The Psychological Effect of Pathfinder Pocket Editions

These books continue to amaze me. Sure, they're just the exact same rule books I ran my campaigns with from 2009 to about mid 2013. Yeah, they're exactly the same game in every possible way, with all that entails for Pathfinder.

But holy cow they are suddenly the most portable thing I've got,* and complete, too! I mean....you want an easy-to-stow "go anywhere" set of rules that takes up minimal space and affords all the luxuries you might want in a robust rule set? Pathfinder's pocket editions have totally got you covered. Add a set of miniature dice and a 5x9 notebook and you've got yourself a stew going.

I'm definitely not advocating that if you didn't like Pathfinder before then you will suddenly fall for it. But I am saying that the psychological impact of these tiny tomes for someone like myself is shocking....I've been genuinely enjoying reading these Pathfinder books again, with almost a weird, nostalgic fervor. I'm remembering the fun times I had with Pathfinder all of a sudden rather than the intense drag I all too often recalled in the past.

I know it's a combination of "tiny and cute" and "all in my head," but I can't help it! Weird, I know.

I mean....I bet I could fit six frickin' Pathfinder pocket rulebooks into a single Pathfinder Beginner Box! (EDIT: Almost! The box needs to be a little wider, but you can get the Bestiary, Core Rules and GameMastery Guide in there, totally. I mean, if you take out the Basic Box stuff. You know what I mean!)

Anyway, if you're keeping score they have so far released pocket editions of:

Pathfinder Core Rulebook
Advanced Player's Guide
GameMastery Guide
Ultimate Equipment
Bestiary
Bestiary 2

Bestiary 3 and 4 along with Ultimate Magic and Advanced Class Guide are up for pocket editions next. I imagine we'll continue to get more, as it seems these must be selling well. Wizards of the Coast take heed! I could sure use some pocket editions of D&D 5E, too. I'm getting old, and my back hurts carrying eighty pounds of books to game night.

While searching around on my blog I realized that I have a real "thing" for pocket editions of RPGs. Go figure!

Final note: none of the above really relates to reality, which right now is that I am totally loving Xanathar's Guide to Everything and can't wait to get to D&D Wednesday for some 5E fun. More on this magical tome later this week.

*I have lots of highly portable OSR stuff, yes, but nothing that lets me roll a tiefling inquisitor or oread ranger/witch. The fascination I have for these pocket editions is the fact that they pack so much complexity for their size. Not everyone wants that, of course. But man am I on a crunch kick right now, and I don't know why. The only retroclone in the OSR domain I am familiar with that shoots for "more options" rather than less is Blood & Treasure...and you know, I'd buy a pocket edition of that one, too.

The Super Cool, Super Cute Pocket Editions of Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide and Advanced Player's Guide

Last time I talked about this, the Pathfinder Core Rules and Bestiary 1 had been released as incredibly convenient soft-cover pocket editions, about half the size of the originals, but with the exact same format, content and everything....just shrunk down in a portable package. Since then, the Advanced Player's Guide and Gamemastery Guide have arrived in ultra cute pocket format. I sincerely hope these are popular enough to see still more Pathfinder hard covers reduced to portable digest formats....I want the entire series in this style, even if I never do get around to playing the game again (that said, I feel a real desire to field test these babies....!)

One thing that happened between last year and this year was I went to a new opthamalogist, who updated my contact lenses with a much more accurate prescription. The prior year my former doctor (who since retired) believed, I think, in the idea of stressing the eyes a bit to force them to focus. The new doctor, may she rule in awesomeness, seemed more interested in giving me lenses that let me do basic life functions like "see" and "read."

As a result, the value of these portable tomes skyrocketed. I have zero issues reading these books now with my semi-naked be-contacted eyes where before I needed to break out a pair of reading glasses and squint a bit. The readability is just fine (so long as your eyes can handle it) and the fact that I can now port around twice the rules for half the weight makes the future of Pathfinder as a viable system for me to run that much more a reality. Yes, PDFs exist, but I am speaking to the crowd that needs physical books to properly enjoy a gaming experience.....you know who you are.

Anyway.....now back to reacquainting myself with two venerable Pathfinder tomes, now with 50% of the paper and gloss!

Pathfinder Pocket Editions??!?!?

So, a weird thing happened this morning: I was thinking fondly of my Pathfinder days, and how it would be fun to run a campaign again in the near future. Wow! Yeah....not exactly typical of my feelings in the last couple years, but I suspect I have my reasons for why Pathfinder suddenly feels more appealing again to me (not a lack of enjoyment in D&D, but lets just say that sometimes external factors can have an impact on one's enjoyment, and maybe one day you wake up and realize that all of those external factors no longer apply).

So I am reading up on Starfinder and thinking about how this could be cool when I stumble across this and this. Pocket Editions of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and Bestiary. Cheap, portable versions of the core game.....wow. I hope they come with a free magnifying glass so older gamers can read them!!!

Anyway, I've got copies on the way and will let you know what they look like once they arrive...