Creating a Character
All new characters start at level 1 with 15gp to use on equipment.
Planning out your character idea
The first step to making a character is finding an idea that interests you. Doing so makes it much easier to pick your Ancestry, Background, and Class (ABCs). Are you a smooth-talking duelist? Swashbuckler or Rogue might be a good choice. Do you come from a swamp commune that worships a froghemoth? Maybe the tripkee ancestry would interest you. When you're choosing a character idea make sure to also think about how they interact with other player characters, the town of Onadbyr, and the world as a whole. You can find a brief overview of the setting in the World introduction.
If you want to introduce new locations, concepts, religions, communities, or anything else to the world you can discuss your backstory with a Storyteller to see where it can fit into the world. Your backstory might have hooks that other players or GMs take interest in!
Free Archetype Variant Rule
Characters are made using the Free Archetype Variant Rule. This rule only starts affecting your character at level 2, but it is important keeping it in mind while you design your character. The Free Archetype allows for greater variation in character creation and allows you to better fulfill your class fantasy.
We understand some archetypes may not be available directly at level 2. Exceptions can be made to rules in these cases. Please open a Ticket to discuss if this is something that impacts your character.
Filling out the ABCs in Pathbuilder 2e
If you're new to FoundryVTT, Pathfinder 2e, or tabletop RPGs in general it would be best to have a guiding hand through Pathfinder 2e character creation. Pathbuilder2e is an excellent web application that makes creating a pathfinder 2e character simple. If you feel confident with Pathfinder 2e and want to go straight to importing things into the FoundryVTT, you can skip ahead to the next section. Some other useful resources to look at include * Archives of Nethys; the standard pathfinder 2e wiki or a good old fashioned hardcopy or PDF of the Advanced Players Guide and other supplements you can reference those. The west marches tries to stick as close to RAW as possible.
Within Pathbuilder2e: Focus your attention to the bar on the left side of the page. There should be Ancestry, Background, and Class listed at the top. Work from the very top downwards, selecting what features you want to take. If you want to read more about a specific option you can click the "PRD" button at the bottom whenever you have an option selected to read the relevant Archives of Nethys page. Continue filling out the steps until you reach the end of the Level 1 section. These choices you've made are all the features you'll be importing into the FoundryVTT.
Ancestry, Background, and Class restrictions
For any rare ABCs, please refer to the Rare Options Guide for a guideline on what things need to be met for it to be considered for approval.
Ancestry
Making a character with an ancestry that has the common tag, like humans and dwarves, can be done at any time with no requirements. Ancestries (and Heritages) with the Uncommon tag require you to write a backstory for the character, explaining where they originate from and how they got to the town of Onadbyr. The backstory should be at least a paragraph but no longer than a page or two. Taking an Ancestry or Heritage with the Rare tag requires approval by the majority of storytellers and would require you to open a Ticket to request it. In addition, only a limited number of Rare Ancestries and Heritages have been unlocked. To see the unlocked options, go to the Rare Options Guide. You should work with the Storyteller associated with the unlock to have a thorough backstory and a good reason for choosing that Ancestry.
Lineage
Certain Versatile Heritages have access to Lineage feats, which are a type of Ancestry feat that indicate a character’s descendance from a particular type of creature.
At level 1, you may select a single lineage you have access to and add it to the Biography on your character sheet. You have this lineage for the purpose of gaining other feats specific to that lineage, but you do not gain the other benefits of the lineage/lineage feat unless you take the lineage feat. This lineage cannot be changed past your character's 3rd level, per our Changes to Characters rules.
Background
Any Background with the Common or Uncommon tag can be used with no requirements. Backgrounds with the Rare tag cost Karma and require Firekeeper approval through a Ticket. Keep in mind to pick a background that meshes well with the setting. In addition, Rare background require the spending of 4 Karma to us, as they require extra story telling by the GMs.
Class
Any Class can be used with no requirements. At higher levels you will have the opportunity to take Dedication feats, which is Pathfinder 2e's way of multiclassing. Some of these dedication feats may be locked. Refer to the Available Dedications if you're planning on a specific one ahead of time.
Spells, Items, and other things with Rarity
- Spells of Common rarity can be taken without approval. Spells of Uncommon tag require storyteller approval and an in-character reason to be taken.
- Any items your character is capable of using or wielding can be bought with your 15gp starting wealth, including Uncommon/Rare items and Common items not available in the Shops. However, these items cannot be turned into formulas.
- For anything not explicitly mentioned use the following rule of thumb: Common can be taken, Uncommon requires Firekeeper approval, Rare requires unanimous Storyteller approval.
Getting it Approved
If you're a new player creating your first character or a veteran on your 5th Kelek resident, you'll need to get the character approved before you're able to start importing it into the FoundryVTT server. To do so, open a Ticket in the Discord server and explain your character concept, a Storyteller will look over it and ask any follow-up questions. If you aren't taking anything restricted this process will be very quick, so if you're eager to get playing - maybe don't socket in 4 different rare features. Once that's all well and good you'll be given a new character sheet in the FoundryVTT.
Character Portrait and Token
Once you have a character sheet, you should upload a portrait and token for your character to your Ticket. Your portrait should be in .png or .webp file format, and should be formatted as [CharacterName]_portrait (e.g., SereneLeyvald_portrait). To create a token, there are several online tools, the most popular being Token Stamp 2. You can also edit it yourself. Tokens should be in .webp file format to reduce loading times on the server. Tokens should be formatted as [CharacterName_token] (e.g., SereneLeyvald_token).
Importing it into FoundryVTT
Open the FoundryVTT and log into your account. You should find a new character sheet in the New Residents folder of the Actors tab. There are a couple ways to import your Pathfinder 2e character into FoundryVTT. Regardless of which option you pick, always be sure to check everything is correct. If you want a second set of eyes, a Firekeeper will always be happy to look over it for you.
Importing from Pathbuilder2e using Pathmuncher
Importing directly from Pathbuilder2e is now possible thanks to Pathmuncher. However, only GMs have access to this functionality. To have your character be imported from Pathbuilder, you will need to provide the JSON ID for your character. This can be found in Pathmuncher by opening the upper left menu and clicking 'Export JSON'. A six-digit code (the JSON ID) will be shown on the screen. Open a Ticket (or go to the ticket that's already open for your character approval) and paste that code, and a GM will get your character imported.
Note: Once your character is imported in this way, you will still have to double-check that all of your character choices are correct.
Importing Manually
If you didn't use Pathbuilder2e or want to go through the process manually you can import features piecemeal by clicking the various buttons inside your character sheet. Clicking on an option will open the compendium; to add your selection to your sheet, drag and drop it from the compendium to the spot on your sheet. When importing manually, the sheet will automatically 'pull' content from the compendiums into your sheet for you. If you make a mistake, or just want to replace a selection, you can delete the selection and repeat the process, or navigate to the Compendiums tab of Foundry and drag and drop the selection to its specific location on the character sheet. To look through all of the variety of options, navigate to the Compendiums tab of Foundry and look for the proper category.
Final Approval
Once you have verified that your character sheet is how you'd like it, open a Ticket (or go to the ticket that's already open for your character approval) and let the Firekeepers know. One of them will go over your sheet and make sure everything is OK. There may be some adjustments that are needed, and once all of them are taken care of, the character will be approved.
You're all Set!
With your character created and approved you're ready to start playing in Expeditions. When you join an Expedition, one be sure to inform the Storyteller that it's your first one so they can move your character sheet to the proper folder.
Changes to Characters
At any point during a character's first 3 levels you can make changes to any part of your character by opening a Ticket. At Firekeeper discretion, these changes require no Downtime cost.
Past this point, changes can be done using the Retrain Downtime activity.
Creating a Wiki Page
While not required, it is highly recommended that you create a wiki page for your character. This can contain basic information about the character as well as their portrait. It also gets you a Karma for putting in the effort.
To create the wiki page, use the search bar in the upper right-hand corner of the wiki to search for your character's name, spelled as you would like the name to be in the title of the article. You will get a message that says "Create the page "(name)" on this wiki!" Click on the name, and it will bring you to the create an article page.
For ease of use, character wiki pages have their own Infobox. Copy and paste it into the body of the article.
{{Infobox Associate
| name =
| image = [[File:FILENAME|300px|frameless|center]]
| class =
| occupation =
| tier_of_play =
| adopting_storyteller =
| ancestry =
| heritage =
| aliases =
| pronouns =
| age =
| height =
| partner =
| relatives =
| status =
| player =
}}
(CHARACTER NAME HERE) is an [[Associates|Associate]] of [[the Round Table]] … (MORE INFO WHATEVER YOU WANT)
The Name, Class, Tier of Play, Pronouns, and Player fields are required.
Status refers to whether your character is alive, dead, or something else.
Adopting Storyteller refers to which (if any) Storyteller has taken on your character's personal story. It is not common.
Adding a Character Portrait
To add an image, click the 'Images and Media' icon at the top of the text editor. Click the 'Upload' button at the bottom left. Select a file from your computer, then click 'This is my own work'. You will be required to give the image a name and description. Click 'Save'. The Caption and Alternative Text are not required. Set the Size to '300px', Align to 'Center', and Format to 'Frameless'. Click 'Insert'.
Linking to the Character Page
Once posted, add the link to this character to the Associates page under their class, and to the Residents of Onadbyr section of the Onadbyr page. Then post the link to the page in the Discord to receive a Karma for your work!
Second Characters and Beyond
When you get enough Karma you can purchase an additional character slot using the /shop command in the #bot-stuff channel in the Discord. The approval process is then same for your first character.