EdOWar's page

EdOWar wrote:

I've got a wealth of supplemental material I've worked on over the last few years for the Beginner Box, available here.

Included are PFBB conversions for most of the PF classes. And I still write the occasional PFBB related post. Cheers.

And it is the most awesome stuff ever for the BB. Paizo should adapt it all to their own stuff and publish a second BB with all of that in it!!!

Thank you for the high praise. :)

I've got a wealth of supplemental material I've worked on over the last few years for the Beginner Box, available here.

Included are PFBB conversions for most of the PF classes. And I still write the occasional PFBB related post. Cheers.

1) The second paragraph is talking about charging on a horse, while the third paragraph is talking about taking a double move on the horse. These are two different concepts.

A charge is effectively a move + standard action (in Beginner Box terms) that allows you to move up to twice your speed and then make a melee attack. But even though you can move up to twice your speed, a charge is not the same thing as taking a double move.

In other words, if you're riding a horse and want to move up to twice the horse's speed and still make a melee attack, you have to charge (+2 to-hit, -2 AC). If you just double move on the horse, you can only make a ranged attack (at -4 to-hit) at the half-way point of the horse's movement.

2) The third example of a line spell represents casting at roughly a 30-degree angle (or so it appears to me, just eye-balling it). Any figures in the shaded spaces would be affected by the spell.

Hope this helps.

To cast a 2nd level spell you need a minimum INT of 12, which is also a +1 modifier. Why isn't that reflected in the save DC of 2nd level scrolls?

Scroll Saving Throw DC
The saving throw DC for a scroll is 11 for a 1st-level spell, 12
for a 2nd-level spell, or 14 for a 3rd-level spell. In other words,
your INT Mod and WIS Mod don’t affect the saving throw DC
of a scroll.

I've often wondered about this. Shouldn't the DC for a 3rd level spell scroll be 13 instead of 14? Or is the BB making a special exception here for some reason?

The BB doesn't really use favored class, but it is easy enough to add in if you like.

Thrown weapons may be a more viable option in the BB since there are fewer competing options overall. If a player wants to throw a lot of weapons, they should purchase several of them and then pick them up after the battle.

Off the top of my head, I don't believe the BB has any returning magical weapons. But again, if you want to add some to your game, it is easily done.

Cheers.

-EdOWar

I've posted the Bloodrager conversion.

Also, a one-page sheet of structures and a new monster template.

Cheers.

Okay, here's the Arcanist conversion:

https://edowarsblog.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/pfbb-arcanist-class-conversion /

When I've finished all the ACG conversions I'll consolidate them into a single document.

Cheers!

EdoWar,

are you working on conversions of the new classes from the Advanced Class Guide?

Well, I'm considering doing conversions for the hybrid classes from the ACG. Though, I'm a little busy right now, so it might be a little while before I get to it.

Ed

Thanks for this stuff Ed. Just curious, how come you used Damiel for the half-elf picture? He's an elf. Seltyiel and Lirianne are the iconic half-elves (and possibly one of the new ones; haven't looked yet).

I'm not intimately familiar with the 'iconic' PF characters. When I was looking for appropriate art, he probably looked more half-elfy to me than anyone else.

After a while I´ve just finished my 6th level character clases for the BB So I will leave the link here if anyone want to take a look at them.

Happy rolls

Nice work, it looks very slick. Better than anything I've put together. Thanks for sharing it.

In practice, our group typically requires a Perception check after a player declares they are searching for a secret door in the room. We don't require them to specify a location (old school D&D used to require targeting a specific 10x10 square). Usually everyone in the party is checking, so someone is bound to make the check and find the door. I have no idea if this is the "official" way to do it, but it's quick and clean and works for us.

Also, our group also requires more specificity when searching for traps. What exactly is the character searching for traps? A chest, a lock, a doorway? In this case, the specific details could be important.

EdOWar wrote:

Healing time refers to game time, not real time. So, healing 8 hours in game time can be resolved in just a minute of real time, provided nothing else interesting happens in-game during the 8 hours. Just say "Eight hours goes by and you heal 2 hit points," or something like that.

Does that answer your question?

Regarding checks, only tell players what check to make based on the action they're taking. If they're looking for traps or secret doors, tell them to make a Perception check. If one character is reading the ancient runes, have that character's player make a Knowledge check for their character.

If they try to do something potentially risky, like jumping across a pit, let them know what kind of check to make, give them an idea of the risk involved (i.e. how hard would it be to succeed) and tell them the consequences for failure (i.e. if they fail the check, they fall into the pit and take damage). This way the player can make an informed decision about the task.

Food and water don't heal you like they do in many video games. The game is a simulation of life, so your characters need food and water to survive. Many GM's hand-wave this aspect of the game, finding this kind of record keeping tedious. But it could be important if the characters become lost in the desert, for example.

alright, generally clears it up, do I still need to let them decide what to do before I tell them stuff, like basically do I tell them all their options, like "you can try and open chest, read the runes, drink from the fountain, search mats, go through door, etc." or do I just tell them whats in the room and let them decide what to do about it, and if they happen upon deciding to read the runes, tell them the check, and in this case, the runes was a religion knowledge check, meaning they couldn't unless they had that skill right?

Generally, I describe a room or situation and then wait for my players to tell me what they want their characters to do before telling them what kind of checks to make. However, the group I play with is pretty experienced with RPGs, so starting out you may find it better to give your players all their options up front and then let them choose. Over time, as they get used to the concept, they'll tell you what they want to do on their own initiative.

EdOWar wrote:

Healing time refers to game time, not real time. So, healing 8 hours in game time can be resolved in just a minute of real time, provided nothing else interesting happens in-game during the 8 hours. Just say "Eight hours goes by and you heal 2 hit points," or something like that.

Does that answer your question?

it answers the 1st question in that reply, thanks, not the other 2 though

Yeah, edited my post to address your other two questions.

Healing time refers to game time, not real time. So, healing 8 hours in game time can be resolved in just a minute of real time, provided nothing else interesting happens in-game during the 8 hours. Just say "Eight hours goes by and you heal 2 hit points," or something like that.

Does that answer your question?

Regarding checks, only tell players what check to make based on the action they're taking. If they're looking for traps or secret doors, tell them to make a Perception check. If one character is reading the ancient runes, have that character's player make a Knowledge check for their character.

If they try to do something potentially risky, like jumping across a pit, let them know what kind of check to make, give them an idea of the risk involved (i.e. how hard would it be to succeed) and tell them the consequences for failure (i.e. if they fail the check, they fall into the pit and take damage). This way the player can make an informed decision about the task.

Food and water don't heal you like they do in many video games. The game is a simulation of life, so your characters need food and water to survive. Many GM's hand-wave this aspect of the game, finding this kind of record keeping tedious. But it could be important if the characters become lost in the desert, for example.

Out of curiosity I thought I'd check out the number of downloads so far for the PFBB Consolidated Class Conversion PDF.

There have been over 3,400 downloads to date! Holy cow, that blew my socks off. My thanks to everyone who's downloaded the document. I hope you found it to be of use.

Cheers.

The way to tell without opening (in case you find you need to return it) is the corner flash in the top right, which should say "New Book Inside!"

Out of curiosity, what is the new book inside the 2nd edition box?

Each casting class specifies how many bonus spells are gained per day for high casting stats. If I recall correctly, it's something like Intelligence (or Wisdom) 12+ = 1 bonus 1st level spell per day; 14+ = 1 bonus 2nd level spell per day (in addition to the 1st level spell); 16+ = 1 bonus 3rd level spell per day (in additional to 1st and 2nd).

Please note that the Beginner Box does not give out as many bonus spells for high stat scores as Pathfinder Core rules do.

I've considered implementing a few of these suggestions myself, in particular getting rid of confirming critical hits (actually, I'm surprised Paizo didn't do this for the BB to begin with) and using 5' for all diagonal moves. I'd also like to add 4E's square-shaped AoE's...less realistic perhaps, but then it is a game, not a real-life simulator.

As much as I would like to see a "Expert" version of the Beginner Box, I have to agree that it would probably be a bad idea for Paizo to do so. Trying to keep two different customer bases happy would expend a great deal of resources for little gain.

That said, the main differences between Core and the BB (aside from presentation) is that BB does away with AoO and CMB/CMD. Some other things are simplified as well, but the gist of it is you could probably run the type of game you wanted using the Core rules and just omit everything having to do with AoO and CMB/CMD, capping the game at level 10. Maybe omit the various class archetypes, too.

On a side note, you can actually get up to level 6 in the BB using the Transitions document (and a little bit of homework).

Edit: On another side note, in 'Old School' circles there's a style of play called "E6" where the highest level heroes in the land are, at most, 6th level. There's also another approach that treats the Basic D&D Red Box (which caps at 3rd level) as a complete game, totally ignoring the Expert (and later) rules. The BB sort of compresses both into one box, and is well suited for this style of play.

Hi, I´d been asked to reload the BB templates for 6th level characters again so here They are, also some minor mistakes have been corrected.

Happy rolls.

The 6th level template expansions look pretty good. Are you planning to do them for the rest of the classes?

-Ed

Hi I´m a big fan of Ed´s conversions and templates, as I use them on my BB campaign.

Actually I´m working on a conversion to level up BB characters to 6th level using ed´s templates, but I wanted to ask permision from ED and the paizo staff since I know they read the forums, before I post them-

Happy rolls

I'm glad you find the conversions useful. I have no problem with people building on my work. My only request is, if you release for public consumption, just acknowledge my work. Also, if you release for public consumption, you'll have to comply with Paizo's Community Use Policy and the OGL (as I found out the hard way :) ).

Great idea. I'll have to go out and get a business card holder for these now.

I like adding their BAB to the Perception roll to notice the weakened scales, that's really clever.

I've always pronounced it 'kee,' but now I'm not sure that's correct.

-Ed

I like that twist about goblins eating their dead...it very much sounds like something a goblin would do, whether in mourning or not. :)

-Ed

Sounds just like the way we used to whip up adventures back in the day. Hopefully there'll be further adventures in the wizard's tower.

-Ed

Would you consider making the other "core" class iconic characters? I know this is a decent amount of work, but we appreciate your dedication.

(As for the other iconic class characters, please everyone, give this man a six-month break at least.) :)

If you mean make the pregens for each class? I think DWishR was working on that and the ones I saw looked simply amazing, so much better than anything I could ever do. I know there were some problems with the trade dress on the pregens, but hopefully that'll all get sorted out soon.

-Ed

Any chance of expanding these to 10th level?

For a number of reasons, I have no intention of expanding the PFBB classes (or my conversions) beyond level 5. But if someone else wants to do it....

-Ed

Looks good! It's functional and I like how you put all the really important stuff up towards the top where it's easy to find.

-Ed

Thanks guys. :)

Just finished the consolidated class conversion document. It doesn't include the five classes Paizo did for the BB (yet), but includes all the ones I did, in one handy document. You can dl it at the link above.

Cheers.

-Ed

That's really too bad. I understand that Paizo needs to protect themselves and their IP - I assume the changes you need to make are to not copy the trade dress of the official pregens - but that was the whole point of your work here. But... Boo. Really.

I'll say again that I believe there is a decent sized group out here that wants this simplified version of PF and has no desire to move on to the full game. Yes, we can create our own versions of the content from the SRD but when we're playing with kids, using the box as the educational tool it's designed for, continuity of presentation is key, and DWishR's pregens allowed the GM to offer new classes, or expand the party if there are more than 4 players, without adding another layer of confusion or difficulty to the process.

I really hope you guys don't feel like you need to come down on EdoWar for using the color-coded block format for the feats and skills he's produced as part of his class conversion project.

Hehe, I really hope they don't have to, either. I never got the chance to see DWishR's original pregens, so I don't know how close to the trade dress they got. Hopefully my conversions are different enough to not violate anything.

At any rate, I'm looking forward to seeing the new versions of the pregens. I've gotten some requests to do pregens myself, but if someone else is willing to do them, then I can spend more time on something else (like a PFBB megadungeon).

-Ed

Thanks everyone. I'm glad people find these to be useful (especially after all the work I put into them, hehe ;) ).

Just posted a PDF that consolidates all the new feats from the class conversions with the feats from the Heroes Handbook and the player's supplement that Paizo put out. You can dl it at the link above.

Cheers.

-Ed

The samurai conversion was posted to my blog yesterday, and with that I've finished BB-ifying all the core classes.

I'll consolidate all of the classes into a single PDF in a few days, so everything will be in one handy document. Please let me know if you have any questions or catch any errors. Many thanks.

-Ed

Downloads

EdOWar wrote:

I'll probably have the Ninja done tomorrow, or by Thursday at the latest. :)

Ed, seriously, if I could buy you a drink I would.

Your conversions have virtually trebled the use of the BB.

I also LOVE that you're adapting monsters! I'd like to know how you make some of the decisions re: powers/abilities, as there are a number of critters I'd like to convert on my own....but cheers to you for the work you've done so far!!!

THANK YOU.

Thanks for the high praise. :)

Basically, if a monster or class uses a mechanic not presented in the Beginner Box (such as AoO, combat maneuvers, etc.) that power or ability is usually jettisoned. I may use a work-around if I can think of something simple enough. Also, if I think something is too crunchy or complicated for the BB, I'll usually drop it, or tweak it if I can.

When working on the class conversions, I try to keep in mind that someone may want to convert to Pathfinder Core at some point. So, I avoid adding mechanics or abilities that would have to be 'taken away' from the player if they did convert to the core rules. This isn't an issue so much with monsters, though, as the PCs will probably never realize the difference.

-Ed

I'll probably have the Ninja done tomorrow, or by Thursday at the latest. :)

-Ed

P.S. Thanks for the reference, Ravenbow.

The idea of treating 'threatened' squares as difficult terrain sounds intriguing.

- Ed Green

EdOWar wrote:

Sounds like fun. :)

-Ed

Sure was! :) Your Alchemist BB conversion worked well, Ed (sadly the Alchemist PC got ganked by the dragon). Only small issue was you gave the Alchemist Sleight of Hand, a non-BB skill, so we substituted a Knowledge skill AIR.

Next time, a player wants to play your Oracle conversion! :)

Doh! That's an oversight on my part. I'll correct it ASAP.

I hope the Oracle works as well as the Alchemist.

Thanks.

-Ed

Sounds like fun. :)

-Ed

EdOWar, you do good work. I just printed up all of the races and classes from your site and I'm going to put them in a Player's Options binder that I'll carry around with my PFBB.

Once my 9 year old son and 10 year old nephew found out that Pathfinder allowed for dinosaur facmiliars and animal companions, I was immediately forced to help them make up a human ranger, a halfling druid with a deinonychus animal companion, and a half-orc witch with a compsognathus familiar.
Now, EdOWar...

*CRACK!* Get to work on the gunslinger, ninja and magus! *CRACK!*

- Rebis Ouroboros

I'm gettin' there. :)

Just posted the Oracle a few minutes ago. Summoner is next, then Magus and then the UC classes.

Ed, Thank you for sharing the link here. My best friend and long time gameplayer will be joining my family's game. It was both funny and frustrating for us as he has tried to chose his character type. He asked about gomes, half-elves,bards, and sorcerers. I just sent him the link to your webpage.

Oh, cool, thank you. I hope he finds it helpful. There's a race addendum up there too, adding gnomes, halflings, half-orcs and half-elves.

-Ed

Thanks for the reference DarkWhite. :)

I'm slowly working through all the additional core classes. When they're finished I'll put them together into a single document.

-Ed

Ed, I took a look at the Witch PDF. Very nice, but why no Slumber Hex?

I thought I responded to your question earlier today, but now I don't see it. Anyways, perhaps I hadn't read slumber closely enough and thought it too complex to add to the BB witch. However, reading it now, it seems simple enough to add. So feel free to do so if you like. I may add it if I have to do a correction to the witch class. Thanks.

Awesome, thanks for the advice. And thanks for the character class writeups, Ed. I may offer those to my players as options.

Please do. :)

Shameless self-promotion:

Druid class, and more

-Ed

You're welcome, I'm glad people are finding these to be of use. I just finished the Inquisitor conversion, for anyone who's interested.

EdOWar wrote:

The sleep spell says it affects up to 4 Hit Dice of creatures. However, unless I've missed it, there is no reference to hit dice in the BB, at least not for monsters (maybe there is for PCs). Do we just use monster CR instead?

Yes! That's addressed in the Corrections section of the free Beginner Box Player Pack, page 13.

Thank you for pointing that out. I guess I missed it when I read the Player Pack before.

The sleep spell says it affects up to 4 Hit Dice of creatures. However, unless I've missed it, there is no reference to hit dice in the BB, at least not for monsters (maybe there is for PCs). Do we just use monster CR instead?

EdOWar wrote:

House rules I've thought about:

- E5 style campaign
- Remove critical hit confirmation roll (and reduce any weapon's with threat range of 18-20 to 19-20).
- 4E movement and square fireballs to help move combat along that much faster
- All magic items are unique, save only consumable items (like potions, scrolls and wands) and +1 weapons and armor

I talk a bit about my 'hypothetical' BB campaign here on my blog, if you're interested.

-Ed

E5? Any big difference from E6? Do you have a set of house rules for that type of campaign? I'm looking to adapt PF to E5 using th BB as a base. Any other useful input would be much appreciated

My understanding is that, more or less, in an E6 campaign the level cap is 6. So, an E5 campaign would have a level cap of 5, to match the BB. PCs still get to pick new feats after level 5, say every additional 5,000 XP or so (or maybe 10,000 xp, not exactly sure yet). I don't think it would require any more work than that, unless I've missed something about E6 style campaigns.

-Ed

House rules I've thought about:

- E5 style campaign
- Remove critical hit confirmation roll (and reduce any weapon's with threat range of 18-20 to 19-20).
- 4E movement and square fireballs to help move combat along that much faster
- All magic items are unique, save only consumable items (like potions, scrolls and wands) and +1 weapons and armor

I talk a bit about my 'hypothetical' BB campaign here on my blog, if you're interested.

-Ed