If you were Sent to Golarion

[Malroth]

You, an ordinary human were transported to Golarion with nothing but the clothes on your back and your metagame knowledge on how the world works.
You are an Elite array Human with the floating +2 anywere you want and your first level is Expert 1 and your first language is Common How do you survive and or thrive.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I don't. I die, if not of general starvation due to having no applicable skills than probably from some horrible disease that hasn't existed in the modern world for centuries, if ever. I most of us would do the same thing, if we're being honest with outselves.

[Krazzman]

Only possibility I see is death. Probably something seriously painful... I just know my luck :/

[Elricaltovilla]

Upon being sent to Golarion, do I now follow in game PF rules, or are those still merely an approximation of real life? If it applies the physics of the actual game, then I might have a shot. If it follows "real world" physics + magic, I'm a dead man.

[Serafina]

I don't. I die, if not of general starvation due to having no applicable skills than probably from some horrible disease that hasn't existed in the modern world for centuries, if ever. I most of us would do the same thing, if we're being honest with outselves.Now this doesn't actually apply because Golarion is a different world completely, but just to argue against the general trope:
If a modern-day human were to be sent back in time more than a century or so, it's actually more likely that we'd be resistant to diseases back then and the people in the past wouldn't be resistant to dormant diseases we carry.
This is mostly due to various genetic resistances we inherited, and not getting all sorts of diseases in childhood actually being really damn good for your immune system.

So in fact, you could be a very dangerous source of plague, though of course Golarion would have divine magic to counteract that.


Other than that: My metagamic knowledge doesn't necessarily help me much. I'd know that spellcasters>martials, obviously. But unless feats represent actual in-world techniques, which seems rather unlikely, knowing which ones are best there would only help so much.
And the main barrier would of course actually be gaining levels. Which is far from easy, and any quick path is very dangerous - there's a reason high-level characters are rare.

Honestly, I'd probably just try to become a priestess in one of the nicer churches that'll have me, because divine magic is probably the closest thing to real-life healthcare I can get. I certainly wouldn't go adventuring because I don't fancy dying.

[Coidzor]

Do I get skillpoints for being an Expert 1 and a commensurate knowledge of the world by investing ranks into Knowledge: Local and Knowledge: History? Because metagame knowledge is pretty poor at telling a lot of basic information that would be relevant to figuring out where one is and how best to beg or avoid the part of town where a person with no connections is liable to get shanked.

Do I get a spellbook for retraining into Wizard 1 or becoming an Expert 1/Wizard 1? If not, that means that not only do I have to secure my ability to provide for myself, but also get an extra 15 gp on top of the cost of paying a Wizard to train me for a week, putting it at 85 to 120 gp necessary to become a PC class. The cost goes even higher for a martial class due to the cost of weapons and armor.

Because there's no way in heck I'm going to have faith in the gods of Golarion to become a Cleric of one of them given my metagame knowledge and general poor view of the pantheon, especially Pharasma and her role in acting as a mouthpiece for the devs when they've said some things I detest.

Also, do we get the seemingly standard 2 starting Traits?

(Elite Array: 15, 14, 12, 11, 10, 8)

As for how to survive, well...

Unless I take Skill Focus as one of my first level feats, that means that I'm looking at a result of 17 when taking 10 on a Craft Check to practice a trade(unless I really want to have Wisdom be a 16 while Int is a 15 or 12). So that's 8.5 gp a week. Given that the idea relies upon retraining anyway, I suppose I might as well take feats that I can retrain along with it after getting myself set up. so, let's say Skill Focus and one of the +2 to two skills feats for a total total skill modifier of +12 for 11 gp a week, 11.5 if I get access to 2 free Traits and one of them gives a trait bonus to Craft. I'm going to assume a +1 trait bonus for now.



Assuming that I can find a place to practice my chosen trade before I starve to death, I can afford a place to stay after a week of homelessness. Now, if I can't just start working for another craftsman or the like, then I'd have to start begging or using Survival to keep myself fed until I can get to a settlement. The only rules for that I can recall offhand are in Perform. Now, if I have at least a +1 Cha modifier, then with a skill rank in Perform, I can hit a DC 15 when taking 10, so I can reliably get 1d10 sp a day by playing and potentially just play in taverns or the like instead of begging/busking. If I don't invest ranks in it, then a DC 10 can still be readily hit as long as I don't dump Cha, but I'd be able to afford, like, two loaves of bread and some water a day off of the average 5.5 copper pieces. Which is not going to work out very well.

Since it's a whole lot of extra work to figure out how to go from begging to actually working, I'm just going to assume I lucked out and found an herbalist or alchemist or the like that could use an extra pair of hands to work on a project independently for them instead of mucking with the prices for hiring people with X bonus to Aid Another to improve one's check. On the other hand, a trained laborer with a +10 bonus to Craft is paid 2 gp a day or 14 gp a week, so that would actually make more money over all. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills/alternate-crafting-rules)



After that first week, I can afford a month of poor accommodations at a cost of 3 gp under Cost of Living (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/coreRulebook/gamemastering.html)rules. So that leaves me 8.5 gp in earnings. I could then buy my own set of tools for 5 gp, leaving me with 3.5 gp to supplement my diet or buy a dagger or the like, if I have the funds due to not having to rent tools from whoever I was working for. That gets me a place to sleep and takes care of staying fed, even if it's poor quality for the most part.

After another week of working, I'd have enough money set aside to set up a simple, mobile business using the business rules from Alternate Profession Rules (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills/alternate-profession-rules), since with 1 skill rank, it's only 1 gp, 1.25 gp for a +2 bonus. I could also upgrade up to an Average cost of living and have my own place and eat better and have access to a number of simple household goods for my 3rd week of productivity.



Using Alt Profession Rules, instead of making, say 11.5(14) gp a week or 46(56) gp a month, I could make 120 gp of net profit a month by taking 10. From there I could conceivably make enough money to outfit myself as a PC or start to use Downtime to become invested in the community. Indeed, after a month and a half, I'd have pretty decent starting wealth for a 1st level character, having more than the average roll for an Alchemist or Barbarian but less than the average roll for a Cleric.

Heck, I suppose using Downtime (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/downtime)I could hire a mage and then have a 50% reduction in the retraining cost for him to teach me how to magic, so it'd only cost 35 gp to become a first level wizard who knows Crafter's Fortune.

Given half a year or so, I should be able to afford enough to become a first level wizard and retrain my feats and probably even get some mooks to serve as meatshields and healbots against low-level encounters in case I don't trip over a plot hook to join up with some other adventurers.

[Nibbens]

1) Head to Sandpoint.
2) "Date" Shayless
3) Drink with Gorvi.
4) Master the hagfish challenge
5) Spend the rest of the my life fishing.
6) profit.

[Coidzor]

1) Head to Sandpoint.
2) "Date" Shayless
3) Drink with Gorvi.
4) Master the hagfish challenge
5) Spend the rest of the my life fishing.
6) profit.

That's a good point, bringing up Sandpoint and the APs. Sadly, I haven't played nearly enough APs to quickly bypass the BS associated with them or grab poorly guarded treasure or the like.

It'd also be spoilerrific as heck to post anything along those lines.

[Elricaltovilla]

Oh, I'm also gonna need to know if I'm stuck with any of the ****ty real world medical issue I've got to deal with or not. Because if so, I'm dead no matter what.

[Malroth]

Do I get skillpoints for being an Expert 1 and a commensurate knowledge of the world by investing ranks into Knowledge: Local and Knowledge: History? Because metagame knowledge is pretty poor at telling
yes you get your skill points and feats



Oh, I'm also gonna need to know if I'm stuck with any of the ****ty real world medical issue I've got to deal with or not. Because if so, I'm dead no matter what.

Ouch lets say no you don't have to deal with that, in fact this whole forum should be about pretending that you're a happier healthier person while you can.

[CasualViking]

Knowing that all professions are equally profitable and reliant only on Wisdom and experience, I might settle down for the comfortable life of a professional gigolo.

[Psyren]

As I pointed out in all the previous "you get sent to D&D world, what do?" threads, these settings have deities; your survival would likely hinge on how quickly you can attract their attention and aid and be guided to an outpost church. You can then eke out a living as a parishioner or acolyte, gaining roleplay XP from performing your duties until such time as you gain a few levels; even as a mere adept, that's enough to make adventuring a not-immediately-fatal proposition.

Once you've gained your first level, you can either stick with the divine route, or pursue a teacher for some retraining into what you really wanted to be.

[Red Fel]

What Psyren said. Pretty much everyone would either die, or immediately adhere to the underside of a church and cling for dear life.

Except me. I would either die pretty much immediately, or manage to reach Absalom. If I reached Absalom, I'd take the Test of the Starstone, succeed by pure charisma, and at that point things would change.

[Knight Magenta]

Ya, In situations like this, the goal is really to find a sponsor that can help you not die. A church of Sarenrae is an excellent place to start. If you are in a good-aligned country you should be able to find a legit charity. Since you actually have skill points you should be able to find a job.

First I assume that Golarion works on real physics and economics and the rules are an approximation.

In the spirit of the challenge, I would do the following:

0. Hope I appear in a Good aligned city
1. Focus on strength and put my floating +2 into wisdom. Casters are stronger then martials, but only if you are past the early levels.
2. Apply feat into Skill-focus (Profession [something relevant])
3. Make some money with profession.
4. Find and apprentice to a druid.
5. Retrain into a reincarnated druid (http://www.archivesofnethys.com/ArchetypeDisplay.aspx?FixedName=Druid%20Reincarnat ed%20Druid). Retrain feat into power attack.
6. Reach level 5 through role-playing. If that is too hard, join an adventuring group.
7. I am now immortal! Goal achieved!

Since this path gets immortality at level 5. I might actually reach it before a demon eats my face; where wizard 20 is going to be much harder and take longer.

[Calthropstu]

So, my first order of business: get rid of my expert level and retrain to sorcerer. Use my knowledge of our world to invent dozens of new things quickly gaining fame and fortune.

Next I would begin adventuring to quickly gain levels as a sorcerer. Once I had achieved a certain level, I would begin teleporting/planeshifting between our world and theirs bringing advanced science and advanced magic together.

I would then make sure I gained at least 6 mythic tiers to gain immortality.

I would then begin the largest endeavors in history to build an interstellar interdimensional empire with me at its head for millenia (at least til I get bored).

[NecroDancer]

I'd probably retrain as soon as possible into bard and try to level up through roleplaying XP. Using my knowledge of rock music I would shamelessly plagiarize famous artists for money and fame.

[Ilorin Lorati]

The only thing I really have going for me, stat-wise in life is my life is Intelligence to my floating point goes there. Keeping my feat as close as possible to my personal interests I'd make sure (via innate traits) that I had Precise Treatment, and Skill Focus (Heal) will give me enough leverage to use it as a job even if it's not a profession. I make my money taking care of people, and take my time deciding pragmatically on a god to worship based on where I ended up out of the small handful that I would actually have a modicum of respect for if they were real.

After about a year, with money and the respect of my neighbors, I set off and leverage myself into the only Int-based divine: Living Grimoire Inquisitor, at which point I would become an adventurer, retrain out of Skill Focus and Expert when I got the money, and go on to work towards some personal goals that, unlike some other posters, don't include immortality. Immortality doesn't interest me, nor does godhood.

[Calthropstu]

The only thing I really have going for me, stat-wise in life is my life is Intelligence to my floating point goes there. Keeping my feat as close as possible to my personal interests I'd make sure (via innate traits) that I had Precise Treatment, and Skill Focus (Heal) will give me enough leverage to use it as a job even if it's not a profession. I make my money taking care of people, and take my time deciding pragmatically on a god to worship based on where I ended up out of the small handful that I would actually have a modicum of respect for if they were real.

After about a year, with money and the respect of my neighbors, I set off and leverage myself into the only Int-based divine: Living Grimoire Inquisitor, at which point I would become an adventurer, retrain out of Skill Focus and Expert when I got the money, and go on to work towards some personal goals that, unlike some other posters, don't include immortality. Immortality doesn't interest me, nor does godhood.

Immortality is not so much my goal but more a means to an end. I know that I could never set up an interstellar or interplanar empire of that magnitude in my natural life span, and once created I would want it to endure... and inspire. Imagine how far we could go with numerous worlds working together?

Once I was sure the empire could continue without me, I'd be willing to give up my life.

[Rhyltran]

What does 18 years of mixed martial arts, Kashima Shin-ryu Kenjutsu, Japanese jiu-jitsu, Shotokan Karate, and a bucketload of outdoor camping and hiking get me? :P I will probably be a city guard. You adventures will come asking me about the local quest.

[Coidzor]

Actually, does anyone who is familiar with the Mythic rules know if there's a way to deliberately gain Mythic Ranks(tiers?) on one's own initially?

[Ilorin Lorati]

AFAIK there's no way, in the book, to be able to just hunt down the mythic power and get it - that's all dependent on the campaign. That said, it's a reasonable assumption to think that any large-scale infusion of divine magic on a person will have a good chance to make them mythic.


Edit: There's also the Nahyndrian Elixir (http://archivesofnethys.com/MagicArtifactsDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Nahyndrian%20E lixir), but it's limited to specific alignments (CE) and is dangerous for any non-demon to use.

[Karl Aegis]

There's probably a group of people out in the hinterlands that could use a full belly and a crate full of weapons. If I can get enough contacts to set up a trade route I could probably make enough money or get enough goodwill somewhere to at least have a place to stay every once in a while. I don't actually know anything about Golarion besides there are paladins and some of them are less than savory.

[Coidzor]

AFAIK there's no way, in the book, to be able to just hunt down the mythic power and get it - that's all dependent on the campaign. That said, it's a reasonable assumption to think that any large-scale infusion of divine magic on a person will have a good chance to make them mythic.


Edit: There's also the Nahyndrian Elixir (http://archivesofnethys.com/MagicArtifactsDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Nahyndrian%20E lixir), but it's limited to specific alignments (CE) and is dangerous for any non-demon to use.

Good thing there's a way to become a demon, it just takes about a year and requires acquiring someone who loves you in order to sacrifice them to a demon lord.

[vasilidor]

I have been repeatedly told that I am good at coming up with stories, so I might go the entertainer/bard route. as starting out with expert 1, I would multiclass and retrain into bard asap. Hell most of my education more or less revolves around entertainment somehow.

my IRL weapon prof: Firearms(modern), Bows, sword and shield techniques, staves, clubs and throwing axes.
How I would rate my stats from highest to lowest: int, cha, con, dex, str, wis, with my floating +2 going into con, though each of these are probably in the 10 to 14 range, though I have to say of late I think my con score is sinking, while my strength score has gone up in recent years.

[Calthropstu]

Actually, does anyone who is familiar with the Mythic rules know if there's a way to deliberately gain Mythic Ranks(tiers?) on one's own initially?

There are actually a few ways listed... but as has been noted, each is campaign specific. The Golarion you are sent to will have its own method, you just need to find out what it is. Sometimes it can be done by special items, sometimes it has to be infused into you, other ways include finding and defeating a mythic creature or being infused by a god.

Some of those ways are easier than others.

[unseenmage]

If I were the me of my youth? Before children?
Pump Int, use that Expert level to aquire wealth until I can retrain that level into Wizard or Alchemist. Also buy the classics, Hat of Disguise, Ring of Sustenance, Handy Haversack.

From there level via resetting trap abuse until I can abuse Simulacrum for fun and profit.

Use magic to Diplomance everything everywhere.

Oh and try to get dropped in Numeria so tech is an option.

Build a Clockwork Oma and ride it to the moon, build moonbase, ???, profit.

Somehow become immortal, probably.

Me now? With a home and family?
The above sans the mucking about for fun. Then asap research custom spell or item to bring my family to this untamed world where literally all our dreams can come true. FYI, our dreams are of not-poverty and not-constant-threat-of-homelessness.
In game terms, aquire stable home environment (probably a cozy demiplane) then retire.

[Firest Kathon]

Having all the metagame knowledge about Golarion, I would seek out someone (non-evil) who would value that information (e.g. the nearest Pathfinder Lodge) and offer to trade it against protection and training.

[MindTheGap97]

Ok, I think I die 99% of the time, if I get the chance to survive I'd get a pumped up Wisdom and also get a decent Constitution, then max a Profession and start making offers to a church, then apply to become an adept, if I can achieve that I can then shoot to become a Cleric maybe, after becoming a Cleric surviving shouldn't be impossible, I'd join a party of new adventurers and help them with goblins until I hit Cleric 2, basically just farming XP with weak enemies, my spell selection being heavily defense focused with CLW, might not be optimal but when your life is on the line better play safe, also being able to decide where to go (no railroading) makes it easier to focus on enemies you can actually handle...

[Yahzi]

You, an ordinary human were transported to Golarion with nothing but the clothes on your back...
I don't know anything about Golarion, but if you're interested in an ordinary person being transported to D&D style world, I can recommend a good series... :smallbiggrin:

(Interestingly, I also went with the church route...)
(I would also be remiss not to mention Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series.)

[duboisjf]

I try to become a follower of a rich LG PC with leadership then I'll be "rarely effective in combat" and should be safe enough to die of old age :) before that PC even think about giving me a job to do.

[Coidzor]

Unless I take Skill Focus as one of my first level feats, that means that I'm looking at a result of 17 when taking 10 on a Craft Check to practice a trade(unless I really want to have Wisdom be a 16 while Int is a 15 or 12). So that's 8.5 gp a week. Given that the idea relies upon retraining anyway, I suppose I might as well take feats that I can retrain along with it after getting myself set up. so, let's say Skill Focus and one of the +2 to two skills feats for a total total skill modifier of +12 for 11 gp a week, 11.5 if I get access to 2 free Traits and one of them gives a trait bonus to Craft. I'm going to assume a +1 trait bonus for now.



Assuming that I can find a place to practice my chosen trade before I starve to death, I can afford a place to stay after a week of homelessness. Now, if I can't just start working for another craftsman or the like, then I'd have to start begging or using Survival to keep myself fed until I can get to a settlement. The only rules for that I can recall offhand are in Perform. Now, if I have at least a +1 Cha modifier, then with a skill rank in Perform, I can hit a DC 15 when taking 10, so I can reliably get 1d10 sp a day by playing and potentially just play in taverns or the like instead of begging/busking. If I don't invest ranks in it, then a DC 10 can still be readily hit as long as I don't dump Cha, but I'd be able to afford, like, two loaves of bread and some water a day off of the average 5.5 copper pieces. Which is not going to work out very well.

Since it's a whole lot of extra work to figure out how to go from begging to actually working, I'm just going to assume I lucked out and found an herbalist or alchemist or the like that could use an extra pair of hands to work on a project independently for them instead of mucking with the prices for hiring people with X bonus to Aid Another to improve one's check. On the other hand, a trained laborer with a +10 bonus to Craft is paid 2 gp a day or 14 gp a week, so that would actually make more money over all. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills/alternate-crafting-rules)



After that first week, I can afford a month of poor accommodations at a cost of 3 gp under Cost of Living (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/coreRulebook/gamemastering.html)rules. So that leaves me 8.5 gp in earnings. I could then buy my own set of tools for 5 gp, leaving me with 3.5 gp to supplement my diet or buy a dagger or the like, if I have the funds due to not having to rent tools from whoever I was working for. That gets me a place to sleep and takes care of staying fed, even if it's poor quality for the most part.

After another week of working, I'd have enough money set aside to set up a simple, mobile business using the business rules from Alternate Profession Rules (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills/alternate-profession-rules), since with 1 skill rank, it's only 1 gp, 1.25 gp for a +2 bonus. I could also upgrade up to an Average cost of living and have my own place and eat better and have access to a number of simple household goods for my 3rd week of productivity.



Using Alt Profession Rules, instead of making, say 11.5(14) gp a week or 46(56) gp a month, I could make 120 gp of net profit a month by taking 10. From there I could conceivably make enough money to outfit myself as a PC or start to use Downtime to become invested in the community. Indeed, after a month and a half, I'd have pretty decent starting wealth for a 1st level character, having more than the average roll for an Alchemist or Barbarian but less than the average roll for a Cleric.

Heck, I suppose using Downtime (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/downtime)I could hire a mage and then have a 50% reduction in the retraining cost for him to teach me how to magic, so it'd only cost 35 gp to become a first level wizard who knows Crafter's Fortune.

Given half a year or so, I should be able to afford enough to become a first level wizard and retrain my feats and probably even get some mooks to serve as meatshields and healbots against low-level encounters in case I don't trip over a plot hook to join up with some other adventurers.


Alright, continuing from where I left off, we've got a Mobile Business generating a take-home profit of 120 a month and a cost of living expense of 10 gp a month. After two months of running the business like that, I can afford to upgrade to a MW Small Business for 125 gp, taking on two employees so that half of the month is free instead of working, and I earn 220 gp of net profit from the business a month. At that point, I can also craft things and sell them on the side or take one of my freed up weeks and go ahead and retrain to Wizard so I can take advantage of Crafter's Fortune without having to pay anyone for it.

6 months of that and the profits from the business alone will cover upgrading to a MW Medium Business and no longer having to spend my time personally running the business, with a net monthly profit of 1,900 gp.

At that point, I should probably upgrade to a Wealthy lifestyle at 100 gp a month, for a total 1,800 in take-home pay, which is enough to start playing around with [Investments](http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/ultimate-campaign---investments) or to bankroll Downtime Investment. Although keeping at what one was doing would allow upgrading to a MW Large Business after another 3.5 months, possibly just 3 depending upon how one uses one's time outside of managing the business.

At that point, one is making 14,000 a month and should really tie that money up so no dragons get the idea to enrich their hoard by taking the pile of gold this level 1 Expert or Wizard has. Still, that's about a year of time to go from the clothes on one's back to someone who can casually hire low-level adventurers to do quests, or even just afford to hire people to beat one another up nonlethally with a couple of clerics on retainer to patch everyone up after each fight.

Or even fight to the death if someone trustworthy enough can be put on retainer to oversee the fights and cast Breath of Life as necessary.

I think it might actually be a bit faster to upgrade to the non-Masterwork versions of Medium and Large Businesses, just for the increased profit factor and not having to tie up an additional month or two in the lower level before upgrading, since one month of operation as the basic version of a business of that size will fund upgrading to the MW version.

[Azoth]

Well it only takes 30gp and 3-6 days to retrain our first NPC level into a PC level. As has been pointed out up thread it is possible to generate between 8-10gp of income per week with an individual Craft or Profession check. It is reasonable to assume that we could realistically make one of each or two different ones per week. This would indicate someone working two full time jobs, and it is fairly common for some of us in the real world.

With 16-20GP in income per week it would take two weeks for someone to retrain their level if the lived cheaply, or 5-6 weeks if they lived at an equivocal standard to middle class individuals in the western world today (average inn, two hot baths/day, and 2 good meals/day).

This just requires having two useful crafts/professions, and surviving until being hired. I personally, would do days in a smithy and nights tending bar at an inn. This is because it is similar enough to my real life set up as a hobbiest Smith/bartender.

As for retraining, I would go Wizard first while working to get in good with the church of Cayden Cailean.

[Coidzor]

Where are you getting 30 gp and 3-6 days to go from NPC to PC from?

[El Dorado]

My player experience is limited to the Second Darkness AP so I guess I'd start off in Riddleport. Make intelligence, wisdom, and constitution my highest stats. Throw my skill points into Craft (shipwright), Profession (sailor), Knowledges (engineering, local, and history), Climb, Swim, Acrobatics, Perception, and Diplomacy. Put feats into skill foci (craft and profession). Grab as many regional languages as I'm able. Find a merchant ship looking for crew and spend a season there. (Just caught up on the show Black Sails; I'm sure that's influenced my decisions.) Keep going this route and explore the world as some type of pseudo-Pathfinder Chronicler (or maybe the actual PrC if I accumulate the requirements).

[Azoth]

All the quotes are from the retraining rules on the PFSRD. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/more-character-options/retraining


Unless stated otherwise, retraining costs gp equal to 10 × your level × the number of days required to retrain.


If you are retraining a level in an NPC class (adept, aristocrat, commoner, or expert) to a level in any other class, the training takes only 3 days.


Training requires spending time with a character who has at least 1 more level in the class you're retraining than your current level in that class. If no trainer is available (such as if you are at the highest level for that class), you still have the option to retrain without a trainer by spending double the time.


Even if you train yourself, you must still pay the cost for training (though you don't double the cost as you do the time).

10X1(level)X3(days)=30gp. 3 days with a trainer, or 6 days self taught...same price.

[Quertus]

You, an ordinary human

Nope, you've lost me.


were transported to Golarion with nothing but the clothes on your back and your metagame knowledge on how the world works.

What's Golarion?


Now this doesn't actually apply because Golarion is a different world completely, but just to argue against the general trope:
If a modern-day human were to be sent back in time more than a century or so, it's actually more likely that we'd be resistant to diseases back then and the people in the past wouldn't be resistant to dormant diseases we carry.
This is mostly due to various genetic resistances we inherited, and not getting all sorts of diseases in childhood actually being really damn good for your immune system.

So in fact, you could be a very dangerous source of plague, though of course Golarion would have divine magic to counteract that.

D&D is set in the future. So we're ****ed.


I don't. I die, if not of general starvation due to having no applicable skills than probably from some horrible disease that hasn't existed in the modern world for centuries, if ever. I most of us would do the same thing, if we're being honest with outselves.


Only possibility I see is death. Probably something seriously painful... I just know my luck :/


Upon being sent to Golarion, do I now follow in game PF rules, or are those still merely an approximation of real life? If it applies the physics of the actual game, then I might have a shot. If it follows "real world" physics + magic, I'm a dead man.

I'm amazed at the number of people who realize that this is probably a death sentence.

Me, I'd try prayer. And hope that someone came to help me. If they sent me to a world I know, I could quickly power level, and repay them. Strike that - I could travel back in time and be the one who answered my prayers.


Knowing that all professions are equally profitable and reliant only on Wisdom and experience, I might settle down for the comfortable life of a professional gigolo.

That's... Genius.

[Coidzor]

All the quotes are from the retraining rules on the PFSRD. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/more-character-options/retraining









10X1(level)X3(days)=30gp. 3 days with a trainer, or 6 days self taught...same price.

Ahh. Can't believe I missed that line. So it's just 45 gp to get one's first couple of wizard spells.

Hmm. Come to think of it, it costs 15 gp to copy a 1st level spell into a spellbook from another Wizard, and at 1st level, a Wizard gets 3+Int(so 6 if Int is 16 or 17 from being pumped) 1st level spells added to their spellbook of their choice. So 90 gp of spells added to the spellbook each time this character retrains into Wizard 1.

If retraining into Wizard and then back out into Expert costs 30 gp in both directions, then for 60 gp, one is getting 90 gp worth of spell in one's spellbook. If it's half-cost retraining, such as through an ally or employee, then it's 30 gp spent for 90 gp worth of spells.

Of course, this does eat up about a week at a time, so it's probably more cost effective to make money during those periods, unless those aren't as mutually exclusive as I think.

That's assuming that we don't just spontaneously generate a spellbook with all cantrips and 3+Int 1st level spells upon retraining into Wizard(or at least the first time we take a Wizard level). Also assuming that it takes 3 days into Wizard and 3 days into an NPC class, instead of 3 days in and 7 days out, which would take 100 gp for 90 gp worth of spells and therefore not be a good move without half-cost retraining, or probably not even then.

[Calthropstu]

Ahh. Can't believe I missed that line. So it's just 45 gp to get one's first couple of wizard spells.

Hmm. Come to think of it, it costs 15 gp to copy a 1st level spell into a spellbook from another Wizard, and at 1st level, a Wizard gets 3+Int(so 6 if Int is 16 or 17 from being pumped) 1st level spells added to their spellbook of their choice. So 90 gp of spells added to the spellbook each time this character retrains into Wizard 1.

If retraining into Wizard and then back out into Expert costs 30 gp in both directions, then for 60 gp, one is getting 90 gp worth of spell in one's spellbook. If it's half-cost retraining, such as through an ally or employee, then it's 30 gp spent for 90 gp worth of spells.

Of course, this does eat up about a week at a time, so it's probably more cost effective to make money during those periods, unless those aren't as mutually exclusive as I think.

That's assuming that we don't just spontaneously generate a spellbook with all cantrips and 3+Int 1st level spells upon retraining into Wizard(or at least the first time we take a Wizard level). Also assuming that it takes 3 days into Wizard and 3 days into an NPC class, instead of 3 days in and 7 days out, which would take 100 gp for 90 gp worth of spells and therefore not be a good move without half-cost retraining, or probably not even then.

Actually, it takes a lot more than that. The flavor for wizards is that you must train years to pick up your first level of wizard. The game then handwaves it for the case of people picking up wizard as a secondary class, but I doubt it would actually work with the handwave if it were a real place.

In reality, you'd likely have to apprentice yourself to another wizard for years.

[unseenmage]

Actually, it takes a lot more than that. The flavor for wizards is that you must train years to pick up your first level of wizard. The game then handwaves it for the case of people picking up wizard as a secondary class, but I doubt it would actually work with the handwave if it were a real place.

In reality, you'd likely have to apprentice yourself to another wizard for years.

That would really suck. Having all the metagame knowledge and all of it being overridden by the fluff would really suck.

It would be like knowing water is wet but because theres some sentence somewhere describing water as dry water is instead dry.

[Coidzor]

Actually, it takes a lot more than that. The flavor for wizards is that you must train years to pick up your first level of wizard. The game then handwaves it for the case of people picking up wizard as a secondary class, but I doubt it would actually work with the handwave if it were a real place.

In reality, you'd likely have to apprentice yourself to another wizard for years.

Well, yeah, but if we're stuck in a universe that doesn't work on the game mechanics except in passing then we bend over and kiss our asses goodbye because we're dead 100%.

[magwaaf]

roll myself as a bard and use my awesomeness to inspire people while becoming the chosen of Cayden Cailean and before i get to old go and pass the test of the starstone to become a demigod under Cayden Cailean.

[magwaaf]

yes you get your skill points and feats

Ouch lets say no you don't have to deal with that, in fact this whole forum should be about pretending that you're a happier healthier person while you can.

i assumed get a restoration/cure disease/heal/etc... spell and its fixed

[Midnightninja]

Can plane-shifting get me back home, i.e. back here? Do I know the answer to this question when I get there?

In either case I'd make wis my primary stat, put ranks into Profession (Bartender) and Craft (Ale) and slowly work my way to a large settlement. I'd be working in taverns, so I'd eventually run into adventurers that could get me to Absalom where I'd join the Caydenite Clergy at Cayden's Hall.

Using my,scant, metagame knowledge I'd retrain as a Fighter (proficiencies, full 10 hp, and a bonus feat aren't a bad deal) and then try to level my way in Warpriest or Inquisitor*. I'm really not sure which would be better for my chances of survival. I'd definitely take at least 1 level of Inquisitor (at will Detect Alignment is too useful to a person that wants to stay alive).

Either way, I'd "roleplay" as many levels as I could, take levels in the Chevalier prestige class and use the resources of Cayden's church to start and maintain an adventurers' guild. Use the money and my many skill points (I'm leaning towards Inquisitor) to start a mass marketing WWCaydenD campaign. A campaign that would ideally start shifting the average alignment of the planet towards good.

Using the money, power, and influence I'd gained, I'd start looking for an answer to the question that started my post.

If the answer's yes, I'd start working on getting home.

If the answer's no, I'd continue to evangelize on behalf of Cayden, gain as many levels as I could adventuring, and take the test of the Starstone.

If I pass, cool, I'm a god, I operate under different rules and can hopefully go back home. If I can't, now I'm a god with years of experience getting people to believe what I want them to believe and the marketing campaign starts again, with the resources of a deity and, hopefully, some of the resources from more powerful good deities that are happy with my actions as a mortal.

If I don't pass, I live the rest of my life as champion of righteousness(It's ok Magwaaf, I'm sure Cayden can have more than one chosen), maybe pick up a mythic tier along the way. Maybe make my way to Nirvana and spend the rest of my life in Cayden's realm, only to die of old age and be sent right back there. Hopefully become a unique Azata and start taking levels in Cleric and Wizard (get some contingent true resurrection) and the spell casting to break the rules and get back home.


Knowing that all professions are equally profitable and reliant only on Wisdom and experience, I might settle down for the comfortable life of a professional gigolo.

*applause*

Definitely would retrain some skill points for that. That's too appropriate for a high level Caydenite character for me to ignore.


*I don't know if there's ever been an official Paizo write-up of a Caydenite Inquisitor, but they certainly can exist. I just can't really imagine how one would behave.

[Midnightninja]

Because there's no way in heck I'm going to have faith in the gods of Golarion to become a Cleric of one of them given my metagame knowledge and general poor view of the pantheon, especially Pharasma and her role in acting as a mouthpiece for the devs when they've said some things I detest.


I only have a passing familiarity with Galorian. What is it about the pantheon you don't like? When have the devs used Pharasma as a mouthpiece?

Because this is too off-topic, should I PM you?

[Quertus]

I only have a passing familiarity with Galorian. What is it about the pantheon you don't like? When have the devs used Pharasma as a mouthpiece?

Because this is too off-topic, should I PM you?

I'd love to know the answer to that question, too.

[Epic Legand]

No one here is really looking at using our current world knowledge to change the fantasy world. Yes, I too would retrain my expert lv. Maybe start off as a Sorcerer, but that's not the true path to power or safety. Use my knowledge of economics to live in a place where the gold piece of overvalued, thus 100GP has an impact of a 1,000. Use my knowledge of engineering to help locals build bridges that are stronger and lighter then current ones. Make a small scale model of some functioning hydro dam, then sell the idea to a place wealth enough to use it and put it into effect. Use economy of scale to help mass produce some scrolls. Apply this with the help of your fav clergy, set up low cost clinics and make yourself popular because you "Heal the masses". Clergy is also happy because you promote their faith at the clinic. Combine this with setting up schools that teach all useful skills you brought over. Even without tons of experience in smithing, I know a few tricks that could easily revolutionize the local armory's. Public schools result in more skilled workers, more skilled workers result in a more productive economy. Make more scrolls that provide long term boosts to skills. Use them on your best and brightest to solve economic, social, medical or military problems. Assume that if I change an area for the better, someone will want it. Then plan on protecting my investments by pairing up with a government that matches with my personal ideology. Strengthen the local government with better internal transportation. Better roads, and then trains, means more efficient trade, as well as a stronger military.

There are thousands of ways to improve on a medieval world with some modern techniques. Magic only makes this stronger. Most spell casters would never teach their stuff to others, they are too protective and secretive. But, Once you figure out that PC classes are WAY better then NPC ones, why not search out the best and brightest locals and teach them ? Make yourself indispensable to the local authority's in exchange for wealth and power. Build a Better World.

[Calthropstu]

No one here is really looking at using our current world knowledge to change the fantasy world. Yes, I too would retrain my expert lv. Maybe start off as a Sorcerer, but that's not the true path to power or safety. Use my knowledge of economics to live in a place where the gold piece of overvalued, thus 100GP has an impact of a 1,000. Use my knowledge of engineering to help locals build bridges that are stronger and lighter then current ones. Make a small scale model of some functioning hydro dam, then sell the idea to a place wealth enough to use it and put it into effect. Use economy of scale to help mass produce some scrolls. Apply this with the help of your fav clergy, set up low cost clinics and make yourself popular because you "Heal the masses". Clergy is also happy because you promote their faith at the clinic. Combine this with setting up schools that teach all useful skills you brought over. Even without tons of experience in smithing, I know a few tricks that could easily revolutionize the local armory's. Public schools result in more skilled workers, more skilled workers result in a more productive economy. Make more scrolls that provide long term boosts to skills. Use them on your best and brightest to solve economic, social, medical or military problems. Assume that if I change an area for the better, someone will want it. Then plan on protecting my investments by pairing up with a government that matches with my personal ideology. Strengthen the local government with better internal transportation. Better roads, and then trains, means more efficient trade, as well as a stronger military.

There are thousands of ways to improve on a medieval world with some modern techniques. Magic only makes this stronger. Most spell casters would never teach their stuff to others, they are too protective and secretive. But, Once you figure out that PC classes are WAY better then NPC ones, why not search out the best and brightest locals and teach them ? Make yourself indispensable to the local authority's in exchange for wealth and power. Build a Better World.

Hey, I totally was talking about creating an empire which joined science and magic. I wouldn't just use my scientific (and other) knowledge there, I'd come back here and use my magical knowledge and abilities to enhance life here. With both working together, I'd work towards creating an empire which combined science and magic to great effect... launching humanity throughout the cosmos.

[Epic Legand]

Your right, my apologies

[Deophaun]

I have been repeatedly told that I am good at coming up with stories
Yes, "come up with." Of course. Like this tale that just occurred to me. It begins a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Don't like that one? OK. Here's one about a hobbit halfling and a ring.

That, or invent rock and roll.