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'Pathfinder' fantasy roleplaying adventure is fun, exciting
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The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game puts players in the role of a brave adventurer fighting to survive in a world beset by magic and evil. Will players cut their way through monster-filled ruins and cities rife with political intrigue to emerge as a famous hero laden with fabulous treasure, or will players fall victim to treacherous traps and fiendish monsters in a forgotten dungeon? A player's fate is his or hers to decide with this giant Core Rulebook that provides everything a player needs to set out on a life of adventure and excitement. - photo by Ryan Morgenegg
Many role-playing games have come and gone over the years and some might argue their prime has past. But "Pathfinder" is a fantasy RPG published by Paizo Publishing that continues to increase in popularity.

Within the game, players take on the roles of warriors, holy clerics, dashing rogues and wizards. These player characters go on adventures such as defeating an evil king, saving a fair maiden or fighting off a group of marauding orcs. They advance in experience levels taking on greater tasks and growing in skill.

The magic of a role-playing game is its open-ended nature. If people imagine being powerful wizards who save a terrified village from a marauding dragon, they can make it happen. A person is limited only by his or her imagination.

To play "Pathfinder," a group of friends will need a core rulebook. It retails for $50 but contains everything needed to kick-start the game. Within the 575-page tome, players will find everything they need to play. There are rules for creating characters, choosing equipment, learning special abilities and what it takes to advance level by level in power.

Additional rules for combat and magic in the game are rounded out with rules on how to create a fantasy world, being a game master, magic items and everything in between.

The book is gorgeously produced with tons of fantasy art, clear explanations and excellent paper quality. Finishing touches in the book such as a thematic introduction to each chapter, easy to follow index and accurate table of contents,round out the book. Be aware that the books contain fantasy images of monsters and heroic characters. Parents may wish to look through the books to understand what is appropriate for children. If fantasy adventure role-playing sounds exciting to you, "Pathfinder" is worthy of a look.

Besides the core rulebook for the game, Pathfinder provides an enormous amount of supplemental materials to enhance the game. For example, the "Advanced Class Guide" is a book that expands the number of characters that can be played by adding 10 new character classes such as the war priest, investigator or the swashbuckler. It contains new items, magic, feats and information to develop characters. It is for those who want more variation in character development beyond what is found in the core rulebook.

The ranged tactics toolbox is another supplemental book that goes into detail about ranged combat. For those gamers who might play an archer character such as Legolas from the Lord of the Rings movies, this book is of interest. It provides tips on how to fight, new ranged equipment such as pistols and throwing darts, magical ranged items, character feats and more. This book is for ranged combat enthusiasts who want to know everything about distance combat. The illustrations are fantastic, depicting the Halfling sling staff, the repeating crossbow throwing shield and many more weapons.

Pathfinder also provides a whole line of maps, cards and collectible miniatures to enhance the immersive nature of the game. For example, the miniatures come in collectible packs based on themes or adventures so players can see in 3-D what a troll looks like or how much taller a hill giant is compared to a human warrior.

Opening a miniature pack is exciting because some miniatures are extremely rare and highly desired. A person never knows what miniatures will be contained in the box. Whether collecting the miniatures for display or using them for play, the quality and detail are wonderful.