It has been awhile since I have made a Pathfinder post on this blog, but yesterday, the organized play coordinator, Mike Brock, announced the “Core Campaign” option on Paizo’s blog.

The Core Campaign option for Pathfinder Society Organized play is that only the Core Rulebook, character traits web enhancement, and Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play are allowable sources. This is a huge step to simplifying what has become a very complex game.

There are so many Pathfinder resources to draw from in a standard PFS game that it can be very overwhelming. To both new and old players alike. Sometimes having access to the full wealth of resources just creates a game that people don’t want to be involved in.

This step to allowing a Core Campaign should go far to resolve these issues and lower the bar to entry again for people new to Pathfinder Society Organized play. It makes the game easier to run and easier to play in many ways. So this is a window of opportunity for new Pathfinder GMs who don’t need to be intimidated by the amount of rules. And it can make things little less intimidating to new players.

In my home Pathfinder game I have done something very similar for my own character. I limit myself to just the Core Rulebook and the Advanced Players Guide when choosing options for the my character. This was not a GM imposed restriction, just one I put on myself to keep me from getting frustrated with what I feel is an overwhelming amount of options. It has worked very well in my home game.

In regards to this decision for organized play, it is good to see a strong, viable option for organized play return. When I attend a convention where I might not know a lot of people, but want to get into a game that I am pretty sure is going to run, I look to well run organized play games. Having the option of this core track makes the Pathfinder Society option much more attractive again.

It is welcoming to see Paizo listening to their fans by releasing this option without requiring a sacrifice to their fans that do prefer the full option route. Be sure to check out the Paizo blog post for all the details.