Anybody want to play D&D?

[AlbinoClock]

Well, Pathfinder. We should get a game going.
 
Roll20.net + Skype + PFSRD + Nethys  = fun
 
I don't want to run it, though.
 
Okay, I'm going to use this post here to do some explaining and link to some resources.

Resources 

This is the PFSRD. It's pretty well organized and contains damn near everything you could need to know about Pathfinder. There are some gaps, though. Pathfinder is open source, but you're not allowed to use the intellectual property of the setting (world, gods, proper names), on a for-profit site. So the PFSRD organizes a lot of the rules well, but it can't tell you much about the game world.

The Archives of Nethys, on the other hand is a non-profit site. This means they get to carry all the flavor stuff that the PFSRD has to leave out. It's also not as easily browsable, but if you're looking for something just googling it with "nethys" in there somewhere will usually get you there easy enough.

Roll20.net is a site that lets you play various tabletop RPGs in a browser, with maps, minis, spell effects and all. It also has die rollers and I believe it handles some of the rules, though I don't know how to what extent.
 
Between these, it should be simple enough to work out most of what you might need to know. The internet is full of build guides and discussions about Pathfinder rules. You'll see a lot on paizo.com (the company that owns pathfinder), as well as Order of the Stick. If you're looking for an official ruling on a question, people who have red names on the Paizo forums are Pathfinder devs. A "red post" is generally considered the authority on rules decisions RAW (read as written vs RAI or read as interpreted). Of course a DM can do whatever they like, but Pathfinder is a complex system that it's easy to break by modifying things without fully understanding them.
 
There's also this list of guides. They're a bit older but generally still good. 
 
Character Creation

The first thing you'll want to do with a new character is get your stat block. This is either done with point buy (described here) or by rolling. In the group I play with we roll 4d6, rerolling 1s, and drop the lowest. We make two stat blocks this way and pick one. If neither is as good as point buy would make there's the option to do point buy. Usually one of the two stat blocks will be significantly better than point buy would have been able to generate. I'd recommend we go with this method personally.
 
Once you see what sort of numbers you're working with you can figure out what sort of arrangement would be decent for the kind of class you want to play. If you only roll one good stat, for example, you won't be a very effective paladin. Your class may also influence what race you want to play, because different races get different ability bonuses and other sorts of bonuses. Usually only the core races are allowed, though the DM might also set an RP limit for races. In most of the games I've played in it's been 11. 
 
Race and class aside you'll also need to pick feats, traits, and skills, as well as buy gear and sort out your final stats. Feats depend on your level and class, though humans also get a bonus feat at first level. To figure out how many feats you have you'll need to look at Character Advancement as well as the page for your class to see if it offers any bonus feats. Feats are a significant portion of your character and both expensive and time-consuming to make changes to, so make sure to plan your feats ahead of time and choose them carefully.
 
Traits are minor bonuses accompanied by background flavor that you pick at character creation. You get two traits that need to be selected from different trait categories representing different parts of your background. If the DM chooses to allow it you can also take a drawback to allow yourself a third trait.

Skills are mostly non-combat things that your character does, though sometimes they apply to combat as well. Knowing about things, picking locks, looking for traps, convincing people of things, sneaking around, playing music, intimidating people, crafting, these are all handled by skills. Each skill has a relevant ability. You apply the bonus you have from that stat to the skill. Every class has some specific in-class "trained" skills, listed in their class description. If a skill is trained and you invest points ("ranks") in it, that counts for +3 to the skill. So if you've got a Dexterity of 16 that gives you a +3 modifier (+1 for every 2 above 10) and Disable Device is an in-class skill for you, if you invest 1 point in Disable Device your score will be 7. Likewise, if you're a wizard, for example, with a Strength of 9 you've got a -1 bonus (8-9 is -1, 6-7 is -2, etc) to Swim, which isn't a class skill for you (no +3 from trained). If you don't have any points invested in Swim you start out with a -1 from your weak ass muscles. Now of course, your weak strength and your out of class ability don't really matter if you give yourself +30 swim with Touch of the Sea. +29 is still nothing to sniff at. There are also some skills that you can only use if you actually have ranks in them.

Skills are determined by your class and your intelligence bonus.
 
Gear and spells are the last bit that requires decision making. If you can craft something, you can get it for half the normal price. If you're a wizard, spells you copy into your spellbook cost one quarter of the cost to buy the scroll. At level 1 your starting gold is determined by class, beyond that (if you're starting out with a higher level character), it's also on the Character Advancement page.
 
All of this and more is covered on the SRD, so check that out!
 
Roll20.net

Roll20 has a log, so if you want to go here and roll up a stat block, we'll have it in a log and know that nobody cheated.

You will need to make an account.

This video shows how Roll20 works.
[u2]9ekQ3uLLqL8[/u2]

[PhantomCatClock]

I thought the fat nerds here would rather be running GURPS and talking about Linux the whole time

[AlbinoClock]

Pathfinder is open source.

[PhantomCatClock]

I always thought Pathfinder was old as hell, but apparently it only came out in 2009. Every game store I've said this nugget of trivia in has been blown away by that, so I'm glad it's not just me



also, if you're not hosting it anyway, why already have a system picked? I have the physical 3.5 books and I guess I could DM if your standards are low enough

spoilers: u all elfs

[AlbinoClock]

Because Pathfinder is open source? Like, all the rules are available without pirating anything.

[Sheep]

I'd like to play but I don't have a microphone and I don't know when I would be available (I'm partially anemic and kinda sick rn too so I've been really tired lately, but I'm slowly recovering atm)

I used to play Shadowrun with my regular group on Roll20 but we've been on a pretty long hiatus. I'm taking a look at the SRD though and I'm pretty interested.

[PhantomCatClock]

That beggar is a chooser

[zl]

let's play usagi yojimbo

it isn't free but the rules are so good

[Sheep]

I could run Dungeon World but I'm sure a DM typing in text would not be all too good for a bunch of folks who want to roleplay with their voice mouths.

Or 1e Chronicles of Darkness (Vampire: The Requiem, etc.)

[BilliardBall10]

i have a mic, but you wouldnt be able to listen to my angelic voice for too long.

however im always up for a cool game, as long as it has swords+cool adventures

[AlbinoClock]

Personally I'm less in it for the roleplaying than the mechanics and open possibilities of the system. Like, with the people I normally play with we come up with character concepts and all that and might sometimes do what our characters would do rather than the optimal option, but we tend to focus more on problem solving than in-character conversation.
 
But yeah, voice is kinda nice.

[Sheep]

But would it still be a problem if one or two players couldn't voice chat? It'd be a shame, I love TTRPGS.

[AlbinoClock]

Doesn't bother me, though it'd be nice if the DM had voice.

[Sheep]

Gotcha. I actually remember when CC folks used to do D&D stuff, back before Roll20, I remember you guys having to use a lot of convoluted applications just for dice rolls alone.

[Sinister Clock]

I'm game. Really wanted to get into DnD for a long while, The Adventure Zone McElroy podcast really got me into it.

[Sheep]

can I play a gunslinger

gunslinger sounds cool

[BilliardBall10]

ok guys, where do we play?

and also can i be a swordsman/a knight?

[Sheep]

ok guys, where do we play?

and also can i be a swordsman/a knight?

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/paladin

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/fighter

[AlbinoClock]

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/hybrid-classes/swashbuckler

[Sheep]

It kind of more or less whittles down to what kind of swordsman you want to play really, there's a few different martial classes to choose from.

Like a Paladin is more or less the valiant knight archtype, heavy armor, big swords, and the use of divine spells granted to you by your holy god. The Swashbuckler can be a sort of three musketeers kind of thing, quick, ever so on your feet parrying and riposting, that sort of thing. There's also the Ranger class which can also be a sword user if you pick the "two-weapon" fighting style which lets you dual wield weapons more efficiently. Fighters can use a lot of different kinds of weapons and are just really good at knocking heads and doing physical stuff.