First PFS Character, mind giving it a quick look?

Hey Guys, I've just made my first PFS character. I think I've followed all the rules, but would you mind giving my character sheet a quick look? I'd appreciate it if you could point out any blatant errors or stupid decisions that I've made. Thanks for your time,

~Finn McSkivv

P.S. I'm fairly sure I've got this on the right board, but my apologies if I've got it wrong.

Finn McSkivv
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7ux-PkpqlesQ3lLT3JPWE5lTFk/edit?usp=sharin g

Animal Companion: Lionel McBadgerpants
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7ux-PkpqlescjlmRmNNRWdodHM/edit?usp=sharin g

For starters:
Your sword is illegal for a lvl 1 starting character. It is listed as a Cold Iron Menacing Bastard Sword.

For that to be possible it would be a Cold Iron +1 Mencing Bastard Sword and cost 10,070 gp, not 70 gp. You would have neither the GP nor the fame required to make that purchase.

Edit: Secondly, Animal companions do not get traits and the stats should be Con:15 / Cha:10

Oops. How on earth did I mess up the math that badly? Thanks for pointing that out.

(Edited main post with updated links)

Actually. I think you used the bestiary badger instead of the Animal companion rules for druids. That's why the animal companion is wrong. Take a look at the badger in the druid section. That is what you start with.

Also, don't forget to choose Tricks for your animal companion. Since a badger is INT 2 and it's an animal companion, you get to choose 7 tricks for it at first level. Have a look at Handle Animal skill description for more info on what you can teach it.

Your bastard sword is still cold-iron. While you don't need fame for this purchase, starting characters don't have the 2070 gp required to purchase that.

I'll start the companion over again with the book's template. Thanks for pointing that out.

It would seem that PCGen is completely broken when it comes to item pricing. I'll change it to the basic Bastard Sword. And I'll look into tricks, thanks David.

Since you're not riding the badger I would reccommend

Without the animal archive:

Attack, Attack (yes its listed twice, its important- Otherwise it won't attack the undead, weird stuff, and big stuff)
Defend
Down
Guard
Heel
Seek (because its the trick you use to tell your animal companion to go somewhere ahead of you)

If you have access to the animal archive

Attack, Attack
Defend
Down
Guard
Heel
Flank

Your bastard sword is still cold-iron. While you don't need fame for this purchase, starting characters don't have the 2070 gp required to purchase that.

You're thinking of the 2,000gp fee to *enchant* cold iron. A basic cold iron weapon is super cheap.

A cold iron bastard sword, for instance, costs 70gp. A masterwork one would then cost 670gp. Enchanting it to +1 would cost 4,000gp.

Tricks added to Companion, Bastard sword is no longer Cold Iron.

A cold iron bastard sword, for instance, costs 70gp

*twitch*

Tricks added to Companion, Bastard sword is no longer Cold Iron.

Jiggy wrote:

A cold iron bastard sword, for instance, costs 70gp

*twitch*

*places hand on Finn's shoulder consolingly and shakes head*

I understand how you feel. :P

Mwk Cold Iron Bastard Sword is 370 not 670. The +2000 GP for enchanting it is enough to turn most people away from anything but a normal version though. Cold Iron Spiked Gauntlet is a nice item to have. You threaten with no weapon out and can deal cold iron damage without having to switch weapons. If you choose to have a cold iron weapon as your main weapon just keep some potions of magic weapon handy. You will save a lot of gold in the long run.

Some stupid druid tricks...

After your first adventure you can purchase masterwork studded leather barding for your companion. He's not proficient with it so he takes the armor check penalty to all of his attacks... the ACP on mw studded leather is zero so no big loss.

Set your badger to defend at the start of the day. You can either take 10 or just keep rolling throughout breakfast. You can miss your handle animal roll to have him attack, but if he's set to defend you or a party member he'll still attack SOMETHING (even if its not the target you want)

If you have access to the advanced race guide, training harness is a cheap +2 to handle your badger.

This is just my personal opinion, but spending a feat on bastard sword is a total and utter waste for a druid.

The main advantage of bastard swords is the ability to use either 1 or 2h. As a druid, you're going to be using wild shape and probably not wielding the bastard sword all that much anyway.

I think you'd be better off spending the feat on toughness, dodge, or any of a variety of natural weapon enhancing feats, than on an exotic weapon proficiency.

Again, personal view.

I'm sort of attached to the bastard sword. I'm back to a Cold-Iron Bastard sword, and as long as it isn't against the rules, I'll be keeping it. Thanks for pointing out the weaknesses, though. I'll look into the barding and the harness. Oh, and the Exotic Weapon Proficiency comes from a racial characteristic, Ancestral Weapon. I'd never spend a whole feat on something like that. Thanks for the advice, guys.

Ancestral weapon doesn't give exotic weapon proficiency. It has been errataed

I think he meant to say Ancestral Arms. The half-elf alternate racial trait. I am not aware of any such errata concerning Ancestral Arms. It still works as written as far as I know.

Err... yes it is Ancestral Arms. I certainly hope it isn't "errataed".

Ah. I was thinking he meant Heritage Weapon the trait.

Jiggy, I was under the impression that a masterwork cold iron weapon only doubles the base cost of the weapon, not the masterwork portion. It's late, but I'll see if I can dig up any core rulebook examples of cold iron weaponry later.

Honestly, I was thinking that myself, but when I looked in the PRD it didn't look that way, so I went with the text. I'd be happy to be corrected on that one, though.

It's late, but I'll see if I can dig up any core rulebook examples of cold iron weaponry later.

CRB 15-11 lists Cold iron longsword, masterwork as 330 gp.