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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 7753214" data-attributes="member: 37579">Because it's not an issue for you it can't be an issue for someone else?Do you foresee ANY situation where Seelah, a paladin, would want to attempt to pick a pocket? But... can you see a situation where a new player, upon seeing that her character can pick pockets, attempts to do so. And is disappointing by the character's absolute inability to successfully do so? There is a trap option on the sample character. It unlocks the option to do X but not the actually ability to do so. It's like giving someone a feat that increases their fly speed by 20 feet, but not the ability to actually fly.Had this actually been a personal character, that's different. It's one player making a choice for themselves. Okay, in that instance they're (probably) fine with the choice of investing a non-insignificant amount of their starting resources on flavour. (Like a wizard getting heavy armour proficiency with a feat.)But..  again, this is not something created by one player for their personal use. This is a sample PC built, likely by committee, to show off the system, embody their iconic characters, and also be used by brand new players who are being introduced to the game. This is the playtest version of the pregens that will be used by every Pathfinder 2 Society game. And I am giving feedback on its design.They had problems with in-optimal characters in the previous iteration. Harsk, the dwarf ranger, was a hugely problematic character, as the crossbow was not a mechanically strong item. And so players of the iconic were largely penalized in play for "story" reasons (aka how the artist drew the character). Also, what is this telling me about the game? Well, it's telling me that the system really isn't designed for characters whose backstories are playing against type. Because you apparently don't get any *meaningful* bonuses for that. Or that backstory options are limited as the least problematic option was one that conferred no benefit. Neither really sell me to the game. Does thievery match Seelah's backstory? Kinda. She was an urchin living on the streets who stole the helmet of a paladin, and ran with it. The paladin caught her and showed her compassion, which prompted young Seelah to follow in her footsteps and become her student, eventually earning her mentor's armour. There's lots of elements to that backstory that could work with a different feat. Surviving in the streets. Being mentored by a holy warrior. (It's not like the Pickpocket feat would have really helped with that backstory. Either the helmet was off and thus no feat was required, or it was worn and not subject to the feat.)</blockquote>

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