One of the most challenging things about playing fantasy games is finding someone to learn the rules. Dungeon Master can be an intimidating role and there are a few ways that game companies over the years have tried to make it easier. Solo roleplaying is on the rise but cooperative games, like Pathfinder Quest are also a way for everyone to enjoy an epic tale at the table.
Pathfinder Quest is inspired by dungeon crawling games like HeroQuest and Descent which turn classic fantasy quests into board game experiences. The game is built to be cooperative with nobody in the Game Master seat. Paizo sent along a pre-production copy for me to check out at my own table.
How To Play Pathfinder Quest
The heart of the game lies in three books; the Rulebook, the Adventure book and the Challenge book. The Rulebook helps players build characters and acts as a reference during play. The Adventure book contains the main question, while the challenge book offers numbered narrative entries for success and failure much like choose your own adventure books of yore.
Players proceed through the Adventure book by setting up maps for each adventure. These maps contain exploration points that players can use their skills to try and achieve. Rather than the role playing game’s d20 they use specially marked six sided dice with numbers and special faces that can trigger character abilities or special events.
As they succeed and fail, the players make notes of their actions on an adventure record. Challenges can refer to these actions and change up the story later down the line. Rescue someone from being harassed by goblin bandits and they might show up later to help convince some townsfolk that your crew aren’t wandering bandits.
Combat runs under a similar system with automated foes programmed by their monster cards. The combat spaces also often have exploration points to do things that might turn the odds or give players additional complications beyond being attacked. Battles use the three action turn that the current version uses giving fights a heroic feel.
Pathfinder Quest Contents
There are two main options for the game. The Standard Edition contains everything needed to play such as dice, adventures, maps and more. The Deluxe Edition upgrades the hero pieces from cardboard pawns for plastic miniatures plus a ready to paint version of the draconic villain of the included campaign.
Fans who want more support can choose a bevy of add-ons. One of the support tiers includes miniatures for every bad guy in the campaign. Other options include custom dice, player mats and even a narrator app to keep the game flowing without flipping through pages.
Pathfinder Quest Impressions
Whenever I play a game like this, the main thing I think about is what makes this stand out from just running a session of Dungeons and Dragons. I’ve played and taught these games for years and sometimes it’s just easier to dig out a module and go. Pathfinder Quest feels like a good option for anyone who wants the feel of a Pathfinder campaign without having to go into the stacks to prep one.
It keeps the character customization flexibility from Pathfinder so characters grow and change after each adventure. I liked being able to level and change things up without having to track XP or worry that we didn’t kill enough bad guys. I like that they encourage playing as some of the setting’s signature characters for anyone that doesn’t want to worry about character builds, though I hope that as an expansion or a stretch goal we could see packets of cards devoted to these characters to make jumping into the game even faster.
One of the big appeals is the Game Master free experience. It’s a lot of fun passing the book around as you play to read passages and argue over who will roll for the bad guys in combat. I think the game has a lot to teach anyone considering the role and might be a good step for someone who wants to take the big chair but needs a little more confidence.
For example, one of the best lessons the game teaches is making battlefields dynamic. Go beyond stocking fights with bad guys and consider things players can interact with to change up the space. Fights that go beyond grinding out hit points are way more exciting and memorable.
I enjoy reading Pathfinder material even if I don’t have the time to prepare one of their excellent Adventure Paths. Pathfinder Quest really pares down the game to its best parts, like character customization and three action combat. I hope this game does well enough to not just add additional player material but also adapt some of their excellent storylines to this format.
The player count can vary but the character count is always four, which can be a little rough on anyone that’s a fantasy RPG newbie. I don’t know that I would want to see a table full of rookies take this on but I think having at least one experienced player will do fine. They should definitely be the one running multiple characters if needed.
Campaign games like this can struggle with replayability. They incorporate this into the narrative in a very clever way. Not to get into spoiler territory, but there’s a reason the cool big bad guy miniature is called a time dragon.
The Endless Adventure books they’re unlocking as stretch goals will help with this as well. These books contain short encounters that can be played as one night adventures or skirmishes. Perfect for a night when the main campaign is dark or something to try and hook board game friends on role paying games.
I appreciate that they are trying to save our world a little, not just Golarion. Paizo has teamed up with Power Word Meal to donate one meal for every backer of the project for up to the first 10,000 backers. Stretch goals are nice but that’s the sort of thing that really charges a community up.
Pathfinder Quest is on BackerKit until October 17th, 2025. Paizo is currently targeting a Q2 release date of the game to backers.
