Character Creation Guide

Use the following rules for generating your character in Skyholm. Be sure to check out Variant Campaign Rules, and the Character Options category for additional options, as well as to find out some of the extras used in Skyholm. Restricted content can be found on the Banned Content page.The Core Pathfinder Rule Changes page details some changes to the game that could be important for the character you're building. Make sure to use Myth Weavers for your character sheet too!

## Character Creation

First and foremost when making a character you should come up with a good story. Skyholm is very flexible regarding character backstories. If your character enters Skyholm they can be from pretty much anywhere. The one stipulation is that the world that they come from must be 'Pathfinder adjacent'. What we mean by that is (officially or not) the world your character comes from is in the same universe as Golarion (Pathfinder's default campaign setting); so long as anything about that setting still follows the rules for Pathfinder's cosmology and magical physics.

Keep in mind that GMs will be running sessions in which you will be acting as the heroes in this horror story. You'll be fighting evil cults or fiendish forces. You'll be saving the town, neighborhood, or even a single family from the influence of eldritch horrors and the minions of elder gods. Make sure you build a character that will be motivated to participate in those sorts of things.

### Character Building Rules

FIRST AND FOREMOST YOUR CHARACTERS CANNOT BENEFIT FROM EACH OTHER. DO NOT BUILD CHARACTERS WITH THE INTENT TO HAVE THEM HELP OR SUPPORT YOUR OTHER CHARACTERS (with the exception of cohorts). YOU ARE PLAYING AS PART OF A COMMUNITY, SHOP FROM OTHER PLAYERS BEFORE YOUR CHARACTER RESORTS TO SHOPPING FROM YOUR OTHER CHARACTERS. IF YOUR CHARACTER OPERATES A SHOP OR OFFERS SERVICES YOUR OTHER CHARACTERS WILL BE EXPECTED TO PAY 80% OF ANY ITEMS' OR SERVICES BASE PRICES.

Paizo published materials are the default options to build your character with. Some of these things have been added to, banned, modified, or restricted, so be sure to check out Core Pathfinder Rule Changes and Banned Content. For any Paizo source that's listed as 'optional' we've created an extensive list of Variant Campaign Rules to check out that explains how we implement it.

When deciding your class, please check to see if there are any changes with it on the 1st Party Class Changes page.

Archetypes can be stacked, the rule is: No archetypes for the same class may alter or replace the same class features (Any and all included in each template). This is the link to a archetype stacking site, IT IS NOT PERFECT SO DOUBLE CHECK YOUR DESIRED COMBINATION.

When choosing your race, please check to see if there are any changes to it on the 1st Party Race Changes page.

When selecting feats, please check to see if there are any changes to them, or how they might work differently on the 1st Party Feat Changes page.

When selecting spells, please check to see if there are any changes with them on the 1st Party Spell Changes page.

When buying items, please check to see if there are any changes to the item on the 1st Party Equipment and Magic Items Changes page.

Ability scores are generated with 25 point buy, but you may not take more than 1 Ability Score below 10 prior to applying racial modifiers. Put your pre-racial ability scores in the Player Name section of your character sheet.

We use the Hero Points system. If you so choose, you may play an Antihero, Antiheroes forgo the use of most Hero Points in exchange for a feat at level 1, you may reincarnate into a Hero or Antihero at any time, reincarnating gives you 1 Hero point if you become a Hero. Antiheroes may only receive temporary Hero Points from other Player character's actions: not from cohorts, items, or spells from any other source.

We use the Background Skill system.

All characters have a starting occupation.

Characters start with 2 traits, and may select a drawback to gain an additional trait.

You may also select a major drawback to gain an extra starting feat.

The list of permitted races can be found on the Category:Race page.

All characters start out as adults for their race.

Level 1 characters start with 300 gp. Higher Effective Character Level (ECL) starting characters start with their wealth by level.

Characters always take maximum hit points per level.

Evil characters, and characters with a high enough ECL may be subject to the PvP rules.

Once your character is complete, link the sheet in the #character-approval channel in Discord. Again, we use Mythweavers for all character sheets. Be sure to label where you're getting your feats and other abilities for easy character approval. You will find that there are Pathfinder character sheets in Roll20, but these are for your convenience, not record keeping. GMs will **not** be reviewing roll20 sheets.

The following feat taxes are in effect.

**Weapon Finesse**

Gone. The “light weapons” category has been renamed to “finesse weapons.” Characters can choose to use either their dexterity bonus or their strength bonus to hit with these weapons, no feat required. “Finesse” is also now a weapon attribute like “brace” or “trip,” allowing a weapon in another category to be finessed (like the rapier).

*Weapon Finesse is the ultimate feat tax. It’s begrudgingly mandatory for most rogues, specifically two-weapon fighting builds. I understand Paizo worries that dexterity might become an uber stat, but weapon finesse still doesn’t grant a damage bonus. It’s really the only thing rogue’s have to compensate for their lackluster BAB.*

**Agile Maneuvers**

Gone. A character adds their dexterity to the CMB if they’re wielding a finesse weapon and their strength otherwise.

*This goes hand and hand with the previous change. Making combat maneuvers more accessible will be a recurring theme of this article.*

**Power Attack**

Gone. Now simply a combat option for any class with at least +1 BAB.

*Power Attack is too useful to be a feat. It’s the first feat taken by any character with the strength and BAB to abuse it and likely ranks as the single most popular feat in Pathfinder. Turning it into a combat option available to anyone with at least +1 BAB is a reasonable change and still stalls caster and hybrid classes from grabbing specialized combat feats too early.*

**Deadly Aim**

Gone. Now simple a combat option for any class with at least +1 BAB.

*Like Power Attack, Deadly Aim is another mandatory feat that should be available to everyone. It takes a high BAB to abuse Deadly Aim, so I’m not overly concerned about the change throwing a wrench into class balance.*

Improved Trip, Improved Disarm, Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Feint, Improved Reposition, Improved Steal

Gone. Replaced with Deft Maneuvers.

**Deft Maneuvers**

New. You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a trip, disarm, dirty trick, feint, reposition, or steal combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks with these combat maneuvers. Now a prerequisite for the relevant greater combat maneuver feats.

*Why is it so hard to pull off combat maneuvers in this game? It seems like you need three feats before you can attempt to trip someone without impaling yourself on your own polearm. Eliminating Combat Expertise as a prerequisite and wrapping up all these improved combat maneuver feats into a single package simplifies things. It would prevent fighters from being stonewalled if a monster is immune to their combat maneuver of choice and make the feats much more attractive to feat-starved classes.*

Improved Bull Rush, Improved Drag, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder

*Gone. Replaced with Powerful Maneuvers.*

**Improved Two-Weapon Fighting**

Gone. Merged with Greater Two-Weapon Fighting

**Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (Combat)**

You are skilled at fighting with two weapons.

Prerequisites: Dex 15, Two-Weapon Fighting, base attack bonus +6.

Benefit: In addition to the standard single extra attack you get with an off-hand weapon, you get a second attack with it, albeit at a -5 penalty. Once your BAB reaches +11, you also gain a third attack with your off-hand weapon, albeit at a -10 penalty.

Normal: Without this feat, you can only get a single extra attack with an off-hand weapon.

**Point-Blank Shot**

Gone. Precise Shot replaces it as a prerequisite for further archery feats.

*I like Point-Blank Shot, but Precise Shot is the real breadwinner for any ranged build. It’s the one trick every archer wants out of the gate and the one combat feat many wizards and sorcerers would love to cherry pick to aid their ray spells. The loss of Point-Blank Shot can easily be compensated for by Weapon Focus or Weapon Specialization, but it’s not like archery builds are hurting anyhow.*

**Powerful Maneuvers**

*New. You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a bull rush, drag, overrun, or sunder combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks with these combat maneuvers. Now a prerequisite for the relevant greater combat maneuver feats.*

*The same deal as Deft Maneuvers. More combat maneuvers at a lower feat investment is just a good idea all around.*

**Mobility**

Gone. Merged with Dodge.

**Dodge**

*Revised. You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC. This bonus increases to +4 against attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within a threatened tile. A condition that makes you lose your Dex bonus to AC also makes you lose the benefits of this feat.*

*Spring Attack isn’t a great feat, but it lends itself to interesting builds. Unfortunately, the prerequisites of Dodge and Mobility are often too much for a player to stomach. Merging these feats makes Spring Attack more accessible and subsequently transforms two mediocre feats into a single spectacular one.*

Each player begins with 5 character slots. Additional character slots may be purchased with RP.

Don't Forget to check out our 3rd party Approved Classes.

Character Sheet Guide.

## Advancement

Characters advance with the Slow XP progression. If for some reason you earn more experience points than you would like, you can choose to refuse some of the experience points in order to stay at a lower level. In addition to gaining class levels (with maximum hit points per level), you may select some of the following options to increase your character's power:

### Gestalt

The above link takes you to an excellent explanation of the original appearance of the Gestalt system from the 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons book Unearthed Arcana. Gestalting is an option that retcons your character and allows you to create ‘hybrid’ classes that are the best of both worlds (better hp, saves, bab, and skills of two classes, as well as class features of both). When determining what benefits you receive from gestalt, compare the base attack bonus, base saves, number of skill ranks, and hit dice of the two classes. Your 'hybrid' class grants you the better of the two. You gain both classes class features unless said class features appear on both classes, in which case you take the better of the two progressions (e.g. a Slayer/Rogue gestalt character gains +1d6 sneak attack every odd level instead of every three levels). For purposes of gestalting, the Bonus Feat class feature and Spell Casting are always considered different class features (meaning that gestalting two spell casters, or two classes that grant bonus feats, grant the full amount for both classes). Any ability that states "Your classes in [X] count as [Y] for determining [Z]" overlap with class [Y] if the two are gestalted side by side (i.e. you don't count the two classes separately and gain double the progression).

Note, a prestige class that grants "+1 spellcasting of an existing class" *does* count as the same class feature as the class it's advancing. If you're confused, feel free to ask about it in #questions-and-answers channel on Discord.

Characters will level their gestalt level at the same time as your main track and will use the slow EXP track provided by paizo.

You may only ever have up to 2 gestalt classes on a character.

Class level dips in either track are to be taken in MINIMUM 2 lvl increments per class. This means if you intend to multiclass or further multiclass all your current classes in the track must have at least 2 levels before doing so.

#### Gestalt Summary

When you get a gestalt level, you pick a class to 'upgrade' your main class (take the better of both classes base bonuses and class features).

The same class feature doesn't stack, but takes the better progression.

You can only ever have 2 classes on the gestalt side of your classes.

You can never take a prestige class on the gestalt side of classes.

### Templates

With an application and some RP (200 RP for the first, 500 for the second), templates can be added to PCs and their Cohorts in just the same way that they can be added to monsters. Any template that gives a natural armor bonus instead gives a "Template bonus to Natural Armor". This means that natural armor bonuses from different templates do **not** stack, but they do increase any natural armor that you already have. Characters with a template that changes their type (not subtype) cannot take another template that changes their type. Templates increase the ECL of a character by their CR adjustment. A character may only have 2 templates with a total of +5 CR, and a total cap of +12 to each Physical Ability Score, and +8 to each Mental Scores.

Characters must achieve any in game requirements that the template suggests (e.g. Alchemically Quickened characters must go through some sort of dangerous alchemical experiment to achieve the template). This may be simply a good story to go with your application, the consequences of a session, or some sort of occult ritual. The Scales of Balance will let you know what in game things you must accomplish if/when they approve your application.

You may request an Inherited template for a character long after the character is created. In this case, the character must go through some sort of trial to awaken the inherited power the template provides. This is to explain why the character hasn't exhibited the full benefits of the template yet, as well as to mirror the requirements of an acquired template.

Characters must be level 7 before acquiring their first template, and level 11 before acquiring their second. However, they may have higher requirements if they're powerful, depending on ruling of the Scales of Balance. If/when the template is approved, you will be told how to handle adjusting your ECL and apply the template if it has a variable CR adjustment.

When you request a template, you may request a 3pp or custom template. For custom templates, you must take an existing template to compare it to (an existing Paizo template, or one that's been previously approved). This can be either by taking a template and tweaking it some, or by creating an entirely new template and showing how it compares to template with the same CR adjustment.

### Effective Character Level

When asked for your Effective Character Level or ECL, only two things factor into that. The first is your character's **main** class levels (not gestalt levels), and the second is the CR adjustment of any templates. Although your ECL is used to determine your WBL, it does not grant you additional ability score increases or feats (only your main class level grants these).

### Experience Points per Level

Use the following chart to help you figure out experience points required to reach higher ECL or gestalt levels, as well as wealth by level.

1. Effective 21st and 22nd are only used to determine your cohort's maximum level.
2. Characters cannot gain more than 20 gestalt levels.