Pathfinder Player Core

A hardback the size of a paving slab, and the only one of the three you actually need to be handed.

Player Core is where Pathfinder Second Edition starts. Ancestries, backgrounds, classes, feats, spells and the rules for turning all of that into a person who can be stabbed — it is the book that goes round the table, and the one your players will have their thumbs in all night. This is the remastered edition, rebuilt to stand on its own rather than lean on anything that came before.

Pathfinder's reputation is for being the crunchy one, and that is fair. Character building here is a genuine hobby in itself, with three actions a turn instead of a fixed move-and-attack, and enough feats at every level that two people playing the same class will not much resemble each other. If your group has drifted away from lighter systems wanting more to chew on, this is the obvious place they land.

Perfect for: The player who arrives at session one with a spreadsheet and a backstory nobody asked for.

Core rulebook | Hardback | Pathfinder Second Edition (Remastered)