Kaemon
2014-11-09, 03:38 AM
Not sure if I should have listed it as "Player Help" instead of "DM Help" .
As mentioned on another thread (that is still on first page as I post this) I'm about to start DMing Pathfinder using Roll20 for some friends, and even if we are not complete noobs (some are), we all lack a lot of experience and didn't really play along anyone who had truly experience to teach/correct us (so if we read/understand something incorrectly, when we share information everyone would get it incorrectly).
Since I will be both the DM and the most experienced player is quite important that I get this as correct as possible from the very beginning.
Anyway... I will now proceed to see if I can fill a Lv1 character sheet correctly and, if you don't mind, please point at anything I did wrong (or that even if correct feels wrong) or you think could be done better/different, or if doing things in a different order/way makes more sense or can be easier.
We settled on using a 15-Point buy (I prefer rolls, but this way we can avoid discussions or player wanting to re-roll to get better stats, not saying everyone would do so but maybe 1 or 2 of the players would be tempted to if they get average or lower rolls). Again, using Pathfinder. Mostly Core Rules, even if some players are looking at Advanced Classes/Races like this guy that wants to be a Summoner Drow with an Eidolon.
So here we go...
I decide (for this example to be as complete as possible) to be a Mage... So now I proceed to get my stats using 15-Point buy (using THIS LINK (http://jody-white.com/pathfinder-ability-score-calculator.php)). For this example I'm trying to min-max (tell me if something here is wrong) and I decide to go with STR 7, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 18, WIS 7 and CHA 7, then I choose to be an Elf (for min-maxing again) to get a +2 DEX/INT along with a -2 CON, my final stats look like this:
STR 7 (-2)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 12 (+1)
INT 20 (+5) Extra spells, From Lv0 to Lv9 = (- 2 1 1 1 1 - - - -)
WIS 7 (-2)
CHA 7 (-2)
Since I will be playing Mage (in this min-maxing example) I can dump STR/WIS/CHA pretty much no problem. I decide to balance DEX and CON since they both increase my effective health by increasing both my Hit Points and my AC, and focus on INT to get more spells/day (already included up there after checking the table), learn more skills per leve and improve the chances of my spells affecting enemies.
Now I proceed to check what being a Mage and an Elf give me as class skills, weapon proficiencies and other bonuses in general:
Movement: 30 Feet (6 squares), from being elf.
Immunity to sleep effects, from being elf.
+2 to Saving Throws against enchantment spells and effects, from being an elf.
+2 to Spell Craft skill (for the purpose of identifying objects), from being an elf.
+2 to Perception skill, from being an elf.
+2 to Caster Level Checks made to overcome spell resistance, from being an elf. (I think this increases the number enemies have to reach to resist the spell?)
Languages: Common, Elven.
Possible Languages: Celestial, Draconic, Gnoll, Gnomish, Goblin, Orc y Silvan. (Mage allows to replace any of those with Draconic, no point).
Class Skills: Craft (INT), Spellcraft (INT), Linguistics (INT), Profession (WIS), Knowledge (Any) (INT), Appraise (INT), Fly (DEX)
Weapon Proficiency from Elf: Short Bows, Long Bows, Composite Short Bows, Composite Long Bows, Longswords, Rapiers, and I treat any weapon with the word "elven" as if it was a normal martial weapon.
Weapon Proficiency from Mage: Club, Dagger, Light Crossbow, Heavy Crossbow, and Quarterstaff.
Now, I'm not sure if there is such thing as "Elven Heavy Crossbow" or "Elven Composite Long Bow", but would I be proficient with it or would I need to get "Martial Weapon" proficiency? Or would I automatically be proficient with an Orc Heavy Crossbow (if such thing existed) because I'm already proficient with Heavy Crossbow?
Anyway... Now that I figured out what skill, proficiencies and languages my character is good with, I check how many points I can spend on them.
Mages gain 2+INT modifier, so I get 2+5 = 7 skill points to distribute. I also get +5 languages on top of Elf and Common to choose from the possible languages list.
Since I have a really high INT and I'm trying to min-max here just for doing so, I will mostly get INT skills. But since I get a bonus to perception from being an Elf (which is usually a quite important skill even with my dumped WIS) and I'm a mage with nice DEX, I also decide to put ranks on Perception and Fly.
Spellcraft: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 5 (INT Modifier) = +9 (+11 when identifying objects, because elf)
Linguistics: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 5 (INT Modifier) = +9
Appraise: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 5 (INT Modifier) = +9
Craft: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 5 (INT Modifier) = +9 (Do you have to specify Craft like Knowledge? Or is general crafting?)
Knowledge (Arcana): 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 5 (INT Modifier) = +9
Fly: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 3 (DEX Modifier) = +6
Perception: 1 (Rank) + 2 (Elf Racial) - 2 (WIS Modifier) = +1
Now... I'm not an expert, but I believe Craft will work with the free Feat I get as Mage (Scribe Scroll) and/or one I may choose later for crafting things like Potions (or others), right? So since is a class skill that benefits from INT I would rather get this instead of a non-class skill. Also, not sure why, but I believe "Knowledge (Arcana)" is quite important for mages, because its used for counter-spells, learning spells from books/scrolls or something like that, right?
Now, since I have a very high INT on this char (+5 bonus) I get lots of languages (Common, Elf + 5), so I assume putting ranks into Linguistic can be quite effective since it applies to all the languages I know (and I believe it may help me deciphering things in ones I don't at times?), and at the same time it gives me an extra language to learn for a final +6 extra languages, right?
So in this example I choose to know (on top of the default Common and Elf) the languages: Celestial, Draconic, Silvan, Orc, Goblin and Gnomish.
Now, if all this is good, I only don't know "Gnoll" from my "Possible Languages as a Mage" list. Does this mean that the 3rd Rank I put in Linguistics (at Lv3 as early) won't give me a new language? Or can I choose any language when I put a Rank on Linguistics and the "Possible Languages because being X Class" are only for the purposes of the initial extra ones from high INT? If it works like that I could dump Gnomish (for example) and get Abyssal instead with my 1 Rank in Linguistics?
Now... My Hit Dice from being a Mage in Pathfinder is 1d6, and in this game on Lv1 we start with maximum hit points, so my Lv1 HP is: 6 + 1 (CON) + 1 (Favored Class, I choose HP instead of Skill point) +3 (Toughness Feat) = 11 Hit Points.
Toughness (not mentioned before) would be the Lv1 Feat I decide to pick (everyone has a Lv1 Feat, right? 2 if human, 3 if human and warrior but one must be combat, right?). As far as I know Toughness Feat gives +1 HP/Level, but it gives the benefits from both Lv2 and Lv3 from Lv1 for it to be more noticeable early on (So +3/0/0 HP on Lv1/2/3 and +1/Level from there on). Not saying this is a great Feat for Mage (I could probably get a more efficient one, feel free to give examples) but its one I know from the top of my head and is always nice having more HP.
At Lv1 my known spells are: All the Level 0 spells, and 2+INT Level 1 spells, so 7 Lv1 spells. I pick them from the Mage Lv1 Spell List and I'm done with it.
After that I get only +2 new spells per level, and INT bonus gets ignored for this purpose, right? I will only learn 2 free extra spells each level no matter how much INT, that those can be chosen from any spell level I can cast, right? Please correct me if I'm wrong.
As for Daily spells I would get 3 Lv0, 1 Lv1 and nothing else... But since my high INT gives me + 0/2/1/1/1/1, I would start instead with 3 Lv0 and 3 Lv1 spells, and I would have to wait to become a Lv3 Mage before learning the default 1 x Lv2 spell + the extra one INT gives me.
So far so good... I believe. For the moment I'm ignoring the magic schools.
Now, when I cast a spell on an enemy, their DC (is called DC? Not sure if I'm using English or Spanish terminology here) is DC 10 + Spell Level + INT Modifier + 2 (because the Elf passive), right? So if I cast a Lv1 Sleep spell with my Lv1 Mage on an enemy, he needs to get, on 1d20 + Whatever he may have to save spells, at least a result of 10+1+5+2 = 18. Did I do something wrong here? If he has a +1 Save against spell, a roll of 17 means he doesn't get affected by this spell in particular (since Sleep is an ALL-or-NOTHING kind of effect).
If my mage is Lv5 and still has 20 INT, is this save still 18 (since the formula specifies Spell Level and not Caster Level)?
So... Ignoring my School of Magic/Familiar... I end up with a char that has:
-2 for STR checks or to hit with melee weapons.
+3 for DEX checks, Armor Class and to hit with ranged weapons. (Both those are done with +0 BaB since mages have +0 at Lv1)
+1 for CON checks and +1 HP per level for a Total of 11 HP at Lv1 [d6 + 1 (CON) + 3 (Toughness) +1 (Favored Class)]
+5 for INT checks which includes a +5 for my enemies being affected by my spells (and another +2 from being an elf), 2 extra spells/day at Lv1 and 1 extra at Lv2/3/4/5 as I reach the levels needed to cast them, I know 5 extra Lv1 spells (7 total) from the beginning, and I know 6 extra Languages (including the skill point I spent on linguistic)
-2 for WIS checks, which most notably affects my Perception (a Skill I put 1 Rank into) and my Will Save. If I never use any WIS skill, it doesn't have any other effect on my char, right?
-2 for CHA checks which pretty much don't affect me at all if I don't intend to use any CHA based skill like Diplomacy.
Now... I know there are Characters Traits and Flaws... Do you recommend us to use those? Or just ignore them while we are pretty much playing Pathfinder for the first time?
If we decide to use them (or use them on the next characters if someone has to re-roll or if we play a new campaign in the future), whats the rule for them? I believe I read somewhere that it was 2 Traits per Character, +1 Trait per Flaw, maximum 2 Flaws. Is that right? Do you recommend us trying to use them as soon as possible? Or at least mention them to my players so they can start checking them? Or should we ignore them until we become comfortable with the system and we learn to do things (like creating this sheet) faster and understanding everything (because some of my players will probably have 0 knowledge about D&D/Pathfinder, not even knowing what Wisdom is or what is used for).
As for my Fortitude, Reflex and Will saves the mage has +0/+0/+2 listed, but those get affected by CON/DEX/WIS, right? So I would end having +1/+3/+0, meaning that when trying to resist an enemy spell, I would just use whatever came up in the d20 roll... Unless is something my char is immune to (like Sleep, from being elf) or an Enchantment Effect (where I would get to use +2 from Elf for a total of +2 [+2 From Mage LV1, -2 From low Wisdom, +2 From Elf).
So far I have been ignoring my Lv1-Mage extra things like Arcane Bond, Arcane School, Cantrips and Scribe Scroll... So let's take a quick peak at them:
Cantrips just means I can use the Lv0 pells (3 at Mage-Lv1, 4 from Lv2 onwards) I have memorized for that day as many times as I want, right?
Scribe Scroll has a formula that allows me to create scrolls with spells I have memorized (spending the spell, so I could only scribe 3 Lv1 Sleeps/day with this Elf Mage example) and the feat itself is pretty much is summed up as "You can buy scrolls for spells you know at half price as long as you spend some time and a little XP doing so". Does my skill Craft affect this in anyway? Or is a wasted skill if I don't go for crafting potions (for example)? I never used crafting nor profession skills, so I'm not really sure what you normally use those for.
Arcane School allows me to choose a favored magic school and two opposite schools, right? (Rather than the old "banning schools"). As I read I have to spend 2 slots when I memorize a spell from an opposite school (so I would need to use both my Lv1 slots to memorize a "Sleep" spell if I decided Enchantment is one of my opposite schools, and the enemy of the previous example would need a 14+ to save instead of a 18+ since I get a -4 to my opposite school DCs). So far so good?
Also, choosing a school gives me some neat powers related to the school (even if I don't choose any since I get the "Universal School" powers) along with an extra spell for each Spell Level I posses not including cantrips, as long as at least one of the spells (that extra one) is from my choosen school. So if my High INT (20/+5) mage decided to specialize in the Transmutation School, he would get as Lv1 spells: 1 (Default) +2 (from the 20 INT) +1 (as long as its transmutation), and if I wanted to memorize Sleep with Enchantment being one of my 2 chosen opposite school, it would use 2 of those 4 slots, it would be used at a -4, and one of those 2 other spells MUST be a transmutation spell (so I can't memorize a second Sleep).
Transmutation also seems to give a +1 to a physical ability score of my choice at from Lv1 (STR/DEX/CON) and an extra +1 (to the same stat) every wizard level that I gain that is multiple of 5, to a maximum of +5 at Lv20, and also at Lv20 get it for two of my physical ability scores instead of one (seems quite good).
I also get Telekinetic Fist, a spell-like ability that I can use 3+INT times a day (8 times in this case) and Change Shape when I reach Lv8 as a Wizard...
The other schools are similar, so is up to the player that wants to become a mage to check what each school gives him and what spells will end in opposite-territory.
And last... Arcane Bond. I read the Magic Object bond and a player rolled that the last time we played, which is the easier one to create as they are quite simple (I don't recall nor read them right now, but it basically is an object that gives you extra spells and little more).
If a player decides to go with a familiar we have to check many things that he gains from the familiar, including how much HP/Attack the familiar has, and many special abilities as he level up.
Now, if in this example I went for the Familiar route, and choose Crow, the Crow could speak 1 language of my choice (usually Common I guess) as a super natural ability, I would get an extra +3 on my Appraise Skill (so form +9 to +12) and the crow would have half my Hit Points (11) rounded down, so he would have 5 HP... Now, how do you treat familiars in your games? I assume the player that owns him uses it as if it was another character of his own? He is the one moving it and decided what it does, or role playing him if necessary (like in the case of a Summoner Eidolon or a Mage's Talking Crow)?
So... That would be pretty much my process of creating a mage... Did I forget something? Was something done in a wrong/way order? Did I got some numbers wrong?
And now for a couple extra questions:
- Do Druids and Rangers have to do Animal Handle checks to give orders to their companions? Was never very clear on that... Or they just "move" them as if they were their characters, deciding when/where they move/attack/etc.
- How do you handle a mage's familiar death? I know Pathfinder removed lots of the forever-penalties of losing it, and you can recover it with some gold/etc, but with their low HP, even with high reflexes they could die in an unlucky area of effect. Any suggestions? I guess the least I could do is treat them like players (they don't die until they have higher negative hit points than constitution).
- In one of the "Worst GM you ever had" histories I saw this guy that wanted a Fire Elemental as familiar and the GM didn't allow, saying it would set fire to the forest-bla-bla-bla... For this I have 2 questions... First of all, how should I go about creating/allowing a familiar that is not in the default Wizard list? And second... Can you dismiss/summon your familiars somehow? I know in The Order of the Stick Varsuvius kept forgetting about his/her crow and it would pop into existence when needed (as a joke) and after his/her character grow it would always be on his/her shoulder (but its a crow). How would have you gone with a Fire Elemental familiar? Is not something you can always have by your side, don't you think?
- BaB and Reflex saves and similar, when multiclasing, is just a normal addition, right? As if I'm a Lv1 Wizard/Lv1 Fighter (Lv2 char) I get +1 BaB (0+1) +2 Fortitude Save (0+2), +0 Reflex Save (0+0), +2 Will Save (2+0), right? And, in the same example... Do I automatically win all the Fighter's weapon and armor proficiencies? Do all the Fighter Class Skills also just become Class Skills for me, allowing me the extra +3 if I train them? Like swimming, mounting, survival or handle animals? I guess you do and the downside is not getting the +1 Skill or HP for leveling a favored class.
- When a Mage is wearing any kind of armor, he gets the penalty every time he tries to cast a spell with somatic components, does that mean you can be a mage in the heaviest armor with no penalties to casting as long as you only use spells with no somatic components? Also, when does this penalty get applied? Could you give me an example of a mage wearing any kind of armor and how would you roll to see if he fails the casting? I'm not sure if mages always have to do concentration checks, or only under specific circumstances like heavy rain or receiving damage (like from an Attack of Opportunity) while casting, or if the armor is like a -X for the DC or what.
- Just curious but... Have you ever seen a player doing a High INT Human Rogue (8+INT modifier skills) that got a couple of levels on other classes for the main purpose of being really good on lots of skills?
- Also... Is the Wizard in this example (I will be the GM, not a player, so I won't be using it anyway) optimized? Would be this kind of character what you guys usually consider Min-Maxing? (I believe is hard to tell at Lv1, but still).
- How do you handle running in your games? Do you have any special rules (like not being able to turn corners or something)? 4x Times normal speed seems too much when playing using a map with squares.
- And last but not least... Could you give me some examples of good/useful/optimized Feats for Lv1-5 characters based on their classes, including future progression (like getting "Point-Black Shoot" in order to get "Precise Shoot" so you don't get the -4 for shooting into melee)? Is mostly so I know about some good ones so I can suggest them to my players, since I know for a fact they won't feel like reading what every one of the hundreds there are does...
And I think that is pretty much all for the moment. Sorry for the long text, just want to make sure I'm not forgetting any step on the creation of a character sheet for Pathfinder since if I get something wrong I will most likely not be corrected by the other players... I will be both the GM and the most experienced one that leads/teaches them and checks if they did something wrong themselves, so its quite important that I get it as right as possible from the beginning.
I haven't created one of those sheets in years (and even when I did so I was no expert and had to double check the steps and making sure I had all right).
Thanks in advance for reading and answering.
As mentioned on another thread (that is still on first page as I post this) I'm about to start DMing Pathfinder using Roll20 for some friends, and even if we are not complete noobs (some are), we all lack a lot of experience and didn't really play along anyone who had truly experience to teach/correct us (so if we read/understand something incorrectly, when we share information everyone would get it incorrectly).
Since I will be both the DM and the most experienced player is quite important that I get this as correct as possible from the very beginning.
Anyway... I will now proceed to see if I can fill a Lv1 character sheet correctly and, if you don't mind, please point at anything I did wrong (or that even if correct feels wrong) or you think could be done better/different, or if doing things in a different order/way makes more sense or can be easier.
We settled on using a 15-Point buy (I prefer rolls, but this way we can avoid discussions or player wanting to re-roll to get better stats, not saying everyone would do so but maybe 1 or 2 of the players would be tempted to if they get average or lower rolls). Again, using Pathfinder. Mostly Core Rules, even if some players are looking at Advanced Classes/Races like this guy that wants to be a Summoner Drow with an Eidolon.
So here we go...
I decide (for this example to be as complete as possible) to be a Mage... So now I proceed to get my stats using 15-Point buy (using THIS LINK (http://jody-white.com/pathfinder-ability-score-calculator.php)). For this example I'm trying to min-max (tell me if something here is wrong) and I decide to go with STR 7, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 18, WIS 7 and CHA 7, then I choose to be an Elf (for min-maxing again) to get a +2 DEX/INT along with a -2 CON, my final stats look like this:
STR 7 (-2)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 12 (+1)
INT 20 (+5) Extra spells, From Lv0 to Lv9 = (- 2 1 1 1 1 - - - -)
WIS 7 (-2)
CHA 7 (-2)
Since I will be playing Mage (in this min-maxing example) I can dump STR/WIS/CHA pretty much no problem. I decide to balance DEX and CON since they both increase my effective health by increasing both my Hit Points and my AC, and focus on INT to get more spells/day (already included up there after checking the table), learn more skills per leve and improve the chances of my spells affecting enemies.
Now I proceed to check what being a Mage and an Elf give me as class skills, weapon proficiencies and other bonuses in general:
Movement: 30 Feet (6 squares), from being elf.
Immunity to sleep effects, from being elf.
+2 to Saving Throws against enchantment spells and effects, from being an elf.
+2 to Spell Craft skill (for the purpose of identifying objects), from being an elf.
+2 to Perception skill, from being an elf.
+2 to Caster Level Checks made to overcome spell resistance, from being an elf. (I think this increases the number enemies have to reach to resist the spell?)
Languages: Common, Elven.
Possible Languages: Celestial, Draconic, Gnoll, Gnomish, Goblin, Orc y Silvan. (Mage allows to replace any of those with Draconic, no point).
Class Skills: Craft (INT), Spellcraft (INT), Linguistics (INT), Profession (WIS), Knowledge (Any) (INT), Appraise (INT), Fly (DEX)
Weapon Proficiency from Elf: Short Bows, Long Bows, Composite Short Bows, Composite Long Bows, Longswords, Rapiers, and I treat any weapon with the word "elven" as if it was a normal martial weapon.
Weapon Proficiency from Mage: Club, Dagger, Light Crossbow, Heavy Crossbow, and Quarterstaff.
Now, I'm not sure if there is such thing as "Elven Heavy Crossbow" or "Elven Composite Long Bow", but would I be proficient with it or would I need to get "Martial Weapon" proficiency? Or would I automatically be proficient with an Orc Heavy Crossbow (if such thing existed) because I'm already proficient with Heavy Crossbow?
Anyway... Now that I figured out what skill, proficiencies and languages my character is good with, I check how many points I can spend on them.
Mages gain 2+INT modifier, so I get 2+5 = 7 skill points to distribute. I also get +5 languages on top of Elf and Common to choose from the possible languages list.
Since I have a really high INT and I'm trying to min-max here just for doing so, I will mostly get INT skills. But since I get a bonus to perception from being an Elf (which is usually a quite important skill even with my dumped WIS) and I'm a mage with nice DEX, I also decide to put ranks on Perception and Fly.
Spellcraft: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 5 (INT Modifier) = +9 (+11 when identifying objects, because elf)
Linguistics: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 5 (INT Modifier) = +9
Appraise: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 5 (INT Modifier) = +9
Craft: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 5 (INT Modifier) = +9 (Do you have to specify Craft like Knowledge? Or is general crafting?)
Knowledge (Arcana): 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 5 (INT Modifier) = +9
Fly: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained Class Skill) + 3 (DEX Modifier) = +6
Perception: 1 (Rank) + 2 (Elf Racial) - 2 (WIS Modifier) = +1
Now... I'm not an expert, but I believe Craft will work with the free Feat I get as Mage (Scribe Scroll) and/or one I may choose later for crafting things like Potions (or others), right? So since is a class skill that benefits from INT I would rather get this instead of a non-class skill. Also, not sure why, but I believe "Knowledge (Arcana)" is quite important for mages, because its used for counter-spells, learning spells from books/scrolls or something like that, right?
Now, since I have a very high INT on this char (+5 bonus) I get lots of languages (Common, Elf + 5), so I assume putting ranks into Linguistic can be quite effective since it applies to all the languages I know (and I believe it may help me deciphering things in ones I don't at times?), and at the same time it gives me an extra language to learn for a final +6 extra languages, right?
So in this example I choose to know (on top of the default Common and Elf) the languages: Celestial, Draconic, Silvan, Orc, Goblin and Gnomish.
Now, if all this is good, I only don't know "Gnoll" from my "Possible Languages as a Mage" list. Does this mean that the 3rd Rank I put in Linguistics (at Lv3 as early) won't give me a new language? Or can I choose any language when I put a Rank on Linguistics and the "Possible Languages because being X Class" are only for the purposes of the initial extra ones from high INT? If it works like that I could dump Gnomish (for example) and get Abyssal instead with my 1 Rank in Linguistics?
Now... My Hit Dice from being a Mage in Pathfinder is 1d6, and in this game on Lv1 we start with maximum hit points, so my Lv1 HP is: 6 + 1 (CON) + 1 (Favored Class, I choose HP instead of Skill point) +3 (Toughness Feat) = 11 Hit Points.
Toughness (not mentioned before) would be the Lv1 Feat I decide to pick (everyone has a Lv1 Feat, right? 2 if human, 3 if human and warrior but one must be combat, right?). As far as I know Toughness Feat gives +1 HP/Level, but it gives the benefits from both Lv2 and Lv3 from Lv1 for it to be more noticeable early on (So +3/0/0 HP on Lv1/2/3 and +1/Level from there on). Not saying this is a great Feat for Mage (I could probably get a more efficient one, feel free to give examples) but its one I know from the top of my head and is always nice having more HP.
At Lv1 my known spells are: All the Level 0 spells, and 2+INT Level 1 spells, so 7 Lv1 spells. I pick them from the Mage Lv1 Spell List and I'm done with it.
After that I get only +2 new spells per level, and INT bonus gets ignored for this purpose, right? I will only learn 2 free extra spells each level no matter how much INT, that those can be chosen from any spell level I can cast, right? Please correct me if I'm wrong.
As for Daily spells I would get 3 Lv0, 1 Lv1 and nothing else... But since my high INT gives me + 0/2/1/1/1/1, I would start instead with 3 Lv0 and 3 Lv1 spells, and I would have to wait to become a Lv3 Mage before learning the default 1 x Lv2 spell + the extra one INT gives me.
So far so good... I believe. For the moment I'm ignoring the magic schools.
Now, when I cast a spell on an enemy, their DC (is called DC? Not sure if I'm using English or Spanish terminology here) is DC 10 + Spell Level + INT Modifier + 2 (because the Elf passive), right? So if I cast a Lv1 Sleep spell with my Lv1 Mage on an enemy, he needs to get, on 1d20 + Whatever he may have to save spells, at least a result of 10+1+5+2 = 18. Did I do something wrong here? If he has a +1 Save against spell, a roll of 17 means he doesn't get affected by this spell in particular (since Sleep is an ALL-or-NOTHING kind of effect).
If my mage is Lv5 and still has 20 INT, is this save still 18 (since the formula specifies Spell Level and not Caster Level)?
So... Ignoring my School of Magic/Familiar... I end up with a char that has:
-2 for STR checks or to hit with melee weapons.
+3 for DEX checks, Armor Class and to hit with ranged weapons. (Both those are done with +0 BaB since mages have +0 at Lv1)
+1 for CON checks and +1 HP per level for a Total of 11 HP at Lv1 [d6 + 1 (CON) + 3 (Toughness) +1 (Favored Class)]
+5 for INT checks which includes a +5 for my enemies being affected by my spells (and another +2 from being an elf), 2 extra spells/day at Lv1 and 1 extra at Lv2/3/4/5 as I reach the levels needed to cast them, I know 5 extra Lv1 spells (7 total) from the beginning, and I know 6 extra Languages (including the skill point I spent on linguistic)
-2 for WIS checks, which most notably affects my Perception (a Skill I put 1 Rank into) and my Will Save. If I never use any WIS skill, it doesn't have any other effect on my char, right?
-2 for CHA checks which pretty much don't affect me at all if I don't intend to use any CHA based skill like Diplomacy.
Now... I know there are Characters Traits and Flaws... Do you recommend us to use those? Or just ignore them while we are pretty much playing Pathfinder for the first time?
If we decide to use them (or use them on the next characters if someone has to re-roll or if we play a new campaign in the future), whats the rule for them? I believe I read somewhere that it was 2 Traits per Character, +1 Trait per Flaw, maximum 2 Flaws. Is that right? Do you recommend us trying to use them as soon as possible? Or at least mention them to my players so they can start checking them? Or should we ignore them until we become comfortable with the system and we learn to do things (like creating this sheet) faster and understanding everything (because some of my players will probably have 0 knowledge about D&D/Pathfinder, not even knowing what Wisdom is or what is used for).
As for my Fortitude, Reflex and Will saves the mage has +0/+0/+2 listed, but those get affected by CON/DEX/WIS, right? So I would end having +1/+3/+0, meaning that when trying to resist an enemy spell, I would just use whatever came up in the d20 roll... Unless is something my char is immune to (like Sleep, from being elf) or an Enchantment Effect (where I would get to use +2 from Elf for a total of +2 [+2 From Mage LV1, -2 From low Wisdom, +2 From Elf).
So far I have been ignoring my Lv1-Mage extra things like Arcane Bond, Arcane School, Cantrips and Scribe Scroll... So let's take a quick peak at them:
Cantrips just means I can use the Lv0 pells (3 at Mage-Lv1, 4 from Lv2 onwards) I have memorized for that day as many times as I want, right?
Scribe Scroll has a formula that allows me to create scrolls with spells I have memorized (spending the spell, so I could only scribe 3 Lv1 Sleeps/day with this Elf Mage example) and the feat itself is pretty much is summed up as "You can buy scrolls for spells you know at half price as long as you spend some time and a little XP doing so". Does my skill Craft affect this in anyway? Or is a wasted skill if I don't go for crafting potions (for example)? I never used crafting nor profession skills, so I'm not really sure what you normally use those for.
Arcane School allows me to choose a favored magic school and two opposite schools, right? (Rather than the old "banning schools"). As I read I have to spend 2 slots when I memorize a spell from an opposite school (so I would need to use both my Lv1 slots to memorize a "Sleep" spell if I decided Enchantment is one of my opposite schools, and the enemy of the previous example would need a 14+ to save instead of a 18+ since I get a -4 to my opposite school DCs). So far so good?
Also, choosing a school gives me some neat powers related to the school (even if I don't choose any since I get the "Universal School" powers) along with an extra spell for each Spell Level I posses not including cantrips, as long as at least one of the spells (that extra one) is from my choosen school. So if my High INT (20/+5) mage decided to specialize in the Transmutation School, he would get as Lv1 spells: 1 (Default) +2 (from the 20 INT) +1 (as long as its transmutation), and if I wanted to memorize Sleep with Enchantment being one of my 2 chosen opposite school, it would use 2 of those 4 slots, it would be used at a -4, and one of those 2 other spells MUST be a transmutation spell (so I can't memorize a second Sleep).
Transmutation also seems to give a +1 to a physical ability score of my choice at from Lv1 (STR/DEX/CON) and an extra +1 (to the same stat) every wizard level that I gain that is multiple of 5, to a maximum of +5 at Lv20, and also at Lv20 get it for two of my physical ability scores instead of one (seems quite good).
I also get Telekinetic Fist, a spell-like ability that I can use 3+INT times a day (8 times in this case) and Change Shape when I reach Lv8 as a Wizard...
The other schools are similar, so is up to the player that wants to become a mage to check what each school gives him and what spells will end in opposite-territory.
And last... Arcane Bond. I read the Magic Object bond and a player rolled that the last time we played, which is the easier one to create as they are quite simple (I don't recall nor read them right now, but it basically is an object that gives you extra spells and little more).
If a player decides to go with a familiar we have to check many things that he gains from the familiar, including how much HP/Attack the familiar has, and many special abilities as he level up.
Now, if in this example I went for the Familiar route, and choose Crow, the Crow could speak 1 language of my choice (usually Common I guess) as a super natural ability, I would get an extra +3 on my Appraise Skill (so form +9 to +12) and the crow would have half my Hit Points (11) rounded down, so he would have 5 HP... Now, how do you treat familiars in your games? I assume the player that owns him uses it as if it was another character of his own? He is the one moving it and decided what it does, or role playing him if necessary (like in the case of a Summoner Eidolon or a Mage's Talking Crow)?
So... That would be pretty much my process of creating a mage... Did I forget something? Was something done in a wrong/way order? Did I got some numbers wrong?
And now for a couple extra questions:
- Do Druids and Rangers have to do Animal Handle checks to give orders to their companions? Was never very clear on that... Or they just "move" them as if they were their characters, deciding when/where they move/attack/etc.
- How do you handle a mage's familiar death? I know Pathfinder removed lots of the forever-penalties of losing it, and you can recover it with some gold/etc, but with their low HP, even with high reflexes they could die in an unlucky area of effect. Any suggestions? I guess the least I could do is treat them like players (they don't die until they have higher negative hit points than constitution).
- In one of the "Worst GM you ever had" histories I saw this guy that wanted a Fire Elemental as familiar and the GM didn't allow, saying it would set fire to the forest-bla-bla-bla... For this I have 2 questions... First of all, how should I go about creating/allowing a familiar that is not in the default Wizard list? And second... Can you dismiss/summon your familiars somehow? I know in The Order of the Stick Varsuvius kept forgetting about his/her crow and it would pop into existence when needed (as a joke) and after his/her character grow it would always be on his/her shoulder (but its a crow). How would have you gone with a Fire Elemental familiar? Is not something you can always have by your side, don't you think?
- BaB and Reflex saves and similar, when multiclasing, is just a normal addition, right? As if I'm a Lv1 Wizard/Lv1 Fighter (Lv2 char) I get +1 BaB (0+1) +2 Fortitude Save (0+2), +0 Reflex Save (0+0), +2 Will Save (2+0), right? And, in the same example... Do I automatically win all the Fighter's weapon and armor proficiencies? Do all the Fighter Class Skills also just become Class Skills for me, allowing me the extra +3 if I train them? Like swimming, mounting, survival or handle animals? I guess you do and the downside is not getting the +1 Skill or HP for leveling a favored class.
- When a Mage is wearing any kind of armor, he gets the penalty every time he tries to cast a spell with somatic components, does that mean you can be a mage in the heaviest armor with no penalties to casting as long as you only use spells with no somatic components? Also, when does this penalty get applied? Could you give me an example of a mage wearing any kind of armor and how would you roll to see if he fails the casting? I'm not sure if mages always have to do concentration checks, or only under specific circumstances like heavy rain or receiving damage (like from an Attack of Opportunity) while casting, or if the armor is like a -X for the DC or what.
- Just curious but... Have you ever seen a player doing a High INT Human Rogue (8+INT modifier skills) that got a couple of levels on other classes for the main purpose of being really good on lots of skills?
- Also... Is the Wizard in this example (I will be the GM, not a player, so I won't be using it anyway) optimized? Would be this kind of character what you guys usually consider Min-Maxing? (I believe is hard to tell at Lv1, but still).
- How do you handle running in your games? Do you have any special rules (like not being able to turn corners or something)? 4x Times normal speed seems too much when playing using a map with squares.
- And last but not least... Could you give me some examples of good/useful/optimized Feats for Lv1-5 characters based on their classes, including future progression (like getting "Point-Black Shoot" in order to get "Precise Shoot" so you don't get the -4 for shooting into melee)? Is mostly so I know about some good ones so I can suggest them to my players, since I know for a fact they won't feel like reading what every one of the hundreds there are does...
And I think that is pretty much all for the moment. Sorry for the long text, just want to make sure I'm not forgetting any step on the creation of a character sheet for Pathfinder since if I get something wrong I will most likely not be corrected by the other players... I will be both the GM and the most experienced one that leads/teaches them and checks if they did something wrong themselves, so its quite important that I get it as right as possible from the beginning.
I haven't created one of those sheets in years (and even when I did so I was no expert and had to double check the steps and making sure I had all right).
Thanks in advance for reading and answering.