Okay, so for a first bash at a character at least i don't seem to be making huge mistakes?<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=209069.msg10277964#msg10277964">Quote from: Dirigible on 19-07-2014, 23:54:40</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">You'd lose that, sure, but the 10 bonus xp from Exotic Partner would 'save you' from having to buy two Terrain feats to increase your animal companion budget<br/><br/>Beastmaster gets 1:1 BAB, so it doesn't seem to me you'd be at much of a disadvantage in a fight. But the choice is yours.  :-)</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Hmmmm. I hadn't looked at it that way. I was looking at it as, oh...Hmmmmm. You know, somehow, all I saw was the 'you can now train exotic pets' thing and I totally missed the bonus 10 points! So what I was interpreting it as was, uhm...Like so many of the 3.5 PrCs you sort of pay a penalty for your PrC capabilities of not getting feats that you otherwise would've, which is why a lot of the time you see people counseling against most PrCs. All your flexibility goes out the window. But looking at it the way you're looking at it, in that sense it frees up two feats (although I didn't think those two Terrain feats were necessarily bad or uncharacterful feats to have).<br/><br/>Another question: I keep seeing the various 'Action Die' things and thinking 'well, I only have 3 of those, how often am I actually going to use that? Is that really such a big deal if I am never using it because I end up holding onto it 'just in case something worse happens'? I think part of the confusion for me is the 'each session' statement about the Action Dice pool refreshing, because in a PbP environment the idea of 'session' is not at all clear cut. I am also probably being too conservative/worrisome about 'awarded' Action Dice. I think I tend to default to assuming a 'lean rewards' campaign for any game, but since one of the ways one gets more Action Dice in-play is by doing heroic and risky and daring things...Then that sort of provides a guideline, to some degree of stuff you optimally would burn Action Dice on...And if everybody else agrees that that was heroic/cinematic/daring then the Die sort of gets 'unspent' again? I think I was thinking kind of in terms of 'Okay, so you get 3 Action Dice per level...' which means you end up treating them more like that level 20 potion you never take out of your bag because 'well, I can probably manage to survive without using it and I MIGHT need it for something really horrible later.' Perhaps I need some headspace adjustment here?<br/><br/>I think I will go ahead and try re-working it from the ground up with the idea of the Beastmaster switch at level 5 and no preconceptions and instead of 'That doesn't look like that big a deal.' just see what it comes out looking like.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=209069.msg10277964#msg10277964">Quote from: Dirigible on 19-07-2014, 23:54:40</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">In a fairly indirect, or at least multi-stage manner. Charisma increases your Lifestyle (as does a bonus from class and level, along with misc modifiers from some feats and origins); Lifestyle is divided between Panache (spending on flair, good living, an profit-making ventures) and Prudence (how much money you save from each adventure); and Panache increases your Appearance bonus (as, again, can various feats, origin bonuses, and even equipment like grooming and makeup kits).</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>I am still not really clear on the whole Lifestyle thing. I can see that the system sort of divides between a 'storytelling/cinematic' approach of 'you only need to worry about a few signature items/things, so you can only have a few signature items/things' on the one hand with regards to magical items/properties/companions? But at the same time there's this silver economy and the two of them seem to be totally detached except in the fashion in which Charisma gets divided between them, and therein I get confused. Character-wise, it would seem sensible for a young girl coming out of a barter society to have about as much economic prudence as a rock. Savings? Banking? What's that? We've just got past the point that you silly people will take these little lumps of metal in return for stuff that's MUCH more useful...<br/><br/>I'm just not clear on the system in that regard, at all. Is it cumulative between Careers? For example the Lancer at level 5 has +4 Lifestyle, while a level 1 Beastmaster has +0. Does that mean a 4 Lancer/1 Beastmaster has +4+0? Or 0? I am pretty sure that the levels aren't cumulative within a career (I.E., a level 1 Lancer has +2, a level 2 Lancer has +3 NOT +2 & +3 = +5) right? But what happens you jump to an Expert Career whose level 1 Lifestyle is lower than your other Career Lifestyle?<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=209069.msg10277964#msg10277964">Quote from: Dirigible on 19-07-2014, 23:54:40</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Looking over your build, you certainly seem to have the hang of things, but I might suggest that you've stacked up quite a few similar, straightforward options, and might benefit from broadening out a bit. Svelte is a good Talent choice that gives bonuses to both beauty and strength; and Nomad or Tribesman come with a bit more flavour and more diverse situational bonuses than Fighter as specialities go.<br/><br/>On the ability score front, I'll note that FC trends a bit lower and wider than D&amp;D. Not having an 18 in your 'main' ability score isn't an instant mark of shame and optimisation failure as it might be in 3.5 or Parthfondler; in my other game, no one has more than a 16 and anything, and they all rock their party roles perfectly well. On the other hand, having a mighty ability score is 100% in-theme for this sort of game, so it's your choice again.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Yes, I see what you mean about the diversification. I will fiddly with that some more. This is still very much 'plug stuff in...what just happened?' stage for me and I can't say I fully understand the ramifications of everything (for instance, it seems like a high +Def is a lot better than DR, because if you don't get hit, who cares what your DR is? But realistically, sooner or later the Dire Dice of Destiny will land on you both sixes down and you will get hit, and if your DR is feeble at that point, well, you probably got hit by something really big and bad to overcome that +Defence. I think this is another case of D&D/Pathfinder getting in my way, because of course the idea of running a front-line fighter type in either game with an AC below 17 or 18 is ludicrous seeming (heck, most mages I see have a 17 or higher). But +Def isn't really the equivalent of AC...Because Fantasy Craft not only is tracking 'how hard are you to hit?' but also 'what can your armor stop cold?' I don't really have a lot of reference as to balancing +Def vs +DR...Googling "Fantasy Craft" + builds hasn't gotten me a lot of stuff that seemed very helpful so far.<br/><br/>I will say that I was amused by the idea of this 110-pound 17-year-old girl who had some kind of heroic ancestor spirit in her that drove her towards combat and gave her the strength to toss people around. Did you have any opinions on the (obviously sketchy) background concept?<br/><br/>Anyway, I will try rewriting it a few different ways and seeing what more I can learn from that. This is a really convoluted system.