Some help with my character

[90sMusic]

So a little backstory on me... I have never played D&D before :|

My boyfriend started playing it recently because he watched the penny arcade guys play at PAX and he thought it looked really fun and since his first game he has been begging me to play with him.

So I was really nervous and didn't want to play and didn't want the responsibility of having my own character, so he talked me into playing his familiar so I could just pop in and out of games when I wanted and not feel obligated to be there and also so I didn't have to do much. Long story short, the DM said rules, rules, rules and wouldn't let me be someone else's familiar and instead suggested since I was warming up to the idea of playing a little cat that I play as an awakened animal instead. So he agreed I could play a cat sorcerer because for some reason playing a little cat didn't seem as intimidating as being a person.

So here is where I need some help... I did a lot of research trying to learn how to play this game in the days leading up to our first game. I felt like I was cramming for an exam or something! I had to learn about basic attack bonuses, stat modifiers, skills, classes, spells, archetypes, familiars, and various combat rules and things. I also watched the penny arcade guys play a couple of games at PAX to get a general idea of what to expect. So I did all this research kind of independently and in secret so when it was time for our first game I was able to impress everybody because I wasn't completely clueless and had a general idea of what to do.

And man, our first game was amazing! It only ended a couple of hours ago and I had a blast. I laughed so hard at so many things that happened, it was pretty stellar. Hard to believe it was basically just a handful of people sitting around talking. So basically what I need help with is I started with 70 gold and I don't really know what to do with it. One of the first things everyone did was goto a store and bought a bunch of armor, weapons, backpacks, supplies like waterskins and rations and so on. And I told my boyfriend that since I was just a cat he should probably hold onto my money for me and I guess carry about my stuff and he should buy me some rations and waterskins too. But what else should I spend that money on?

I don't need clothes... I read armor is bad for sorcerers, though I did read about crafting tiny animal shaped armor... They said since I was a cat I didn't need any bedding or a sleeping bag or anything and would be fine just sleeping on the ground or in the bedding my boyfriend has... So I really don't know what to spend my money on!

I'm completely drawing a blank. I mean eventually I want to get like a magical necklace or something, but my research says most of that stuff costs thousands of gold and I'm only sitting on about 70 more or less. But with everyone else buying so many things like adventuring kits and sleeping stuff and weapons and whatnot I felt a little naked I guess?

So basically i'm just looking for suggestions on how to spend my 70 gold to get something useful for a cat sorcerer. Also if anyone has any ideas for good feats or spells or anything like that, i'd appreciate it. I chose the psychic bloodline because it said you don't have to speak or move your hands to cast spells with that one so I figured that would be nice to be extra sneaky, and my stealth by the way is crazy high. I have darkvision and low light vision because i'm a magical beast and cat respectively, so I don't need like torches or anything (not that I could use them without being awkward anyway). The DM also told me that if I wanted to I could hunt mice or other small creatures for food if I wanted to, so even though I have rations I don't really need them. It feels like I don't really need much to get by. I guess that is ok because that is kind of what I wanted, less responsibility and things to worry about while i'm learning. But if anyone has any good suggestions for me as far as feats or equipment or new player advice or anything really, i'd appreciate it.

One other tiny thing I was wondering about, the game we are playing is called pathfinder, and as near as I can tell (no experience or anything) it seems to be like an offshoot or something and not really D&D? But some of the guys had talked about wanting to play 5e but the DM wants to stick with pathfinder because he has massive amounts of resources for pathfinder. Like huge databases containing all information. And while he would like to switch to the other one, he doesn't have the resources to do it well is what he said. So I was just curious if anyone knew some website or something that had all the 5e info. It would have to be pretty thorough and in depth though like the one he uses for pathfinder.

Thanks!

P.S. I know I typed a lot but i'm still kind of excited after my first game. I am dying to play again but it's not until next week!! Also a little sleepy and it makes me go on and on. Guess I better stop here. Thanks again! :D

[Slithery D]

15 years ago I would have been certain this was a troll, but the new internet makes me wonder.

[Geddy2112]

Uhm....okay then.....

To answer your...question- Save your gold, buy cool magic swag later. Or chip in to the party coffers for general expenses.
Also, for the love of all that is holy please get alter self and other polymorph spells ASAP, so you can get hands etc when you need.

Oh yeah, go look up one of the bazillion sorcerer guides running around on the internet.

[Psyren]

There is no in-depth website (we call it a "SRD") for 5e as that is closed content. You or your DM has to buy the books, or stick with Pathfinder.

70 gold can't really buy much of anything in this game so just hang tight until you get more treasure.

[dascarletm]

I would hang onto it as others suggested.

You can look in the tools/equipment section of the pfsrd and see if anything stands out as interesting.

Personally I will have my character really like some sort of spice or have a hobby such as whittling, cooking, or brewing tea. However, since you are a cat that limits that sort of thing.

Keep the money and use it during the game.

Some kids have information but don't want to tell you? Here have 1 gold.

The shopkeeper doesn't want to say who bought the last "Something-or-Other?" Here's 50gp.

Purchase a little cat backpack and a bling'd out collar. Oh! also a tiny hat. All magical cats should have a tiny hat.

[Florian]

Well, playing a cat, it would be reasonanle to buy a backpack, torches, canned food, a litter tray, extra sand, a couple of spare bear traps and hire some poor sod to carry that stuff, hold that torch and clear out the litter box. Henchmen are fun.

[90sMusic]

It's funny you should mention alter self and polymorph, I was already planning on getting something along those lines for those moments I might need hands or just need to go somewhere that being a cat might cause trouble. I wasn't allowed in a tavern in our adventure and had to sneak in after distracting some of the people standing around up front with my dancing lights. I thought it could come in real handy as well.

I thought about having a tiny witch hat or something because black cat always evokes that whole witch familiar image. But I ultimately decided against it because I want to look like a regular cat so I can nonchalantly sneak around or spy on people and they wouldn't think anything about it. If they saw a cat with a hat, I would think that would throw up red flags and raise suspicion.

So far all i've spent my money on has been some food and waterskins which were pretty cheap as I recall. I'm not sure why i'd want a torch though, I can see in the dark and my party members have torches already for their own use. And I have the dancing lights cantrip that I can use as a light source if needed for some reason. After reading it and the Light spell, I decided it would be better than light because I could send it down a hole or something kind of like people do with flares in movies and can use it to follow me around hands free and all that sort of goodness. Just seemed like a better spell to me. It has also proven useful in distracting peasants. Is there some particular reason i'd need one that i'm unaware of?

I dont think we are going to have NPCs following us around and that sort of thing, think we are going to keep it simple with just our little guys.

Thanks for the suggestions ! I'm going to keep thinking about it and checking item lists to see if I can think of anything neat. I really want to play again.

[Geddy2112]

And I have the dancing lights cantrip that I can use as a light source if needed for some reason. After reading it and the Light spell, I decided it would be better than light because I could send it down a hole or something kind of like people do with flares in movies and can use it to follow me around hands free and all that sort of goodness.
Light and dancing lights are both good, and have different uses.

The main advantage to light is the long duration and the fact that you can stick it to objects. Can't see how deep a hole is? Cast light on a rock and drop it down. Need a long term hands free torch? Light on your weapon. Or anything you carry, or mage hand a rock with light in front of you. It is also accessible to divine and arcane casters.

Dancing lights can be moved around, creates more light, and can make a humanoid shape. The range is pretty good, but the duration is weak. You can always recast it, but you don't want it going out as your only light source in the middle of combat. It is still generally more useful than light, and if you have another caster who can cast light the party is OK. As a sorcerer, you are going to get a lot of cantrips at higher levels, and it might be worth picking up light if nobody else can cast it.

[Florian]

@90sMusic:

Ok, you mean all of this seriously. Well, do your further research on this:

"Cat, Small" has less item slots availlable then larger humanoids (check Animal Archives, Familiar Folio)
"Cat, Small" is tiny, therefore is very limited by carrying capacity, even with relative high strength. (check Core)
You do lack digits and you are playing a basic quadruped, so your capacity to handle certain stuff is very limitied.

So you actually should get a guy to do the heavy lifting for sou, because you definetelly can't. Consider taking the Torchbearer feat for this.

As for lights and torches: Check out how vision tanged work, especially on the low-light vision of your cat. If you plant a torch anywhere, it will continue shedding light, thereby enhancong the range of your vision a great deal without any real costs.