zebulon's page

Hi Vic, could you please increment the FAQ page date? It is still stuck at the 24th Feb. Many thanks!

Hi Vic; on page 11 of the rulebook, the page reference for Recharge is printed as "16", it should be "15".

The problem with that is the new base set will only be released after all the AP packs are released which looks to be July onwards next year. Which is quite a long time to spend without errata. And quite possibly when that is launched we won't be playing the RotRL much anyway.

Right. Well, they could provide both: an expensive (in term of P&P) print-on-demand set for people in a hurry, and still reward loyal customers everywhere on the planet, who will buy a second set. This would also solve the problem of print-on-demand cards that would be slightly bigger as stated before (which in my opinion is a bit worrying).

Yes, this is what FFG did with Arkham Horror: they included corrected cards in the following expansion (Dunwich Horror). Not only it rewards loyalty, but also it does not cost an arm to get for non-US based customers.

Mike,

All popular games have had their issues (look at FFG Arkham Horror or LoTR LCG), but many questions come from people who simply do not follow rules (how many times for Arkham Horror we had to answer: simpy follow the phase turn, etc) It does not mean a game is not good, but emphasizes on the fact that natural language in rule books makee it difficult to obtain unambiguous rules.

Anyway, your openness, honesty, ability to listen and efforts to address the real issues only reinforce the fact that PACG is a great game and that Paizo is a fantastic company that has always supported his players.

They must have more work than us, because not only they have to check their clarifications are sound and consistent for the current base game, but also for the future adventures, which they already produced.

Quick poll. I currently have Concentration as a special item on quite a few class sheets. Does it instead belong in the skills list, as a special skill?

I like it the way you did, because a major difference between 3.5 and Pathfinder is the removal of Concentration as a skill. However you are right that multiclassing is an issue here. What are the rules for a Sorcerer/Wizard? Does he use INT or CHA bonus?

News, everyone!

One of the features lots of people have asked for is a way of getting just the pages you need for a given character. I've now created a tool to do just that. Tell it the classes you play, and a few other options, and download a personalised PDF.

It works very well!

I thought that might have been the case. Just wanted to make sure! The sheets are great. Thanks for all your hard work!

You may find this list of skills (and the corresponding ability ) in the bottom right corner of the sheet.

Ah, right. In that case I'm glad my current cleric chose to make Int a drop stat instead of Str.

I just checked: this rule is also in the 3.5 d20 SRD.

Anyway, I don't want to sound too negative ; your sheets are very very nice :)

Unless I missed a bit, or still have my head in 3.5, that only applies to melee damage right?

In Pathfinder, the rules are different: "A Strength penalty, but not a bonus, applies on damage rolls made with a bow that is not a composite bow.". I have to say that rules on damage bonus/malus are a lot better explained on p. 179 rather than in the equipment section p. 141, as discussed in the errata thread.

Another subtle calculation issue: in the core rules p 179, strength modifiers are applied to damage too. Since the little gnome druid has a -1 STR penalty, his damage with the staff should be d4-1, and with the longbow d6-1 (except if the bow is composite). I am just being anal here :) It depends if you want to include modifiers in the damage stats of course.

[...]specifically one with higher wisdom to make it clearer how the bonus spells section works.

I find it quite clear actually. It is just a way to represent the bonus spell table 1-3 of the core rules. Quite clever.

Also, on page 4, you write that the Rogue and the Fighter do not require Class pages. Actually, the Rogue has one, only the Fighter has none.

Hi,

Very nice sheets, indeed. I may be wrong, but the Gnome Druid 5 example you give shows a +3/+3 Attack Bonus with a Masterwork Quarterstaff. When it is used as a single weapon the AB would be indeed +3. But if it is used as a double weapon, two-weapon fighting penalties (with a light off-hand weapon) should be applied. Am I wrong?

Common Terms, page 11:

Core Rulebook wrote:

Check: A check is a d20 roll which may or may not be modified by another value. The most common types are attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws.

Hi Sean,

I hope you did not take it badly :) I still think they should more formally appear the same way they were shown in the SRD 3.5 rules: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/usingSkills.htm. You can read that the Ability checks are specifically defined and described after the skill synergy rules, which were deleted from Pathfinder rules, and I suspect this whole part was deleted during Pathfinder editing.

A funny thing I realised after reading the corebook: the concept of an ability check is never formally explained in the rules!

I have read that the ability checks were defined in SRD 3.5 at the end of the "Using skills" section, after the Skill synergies. When Skill synergies has been removed, it is possible that the rest of the page was entirely cut. That is why Ability checks are mentioned in the "Take 10/20" subsection but its definition that was at the end was removed.

A funny thing I realised after reading the corebook: the concept of an ability check is never formally explained in the rules! There are a few references to it, but no clear statement that this is a d20 roll + ability modifier checked again some DC, unlike for a skill check, which is clearly defined. Doing an ability check is referenced many times though, but always as a "Charisma check", or "Wisdom check".
The closest explanation of an ability check is given in the Initiative ruling, which is a Dex check, and somewhat explains how to do it. Ability checks are also mentioned in the Skills section, along with the "Take 10 or 20" rule (despite the "Take" option should concern both ability and skill checks, not only ability checks).
I know this is not crucial, as it may seem obvious, but you feel that the book has been written for people already familiar with D&D rules.

Continuing my previous post about scrolls: the rule is not clear whether a misshap may happen if you fail your UMD rolls to either emulate an ability score or cast a spell that is not in the caster's spell list. The mishaps rules are just in the Scrolls section of Magic items, and only apply when a caster tries to cast a scroll spell with a higher spell's caster level. I assume that if UMD fails, nothing happens, no cast, no mishaps. Is that correct?

This is more a clarification than an errata, but I think the Scrolls activation rules in the Magic items section could be clarified in line with the Use Magic Device rules (and besides the Wand and Staff rules). I put my additions in bold:

To have any chance of activating a scroll spell, the scroll user must meet the following requirements.

• The spell must be of the correct type (arcane or divine). Arcane spellcasters (wizards, sorcerers, and bards) can only use scrolls containing arcane spells, and divine spellcasters (clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers) can only use scrolls containing divine spells. (The type of scroll a character creates is also determined by his class.)
  
• The user must have the spell on her class list. If this is not the case, she may use a UMD check to allow her to use a scroll as if she had the spell on her class spell list.
  
• The user must have the requisite ability score. If she has a lower ability score than required, she may use a UMD check to emulate a higher ability score.
  

Similar additions could be done for Wand and Staff activation.

Also, I would add:
If a user fails to activate a scroll and no mishaps happens, nothing happens and she can try again on the next round.

Finally, I would rename these two tasks in the UMD skill description, so that they match their real goals:
Use a Scroll -> Use a Scroll's spell not on class spell list
Use a Wand -> Use a Wand's spell not on class spell list

Make more sense?

This makes sense indeed. But still that does not fit with the design of the character sheet in the core book. The little tick boxes are all aligned on one row next to the level number. The spells are on the other hand listed below the boxes. There is no relationship between the boxes and the spell names. Therefore I do not see a way to use them the way you describe (although what you wrote makes perfect sense). Or maybe am I missing the obvious ?

Typically it is used with a pencil to check what you have memorized for the day. Then erase them when you cast them.

I still cannot figure out how this works. If we write on the lines known spells (not memorised, only known ones) then how do you use the checkboxes to represent the memorised ones ? We must do it the wrong way I guess...

Hi,

Sorry to be daft, but I have not figured out how the spells section works in the character sheet. The table is clear. However, how do the series of 9 little checkboxes work ? I suppose that on the lines we write the known spells. Or is it to indicate which spells are ready ?

Thanks.

The PDF of the Core Rules will be available after GenCon.

There will be a subscription option for the Core and Bestiary, plus future rulebooks that will include both the hardcopy and PDF of the books included.

Great, thanks!

Hi,

I was wondering, will there be a downloadable PDF version of the core rules and bestiary ?

If yes, will there also be a bundle hardcover + PDF ? It is useful sometimes to print the rules and write notes on them (I would not write on my rulebook!)

Thanks a lot.

I have a question regarding this caster level then: Fireball caster level is 5 for a Wizard, but 6 for a Sorcerer. How does it work then for a scroll ? Is that the caster level of the character that has made the scroll, or the caster level of the one that uses the scroll to cast the spell ? That means a scroll user could cast a spell of a higher level than his own level ?

I shall answer my own question with what I could read on p.359 : a scroll has the caster level of its creator, who can chose between the minimum level to cast the spell and his own level if higher. Is that right ?

By the way, the Pathfinder rule says "Caster Level" not "Spell Level", so the minimum caster level for Fireball is 5, which is why I used 5 instead of the spell level of 3, and the minimum caster level for wish is 17, which is what I used, rather than the spell level of 9.

I have a question regarding this caster level then: Fireball caster level is 5 for a Wizard, but 6 for a Sorcerer. How does it work then for a scroll ? Is that the caster level of the character that has made the scroll, or the caster level of the one that uses the scroll to cast the spell ? That means a scroll user could cast a spell of a higher level than his own level ?

PCgen is excellent and supports many sets of d20 rules, among which Pathfinder beta. It is open-source and free.

http://pcgen.sourceforge.net/01_overview.php

Eric

Hi,

It is unfortunately too late to report typos in the playtesting forums, but on p.166 copying a spell from another book or a scroll requires a Spellcraft DC15 + spell'd level check whereas on p.72 the table says: Learn a spell from a spellbook or scroll 10 + spell level. What is the correct DC ?