Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Beginner Box - Starter Set for Fantasy Tabletop RPG Adventures | Perfect for New Players & Game Nights

My kids and I have been wanting to role-play together and even though Pathfinder is from like 2008/2009, this is still a strong system that has lasted several years without needing a new version and this set helps introduce players to it.=====================From the website, The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box includes:+ A 64-page Hero's Handbook, detailing character creation, spells, equipment, and general rules for playing the game+ A 96-page Game Master's Guide packed with adventure, monsters, magic treasures, and advice on how to create and narrate tales all your own+ A 16-page Transition Guide to bring your hero to the full Pathfinder Roleplaying Game!+ A complete set of 7 polyhedral dice+ More than 80 full-color pawns depicting diverse heroes and monsters+ Four pregenerated character sheets to throw you right into the action+ Four blank character sheets to record the abilities of your custom-made hero+ A durable, resuable, double-sided Flip-Mat play surface that works with any kind of markerThe 80 Pawns Included in the Beginner Box:Air ElementalAnimated Statue (2)BarghestBlack DragonBoarBoggardDire Rat (3)DoppelgangerDwarf Cleric (Female)Dwarf Cleric (Male)Dwarf Fighter (Female)Dwarf Fighter (Male)Dwarf Rogue (Female)Dwarf Rogue (Male)Dwarf Wizard (Female)Dwarf Wizard (Male)Earth ElementalElf Cleric (Female)Elf Cleric (Male)Elf Fighter (Female)Elf Fighter (Male)Elf Rogue (Female)Elf Rogue (Male)Elf Wizard (Female)Elf Wizard (Male)Ezren (Iconic Wizard)Fire ElementalGargoyle (2)GhostGhoul (2)Giant CentipedeGiant Spider (2)Goblin (4)Goblin BossGoblin DogGray OozeGreen HagHell Hound (2)Human Cleric (Female)Human Cleric (Male)Human Fighter (Female)Human Fighter (Male)Human Rogue (Female)Human Rogue (Male)Human Wizard (Female)Human Wizard (Male)Kyra (Iconic Cleric)ManticoreMedusaMerisiel (Iconic Rogue)MimicMummyOgreOrc (2)Orc BossReefclawSalamanderSerpentfolkSkeletal ChampionSkeleton (4)Troglodyte (2)Valeros (Iconic Fighter)Venomous SnakeWater ElementalWerewolf (2)Will-O'-WispWolf (2)Zombie (2)=====================There are several free resources you can also get to enhance and keep using your Beginner's Box once you are done with the initial adventure. Just head over to paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/products/beginnerbox+ There are several pawn sets sold by Pathfinder with the least expensive being around $15. Thus for a $23 game, you get a lot of value just with the 80 included pawns.+ Combine the pawns with the provided GM Guide that has sections on building adventures and how to scale the encounter to your team AND several lists of weapons, potions, treasure, and monsters. . .then you could keep using this Beginning box for a lot longer than the one provided sample adventure!!+ The GM can google for DIY GM Screen, which is basically clipping three binders together. That way, if you want one of those to create a secret place as the GM rolls dice and narrates the encounter; you don't need to invest in the official GM screen if you don't want to+ I really appreciated the Hero Handbook and the GM Guide both keep it high level enough to give players a flavor for the aspects of the game without getting too detailed into all the possible rules that one feels overwhelmed. This set keeps it easy to absorb and learn to play.+ Quality components+ Gorgeous books with full color illustrations and everything feeling like it has a water resistant layer added to every page.+ Easy to understand rules+ The Flip map alone is separately another $15, so this further increases the value of this package!!I really like that one side is just squares so you can use a wet or dry erase marker and run your own adventures.+ Starting characters are great for new players and flushed out. But like in the case of one of my sons he didn't want to play the pre-made female cleric, so he used the extra character sheets provided to create his own male cleric, with a hammer instead of a scimitar. Easy-peasy!OVERALL: I have a about 200 boardgames that range in price from $10 to $110. Some we've gotten many, many hours out of some and others I've resold after one play. This is one of the better investments and the number of hours we'll get out of this will be in the many, many hours range. I haven't played any Dungeons & Dragons type games since the earlier 90's, so this was a great way to reintroduce a "new" player like myself to this system that has so much content, there is a lifetime of playing in the Pathfinder system.If you have even the slightest inkling of learning to play Pathfinder, and you known 2-4 other people who feel the same way, stop reading right now, buy this box, then set aside some time this weekend to get together to crack this box open. This is absolutely the best Pathfinder learning tool for brand new players that I’ve seen, and playing through the included dungeon is a great time.If this doesn’t describe you, or if you’re still not completely convinced and you want to learn more, then by all means keep reading...So, inside the box you’ll find: A player’s guidebook, a gamemaster’s guidebook, 4 pregenerated character sheets, 4 blank character sheets, 80 cardboard standees depicting a variety of monsters and PCs, a double sided map, 7 dice, and a small book called the transition guide which is basically just an advertisement for other Pathfinder products.This box makes the process of learning the game much simpler by providing all of the players with pre-generated characters and by providing the GM with a pre-made dungeon complete with pre-made encounters. The pre-gen character sheets have notes in the margins to explain what each section means and the pre-made dungeon is fully explained in the Game Master’s Guide. After each player spends about 15-30 minutes reading their materials you should be ready to get the adventure started, although you may have to stop once in a while for someone to re-read a certain section for clarification. The pre-made dungeon is great because it’s divided into a series of rooms which each teach one of the game’s core mechanics, so it teaches both the players and the GM at the same time. On top of this, it’s just a pretty cool dungeon to run on it’s own right, and your players get to fight a (significantly weakened) black dragon at the end, which will get everyone excited. What’s also nice is that it has a page at the end describing future adventures that the group could embark on, giving the GM inspiration for when they start to write their own quests.Once you’re done with the pre-generated stuff and you want to start creating your own dungeons and running them with your own characters, you’ll find plenty of stuff to help with that too. The player’s guide goes through the process of rolling new characters with great detail, though it only goes into specifics about how to create a fighter, cleric, wizard, or rogue, so if you’re looking to create a different class you’ll have to do a little outside reading. The GM’s guide has details about all sorts of traps, items, and enemies that you could throw at your players, but also goes into how to resolve many types of non-combat encounters. In short, if you’re brand new to Pathfinder, this box is just great.If you’re somewhat familiar with Pathfinder, though, and you’re buying this box as a sort of rules reference to clarify a few mechanics that you’re uncertain about, I don’t think that this box is really what you’re looking for. This box is geared almost totally and completely towards new players and neither of the books are really written in a way that makes it easy to look up a particular rule. Though if you’re in this situation and your campaign is still in its early stages, you’ll probably find all of the references materials on items and enemies useful. Not to mention you’ll still be able to use the pawns and the maps.If you’re an experienced Pathfinder player and you’re buying this box just for the pawns and the map, that’s fine (and it’s still a pretty good value) but just be aware that those are the only components you’ll really be able to get use any out of.Oh, and the dice are pretty good too. They’re pretty high-quality, though if you’re not into bright orange you might think they’re a bit ugly.Bought in April 2015 for £16.99I'm not going to detail what the box contains, it tells you in the description. Nor am I going to explain role playing games and dice games.A Pathfinder-lite beginners introduction with everything you need to start playing straight away, and some useful information on how to play, how to be a GM, how to create new characters and even has 4 premade characters with their sheets and inventory all made up ready to go. The only catch is you really need a minimum of 3 people (one GM and 2 players) to make this worth while. 5 would be the ideal amount in reality. In addition, if you aren't very meticulous, it really could take you forever to work out the premade dungeon, especially as you share the dice. Also, when i say it's a Pathfinder-lite version, it really is just the basics. The characters have been simplified in comparison to the core game. However, there is a transition guide to help you move from one to the other. The blank map is especailly useful when making new quests/stories. The cardboard tokens for monsters and characters were high quality and numerous. The dice provided were generic and red. It does make some sense to invest in more dice if this is something you will be doing more often. Overall, as a complete novice to role playing and D&D games as a whole, I was amazed at how good this set is, and the price was very good. Even at full retail price I would say it's good value given how much is provided.This game is open game license, which means if you want to view the core game book for FREE on the internet, you can! Checkout http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ That isn't this version (as I mentioned it is a pathfinder-lite) and if you're brand new as I was, it is very daunting reading that core rule book. I can't stress enough how much easier this box and the guides inside made it.Summary:A good beginners guide to Pathfinder role playing game with good guides and helpful transition guides also to make playing the core game easier. Not the original core game and mostly only useful to brand new role players. Very good value with things like dice, maps and tokens tht are reusable.I've dabbled in RPG's in the past but wanted to start my own game. This is a perfect starter set, it has a really natural way of gearing you up for the full game whilst being satisfying enough to fully engage with just as it is. All the cardstock PC's and Monsters are an ace addition as figures can be expensive. The flip mat is good but needs laying out for a while before play as its well folded. The feel of the box and books is really high quality, this is a really pleasing item to own if nothing else. Although Pathfinder lit is available for PDF download I would always recommend paper books. They have everything you need to take your players to level 5. There is even an extra book to help you develop your game and prepare you for the full game. The books are so well written that even someone with NO idea of what an tabletop RPG even is, can work their way through the material in this box and be gearing up for their first quest in no time. Top quality product.This is an excellent beginner box for Pathfinder first edition. Contains a big bundle of goodies to get you playing, including basic rules, pre-generated characters, an adventure and some nice card standees (pawns) to represent players and monsters.It is not the beginner box for Pathfinder second edition.It is a ‘new edition’ of the original pathfinder beginner box, containing some extra material for transitioning to the original full Pathfinder game.Having searched for a way to get into roleplaying games, and especially Dungeons&Dragons, but finding the D&D Red Box lacking this Pathfinder Beginner Box does just the trick!The quality of the product was what struck me to start with - the box is a glossy, heavy card stock with vivid illustrations, and a good indicator of the items inside. The contents are listed in the main ad, so I'll not bore you with a list, but needless to say they are well constructed.Though of a similar size and level as the D&D Red Box starter set, the Pathfinder Beginner Box really wins out in every category! The box is absolutely cram-packed full of goodies for a start, with set up character sheets for a quick way of getting friends into roleplaying. The included tokens and map make for a great tabletop experience, and this really does feel like something that should be more expensive - you really do get the sense that the people at Paizo have offered you a "money-well-spent" experience.This is a fantastic product, and especially great for anyone just starting the game (as the name suggests) - though players who have been playing a little while may also find some use for it. It comes with a starter campaign, as well as invaluable information on getting started and introductions to mechanics in the game. It is by no means comprehensive with regards to rules and mechanics though, and purchase of the Core Rulebook would be necessary to continue beyond the lower levels as well as getting a more in-depth experience (you can find most of the information within the rulebook on the Paizo website's PRD, though some information isn't open source and can only be found within the book). However, you could easily set up a simple scenario or campaign for you and a few friends with just the contents of this box.The quality of everything in this product is amazing for the price. The books are glossy and on quality paper, and the flip-map is made of a good quality material that can be used with wet or dry wipe markers. The dice are also very well made, and the cardboard tokens for combat are also on quality card and very sturdy.As for value, the maps alone can cost you the price of the box in some places. Given the quality of the items in the box, and the amount you get, it is most definitely top value for money.