October 7

RPG – Pathfinders: Advanced Class Guide – Part 1

The awesome folks of Paizo we generous enough to send me over a copy of their Advanced Class Guide. For the last week I have been devouring it’s pages so I could write up my review. As I was doing so I decided that I needed to at the very least divided it up three post to give each section it needed attention.

The Book:
I have to say that the standard that Paizo sets on the quality of their products is so high. I mean everything they do is polished to a high sheen and Advanced Class Guide is no different. When I opened the box I was welcomed by a beautiful cover depicting, two of the books featured heroes (Bloodrager and Swashbuckler to be exact) fighting a nasty un-dead emerald dragon! The cover artwork by Wayne Reynolds is so stunning I was afraid to touch it and ruin it’s perfection (I love Wayne Reynolds I have a framed signed piece of art on my den wall to prove it)!

Pathfinder: Advanced Class Guide
Pathfinder: Advanced Class Guide

I knew I had to so I eventually picked it up and cracked the cover open to find out just what Paizo had in store for me. I thumbed quickly through to find what the cover art promised, a awesome tome of painstakingly created companion tome for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook.

The book pages falls in at 256 pages which includes 10 new classes (We will delve into these shortly), archetypes and class options, new feats, new spells, new gear and magic items, and instructions on how to create you own hybrid class.

Classes:
If you are like me I love with things get mashed together. I mean who does not like two great songs mashed together making them into one epic song? So what does this have to do with Advanced Class Guide you ask? Well it does just that it mashes two awesome character classes and give us one epic character class! We are given 10 of these in chapter one and Paizo calls them hybrid classes.

These 10 hybrid classes are:
Arcanist – a Sorcerer / Wizard mix who is a scholar of all things magical.
Bloodrager – a Barbarian / Sorcerer mix that puts fear into his enemy with bloodline and combat prowess.
Brawler – a Fighter / Monk mix who can quickly adapt to changing battle conditions.
Hunter – a Druid / Ranger mix that forms a team of a adept hero with a highly trained animal companion.
Investigator – a Alchemist / Rouge mix who is a investigator that loves to solve mysteries.
Shaman – a Oracle / Witch mix are divine spell-caster that use the power of spirits for the spell-work.
Skald – a Barbarian / Bard mix is a front-line bard that inspires his allies in all of their endeavors.
Slayer – a Ranger / Rouge mix  who knows the opportune time and location to take out their enemy.
Swashbuckler – a Fighter / Gunslinger mix that are light on their feet and quick witted with their tongue.
Warpriest – a Cleric / Fighter mix who is the perfect healing fighting machine.

I like a few more than the others… The hunter for instance really calls to me and actually reminds me of the hunter class in World of Warcraft. I can say that each of these hybrid classes are well thought out and well balanced and I am sure that everyone will be able to find a favorite or two to play. Hey and if you do not in the back of the book there is instructions on how to create your own! Come back in a couple of days to hear more about that!

So next time I will be delving into archetypes and class options, new feats, & new spells!

Until next time nerds!