Newbie questions from an aspiring GM

[Hawkules]

Hi all,

Me and a few friends have decided to get a pathfinder game running, and I've been nominated to GM. I've made this thread to get some ideas on what I should run first, and discuss any questions I have about the rules (as I am currently reading through the rulebook, it's huge, I'll have more questions I'm sure).

Would Rise of the Rune Lords be a good start for a group of completely new players (and GM)? I'm lucky enough to have a group that accepts we will probably make some mistakes during the learning process, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I also have a question about weapon sizes and damage: for example a halfling would use the dmg(s) column (on the weapon table) for rolling damage whilst a human would use dmg(m)? And do those sizes related to the actual 'weapon size' if at all (halfling wielding a medium weapon as a 2 handed for instance)?

Any advice/insights are much appreciated, I have a lot to learn.

[Thomas LeBlanc]

Rise of the Runelords is written for the 3.5 rules. Since you have a new group of players, this would be okay as Pathfinder characters are a little more powerful than 3.5 characters. Some of the monsters, skills, abilities and feats will be different due to rules changes.

Any creature with small as a racial trait uses the (s) category and any medium creature uses the (m). If youread the beginning of the equipment chapter, it discusses weapon sizing. But basically for a small creature, a 2-hand weapon is the same small size category of the creature, a 1-hand weapon is tiny and a light weapon is diminutive. A small creature can wield a 1-hand weapon that uses the (m) category as a 2-hand weapon. See below for the penalty.

Rulebook wrote:

Inappropriately Sized Weapons: A creature can't make optimum use of a weapon that isn't properly sized for it. A cumulative –2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between the size of its intended wielder and the size of its actual wielder. If the creature isn't proficient with the weapon, a –4 nonproficiency penalty also applies.

So a halfling fighter using a (m) longsword would wield it with 2 hands with a -2 penalty. A human fighter would wield it with one hand and no penalty since it is the right size.

[Hawkules]

Thanks for the clarification.

There's a lot of keep track of! So basically the dmg(s) refers to (for 1 handed weapons) a tiny sized weapon, or in other words the native 1 handed sized weapon for small creatures.

[Thomas LeBlanc]

Hawkules wrote:

Thanks for the clarification.

There's a lot of keep track of! So basically the dmg(s) refers to (for 1 handed weapons) a tiny sized weapon, or in other words the native 1 handed sized weapon for small creatures.

Here it is from the Weapon Size area under Equipment.

Rulebook wrote:

A weapon's size category isn't the same as its size as an object. Instead, a weapon's size category is keyed to the size of the intended wielder. In general, a light weapon is an object two size categories smaller than the wielder, a one-handed weapon is an object one size category smaller than the wielder, and a two-handed weapon is an object of the same size category as the wielder.

On the links section to the left of the web page is a link for the PRD. It has info from the Core Rulebook, Bestiary, Game Mastery Guide, and the Advanced Players Guide. Good free source for your players to start looking at.

[Elven_Blades]

I find your wording a little unclear in your last post, so I'll try my best to clarify.

Starting off ignore what Thomas said about (tiny, diminutive, etc) weapons. Though it is technically true, it will only serve to confuse you when your trying to learn the rules.

That being said, any time you see a weapon that says it is "small", it means that it is appropriately sized for a small character (halfling or gnome). Look up the weapon in the weapon chart and see what it does for damage in the "small" column. Any weapon without a listed size is assumed to be medium, unless it was being used be a "larger" or bigger enemy. If that is the case, it likely means the editor was being lazy and didn't notice it should be a (whatever) sized weapon.

It is true that you can use weapons of "inappropriate" size, but again, i roccomend against this since you are just starting out. Best to start simple and ease into the games many complicated rules.

[wraithstrike]

Hawkules wrote:

Thanks for the clarification.

There's a lot of keep track of! So basically the dmg(s) refers to (for 1 handed weapons) a tiny sized weapon, or in other words the native 1 handed sized weapon for small creatures.

If the chart says small then it is the damage for small creatures. Medium is for medium sized creatures.

Tiny is for tiny creatures, but since there are no tiny races by the regular rules don't worry about the tiny chart. Large is for large creatures, but there aren't any of them available under the ordinary rules either.

The chart refers to a correctly sized weapon for a creature size. The only thing you have to worry about for now is the medium and small chart. The other sizes only come into play due to spells that change your size.

If it is still not clear let me know, and I can try a different explanation.