My goal here is to run a bit of an ‘old fashioned’ PnP RPG (hence the randomish stat generation). I hope to see exploration and adventuring and so on, and I aspire to set the stage and let the PCs carry the torch. I would encourage people to make PCs that can function in a group and are not particularly sociopathic. There will be combat, but I don’t want it to be a focus.
Character CreationThe goal of character creation is not to stat out some perfect combat machine or skill monkey. Part of the reason for the following constraints is to give players an initial lot and see what they can make out of it. Having expectations of what race/class you will be playing before you roll will almost certainly end in frustrating, as will approaching character creation (and really playing the game in general) like it were a video game.
When devising these constraints, I tried to make sure that any character produced by them will be capable of contributing to the group. In the event where this is completely impossible, I may allow a mulligan. As always, this is up to DM discretion.
Generating Ability ScoresCharacters will be created using a modified point buy system. Rather than start with an ability array of all 10s (as in the standard one), players roll 2d4+6 and assign the results in order to their scores. The value of these scores must be between between −3 and 10 inclusive as valued using Table 1-1 in the
Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This represents a character’s natural aptitudes.
Once the initial array has been generated, players increase their ability scores until the total value of their ability scores is 15 points (per Table 1-1). Ability scores may only be increased and not be decreased. This represents a character’s growth and training before he chose to become an adventurer.
AlignmentI am not going to restrict the available alignments to players (other than Lawful, partially), but I will be reminding players of the shame they feel when they act contrary to their alignment. I will allow Lawful characters to play in this AP (
Council of Thieves), but they must be able to answer how a lawful character can participate in an essentially unlawful group while remaining true to his alignment.
Starting WealthStarting wealth is calculated as the average of two rolls per starting wealth table in the PFRPG.
PCs must also indicate their lifestyle and pay the appropriate amount at the start of each month.
FeatsIn addition to the feats included in the
Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, players may also select feats from
Pathfinder Character Traits Web Enchancement,
Cheliax, Empire of Devils,
Pathfinder Adventure Path #25: The Bastards of Erebus.
SpellsIn addition to the spells included in the
Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, players may also select spells from
Cheliax, Empire of Devils.
TraitsPlayers will receive two traits. One of these traits must be chosen from those listed in the
Council of Thieves Players Guide. Their other trait should come from the
Pathfinder Character Traits Web Enchancement or
Cheliax, Empire of Devils. Tieflings
must take the Infernal Bastard trait from the CoTPG.
Hit PointsYour starting hit die is maximized. When gaining levels, roll twice and take the average (round down).
XPWe will be using the “medium” XP track for level advancement. XP will be handed out at the end of a session. Absent PCs generally do not receive XP (per PFRPG 399); however, if a player arranges to have another player play his PC in his absence, his PC will receive XP for that session.
CombatMy combat house rules are really meant to clarify how I’ll be running combat. I don’t expect any of these to be particularly controversial.
CoverAs a rule of thumb for ranged attacks, I will consider one or two lines traced from your chosen corner being blocked as partial cover; three as cover; and four as total cover or improved cover provided that you still have line of effect to the target (e.g. the target is behind an arrow slit).
Melee generally won’t be able to benefit from partial cover except in certain situations such as when the target is behind a low wall. This is due to the fact that they have to trace lines from all of their corners to all of the target’s corners.
I also want to remind people about soft cover. Unlike 4e, all creatures are eligible to provide cover to the target. This means that shooting into melee while you are behind a party member who is engaged in melee with the target grants a +4 AC bonus to the target and gives you a −4 penalty to shoot him.
Massive DamageThe rules for massive damage described on PFRPG 189 are in effect.
Item DamageI will be observing the rules for damaging objects on a critically failed save. These rules were in 3.5e as well, but no game I played in or ran observed them. The craft skill’s not just for flavor now!
Monster HPAll monster HD will be rolled except for special monsters (such as NPCs and named monsters). Those will use the same method that PCs uses.
EnvironmentI will be rolling on weather tables to determine the weather. This AP will be starting in late summer. I’ll post the exact date later.
Session InformationWe will be playing on the second and fourth Fridays of a month. Sessions will start when everyone arrives, which I expect to be around 6:30–7:00 PM. Paizo’s APs appear to be broken down into multiple parts, so I will try not to end a session in the middle of one. If you have to leave early, please let me know (preferably in advance).
Resources- Errata — Paizo has provided a PDF containing errata for the first printing. My copy of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook is the second printing, so those with the first printing may want to familiarize themselves with the errata.
- 3.5e Conversion Guide — It goes over the important class and racial changes and lists a few of the bigger rules changes. If you don’t have a copy of PFRPG then this is a quick way to get up to speed.
- Pathfinder RPG SRD — A Pathfinder RPG equivalent of the d20 SRD. I wish the D&DI Compendium were this nice to use.
- PathfinderWiki
