Questions re: sneak attack and a few other things


Beginner Box


Hello,

Just picked up the BB. I played basic D&D back in high school and have recently been (re)bitten by the RPG bug. I've read both the player and GM book and have a few questions.

1) Rogue sneak attack. The rules say that you get the sneak attack damage bonus if your opponent "hasn't acted yet in combat." Does this apply in every combat round? Say my rogue gets the best initiative roll and so acts first in each round. Do I get the +d6 damage every time I attack? Or is it just the first time?

2) Different classes get to use different weapons. However you can use a weapon that isn't sanctioned, only with a -4 penalty. Does this apply to armor? Can a rogue wear splint mail and simply incur some penalty?

Thanks for your help. I'm looking forward to trying out the game. I ordered Crypt of the Everflame from this website and plan on using it for the first adventure. Can anyone tell me about Paizo's "non-mint" adventure books? I ordered on of these as apparently there are no more new copies of that adventure. Does "non-mint" just mean used?

Thanks,

Steve


Welcome back to the gaming table!

existence123 wrote:
1) Rogue sneak attack. The rules say that you get the sneak attack damage bonus if your opponent "hasn't acted yet in combat." Does this apply in every combat round? Say my rogue gets the best initiative roll and so acts first in each round. Do I get the +d6 damage every time I attack? Or is it just the first time?

Only a character who hasn't had a turn yet during the battle is considered flat-footed and therefore vulnerable to sneak attacks. So, typically, you're only going to get one sneak attack in before they're ready for you.

existence123 wrote:
2) Different classes get to use different weapons. However you can use a weapon that isn't sanctioned, only with a -4 penalty. Does this apply to armor? Can a rogue wear splint mail and simply incur some penalty?

Yes, armor is similar. If you aren't proficient with the armor your wearing, its armor check penalty to attack rolls, while if you are proficient, the penalty applies only to certain skill checks (like swimming and acrobatics). The penalty is different for each type of armor, but it's bad enough that wearing armor you're not proficient with is never worth the trouble.

existence123 wrote:
Can anyone tell me about Paizo's "non-mint" adventure books? I ordered on of these as apparently there are no more new copies of that adventure. Does "non-mint" just mean used?

They're not even necessarily used, some just have "shelf wear" or small manufacturing flaws. Unless you're more of a collector than a reader, you probably won't mind the difference at all.


Thanks for your help!

Is the information you provides regarding armor in the BB rules, or is that from the CR?

While I have your ear, a question about challenge ratings. The GM guide tells you how to budget XP to create an encounter of a given CR. Does this scale relative to party size? Four level one PCs are tougher than two, but both would face CR1 encounter comprised of 400XP. I'm guessing that the rules are assuming a party size of 4?

Thanks again for your help.


I don't know the abbreviations "BB" and "CR" that you're using, but everything we've discussed is in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, and also online.


existence123 wrote:
While I have your ear, a question about challenge ratings. The GM guide tells you how to budget XP to create an encounter of a given CR. Does this scale relative to party size? Four level one PCs are tougher than two, but both would face CR1 encounter comprised of 400XP. I'm guessing that the rules are assuming a party size of 4?

The gamemastering gives details on building encounters.

Assumed party size is 4-5 characters.


Sorry, BB = beginner box and CR = core rules.

Thanks again for the assistance.

Designer, RPG Superstar Judge

For simplicity, the Beginner Box doesn't have armor check penalties; a character who isn't proficient in a type of armor just can't wear it.

Blueluck is referring to the Core Rulebook, so you probably shouldn't try to find what he's talking about in your Beginner Box. :)

The rules assume a typical party size of 4. If you have more or fewer characters, you can scale that up or down. So 5 players is 20% more players than 4 players, so increase your XP budget for encounters by 20%. Things start to get weird below 3 characters or above 6 characters, though, so be careful. :)


Sean K Reynolds wrote:

For simplicity, the Beginner Box doesn't have armor check penalties; a character who isn't proficient in a type of armor just can't wear it.

Blueluck is referring to the Core Rulebook, so you probably shouldn't try to find what he's talking about in your Beginner Box. :)

The rules assume a typical party size of 4. If you have more or fewer characters, you can scale that up or down. So 5 players is 20% more players than 4 players, so increase your XP budget for encounters by 20%. Things start to get weird below 3 characters or above 6 characters, though, so be careful. :)

Thanks for the clarification.

I'm having trouble finding players right now. Your comment suggests I ought to get at least three, which I'll take under advisement. Very helpful forum here and I thank you.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Paizo Products / Beginner Box / Questions re: sneak attack and a few other things All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Beginner Box