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The BB will show you what you need to do. On the other hand, making a character doesn't need to be difficult. The full Pathfinder game contains more options than you will ever need, but who says you need to use them all? Take one of the 1st-level NPCs from NPC codex, change the description and alignment if you like, and play that guy. Read up on a few new options each time, and incorporate them into play. Once you have tried that a few times, you will see that you understand more and more of the rules. And seriously, if it goes wrong sometimes, it's no big deal. Unless Paizo sends its rule police hit squad out for you, that is always messy. =)

Yikes! Didn't know about the rules police. =) Thanks for the help to get going!

the first step is to figure out what kind of character you want to play- come up with an idea what kind of abilities you'd like to have, how you want to overcome dangers, and a rough idea of the character outlook/personality. armed with that, look through the book and pick what class and race you think works best what you want to do.

the next step will be to determine your stats- you can roll for these or there are rules for 'buying' them with a predetermined number of points. you should do this in such a way that you have a natural aptitude for the things you want to be good at (and don't take penalties to other stats, if you can avoid it, unless it fits your idea- like low dexterity or intelligence for a clumsy barbarian or dimwitted fighter, or low Cha for a withdrawn, bookish wizard). remember to apply any racial modifiers to your stats too.

every class has a hit die (the type of die they use for hit points)- at first level you have Hit Points equal to maximum value of that die (d6=6, d8=8, etc.) plus your constitution modifier. every level after 1st you role the die and add the number you roll plus your constitution modifier to your total hit points. ** spoiler omitted **

after that pick the skills you want to be good at and put your skill ranks in them. then pick a feat or feats (depending on your race and class) that will help you be good at whatever you want to do. and spend your money on the...

Thank you so much Nate Lange for your thoughtful and thorough response. Very helpful!

First, welcome to Pathfinder!

Character Creation in a nutshell, is getting your ability scores (using the pt buy system or rolling for them), picking race/class, and filling in the rest of the blanks with those two key factors.

Though, to your question in specific: Hit Points in every campaign I've played were the maximum roll (so a fighter would start at 1st level with 10 hit points before modifiers) + your Constitution modifier + any applicable bonuses (I.E. Favored Class, Toughness Feat). So a 1st LvL Fighter with a 14 Constitution has 10 (his max result for his Hit Die) + 2 (his constitution modifier) + additional modifiers. For our example we'll say he does not have Toughness and took the bonus Hit Point for his favored class bonus instead of an extra skill rank, so he's up to a total HP of 13. Barring temporary hit points (from Spells such as Aid) he cannot be brought above 13 HP without leveling up. He can take damage, at which point he subtracts the damage from however many Hit Points he has. I.E. Our fighter gets stabbed by a dagger for 2 points of damage. He goes from 13 HP to 11, and he won't get any HP back until he rests for the night (at which point he'll heal 1 point of damage, bringing him up to 12) or gets hit by a Cure Spell (such as a Cleric casting Cure Light Wounds on the Fighter for 4 points, bringing him back up to 13, his maximum).

When you level up, you roll your Hit Die (1d10), add Constitution modifier, add other bonuses, and add that sum to your max HP. So [dice=Lv2 Fighter HP Roll]1d10 + 2 + 1 (again, we'll assume you took HP over skill point) + 13 = new total HP.

Hope this clarifies things for you instead of mucking them up even more.

Thank you JKaltz. This is perfect. I love the Pathfinder books but, as a re-beginner, it seems like you have to bounce around a dozen different sections of the book to figure out each item in character creation. Your explanation cleared it up everything in regard to hit points.

I don't know how you feel about spending more money but I would strongly recommend The Beginner Box to learn pathfinder.

It's a complicated game to take in all at once - the beginner box is really well set out, glosses over some of the more complicated rules and will allow you to play a few races and classes up to level five. Although it is somewhat simplified, it's pretty consistent with the full game so you don't have to "unlearn" anything when it comes time to move up to the full experience.

It also comes with a flipmat, pawns, dice, etcetera and is a bargain, IMO. I can't recommend it highly enough for someone in your position.

Just got it in the mail! Thanks for the recommendation. I skimmed through it and am highly impressed. Perfect for a re-beginner like me!

Thank you so much. I really appreciate the fast responses . . . all very helpful!

I am returning to RPGs after 20 years and am brand new to the Pathfinder concept (never played D&D). What are the most fun/interesting settings and/or modules that you would recommend for beginners? I have the first Bestiary and would really like to use some of the cool creatures in it.

Thanks!

The last time I played a RPG was my senior year of high school in 1993. Back then I played DC Super Heroes, Marvel Super Heroes, and especially Lord of the Rings (along with a strange but fun cartoon character RPG with a title I cannot remember).

Now that I have two boys, I thought I'd see how the gaming world has changed. I recently purchased both the Marvel and DC game books and then went looking for a Lord of the Rings type game. I had never played D&D but was always curious. I came across Pathfinder and was very impressed. So I purchased the main book, the first Bestiary and NPC Codex. I have loved the reading but have found myself entirely lost as I have tried to create a character and understand combat. I don't know if I am not as sharp as I was when I am young or if the rule system is just so much more advanced that it is hard for me to grasp.

I would really appreciate it if gamers with experience could help me out. I have been trying to build my first level 1 character and have probably spent 3 hours over several different sessions trying to figure things out. What I am stuck on right now is how to figure out hit points both how they work (do you roll before every battle, each adventure, etc) and how do you figure out how many your character gets to start with.

If anyone has the time, I would really appreciate being walked through the whole character creation process - like if you could describe each step in a character you put together. I know this is asking a lot but I would be grateful!

Does anyone know of a good website where Pathfinder players can post characters they have generated? I am specifically looking for someone who has created characters from literature, such as Lord of the Rings or works by Anne McCaffery, Kristen Cashore, etc.