PFBeginner's page

None specific to the Beginner's Box; the bestiary is fine.

Yes, you only get to prepare one of your two domain spells.

With Spontaneous Casting there is realing no need to prepare Cure Light Wounds.

Did you have another question?

So what about just using a Google doc?

I was also able to paste a PRD link into a Google Doc and download the doc as a Word doc. The link worked successfuly for me.

Yeah, so when I click on the link from the Google Drive Word Doc Viewer, it removes the anchor information after the '#". When I downloaded the Word Document and clicked the link, the URL was correct and opened correctly. Gotta love technology!

clicked on the link in Google Docs.

The test document doesn't seem to be one that points to a sub-item with a hash '#' in it, was that intentional?

When I copy and paste a PRD URL (ie. http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/spells/hauntingChoir.html# haunting-choir) into the forums, it adds a space in front of the hashtag.

Another interesting quirk! I guess I never noticed because I always use the url tag around the url in the forum post, so even if it looks like it has a space in forum text it goes to the right location when clicked.

The %20's in the url are codes for SPACE characters, so it's certainly an interesting situation.

Again, I don't seem to have any issues with your process as described.

I also tried the process on my work laptop (with Win 7, IE 9.08, Word 2007)

What version of Internet Explorer are the links being opened with?

Also, when you paste the URL into the hyperlink dialog, do you see %20's in the url then or only later after you attempt to open the link?

If you're able to upload your test doc to Google Drive and make it publicly shared I may be able to tell you more.

I agree with your suspicion that this is more of a general technical issue and really shouldn't fall on Paizo, so let's see if the community can help--I'm certainly willing to try.

I quickly tested the scenario you suggested doesn't work and I didn't have an issue. However, I'm well aware as a developer that because it works for me doesn't mean it works for everyone.

As a possible work-around, perhaps you can create a doc on your PC/MAC, save it as a PDF and then move the PDF to your tablet. However, let's see if we can figure out what's going on first.

To help you, please provide a bit more detail about exactly what you're doing. Describe the process..

For instance, here is MY process--which would be any IT Support person's dream problem description ;)

I opened the PRD in Mozilla FireFox (32.0) in Windows 8.1 on my HP PC. Consequently I also tested using IE (11.0.96) and Chrome (Version 37.0.2062.120 m). From the Ultimate Magic Spell List, I right-clicked on the anticipate peril spell and clicked:

• Copy Link Address (Chrome)
  
• Copy Link Location (Firefox)
  
• Copy Shortcut (IE)
  

I then opened my Microsoft Word 2010 (Version 14.0.7) and pasted the link. I saved the document as pflinks.docx.

I uploaded my doc to Google Drive and then opened the Google Drive app on my IPAD 2 running OS7, downloaded the doc and opened it in Microsoft Word for IPAD (version 1.1.2).

When I click on the anticipate peril link in the doc, it opens Safari on IPAD and goes to the correct page. [In you case, you would describe the error message that you get].

Something like that...

So key questions:

1) What OS is the Word Doc created in? Are you doing everything on your tablet (copying and pasting urls) or are you creating the word doc on you PC/MAC and then transferring to your tablet.

2) What tablet? What OS and version on that tablet? What browser on the tablet?

3) If using a PC/MAC what OS?

4) What version of Word?

Hello CSPTT, welcome.

This particular thread is for Paizo's Pathfinder Beginner Box, are you using those rules (with obvious modifications) or are you a beginner DM looking for advice for the core Pathfinder RPG?

In any event, I'm happy to offer my advice.

First, if you have a party of nine players on a regular basis, you have problem--though have too many player's is ofter a problem would rather have than too few. I'd recommend maxing out your group at 5-6 PCs, but if nine works for your group, more power to you.

Next, I'm not sure you mention the level of the party? Since you are starting out, maybe it's 1st? I only ask because you say you're trying to target enemies at the 4th-5th level. While a party of nine might be able to take out one or two (4th-5th level) threats. There will likely be several party members one-hit killed in these combats, so you're probably better off multiple lower level monsters for your average fights and then throw the higher level fights occassionally.

Finally, you can use terrain and monster tactics to your advantage--definitely consider kobolds and other trap-setting creatures. Even though they may appear to be cannon-fodder, done right, these creatures are fair deadlier than nuisances.

Good luck!

First off, welcome!

1. This particular quest has mats that you can sleep on. Every time he survived an encounter with a monster, he went back to these mats. Slept 8 hours and regained 2 HP, then slept 8 hours again to regain 2 HP again and repeated until his HP was full.
This seems like it could be possible, as the monsters in this area have all been defeated.
But it also seems like cheating.
Can someone clarify how this should work?

Even if the adventure is silent on this point, as a GM I would allow this once or twice before having one or more monsters respawn or perhaps I would start having a random chance of this happening starting the first night (say a 1 in 10 chance, i.e. a 1 on a d10) and then increase it by one every night. SOMETHING would happen; be it another adventurer, a cave-in, strange-noises, or whatever. In the end though, there really isn't anything wrong if the area is cleared and you allowed the PCs to heal up to full, it's all up to you as a GM or whatever all the player's agree to in a shared game.

2. The other thing he wanted to do between monsters is go back to town each time to spend gold.
He defeated all the monsters at the beginning of a dungeon, so he wanted to walk back out again and back to town.
Is that possible in the middle of a quest?

Absolutely. However, depending on how long an adventure leaves a quest/dungeon changes might (and probably should occur).

3. How many weapons can a character hold?
Can they hold a dagger in one hand, a sword in the other and have a crossbow on their back? Or a second sword on their back?
I think it comes down to weight and storage, but I’m not sure how all that works just yet.

Check out the section on ONE or TWO-HANDED weapons. That should help.

The Beginner Box really doesn't burden (pardon the pun) players with information about weight and storage, but to answer your question:
A PC could carry a one-handed sword in one hand, a dagger in the other and have a crossbow (and a quiver of bolts) on the back.

Unless a class feature or FEAT allows otherwise though, in the Beginner Box, even with one weapon in each hand a PC still only gets one attack each round.

4. He also had a potion of levitation and one for invisibility.
After going up a 20ft wall, he discovered 3 skeletons.
Using a rope he found, he wanted to go back down the wall, turn invisible, climb back up the wall and levitate over their heads.
What would an experienced GM say to that??

The short answer is "yes". You could certainly allow the PC to automatically spot the skeletons just as he gets up to the ledge and then allow him to quickly come back down. Invisibility would certainly help and should let the PC pass undetected and the levitation would allow the PC to move up to the ceiling and then pull himself along past the skeletons.

My longer response is:
Being the intro adventure that it is, the encounter in question simply says "the skelton's attack on sight", so unless the player said he was being particularly quiet/stealth, the skeletons probably should have attacked right off.

However, if you read the rules (and the more advanced rules later on), you will come across this situation/question many times: do one set of creatures detect the approach/movement/actions of another set?

This is handled by the "sneaking" character(s) making a Stealth check--probably with a -2 penalty in this particular case because of the climbing--and the creatures that might detect something making a Perception check.

So, step one, I would roll a Stealth check for the PC and a Perception check for the skeletons.

Step 2, when the PC reached the top, I would have the PC roll a Stealth check and then have the skeleton's roll a Perception check, but again if the PC were being careless and making a lot of noise or talking, then the skeletons would probably just notice the PC right away.

Sorry to here about your trouble.

Paizo does sell the PDF version of the Beginner Box here.

You might try contacting Paizo's customer service (customer.service@paizo.com) and ask if they might provide the PDF for free due to your inconvenience.

If you plan on playing imminently and are missing some information to proceed, you may find some help at www.pfbeginner.com.

Note: Neither I or www.pfbeginner.com are associated with Paizo.

Good luck!

Yes, rogues can find magical traps using Perception and they are the only class that can use Disable Device to deactivate a magic trap.

Regarding the spider, the "quest" explicitly says that the spider is well hidden and that PCs do not get a Perception check until they are within 5' of its hiding space; therefore PCs that search from other locations in the room would not find it, so you were right in my opinion.

...alchemist fire how far can I throw it ??

Alchemist fire has a range increment of 10 feet, and like all thrown weapons has a maximum range increment of x5, so in this case a maximum of 50 feet.

Remember each full range increment imposes a -2 penalty on the attack.

...How many times can a spell be used per day ?

Clerics and Wizards essentially have the same number of spells they can prepare each day; once a spell of is cast, that spell slot cannot be reused until the receives spells the next morning.

Both classess potentially get bonus spells that they can prepare based on their key ability (i.e. Intelligence for Wizards and Wisdom for Clerics).
See Below

SPELLS PER DAY (Cleric/Wizard)

.........................SPELL LEVEL
Class Level.......1st....2nd....3rd
1st....................1*
2nd...................2*
3rd....................2*......1~
4th....................3*......2~
5th....................3*.......2~.......1^

* Add one 1st level spell if the caster's key ability (Int or Wis) is 13 or greater
~ Add one 2nd level spell if the caster's key ability (Int or Wis) is 14 or greater
^ Add one 3rd level spell if the caster's key ability (Int or Wis) is 16 or greater

Examples:

A 4th level Wizard with an Intelligence score of 17 would be able to prepare the following number of spells in the morning...

1st: 4
2nd: 3

A 5th level Cleric with a Wisdom score of 15 would be able to prepare the following number of spells each morning:

1st: 4
2nd: 3
3rd: 1 -- Note, the cleric didn't qualify for the bonus 3rd level spell because his Wisdom Score was not 16 or higher.

Total XP for the upper level is around 8,000xp; half of the which is enough for four 1st level PCs to advance to 2nd level. I'm pretty sure this is by design since the average CR for the lower level is CR 3.

Just use the room totals, which represnt the XP total (including monsters) of the challenges in the room.

Since it first appeared on the boards, I've considered this idea as well, but I was concerned about actually using Sandpoint as it might be be pushing OGL/CUP usage.

In the past I know that specific questions could be sent to Vic Wertz for this kind of thing.

Anyhow, if it didn't run afoul of Community Use, I'd certainly be interested in contributing.

Is the solo adventure included in the beginner box OGL too?

Yes, the Beginner Box contains that solo adventure as well as a small adventure for new DMs to cut their teeth on.

Check out the introductory "Click Your Path" adventure @www.pfbeginner.com.

Welcome KallekShallal.

The Beginner Box thread is for questions regarding the Beginner Box product, which is a much simplier version of Pathfinder without the Summoner.

You will have better luck asking your question in the Advice thread.

Good luck.

Hello Turf--welcome back into the fold!

Reference Sheets:
- Honestly I'm not familiar with any per se. Perception is always a key skill when deciding what actions to take.

Typically if there is anything interesting to discover it is written in the information for a particular module. If there is nothing in the room though, it usually doesn't provoke any investigation or action.
However, that is not to say that you, as a DM, can't adlib or throw in some GM fiat to enhance an encounter on the fly.

For instance if there is a strange blood-red iron pot in the center of the room or mystical etchings on the walls, these interesting items will almost always draw attention and prompt investigation. If you really want to have fun, put a bunch of levers on a wall and have them made loud clicking sounds and thunderous booms in the distance when pulled--even if *YOU* as the DM have no intention of the levers doing anything. OR go-ahead and make them do-something, like rotate a nearby room or open and close doors.

Before you run an existing module (or make you're own), you can add your own minor details like these to make an encounter more interesting. Check out a site like John's D&D tools to generator random sounds, odors or trinkets to appear in your game for your players to check out.

Assisting players/characters:
You can absolutely assist your players/characters in various ways, but you may not want to always do it. If you know before hand that an adventure is made for 4 PCs, but you only have 2, then its normal to reduce the number of monsters or weaken them a bit.

It's also okay to occassionaly "fudge" a roll behind the screen to reduce a fatal blow or have it miss entirely or otherwise have some fortutious event happen like a ceiling collapsing on a group of monsters that are overwhelming the PCs.

However, you want to make sure you don't destroy the illusion of control or remove the threat of character death that makes the game exciting in the first place.

It's all about having fun, so whatever works best for you and your players is the "RIGHT" way to play.

Good luck with your new group!

www.pfbeginner.com

The site looks great! Nice freakin' work!

Thank you.

Credit to Paizo for making a great product, supporting their customers and fostering creativity through their policies and the sincere desire of their employees to better the gaming community.

A free adventure for four 2nd-3rd level PCs. Download it and the optional battle tiles PDF for free. The adventure includes monster pawns you can print as well.

Adventure Blurb:

"The lands are cursed by a Winter Dragon after it captures the first fairy of Spring and imprisons her in its lair.
The curse makes it impossible to start fires—-leaving Woodside and other nearby villages unable to cook or create heat to warm themselves.
A group of bold adventures must brave the numbing cold, defeat the dragon and free the fairy before the kingdom is frozen forever!"

Check it out @www.pfbeginner.com

You're exactly right.

I re-downloaded a copy an hour or so ago myself because I was curious if any errata had been applied--it appears not.

Your approach should work. The XP for each encounter is calculated by adding up the XP for each individual monster.

For instance, in the first encounter with 2 unarmored goblins the total XP is 270 (2 x 135 XP for each goblin).

You'll find that XP and CRs are a rough guideline and not an absolute science. For instance, an unarmed goblin is worth as much XP as an armored one, but one is a little easier than the other to hit.

You can also do things like add a few more hit points to the listed monsters or give them equipment.

For the treasure you can do the same thing you are doing for the creatures--add 20% for 5 players or 50% for 6 players.

Good luck.

Glad you're enjoying the game.

If I use a throwing weapon example, throwing hammer, throwing axe, dagger, or throw my weapon does it dissapear or get destroyed like ammunition arrows, bolts, etc.

No. Roll 1d8. Count squares around the intended target, starting at (1) which is the square between the attacker and the target and then moving clockwise from there. The distance is up to the GM but may be up to one range increment.

Example: (T) is the Target, (A) is the attacker.
456
3T7
218

A

Can I have a shield equipped and my weapon equipped and still do a power attack? It seemed like you could not do a power attack with a shield equipped.

Yes. Though using a two-handed weapon does more damage.

It shows a horse for sale in the hero's guide, sadly it only says you can ride a horse but does not explain how to have it carry stuff, have it fight or other actions.

You will quickly run into questions that the Beginner Box will not be able to answer. That's when you can start to research the full Pathfinder game at the Paizo site or the excellent d20pfsrd fan site.

Stats for a horse. These may not exactly translate to the easier Beginner Box rules, but it should give you a start.

The horse for sale in the hero's guide is likely a light riding horse and can easily carry 250 pounds, but it likely will run before fighting.

Now a heavy horse might have a +5 (1d4+5) bite attack and 2 hooves +0 (1d6+2). It could regulary carry 300-400 pounds.

Exceeding carrying capacity would slow the horse down and eventually fatigue it.

The oil that is used as lantern fuel says it can be thrown on the ground a lit on fire to cause damage to enemies. How would this work? Do I have to be close to the enemy and drop it then light it? Do I have to prep it in advance and lead an enemy on it?

A pint of lamp oil burns for 6 hours in a common lantern or lamp. You can also use a flask of lamp oil as a splash weapon. Use the rules for alchemist's fire, except that it takes a full-round action to prepare a flask with a fuse. Once it is thrown, there is a 50% chance of the flask igniting successfully.

You can pour a pint of oil on the ground to cover an area 5 feet square, provided that the surface is smooth. If lit, the oil burns for 2 rounds and deals 1d3 points of fire damage to each creature in the area.

How does the 10 foot pole work? It says you can use it to check for traps.

Many traps are location based. Using the pole allows a character to poke around and apply pressure to areas in front of her and potentially spring a trap that she may have otherwise fallen into.

10 foot poles are handy for pulling up allies who fell into a pit-trap that they not have if they had a 10 foot pole ;)

How much can one carry? It never said a weight on the items or a weight limit.

I believe the Beginner Box takes a book-keeping-light approach and doesn't bog the game down with these details until the more advanced rules. However, if you are interested, you can see carrying capacity based on Strength here. You can also search the Pathfinder PRD for the weight of equipment.

Not sure if there's still demand for a form-fillable BB-compatible sheet, but I repurposed the one I made for my We Be Goblins! session into one...

Well done. Thank you.

Sorry, I don't have an ideal solution for you,the shipping costs are certainly a challenge.

I think the most economical solution is to purchase the PDF from Paizo for $9.99 USD and either print the material at home or at a local print shop (if that's an option for you).

I really hope that you buy the Beginner Box--there is nothing like having the high-quality glossy books, flip-map, dice and cardboard tokens to inspire your imagination.

As Lamontius suggested, if you want to get a feel for the rules before making a purchase you can check out the free resources that are available.

I've actually put together a site for the Beginner Box rules @www.pfbeginner.com that eases players into Pathfinder as opposed to the PRD or d20pfsrd, which is sometimes overwhelming for newcomers. Once you feel comfortable with the basics, then you can add new rules and material as you see fit.

Good luck!

Hello HeeroMaki. I'm sorry I can't help with your Hero Lab question, but I might be able to point you in the right direction.

The Begginer Box subforum is for questions/comments around Paizo's Pathfinder Beginner Box, so your post may go overlooked.

You may have better luck reposting your question in one of these other sub-forums:

* Compatible Products from Other Publishers
* Advice

Hero Lab's developer Lone Wolf Development also has a forum you can post your questions to:

* Hero Lab Forum for Pathfinder

Good Luck

The boxed set is beautiful and there is nothing like having the high-quality cutout cards and glossy books, but if you can't get your hands on the physcial product, it may be more cost effective to purchase the pdf from Paizo and print it yourself.

If you just need the rules to start playing and can manage without the nice props from the Begginer Box, I've gathered the OGL rules for the Beginner Box online at www.pfbeginner.com.

Good luck!

I would recommend buying the current version (even if it's a used copy) of the Beginner Box and add the errata or your own notes with sticky notes.

If you can't currently find the Beginner Box (or can't find it at a reasonable price), I put together a free website with the BB OGL rules (and current errata) at PFBeginner.com.

And if your ready to move to Paizo's more advanced Pathfinder rules you can find them here: Paizo's Pathfinder PRD or at d20pfsrd.com--which has not just Paizo material, but a treasure trove of outstanding third-party material.

Don't put off playing--play today!

This is great GREAT stuff... shouldn't there be a page entry and/or card for Poisoned?

Thanks for the compliment.

The core beginner rules don't have a poisoned condition per se, but it may be something that I add, since it may be helpful to track when a character is poisoned or not.

I created these condition cards to pass out to my daughters when we play--they got a kick out of the little goblin stick figures I created and thus "Snot, the Goblin" was born! Okay, I'm not really an artist, but if it makes my girls smile, I'm happy.

Permission is granted to print or photocopy the cards for personal use--which the PDF says as well.

Check them out at: www.pfbeginner.com/gamemasters/conditons

PFBeginner wrote:

Thanael wrote:

Way to go! The site looks great so far.

Will you add the EdoWar's stuff? Other fan creations? (Like character sheets, etc.)

You link to the PRD and pfsrd for 5+ level, I would also include a notice about the PF Core Rulebook at least.

Thanks for the feedback and ideas. I will definitely include links to all the other great fan material that's out there, assuming I can get permission.

No I meant adding his stuff to the site. Not links but more races, classes, etc.

Okay, I got ya. I certainly want to integrate other fan content into the site, while at the same time making sure not to bloat the site too much for new players. I think if I can organize it well enough though, so adding new content shouldn't be a problem--there is certainly a lot of great work out there to consider adding.

@Steve Geddes: While I am not a lawyer and not even an expert, I have some experience with the OGL and Community Use Policy. Of course, I will respect and respond to any requests that Paizo makes if they have a different opinion on the subject.

Regarding the page references, I did remove the majority of them, but I know (as you pointed out) that some still need to be removed.

I'm sure once I get more people looking over the site and making suggestions like yours, the quality will only get better. Thank you for taking the time to post your comments!

The site looks great!

If you haven't already done so (I didn't see it at a glance), you might want to add a page pretty early on the site for the errata, extras, and so on that are available - I think most of these documents are free on either Paizo's Beginner Box page, and a lot of the known/suspected errata are also compiled in one of the Discussion Forum threads:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/products/beginnerbox
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2n236?Beginner-Box-erratacorrectionsquestions

EDIT TO ADD: And, +1 on mentioning the core rulebook as a next step; it keeps Paizo in business of producing more great content, and the book is simply a fantastic and convenient resource to have, besides.

Keep up the great work! :)

Will do!

Way to go! The site looks great so far.

Will you add the EdoWar's stuff? Other fan creations? (Like character sheets, etc.)

You link to the PRD and pfsrd for 5+ level, I would also include a notice about the PF Core Rulebook at least.

Thanks for the feedback and ideas. I will definitely include links to all the other great fan material that's out there, assuming I can get permission.

I bought the Beginner Box for my daughters and they loved it. Hopefully, by creating a free reference website (following in the footsteps of d20srd.org and d20pfsrd.com), I can help promote the Pathfinder game we all love to new gamers young and old everywhere.

A big "THANKS!" to Paizo for their Community Use Policy and taking the time to develop an easier version of Pathfinder targeted to the next generation of gamers!

Check it out at www.pfbeginner.com

To be clear, this website is not created, controlled or endorsed by Paizo Publishing LLC, though obviously Paizo deserves a lot of credit!