Author Topic: Pathfinder optimization by the numbers  (Read 2786 times)

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juton

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Pathfinder optimization by the numbers
« on: February 26, 2011, 12:37:29 AM »
I was kind of curious to see if pathfinder actually made many significant changes one way or the other so I threw this spreadsheet together. You can view it here.(new version available below) I was expecting them to have weakened monsters somehow, to make the game a little more accessible, but from my analysis things don't seem to have changed that much, other than a few outliers being trimmed.

Honestly I'm struggling to find anything interesting to say about this data set, but if you've seen Tleilaxu_Ghola's work you've pretty much seen this. I've included a bit of extra data, the average and maximum CMBs and CMDs, also I've included statistics for the melee attack and damage, this is only for a monster's standard action attack. I've also included ranged attack statistics, but the averages are going to be lower than they should be, although the maximum ranged to hit and average damage should be accurate.

Hope this helps somebody, otherwise it's sad how much I enjoy working with spreadsheets  :lmao.

EDIT: I've made a new version, that lets you change the graphs to compare different trends. You can compare the averages and maximums of Pathfinder and 3.5, you can also compare the average to the maximum for either game.You can download it here.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2011, 09:29:42 PM by juton »

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Re: Pathfinder optimization by the numbers
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2011, 11:51:01 AM »
I love shit like this and the added comparison of defenses to 3.5 was a nice bonus.  Good work, and thanks.
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Sunic_Flames

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Re: Pathfinder optimization by the numbers
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2011, 05:18:13 PM »
Enemies are buffed a bit vs beatsticks, and nerfed vs casters, but mostly that's it.
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juton

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Re: Pathfinder optimization by the numbers
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2011, 09:46:53 PM »
The average stats in Pathfinder don't seem to be much different than in 3.5, but on a lark I decided to look at the maximum values compared to the averages. In 3.5, at a given CR you can see a really big variance in HP, AC and saves from monster to monster, that's one of the reasons the CR system has been so widely panned, depending on what monster you pick, you may get steamrollered by the PCs or inflict a TPK. Pathfinder seems to have reduced the variance, meaning that at the same CR the monster should pose a comparable challenge, that is with the massive caveat of not paying mind to (Su)s and (SLA)s.

One thing I noticed while looking at the data, both versions have a relatively straight HP and AC trend. I always though that HP spiked at level 10 and began to increase at a faster rate, but at least in the OGL material that doesn't seem to be the case. Also while Fortitude tends to be the highest save and progress the fastest, I was surprised to see that Reflex tend to average high than Will.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2011, 10:25:18 PM by juton »

veekie

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Re: Pathfinder optimization by the numbers
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2011, 10:24:16 PM »
Not as many smart, strong willed monsters, the big brainless lumps tend to overrepresent I guess.
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