Greetings and welcome, I hope this will be a lot of fun!<br/><br/>So, quick about me:  I've been playing D&D since 2nd grade (so...32 years now?) back in the old red box (http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/products/zoom/e5bf_dungeons_and_dragons_red_box.jpg) days.  I've had quite a bit of experience with systems since then, so I'm not new to teaching games or learning them myself and I've got a pretty decent understanding of the genre.  I'm not a living wiki page, though, and I have my own opinions and views.<br/><br/>Since we've got a pretty wide variety of experience in the group, I'm going to start with some very basic stuff.  I'll use some spoiler boxes so you can skip over things that you already know.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Pathfinder is a level and dice based role playing system.</div><div class="spoiler_body">Pathfinder is a level and dice based role playing system.  A system is just a collection of definitions and rules that tries to give some balance between players and introduces the element of chance.  It's not necessary for a good role play; but both of those aspects do, in my experience, add a lot to one.  A character without flaws and who never fails is unable to create the drama that a good story really needs.  We don't want our chance to be random, though; skills, equipment, difficulty and the environment can all impact how likely it is to succeed or fail.  <br/><br/>The influence of dice is pretty obvious, but it's not the only method used in games.  Anything from a coin toss to a card deck can fill the need; dice are just common because of simplicity and variety.  <br/><br/>Not every system out there allows characters to develop as they learn skills or gain abilities, but it's generally expected.  Level based systems have regular goal points where several things upgrade at once, usually everything within a "class" that defines what general type of concept the character is.  Diablo is a classic video game example.  Wizards may have different spells, but they all gain them at the same basic rate, for instance.  Characters will also generally become more resistant to harm and more capable of inflicting it, more "heroic", as they progress.  <br/><br/>Point based systems, on the other hand, reduce or eliminate the influence of classes.  Characters can develop with more customization and at different rates depending on how significant each upgrade is.  The Bioschock games are a good example of this, where money can be spent in various amounts for discreet upgrades.  Points based systems tend to allow more customization and variety, starting characters with the potential for very good defining skills from the start, and often struggle a bit making characters that are heroically durable so points systems are often considered more gritty or realistic.  </div></div><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Pathfinder is one evolution of the original Dungeons and Dragons game.</div><div class="spoiler_body">Pathfinder is one evolution of the original Dungeons and Dragons game.  D&amp;D began as little more than a pen and pencil combat system; the sort of 'math with some flavor text' you could program into a calculator these days.  The idea of players using it as the basis of role playing social situations wasn't obvious at first and was a bit slow to develop.  Successive editions of D&amp;D tended to add variety, move away from math tables and develop non-combat skills.  <br/><br/>As the original major role playing system, D&amp;D spent a couple decades as THE role playing game with a monopoly over the genre.  Eventually, though, alternate approaches to system creation, a larger market of role playing customers, and the ease of digital and small print publishing opened up the market so that, while D&amp;D is still a major game, it is no longer the only major game.  <br/><br/>Edition 3.5 was the version in the early 2000s that saw that trend developing and when creating the 4th edition, Wizards of the Coast had to react to it.  4th edition created a system that I've often seen compared to video games: a focus on combat, lots of magical abilities for every class, minimal down time for healing or social situations, and a regression of the non-combat skill system.  WotC also made the fateful decision to make the old system open source.  Their intention was to allow hobbyists or small garage publishers to continue to create new content for the nostalgic niche market of players that would continue using the old 3.5 system.  <br/><br/>However, 4th edition was not that well received.  Not to say it didn't sell a lot of copies, but many players simply refused to switch to it.  And a company called Paizo, which had previously worked with WotC, decided to create a different evolution of 3.5 that kept the basic system intact while making a variety of minor improvements and introducing a level of customization that nearly compared to the trendy point-based systems that were becoming popular.  And while the system for role playing didn't really evolve that much, the support for it was hefty: massive world building and adventure paths made Pathfinder feel much more immersive.  <br/><br/>So Pathfinder is not D&amp;D, but it's based on the same concepts and anyone familiar with 3.5 will find the transition very simple, with just a few rules tweaks and a lot more options for customizing their character.  </div></div><br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">CHARACTER CREATION</span><br/><br/>We're going to start by making characters, learning things as we go rather than trying to go over everything and then have you apply it afterward.  To start, you have the option to make a Fighter, a Wizard, or one of each.  Fighters, like knights or samurai of history, are masters of using weapons and armor.  Wizards are individuals who have focused on arcane learning to create magical effects.<br/><br/>The first thing to do is think of a general concept for your character(s).  Get a sense of what they're like: is your wizard a gruff, wise Gandalf or a friendly, well rounded Harry Potter?  Is your fighter a burly, simple Conan or a quick, witty Inigo Montoya?<br/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">ABILITY SCORES<br/></span><br/>The basic core of any character are their Ability Scores.  Like the SPECIAL system from Fallout, these represent your character's fundamental talents and shortcomings.  Traditionally, these were determined by rolling three six-sided dice for each one, resulting in a number between 3 and 18, with 10-11 being "average" both mathematically and conceptually: a typical adult human level.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote from: Pathfinder</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Each character has six ability scores that represent his character's most basic attributes. They are his raw talent and prowess. While a character rarely rolls an ability check (using just an ability score), these scores, and the modifiers they create, affect nearly every aspect of a character's skills and abilities. Each ability score generally ranges from 3 to 18, although racial bonuses and penalties can alter this; an average ability score is 10.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Pathfinder isn't a game for playing average people, though: it's heroic!  So most creation methods will give a nudge up.  This is often 4d6, dropping the lowest, or a point buy system.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Dice; 4d6?</div><div class="spoiler_body">Pathfinder primarily uses 6 different types of dice (4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 20 sided, each rolling between 1 and that number) in various amounts.  The abbreviation used for rolling dice is the number of dice to roll, "d", and the type of dice.  So 4d6 means "roll four six-sided dice."  These rolls are always added together (rather counting how many dice are above a certain number, or odd, etc).  "Drop the lowest" just means to ignore the dice with the smallest amount on each roll, so the outcome is still between 3 and 18 but is usually above human average.  </div></div><br/><br/>A point buy system, on the other hand, replaces chance with resource management.  Is your character really good at some things, and really bad at others?  Okay at everything?  There are diminishing returns, so there's more overall benefit from generalizing; but certain classes or builds will rely a lot on just one or two abilities.<br/><br/>(https://i.imgur.com/Yly1hEE.png)<br/><br/>A handy online calculator is located here (http://jody-white.com/pathfinder-ability-score-calculator.php).<br/><br/>The abilities are:<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Strength (STR)</div><div class="spoiler_body">Strength measures muscle and physical power. Strength also sets the maximum amount of weight your character can carry.</div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Dexterity (DEX)</div><div class="spoiler_body">Dexterity measures agility, reflexes, and balance. This ability is vital for characters seeking to excel with ranged weapons, such as the bow or sling, or to use agility and reaction to avoid damage rather than heavy armor. </div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Constitution (CON)</div><div class="spoiler_body">Constitution represents your character’s health, stamina and durability.</div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Intelligence (INT)</div><div class="spoiler_body">Intelligence determines how well your character learns and reasons. Creatures of animal-level instinct have Intelligence scores of 1 or 2. Any creature capable of understanding speech has a score of at least 3. Some mindless creatures do not possess an Intelligence score.</div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Wisdom (WIS)</div><div class="spoiler_body">Wisdom describes a character’s willpower, common sense, awareness, and intuition. If you want your character to have acute senses, put a high score in Wisdom. </div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Charisma (CHA)</div><div class="spoiler_body">Charisma measures a character’s personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and appearance. </div></div><br/><br/>There are a couple common misconceptions with abilities.  First, the difference between Wisdom and Intelligence isn't always obvious.  Wisdom is understanding, common sense, and observation; while Intelligence is knowing and learning.  Wisdom is a grandparent's life lessons speech about how to be an adult; Intelligence is a university professor's lecture on philosophy.<br/><br/>Charisma is also misleading.  It includes physical beauty, but is a larger concept that includes the social ability to influence others.  A model might get their way with a wink, but the same result might be achieved by a wrinkled elder's poetic voice or a stern priest's force of will and conviction.  More than any other ability score, it's important to think of why Charisma might be high or low and how that defines your character.<br/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">HOMEWORK</span><br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/88/ea/ab/88eaabffb675322d457e57c2298f6c37.jpg)    </div>Our characters will begin the game gathered for an evening at the Blue Mouse Inn.  The name is an allusion to a local fairy tale, in which such a magical rodent saves the lives of three foolish yet noble monks lost in the dark wood nearby.  Built in the renovated remains of an old keep located on an important crossroads, its making good business providing for weary travelers, students from the nearby wizard's college, swords for hire who've responded to the recent bounty on goblin scalps, merchants headed to the famous Fall Market, and anyone else who wanders in.  Although a bit quaint, it's respectable, clean, and most importantly reasonably priced.<br/><br/>Your first task is to come up with a concept (or two) for a Fighter and/or Wizard and give each one a set of ability scores.  You can roll 4d6 drop the lowest (use dice at home, the dicebot here, or any other dice roller), or point buy for a Standard Fantasy 15 points.<br/><br/>Example:<div class="floatright">    (https://i.pinimg.com/564x/53/6d/8e/536d8e2f4dcf924814e1f16fb050706a.jpg)</div><em>Elona is the owner of the Blue Mouse.  Her father, a wealthy merchant, obtained the original fortress ruin in lieu of a noble's gambling debts, and had it repaired to serve as Elona's dowry.  She had, after all, always been fond of making good food.  <br/><br/>Although hardly an epic hero, Elona has been down a few rough roads and broken up the odd bar fight.  Educated as befits the bright daughter of a merchant, she can tally numbers, haggle with a customer and cast a few handy spells with equal ease.  <br/><br/>I decided to use point buy for her ability scores; I don't like chance for something so important!  I gave her a strength of 10; maintaining an inn is no easy job, but she tends to use magic for any really heavy lifting.  A 12 dexterity is a bit above average; she can balance a tray or weave through a crowd.  Similarly, a constitution of 13 reflects a comfortable life, healthy living, and a woman capable of long nights and early mornings.  A 14 intelligence is pretty good; well educated and bright, but not a prodigy who would have been destined for more than owning an inn.  Her concept doesn't really hinge on common sense or awareness, so I just left wisdom at the average of 10.  A 14 charisma reflects her ease with customers; she has a welcoming acceptance and eagerness to salve any trouble with food, but also a mother's sharp rebuke of any rulebreakers, and brooks little nonsense in negotiation - you didn't come this far to sit and NOT drink, after all, so just pay the listed price.<br/><br/>Character Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1373704).  Overall, Elona is a fairly well rounded character, good at a couple things, average at others, but without anything really exceptional or flawed.  </em><br/><br/>