Rules Index | GM Screen

GameMastery Guide / Player Characters / Starting Characters / Before the Game

Character Creation

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 59
When it finally comes time to create characters, players face several big decisions, and it’s the GM’s job to help guide them. When designing their characters, players and GMs should consider not just what characters people want to play, but also how those characters might mesh with a larger adventure group in a thematic rather than mechanical sense. Some of the most common inter-party conflicts, both in character and out, stem from issues of disparate alignments, inflexible viewpoints or goals, class prejudices, or racial enmities. While no player can be expected to create a character that meshes perfectly with all the others in his party—and indeed, a bit of tension between characters makes roleplaying more interesting— every player should seek out ways and reasons for a group to work together, rather than focus on bickering that detracts from the adventure.

During the pre-campaign discussion, the GM should make sure that all players are on the same page regarding character creation basics such as how to generate statistics and what, if any, special character options might be used. This is the time for GMs to discuss what material beyond the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook new characters might employ. Unless an option clearly conflicts with the tone of the game, or the GM feels the power level is unbalanced, it’s often a good idea to honor player requests, but ultimately the GM makes the call as to what rules can be used, and this information needs to be available to all players up front to avoid disappointment. When in doubt, you can always allow a power on a provisional basis, with the understanding that you’ll help the player rebuild his character if you later reject the rule.

Archives of Nethys

Rules Index | GM Screen

Character Creation