Pathfinder: "Beginner Box" [RPG]

Frankly, it just doesn't get any better than the Beginner's Box when it comes to an introductory role-playing product.  This sturdy little box contains an impressive assortment of materials, all play-tested with sample groups of RPG newcomers to ensure clarity.  I got this for my son when he was around eight, and I can safely say he's spent more time with it than any other gift I've ever bought him.

* PAWNS: Dozens of characters and monsters are represented in thick cardboard pawns designed to slot into little plastic bases (also included) so they stand upright.  There's a really nice assortment of possibilities for a PC, as well as at least one for every monster in the box's Game Master's Guide.  I've also used a few of them in my normal gaming tables because they're hard to find elsewhere!  These pawns are durable little things, and hold up well to heavy and repeated play.  They're really the nicest and most cost-effective alternative to buying (and sorting, and storing) dozens of plastic miniatures.

* FLIP-MAT: This double-sided mat has one-inch grids on each side (so the pawns fit like they should).  One side is blank so the Game Master can draw whatever scene they want (buildings for an urban encounter, trees for a forest, etc.), while the other side contains a dungeon that cleverly matches the introductory adventure.  This side has lots of little detail and features, and is very cool.  The idea with flip-mats like this is that that you can use wet erase markers or dry erase (whiteboard) markers and easily wipe your drawing away when you're done.

* PRE-GENERATED CHARACTER SHEETS: The game comes with four pre-made character sheets for a Fighter, a Wizard, a Rogue, and a Cleric.  These are lovely little four-page sheets that show exactly how the blank character sheets should be filled out.  But in addition, they have customized instructions in the margin to remind players what particular abilities or numbers mean.  There's a full-colour picture of the character on the front, and a background and personality section on the back.  A lot of time went into designing these for new players, and it shows.

* BLANK CHARACTER SHEET:  A very smartly laid-out sheet for players to make their own characters.  You'll want to make several photocopies of this before using it (or print out extras from the Paizo website).

* DICE:  A standard, quality set of dice.

* TRANSITION GUIDE: This 16-page book is designed to help players who love the Beginner Box but are starting to feel ready for the "real thing" to make the transition to the full Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.  The guide goes over what books are the most important ones to buy when starting out (essentially, the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, a Bestiary, and perhaps a module).  The emphasis in this guide is on how to add what you like from the Core Rulebook without feeling overwhelmed by its size and options.  The guide spends four pages summarising things from the full game (like attacks of opportunities and combat maneuvers) in a very clear way, complete with page numbers.  Other pages show how to read a spell stat block from the Core Rulebook and a monster stat block from the Bestiary.  There's a section on how to take 5th level PCs from the Beginner Box up to sixth level and beyond using the Core Rulebook, and a really handy intro to using pre-made adventures with Master of the Fallen Fortress (a free download) as an example.  It's a really nicely-done guide that serves well as either an intro or a review.

* HERO'S HANDBOOK: This 64-page book is designed for players, and features excellent artwork and brilliant layout.  It starts with a solo adventure called Skeleton's King Crypt that teaches a player some of the rules by using a short "choose your own adventure" style experience.  The book then moves into character creation, presenting three races (human, elf, and dwarf) and four classes (fighter, wizard, rogue, and cleric).  It presents suggested "packages" of feats, skills, and equipment for players who want to get started quickly, but also allows individual choices for players who like to spend more time and thought on your character.  I especially like how the game limits options to reduce "choice paralysis" but doesn't change the rules of anything from normal Pathfinder (thus making a future transition far easier).  The last third of the book goes through things like moving and exploring, and spends several pages on combat.  I think perhaps this combat section could be better organised by emphasizing the most common options first.  The book concludes with a glossary of common terms and the back cover's Combat Reference Guide is great.

* GAME MASTER'S GUIDE: This 96-page book starts with a full introductory adventure, Black Fang's Dungeon.  The adventure includes tons of extra guidance to the Game Master on how to run it, as well as a good variety of encounters, traps, and puzzles.  After a clear overview on what it means to be the Game Master, the book goes into how to create a new adventure, using a follow-up to Black Fang's Dungeon as a natural starting point.  The remainder of the book presents useful resources to the Game Master, such as details on various environments and terrain features (I'm envious of how clearly this is all presented compared to the Pathfinder Core Rulebook!), magic items, a bestiary (stat blocks for monsters and other characters, with special abilities presented in a masterwork of concision), tables for rolling up random encounters, a introduction to a sample town (Sandpoint) that could serve well as the group's home base, and more.  It's important to realise that this book contains a lot that's useful for the Game Master, but it's not like the instructions to a board game--a Game Master certainly doesn't need to learn all 96 pages in order to get started and have fun!

It's really an impressive package--especially when compared to the cheap "starter sets" for other RPGs I've seen.  My kid has spent untold hours with the stuff in this box, and, a year later, still takes the Hero's Handbook and Game Master's Guide with him on trips and in his school backpack!  I always try to give balanced reviews with the pros and cons of a product, but I really can't praise this one enough.  As a side note, don't forget that the Paizo website has free supplementary material (like extra adventures and the barbarian class).