D&D Game Setup!

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Right. Having only partially done this ever once last time we did a D&D, I’m completely overwhelmed with options.

As you said, baby steps. Some questions to start:

  • Can my deity be Allah? Last time, Sev said no, but pointed me to the nearest equivalent – eg. Odin (in Norwegian mythology, “king of the gods” – I feel dirty just typing that
  • Even if I understood all the stats and skills, I’ll miss out on strategic interaction in building my class. Can I give you a stereotype (eg. dumb/strong/charismatic/paladin), you give me some base numbers, and I can start tweaking slightly from there?
  • Where can I read about skills, spells, special abilities, and domains/specialities?

If it helps, I’m more focused on story than actual mechanics and stuff, but don’t want to get short-changed by picking wrong things for lack of experience.

It is a lot no doubt! but I will gladly work through it with you

-Regarding religion: I personally don’t mind what you choose- but let’s table it for now. I see where Sev is coming from
-Throw your stereotypes out there and let’s see what we can work with. We’ll try guiding you towards something you like
-This site has it all:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/coreRulebook/gettingStarted.html

On the left panel you’ll see Core Rule book. I would just start by reading 3 things:
-What each of the ability scores mean http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/coreRulebook/gettingStarted.html
-Classes: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/coreRulebook/classes.html
-Races: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/coreRulebook/races.html

In terms of “defining” your character, and what you want your character to be like, those 3 will be the biggest. The particular skills can wait

The site explains everything but if you don’t have the time to read through it line by line, just post your questions and we can help because you will most DEFINITELY not be the only one with questions

For ability scores, the first page of the site I listed describes how to generate them. The standard method, which is what Ali chose, has you roll a 6 sided dice 4 times, and you discard the lowest number. Add the remaining three. That’s 1 ability score. So you do that 6 times to get your 6 ability scores. I did it on excel. There are other methods, and they’re all described on the first page of that site

Regarding the use of Religion in games, I will let the players make their own call here. Some may feel uneasy about taking the name Allah and applying it to something trivial like this, just as you may otherwise not be comfortable playing a character who appeals to a fictional god for aid.

I am willing to work with players and make allowances in this regard following the party consensus. The stand in we used in the last game was a god in D&D by the name of AO, which is functionally a place holder rather than a specific entity in the lore itself. AO is occasionally referred to in the books as a god external to the game worlds existence and does not hold specific domain over any particular aspect of existance as the D&D gods do. AO instead is usually treat as a single god of all things whom is functionally the god of the D&D pantheon gods. AO typically does not interact directly in the world but I am willing to allow any players using a religious based character to make use of their relevent skills and a reasonablely justified buff as a replacement to the cleric domain buffs should they choose to use AO as a stand in.

As for character generations, in the past I have accepted either the old-school dice roll / assigning method @Mew describes, or the point adjustment methods players may be familiar with in ADnD PC games.
All I ask is that your characters are open to some kind of character flaws rather than trying to make some kind of Mary Sue character.

  • @Mew for example was a noble born swordsman, but also a clutz who occasional causes property damage by dancing. He is most known for running into battle with swinging blades and an off-key sea chantey.

I prefer the classic method of rolling dice and assigning to stats without adjustments.
Better yet roll as @Mew describes and assign those to attributes in order then select what ever class best suits your character.

It can help produce player characters that are more well rounded rather than the min-maxed monstrosities that players try to make.

Be careful selecting your dump stats for very low scores. I am not above taking advantage of character flaws to make things more intresting.
IE, if you somehow end up with a Charisma of 3 be prepared to have NPCs recoiling at you because of how monstrously ugly your character is.

Overall, the aim of the game is to have fun so we let the rule of cool ride. We will allow homebrew rules for unique characters, provided the details are submitted to a GM and you accept what ever balancing debuff is applied.

  • For example in the Ravenhold game, one player unknown to the others was a lycanthrope. He was a ranger who was given an extra instinctual connection to animals. The mechanics of his character is that he had little control over his curse and while injured (Or other events) there was a probability/turn that he would change. In wolf form the GM takes over his move where his moves were spent attacking anything in a beserk rage. The idea is that there would be a counter for how many times he transformed that adjusted the probability of him losing control and over time he would master and gain control of this form.
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As a refresher for myself, I had a quick go at rolling a character.

My preferred procedure follows:

  • Select race
    I am boring, so Human.
    Well rounded and faster growing
  • Character details:
    Name: Severok
    Alignment: True Neutral
    Diety: -
    Mid sized, male age 30, 185cm tall, 86Kg, brown hair brain eyes.
  • Roll attributes (4d4 - lowest roll) applied to each state in order
    Strength: 9 (-1)
    Dexterity: 9 (-1)
    Constitution: 4 (-3)
    Intelligence: 10 (0)
    Wisdom: 4 (-3)
    Charisma: 10 (0)

Based on these states, I am slightly below average as far as physical ability is concerned.
I am rather scrawny and easily manipulated or mislead.
I am of average intelligence, average appearance and alright to get along with.

I am not suited for physical combat, nor do I have wisdom or intelligence to make me suited for Cleric or Magic roles.

I will be a Rouge. But rather than a traditional thief, I will focus on talking my way out of problems with a mixture of bluffing and social camouflage.

Various stats calculated from attributes and manual references,

(Fortitude save: 0 - 3 = -3
Reflex save: 2 - 1 = 1
Will save: 0 - 3 = -3)

Base attack +0
HP = 1d8 (From manual for rouge) = 6 HP
Initiative = -1 (Dex mod)
Skill / level = 8 + 0 (Int mod)

I enhance myself with the skill ranks:
Bluff +3
Diplomacy +2
Disguise +2
Intimidate +1

My character was born into a poor family in the poor quarter of his city, suffering from an illness in his younger years his growth has been stunted but this did not excuse him from the reality of street life.

Throughout the years Severok quickly learned that his body will fail him in a direct conflict, so he has learned to do what ever he needs to do to get by. He takes what work is offered without question and does what ever he needs to do to succeed. His past would shame a reasonable man, but survival does not breed reasonable men. There is never any malice, only business.

From here it is time for some house keeping, including rolling starting gold and using that to select starting equipment.

When finished, I would submit my filled character sheet to the GM for approval.
Likely I would request that the character sheet is altered to hide the fact I am playing a Rouge as my character would be unlikely to openly show his nature to people.

  • As GM, I typically maintain a 2nd public character sheet if a players character has some aspect that is to be hidden from other members of the party while I keep the players original true sheet on record for actual use.

Thanks! We’re starting at first level, right? I’m thinking I’ll create a sorcerer.I’ve got minimal experience playing PF but a lot with D&D (4e and 5e, with a couple games of 2e), so I’ll try to fill out a charsheet as soon as I can.

Also, you rolled for your first-level HP, but according to the entry for Hit Points in the SRD, if my hit dice come from a character class, I get full HP for my first roll. Also, the SRD says you add your CON modifier to your hit die rolls. Does that apply at first level?

EDIT: Found a form-fillable version of the sheet, if anyone wants one. http://www.commonroomgames.com/PF_char_sheet-fillable_6_pgs.pdf

EDIT 2: It’s pretty buggy, so probably not worth it. I’ll stick with the normal one.

That Mary-Sue reference made me laugh. Thanks for that.

I was planning to play a flawed character (similar to the one Mew played last time, from the sound of it), but after seeing your character generate, it looks like I don’t exactly pick a playstyle; rather, that’s decided based on my character attributes.

I’ll do some reading and get back to you. But I am also boring, so be forewarned :wink:

@Mew so I read through the links and this is what I came up with:

  • Character: a monk who was exiled by his family because of … well, evil. hoping to keep him away, instead he grew strong in physical and mental arts, and became a brutal warrior (albeit he keeps very strictly to himself – nobody knows his true intentions or goals).
  • LAWFUL ya’ne
  • Character Flaw: self-serving. seeks to gain the maximum for himself (within the scope of the law/rules)
  • Race: gnome and half-orc seem like decent fits. If not, boring (standard) human will work.

Or, is this an oxymoron? Should I pick a class that allows for more … unsavoury character values?

Opinions please @Mew @Severok

have you guys ever thought about using myth-weavers?
https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetindex.php
Nifty little site for character sheets.
also does some of the calculations on the sheet for you.

Also, how do dice rolls work? can we roll on here or just use the honor system lol?

We’ve pretty much just been using honor system lol

Are we? I thought Mew is our PRNG.

In the last game where I GM’d, players would declare their actions then I would handle all the rolls and calculations behind the scenes, giving a list of the rolls and calculations in spoilers.

I don’t have issue with players wanting to roll and report for themselves, it just slows things down in a forum setting unless you wanted to declare your action and supply your roll results in a single reply.

Hi, I’m a pretty good way towards completing my charsheet (sans equipment), so here’s just the rundown before I PM @Mew with the sheet:

  • Name: Nyerevark
  • Race: Gnome
  • Class: Sorcerer (Aberrant Bloodline)
  • Alignment: True Neutral
  • Deity: None, his head’s probably too messed up with Great Old One gunk.
  • Background: His memories from before he emerged from the Underdark a few weeks ago are hazy. An underground city, a boring but cushy job as a scribe, and then some unpleasantness with… something. Nothing. A voice stuck in his head, like slime on a rock. Sounds like it too.
  • Flaw: Has a tendency to space out (5 WIS will do that to you), and never bothers telling people beforehand about what he’s about to do. Is ultimately weak-willed: While he will stubbornly obey the voice in his head, he is quite suggestible whenever it isn’t talking.
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Sorry guys - i’ve been swamped at work

@ali-c awesome! Do you need help with anything else, or are you all set?
@ashes987 you are not forgotten! Tonight i’ll have time to take a closer look

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I’ve attached my character sheet-sans-equipment. I rolled 120 gp (python random.randint(1,6) twice gave me two sixes), don’t really know what to buy. Also, what’s my attack bonus for touch attacks (for spells and the like)?

!

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sit tight :slight_smile: Gotta read into it

A Half-orc monk would be very original - I like it. Questions to jog your some thoughts, if you’re interested:
What evil was his family protecting him from?
Where did he train? A community of monks?
How did he come a half-orc? What brought his parents together?

It really matters on how you choose to take it. Your character could be like Anakin Skywalker who’s a good Jedi, but struggles with being “self-serving. seeks to gain the maximum for himself.” Creates an interesting character, because it’s something relatable IMO. We all have nufoos, right? This is just one direction to take the character in. Another is he could be an “evil” monk, drawing on his anger, desires, etc for power (ie, a sith lord).

Good start though. Definitely a lot to work with

Have you had a chance to roll for your ability scores? The ability modifiers drop out from those via a table, and those modifiers are used to calculate many other attributes

All good questions … I don’t have good answers. Bismillah. I’m making this up as I type.

A great darkness rolls across the land, slaughtering everything in its path; nothing less than a maurading force of men (humans), garbed in black armour, with black-cloaked mages at their heads, nothing visible but eyes under their cowls.

Yes. For his safety, they sent him to some remote religious institute known for taking in strays and training them in the ways of battle – kinda like Khandaq.

Lol. The same said darkness, brought his (human) father, wounded, into an orc camp. There, he met his mother, who happened to be one of the nurses. They didn’t kill him because his blood-lust seemed to pass with the mages; the wounded humans left behind regained their humanity. The others died, or tried to run away and died.

There’s something important the orcs were hiding in that village, but I don’t have an inkling what it was.

This is better than what I had in mind. I vote YES for this. My plan was not for him to be evil, only self-serving.

Nope. Sorry to be a noob, do I just run some 1D6s and apply them in order as your previous instructions / webpage suggested?

Jazakumullahu khayran to all the GMs for putting effort. InshaAllah if you guys (and us players) make a good intention to play this (increase bonds of brotherhood is always a good one), inshaAllah we’ll see it on our scales of good deeds. Cuz, ya know, it’s a lot of work to go through otherwise.

Just as an update to everyone, bc not everyone posts there questions on the forums, in addition to Klus, Ali, and Ashes, I can confirm that Ling0nBerry, Ozaidi, Abrar and his bro are all working on their character sheets as well

Just so no one gets discouraged by only seeing a couple of people post :blush:

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