alright, well I will pre warn you, I don't really format, so this will probably look like a huge story, basically I found pathfinder through the adventure card game, so im pretty spoiled on how simple that game is compared, I recently joined a new group for pathfinder RPG, all we did was get our characters made and an intro quest starter experience, the character making was pretty long and chaotic, too much going on at once, not enough help from the GM , who is new to being a GM, he seemed to have good knowledge, but overall made lots of errors with the creating process, thus leading me to still want to stay with the group, but purchase many array of books and such to learn the game better for myself, and perhaps have my own group as well, of course finding that this game is quite complicated compared to anything ive seen, I started, with the beginner box, ive ran through the basics, and we attempted the first quest with 2 pre made characters, we were murdered, and thus leading me to question certain things, first ill mention, I acted as GM, we are using this to learn with, and we is me and my fiancé, so I used a pre made character and so did she, I know its unorthodox to do that, but, it was mostly to teach the game to her and me grasp it more, than to actually succeed or anything, so I didn't feel like I was violating much, I didn't spoil things on her end and let her make most of the choices, I just didn't want her having a lone character to do that quest with, so im going to ask some questions that came up during the session, that I just cant seem to really find clarification on, ill try listing those in somewhat formatted order.
1. since im using this beginner box to learn, am I just gonna have to re learn everything when moving out of the beginner box? the character sheets info, as well as the way quite a few things work, seem to be different than what I was lead through with my group I joined, basically, how different is the RPG from the beginner box if at all?
2. I saw that the characters have a process with the turn, and at times it matters, but mostly in combat it seems, when outside of combat, but still on the mat, do you really have to move your set movement each time and stuff, even in an open room to explore with no danger and just stuff to examine and open? with this question im basically asking whats the limits on non combat turns? like the description for the fountain, all the book tells me as GM is to read the intro to the room, and call out checks, so me guiding the fiancé through how to examine and such, I used like 3 turns to first examine the fountain, thus reading it being covered with runes and the glowing of the water and such, then 2nd turn said that I used my hands to scoop water out noticing it continued to glow but then stopped after a few seconds, and then used the 3rd turn to try drinking it, was this a correct process? or should I have just described all the details of the fountain and the glowing water and how it works when taken out of the fountain upon entering the room? or could all of that just been done in one turn? same question with the straw mats and chest, I did it by examining one turn, thus reading the description of the mats, searching the next turn and finding the key, and then next turn using it on the chest, could that have all been done at once? etc.?
3. How does the timing of resting work, when it says you get 2 hp for every 8 hours you rest, is that supposed to be legit 8 hours, like we would need to say we are resting, and play again in 8 hours to have 2 HP? or could it just be know we rested for X amount of time and thus gaining the appropriate HP amount?
4. also how does fleeing work, its mentioned in paragraphs, but no exact description on how it works or when it can and cant be used, it pretty much just seems that the characters decide to run away and use their movement to move, but then couldn't the monsters attacking you just chase you down and thus fleeing does nothing really? and lets say the encounter in part 8, with the goblin king and such, if you fail the diplomacy check, and the goblins attack, if you can flee and come back later, what then, cause if you enter the room, with or without the toy they want, and fail the check, it doesn't appear you get to give it to them and thus get the good no fight result, seems you have to fight, so what about coming back if you do flee, do the goblins stay exactly on the squares when you left, and just resume attacking, due you replay out the entering the room with them back on their other squares, and doing the diplomacy check again, what about their HP?
5. How does the burning hands work with a roll of 1, if it does 1 damage, and the damage is halved by a save throw, is it 1 damage or 0?
6. How does dying work with combat, do the enemies keep attacking the dying characters, just as normal, are allowed to do it and even make the same AC check and such? if they can be attacked, and there are only 2 characters, doesn't that pretty much mean they die if both hit -1 even if stabilizing?
7. also how does healing work, it seems as a skill we auto get it, though I don't remember that from when I made my characters in the RPG group, I read the section on it, does that section mean, that I can make any attempts, the first aid, etc. just by barely having the skill? and what does it mean on the cure serious wounds when it says monsters? can that only be used on monsters since it didn't say characters? and why would you heal a monster? and what about the times to do these things, they don't seem to be things you can do in battles, one takes 8 hours, 1 takes an hour, doesn't seem like youd have that kind of time...
8. in the 8th encounter with the goblin king, there is treasure, but no description on the treasure, doesn't tell me if the players can see it, or describe it to them, or if its in a chest, also doesn't say if they can get it freely without fighting if they succeed on the toy quest, there is literally no details about the treasure beyong the box saying whats in it, so what should the rules on that treasure be?
9. also curious about if you can move pretty freely during exploring, where should the starting area of encounter 8 happen? like right when you enter the room? and if so what exactly is right as you enter the room, like what squares, or more so where should the characters be square wise away from the goblins for them to be stared at and thus confronted by the king?
10. also didn't find exactly how much the player should now about their enemies, when they make their attack against my (speaking as GM) monster's AC, do I tell them what they are trying to roll, or just tell them to roll and say pass or fail without revealing the AC? what about the bonus the goblin gets to his weapon, short sword grants +2 so do they know that when I roll against them? what about the HP of the creature, do they know that or do I just keep it secret and let them know when they've killed the goblin?
11. another thing I questioned was when finding the potion of cure light wounds, do they players instantly know what that does, or does someone have to use detect magic to find out?
if you cant tell by my questions, or if you read it yourself, the stuff just seemed really undetailed a lot of the time, and that is confusing for me, trying to grip understand everything, to me, id think its logical for characters to be attacked while dying, but in the game view, seems too easy to die, also a single diplomacy check fail leading to almost certain death for a 2 people group, either means you shouldn't use only 2 characters, or that there should be a way to avoid the fight even after the check fail, but no details on how to do this, another thing I didn't see, is if a bolt or knife is used ranged, can it be picked back up, logically it should, but no details on that, so basically just trying to wrap my mind around all this, whats allowed, whats not, I know as GM, sky is supposed to be whatever color you make it and be limitless, so to speak, but id like to know whats considered to be best for logic and realism than the GM legit just saying, hey im going to rewind time and make this easy
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1) The beginner's box is a subset of the game. You won't really have to learn different rules from what you know, just more rules than you know. It is relatively easy to start plugging in some of the advanced systems, opening up the various choices (feats, spells, races, classes), and otherwise slowly expanding from the BB base.
2) Turns only have meaning in combat as a way to allow a fair chance for everyone involved to act. Outside of combat, it is personal preference. If there is no more combat or traps, you can stop using the map and turns. If there are undiscovered traps, or monsters waiting to ambush, I may use the map, but I may just keep asking the players what they are doing every minute or so of game time. Once someone hits the trap or triggers the ambush, I'll have the players put their minis down about where they would have been.
3) Well... you get 1 hit point per level from a "full night's sleep". In pathfinder, that is described as a solid 8 hours of rest. Usually, however, this is really 8 hours within a 24 hour period. You cannot sleep for 8 hours, adventure for 2, sleep for 8, adventure for 15 minutes, then sleep for 8 again. However, if you take a day or two off from adventuring and just take it easy for 24 hours, it is perfectly reasonable to gain 3 times the 8 hour rest number.
This 8 hours thing is also needed by spell casters (wizards, clerics, at least) to memorize a spell list and to recharge any used spell slots. It can only be done once per 24 hours.
4) Remember that this isn't a video game. It is a living story within a living world. It is generally smart, as the GM, to always let the players have some way to run away if things get bad (it sure beats having everyone die, at least in the early levels). However, the players may have gotten out but the Goblins are still going to go about their lives. They may fortify, bring in more guards, or set ambushes to attack the PCs when they return.
Try to think as a goblin from their point of view; what did the PCs say and do? What do the goblins want? What would they do to PCs who attacked them vs ones who tried to be nice and left when the king got angry. Maybe the king demands money or for the PCs to go kill some kind of monster for him after they were so rude last time!
5) Always round down (so yes, half of 1 is 0).
6) As with question four, it is always a more interesting story to keep PCs alive than to kill them. Later on, when everyone is far more skilled with the game, killing PCs is different (some games are bloodbaths with each player running through a half dozen characters while others never feature PC death either because the GM avoids it or the players are just very good).
In this situation, I'd have monsters knock the players unconscious (-1 or worse hit points) and then go after the other guy. Then the two PCs would wake up in a jail and have to get out through roleplaying and/or combat... or outside the cave with a crude note saying "and don't come back!". These outcomes are a far more interesting story, and the point of the game is to have interesting stories.
7) Heal is a skill. Skills are an area that is simplified from the full game, so assume in this case that if you have the skill (ranks were put into it, which may be automatic with the pregen characters) then you can use any action it allows. Heal is mostly for out of combat use (except for the check to stabilize someone), to provide care and thus allow more hit points to be gained back with rest.
As for monster care, I don't have the Beginner's Box and can't be certain of the specific wording. As for healing monsters, well, it may come up. If you decide to not kill the Goblin King after beating him, maybe you'll need to use some first aid (showing mercy may be a good thing, though realistically, a goblin would likely turn on you the moment it can).
8) Again, I don't have the book, but in general if there is no specifics on something in the adventure book (which happens), then it is up to the GM (one of their jobs, in fact) to fill in the missing details. You try to make it seem reasonable and have it fit within the game. Would a bunch of goblins let you take their treasure, even if you did help them? Not likely, but maybe you can get them to pay you extra with some use of Diplomacy? Or maybe you can have one PC distract the goblins while the other sneaks over to grab some gems or an item. Though be sure to know what you'd do if the plan fails!
9) Again, whatever seems reasonable. They probably wouldn't be allowed to walk right up to the King; most likely, the guards would stop the PCs and lead them over to the king.
Generally, you want to let the PCs place their models on the board in a reasonable location when a scene with combat starts. By reasonable, it can be a bit tricky. If you say "place your models on the map" or "can I have a perception check?", the players know there's about to be a fight and may try to be a bit... unrealistic about placement. "oh, uh, well my ranger just happened to have climbed this tree over here right before the bandits attacked... because, uh, he likes climbing trees?" is a bit suspicious. However, if the ranger was on the side of the road looking at some plants because earlier he said he was keeping an eye out for certain herbs, then that's totally fine.
10) You generally don't tell anyone anything. However, any PCs with a bit of attention will figure out the AC by simply taking note of what does and doesn't work. If a 16 misses but a 17 hits... the AC is 17, so it really isn't a big secret. However, I won't start off the fight by saying that either. You would not tell them about the bad guy's attack bonuses or hit points though.
It may not be a bad idea to come up with phrases like "he is unhurt", "he is a bit bloody but still coming at you", "he is definitely limping but is determined to fight on", and "he is swaying and has some difficulty focusing on you as he swings his sword" to give the PCs a feel for how damaged the monster is. I am also a fan of the "He's hanging by a thread" or "a few threads" or "six threads" when a monster has just a hit point or two (or six, heh) left.
I also tend to hint heavily at, say, a wizard who is planning on spending a big spell on something that is a sling stone away from death because no one likes wasting a burning hands when the goblin has 2 hit points left
11) Officially, PCs don't know what any magical item is until it has been identified. This can be fudged a bit, especially if they already have a few potions of CLW and can say "hmm, looks the same, tastes the same, smells the same" in comparison. Now, you can still use something that isn't identified. A +1 magic sword still gives +1 to attack and damage even if you have no idea that it is a magic sword.
You can hint at it though: if the PC attacking a goblin gets, say, a total 15 to-hit and the monster has a 16 AC, you can even say something like "Your sword strikes true but the goblin turns to block the blow with his thick armor. To you, but more importantly the goblin's surprise, the blade punctures the heavy leather and draws blood!". This indicates that it hit a bit better than simple skill (the PC's normal attack bonus) would suggest, hinting at it being a magical weapon. However, in my games, I don't generally bother with hiding what a magic item is or does; PCs like magic items so much and identification is pretty straight forward that I'd rather just give it to them straight.
Lastly, you need to always keep in mind that the game as written is for a group of four players. If you only have two, you will probably want to make combat less busy; reduce the number of bad guys by 25-50% (especially boss fights). You can also stagger combats to make it less of a bum rush. For example, the Goblin King may let his guards attack the PCs first and won't get involved himself until the guards are mostly dead.
The written adventures are frameworks with suggestions built into them. They are never expected to be run 100% by the book because every party is different. Some groups will absolutely destroy anything considered by the rules as "level appropriate", so the GM makes stuff much harder. Other groups may not have any arcane spell casters, so the GM has to change the arcane puzzle into something the PCs can actually solve. It is alright if the PCs fail, but they should fail while trying, rather than fail because they can't even try.
As for getting a thrown knife or a used bolt. The official rule (from the full game) is that you can always retrieve the thrown weapon, but ammo is different. If it hits the target, it is considered destroyed. If it misses, there's a 50% chance that it is still usable. Of course, this assumes the PCs can loot the room; it may be that the PCs win the fight but run out immediately to chase a running goblin (which is usually more important than recovering a few arrows).
However, it is also going to make the game much faster if you assume thrown weapons are automatically retrieved after the fight (unless they have to run away) and ammo is always destroyed. As with many things, you are trading a bit of realism away to make things move a bit more smoothly.
Welcome to Pathfinder! It is a different kind of game than most are useful, it takes some getting used to and practice to even be a player, let alone a GM. However, it is also a whole lot of fun; where else can you create a world of your own bound only by imagination? Where you choose the direction of the adventure and tell the stories you want to tell!?
Feel free to post any questions, comments, concerns, funny stories, or anything really on the boards and the community will be here to help!
Two more points: Playing as the GM and a PC is somewhat hard (as is GMing for your fiance since you don't want a lucky crit from the goblin king to leave you sleeping on the couch, heh). You know the DCs, the ACs, the attack bonuses while the other player doesn't. You control the monsters positions and what they do while also having a vested interest in not having your character die.
It may help to play things a bit more open in terms of monster numbers in the early levels. It makes things a bit more fair and lets you get a feel for the power of a monster given its level when you know the numbers.
Alternatively, you can run the game as the GM and have your fiance basically run the PCs. You can still do the combat stuff for your guy, but the one player decides (with your suggestions, if you want) where to go and what to do. It isn't especially easy and takes some work, but you can look for suggestions on playing a solo / single PC / one on one game (different terms for the same thing) to get ideas on how to best do it.
Some are just one PC, others have a 'GM PC' to help (like you are doing now), and others involve a PC plus several NPC followers that can be tapped to help out on adventures (say five or so and the player can take two or three along as needed). Single PC games can involve a lot more stealth or subterfuge, they can have much deeper and involved stories (since you don't have to worry about claims of favoritism, you can actually have a single PC be the "chosen one" and give them a lot of attention).
PS - Using pre-gen characters is a great idea when starting, not unorthodox at all.
MurphysParadox wrote: 1) The beginner's box is a subset of the game. You won't really have to learn different rules from what you know, just more rules than you know. It is relatively easy to start plugging in some of the advanced systems, opening up the various choices (feats, spells, races, classes), and otherwise slowly expanding from the BB base.
2) Turns only have meaning in combat as a way to allow a fair chance for everyone involved to act. Outside of combat, it is personal preference. If there is no more combat or traps, you can stop using the map and turns. If there are undiscovered traps, or monsters waiting to ambush, I may use the map, but I may just keep asking the players what they are doing every minute or so of game time. Once someone hits the trap or triggers the ambush, I'll have the players put their minis down about where they would have been.
3) Well... you get 1 hit point per level from a "full night's sleep". In pathfinder, that is described as a solid 8 hours of rest. Usually, however, this is really 8 hours within a 24 hour period. You cannot sleep for 8 hours, adventure for 2, sleep for 8, adventure for 15 minutes, then sleep for 8 again. However, if you take a day or two off from adventuring and just take it easy for 24 hours, it is perfectly reasonable to gain 3 times the 8 hour rest number.
This 8 hours thing is also needed by spell casters (wizards, clerics, at least) to memorize a spell list and to recharge any used spell slots. It can only be done once per 24 hours.
4) Remember that this isn't a video game. It is a living story within a living world. It is generally smart, as the GM, to always let the players have some way to run away if things get bad (it sure beats having everyone die, at least in the early levels). However, the players may have gotten out but the Goblins are still going to go about their lives. They may fortify, bring in more guards, or set ambushes to attack the PCs when they return.
Try to think as a goblin from their point of view; what did the...
alright, it clears it up mostly, thanks, however I am still a little confused on answer 3 about timing, I don't think it was specified if this was like actual 8 hours, which was the main thing I was trying to ask, I noticed a lot of stuff, especially involving healing, that applies to taking several hours, usually in periods of 8 to do stuff, but when playing, the first encounter is an ambush by 2 goblins, we were using pre generated rouge and wizard, rogue did just fine, but my wizard was reduced to 1 HP just in the first 5 minutes due to that encounter, due to only having an AC of 10, I was able to achieve full health by the potion of cure light wounds found in the next room, and in room 3, got a +2 attack bonus for next combat from drinking from magic fountain , but the rouge got 4 damage from the fountain, thus putting us at her at 5 HP and me at 7 HP , when we went to the next encounter, which was the king and four goblins, its instructed that they charge the characters and he sits on the throne and slings spells, so we were being attacked by about 2 goblins each and having magic missles thrown at us, needless to say, we died, cause I was just playing by the book learning rules, more so than legit GMing, with combat being that hard, lets say the chest was smashed and thus the potion breaks, clearly I would need to rest and heal being at 1 HP, but this was after only 10-15 minutes of game time, so timing wise, would I legit have to say, im resting for a whole day, and if its 10 at night, cant play again until 10 the following night, using legit real time, or is it just known how long the rest was had, and thus fully healing and just recording how long it took? so that the game continues flowing and you essentially fast forward time, example, if you have ever played assassin's creed the game, to keep you from legit watching someone sleep or sit for hours, it "fast forwards" you to key memories, so is that how it works, im assuming as GM, I can choose to do that, but officially, do the really intend for you to legit stop playing for a whole day to get a whole day's rest , I imagine this isn't an issue for groups that meet once a week, or once every 2 weeks, but my group will most likely be an every day or 2 thing, or as often as I can, just seems very interrupting for gameplay if it legit means to take that amount of time in real like, its like, oh ive played for 10 minutes, failed a trap, and now am at 1HP with no way to heal, now we have to stop our session and play tomorrow, just seems like that would get ridiculous, clearly this urges the need of a cleric, but also with them only being able to cast spells like once a day and such, it still seems to become close to dying in almost any encounter at level 1, and I cant imagine a weekly group would be very ok with legit time use because they wait all week to play, and then if a fight injures everyone within like the first 30 minutes, while they are ready for hours of playing, seems like fast forwarding would be a thing fer sure, I mean this was a starting session to learn the game, and every encounter seems to possibly be able to hurt you badly, and thus needing healing or rest, so it just seems ridiculous to me (at this point) to enter a cave to go fight a dragon, only to be injured by everything, coming back to the safe room to rest, and it taking like 8 days or more to complete a starting quest of 10 encounters to fight a dragon, maybe im just not seeing things clearly though, but sorry if im boring with my rambling of thoughts, the basic gist of the question is does the game literally mean to stop playing for that period of time, or can time be fast forwarded and assumed that it was that long? and what is your opinion of fast forwarding if it is supposed to be literal amount of time?
Also I forgot to ask, or didn't ask clearly enough, what all should I tell the characters about checks, I assume I don't tell them what they are trying to roll, but when they enter, do I tell them the kind of checks available, or what the main things are to do in the room, like "there is a magic fountain, there a runes that can be deciphered with a knowledge religion check, the water can be drank for special effects, a perception check can be made to try and hear the noises coming from a different room" or do I just say "hey there is a magic fountain here" and legit let them decide what to do, cause with less imaginative players, they might ignore the fountain completely fearing that its a trap, and thus getting no effect, and they may not think to try and read the runes, etc. so I just don't know how much, is really spoiling
another thing I forgot to ask, was in our inventory, we have things like rations and a waterskin, but I didn't see any details about what these do really, like I found the descriptions of the items, but they seemed to have no effect in what I wanted to know, which was healing pretty much, maybe I overlooked it, I confess I haven't read page for page yet, but I didn't see anything of like, well if water is filled from the fountain, I know it loses the magic, but does drinking it heal you? if so, how much? what about the rations, do they heal you? if not what is their effect really? also in the sense of fast forwarding time, or even if its not fastforwarded, considering it seems like this encounter could take a week or longer, and the rations last for 5 days, what happens if a character becomes starving? is that even a thing? I assume it is because the game definitely seems to be grasping at realism meets fantasy, and you have to eat and stay sustained, but unless I haven't seen it, there doesn't appear to be a guide on how much to eat to not get hindered, what the effect of starving or thirst would be, so any clarification on that would be nice, or is it one of those things where I shouldn't worry about it yet?
Healing time refers to game time, not real time. So, healing 8 hours in game time can be resolved in just a minute of real time, provided nothing else interesting happens in-game during the 8 hours. Just say "Eight hours goes by and you heal 2 hit points," or something like that.
Does that answer your question?
Regarding checks, only tell players what check to make based on the action they're taking. If they're looking for traps or secret doors, tell them to make a Perception check. If one character is reading the ancient runes, have that character's player make a Knowledge check for their character.
If they try to do something potentially risky, like jumping across a pit, let them know what kind of check to make, give them an idea of the risk involved (i.e. how hard would it be to succeed) and tell them the consequences for failure (i.e. if they fail the check, they fall into the pit and take damage). This way the player can make an informed decision about the task.
Food and water don't heal you like they do in many video games. The game is a simulation of life, so your characters need food and water to survive. Many GM's hand-wave this aspect of the game, finding this kind of record keeping tedious. But it could be important if the characters become lost in the desert, for example.
EdOWar wrote: Healing time refers to game time, not real time. So, healing 8 hours in game time can be resolved in just a minute of real time, provided nothing else interesting happens in-game during the 8 hours. Just say "Eight hours goes by and you heal 2 hit points," or something like that.
Does that answer your question?
it answers the 1st question in that reply, thanks, not the other 2 though
alkatrazshock wrote: EdOWar wrote: Healing time refers to game time, not real time. So, healing 8 hours in game time can be resolved in just a minute of real time, provided nothing else interesting happens in-game during the 8 hours. Just say "Eight hours goes by and you heal 2 hit points," or something like that.
Does that answer your question?
it answers the 1st question in that reply, thanks, not the other 2 though Yeah, edited my post to address your other two questions.
EdOWar wrote: Healing time refers to game time, not real time. So, healing 8 hours in game time can be resolved in just a minute of real time, provided nothing else interesting happens in-game during the 8 hours. Just say "Eight hours goes by and you heal 2 hit points," or something like that.
Does that answer your question?
Regarding checks, only tell players what check to make based on the action they're taking. If they're looking for traps or secret doors, tell them to make a Perception check. If one character is reading the ancient runes, have that character's player make a Knowledge check for their character.
If they try to do something potentially risky, like jumping across a pit, let them know what kind of check to make, give them an idea of the risk involved (i.e. how hard would it be to succeed) and tell them the consequences for failure (i.e. if they fail the check, they fall into the pit and take damage). This way the player can make an informed decision about the task.
Food and water don't heal you like they do in many video games. The game is a simulation of life, so your characters need food and water to survive. Many GM's hand-wave this aspect of the game, finding this kind of record keeping tedious. But it could be important if the characters become lost in the desert, for example.
alright, generally clears it up, do I still need to let them decide what to do before I tell them stuff, like basically do I tell them all their options, like "you can try and open chest, read the runes, drink from the fountain, search mats, go through door, etc." or do I just tell them whats in the room and let them decide what to do about it, and if they happen upon deciding to read the runes, tell them the check, and in this case, the runes was a religion knowledge check, meaning they couldn't unless they had that skill right?
In short, you just give a brief description for the room, don't tell pc's their "options" unless they need hints at what to do. The game may flow with time spent just talking (players deciding to examine something or asking about room features and GM responding). The checks are used to resolve what happens when the player decides to do something. Really, unless you as a GM want to put some kind of time pressure on the players, they can take as long or as little time as they want in each location.
alkatrazshock wrote: EdOWar wrote: Healing time refers to game time, not real time. So, healing 8 hours in game time can be resolved in just a minute of real time, provided nothing else interesting happens in-game during the 8 hours. Just say "Eight hours goes by and you heal 2 hit points," or something like that.
Does that answer your question?
Regarding checks, only tell players what check to make based on the action they're taking. If they're looking for traps or secret doors, tell them to make a Perception check. If one character is reading the ancient runes, have that character's player make a Knowledge check for their character.
If they try to do something potentially risky, like jumping across a pit, let them know what kind of check to make, give them an idea of the risk involved (i.e. how hard would it be to succeed) and tell them the consequences for failure (i.e. if they fail the check, they fall into the pit and take damage). This way the player can make an informed decision about the task.
Food and water don't heal you like they do in many video games. The game is a simulation of life, so your characters need food and water to survive. Many GM's hand-wave this aspect of the game, finding this kind of record keeping tedious. But it could be important if the characters become lost in the desert, for example.
alright, generally clears it up, do I still need to let them decide what to do before I tell them stuff, like basically do I tell them all their options, like "you can try and open chest, read the runes, drink from the fountain, search mats, go through door, etc." or do I just tell them whats in the room and let them decide what to do about it, and if they happen upon deciding to read the runes, tell them the check, and in this case, the runes was a religion knowledge check, meaning they couldn't unless they had that skill right? Generally, I describe a room or situation and then wait for my players to tell me what they want their characters to do before telling them what kind of checks to make. However, the group I play with is pretty experienced with RPGs, so starting out you may find it better to give your players all their options up front and then let them choose. Over time, as they get used to the concept, they'll tell you what they want to do on their own initiative.
EdOWar wrote: alkatrazshock wrote: EdOWar wrote: Healing time refers to game time, not real time. So, healing 8 hours in game time can be resolved in just a minute of real time, provided nothing else interesting happens in-game during the 8 hours. Just say "Eight hours goes by and you heal 2 hit points," or something like that.
Does that answer your question?
Regarding checks, only tell players what check to make based on the action they're taking. If they're looking for traps or secret doors, tell them to make a Perception check. If one character is reading the ancient runes, have that character's player make a Knowledge check for their character.
If they try to do something potentially risky, like jumping across a pit, let them know what kind of check to make, give them an idea of the risk involved (i.e. how hard would it be to succeed) and tell them the consequences for failure (i.e. if they fail the check, they fall into the pit and take damage). This way the player can make an informed decision about the task.
Food and water don't heal you like they do in many video games. The game is a simulation of life, so your characters need food and water to survive. Many GM's hand-wave this aspect of the game, finding this kind of record keeping tedious. But it could be important if the characters become lost in the desert, for example.
alright, generally clears it up, do I still need to let them decide what to do before I tell them stuff, like basically do I tell them all their options, like "you can try and open chest, read the runes, drink from the fountain, search mats, go through door, etc." or do I just tell them whats in the room and let them decide what to do about it, and if they happen upon deciding to read the runes, tell them the check, and in this case, the runes was a religion knowledge check, meaning they couldn't unless they had that skill right? Generally, I describe a room or situation and then wait for my players to tell me what they want their... alright, this seems to clear things up, about the only thing left for me to know details of is the food thing, ill probably not use the food and such rule, as it was said, its pretty hectic to keep up with, but if it is used, is there rules for it, like is there debuffs one should get or damage? or do I as GM decide that with no actual guidelines, I ask because again, unless I missed it, I didn't see anything on it in the books
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
No idea if it's covered in the BB (doubtful, really, since the emphasis is on getting on with adventuring), but the core rules cover starvation and thirst:
Quote: Starvation and Thirst
Characters might find themselves without food or water and with no means to obtain them. In normal climates, Medium characters need at least a gallon of fluids and about a pound of decent food per day to avoid starvation. (Small characters need half as much.) In very hot climates, characters need two or three times as much water to avoid dehydration.
A character can go without water for 1 day plus a number of hours equal to his Constitution score. After this time, the character must make a Constitution check each hour (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. Characters that take an amount of nonlethal damage equal to their total hit points begin to take lethal damage instead.
A character can go without food for 3 days, in growing discomfort. After this time, the character must make a Constitution check each day (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. Characters that take an amount of nonlethal damage equal to their total hit points begin to take lethal damage instead.
Characters who have taken nonlethal damage from lack of food or water are fatigued . Nonlethal damage from thirst or starvation cannot be recovered until the character gets food or water, as needed—not even magic that restores hit points heals this damage.
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