Basic rules

General info

Please read this entire page for houserules and differences to the rules we usually employ. If not explicitly stated, assume the official Pathfinder rules to be in effect.

Character creation

The setting is very customized and refluffed, so let me know what you are intending to do, and I'll do my best to find a place you fit in to the setting. I may be negative to a class choice or character concept at first, but give me some time to mull it over before you accept a no as a no. That said I would prefer that you adhere to what there is of established lore when you can. So do some exploration of this wiki, and see if you find something to find interesting and want to explore further through a character.

If you missed it, check out the introduction page

Point-buy ability score

Standard fantasy score of 15 points.
Cost of allocation as per the following table.

If in doubt, try out this cost calculator, or any other ability point cost calculator.

Ability score costs
Score	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Cost	-4	-2	-1	0	1	2	3	5	7	10	13	17

+1 ability point at level 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20, as per standard Pathfinder rules

Feats

Default Pathfinder feat progression (1, 3, 5, etc.).
I will not ordinarily allow a flaws in exchange for a feat.

Changes

I will make use of the Elephant in the Room (EitR) alternative feat selection and rules change found here. Read the entire document if you wish, but the summary in Appendix I should give a good introduction.

Traits

Two traits at 1st level.

Skills

No change from amount stated on the classes in the SRD

HP

Reroll HP on values lower than the rouded down average, as in the following table

HP reroll table
Dice	d4	d6	d8	d10	d12
Minimum	2	3	4	5	6
Reroll on:	1	2 or less	3 or less	4 or less	5 or less

HP roll on 1st level is maximized. Do also note that maximum HP as well as other characteristics can be increased or changed as per the retraining rules, though only during downtime after character creation.

Starting wealth

As per the default pathfinder starting wealth. This replaces the starting wealth a character would have gained on level 1 as stated in a class starting wealth.

Magic items

Buying magic items when making your character is pretty straight forward. They represent gear accumulated during the adventuring life of a character.

I would like you to balance it a bit out, and not min-max your gear too much, but it is ultimately up to you.

Spellcasting

I will not employ the houserule that increases all spells to count as being of a level equal to your ECL. That means the DC is dependent on the spells level, and not your caster level. The justification for this from my side is that the level of the spell represents its complexity and how much power lies in it. Spell focus and the like can of course increase this.
Spellcraft uses the intelligence modifier as normal. It represents study and focus needed to interpret the spell components, not an intuitive feeling of the spell.
There is semi-transparency between spellcasting and psionics. Other potential transparencies are handled when they arise.

Experience and level-up

I will employ the milestone system for when player characters gain levels. I reserve the right to deviate from this rule if an adventure is sufficiently long, or if some other extraneous circumstances occur.

Power levels

This chart describes roughly the distribution of attainments in the general population, and the paragraphs below should give a quick overview of what someone of those levels should be capable of.

Level 1-5

This is the usual levels of expertise an ordinary human achieves during their lifetime. In this range you find most city guards, mercenaries, and privately trained aristocrats.

Martially trained people in this range can be a considerable threat to others in one on one combat, but can generally be overpowered by larger numbers of opponents.

Most people will have a couple of levels in an NPC class. With most being a Commoner, Warrior, or an Expert, The level distribution described here is primarily concerned with non-NPC classes, like Fighter, Alchemist, or some such base class.

Level 6-10

Many of the races with a long lifespan, such as gnomes, dwarves and elves, naturally acquire enough experience for this level range naturally.

Humans, or other races with a relatively short life span can also reach levels above 5, but it usually requires devotion to a career, or self improvement beyond what can be expected from people who also need to concern themselves with the common activities of life.

Largely unassailable by most commoners (lvl 0), those who reach levels close to 10 are indeed powerful. Extra attacks, powerful spells, and usually a collection of magic items, make them both dangerous and versatile. It usually takes a group of experienced combatants to stand a chance against one of these veterans.

Level 11-15

This range is rare among most short lived races. It requires a very high level of effort in both training, and a talent for the given class or career. Even among those who have the time and talent for levels beyond 10, there is a notable dropoff when closing in on 15.

Those who reach it can be seen as one man armies with considerable influence over most avenues they focus their attention on, weither it is combat, magic or even politics and statecraft.

Level 16-20

This range is out of reach for most mortals. Those who do reach these levels usually do so with the aid of some external power, divinity, or through some other extraordinary process.

Close to the mythical hero-deities. They seem to be a magnet for important events, as their competence is highly sought after by those who have high aspirations requiring unique solutions.

Addendum

A common rule is to assume that 20% of the previous category ascend to the next. That is to say that 20% of commoners make it into a class and gains 1-5 levels in it throughout their lives. 20% of these will have the fortune of make it level 6-10. Finally, of these 20% make it to level 11-15. This rule does not hold true for the last 5 levels however, which fall outside this statistic as anomalies.

Sources

Ideally only use official Pathfinder sources, but as some alternate sources and 3rd party publishers have already been approved, that cat is already out of the bag. I do still wish to know which sources you intend to use, and since I may have feedback, I would like to give it before you spend an afternoon perfecting a potentially doomed build.

Stick to Pathfinder as far as possible. 3e and 3.5e may be accepted, but if any Pathfinder alternatives exist for classes, feats, etc. I will insist on using them before any other (i.e. power attack, dodge, smite, etc.).

Themes

Adventurer is fine and all, but may come across as a bit vague or may not be the desired theme. Below is a short list of alternatives for insiration and to get a feel for the setting. As always, I encourage you to read more about the continent of Orn to get an overview.

The following is both starting suggestions for a character background, but they are equally indicators of the greater Ornian society.

Previous caravan guard branching out into mercenary work.
Merchant desperate to settle a debt
Private investigator on a case for a wealthy patron, or on the hunt for new jobs.
Alchemist in search of new discoveries
Cavalier on a quest of some sort, getting diverted by current events
Freelancing journalist on the hunt for "the big one"
An escapee from some sort of incarceration, doing what they know until the heat hopefully dies down
Artificer in search of lost technology.
Magician looking to expand their repertoir and hunt for lost knowledge.

Finishing up

There are some questions I would like you to consider for a character:

Does the character have any goals in life?
Does the character have any connections, like family, loved ones, children, friends, aquaintences, or even enemies?
- Do they know any of the other player characters, or do they share a contact?
Can you describe the character?
- Like age, build, physical attributes, voice etc.
- Does the character have an interesting background?

Do not feel forced to answer all of these, but a description beyond just an alignment and a class would be nice.

I would also like to incorporate your character into the setting, so share your intentions and questions with me, and we can find a mutually satisfactory integration.

Level	Population	Percent
1-5	200 000	20%
6-10	40 000	4%
11-15	8 000	0.8%
16-20	N/A