Building level 2+ character with GM credit

[shalandar]

I understand the rules for applying GM credit. But, to make it easy, let's say I GMed 5 level 1-2 games and applied the credit to a new character. Everything for the chronicle sheets are 100% legal.

So, chronicle sheet wise, that character is level 2, great.

Do I build that character as a level 2 character, or do I technically build it as a level 1 character, then level it to level 2.

There's a specific reason for this question:

Let's say my new character is going to be a Human War Priest. I get 2 feats to begin (Human and 1st level). One of those feats, I'd like to take Power Attack, which requires a +1 Base Attack Bonus.

If I were building this character as a level 1 character, then leveling him to level 2, I could not use the human or 1st level feat to select Power Attack (However, I could technically retrain it using this Faq). However, if I am building him as a level 2 character to start, then he actually qualifies for Power Attack and I can use the human/1st to take it.

[terry_t_uk]

You cannot take Power Attack at L1 because your warpriest gaina the feats at L1 but do not have a BAB of +1.
At L2, when your warpriest gains L2, your BAB increases to +1 but you have no available feats to take Power Attack.
The earliest you could take Power attck is at 3rd, you have a BAB of at least +1 and you have a feat slot available.

This is the case whichever way you choose to build the character.

[Rogar Valertis]

The character needs to be legal to play so the sequence of feats should follow what a PC could do each level according to the rules. So build first as lvl 1 and then upgrade the PC to lvl 2.
So no, you can't have power attack as a lvl 2 human warpriest.

[shalandar]

Terry Thambipillai wrote:

You cannot take Power Attack at L1 because your warpriest gaina the feats at L1 but do not have a BAB of +1.

At L2, when your warpriest gains L2, your BAB increases to +1 but you have no available feats to take Power Attack.

This is the case whichever way you choose to build the character.

If you are solely going on "the warpriest gains the feats at L1 and doesn't have a BaB of +1" according to the FAQ I linked to, I COULD retrain it at level 2 and get Power Attack with my Human Feat.

So I still wonder, HOW do you build your character who is over level 1. Do you have to build it 1 level at a time, or do you build it as the advanced level?

[BretI]

You build it by level.

Generally, the feats are the main thing you have to watch out for. There can be cases where skill points are important as part of feat or PrC prerequisites but those are relatively rare.

[Rogar Valertis]

shalandar wrote:

Terry Thambipillai wrote:

You cannot take Power Attack at L1 because your warpriest gaina the feats at L1 but do not have a BAB of +1.

At L2, when your warpriest gains L2, your BAB increases to +1 but you have no available feats to take Power Attack.

This is the case whichever way you choose to build the character.

If you are solely going on "the warpriest gains the feats at L1 and doesn't have a BaB of +1" according to the FAQ I linked to, I COULD retrain it at level 2 and get Power Attack with my Human Feat.

So I still wonder, HOW do you build your character who is over level 1. Do you have to build it 1 level at a time, or do you build it as the advanced level?

You could retrain and that Faq would apply. But you'd still need to pay 10 × your level × the number of days required to retrain. So it would cost you 10 × 2 × 5= 100gp.

Note that this does not invalidate the fact you build your character level by level even when you apply GM credit. You simply built to lvl 2 and then opted to spend time and money to retrain a feat.

[terry_t_uk]

shalandar wrote:

Terry Thambipillai wrote:

You cannot take Power Attack at L1 because your warpriest gaina the feats at L1 but do not have a BAB of +1.

At L2, when your warpriest gains L2, your BAB increases to +1 but you have no available feats to take Power Attack.

This is the case whichever way you choose to build the character.

If you are solely going on "the warpriest gains the feats at L1 and doesn't have a BaB of +1" according to the FAQ I linked to, I COULD retrain it at level 2 and get Power Attack with my Human Feat.

So I still wonder, HOW do you build your character who is over level 1. Do you have to build it 1 level at a time, or do you build it as the advanced level?

Yup, my bad - forgot about re-training options

[TriOmegaZero]

Retraining and rebuilding are different options in the Guide. You can rebuild your character anyway you like at 1st level, but cannot do so at 2nd Level. Everything must be legal at 1st level before you add the 2nd Level, when you may use retraining to take options that would not be legal at 1st, but must pay the associated costs.

[DesolateHarmony]

Rogar Valertis wrote:

shalandar wrote:

Terry Thambipillai wrote:

You cannot take Power Attack at L1 because your warpriest gaina the feats at L1 but do not have a BAB of +1.

At L2, when your warpriest gains L2, your BAB increases to +1 but you have no available feats to take Power Attack.

This is the case whichever way you choose to build the character.

If you are solely going on "the warpriest gains the feats at L1 and doesn't have a BaB of +1" according to the FAQ I linked to, I COULD retrain it at level 2 and get Power Attack with my Human Feat.

So I still wonder, HOW do you build your character who is over level 1. Do you have to build it 1 level at a time, or do you build it as the advanced level?

You could retrain and that Faq would apply. But you'd still need to pay 10 × your level × the number of days required to retrain. So it would cost you 10 × 2 × 5= 100gp.

Note that this does not invalidate the fact you build your character level by level even when you apply GM credit. You simply built to lvl 2 and then opted to spend time and money to retrain a feat.

Don't forget the 5 prestige points cost to retrain the feat. But yes, this is the legal way to have power attack as a level 2 warpriest.

[TwilightKnight]

Fundamentally the way you apply chronicles earned by playing and from GMing works the same. First, you build a new PC. Then you apply the first chronicle and resolve the rewards. Then you apply the next chronicle and resolve the rewards. Continue this process until all chronicles are applied. It’s the same process as when you are playing. Just because you have multiple chronicles being applied to a character does not mean they are added at the same time, like it’s a bulk reward.