Hello all,
I am a first time poster on the threads and a newcomer to the Pathfinder RPG.
I am about to start a campaign following the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path and would like to place a simple question (or maybe it is not so simple as i believe it is :D ):
- What would you advise to be a starting point for a group of "new to the game" players, in terms of character creation - Standard Fantasy (15 points?) or High Fantasy (20 points)?
Thank you in advance for any possible feedback on this one.
Cheers.
That depends on how many PCs you have in the group. If I remember right the Adventure Paths are written for 4-5 standard fantasy (15 pt) characters.
That being said the difference between 15 pt and 20 pt characters isn't that great that I would worry too much about that difference if you are dealing with 4 or 5 PCs.
If you have more than 5 I would definitely go with the 15 pt buy and you might have to increase the numbers of some of the encounters. (Say a given combat calls for 4 goblins, send in 6 instead. In the case of a "boss" fight, give the boss a couple of mooks to help even out the action economy.)
Really it's up to you and how you would like to run your game, and how much modification of the orignal material you are comfortable with.
Hope that helps.
My players are absolute non-optimizers; they want to tell a story, not roll dice.
So they started with 15-point builds and four non-optimized characters.
And nearly got TPK'ed twice in the first module.
So if your players want the melodrama of character death, a 15-point build is the standard for APs. (And to be fair, in spite of those two major scares, my party hasn't lost a member yet).
If your players are likely to get upset over character deaths, the 20-point build would give them a bit of a cushion.
Personally, whenever I worry about such things, I go ahead and give the 20-point build. We're all about roleplaying, so if the PCs walk over my BBEGs (Big Bad Evil Guys), the group's OK with it, and it's easier to boost a BBEG by a bit than to reroll a couple of new characters you accidentally slaughtered.
*EDIT* Talomyr is correct -- this is assuming 4 players. I gave 20-point builds to 5 players for CotCT and it was too easy.
Welcome to the boards!
I will run the anniversary edition, and I´ll go for 15 points and allow one score to go below 10; to - 8, to be exact. Max 18 in a score at first level. Thoughts?
Asmo
Excellent plan. It's good to set limits. Otherwise you'll need to put in a WIS-draining creature to remove the INT 4 WIS 4 CHA 4 barbarian that's turning every fight into a mockery...
...yes, I really have had players that would try that kind of 'stuff'.
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Welcome to the boards!
I will run the anniversary edition, and I´ll go for 15 points and allow one score to go below 10; to - 8, to be exact. Max 18 in a score at first level. Thoughts?
Asmo
Excellent plan. It's good to set limits. Otherwise you'll need to put in a WIS-draining creature to remove the INT 4 WIS 4 CHA 4 barbarian that's turning every fight into a mockery...
...yes, I really have had players that would try that kind of 'stuff'.
A Cleric with 'command' or any other mind affecting spells would probably grind the 4 wis barbarian to a halt rather quickly