Ancestry
So we have a few choices in the Core Rulebook-- Dwarf
- Elf
- Gnome
- Goblin
- Halfling
- Human (which includes options for Half-Elf and Half-Orc).
Dwarf comes with a few stats-
- Hit Points: 10
- Size: Medium
- Speed: 20'
- Ability Boosts: Con, Wis, free
- Ability Flaw: Cha
- Languages: Common, Dwarven + Int (which I'll revisit when I've got my final Int mod)
- Traits: Dwarf, Humanoid (duh)
- Darkvision - can see in darkness and dim light as well as bright, but in black & white
Now the choices. First off, Dwarves have 5 heritages-
- Ancient-Blooded: gives you an ability to resist magic
- Death Warden: increases saves against necromancy
- Forge: fire resistance
- Rock: bonus to resist being moved
- Strong-Blooded: poison resistance
Last is the Ancestry feat, you get one at 1st, 5th, 9th, 13th and 17th levels. Let's see what we've got to choose from-
- Dwarven Lore - you're Trained in Crafting and Religion (can swap if gain one of them from another source) and Dwarven Lore
- Dwarven Weapon Familiarity - considered trained in some weapons, no bonus beyond what your class gives
- Rock Runner - can move better across difficult stone and earth
- Stonecunning - bonus to skills with stone and finding stone secret doors
- Unburdened Iron - ignore some speed penalties
- Vengeful Hatred - a small damage bonus against some enemies
This one is easy, I'm taking Dwarven Lore. Maybe not the greatest feat, but two skills that fit my concept (and whatever the hell Dwarven Lore is good for?).
And that finishes up the Ancestry, moving on to...
Background
I wanted to walk through all the available options and take a quick look at each with this post, but Backgrounds pose a bit of a problem. There are a lot of them, 35 to be exact. However, they are all very brief. The total Background section takes up 5 pages, with pictures on 3 of those pages. So since the book doesn't devote much space to them, I'm not either - I'm just going to list them by title below:- Acolyte
- Acrobat
- Animal Whisperer
- Artisan
- Artist
- Barkeep
- Barrister
- Bounty Hunter
- Charlatan
- Criminal
- Detective
- Emissary
- Entertainer
- Farmhand
- Field Medic
- Fortune Teller
- Gambler
- Gladiator
- Guard
- Herbalist
- Hermit
- Hunter
- Laborer
- Martial Disciple
- Merchant
- Miner
- Noble
- Nomad
- Prisoner
- Sailor
- Scholar
- Scout
- Street Urchin
- Tinker
- Warrior
Whew, what a list.
Last time I made Devi I took the Warrior background. And I thought it was very strange that I got the Quick Repair skill feat but didn't get the Crafting skill it depends on. I'm happy that they fixed that from the playtest. Now Warriors get the Intimidation skill and the related Intimidating Glare skill feat.
This time though, I think I'm going for the Scholar Background. I'm seeing this character as a special guard, that he was kind of sequestered away from other Dwarves, kind of like a scholar. I'm thinking that maybe something was stolen, an artifact or even a body, and he's left to reclaim it. So he would have studied the history of all the items/relics and people that he was guarding. This background also gives him the Occultism skill, which I think could be a cool hint as to the thieves. He also gets the Assurance skill feat w-Occult, which let's him "take 10" on a roll - yup, no longer are take 10/20 parts of the core game, now they are specific feats (well, 10, not sure if there is a take 20 feat, haven't read them all yet.) and the Academia Lore skill, which is so vague I'm going to interpret it as a list he has of notable scholars and educational institutions to help him find the thieves.
He also gets a boost to Int or Wis and a free boost. I'll tally those up at the end.
Class
The big one now, Class. There are 12 in the Core Rulebook-- Alchemist
- Barbarian
- Bard
- Champion
- Cleric
- Druid
- Fighter
- Monk
- Ranger
- Rogue
- Sorcerer
- Wizard
I was a Fighter last time and I'm sticking with that again. So he gets a few things from the class...
- Key Ability: Strength or Dexterity. I see him as being a Str fighter, and he gets a boost in that.
- Hit Points: 10 + Con mod
- Perception: expert
- Saving Throws: expert in Fort and Ref, trained Will
- Skills: trained in choice of Acrobatics or Athletics, and trained in choice of 3 + Int mod
- Attacks: expert in simple, martial and unarmed
- Defenses: trained in all armor and unarmored
And these are the Class Features-
- I'm going to write this one out verbatim from the book, "Ancestry and Background- In addition to the abilities provided by your class at 1st level, you have the benefits of your selected ancestry and background, as described in chapter 2." What the hell is this? Pages 21-30 have all the character creation steps and even a sample character (we're on page 142). This is such a common thing in 2e, repeating information like you're a stupid 5 year old who can't figure anything out on your own. I am super-sick of it, and it's killing any desire to go on reading this let alone actually run it. Paizo, if you want to write books for children, then don't sell them for $60. The next "class feature" is Initial Proficiencies, which is all the stuff I already mentioned above, which was in a clearly marked sidebar, and again you must be pretty damn stupid to not get that. This crap makes me want to puke.
- Attack of Opportunity - like the 1e ability everybody had, in 2e only Fighters can attack on someone else's turn. I'm actually okay with that, it makes Fighters a little more dangerous and special, and tracking AoOs for everybody was a fair amount of work.
- Shield Block - this is a bonus feat Fighters get. Now, I totally hate how 2e treats shields. Combat in Pathfinder is actually quite abstract, hit points represent luck and exertion as well as physical damage, and armor class represents the ability to dodge as well as to absorb blows. This is the legacy that was inherited from Dungeons and Dragons. Which is why it's always baffled me why Pathfinder 1e was so precisely simulation-ist with things like DR (which was never used with Armor by default, the one place it would make the most sense if you want to model reality) and the combat grid. Weirdly 2e has decided to double-down on that in some ways, shields being most notable. In 1e shields we're abstracted as a bonus to your armor class (ie, odds of not getting hurt) and that was it, you just had to remember a few times when you didn't get your shield bonus. 2e decided that was too simple, now you have to take one of your 3 actions each turn to "Raise a Shield" in order to get that AC bonus, and then you can use the Shield Block feat to spend your Reaction (ability to act on someone else's turn, you only get one each turn, period) and use your shield as DR, but both you and the shield take any damage above it's hardness and so you now also have to track your shield's HP to check for when it breaks. Oh yeah, and since the Shield Block takes your reaction, you can't both block and use your Attack of Opportunity. Now, this does give you another layer of defense with a shield, which is not a bad thing, but it also adds the bookkeeping of taking the action every turn just to get the bonus, guessing if you should use your AOO or block or any other reactions each turn, and it just feels super stupid that you can forget to use your shield, or watch shield after shield break while your sword never does (nothing I'm aware of yet specifically damages weapons).
Anyways, those are the class features, so all that's left is picking our level 1 Class feat-
- Double Slice - 2 acts - when dual-wielding you can attack twice without increasing the multiple attack penalty (on these two, normally on a 3rd) and combine the damage into one attack
- Exacting Strike - 1 act, Press; this is one of the times when the keywords actually matter, "Press" means you can only use this when you have a multiple attack penalty, so this has to be your 2nd attack - if this attack misses it doesn't increase the multiple attack penalty for your 3rd attack
- Point-Blank Shot - "Open" this has to be the first thing you do in a turn, "Stance" it takes an action to start this, and it continues until you cannot maintain it or choose to end it, 1 act (so is that the action you have to take to enter the stance or is it an extra action you have to take before the shot?) - has 2 effects; (1)with a "ranged volley weapon" (the longbow, only) you "ignore the attack roll penalty from the volley trait." Okay, so in 2e longbows apparently have -2 a penalty to hit anything within 30' (don't ask me why), with this ability you can ignore that. (2)with a non-volley ranged weapon you get +2 damage within the first range increment (which is 60' for the shortbow)
- Power Attack - "Flourish" you cannot take a second action with flourish in the same turn, 2 acts - take the multiple attack penalty but do an extra die of damage, with another die at levels 10 and 18
- Reactive Shield - React when hit w-shield - auto Raise A Shield and gain the AC bonus on this attack and for rest of turn
- Snagging Strike - have one hand free, 1 act - make a Strike, if hit target is flat-footed (-2 AC) until your next turn or it moves out of reach
- Sudden Charge - Open, Flourish, 1 act - Stride (move up to your speed) twice and make a melee attack
I am thinking about multi-classing this character with Cleric, but you have to be at least 2nd level to do that. So something for the future.
Everything I hate about 2nd edition is right in the Point-Blank Shot ability. In 1st edition PBS was easy, you get +2 damage within 30' with a ranged weapon. Simple. Useful (to a degree, not accounting for HP bloat). So did they keep it the same (ain't broke don't fix it principle) or did they improve it in 2nd? No. Instead we make it a hell of a lot more complicated and clutter it with weird pseudo-realism in our non-realistic high fantasy game. The text defining the "Stance" trait says you need to take an action to activate the stance, but the ability itself says it takes an action to use - so did they duplicate the same action out of stupidity, or does it take one action to start and then another action for each shot, and is that action in place of the shot or in addition to it? This does not have to be confusing - in point of fact it wasn't confusing before, instead 2e took something that worked and screwed it up. And why the hell can't longbows shoot accurately within 30'? I have shot a kid's bow in my younger days, so I'm not a professional archer, but from what I've done and people I've watched it seems that shooting closer things is easier since you don't have to account for gravity as much as with a far away target. And why are we trying to inject some kind of realism with bow usage into a game with fireball-throwing elves? This ain't Riddle of Steel Paizo!
Otherwise, Double Slice seems to be okay, make two attacks but without the penalty, allright. Exacting Strike seems stupid, it's a re-named version of the same ability I gave the original character, all it does is let you miss better. Wow, that makes me feel special. Power Attack is actually okay, it's like the original - a penalty to hit for extra damage - and it even levels up a little with you to stay relevant. I'm good with that one, wish more abilities were like it. Reactive Shield is stupid because everything we do with shields in the game is stupid. Snagging Strike is also good, it's a simple ability that makes it easier for your friends to hit somebody, and party cooperation is a good thing. Sudden Charge is also alright, kind of hate that you need a special ability to do it, I'd imagine I could run up to somebody and hit them with a stick, but it's not terrible.
Since I hate the new shield rules so much, I'm thinking of making him a two-handed weapon fighter, so I'm going to take Power Attack.
Ability Scores
According to the character creation checklist I'm now at Step 6- Determine Ability Scores. So let's recap the ability scores so far:Ancestry: +2 Con, +2 Wis, free, -2 Cha
Background: +2 Int or Wis, free
Class: +2 Str
I first need to decide on those "free" boosts, each is a +2 but cannot be applied twice. Even though Dwarves are antisocial (Cha penalty) and he's lived apart from other Dwarves as a guard, I'm thinking I want him to be decent at talking to people (he likes to share the epic tales of old), so I'm putting the Ancestry free boost into Cha to offset that penalty. I want him to Cleric later, so the Background boost is going into Wis and the free is going to Con because he's lived a spartan life of hardship as a tomb guard. That leaves me with:
Str 12 (+1)
Dex 10 (0)
Con 14 (+2)
Int 10 (0)
Wis 12 (+1)
Cha 10 (0)
Finally everybody gets 4 free boosts, like the others they cannot be applied to a score twice. I'm going for Str, Con, Wis, Cha for my final attributes as:
Str 14 (+2)
Dex 10 (0)
Con 16 (+3)
Int 10 (0)
Wis 14 (+2)
Cha 12 (+1)
Odds and Ends
Just some final numbers and things to figure out.- Hit Points - 10 Dwarf + 10 Fighter + 3 Con = 23
- Bonus Languages - 0 Int mod means none (too bad, I'd like the flavor of him knowing an ancient language or something)
- Skills - From my Dwarven Lore Ancestry feat I get: Crafting (Recall Knowledge, Repair, trained: Craft, Earn Income, Identify Alchemy), Religion (Recall Knowledge, trained: Decipher Writing, Identify Magic, Learn A Spell) which I think would cover his own and enemy pantheons and Dwarven Lore (Recall Knowledge and trained: Earn Income). Scholar gives him Occultism (Recall Knowledge, Decipher Writing, Identify Magic, Learn A Spell - only the first untrained) and Academia Lore (Recall Knowledge and trained: Earn Income). From Fighter I get, Acrobatics or Athletics. Athletics is the Str one, so he can Climb, Force Open, Grapple, High Jump, Long Jump, Shove, Swim, Trip and Disarm (only the last needing to be skilled). And he gets 3 + 0 Int bonus skills. I'm going to take Diplomacy (Gather Information, Make an Impression, Request -no trained only actions), so I can ask people if they've seen the stolen McGuffin. Arcana (Recall Knowledge, trained: Borrow an Arcane Spell, Decipher Writing, Identify Magic, Learn a Spell) since knowing about magic might be helpful? Lastly Medicine (Administer first Aid, Recall Knowledge, trained: Treat Disease, Treat poison, Treat Wounds).
I have to say that having actions anyone can do and actions only trained people can do makes sense to me, it's pretty much the definition of a skill as opposed to an attribute. But you'd think that every skill would have trained-only actions then. Stealth, Intimidation and Diplomacy don't. Yet Diplomacy's actions are all personal - Gather Information, Make an Impression, Request. Why not have Mediate (get two opposing groups to agree, which justifiably takes advanced knowledge of talking to people) or Whisper Campaign (to raise or lower the reputation of a group or person) as trained skills?
Equipment
This is the last big step, once I get my gear I can fill out a character sheet and be good to go. Of course I have to find a character sheet since I'm not using the backside-ugly one in the book. One problem at a time.All characters get 150 SP (or 15 GP) to start, and I'm going to buy the following:
- Scale Mail - 40sp, +3 AC, Dex Cap +2, no armor check penalty due to Str, no move penalty due to Str, Bulk 2 (3 carried), composite material
- Greataxe - 20sp, 1d12 S dmg, 2 Bulk, 2 Hands, Axe group, Sweep (+1 cir attack against a different enemy)
- Hatchet - 4sp, 1d6 S dmg, 0.1 Bulk, 1 Hand, Axe group, Agile (multi attack penalty -4/-8), Sweep, Thrown 10'
- Adventurer's Pack - 7sp, 2 Bulk, contains: backpack, bedroll, 2 belt pouches, 10 pieces of chalk, flint and steel, 50 feet of rope, 2 weeks rations, soap, 5 torches, waterskin
- Manacles, simple - 30sp, 3 DC 22 thievery checks to pick, 0 Bulk
- Religious Text - 10sp
- Repair Kit - 20sp, 1 Bulk
Spent - 131sp
Money: 19sp, Bulk: 7.1, carry 7.9 w/o penalty, max 12 lift/carry
Final Thoughts
My character's finished. It was a lot harder process than I expected. It is a new game, and with every new game comes the adjustment period until you get the hang of the system. But there were also moments of screaming at the book and harassing my friends asking them to explain some baffling choices to me (which was unfair as I don't think even the designers know what they were doing). I'm not excited to play this game, not looking forward to seeing what my character can do. It's way too simple and way too complicated at the same time - which I'll grant is an impressive feat.I managed to find a fillable pdf, not from Paizo of course but at: https://queuetimes.com/fillable-character-sheet-for-pathfinder-2e/. Big thanks to them for working it up!
You can download Devi from my Google Drive here.
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