Not looking for Foundry support or any other VTT. I’m about to start GMing Pathfinder for the first time for players who are all completely new to Pathfinder. Some have D&D 5e experience, some are new to RPGs.
Some might be willing to pay, but I suspect most probably will not, so I’d definitely prefer ones that have at least the character building content from the CRB for free. Definitely open to paid recommendations too though, if they’re really good.
Interested to hear what options are out there, and what quality of life features they have to walk players through creating a new character or to help while playing at the table.
Pathbuilder2e easily the best character builder out there. Also for GMs, they have a great encounter builder/combat tracker even with it being in beta. https://pathbuilder2e.com/beta/encounters.html
I personally use wanderers guide. It’s easy to use and has everything from classes and ancestries to a full bestiary I think.
The only problem is that you are capped at 6 characters max, and the only way to get unlimited slots is to pay for the creators Patreon. In the end for running a first/begginers campaign it’s more than enough IMO but if you’re using it a lot(like I am) it might be worth it to pay
You have a couple of options:
I prefer the 1st
edit Added Wanderers guide
As someone who likes to build their characters ahead of their current level I too prefer Pathbuilder, though for new players Wanderers Guide might be a bit more hand-holdy.
I believe both of them can output a pdf of the character sheet if you prefer to play without tablets/phones, and both can handle at-table play, though for Pathbuilder specifically I would recommend a tablet/laptop over a phone, because the website is a bit more friendly for at-table play.
Since you guys are new I would like to direct your attention to the following excellent resources:
- https://2e.aonprd.com/ - Has all the rules for Pathfinder 2e
- https://pathbuilder2e.com/ - Character creator for Pathfinder 2e. Free, but requires paying a small one-time amount to get access to Free Archetypes, Pets and Cloud Storage
- https://wanderersguide.app/ - Character creator for Pathfinder 2e. Free, but a Patreon subscription is required for more than 6 characters (I might be wrong on this part)
- https://www.youtube.com/@HowItsPlayed - Excellent YouTube channel with videos about most rules
- https://imgur.com/LjllYua - Overview of the classes and their general strengths
- https://foundryvtt.com/ - Virtual tabletop with excellent pf2e integration. One time purchase for GM + ongoing hosting cost
Wait, I posted … Oh, it’s you again. :) unfortunately I can’t help here, I use a VTT, so I don’t need an external builder.
Well, I suppose I could use one, but it feels easier to spin up the VTT if I want to play with builds. That’s what I get for GMing and hosting
Interesting, are you using a VTT around the table? As in, not an online game?
How’s that go? Sounds very intriguing.
No, I’m doing it for a distance game. But with everyone on the discord, they just ping me if they want to work with a character, and I always set aside extra time during level-up to make sure everyone is good to go.
I have heard of people using Foundry (and other VTTs) for table games. You create 2 logins, DM logs in to his via the Foundry app, and the other is logged into through a browser and displays on a big monitor (possibly laid horizontally if you have the money to mod a table and have a glass insert). Control of the party token(s) will depend on the setup. If both monitors are being used by the DM’s computer, the DM controls the party map directly, otherwise one of the players logs in on the second PC and controls the party tokens.
There are a lot of variations.
I’m imagining the two of you as one person talking to themselves via sock puppets. I have nothing of value to add to this conversation beyond that.
IMO, even with a VTT there’s value in using something like pathbuilder. Foundry generally isn’t very “smart” about what options a character has at various points in the character creation process, so it can show you a lot of options you don’t have. For example, when you go to select a skill feat in Foundry, it doesn’t take into account the skills with which your character is proficient. It just shows you all of the skill feats.
