( ⇪ Character Building Variants )

A number of obvious improvements were made to the core 3.5 game in Pathfinder. The following changes to character-building are copied from Pathfinder, but that doesn’t mean that other Pathfinder material is allowed.

Favored Class Rules

Favored class is a determined by the character instead of their race. Once a favored class is picked at character level 1, it can’t be changed. If either half of a gestalt level is a favored class, see the Mundane Characters Gestalt article.

GM’s Note: As per Maginomicon’s House Rules, everyone gets two favored classes determined by character, chosen when you first take the class (the racial favored class is ignored). Further, multiclass penalties are multiplicative of 80%, not subtractive by 20%. This means that the first class that causes a multiclass penalty results in you gaining only 80% XP, the second 80% × 80%, etc. This is to encourage multiclassing.

By taking a level with a hit die in your favored class, you gain either +1 HP or +1 skill point that level, chosen at the time that you level up.

Feat Progression Rules

Normal bonus feats (those earned from increasing character level) occur at every odd-numbered character level instead. This is to reflect the fast-paced and futuristic nature of the setting.

Skill Rules

Max Ranks = HD

No skill point x4 kicker at 1st level.

All ranks cost 1 skill point, regardless of class, except for Speak Language which costs 4 skill points (half that if it’s a class skill).

GM’s Note: As per Maginomicon’s House Rules, all classes that have a good BAB progression get Spot and Listen as class skills, and all classes get two extra skill points per level.

A trained skill that was at some point a class skill gives an additional +3 bonus (this doesn’t stack from multiclassing, and the +3 isn’t granted for the Speak Language skill).

Skill synergies don’t exist anymore. They’ve been replaced by Skill Advantages.

Humans only get 1 additional skill point at first level.

Skill rank prerequisites (such as for special bonuses mentioned in a skill description, and for feats, prestige classes, and skill tricks) are reduced by 3 for each skill (minimum 1 rank).

Additionally, the “Able Learner” feat is banned because in Hyperion it’s worthless. All creatures have the Able Learner feat for the purposes of prerequisites.