Rules Help

[onlinewarrior094]

My group are considering trying out Pathfinder. We've only ever played 4e, but I really like the look of it. There are just a few rules I have trouble with:

Hit points: I've read multiple rules about this on forums, but found nothing conclusive in the book.
Do players start with just max hit dice value, or max HD + CON bonus?
Do players gain just a hit dice roll each level, or HD roll + CON bonus?
Do players get an extra hit dice at every level?

On the character advancement table, it says players get an ability score bonus every 4 levels. What is the value of this bonus, and how many ability scores does it apply to?

Some abilities that grow in power as the character advances specify "bonus x character's level", while others say "bonus x character's hit dice". If you get one HD each level, what is the difference between these values?

And finally, why is it that in the class advancement tables, under BAB, extra numbers are added every few levels? (eg. Barbarian Lv.1BAB is +1, while Lv.6 is +6/+1, and Lv.20 is +20/15/10/5)

Sorry if these questions seem stupid or obvious, but as said, I've always played 4e and some of this is pretty alien to me.

Thanks in advance to any replies.

 

[tylermalan]

1) Your group can decide how you want to "roll" hit points. You can have everyone get their max HD or you can have people roll their HD every level. You always gain you Con bonus (or penalty) every level, regardless of which option you choose. And yes, at every level, a PC gains 1 HD.

2) The ability score bonus to which you are referring amounts to +1 to one ability of your choice. You get this +1 every four levels, but can apply it to any one ability score that you wish each time you get it.

3) There is essentially no difference between HD and levels as far as PCs are concerned.

4) The extra numbers on the BAB table represent additional attacks. So, a Fighter with +6/+1 gets two attacks. The first attack is resolved at +6, while the second is resolved at +1.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Hit points: I've read multiple rules about this on forums, but found nothing conclusive in the book.
Do players start with just max hit dice value, or max HD + CON bonus?
Do players gain just a hit dice roll each level, or HD roll + CON bonus?
Do players get an extra hit dice at every level?

At 1st level, you get your maximum HD value plus your Con bonus. At 2nd and subsequent levels, you gain your hit die roll plus your Con bonus. And yes, you do get an extra HD at each level.

On the character advancement table, it says players get an ability score bonus every 4 levels. What is the value of this bonus, and how many ability scores does it apply to?

That's a +1 bonus to one ability score of your choice.

Some abilities that grow in power as the character advances specify "bonus x character's level", while others say "bonus x character's hit dice". If you get one HD each level, what is the difference between these values?

Character level and HD are pretty much the same thing, but a lot of times when an ability grows with level it's referring to your class level-- the number of levels you have taken in the class that grants you the ability.

And finally, why is it that in the class advancement tables, under BAB, extra numbers are added every few levels? (eg. Barbarian Lv.1BAB is +1, while Lv.6 is +6/+1, and Lv.20 is +20/15/10/5)

For every five points of BAB after +1 (so +6, +11, and +16) you get an extra attack per round at a cumulative -5 penalty. What those numbers are telling you is that if you're a single-class character of that level, those are the extra attacks you would have.

If you're not single-class, calculate your BAB by adding the first number in the BAB column for all of your class levels; you gain an extra attack at +6, +11, and +16.

 

[mach1.9pants]

To take the multiple attacks you have to take a full attack action, this allows nothing other than a 5' step (and free, immediate and swift actions as well). If you wish to take a move action you can only do a standard attack action, which is one at the highest BAB.

PFSRD says:

Full Attack
If you get more than one attack per round because your base attack bonus is high enough, because you fight with two weapons or a double weapon, or for some special reason, you must use a full-round action to get your additional attacks. You do
not need to specify the targets of your attacks ahead of time. You can see how the earlier attacks turn out before assigning the later ones.

 

[Mad Hamish]

Hit points: I've read multiple rules about this on forums, but found nothing conclusive in the book.
Do players start with just max hit dice value, or max HD + CON bonus?
Do players gain just a hit dice roll each level, or HD roll + CON bonus?
Do players get an extra hit dice at every level?

Con bonus is added to hp at every level, so at first level you get
Max hp + Con bonus (and possibly +1hp from favored class)
So a fighter with 14 con could have
10 (max on d10) + 2 (con) + 1 (favoured class) = 13 hp at first level

at second level you typically roll the die and add con (and possibly favoured class)
a common house rule is that instead of rolling you get average (rounded up) hp (so a fighter gets 6 + con & favoured class, a wizard gets 4 + con + favoured class etc)
it's not unknown to let everyone get max hit points every level either

+1 to 1 ability score/4 levels
a different ability score can be selected each time or you can put all of them into 1 ability score or anything in between

generally none for PCs.
There could be a difference for monsters with classes

Note that there is a difference between character level and class level

class level is levels of the class that gives the ability, so a Wizard 5/fighter 4 would be class level 5 for a wizard ability and class level 4 for a fighter ability

a lot of abilities are dependent on class level.

They are additional attacks you get on a full attack action.
So a level 6 Barbarian with 18 str (+4) with a +2 sword would have an attack at +6(BAB) + 4 (str) +2 (sword) = +12 and a second attack at 1 +4 +2 = +7

The only exception to this for PC classes is the Monk who has special rules when he is using a flurry of blows.

Note that this doesn't apply to monsters using natural attacks. If a creature has a bite/claw/claw set of attacks it gets to make each of them 1 time as part of a full attack action.

Hope it helps