| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So I've just finished creating my custom Tiefling Bard character and since I wanted her to be reasonably balanced, I based her character card on Lem's with just a few small adjustments.
But when I started to compare the stats and abilities of the other characters, I noticed the 'rule' of 24 (ish). Assume the following:
D4 = 1 point
D6 = 2 points
D8 = 3 points
D10 = 4 points
D12 = 5 points
(FYI Lem has 14 points worth of stats, everyone else has 15)
Each point of skill bonus = 0.5 point*
Hand size of X = X points
Each proficiency is 1 point
Most of the characters end up with 24 +/- ~1 point in total, with Harsk and Sajan being the notable exceptions at 26.5 points and 21 points respectively. Of course this doesn't take into account the 'value' of a character's innate powers and as systems go, I'm sure what Paizo used is far more complex. But if you want to create a balanced custom character this seems like a good way to go about it.
nice thanks
I was working on something like this too. I'll have to take a closer look at what you are saying.
I had noticed that if you add up all the dice values for the skills, you'll notice that most of the iconics have 42. Lem and Kyra only have 40. Lem of course is the only character that has both the Arcane and Divine skills. While Kyra can heal her self anytime she wants (and is the only character who can defeat Iesha Foxglove). So think I think that is where you see some balancing coming into play.
Very interesting. Thanks again.
I think hand size can be a liability at either extreme. It also depends a lot on the character. Sajan really needs a bigger hand so he can draw multiple blessings a cycle them.
Obviously a bigger hand increases your vulnerability to damage, but it also improves your chance of not failing the check in the first place.
Yeah I've certainly had to adjust my custom character because what I thought was an advantage that represented the versatility of a bard (6 cards) turned out to be more of a burden.. one that nearly killed my character a few times while playing solo. I've dropped it down to 5 and it seems to play much better.
But like you say it really depends on the character and the composition of the deck. Hmmm..
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As others have mentioned, hand size can be both a benefit and a liability. In general, a "tough" character will have a smaller hand size, leaving them less exposed to damage. An extremely versatile character will have a larger hand size, giving them access to more tools.
On the other size of the coin, you really want to look at the expected play patterns of the character. An early version of Valeros tended to `lock up' with a good hand, which made many people happy (once he reached a steady state, he was at least competent at the things he should be good at until something bad happened). It also felt a little too static to other people, so Valeros got a power that let him `cycle' his weapons into his deck if he wanted - giving him a chance to see more of his deck (and just more variety), without sacrificing his long-term longevity. This lets him stay tough without also making him too static.
At the other end of the spectrum, we have Ranzak... but you haven't seen Ranzak yet. :-)
I would agree that hand size is a potential liability at some points in the early, but hand size is only an asset by the time you reach mid-game. Since I hit AP4 I have have never wanted a character to have a smaller hand size.