Post by The Black Knight on Apr 9, 2008 0:16:24 GMT -5
Well, I got the idea to post a little guide to the basics of DND. I hope we can all update it and add content.
First of all, This is the SRD, which has all the rules set up so that you can access the sections freely.
Language- I will try to post any DnD terms here
XdY - Such and such a number of some type of dice. 1d6 means 1 six sider, 3d4 means 3 four sided dice, 3426234d20 means 3426234 twenty sided dice, etc.
BAB - Base attack bonus
Str - Strength
Dex - Dexterity
Con - Constitution
Int - Intelligence
Wis - Wisdom
Cha - Charisma
PB - Point Buy
DC - Difficulty Class
AC - Armor Class
Modifier - Any number that modifies your roll
x bonus - A type of bonus. Generally bonuses only stack with differently named bonuses. Examples are Circumstance Bonuses, Enhancement Bonuses, and Luck Bonuses.
/ - A slash (/) often represents the word per. So 1/day means once per day.
HD - Hit Dice, the type and number of dice used for determining hit points of a character. Affects many other aspects of the character as well.
Racial HD - Racial Hit Dice, only certain races and monsters have thes.
Class Level - Your level in a given class
Character Level - Your total level in all classes
LA - Level Adjustment, certain powerful races and monsters get this
ECL - Effective character level, your character level plus your LA
Caster level - Your level for the purposes of determining the effects of spells you cast.
The D20 mechanic
DnD is based around the D20 (20 sided die) mechanic. The basic idea is that every task you attempt has a certain likely hood of success, and can be represented by a simple roll: d20 + relevant modifiers. This roll should attempt to equal or exceed the target number or Difficulty Class of the task you are attempting. The most common roles you will encounter are:
Skill checks: 1d20 + ranks in skill + Ability modifer + Armor Check Penalty + Misc
Saving Throws: 1d20 + Base Save + Ability modifer + misc
Attack Rolls: 1d20 + BaB + Ability modifier +Size modifier + misc
Attack Rolls target a special DC called Armor Class. It should also be noted that anywhere in the rules where it says "x bonus" or "x penalty" "to attack" it means this roll, NOT damage unless it is explicitly stated.
A natural 20 (A roll of 20 without modifiers) is an automatic success on Saving Throws and Attack Rolls, but not on Skill Checks.
EXAMPLES:
Mug the Rogue is trying to pick the lock on a door. The DC of the lock is 20 (but neither Mug nor his player knows that). Mug rolls and gets a 10. He has 4 ranks in Open Lock and 20 Dexterity. Therefore, the formula looks like this: 10 (d20 roll) + 4 (Skill ranks) + 5 (Dexterity Modifier, because Dexterity is the Key Attribute of Open Lock) = 19, causing him to fail his lock opening. Mug decides to try again, but using a better lock pick this time, granting him a +2 Circumstance Bonus. He rolls again, and gets a 9. The formula now looks like this: 9 + 4 + 5 + 2 = 20. Success!
Later, Mug is being attacked by an Evil Wizard. The Wizard casts a Fireball on Mug. Mug has to make a Reflex Save (Reflex Saving Throw) in order to avoid it. The Save DC of the Fireball is 15. Mug rolls, and gets an 11. His Base Save is 2 and his Dexterity is 20. Therefore the formula goes: 11 + 2 + 5 = 18. Success!
Mug's friend, Chop the Dwarf, is fighting wolves in the woods. He takes a mighty swing at a wolf with his axe. The Wolf's Armor Class is 14. Chop rolls a 10. He has 18 Strength and +1 BaB, as well as the Weapon Focus feat for his axe. Therefore the formula looks like this: 10 + 4 (Strength) + 1 (BaB) + 1 (Weapon Focus) = 16. Hit! Then Chop rolls for damage.
Once you succeed at a task, various thing can occur, one of the main ones being DAMAGE. Damage does not follow the earlier formulas and can vary from source to source.
The Abilities (sometimes known as Attributes)
There are 6 ability scores, but they all follow certain rules.
A 10 in an attribute gives no bonus or penalty to actions.
Every 2 above 10 that the score goes, the bonus or penalty it gives to related actions (Called the Ability Modifier) goes up by 1. This same logic applies below 10. Note that this does NOT mean that every 2 below 10 reduces by one. Both 8 and 9 give a -1 modifier. Here is a small chart showing modifiers for stats up to 20.
0 - 1 = -5
2 - 3 = -4
4 - 5 = -3
6 - 7 = -2
8 - 9 = -1
10-11 = 0
12-13 = +1
14-15 = +2
16-17 = +3
18-19 = +4
20-21 = +5
Average Human attributes are from 8-12.
Strength:
Strength indicates the physical power in a creature. Strength allows you to carry more, hit more often with melee weapons, deal more damage with some weapons, etc.
Dexterity:
Dexterity represents a characters agility and reflexes. Dexterity affect many skill, armor class, hit chance with ranged weapons, reflex saves and more.
Constitution:
Constitution represents physical toughness and hardiness. Constitution grants more hit points, higher Fortitude Saves, and several other things.
Intelligence:
Intelligence represents a characters raw brain power, and ability to understand and manipulate. Intelligence grants characters additional skill points, additional languages known, bonuses to many skills, as well as being the root of some spellcasters' (like Wizards) spellcasting, as well as other things
Wisdom:
Wisdom represents a characters will power, perception and common sense. Wisdom increases Will Saves, is the core casting ability of many divine spellcasters (like Druids or Clerics), and has several other affects.
Charisma:
Charisma represents a characters force of personality and likeability. A charasmatic character could be very attractive, willfull, or just plain likeable. Charisma affects a fair amount of skill as well as being the primary spellcasting attribute of certain spellcasting classes (like the Bard or Sorceror), among other things.
Ability Score Generation
There are several ways to generate ability scores, however I will only mention a couple. The first is by rolling. Each player rolls 4d6, and drops the lowest roll, adding the other three together. This is done 6 times, then the numbers are assigned to the Abilities as the player decides.
The other method, and, in my opinion, a fairer one, would be Point Buy. In point buy, all the scores start at 8. Each person gets a certain number of "points" to spend on them (default is 32). Each point in an attribute costs one of your points, until you get to 14. Every ability point after 14 costs 2 points. After 16, each ability point costs 3. The ability scores cannot be raised above 18 at character creation (before racial modifiers). Here is a chart on the cost of a certain score in an ability
8 - 0
9 - 1
10 - 2
11 - 3
12 - 4
13 - 5
14 - 6
15 - 8
16 - 10
17 - 13
18 - 26
Attacks
Attack roll have already been explained, but I'm going to go a bit more in depth here. You already should know the formula for attacks. Now, I'm going to explain more about them.
First off, Base Attack Bonus. Characters will have different BaB based on class and level. BaB is added to every attack a character makes.
Secondly is the attribute modifiers. This is what normally would happen, but certain feats and class features can change them.
A melee attack roll adds the character's Strength modifier to the roll.
A ranged attack roll adds the characters Dexterity Modifier to the roll.
If an attack hits, it deals damage. For weapon attacks, it depends on the weapon, and for spells it states it in the spell description.
A characters Strength Modifier is added to his melee damage rolls. However if he wields a weapon in two hands, he gets 1.5 times his Strength Modifier to damage, whereas if he has a weapon in his off hand, it only gets half his Strength modifier to damage.
Ranged attacks do NOT get a character's Dexterity modifier to damage.
A roll of 20 is an automatic hit, and a 1 is an automatic miss. A 20 is also a critical threat. If a character rolls a 20, they roll again. If that roll would also hit, it is a critical hit, dealing double damage. Some weapons have an expanded critical threat range. For example, a Longsword scores a critical threat on a 19 or a 20. However, a 19 is not an automatic hit, even if it would cause a critical. Some weapons deal more damage on a critical hit. For example, if you get a critical hit with a battle axe, it deals 3 times the damage.
Example: Chop has decided to attack another wolf. He rolls a 15 + 4 + 1 + 1 = 21, beating the wolf's AC. So he hits. He is wielding a Dwarven Waraxe in one hand, so he rolls 1d10 + 4. He rolls a 6 + 4, so he deals 10 damage. Later, he decides to attack again, this time wielding his axe in two hands. He hits, and deals 1d10 + 6 damage. He rolls a 5 and deals 11 damage. Finally after a bloody battle he is left facing only the lead wolf. He rolls to attack, and gets a 20! He rolls again and gets a 15 + 4 + 1 + 1, getting a 21 and beating the wolf's AC. He criticals! He rolls 1d10 + 6 and gets a 6, so he would normally deal 12 damage. However, he has a critical hit, so he multiplies the damage by 3, getting 36. He swings his axe, and quickly lops off the wolf's head!
Calculating AC
Your armor class is a very important part of your character. It governs how hard they are to hit. To calculate armor class start with 10. Add the characters Dexterity Bonus, then their bonus from armor, their size bonus, their natural armor bonus, and any other bonuses they might have.
They also have a Touch AC, which determines how hard it is to touch them. The Touch AC is calculated like normal AC, but an Armor Bonus is not added, as well as some other bonuses.
They also have a Flat Footed AC, which determines how hard it is to hit them while they're flat footed. When they're flat footed they lose their Dex bonus to AC as well as Dodge bonuses and some other bonuses.
RACES
I will attempt to give a basic rundown of each of the core races, as well as some of the notable sub races.
NOTE= Racial modifiers are applied to ability scores AFTER they are generated.
Humans:
The basic race, and a solid choice for any class. They are one of the better races, and you can rarely go wrong choosing them. Their bonus feat is especially nice.
Dwarves:
A solid choice for most classes, except those relying on Charisma. Fairly well rounded, although they lack the sheer versatility of Humans.
Elves:
A fair choice for most classes, although the loss of Constitution can be a problem. A fairly nice choice for most classes.
Gray Elf: Identical to a regular elf in all way(mechanically) except it also has a +2 to Intelligence and a -2 to Strength. Makes a wonderful Wizard, and is one of my favorite races, for that reason alone.
Gnomes
Looking at the sheer amount of bonuses and abilities a Gnome gets, you would think it would be a great race. Sadly, for some reason Gnomes just aren't as good as other races. Still they can be fun to play. I generally switch the Gnome favored Class to Bard OR Wizard (Chosen on character creation).
Half-Elves:
Another weak race. Half Elves just aren't as good as their brethren. To make them more powerful, I often let them have the human bonus skill point, making them very skillful characters.
Half-Orc:
Another bad race... Half Orcs have to many penalties with too few bonuses. I generally allow them to choose (at character creation) if they want the Charisma penalty or the Intelligence penalty. I also give the Powerful Build, which allows them to wield weapons one size larger than they are.
Halflings
Ah. Finally a good race. Halflings are solid choices for most classes other than melee attackers. They're quite fair all around.
Strongheart Halfling:
Made of pure wonderful. The Strongheart halfling exchanges his + 1 luck bonus to all saves for a free feat at level 1, like a Human. Stronghearts make excellent choices.
Also, just because I don't think a race is good doesn't mean you shouldn't use them. It's entirely up to you on how you play.
I should state, that in the core rules, Spellcasters are much more powerful than the other characters. However, playing other characters can still be enjoyable.
Also, in regards to Races and Classes, all Spellcasters should try to avoid races with LA.
Barbarian:
While it is a core melee class, and therefore is one of the weaker classes, barbarians are still pretty nice. They are better than Fighters (to me) and there Rage can be pretty fun as well. They can be great to roleplay, and they're an alright class. For races, I would recommend using Medium or larger races, but other than that I would really only say to stay away from penalties to Str, Dex, or Con.
Bard:
Again, not a very mechanically powerful class, but it can still be fun. I would recommend a very high Charisma score for a Bard. For races I would recommend high Dex and Cha, and maybe Small size. Most races who don't have a penalty to Cha or Dex can make good Bards.
Cleric:
One of the three most powerful classes in the Core rules. Clerics are honestly pretty great. They can often be better at fighting then a Fighter, and can cast a great amount of Buffing/Healing spells as well as others. A high Wisdom is a near must. 16 could be okay, but I would always go for the 18. A nice Con, and Cha are good as well. And I would try to avoid a negative Int modifier. Str is kinda important if you want to fight, but not entirely neccessary. Dex is fairly unneeded, although I would avoid having a negative modifier in it. For Races, pretty well anything will work.
Druid:
Another great class, and one of the three best. Can be a Healer, buffer, or tank, as well as having other nice spells. Wisdom again is very important, like a Cleric. Str and Cha are less important for druids. Cha because Druids don't Turn Undead, and Str because, well, Druids have Wild Shape. Again, pretty well any race can make a great Druid, as long as you can get a fairly good Wisdom, Dex, and Con.
Fighter:
Perhaps the weakest core class, the Fighter is just that, a Fighter. The Fighter can be powerful with proper Feat choice, and can be fun to play, but is generally weaker than the other classes. The physical Abilities are Paramount, although avoiding a negative modifier in Intelligence is recommended as always. Most races work as Fighters, although medium or larger ones with bonuses to one or more of the physical Ability scores are preferable.
Monk:
First off, this is the Asian style of monk. The kung-fu ones. The monk is a pretty neat class, with all sorts of abilities, that essentially let you run around the battlefield at lightning speed, beating people to death with your bare hands. Monks need Wis, Con, Str, Dex, Int, Cha, in approximately that order. Again larger races make better monks, as well as races with bonuses to the physical Ability Scores, or to Wisdom.
Paladin:
The Paladin is a neat class like a Fighter crossed with a Cleric. Sadly, Clerics often make better Paladins then Paladins do, but nevertheless, Paladins are fun. In fact, there's a really nice Rebalanced Paladin here: forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=761045
Either way, Paladins need Cha, Con, Str, Wis, Int, and Dex, in about that order. Or at least that is how I prioritize it. Again, everything here is my opinion, so your mileage may vary.
Ranger
The Ranger is a nice combat class, like a Druid mixed with a fighter, with more skill points, tracking skill, and some neat combat styles. The Ranger is basically your regular woodsman. Statwise, depending on how you make him, you'll be wanting either high Dex, or Str, or both. Wis and Con are pretty important, and having at least 10 Int is always nice.
Rogue
The Rogue is the skillfull class. Rogues get the most skill points, and have quite a few class skills. They gain quite a few dodgy/sneaky abilities in combat, and their Sneak Attack makes them great support Combatants. Rogues can be hugely varied in concept and stats. All races can make great rogues, although Halflings are the generic race for the job, and do it well.
Sorceror
The Sorcerer is another spellcasting class, and an Arcane one. The Sorcerer utilises natural spellcasting ability to Spontaneoulsy cast spells. A Sorcerer can be powerful, however they are mechanically weak compared to Wizards. Sorcerors can cast many spells per day, and don't need to memorize them beforehand, but know very few spells. For Sorcerers, Cha is most important and I highly recommend an 18 in it. Con and Dex are also important, and after that it's down to you. All races without a penalty to Cha make good Sorcerers.
Wizard
Wizards are a very powerful class, and one of the three most powerful of the Core classes. They also happen to be my favorite. Wizards know an impressive amount of spells, which can be further improved by Feats like Collegiate Wizard, and other things. They can theoretically know every spell on their spell list that is in existence. Their ability to specialize is also great. For Ability Scores, I can't play a Wizard with less than 18 Int. It will greatly improve him. After that get Dex and Con. I have an irrational and overpowering fear of being Feebleminded, so I always bring my Wis up to 10. Many people don't. Str, Wis, and Cha are rarely if ever needed for a Wizard. For Races, anything without a penalty to Int works, although Humans, Strongheart Halflings,and Gray Elves are some of the best.
Honestly, for a beginning player, I would recommend just choosing a few skills you want and maxing them out. Different classes grant different amounts of skill points. As shown, you get 4 times the regular amount of Skill points at level 1. Skill points can be assigned to buy ranks in Class skills (on a 1 for 1 basis), or Ranks in Cross Class skills (on a 2 for 1 basis). The Maximum rank you can have in a class skill equals your character level + 3, and the maximum ranks in a cross class skill equals (your character level + 3)/2.
All Spellcasters should take Concentration however, and Wizards should take Spellcraft, as well as at least a few Knowledge skills.
You get a feat at level one, as well as one at level 3 and every 3 levels afterwards. Some races or classes grant additional feats. Feat selection can be pretty straight forward, but I will recommend some feats that are generally useful.
Power Attack is almost a must for most Melee builds, especially strength based ones. It is also a prerequisite for many feats.
Cleave and it's big brother Great Cleave are also a good choice for melee classes.
Ranged attacking Builds will probably need Point Blank Shot, both for it's bonuses, and because it is a prerequisite to most ranged attack feats.
Improved Initiative is always a solid choice if you are wondering what feat to take. Who doesn't want to go first in a fight?
Weapon Focus and similar feats are good if you are focusing on a single type of weapon.
Weapon Finesse is a wonderful feat if you are a melee fighting class with high Dex.
Metamagic and Item Creation Feats are fine choices for a Spellcaster, although Empower and Extend Spell are two of the better choices.
If anyone has the book Complete Arcane, on page 181 there is a great Feat called Collegiate Wizard, which makes Wizards even better by highly expanding their spells known list.
Feats to avoid:
Feats that give bonuses to skills (like the Alertness feat) are generally not worth it. I would also avoid Skill Focus feats although in some situations they can be fine.[/quote]
The Basics
First of all, This is the SRD, which has all the rules set up so that you can access the sections freely.
Language- I will try to post any DnD terms here
XdY - Such and such a number of some type of dice. 1d6 means 1 six sider, 3d4 means 3 four sided dice, 3426234d20 means 3426234 twenty sided dice, etc.
BAB - Base attack bonus
Str - Strength
Dex - Dexterity
Con - Constitution
Int - Intelligence
Wis - Wisdom
Cha - Charisma
PB - Point Buy
DC - Difficulty Class
AC - Armor Class
Modifier - Any number that modifies your roll
x bonus - A type of bonus. Generally bonuses only stack with differently named bonuses. Examples are Circumstance Bonuses, Enhancement Bonuses, and Luck Bonuses.
/ - A slash (/) often represents the word per. So 1/day means once per day.
HD - Hit Dice, the type and number of dice used for determining hit points of a character. Affects many other aspects of the character as well.
Racial HD - Racial Hit Dice, only certain races and monsters have thes.
Class Level - Your level in a given class
Character Level - Your total level in all classes
LA - Level Adjustment, certain powerful races and monsters get this
ECL - Effective character level, your character level plus your LA
Caster level - Your level for the purposes of determining the effects of spells you cast.
The D20 mechanic
DnD is based around the D20 (20 sided die) mechanic. The basic idea is that every task you attempt has a certain likely hood of success, and can be represented by a simple roll: d20 + relevant modifiers. This roll should attempt to equal or exceed the target number or Difficulty Class of the task you are attempting. The most common roles you will encounter are:
Skill checks: 1d20 + ranks in skill + Ability modifer + Armor Check Penalty + Misc
Saving Throws: 1d20 + Base Save + Ability modifer + misc
Attack Rolls: 1d20 + BaB + Ability modifier +Size modifier + misc
Attack Rolls target a special DC called Armor Class. It should also be noted that anywhere in the rules where it says "x bonus" or "x penalty" "to attack" it means this roll, NOT damage unless it is explicitly stated.
A natural 20 (A roll of 20 without modifiers) is an automatic success on Saving Throws and Attack Rolls, but not on Skill Checks.
EXAMPLES:
Mug the Rogue is trying to pick the lock on a door. The DC of the lock is 20 (but neither Mug nor his player knows that). Mug rolls and gets a 10. He has 4 ranks in Open Lock and 20 Dexterity. Therefore, the formula looks like this: 10 (d20 roll) + 4 (Skill ranks) + 5 (Dexterity Modifier, because Dexterity is the Key Attribute of Open Lock) = 19, causing him to fail his lock opening. Mug decides to try again, but using a better lock pick this time, granting him a +2 Circumstance Bonus. He rolls again, and gets a 9. The formula now looks like this: 9 + 4 + 5 + 2 = 20. Success!
Later, Mug is being attacked by an Evil Wizard. The Wizard casts a Fireball on Mug. Mug has to make a Reflex Save (Reflex Saving Throw) in order to avoid it. The Save DC of the Fireball is 15. Mug rolls, and gets an 11. His Base Save is 2 and his Dexterity is 20. Therefore the formula goes: 11 + 2 + 5 = 18. Success!
Mug's friend, Chop the Dwarf, is fighting wolves in the woods. He takes a mighty swing at a wolf with his axe. The Wolf's Armor Class is 14. Chop rolls a 10. He has 18 Strength and +1 BaB, as well as the Weapon Focus feat for his axe. Therefore the formula looks like this: 10 + 4 (Strength) + 1 (BaB) + 1 (Weapon Focus) = 16. Hit! Then Chop rolls for damage.
Once you succeed at a task, various thing can occur, one of the main ones being DAMAGE. Damage does not follow the earlier formulas and can vary from source to source.
The Abilities (sometimes known as Attributes)
There are 6 ability scores, but they all follow certain rules.
A 10 in an attribute gives no bonus or penalty to actions.
Every 2 above 10 that the score goes, the bonus or penalty it gives to related actions (Called the Ability Modifier) goes up by 1. This same logic applies below 10. Note that this does NOT mean that every 2 below 10 reduces by one. Both 8 and 9 give a -1 modifier. Here is a small chart showing modifiers for stats up to 20.
0 - 1 = -5
2 - 3 = -4
4 - 5 = -3
6 - 7 = -2
8 - 9 = -1
10-11 = 0
12-13 = +1
14-15 = +2
16-17 = +3
18-19 = +4
20-21 = +5
Average Human attributes are from 8-12.
Strength:
Strength indicates the physical power in a creature. Strength allows you to carry more, hit more often with melee weapons, deal more damage with some weapons, etc.
Dexterity:
Dexterity represents a characters agility and reflexes. Dexterity affect many skill, armor class, hit chance with ranged weapons, reflex saves and more.
Constitution:
Constitution represents physical toughness and hardiness. Constitution grants more hit points, higher Fortitude Saves, and several other things.
Intelligence:
Intelligence represents a characters raw brain power, and ability to understand and manipulate. Intelligence grants characters additional skill points, additional languages known, bonuses to many skills, as well as being the root of some spellcasters' (like Wizards) spellcasting, as well as other things
Wisdom:
Wisdom represents a characters will power, perception and common sense. Wisdom increases Will Saves, is the core casting ability of many divine spellcasters (like Druids or Clerics), and has several other affects.
Charisma:
Charisma represents a characters force of personality and likeability. A charasmatic character could be very attractive, willfull, or just plain likeable. Charisma affects a fair amount of skill as well as being the primary spellcasting attribute of certain spellcasting classes (like the Bard or Sorceror), among other things.
Ability Score Generation
There are several ways to generate ability scores, however I will only mention a couple. The first is by rolling. Each player rolls 4d6, and drops the lowest roll, adding the other three together. This is done 6 times, then the numbers are assigned to the Abilities as the player decides.
The other method, and, in my opinion, a fairer one, would be Point Buy. In point buy, all the scores start at 8. Each person gets a certain number of "points" to spend on them (default is 32). Each point in an attribute costs one of your points, until you get to 14. Every ability point after 14 costs 2 points. After 16, each ability point costs 3. The ability scores cannot be raised above 18 at character creation (before racial modifiers). Here is a chart on the cost of a certain score in an ability
8 - 0
9 - 1
10 - 2
11 - 3
12 - 4
13 - 5
14 - 6
15 - 8
16 - 10
17 - 13
18 - 26
Attacks
Attack roll have already been explained, but I'm going to go a bit more in depth here. You already should know the formula for attacks. Now, I'm going to explain more about them.
First off, Base Attack Bonus. Characters will have different BaB based on class and level. BaB is added to every attack a character makes.
Secondly is the attribute modifiers. This is what normally would happen, but certain feats and class features can change them.
A melee attack roll adds the character's Strength modifier to the roll.
A ranged attack roll adds the characters Dexterity Modifier to the roll.
If an attack hits, it deals damage. For weapon attacks, it depends on the weapon, and for spells it states it in the spell description.
A characters Strength Modifier is added to his melee damage rolls. However if he wields a weapon in two hands, he gets 1.5 times his Strength Modifier to damage, whereas if he has a weapon in his off hand, it only gets half his Strength modifier to damage.
Ranged attacks do NOT get a character's Dexterity modifier to damage.
A roll of 20 is an automatic hit, and a 1 is an automatic miss. A 20 is also a critical threat. If a character rolls a 20, they roll again. If that roll would also hit, it is a critical hit, dealing double damage. Some weapons have an expanded critical threat range. For example, a Longsword scores a critical threat on a 19 or a 20. However, a 19 is not an automatic hit, even if it would cause a critical. Some weapons deal more damage on a critical hit. For example, if you get a critical hit with a battle axe, it deals 3 times the damage.
Example: Chop has decided to attack another wolf. He rolls a 15 + 4 + 1 + 1 = 21, beating the wolf's AC. So he hits. He is wielding a Dwarven Waraxe in one hand, so he rolls 1d10 + 4. He rolls a 6 + 4, so he deals 10 damage. Later, he decides to attack again, this time wielding his axe in two hands. He hits, and deals 1d10 + 6 damage. He rolls a 5 and deals 11 damage. Finally after a bloody battle he is left facing only the lead wolf. He rolls to attack, and gets a 20! He rolls again and gets a 15 + 4 + 1 + 1, getting a 21 and beating the wolf's AC. He criticals! He rolls 1d10 + 6 and gets a 6, so he would normally deal 12 damage. However, he has a critical hit, so he multiplies the damage by 3, getting 36. He swings his axe, and quickly lops off the wolf's head!
Calculating AC
Your armor class is a very important part of your character. It governs how hard they are to hit. To calculate armor class start with 10. Add the characters Dexterity Bonus, then their bonus from armor, their size bonus, their natural armor bonus, and any other bonuses they might have.
They also have a Touch AC, which determines how hard it is to touch them. The Touch AC is calculated like normal AC, but an Armor Bonus is not added, as well as some other bonuses.
They also have a Flat Footed AC, which determines how hard it is to hit them while they're flat footed. When they're flat footed they lose their Dex bonus to AC as well as Dodge bonuses and some other bonuses.
The Races
RACES
I will attempt to give a basic rundown of each of the core races, as well as some of the notable sub races.
NOTE= Racial modifiers are applied to ability scores AFTER they are generated.
Humans:
The basic race, and a solid choice for any class. They are one of the better races, and you can rarely go wrong choosing them. Their bonus feat is especially nice.
Dwarves:
A solid choice for most classes, except those relying on Charisma. Fairly well rounded, although they lack the sheer versatility of Humans.
Elves:
A fair choice for most classes, although the loss of Constitution can be a problem. A fairly nice choice for most classes.
Gray Elf: Identical to a regular elf in all way(mechanically) except it also has a +2 to Intelligence and a -2 to Strength. Makes a wonderful Wizard, and is one of my favorite races, for that reason alone.
Gnomes
Looking at the sheer amount of bonuses and abilities a Gnome gets, you would think it would be a great race. Sadly, for some reason Gnomes just aren't as good as other races. Still they can be fun to play. I generally switch the Gnome favored Class to Bard OR Wizard (Chosen on character creation).
Half-Elves:
Another weak race. Half Elves just aren't as good as their brethren. To make them more powerful, I often let them have the human bonus skill point, making them very skillful characters.
Half-Orc:
Another bad race... Half Orcs have to many penalties with too few bonuses. I generally allow them to choose (at character creation) if they want the Charisma penalty or the Intelligence penalty. I also give the Powerful Build, which allows them to wield weapons one size larger than they are.
Halflings
Ah. Finally a good race. Halflings are solid choices for most classes other than melee attackers. They're quite fair all around.
Strongheart Halfling:
Made of pure wonderful. The Strongheart halfling exchanges his + 1 luck bonus to all saves for a free feat at level 1, like a Human. Stronghearts make excellent choices.
Also, just because I don't think a race is good doesn't mean you shouldn't use them. It's entirely up to you on how you play.
I should state, that in the core rules, Spellcasters are much more powerful than the other characters. However, playing other characters can still be enjoyable.
Also, in regards to Races and Classes, all Spellcasters should try to avoid races with LA.
Barbarian:
While it is a core melee class, and therefore is one of the weaker classes, barbarians are still pretty nice. They are better than Fighters (to me) and there Rage can be pretty fun as well. They can be great to roleplay, and they're an alright class. For races, I would recommend using Medium or larger races, but other than that I would really only say to stay away from penalties to Str, Dex, or Con.
Bard:
Again, not a very mechanically powerful class, but it can still be fun. I would recommend a very high Charisma score for a Bard. For races I would recommend high Dex and Cha, and maybe Small size. Most races who don't have a penalty to Cha or Dex can make good Bards.
Cleric:
One of the three most powerful classes in the Core rules. Clerics are honestly pretty great. They can often be better at fighting then a Fighter, and can cast a great amount of Buffing/Healing spells as well as others. A high Wisdom is a near must. 16 could be okay, but I would always go for the 18. A nice Con, and Cha are good as well. And I would try to avoid a negative Int modifier. Str is kinda important if you want to fight, but not entirely neccessary. Dex is fairly unneeded, although I would avoid having a negative modifier in it. For Races, pretty well anything will work.
Druid:
Another great class, and one of the three best. Can be a Healer, buffer, or tank, as well as having other nice spells. Wisdom again is very important, like a Cleric. Str and Cha are less important for druids. Cha because Druids don't Turn Undead, and Str because, well, Druids have Wild Shape. Again, pretty well any race can make a great Druid, as long as you can get a fairly good Wisdom, Dex, and Con.
Fighter:
Perhaps the weakest core class, the Fighter is just that, a Fighter. The Fighter can be powerful with proper Feat choice, and can be fun to play, but is generally weaker than the other classes. The physical Abilities are Paramount, although avoiding a negative modifier in Intelligence is recommended as always. Most races work as Fighters, although medium or larger ones with bonuses to one or more of the physical Ability scores are preferable.
Monk:
First off, this is the Asian style of monk. The kung-fu ones. The monk is a pretty neat class, with all sorts of abilities, that essentially let you run around the battlefield at lightning speed, beating people to death with your bare hands. Monks need Wis, Con, Str, Dex, Int, Cha, in approximately that order. Again larger races make better monks, as well as races with bonuses to the physical Ability Scores, or to Wisdom.
Paladin:
The Paladin is a neat class like a Fighter crossed with a Cleric. Sadly, Clerics often make better Paladins then Paladins do, but nevertheless, Paladins are fun. In fact, there's a really nice Rebalanced Paladin here: forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=761045
Either way, Paladins need Cha, Con, Str, Wis, Int, and Dex, in about that order. Or at least that is how I prioritize it. Again, everything here is my opinion, so your mileage may vary.
Ranger
The Ranger is a nice combat class, like a Druid mixed with a fighter, with more skill points, tracking skill, and some neat combat styles. The Ranger is basically your regular woodsman. Statwise, depending on how you make him, you'll be wanting either high Dex, or Str, or both. Wis and Con are pretty important, and having at least 10 Int is always nice.
Rogue
The Rogue is the skillfull class. Rogues get the most skill points, and have quite a few class skills. They gain quite a few dodgy/sneaky abilities in combat, and their Sneak Attack makes them great support Combatants. Rogues can be hugely varied in concept and stats. All races can make great rogues, although Halflings are the generic race for the job, and do it well.
Sorceror
The Sorcerer is another spellcasting class, and an Arcane one. The Sorcerer utilises natural spellcasting ability to Spontaneoulsy cast spells. A Sorcerer can be powerful, however they are mechanically weak compared to Wizards. Sorcerors can cast many spells per day, and don't need to memorize them beforehand, but know very few spells. For Sorcerers, Cha is most important and I highly recommend an 18 in it. Con and Dex are also important, and after that it's down to you. All races without a penalty to Cha make good Sorcerers.
Wizard
Wizards are a very powerful class, and one of the three most powerful of the Core classes. They also happen to be my favorite. Wizards know an impressive amount of spells, which can be further improved by Feats like Collegiate Wizard, and other things. They can theoretically know every spell on their spell list that is in existence. Their ability to specialize is also great. For Ability Scores, I can't play a Wizard with less than 18 Int. It will greatly improve him. After that get Dex and Con. I have an irrational and overpowering fear of being Feebleminded, so I always bring my Wis up to 10. Many people don't. Str, Wis, and Cha are rarely if ever needed for a Wizard. For Races, anything without a penalty to Int works, although Humans, Strongheart Halflings,and Gray Elves are some of the best.
Honestly, for a beginning player, I would recommend just choosing a few skills you want and maxing them out. Different classes grant different amounts of skill points. As shown, you get 4 times the regular amount of Skill points at level 1. Skill points can be assigned to buy ranks in Class skills (on a 1 for 1 basis), or Ranks in Cross Class skills (on a 2 for 1 basis). The Maximum rank you can have in a class skill equals your character level + 3, and the maximum ranks in a cross class skill equals (your character level + 3)/2.
All Spellcasters should take Concentration however, and Wizards should take Spellcraft, as well as at least a few Knowledge skills.
You get a feat at level one, as well as one at level 3 and every 3 levels afterwards. Some races or classes grant additional feats. Feat selection can be pretty straight forward, but I will recommend some feats that are generally useful.
Power Attack is almost a must for most Melee builds, especially strength based ones. It is also a prerequisite for many feats.
Cleave and it's big brother Great Cleave are also a good choice for melee classes.
Ranged attacking Builds will probably need Point Blank Shot, both for it's bonuses, and because it is a prerequisite to most ranged attack feats.
Improved Initiative is always a solid choice if you are wondering what feat to take. Who doesn't want to go first in a fight?
Weapon Focus and similar feats are good if you are focusing on a single type of weapon.
Weapon Finesse is a wonderful feat if you are a melee fighting class with high Dex.
Metamagic and Item Creation Feats are fine choices for a Spellcaster, although Empower and Extend Spell are two of the better choices.
If anyone has the book Complete Arcane, on page 181 there is a great Feat called Collegiate Wizard, which makes Wizards even better by highly expanding their spells known list.
Feats to avoid:
Feats that give bonuses to skills (like the Alertness feat) are generally not worth it. I would also avoid Skill Focus feats although in some situations they can be fine.[/quote]
