Preamble

Devils and Dilettantes is my attempt to chronicle the events of our upcoming Council of Thieves campaign. The first few posts will concern issues of character creation and adventure background.

The Council of Thieves will be using Paizo's Pathfinder rules, including the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, Pathfinder Bestiary, parts 1 to 6 of the Council of Thieves adventure path, the Pathfinder Chronicles Golarion Campaign Setting book, and several 'fluff' books for flavour and background as necessary. We'll be sticking to the core rulebook as far as character creation and advancement goes, although I may allow setting-specific prestige classes as the campaign progresses, especially if they're presented in the adventure path itself.

For those without the Pathfinder rulebook, you can access the Pathfinder RPG Reference Document for rules information, race and class information, etc.

Character Creation

Ability Scores: Standard point-buy - 15
All abilities start with a base score of 10. Apply racial bonuses after spending your points. You can't reduce a score below 7. Costs to increase abilities are as follows (bonus points for low scores are preceded by a -):

Score (point cost)
7 (-4)
8 (-2)
9 (-1)
10 (0)
11 (1)
12 (2)
13 (3)
14 (5)
15 (7)
16 (10)
17 (13)
18 (17)

We'll be starting the campaign at level 1, and the majority of the adventure path will take place within the city of Westcrown, in the devil-tainted Empire of Cheliax. For information on Westcrown, Cheliax, and the various races and classes that predominate within the city, refer to the Council of Thieves Player's Guide. The player's guide is availabe for download at the link, or I can email it to you if you prefer.

The main thing I'm concerned about regarding character creation is that none of the characters should be particularly fond of the way the government in Westcrown currently operates. I'd like each player to outline some particular complaint against the Wiscrani government; an example of how your character has been stifled, annoyed, or hindered by the tyrannical establishment. The player's guide provides campaign traits that you can select for your character. These traits also provide a minor bonus in certain circumstances. You can choose any of these traits and work them into your character's background as you wish.

More on the various races of Golarion and the Empire of Cheliax later on! In the meantime, interested players can check out the PathfinderWiki for more information on the Golarion campaign setting.