Hi, I'm Jacob. I have five years of experience GMing Pathfinder about once a week, but I've been a player in about four sessions total. Character Stuff Warehouse I have 200+ character concepts ready to go, about 50 planned out meticulously with level 1-20 feat plans, about 10 of which I've gone through and picked their gear for each level assuming standard wealth by level. Give me a role you need filled, and odds are I have an idea ready for how to fill it quite well. If I don't, I can probably verbally sketch a character to fill a need on the fly and have it prepped for a game of any level within 24 hours. My characters tend toward specialized and combat focused. I will tend to pick characters that balance out the party in some way. This is for two reasons. First, a balanced party is often a living party. Second, I don't want the drama of competing with someone else for the same role. I would like to work with the Game Master and the Party to bring in a character that everyone can get along with and enjoy the company of. It's my opinion that communication and collaboration make for the best game, and I'll do whatever I can to uphold my end of that bargain. Unless I'm actually trying to roleplay something, I always slide towards True Neutral or Neutral Good characters. Rules Lawyer for Hire I would say I'm an expert on 35% of the content in the Archives of Nethys, with the ability to recognize anything on the site that is mentioned to me and find the appropriate page within 5 minutes. If you want to implement a system from that website in your game, I can either go familiarize myself with that system before explaining it to you or the group, or I might be able to verbally outline the system from memory. If something happens that's against the rules as I remember them, I will say, 'I think that's against the rules as I remember them. Would you like me to look it up?' As I see it, you have four options, 'Ok, we'll go with your memory, Jacob.' 'I think I remember otherwise, would you please look it up, Jacob?' 'Well, I'm going to go ahead and say that it happens this way this time, and we'll figure out between games what we're supposed to do next time.' 'Ok, but this is the way I want it to be in my game.' These are all perfectly legitimate responses, though that last one runs the risk of my making a character to take advantage of your house rule in absolutely bonkers ways. I will point out the rules as I remember them whenever I remember them, regardless of who it benefits or harms. If you would like me to not do that, just tell me, and I'll stop forever. As you might have noticed, I have lots of character ideas. I have learned that most people don't want me to tinker with their builds. So, I am willing to help in exactly two ways. If a player asks for a character that does X, I will ask a sequence of questions, then retreat into my sinister laboratory and come back probably within 24 hours with a character that does X in the most efficient way I know how. I will explain the intricacies of that character, where the wiggle room is for alternate options, and where the wiggle room absolutely is not. I will work with the player to customize the wiggle room, and then it is their character and I won't comment on it without being asked. Alternatively, the player could say that, seeing how X has to work, he'd rather do Y, at which point I will happily start the process over again. If a player asks for what is the next, best possible step in progression for their character to take, I will answer that. This rigidity is due to a particularly bad experience I had trying to stop a person from self-immolating. If you don't ask my opinion, I will allow you to self-immolate in peace, but unless our characters have a good rapport, my character may be positioned such that your character doesn't bring him down with them. I expect this rigidity to soften as I get to know you and your players, but once bitten, twice shy. Party Conduct This is the system which I impose on my players if they don't have an idea for how to distribute wealth. First, for immediately useful loot, players nominate themselves to claim a particular item of loot. All non-nominated players vote yes or no, or on who gets it. If there are three or more nominees, the one with the fewest votes is de-nominated and we vote again until we achieve majority. The player who gets the item has its value counted against his share in step 3. Second, all unclaimed loot, including coins, is noted for weight and value, which is added to a single item labled "Vendor Trash". Vendor Trash can then be divided into different piles to spread the weight between characters. Third, when the party reaches a market, the Vendor Trash is converted into a number of shares equal to twice the number of members in the party. Divide the income by the number of shares. Each player gets that much money. If at step 1 a player had claimed and been voted the owner of an item, they deduct its value against what their share was worth, effectively paying it into the Shared Treasury. The other half the shares go into the Shared Treasury. Fourth, we shop with our share. Fifth, if there's a purchase that seems particularly worthwhile, a player can suggest it to the party. I usually run on majority rule here, but one time the party formed a block against one member and the whole system broke down into bickering. This is my suggestion. If you already have a plan, I'll adopt it. I'm just making this suggestion because it seems to backfire the least out of the various systems I've tried. In my opinion, gold is best spent on characters who make and recieve attack rolls first. I'll advocate for our wealth to be spent this way whether or not my character is built like that, because I think it's the best way to do things. I am naturally not inclined to go down with the ship. If the party is wiping, I will try to save as many of my friends as I can, but I will also try to save myself. I've found that it's usually obvious from the first two rounds of combat how a fight is going to go. I will call a losing fight when I see it and make suggestions for an escape. If I'm ignored, I'll stick around and try to fulfill my party role for another round or two while trying to convince the party to ditch. If push comes to shove, what I do is usually based on whether or not I'm the front line warrior. If I am, and most of the party is alive, I'll stall for time and give ground to try to let the back line escape. If most of the party is down, I'll probably run away. If I'm a back line character, I'll probably run away when the front line warrior goes down. That said, if I like a particular player personally, or my character likes a particular character personally, I might decide that I'll risk my life for them. Most of the characters I think of feel that it's worthwhile to lay down their lives for a friend. Rights Reserved I will tolerate mature themes in the game, but I reserve the right to say, 'Stop. Let's fast forward to the end of this scene.' I will tolerate, 'The demon throws you in the dungeon and tortures you. Apply the Exhausted condition.' I don't particularly enjoy body horror, descriptions of torture, descriptions of sexuality, or graphic flirting. If I exercise the right I reserve to say, 'Stop. Let's fast forward to the end of this scene.' and we don't fast forward or change the scene to make me comfortable, I reserve the right to disconnect from the session. Guides I've written A Complete Guide to 1E Firearms Categories of Classes Performance Skills and Masterpieces
