CHARACTER GENERATION NOTES.
Players may generate their own characters or choose from among the pre-generated characters that I will bring. Characters will not be considered "written in stone" for the first few sessions, so you will be relatively free to modify yours after the initial session or two.
Players familiar with 3.5 edition cannot simply generate a character from that system; instead download the conversion guide and note the changes to abilities (also described below), skills (the list of skills has changed(!)) and for the class features of the class you choose. The link to the conversion guide is:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/resources
I use an Excel spreadsheet program of my own design to aid character design and tracking. I will make copies available. I will maintain a record for your character whether you have access to Excel or not (so that I can create summary sheets about the different characters statistics to use when I am running our game sessions).
CHARACTER GENERATION NOTES.
This document covers what you need to know to generate characters for the campaign and provides web links to some additional resources.
Players may generate their own characters or choose from among the pre-generated characters that I will bring. Characters will not be considered "written in stone" for the first few sessions, so you will be relatively free to modify yours after the initial session or two.
Players familiar with 3.5 edition cannot simply generate a character from that system. Most of what you need to know to generate a character, if you know 3.5, will be covered below, but if you have time and interest there is a free conversion guide that can be downloaded that covers the changes between 3.5 and the Pathfinder RPG -- note the changes to abilities (also described below), skills (the list of skills has changed(!)) and for the class features of the class you choose. The link to the conversion guide is:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/resources
I use an Excel spreadsheet program of my own design to aid character design and tracking. I will make copies of the program available. I will maintain a record for your character whether you have access to Excel or not (so that I can create summary sheets about the different characters statistics to use when I am running our game sessions).
CAMPAIGN NOTES.
A. General Notes.
The campaign will be set in the Pathfinder Companion campaign world. I will use a mix of homemade and purchased adventures.
Play will start in the city of Westcrown in the country Cheliax. Much relevant material can be found in the Players' Guide to the "Council of Thieves" adventure path. For the free PDF download, go to paizo.com/pathfinder/adventurePath
Volunteers are requested for a slice of character background: that your character was raised, at least for several years, in an orphanage in the city run by a religious (Lawful Good/Neutral Good) order of female half-orcs known as the Sisters of Parsimonious Mercy (think of it as a Catholic orphanage and school). This background will link to the first adventure, a source of patronage and will serve to justfy pre-existing relationships between characters. Your character can have spent some years in the orphanage in the city of Westcrown without being Chelaxian, so you need not consider that accepting the call for volunteers for this bit of background restricts you in that way.
B. Campaign Aspects to Keep in Mind When Generating a Character.
1. More adventures will be set in urban (and dungeon) setting than in wilderness settings. You are not strictly required to have a non-wilderness background, but it would probably be better to do so if you don't have a strong preference otherwise. Most character classes can work with an urban background, although Druids are not recommended for this campaign. Rangers can work -- they can even choose "urban" for a favored terrain (at a level higher than first). Barbarians may be considered as 'brawlers'--treat them as normal except make Knowledge Local a class skill instead of Knowledge Nature (or not, and say you spent a lot of time wandering outside of town).
2. The adventuring party is meant to be 'the good guys' -- that's a small "g" in "good," but, still,....no evil alignments; be Good if you can stand it.
3. See below, under the "Abilities" section about encumbrance and not going too far off balance with your abilities.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR GENERATING A CHARACTER.
1. Build Points and Abilities.
Character construction will be by the "point build" system. Each character gets 22 build points.
The point costs for the ability scores, prior to racial adjustment, are as follows:
Ability: 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Cost: -4 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 5 7 10 13 17
Unlike 3.5 edition, Every race gets a net +2 in adjustment:
Dwarves: +2 Con, Wis; -2 Cha;
Elves: +2 Dex, Int; -2 Con
Gnomes: +2 Con, Cha; -2 Str
Halflings: +2 Dex, Cha; -2 Str
Half-Elves, Half-Orcs and Humans: +2 to any one Ability.
Players are partly encouraged and partly required not to build characters with highly unbalanced abilities. Thus, for the requirement, no post-racial-adjustment abilities below 8 are allowed and no character can have more than one "8." With regard to the encouragement to keep your abilities at 10 or higher, I'll note that encounters in this campaign may test any ability of any character; there are no "throwaway" abilities. In particular, I note the following: (1) we will be tracking weight and encumbrance in this campaign, so a low Strength may mean you can't carry your basic supplies and still move at full speed; and (2) there will be occasions where an NPC's final reaction to the party is determined on the basis of a set of checks that would include at least one Charisma check for each INDIVIDUAL character (this will be infrequent -- say, once every two levels of advancement; NPC's who hire you or who you hire are prime examples). In other words, giving your character a low score in some ability to raise another will ALWAYS be a tradeoff in this campaign -- none of the character classes can completely ignore any of the abilities.
2. Skills.
Skill points per level are not multiplied by 4 at first level in Pathfinder. (Instead, characters with at least one rank in a skill that is a "class skill" for them get a +3 to all skill checks with that skill.) The list of skills has changed from 3.5 edition. Skill ranks cost one point for both class skills and non-class skills. The maximum ranks in any skill is your total character level (total hit dice).
The list of skills is Acrobatics, Appraise, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Fly, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (engineering), Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (nobility), Knowledge (planes), Knowledge (religion), Linguistics, Perception, Perform, Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Survival, Swim, Use Magic Device.
See the Conversion Guide for more info.
"Freebie" Skill Points: At first level, everyone gets 1 rank is Swim and 1 rank in Perception that they don't spend skill points on (note that you can't put any more than one rank into a skill at first level); Bards get 1 rank in Perform for free, too (because they will need at least two types of Performance).
House Rule: I am bringing back the "Search" skill in the following way. All characters will have a Search skill modifier. This skill modifier will be based on your Perception skill ranks -- you won't ever spend any skill points on "Search" separately -- but the corresponding ability will be Intelligence rather than Wisdom. Further, for Fighters, Druids and Monks, Perception is a class skill but Search will not be; for Wizards, Perception is not a class skill but Search is. Finally, when Rogues or others get the Trapfinding ability, all Search checks will get a +1. (Other rules may apply -- typically in the direction of leniency. For example, dwarf fighters will get to treat Search as a class skill if looking for a secret door in a masonry or cave wall,...)
3. Traits.
Each character gets two "traits." Traits are described (they are basically the equivalent of half a feat) and many are listed from which you may choose yours in the free Pathfinder download about Character Traits available at http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/resources. Choose zero or one trait from the players' guide to the "Council of Thieves" and then choose one or two traits, respectively, from the guide on traits themselves. One of the main points of traits is to have stories that explain them to help flesh out your character's background, so give a little thought to how your character came to have his or her traits and what they mean for, or to, the character.
[You may NOT choose the "Adopted" trait; all the others are O.K..]
Note that a few of the traits in the guide are modified (made better) for this campaign -- see below.
3.b. Picking Traits without the Guides.
If you want to pick traits without the guides, start by picking one saving throw to get a +1. The names of the corresponding traits are as follows:
+1 Fortitude = "Resilient";
+1 Reflex = "Deft Dodger";
+1 Will = "Indomitable Faith"
For the other trait, pick from the following options:
a. pick a special circumstance to get +2 to your saves in from this list: fear [trait name = "Courageous"], enchantment (i.e., charm/compulsion) spells and spell-like effects ["Birthmark"], illusions ["Skeptic"], poison["Cast-Iron Gut"], evil spells and spell-like effects
b. get +1 save vs divine spells ["History of Heresy"]
c. get +2 on all rolls to confirm critical hits ["Anatomist"]
d. get +1 damage when you flank your target ["Dirty Fighter"]
e. get +1 on another (different) type of saving throw [as above]
f. get +2 Initiative ["Reactionary"]
g. get -1 to Armor Check Penalty (min zero) for any armor (not shield) worn ["Armor Expert"]
h. get +900 gold pieces at start ["Rich Parents"]
i. get +1 on two Knowledge skills and make one of them a class skill of yours
j. get +1 on any one skill and make it a class skill
Changes from Guide:
1. Not all skills have traits that give the listed bonuses in (i) and (j) in the Guide; players who pick traits from the guides may pick (i) or (j) instead of one trait from the guide.
2. Trait (c) modifies the "Anatomist" trait in the guide (makes it +1 better).
3. "Cast-Iron Gut" (+2 to saves vs poison) is not in the Guide, but you can pick it.
4. Starting Gold and Equipment.
As a time and trouble saving expedient, characters will be assigned (with some lattitude for your preferences) starting equipment and some extra starting gold when we get going. Alternatively, you can, if you wish and have the rulebook, purchase all your own equipment -- use the standard starting gold amount (don't bother to buy food or oridinary clothing) and then give yourself one potion of cure light wounds, too.
