Venture-Captain, North Carolina—Asheville
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You can arrange your ability scores however you like, so long as the total points spent (prior to racial adjustments, of course) totals to 20. I've personally used several different arrays for my various PFS characters, and I'm darn sure G'Darm's is atypical.
As far as the new factions go, I switched to their prior-season analogues. If you're wanting to go Scarab Sages, I'd say pick Osirion. Of course, your Chronicle sheets trump the website, in any case.
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For a wizard, there are times you want to start with a 20 intelligence1 (18+2 racial modifier). For a human (half elf, half orc) you could get the following:
STR 7
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 18+2
WIS 12
CHA 10.It all depends on where you want to go with the character.
I don't really like dump stats when I have to go with point buy I'd rather start off with at least average for non-vital stats. I'm making this new character to play a Kitsune so I couldn't get higher than 18 without ridiculously low stats.
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For a wizard, there are times you want to start with a 20 intelligence1 (18+2 racial modifier). For a human (half elf, half orc) you could get the following:
STR 7
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 18+2
WIS 12
CHA 10.It all depends on where you want to go with the character.
or an Elf
STR 10DEX 14+2
CON 12-2
INT 18+2
WIS 10
CHA 7.
Make up for the reduced social skills (CHA 7) with the extra skill points from the higher INT. Or not (and be a social misfit like elves should be...).
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Pathfinders need Cha-based skills, particularly diplomacy, in *every* scenario, whether it's to get info at the beginning using gather information, or by talking to NPCs later, or to achieve the whole mission. There is no other ability score that you are guaranteed to use every game, since there are now (a few) scenarios that don't require combat at all, but there are none that don't require talking to NPCs and gathering information.
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Pathfinders need Cha-based skills, particularly diplomacy, in *every* scenario, whether it's to get info at the beginning using gather information, or by talking to NPCs later, or to achieve the whole mission. There is no other ability score that you are guaranteed to use every game, since there are now (a few) scenarios that don't require combat at all, but there are none that don't require talking to NPCs and gathering information.
That is a significant overstatement. There are lots of scenarios where diplomacy has no significant effect and I've never played one where nobody took any damage (is, con is always useful).
Also, you pretty much only need 1 character in the group with good diplomacy.
That said, LOTS of my characters have good charisma and social skills. But that is because I LIKE interaction, not because I NEED to
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This question has been around for a long time... here a thread from a little over a year ago on the same subject...
to Making new characters in PFS Optimized or Not.
.. in reply to a post that said...
I rarely start with a stat higher than 17 and nearly always start with a 14 CON regardless of class.
I just had to chime in with...
"I rarely start without at least one stat higher than 17 and never start with a 14 CON regardless of class/race (most of my PCs have 10 CON).
To each his own...
A lot of my characters start with a 20 in a stat (like my zen archer has a 20 wisdom, my ranger had a 20 dexterity, my sorcerer had a 20 charisma, etc). Heck, I even have a witch that started with 22 intelligence.
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Pathfinders need Cha-based skills, particularly diplomacy, in *every* scenario, whether it's to get info at the beginning using gather information, or by talking to NPCs later, or to achieve the whole mission. There is no other ability score that you are guaranteed to use every game, since there are now (a few) scenarios that don't require combat at all, but there are none that don't require talking to NPCs and gathering information.That is a significant overstatement. There are lots of scenarios where diplomacy has no significant effect and I've never played one where nobody took any damage (is, con is always useful).
Also, you pretty much only need 1 character in the group with good diplomacy.
That said, LOTS of my characters have good charisma and social skills. But that is because I LIKE interaction, not because I NEED to
I agree with this almosr completely. Now I did play and advenutre with something that has CHa drain, but it is rare.
My 7 cha character did very well in the merchants wake because I also had a variety of skills to assist with this social adventure.
As long as someone is the face in the group the party should do fine.
I also love ineraction with all of my character, but I enjoy failed interactions as much as successful ones.
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Even More StuffStuffMore Stuff
And Int characters can face it up with Student of Philosophy if desired (though it doesn't work with Gather Info). But I agree, I think there are tons Finlanderboy and PaulJathome.
I don't really like dump stats when I have to go with point buy I'd rather start off with at least average for non-vital stats. I'm making this new character to play a Kitsune so I couldn't get higher than 18 without ridiculously low stats.
Like Nosig, I do like dump stats, I actually think the PB system was made with the intention you dump a stat, 24 points in 5 skills just spends easier and NEARLY every build can dump one with almost no loss, or a cheap way to shore up the weakness.
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Pathfinders need Cha-based skills, particularly diplomacy, in *every* scenario, whether it's to get info at the beginning using gather information, or by talking to NPCs later, or to achieve the whole mission. There is no other ability score that you are guaranteed to use every game, since there are now (a few) scenarios that don't require combat at all, but there are none that don't require talking to NPCs and gathering information.
Charisma is very easy to evade or make up for with intelligence traits and skill ranks. Diplomacy is also rolled at a 10 to 1 ratio over all other social skills combined. (Handle animal is usually "i have +9 the critter knows this trick I succeed on a 1)
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A lot of my characters start with a 20 in a stat (like my zen archer has a 20 wisdom, my ranger had a 20 dexterity, my sorcerer had a 20 charisma, etc). Heck, I even have a witch that started with 22 intelligence.This question has been around for a long time... here a thread from a little over a year ago on the same subject...
to Making new characters in PFS Optimized or Not.
.. in reply to a post that said...
I rarely start with a stat higher than 17 and nearly always start with a 14 CON regardless of class.
I just had to chime in with...
"I rarely start without at least one stat higher than 17 and never start with a 14 CON regardless of class/race (most of my PCs have 10 CON).
To each his own...
Protege?
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Protege?A lot of my characters start with a 20 in a stat (like my zen archer has a 20 wisdom, my ranger had a 20 dexterity, my sorcerer had a 20 charisma, etc). Heck, I even have a witch that started with 22 intelligence.This question has been around for a long time... here a thread from a little over a year ago on the same subject...
to Making new characters in PFS Optimized or Not.
.. in reply to a post that said...
I rarely start with a stat higher than 17 and nearly always start with a 14 CON regardless of class.
I just had to chime in with...
"I rarely start without at least one stat higher than 17 and never start with a 14 CON regardless of class/race (most of my PCs have 10 CON).
To each his own...
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I've found that starting with the prime stat at 17, after racial adjusments work pretty well. It means that that +1 stat bump at 4th level is significant, ans since most characters only go to 12th, you'll still end up with a base of 20. That way, I can spend 7 on my primary, can still get 14's in con and somwthing else, and usually, if not an int. based class, still get a 12 in int for those precious bonus skill points I love so much.
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Venture-Captain, Minnesota
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I've had PC stat spreads ranging from 18/14/12/10/10/7 to 14/14/13/13/12/12. (That's pre-racial.)
Jiggy, what did you build with the second stat spread? I ask, because I'm looking at a Skald, and am stunned at what a MAD build that is. I really don't want to dump WIS, but I'm trying to figure out how to give the PC a decent strength and Charisma without doing so.
Hmm
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I've had PC stat spreads ranging from 18/14/12/10/10/7 to 14/14/13/13/12/12. (That's pre-racial.)Jiggy, what did you build with the second stat spread? I ask, because I'm looking at a Skald, and am stunned at what a MAD build that is. I really don't want to dump WIS, but I'm trying to figure out how to give the PC a decent strength and Charisma without doing so.
Hmm
Suli boon maybe?
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I've had PC stat spreads ranging from 18/14/12/10/10/7 to 14/14/13/13/12/12. (That's pre-racial.)Jiggy, what did you build with the second stat spread? I ask, because I'm looking at a Skald, and am stunned at what a MAD build that is. I really don't want to dump WIS, but I'm trying to figure out how to give the PC a decent strength and Charisma without doing so.
Hmm
It was for me, an oni-spawn tiefling and melee cleric of Iomedae. Stats after racial adjustments at level 1 were:
STR 16
DEX 14
CON 13
INT 12
WIS 15
CHA 10
I imagine building a skald is a bit different than a cleric, but I hope that helps. :)
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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My wizard has 8 STR and my summoner has 10. They both utilize haversacks and ant haul.
Handy haversacks themselves are heavy, though. My low-STR characters prefer the pathfinder pouch. Holds as much as a backpack, weighs only a fifth as much as the HH, and you can get it much earlier (1,000gp). If you need more capacity, just get a second one and you're still only at 2lbs. :D
And speaking of stat arrays, I'm now curious about my characters as a group, so let's see if I can remember their 1st-level, pre-racial spreads...
Jiao-long (now-retired human edlritch knight)
15/16/12/14/10/7
Thomas (now-retired tiefling cleric)
14/14/13/12/13/12
Arlyn (human sorceress)
7/12/14/10/10/18
Rixis (kitsune arcane duelist bard)
12/16/13/10/10/14
Ulam (undine cleric)
11/12/12/14/16/10
Jenter (human bloodrager)
15/14/14/10/10/13
Hm, that's quite a variety of spreads. I've got 7-18, 12-14, and everything in between.
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Don't forget your clothes, though.or do , and save yourself a few pounds.
Remember, one of the cardinal rules of armor is that the less you wear, the lower your armor check penalty, and the harder you are to see. By that logic... .
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Builds of note that I've used to do non standard things
Str 17 Dex 12 Con 15 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 14
Pit Born Tiefling intimidation fighter (+2 Str,Cha -2 Int)
Str 14 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 10 Cha 15
Half Elven Combat/Skilled Summoner (+2 Cha) Works on ranged attacks or Trip depending on build. Stat increasing stuff goes to Dex and Cha spells were all buffs.
Str 8 Dex 12 Con 16 Int 12 Wis 20 Cha 5 Dwarven Wis based Sorcerer. Good example of using your bonus stats to best effect.
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Handy haversacks themselves are heavy, though. My low-STR characters prefer the pathfinder pouch. Holds as much as a backpack, weighs only a fifth as much as the HH, and you can get it much earlier (1,000gp). If you need more capacity, just get a second one and you're still only at 2lbs. :D
The pouch is useful, but the Haversack has that absolutely wonderful "the item you seek is always on top" quality. My characters tend to be QUITE well equipped and you pretty much NEED this to be able to justify grabbing the right scroll/bottle/whatever. Even if the GM doesn't enforce some limit I'll enforce it on myself.
The pouch is good for sneaking things in, the Haversack is MUCH better in general
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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The pouch is useful, but the Haversack has that absolutely wonderful "the item you seek is always on top" quality. My characters tend to be QUITE well equipped and you pretty much NEED this to be able to justify grabbing the right scroll/bottle/whatever. Even if the GM doesn't enforce some limit I'll enforce it on myself.
Handy haversacks themselves are heavy, though. My low-STR characters prefer the pathfinder pouch. Holds as much as a backpack, weighs only a fifth as much as the HH, and you can get it much earlier (1,000gp). If you need more capacity, just get a second one and you're still only at 2lbs. :D
A few things:
First, there's nothing I've ever found that indicates there's ever an exception to the rule that retrieving a stored item is a move action (okay, aside from concealed weapons, which is obviously not what we're talking about here).Second, there are only so many items that you need ready access to in combat. Who cares if you have to dig a little to find your scroll of overcoming such-and-such an evironmental hazard?
Third, not every item has an amount of weight that has to be tracked. Lots of items have negligible weight, either not given at all or listed as "—" in a chart. A vial (such as for a potion), even when full, has negligible weight. There are several other such items as well. Throw those into a (weightless) bandolier or two and that HH starts to look a lot less necessary.
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While such storage is useful enough, the pack has an even greater power. When the wearer reaches into it for a specific item, that item is always on top. Thus, no digging around and fumbling is ever necessary to find what a haversack contains. Retrieving any specific item from a haversack is a move action, but it does not provoke the attacks of opportunity that retrieving a stored item usually does.
Retrieving a specific item from a bag of holding is a move action, unless the bag contains more than an ordinary backpack would hold,in which case retrieving a specific item is a full-round action.
To retrieve an item (Backpack, Bandoliers, Belt pouches, etc.) it's a move action that provokes. The exception to this is the Handy Haversack, which is a move action that does not provoke. If you have a Bag of Holding with more than a backpack worth of stuff, it is a full-round action that provokes. The Pathfinder Pouch is a Bag of Holding that can hold 10lbs. or less, so doesn't qualify for the full-round rules of the BoH.
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First, there's nothing I've ever found that indicates there's ever an exception to the rule that retrieving a stored item is a move action (okay, aside from concealed weapons, which is obviously not what we're talking about here).Second, there are only so many items that you need ready access to in combat. Who cares if you have to dig a little to find your scroll of overcoming such-and-such an evironmental hazard?
I agree that mechanically it is unclear where the limit is or even if there is a limit. Its a limit that I definitely impose on myself and one that I've seen a couple of other GMs impose. The limits vary wildly, of course.
A couple of my characters have over 50 items they want fairly quick access to. That strains my credulity too far in terms of having access to and remembering exactly which item is where.
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** spoiler omitted **Protege?A lot of my characters start with a 20 in a stat (like my zen archer has a 20 wisdom, my ranger had a 20 dexterity, my sorcerer had a 20 charisma, etc). Heck, I even have a witch that started with 22 intelligence.This question has been around for a long time... here a thread from a little over a year ago on the same subject...
to Making new characters in PFS Optimized or Not.
.. in reply to a post that said...
I rarely start with a stat higher than 17 and nearly always start with a 14 CON regardless of class.
I just had to chime in with...
"I rarely start without at least one stat higher than 17 and never start with a 14 CON regardless of class/race (most of my PCs have 10 CON).
To each his own...
I thought you could only have a stat of max eighteen pre-racial bonus, so maximum of 20.