Simplified Character Creation Booklet?

[XRaysVision]

Fortunately, there are great first level adventures for a beginning group. However, I think a great addition to the introductory range would be a simplified character creation booklet. Essentially, this would contain a character sheet a description of the process, a shortenedd version of PC races and classes, only the skill and feat (only the feats available to level 1 PCs) tables and just the spell tables for level 0 and 1 casters. For detailed description of feats, skills, and spells the core book would have to be consulted.

This would enable a GM to introduce Pathfinder to a new group (or a old group playing different games) very quickly without everyone having to fight over a single copy of the core book. It would be a boon to convention GMs as well.

[Face_P0lluti0n]

That's an awesome idea, though it might be simple enough to just whip up and print out a PDF of such a thing by using the text from the PRD and your office/word processing application of choice (I'm a Linux geek, so I do everything on Open Office). I'd also attach the "rules of the game" cheat sheet from the Game Mastery Guide, if you've got it, because it's a handy reference for questions like "How do I calculate my AC again?"

For the PFS game I'm running, I'm providing new-to-d20 players with the PFS pre-generated characters and a copy of the cheat sheet, and then encourage them to make a character once they've learned enough about the rules to understand basic tactics and optimization.

[XRaysVision]

I think that part of the problem is that the basic knowledge needed to fill out the character sheet and get started is spread thoughout the rulebook. For instance, it doesn't get much basic than figuring out what your Hit Points should be. As it turns out, the instructions for figuring out your HP are in the glossery in front of the book.

Now imagine that you're a brand new player trying to figure out the game. You've rolled up your abilities which were pretty straight forward and clear. Now you want to put a number in that HP box on your sheet. Humm. Nothing in the character generation section tells you how--it just says to go do it. Fortunately there is an index so you consult it and it sends you to page twelve. So now you read that paragraph on HP. Remember you're a complete neophyte. So what does that paragraph say?

"To determine a creature’s hit points, roll the dice indicated
by its Hit Dice. A creature gains maximum hit points if its
first Hit Die roll is for a character class level. Creatures
whose first Hit Die comes from an NPC class or from his
race roll their first Hit Die normally."

Fair enough, so now you go look up Hit Die and find that figure out that the HD is a defined by the class. Let's say you're a Fighter so now you know that your Hit Die is a d10. Now you back and read the paragraph on page twelve again. Eventually you might arrive at the conclusion that at the 1st level you automatically get the max HP(determined by the die type) and every level thereafter you roll that die type and add it you your current HP.

Of course, by the time you've puzzled this out, you're probably asking yourself if it's going be equally difficult to figure out how to fill in the rest of the blocks on the sheet.

I do like the suggestion that parts of the PRD can be lifted and combined to create a quick charcter creation guide. However, I for one would gladly fork over a few hard earned bucks for a nice glossy guide. In fact, I would buy several for my lending library.

[d20pfsrd.com]

We created this page a while ago.

If you have suggestions or tips on how it could be improved I'd love to hear them.

[XRaysVision]

That is a great website. It's been a few years since I played 3.5. Recently I started playing a home brew game which is most unsatifying so one of the other players and I have started looking around for an alternative. While I have lots of different game systems, I really wanted an excuse to buy the Pathfinder book.

When I started refreshing my memory by attempting to generate a character, I recalled what a convoluted process it appeared to be when I first picked up the PHB 3.0 and tried to do it by myself. To be frank, I couldn't and soon found myself calling for help. Of course, after playing for a while that intitial confusion and frustration is soon forgotten amidst the excitement of playing.

Personally, I think one of the most prevalent problems with RPGs is that they are written and play tested by experienced gamers. I think the books would be written much differently if the authors just grabbed someone off the street with no previous exposure RPGs, handed them the rulebook, and said "do it." The assumptions made by the authors would soon be discovered. Years ago when I was a young software engineer it was the policy in the company for whom I worked that the designers did not write the manuals. In fact, after much experimentation, we finally got to the point where we hired people who knew nothing about the software or how to operate it to write the manuals. We found that they would ask exactly the questions that needed to be asked to gain an understanding by a complete neophyte. The designers simply knew too much to be abe to write effective instructions.

The PRD is a distillation of the rules and makes things a lot easier to understand. It is still the same structure and makes the same assumptions as the rulebook. After all, it is the rulebook without the fluff. The PRDdb because of the ability to cross reference very quickly. Its utility, however, is applicable to the solitary user between games. It can't help in a convention setting or when everyone in the group is gathered in my living room itching to kill a dragon and steal his stuff.

Honestly, I think that a reasonable booklet could be created that would be in the 16 to 32 page length of the Chronicle type booklets (and in the same five to ten dollar price point) which would contain just enough information and instructions to initially create 1st to 4th level PCs with enough rooom for some pretty pictures. If I ad my druthers, the first page would be an illustration of the official character sheet with a numerical callout in each blank in the order in which they should be filled in. The rest of the booklet would be a list of these callouts and how the number that goes in that box is derived along with a reference into the core rulebook for more detailed information and context. If a callout need to reference a table, then that table (foreshortened since we are only concerned with intitial PC creation at some low levels) would be appear in the booklet as well.

[Face_P0lluti0n]

d20pfsrd.com wrote:

We created this page a while ago.

If you have suggestions or tips on how it could be improved I'd love to hear them.

Personally, I like it.

My only observation/suggestion is that the feat section still throws a poor newbie to the dogs by referencing them to the whole feat list. I do like the idea of having a separate list of only those feats that a 1st level character would be able to take. Alternately, a short list of 1st level feats suggested for some of the more popular or optimized fighting styles.

Otherwise, though...I'm using that page next time I need to brief a newbie on the game.

[d20pfsrd.com]

Face_P0lluti0n wrote:

Personally, I like it.

My only observation/suggestion is that the feat section still throws a poor newbie to the dogs by referencing them to the whole feat list. I do like the idea of having a separate list of only those feats that a 1st level character would be able to take. Alternately, a short list of 1st level feats suggested for some of the more popular or optimized fighting styles.

Otherwise, though...I'm using that page next time I need to brief a newbie on the game.

I like the idea of presenting a subset of the entire feat list such that it includes only those feats that are possibly "choos-able" at first level. I'll have to consider how to incorporate that. Thanks for the suggestion!

[XRaysVision]

Let me say that d20pfsrd.com has been a huge help to me as I refresh my d20 3.5 knowledge and adapt to Pathfinder. One of the things I like best is that the layout translates pretty well on my iPhone.

I wish there were some suggestions that I could provide, but right now I can't think of any. Perhaps as I use it more, I will come up with something.

All I do now is say "Good job!"