Common Terms

Below are a collection of common terms and descriptions in PathRunner. Use this page as a quick reference guide for anything that you're unfamiliar with!

Your Core Stats are the four statistics found on the Priority Chart: Base Attack Bonus, Hit Dice, Caster Level, and Initiation Grade.

• Base Attack Bonus determines your effectiveness in combat.
• Hit Dice is determines your Hit Points, saving throws, and your general robustness.
• Caster Level determines the power of your magic.
• Initiation Grade determines the Tier of Spell which you can cast.

All of these stats combine into your Core Stat Total, or CST. On most Talents, it will display a requirement such as “CST 10” - this means that the four Core Stats above must add together to a total sum of 10, in any configuration of your choosing. So for example, to reach CST 10, you might only have BaB 5 and HD 5, or CL 5 and IG 5, or any combination thereof.

All characters in PathRunner possess six Ability Scores - Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Below is a brief summary of what each Ability Score does. For further information, see the Ability Scores page.

• Strength (STR) usually dictates your accuracy and damage with weaponry. Strength bonus is added to Prowess for melee attacks. You add your strength bonus on melee damage rolls if it is a one handed weapon. If the weapon is two handed, you add your Strength bonus plus half (round down) on damage. If the weapon is light, then you add half (round down) your strength bonus on damage. It also determines how much you can carry.
• Dexterity (DEX) Dexterity bonus is added to Prowess for melee attacks with light weapons and ranged weapons. It also adds to your Armor Class, and the number of Attacks of Opportunity you get per round (see later in this page).
• Constitution (CON) determines your health; you gain bonus Hit Points based on your Constitution score, and you add Constitution to your Fortitude save.
• Intelligence (INT) is used for many skills, and is the most common Primary Casting Attribute.
• Wisdom (WIS) is used for Reflex saving throws, valuable skills like Perception, and is occasionally used by spellcasters.
• Charisma (CHA) is used for Will saving throws, as well as social skills such as Diplomacy, and is often a spellcasting ability like INT and WIS.

All Ability Scores possess a modifier. This is the bonus or penalty you receive from that particular ability score:

Some Talents will mention a Secondary Attribute Modifier. Upon acquiring your first Talent which uses this verbiage, you may choose one Mental Ability Score (Wisdom, Intelligence, or Charisma) to serve as your Secondary Modifier. This acts, as the name implies, as a second Ability Score which your Talents may scale off of. Once selected, this secondary mental ability score cannot typically be changed.

All races, based upon their heritage, are predisposed towards particular talents. For example, the rugged lives of Orcs provides them with a natural inclination towards improving their Strength, whereas a Halfling's smaller form makes it far easier for them to perform dexterous tasks. On each race's page, they will have bonuses and/or penalties:

• A Racial Bonus means the Experience cost to improve that Ability Score is reduced by 20%.
• A Racial Penalty means that the Experience cost to improve that Ability Score is increased by 20%.

These modifiers round to the nearest whole number, rounding up from 5. For example, a Halfling who wishes to raise his Strength from 8 to 10 would have to pay 10 Experience (8 * 1.2 = 9.6, which round to 10). Apply this 20% bonus or penalty to the total experience spent on the Ability Score, rather than per “tier.” This may lead to Experience reshuffling during the course of the character's adventure.

Most actions in Pathrunner require you to roll a dice, typically a 20-sided die, or D20 for short. The D20 is the default dice through which your success or failure on attack rolls, skill checks, saving throws, and more are determined. Typically, you roll the D20 once per action (such as an attack), and then add your bonuses from your Base Attack Bonus, Equipment, or Paths, as an example.

Notably, the D20 is capable of providing you with critical success or critical failure on a roll:

• A 1 on the D20 is a critical failure, this imposes an untyped -5 penalty to your total result.
• A 20 on the D20 is a critical success, this provides an untyped +5 bonus to your total result.

Most bonuses provided by Equipment or Talents is an Enhancement bonus. Enhancement bonuses come in two forms: Flat and Dice. Importantly, Enhancement bonuses of the same type do not stack with one another, but may work together otherwise. This means that you may have Enhancement bonuses which contribute to different rolls (such as your Saving Throws, Attacks, or Damage rolls), but you may never add an Enhancement Bonus of the same type (Flat or Dice) to the same roll.

Some effects don't directly target your armor or shield, but your physical or mental fortitude, or your reaction speed. For such dangers, you roll a Saving Throw to mitigate or to entirely avoid the effects. The Saving Throws are:

• Fortitude (CON) is typically for bodily dangers, such as disease and poison
• Reflex (WIS) is typically for getting out of the way of danger, such as falling rocks or dodging a slow-moving projectile
• Will (CHA) is typically for mental dangers, such as hostile magic spells trying to take over your character's mind

You possess two inherent adjustments to your Saving Throws - Base Saves and Ability Score Adjustments. Your base saves are determined by your Hit Dice (see below). At character creation, you choose two Saving Throws as your good saves, and one as your bad save. This provides you with a flat scaling bonus to your Saving Throws based upon the number of Hit Die you possess. See the Hit Dice page for more information on this scaling.

In addition, you add your relevant Ability Score Modifier to each Saving Throw, to determine your total bonus. When making a Saving Throw, roll 1d20 and add your total bonus (Base Save + Ability Score Modifier).

Combat begins with an Initiative roll from all involved characters. Following this, all characters receive a Swift Action and two Half Actions (or one Full Action) every turn.

Initiative is handled in groups: there is the player characters' turn, and the enemies' turn. The side with the highest Initiative check moves first. Your Initiative check is typically 1d20 + your Dexterity modifier.

Below is a list of all actions, and their common uses, in order of duration (from highest to lowest).

• Full Action - This action type uses your two Half Actions for the turn to produce a powerful effect. This action type is commonly used for a Full Attack (see Combat).
• Half Action - This is the most common action type. Making a single attack, moving up to your speed, casting a spell, drinking a potion, and other common activities in combat are usually Half Actions.
• Swift - A bonus action, usually used for unique Talents and certain spells.

• Free - As the name implies, these actions are completely free, and you may usually take as many free actions as you wish per turn, at GM discretion.
• Immediate - A special action type that takes place outside of your turn, at any point during combat. Using an Immediate Action takes your Swift Action from the following turn.

Attacking an enemy usually involves spending your Half Action to attempt to hit the enemy's Armor Class. To attack, roll 1d20 and add your relevant Ability Score Modifier (typically STR or DEX), your Prowess, and any miscellaneous bonuses (for example, if your weapon is magical or of exceptional craftsmanship, you receive a bonus to the roll from it). If your check meets or exceeds the enemy's Armor Class, you hit them successfully, and may roll damage.

Damage is typically the Damage Dice of the weapon you are using (for example, a Longsword deals 1d8 points of damage), plus your STR modifier.

All Armor provides an Armor Class (AC) Bonus, which provides a flat numerical bonus against enemy attack rolls. Some attack rolls are capable of penetrating your Armor Class, striking directly against your Touch AC. Such attacks are usually magical or caused by a firearm.

Shields do not offer any AC Bonus - instead, a shield provides you with a Parry Bonus. Any attack made against a character wearing a shield allows the shield-wearer to attempt to Parry the incoming attack: the shield-wearer may make an opposed attack roll against their attacker - if he meets or exceeds the enemy attack roll, they successfully deflect the attack using the shield. A shield may be used to attempt to deflect a number of attacks per turn equal to its Parry Bonus. When a shield is used to successfully deflect an attack, the shield takes the damage in place of its wielder, so more brittle shields may not last very long! Parries require quick reflexes, and thus your Armor Check Penalty applies to Parry attempts.

Concealment is a unique status that can grant your character a bonus to their AC, a percentage chance of not being hit at all, or both! Concealment is typically gained from hiding behind cover, or from magical effects.

Total Defense is an action you can take in combat, by spending a Half Action. Doing so grants you a +4 bonus to your AC until the beginning of your next turn. You cannot make attacks of opportunity whilst in Total Defense, and you must spend additional Half Actions to maintain it for following rounds. You can't combine Total Defense with Defensive Fighting, or any Combat Stances or Styles.

Your Hit Dice determines your total Health. Typically, a character has 8 HP + their CON modifier for every Hit Die they possess (for example, if you possess 2 HD and 14 CON, you have 16 (HD x2) + 4 (+2 CON bonus on each HD) = 20 HP).

Barrier represents a “shield” of HP which mitigates damage. Barriers are typically a small amount of mitigation, and any excess damage applies to your HP or Wounds as normal. Barrier absorbs damage before your HP or Wounds, until the Barrier is depleted. Certain effects may still bypass Barrier. Barrier effects do not stack - the highest Barrier overwrites any others.

Barriers are represented by two factors - their strength, and their total amount. For example, a Barrier with a strength of 10 and a total of 100 would block up to 10 damage per attack or otherwise damage-inflicting effect, until 100 total points of damage have been blocked. This is typically illustrated as Barrier 10/100.

Shell operates similarly to Barrier, with some key differences. Shell provides a large amount of mitigation, which absorbs damage before affecting your HP or Wounds. Unlike Barrier, Shell does not have a strength factor - a Shell of 50 will absorb 50 damage in one go, if necessary. However, once Shell is used, it's gone. Additionally, Shell typically lasts for just one round, unless stated otherwise. Shell does not stack with Shell - the highest one overwrites.

Some Paths will offer Talents which are labeled as a Combat Stance. Stances typically require you to be using specific equipment or methods to benefit from them. You may only be in one Stance at a time, but changing between Stances is typically a Free Action, provided that you are using the appropriate gear.

Styles are special Talents that offer you unique options in combat. Entering a Combat Style may only be done when in combat, and they only last until the end of combat. By default, you may only have one Combat Style active at a time. Entering a Combat Style is a Swift Action, and ending a Combat Style is a Free Action. You may gain Combat Styles and the ability to use more than one Style simultaneously through the Path of Mastery.

Skills represent some of the most basic and yet most fundamental abilities your character possesses. As your character advances in experience, he can gain new skills and improve his existing skills dramatically. For more information on Skills, see their page. Making a Skill Check is 1d20 + your Skill Ranks + your Skill Modifiers + your Key Skill bonus, if applicable.

All Skills have Ranks, which act as a base bonus to skill checks. You may buy Skill Ranks with Experience, and you may also get them in bulk at character creation via the Priority Table.

All Skills possess an associated Ability Score, which is listed on the page of the Skill in question. You may always add the appropriate Ability Score modifier to checks for a given skill.

Secondly, some skills can make use of quality equipment or workshops. For example, possessing an appropriate set of Thieves' Tools grants you a +2 bonus to Disable Device (DEX) skill checks.

Key Skills represent favored Skills that your character is particularly adept at. If a Skill is a Key Skill, you gain a +3 miscellaneous bonus to checks for that skill. When you select a skill as a Key Skill, you receive a Keyed Skill bonus to all checks for that skill after putting your first rank into that skill. Keyed Skill bonuses do NOT stack, meaning you are unable to select the same skill as a Key Skill twice (and in turn, if you ever gain the same skill as a Key Skill twice, you do not receive a totaled +6 bonus - you still only receive a +3). There are two primary ways to obtain Key Skills: via the Priority Table, and via obtaining Paths.

Next to each entry on the Skills section of the Priority Table is a secondary number in parenthesis; this number lists the number of Key Skills you receive at character creation. You may choose any Skills equal to that number to gain them as Key Skills for free.

Secondly, each Path that you unlock grants you 5 Key Skills, as dictated on the relevant Path's page.

Furthermore, skills may have Specializations. These represent focusing upon a particular aspect of the skill in question. Specializations must be very niche, but provide you a +5 bonus to checks with that skill, as long as it falls within your Specialization.

In Pathrunner, unique abilities for your character are called Talents, which you may obtain through Paths - see the Paths page for more information on how Paths work.

Universal Talents are Talents that any character may purchase with Experience - they are not locked to a Path.

Talents may be designated with a type such as (Ex) or (Su). Below is an explanation of what these indicators mean.

• Extraordinary Abilities (Ex) are non-magical abilities which are not subject to Counterspelling, nor are they suppressed by effects like an Antimagic Field.
• Spell-Like Abilities (Sp) are effectively spells obtained from Talents. They are subject to being Counterspelled, as well as to effects like Antimagic Fields. Casting a Spell-Like Ability provokes Attacks of Opportunity, and applies to the standard limit of one Spell per turn.
• Supernatural Abilities (Su) are magical, but not quite spells. Supernatural abilities are not subject to Spell Resistance or Counterspelling, but they do not function in areas where magic is suppressed, such as within an Antimagic Field. Supernatural Abilities are not spells, and thus may be used on the same turn on which a Spell or Spell-Like Ability is cast.

To use a piece of equipment, you must possess the Proficiency to do so. Proficiency may be gained from possessing the appropriate Universal Talent, or by expending free points gained from the Resources field of the Priority Chart. As indicated by these Proficiency Talents, Weapons and Armor are separated into categories, such as Simple One-Handed weapons, Light armor, Shortbows, etc.

Weapons and Armor may then be upgraded through Masterwork or Magic. Each of these represents improving the quality of your gear through mundane or magical means, and each can provide unique benefits to your gear. Both are treated as Enhancement bonuses.