[PF] From commoner to adventurer

[Azoth]

I was randomly working on NPC crafters to see how high I could get a craft check at level1 (+23 is the best I did for someone alone), when I wondered how long it would take a commoner to afford to retrain into a PC class, and accrue the average starting wealth of a level one character.

I am using human as the race for this, for no particular reason. I will give a worst case scenario of skill modifiers to show the longest time with a willing trainer being present. I am having the NPC retrain into a Fighter as they have a starting average wealth of 175GP which is the highest I found in the core base classes.

Now, onto the fun part. We know it takes 3 days and costs 30gp to retrain the class level. It will also take 5 days and cost 50GP per feat being retrained. Since this is a worst case scenario, we will say this NPC needs/wants to retrain both of his starting feats. Our total for retraining is 13 days and 130GP.

Our total gold needed to fully retrain and gear up is 305GP. A downside is that during our 13 days of training we can't make craft or profession checks.

Now, we will also assume that this NPC will maintain an average life style and need to spend 10gp every month to maintain this lifestyle.

Onto the math:

We will go ahead and assign this NPC and Int of 8 for a -1 modifier. It will have 1 rank in the relevant skill and a +3 bonus for it being a class skill. None of its traits or feats will benefit crafting. It also has basic tools to perform it's craft, but not masterwork.

With this we have a +3 modifier to work with. If the NPC takes 10 every week, the total check is 13. This means the NPC earns 6.5GP/week. In a 4 week month the character earns 26GP. It must spend 10 of those on its life style, meaning a gain of 16GP/month or 4GP/week on average.

130GP/4GP=32.5 weeks. This is 8.125 4 week months.

The issue here, is that if our enterprising NPC stops working to retrain, it won't be able to afford to maintain its lifestyle the next month. To be on the safe side of affording to maintain its life style, we will say the NPC works for 36 weeks before retraining.

This will mean our NPC finishes training with 14GP saved towards buying starting gear. Only 161 more to go.

161/4=40.25 weeks.

So 32.5+40.25=72.75 weeks to afford to retrain and buy average starting gear. With an additional 13 days spent to retrain.

72.75(weeks) X7(days)= 609.25 round to 610 days of non-stop work.

610+13=

623 consecutive days total from start to go from the worst human skilled worker NPC to an adventurer.

To put that in perspective, if someone started today, September 21, 2017, they would finish on June 6th, 2019.

Now, onto the opposite end of the Human spectrum. A truly prodigious crafter wants to become a fighter for some reason.

We will assign a 15 to Int, and give it the racial +2 for a 17, which gives a +3 modifier. It will take the alternate race trait Industrious for a +2 to craft(Alchemy). It will also take the Alchemical Adept trait for a +2 trait bonus. It's feats will be Prodigy for +2 to craft Alchemy and Skill Focus Alchemy for another +3 bonus. It will have 1 rank and +3 from class skill.

3(Int mod)
+1(rank)
+3(class skill bonus)
+2(racial)
+2(trait)
+2(prodigy)
+3(skill focus)
Total: +16 bonus.

With a take 10, we get a total check result of 26. This NPC earns 13gp/week or 52GP/4 week month.

We will stick with the average lifestyle of 10GP/month. This leaves 42GP/month or 10.5GP/week.

Unlike the other NPC, this one will earn the entire 305GP before retraining so as to not lower it's income and thus lengthen the time required to afford retraining and buying it's gear.

305/10.5=29.05 (rounded to nearest hundreth) weeks. Let's just round that to 30 and say that he rolled a little above average.

So 30 weeks to afford it, and 13 days to retrain. This equals 223 days. Again to put this in perspective: If the NPC started today September 21, 2017, it would finish on May 2, 2018. This NPC would also have an additional 10GP in its pocket.

With the above numbers it makes you wonder why it takes a human who hits adulthood at the age of 15 up to 12 years to become an adventurer. The math says that even the most inept adult should manage it in under 2 years time, and that the best among NPC can do it in a little over 2/3 a year.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Azoth
With the above numbers it makes you wonder why it takes a human who hits adulthood at the age of 15 up to 12 years to become an adventurer. The math says that even the most inept adult should manage it in under 2 years time, and that the best among NPC can do it in a little over 2/3 a year.

Well, if you treat NPCs as mathematical abstractions, maybe it doesn’t line up; but if you consider them as people, it makes more sense.

Not everyone is equally motivated, and not everyone is free of obligations. A teenager who has to take care of a sick parent, or who already has an infant of his own to support, won’t be able to devote all of his time and effort to retraining.

You’re also assuming a steady income, which isn’t a given even in today’s world, much less a society that lives much closer to the land. There are any number of economic factors, from local to global, which could interrupt that income, which means his plans are on hold—maybe for years, maybe indefinitely.

There’s also the issue of the willing trainer, who may not always be available. I doubt if every hamlet has someone just hanging around, ready and able to train a hopeful kid—not to mention personality conflicts, or the trainer’s being hunted by local law, or any number of other reasons.

So there are a thousand possible causes for why someone wouldn’t take the fast-track as described by the mathematical optimum. As John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.”

[Azoth]

You do bring up several valid points on reasons why it could take someone longer than my calculations show to be the actual time frame. Any one of them is a fine justification in a background for why an NPC or even PC didn't become a PC class for a considerable amount of time.

A few counter points do exist though.

Even without a trainer available someone can retrain. It simply takes twice as long to retrain. This would add another 100GP to the cost and turns the actual retraining time from 13 days to 26 days. This would add another 16 weeks to the worst case and another 10 weeks to the best case.

Generally speaking the game assumes that if you are in a town that there is somewhere you can practice your trade and earn half your check in GP every week. So the baseline assumption is that unless acted upon by an outside force one can earn a steady income.

Unless ones other responsibilities keep them from working for 8hrs/day to earn a living it would not stop them from retraining. This is because retraining also takes 8hrs/day. It just stops you from doing things like adventuring or crafting.