Hi and welcome.
> Theist magic:
> Lets say my god has the affinity Baking at 15, and I take the "sweet
> bread" feat for a hero point, and Im baking sweet bread, whats my
> initial bonus from augmenting, if I dont spend any further points ?
When you join a Theist religion as an initiate you get the affinities. As an initiate you can't learn the feats individually. But what you can do is improvise them from you affinity rating usually this means a -5 penalty. So you can "Bake Sweet Bread" at a rating of 10 (+1) bonus. However if you were just using your Bake Sweet Bread to augment your "Cook a great meal" ability then you don't need to use any feats you can just augment with Baking 15 for a +2 bonus.
Later on when you chef is a Devotee, he can lean the feats individually and increase them indvidually.
> Sidekicks and followers:
> I figured a follower is just another ability really (so if you get 10
>abilities, you'd have 9 left), but what about sidekicks, since they
>are more usefull ?
I think that they still cost only one slot. Yes you do get a relevant relationship. Depending on the nature of the follower this can be either at 17 or 13. So a warrior with a warrior buddy will get the relationship at 17 - the follower is related to his warrior keyword. But a Healer with a bodyguard is more likely to have the relationship at 13.
> Im also a bit confused as far as weapons and equipment goes. It talks
> about items giving a bonus, but its a bit vague, and it seems to not
> jive well with the idea that you have to cement things to make them
> part of your character. So far, we've just assumed that your ability
> score assumes you have the tools for the task, and if you dont, you
> get a penalty.
The rules (p78) does have a small section on equipment bonuses. +1, +3 or +5 are all that it offers (I use more numbers) these are the basic equipment ratings. So a standard broadsword would give +3 but you players could easily have a "well made broadsword" 17 that would give (for me at least) a total of +5 for that sword, this is a non-magical effect. Of course magically enhanced items are possible too. eg Lock picks with an unbreakable enchantment would work in the same way. It is not necessary to have the item fully described at the start of play. I have players with magical items that they still haven't discovered their full properties. In my game every time they spend hero points on the item in question they roll to see if they have discovered the secret of the item or they may get clues in game play what the item can do.
> Could a player theoretically spend their initial hero points to buy
> more abilities, or is that strictly post game ?
On p21 it does state that the initial points are for improving abilities and not for buying new ones.
> In the same vein, if a player decides to "make it as I go" or just
> save some points, what kind of guidelines do you use for when they can
> pick things out ?
Gut feeling and does it fit to the story you and they are creating.
Gavain
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