Hello all I'm new to the Pathfinder game and tabletop RPG's in general and I was looking for advice on better controlling my group and also understanding the material better. First off I have a person in my group I play with who always plays a rogue and who takes too much time stealing pointless things and buying stupid things from general stores so that we barely get to play. Is there a way to mitigate this without "god-modding"? Also I'm having a hard time understanding hit dice, especially with familiars or animal companions. What does it mean when their hit dice is equal to yours? Thanks in advance!
Hi Jesse,
For the rogue issue? Keep in mind, you determine the scope of detail that goes on. Both of these are acceptable for a DM to do:
A) "You wander through the courtyard, searching for an appropriately inattentive citizen. Roll a Perception Check... okay, you see a young lady purchasing some hens from the game stall and her coin purse is in a very vulnerable position. Roll a Sleight of Hand check... you manage to filch the purse without anyone noticing. Then you notice that the blacksmith doesn't seem to have a good eye on..."
B) "How long do you want to pickpocket? 2 hours? Roll a sleight of hand check. Okay, you do reasonably well, and make 13 gold over those 2 hours."
... the only difference is the scale and level of detail presented to the player.
My personal rule as GM is, the scale is determined by how many people are doing it. Everyone in the party doing some NPC interaction? Then it's going to get role-played. Only one or two people doing it? It's probably going to get summarized or hand-waved.
The key is to let those other players cover the same amount of game time, too. If one player wanted to spend 3 hours doing something or another, they'll need to expect to sit there while the other players cover their character's actions for those 3 hours as well. If the rogue is stealing stuff, he can't be involved when everyone else talks to the town guard, or looks around the archives for a legendary missing scroll. Make sure you're firm on that part. From what I've seen, the same sort of players that want to monopolize time are the sort that would say, "I'm there with them." You need to be ready to say, "No, you're not. Your character is pilfering items in the marketplace for the next two hours."
For the most part trying to control your group is a bad idea. The point of the game is to have fun, and having a director/boss normally isn't fun.
For the rogue, talk to the player and explain why playing ShopingSpreeD20 isn't in the best interest of everyone at the table having fun. If they get it and make a change in their actions, reward them with adventure plots that support theft from time to time. If they argue or don't change, then talk to them again and seriously consider not gaming with them. It's really as simple as that.
Hit dice...well, some effects will say how they relate to hit dice (some spells, like sleep only effect so many hit dice, or only work if the caster has more hit dice), so if for example you have a 10th level character with some sort of tag along creature that has equal hit dice, the creature is counted as a 10 hit dice creature regardless of how many hitpoints it has, or how many hit dice the original creature had. Make sense?
Any other questions?
Hello all I'm new to the Pathfinder game and tabletop RPG's in general and I was looking for advice on better controlling my group and also understanding the material better. First off I have a person in my group I play with who always plays a rogue and who takes too much time stealing pointless things and buying stupid things from general stores so that we barely get to play. Is there a way to mitigate this without "god-modding"? Also I'm having a hard time understanding hit dice, especially with familiars or animal companions. What does it mean when their hit dice is equal to yours? Thanks in advance!
My advice for rules issues? Find the person in the group most knowledgeable about the rules, preferably one that's DM'ed before. Ask them if they wouldn't mind being a sort of "Assistant DM" - someone that can advise you on rules, look up things if an issue comes up, etc.
As for the Hit Dice? You can kind of think of them as "levels" for creatures. It not only determines the hit points of a creature, but determines their Base Attack Bonus, their Base Saves, and the number of Feats/Skills/etc they've got available. It's a bit different with Animal Companions and Familiars, though - they're handled in the Classes section (Druid and Wizard, I believe.)
Have a look at the Gamer's Guide to Pathfinder Podcast, esp. the episode on player types. For encounters see the 'Designing Encounters' section of the core rulebook. Basically, calculate the average party level (APL) and add a modifier (-1 = easy to +3 = epic) to get the challenge rating (CR) of the opponent (which is listed in the Bestiary).
Hello all I'm new to the Pathfinder game and tabletop RPG's in general and I was looking for advice on better controlling my group and also understanding the material better. First off I have a person in my group I play with who always plays a rogue and who takes too much time stealing pointless things and buying stupid things from general stores so that we barely get to play. Is there a way to mitigate this without "god-modding"? Also I'm having a hard time understanding hit dice, especially with familiars or animal companions. What does it mean when their hit dice is equal to yours? Thanks in advance!
There is an easy answer: next time he wants to go off and do something, tell him fine and can he step out of the room while you deal with the rest of the party. Then have something interesting happen to them, and have it take up time. Then go to him outside, get him to tell you what he wants to steal and/or buy, get him to make a Slight-of-Hand check and a Diplomacy check, tell him how much he made/lost and bring him back in. Done in five minutes.
He'll soon get the message.
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Where can I find the podcast? And how do I calculate a CR for the NPC's I make? And thanks Dabbler for the advice...todays session shall prove...interesting.
A normal race with PC levels is CR = Level - 1. A normal race with NPC levels is CR = Level - 2.
This should be in the Core Rulebook somewhere, but I don't have it handy to look up.
Where can I find the podcast? And how do I calculate a CR for the NPC's I make? And thanks Dabbler for the advice...todays session shall prove...interesting.
Just don't let him draw you in about what he's doing, point out there are people next door doing nothing because HE chose to go off and do stuff if he tries to insist you role-play his solo expeditions in minute detail.
Where can I find the podcast? And how do I calculate a CR for the NPC's I make? And thanks Dabbler for the advice...todays session shall prove...interesting.
It is in the core role book, under GMing encounter design.
The podcast can be found for free on Itunes. It is a good listen and they are informative, I recommend it.
There is also another one that is quite good is Chronicles. They have alot of interesting stuff as well. Longer than the Gamers Guide, but release slower. (They do trade interviews with people and such.)
Gamers Guide to Pathfinder:
http://thegamersguidetopathfinder.wordpress.com/
Chronicles Pathfinder:
http://www.pathfinder-podcast.com/