Pathfinder

Since it doesn't seem to have a dedicated topic.

So, I posed this question on the discussion pages, but...

Do the characters shown in the Advanced Race Guide have names? If so, I'd like to know more about that kobold with the cauldron.

At least him. I highly doubt that none of them are established characters.

I don't think any of them are iconics, so I doubt they have names. The Paizo forums would probably know for sure, though.

The ARG is a useful book, though.

Well, since a Pathfinder general thread is finally up, here's a couple of questions that are unanswered in the fluff, and I want to know other people's opinions.

• Is Aroden really dead?
• If not, where is he? If so, what killed him?

I don't know much about the lore, I'm the wrong person to ask.

Currently homebrewing a spellcasting class based around constructs. He builds these little golems out of whatever he can find and casts his spells through them, if that makes sense.

And he's a spellcaster based on.... dexterity?

Well, it'll give the goblins and kobolds something to do, anyway.

Oh look, my current progress.

edited 26th Feb '13 6:41:49 PM by Voyd211

Interesting concept, although... why DEX? Isn't crafting and craftiness usually INT-based?

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...

Because PRECISION and I kinda forgot about the Craft skill, eheheh. Whoops.

Also, I wanted to make a class that was very kobold/goblin friendly. And before you say elves, I'm not overly fond of the core races and I'm actually thinking of making Wisdom the complementary ability.

Regarding ARG characters:

The Goblin on page 117 is Mogmurch from the We Be Goblins module.

The Kobold with the cauldron on page 136 is Tartuk from volume 1 of the Kingmaker adventure path.

The Grippli on page 243 is Mumbuckle from the PFS scenario 3-EX: The Cyphermage Dilemma.

I recognize a few others as recycled race/class art from other sources, but those are the only ones I can identify as actual characters.

So speaking of Pathfinder...

Well, as person who lacks friends interested in role playing, I've never role played and I've just recently gotten interested in it... So what about that? Well, I just kind of made an impulse purchase and bought core rulebook for this :P I kind of regret that already since its darn expensive book that I can't actually use xD Oh well, I guess if I want to get into this I might as well start by reading darn rules even if I can't ever play the darn game...

edited 1st Mar '13 6:30:09 AM by SpookyMask

What timezone are you in? I might be able to set you up with an online group.

GMT +2. Not sure if that is good idea though even if it is possible... I mean, I'm complete newbie to pen & paper and tabletop rpgs :P

Umm, so despite being unable to play it, I figured out that I should try to generate character anyway just in case. I mean, its good to have practice in case I find people one day so I wouldn't have to be like "Oh, okay, thats nice that you guys can play with me. Umm, how the heck this works?"

And figured out that this book doesn't really do good job in hand holding player through filling character sheet :P Seriously, it basically just says "Roll stats, pick race, pick class, pick skills, pick equipment" and so on, but it isn't exactly clear about details.. Like what is "high int" skill when it comes to being able to pick up bonus languages and can you pick multiple bonus languages or just one? And what about skill picking? Does every character start with at least one feat? Etc, if book said something about those issues, I guess I didn't notice...

(Plus, I don't really have any idea of what anything in character sheet means. Like "temp modifier" and "temp adjustment" when it comes to stats. I guess it means temporary modifier and adjustments? Are those something that are irrelevant when it comes to new characters)

The stats are generated differently depending on the method the GM picks. These methods are described in the first chapters of the book. See here, for a pretty good outline for creating a character.

When your character's INT is high enough that they get a bonus from it, your character gets to speak a number of extra languages equal to the bonus your INT gives. The extra languages available to your character is determined by your character's race. The list of languages your character can pick from is detailed in the race's entry in the Race chapter.

"Temp" means temporary. For creating new characters, these squares are useless. They're only used when a spell or other effect modifies your stats.

If you have other questions, feel free to ask.

I do know how to generate stats, book lists every method.(besides home rules of course) I just don't know what counts as "high enough" int or how do you pick skills. Or how much skill you have when you start. Like do I get every class skill in beginning or do I have to pick some of them? And how does my stats affect skills, each skill seems to be influenced by stat but how? And do I get like one or two feats(without accounting feat bonus humans get) at beginning? How about spells?

Yeaaah, my problem is that that book doesn't really go into much detail when it comes to picking those things, it kinda feels like they are assuming some previous knowledge of these stuff despite introducing every stat rolling mechanic =/

If you have one particular ability score that you rely on, go for 15 to 18.

If your class relies on multiple scores, 12 to 15 are your best friends.

If there's a score that you have absolutely no need for, dropping it to 7 is a small price to pay in a point-buy system.

Okay, managed to found this which is helpful since it answered my question about feats. I still don't fully understand skill ranks thing.

What do you need to know about skill ranks?

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...

Umm, how do they work?

Err, I'll explain how I've done by character generation so far:

I used dice stat rolling method described as "standard" and got stats 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15. I assigned them as STR 7, Dex 9, Con 12, Cha 13, Int 14, Wis 15.

I chose race human and added 2 stats to int so I now have 16 I guess? I don't know if I got any bonus languages or not.

Then I chose cleric as class and stopped whole thing since I had no idea what skills I have. Like, do I have all class skills or do I choose from them? And what skill ranks I have in them?

You get a number of skill ranks per level, determined by your class, your INT modifier, and sometimes your race. (This includes first level, by the way, none of that "x4 at first level" that you see in 3.5.)

As a cleric, you get 2 plus your INT modifier (+2), for a total of 4. And since you're a human, you get an additional one on top of that, for a grand total of 5 for each level.

Now you distribute these skill ranks to whichever skills you like. The more skill ranks you put, the better you are with that skill. Note that the maximum skill ranks you can put in a particular skill is equal to your number of hit die, which usually means your character level. You can keep 5 skills maxed out this way, or you can spread them out if you prefer.

The only difference between class skills and cross-class skills is that you get a +3 bonus to rolls if it's a class skill and you've put at least 1 rank in it. Cross-class skills still cost 1 point to raise 1 rank, but you don't get the +3 bonus to rolls with that skill.

edited 4th Mar '13 5:31:36 AM by KylerThatch

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...

"As a cleric, you get 2 plus your INT modifier (+2), for a total of 4. And since you're a human, you get an additional one on top of that, for a grand total of 5 for each level."

Umm, grand total of 5 what? You mean skill ranks or languages or what? Or stats?

So umm, since I get +2 int from level 1 cleric and from adding human bonus stats to int, do I mark them down on "Ability modifier" in the sheet as +4 or does human racde bonus get added to Ability Score?

So wait, maximum amount of skill rank is amount of the hit dice which is usually same number as my level? Did I get that right? Since that sounds bit confusing

"The only difference between class skills and cross-class skills is that you get a +3 bonus to rolls if it's a class skill and you've put at least 1 rank in it. Cross-class skills still cost 1 point to raise 1 rank, but you don't get the +3 bonus to rolls with that skill. "

Oh, okay, makes sense.

Can I put skill ranks in skills marked with asterix? Aka *can be trained only ones?

Skill ranks per level, yes.

All the skill ranks that you distribute go under the "Ranks" column. The "Ability Mod" column is, for example, your INT mod for INT-based skills, DEX mod for DEX-based skills, etc.

The maximum skill ranks is equal to the number of hit dice you have. Those hit dice come from your class levels, one for each level you have. A level 1 Cleric has 1 hit die. A multiclass Fighter 2 / Rogue 3 has five hit die, 2 from their Fighter levels and 3 from their Rogue levels.

I said "usually" because picking some exotic race to play as (i.e. not from the core rulebook) might give you extra hit die outside the ones you get from class levels.

Yes, you can. In fact, you can't use those skills at all unless you've invested a skill rank in them.

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...

" All the skill ranks that you distribute go under the "Ranks" column. The "Ability Mod" column is, for example, your INT mod for INT-based skills, DEX mod for DEX-based skills, etc. "

Umm, this didn't answer to my question since I asked about where I mark down +4 stats in int I get from being a cleric plus human... Or do they not get marked down at all? I think I need guide on how to fill the character sheet...

Anyhoo, so I have 5 skill ranks? Since max skill rank is based on level, does that mean max skill rank right now is 1? So I can have five skills that are maxed out? .-.

Um... I said that the number of skill ranks you get is based on your INT modifier, not that anything modifies your INT stat.

Yes, yes, and...

The "maxing out" decision starts to come into play as you gain more levels. At first level, you pick out five skills to assign your skill ranks to, right? At second level, you get another five skill ranks, and the max ranks goes up to two. You can put those five ranks in the same skills as before, giving you the five maxed out skills. Or you can spend two to improve skills you already have, and use the three left on new skills. Or you can spend all of them on new skills, giving you ten skills with one rank each.

Same deal goes at level three, and so on.

edited 4th Mar '13 7:03:48 AM by KylerThatch

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...

"Um... I said that the number of skill ranks you get is based on your INT modifier, not that anything modifies your INT stat. "

Umm, what. I didn't say anything about skill ranks modifying my INT stat... Umm, there seems to be some kind of misconnection in this conversation .-.

I'm talking about paper character sheet. On that there are rows for ability score, ability modifier, temp adjustment and temp modifier. I asked if I'm supposed to put 4(two pairs of +2 int, one from human race and one from being cleric) on ability score one(making it 18 instead of 14) or write 14 on ability score and then on ability modifier + 4.

Ah, miscommunication. What fun.

An ability score of 14 gives you an ability modifier of +2 (not +4). So an INT score of 14 means your INT modifier is +2.

Also, as far as character creation goes, ability score are pretty much set once you roll them or use point buy to determine them. Well, there's also bonuses/penalties when you choose your race, but that's it. Your character class doesn't modify your ability scores. So you can get an additional 2 to INT from being a human if you choose that to be your bonus stat, but you get no ability bonuses for being a Cleric (or any other class).

edited 4th Mar '13 7:22:07 AM by KylerThatch

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...

Oh.

I misinterpreted "+2 int modifier"...

...So I still put 2 bonus stats from being human to ability score making it 16 then? And mark +2 on ability modifier?

...Actually, what does +2 int modifier mean anyway?...

Speaking of which, apparently based on my int score:

"The number of bonus languages your character knows at the start of the game. These are in addition to any starting racial languages and Common. If you have a penalty, you can still read and speak your racial languages unless your Intelligence is lower than 3.

The number of skill points gained each level, though your character always gets at least 1 skill point per level. "

I hate how rules say that you get bonus languages based on int, but it doesn't tell HOW. Like, if I have 14, how many bonus languages I get? How about if it was 11? Do I get none? And since my int is apparently 16 when you take race bonus in accord, how many does that mean?

And how does it affect skill ranks? I got it that I have 2 skill ranks since I'm cleric, got another one from being human and 2 another from int score, but how exactly? Would I have gotten 0 skill ranks if I had had int of 12?

edited 4th Mar '13 7:30:14 AM by SpookyMask