Pendar's page

While one of my player's was creating his character, he had a question about the climber's kit. When you purchase the climber's kit, what exactly are you paying for? Is it just to get the +2 to your climbing skill or does the climber's kit also include materials?

If it includes materials, how much rope and how many pitons? Is this something, as GM, that I have to make up?

Greetings.

Last night my brother, my dad, and myself played through the Black Fang adventure. All three of us are brand new to Pathfinder. We had a blast playing (though we stayed up way later than we had intended), but there were some questions that came up during play that I couldn't find any kind of answer to in the Hero's Handbook or Dungeon Master Guide.

1. How do you determine the carrying capacity of a player and the weight of items?

2. How does searching for traps work? I know it is a perception check, but when a player searches for a trap does he have to specify where he is searching? Also, does he only search a five foot foot square or does the perception check cover a larger area?

This came about because at the beginning I was having the rogue do a perception check every single time he moved (because he indicated he was constantly searching for traps) and it was really slowing down the game. To speed things up I just made it where a perception check covered an entire area. If the rogue failed the check (by 5 I believe) the trap triggered.

3. Finally, what is a good next step after Black Fang? My brother has mentioned an interest in doing the Rise of the Runelord adventure pack, but some of the people on this message board seem to think that it isn't a good adventure for beginners. I'd like to get some more information before I decide what to do next.

Thanks in advance for answering my questions. I've been wanting to play a game like this for a while and I'm glad I finally jumped off the high dive.