# Premade characters?



## MrSumOne (Apr 8, 2011)

I was going to be playing with a few new people, and if they don't feel like creating a character, I would like to have a few premade ready. Is there somewhere I can get some premade lv1 characters, or is it just easier making them myself?


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## undeaddan (Apr 8, 2011)

All of the adventure paths previous to Carrion Crown have at least 4 PCs pre-statted in them.


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## Shisumo (Apr 8, 2011)

Well, they're designed specifically for Pathfinder Society, so they have a few minor rules tweaks (no item creation feats, for instance), but if it's 1st level characters you're looking for, you might try these two links:

Core Book pregens
Advanced Player's Guide pregens

Between the two of them, there's over 130 pregens there.  I would think it would get you started.


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## Zil (Apr 8, 2011)

undeaddan said:


> All of the adventure paths previous to Carrion Crown have at least 4 PCs pre-statted in them.




I'm curious why they've stopped including the pregens in the Adventure Paths.  I kind of liked having them there as a rough gauge as to expected power level/characters/items for running the adventures.   It was also nice to be able to grab one of them if I wanted to add an NPC to a group because the group was shy a player or two.


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## IronWolf (Apr 8, 2011)

Zil said:


> I'm curious why they've stopped including the pregens in the Adventure Paths.  I kind of liked having them there as a rough gauge as to expected power level/characters/items for running the adventures.   It was also nice to be able to grab one of them if I wanted to add an NPC to a group because the group was shy a player or two.




When they asked about on the Paizo boards I believe the popular sentiment was that the pre-gens were eating up space in an AP that could be used for other more relevant things.  There were folks that still wanted pre-gens in the AP, but they were the minority - so they were removed.


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## MrSumOne (Apr 8, 2011)

Looking at the premade sheets, I have some questions. I thought I was doing character creation properly, but I was doing the skills differently. 

Looking at the very first premade core character, the barbarian dwarf, his int score is 8, which is -1, and he gets 4-int skills per level, so 3 skill ranks. Class skill is acrobatics, but he only has +2, if he were to put a skill rank to acrobatics wouldn't it be 1 skill rank + 3 for a class skill?

Or the elf sorcerer has a 7 for diplomacy, but only 4 points, and diplomacy isn't a class skill.

Can someone please explain?


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## Alzrius (Apr 8, 2011)

MrSumOne said:


> Looking at the premade sheets, I have some questions. I thought I was doing character creation properly, but I was doing the skills differently.




Skills can be very hard to calculate correctly simply because there are a lot of things that can alter your skill bonuses. Case in point:



> _Looking at the very first premade core character, the barbarian dwarf, his int score is 8, which is -1, and he gets 4-int skills per level, so 3 skill ranks. Class skill is acrobatics, but he only has +2, if he were to put a skill rank to acrobatics wouldn't it be 1 skill rank + 3 for a class skill?_




The dwarf barbarian put 1 skill rank into Acrobatics; the most that he can as a 1st-level character. He then adds his Dex bonus (+2), his bonus for it being a class skill (+3) and subtracts his armor check penalty for wearing scale mail (-4).

1 rank + 2 Dex bonus + 3 class skill - 4 armor check penalty = +2 Acrobatics bonus.



> _Or the elf sorcerer has a 7 for diplomacy, but only 4 points, and diplomacy isn't a class skill._




Notice that the elf sorcerer has the infernal bloodline - this bloodline grants Diplomacy as a class skill. Hence, he's got 1 rank + 3 Charisma bonus + 3 class bonus = +7 Diplomacy bonus.



> _Can someone please explain?_




Hope that helps!


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## Anguish (Apr 8, 2011)

Zil said:


> I'm curious why they've stopped including the pregens in the Adventure Paths.  I kind of liked having them there as a rough gauge as to expected power level/characters/items for running the adventures.   It was also nice to be able to grab one of them if I wanted to add an NPC to a group because the group was shy a player or two.




Part of it is space.  Authors have been regularly turning in submissions that were over in terms of word-count.  Additionally there have been submissions that editorial staff have felt could use clarification or expansion.  The elimination of the pre-gens buys two extra pages within the adventure paths that can be used flexibly.

The rest is IronWolf says.  Really, if you think about it I think it makes sense.  The average AP brings you from 1st to 15th level.  To have a total of six of those levels statted out for you is of limited utility, and that only to the subset of gamers that wouldn't make their own characters.  How many people are going to run a 1st-15th AP with pre-gens?  How many of those are going to sync back up at the individual books?  I mean, what... you manually level your pre-gens at 2nd and 3rd but when you start the next book and find a 4th level pre-gen you change whatever choices you made to match up?  How about deaths?  Any death in the AP makes one of the pre-gens pointless forever after.  Bottom line is that while some people enjoyed reading them, the vocal majority see those pages as better spent otherwise.


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## Patryn of Elvenshae (Apr 8, 2011)

MrSumOne said:


> I was going to be playing with a few new people, and if they don't feel like creating a character, I would like to have a few premade ready. Is there somewhere I can get some premade lv1 characters, or is it just easier making them myself?




You can find a 1st-level Elven Magus character, as well as some notes from me on how well it plays and how to play it better, in my Magus (Playtest Revision 3) thread.

Note that there are spoilers in there for the Rise of the Runelords adventure path, so tread carefully.

Here's my wife's shield-focusing Dwarven Fighter at 1st-level:

Braeggan Awlthinn
Dwarf Fighter 1 (Favored: Skill Point)

Str: 15 (+2)
Dex: 13 (+1)
Con: 17 (+3)
Int: 13 (+1)
Wis: 12 (+1)
Cha: 8 (-1)

Trained Skills: Climb, Craft (Armorsmith), Craft (Weaponsmith), Knowledge (Dungeoneering)

Feats: Power Attack, Shield Focus

Traits (from the APG): Goldsniffer, Favored Daughter of Sandpoint

Variant Racial Abilities: Craftsman (+2 racial bonus to Craft or Profession checks that create objects from metal or stone; replaces Greed)

BAB: +1
CMB: +3
CMD: 14

Fort: +5
Ref: +1
Will: +1

AC: 20 (10 + 6 Armor + 3 Shield [+2 Base, +1 Shield Focus] + 1 Dex)
Touch: 11
Flat-Footed: 19

Main Attacks:
Dwarven Waraxe +3 (1d10+2, 20/x3, S)
Light Crossbow +2 (1d8, 19/x2, P)
Armor Spikes +3 (1d4+2, 20/x2, P)

Armor: Spiked Chainmail, Heavy Steel Shield


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## MrSumOne (Apr 9, 2011)

Patryn of Elvenshae said:


> Dwarven Waraxe +3 (1d10+3, 20/x3, S)
> Light Crossbow +2 (1d8, 19/x2, P)
> Armor Spikes +3 (1d4+3, 20/x2, P)




This may be a stupid question, but how did you get the +3 in 1d10+3 for the waraxe?


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## Shisumo (Apr 9, 2011)

MrSumOne said:


> This may be a stupid question, but how did you get the +3 in 1d10+3 for the waraxe?



 For what it's worth, I don't know how he did it either, so I don't think it's a stupid question.  Same would actually apply to the armor spikes, for that matter.


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## Alzrius (Apr 9, 2011)

MrSumOne said:


> This may be a stupid question, but how did you get the +3 in 1d10+3 for the waraxe?




I'm guessing this is the damage bonus for using it in two hands. His character has a 15 Strength, which has a +2 bonus. A dwarven waraxe is a one-handed weapon, which means he can use it in two hands, making the Strength bonus multiplied by 1.5, turning the +2 into a +3.

No idea about the armor spikes bonus, however. Those should only be +2 to damage from his Strength bonus.

EDIT: No, wait, that can't be right. He's got a shield, so he can't be using the dwarven waraxe two-handed. Presumably it's just an error, then.


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## MrSumOne (Apr 9, 2011)

Alzrius said:


> I'm guessing this is the damage bonus for using it in two hands. His character has a 15 Strength, which has a +2 bonus. A dwarven waraxe is a one-handed weapon, which means he can use it in two hands, making the Strength bonus multiplied by 1.5, turning the +2 into a +3.




Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the atk bonus is on atk rolls, not damage rolls.


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## Patryn of Elvenshae (Apr 9, 2011)

It's a transcription error.  Sorry!  It's what happens when you retype things instead of copy-paste.

And, if she did use it in two hands, it'd be +3 (but she'd lose the shield bonus to AC).


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## Alzrius (Apr 9, 2011)

MrSumOne said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the atk bonus is on atk rolls, not damage rolls.




Your base attack bonus applies to attack and not damage rolls. Your Strength bonus applies to melee attack rolls *and* melee damage rolls (and thrown weapon damage rolls).


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## MrSumOne (Apr 9, 2011)

What things other than atk bonus effect the damage? I see a lot of stat blocks that are 1d12+4 for example, but I can only account for +3 with atk bonus.


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## Patryn of Elvenshae (Apr 9, 2011)

MrSumOne said:


> What things other than atk bonus effect the damage? I see a lot of stat blocks that are 1d12+4 for example, but I can only account for +3 with atk bonus.




Your attack bonus generally doesn't affect your damage bonus. However, your Strength bonus applies to both your melee attack and melee damage rolls. 

And, if youre wielding most weapons in two hands, you get x1.5 your Str bonus to damage. So, 16 or 17 Str (+3) results in +3 to hit, +4 to damage with a two-handed weapon.


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## Shisumo (Apr 10, 2011)

You normally calculate your melee attack bonus as follows:
Base Attack Bonus (from class) + Strength modifier + other modifiers (from feats, spells, weapon enhancements, and so on)
Your damage is then:
Weapon's damage die + Strength modifier + other modifiers

If using a two-handed weapon or a one-handed weapon in two hands, you multiply your Strength modifier by 1.5 (rounded down) for the purposes of damage.

If there are particular characters on those pregens you're curious about math-wise, feel free to ask (here or email me directly - my email's in the PDF); we'll get it sorted out.


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