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No, she's a Tiefling. I posted her stats & backstory in spoilers earlier. Don't want to make an alias yet unless it's required for the submission or she gets picked for the game.

I just gave a quick description of Jeggred there because I referenced him as part of my inspiration for Martisan, then realized that nobody probably knew what the hell I was talking about.

If DM Morvius says having Drow for a base race for Tiefling wouldn't change the already strong prejudice against her, I'm fine with having her be a "Drow" Tiefling for the roleplay opportunities there, otherwise her base race would be human. But I honestly think that most folks in the human nations of Cheliax & Isger would try to kill such a creature if they encountered a young Drow Tiefling. I also put in her backstory that her fiendish features didn't show until she'd already started growing up at the monastery for the same reason - it's more likely that a guard patrol would kill a young Tiefling (or Drow) outside some creepy woods than take her to be raised among their human children.

Dark Archive

As aptinuviel asked about some connections, here are a couple background possible connections for Baolus:

-Sacred Huntmaster of Erastil: Assuming his area of interest would be the rural communities and Baolus is sort of an urban ranger, they could have briefly met in a couple of situations where Baolus needs to hunt down a slave that went to far from their masters. The two would look to society a bit differently, but since both believe in the maintenance of the law I think there would not be a problem.

-Chelish noble with the lost soul: Since most of the nobles have slaves, and they have a tendency to run, Baolus services would be a good meeting point. If the entity that sold his/her arcane power is Asmodeus, another good meeting point would be the temple of Asmodeus, where Baolus served for 10 years.

-The bard: This one is tricky, and unless both of them met in a tavern or accidentally on the roads, there are not a lot to work on. A good option would be if he/she had any trouble with a criminal, and Baolus would be more than happy to help.

-The Scholar from the Colonies: Many times scholars seek ingredients hard to find, or even an escort to some place, Baolus could help with both. Another point would be if he/she grew up in Sarvaga and would, possibly, look forward to work with a kalabuta.

Now, a couple of suggestions linking him to one of the other applicants (just picking a couple that are more active right now...):

Martisan Vordren (HotLanta): Since she only now came to Cheliax and Baolus almost never left, it really makes no sense for them to have met before.

Umarmen Leid (mourge40k): Well, since she appropriated from the NPC I created for Baolus background (LOL), Baolus and her would be almost like brother and sister... or something else! If the relationship is a bit amorous, of competition, or another thing...

Perdita Imogen (W E Ray): As W E Ray suggested, Baolus could have requested Perdita's help more than once when his tracks went cold, even though he would do so only in desperate times, for he is a pride bastard... but when the matter of his job fails or not, his pride is quickly put aside.


Lots of people gunning for the spots happen to be tieflings. Given that they're not the most popular lot in Cheliax, I do wonder the odds that multiple tieflings will be picked. I do think we've rather squeezed ourselves into a smaller pool.

...but it's totally worth it. Tieflings are the best!

Also, I totally hope to get my character in with the archdevil worshiper; I'm a fan of Mephistopheles, myself. I was originally thinking of having Edmund follow him as a nod to being a loyal second who wanted to be the head. But, if it's illegal, I think that's a quirk I'll avoid.


This sounds very interesting

A question: I know you disallowed the Spiritualist but, assuming that's because of the Phantom, would you allow one with the Ectoplasmatist archetype? It gets rid of the phantom in all it's forms.


I'm working on a gnoll rogue character. Gnolls can be found on page 225 of the ARG, and are built with 6 race points.

While this may seem like an odd choice, give me a chance, and you can make a judgement when you see the character. She's a worshiper of Asmodeus, and will live and die for a contract. She claims that she's left behind her 'savage ways' due to her discovery of the prince of hell.

As a question, she has a high intelligence score, and is very dedicated to the Asmodean church. While gnolls typically begin play knowing only Gnoll, this is a PC. May she know Common, Undercommon, and Infernal as well?


Cuàn wrote:

This sounds very interesting

A question: I know you disallowed the Spiritualist but, assuming that's because of the Phantom, would you allow one with the Ectoplasmatist archetype? It gets rid of the phantom in all it's forms.

Spiritualist is not a permitted class for this game.


SunstonePhoenix wrote:

I'm working on a gnoll rogue character. Gnolls can be found on page 225 of the ARG, and are built with 6 race points.

While this may seem like an odd choice, give me a chance, and you can make a judgement when you see the character. She's a worshiper of Asmodeus, and will live and die for a contract. She claims that she's left behind her 'savage ways' due to her discovery of the prince of hell.

As a question, she has a high intelligence score, and is very dedicated to the Asmodean church. While gnolls typically begin play knowing only Gnoll, this is a PC. May she know Common, Undercommon, and Infernal as well?

I'll allow the character to begin play knowing Common if the intelligence score permits and you would like.


HotLanta wrote:

Side-note: If one of Abrogail II's Chosen of Cheliax secretly worships a lesser devil, that could be a very interesting plot point to develop within the party. Who finds out? Who do they tell? What favors are necessary to keep your secret?

If we're both chosen, you best watch out for Martisan's sense motive ;) she's hella devout, though, and would almost certainly turn you in to the group's leader, unless an equally lawful case could be made where not doing so better serves the Church of Asmodeus.

This might be a very interesting dynamic. Hiram is very devout in his own way, so he and Martisan would undoubtedly have some interesting theological discussions...

Sir Longears wrote:
-Sacred Huntmaster of Erastil: Assuming his area of interest would be the rural communities and Baolus is sort of an urban ranger, they could have briefly met in a couple of situations where Baolus needs to hunt down a slave that went to far from their masters. The two would look to society a bit differently, but since both believe in the maintenance of the law I think there would not be a problem.

This might work for Hiram as well. If Baolus' hunt ever took him to the city of Khari or the deserts of Kharijite, they might have collaborated. Hiram has also just started expanding his horizons towards Cheliax proper, so he might have asked for a favor or two in return.

Both of the characters are also former slaves from Garund, who have worked for their freedom and come around to support the system in their own way. There might be some sense of solidarity there, since they would have to deal with many of the same prejudices.

thegreenteagamer wrote:
Also, I totally hope to get my character in with the archdevil worshiper; I'm a fan of Mephistopheles, myself. I was originally thinking of having Edmund follow him as a nod to being a loyal second who wanted to be the head. But, if it's illegal, I think that's a quirk I'll avoid.

Well, Mephistopheles is a lot more subtle than Moloch. Not being a divine caster probably helps as well! :P


Updated the backstory, took me a bit to make it somewhat good but i kept it simple. Also included her official stat block. But the long story short of it is she is in Cheliax because it's not Nidal. There's more to it than that but then again that's just a short.

Statistics block:

N Medium Humanoid Half Elf
Init +2; Senses Perception +8, Low Light Vision
------------------------------
DEFENSE
------------------------------
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 dex, +0 shield)
hp 8
Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +1
------------------------------
OFFENSE
------------------------------
Speed 30 ft.

Melee +3 Attack, +3 Damage

Ranged +2 Attack
------------------------------
STATISTICS
------------------------------
Str 16, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 14
Base Atk +0; CMB +3; CMD 15
Traits
Nonchalant Thuggery
You are adept at keeping witnesses from noticing that anything is wrong.

Benefit: You gain a +4 trait bonus on Bluff checks to keep others from noticing your aggressive actions.

Magical Knack

Pick a class when you gain this trait—your caster level in that class gains a +2 trait bonus as long as this bonus doesn't raise your caster level above your current Hit Dice.

Feats Spell Focus Evocation

Skills (0 points; 2 class, 3 INT)

Knowledge (arcana, Dungeoneering) + 7, intimidate + 6, Perception + 8, Climb + 7

ACP -2

*ACP applies to these skills
Non-Standard Skill Bonuses

Languages Common, Draconic, Elven

------------------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
------------------------------

------------------------------
Spells
------------------------------
0th (at will)
Read and detect magic

Light

Ray of Frost

Prestidigitation

Mage Hand

1st (2/day)

Chill Touch

Shocking Grasp

RAy of enfeeblement

Frostbite

Unseen Servant

Color spray

------------------------------
GEAR/POSSESSIONS
------------------------------

Money 40 GP 0 SP 0 CP

Background:

I've lived most of my life as experiment number 9, of the mad Shadow mage Archae Nym. He wished to create the ultimate life form. From scouring his old journals I learned of the many bloods and magics he used in creating me.

I spent much of my child hood under his tutelage, that is when he wasn't gone on one of his trips. Dad always told me never to leave the tower there were other mages around they were not to be trusted.

It was not long before we both noticed my body deteriorating, I learned to hide the black inky blotches creeping up my arms. Archae was angry and frustrated, those were the years he locked himself in his laboratory, I snuck in to see what was going on and read one of the journals on his desk.

Experiment number 9 is a failure, the vessel lacks stability. The body will be dissected when the deterioration reaches its final form.

that was the only part I read before dashing out of the tower. I grew to hate my father, reading his journals i learned more and more about how i was just an experiment to him...one of nine. I wanted him dead, but i was slowly dying even if i couldn't feel it i knew. I had to take care of my self, that's what matter right now.

[i] Originally i'm from the nation of Nidal, a land of darkness and shadows. When i ran i knew i had to quickly decide what to do and were to go. Leaving Nidal was not a difficult decision, I left for Cheliax a neighboring country. I needed to begin building funds and gather some kind of power to protect myself. With the call for heroes from the Queen herself i decided to take the chance.[/b]

Appearance and Personality:

Illya often acts the leader, she is confident sometimes to the point of arrogance. She can be both kind and cold depending on the situation. She has very little qualms with killing , viewing killing humanoids as no different than killing monsters. when it comes to opponents she is clearly stronger than she will often play around with them. She views her actions as just, and knows right from wrong saving her more sadistic tendencies for people very clearly viewed as enemies. Being the daughter of a powerful and old wizard she spent much time growing up studying magic and other subjects, unlike her father she is adept at manipulation. She is True Neutral, despite knowing right from wrong and mostly choosing right, she has a few less than kind moments especially when directed at enemies that balance this out.

Illya or Illia if you prefer can be spelled either way, last name Nym. Whitish Grey hair, tiny horns underneath the hair possibly from the dragon blood. Takes on an odd appearance, with pale skin due to the mixture of blood in her. Her eye's are violet colored, like her father who changed her to resemble some family appearance. Patches of pale grayish blackness, like ink stains on her skin cover her arms, she keeps them covered this is from her body breaking down. She is tall roughly 5'11 weighing around 110 pounds.

here is a picture of her general appeareance


All finished up! :)
I chose Blood of Dragons for her final trait & added starting gear.

Martisan Vordren
Female Tiefling (Faultspawn) Monk (Unchained) 1
LE Medium Outsider (Native)
Initiative: +4; Senses: Darkvision 60ft Perception +6

Crunch:

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Defense
--------------------

AC 17; Touch 16; Flat-Footed 15; (+4 Monk, +2 Dex, +1 Natural)
CMD 19
HP 12 (1d10+2)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +4 (+2 vs sleep & paralysis)
Resist Fire 5
Spell Resistance 11

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Offense
--------------------

Speed 30ft
Melee Unarmed Strike +3 (1d6+2; x3) or Spear +3 (1d8+2; x3)
Ranged Spear +3 (20ft; 1d8+2; x3) or Shuriken +3 (10ft; 1d2+2; x2)
Special Attacks Flurry of Blows +3/+3 (1d6+2; x3); Shuriken Flurry +3/+3 (10ft; 1d2+2; x2); Stunning Fist +3 (1/day; DC 15 Fort); Grapple +5

--------------------
Statistics
--------------------

Str 14, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 9, Wis 18, Cha 14
Base Attack +1; CMB +3; CMD 19 (21 vs Grapple)
Feats Fiendish Heritage (Faultspawn), Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist
Traits Reactionary, Asmodean Demon Hunter, Blood of Dragons
Alternate Racial Traits Bullying, Scaled Skin
Skills Knowledge (Religion) +3; Perception +8; Sense Motive +8
Languages Common, Infernal
SQ Aura (faint evil, lawful), Fiendish Sorcery

--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------

Fiendish Heritage (Faultspawn) Born of the destruction-minded Asuras; +2 Dex, Wis; -2 Int
Bullying +1 Disarm & Steal Combat Maneuver (replaces skilled)
Scaled Skin Hard, scaly skin; +1 Nat AC, resist fire 5 (replaces resistances)
Spell Resistance Tiefling Variant Ability; 10 + ½ HD (replaces spell-like ability)
Darkvision See perfectly in the dark up to 60ft
Blood of Dragons +2 on saves vs effects that cause sleep or paralysis
Asmodean Demon Hunter Indoctrinated in the Church of Asmodeus, you’ve focused on the elimination of Demons. +3 Knowledge (planes) regarding demons & +2 Will saves vs mid-affecting spells/abilities of Demons
Flurry of Blows Extra attack in full-attack action
Stunning Fist 1/day, DC 10 + ½ Monk Level + Wis
Fiendish Sorcery A sorcerer with Infernal or Abyssal bloodlines treats Charisma score as 2 points higher for Bloodline abilities.

--------------------
Equipment
--------------------

Mundane Items Backpack, belt pouch, compass, bedroll, blanket, monk’s outfit, Asmodean Disciplines, iron unholy symbol of Asmodeus, waterskin, barbed vest, trail rations (10), shuriken (10), Spear (4)
Carried Gold 5gp 4sp

Background:
Martisan was picked up as a child by a military patrol somewhere East of the Whisperwood; her earliest memories are riding in a wagon with dozens of other children. The patrol dropped her at the nearest monastery along their route, along with the other orphans and a number of refugees, to the care of the Sisters of the Golden Erinyes. As with the other children, Martisan was raised into the Church of Asmodeus, and, showing the promise of a select few, began her training as a warrior monk among the Sisters.

Early into her training, while she was yet a girl, Martisan began showing signs of her Infernal ancestry. Possibly in response to the harsh structure and challenging stimuli of her monastic training, Martisan’s skin thickened and grew scaly; her eyes grew an unsettlingly bright yellow in hue, and the nubs of two horns could be seen poking out from the crown of her head. The young girl was talked about throughout the compound, and tales of the monastery’s twisted half-breed demon were soon being whispered in nearby villages. After much discussion, the leading Sisters determined that the abomination would not be summarily killed, but instead pushed harder – Martisan was put through rigors that a Human girl her age would likely not survive, and was given lesson upon painfully unforgettable lesson in Asmodean Law. Here is a powerful tool to be sculpted to the will of the Prince of Devils.

Truly, The Sisters underestimated the power of Martisan’s evil taint. Tormented nightly by strange nightmares in which she gleefully, indiscriminately ends life after life, Martisan channeled the purely destructive urges from her Asura ancestor into each day’s challenges. As she grew, and added hatred from each person she met to the daily rigors of life at the monastery, so grew her disdain for the world and its inhabitants. Never too bright, yet surprisingly discerning, the Faultspawn Tiefling learned to temper her passions with the teachings of Asmodeus. There are few living creatures Martisan has met that she has not wished to destroy, but the discipline of The Sisters and the strictures of her religion have given her the strength to suppress her Infernal urges.

When Queen Abrogail II’s call for Chelaxian heroes reached the monastery, The Sisters saw it as an opportunity to put their unloved, prize pupil to the work she was made for: fighting for the power and glory of Cheliax, House Thrune, and the Lord of Hell.

For as yet unknown reasons, Martisan was abandoned by her parents as they traveled from the village of Senara in the Whisperwood, where she was then picked up & brought to The Sisterhood.

Appearance & Personality:
Height: 5’8” (6’2” with horns); Weight: 156 lbs

With her large yellow eyes, greenish scaly hide, and a pair of short, curved horns, Martisan’s inhuman visage often strikes fear into the hearts of those unaccustomed to the dark beasts that lurk throughout Golarion. Yet, despite her obviously fiendish traits, Martisan is an undeniably beautiful woman, and her powerful presence is equally attractive to those with an affinity for such strange creatures.

The light load she carries and her loose-fitting black and red robes designate Martisan as an advanced acolyte of the Sisters of the Golden Erinyes, and an iron pentagram hangs from a chain at her neck. Her only apparent weapons are the wooden spear she uses as a makeshift walking stick, three similar spears strapped to her back, and a pouch of shurikens that clinks lightly at her belt. She is well-muscled, and moves with measured grace - those blessed enough to watch Martisan in combat quickly learn that The Sisters train their entire bodies into a single, integrated weapon.

----------------------

A cruel result of her Asura ancestry, Martisan is driven by the ever-present, whispering urge to destroy all the gods’ mortal creations. Yet, through the dull-witted girl’s indoctrination into the Church of Asmodeus, she sees these desires for the sinfully chaotic impulses they are, and (unable to simply ignore them) strives to direct her urges toward productive ends for The Church and its Chelaxian constituents. She has particularly focused this penchant for destruction toward Hell's eternal enemies in the Abyss; the chaotic demons.

Martisan is intellectually slower than most, and has faced little else but hatred from others since the day her Infernal heritage became known. As such, she resorted to bullying the other children at the monastery, and became particularly adept at picking up social cues and the secrets of others in order to stay ahead. Though she doesn’t have the aptitude for any true academic pursuits, Martisan is incredibly intuitive, and has a passion for religious studies as she expands her awareness of the world. Before being sent away from the monastery in Isger to heed Queen Abrogail II’s call, even the leading Sisters would begrudgingly come to Martisan for her surprising insight and wisdom.

Some things to note:
I adjusted her ability scores for better mechanical synergy with the Sorcerer level dip and eventual prestige as a Green Dragon Disciple. Mainly that's lower Intelligence & more Charisma. This is the first character I've built with a negative intelligence mod - that'll be a fun challenge to play :)

I traded Acrobatics for K:Religion just to round her out a bit more (a negative Int mod makes the knowledge skill useless in any practical sense, but having the rank adds flavor, and acrobatics can at least be attempted untrained).

I'll be toning back the overt aggression from her genetic destructive urges (not quite so many threats within the party), but the conflict between that and her monastic upbringing remains a key point for the character.

I made a direct, OOC reference in her background to the village of Senara in the Whisperwood as her birthplace, as opposed to the implied reference in the previous background. I also discovered there is a resident Green Dragon in the forest as well, which ties nicely into my ultimate goals for the character. It might actually give the whole character concept more synergy thematically than what she'll get from the class mechanics (which is really just a hodgepodge of useful powers/abilities - idk what I'm doing with this multiclassing business; I just think the combo feels cool).

Sir Longears wrote:
Martisan Vordren (HotLanta): Since she only now came to Cheliax and Baolus almost never left, it really makes no sense for them to have met before.

Word. Appreciate the mention though :)

thegreenteagamer wrote:
Lots of people gunning for the spots happen to be tieflings. Given that they're not the most popular lot in Cheliax, I do wonder the odds that multiple tieflings will be picked. I do think we've rather squeezed ourselves into a smaller pool.

This is very true. I'm sorry to have crowded in on you in this area, but I'd never made a Tiefling before, and once the concept started coming together for me it was hard not to run with it. This probably extends a bit to all non-core race applicants, though - the general sense I get is that the less "normal" a character is by Chellish standards, the harder a sell it'll be to get in.

Still, despite the shared race, our characters are very different, and would each add to the party in unique ways if we're both selected. Both our characters have motivations derived in some way from being outcasts, but Edmund is looking to prove himself in the face of that adversity and achieve a position of honor, while Martisan has virtually accepted her place as an outcast, and seeks to simply control her vile tendencies.

As with all the other (good) submissions, both those motivations are, of course, framed & promoted by the overarching desire to support & strengthen Cheliax. Martisan would probably press Edmund to get a sense of his world view, and she'd likely either distance herself out of jealousy or creepily stalk him over the apparent ease with which he handles his devil-blood, depending how their interactions go.

Also, for what it's worth, Cheliax's Hellish proclivity probably makes Tieflings more prevalent here than most other nations in Golarion. & like you said, what better way to get involved in the devil aspect of things than to just jump in all the way (I had considered a wiz/sorc going diabolist, but casters are kinda hard for me, & binding is def too much).

There's a lot of cool character concepts here, & the campaign's political/religious bent seems like it'll provide a really good backdrop for some awesome interactions both within the party & with NPCs. The four settled players & whomever gets picked will likely have a lot of fun with this one.


HotLanta wrote:
Also, for what it's worth, Cheliax's Hellish proclivity probably makes Tieflings more prevalent here than most other nations in Golarion. & like you said, what better way to get involved in the devil aspect of things than to just jump in all the way (I had considered a wiz/sorc going diabolist, but casters are kinda hard for me, & binding is def too much).

I hear you, but...well...Faultspawn are descended from asuras, not devils. I mean, devils are everywhere in Cheliax, but the other fiends? Yeah, they're also LE, but it's not like Asmodeus likes competition; that's why you don't see Kytons running around all willy nilly hanging with house Thrune, also.

I originally considered demon spawn tiefling for the strength and charisma bonus, maybe make a bloodrager, but to be honest I just figured it didn't fit the theme of the game. That's why I went defensive tank with Edmund. It fits the strengths of the tiefling and the character roleplay concept, even though mechanically defense is typically considered subpar to offense...but with devil tieflings having a con and wis bonus, defense would be his gift.

I like to optimize, but lately the challenge is doing the best I can with a wonky idea and making it not suck instead of shooting out the same cookie cutter stuff. In this instance it's getting a guy in tower shield and hellknight plate, and I figured one-handing a reach weapon and grabbing combat reflexes would make him a pretty sweet wall for a spellcaster to hide behind.


Unlike kytons, asuras still bunk with the devils. The Whisperwood is supposed to have an uncontrolled gate to Hell, so it's not at all unbelievable a few asuras might have slipped through.

Overall, I think there are likely to be all kinds of tieflings mingled in the predominantly devil-blooded population. Most people—including the tieflings themselves—can't tell the difference between the different heritages, so Cheliax might actually be relatively safe place for foreign tieflings of all lineages to blend in. Chelish tieflings don't have it easy, but there are worse options out there...

Scarab Sages

You could also take Pass for Human (though obviously not an option where the concept involves obvious fiendish traits). Characters will have secrets. Having your blood secretly tainted (by any of the types) would be an interesting one.

Given that the other four characters will be human, it's very likely that a non-human will be tempting to choose for at least one of the last spots. The tough sell will be to demonstrate that the character fits into the group in that role. A former slave halfing? Sure. A "monster" race brute for the group's muscle? Sure. A Half-orc that wants to be the party "face"? Not so much. Cheliax would probably be happy to have a non-human in the group for good PR. But they better not be the group's leader. At least not openly.


You know, I think with all the talk about other's characters, it's time to make a quick collection so we can all eye up our competition/see who will be joining. So, aside from Leid herself, here is the list! And if missed/screwed up on any of you, let me know.

Hiram Ahiram (Neirkir) - Human (Garundi) Warpriest of Moloch

Martisan Vorden (HotLanta) - Tiefling (Faultspawn) Unchained Monk

Illya-Nym (Archae) - Half-Elf Magus

Baolus Yeralzery (Sir Longears) - Human (Kalabuta) Ranger (Divine Tracker/Urban Ranger/Skirmisher)

Perdita Imogen (W E Ray) - Aasimar (Peri-Blooded) Investigator (Empricist)

Edmund the Tainted (thegeateagamer) - Tiefling (Devil-Blooded) Fighter (Phalanx Fighter)

Rona'Nathaniel Gassan (Faeler Braegen) - Elf Fighter (Tactician)

Ovarik Glandaur (Demon Lurking) - Elder Dwarf Inquisitor (Exarch) of Kols

Jezibelle Valrix (Arachnofiend) - Human (Ethnicity Unknown) Bloodrager (Steelblood/Primalist)

Lucius Charthagnion (ellann) - Human (Ethnicity Unknown) Shaman


S'wait, there's only two of us tieffers? I thought I saw three of us. Huh, go figure.


No, there's three. As I mentioned in the post, I left out Leid because... Well, she's on top of all y'all in the list as it stands. Whichi is entirely intentional.


aptinuviel wrote:

You could also take Pass for Human (though obviously not an option where the concept involves obvious fiendish traits). Characters will have secrets. Having your blood secretly tainted (by any of the types) would be an interesting one.

Given that the other four characters will be human, it's very likely that a non-human will be tempting to choose for at least one of the last spots. The tough sell will be to demonstrate that the character fits into the group in that role. A former slave halfing? Sure. A "monster" race brute for the group's muscle? Sure. A Half-orc that wants to be the party "face"? Not so much. Cheliax would probably be happy to have a non-human in the group for good PR. But they better not be the group's leader. At least not openly.

This is basically the concept behind my character; a proud Chelish soldier and noblewoman who sold out her soul and her will to a devil (not even a very famous one!) for more power. It would, of course, be a massive scandal if it were found out that she had infused herself with the blood of a devil since there are very few ways you can leave yourself more blatantly subservient to an outsider.


Varushka, the Civil Savage (Gnoll Rogue)

Introduction

A cloaked figure steps into a patch of moonlight thrown upon a cold stone floor by an arched window. Across the room from the figure sits a human male on a carved wooden chair, exquisitely dressed in muted red robes and golden necklaces. With a nod from the male, the figure slowly draws back the hood of its cloak, revealing the savagely elegant form of the creature underneath. The creature's twisted smile of pointed teeth would typically ward off any god-fearing mortal, but the man knew that this particular specimen of a beast could be trusted, at least to the extent of any other member of Chelaxian society.

This beast was a civilized female gnoll by name of Varushka; a single star that had ascended from the dung heap of gnollkind when she'd discovered the church of Asmodeus.

Asmodeus is the only reason that she stands in front of the red-clad noble now. She puts one clawed foot in front of the other, and begins to approach the man. The purple sash wrapped around the top of her head flows behind her as she walks, and the single golden earring dangling from her ragged left ear sways back and forth with her stride. Unflinchingly, she stares the noble straight in the eyes and pulls a roll of parchment from the leather satchel hanging loosely by her side.

"Sir," she purrs, in a dignified accent of rolled Rs and throaty vowels, "I think it is time to uphold your end of our little contract."

Stats:
Str: 15
Dex: 16
Con: 12
Int: 16
Wis: 10
Cha: 12

HP: 9
Languages: Gnoll, Common, Infernal, Goblin
Saves: Fortitude- 1 Reflex- 5 Will- 0
Darkvision: 60 ft
Natural Armor: +1
Armor Class: 18
Flat Foot: 14
Touch: 14
Initiative: +3

Trapfinding: +1 to Disable Device and Perception to find traps (DD has been added into the score already)
Sneak Attack: 1d6
Finesse Training: Rapier

Traits

Adopted--> Infernal Influence (Human): +1 to saves against poison, fire resistance 1
Armor Expert: Reduce ACP by 1
Regional Influence: Know the Infernal language, +1 to profession check

Feats

Dodge: +1 to AC

Skills

*Acrobatics-(1)= 7
*Appraise-(0)= 3
*Bluff-(1)= 5
*Climb-(0)= 2
*Craft-(0)= 3
*Diplomacy-(1)= 5
*Disable Device-(1)= 8
*Disguise-(1)= 5
*Escape Artist-(0)= 3
Fly-(0)= 3
Handle Animal -(0)= 1
Heal -(0)= 0
*Intimidate-(0)= 1
Knowledge (arcana)-(0)= 3
*Knowledge (dungeoneering)-(0)= 3
Knowledge (engineering)-(0)= 3
Knowledge (geography)-(0)= 3
Knowledge (history) -(0)= 3
*Knowledge (local)-(1)= 7
Knowledge (nature) -(0)= 3
Knowledge (nobility)-(0)= 3
Knowledge (planes) -(0)= 3
Knowledge (religion)-(0)= 3
*Linguistics-(1)= 7
*Perception-(1)= 4
*Perform-(0)= 1
*Profession-(0)= 1
Ride-(0)= 3
*Sense Motive-(1)= 4
*Sleight of Hand-(1)= 7
Spellcraft-(0)= 3
*Stealth-(1)= 7
Survival-(0)= 0
*Swim-(0)= 2
*Use Magic Device-(1)= 5

Background:
Varushka hails from a gnoll tribe that lived outside of Cheliax's capital city, Egorian. While the tribe has been eradicated by several of Egorian's guards, they at one point were feared by merchants, traders, and travelers who journeyed to the city. The gnolls had grown quite fond of enslaving humanoids that wandered alone through their territory. Varushka managed these slaves, holding them to their duty, feeding them, and punishing them as she saw fit. Not once did she think of the slaves as anything more than animals until one of the tribe's hunting parties brought a charismatic cleric of Asmodeus back along with their daily kills. This cleric, a human male by the name of Tybalt Chaucer, was very proactive in his predicament, trying to figure out how to free himself instead of wallowing in misery as many of the other badly mistreated slaves did.

He saw his opportunity in Varushka.

Using 'tongues' day after day, week after week, the Asmodean cleric gradually was able to preach his message to Varushka, appealing to the selfishness that he saw inside of her. He taught her of Asmodeus's philosophies: the strong should rule the weak, the smart should rule the dumb, and that the contract is a sacred tool of those in power. Finally, after months of careful manipulation, Tybalt had convinced Varushka that she was above the dogs that lived around her.

Varushka was impressed by Tybalt's awakening of her formerly ignorant mind, and decided that if she were to leave her pathetic tribe, he should leave too. The duo formed a simple plan over the next few days. Varushka would take Tybalt on a hunting trip with her, leave the tribe's territory, and never return. In return for Varushka's aid in escaping, Tybalt would teach her to exist in a civilized society; he would further her enlightenment.

Little did Varushka realize at the time that her training was aiding Tybalt in a way, too. While Varushka learned to be a stealthy, deadly contract-worker, Tybalt was gaining a powerful ally- one whose loyalty he could count on for years to some.

Personality:
Varushka, despite being very proud of her civility, still carries many fundamental tendencies of a pack animal. She is polite toward strangers, with a tongue of silver, but is unusually jumpy and mistrusting of those she doesn't know personally. In actuality, through her flattering words, she is extrordinarily apathetic toward stragers and values their lives no more highly than the life of a chicken. To those that she is familiar with, however, it's a completely different story. Varushka will put herself in harm's way a thousand times over for those that she considers deserving of her loyalty. She rationalizes her internal pack mentality as a sort of unspoken Asmodean contract, and (often incorrectly) assumes that others would jump through the same hoops for her. Those that betray her or break a signed contract with her are in for a world of pain. She won't leave the trail of an individual that has betrayed her trust until they are dead or in a situation more painful than death itself.

It is also important to note that Varushka's race causes others to have very varied reactions to seeing her. If one encounters Varushka alone with no advanced warning, they will often panic and run for a guard, grab their own sword, or pray to whatever deity they may worship for divine intervention. Thus, when going out in public, Varushka tends to wear a thick black cloak with a hood that hides her face, and dislikes going out into the city in broad daylight. Nobles and those who formally invite Varushka to see them have a very different reaction to her, as they know of her unusual race before the encounter. These civilians often treat Varushka with a sense of mysticism, and occasionally speak to her as if she were an ignorant child. Varushka, instead of growing upset with those that talk down to her, embraces their preconceived notions to make herself seem more appealing. She wears bright, loose clothing under her cloak, and wears a purple sash, large earring, and thick leather belt to enhance the exoticism that many of her clients find so interesting about having a "tamed" gnoll working for them.

Varushka's line of work is really what makes her so successful within the politically inclined city of Egorian, however. She can be considered a Swiss army knife of a worker, willing to work for any employer willing to write a contract and having a wide range of talents. Some hire her as a scribe and a messenger. Some hire her to "dispose" of their rivals. Others send her off to retrieve private information or spy upon certain individuals. The unifying aspect of all of Varushka's jobs is that they require stealth and cunning, and both of these are traits that Varushka's predatory blood sends coursing through her veins.

The Queen's Request:
An important part of any adventure is knowing a character's motivation for participating within it. Varushka's are fairly straightforward. Varushka has a bit of an ego and a lust for power, and being appointed by the queen herself to go on a mission to better Cheliax can definetly be a key to the power that she so desires. The queen, however, would have had to appoint Varushka in the first place. She may have found out about Varushka through the other nobles that Varushka has served, or may have found about her through Tybalt, whose position in the Asmodean church may allow him to have governmental influence.

Varushka also has quite a bit that she can add to an adventuring team. While often having to hide under a cloak at the back of the party, she is very stealthy, and can be an excellent spy. She also is a gnoll, and may be taken more seriously in negotiations with monstrous races than a human or tiefling. Lastly, nobles and other authority figures who don't know her tend to be very loose tongued around her, as Varushka, despite her intelligence, is an expert at playing the role of dumb dog or exotic conversationalist.

Equipment:
Light 76 lbs. or less
Medium 77-153 lbs.
Heavy 154-230 lbs.

Studded Leather Armor: +3 AC (20 lbs)
Rapier +3: 1d6+2, 18-20/x2, piercing damage (2 lbs)
Shortbow +3: 1d6, x3, piercing damage, 60 ft (2 lbs)
Arrows, 20 (3 lbs)
Monk's Outfit (2 lbs)
Cloak (1/2 lb)
Masterwork Backpack (4 lbs)
Meat, 2 (1 lb)
Chocolate, 2 (1 lb)
Waterskin (4 lbs)
Parchment, 10 (-)
Charcoal (-)

CP:
SP: 9
GP: 99


Yeah, that's some stiff competition. Thanks Leid.

Hiram nailed it on Asuras' relation to the Devils, and the possibility of their progeny finding a way into Cheliax.

aptinuviel wrote:
Characters will have secrets. Having your blood secretly tainted (by any of the types) would be an interesting one.

This is why I went with an overt, sense motive-heavy position for Martisan & her fiendish traits. I love playing characters with hidden origins & secret sources of power, but Chelaxians are known for their "secret" ties to Hell (I actually expected more applicants to go a route similar to Arachnofiend), & with the group's duties likely calling for them to sniff out others' secrets in the name of the Queen, I figured an honest character whose monstrous nature & depth of loyalty are both evident would be a sort of stabilizing point in the party. Not as the group's leader, but as that character's go-to enforcer. She is very much the brutish muscle.

"Can we trust this noble?"
"I don't know, it feels like he's hiding something."
"I get that too. Let's throw him in a room with Martisan."
*soft chuckle* "Right. She'll bring us the truth."

Not that there aren't characters who would be equally good (or better) at interrogation, but I intend for Martisan's motives to be unquestionable. Rather, if questioned, her loyalty will thereafter be undeniable.

She would also put an end to any hidden operatives within the party itself that are working against the group. Not that I expect such from the players, but I imagine House Thrune would be wary of the possibility.

Everyone does have their secrets (Martisan's being her controlled urges), so a character who can otherwise be taken at face value is, for me at least, something fresh.


Forgive me, it's taken me a bit longer with the holiday and all that rot to put my character all together and get it posted. So here is my submission, hopefully it is at least interesting.

Stat Block:

Aezaran Taruanor
Male Bloodrager (Blood Conduit) 1
LE Medium Outsider (Native)
Init +2
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 19, touch 16, flat-footed 13 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +2 Dodge)
hp 12 (1d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will -1
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Bite/Claw +5 1d6+6 (Raging +7 1d6+6) [Power Attack +6 1d6+8]
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 18/22, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 14
Base Atk +1; CMB +5/+7 (+7/+9 Grappling); CMD 17/15Fl/19 Grapple
Feats Power Attack
Traits Aspiring Hellknight (Cheliax), Courageous, Liar's Tongue
Skills Acobatics +6, Bluff +7, Climb +4, Handle Animal +6, Intimidate +7, Perception +5, Survival +3, Swim +4
Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal
Combat Gear Lamellar (Leather) Armor
Other Gear Explorer's outfit, Mwk Backpack, Bedroll, Blanket(Winter), Compass, Crowbar, Fishing net, Flint and Steel, Grappling Hook, Signal horn, Signet ring, Silk Rope, Tent (small), Waterskin x2
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Aspiring Hellknight
Bloodrage 6 Rounds/day
Claws 2/claws while raging
Compass
Courageous
Darkvision 60 ft
Energy Resistance, Fire 5
Improved Grapple
Power Attack -1/+2
Prehensile Tail
--------------------
Racial Traits
--------------------
Darkvision
Scaled Skin (Fire, +1 Natural Armor)
Prehensile Tail
Maw or Claw (Bite)
Demon-Spawn Tiefling (+2 Str, +2 Cha, -2 Int)
Skilled (Demon-Spawn +2 Disable Device, +2 Perception)

Background:

Aezaran was born due to a contract that his grandfather had had with a demon. Tis unfortunately the way of things that tends to happen with his kinds creation. His grandfather had wanted power and fame and he had gotten it, bringing the family up to the rank of nobility within his lifetime. His son was the one that paid the price, as the deal with the Succubus was to take his son as her slave upon his manhood. Of course, with every contract with a demon there was a few unmentioned consequences of the contract. One was Aezaran being brought into the world to be raised.
His grandfather of course was not amused, hardly interested in being a parent to such spawn he gave him to the maid to raise as if he was her own. The maid did a great job, but Aezaran was more of a handful than the typical pit born. His teeth came in quickly, long and sharp giving the boy a a very demonic and frightening look and gave the poor woman a slew of injuries over the years. His skin was black as night, covered in thick scales to absorbed the heat well and his tail was almost as dexterous as his hands making for more limbs to pay attention to then most were used to.
He grew up being an outcast as was typical for almost all of his kind. He was constantly being abused and segregated by others throughout his childhood, all forty years of it. It was a hard life, one that caused him to grow up to be a rather good liar. He was always hiding the truth of what was happening to him, not out of fear that others might jump at the chance to join in but out of spite. He held in his anger towards the others, waiting for the day he could exact some kind of vengeance upon them or their family.
As he grew into manhood, his rage encompassed him and he used that rage to fuel his ability to destroy those who got in his way. But he had a dream, despite his terrible childhood he actually loved his country. Most would consider it a land of oppression and abuse of the system, but he saw how well the country prospered and how vengeance could be found upon those that broke the law quite well, even if you had to work the system a little to make it happen. It was these reasons why he had begun work to try and become one of the illustrious Hellknights that protect the country and met out the vengeance upon those that so desperately deserved it.

Personality:
Quick to anger, and eager to met out vengeance when needed he is a man of action but also knows that sometimes a bit of subterfuge is needed to get the job done. He is the kind of person that if you are on his good side, he will do almost anything to protect you. But get on his bad side or on the wrong side of the Cheliax laws then he will do whatever it takes to bring you in...try to resist and he won't hesitate to take you down instead. He enjoys a good ale and a warm bed when it can be had but knows how to rough it when needed, music is his preferred way to relax alongside a warm body and a nice tankard of ale.

Appearance:
He is a beast of a man, weighing in over two hundred and twenty five pounds. His scales are thick as leather and black as coal. He stands over most people, a little over six feet tall. His hair is stark white, coming to rest about halfway down his shoulder blades. His face kept clean, a rather hard feat given the scales but he managed with a bit of alcohol and a spark. His eyes were odd colored one of them an icy blue, the other making the fire in his heart. He wore dark brown leathers to complement his own color, over it he wore a thick blackened leather coat to help hide his tail from prying eyes. He preferred to stay unarmed, it tended to keep others less uneasy around him. A good way to get the drop on his opponents once he flew into a rage and his nails grew into brutal talons useful for ripping through the armor and flesh of others.

Tie ins:

There are some pretty easy tie ins for others if they like.
As a Tiefling, friends are few and far between and would be held in high regard. If someone were to overlook his older age and experience and of course his heritage to help him out or defend him should a crowd start to turn violent, then he would feel indebted to them and be happy to help them out, especially in the name of Cheliax.
Noble ties, someone knows his grandfather. And even worse, someone may have figured out how he came to be. While he may not be ashamed of his heritage or his name, he knows how bad it would be for his family that remains in good standing if the information came out. He would be fine with working for another to keep this secret, so long as he was treated with respect and paid fairly. So long as he felt he was breaking no laws, he would be more then happy to do whatever they asked.
Forgive me for only giving two tie ends at the moment, but I want to make sure the application gets in before the deadline (I hope I did at least). If you feel you have an idea of how to tie in, I would be more then happy to work with another player to make it fit.


You know, GM, it seems to me like you've got yourself what we call "A lot of awesome players, and a serious amount of whittlin' down of them" to do. It would be a shame to let so many awesome stories go to waste...

...and two separate PBPs of two separate parties on the same missions in two different former colonies of Cheliax, whose actions happen to affect the world simultaneously...well that might just be pretty darn awesome, if you were willing to pull it off. I heard tell of a GM who did this with three parties in a RL game, all affecting different parts of his homebrew world.

It's a lot of work, though, so I'd totally understand not wanting to.

Grand Lodge

There are quite a bit of good PC backgrounds here. I'm hoping that I can finish my Investigator, Perdita Imogen, quickly just so the DM doesn't forget I'm really interested in this PbP. And if the DM were, somehow, to be able to run two PbPs of missions For Queen and Country, I hope Perdita Imogen (my heavy Knowledge & Diplomacy Skills PC) gets selected in one of them.


Firstly, I somehow neglected to mention that Varushka is LE. As a devout follower of Asmodeus who will live and die by the contract, it probably wasn't too hard to figure out.

Secondly, if anyone wants to tie some back stories together, Varushka claims that she owes her civil existence to the church, and is consistently hired to gather information by nobles. If that sparks anyone's interest, I'd be glad to talk about some possible backstory tie-ins. A gnoll needs as many trusted humanoids to vouch for their civility as they can get!


i'd be willing to do something, Illia needs some form of friend and isn't to picky about were it comes from. She isn't really a noble but carries herself as one and might need someone who is good at gathering information.

Scarab Sages

Couple of things:

I'll let Morvius comment on the multiple games, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. I'd put the odds at north of highly unlikely.

Second, the bard will probably pop in again tomorrow to mention it, but she's switched over to a Skald. She can give a better writeup of her character though, so I'll leave it to her. Just wanted to note the class change in case it altered people's plans.

Last, the group has two Int-based casters, an Inquisitor, and a Skald. I'm not saying it's impossible to fit a knowledge/diplomacy character into that group, but I expect it might be difficult.


Um...aren't inquisitors Wis-based casters? And Skalds Cha-based?


As stated in the OP, I'm seeking two PCs to add to a reserved group of four. If people are interested in this idea however I certainly don't object if someone wants to run a similarly themed game.


aptinuviel wrote:
Second, the bard will probably pop in again tomorrow to mention it, but she's switched over to a Skald. She can give a better writeup of her character though, so I'll leave it to her. Just wanted to note the class change in case it altered people's plans.

Hurk, Skalds and Bloodragers do not pair well with each other... Unless the GM wants to institute a houserule my character would be getting next to nothing from her contribution. This is entirely Paizo's fault for writing an otherwise great class so poorly but whatevs.

I'm otherwise pretty happy with my submission so I'll keep it as-is pending approval. If I do end up getting in I'll figure out what I should do to maintain party synergy.

thegreenteagamer wrote:
Um...aren't inquisitors Wis-based casters? And Skalds Cha-based?

Also, this is entirely true. Skalds have Bardic Knowledge though so the group isn't exactly desperate for a book.

EDIT: Woops I parsed that sentence entirely wrong. You mean you have two int-casters as well as an Inquisitor and a Skald. Gotcha.


Oh, yeah...I thought it was a grammatical apposition as opposed to a list. My mistake.

Dark Archive

Carlos Calitus

Male

Monk - lv 1

Stats:

Rac Mod
Str 14 14
Dex 14 + 2 = 16
Con 14 - 2 = 12
Int 10 10
Wis 16 16
Cha 10 + 2 = 12

--------------------
Racial Abilities
----------------

Spell Resistance: 6 + Class Lv (SR)
Poison Use:
Spell-like Abilities:

--------------------
Alternative Racial Abilities
----------------

Ambitious Schemer: +2 Bluff, Diplomacy
Seducer:
Surface Infiltrator: Low-Light Vision

--------------------
Class Abilities
----------------

Bonus Feat: Dodge
Flurry of Blows:
Stunning Fist:
Unarmed Strike:

-------
Traits
-------

Shadow Caster
Shadowcaster
Lost Nobility

------
Feats
------

Dodge
Shadow Caster

----------
Languages
----------

Uncommon, Elven, Common

Skills:

Acrobatics: 1 + 3 + 3 = 7
Appraise:
Bluff: 1
Climb:
Craft:
Diplomacy: 1 + 1 = 2
Disable Device:
Disguise:
Escape Artist:
Fly:
Handle Animal:
Heal: 3
Intimidate: 1
Knowledge(Arcana):
Knowledge(Dungeoneering):
Knowledge(Engineering):
Knowledge(Geography):
Knowledge(History):
Knowledge(Local):
Knowledge(Nature):
Knowledge(Nobility):
Knowledge(Planes):
Knowledge(Religion):
Linguistics: 1 + 3 = 4
Perception: 1 + 3 + 3 = 7
Perform:
Profession:
Ride:
Sense Motive: +3
Sleight of Hand:
Spellcraft:
Stealth: +3
Survival:
Swim:
Use Magic Device:

Combat Stats:

Initiative: +3

--------
Offense
--------

BAB: 0
CMB: +2
Attack Damage
Unarmed 1d20 + 2 1d6 + 2
Temple Sword 1d20 + 2 1d8 + 2
Spear 1d20 + 2 1d8 + 2

--------
Defense
--------

HP: 8 + 1 + 1 = 10
AC: 10 + 3 + 3 + 1 = 17
Touch AC: 10 + 3 + 1 = 14
Flat-Footed: 10 + 3 = 13
CMD: 10 + 2 + 2 + 3 = 15
Fortitude: 2 + 1 = 3
Reflex: 2 + 3 = 5
Will: 2 + 3 = 5

Equipment:

Spear
Temple Sword
Monk's Outfit
Courtiers Outfit
Sexy Outfit
Signet Ring
Calastrian Necklace
Jewelry
Monk's Kit

Appearance:

Carlos Clitus has an athletic build, bright green eyes, Platinum Blond hair, and dusky purple skin. He has strong masculine jawline. He has a slender nose neither too pointy nor too long. He is tall for a Drow.

Personality:

He is out-spoken, fiery, and obstinate.

Character Backstory:

Born to the head of a small house, Lustaria who turned from worshiping Demon lords to worshiping the Goddess Calastria. Carlos Clitus' sister Calastri Clitus was to be the first hi priest of Calastria of a Drow noble house in some time, if ever. Thus she was blessed upon her birth buy the worshipers of Calastria. But the Drow's hate Elves and the Elven god is despised just as well. Another house seeking to harm Lustaria, tried to assassinate Calastri Clitus the eldest daughter of house Lustaria. However there plan was foiled as she was blessed by the goddess and her protectors forewarned. After failing to damage house Lustaria and being thoroughly embarrassed, its rivals waited and bidded their time. For ten years Lustaria's enemies waited and planned. On Calastri Clitus thirteenth birthday Lustaia's enemies saw their chance to rid themselves of a rival. For this birthday marked her ascension in the house hierarchy to a priestess of Calastria. Using the Drow dislike of Elves and their gods to rally support, they attacked in the middle of the ceremony. During the attack on their estate the house matriarch and her first born daughter, Calastri Clitus managed to escape. However Carlos was left to fend for himself. Fleeing Drow territory to the surface, Carlos tracked down his at an Iroran temple.

Growing up in the presence of the priests and monks of Irori Carlos aspired to be like them. For several years she followed the path of the priest but soon realized it was not for him. For his heart burned for some, for action of some sort. So like his sister he turned to the path of the monk to cool the heat of his blood. However this only lasted for a decade before Carlos' sister found she burned for more and left her brother to seek out the Hamalatsu. After completing her training with Hamalatsu Castria left the faith of Irori and became a prostitute of Calastria. And so her brother followed her for two decades, until she left him to seek vengeance.

Hearing that his sister had succeeded in her revenge only to be captured and tortured ton death, nearly broke Carlos. Instead of breaking Carlos sank further into his religion and swore vengeance. Knowing that he needed an army to do so set out to hone his martial skills and find his army.

Seeking to gain power he has heeded the call of Queen Abrogail II.


Carlos Calitus wrote:

Carlos Calitus

Monk - lv 1

Just a note that you can't actually take Shadow Caster (the feat) without a caster level. Just the ability to cast spells is insufficient to qualify, unless I'm missing an errata somewhere.


There's like 3 instances of the phrase "Shadowcaster" in that stat block, and I find it hilarious.

Greetings DM Morvius! I'm coming to this a bit late. I believe I'll make a submission of... Well. I'll figure it out. This looks rather fun!


Everyone has made such amazing characters, it has made me feel that Ronan is a little boring plain. Guess I will have to cross my fingers and hope, I have not used Dervish Dance before and the thought of using it with a Fighter can be pretty jarring I know, but we shall see.

Also if anyone does need a friend / someone to vouch for them, Ronan would be a good fit as he is a Guard. He is well known for being honest and always following the law.


DM Morvius wrote:
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Midnight eastern time on Monday, November 30.

Emphasis his.

Is this tonight (12:00am EST, Monday, 11/30/15)? Or tomorrow night? I ask more to help ease my own slight tension, but also for the folks just expressing interest now, as I don't think they'll make the deadline at all if it's the former. *whispering*"I don't think they're gonna make it either way. Not that I don't want them to.

-----------------

Notes on Martisan's personality, general demeanor & playstyle:
Forget that shit I said about interrogation. That's not her.

Martisan is quiet, & tends to think overly long on simple things. The channeled destructive power from her heritage is less barely-restrained rage and more iron-clad discipline.

I'm going to flavor her eventual Sorc/DD progression as the personal, meditative exploration of her bloodlines; essentially unlocking latent magical talents & bloodline powers through a particular utilization of her ki.

Her deep meditations began under the watchful eyes of The Sisters at the monastery, as she learned to control her Asura-spawn urges, and will culminate in the unlocking of her draconic potential through Asmodean discipline and Infernal insight & force of will. A powerful example of personal order from an uncommon source.

My little scene earlier, revised:
"Can we trust this noble?"
"I don't know, it feels like he's hiding something."
"I get that too. Let's throw him in a room with Martisan."
*soft chuckle* "Right. She'll bring us the 'truth.' Heh. I'll go get Leid."

That should be read as a sarcastic conversation. Instead of some vicious interrogation, as if Martisan would try to inanely discuss "the truth" in a general philosophical sense with the captive noble in question :P

She's not afraid to use violence to maintain order (it is, ultimately, her only effective means of doing so), but she restrains herself from unnecessarily indulging in destructive behavior. She would laugh at the peaceful monk who has vowed not to harm others (respect him for his order, but it's naive to think such ideals can maintain peace). Conversely, she would scorn those who give in to the baser impulses of rage and sadism, seeing it as a lack of discipline.

aptinuviel wrote:
Second, the bard will probably pop in again tomorrow to mention it, but she's switched over to a Skald. She can give a better writeup of her character though, so I'll leave it to her. Just wanted to note the class change in case it altered people's plans.

Great choice. Most melee characters will love you :)

After experiencing it for the first time, Martisan will likely deny the rage offered by Phaedra's Skald, not wanting to feed the demon in her blood, and will similarly be standoffish with the character herself out of a sense of fear.

It'll be a player goal for me to develop Martisan's character and her relationship with the Skald in such a way that she does start utilizing the rage, and comes to view the character as a companion (specifics pending more info & some awesome roleplay).


Midnight is traditionally the end of the day whereas 12:00AM is traditionally the beginning of a day.

Applicants have one more day to complete their submissions.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

I'm submitting Vinexa, a vishkanya kineticist and slave dancer. I've been itching to try a kineticist for some time so I thought why not build one for this.

Ideally I'd have her "belong" to either a pc or npc who is part of the group. Please give me any feedback you have and I will work on an alias soon.

Build:

Vinexa
female vishkanya kineticist 1
LN medium humanoid (vishkanya)
Init +5; Senses Perception +3
--------------------
Defense
--------------------

AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +3 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 12 (1d8+4)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will -1-
--------------------
Offense
--------------------

Speed 30 ft.
Melee kukri +1 (1d4+1/19-20 x2)
Ranged telekinetic blast +3 (1d6+1+3 /×2)
Special Attacks telekinetic blast
Spells (CL 1; concentration +6=+3+1+2):
Kinetic Blast 1d6+1+3
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------

Str 12, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 16
Base Atk +0; CMB +1;CMD 14
Feats WP: simple, kukri, blowguns, shuriken; AP: light; dodge
Traits desperate focus, talented, reactionary
Skills acrobatics +7=3+1+3, perception +3=-1+1+3, perform (dance) +10=3+1+3+1+2, stealth +9=3+1+3+2, use magic device +7=3+1+3
Languages common, vishkanya, elven
Combat Gear kukri, leather armor, ammo 1 (n); Other Gear leather collar with a slave signet
Misc Gear performer's outfit, backpack, bedroll, soap, belt pouch x2, mess kit, flint and steel, water skin, trail rations (6 days); 32.89 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------

Burn: At 1st level, a kineticist can overexert herself to channel more power than normal, pushing past the limit of what is safe for her body by accepting burn. Some of her wild talents allow her to accept burn in exchange for a greater effect, while others require her to accept a certain amount of burn to use that talent at all. For each point of burn she accepts, a kineticist takes 1 point of nonlethal damage per character level. This damage can't be healed by any means other than getting a full night's rest, which removes all burn and associated nonlethal damage. Nonlethal damage from burn can't be reduced or redirected, and a kineticist incapable of taking nonlethal damage can't accept burn. A kineticist can accept only 1 point of burn per round. This limit rises to 2 points of burn at 6th level, and rises by 1 additional point every 3 levels thereafter. A kineticist can't choose to accept burn if it would put her total number of points of burn higher than 3 + her Constitution modifier (though she can be forced to accept more burn from a source outside her control). A kineticist who has accepted burn never benefits from abilities that allow her to ignore or alter the effects she receives from nonlethal damage.
Desperate Focus: You’ve often found yourself in situations where a lack of focus can lead to worse than a lost spell. You gain a +2 trait bonus on concentration checks.
Element Focus Aether: At 1st level, a kineticist chooses one primary element on which to focus. This element determines how she accesses the raw power of the Ethereal Plane, and grants her access to specific wild talents (see below) and additional class skills. She can select aether (telekinesis), air (aerokinesis), earth (geokinesis), fire (pyrokinesis), or water (hydrokinesis). She gains her selected element's basic utility wild talent (basic telekinesis, basic aerokinesis, basic geokinesis, basic pyrokinesis, or basic hydrokinesis) as a bonus wild talent. See Elements for the specific abilities granted by each element.

Kineticists who focus on the element of aether—a rare substance formed when elemental energy affects the Ethereal Plane—are called telekineticists. Telekineticists use strands of aether to move objects with their minds.
Class Skills: A telekineticist adds Knowledge (engineering) and Sleight of Hand to her list of class skills.
Wild Talents: 1st—basic telekinesis, kinetic cover, kinetic healer, pushing infusion†, telekinetic finesse; 2nd— bowling infusion†, telekinetic haul; 3rd—foe throw†, force hook†, self telekinesis, telekinetic invisibility, touchsight; 4th—telekinetic maneuvers; 5th—aether puppet, force barrier, self telekinesis (greater), touchsight (reactive); 6th— disintegrating infusion†, suffocate; 7th—spell deflection; 8th—many throw†, telekinetic deflection, telekinetic globe.
Infusions: At 1st level, a kineticist gains an infusion wild talent from the list of options available based on her elemental focus. She gains additional infusions at 3rd, 5th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 17th, and 19th levels. By using infusions along with her kinetic blasts, a kineticist can alter her kinetic blasts to suit her needs. Infusions come in two types, each of which changes a kinetic blast differently: a substance infusion causes an additional effect, while a form infusion causes the kinetic blast to manifest in a different way. Each infusion can alter only certain kinds of kinetic blasts, which are listed in its Associated Blasts entry. Each time the kineticist uses one of her kinetic blast wild talents, she can apply up to one associated form infusion and up to one associated substance infusion.
Some infusions change the action required to activate a kinetic blast or entirely transform the kinetic blast's normal effects.
The burn cost listed in each infusion's Burn entry is added to the burn cost of the kinetic blast the infusion modifies.
The DC for a save against an infusion is based on the associated kinetic blast's effective spell level, not the level of the infusion. The DCs for form infusions are calculated using the kineticist's Dexterity modifier instead of her Constitution modifier. When a kineticist modifies a kinetic blast with a form infusion and a substance infusion that both require saving throws, each target first attempts a saving throw against the form infusion. If a target succeeds and a successful save negates the infusion's effects, the entire kinetic blast is negated; otherwise, the target then attempts a saving throw against the substance infusion. If a kineticist's form and substance infusions both alter the kinetic blast's damage, apply the substance infusion's alteration first.
At 5th, 11th, and 17th levels, a kineticist can replace one of her infusions with another infusion of the same effective spell level or lower. She can't replace an infusion that she used to qualify for another of her wild talents.
Limber: Vishkanyas receive a +2 racial bonus on Escape Artist and Stealth checks.
Low-Light Vision: Vishkanyas can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Poison Resistance: A vishkanya has a racial bonus on saving throws against poison equal to its Hit Dice.
Poison Use: Vishkanyas are skilled in the use of poison and never accidentally poison themselves when using or applying poison.
Reactionary: You gain a +2 trait bonus on initiative checks.
Sensual: You are trained in drawing attention to yourself. You gain a +2 bonus on any one Perform skill. This racial trait replaces keen senses.
Talented: You gain a +1 trait bonus on checks with a single Perform skill (your choice [dance]), and all Perform skills are always class skills for you.
Toxic: A number of times per day equal to his Constitution modifier (minimum 1/day), a vishkanya can envenom a weapon that he wields with his toxic saliva or blood (using blood requires the vishkanya to be injured when he uses this ability). Applying venom in this way is a swift action. Vishkanya Venom: Injury; save Fort DC 10 + 1/2 the vishkanya's Hit Dice + the vishkanya's Constitution modifier; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Dex; cure 1 save.
Weapon Familiarity: Vishkanyas are always proficient with blowguns, kukri, and shuriken.


Blasts:

Telekinetic Blast: Element(s) aether; Type simple blast (Sp); Level —; Burn 0
Blast Type: physical; Damage bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing
You throw a nearby unattended object at a single foe as a ranged attack. The object must weigh no more than 5 pounds per kineticist level you possess. If the attack hits, the target and the thrown object each take the blast's damage. Since the object is enfolded in strands of aether, even if you use this power on a magic weapon or other unusual object, the attack doesn't use any of the magic weapon's bonuses or effects; it simply deals your blast damage. Alternatively, you can loosen the strands of aether in order to deal damage to both the object and the target as though you had thrown the object yourself (instead of dealing your normal blast damage).

You substitute your Constitution modifier for your Strength modifier if throwing the object would have added your Strength modifier on the damage roll, and you don't take the –4 penalty on the attack roll for throwing an object that wasn't designed to be thrown. In this case, the object's special effects apply (including effects from its materials), and if the object is a weapon, you must be proficient with it and able to wield it with one hand; otherwise, the item deals damage as a one-handed improvised weapon for a creature of your size.


Infusions:

Extended Range: Element(s) universal; Type form infusion; Level 1; Burn 1
Associated Blasts any
Saving Throw none
Your kinetic blast can strike any target within 120 feet.

Description and Personality:

Vinexa is a nineteen year old vishkanya woman who stands five foot four and weighs ninety pounds. Her eyes are a burnished gold color, her hair a lustrous black, and her delicately scaled skin is a very pale green color. She moves with a sensual grace that draws the eye of those around her and wears loose fitting dancer's garb most of the time with a leather collar around her neck. Now that she's been assigned to a group of adventurers by the queen she has been outfitted with a set of leather armor, a kukri, and some general travelling gear.

Vinexa is an obedient woman who's true personality is hidden beneath the veneer of her role as the dutiful slave dancer. She has learned to respond quickly to her current owner's orders and to focus on the task at hand quickly and efficiently. While she doesn't let people get close to her often she is caring of those she considers her friends and will do much for them so long as she hasn't been forbidden to do so. She's decent at speaking with people, though she has little skill for it, the thing that most animates her is dancing, something her naturally lithe form is superb at. While she is dutiful to a fault she can be mischievous at times, largely by using her telekinetic powers to cause some small amount of difficulty for people who offend her.

Back Story:

Vinexa was born to Vishkanya parents who had left Vudra shortly before she was born. Born on the road to Varisia Vinexa developed a natural love of the freedom of the sky and the feel of travel. They settled in the town of Corvosa when she was only five around the time of a terrible plague and both of her parents died in the resulting turmoil. She spent the next year of her life in an orphanage until a wealthy Chelaxian noble found her and purchased the child for a generous "donation" to the orphanage. Now property her master had her work a maid for his wife at first and then later trained her to be a dancer when his wife noted she would be a natural.

As she reached her thirteenth birthday and her body began to develop into adulthood her master took greater notice of her than before. Despite that she was left unharmed so long as she did her tasks and performed as her master and his wife demanded. It was during these years that the young Vishkanya learned the two principal rules of being a slave, due your work immediately and do it with diligence, to do otherwise is to be disciplined severely. So she learned to tune out distractions and be ready on an instant when her master demanded.

As she reached the age of sixteen and fully blossomed into womanhood Vinexa developed strange abilities as a telekinetic, some vestige of her heritage from Vudra it seemed. Seeing the value of this new skill the lady of the house encouraged her to learn to use it in the hopes it would increase her value for potential buyers as she wanted the young vishkanya gone so as not to tempt her husband any more than needed. At eighteen her unique powers came to the attention of the queen and like so many things the knowledge was stored away until needed a year later. The queen approached the Vinexa's owners to purchase her and the Master and Mistress were unwilling to say no to their queen. Shortly there after she was assigned to a group of adventurer's the queen had commissioned to begin paving the way for order to be brought to the greater world and was given a stipend to purchase gear with. Now equipped Vinexa is ready to learn who her new master is to be and work on the task that her owner has assigned her.


Gotta say, Martisan would really love a sexy little snake dancer.. teamwork feats..? Tryna think some way to make that happen.

I've got a Vishkanya Bard (Archaeologist) Archer in a game that hasn't started.. yet.. She's got sleep poison, traps, intimidation, Bardic knowledge she's badass. Gonna get her goin somewhere. She's a deadly pit viper, slinking through the slums. Easily retooled as a lustrous slave dancer, anywhere people could have them.

My overall favorite character concept yet. I love the mythology that inspired the race's origin.


I'm going to give this one a pass after some thinking, have fun all


Pfft, something tells me that Varushka is going to be extremely confused by this whole "dancing" thing. xD As a character who has overseen slaves before, she thinks of them as most people would think of pack animals or hunting dogs, not entertainment. Why anyone would want a slave to do something as useless as dancing is beyond her.


Hm. I've been juggling around a few concepts over the past few days, but the more I think about things in terms of backstory, the more I realize that I might be burnt out when it comes to Cheliax. I love the setting, but I think I need to take a step back from it for a while.

Best of luck to everyone!


HotLanta wrote:
She's not afraid to use violence to maintain order (it is, ultimately, her only effective means of doing so), but she restrains herself from unnecessarily indulging in destructive behavior. She would laugh at the peaceful monk who has vowed not to harm others (respect him for his order, but it's naive to think such ideals can maintain peace). Conversely, she would scorn those who give in to the baser impulses of rage and sadism, seeing it as a lack of discipline.

Oh, our characters would get along swimmingly. Well, at least if you ignore Hiram's 'heresy' and Martisan's anti-social tendencies...

Drogeney wrote:
Ideally I'd have her "belong" to either a pc or npc who is part of the group. Please give me any feedback you have and I will work on an alias soon.

Unfortunately, Hiram only tends to get slaves for sacrifices. I assume you don't want to get burned alive? Having a character who is (still) a slave would be pretty interesting though. Great concept. :)


Vinexa would fit fairly well into my character's backstory actually; the Valrix family is supposed to be fairly close to Thrune and the gift of an exotic slave would fit appropriately.


I realized my perception of Tieflings in Cheliax was still a little off. Martisan is probably closer to Vinexa's peer, but could very well be considered inferior in a general sense. While Tieflings are more common in Cheliax (they're at least allowed to exist within the culture, as opposed to most Good nations, where they'd be killed outright); I see their existence is essentially within a lower caste, where even those few Tieflings with freedom are considered by humans to be lesser beings. You said this, Morvius, but the particular implications of that in a LE slave-trading nation kinda flew past me.

I'm gonna edit the backstory to reflect this a little more strongly; Martisan's existence at the monastery was hidden from the world at large. There were, of course, still whispers of the Sister's devil student, but she was kept separate from the others, and denied access to any but her teachers. The Church of Asmodeus (as well as any necessary Chelaxian officials & agents of Thrune) would of course know from the head sisters as soon as they made the decision to train Martisan.

This will allow me to keep truer to the Tieflings' lifespan & put Martisan at a more appropriate 94 years old, which in-turn gels better with her sage-level wisdom. She still looks like a fairly young devil woman; comparable to an attractive, incredibly healthy 30-something (monster-lady). Considering Tieflings don't hit adulthood until around half a century, Martisan's first 2 or 3 decades of life were spent being painfully brainwashed by the Sisters of the Golden Erinyes, before they even began showing her how to turn her powerful body & perceptive mind into a weapon.

Her upbringing could be best likened to a slave bred & trained for the fighting pits, but instead with heavy church indoctrination & monastic disciplines spread over decades.

Martisan would immediately remind Varushka and others with similar slave-trade experience of a highly disciplined, well-trained warrior slave, put into practice with a "dangerous sub-human." She would be more of an intuitive, autonomous tool in service to the group than a self-serving powerseeker working toward current mutual benefit as most adventurers tend to be (not that those are bad motivations at all, or Martisan isn't out for her own benefit - after her nation's).

So I guess Martisan is basically a medieval, genetically-boosted, Hell-trained super agent :P (who I'm hoping to turn into more of the same + magic ninja dragon).

For the Bloodline, I'm gonna trade the 1st level ability to grow claws (and eventual related bite attack) for a reptilian familiar, and probably pick up Improved Familiar later to get a cool little divination-casting Rakshasa snake that spends most its time looking like fabulous jewelry. In addition to gaining a familiar, getting rid of the claws/bite will keep everything consistent with Martisan's monastic origin/flavor as the driving force behind her bloodline, without allowing her heritage's less savory aspects to muddle the line between efficient destruction & savage barbarism (as she sees it).

Hiram Ahiram wrote:
Oh, our characters would get along swimmingly. Well, at least if you ignore Hiram's 'heresy' and Martisan's anti-social tendencies.

I agree. As the only true heretical submission, I most want Hiram to go in with Martisan for the awesome roleplay potential there. I don't know about Morvius' thoughts, but the intrigue inherent in a hidden heresy makes Hiram the frontrunner for me - were I running the game I'd actually pick him over Martisan, but I'm super into all that morality/theology stuff. Damn that was some alliteration for a moment there. This applies similaryly to Arachnofiend as well. For all her "fresh honesty," Martisan doesn't bring the same intrigue to the table like those characters with the deep secrets do. But she would serve very well to naturally bring those deep secrets into a realm where more of the party can enjoy the intrigues ;)

However, the whole class being built around breaking a law punishable by death thing might have its own little downside. I'm inclined to agree with you on the matter of devil worship in principle, Hiram, but the law is the law. I'd advise some sort of long-term strategy for converting to the Church of Asmodeus, or some other kind of contingency to keep from getting killed if you're found out. Mostly just don't get found out.

But if you do! It'd be better for Martisan to find out than some others; it's certainly not her place to question one of The Queen's Chosen, but it's gotta be good for the nation as a whole to at least attempt to convert the man before ratting him out, right? That feels right. Unless.. Well, let me just keep thinking about it for a couple more days. Lol

------------------------

Thanks for running this campaign Morvius, & hosting a gracious recruitment! Prompt responses to questions & all - I think the greatest loss of not getting into this campaign might be missing the opportunity to get in with a DM that appears significantly more reliable than seems to be average in PbP.

@aptinuviel; thank you for keeping us up to speed on the party roster, and providing insider-advice as we put our characters together. Seriously helpful & much appreciated.

I'm probably doin waay too much with all this character development, & am just gonna cry tomorrow when two of these other excellent submissions are chosen. Best of luck folks - some wonderful concepts. If anyone is willing to run a campaign with Morvius' theme for a party of those not picked, I'd be eager to discuss that in the case Martisan doesn't get in here.

Dark Archive

Good luck everyone! Awesome PCs around!


In regards to "owning" a slave dancer, a couple of us would find the concept more interesting if it were a male.

Mine spent a few years a slave herself, fighting in the pits, to pay off a family debt.


HotLanta wrote:
I agree. As the only true heretical submission, I most want Hiram to go in with Martisan for the awesome roleplay potential there. I don't know about Morvius' thoughts, but the intrigue inherent in a hidden heresy makes Hiram the frontrunner for me - were I running the game I'd actually pick him over Martisan, but I'm super into all that morality/theology stuff.

Well, thank you very much. There's enough great characters here to fill multiple parties. I don't envy Morvius for having to pick just two...

HotLanta wrote:

Thanks for running this campaign Morvius, & hosting a gracious recruitment! Prompt responses to questions & all - I think the greatest loss of not getting into this campaign might be missing the opportunity to get in with a DM that appears significantly more reliable than seems to be average in PbP.

@aptinuviel; thank you for keeping us up to speed on the party roster, and providing insider-advice as we put our characters together. Seriously helpful & much appreciated.

Ditto on all of the above. Good luck everyone!


Good luck everyone! I'm so stoked about seeing who gets in! There were some great submissions entered here!


Oh, please disregard my submissions, I started GM-ing another game in the meantime and won't have time to participate in this one. Thank you, anyway, good luck to everyone.


Any applicants that still want to submit or want to adjust their submissions have about 3.5 hours to get them in.

Grand Lodge

Good luck to all the applicants.

I chose not to finalize my PC application; it just seemed like the PC would be redundant in the party.

But I'm determined to lurk through the campaign gameplay when it begins and enjoy the game vicariously.

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