I want to take a moment and talk a bit about the a concern I am seeing here with some frequency, and that is that characters will be streamlined and not customizable. I get that we are using some terms that may lead you to think we are going with a similar approach to some other games, but that is simply not the case.

Characters in the new edition have MORE options in most cases than they did in the previous edition. You can still make the scholarly mage who is the master of arcane secrets and occult lore, just as easily as you can make a character that goes against type, like a fighter who is skilled in botany. The way that the proficiency system works along with skill feats gives you plenty of choices when it comes to skills, allowing you to make the character you want to make.

Beyond skills, every class now has its own list of feats to choose from, making them all pretty different from one another and allowing for a lot of flexibility in how you play. And just wait until you see what Archetypes can do...

Next Monday we will be looking at the way that you level up, and the options that presents. Next Friday (March 16th), we will investigate the proficiency system, and how that impacts your choices during character creation and leveling.

Stay tuned folks... we have a lot of great things to show you

Jason Bulmahn
Director of Game Design

Some of this feels like we may be shifting to a system that is similar to 5e. What I mean is that I fear there is a lot of homogenization that is going to happen and the great selection of options are going to be lost. Is that where this is headed?

Erik Mona Chief Creative Officer

No.

The deep customization of character options is a core element of the Pathfinder game, so that won't change. What WILL change is that, at least at first, we'll be focusing on 12 classes rather than 40+.

So it might feel a bit like a retraction in options, but we'll get back to giving people ways to create the exact character they can imagine as soon as we can, ideally a bit cleaner and more fully integrated from the beginning this time.

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