| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hi, Pathfinder PbP forums. I'm running a campaign for people to play characters of unacceptable alignment or strange and monstrous race, with a rather open-ended scope in which players can play around with whatever weird build or personality they've always wanted to try.
This would take place in Golarion (or something close to it), and feature frequent travel between the surface world and the grimdark kingdoms of the Darklands.
There’s a lot of stuff below here in spoilers, but I figure that’s because there’s a lot of unusual things that might need to be addressed for some people in a campaign like this. If you just have a character concept and a bit of personality and story, that’s fine for now, but some of us like to see all the details before a game starts.
Recruiting will (potentially) close this upcoming sunday, but might go a bit later if I'm too busy over the weekend.
Every evil society, no matter how cruel and alien their morals, has its outcasts—Drow who study magic outside their caste, Liches suffering from wanderlust, haunted Tieflings and fallen Aasimars, Mindflayers who care more about the world outside their cities than the flavor of the brains they eat, Werewolves who prefer to hunt with non-lycanthropes.
A wanderer moves through the Darklands, unseen by most, clad in the garb of a simple human traveler—and, somehow, she is gathering an army. There are rumors spoken in the dark places and undertaverns of an ancient queen a fallen god, a demon lord of trickery risen from the Abyss. All you know is that, when you heard her summons, you came. She has assembled a team of you, the strangest collection of outcasts and exiles Golarion has to offer, and she has a few tasks for which she is willing to pay you your heart's desires.
Think about what would actually be fun and interesting to play over a longer campaign—a minotaur barbarian who prefers silence and has no interests other than murder might get boring fast and have little to do outside of combat.
In my experience, a fun character to play usually involves both interesting options at start and room to grow.
This would be a relatively high-powered campaign, following fast experience progression. Here are the basic character creation guidelines:
-25 point buy
-2 traits + 1 per flaw (3 flaws max, flaws cannot have a negated effect)
-Starting level 7, plus two "bonus levels" that can be spent on races or templates
-25,000 starting gold. At least 5,000 gp of this must be towards a single item (or just a pot of cash), which was given to you as “advance payment” for heeding the call of the Crimson Stranger and agreeing to perform a mission in her service.
-All races are fine
-10-30 RP races costing one bonus level
-30-50 RP races costing two bonus levels, etc.
-Templates or advanced monster races cost one bonus level (or real level) per CR
-Characters can acquire templates later at the cost of levels gained or unspent bonus levels
-3pp content generally acceptable for content conversions (races, traits, psionics). 3pp feats and classes might be possible with DM permission, as long as it's not one of the really broken ones.
-Homebrew stuff acceptable for things like Mindflayers, as long as it's balanced.
-All characters must start knowing Undercommon, so that the party can communicate.
-All characters must have a Humanoid disguise, magical or otherwise, although it does not have to be an excellent disguise. Infiltration may sometimes be necessary.
-No good alignments; but also no murdering your fellow players for sport.
Some things that might be fun to play:
+Drow Noble/Drider
+Phasm (or other shapeshifter)
+Fleshwarped Creature
+Fungal Creature
+Skeletal Champion
+Alchemically-Invisible
+Vampire
+Lich
+Half-Fiend
+Lycanthrope
+Worm that Walks
+Devil-Bound/Demon-Possessed (would require roleplaying the actual possessing demon as well)
Characters should have a backstory, and a bit of a central personality. This does not need to be long and detailed, but it should ideally include:
-Why your character does not behave like a typical member of their species, and what has led them to be an exile/outcast/wanderer/adventurer. This could be due to some transgression, curse, heresy, or just a conflict of personality.
-What motivates your character. The party of potential anti-socialites has come together because of the mysterious Crimson Stranger. She appeared to you in a dream, or a projected image, and offered you something: powerful items, forbidden knowledge, piles of treasure, or just a chance at adventure. This reward will be paid out as the campaign progresses.
This is a tough one—I’m naturally someone who doesn’t like to say no to people, but I recognize that more players may slow down the game or require some botting.
I’m thinking probably 6-8 players, depending on how many people submit interesting characters. One or two of these spots may be reserved for friends of mine, depending on their interests, but I will choose at least 5 other players as well.
Distribution of combat roles will also be tricky, but like any campaign, this will probably require at least one healer, arcane caster, skill monkey and melee tank, although unusual characters may be able to effectively combine roles.
I’m also disinclined to pick more than 2 characters of any one monstrous species (since the party is made up of outcasts), although a bevy of diverse undead or aberrations could be totally fine.
I’m looking for people who want to play something that wouldn’t be easy to do in a normal game, who think they can effectively play an unusual alignment or mentality, and who are comfortable with character interactions and skills as well as combat—since this game will, in many ways, be a sandbox for villains and antiheroes to interact and shape the world around them.
Normally, becoming a Lich requires caster level 11. There are ways around this—a level 12 agent of the grave can become an 8th level lich, or you can find unusual ways to boost caster level, etc.
However, a phylactery is still a very expensive item, unavailable to characters around 7th-level starting gold. So, I’m giving lich-curious players two options:
1. Start as a non-lich. Take levels of Agent of the Grave, or some other Undead template (which you’ll be allowed to swap out later). The one thing you truly crave is the immortality of lichdom, and this is what motivates you—as you perform quests and grow in power, you’ll be granted knowledge of the ritual that will make you immortal and the material resources to perform it.
2. Start as a “lesser lich.” When you tried to perform the immortality ritual, something went wrong. Perhaps you were not strong enough, or lacked the right materials. You have all the qualities of a lich except damage reduction, and you must always stay within 100 feet of your phylactery (This faulty phylactery only costs 10,000 gp). Someday, with the right knowledge and wealth, you can fix your mistake and become a full, proper lich. (This is a template I’ve created in response to questions).
This is the sort of campaign where it would be totally okay to play a character disguised as something entirely different to the rest of the world (for instance, a shapeshifter disguised as something innocuous, or a human pretending to be a hideous aberration to learn more of their ways and powers). If this is the case, just PM me what you’d actually want to play, what face you’d want to present to the party, and make sure you’ve got enough Disguise and Bluff to pull it off.
I'm interested in running a PbP because I think it might be a slower and more flexible time commitment than a standard tabletop campaign.
Unfortunately, I am a busy graduate student, and thus sometimes have tons of free time to post while occasionally having no free time for days in a row. The campaign would thus be somewhat player-driven and character interaction-heavy, and I'd let players queue up multiple actions (this round plus potential next round options, etc.) if they wish to do so.
I'm a seasoned LARP writer, so expect to see a fair amount of NPCs, both colorful and ordinary, at least *attempting* peaceful interactions with the party. This would be a campaign where skills will be quite useful, especially if they're applied creatively.
Most quests will probably start with social interaction, feature some impersonation, stealth, sabotage or infiltration, and end with the party fighting their way out of town past a horde of angry guards or pitchfork-wavers.
Evil stuff, mostly, but rather freeform—assassinating rulers, stealing relics, maybe some guerrilla warfare against the Drow kingdoms.
Assuming the campaign runs long enough, the players may eventually get to build and defend their very own castle.
Dot dot dot.
I'll have to take some time to think about what I would like to create, although a lich could be fun.
You had me at Lich!
I'll throw something together. I'm a big fan of the Agent of the Grave, so this is a great opportunity.
I'm thinking a classic Human wizard who was apprenticed to a powerful necromancer, but killed his master once the master's liching ritual was set up.
The apprentice tried to use the ritual himself, but messed it up. Now he's trying to rectify his mistake. Because of the money it costs, he's taking mercenary work.
PM away!
I'm throwing out a kobold cleric (because who doesn't love a challenge?), in service of a majestic and mighty gopher. Yes, a gopher... sort of.
When his tribe was beset by duergar, Athraz was trapped in a collapsed tunnel and almost buried alive. However, by the luck the gods, he was rescued by a tunneling gopher that looked like it had an eye imprinted into it's head (it was dark, and there wasn't much oxygen). Following the gopher, Athraz tunneled his way to safety and hiding. Believing he was saved by an emissary of the gods and recognizing the eye at a symbol of Aroden. Yes, Aroden is dead, but Athraz is certain of what he might have possibly seen etched into the head of a gopher in a pitch-black tunnel, and concluded that Aroden must somehow still be alive, perhaps by favor of Apsu himself. After all, the dragon is supposed to be responsible for the creation of the world and all the realms, at least partially, so who's to say he can't bring back Aroden like he did with all those dragons? And Aroden was known for his many disguises, so he MUST have disguised himself as a gopher to lead Athraz to safety and a higher calling! Surely!
So yeah, a kobold cleric of a dead god disguised as a gopher. Should be fun.
Any objections to the Shadow Lord template? I'm looking to make a boogeyman-esque assassin.
Dotting for interest.
Seeing as we have another interested in picking up the mantle of lich and I'm not quite sure what I would like to do for such, I will head down the path of vamparism instead. I do have an idea of what I would like to create for that so expect a PM from me regarding such before the end of the day.
@WaR: No objections to Shadow Lord, but since it requires the CR 1 Shadow Creature template, you'd have to start 1 level lower. Meanwhile, I'd probably rule that Incorporeal Step ends as soon as you stop moving, and thus only applies against AoOs or when taking a full move/running/on a horse.
Sounds good to me. That was my reading of Incorporeal Step, anyway. :-) I'll get cracking on a character.
@Joshua: Nothing wrong with vampires, and they've got decent stats for spell casting, although there are certain roleplaying challenges to protecting yourself from the sun and needing to be invited into buildings. Meanwhile, Death Knight and Graveknight are also interesting +2 CR undead templates.
|
I am thinking of a dark stalker character. Either a rogue or perhaps a ranger, or some sub-class there of. If a ranger, instead of an animal companion, I was thinking of perhaps a loyal dark creeper who has followed his "master" into exile. Just thought I would throw it out there...will work on crunch tonight.
dotting.
Grave Knight is interesting. I'll have to take a moment to look at them more closely when I get a moment though. I'm definitely looking at going towards some kind of big bad bruiser type though.
The mind flayer was my favorite monster ever.
I'm a little fuzzy on the levels.
For example, If I play a troll (6HD) do I get 1 (total 7 HD) level of a class, or 3, or some other number?
Dotting. Thinking of a worm that walks.
Okay, I'm building a Ratfolk Ninja with the Shadow Lord template. With his insanely-high Stealth, he'll be the perfect infiltrator/scout/assassin.
|
I'll make a succubus possessed character...
I'm not sure to understand some of the rules so I ask.
A succubus-possessed creature would be a template that gives +1 Cr or +4 level adjustment. I have 2 "free levels" of template. but then again templates cost a extra level per cr.
so ... how many levels do I have as a succubus possessed creature?
Also ... since you said I would be permitted to "break free" as a succubus once the party reach an appropriate level... what would be that level?
Ah, right. First of all,
@Sai (and anyone else thinking of playing a high-CR monster) I was planning on using the standard Monsters as PC Rules with the caveat that the extra levels gained every three would be an optional replacement of a racial HD with a class level (so that monster characters don't end up ahead by too many levels).
By this mechanic, a Troll would get 2 character levels.
And @Scarletrose, by the same mechanic (since I increased the starting level from the interest thread), you could now start as a regular succubus with no class levels, or break free once you gain a single level so you can have a class. Alternately, as a succubus-possessed creature, you'd get 7 levels, with the template being entirely covered by the "free levels."
Meanwhile, there's some decent unofficial conversions for monsters like Mindflayers over at the Monster Mash podcast:
Dotting with extreme interest. I'm thinking of maybe rolling with Spring-Heeled Jack, and playing him as a very trickstery, hard-to-catch Rogue and underplaying all of the insane sociopath aspects of the creature.
This looks like fun! Definitely interested - let me think on a concept.
I like the mind flayer, but there's not much customization possible (though a 25 point buy takes off a lot of the sting) and now pondering a ghoul antipaladin.
Either way, I'm still eating brains.
_HRF.jpg)
Here's my crunch minus gear. Still working on backstory, but I'm thinking that "Nameless" is a Zon-Kuthon worshipping assassin.
Alignment: NE small outsider (augmented)
Languages: Common, Undercommon
Cloying Gloom Blast 3/day (slow + blind, CL 6, Fort DC 18 negates)
at-will: ray of sickening
3/day: shadow conjuration, shadow step
1/day: shadow walk
Planar Thinning 1/day (CL 6)
Poison Use
Sneak Attack 3d6+1
Light Steps
No Trace +2
Ki Pool 8/8
STR 8
DEX 23
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 10
CHA 20
See in Darkness
Speed: 20ft, climb 20ft, Shadow Blend (20%), Incorporeal Step
Initiative: +6
HP: 51 (6d8 + 12con + 6class)
Resist: cold 15, electricity 15
DR 10/magic, SR 13
BAB: +4
AC: 17; Touch: 17; Flat-Footed: 11 (+6dex, +1size) +2 vs. animals, +5 when moving
CMB: +2; CMD: 18
Saves: Fortitude +4; Reflex +11; Will +2 (+2 vs. charm/compulsion)
Uncanny Dodge
Skills
*Acrobatics +15, *Climb +16, *Disable Device +15, *Disguise +14, *Escape Artist +15, *Knowledge(local) +10, *Perception +9, *Sleight of Hand +15, *Stealth +29
Traits
Birthmark
Blade of the Society
Alternate Racial Traits
Cornered Fury
Skulk
Unnatural
Feats
Dervish Dance
Shadow Strike
Weapon Finesse
Ninja Tricks
Pressure Points
Vanishing Trick
Wall Climber
Money: 25,000gp (5k must be single item)
Armor/Weapons (+1 attack)
Melee Touch (1d6 +1con on crit, Fort DC 18 negates)
Dot.
Here is Athraz's stat crunch, at the moment. I'll hammer out his personality and backstory when I have more time later. (This is probably not the best way to jump into my first time using a Cleric, but... gotta jump sometime!)
Male Kobold Cleric/7
LN Small Humanoid (Reptilian)
Deity: Aroden, Apsu, Faction: None, Homeland: Underdark
Init +2; Senses Perception +2
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 21 Touch 15 Flat-footed 19 (+4 Armor, +1 Light Shield)
[dice=HP]6d8+8+7[/B]
Fort +6 Ref +4 Will +7
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Longsword +6 (1d6+1/19-20) or Morningstar +6 (1d6+1/x2)
Ranged Light Crossbow +7 (1d6+1/x2)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 10 (+2), Dex 14, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 14
Base Atk +5; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats Two-Weapon Fighting, Dodge
Traits Called, Spellcaster Sneak
Skills
Languages Draconic, Undercommon, Aklo
Combat Gear Morningstar, Longsword, Light Crossbow (20 bolts), Chain Shirt, Light Wooden Shield
--------------------
Equipment
--------------------
Bracers of Armor +2
Muleback Cords
Bag of Holding I
Wand of Magic Missile (9th)
Wand of Cure Light Wounds
Belt of Giant Strength +2
Cleric's Kit (minus torches)
Vest of Surgery
Ring of Sustenance
424 gp 1 sp
I think I'd like to go the lich route. I understand the phalactry is expensive. How would you like to handle that? Will the cost simply be hand waved based on the +2 cr levels or did you want to go the lesser phalactry route? If the latter how would you stat that out exactly?
Looking at some other templates:
Graveknight would be cool, but I'd have to be higher level and wear heavy armor. At least one of those is a deal breaker.
Skeletal champion could be an interesting idea. Perhaps this is his mid-way transformation as he attempts to further transfer to full lich hood. Then I could pick a base race and just ad the template. How does that sound?
Still researching, but this is what I have so far.
Edit: I've played a sorceress ghost before. That was interesting.
Is a ghost possible/practical? I'm thinking the ghost of a long-dead humanoid summoner, offered a chance to do something other than sit and haunt the death scene.
I'm also thinking there could be some interesting role-playing aspects. I'm reminded faintly of Rimmer, the hologram from Red Dwarf, who could interact with the various characters but couldn't actually touch anything. Being a summoner takes some of the sting out of that since the eidolon would presumably be real and could do mundane tasks if needful.
I'm thinking that the ghost (+2 level template) of a 7th level summoner would do nicely.
(Eek! Edited for typo fixes.)
Is a ghost possible/practical? I'm thinking the ghost of a long-dead humanoid summoner, offered a chance to do something other than sit and haunt the death scene.
I'm also thinking there could be some interesting role-playing aspects. I'm reminding faintly of RImmer, the hologram from Red Dwarf, who could interact with the various characters but couldn't actuallyi touch anything. Being a summoner takes some of the sting out of that since the eidolon would presumably real and could do mundane tasks if needful.
I'm thinking that the ghost (+2 level template) of a 7th level summoner would do nicely.
Theres a lot of downside, but it's still very very cool.
Ok so a few of the ideas I saw were already kinda taken, but I have one in reserve. Psionic of course. Looking at soulbolt perhaps. Some kind of... construct, or amoeba?
OR, could I play as an intelligent weapon?
My post got eaten. Here's the cliff notes version:
Tiefling cleric of Asmodeus who goes into the diabolical prc. Two IMp minions!
For the monster levels I'm thinking half fiend as it fits pretty well with the theme.
Male Half-Construct Advanced Cleric 7
CN Medium Humanoid(half-construct, human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +23, See in Darkness???
XP:base lvl 7 on whatever progression track
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 23, touch 13, flat-footed 20. . (+8 Armor, +3 Dex, +2 Natural)
hp 70 (7d8+35)
Fort +11, Ref +7, Will +15 (+2 vs mind affecting, disease, poison, fatigue, exhaust)
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 20 ft.
Melee +1 Flambard +14 (1d10+5(7)/19-20/S/Sunder)
...
Ranged
Spells
0th- 4
1st- 6 + Domain
2nd- 5 + Domain
3rd- 4 + Domain
4th- 3 + Domain
Psi-Like-Abilities
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 18, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 26, Cha 14
Base Atk +5; CMB +9; CMD 22
Feats Channel Smite, Guided Hand, Divine Interference, Open Slot
Skills Bluff +13, Diplomacy +12, Perception +24, Sense Motive +18
Languages Common, Undercommon, Elven
Combat Gear +2 Breastplate, +2 Cloak of Resistance, Eyes of the Eagle, Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2
Other Gear Holy Symbol, Tattoo (flavor wise, engraving on palm of mechanical left hand) 10,050 left in budget, need to pick up the 5000+ item.
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
Racial Stuff:
+2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease, mind-affecting effects, poison, and effects that cause either exhaustion or fatigue.
Cannot be raised or resurrected.
Rest Pending approval.
Cleric Stuff:
Chaotic Aura: Aura of Chaos. Emanation of non-Lawful.
Channel Energy: Waiting to see whether majority group is positive or negative aligned. 4d6, DC 15, 5/day.
Spontaneous Casting: Ditto
Fire Domain:
Fire Resistance(Ex): Fire Resistance 10.
Tactics Inquisition:
Inquisitor’s Direction (Su): Forgo all actions till start of next turn, ally within 30 ft gains haste 1 round. 11/day.
Feats:
Channel Smite: Swift action, apply channel energy to attack.
Guided Hand: Use Cha mod for favored weapon.
Divine Interference: Sacrifice Divine Spell of level 1 or higher, successful attack on ally within 30 ft must reroll with a penalty equal to that spell level, once per ally per 24 hours.
Traits:
One of the +1 Perception and add as a class skill traits, I'll find a fitting one.
Ditto for Bluff.
Spells:
Recentering Drone:
Prayer:
Blessing of Fervor:
If the party wants everyone to have a good stealth score so we can run together in stealth mode, I'll take Additional Traits, get a +1 and class skill trait, and Wisdom in the Flesh, and redirect either my Diplomacy or Bluff skill points. I can reach +24.
|
|
Here is the crunch for my submission. I think I got it right....
Unnamed Hero
Male Dark Stalker Rogue 3
CN Medium humanoid (dark folk)
Init +7; Senses see in darkness; Perception +16
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 18 (+5 armor, +1 shield, +5 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 75 (9d8+27)
Fort +6, Ref +15 (+1 bonus vs. traps), Will +3
Defensive Abilities evasion, trap sense +1
Weakness light blindness
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 flaming silver shortsword +13/+8 (1d6+3/19-20+1d6 fire) and
. . +1 frost cold iron shortsword +13/+8 (1d6+4/19-20+1d6 cold)
Special Attacks sneak attack +5d6
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +7)
. . At will—deeper darkness, detect magic (at will), fog cloud
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 24, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 12
Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 26
Feats Double Slice, Improved Two-weapon Fighting, Two-weapon Defense, Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (shortsword)
Traits armor expert, augmented disguise
Skills Acrobatics +16, Bluff +9, Climb +14, Disable Device +22, Disguise +12, Perception +16 (+17 to locate traps), Stealth +28, Survival +10, Swim +8; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Perception, +4 Stealth
Languages Common, Dark Folk, Orc, Undercommon
SQ death throes, poison use, rogue talents (finesse rogue), trapfinding +1
Other Gear +2 shadow studded leather, +1 flaming silver shortsword, +1 frost cold iron shortsword, disguise kit, thieves' tools, masterwork, 155 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Armor Expert -1 Armor check penalty.
Death Throes (DC 16) (Su) 20' Burst of Flame when you die deals 3d6 damage.
Deeper Darkness (At will) (Sp) Cast Darkness at will.
Detect Magic (at will) (At will) (Sp) Cast Detect Magic at will.
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Fog Cloud (At will) (Sp) Cast Darkness at will.
Light Blindness (Ex) Bright light blinds for 1 rd, then dazzled as long as remain in it.
Poison Use (Ex) You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
See in Darkness See perfectly in darkness of any kind, including magical darkness.
Sneak Attack +5d6 +5d6 damage if you flank your target or your target is flat-footed.
Trap Sense +1 (Ex) +1 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Trapfinding +1 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Two-weapon Defense +1 to AC while wielding 2 weapons. +2 when doing so defensively.
Okay, wow, lots of questions to respond to—and plenty of complicated concepts. This text is in bold so it’ll be easer to see my GM response.
@Hallowsinsider: there are a ton of wacky construct races out there, but if you can’t find one you like, go for it, as long as your custom race traits make sense with your special background (which they seem to).
@Sai: Yes, unfortunately, there’s not much starting customization with mind flayers, although once they start gaining class levels things eventually get interesting, which is why I don’t want too many to start. This also brings me to
The “playing as monsters” rule assumes that you’re using the monsters standard stats, hence why you only have to deal with CR in terms of level adjustment. But this completely removes customization, so I’ve thought up a compromise:
The two “bonus levels of templates" are probably about the equivalent of a 25-point buy in terms of power. So, if you’re playing a monster with racial hit dice and a CR:
1. Subtract 1 from any odd stat values.
2. Add the 25-point-buy adjustments
3. Don’t get two levels worth of free templates, because you’re already pretty darn powerful.
@Sersi: There’s a couple of ways you could do this. One would be to ignore the 25-point-buy, use the Ogre Mage base stats, and then get one class level (see the above spoiler). I’d also let you do something like apply the Young Creature Template to help balance things if you really wanted to be an Ogre Mage, which could then go away as you “age.”
Then again, there are a lot of other cool Oni and similar monsters, and Ogre Mages are just the most famous (and powerful, but at the cost of a lot of class levels).
@Scarletrose: The optional retraining rules specifically call out Versatile Performance as a good thing to retrain, so sure. There’s a specific gold cost associated with this, though.
@TCG: I’m ruling that nobody can start out as a lich with a full and proper phylactery, because of the 120k gold hurdle (and the significant power it imparts). The “lesser phylactery” idea I came up with was for anybody who wants to start out lich’d… they’d start out with the normal lich template, just missing the awesome DR and having a less-safe phylactery, and once they acquire enough wealth, they could “buy” the rest of the lich template with gold.
Graveknight is pretty much an end in itself rather than a stop on the way to lichdom, yeah. Skeletal champion is a neat hold-over template for someone who wants to be an intermediate-strength undead, if you’re into that.
Also, I actually don’t know what happens when a Tiefling becomes half-fiend (3/4 fiend?)
@Orfamay: Being a ghost is super awkward, because you can’t carry anything, but a humanoid eidolon would help you with that greatly.
@Tenro: You can’t play as just an intelligent weapon. You can, however, spend a bunch of starting gold on an intelligent weapon. And if the intelligent weapon happens to have a strong ego, personality and conflicting alignment, while your “real character” has a terrible will save… then the item takes control, and you can effectively play as it, as long as you also have a weak-willed character for it to act through.
@Kayne: Lycanthropes are totally fine. Be aware that if you choose a large animal, you might have trouble fitting through some doors and hallways in animal/hybrid form. While the afflicted and natural template are both officially CR 1, I’d rule that taking the natural lycanthrope template with a powerful animal would count as CR 2.
@Daniel Stewart: Looking good, although if you want a combination rogue-ranger there’s also the Slayer class from the current play test.
@hallowsinsider: Erinyes is a cool monster as well, but, like Ogre Mage (or Succubus) is also high enough level that you lose out on quite a lot of customization, which is something to keep in mind. Half-Fiends and Possessed creatures are an alternative which gets you a fair bit of devil as well as a lot of character choice in terms of both class levels and fluff.
And I’ve never actually seen a party with too many clerics, since they’re pretty adaptable as far as roles go.
Clerics are awesome and everyone should be a cleric. Except that as a ghost-cleric I couldn't carry anything.
Hmm, no way to, say, make a character and then have my body turned INTO a weapon, or have my spirit and mind put INTO a weapon?
Wondering about a Wish spell (purchased with character wealth) or using the ARG to create a race where the body is actually an item. Or perhaps a spirit that can POSSESS items.
|
|
Never thought of slayer....so here he is redone as a slayer....
Govjax
Male Dark Stalker Slayer 3
CN Medium humanoid (dark folk)
Init +7; Senses see in darkness; Perception +16
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 18 (+5 armor, +1 shield, +5 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 75 (3d10+6d8+27)
Fort +8, Ref +15, Will +3
Weakness light blindness
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 flaming silver shortsword +14/+9 (1d6+3/19-20+1d6 fire) and
. . +1 frost cold iron shortsword +14/+9 (1d6+4/19-20+1d6 cold)
Special Attacks favored target, sneak attack +4d6
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +7)
. . At will—deeper darkness, detect magic (at will), fog cloud
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 24, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 12
Base Atk +7; CMB +10; CMD 27
Feats Double Slice, Improved Two-weapon Fighting, Two-weapon Defense, Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (shortsword)
Traits armor expert, augmented disguise
Skills Acrobatics +13, Bluff +9, Climb +12, Disable Device +18, Disguise +12, Perception +16, Stealth +28, Survival +10 (+11 to track), Swim +7; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Perception, +4 Stealth
Languages Aboleth, Common, Draconic, Orc
SQ combat styles (two-weapon combat), death throes, poison use, slayer talents (ranger combat style), track
Other Gear +2 shadow studded leather, +1 flaming silver shortsword, +1 frost cold iron shortsword, disguise kit, thieves' tools, masterwork, 155 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Armor Expert -1 Armor check penalty.
Death Throes (DC 16) (Su) 20' Burst of Flame when you die deals 3d6 damage.
Deeper Darkness (At will) (Sp) Cast Darkness at will.
Detect Magic (at will) (At will) (Sp) Cast Detect Magic at will.
Favored Target (+1, 1 at a time, Move) (Ex) Study foe as a Move action, gain +1 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Fog Cloud (At will) (Sp) Cast Darkness at will.
Light Blindness (Ex) Bright light blinds for 1 rd, then dazzled as long as remain in it.
Poison Use (Ex) You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
See in Darkness See perfectly in darkness of any kind, including magical darkness.
Sneak Attack +4d6 +4d6 damage if you flank your target or your target is flat-footed.
Track +1 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Two-weapon Defense +1 to AC while wielding 2 weapons. +2 when doing so defensively.
Meanwhile, here is a list of the character proposals I've seen so far (in thread or by message), to give people an idea of the general distribution of things (I didn't include the people who are contemplating multiple ideas, and if you change your mind, no worries, I'll update this in a day or several):
Melee:
Orc rogue/ranger/barbarian | psionichamster
Backstabber/Infiltrator:
Dark Stalker Rogue | Daniel Stewart
Ratfolk Ninja Shadowlord | Whack-a-Rogue
Party face/Mind-control:
Succubus | Scarletrose
Divine caster/Healer:
Half-Construct Cleric, "RNE" | hallowsinder
Tiefling Cleric of Asmodius | Tiny Coffee Golem
Kobold Cleric, "Athraz the Conduit"
Arcane caster:
Quasidragon Lich Wizard | Doomed Hero
Hard to define/multiple roles:
Mind-Flayer | jimibones83
What level are we starting at? Going to rebuild this girl as a magus but she's a half dragon whose other half spent some time in the shadow realm. Is this Golarion specific?