A buddy of mine is going to run a ACKS game for me and four other guys. I’m about half way finished making my character. But there’s stuff that I can’t figure out on my character sheet.
Under movement, there’s a series of five spaces for numbers.
Combat and Charge / Run I found in the encumbrance section (not in the movement section), so I filled those in - 40’ and 120’ But what’s my Base move? Also, do I even have a climb or stealth speed? Daily what?
Saving Throws all have a space for Mod. But as far as I could tell, the only attribute that modifies saving throws is Wisdom, and it doesn’t modify specific saves, just ones that you have to make because of spells and magic items. So why are there spaces for modifiers here?
Attack throws My mystic has an attack throw of 10+ Should I add or subtract my Str / Dex bonuses from that number (it would seem that having it lower is better, much like lower THAC0 was better back in the day, but that doesn’t seem to be spelled out anywhere)? Does anything else change that number?
Does anything adjust initiative besides the Dex bonus?
There are four entries under Actions that have spaces to enter the throw value. But I can’t find anywhere in the rulebooks to tell me what those values should be for my Mystic (I know I have a bonus to hear noise and detect secret doors, but no idea at all what the throw value should be before the bonus).
Base Movement is 120’ (p. 92), modified by encumberance (p. 48). Combat Movement is 1/3 of Base Movement (p. 92) and charging speed is Base Movement (p. 92).
Stealth is presumably speed while Moving Silently, which is ½ Base Movement with no penalty (p. 24). Climbing speed for thieves is 1/4 of Combat Movement (p. 24), and the same presumably applies ot anyone with the Climbing proficiency.
Daily movemement is 1/5 Base Movement in miles per day (p. 93).
Saving throw modifiers can be just about anything; for instance, a ring of protection is a very standard way to get a modifier to all saving throws. Can’t think of anything else off-hand that applies to a category rather than to a “kind” of saving throw (Wis to magic, +2 from Acrobatics when balance would help, bonuses vs. illusions, etc.).
If you’re listing specific weapons under Weapons & Attacks, you might or might not care to factor in Str and Dex bonuses; I’d probably just put in entries for “Melee” and “Ranged” (modified by Str and Dex, respectively), but there’s no right way to do this: it’s just a matter of what is easiest to you and which way you won’t forget to factor in the modifiers (and won’t factor them in twice). Personally, for PCs, I just record the base Attack Throw, and modify the actual d20 roll. There’s no functional difference between adding bonuses to the d20 roll and deducting bonuses from the Attack Throw number.
Initiative rolls are modified by the Combat Reflexes proficiency (p. 59), using two-handed weapons (great axe, two-handed sword, lance, pole arm; but not one-handed weapons used two-handed), Fighting Style (polearms) proficiency (p. 60), some permanent wounds (p. 106), and theoretically other things.
The actions:
Open Doors is 18+ modified by Strength (p. 93) and e.g. the Dungeon Bashing proficiency (p. 60).
Detect Secret Doors is 18+ (p. 93) by default, but different for e.g. dwarves, elves, possibly modified by proficiencies, etc.
Find Traps is 18+ (p. 94), 14+ for dwarves, different for Thieves and other classes that have it as an ability, and possibly modified by proficiencies, etc.
Hear Noise is 18+ (p. 99), or different for Thieves or characters with the Eavesdropping proficiency.