Schadenfreude's page

Apart from Assurance (when you add your proficiency bonus but no other modifiers), are there any checks when you don't add your ability modifiers?

Are there any times at all that you don't add your proficiency bonus? (Given that if you're untrained, your proficiency bonus is +0)

As far as I can understand from the encounter design guidelines in the Bestiary, a group of 4 PCs should be able to deal with 160 XP per adventuring day.

I'm drawing this conclusion based on the description for Extreme encounters, which says "An extreme-threat encounter might be appropriate for a fully rested group of characters that can go all out" - so I suppose that means that Extreme/160 XP is the maximum a group of PCs should be reasonably able to deal with without resting. Which is consistent with previous guidelines that PCs would mostly be able to deal with 4 encounters of their CR/level (40 XP in the new system) per day.

My question is, assuming this is correct, does it explain the pattern of TPKs and near-TPKs people have reported in the playtest so far? Conversely, if parties have coped better with the Lost Star encounters than this suggests, should some aspect of the encounter design guidelines be reworked (to e.g. cope with 200 XP per day)?

Can anyone explain to me how damage (or expected damage output) changes from level to level now?

I understand that, with stamina and hit points, PCs have about double the hit points they do in Pathfinder.

I believe that NPCs and monsters have hit points but not stamina, and so would have about the same number of hp as in PF.

With the new full attack rules, everyone can make up to 2 attacks per round (or operatives and soldiers, up to 4 if they're high enough level). There's no Power Attack or anything to add to damage output, but everyone now gets Weapon Specialisation, and weapons themselves scale with level (or at least, you can always go out and buy a more high-powered weapon).

I just don't have a good sense of how damage by level works in SF compared to PF. Does a soldier put out about the same as a fighter or paladin of equivalent level? An operative and a rogue?

Is 3 rounds still the average length of a combat?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Which exotic weapons are worth having to spend a feat on them?

I'm excluding those that you don't have to spend a feat for proficiency, because of race (elven curve blade) or class (monk weapons, bards and whips, etc) - that's a different question.

A bastard sword, for example, is possibly worth it if you want to wield an oversized weapon, and particularly if you have easy access to lead blades, so you can deal 3d8 base damage.

Getting proficiency in the falcata, as another example, is like getting the Improved Critical feat on a battle axe, which isn't too shabby.

What are your thoughts?