Pathfinder / Rulebooks / First Edition
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook (OGL) Pocket Edition
Enter a fantastic world of adventure!
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game puts you in the role of a brave adventurer fighting to survive in a world beset by magic and evil. Will you cut your way through monster-filled ruins and cities rife with political intrigue to emerge as a famous hero laden with fabulous treasure, or will you fall victim to treacherous traps and fiendish monsters in a forgotten dungeon? Your fate is yours to decide with this giant Core Rulebook that provides everything a player needs to set out on a life of adventure and excitement!
This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an open playtest involving more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook includes:
All player and Game Master rules in a single volume
Complete rules for fantastic player races like elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and half-orcs
Exciting new options for character classes like fighters, wizards, rogues, clerics, and more
Streamlined and updated rules for feats and skills that increase options for your hero
A simple combat system with easy rules for grapples, bull rushes, and other special attacks
Spellcaster options for magic domains, familiars, bonded items, specialty schools, and more
Hundreds of revised, new, and updated spells and magical treasures
Quick-generation guidelines for nonplayer characters
Expanded rules for curses, diseases, and poisons
A completely overhauled experience system with options for slow, medium, and fast advancement
... and much, much more!
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is also available as:
A 576-page hardcover
A 576-page PDF (includes a "Lite" version optimized for mobile devices)
Pocket Edition ISBN: 978-1-60125-887-8
Estimated Dimensions/Weight: 8.4" x 6.5" x 1"; 2 pounds
Note: The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook Pocket Edition is not included in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game subscription.
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Additional Product Images
PZO1110-PE
Pathfinder / Rulebooks
Pathfinder / Rulebooks / First Edition (65)
Product Reviews (11)
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Average product rating:
Durable and Compact!
Wei Ji the Learner — Jul 18, 2017, 08:11 pm
One would not expect the pocket soft-cover to be more durable than the hardcover, yet my pocket soft-cover has been through more trials and travels than my hardcover and is in far better shape despite this.
HEAVILY recommend for folks that need a 'hard copy' of text.
PLEASE convert the rest of the line to this format!
Worthy next step for Beginner Box
yamasaki — Jun 17, 2017, 05:16 pm
If you are done with the Beginner Box, your next purchase should be this book. Not only does it give you the full Pathfinder RPG experience, this book (and the Pocket version of the Bestiary) fits perfectly in the Beginner Box with room to spare for dice, pencils, minis, etc. (once you remove the Hero's Handbook and GM's Guide)!
I hesitate to give this one 5 stars because there are small typos (like misplaced bullets) that could have been fixed between editions. Also, organization-wise, the book is a jumbled mess -- it took me hours to make my first PC, and I'm a veteran of D&D! The small font does not bother me.
Legendary (and more compact!)
Jhaeman — Mar 10, 2017, 07:54 am
The bulk of this review is about the contents of the Core Rulebook, but I did want to make special mention about this softcover edition. The interior is exactly the same as the sixth printing of the hardcover, but it's lighter and easier to carry. I've been using it for a few months now, and I'm quite happy with the font size, reduced price, durability, and ease of use.
Legendary. It's hard to know where to begin to review this book, but that one word encapsulates it well. There's a reason Pathfinder is thriving a decade into its existence, and it all starts here. If you don't know anything about Pathfinder, you can think of it as a revised and improved version of a specific edition of D&D (the "3.5" edition). Its strength is the nearly infinite capacity for customization, and its weakness is that enormous customization introduces complexity. In other words, this is a "crunch heavy" instead of a "rules light" game. Trust me, it's worth it though. This is going to be a long review because I've got fifteen chapters to cover in this massive, 575-page book! If you don't have the patience to read through the whole review, the conclusion makes it clear: buy this book. With this and the Bestiary, you have years of adventure at your fingertips.
Chapter 1 is "Getting Started" (12 pages). This chapter contains a brief introduction to the game, an overview of each chapter, a glossary of common terms, an example of play (very useful if this is your first RPG ever), and the rules for generating ability scores for a character (how physically and mentally capable they are).
Chapter 2 is "Races" (11 pages). The "Core" races presented here are: Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, Halflings, and Humans. As you would imagine, there are advantages and disadvantages to each race. The chapter spends a page on each race, and beyond the rules ramifications it takes care to talk about what members of that race typically look like, what their culture is like, why they often become adventurers, and how they relate to other races. It's not an overwhelming amount of information (which is good for new players). For the most part, these races stick to fairly standard fantasy expectations.
Chapter 3 is "Classes" (57 pages). There are eleven "core classes" presented in this book: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, and Wizard. The spread of classes does an excellent job covering different play-styles and roles within a group. The power level of these classes has been significantly bumped up from D&D 3.5, and there are a lot more choices to be made within each class. This makes the classes more complex, but also more satisfying to see advance up through each level. If you're brand-new to Pathfinder, it might be good to stay away from spell-casters like the Druid, Cleric, Sorcerer, and Wizard until you get more experience, as the sheer number of choices to be made can be overwhelming at first.
Chapter 4 is "Skills" (27 pages). Skills are something that every character has and they determine the likelihood of success in doing certain things. Want to leap from one rooftop to another? Roll an Acrobatics check. Want to figure out what spell that evil wizard just cast at you? Roll a Spellcraft check. Different classes get bonuses to using particular skills, but every character, regardless of class, can become good at something if they invest their "skill points" in a particular skill. Pathfinder has condensed the number of skills slightly from D&D 3.5, though it still has more than newer RPGs tend to have. I like the diversity and ability to specialize in discrete areas, but some think there should have been further consolidation. Each skill is described with great detail on specifically what it allows you to do and not do, which is quite helpful in avoiding rules arguments.
Chapter 5 is "Feats" (29 pages). Feats are special abilities. Every character gets to choose one feat at every odd level, and some classes and races get "bonus" feats. A feat might be something that lets you fight better in darkness ("Blindfighting") or it might be something that makes certain spells you cast more effective ("Spell Focus"). There are several dozen feats to choose from, so this can be one of the parts of character creation that takes the longest to do. Their value, again, is that they allow for enormous customization of a character. Just because there are two Fighters in the party doesn't mean they'll be identical, because feats allow them to operate in very different ways!
Chapter 6 is "Equipment" (16 pages). Your character will need a weapon, maybe some armor, and some other gear like a backpack or a coil of rope. But in addition, you might wonder how expensive a night's stay at an inn is, or how much it'll cost to persuade a local wizard to cast a spell for you. All of the answers are in this chapter. I really appreciate that every item and service isn't just listed on a table with a price, but in addition most receive a description, a picture, and (sometimes) additional rules to explain how it works in actual gameplay.
Chapter 7 is "Additional Rules" (13 pages). The title of this chapter isn't particularly helpful, as the entire book consists of rules. Really, it's a miscellany of various things about your character. First up is Alignment, which is whether your character is good, evil, or somewhere in between. A lot of other RPGs dispense with such questions, but it is "hard-coded" into Pathfinder in the sense that it's not just a role-playing choice: many spells, magic items, and other effects change depending on a character's alignment. Next, there's a few pages on "Vital Statistics" like determining a character's age, height and weight, and (most importantly) carrying capacity (also known as "encumbrance"). If your character has a low Strength score, don't expect him or her to be able to carry a lot of gear. Then, there's a discussion of movement speeds in various contexts (in the course of a combat encounter, for example, or for travelling great distances overland). Last, a bunch of little things are covered under the title "Exploration": how far characters can see in different levels of light, how to determine if an object can be intentionally broken, etc. It's a chapter that's easy to overlook but provides answers to a lot of "little things" that might come up during a session.
Chapter 8 is "Combat" (29 pages). Combat is a major part of Pathfinder, and there's admittedly a lot to digest in a short number of pages here. The way the chapter is laid out isn't necessarily intuitive, and later Paizo products (like the Strategy Guide) do a much better job making combat clearer. You'll find everything you need in this chapter, but you'll be flipping back and forth for a while. I've been playing for years and I still refer to it occasionally.
Chapter 9 is "Magic" (19 pages). This chapter discusses different categories of spells, how characters learn them, and how to read a spell entry in the next chapter. It's a chapter that's easy to skip over at first, but is actually pretty important once a campaign gets serious.
Chapter 10 is "Spells" (156 pages). You read that right: about a quarter of the book consists of an alphabetical list and description of several hundred different spells! The spells have been cleaned up and improved from D&D 3.5 for better gameplay, but what hasn't changed is that magic still rules. If pure power is what you want, play a true spell-caster and you'll find it.
Chapter 11 is "Prestige Classes" (23 pages). Prestige Classes are special classes that characters can eventually take, well into their adventuring careers, if they meet certain prerequisites. This book has ten of them: Arcane Archer, Arcane Trickster, Assassin, Dragon Disciple, Duelist, Eldritch Knight, Loremaster, Mystic Theurge, Pathfinder Chronicler, and Shadowdancer. For the most part, and until very recent, Pathfinder hasn't been a game where prestige classes thrive. Apart from some specific flavour reasons, a character would usually be better off simply continuing in their base class rather than taking levels in a prestige class.
Chapter 12 is "Gamemastering" (15 pages). As its title indicates, this chapter helps the person running a game (the "Gamemaster" or "GM") prepare an adventure, referee the rules, deal with common problems at the table, etc. It's okay for what it is, but I've seen better resources to help new GMs figure out what they're doing.
Chapter 13 is "Environment" (39 pages). This chapter contains a lot of little things to help make the setting interesting. It contains rules on weather, travelling through the wilderness, dealing with traps, and so forth. It's primarily for the GM too and shouldn't be a priority to master until more fundamental rules are digested.
Chapter 14 is "Creating NPCs" (11 pages). This chapter gives rules for creating background (non-player) characters by using "NPC classes" like a Commoner. I have to admit I never use this chapter, as I just rely on NPC stat blocks already generated in other Pathfinder products.
Chapter 15 is "Magic Items" (101 pages). Your adventurer is going to want some cool magic gear, and this chapter explains what it does, how much it costs, and how it's made. It's pretty extensive and detailed.
Last up, there are appendices summarizing "Special Abilities", "Conditions" (status effects a character might be under), "Inspiring Reading", and "Game Aids" (other products you can purchase).
The Core Rulebook is a hefty tome for an RPG book. For players coming from D&D 3.5, it's basically a combination of the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master's Guide in a single volume, but refined and improved. The book is, with the single exception of the deities, completely "setting neutral" (that is, it's suitable for play in any campaign world or a homemade setting). There's some excellent artwork taken from other Paizo products mixed in with some artwork that's more pedestrian. Still, the production quality overall is fantastic. I would normally go into more detail, but there are hard word counts on these reviews. So I'll sum up by saying: this is the one book you won't leave home without, and it's worth every penny.
Beckett — Feb 20, 2017, 02:35 pm
I really like the product. While not really a "pocket"-sized edition, I rather like the size of the product, and would be absolutely interested in buying more like this. <Purse edition perhaps? :P>
The book is very readable in it's size, if not ideal (in my opinion). The book does feel easier to flip through than the larger hardcover, though not by much, though it will also be much harder to tab pages for easy reference as the cover is the same size as the rest of the pages, offering no protection around the sides. Not a huge deal, though.
Fantastic space-saver
Gorbacz — Feb 20, 2017, 03:09 am
This is basically a shrunk-down, softcover, cheaper edition of the Core Rulebook. No content was altered, no artwork or formatting was lost. It's an incredibly handy book, far more handy and easy to use than the hardcover. The only possible problem could arise from the font being a wee bit on the small size for some, but as long as your eyes or glasses/contacts are fine, you'll get a lot of good use out of this one. I can't wait for Ultimate Equipment in this format!
Product Discussion (115)
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Marco Massoudi Mar 29, 2016, 03:21 pm
A great idea!
1 kilo/2 pounds is much better for my back than - how heavy is the regular CRB?
christos gurd Mar 29, 2016, 03:29 pm
Would love to see a picture of how big this is.
I had to look on amazon:
1.8 kilos/3.6 pounds is the weight of the hardcover CRB.
Marco Massoudi wrote:
couldn't find it, was more looking at big it was.
Franz Lunzer Mar 29, 2016, 10:58 pm
christos gurd wrote:
Product description wrote:
About half as big as the normal one.
mangamuscle Mar 30, 2016, 02:54 pm
Can this softcover be easily cut and subdivided into three books? Chapter 1-8 (player's handbook), chapters 9-10 (spellbook) and 11-15) DM Guide? If chapters 8-9 and 10-11 are neatly separated in this softcover then the I could ask a local shop to bind them separately into three small hardcovers.
Jeff Alvarez Chief Operating Officer, Web Store Manager Mar 31, 2016, 05:32 pm
mangamuscle wrote:
The pocket editions are exactly the same in layout as their hardcover companions so if you could separate the HC version in such a way then you'll be able to do the same to the pocket edition (and if not, then not).
GreyWolfLord Mar 31, 2016, 07:25 pm
Will I need extra special reading glasses to read the pocket editions?
GreyWolfLord wrote:
Well, the text will certainly be smaller than in the hardcover, seeing as each page in the softcover is the same, but half as big as the same page of the hardcover.
You might try it out with any Paizo-pdf and a printer having the option to print 2 pages to a side of paper.
limsk Mar 31, 2016, 11:18 pm
Each purchase comes with a jeweler's eyepiece
mangamuscle Apr 1, 2016, 08:19 am
Jeff Alvarez wrote:
Thanks for the reply, but as I am digital only atm (I have plenty of dead tree books of 3.5 and earlier), I lack the first hand experience needed to be able to use the information you provide.
Zedth Apr 1, 2016, 08:26 am
My first thought was that this was an April Fools joke...
Rysky Apr 1, 2016, 09:25 am
Zedth wrote:
It was announced just a lil bit too early for it to be that though :3
Franz Lunzer Apr 3, 2016, 11:29 pm
Maybe a bit info that might help you here:
Each chapter has an opener, a 2 page spread with a large illustration, which you can easily find in the PDF's as well.
If you were to cut up the book into the chapters you specified above, you would have to cut these illustrations, which also means that the chapter-header is on the wrong side of the cut (on an even-numbered page, which is the left side of a spread).
So, technically (if I understand your idea correctly) it is possible, but it might not look all that good in execution.
(As an aside: I don't know how stable/fragile the resulting parts of the book might be. I don't have the CRB at hand to look if the 32(?)page-sections of most bindings coincide with the chapters, but I'd guess they won't.)
Cat-thulhu Apr 4, 2016, 05:57 am
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber
When are we likely to see images of the final product. We're about 2 months out now and while I've preordered I know others in my group, while keen on this edition are concerned they too may need the extra special reading glasses.
Franz Lunzer Apr 4, 2016, 06:08 am
Cat-thulhu wrote:
Images won't tell you anything, I think, unless they are side-by-side with the hardcover.
The pages of the softcover will look the same as the corresponding pages of the hardcover (just smaller, about half the size) going by the description above.
Interesting, this was scheduled for October release when I preordered it... Not sure I buy that June release date...
Chris Lambertz Community & Digital Content Director Apr 4, 2016, 11:55 am
June release date change was deliberate. That's our current ETA :)
Well, in that case: NICE!!
Mister Fowler Apr 11, 2016, 05:08 pm
TAKE MY MONEY!
Marco Massoudi Apr 14, 2016, 09:14 pm
Will the Pocket Edition be in black and white (like "the black eye" pocket edition) or in full color?
The original version is actually not a real hardcover but not a softcover either but something in between.
I will wait for an actual description/picture before ordering this.
So far it is rather cryptic...
Soluzar Apr 16, 2016, 07:17 pm
Pathfinder Companion, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Maybe instead of the stock image you should use a comparison shot of the new book right next to the old one.
L Kelly Apr 17, 2016, 06:00 am
Soluzar wrote:
Yeah,if ye have a physical copy of it, it would be beneficial to show them side by side
Gnick Gnak PaddyWack Apr 17, 2016, 10:12 am
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer Apr 19, 2016, 02:04 pm
When we get a finished sample, we'll be able to present the differences a little better than we can now.
It uses the same exact layout file as the regular hardcover, with the output scaled to 78%.
Joe Wells RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32 Apr 19, 2016, 09:02 pm
Ah, now that explains a lot. Will this be the same as the 6th printing, or will it be a new 7th printing?
Kodyax Apr 20, 2016, 12:58 am
Looks like somebody is trying to take a page out Pinnacle's (Savage Worlds) playbook and make a nice convenient pocket sized version of the main book. I whole heartedly approve of this and will definitely be buying at least one physical copy for myself. It will make a nice travel size of the main book.
Marco Massoudi Apr 20, 2016, 03:08 am
Joe Wells wrote:
Alayern Apr 25, 2016, 04:53 pm
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
When possible, maybe post an image somewhere with the hardcover and the pocket editions on either side of a banana for scale?
Jeff Alvarez Chief Operating Officer, Web Store Manager Apr 25, 2016, 05:37 pm
Full color! That's the Paizo way. ;)
I know that Marco responded but I figured an official response wouldn't hurt as well. It will be the 6th Printing.
Alayern wrote:
Cavendish, plantain, Saba, Burro, Chuoi su, or Manzano?
Thx Jeff!
That really makes it a must-buy for travelling GMs.
Maxim Nikolaev Apr 26, 2016, 04:52 am
Vic Wertz wrote:
Cavendsih, please. And it is nice to meet a banana connoisseur.
I never knew how banana ignorant I was before. This has been a reckoning. I knew only of the cavendish and the plantain. The world is a stranger place to me now.
But yeah, cavendish por favor.
Dustin Ashe May 2, 2016, 02:20 pm
A pocket edition? I don't have one pair of pants with pockets big enough to hold this.
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer May 2, 2016, 02:41 pm
Dustin Ashe wrote:
I thought everybody had these!
Rysky May 2, 2016, 02:43 pm
Tripp pants might also work.
TwilightKnight May 6, 2016, 10:47 pm
When I saw "pocket edition" I was thinking along the lines of the old mini versions of the HC books that TSR produced back in the day. Those were truly pocket sized. My mini World of Greyhawk boxed set is only 3-1/2"x4-1/2"x1". The text is quite small, but I can still read it even with my old, worn out eyes. I would have loved to see the CRB and perhaps more future mini Pathfinder books to be a bit smaller than 78% scale.
Abierzen May 11, 2016, 01:05 pm
Rysky wrote:
Talk about a very old iPad (with the very old connector). I have the new 12" iPad Pro so those pockets are still to small
Franz Lunzer May 30, 2016, 04:22 am
So... PaizoCon photos of said product?
Liz Courts Community Manager Jun 1, 2016, 11:49 am
Franz Lunzer wrote:
We have plans forthcoming to show the Pocket Editions off!
Mike Kimmel RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 Jun 1, 2016, 12:43 pm
I don't know if I've ever been more excited for a Pathfinder product than I am for this and the pocket Bestiary. <3
H2Osw Jun 1, 2016, 06:36 pm
I see this isn't available for order on Amazon, is this a paizo sale only?
Anguish Jun 2, 2016, 09:29 am
Liz Courts wrote:
Perhaps have small children hold them up, with full-sized adults holding the original. Or have the person holding the pocket edition something like 30% closer to the camera.
Jeff Alvarez Chief Operating Officer, Web Store Manager Jun 2, 2016, 12:49 pm
H2Osw wrote:
No, these books should be available in all channels (Hobby stores and Big Book sellers alike) but sometimes it takes a little extra time for new products to populate into the Amazon system. Please remember that these books won't be releasing until August 4th, 2016 so there's still loads of time.
Leahcim Jun 4, 2016, 08:22 am
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber
Will these only be pre-order or will they be available through the sub?
Franz Lunzer Jun 6, 2016, 12:09 am
Right at the bottom of the description:
Marco Massoudi Jun 6, 2016, 12:24 am
The pictures are good, i will order the book.
Maybe you should include the info that this will offer the 6th printing update. :-)
ShinHakkaider Jun 8, 2016, 06:27 pm
Will there at some point be a Pocket version of the Strategy Guide? Because while I totally plan on picking up the pocket CRB I think for beginners eventually a pocket Strategy Guide would be just cheap enough to buy multiples of to have around the table or even to lend out to newbies.
Samy Jun 8, 2016, 07:12 pm
Pathfinder Companion Subscriber
I'm thinking Paizo themselves don't know that yet. It will probably depend a LOT on whether the pocket CRB and Bestiary sell like hotcakes or whether Paizo will be drowning in unsold copies.
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