gnoams wrote:
I find that what makes more memorable characters has no connection to their mechanical soundness. One can make an optimized character that is flavorful and fun to play as/with as easily as one can make a mechanically gimped character that is fun. The rp enjoyment and the tactical mechanics are both parts of pfs play, I like to contribute to both.
What I'm interested in seeing is other people's numbers. I think a +3 to hit at first level is way too low, someone else may think it's plenty, while another may say I need at least twice that.
Is a 14 in your "main" stat playable? I tend to feel that a 16 is the minimum to be manageable, but an 18 is preferable. 20 is spending too much on one thing, unless you are an arcane caster in which case you can get away with it. Stuff like that.
To answer your mentioned questions, +4 to hit at first is generally the starting blocks for a non-touch hitting PC. Fighters can of course get higher (+6 without really trying to hard) and some touch ac characters can get by with as little as a +2.
14 in main stat is doable depending on what you are using the main stat for. PFS games stop at 12, meaning a cap of 6th level spells. This means if you don't use save based spells you'll need a starting primary ability as low as 13 for it not to interfere with your ability to cast spells. However this is a pretty edge case, most casters can't avoid spells with saves, and if your using your primary stat to hit a 13 is not going to cut it. In most cases I'd think 16 is about as low as you want to go.
17 is the average AC for a starting character (studded leather and an 18 dex or scale mail and a large shield), going lower is ok if you're never in melee, but there isn't a way to guarantee that at lower levels.
*Edit* 16,14,14,12,10,8 is a good starting point for stats, but you don't necessarily have to align the 16 with a racial bonus since 16 is an acceptable starting primary stat. For instance a dwarf cleric would be fine with 16 str, 12 dex, 16 con, 8 int, 16 wis, and an 8 chr.
