) a group to introduce to Pathfinder 2nd Edition. The box comes with everything needed to get going: rule books, pre-created character sheets plus blank sheets, a dice set, a pre-written adventure, plus maps and standees for the adventure. That's a lot of bang for the buck bundled for convience. The GM's book continues to give ideas and tips for future adventures plus plenty more monsters (with standees), material for more than enough adventures to bring the characters up to third level (which is the maximum in this box).
While some rules, and the character creation process especially, are simplified compared to the full rules, characters and all rules elements are fully compatible with the full Pathfinder 2e game. So you can, for example, keep playing Beginner Box characters in campaigns using the full rules, or import rules elements from the full game into the Beginner Box adventures.
Among the negatives are slightly uneven production quality and editing/proof-reading, and I have some personal qualms about the pre-written adventure.
Score: 7/10
Rules, content
PF2e is one of my favourite systems so yeah, I like these rules. I find it pleasant to both play and GM apart from some minor grievances. The three-action system was easy to understand for the young players and after getting their footing, they started to confidently figure out their turns, utilizing their character's special abilities. The robust encounter building rules make it very easy for the GM to fiddle around with the encounters.
The rule books are slimmed down in large part thanks to having reduced the player options down to three ancestries, four classes, a handful of backgrounds, and much fewer spells. This may disappoint players who know of and want to play other classic fantasy RPG characters like halflings, gnomes, bards, and paladins. But, for my beginner players, this was plenty enough of differentiated choices to get them excited in making characters. Several less important rules (or less palatable for beginners?) are removed, such as encumbrance and some traits.
A good selection of magic items and monsters are included.
Production value, editing
The books are good-looking with excellent artwork and nice layout, not to mention their 150 pages are lot less intimidating than the 640 page tome that is the full core rulebook. The dice set is highly readable and brightly colour coded, very smart! "Which one do I roll again?" "The d20; that's the red one".
The many standees were a very nice inclusion, but on many of them, a big chunk of the art goes outside the area you punch out, leading to characters with hands/weapons and so on not being included on the standee itself. Very weird, not sure if intentional or misprinted. Also the cardboard doesn't seem like great quality.
There are some misprints in the books and papers too, a rather glaring one is that the pre-generated character sheets lack the symbols for one-action and three-action activities. Luckily the blank ones are printed correctly. The rule for recovery checks is stated differently in two places, and in either case doesn't take into account the "Diehard" feat. The adventure has a room described as "totally unlit" when the PCs look into it, but when they enter, there is suddenly a torch casting light. Room 12 has the wrong name, duplicated from another room. Nitpicks? Maybe. I think at least the mistake on the pre-generated sheets should have been caught.
The map is sturdy and looks nice, but I would have preferred it cut up into tiles rather than the huge flip-mat, because:
- It takes up the whole Abadar-darned table
- The players can see the whole map unless I cover it up with paper
- Tiles make the maps easier to remix, reuse, and adapt
The adventure
This section does not go into any plot or detailed spoilers, but it goes into the general design of the included adventure.
January 13, 2021
I’ve been listening to the Glass Cannon Podcast for a few years now and have been wanting to play Pathfinder since episode one. I bought the 2E Core Rulebook last January, but it’s a lot of information to take in. I think this Beginner Box is a great way to learn the basics for absolute beginners like myself, and I look forward to continuing the adventure with Troubles in Otari!
January 2, 2023
Great material but the last fight in the box potentially puts you up against a wyrmling with DC's at 24 to hits at 12 and 14 and a rechargeable breath weapon which would recharge on a crit.
The highest your players can be rules as written is level 3
Be careful in the section the rest is a fantastic intro to the system
The highest your players can be rules as written is level 3
Be careful in the section the rest is a fantastic intro to the system
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2023
Is interesting, cuts down on some of the extraneous stuff around D&D 5e. Action economy seems intuitive.
June 16, 2024
actually a good intro for pathfinder super informative
June 17, 2024
Muy buen sistema y excelente aventura
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews