GM Riatin |
Character Generation rules:
The Adventure Path is Rise of the Runelords obviously:
Please look through the player's guide here
All of the info you'll need to create a character here
Character Generation
-20 point buy (No stat below 8 or over 20)
-Classes from any of the paizo books are approved
-Races are limited to Core Rules (Human, Elf, Half-Elf, Halfling, Gnome, Half-Orc, Dwarf), unless I get a really great story.
-You get 2 traits, 1 must be a campaign trait from the Rise of the Runelords player guide. (link forthcoming)
-We will use Hero Points
-Max HP for level 1
-Max starting gold
House Rules:
-Leadership is a not a legal feat
-Guns are Emerging (for any wannabe gunslingers)
-Coins do not count as weight toward encumbrance
-20/20/confirm is an instant death for any foe or PC
-Each character gains one additional weapon proficiency per iterative attack (ie, When a fighter goes up to level 6 and gains +6/+1 attacks, he also gains an additional weapon proficiency)
General Notes:
While tough, the AP is designed for 4 characters with a 15 point buy and general player skill and optimization, so don't feel that you need to over optimize to survive.
I'm more than happy to take any questions on anything. If you need help making a character, I can walk you through it.
reitoei |
Quick questions re: backstory & side quests, inspired by my previous experiences:
1. Can/should we include long-term character background-based quests in our backstory, or would that interfere withe the AP?
2. In Pathfinder Society organized play, the characters are each given a "secret" side quest based on their faction at the start of the scenario, for the purpose of gaining extra XP if they complete it during the session. Do those exist in campaign scenarios like RotR, and will we use them? There's no mention in the Player's Guide, but maybe it's just a GM thing.
This doesn't particularly effect character creation, but I'm just curious. Thanks, Riatin!
GM Riatin |
1) If you work it in and let me know which aspects of a backstory you'd like to pursue, I'll try my best to do something with it.
2) I know about the PFS secret side quests and they're not typically worked into the AP's since the PFS are a separate thing, so there's not set scenarios for them, but if you pick a faction and something comes up that you can capitalize on it for your faction, I'll give you some extra xp or treasure for roleplaying, sure. I dont plan to use the boons or prestige rewards system from PFS though.
reitoei |
Cool, thanks - I won't worry about those things then; I'll still use the backstory I've come up with, but it doesn't need to be anything game-effecting.
I've just about finished my character - I've never played a rogue before, so I'm going to try it now. Elf rogue, specifically.
Clarification: Since the RotR Player's Guide doesn't actually mention Traits anywhere, I'll assume you meant "You get 2 Feats, 1 must be a campaign Feat." Please confirm.
GM Riatin |
I linked the wrong player's guide Rei, that's the old 3.5 edition one, here's the newly updated pathfinder version: here
I'm open to however you guys want to play it, but here's my recommendation on class makeup: Melee specialist, divine caster, arcane caster, and support. That could mean fighter, rogue, cleric, wizard or that could mean Summoner, druid, witch, bard or any combination that can do those things. All that I'd really say is that for new players I would steer away from the Summoner, Inquisitor, and probably the Magus because they have lots of options and wonky mechanics and would be more difficult to learn the system with.
Here's a relative rundown on class power levels as you progress:
(When I say melee, I usually mean melee or ranged)
Alchemist: Strong support through most levels can be very powerful (Spontaneous Caster)
Antipaladin: I should have noted that I probably wouldn't want anyone to play this class although I'd probably be okay with someone playing it like a WoW deathknight. Alternate class of the paladin.
Barbarian: Very strong melee up to 8th level then starts to trail off, then gets a boost again at 12th
Bard: Excellent support character 1-20.
Cavalier: Very strong melee and very strong mounted character, but mounted combat is not that common (Restrictive dungeon sizes, can work for small sized creatures). Challenge is a very strong ability.
Cleric: Powerful full level divine caster, great 1-20
Druid: Can be built as a strong caster or a strong melee-er but has a difficult time doing both. Has an animal companion.
Fighter: Great Melee character and the simplest mechanically
Gunslinger: Can be very strong but will be weaker in an emerging guns era, can be very expensive gold wise.
Inquisitor: Can be powerful, but has many options that can be difficult to master.
Magus: Can be very powerful, but has spells and melee going off at the same time and difficult mechanics.
Monk: Very Multiple Attribute Dependent (MAD) and difficult to make effective but there are good options out there.
Ninja: I'm playing one of these in a home campaign and having loads of fun, they're kind of fragile at lower levels but ramp up quickly. An alternate class of the rogue and more combat oriented less skill based.
Oracle: Cool class, can have a lot of story elements built into the class. Very similar to a cleric in power level except they are spontaneous casters (limited spell list to select from).
Paladin: Ok at melee until you meet a dragon, evil undead or evil outsider, then with smite they clean up. Good class all around.
Ranger: Good melee-er along with an animal companion, especially strong against chosen enemies.
Rogue: Very skill based support character.
Samurai: Alternate class of the Cavalier.
Sorcerer: A good class for having many arcane spells to cast each day, but is slower to raise in spell level and has fewer spell choices than a wizard (spontaneous caster) Powerful 1-20
Summoner: Very strong with a melee eidolon up through 12th level then trails off in power. (Spontaneous caster)
Witch: Very powerful support class that can have divine and arcane spells. Spontaneous caster.
Wizard: Powerful arcane caster 1-20.
The AP runs levels 1-15, so the classes that trail off around 12th or so wouldn't be noticed until very late in the game, and even then it wouldn't noticed much.
reitoei |
Ah, thanks - that new version makes more sense.
So I'll probably ditch the Rogue and come up with something else... I know Duane is researching this weekend, but he'd mentioned wanting to go Bard. If Bard is "excellent" support all the way to 20 (and Rogue is especially skill-dependent), then that might be a better fit for the group.
Plus, the Traits in the Anniversary Edition player's guide all conflict a lot more with my very specific character backstory than the Feats in the other version did... Starting a new character will allow me to use the more general backstories presented in those traits.
SO - all of that said - Thunder, do you have a preference for being a caster or a melee? I might enjoy being the meatshield, but arcane caster could work for me if you're keen on being stabby.
riatin RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32 |
Sorry guys been on the road a bit too much to report in. Sent T a private message on the forums but I haven't heard back. I was hoping he would verify if he was in or out.
Has your friend made an account here rei?
I think what ill do is get us up to 5 by recruiting on this site. So make what you think youd like to play and then we can recruit 1 or 2(if t is out) to fill the needed roles. That sound good?
reitoei |
Sounds good to me!
I just missed DW today - we don't really work together on anything these days, so it's tough to connect. We'll talk in detail tomorrow and I'll make sure he gets sorted here.
I'm still a little iffy on the spellcasting rules, so I'll definitely go with the melee role... I like the versatility of the Fighter, but it seems like the Barbarian would be more interesting to play. Still leaning toward Barb, but until we lock in, I'm undecided.
Thunderous |
So, this is what I am thinking about now, a Warrior Oracle with Clouded Vision, please let me know if that sounds like a bad idea. At first I was thinking I should be heal focused, but most of what I read says that in combat healing is not usually as necessary as helping to take out a foe. So, some sort of armor wearing guy summoning things and buffing allies while smacking things with a big weapon sounds like fun, and fits with choosing Clouded Vision, he can be right in the think of things where he can see what he is trying to hit.
Are we supposed to input our characters somewhere, or do we just keep track of them on a piece of paper at home?
This game is many times more complex than good old AD&D, pretty fun trying to wrap my brain around it all.
GM Riatin |
Yeah, Dwarves make great clerics but poor oracles, sorcerers, and ninja's. Although I have to say I think a stone, metal, or battle dwarven oracle would be very cool flavor wise.
Sounds like a great concept to me (one I've considered playing myself). Although one downside is that attacks coming from further away than your blindsight allows will leave you flat footed. So ranged attacks can be a big disadvantage for the clouded vision oracles, but I still like the concept.
I never played Ad&d having started with 2nd ed. Ad&d, but I was around for the transition from 2nd ed. to V3.0 then to 3.5 and now to Pathfinder (some people call it 3.75) and I like the d20 concept of having almost every roll be determined by a d20 roll. Percentiles never worked for me, and Thac0 was just a nightmare to determine to hits. Pathfinder made the skill system far more elegant than the 3.0-3.5 version so you're getting the 10 or so years of refinement.
There's character sheets built into the forum (another reason this place is cool). Here's how:
-Click on 'My Account' at the top
-It may have you log in
-On the left there is a box called 'Message Board Aliases'
-Click 'Create New Alias'
-Type the Avatar Name
-Pick an Avatar Image
-Click 'Submit Changes'
-Fill out the character sheet: Example
-Once you make an alias a 'Post As' drop down box will appear under the text box when you make a post, just change that to whichever character you want to post as.
GM Riatin |
So here's what our makeup looks like so far:
Rei- Barbarian or Fighter
DW - Bard?
Thunder - Oracle
Shaping up pretty well I think :)
Rei I sent you a test PM on the IC forums, I think i've been forgetting to add the name to the 'to' section in the PM section, would be why T hasn't answered me back. If you could just make sure that you received that, I'd be grateful.
Thunderous |
Yeah, once I read about the Clouded Vision Curse, I couldn't get it out of my head. Wasn't originally going to go melee, but it just seemed to fit better with the blindness.
I figure I'll just wear a lot of armor and follow Rei into battle.
I will start adding the character this weekend then (not going to get much done tonight with Halloween I think).
Tiren |
Hi guys,
I'm around and still definetly interested in playing. I'm running behind -was side-tracked on the weekend and then would have had the wrong Player's anyway.
Thanks for the new link Riatin, and the great class summary. I think I'll take a Cleric, since we don't have a pure caster and Riatin indicates they're strong. I don't know what race yet, but I'll work on everything as fast a possible - by the weekend (Sunday night) at the latest.
I'll think on backstory after I decide on race. :D
...T
Hieronymous Strong |
Ok, I think I have most of this done, probably some stats I still need to figure out, like how to find my BAB, forget what that stands for.
Hopefully my solution to wanting to play a dwarf Oracle is ok, went for the short stocky human born near dwarves with stone powers...
Let me know what you think.
I will probably also make a wizard or sorceror if I have time in case we need a ranged caster more than we need a mostly blind humandwarf!
Thunderous |
I just sort of followed what Riatin did with Nami, but I suppose I went a bit nuts on the backstory. A lot of the abilities lent themselves to the story.
I wanted to write down everything I learned so that I would know what he can do when the time comes, no doubt a lot of the stuff I put in there wouldn't be needed by an experienced player.
Not sure where you got Sparky, his avatar is kind of gloomy (didn't really find one I wanted so went with the guy in the hood), but it made me laugh so feel free to call him that!
GM Riatin |
Looking over your character sheet in a bit more detail thunder, just some stuff that you probably aren't aware of mechanically.
Fort Save would be +1 for the same reason
Will Save would be +1 (You'd take a -1 from your Wisdom modifier)
You get one additional skill point for being human that I think you forgot.
Also at every level you get to choose to take either 1 additional skill point or 1 additional hit point. So you can have 6 total skills and 9 HP or 10 HP and 5 skills.
Not sure how you're calculating your skills but here's what I'm getting:
Intimidate: +7 (+1 Rank, +3 for Class Skill, +3 for Charisma Modifier)(+8 vs Giants)
Know Planes: +4 (+1 Rank, +3 for Class Skill, +0 for Intelligence)
Perception: +4 (+1 Rank, +3 for Class, -1 for Wisdom, +1 for seeker) (Against giants you get another +1)
Use Magic Device (abbrv UMD): +4 (+1 Rank, +3 for Charisma)
The feat Power Attack requires a +1 Base Attack bonus (you currently have a +0, but it will increase to +1 at level 2). So you'll need to pick another feat.
Your attacks would look like this:
Mace, Heavy: +4 to hit (+4 from strength modifier+0 from BAB) and +5 against giant subtype creatures, 1d8+4 to damage (+4 bonus from strength) x2 on a critical.
Spear: +4 to hit (+5 against giant subtype), 1d8+6 damage (+4 strength mod x 1.5 for wielding 2 handed) x3 on a critical.
Sorry to pick it apart, but its a complex game as you've said. Any questions or obvious mistakes that I've made, let me know. I basically just recreated your character in hero lab and compared it to your sheet.
Thunderous |
Ok, I guess I will keep Power Attacks and be doing more damage at level 2, unless you think it would be better to grab another like maybe Enforcer or Toughness for now. I am ok either way.
I took Diplomacy with my 5th skill point since its a class skill and a CHA skill. I didn't realize that skills started at 1 + 3 or whatever if you have a bonus, I just assumed they started at 4... now it makes more sense.
GM Riatin |
Feats I'll suggest to replace Power Attack for first level would be: (these are just good feats, by no means what you have to take)
Armor Proficiency (Heavy) - Better armor
Combat Casting - Makes it easier to cast spells in combat
Extra Revelation - Another Revelation at 1st would be very handy
Intimidating Prowess - Lets you add your strength modifier to Intimidate as well (+11)
Fortified Armor Training - Lets you negate a critical but breaks your armor or shield (very nice feat for a shield user)
Iron Will, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes - +2 to a save
Improved Shield Bash - Attack with a shield without losing its benefits (still applies a two weapon fighting penalty)
Saving Shield - Whenever an adjacent ally is attacked you can throw up your shield to help defend them, giving them a +2 shield bonus to their AC.
Scribe Scroll - Make scrolls you can save for later
Warrior Priest - +1 to initiative and +2 to concentration checks to cast in battle
Toughness - More hp is always more better.
Again just suggestions, there are many good things to choose that are not on this list and may work better flavor wise.
GM Riatin |
T's had a busy couple of weeks so he's going to get his act together over the weekend and hopefully join us in a few days.
Katarina from the recruitment thread will be our lovely representative of the arcane.
So just waiting for your friend Rei, if he wants to join in a couple of days as well, I'm fine with that. My plan is to start the game in the gameplay thread tomorrow morning however. Any 11th hour questions?
Katarina Tzvana |
Hello everyone!
It's a pleasure to meet you all *offers a little bow*. If you allow me, I'll be delighted to offer my expertise on all matters arcane, from sharing obscure bits of knowledge, to empowering allies with inspiring incantations and afflicting enemies with terrible curses!
I can read your future too, if that's more to your liking! My trusty harrow deck never lies, but be warned... What you'll learn may not be something you wanted to... ;)
In all seriousness though I'm happy to be here and eager to play! And if you have any questions about me or Katarina fell free to ask. :)
@GM Riatin Thank you very much for choosing my character and for taking the time to run this AP!