Is Pathfinder Dying?

It used to be this forum was FLUSH with Pathfinder games, almost to the point of annoyance. Now Pathfinder games are hard to find as a freckle-free spot on a scottish elephant's backside! I am a 30 year old female gamer with 15 years of experience playing and running games, and I prefer gaming with people who are mature but still know how to have wacky fun when appropriate. So yeah, I am seriously jonesing to play a pathfinder game. Is there anyone else interested in this? Players are needed, but so is a GM. This post is me putting out a call for a Pathfinder game. Please leave declarations of interest (playing or GMing) below, along with anything else you'd like to add: your gaming history/values, character ideas, etc. Thank you for reading, now let's get this thing going!  :D

Ya know, it's never been hard to find PF games. Maybe they scurried off when you were looking and jaunted about when your back was turned.

New systems tend to be the popular ones - before, it was Pathfinder, now it's D&D 5e.

I dunno about dying.  Stagnating maybe. It's definitely a much more intimidating system than 5E for new players, so most people wanting to play PF are those who are already invested.  That said, I do quite like Golarion, and would consider joining a game. I've got around 15 years experience as well.  Started with AD&D and have branched out into many things since then.  Nowadays I do a lot more systemless stuff and group-writing, but I still enjoy a bit of tabletop with people who prefer story over powergaming.

Indeed, I know the Pathfinder system to an extent, but its just not newbie friendly to learn so I generally don't run it anymore :<

Well, if you're asking for players too, I'd be interested in playing with, A problem possibly being that I've still no experience actually playing any table-top games, So why start with Pathfinder, if 5th edition is better? Because I've already been taught quite a bit from a friend who GM'd some sessions of his own, in preparation for one I'd be in that... didn't happen, in the end. Being a young-hopeful, I've got plenty of character ideas, but would prefer making one based on what'd be better suited for the world/group. ...If a group forms (and if I'm in it).

The other answer is that a lot of people have moved on to other games - D&D and PF just don't fill their needs, as much as many people feel that if they slam that square peg into the round hole, that eventually it'll work. There's been a number of times that people have insisted that if I just look harder at D&D, I could surely find a way to make it fit any setting under the sun, and while novel, it's simply not true. A lot of people have grown tired of it, or have found settings they just enjoy more. With things like Force Awakens having just released, you'll see a surge in popularity of West End, Revised, FFG and Saga Star Wars games; with D&D being the smallest barrier to entry currently (having the smallest number of player options for a fantasy RPG), those games are going to be more popular. There are new editions of some games (Exalted), or some lines have recently felt 'completed' (Shadowrun 5). Paizo has recently had a rash of shitty business practices, declining quality, and an overabundance of material that has left a lot of people with a sour taste in their mouth - especially when the company insists they won't revise the system for many years to come. Overall, however, it's just that we're exposed to so many RPGs now, both western and eastern, which is something we haven't really seen before, and people have different tastes, and no need to rely on only one or two games to do everything for us. We're freer to explore, and that generally means that the playerbase has to come from somewhere else.

If you look at Roll20's usage reports, the number of Pathfinder games has increased each quarter of 2015 ( Q1 ,  Q2 ,  Q3 ).  Of course, 5e games have increased even more during that time but I don't think Pathfinder is really in any trouble.

Thank you all for the thoughtful answers, I was really wondering what had happened. I have only one exception to take which is that Pathfinder and 5e are like apples and oranges. I see more AD&D and 4th in 5th Ed than I do Pathfinder. Pathfinder is (to me) much more customizable than 5th is, and despite me playing from Pathfinder's release I still haven't gotten my pathfinder fix yet. It started off as IMMENSELY newbie-friendly if said newbies were coming from 3.5 (which I was). But I agree it has become a huge, convoluted monster since then, and it still is the only game that satisfies me like other games really can't. That being said, if anyone is interested in perhaps running a game please PM me and we can chat.

Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much about it. 5e is still pretty much brand new, so people are obviously going to be giving it a go for quite a while yet. Eventually, some fraction of the people who switched to 5e will return to pathfinder. 5e is really a different beast due to the way the rules are set up. In my opinion, 5e is much more open-ended with rules up for interpretation. It seems designed in such a way as to be easily refluffed to fit what you want to do without the mechanical rules getting in the way. Pathfinder feels more simulationist, in that there's probably a specific rule for any given thing you want to do. I play both, and they really don't scratch the same itch.

Don't forget that with Pathfinder Games, you're often talking about Adventure Paths.  A given group might be playing one of those for a good year and a half before looking to play another game. I've seen a lot more 5e one-shots and relatively short campaigns, by comparison. 5e requires less up-front preparation to create a character (and the free Player Guide rules walk players through it very quickly) so it's generally a more attractive venue for one-shots, along with all the other many varied game systems out there.  PF tends more towards the long-haul campaigns, from what I've been seeing.

This thread needs to be focused on the LFG part of the post or I will be forced to remove this thread due to it being Off-topic Autumn Skywynter said: It used to be this forum was FLUSH with Pathfinder games, almost to the point of annoyance. Now Pathfinder games are hard to find as a freckle-free spot on a scottish elephant's backside! I am a 30 year old female gamer with 15 years of experience playing and running games, and I prefer gaming with people who are mature but still know how to have wacky fun when appropriate. So yeah, I am seriously jonesing to play a pathfinder game. Is there anyone else interested in this? Players are needed, but so is a GM. This post is me putting out a call for a Pathfinder game. Please leave declarations of interest (playing or GMing) below , along with anything else you'd like to add: your gaming history/values, character ideas, etc. Thank you for reading, now let's get this thing going!  :D

Thank you Pat. Yeah guys, I'd love to continue this talk in an IM if you are interested, but mainly I am just really wanting to start up a game. Please post here or IM me if interested in GMing.

I might put myself down as a maybe for GMing, if we end up with a good-sized group of players.  My Pathfinder knowledge isn't watertight, but I think I could probably manage it.  I've GMed other systems before.

Hello Autumn, what days are you looking at playing?

Well currently my only day available is Saturday, but I can do it any time Saturday, evening, day, it doesn't matter. I figured most people would be available then.

I know what you mean. I've a rough time finding a good group, particularly because my lack of microphone means no Skype, and a lot of groups seem to demand Skype as a prequisite for joining the game. I'm a newb with little experience (my very first campaign got cut short due to absenteeism), but I'm quite studious, and I know my way around the basics. If that doesn't bother you, I'd be more than happy to join. I've got quite an array of characters set up, and you can screen them over on my profile to see which one you'd like to have along. Core, Base, Archtypes, alternate races, 3rd party, silly, serious, you name it, I've probably built it. I'm mostly available in the mornings/early-afternoons 7:00 AM-2:00 PM CST, and I tend to get two days off a week, mainly landing on weekends. I've got no GM experience, particularly because I have no idea where to begin.

I was just in the process of Drafting up an LFG post myself, Looking for a few players for pathfinder. I swear your intro very closely mirrored mine. Female - 30 nearly 2 decades experience most of it behind the screen. Mature preference.  Maybe we should connect? Perhaps we can get something happening. Ill swap Skype info with you if you PM me. I run my own business from home so my schedule is super open. Looking forward to chatting

Thank you all those who contacted me, but I am no longer looking for any games now, I am actually full up. :)

3.finder is actually the bane of my DM'ing existence, and i can tell you that the spirit of it at least is alive and well.