Currently my group has been made using the 15pt build. The characters have been doing quite well and are about 7th level overall. Most characters have no negative stats and those that do have high end stats over 18 currently. I DID give them max hp for the first 3 levels and strict die rolls in my presence for every level thereafter. I do not let them "pre-craft" equipment. ( my take is starting gold reflects this if they want to say they "made" it. )
I have noticed reading the boards that most the questions seem geared for 25pt builds. My group has done REALLY well, without dedicated healing and with some restrictions on potions at 15point level. I feel trepidation about increasing to a higher point build.
My questions What is the reccomended point build for golarion mods and paths? Do others even use the low end point values? Do any DM's experience ubbermen characters with 25pt builds?
Also, any advice or criticisms are appreciated.
PS: oh, and we only use main book, when other Paizo books come along, we will use those. No former 3.5 books.
My group has had no problems with a 15pt. build, though we recently upped to 20pt. to get a slightly more "heroic" group.
I think 20pt. is a good balance as you can have one maxed score if desirable and also be able to have another somewhat good stat while having some penalties.
I'm going to be allowing my players to use the 25-point 'epic' build for Kingmaker. I figured these guys have to be EVEN better than your 'normal' adventurers and just wanted to really max out the fun on this AP.
well, I must say that it depends on the size of your group as well. Whether it is a 6 or a 3 man group of PC's should be taken in to account when deciding pt-build
If you are playing a strictly "low-level" game, focused on intrigue and the like (Council of Thieves adventure path), 15 point buy is the way to go; it keeps things reasonable and prevents the characters from rolfstomping things at low level thanks to lots and lots of stats.
If you are playing a high-level / epic game, focused on world or multi-verse shaping events (Kingmaker adventure path), 25 point buy is a better choice, as it feels more "epic", which is the goal.
Obviously, a game that's "in between" would use 20 point buy.
It all depends on the kind of game you want to run; no choice is "bad", but they mean different things.