Just Another Pathfinder's page

So, I've played a few games and I admit I can't roleplay for crap. I tend to play the numbers and tend to think within the skillset rather than within a character. I don't know why but I just can't get over this and play Pathfinder like it were a puzzle instead of a supposedly continuous story.

Makes me a bit sad.

So what I've come to ask is how one gets over and around playing the numbers? I tend to over compensate with gear to make up for my failures ( my backpack has every tool it can carry in it ) and while I'm really good at thinking of new and smart ways to get around I'm really bad at doing this from an "in-character" point of view. If I was playing myself as a chessmaster I'd probably do better but that's breaking the 4th wall, etc.

A GM, in my first game, told me I could not and "took" it from me giving me a weapon that was properly sized for my PC at M instead of L. I just wonder if I really am bound to such. The weapon was a Light Crossbow therefore it isn't two handed, because I know you can't do this with 2H weapons, just before anyone asks.

I went to a game last night and because I'm playing a fighter and I am level one straight out of the CRB with no additional resources after reading the PFS guide it says that all players are presumed to have the CRB and don't have to bring it.

I got asked by someone if I had it on me, and referred to that portion of the document as to why I didn't bother to bring it. Well beyond being a cumbersome book ( I carried a mere folder in there because I only have one chronicle sheet. Ha! ) I would just borrow from my roomy anyway I am pretty sure I just don't have to because the GM is supposed to. Am I correct?

Or do I really have to bring the CRB with me every time I go because I would I guess drag it around. It would just be a shared (physical) book anyway.

So I was hanging around the d20 last few days and found a feat that I just can't seem to go around but I'll be buying the crunch books and the core books and won't have the cash for the primer that contains this one feat.

What I want to know is how "strict" you actually are. I wouldn't lie about it if asked because I didn't lie about it at my first game and he let me use it anyway saying A) it's your first game and B) it's only one feat and it isn't game breaking or anything. I thanked him and we played on and so forth and so on.

Now I can totally understand shutting down someone who gathers stuff from scattered resources and everything under the sun and just kicking him out since that's just outright "thievery" I suppose. If half the character sheet is composed of stuff they can't legally use, sure. But about a person who has one or two items that make no major impacts of legendary status on the game? For instance there's also a trait I thought to take, but can't, and thus haven't in the DEP/ISP that grants Linguistics as a class skill and gives +1 in it. That's all it does. I thought it great flavor ( it does go with his background ) for my Half-Orc Fighter but knowing the rules turned it down and had nothing to fill the slot, haha! I am just curious if anyone "really" would have demanded to see if I could legally use Cosmopolitan or am I being a tad paranoid.

Again, it's more of a question of practicality because it would cost $16 to acquire 2 items, and I'm a bit too green to be that fanatical about it. I would of course bring any related print-outs as necessary but I'm not trying to take "good s$$~" like Infernal Healing. I know better.

Oh, and yes, I know what I'm asking is if I can ... "cheat". I know this. I wouldn't lie about it but I'm curious how you would rule.

I'm not exactly a big fan of "fluff" anyway but putting that aside I have approximately $40 to buy pdfs. That said that leaves me with 3 or so not including the CRB. So what books do you recommend for a starter?

Edit: It's for Society so I have to legally own access to the books, etc.

Here is what I know:

1. When you create a masterwork piece of armor / shield it gets -1 to armor check penalty. This costs 150g.

2. When you create a masterwork weapon you get +1 attack with that weapon. This costs 300~600g.

What I can't find:

1. How to raise the base AC / Dex Bonus of Armor through enhancing.

2. How to raise the base Dmg / Atk of a weapon through enhancing.

I can't say I understand how this particularly works; how do you raise the base bonuses of the armor itself and how much does it cost? For instance a +3 AC piece of armor is not the same as a +3 masterwork piece of armor I don't think. I might be wrong. Any help is greatly appreciated!

For reference I got the idea from Jiggy:

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2p2i4?Surviving-First-Level-in-PFS#1

No, you shouldn't have a masterwork weapon yet. That comes later, after you've gotten your armor sorted. Yeah, yeah, "if I kill them they can't hurt me", "the best defense is a good offense", blah blah blah. But do the math: for pretty much all of your first adventure's gold, you get a +1 to hit. For about half the price (masterwork costs are different between weapons and armor!) you can get about +2 or +3 to your AC. While "offense first" might (let's not debate it here) be a decent strategy for the long haul, at first level you're choosing between ~350gp for +1 to hit or ~175-350 for +3 to AC. Guess which one is more likely to get you to scenario #3?

I am just unaware of where this is in the CRB. I, for instance, don't know where he got the number 350 from.

I was told by a friend the answer.

Incandescent Blue Sphere has three stone tiers, tier 1 is +2 ENHANCEMENT bonus and tier 2 is +1 COMPETENCE bonus on a skill. Do they stack to +3 (+2) for the skill because they are "different"? These aren't the only stones like this so I'm just curious.

1. What books are legal without buying the PDFs?

2. What books have a lot of useful content for Society?

I'm trying to avoid books that have little content that cost $5~$10.

Okay, so I went to my first game today, was a blast, but I have a question that is probably answered clearly elsewhere but I was just a bit too inept to find.

My question is "What books are allowed for your char. without buying them?"

I know it says that you don't have to prove ownership, you just have to bring the materials, and it requires a watermark, or at least that's what the website said but our GM said I must bring the materials with MY watermark on it ( proof I bought it ) rather than that of a friend or buddy who owns the pdf. That's fine, but as with many, I'm not made of infinite cash and because I'm just beginning I don't want to invest a lot into it quite yet.

I think the books you can use upfront are the CRB and APG without buying them. To be honest I don't know what books to "invest" in. I heard SoS for the ioun stones and that's fine but I'd prefer NOT to invest in books that have one or two feats or pieces of gear.

Normally you cannot stack two alike bonuses from any similar source. What I wanted to know is if you could stack bonuses from "non-similar sources" such as meeting two criteria with one outcome. The example:

"Swordsman's Page"; +1 Crit Range with Edged Weapons you're proficient with.

"Anatomist"; +1 Crit Range

My hunch is "No" because they give the same bonus even if they don't have the same criteria but I'm asking because I could be wrong since in games like these sometimes criteria matters more than than the actual bonus ( Means > Ends ).

I've not played a single game yet and I was wondering if I should play a non-official game first or if I should just jump in. I hate to be new at things because honestly I might really, really suck; the character I created can only be "envisioned" but because I've never played, even with watching other people play and reading forums and studying skills and synergies, I'm sure there are things I just won't get until I'm the one doing the Perception checks myself. I learn via experience sometimes best.

I really, really want to find a place to play that I won't bog them down simply because I feel that if I am just "in the way' as some level one character, even if everyone has to begin somewhere, I'm wasting the time of the other players and that's rude.