Dien's Rrrise of the Rrrrunelords

Game Master dien

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Okay, the original gameplay thread was deleted and I've posted a new one, so if the game is already showing up in your campaigns, you're fine; if it's not, go ahead and dot-and-delete.

***

On the topic of Combat Expertise and Weapon Fin for free: my only hesitation there is it sort of takes away from class features of Unchained Rogue and Brawler. I mean, not takes away, but it makes their goodies sort of redundant. On the other hand, nobody sounds like they're interested in going Brawler, so I wouldn't feel too bad about that per se; maybe I could give a weapon-specific Weapon Focus out to our holy rogue to sort of make up for giving away one of the class freebies...

Other than that, love all your talking and discussion so far. Clearly I am going to need to beef up my boyos. :P

Silver Crusade

Female Half-orc Paladin/Bard

Before going any further with developing my concept, I would like to mention before going any further that being transgender plays an integral part in her backstory, and I'm currently working on trying to find ways to set it up so she would have had experiences with townsfolk in Sandpoint and/or other PCs.

If that's a problem for you for some reason, please let me know.


Sounds good to me


I got no problem with it.


Male Human IT Specialist: 8, Gamer: 5

No problems here, should be interesting reading. :)

Silver Crusade

Female Half-orc Paladin/Bard

Awesome! I've got a short story I have to write for my writing workshop on Thursday, so I'll probably not get started writing up her background until after that at the very earliest.


So we have an elven UC rogue/cleric with a dextrous martial bent. A half-orc reach Battle Oracle/Bloodrager who I can only assume will be walking destruction. A human Paladin/Sorc who will be able to choose between being a melee balwark and powerful spell caster.

Looking at this thing objectively, I may have a better option than the Jal I proposed. (Sorry to be that guy .. I tend to throw out a lot of character ideas until I land on one I think works well.) It looks like we could use someone with a ranged martial focus, who can also support our Pally/Sorc on the spell-casting front. And we have a definite lack of Wilderness Expertise.

What do you guys think of a Shoanti Zen Archer/Druid (likely Menhir Savant with a Domain that augments his spell-casting)? That could be a helluva lot of fun to play, and Id' get to be the in-house Native American representative. :D


Male Human IT Specialist: 8, Gamer: 5

No worries on being "that guy". There's no hurry, it seems, and making characters that are fun and jive together will be beneficial in the long run.

I'm thinking I'm probably going to take my rogue on the "Knowledge" side (non-comitted at the moment), since it looks like we're lacking any other int-based classes. A nature/ranged option seems pretty rounded.


I can't decide whether I want to go Two-Handed weapon for better damage when I am in melee, or just dedicate entirely to being an invincible sorcerer and go with One-Handed and Shield.

But if I use a heavy shield, I can't cast any spells that are touch spells, because I'll have both hands completely full.

So maybe two-handed weapon.


OnelungBL wrote:
I'm thinking I'm probably going to take my rogue on the "Knowledge" side (non-comitted at the moment), since it looks like we're lacking any other int-based classes.

If I go this route, I can cover Know: Nature and Geography. I'd try for Local, but if you're INT-based, it might be better for you to grab. We can finesse skills as our team composition and character concepts gel together.

Battlespy: I don’t think there’s a wrong answer to this one. Or, maybe more accurately, you could easily do both.

If 2-handing sounds more fun (and efficient with spell-casting), go that route as your primary combat method. You can always cast Shield. :D

Then, just carry a heavy shield and a one-handed weapon as backups. A cold iron morningstar is my favorite backup weapon when I play greatsword wielders. :)

Silver Crusade

Female Half-orc Paladin/Bard

Zen archer/druid? Interesting indeed!

Also, Seraka is Shoanti with an orc half, so she could have some shared background with your character (even be related!).

I'm leaning towards making her a boisterous chaotic good Proud Warrior Race Gal, so she could be a nice foil to the LN zen archer/druid and LG paladin/sorc, keeping conflict good-natured of course :)


Scratch that ... Zen Archer / Shaman. BOOM! (animal companions and wild shape aren't much use to a Zen Archer in a high-power gestalt game, and I think Shamans have a slightly more versatile spell list.)

Shared backgrounds are fun! Did you have a plan for what Quah Seraka's from? I was going to go with Shriikirri-Quah (The Hawk Clan). Not only does it completely fit the theme that's emerging for my giant-hating hunter, but it gives me a really strong connection to one of Sandpoint's elites ... Hemlock!

The emerging theme: Speaker for the Past archetype Shaman with the Wind spirit. "The spirit of my people lives in the very air you're breathing, giant-filth. We will scour you from our hills and plains, and future generations of Shriikirri will only know of giants from myths and legends."

And I'm all about good-natured foil-age. :D


I'm still searching for exactly the right feel I want to go for. I was originally thinking of using the Merchant family trait. Make her a sort of trust fund child that went on extended vacation, found a higher purpose as a fighter for good, and is now returning to Sandpoint after a long while. Possibly having people in town remember bratty old self, having to prove herself sort of thing.
I've got enough experience interacting with people of the first sort, but I gotta think about how I'd do the change of heart roleplay-wise.

Monster hunter is obviously really fitting for a paladin, but also very boring to just play that straight.
I could also just go without a campaign trait (?) and make something up.

Silver Crusade

Female Half-orc Paladin/Bard
Eben TheQuiet wrote:

Scratch that ... Zen Archer / Shaman. BOOM! (animal companions and wild shape aren't much use to a Zen Archer in a high-power gestalt game, and I think Shamans have a slightly more versatile spell list.)

Shared backgrounds are fun! Did you have a plan for what Quah Seraka's from? I was going to go with Shriikirri-Quah (The Hawk Clan). Not only does it completely fit the theme that's emerging for my giant-hating hunter, but it gives me a really strong connection to one of Sandpoint's elites ... Hemlock!

The emerging theme: Speaker for the Past archetype Shaman with the Wind spirit. "The spirit of my people lives in the very air you're breathing, giant-filth. We will scour you from our hills and plains, and future generations of Shriikirri will only know of giants from myths and legends."

And I'm all about good-natured foil-age. :D

I was thinking that Quah too for exactly the same reasons! Here's the very, very rough background I've got so far:

Rough Seraka Background:

Seraka was a troublemaker as a child, venting her frustration at her unspoken gender issues (not to mention her half-orc heritage) through bullying and other attempts at hyper-masculine behavior. She always balked at tradition and convention. When she went through the traditional shamanistic ritual to give up an eye in-exchange for prophetic powers, she saw herself as an adult, a proud warrior woman. Seeing this as the final proof that she needed to do something, she ran off on her own to figure out how to "fix" herself and made money as a sellsword (elixirs of sex-shift ain't cheap!). When she returned home, fully embodying herself finally, she found it ransacked by giants and everyone she knew driven away. She would be coming to Sandpoint to find some of the few people from her Quah that she knew and were still alive

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What, no Zen archer/warpriest? No flurrying d12s? ;) ;)

Still enjoying all the discussion, carry on. Later today I should put up the more crunch build rules with all the stuff I've yet to mention.


@Battlespy: Um.... I can give it some thought. I think it's an interesting approach, and I like that it makes at least one of us a local. I'm sure you could find a way to take Monster Hunter without it being canned or boring. Maybe that's actually what she left to do when she went off on her own. And it was on those monster-hunting adventures that she found her true calling ... that of her deity. So the Monster Hunter thing is more of a hobby than a calling. Food for thought.

@Dien: I did consider it. But I wanted to add some serious spell-casting versatility to his arsenal. And MOAR RULZ?! WHAAAAA?

@Hrothdane: Very cool. So, this may be a dumb question, but I want to make sure I understand.

She was born a female, but doesn't see herself as such? (Just want to make sure I understand what i'm reading).

I'm still working through my guy's story, but here's a few key points.

working draft:
He's the youngest son of a tribal elder among the Shriikiirriiiriiirriiri. Never the strongest or fastest of the young men, he still had a competitive spirit. Also had a much more natural connection to the spirits than most at his age, so was being groomed to become a shaman. When the giant troubles got worse, his chief sent his father to go meet with other elders. He got to go along, chafing because his brothers and contemporaries were being sent at the same time to hunt giants. When they get to the meet-spot, they actually walk into carnage. The meet-spot was to be held in a village that was targeted by the giants. The few elders who were lucky enough to arrive late realized quickly there was only one things to do. The word was given. "Go to all our people. Get the word out. We band together against the giants."

Against his regimented upbringing, his independent streak exerted itself. He headed for one place where he knew he could get out from under the thumb of his father. Sandpoint. "Uncle" Hemlock was—after all—one of the people, and so it wasn't exactly breaking the order to go tell him.

Basically, he's using a "creative interpretation" to strike out on his own, heading to Sandpoint. He want to hunt giants, but he knows he can't do that under his father's gaze.

I figure if we go that route, maybe my guy ran into Seraka on the way to Sandpoint? And maybe just didn't divulge the fact that he's skirting the clan authority? This requires more thinking. I'm open to thoughts, though.


Eben TheQuiet wrote:
@Battlespy: Um.... I can give it some thought. I think it's an interesting approach, and I like that it makes at least one of us a local. I'm sure you could find a way to take Monster Hunter without it being canned or boring. Maybe that's actually what she left to do when she went off on her own. And it was on those monster-hunting adventures that she found her true calling ... that of her deity. So the Monster Hunter thing is more of a hobby than a calling. Food for thought.

True true, that might work.

Eben TheQuiet wrote:


@Hrothdane: Very cool. So, this may be a dumb question, but I want to make sure I understand.

She was born a female, but doesn't see herself as such? (Just want to make sure I understand what i'm reading).

I believe the opposite - "...she saw herself as an adult, a proud warrior woman. Seeing this as the final proof that she needed to do something,..."

So in childhood was biologically male, felt more female and was backed up by a vision of the future so she went to go make it happen.

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

LOL, nothing too beyond what I've said. Just finalizing starting gold, traits, exactly what feats are freee, blah blah.

re: Seraka-- I am almost positive Hrothdane means that Seraka identifies as a woman but was not seen as such growing up; of course Hrothdane can confirm that herself so I'm not putting words in her mouth~

eta ninja'd by battlespy!


Yep. That would make more sense. Thanks. Dien knows I can be obtuse sometimes. :/

Silver Crusade

Female Half-orc Paladin/Bard

@Eben Dien is absolutely correct! Sorry. It's difficult to communicate sometimes. She is female and was designated male at birth. Standard practice is to refer to someone by their preferred pronouns even when talking about them pre-transition (though some people have different preferences). In-general though, it's seen as more validating. In the specific, I (and she) agree :)

I'll muse on possible connections. As a small critique, I do want to mention it does sound more like your character is chaotic aligned than lawful (which zen archers have to be).

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Pfft, you are my... uh... my favorite obtuse person? ;) Nah you're not obtuse brah.

Silver Crusade

Female Half-orc Paladin/Bard

I am totes acute person :3

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

well as the gm I'm always RIGHT

GET IT

'RIGHT'


Aww, shucks. ;)

Regarding alignment: yah, that's what I'm struggling with, as well. Stupid class alignment restriction.

Geometry jokes, amirite?


Male Human IT Specialist: 8, Gamer: 5

Your guys' jokes are going off on a tangent. ;)

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

We've just established I'm the one who's right, Eben. Keep up. Anyway Onelung is right. We ought to find a different angle.


But they're kinda predictable. Formulaic, even. (Shut it, I suck at puns)

Silver Crusade

Female Half-orc Paladin/Bard

Idk, I'm not convinced. You'll have to show me proof.


*sweats profusely while trying to think of a way to use perpendicular or parallel*

uh you guys sure are going in perpendicular directions with th-no i give up i can't do it.

i'll pack my things and go


Yah, this is too much for me, too. I'm more of a linear thinker.

Silver Crusade

Female Half-orc Paladin/Bard

Hey, Battlespy, not my fault you guys can't put together more congruent puns ;)


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Battlespy, clearly you were a poor ADDITION.

>__>

Okay, here's a tentative houserules document, subject to revision between now and gameplay start, though the character creation stuff should all be pretty solid. Again I'm open to cool house rules you have run into from other games (regarding the progression bonus stuff, I'm not 100% sold but I'll think about it some more between now and game start).

Any questions, shoot.


I prefer to think Battlespy brings a balance to the equation.

Ooh, rules!


Male Human IT Specialist: 8, Gamer: 5

Perhaps we've hit our limit on the math puns. Any more might be kind of mean. Getting back to the point of our convergence as a set of gamers...

A free feat for E means a rapier/tankard wielding rogue/cleric ;)


Im fairly certain I'm naming my guy Rokan Hundred-Feathers. And right now, I'm thinking Zen Archer / Nature Fang Druid. And I even have a story concept line I like. Just trying to get it all to hang together well. :)


Here's the working page for Rokan Hundred-Feathers.

Still fiddling with details and ironing out backstory.

Silver Crusade

Female Half-orc Paladin/Bard

Looking good so far! Waiting for wisdom to hit at 3 is gonna be roughhhhhh, but he's gonna be a monster after that, I'm sure.


No
freaking
kidding.

I may play a bit as a hybrid character until then (casting a bit, melee'ing with Shillelagh, shooting when possible). Not amazing, but hopefully I'll be able to contribute. We'll see. But then it'll really pick up in a big way, I expect.


And mostly, I feel better about how the story/personality is coming together. He gets to be his own version of a bad-ass while providing a solid foil for you.

Silver Crusade

Female Half-orc Paladin/Bard

I appreciate it! :)

I should have some time to sit down and make some more progress on Seraka tomorrow (or I guess today haha)


I've been reading up on the Valdemars, one of the merchant families in Sandpoint/Magnimar for backstory research, and doing a rough outline of the stats I might want.

Looks like there might be 2 NPCs in the town that my character would know. Based off my hazy memory of the campaign, I don't think they play any major or minor part, though. But that's fine.


Hey just a rules question that popped into my head when I was skimming some stuff. Smite Evil attacks bypass DR - what happens to spells that'd be attacking resistances (fire, electricity, etc). Do resistances get bypassed, or does that bonus only happen if it's an actual melee attack?
Reading as written, no, but it seems like they didn't consider magical attacks or damage when they were writing it.

Also, we have a very 'divine fury' feel going hahaha. Oracle, Cleric, Druid (nature's fury?) and Paladin


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DR and resistance are two different things, mechanically. Paladin's smite gets past damage reduction [i.e., physical attacks, though doesn't have to be melee-- bow-smite paladins are naaaasty], not energy resistance. That said, you would still get the paladin smite bonus to damage, as that applies to 'all' damage rolls.

I could maybe be convinced to create some sort of custom feat at a higher level to allow your smite to also bypass energy resistance (maybe a two-feat chain or something, we'll see), cuz I have been there with classes where it's like 'welp can't get past ANY OF THIS RESISTANCE CRAP, yay.'


UNLEASH THE FURY!!!!


So ... monday, huh?


Male Human IT Specialist: 8, Gamer: 5

It is a Monday.

I'm still working on fleshing out a background for E.

So far it's kind of coming across as a combination of Indiana Jones meets Caine (from Kung-Fu) meets Beast (from X-men).

I figure E is going to end up a wandering scholar with a penchant for making education freely available where he can. Capable of defending himself, he is free to pursue knowledge at it's source, even if it means travelling to some dirty forgotten temple. Especially if it means travelling to some dirty forgotten temple.

He's going to be from Korvosa, having recently been kicked out of the Acadamae. He figures he'd investigate the Lost Coast's many ruins, but the goblins in the area keep harassing him. He'll be in Sandpoint looking for help with the Goblins so he can continue his research.

Silver Crusade

Female Half-orc Paladin/Bard

Nice, nice. I like the concept ;)


Yep, and a possibly simpler reason to be in Sandpoint would be the Old Light and the Swallowtail Festival/completion of the new temple. Surely the Old Light would be of interest, and the festival is a good excuse to come do some investigation. :D


GM Dien wrote:

DR and resistance are two different things, mechanically. Paladin's smite gets past damage reduction [i.e., physical attacks, though doesn't have to be melee-- bow-smite paladins are naaaasty], not energy resistance. That said, you would still get the paladin smite bonus to damage, as that applies to 'all' damage rolls.

I could maybe be convinced to create some sort of custom feat at a higher level to allow your smite to also bypass energy resistance (maybe a two-feat chain or something, we'll see), cuz I have been there with classes where it's like 'welp can't get past ANY OF THIS RESISTANCE CRAP, yay.'

That could be pretty interesting. I was considering doing the Greater Mercy->Ultimate Mercy chain because it's super flavorful, but later on in levels a short feat chain for that would be super cool too.


Writing up my backstory a bit more. Most in-depth I've ever had to write about heritage/family, just cause they'll already be kicking around Sandpoint if dien feels like using them as NPCs.

I'm writing it such that my character has mostly lived in Magnimar, but visited Sandpoint frequently, so it makes sense for her not to know most people and history, but does know general info and which taverns are the best. Should be neat, never played a character that actually knows things about the campaign setting, hahaha.

Also, Paladin of Abadar! Because I've never seen someone play one and it seems neat!

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