Project: What advice would you give a new player? Topic 1: Character Creation


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


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Hello! For a college project, I am writing a Pathfinder guide. The premise of the guide is a guide for player by players. What have you learned in pathfinder that you wish you had known when you began.

Over the next few days, I'll be posting a topic like this each day, each with a different topic that I'm gathering advice for. If you have advice unrelated to the topic of the day, feel free to share it, I just want to keep things organized for myself. The topics that will be covered are: Character Creation/Building, Strategy when playing, Interparty conflicts (both in game and out of game) and styling the campaign around your player's interests (roleplay vs. rollplay, stuff like that). I'll go into more detail on each topic when I post the thread.

What kind of advice am I looking for? Pretty much any advice, really. The advice can be mechanical, story based, even your own personal house rules that make things run smoother. Anything goes as long as its newbie friendly.

And so we enter the first topic: Character Creation!

What advice would you give to a first time player when they're building their first characters. What system do you prefer for generating stats? Do you use house rules? Do you factor in the rest of the group, or do you think its better to invent your own character independently? What advice do you have for writing your character's backstory? How much of a backstory should a character have?

Also, I will be crediting everyone who posts as a source for the guide. If you do not want to be labeled as a source or have an alternate name you want to be credited under, please say so. Otherwise I'll make a list of usernames. Thank you for all your help!


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Regardless of homebrew rules, and even game system, I generally suggest new players play a one dimensional archetypal character for the first few sessions and let their character develop depth later on.

They might not know all the mechanics, or what the strategically best action is, but they will always know what their character will do: Big dumb bruiser archetype charges in, cowardly wizard archetype hides in the back, friendly bard wants talk it out with everyone, whatever. It gives them something to do without to much guesswork.

I find this helps facilitate role playing which fast-tracks everyone towards having fun.

Sovereign Court

Greetings,

Chargen advice:

    1. Work with the GM. The GM should be able to answer questions about stat generation, party composition, and campaign theme.
    2. Check out the online resources SRD/PRD.
    3. If you are completely new to RPGs (no table top or video games) the strategy guide is probably the best investment.
    4. Use the online forums to research class, feats, and abilities. (With caveat that folks online tend towards the extreme of chargen)

Backstory advice:

    1. Work with the GM. The GM should be able to answer questions about length, subject, and relevance of character backstories.
    2. Unless the game is starting at higher levels, keep it simple. Typical first level characters are just starting their adventuring careers. Ex. Having "killed a dragon" is odd, when your character is incapable of doing so at level 1.

Cheers,
Pan

Dark Archive

For pathfinder i reccomend staying in core and learning some basic tricks that arent outright stated.

You should always have rope.

Caltrops can prevent your death.

Buy a sling. It can only help you.

Also for classes you want to dip a toe into as many subsystems as possible. Ranger is amazing for this and the combat styles provide handy feat guides.


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Don't buy a sling you can get one for free.


Don't try to learn memorize everything your character can do at first. Familiarize yourself with the levels you're at. Learn what it can then and worry about the next level's abilities when you get there.


Don't play a wizard as one of your first characters. Wizards require a minimum level of system mastery that you don't have when you are new to the game.

Don't play a fighter as one of your first characters. Building an effective fighter is hard, and the combat feat options are full of traps. Building a fighter requires ditto.


Have an 18 for your main stat.

Close Combat: 18 Str
Ranged, Rogues and Swashbucklers:18 Dex
Most Arcane Casters: 18 Int
Most Divine Casters: 18 Wis
Other Divine Casters: 18 Cha

And don't dump stats on your first character unless someone is around to help you abuse traits/class features to make up for it.


I recommend the Pathfinder Strategy Guide for building characters from the core rulebook [CRB], and for discussion of play strategy/conflicts/style overall.

Things I like: spells listed for the classes specified; recommended abilities and skills for the classes; suggested starting equipment purchases; simple level up information.

Deficiencies: classes from other books would need to be built similarly to their core counterparts [e.g. Hunter class {from Advanced Class Guide} creation would be like a Druid]; options [feats] mainly for Fighter from Weapon Master's Handbook / Armor Master's Handbook aren't there; my favorite Ranger spells are in the Advanced Player's Guide, not CRB.


1: start with core races, pathfinder has 30+ otherwise and you don't want to be overwhelmed by the choices
2: start with fighter or rogue. Easily the simplest classes, lets you learn the games mechanics before getting swamped in your own mechanics
3: ignore the munchkins and elitists. It's not about optimization, it's a game, have fun however YOU want, not how anyone else tells you that you need to
4: this is pathfinder, not real life. Plenty of the rules and mechanics don't make sense compared to reality and that's ok, don't stress yourself out over it.
5: The GM has final say, but there is a line on what kind of nonsense the GM can pull. YOU decide where to draw that line, no one is making you stick with a toxic GM.


Make characters in cooperation with other players. Your concept should fit with theirs, especially if you are joining a game in progress.


making-half-dragons wrote:

1: start with core races, pathfinder has 30+ otherwise and you don't want to be overwhelmed by the choices

2: start with fighter or rogue. Easily the simplest classes, lets you learn the games mechanics before getting swamped in your own mechanics
3: ignore the munchkins and elitists. It's not about optimization, it's a game, have fun however YOU want, not how anyone else tells you that you need to
4: this is pathfinder, not real life. Plenty of the rules and mechanics don't make sense compared to reality and that's ok, don't stress yourself out over it.
5: The GM has final say, but there is a line on what kind of nonsense the GM can pull. YOU decide where to draw that line, no one is making you stick with a toxic GM.

As John Mechalas said fighters are hard because you are swamping the player feat choices

Rogues as pointed out in another thread require an understanding of flanking and numerous different skills
Spellcasters require a understanding of how the game is played however IMO I feel that they also teach the game
Realistically the best way to start off a player is with a NPC class in a tailor made campaign to show the different aspects of the game however since you can't do that in most circumstances I would suggest playing a Ranger
1.At higher levels they get spellcasting and as I pointed out above IMO it teaches some of the basic aspects of the game
2. They have easily stereotyped feat chains
3. Since they can get a familiar it is yet another aspect of the game
4. What spellcasting they have is divine so they don't have to worry about Arcane spell failure
5. They aren't expected to do anything but fight
I never had this problem I just sat down and read the rulebook as soon as I started playing pathfinder :D


Ancient Dragon Master wrote:


As John Mechalas said fighters are hard because you are swamping the player feat choices

While indeed there are scads of such, building a fighter is simple since of course a experienced player can help you. Once your buddy has helped you choose say Power Attack and others such as step up, it's very easy to play.

So, in a solo campaign or a all newb game, with no help from the DM, yeah- maybe. But in most games a fighter is simple.

and with the new fighter books, martials CAN have nice things- like Flight and Dimension Door and so forth.


Fair enough. Fighters can be a little dull for the newbie, though. There are no flashy powers, just feats that add numbers to die rolls for quite a while. The other martial classes have stuff beyond the mundane that new players may find more engaging. And, the newbie may feel like they have more agency.

Don't get me wrong: I played a straight fighter through an AP in PF and I enjoyed it. There is an elegance to planning your fighter's style and watching it unfold in the game, but you have to be pretty committed.


Thereddic wrote:
Do you factor in the rest of the group, or do you think its better to invent your own character independently?

For the same reason that someone else suggested starting out with an archetypical sort of character, I like the idea of creating characters together, especially for new players. My first campaigns were of the "we all just make our own characters and start from there" type, and it was actually kind of intimidating because I wasn't sure of how to interact with the other characters. (That is, my character's relationship with each of the others was "hey, person I just met!" and I found it hard to get past that.)

If we'd worked out beforehand how some of the characters might know each other, that would have made it easier: if you know that your character and Alice's character are sisters, and your character works for the same guild as Bob's character, then you have something to go on, beyond the general objective of "interact among yourselves!". You can think of something like an archetype for a relationship between siblings, childhood friends, two guys whose families have hated each other for generations, etc. and that's something to start with.

I think some people have the idea that "Session 0" is a crutch and their group is so "good" at RPGs that they don't need it. But (1) if you're adding a new player to the group, they are by definition not too experienced for Session 0, even if there were such a thing as being too experienced for it and (2) Session 0 can only help you -- help you understand the expectations for the campaign, and help you make characters that fit the campaign (and each other).


When designing your character, think about Pathfinder's system. Once you've picked a character class, read through 1 or more guides. Don't get drowned in the detail, and don't read everything. Read the flavor discussion, and the feats and items marked green or blue at the start, so you get a sense of what your character can be designed to do.

When designing your character, maximize fun. Being effective is fun, so also be that. Getting your friends killed because you can't pull your weight is unfun squared.

But think about being great at a few things, rather than mediocre at a lot of things. Pick a few skills to specialize in. Pick a few techniques to specialize in (damage-dealing, battlefield control, party support, tanking, skill-master, party face, etc.) that synergize well with the rest of your party. For example, when I designed my goblin alchemist, I decided my roles would be battlefield control through bombs, party support through potions and extracts, scout, and knowledge. The party didn't have those roles filled. But I didn't try to do everything: like being the tank and the face and the damage dealer too. I find that it's best to pick 1-2 combat roles and 1-2 out of combat roles that you want to excel in.

Use traits to make your character able to do things a little differently than the typical character class. Never use feats for anything but advancing your core responsibilities at the table.

Typically, I try to pick feats that let me do things I can't already do. But sometimes you have to eat your bran and take the expected feat that makes you better at what you already do by providing bonuses.


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Ranger is probably a better starting class than fighter or rogue, as its choices are better siloed and handed out gradually as you gain levels. The GM can probably advise the new player as to the best initial choices for favored enemy and favored terrain -- so the first "real" choice is combat style.

Liberty's Edge

Do not dump CON

Ever

Be able to contribute to every round of combat. This includes having ranged attacks


Do's:

If this is your first character ever, start with a sword and board fighter. It let's you learn the basics of combat while still allowing for good survivability at first level.

Ask questions.

Have a social skill, even if you're not the best at it in your group. It will allow you to participate in other types of encounters.

Have a knowledge skill, even if you're not the best at it in your group. It will allow you to participate in other types of encounters.

Have a ranged weapon.

Have a way to deal with climbing and swimming.

Take 10 when not in combat.

Ask questions.

Don'ts:

If this is your first character, do not start with a spellcaster. It will not teach you the basics of combat and a lot of spellcasters have survivability issues at low levels.

Assume you know how things work.

Assume that your character is good at speaking because you are.

Assume that your character is knowledgeable because you are.

Name your character after what you do for a living, or give them a joke name.


Roleplay is the key to enjoying roll play....

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