Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

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TheMaster
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Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby TheMaster » Tue Apr 12, 2016 9:42 am

I want to make a Halfling Bard.

With Modifiers my Attributes are as follows:
Charisma - 19
Dexterity - 15
Intelligence - 15
Wisdom - 14
Constitution - 10
Strength - 7

I have all of my other Race Modifiers on a spreadsheet. That is as far as i have gotten. I am not sure i fully understand the rest of the process.

Thanks in advance! :) :) :)
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby Mike » Tue Apr 12, 2016 10:32 am

Step 0: Totally optional, but come up with a basic history/background your character. Name it, determine gender, and think of maybe a paragraph worth of background to say where he/she came from, and what they want. You don't have to write it all down, and you don't have to set it in stone, because things will change, but have a good idea.

Step 1: Look at the halfling entry, and write down all the abilities you get just for being a halfling, listed under Standard Racial Traits. So Small size (which includes AC bonus, attack bonus, Stealth bonus), Sure Footed (+2 on acrobatics and climb), Keen Senses (+2 Perception), etc.

Step 2: Now go to the bard entry and start applying everything listed in the 1st level row of the Bard Table... modifiers for attack and saving throws, Bardic Knowledge, Bardic Performance, Countersong, etc. Make sure you look at the entries for each of those abilities below the table, some may have more specific info you need to know.

Step 3: Feats. As a 1st level halfling bard, you get ONE feat. Look at the feats section and choose carefully. Depends on what sort of bard you want to be. You want to be able to attack (maybe a bow or sling or sling-staff)? Then probably some sort of ranged combat feat is where you start, something like Point Blank Shot (which is the basis from which to build a lot of ranged weapon stuff later on). If combat ain't your thing, then maybe you take a feat that boosts your magic. Or if you're like me, you take a feat that boosts one or two skills (my own bard is all about the singing).

Step 3a: Traits. These are like feats but less powerful. And I don't think they're in the core rulebook, so you may not be using them at all. If you are using them, you get two traits. They're usually small (just a +1 bonus on something or whatever), but they add a lot of flavor and personality.

Step 4: Skills. As a bard, you get 6 skill points per level, and your intelligence gives you another +2. So you have 8 skill points to work with. Since you are 1st level, you can't put more than 1 point into any one skill. So pick 8 skills you want to put points in. Also if they are Class Skills for bards (see the Class Skills list on the bard page), that means that IF you have any points put into the skill, then you get an additional +3 to using it. Don't forget that you need at least one Perform skill, and possibly more than one. I highly recommend that you pick a perform skill that doesn't require your hands (singing, oratory, comedy), so that you can Perform in combat while doing other things. Remember that your Perform skill will help define the kind of personality you are. I'm constantly singing in combat. If you pick comedy, that means you're constantly cracking jokes during combat to give your team a morale boost. Etc.

Step 4a: Crap, this is where you need to learn about ability score bonuses. You have a great set of scores for your character. Check the ability score table to find out what the bonus is for each of those. Charisma 19: +4 bonus. Intelligence 15: +2 bonus. Strength 7: -2. Etc. What this means is that anything you do that is based on Charisma (performing, casting spells, diplomacy, etc), you get a +4. Anything you do with Strength (hitting someone with a sword, swimming, climbing, wrestling, etc) you get -2. You need to know these, because these bonuses/penalties will be applied to ALL of your skills and saving throws and attacks and armor class and all sorts of other stuff. Get to know them. Now start filling in all those totals for skills and saving throws, etc.

Step 5: Pick out your spells. The bard table tells you that you know 4 zero-level spells (which you can cast whenever you want) and 2 first-level spells, of which you can cast 2 spells per day. Go to the bard spell list and make your choices here.

Step 6: Equipment. You're going to start with about 100gp worth of stuff. Go to the equipment lists and do some shopping. You probably won't have much armor (leather armor most likely), and you need to buy a weapon or three (your ranged weapon, which will be your primary, and then maybe a rapier or daggers or something to keep on your person). Don't forget to buy an instrument or two, if you are that type of performer.

Step 7: Whatever miscellaneous crap I've missed. If you get through all of these, you've learned an awful lot about what goes into a character and into the game. You'll find more as you go.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby Mike » Tue Apr 12, 2016 10:34 am

Also note that there are sites and tools available that will do a lot of this for you automatically, and make sure you don't miss anything and you don't put in anything you're not allowed to. For a beginner though, I actually recommend NOT doing that right away. Because then it automatically fills in stuff that you really should know how to do yourself. Building the character from scratch is a great way to learn.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby TheMaster » Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:04 pm

Well, Here is what i have.

Myrddin Clevertoungue – Male – Halfling Bard – Chaotic Neutral

Grew up near a village of Humans in a valley surrounded by mountains. He lived near a small pond (that he considered a great lake) and loved fishing in his free time. When he became of age, he started mangling with the nearby humans. He soon learned that, because of his size, he would and could be easily taken advantage of. The more he learned the more cunning he became. Able to talk even the largest of the humans into doing his bidding. He didn’t care about how things affected others, as long as he got what he wanted. The only exception he made was for his friends. Anyone he considered a friend was an extension of himself, and he would do anything to make them happy. With his quick wit and clever speech, he can accomplish anything.


Skills
Bluff
Diplomacy
Sleight of Hand
Stealth
Oratory
Act
Intimidate
Linguistics
Escape Artist

Feat
Persuasive

Traits
Fast Talker
Unpredictable

Spells
Lvl 0
Dancing Lights
Know Direction
Mage Hand
Message
Lvl 1
Confusion, Lesser
Summon Monster I

Base Ability Scores without modifiers:
17 Charisma
13 Dexterity
15 Intelligence
10 Constitution
9 Strength
14 Wisdom

Modifiers:
Charisma +2
Dexterity +2
Strength -2
Armor Class +1
Attack Rolls +1
Combat Maneuver Bonus -1
Combat Maneuver Defense -1
Stealth +4
Saving Throws +3
Perception +2
Acrobatics +2
Climb +2
Languages: Common, Halfling, Elven, Gnome
Ref Save +2
Will Save +2

Equipment
Weapons
Dagger
Sling
Bullets (100)
Armor
Leather
Goods
Backpack
blanket, winter
Fishhook (5)
Food, Drink
Bread
cheese
Ale (Gallon)
Last edited by TheMaster on Tue Apr 12, 2016 1:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby Mike » Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:28 pm

I believe halflings start with Common and Halfling for languages, then you get one bonus language per Int bonus point. So you should have two more... Elven and then one other.

I think you have too many skills. You should have 8, and then for each level that you take in your favored class (assume Bard is your favored class), you can take either 1 extra skill point or 1 extra hit point. If you put that into the skill point, then you should have nine skills.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby TheMaster » Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:33 pm

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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby Mike » Tue Apr 12, 2016 1:42 pm

Much better. Eight is perfect. Now you have the choice of adding one more skill or one more hit point.

I always take the skill, but then I don't play combat-heavy types often.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby TheMaster » Tue Apr 12, 2016 1:58 pm

Updated my earlier post. So, is that a complete character? Ready to join a game?
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby Mike » Tue Apr 12, 2016 2:04 pm

That's a spectacular character. Solid. Certainly ready to play.

If you haven't already, look online for a downloadable character sheet so that you can fill all your information in. There's some calculations you need to make, like filling in all your skill totals... 1 point in Oratory, Oratory is a class skill, based on Charisma... total Oratory bonus: (+1, +3, +4)= +8. That needs to happen for all skills. Stuff like that. The character sheet at this point will be nice, because it could highlight stuff that you didn't realize you needed to total up (or how to go about it even).

But yeah, ready to go.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby TheMaster » Tue Apr 12, 2016 2:24 pm

Awesome! Thanks.

I am going to fill this Character Sheet out the best i can, and i may need help with it. i already see some things that i dont understand/can't find. Ill compile a list and post it all in one go.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby TheMaster » Tue Apr 12, 2016 5:56 pm

Do you use Myth-Weavers? I stumbled upon it while trying to figure out this character sheet. It still hasn't helped me fill it out 100%, but it is much easier than trying to use Adobe PDF.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby Mike » Tue Apr 12, 2016 6:08 pm

Naw. I'm real OCD about it. I use a special Excel spreadsheet that I customize to each character. I do all my calculations by hand.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby TheMaster » Tue Apr 12, 2016 6:12 pm

I might get there one day, but first i have to understand what goes on this thing.

Im not even sure if this will work:

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=780503

Can you take a look and help me out?
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby TheMaster » Tue Apr 12, 2016 7:33 pm

OK, So another friend of mine helped me finish? my sheet


http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=780503

Let me know if we missed anything. and what you think :D :D
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby Elle » Tue Apr 12, 2016 11:31 pm

Looks fine to me. Bards are awesome, as Mike can tell you. I would love to play a Bard someday.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby Ronster » Thu Jun 02, 2016 2:00 pm

OK, I am trying to make a Pathfinder character, just sent my info to Mike for a review then I saw this post :brickwall:

will get back with you folks later
:D
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이젠 접근금지야 너가 사과하기 전까지
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby Mike » Thu Jun 02, 2016 2:51 pm

As I said in the email, I think Pathfinder Society requires you to use the point-build for your ability scores.

Take a look at the first table on for costs. And I think you only get 15 points for a character.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby Cazmonster » Thu Jun 02, 2016 6:15 pm

Myrdinn is good people. I like him.
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Re: Help me with my first Pathfinder Character PLEASE

Postby TheMaster » Thu Jun 02, 2016 6:23 pm

Thanks ;)
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