New Player ~ Few Questions

[GR0PED]

Hi guys so i used to play warhammer 40k when i was younger~ Then over the years roleplayed quite a bit through online gaming but the communities die as fast as they appear alot of the time ~ A year ago i was looking into DnD and eventually came across Pathfinder ~ Bought a the rule book and read through it. The only problem is i live in Scotland.. Where its pretty much just farming and its hard to even play pathfinder ~

Came across this Fantasy Grounds a while ago but struggled to get into it and i recently came back to researching it since i have had the extra time..

With a basic understanding of the system and rules i was looking to buy hero labs (Since it has an easy to use upgrade system and blanks out what options you can't take quite easily so its more like a game upgrade system..) figured this would be an easier place to start for character creation..

Signed upto PSG and got a #

From what i understand the next steps would be to create a character using hero labs and use a program or what ever to change it over to a universal file used in fantasy grounds (Ill follow instructions of the sticky thread)
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Now my questions were..

I am planning on using a Ranger class ~ Do i just need to buy the Hero labs set with Class Pack Entry Path ~ or would i be better off getting the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game ~ (I already have the core rule book)

Also when playing about with Hero labs demo i couldn't figure out how to set up an animal companion.. Was wondering if this is done through hero lab or something else ?

After that from what i understand i can join games through this forum and build up records (chronicles) which let my character gain exp and advance ~

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Probably should be posting these questions about another program elsewhere ~ But they seem to go hand in hand with fantasy grounds for Pathfinder Society ~ I never tried the freeware version of hero labs (forgot its name) but i assumed you would need more knowledge or character creation / what skills you can and can't have to set up a character with it

[GM BK]

I am planning on using a Ranger class ~ Do i just need to buy the Hero labs set with Class Pack Entry Path ~ or would i be better off getting the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game ~ (I already have the core rule book)

Ok, first of all... To use anything in a Pathfinder Society Event, you must own the source book it came from. Owning it on Hero Labs is not the same thing as buying the actual book, and therefore does not count. As far as Hero Labs goes, personally, I would invest money in the books from Paizo first, before getting wrapped up in Hero Labs.

Also when playing about with Hero labs demo i couldn't figure out how to set up an animal companion.. Was wondering if this is done through hero lab or something else ?

Although I have no idea how Hero Labs handles it, in Fantasy Grounds, you use a separate character sheet for your companion. Also, I get the feeling that you're looking to use Hero Labs to make your character, then use the HL>FG converter? From what I understand is, it works ok, but its not perfect. You will have to go back and edit the character sheet it creates to fix the things that didn't translate over well. I would highly recommend doing this well before you sit down at a table.

After that from what i understand i can join games through this forum and build up records (chronicles) which let my character gain exp and advance ~

Yes, people will post their events to this forum, but first they will post to the Game Announcement Thread. Subscribe to it and you'll get an email notification whenever a new event is posted.

Anyways, hope this helps

[GR0PED]

Ok, first of all... To use anything in a Pathfinder Society Event, you must own the source book it came from. Owning it on Hero Labs is not the same thing as buying the actual book, and therefore does not count. As far as Hero Labs goes, personally, I would invest money in the books from Paizo first, before getting wrapped up in Hero Labs.



Although I have no idea how Hero Labs handles it, in Fantasy Grounds, you use a separate character sheet for your companion. Also, I get the feeling that you're looking to use Hero Labs to make your character, then use the HL>FG converter? From what I understand is, it works ok, but its not perfect. You will have to go back and edit the character sheet it creates to fix the things that didn't translate over well. I would highly recommend doing this well before you sit down at a table.



Yes, people will post their events to this forum, but first they will post to the Game Announcement Thread. Subscribe to it and you'll get an email notification whenever a new event is posted.

Anyways, hope this helps

Thanks for the reply as for books i have the beginner box ~ not really the community around here to try it out though ~ Which books would you suggest getting other than the core rule book ? Since the beginner rule book (which i thought was the core rule book.. Haven't looked at it in a while) as it only touches the surface.

As for book unless you are referring to the free book ? Unsure of any other pathfinder books.. I have read through the majority of sticky threads in the FG PFS Forum but not heard any references too that

[GM BK]

Yes, pick up the Core Rulebook. I think the PDF is $10... That should keep you satisfied for a while. Beyond that though, I would probably go with the Advanced Player Guide, then Advanced Race Guide... Then, depending on what kind of characters you play, I would either go with Ultimate Magic or Ultimate Combat. Try to squeeze in Ultimate Equipment somewhere in there as well. Pathfinder Unchained is a must, just for the updated classes, and the Advanced Class Guide is a worthy addition. Top it off with the Inner Sea World Guide, and you've got what I would consider a "Core" set for a player.

I would also advise downloading the free PFS Guide. It'll answer a lot of questions you're probably going to have.

[lachancery]

Yes, pick up the Core Rulebook. I think the PDF is $10... That should keep you satisfied for a while. Beyond that though, I would probably go with the Advanced Player Guide, then Advanced Race Guide... Then, depending on what kind of characters you play, I would either go with Ultimate Magic or Ultimate Combat. Try to squeeze in Ultimate Equipment somewhere in there as well. Pathfinder Unchained is a must, just for the updated classes, and the Advanced Class Guide is a worthy addition. Top it off with the Inner Sea World Guide, and you've got what I would consider a "Core" set for a player.

I would also advise downloading the free PFS Guide. It'll answer a lot of questions you're probably going to have.

...OR... You could also play in the CORE campaign, which uses only the Core Book and the PFS Guide? It can be a softer entry into Pathfinder & PFS; there is a lot of published material!

(And if a CORE level 1 game gets organized, I'm joining as a player!)

[GM BK]

Core is fun

[Blackfoot]

Apparently my Friday nights have freed up... I can probably run a CORE game next Friday the 15th if anyone is interested... I can run any of the starter scenarios (except the new season 7 one)

[GR0PED]

Apparently my Friday nights have freed up... I can probably run a CORE game next Friday the 15th if anyone is interested... I can run any of the starter scenarios (except the new season 7 one)

I would be up for that

[GR0PED]

Still was looking for a bit more information on the hero lab system or a system players here use alot? I assumed from the sticky notes i read people use the converted files for hero info instead of passing info manually to gms

[Blackfoot]

Hero Lab does a nice job of building characters and checking to make sure things are done properly (although occasionally there are some errors.. but they are quite few)... once converted to an FG character file using the converter.. they generally require a little 'deluxing' ... refining and tweaking.. to make them ready for play. The converter handles the basics... sets it all up and then you add other 'special' things as needed. (mostly player effects and the like)
Generally.. most players submit a character export file to the GMs. You can export your character from Manage Characters once you have done your tweaks to it.. also.. when I run starter games (and some of the other GMs as well).. I usually help new characters with setup features... but again this would be done after the character was converted to a FG .xml file.