How Long Does It Take For Your Character To Go From 0-60?

There is a trend I've seen more and more over the years that I tend to call white rooming. In short, it is a tendency for players to create an ideal character build in a blank room, using optimal conditions, and assuming that the way it works in their head is the way it's going to work when they bring that character into game.

And as a spoiler alert, just because something works great under laboratory conditions that doesn't mean it's going to hold up when you put it out for a field test.

I don't understand... it worked PERFECTLY in simulations!

One of the most consistently overlooked aspects of character design is how long is takes them to go from 0-60. Because if you have half a dozen minutes to layer on protective spells, activate magic items, and strap on all your bells and whistles, then obviously you're going to be piloting a wrecking ball when it comes time to sneak through a fortress, break the back of the enemy, or whatever else your character was designed to do.

But what happens when you don't get that prep time? If you're caught with your pants down, so to speak, can you still get the job done?

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Action Economy And You

Action economy, for those who didn't read Understanding Action Economy (And Why You Need It), is basically making sure that you take the most efficient actions to get you to your end results quickly. And when it comes to revving up your character, it's often something we forget about, until we find ourselves in the middle of a life-or-death fight and we no longer have 5 rounds to get our game faces on.

He's coming right at you!

One of the best examples of going 0-60, in my opinion, is barbarian rage in Pathfinder. You can only do it for a certain number of rounds per day, but when it's your turn you can flip it on like a switch as a free action and just go. You now gain all the bonuses of this condition (which get bigger as you gain levels in the class), you can use all your Rage Powers, and it took no time at all to turn on. You just declared it, and moved on with your turn.

For all the complaints about barbarians, they are a class that can go from 0-60 quite rapidly.

However, say you had other things you wanted to add onto your character. Maybe you wanted to two-fist potions of bull's strength and bear's endurance to give yourself a little boost for the fight. Or perhaps you wanted to chug down a potion of barkskin. Drinking a potion takes a standard action, and you only get one of those per turn, which is going to slow your progress way down. Especially when you consider that potions need to be drawn, which is typically a move action.

So how do you deal with this? Do you just reserve your potion chugging for situations where you are going to ambush an enemy, or the bad guy is lost in a monologue, allowing you to fully hulk out? Well, that's one option. You could also take the Drunken Brute barbarian archetype, which allows you to drink potions (or alcohol) as a move action while you're raging. You could also keep a potion in a spring-loaded wrist sheathe, thus allowing you to draw it as a swift action. This would allow you to activate your Rage for free, pop the sheathe as a swift, drink the potion as your move action, and then leave a standard action to do something else. Drink another potion? Smash a bottle over somebody's head? There are all sorts of possibilities!

Another strategy is to focus on buffs and abilities that are either constantly active, or which last a particularly long time. Mage armor, for example, lasts hours per caster level, so if it's part of your monk's strategy for ensuring they have a huge AC, they can just reapply it from a wand once per hour (or have it cast on them by the party wizard at the start of the dungeon), and it will be ready to go if something happens. Many feats grant permanent abilities, and class features like a ranger's favored enemy are considered always on, which can make them more reliable since you don't need to spend your first few turns powering up. The drawback, of course, is these abilities are often situational. So if you're in the proper situation they're quite powerful, but otherwise they grant you no benefit at all.

Your Greatest Weapon is Your Allies

I said this back in Vulgar Displays of Power: Tips For Getting The Most Out of Your Magic in Pathfinder, but I feel it bears repeating. Your allies are going to be one of the best ways for you to rev yourself up quickly, because teamwork is a serious force multiplier.

Never underestimate the power of a helping hand.

Take this scenario. There's a big, angry giant coming the party's way and the barbarian needs to protect their companions. Instead of trying to balance self-buffing and engaging, though, their fellow party members take up some of the slack. The bard whips out a wand, and hits them with a bear's endurance. The transmuter casts enlarge person. Then on their turn, the barbarian activates their rage and charges.

The selfless actions of the other party members allowed them to act as corner men for their warrior, getting him ready to jump into the ring swinging hard. It also means that what would have taken the barbarian at least 2 turns to accomplish on their own was done before their initiative even came up on the first turn.

Teamwork is often key to making sure a character can go from 0-60 as quickly as possible. It's often not a glorious feeling, and it can be something that a lot of players resist because they'd rather be the one dunking the ball than providing the assist. But if you're all focused on overcoming the current challenge you're facing, it's important to make sure everyone shares in the credit, and recognizes how much they helped.

Because a party is so much more than the sum of its parts.

Looking For More?

I specifically mentioned that feats often give you odd abilities and strange wooge that can either be activated quickly, or which is always on. I've worked on a lot of these feats myself, which is why I'd recommend checking out some of the following if you want to help rev up your character's engine.

- Letters From The Flaming Crab: Inspired By Heraldry: A big collection of totemic feats that grant you (often permanent) abilities, I had entirely too much fun with this one.

- Feats of Legend: 20 Story Feats: Story feats are one of my favorite mechanics, and this is one of my best-reviewed installments in the entire Feats of Legend series. Highly recommend giving it a look if you just want more of these.

- Feats of Legend: 20 Orc Feats: While a little specific with the heritage of characters who can take and use them, I figured that folks who love playing orcs and half-orcs could use a bit of a treat.

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How To Get The Most Out Of The Surprise Round (In Pathfinder)

Nine times out of ten, the surprise round is something you want to avoid as a player. Commonly thought of as an ambush, page 178 of the Core Rulebook describes the surprise round as something that happens when some, but not all, of the combatants are aware of one another. Those who are aware get to act, taking either a move or a standard action, and those who are not aware get to stand there, staring gormlessly at nothing. If you're not acting, you're also flat-footed, which is why the surprise round is a field day for enemies with sneak attack.

Easier to hit AND 6d6 bonus damage? Oooh... that's gotta hurt!

Now, it's possible to negate some of the pain of the surprise round by making Perception checks, moving stealthily so your ambushers don't know you're coming, and by getting Uncanny Dodge so you can't be caught flat-footed... but that still puts you on the receiving end of the surprise round when it does happen, which is not where you want to be.

But what if you could take control of it? Even when you weren't the one leading the ambush?

Step #1: Act in The Surprise Round

The first step in this process is to choose a class that gives you the ability to always act in the surprise round, even if you normally wouldn't be able to. This is not a common ability, but there are several, notable archetypes that grant it. The diviner wizard is the most common, and you gain it as your 1st-level school power. However, there's also the sohei monk (which gains this power at 1st-level), the fearsome defender barbarian (which gains it at 5th-level, though they always act last in a surprise round), the grand marshal (which gains it at 2nd-level),  and the thronewarden (who can act in the surprise round as long as they have at least 1 grit point starting at level 2), just to name a few.

This is only the first part of the combination, though.

Whichever option you select, it's important to remember this is a multiclass concept. Because acting in the surprise round is fine and dandy, but you need to be able to do more than just take a standard or a move action to really get the most bang for your buck. That's where step two comes into play.

Step #2: Add Four Levels of Rogue

The next thing you need to do is mix-in some rogue. Not just any rogue, though. The bandit archetype gives you the 4th-level ability Ambush. This states that when you can act in the surprise round you can take a standard, move, and swift action, rather than just the normal standard or move action normal characters get.

So, in other words, you turn the surprise round into a full turn.

That's when the mayhem starts.

Ask yourself how many times you just needed one extra action to stop an ambush before it started. How many times did you have just the right spell to block line of effect for those archers, or just the right scroll in your pack, but you couldn't react quickly enough to get them. Alternatively, how many times have you looked at the rogue talent Surprise Attack and thought it was useless? After all, what's the good in enemies being flat-footed to you during the surprise round if you can never act in it?

Now you know.

Step Three: Putting It All Together

Multiclassing always leaves you with some mechanical weaknesses, but it's important to ask how you plan on using these abilities. For instance, are you going to play an arcane trickster whose uncanny reflexes always seem to let them evade danger? Especially if it means adding 2d6 sneak attack onto any spell with an attack roll in the surprise round? Or would you prefer a sohei bodyguard, who makes sure to engage the enemy before they can get close to his charges? Or a reformed bandit that's now a grand marshal, whose guns always seem to be firing before bushwackers can so much as clear their holsters?

There are all sorts of options you have available, but the goal should always be to make the most of the surprise round. If you do it right, your DM might even re-think using ambushes as a tactic.

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