Pathfinder 1E New to Table Top RPG's

[Masterprestor]

Hello All,

I am new to this forum and slightly new to table top RPG's. I have played DnD a few times before and have played a lot of White Wolf games, but I have never taken the time to play
a d20 dice game as a Game Master. A group of friends have expressed interest in playing an RPG. I've always wanted to GM so I suggested we play Pathfinder. In preparation I have acquired a beginners box, the core rulebook and some other supplementary literature.

Before I ask my players to begin making characters and getting prepared to play I want to make sure I have a firm grasp on character creation, combat maneuvers and inventory. So I started going through the book, playing the 23 section sequences, learning about CMD's and ST's..Most of it was fairly basic review. However, when I got to the character creation portion of the the beginners box I noticed the character sheets for the beginners box and the standard 3.5 core rulebook sheet are different. Since we want to play using 3.5 rules I used the standard sheet. I'm having a hard time translating what the beginner box is instructing for their character sheet to the 3.5 sheet.


Beginner Box Sheet


3.5 sheet


For example, in the the Hero's book for creating a fighter, pg. 22 section E, " in section e of your character sheet, check shields, light armor, medium armor, etc." - There is no comparable section to my knowledge in the 3.5 sheet.

I ran into the same issue where the beginner box sheet had different sections when I tried to pencil in racial traits and skill ranks in the 3.5 sheet. Obviously, my issue is a lack of experience. But any and all assistance would be appreciated. I've luckily given myself and my players a decent amount of time to study and make sure I'm comfortable with the rules to GM their game.

 

[thewok]

For your example, the Fighter's weapon and armor proficiencies are "class features." Many character sheets have a space for these, but the official Pathfinder one doesn't seem to. In this case, you can put those in the "Feats" area. The Fighter's weapon and armor proficiencies work exactly the same as the Weapon Proficiency and Armor Proficiency feats. However, since Fighters are proficient with anything that's not exotic, you can just leave them off, and realize that you can wield any non-exotic weapon or don any type of armor.

Edit: those features might also work well under the "Special Abilities" section, should you really feel the need to document them.

From what I can tell from the images you've provided, the sheets seem to be otherwise fairly similar, though obviously not in layout.

 

[Masterprestor]

Thanks

For your example, the Fighter's weapon and armor proficiencies are "class features." Many character sheets have a space for these, but the official Pathfinder one doesn't seem to. In this case, you can put those in the "Feats" area. The Fighter's weapon and armor proficiencies work exactly the same as the Weapon Proficiency and Armor Proficiency feats. However, since Fighters are proficient with anything that's not exotic, you can just leave them off, and realize that you can wield any non-exotic weapon or don any type of armor.

Edit: those features might also work well under the "Special Abilities" section, should you really feel the need to document them.

From what I can tell from the images you've provided, the sheets seem to be otherwise fairly similar, though obviously not in layout.

Thanks thewok, you've been a great help. I want to make sure I have a really firm understanding of character sheet layout and functions, so I'm trying to be thorough. One other thing I was confused about was in section "I" of the beginner box sheet "Class Features" there is a box for "Skill Rank". The book tells me to put +2 to skills rank for the fighter in this box, however the 3.5 sheet does not have this input section. Should I just record this number on scratch paper?

 

[thewok]

There's no need to add how many skill points you get per level on your sheet. As you level, you can always go back to the book to reference that your Fighter gets 2 + Int modifier skill points when he levels. Should you ever delve into the beast that is multiclassing, that number would be useless anyway, because you'd gain the skill points for your new class instead of the Fighter's 2.

When I level up a character, I'll make a note of how many skill points I get at that level on the sheet. Then, I'll place a mark by the skills I want to raise. Once I'm happy with my selections, I'll update the number in the "Ranks" space and recalculate the totals as needed. Then, I can erase those marks and the temporary notation of skill points.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Beginners Box is just that, for beginners. It presents a simplified version of the official game. The differences you are noticing include the changes in complexity for the starting player.

 

[Jester David]

Just put numbers in places that look right and have the same name and you should be fine. Don't try and get everything right your first time. You won't. I've been playing various RPGs for twenty-one years and I still make mistakes. A lot. Sometimes my players know, but most of the time they don't.
It's a game; as long as everyone is having fun it doesn't matter.

But this *might* help:

 

[Masterprestor]

Beginners Box is just that, for beginners. It presents a simplified version of the official game. The differences you are noticing include the changes in complexity for the starting player.

Yeah, I understand that there will be slight difference in comparison of the standard Pathfinder experience versus the Beginners Box version. In actuality I obtained the beginners box cause I figured it would provide a more comprehensive and terse explanation of the basic rules and mechanics. Which it did, and I am quite satisfied with my purchase. As a fledgling GM, I figured I should learn to crawl before I start sprinting. The campaign that I am crafting for my players, however, is going to be beyond what the beginners box can provide. Along with the core rulebook I also purchased the GameMastery Guide, which I am loving! Our campaign won't start until June (which should give me enough time to build a world, create cities, design dungeons and compile encounters) and so far this guide has provided excellent tips and suggestions to making this campaign a success. As I said, I've never GM'ed before and from what I can tell DnD/Pathfinder RPG's are much more intricate and technical then most White Wolf games, which is a little intimidating for my first GM experience.

But yeah, any tips or suggestions from all of you experienced players/GM's would be greatly appreciated. I know one issue I'm considering is leaving out the physical map and figurines. I've never played with an actual map or had to consider maneuverability during combat situations. Do you think it would be easier to omit maps dungeon/encounter maps for this run through or should I give it a try?

 

[Masterprestor]

Just put numbers in places that look right and have the same name and you should be fine. Don't try and get everything right your first time. You won't. I've been playing various RPGs for twenty-one years and I still make mistakes. A lot. Sometimes my players know, but most of the time they don't.
It's a game; as long as everyone is having fun it doesn't matter.

But this *might* help:
View attachment 60501

That does help greatly! Thank you for directly addressing my issue with such a concise and clear method =D I will be using this for awhile..I wish the transitional book for Beginner to Core rulebook had a display like this.