I am going to attempt to play my first ever PFS game tomorrow, and I need to get everything in order to play.
I am going to be a Human Fighter (Weapon Master) who is CN, and I don't know too much about factions, but I'll be in the Sczarni.
If I recall correctly I get to start with a total of 150, and get to select 2 traits. I would like help fleshing out my entire character so it's nice and polished. I definitely want to take the "Defensive Strategist" trait, which I believe is legal, and want help determining what my second trait should be.
These are the ability scores I believe I'll start with:
STR 16
DEX 16+2
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 12
CHA 7
And the first three feats I plan to take will be:
Point Black Shot, Precise Shot, and Weapon Focus (Longbow)
I'll have 2 skill points to use, and my favored class bonus I believe will go for HP. Perception seems to be a definite for my first skill point, but I don't know what to use for the other.
Help is appreciated greatly, so suggestions on items to buy, traits to take etc I'm strongly looking for.
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If you can, take the Seeker trait. It gives a +1 Perception and makes it a class skill.
Your CON is kinda low, but I believe it should be fine since you aren't a melee character. Just try and keep your distance.
Something to keep in mind for higher levels is Durable Arrows. They are in Elves of Golarion, are 1gp/arrow, and are reusable.
At third level you want to take Iron Will. Because at around level 4 things like Confusion start popping up and failing will saves becomes bigger.
Ive done a fighter archer before, they are true damage beasts. Save deadly aim for 3rd level. The penalties for it will hurt more the sooner you get it.
I'd do:
H. Point blank
1. Precise shot
B. rapidshot
2. Weapon focus
3. Deadly aim
4. Weapon specialization
5. Combat reflexes
6. Manyshot
7. Clustered shots
8. Greater weapon focus
9. Snapshot
10. Improved snapshot
11. Improved precise shot
12. Greater weapon specialization
Get bracers of falcons aim for the extra crit range of 19-20, the +1 competence range attack bonus, and the +3 per emotion bonus.
You now can threaten out to 15' and make AoO attacks on enemies from there. With combat reflexes,myoull have plenty of AoO to utilize. Don't move a lot, get heavy armor, or medium Mithral, crank your AC high as well as your attack and damage, and your a walking ballista practically.
Gloves of dueling are a needed item and anything to help your saves is a huge help.
Edit: forgot rapidshot, it's a 1st level feat you'll take.
@XMorsX, Is it legal for me to take Rapid Shot at level one, even though it has a feat Pre-Req? I thought that there was some rule that made is so if I don't have the feat for the pre-req from a previous level, that I couldn't select it, but maybe I'm thinking of 3.5 rules.
So for equipment I figure it's vital to have a backpack in PFS to hold things in, right? Besides that, a longbow, studded armor, and arrows/durable arrows? Anything else?
What to use my other skill point into other than Perception?
@Grizzly the Archer, you agree with my ability points, and did you forget Rapid Shot, or can I indeed take it and should take it at level 1?
You have suggestions for traits with consideration for Defensive Strategist? Basic starting items for a PFS character, and what skills to look into?
EDIT: Also, Point Blank Master you are not a fan of? You suggest this +3 Str Darkwood bow for 2 PP like people suggest too?
For Pathfinder Society, you really want more than just two skill points per level (although since you're human, you actually get 3). Since you can't be guaranteed you'll have any particular other character class, you need to cover a lot of bases yourself. I'd take the Strength down to 14, and use those points to bring your Int up to 14. That will get you 5 skill points per level, so you can have a couple of good Knowledge skills, and you can use your other train to pick up a class skill you want. You really won't miss the single point of damage, especially once you start getting weapon training, Weapon Specialization, and so on.
I've got an archer Fighter for PFS, but I used the Lore Warden archetype from the Pathfinder Society Field Guide. That gives him 2 extra skill points per level (and 16 Int plus the favored class bonus gives him 8/level total), and all Int-based skills are class skills. So he's trained in all the Knowledge skills, plus Linguistics and Spellcraft, which means he's got plenty to do even outside of combat.
Defensive strategist is awesome. I'd also get a trait that either allowed perception as a class skill, or something comparable.
As for point blank master, if you want you can take it instead of combat reflexes.
Reason is Gus, if you decide to get melee close with the enemy you'll need it. But you'll also probably need the combat reflexes to deal with all the AoO you will get.
Also, my archer was the archer fighter archetype, it got PBM for free. I'm a fan of it, it just needs room in the build.
As for skills, your human, they get an extra skill point anyway, so now your getting 3 per level.
Perception- always max
Climb- 1 rank
Swim-1 rank
Ride- 1 rank
Craft bows- as many ranks as you deem necessary. If to just do some trick arrows, but nothing too fancy you'll need around a DC 12-15 to do it. So a skill bonus of +14 will always get you progress on a bow, even on a 1 for the roll.
Survival- 1 rank if you want. Will help you find and get the raw archery materials for your craft bows/arrows.
I am going absolutely full fighter, and I'm not interested in skill points even though I would enjoy more. Thank you for reminding me that I'll be getting a total of three as a human.
Craft bows- as many ranks as you deem necessary. If to just do some trick arrows, but nothing too fancy you'll need around a DC 12-15 to do it. So a skill bonus of +14 will always get you progress on a bow, even on a 1 for the roll.
I thought craft stuff was illegal, but then again isn't there some dayjob thing? I never used the craft skill, but doesn't that take time that I don't have in PFS to take?
Crafting is illegal in PFS (with a few rare exceptions, which don't apply here).
So perhaps Grizz isn't giving advice specifically with PFS in mind.
@Rainy, I've been told in the past to plan to use my first 2 PP for a +3 Str Darkwood Comp Bow. Would you suggest the same? Do you have anymore advice that you could give, especially in item purchases? I would like a Longbow and Studded leather armor, but what else should be purchased exactly for PFS?
Just a side, bracers of falcons aim are not legal in Pfs. You do want precise shot early, and improved precise shot when you can.
As for your first 2 pp, I would recommend a wand of cure light wounds, to help the healer out.
I'd definitely recommend spending your first 2 PP on either a wand of cure light wounds or a composite bow, and pick the other one up with your next two. The +3 damage could make more of a difference in your survival than the healing wand. I got the bow first with my archer.
I'm defiantly a believer in having options that prevent you from being damaged in the first place over items that increase or hp or heal it.
Again, weapon, ammo, armor, and a back pack are the essentials I would think to buy with your initial 150 gp. I've never played pfs, so I don't know exactly what else I should purchase.
I believe I read you can change things before leveling beyond level one. Can people exploit stuff they originally bought, such as getting their money back on a long bow they originally got when they later on in the level got a better bow as I mentioned before using pp?
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At level 1 you're going good.
After 1st - 3rd scenarios you'll have a few hundred gold
pick up the following.
APG items (weapon blanches)
silver
cold iron
adamantine
It applies to 10 arrows each, but you'll be able to bypass DR's. Then pick up an oil of magic weapon...and start saving up for:
1. +1 composite, versatile, darkwood longbow.
2. eventually make it invulnerable
3. efficient quiver
4. keep a back up composite longbow
(changes before level 2) - you can change anything (except gold total and name.)
Anyone clarify if it's legal to have Rapid Shot as a level one feat even though there is a feat Pre-Req?
EDIT: Changes before level 2 include what you spent your PP on?
It's the order of when you gain stuff for the level. If I recall, class abilities, feats and such come before choosing your feats and skills based on the level itself. So being human gives the feat, then the fighter class, than your actual level 1 feat. Make rapid shot your fighter class feat and you should be ok.
As long as you have the prereq feat from an additional level 1 feat, it's fine.
Then I see it a better option to make weapon focus level 2 and rapid shot level 1.
I'm still undecided with a trait other than Defensive Strategist, what skills to take other than Perception, and exactly what items I would need for PFS. I of course can take a club as a melee weapon for free, right?
Taking a skill for the sake of a dayjob worth it, and if so, what is suggested for such a thing?
Yes, you can take a club (and sling) for free.
Day job skills: Mechanically? Not in terms of money. There's an argument that says the skill point you lose isn't worth the small amount of gold you gain. Then again, most folks are doing it for flavor. It's always nice for role play to be able to say that your character does something else during the day. I have a ninja that has craft alchemy. "I make poisons for a living. I apply them as a hobby." I play semi regularly with a fighter who has profession baker, and baking is a huge part of his character. He will regularly bake the party treats during down times on multiple day adventures. This contrasts quite nicely with his otherwise harbinger of destruction role on the battlefield.
Of course, some craft and profession checks come up in PFS scenarios occasionally, while others can be applied with some creativity and a willing GM. The big ones are profession sailor, craft alchemy, profession soldier and various perform checks. There are also prestige boons that allow you to turn a skill you already have into a day job check. Again, not worth the PP mechanically but great flavor.
How will the faction I choose play a part in PFS. I read that I could earn another PP, but how exactly can I be sure to manage that? I want to choose Sczarni.
So the plan is to buy special arrows and make them Durable by spending 1 GP per arrow, so I can reuse them if I can collect them, correct?
In season 1-4 scenarios, factions only matter for role play. It used to be different but they changed it. In season 5, there are specific missions that members of a faction want to go on because those missions contain story lines relevant to the faction. The player is rewarded for completing the faction missions with special boons at the end. They're usually minor, so you don't really miss them. It's more the role play potential of being involved in the fate of your faction that is the draw.
If you buy the Pathfinder Society Field Guide, Pathfinder Society Primer, and the out of print but available as PDF Seekers of Secrets, you can use prestige gained in your faction to buy prestige awards. Some are general, others are specific to a faction. This tends to be the only other mechanical way that factions matter now.
I haven't really received advice on things to buy. Buying camping gear necessary, or do the sessions usually run by taking one day in the game to complete?
Gp found in game carry over? Items you find don't, but could I sell items I find in game and carry gold over if it can be carried over?
The process of items and gold in and between sessions confuse me.
Also, how many ways can I earn extra pp for the session?
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Buy a longbow, and then probably studded leather and a buckler. Also pick up a class kit for basic stuff. Don't worry too much about camping gear--you usually have a chance to buy stuff at the beginning of a scenario if you are going to be outdoors for an extended period.
Pick up the Seeker trait to get +1 Perception and Perception as a class skill.
Defender of the Society is also very good. +1 to AC when wearing armor is like a trait version of Dodge.
I planned on Defender of society.
I'm really curious about how gp in game works as I wrote above. When reading how pfs runs, I got confused by some things in the matter.
I know you can keep things you by at the very end of the session if they were included in the scenario.
I'm really curious about how gp in game works as I wrote above. When reading how pfs runs, I got confused by some things in the matter.
I know you can keep things you by at the very end of the session if they were included in the scenario.
You don't keep found loot at the end of the scenario; instead you get a flat amount of gold. The only stuff you keep is the stuff you buy at market price with the gold you earn.
However, you can't buy items beyond a certain gp-value cap, which is set by your Fame score (you can read about this in the Guide to Organized Play, which includes a table for this). However certain things are Always Available, and not subject to this limit, such as mundane gear and weapons (except firearms), special materials (except dragonhide), and +1 weapons and armor. You can also ignore the Fame cap when buying an item that appears on any of your chronicle sheets.
Chronicle sheets will also sometimes include custom items, such as partially-charged wands or potions/scrolls/wands with higher than minimum caster level. You still have to pay the gold for these though.
LazarX- In PFS you can 'call in favors' (spend 2 prestige points) to get any item up to 750 gold. Since you'd be paying 2 PP for the masterwork bow anyway, there's no harm in making it Darkwood.
I was under the impression that every item that was included as loot I could use was open to any player to buy at the end of the game, which seems to not be true. My sheet I got didn't include the armor and weapons the last foes had for me to buy them. If this is incorrect, then please inform me.
Question 1: Using the 2 PP to get a 730 GP worth Mighty +3 Darkwood Comp bow, will that count against me when trying to upgrade it with the max amount I can invest on an item?
Question 2: I was told that I could buy a Comp Long Bow, and PFS will allow me to later pay for Masterwork, and any other upgrades where as normally I would have to buy a completely separate bow. Is this correct? I thought that was awesome!
@Matt, or anyone else that can answer. Matt mentions that things used or not used don't get counted. So if I buy potions and use the potions, then for the next game the potions come back for me to use again?
My first game was pretty sweet. I had a buckler, studded leather armor, a comp longbow, cestus, and had s stock of arrows. Some fancy pants dude told me to escort some Goblins who were b*~%~&~~s for a very short time, but got down with us real fast. I one hit some Goblin Shaman, and we put in business to other goblins at some tower thing.
My personal friend came for his first game as well playing a Paladin, and this dude we were playing with was sadly the stereotype for someone playing a RPG, but I could tolerate it. The GM had some turn issues with the goblins so they had super moves and an attack, but it was straight.
We set up camp, and made watch during a storm, and when morning came another goof with teleporting wolves ambushing us. We slaughtered them and moved onto a town, and my friend for the first time in his life actually got to use DIPLOMACY in a game and work. He gathered information, and we found out a scumbag Troll dude.
We got to the Troll, and I heard about factions getting PP for specific things, and I tried to tell him to thug and bug with my faction because we're all about the life he is about, but this guy was a huge jerk. Before I even got to speak about that stuff. the stereotypical guy told me before we met the troll that he should be the one to talk... this dude went into saying crazy absurd things that would never be believed, and never asked for a bluff check. It just made the troll ask for some cash, and this dude kept burying us like crazy by offering the Troll like 100 GP... I was like in my mind, "Have fun paying him, because he's not getting any of my gold". The Paladin tried to diplomacy the troll, but this dude interrupted with more crazy things, and the troll was real into a minimal of 100 GP, but needed more. We were told this dude liked to wrestle, so my dude mega pissed about this guy being an insane goon machine, dropped his gear, shoved him aside, and was like, "I heard you like to get physical, so let's go for a roll in the hay WWF style!"
This troll was all about that life, and we stood on this boat dock, and agreed to no damage moves, but for a pin. I roll a nat 20, and then my second attempt adds up to like over 20. I man handled a large size Troll in seconds, and this dude gave me super respect. He asked for my life story, and stereotypical player dude is like, "I'll tell him" and more insane stuff happens.
We get to some little shack, and stereotypical guy gets blown up by some freak doll, and I was like, "NOT TODAY MOTHER F**KER! and rapid shot that to oblivion with the Paladin smashing to the max. We pushed forward to some nerds who wanted to kill the Goblins because they killed his family. Like, they wen't super hostile to the max, and we all tried to get them to stop fighting, but I had to shoot that fool between the eyes to get him under control, and the Paladin pretty much had to cut him in half. We got two to surrender, and I got like 500 GP and 2 PP for my troubles with all 4 goblins alive.
I was just pumped we did it, and that my friend got to share the experience with me.
I still have plenty of questions about stuff, but everyone that helped me get my guy ready, I thank you very much!
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An archer is a great choice for a new character. Easy to play, always a helpful contribution to the table. A few things from the thread so far.
1. Look through the Guide to Organized Play to get many of your initial questions answered.
2. You'll deal plenty of damage as an archer. But make sure you do something to boost your Will save along the way. Sucks to fail one of those.
3. No, you may not upgrade an already-crafted bow into masterwork, or a special material, since those are done when the bow's carved. You can, however, upgrade it past that point with enchantments etc.
4. First level retraining is your friend. Until you play your fourth scenario, you can change *everything* about your character. Including items purchased. Since I'm so indecisive when I'm starting a new character, I usually don't bother to record purchases till 2nd level, as I'll swap it all out anyway.
5. First 2 PP on a wand of cure light wounds, no question. You're responsible for bringing your own healing resources to the table.
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I was under the impression that every item that was included as loot I could use was open to any player to buy at the end of the game, which seems to not be true. My sheet I got didn't include the armor and weapons the last foes had for me to buy them. If this is incorrect, then please inform me.
Chronicles don't usually include gear from the always available list.
Is it legal for another player to cast AND pay for the masterwork transformation? That seems unfair, but beneficial to the guy getting hooked up.
I wasn't awarded fame, or at least none was written down on my sheet. Is this curvy? My CHA is -2 making my fame -1 right now, so buying stuff doesn't look possible.
I'm always limited to the total cost of the item I'm buying or upgrading in relation to my fame, unless I buy it off the sheet at the end of a game (but upgrading it will require same game rules), right?
I need to get 9 fame to even buy on my own that dark wood 3 mighty comp bow, which is 5 sessions where I need to get both points except for one of them I could earn one. Spending two pp for that weapon is sounding really great now.
I have below 5 fame, so I can't buy anything from pfs?
I googled "fame pathfinder" and got a link to a different use of fame in the game, and it confused me, especially when not included in the pfs rules. I apologize for not reading careful enough.
Always available only until 5 fame is now my understanding. Only exception is pp buys, and purchases off the after session list.
You take Mounted Archery. Your mount takes Stable Gallop. (-1 when the mount double moves / -2 when it full runs with both feats)
*Does not have to be L1, but you should totally work this into your build. Why mounted archery? When you have enough ride points to autopass 'guide with knees' you can both move and full round archery into your target each round.