My group has posed an interest in trying out Pathfinder. We have experience with a few different systems and are wondering where is best to start. The way I see it is we could try to go with the:

-OGL/SRD
-beginner box
-core book (or pdf)
-something I haven't thought of

Any advice on this? I believe that it would be for running a homebrew world campaign, so modules aren't needed. Many of us have 3.5 experience (some quite a bit), but all have experience with 4e, Dungeon World, M&M 3e, D&D Next Playtest, and some others that I am sure that I am forgetting.

First off - the is remarkably complete - Paizo does not merely support the OGL, the encourage it.

What I consider the best books to start with:
Pathfinder Core rulebook - yeah, you kind of want this.

Advanced Player's Guide - cracks the classes open, allowing folks to customize the classes to fit what they want. (Archetypes in the SRD.) The idea of archetypes is built upon in Ultimate Combat and Ultimate Magic, but here is where it begins, and it is here where Pathfinder becomes its own game, not just a rehash of 3.X with minor improvements.

Ultimate Campaign - the most recent book. Lucky, lucky you - if you are starting a campaign then you get to start using this right from the start. Rules for creating character histories, and how they can affect feats and traits.

And... the happy wonders that are Story Feats - PCs can create a plot that is all their own, with a feat that gives an initial bonus, then improves when the story goal is completed.

You have no idea how I wish that I had the book when I first started my current campaign. The book is second only to the Advanced Player's Guide for sheer awesomeness.

Bestiary - things that the PCs can kill, or who can kill the PCs. All of it in the SRD. Probably the single book that you need less than the others.

I recommend getting the books, but all the info is in the SRD, just not as easy to peruse.

I really recommend going over the rules - the changes from 3.5 are sometimes subtle, and legion in their number.

The Auld Grump - I am running a couple of games at a pagan retreat in a few days, and may disappear from the radar. The camp now supposedly has Wi-Fi, but it was also supposed to have Wi-Fi last year....

Thank you, Mr. Grump! Some of that I had no idea about despite following (though casually). If you don't mind digital only, their PDFs are CHEAP. Super duper cheap. DEFINITELY worth the price of admission at least for the core book! Lots of stuff on the OGL/SRD Pathfinder Wiki site lets you skip a lot of the add-on books even. But still recommend having the core book.

Alright, if talk gets more serious I will probably grab the pdf of the core book and then go from there. Is there a go-to one-shot that people tend to use to test the waters or is it a good idea to just get our feet wet and try for something similar to what we normally do when trying a new system?

To be honest, if your group want so to give it shot, just use the Piazo PRDs on line. I use them to run all the PFS games for our local FLGS as it stays update, saves me carrying my old pre-errata hard copies around. The free intro module for PFS are excellent ways to get a taste of Pathfinder, and pretty fun.

If you find you like then support paizo by getting the perfect bound books. Unlike the hardbacks, the soft backs do not get added to the PRD, and that is really were Piazo earns the money to keep the system supported.

I like the answer above.

Someone in the group is bound to borrow or pick up the Core book by this weekend. We will talk it over then. Thanks for the awesome level of help everyone!

I will say that if you have no experience with 3/3.5, the FEAT system can be a bit daunting at first, but it gives you a LOT of character control and flexibility. Worth it in the long run, IMO!

3.5 definitely taught me that people with much more time than I have already wrote up guides on things like that. My energy will be spent on deciding an overall theme for my character and then I will find suggestions online to accomplish it.

Right now I am thinking of going with battlefield control or summoning spells for my character (if we do end up playing).

Having been out of touch with the "D&D" - in whatever version - for far, far too long, I suddenly find myself playing in 5 different campaigns (on a rotating basis), with an invitation for a 6th (!). No wonder my cardstocking has s-l-o-w-e-d. I previously attempted a 4.e but was totally dissatisfied with the character generation process. The Pathfinder as a 3.5 variant is far more sensible.

I started with the Beginner Box, and now have the PDFs of both Core and Advanced Player Guide. I'll get both in physical form eventually because I must admit that I am so Old School dedicated that I prefer the ease of flipping pages rather than scrolling or page jumping on the screen.

BTW, the Beginner Box is perfect for transporting the Roll Arena between games! (With room left over for pencils, extra dice, etc.

Well, today is our session to talk over what we want to play in more detail. It could end up being board games all day with side conversations about RPGs and it could end up being a day to roll up characters. We shall see.

Well that session took a spin in a direction I didn't expect.

The guy that was going to run a Pathfinder game told us that he might move 2-3 hours away in a couple months and therefore doesn't want to commit to running a game (yet). Instead, the group decided to try out (new) World of Darkness - Changeling.

I did not see it going that way at all. I have never played White Wolf stuff and actually kind of intrigued at the cool sounding story that goes with the system. No opinion on mechanics yet.

Well... of the new WoD games, Changeling is about the best.

I hate the new WoD core mechanic, but the setting for the new Changeling is great - I like it better than the old Changeling setting, and I loved the old Changeling setting..

I could go on about why I hate the new core, and have. For hours.

But this time around the Changeling setting really is pretty danged grim, and the fae are... downright scary.

The Auld Grump

There is a long running tradition here at Knox College [the Lincoln/Douglas one that Obama was recently at] for their Live Action Roleplaying Club with Vampire campaigns, Werewolf, and Mage - in one version or another. They haven't recently done a Changling campaign (athough a one-shot was done this past spring). The Vamps generally use the Minds Eye Theatre adaptation. The last Werewolf was the Apocalypse version. The current Mage is the Awakening version (which I am part of staff - yeah you need several Narrators and Story Tellers when you have 20 or so people meandering around a grand building like Old Main). ...And this fall's new Vamp campaign is going to be converting over to the By Night rules which were recently successfully funded on Kickstarter (as soon as they are available).

So if you have a question on these, feel free to shoot me a PM, and I'll try to help. Granted these I'm playing are *not* using tabletop rules....