| Eroc |
Hi!
I've played PF once before but I had no idea what I was doing and died quickly.
I want to prevent that again and research more before I play.
So, my questions:
1. What materials should I get for a session? I don't want the minimum, I want to know what would be handy to have while playing or that would help me.
2. Player cards? I've seen people use them for spells. What are they called and where do I find them?
3. Besides the advance book, what other books will help me along in my ventures?
Thanks for everyone's input!
Eroc
| Anguish |
Wow. Huge topic.
First, probably the best bit of advice any of us can give you is: the best way to get good (at the combat part of the game) is to see more experienced players at work. The little things that you may not think of are what makes an "expert" player. For instance thinking of positioning, to use your 5ft-step to potentially set up a flank for someone else in your party. Thinking out every action to take isn't intuitive.
Second, each of your examples are "stuff", and while some goodies at the table can help, frankly they're all just supporting tools.
The materials you should bring are: a well-designed character sheet that puts emphasis on what you can do and minimizes clutter distracting you from your abilities. All of my groups run characters using standard statblocks like in the monster books because those are deliberately designed to focus on details without clutter. As a new player that can be rough, but it's a good direction.
Otherwise, really it doesn't matter. Spell cards are just sentences that already exist in a book. More books don't matter to you unless your character uses feats/items/class abilities/spells etc from those other books. And with spells... well... there are so many that it's easy to get lost. I'd recommend mastering the goodies in the Core Rulebook before getting into other books, unless you've got someone experienced helping you.
Know that additional books aren't generally better. Advanced doesn't mean "better than Core". It's just more that advanced players can dip into for options.
Let me give you an example. A player who is familiar with the last 10 years worth of new feats, spells, items, and class abilities can put bits from different books together to make interesting and useful combinations. "Well, if I play this race from this book, and that class from that book, and pick that feat from that book, and use that weapon from that book, and buy that item from that book, they all work together well." That multi-source synergy just won't be evident to a new player who has walls of text to read. Regardless, that sort of research isn't done at the table... it's done during character building.
So honestly, I come back to: focus on a really efficient character sheet. It should summarize what you can do (perhaps even including spells if you're playing a caster), so when the DM says "it's your turn", you have a clear focus on options that make sense. Summarize your feats, summarize class abilities like rogue talents or barbarian rage powers. Try to dump things you don't need. For instance, knowing that your Perception skill is +7 because you've got 1 rank plus 3 from class plus your Wis modifier is 2 plus you have a trait bonus is... distraction. "Perception +7". Done. If you need, keep a separate "beginner" character sheet that has the math on it. That helps when leveling up, or if something happens to change your numbers. "Ooops, took two Strength damage... what does that change?" << Refer to your behind-the-scenes sheet if you need to, then pencil in the temporary change on your "action" sheet.
Hope this helps somewhat.
Oh, and... don't hesitate to post a summary of what you've got for a character and I'm sure folks will make suggestions about what you can DO to survive and thrive, as opposed to what you can BRING with you.
| Anguish |
Flagging for move to the Advice forum. Since the OP is looking for advice. :v
I've always considered this a no-win.
A new visitor comes to the site, doesn't know where to post something, asks for advice, gets replies, then their thread gets moved on them to where it belongs, which isn't where they left it or knew about.
Sucks. But I don't know of an answer to the issue.