Hey everyone!
So we ran First Steps 1 today with those three classes and a level 1 Kyra who did nothing. I'll give you the summary first before the long post
Summary: Level 1 is a terrible level to playtest most of the new classes because stat selection and dice rolls are way more important than class abilities at this point. However, it happened that my Slayer annihilated everything and we trivially beat even the notoriously dangerous final encounter with a flawless victory.
The Team:
Tiffany the Slayer--A slender blonde with a giant greatsword and unusual strength for her size due to being "The Slayer" (18 Strength)
Carm the Skald--An ulfen man with a longsword and shield who was actually the weakest of the three in strength (16 Strength)
Susan the Infernal Bloodrager--A giant red male infernal-blooded half-orc (18 Strength)
Kyra the Iconic Cleric--One of the many many sisters in the famed Order of the Kyra, she literally didn't do anything the entire scenario except for declare an old lady drunk, which Susan actually figured out anyway with a lucky roll.
The Scenario:
First we needed to get a crate from a warehouse. It was locked, and we didn't have Disable Device. Carm refused to break someone's property down on principle, so we got on a boat to check the loading door. There, we discovered a hole in the bottom, and using a grappling hook, a rope, and an old fishing net, we managed to catch the box below. The angry squeaking of rats echoed from above as we rowed back.
Then we needed to go to an orphanage and verify the character of the recipient of some medicine. Susan kept asking every person "ARE YOU A CHARACTER?" A Natural 20 from Tiffany with the old lady as her favored target determined that she was hiding something, but Susan got everyone kicked out by yelling and pounding his axe. Tiffany sneaked in while Auntie Baltwin was sheltering the children from Susan and calling the guards. Unable to determine what was damning evidence, she looted everything in the secret cabinets and brought them back to Ollysta Zadrian. This was enough to prove embezzling.
Next, we went to the Osirian embassy and solved some simple puzzles. No one turned blue due to a successful Will save.
Fourth, we went to Zarta Dralneen's townhouse to fetch a puzzle-box. An imp had it. Susan intimidated the imp into giving it back, since it was two size categories smaller.
Then we were ambushed in an alley. Tiffany went first and dropped Ledford the halfling with average rolls (2d6+9=16, which takes him to -1 since he hadn't gotten to rage yet due to being flat-footed). Then Halli put up obscuring mist. Larkin stealthed. Carm did his battle song. Susan moved to threaten Deandre. Deandre threw up a copycat. Kyra was surprised.
Round 1, Tiffany dropped Halli with a low roll (2d6+10=14). Larkin rolled a 3 and missed Carm. Carm hit Deandre's image. Susan flamed up and flat-out killed Deandre (1d12+12+1d6=23). Kyra moved up.
Round 2, Tiffany five-foot-stepped, declared Favored Target on Larkin and dropped Larkin with a slightly below average roll (2d6+11=17).
Flawless victory!
So what did we learn? As I said above, we basically learned that level 1 wasn't a great chance to test the classes.
One thing we discovered is that Bloodrager seems a strict improvement over Barbarian other than the 2 hit points from the hit die at level 1, albeit a very small advantage (gains all Barbarian abilities and the blood power).
Also, the Slayer was extremely effective. She declared every NPC we ever met as a favored target, giving her a +1 on many skill checks. She decimated her foes. And she stealthed to complete the stealth mission. This really isn't saying too much about the class though.
The player of the Skald liked his character a lot and is really looking forward to level 3 when he actually starts giving interesting abilities to the other characters. He mentioned that playtesting the Skald and Hunter, we will hardly see any of the actual new class abilities until level 3 (since Hunter is basically just a druid until then and Skald doesn't get the Rage powers). In that vein, I agree, and I think PFS playtests of those classes will not be as useful in differentiating the classes from core choices until higher level, unfortunately. It's probably unlikely that any but the most avid players will actually level up their PFS characters high enough by the end of the playtest period to give feedback about the unique abilities.
I'll let you know if we play these guys again!
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I think PFS playtests of those classes will not be as useful in differentiating the classes from core choices until higher level, unfortunately. It's probably unlikely that any but the most avid players will actually level up their PFS characters high enough by the end of the playtest period to give feedback about the unique abilities.
Yeah, that's a shame. PFS feedback would probably be very valuable: standardized scenarios and rules and all that. But alas it's not to be.
But on a positive note, I'm glad it's the weekend and that we'll start to see more actual *playtest* feedback! :)
You can still make characters to the PFS rules and play PFS scenarios, just don't have them be an official game. So level them up, and see how they do.
there's just not as much incentive, unless you're hardcore about it.
You can still make characters to the PFS rules and play PFS scenarios, just don't have them be an official game. So level them up, and see how they do.
there's just not as much incentive, unless you're hardcore about it.
Thats pretty much what I've been doing, except I roll stats but try to keep them sane.
I think PFS playtests of those classes will not be as useful in differentiating the classes from core choices until higher level, unfortunately. It's probably unlikely that any but the most avid players will actually level up their PFS characters high enough by the end of the playtest period to give feedback about the unique abilities.Yeah, that's a shame. PFS feedback would probably be very valuable: standardized scenarios and rules and all that. But alas it's not to be.
But on a positive note, I'm glad it's the weekend and that we'll start to see more actual *playtest* feedback! :)
Noted in original thread this discussion. Just FYI.
You can still make characters to the PFS rules and play PFS scenarios, just don't have them be an official game. So level them up, and see how they do.
there's just not as much incentive, unless you're hardcore about it.
Well yes, but I can't more vict---err volunteers to help out with those, so Linda and I have to play everything, which is less realistic than having one player per PC.
You could run an AP book in campaign mode and apply the chronicle sheet to a character that way...we are planning to do that at my next PFS session after we tried the play tests in thronekeep 1 for level 1 characters...just have them be created using PFS rules.
I think that playing an AP book in campaign mode implies starting at the beginning to "tell the whole story". Correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, my available guinea pigs' desire for PFS chronicles is less than their love of getting the full experience from APs, so they wouldn't want to "burn" an AP like that. However, if you are correct and you can just skip around and still do campaign mode, that's an excellent option for other groups.