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Pathfinder RPG: The Basics. Part 1

Pen and Paper RPG

By Ian McGarvaPublished 6 years ago 5 min read
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The How to Guide.

Pathfinder is a Pen and Paper Role Playing Game with the aid of Polyhedral Dice, set in the mind of the GM and the players, with the goal potential of successfully defeating creatures in skilful combat, Becoming a Deceitful Rogue, an all powerful Halfling Barbarian/Paladin, or even a Human Merchant with evil intentions... What ever your story or goal, with Pathfinder, anything is possible.

Choosing a Character Race and Class

Start from choosing from the Core Races;

  • Dwarves
  • Elves and their half-human offspring, half-elves
  • Gnomes
  • Half-orcs, the half-human children of orcs
  • Halflings
  • Humans

Each Race has its own Pro's and Con's, you can use that to assist with your Class, or to spice up the game you could have it so it falls against your skills and main purpose for that Class, giving a positive bonus or negative bonus to Stat Ability Modifiers.

And then selecting a Core Class;

  • Barbarian - A brute, very strong, combat focused, Tank.
  • Bard - Party Support, Can Heal, Magic and Melee Based.
  • Cleric - Main Party Healer, Can become Powerful, Magic Based.
  • Druid - Lover of Nature, Magic Based, Wildlife Control.
  • Fighter - Frontline Warrior, Melee Based.
  • Monk - Abilities and Unarmed Combat, Fast, Very Useful.
  • Paladin - Party Support, Holy, Magic, Melee and Abilities Based, Very O.P.
  • Ranger - Ranged Based, Survivalist, Hunter of the Wild.
  • Rogue - Stealthy, Thief, Sneak Attack, Infiltration, Quiet.
  • Sorcerer - Magic Based, Powerful, Limited Magic, No magic Prep.
  • Wizard - Magic Based, Powerful, Magic Prep, Endless Magic.
Many Classes mix well with different Races, some better than others and yet some won't go well... or you think wouldn't go well together until you tried it... like maybe a 3ft Gnome Barbarian with a stupidly high STR Score of 18, giving him a +4 on Attack rolls and Damage rolls, Its out of the ordinary but can be a whole lot of fun for everyone.

Giving your Character a Backstory

Don't start by the cliché "Oh my Barbarian Half-Orcs parents were killed in a raid and I'm looking to avenge them." It happens all of the time and lacks creativity, if you absolutely have to use that kind of storyline then add a lot of flavour text and descriptions into it, as it'll get the GMs attention when he/she reads it, meaning it may then be incorporated into the game somehow and you get to have your spot light fame for part of the game.

Always ask the GM first, only just because they may want to give you information on the areas/planes/cities and towns that you will be playing in and you could use them to merge in your backstory.

The Curse of the D20

It doesn't matter how well you plan, The Dice have the last say... you could have rolled to climb a vertical wall an succeeded... then leap to a ledge and spin off of it with your blades drawn soaring down towards a band of Goblins... the amount of rolls you would need increases the chance of failure... Acrobatics Check, Climb Check, Attack Roll etc. But there is always a chance of success...

Someone who Rolls a 20 on the Dice, has Rolled a Natural 20 and there for whatever it was they wanted to do has an instant success rate, a Natural 20 on an Attack roll means Critical! and depending on the weapon used, multiplies their Damage roll by x2, x3 or x4, some special items could even exceed that!

On the other hand... if a Player Rolls a 1 on the Dice... it's a Natural 1... Instant failure... most of the time causes more problems for the player... E.G. a Natural 1 in most cases when rolled for an Attack Roll will break the player's weapon beyond use, for example, in our game last week I rolled a Natural 1 attempting to use a makeshift catapult, the GM told me to roll a Reflex Save... I changed my dice and again rolled a natural 1!! meaning the boulder flew vertically then landed on me taking away 37HP from my player (my character has 46HP in total)

It is things like that you can never plan for, you never expect them to happen when they do, its either an epic battle, or a funny fail that you cant help or stop, it adds so much suspense and humour to the game.

The Saviours

Fortitude Save - Used to negate burns, bleeding, poisons, anything to do with damage to the body of the character, works off of CON Mod.

Reflex Save - Used to negate the chances of being knocked off of something, your balance, works off of DEX Mod.

Will Save - Used to negate Magic /or Magic effects, Works off of INT Mod.

All 'Saves' are calculated and a D20 is rolled and both scores are added, the combined total is the number to be used for that save.

The Road to Stupidity: What could go wrong?

So, whilst your playing as your Elf Wizard, the rest of the party are talking to a Draconic Lord to get some magical items and what not... but you have this feeling... you think what the Draconic Lord is telling the party is false... and instead of 'Sense Motive' or 'Diplomacy' Checks, you decide to cast Fireball at him, the Fireball hits and does nothing because what you didn't know was he's a level 14 Sorcerer... you are level 4... in this situation this could mean the end of the party or, as the party was cooperating and you decided to attack for no reason... there is a very very very high chance your character is going to be very dead, very soon.

This could also spoil the game depending on the outcome, especially if your team has worked hard to get to this place, then you just ruin it by attacking the NPCs once you're there. (NPC=Non Playable Character)

On the other hand, if you're playing a monk and want to attempt to do this weird but fancy acrobatics manoeuvre to get from the bottom of the tower to the top... you better hope the Dice are on your side.

Extra Goodies for you!

Follow the link by clicking > here < to the Core Rule Book, here it gives you info on how to help starting as a new player, also have a look on the > Paizo < website and check out their other RPG Games and Merchandise.

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About the Creator

Ian McGarva

Hi guys I'm 25 and love to play RPGs like D&D and Pathfinder, make RPG games (the old school type) and write fantasy fiction.

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  • Samuel Wright2 months ago

    Players plan and the Dice laugh. Nice work.

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