Help me figure out my first character

[NerdHut]

My friend is running a 1-2 session Pathfinder game soon, and I've only played D&D 3.5, so I need a bit of guidance.

We're essentially going to be moonshiners/smugglers in a setting somewhere in between standard TTRPG Fantasy and Prohibition-Era Appalachia.

We will be Level 4 for the game.

Other than that, we're still working out the details for the game, so I don't need to know exact details for my character just yet.


My first inclination is to play a stereotypical hillbilly, using whatever the closest equivalent to a Wood Elf would be in Pathfinder, as a Ranger. I've looked through the PFSRD a little bit, and I like the Transporter archetype for that class. I also like the idea of a Druid with a trusty bloodhound.


Does anyone have suggestions, guidance, or build ideas to steer me toward?

[Hackulator]

At level 4 you're not going to be diverging a huge amount from 3.5 except that Rangers and Paladins are way, way more viable in PF than 3.5. If you want to build a druid there will be minimal difference in how you do things, just slightly different spell options and animal companion mechanics. The main rule difference I suggest you familiarize yourself with is how CMB (Combat Maneuver Bonus) and CMD (Combat Maneuver Defense) function, as those mechanics are used for all the special attacks like bull rush, grapple, trip etc.

[Kurald Galain]

Have you seen the Hunter class?

[NerdHut]

Have you seen the Hunter class?

I hadn't seen that yet, thank you. I like it better than the Druid for this game.

[Geddy2112]

One question I have is do you need a shotgun/rifle, or can you get by with a bow/crossbow? If you want a piece, you are going to need to look into gunslinger or an archetype of a class that can give one. Another question is that if you want a pet, how much weight do you want your companion to carry? You can grab an animal companion via feats (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/animal-ally/)-intensive, but you could get into other classes if you wanted shooting to be more your forte. You could also dip a shooting class on hunter; gunslinger is wis based so works fairly well with hunter. If you can use a bow or crossbow I second going full hunter. Slayer would also be an option to look into if you wanted less magic more combat, using the same tricks to get a companion.

Wood elf in pathfinder is just picking some appropriate racial traits from the elf template; woodcraft, silent hunter, jungle(forest) affinity. You could even dabble in half elf.