Pathfinder

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, also known as simply Pathfinder, is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) that was published in 2009 by Paizo Publishing. Similar to the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder is set in the high fantasy world of Golarion, where the primary technology is akin to the Middle Ages and coexists alongside magic and fantasy creatures. The first edition was announced in March 2008 after uncertainty began brewing with the rules of the then-upcoming 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons not being provided to Paizo, and the Game System License it was being released under was more restrictive compared to the earlier Open Game License (OGL).

Informally nicknamed D&D version 3.75, the first edition of Pathfinder extends and modifies the System Reference Document (SRD) based on the revised 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) published by Wizards of the Coast under the Open Game License, and is intended to be backward-compatible with that edition. Jason Bulmahn, one of the Paizo designers, felt that the basic classes of 3.5e were lackluster, as they did not provide incentive to stay with a single class for 20 levels of play: Pathfinder sought to add many options to the classes and boost their abilities in their core roles; the game also re-balanced various elements, such as less combat-oriented classes being given more hit points each level compared to their 3.5 counterparts; and various other modifications were made to 3.5, such as the skill system and combat maneuvers such as tripping and grappling.

The second edition of Pathfinder was released on August 1, 2019, which featured key changes such as: a streamlined action economy; rule changes around magic items to discourage hoarding, and instead encourage seeking out more powerful equipment; critical hits occurring when a combatant rolls 10 more than the target's armor class; "critical saves" that result in no effect rather than the reduced effect of a usual save; and broad scaling changes to skills, armor class, attack rolls, saves, and difficulty classes. Though it continued to use the OGL and SRD, significant revisions to the core rules made the new edition incompatible with content from either Pathfinder 1st Edition or any edition of D&D.

Similarly, when announcing the Pathfinder Second Edition Remaster Project in April 2023, Paizo declared that it and all future Paizo publications would be published under the new Open RPG Creative License (ORC) rather than the previous OGL, due to significant controversy over the license earlier that same year: certain game elements inherited from the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 SRD (such as some spells, magic items, and monsters) had to be either renamed or replaced, while some others–such as alignment, or the eight schools of magic–were fully removed. Despite these changes and the fact that the original four primary rulebooks would not be reprinted in the future, the new books remain backwards-compatible with existing Second Edition supplements. The release also incorporates extensive errata based on player feedback.

Pathfinder is supported by the official Pathfinder periodicals and various third-party content created to be compatible with the game.

Influence on NetHack

Though it is to a much lesser degree than Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder has a somewhat notable influence on NetHack, mostly seen in variants of the game.

dNetHack

dNetHack incorporates several Pathfinder monsters and concepts alongside those of Dungeons & Dragons.

Monsters

• g vegepygmy
• & lilitu
• & Kostchtchie

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