David Sid's page

I'm confused, why does having Sudden Charge mean that Valeros should have a shield? Sudden Charge feat doesn't use a shield in any way.

Instead of choosing from the whole list of fighter feats, Beginner Box rules have the fighter choose between three builds: brute, shield fighter, and two-weapon fighter. A shield fighter gets the Sudden Charge feat, and they have a shield as part of their starting equipment. If Valeros was a two-weapon fighter (as in his PFS build), he would have Double Slice and a shortsword.

I'm thrilled that the Beginner Box got a remaster update, but in getting ready to run it for some newbies, I found a few errors in the pregen characters:
1. Kyra should be trained in Diplomacy and untrained in Deception. The skill bonuses correctly reflect this, but the "trained" box is marked for Deception instead of Diplomacy.
2. Kyra should be trained in Nature, as it's Sarenrae's divine skill in Beginner Box rules.
3. Merisiel should be trained in all martial weapons, not just the specific ones listed under "Other Weapon Proficiencies" on her character sheet.
4. Merisiel should have the Pickpocket skill feat, as it's attached to the thief racket in Beginner Box rules.
5. Valeros has the Sudden Charge feat, which in Beginner Box rules means he should have a shield. But his shield's circumstance bonus to AC isn't written down, and no shield is listed in his equipment.
6? Maybe intentional, maybe erroneous. The Criminal background in Beginner Box rules grants Subtle Theft instead of Experienced Smuggler. And the Death Warden Dwarf's attached ancestry feat seems to be a version of Mountain Strategy for fighting undead that can't be replicated in Player Core rules.

And of the other errors mentioned in this thread, the only one corrected in the remastered Beginner Box is "Imtimidation."

This is still the best introduction to Pathfinder 2e for new players. Just wanted to point out some lingering and some new errors.

I always prefer to give the NPC an even break and I favor giving the NPCs the same bonuses as the PCs. I would even go as far as to allow all races to be able to choose an NPC class as an NPC's "favored class". Currently, only humans and half-elves can do this, giving their NPC hordes a huge advantage over other races. This would also provide the adept, the aristocrat, the commoner, the expert, and the warrior with a somewhat plausible reason for not multiclassing with PC classes.

Where are you finding the rule that only humans and half-elves can take NPC classes as favored classes? I remember something like that in the Beta Playtest, but I haven't seen it in the final rules.

I agree with you that all NPCs or at least heroic NPCs should have favored classes, just like the PCs. I just can't find rules text that clearly says they do.

In fact, the chapter of the Core Rulebook on creating NPCs doesn't mention favored classes at all in its seven-step process, which seems to contradict the statement in Chapter 3 that "each character begins play with a single favored class of his choosing." Maybe the statement in Chapter 3 should have said "each PC begins play with a single favored class of his choosing"?

Anyone have a good idea what the designers intended the rule to be?

Do NPCs have favored classes? Just heroic NPCs, or basic NPCs as well?

I looked at a few NPC stat blocks--Kiramor on p. 455 of the Core Rulebook, and the goblin, tengu, and tiefling in the Bestiary Preview--and they all suggest that NPCs don't have favored classes. Kiramor, the tengu, and the tiefling are heroic NPCs, with all the same perks as PCs--max hit points at 1st level and good starting ability scores. The goblin is a basic NPC, with average hit points and ability scores. The hit points and skills of all four lack any evidence of a favored class bonus.

On the other hand, the Core Rulebook says on p. 31 that "each character begins play with a single favored class." Also, NPCs receive all the benefits of their race, just like PCs, but the half-elf's Multitalented trait (choose two favored classes instead of one, p. 24) is based on the assumption that every character normally has one. Lastly, the Conversion Guide on p. 12 says that as part of converting an NPC from 3.5, you "add a number of hit points equal to the highest level the NPC possesses in any one class to represent its favored class bonus."

While the rules text suggests that every character--PC or NPC--gets a favored class, all the examples of NPCs given in the Core Rulebook and Bestiary Preview don't appear to. Can anyone find a definitive answer for this?