Character Submission Thread

Reviewing Sana:
1) I did a little reformatting to remove scroll bars.
2) Ride totals up as +3, not -3. Fixed.
3) We have been putting the * for class skills in the CS column instead of to the left. It is a little more noticeable there. Adjusted.


Now on to considerations.
a) You have no way to attack at a distance of more than 25' without throwing your only weapon. Picking up at least a sling would be a good idea.
b) You have to eat all your food and drink your water to be able to comfortably carry loot home. Don't worry. Most people do this.
c) The picture is too cute to fit a 6 charisma. That score is hard to play. I mean, if done right, even Daylily is going look at you funny and ask others who this annoying wench is. It is very difficult to walk the line and play properly. So, reconsideration of the strategy might be in order.


I hereby APPROVE Sana Sahar for first level play. That is both, so you are officially legal.

Thanks Satin Knights!
Sorry about the scroll bars - I didn't know that was an issue, I'll keep that in mind for future growth.

Considerations
c) I'm getting a lot of push-back about this... I'd like to keep her portrait as it was the inspiration for her background. I had imagined Sana as brash, proud, awkward, and strange(Tiefling features)... but not absolutely wretched. So, I am reconsidering this strategy.

I'm not sure what the rules for this are, but I think I would like to make an adjustment to her ability scores, to keep everyone happy(myself included).

This involves the following changes:
1) INT to 16 (return 5 pts), CHA to 9(spend 3 pts), STR to 12 (spend 2 pts).
2) CMB/CMD Increased by 1, Arcane Pool reduced by 1.
3) Melee Damage Increased by 1, Ranged weapon section updated (see #7).
4) Adjusted Skill Points/level > Removed Point from Perform(dance) > Adjusted all INT, CHA, & STR based skill bonuses
5) Adjusted Concentration Bonus and Spell DCs down by 1.
6) Removed True Strike from Spells Known.
7) Adjusted Weight Allowances. Shortbow(30gp) & Arrows(3 gp) purchased, weight and cost of goods updated.
8) Finances reduced by 33gp.

I think this also addresses considerations a & b.

Rhydius said:

Hi LPF crew! I've been working on Rhydius VanDarver since noon-ish... I think he's ready for approval. Let me know if I missed anything.

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Before I start, some suggestions.

First, rogues are just not good in Pathfinder. Bards and rangers can do pretty much everything rogues can do, but are better in basically every way. Speaking as a person who still has a rogue in a live game, they can be very frustrating to play. This is your choice, but I do want to give fair warning.

Second, odd numbers for abilities ... yuck. Yes, you save some points now, and you'll have a better character later, but level 4 is about a year away. Level 8 is about 2 years away. I suggest you max your bonuses now.

Third, you seem to be building this character as a skillmonkey, given your feat and trait choices. For better or for worse, combat is the most integral part of LPF, and traps are few and far between -- in a year of playing two characters, I've seen a grand total of three traps. If you build toward RP and skills, you're going to feel sidelined more than half the time. I'm not saying neglect them altogether, but I think you'll be happier if you take care of combat first and skills second, rather than the other way round.

Fourth, Profession is an utterly wasted skill point in LPF. I like the idea of a wandering tinker background, but I think Disable Device is more than enough to justify it.

Okay, now to the actual issues:
1. Your traits are both Social traits. You can easily work around this by changing "Suspicious" to "Capable: Sense Motive." Same benefit, different fluff.
2. You didn't take either the HP bonus or the skill bonus for your favored class.
3. Upload a picture, please. If you're having trouble finding one, here's a suggestion.

[sblock=Pathfinder Rogue Image]
[/sblock]

1 and 3 are minor, but 2 is a dealbreaker. NOT YET.

Systole said:

First, rogues are just not good in Pathfinder. Bards and rangers can do pretty much everything rogues can do, but are better in basically every way. Speaking as a person who still has a rogue in a live game, they can be very frustrating to play. This is your choice, but I do want to give fair warning.

Second, odd numbers for abilities ... yuck. Yes, you save some points now, and you'll have a better character later, but level 4 is about a year away. Level 8 is about 2 years away. I suggest you max your bonuses now.

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This has been my first experience with PF and I thank you for the warning. I think I'll be revising him to fit a more involved role. As for his scores, I tend to take a late-game view, but I haven't done much PbP so I didn't have the pacing down. Knowing how long it could take to level does make me reconsider...

Systole said:

Third, you seem to be building this character as a skillmonkey, given your feat and trait choices. For better or for worse, combat is the most integral part of LPF, and traps are few and far between

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I do tend to make a trapmokney when I do a rogue build, but your experience makes me re-think that decision. Ignore my previous approval request... It's back to the drawing board for Rhydius.

It's worth mentioning, Rhydius, that you should play whatever suits you. But Systole does make some salient points: most notably, the relative scarcity of traps (definitely not something I would build a character around), and the speed at which one levels in PbP (the time-based rewards of LPF help, but Systole's timeline of about 4 levels a year is a good yardstick).

If you do decide to veer away from the rogue, the Urban Ranger or Trapper might make a good alternative for Rhydius - you'll still get Disable Device, Trapfinding, and a load of skill points, but your PC will be aided in combat by full BAB and Style Feats, making them somewhat less specialized than a trapfinding rogue. A different direction (perhaps too different for your concept) might be to go alchemist - they can do the skill monkey thing pretty well while having a host of possible directions. A functional ranger is definitely easier to build than a comparable alchemist; it just depends on which direction you want to go.

If you need some more advice, please ask; as you've seen, people are anything but shy about giving it around here! In any case, it's always great to have a new face.

Qik said:

Trapper might make a good alternative for Rhydius

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Thanks for the suggestion, this really fits quite well with my initial concept. My predisposition to trapmonkey-ing comes from a year spent playing DDO. They really went out of their way to make skill-based rogues almost a necessity.

Alright here's Rhydius again. I'm still working on the portrait. Let me know how I'm doing so far.

Thumbs up so far.

A second look at Sana:
a) You forgot to drop a language.

Other than that, everything looks good. Those stats are more well rounded and a lot easier to play. A 9 for charisma is a simple "there is something off" but we can work around it. While a 6 would be full blooded orc in looks and temperament. If the looks were decent, what must the temperament be?

-SK

BTW, if anyone is looking for an example of a well-played low charisma character, you should check out One Night in Palazzo Dannato.

Aldern Foxglove did (IMO) a great job with Raynucio Vega in that game. Obviously, personalities are many and varied and there's surely more than one way to play a low Charisma - but this one really stood out to me as one of the few times I've seen the strategy fully carried out.