I think there are actually examples of both. Some builds are disruptive, and some players are disruptive. They sometimes but not always come together.
Players might come up with a disruptive build with the best of intentions. And then be startled when they realize how poorly it's working out for the group. Like someone spamming Darkness to set up Sneak Attacks, in a party with little Darkvision. That might just be a clueless mistake.
Or a Kitsune Fighter/Rogue/Barbarian with a 60 ft move speed and Spring Attack, who is highly effective in combat, and so ridiculously hyper-active she resembles a curious two-year-old and has to be occasionally leashed for her own (and the party's) protection.
I was GMing Citadel of Flame. We had 6 players, 4 of whom were new or newish to PFS, although they had all played similar RPGs before. We get to the room with the pesky hidden sorcerer. He casts flaming sphere, hounds the paladin and a rogue-type character into one of the 20 by 20 (or so) side rooms. He's casting, they can't find him, they're getting fried...Obvious solution! Everyone pile into the tiny side room with the flaming sphere to see if we can hear the bastard casting!
I tried, I really did. But no, two rounds later, they were bound and determined to pile themselves into that side room. At which point, screw it, y'all should know better by now. FIREBALL.
This same scenario involved setting off every trap in the place with the paladin's face, and using a grappling arrow to bring a flying demon into melee range.
Played my Kitsune Fighter/Rogue/Barbarian in a scenario where we were specifically told during the briefing not to break or damage anything in the house we were going into. My Kitsune's reaction to every room in any dungeon she's ever played in is "Oh is it shiny can I touch it I want it what does it do can I have it?!" So during the course of this adventure, she systemically trashed every room in the mansion looking for 'shinies'. Rather than attempting to stop or hinder her (not gonna happen with a 60 ft move speed), the party helpfully pointed out priceless antiquities and fragile items that she'd missed in her cyclone-like sifting of the manor's interior.
Needless to say, there was no second prestige point received for that scenario.
I personally would have a big problem with this. Seems kind of "jerky" and not nice to the other players.
You missed the bit where I said "the party helpfully pointed out priceless antiquities and fragile items that she'd missed in her cyclone-like sifting of the manor's interior". They didn't care about that second prestige either.
Played my Kitsune Fighter/Rogue/Barbarian in a scenario where we were specifically told during the briefing not to break or damage anything in the house we were going into. My Kitsune's reaction to every room in any dungeon she's ever played in is "Oh is it shiny can I touch it I want it what does it do can I have it?!" So during the course of this adventure, she systemically trashed every room in the mansion looking for 'shinies'. Rather than attempting to stop or hinder her (not gonna happen with a 60 ft move speed), the party helpfully pointed out priceless antiquities and fragile items that she'd missed in her cyclone-like sifting of the manor's interior.
Needless to say, there was no second prestige point received for that scenario.
It was thanks to the resources of the Pathfinder society that I escaped the vile bondage of Cheliax. Also, they pay better than most mercenary contracts, and there's a chance you will be partnered with someone half-way competent.
2. Do you have a name and surname that is not ripped straight out of existing Earth mythology or popular culture?
The name I was given as a slave was Kestrix, and I retain to remind myself of my past. My comrades in the Society dubbed me Stormbringer after watching me battle for the first time.
3. Which nation did you grow up in? How did this nation influence you?
I grew up as a child in the nation of Cheliax. As a tiefling, I was subjected to all the predjudice and cruelties that my masters could devise. Torture and deprivation taught me to withstand whatever life can throw at me.
4. What do you look like? What are your wearing? How does this vary when you’re stalking through forests, sewers, deserts or in glittering cities?
I wear mithral fullplate armor. Any noble-born fool attempting to force me into some lacy, silky nonsensical outfit will find himself thrown through the nearest available exit. That armor cost me most of 5 years takings. It is good enough for company.
OOC: Kestrix is 6'0" tall, with white skin and dark golden eyes. Her hair is deep black and perfectly straight; usually worn in a high ponytail for battle. Even in the ponytail it hangs to her waist. She has a pattern of black scales that starts above her left eyebrow and ends about midthigh. To disguise the scales slightly, she has had a black serpentine dragon tattooed over and around them.
5. What do you love? (Treasure and experience doesn’t count)
Battle. The sound of steel on steel is my preferred music, and the field of war is my dancing floor.
6. What do you hate? (Unclear and irritating darkness level rules don’t count)
Cheliax. And all those who unjustly persecute and enslave the helpless.
7. Which other Pathfinders (PCs) do you rely on for teamwork, survival and butt-kicking? Do you have a bro? a mentor? a father figure? maybe a rival?
My brother Tristan is a well-known Pathfinder wizard, an esteemed scholar and a member of the Scarab Sage faction. He is quite handy in a fight, and almost as good as he thinks he is. And if you tell him I said any of this, I will gut you and hang you from a pole for the carrion-birds.
8. How does your race influence your views? Are you a stereotype of a certain race? How are you different from most humans/elves/gnomes/orcs/tengu?
A tiefling recieves more blows then praise. I have always found myself to be more comfortable in the prescence of other warriors such as myself.
9. What are you afraid of? Do you have any phobias or worries?
I fear helplessness. Which is why my axe swinging towards their head is the last sight of those who would attempt to cause me to feel this fear.
10. What is your most treasured possession?
My axe. I have named it Negotiation.
Zsorene Sundancer
Spoiler:
1. Why are you a Pathfinder?
My family were well-respected Qadiran merchants who had a business association with Merchant-Prince al'Hakam. When it became clear that my wanderlust was stronger than my desire to remain at home and marry well, the Pathfinder Society was recommended as a respectable organization where I would be able to visit exotic locales and meet interesting persons.
2. Do you have a name and surname that is not ripped straight out of existing Earth mythology or popular culture?
My mother named me Zsorene. I was granted the name Sundancer for my ease of movement and physical appearance.
3. Which nation did you grow up in? How did this nation influence you?
I grew up in Qadira. Although I have not returned to the land of my birth for many years, its customs and language remain with me.
4. What do you look like? What are your wearing? How does this vary when you’re stalking through forests, sewers, deserts or in glittering cities?
My hair is long and dark, my eyes are dark, and my skin is darker than most northern-born peoples. Although possibly not as dark as one who lives mostly in the desert, as I have traveled much to the northern countries.
5. What do you love? (Treasure and experience doesn’t count)
My family. They were always supportive of my desires, and a safe haven to come home to.
6. What do you hate? (Unclear and irritating darkness level rules don’t count)
The Aspis Consortium. Those treacherous, dishonorable, scum-loving sons of jackals attempted to assassinate me, and when this attempt failed, they slaughtered my beloved family. I now devote myself to their complete annihilation.
OOC: This character was killed in her bed in Blood Under Absalom by the Aspis assassins. This was my first PFS character and my first official PFS scenario, and I needed an in-character reason for her to switch from worshipping Sarenrae to Gorum and go a$#$*@* on the Aspis. She has paid for no less than 3 atonements (warpriest 2/cleric 7 of Gorum) for outright murdering Aspis agents after they surrendured.
7. Which other Pathfinders (PCs) do you rely on for teamwork, survival and butt-kicking? Do you have a bro? a mentor? a father figure? maybe a rival?
I do not have any particular companion amoung the Society. I rely on the Venture-Captains to appoint competent, professional people to accompany me on missions. *slightly embarassed cough* This does not always work out quite the way I had anticipated...
8. How does your race influence your views? Are you a stereotype of a certain race? How are you different from most humans/elves/gnomes/orcs/tengu?
As a human, I have learned that there as many ethnicities of my race as there are different races on Golarion. I find meeting other cultures and races a fascinating and enlightening experiance.
9. What are you afraid of? Do you have any phobias or worries?
I fear that I shall perish on the field of battle before I have accomplished my mission to obliterate the Consortium.
The moment when 3 of our party decided that kidnapping, executing, and impersonating Janira Gavix would be the most efficient way to accomplish some of the secondary missions. It went flawlessly. I can't decide if I'm horrified or not... *cough*not*cough*
Awesome Moment #2
The successful spell/disguise check to pass myself and another party member off as Janira Gavix and Arem Zey, completely bypassing a certain encounter containing a gunslinger. The screech of glee that went up from our table made everyone at the surrounding tables jump.
Awesome Moment #3
Looking at my character sheet and realizing OMFG I GET TO PLAY EVIL. MWAHAHAHAHA!
I am starting this partly because I think it would be nice for the insane geniuses behind this masterpiece to hear how some of their shenanigans turned out. And partly because I have bragging rights and want to exercise them. Between GenCon and PaizoCon there should be enough material for a start, at least.
DO NOT READ FURTHER COMMENTS IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
I was not a big fan of debuffers for a long time. I thought they were boring. Then I got to play Serpent's Rise at Paizocon...
Spoiler:
The lead Aspis agent, Rataji, is an incredibly well-built debuff/enchantment wizard. My kudos to whoever designed that pregen. And the Grand Lodge shall never be the same again....
On another note, beware the #1 downside to being a debuffer; your GMs will eventually run after you howling demonic warcries and brandishing the binder containing the scenario which they spent a week prepping and which you have now managed to break so thoroughly there is no longer a playbook.
One of the most common things I've seen in our Lodge are fillable character sheets. Just a PDF file of a blank character sheet, and you type in the information. It's a lot easier than writing it all out, it can be printed and stored, and all the GMs I've met accept it as a valid source. Easy to find online; just type in 'Pathfinder fillable character sheet' or something similar. Also, it's nice for people who's handwriting is illegible *cough*mostofourGMs*cough* or who don't want smudgy pencil marks everywhere.
Clerics- healing is always good; but play what you like best.
Mmmm... I would say 'healer', not 'cleric'. Last time someone said 'cleric' around here...people built clerics all right. Negative-channeling, melee-oriented, channel-smiting, ass-kicking clerics that did nothing to heal the party and may or may not have had Siphon Channel as a feat.
Shaman, oracle, bard... all of those have half-way decent healing options; I've seen a shaman built for heals that out-heals most clerics (not the ass-kicking kind, obviously). Bards are amazing generalists, and can be decent combat builds as well. Anything with lots of skill ranks and/or investigator levels can be useful. And good roleplay will get you places. Sometimes they are places you did not wish to go to, but they're places.
I've started GMing regularly fairly recently, and our area has a good PFS turnout most weeks. I generally take games on a case-by-case basis; I'll run for six or seven if there's six or seven people signed up, I know them well enough to tell them to STFU so I can make myself heard, and/or there's no one in the group I absolutely loathe.
That being said, I have been on both sides of the 'I won't GM for seven/six people' argument. It can be embarrassing and unfair for both sides. It also depends on who's involved, what they're comfortable with, and does anyone really want to play with that paladin from last week who pulled thus-and-such annoying Lawful Good BS? Honestly, I think the reason that there isn't (and shouldn't be) a universal rule about GMs turning players away is because there are just too many variables to how/when games are run.
.... the summoner tells the GM they just bought a few bags of itching powder to use as material components to use with glitterdust.......
That reminds me, I need to pick up a few bags of glitter before GenCon.
"I cast Glitterdust."
"Ok, where's it centered?"
"HERE!" Dumps a pile of glitter on the map
If I do this right, I could probably make every PFS player in the building look like sparkly vampires before the weekend is out! :)
Soooo...fun story. I have a character that has glitterdust as a spell-like ability. My party was fighting a vampire caster who had turned himself invisible. Solution = Cast Glitterdust!
Five seconds later... "You realize you just made us fight a sparkly vampire, right?"
Critted on the summoner's eidolon with a greataxe. The summoner promptly screeches in rage and turns the eidolon on me. Eidolon turns my fighter into munchies, and I'm WAY too far away for the healer to get to me.
GM; "The eidolon flings you around like a limp rag doll and throws you spectacularly in the direction of the paladin" (who just happens to have Gloves of First Aid).
"Well, that's 100+ damage with the first two shots and I still have an arrow left...Oh, it's dead? I thought that was the BBEG?! Oh. Why are you glaring at me..?"
And then we get into evil things GMs do, which is a whole other can of worms...
I've played in exactly one tier 7-11 scenario, and the party didn't make it past the first encounter. My PC died, and the group as a whole only narrowly avoided a TPK. I got the message that perhaps I should stick to 5-9 or lower...
For information, the scenario was 'The Sealed Gate' and the GM was Mike Brock.
I played that two weeks ago. The first encounter was damn near a wipe and the last encounter my character spent enchanted (rolled a one on a Will save). That is...a highly vicious scenario if you are not 100% prepared. But it's fun to flounder through!
I've seen a lot of instances where people haven't been prepared, or don't know how to prepare their characters for high-tier play. I shall definitely print this off and show it around.
I once sat a table where a character got swallowed by a purple worm. There was no way on God's green earth that either character with Breath of Life would get there in time. So we had a relay race! The oracle moved, handed the scroll to me, who handed it to the cleric, who got dragged 30 ft by the ranger, and then picked up by the enlarged, raging barbarian and dropped into the worm's conveniently open maw. Perception to find, concentration to cast...whew, saved the fighter! Wait...how the hell do we get out?! The rest of that fight was...interesting.
And the point to all this rambling? Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Pathfinder players will do bizarre and wonderful things to save a character. If you can't walk those last few feet, your party members will be happy to help!
I started PFS at DragonCon '08. Note that I was talking about crowds, not crowded spaces. Doesn't matter how big the area is, crowds will always get me.
I'm the same way. Went to PaizoCon for the first time last year and had a bloody panic attack before getting into the building. However, I managed to roll a succesful Will save versus fear and made it in without too much drama.
Hmmm...people I want to play with...everybody at least once? Top picks include;
John Compton ('cause more mayhem is better)
Andrew Porter (ooooh, I so owe him for that Siege of the Diamond City run...)
And...anyone interesting and willing to cause much silliness to happen.
Personally I think my bloatmage qualifies in the above category of "LN", but that doesn't make him any less of a teamplayer, even if at the end of the day he is out for himself. He even prepares feather fall and cast it on an ally who'd been giving him crap all day!
You, sir, are far more mature than I can ever hope to be. I distinctly remember my Chaotic Good Cleric of Sarenrae walking into a room, spotting the Aspis Consortium Agents, and screaming "Feel the wrath of Sarenrae, you Aspis bastards!!" as she Fireballed the room. We found out afterwards that there was an NPC in there we were supposed to save. Needless to say, that character got retired a couple of levels later when I got sick of paying for atonements...
Then there's the ifrit sorcerer, the gay paladin of Iomedae, the bard/ninja of Cayden Cailean... you get the idea. We've stopped calling it Chaotic Neutral if certain people are sitting at the table; now it's Chaotic Destructive.
Lawful Evil: A lawful evil villain methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts. He cares about tradition, loyalty, and order, but not about freedom, dignity, or life. He plays by the rules but without mercy or compassion. He is comfortable in a hierarchy and would like to rule, but is willing to serve. He condemns others not according to their actions but according to race, religion, homeland, or social rank. He is loath to break laws or promises.
This reluctance comes partly from his nature and partly because he depends on order to protect himself from those who oppose him on moral grounds. Some lawful evil villains have particular taboos, such as not killing in cold blood (but having underlings do it) or not letting children come to harm (if it can be helped). They imagine that these compunctions put them above unprincipled villains.
Some lawful evil people and creatures commit themselves to evil with a zeal like that of a crusader committed to good. Beyond being willing to hurt others for their own ends, they take pleasure in spreading evil as an end unto itself. They may also see doing evil as part of a duty to an evil deity or master.
Lawful evil represents methodical, intentional, and organized evil.
(Core Rulebook, pg. 167-8)
Lawful Evil is an 'order above all' alignment. You're trying to do the correct thing as set out by the lawful authorities, but these irritating goody-two-shoes keep getting in your way because they can't see that it's for the greater good that these people have to die now, or you can't free those slaves because it would cause a major incident somewhere. Honestly, I'd be more scared of a LE character played correctly than I would of someone using the 'evil' tag as an excuse to spread chaos. Lawful Evil is scarier because they know they're doing bad things, and they justify it. I think that's what Paizo's attempting to avoid.
That and if a properly played LE character got into the Society, he'd have taken over within a season. And we just can't have that, can we?
Chaotic Neutral characters aren't anarchists (or the Joker) either. 99% of the characters I play are Chaotic Neutral, and only one of them has ever gotten tagged as 'borderline evil'. Chaotic Neutral 'represents freedom from both society's restrictions and a do-gooder's zeal', to once again quote the CRB. They are motivated by personal desires and values, rather than commitment to a particular organization or way of life, and those values are not intrinsically harmful to the people around them.
The term 'murderhobo' is a term which 50% of the RPG community finds offensive, 25% proudly admits to being, and the remainder of the beleaguered commoners frantically denies that they are. Therefore, I shall use the term 'angry-PC' instead.
All of my characters (and I have several) have a completely developed backstory, that is deliberately vague on certain features to give it time to develop later. That being said, all of them have at some point slipped into the definition of 'angry-PC'. I had to stop playing my Cleric of Sarenrae because she had an IC developed hatred of the Aspis Consortium, and I can only pay for so many atonements.
Cookie-cutter character personalities are going to strongly depend on the individual playing them. Developed character personalities are going to strongly depend on the person playing them. If that person likes killing and stabbing and slaying, then they're going to do that at some point. If they won't stop, your character can just sit back and enjoy the view of that level-7 barbarian charging the metallic dragon that's looking at it like a cat with an interesting insect. Or you can intervene. It's up to you. Unless you're the GM, you can't put a kibosh on what other people in your party are going to do; they're human and they play a game where they live in a fantasy world, ergo they are crazy and unpredictable. If you consistently don't like how a person plays their characters, don't play with them. If that isn't an option, solve it on an individual basis, or ask your GM to kindly waive the 'no PvP' rule for a session.
'Angry-PC's can come in all forms. My bf's wizard has never killed a thing in his career. He just Charm Person/Monsters everything he comes across and convinces it that all it wants in life is to be his servant forevermore.
All this being said, I was (and am) highly tempted to get a T-shirt saying 'MurderHobos United' on one side, and "If it has stats, We can kill it" on the other, and wear it to PaizoCon.
My party did fairly well, until the squishy DPS got stunned in the doorway, leaving my bloodrager alone in a room of undead. At which point she happily went to town, and I am soooo taking Cleave later...
I also got an evil mark for telling the boss that if he let us leave I would bring him a boatload of Chelaxian slaves as offerings (it wasn't a bluff). At which point the Liberty's Edge character got offended, and since he couldn't Scorching Ray me, he Scorching Rayed the boss. The discussion went downhill from there.
Aside: Am I the only one that saw core announced and immediately thought "I have to go through Bonekeep, I want to do hard mode on Waking Rune..."
No...no, you're not.
I'm thinking of building a gnome sorcerer (ray specialist). I've been tossing the concept around for a while, but didn't have the motivation to build it.
No, going full murderhobo isn't required. You don't even necessarily have to fight opponents to end up with full gold. Plenty of scenarios specify that you have to overcome the encounter, that doesn't have to mean fight.
Wait...that's a solution?
Seriously though, some of my characters have been known to plant themselves between the "kill 'em all and blow s#$% up" characters and the person we are TRYING to talk to and whisper "Don't even THINK about it." There is murderhoboing and then there is just ridiculousness. (And certain meathead barbarians I could mention are SO lucky PvP is illegal in Society...)
Quote; "Kits are gone, so players need to do their homework on encumberances, costs, etc."
Players needed to do that anyway. Most kits come with ten torches (10 lbs), an iron pot (4 lbs), and various other accoutrements that NEVER get used. And yet you have the little 10 STR/ 18 DEX ninja (or whatever) running around with a kit that weighs upwards of 30 lbs.
Most powerful characters are optimized for one thing, although if you wanna get ridiculous with skills, investigator/ninja/bard (or some combination thereof) is probably the way to go. Here's a few I've seen.
Winter Witch - Ice spells. Just...just ice spells...
Enchantment specialized wizard (or any specialized wizard; that one is just annoying from personal experience)
Bloodragers, Barbarians, or 90% of fighter builds
HUNTERS
In regards to the original point of the post; No, asking to see the ITS after stating outright that the players need to have that gear is not a jerk move.
In regards to the spell component argument. Firstly, no, the majority of players I have seen tend not to check their spell component requirements; however, most also have spell component pouches. Second, I don't believe the cost of spell foci has ever come up in our area unless the component in question was 50 gp or more. It's nit-picky, and takes too much time from kicking ass and taking names. Third, if you really want to make sure you have the components when you need them, might I recommend the spell Blood Money? It is found in the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition and is legal for PFS play (and yes, I checked the Additional Resources first).
BLOOD MONEY
School; transmutation; Level magus 1, sorcerer/wizard 1, witch 1
Casting Time; 1 swift action
Components; V, S
Range; 0 ft.
Effect; 1 material component
Duration; Instantaneous
You cast blood money just before casting another spell. As part of this spell's casting, you must cut one of your hands, releasing a stream of blood that causes you to take 1d6 points of damage. When you cast another spell in that same round, your blood transforms into one material component of your choice required by that second spell. Even valuable components worth more than 1 gp can be created, but creating such material components requires an additional cost of 1 point of Strength damage, plus a further point of damage for every full 500 gp of the component's value (so a component worth 500–999 gp costs a total of 2 points, 1,000–1,500 costs 3, etc.). You cannot create magic items with blood money.
For example, a sorcerer with the spell stoneskin prepared could cast blood money to create the 250 gp worth of diamond dust required by that spell, taking 1d6 points of damage and 1 point of Strength damage in the process.
Material components created by blood money transform back into blood at the end of the round if they have not been used as a material component. Spellcasters who do not have blood cannot cast blood money, and those who are immune to Strength damage (such as undead spellcasters) cannot use blood money to create valuable material components.
The Crypt of the Everflame series; Good storyline, good options for role-play, and somewhat challenging. Lost my first ever perma-dead character in the first one, and then in the 3rd module the revenge character came THIS CLOSE to also perma-dying...but it was awesome anyway.
Siege of the Diamond City; This is mostly for bragging rights. We did the high-tier with a healer, a fighter, an invulnerable rager, and Tim the Invisible Enchanter (Ezren pre-gen). We all survived, although my fighter now has a deep and personal hatred of being grappled.
The only thing that bothered me was the GM having every single bad guy attack us and not the mounts (thus negating one of the cool parts of mounted combat); he said, "he's smart enough to know not to attack the mount."
If the enemy isn't intelligent, most of our GMs roll randomly to see who they go after first. If they are intelligent, it depends on the threat level of the mount. Most enemies find tigers more threatening than horses, after all.
Also, in our group we have a gnome cavalier who rides a triceratops (PFS legal, if a little...over-the-top...), and a wyveren cavalier (non-PFS) who rides a riding lizard, and is planning to take a dragon mount when we get high enough level.
I think I've only seen 1 elf. Con is everyone's second favorite stat, and not many people need both int and dex.
and I have seen a lot of elves - after human, perhaps the most common race for PCs I've seen...
CON is my... 4th? maybe 5th favorite stat. Seldom above 10, never above 14. Dex is my 2nd favorite stat.
And that's what makes this game so much fun. Different views for different people.
Indeed. One of my favorite characters to play is a full-elf bloodrager with a 14 Con. She had a 12 up until I got the belt of physical might. And yes, yes she died a lot.
Playing a home game of Shattered Star; my ninja, a cleric, skald, magus/monk, sorc, and arcanist. We get to the tower for the first time, and me and the skald are the only two who make the Will saves to see the concealed windows. I climb up to investigate while the skald attempts to convince the rest of the group of the windows' existence.
I look through the window in the center and see two dire rats and a wererat, then climb back down to report. At this point, the skald has everyone convinced except the cleric and the sorcerer, who kept rolling 10 or less on their saves. I get fed up with the argument.
Me; "I am about this close to just throwing a rock through that glass to prove a point!"
Skald; "If you don't, I will."
Me: "Ok! I pick up a rock and throw it through the window!"
GM; *epicfacepalm*
Soooo...yeah...it took the sorcerer two rounds of getting shot to make the save, and we kinda triggered the final boss before we even got into the tower proper. A good night's work.
During the 'Aasimarpalooza' (that really is an awesome name...) we had enough runs of Confirmation that certain players got a little...overenthusiastic. Now whenever we sit down to play Confirmation with experienced players, we take a vote. Do we kill the Minotaur before or after we go into the cave..?
(No, Janira does not get a vote. Janira pissed off a couple of fighters by insinuating they weren't competent enough to take on the Minotaur.)
My kitsune Mobile Fighter is currently running through Emerald Spire. Last night, she got bored (because the party killed everything too quickly) and annoyed (because they wouldn't let her keep the shinies). So she wandered off, went up the stairs to the next level, and missed the entire boss fight. Our GM was giving me evil looks because he hadn't drawn the map of the next floor yet.
Our tengu has red feathers and eats eyeballs, the sylph bloodrager is a pain, the arcanist is the only mature one in the group, the cleric got high... Class and race really doesn't matter. If the player wants a personality for their character, they'll play the personality. If all they want is a set of stats and dice, that's their issue.
I've got a level-2 Ifrit sorcerer, who used her feats for initiative nonsense. As I CANNOT replace the character if she dies, I initiated a basic survival skill in pretty much all of my first level games; Run Away. Casters are squishy, fragile creatures that need to stay the hell out of combat. You don't even have to run very far; just get far enough away to drop a few blaster spells while the rest of the party whacks the enemy.
Or you could GM a few times and drop the GM credit on your caster.
Awhile back, I ran my Aasimar Bard/Ninja through Mask of the Living God. Everything went really well right up until we got into the temple of Razmir...
Party Make-up;
Half-Orc Barbarian only interesting in orc rations
Me (Faction = Andoran, worshipper of Cayden Cailean)
a Cleric of Groetus (domains Madness and Destruction)
Bob the Wizard of Sleep
Two Witches (one of whom was our VL, who couldn't stop laughing)
Situation; Cleric is locked in the dungeons, nekkid, and separated from the rest of the party. My bard is locked unconscious in a separate room on the upper floor. The rest of the party is separated from their gear and trapped in a room surrounded by armed and angry Razmirans.
The Cleric, who knew where our gear was thanks to a an earlier Fort save, manages to break himself out of his cell, and sneaks into the storeroom, where he discovers all our gear, plus the casters familiars. Small issue; he now has to don his armor, BEFORE the angry heathens beat down the door...and he's wearing full-plate...
GM; Bob, you are getting some very interesting emotional sensations from your companion. He seems very excited.
Bob; I look through his eyes!
(Our GM being nice, she allowed him to determine that the scorpion was seeing our missing party member)
Bob; I cast Swift Girding through my companion! (This was one of the only spells he had available, since his spellbook got taken away two days ago, so he couldn't refresh anything.)
End Result; Cleric opens door wide, and does a stunning Tony Stark impression as his armor magically fastens on. He then proceeds to fight his way through nearly every enemy in the temple, rescue the damsel in distress, and get through to the other party members, all while carrying 3 familiars and everyone's gear.
I am pretty sure that only about half of us in my local group worry about encumbrance. I keep track for my own characters and I know a few other people who do as well. But I've also heard people openly admit that they don't bother because they think it is a silly rule. I've never seen any GM ask about it, not even from my Str 5 halfling.
i know jon keeps track of encumberance with strength and enlarge person when he gms usually.
