W E Ray |
About half of what I've DMed for PFS is relatively low-level stuff for beginners. These Scenarios were for strangers new to the game and pretty simple to moderate.
The other half of what I've DMed for PFS were weekend mega-marathons that are mid-to-high level. These were trickier to moderate (a touch more complex) but all the Players were the same and no strangers / no convention or LGS atmosphere (my home).
We've got another one of our famous marathons coming up soon, at the end of which I'll have a couple GM-Credit PCs that are pretty high level -- and I've never played them. Haven't really played that much in PFS, only DMed.
What is your advice for building my DM-Credit PCs? Any pit-falls for character building or rules that I may not be aware of?
Thanks.
Divvox2 |
Tracking all the math and not being able to get a feel for the build in the first level are the bigguns. GM babies are great for those fun builds that can't do anything until higher level, so it's an opportunity to go for one of those for most GMs, or to create an already leveled support class so they can jump in on a game and always contribute.
However, since you haven't played as much, you may not know what you like to play... it's hard. I'd suggest playing some low level games at level one to find something you like (change the build between sessions) and then decide what you want to play. The real pitfall here is you choose something you don't end up liking and then never play the character again.
Curaigh |
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I rarely take GM credit because I want to play my characters. It is nice to skip through some levels quicker though.
That said it was nice for my dragon disciple, I got to start playing as a dragon disciple instead of worrying about dying as a level 1 sorcerer or arcane spell failure in the paladin's plate mail. (Spell failure hasn't gone away, but spells are no longer 1/2 or 1/5 of my character's options.) Almost no one was willing to split levels between wizard & cleric for the mystic theurge & those who did may have not survived long enough to play in the prestige.
Archetypes have largely replaced the cool bits of prestige classes, so it may feel less like you are wasting your time trying to get the prerequisites. Like Sam said the characters that are late bloomers* are a good way to go with GM babies, & I see prestige classes in the category. Also if you choose a PFS-flavorful PrC like Hellknight you will find lots of reasons in-character to enjoy the character even if you don't like playing the mechanics. (*There is a slayer archetype I like, but it doesn't come online until 6th level.)
I'll mention two things I did find. With the level 12 cap, you might want to choose slow route to get a few more scenarios out of the character. Second, with the money or prestige saved on consumables and not upgrading some gear it will be very tempting to start with mithril platemail and two +1 holy sawtooth-sabers. Give in!
So my suggestion is prestige classes. It can be a lot of fun to have a dragon-disciple who smites evil while TWF :)
DM Livgin |
Have massive cheat/reference sheets. Playing a swashbuckler, have a swift action used/available flip card. Playing a caster, print off all your spells. Have potions and scrolls, make a quick list of them so you can see the whole list in one place. Have several class abilities, add them to the potion list.
WalterGM RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8 |
As I GM more than play, I often have GM blobs that come to fruition. Some tips I've found.
Ferious Thune |
As I GM more than play, I often have GM blobs that come to fruition. Some tips I've found.
Identify levels where the build for your PC is fun, and consider slow tracking them for those levels. Given that you miss out on the early levels, it lets you still get a good amount of games in with those PCs and develop their story.
I second everything Walter said, but especially this. I never really liked to slow track my characters, but I have an Investigator that, due to a combination of GM credits, pregen credits (we be goblins), and AP credits, I didn't play until he was 4th level. Another AP chronicle hit at 5, and another at 8, I think. So out of his first 8 levels, I only played him for 6 scenarios. At 10th, I started going slow track to get some of those back, as he turned out to be one of my favorite characters. Fun to role-play, fun mechanically (once I figured out how to fight effectively with an Investigator), and he seems to make the table more fun for others. So don't be afraid to slow track. The slower gold progression hasn't been a hinderance for me.