Ladies and lycanthropes, ghouls and gentlemen, children of all ages, sizes, and states of undeath, it is with my most extreme pleasure that I present to you an Ustalavian adventure in:
In this exciting adventure path, a band of unwary pcs will face off against horrors from beyond the grave, Frankensteinian abominations, power-crazed cults, and worst of all angry mobs with pitchforks! That's right, villagers with torches will pose quite a danger to our heroes, for they themselves will be as monstrous as the terrors they face!
It's ALIVE
Character Creation
20 point buy, standard gold, blah, blah, blah. What you want to hear about is the twist, do you not? Well here it is.
All characters submitted must have something MONSTROUS about them. ALL races from ALL Paizo sources are allowed. And that includes custom races in the form of mutants, laboratory experiments, degenerates etc.
Not into fancy races? Try a template! Ghosts, vampires, were-things, you name it. If it makes you monstrous, take it!
And of course, we can't leave out the psychopaths and cannibals can we? Characters' monstrousness may be internal as well, apparent only in roleplaying and backstory. Perhaps you'd like to play a lawful neutral fighter by day and Hannibal Lecter by night.
If you're still have trouble bringing out the monster within, I am allowing homebrew classes (these forums, GiTP, other sources) to be chosen as long as the class is fully fleshed out and contributes to the monstrous theme.
Really, your imagination is the limit, so submit the most twisted monstrosities you can think of, and post here or pm me with questions or requests.
Kill it with fire, cut off its head, stake through the heart.
The Catch
I didn't say there wouldn't be a catch did I?
Here's the deal, while you can make your character as hideous and despicable and evil as you want (no alignment restrictions), we're still going to run through Carrion Crown "as is." As in, "as it was written for nice normal PCs who follow the rules." This means that you must have a pretty good backstory reason for why your monster is such chums with Professor Lorimor, and you need to have (or at least pretend to have) some motivation for not eating every silly human you come across. Perhaps you're trying to redeem the sins of your kind, perhaps you've grown tired of small children hiding at the very mention of your name, or perhaps your evil code of evil just won't allow you to turn back on your word even if it means not sucking the delicious blood from the villagers (at least not all of them).
FAQ (Frequen--Aaaaaah! Qlippoths!)
Additional Info
Yes, with all the character options available player characters will have wildly differing power levels and will likely be wildly unbalanced. As you can imagine, however, this campaign will be quite a bit heavier on the roleplaying aspects than the original Carion Crown. Not to mention, there are certain "ways" of bringing overpowered characters to their knees. So really don't worry about power level or party dynamic, just make a character that will be fun to play and fun to explore.
Finally, I will be expecting good PBPers (check out Doomed Hero's guide if you don't know what this means) who can put in at least one post a day. And of course I'm not going to boot you for missing a day or two, so don't worry about posting if you've been eaten by a thousand-year-old-thing-that-should-not-be-named. Whew, nice job if you made it through these walls of text.
So that's all there is to it. Get cracking and check out the free Carrion Crown player's guide if you need more campaign info. Just remember, MONSTROUS!
I'd like to propose a tiefling with the dread vampire template. I am working on a character sheet now and will repost as soon as I've made a profile for him or her... is this an acceptable combination?
I would love to play the ghost of the Professor himself, out to avenge his own death and finish his investigations, trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered life and memories as he makes his way through Harrowstone.
I'm not sure if that works within the story though. I can think of ways of playing up the confusion and memory schisms of being a ghost so that I wouldn't have any spoileriffic information.
Would this work, or should I come up with something else?
Hehe let me see if I can cook up something monstrous. This looks awesome
How would you rule on templated beings - for example, if I wanted to make a Were-Rat... the DR and such on a stock standard template would make me significantly more powerful than a Level 1 equivalent (even a Level 1 monstrous equivalent).
Would you need us to attempt to justify it at a low enough power level to be Level 1 equivalent?
may i join im very interested
How would you rule on templated beings - for example, if I wanted to make a Were-Rat... the DR and such on a stock standard template would make me significantly more powerful than a Level 1 equivalent (even a Level 1 monstrous equivalent).
Would you need us to attempt to justify it at a low enough power level to be Level 1 equivalent?
From what's in the FAQ, I'd say that's not a problem :p
Definitely interested, I already have two pbp characters that fit this sort of thing, so I'll be coming up with something soon :)
Some sort of vampiric plant-type perhaps...
Fine... failure to read properly.
Let me put down a marker for a Were-Platypus.
This is JAFO reposting with my character alias - Information on the character is in the profile - still working on some of the details and need a background, but that will wait til after I read the player guide I think...
Out of curiosity, what are the limits on things?
Can I make a Rune Giant Magus (he's more of a scientist, used to swap notes over tea with the professor)? What about a reformed Balor turned Paladin of Iomedae? Or a fey hippopotamus turned vampire who makes a living as an assassin? (I know these are all downright ridiculous, just found them to be entertaining and a great way to illustrate my question)
To clarify: if you can make the backstory work and you can roleplay it, then you're allowed to play it. So essentially, with enough creativity anything goes.
This includes Lorrimor's ghost, Doomed Hero. After all, there's nothing like a liberal dose of amnesia to keep away those plot spoilers.
So even if the Vampire template says must have 5HD. Do we ignore that and create a level 1 full on vampire?
Correct.
Dotting for interest, this looks interesting.
Interesting idea. I'm playing through this module already, so I can't join (due to plot spoilers), but I might lurk a bit.
This sounds VERY interesting. I'll draft something up... But what will I choose? It'll be tough to decide.
oh man I would like to play a Angel(as in the show) type character, a pladin that was embraced as a sick joke, but his faith was so strong that Torag left him with his abilities and now he is hunts down vampires. He battles with the thirst and tries to stick to animals. He will work with others. I could work out his backstory much like Angel so that he was embraced and did fall as a paladin commiting manny sins for decades until Torag put his soul back into his body, he now feels the burden and guilt of all the souls he tormented. Hows this sound?
This sounds like it could be extremely fun.
Don't know too much about the Carrion Crown setting, so will read up on that, but dotting for interest.
To anyone asking how characters sound or if they would work or etc:
Anything goes!
Just make a character and submit it! It's that easy!
How does one figure out the base stat adjustments in order to make the character? Assume a base of 10 (or 11 for uneven stats) and deduct from there?
One idea I'm playing around with is making a Kaer Magan Augur in the form of a Troll Life Oracle with the Seer archetype. Only problem there is that Kaer Magan trolls are supposed to be their own race, smaller and smarter than standard trolls.
Another idea involves a Pixie Magus having fun with shocking grasp and such spells and their independence of size.
Perhaps the silliest idea is for a Humbaba Lion Shaman Druid. Biggest problem there is he's colossal in size.
Okay, this sounds like a fun diversion, what's your GM experience?
I take it we can pretty much come up with anything we want, but dump the HD back to 1?
Has to be monstrous, but doesn't have to be evil?
Along the lines of someone else, a 1 HD demi-lich works?
Okay, this sounds like a fun diversion, what's your GM experience?
I take it we can pretty much come up with anything we want, but dump the HD back to 1?
Has to be monstrous, but doesn't have to be evil?
Along the lines of someone else, a 1 HD demi-lich works?
I'm relatively new to PBP GMing, having just started one other campaign on here, and I've been GMing live games among friends since last year about.
To answer your questions: yes, yes, and yes.
Loving this idea ...now to narrow down my concepts ...
How are you planing to balance the characters? I know I can make a pretty broken monster, even if abilities based on HD or CL are dropped back. And I consider myself only slightly above average at builds.
Dibs on playing Tarrasque, I'll drop his HP and HD to lvl one and shrink him to tiny.
Bump his intelligence and he pretends to be someone's familiar. Rescued from a mad scientist's lab by the good professor.
If you can explain why a tiny, level one tarrasque exists and is in debt to Proffessor Lorrimos, be my guest Krik' Gruhg.
Anyways don't worry about balance, something will be figured out.
How will stats be done for this game? As in how does the 20 pb figure in with monster stats?
Please accept Mabelode's application. I'm leaving for a week vacation this Saturday with very limited Internet access.
They lied! his first thought immolated and dominated his consciousness. All was black. All was cold. Slowly, rage defused and questions emerged: Where am I? Who am I? Who lied? Time passed.
Rain. He felt rain again: cold, liquid, pattering. Questions returned: Where am I? Who am I? Who lied? Black turned to gray. Cold warmed. He felt mud all around himself. Black delicious soil was saturated with rain. He also felt bodies, lifeless, some fresh, most not. He knew this place. It was their mass grave and disposal. He wasn’t supposed to be here. Students come here. He hadn’t been a student in decades. Student of what? came the question. Magic and immortality came the answer. Time passed.
Sun. He felt warmth again. Questions returned: Where am I? Who am I? Who lied? Gray turned to dazzling white. Then, he could see again. He was prostrate on dark earth surrounded by deciduous trees in their spring budding bloom. A familiar stone tower extended above the canopy not far away. He struggled to his feet and started walking. He felt aged. He followed the overgrown path toward the tower retracing steps that he had forgotten. There it was. In a large clearing of tall grass, the circular tower stood quiet and soot-scarred. The front door was burnt away. The interior was full of black debris. The stone stairs, walls, and ceiling remained intact. He ascended. He did not want the second floor and continued. Not the third floor and continued. The charred ceiling of the fourth floor filtered the sunlight and littered the room. He stopped and stared. Finally, he saw the sigils on the stone floor promising protection.
I was here! They lied here! The thoughts exploded into memory. In his mind’s eye, the room had been prepared exactly as had been written. The incantations of his apprentices buzzed the room with noise and magic as had been written. The phylactery that he had prepared at such exorbitant cost as had been written awaited his soul in the middle of the circle of protection. Then, powered with the full ambition of lichdom, he buried the dagger into his breast as had been written. The sharp pain preceded a slow dissolution of the memory. Now what? Time passed.
What was that professor’s name? The one who lectured in Magnimar. Clever fellow and learned. He would know what to do. Spring turned to summer. Animals avoided this place.
Lorrimor, Petros Lorrimor. That’s that professor’s name. Such a relief to remember. He lives in Ravengro. That’s right. Not too far away. So he left the tower and began to walk toward Ravengro. Time passed.
I don’t feel hungry, but would it be nice to have a warm meal? Maybe that farmer would provide me hospitality? He saw smoke gently rising from the chimney of the farmhouse on the small rise beyond the crops. There’s the farmer. Why is he screaming? Is there something behind me? Wait, wait, I just want to break bread with you. The farmer screamed to his family to barricade inside the house, quickly from practice. But why? What do I look like? He looked at his hands and began to scream. Then, he discorporated into 10,000 worms and crawled back the way he came.
Eventually, he reformed. I’m a monster! he grieved. But I live. I must find the professor. He avoided farms and villages. He stole clothes set out to dry attempting to conceal his appearance.
What do I say? How do I introduce myself? Who am I? He struggled with the memories. As he approached Ravengro, he remembered, I am Mabelode.
Generally, you take anything over 10 as a bonus less 10, round odds down. Anything under ten is a negative less 10, round evens down.
So a 15 becomes 14-10= +4. A 7 becomes a 6-10= -4.
Just like with core races, buy your attributes with the point buy, then add the racial modifiers.
Balance is not an issue at all. It will be dealt with after players have been chosen, for now just stat out characters however you want (base monster stats, kazecage's method). The most important thing is the character concept.
Damit Ashe that was what I was thinking of doing but with Inquisitor
Ok Count C., my character is ready for review, with background. Hope you find him acceptable. Everything is in the profile... if you want any changes made, let me know.
Another possibility I am considering is from an old 3.5 supplement about using monstrous PCs that suggested having the PCs gain monster abilities and ability score bumps through leveling up in a "monster class." In this case PCs would be playing a gestalt of a normal class and their monster class.
And remember, a monstrous race is not required. You could just as well play someone with a monstrous personality. Or take a monstrous homebrew class (pathfinder or 3.5).
Just finished reading Maelchar and Mabelode's bios. Just the kind of characters I was looking for. Still, I'd like to wait and see what else and how many other submissions there are before making any decisions about who's in.
Shoot, one other point, Count Choc is my alt, my original alias is monjebleu, and it seems I've been using the wrong alias, so pay attention to both Count Chocula and monjebleu posts.
for some reason when i pondered this the first thing i thought of was a half-ogre Merfolk
The howls rang out into the night.
The man abruptly stopped and looked over his shoulder in terror. The forest was thick with undergrowth and the moon seemed to amplify every shadow within it. For just a moment the man stood completely still to listen to the howls then he broke out into a full run once more.
The howls rang out closer this time.
Gasping for breath the man stumbled on blindly thru the darkened forest. From sweat blurred vision the man made out what looked to be a light source ahead. Wiping his eyes clear he looked again..blessings!!... it was a light.
Closer.
Paying no heed to the stinging underbrush the man crashed once again thru the forest. For what seemed an eternity the forest eventually gave way to a small clearing with what appeared to be a camp. Bursting from the forest the man fell to his knees at the camps edge.
Closer.
Pulling himself from the dirt the man's eyes settled on the startled woman sitting by the fire. Dusky skin,long legs and well fitting leather made his eyes appreciate her for a moment then his panic returned and he began to babble for help.
Closer.
Hearing the howls the Varisian woman jumped to her feet and ran to the man's side.
"What are you doing here?!?The forest is werewolf territory. Did you not know this?!?Come get to the fire!"
"Name is Darius..help..please.."
Closer.
Scrambling next to the fire Darius saw close to a dozen sets of eyes gleaming red from the firelight at the forest edge. The woman crouched next to him putting her hand on nearby knife.For a few moments nothing moved a muscle then slowly the eyes began to meld back into the forest.
And the howls moved away.
Some time after the pack left the Darius seemed to calm down and gather a bit of his wits about him. Heedless of the woman's questions he began to take in his surroundings. Once more the man eyed the woman as any man might. Smiling the woman introduced herself as Marisa. Offering Darius some food Marisa turned to gather some rations for him.
And the night was absent of any howls.
With a flurry of action Darius grabbed the woman's knife and drove it deep into her stomach.
"Yes i knew it was werewolf territory, but my master's will must be done.I thank you for your camp and supplies but i have no need of you my lovely.Your entrails on the other hand will come in very handy."
And the night was filled with gurgling of Marisa's pained last breaths.
Gently laying the woman on the ground Darius began to recite the familiar incantation he had performed so many times in the past. Removing a small pouch from his robe he closed his eyes and spoke.
"Master i have found it for you. Please accept it and this sacrifice. Glory unto you!"
And the chanting filled the night.
Darius looked down to meet Marisa's red glowing gaze.
" We were wondering what you were doing in our lands human."
Darius screamed and tried to rise only to be knocked to the ground.
Turning he stared in horror as Marisa's bones began to pop and her finger grew into long claws.
And Darius's screams filled the night.
A large shadow crept from the woods and approached the campsight. Looking to the remains then to Marisa the wolf's shape changed to that of a Varisian man.
"Cousin Marisa."
"Cousin."
"He talked?"
"Yes Cousin.
"Go then. Seek Lorrimor."
"Yes cousin. Give papa my love while im away"
"I will. Go with the packs blessings"
And the howls rang out into the night as Marisa made ready to leave.
may i join?
@little uke: The recruitment thread is where you throw out an idea for a character to the DM and he decides among all the applicants on who he/she wants in the game.
So you can join by throwing out a concept. But as far as joining the game, well, that'll be up to the DM.
I'm not sure how I'd start off at level 1 with this concept, but I've had the idea of a childlike character with a soulbound doll for a while. Sure, creepy child with a creepy doll is its own trope, I'm sure, but I'm thinking of a few spins and flavors of my own I could use. Perhaps I could use the summoner class for the doll? Hrrm.
My other idea is a well-enough intentioned character with a nasty custom cursed gauntlet that feeds on fresh humanoid blood, and if it goes too long without feeding, it goes ahead and starts draining its host. I've run this character for a few levels in a short homebrew campaign, and the gauntlet worked similarly to a Bladebound Magus' weapon.
Oh, and I've not played Carrion Crown, but from what I know of it, it looks very interesting.
@Aramuth Is that a werewolf I spy?
@Axolmotl I've actually always wanted to play through a campaign as a soul bound doll. But anyways, I'm sure you could work something out, either through an eidolon or a modified druid companion. You could even work up a weak non-combat child character and then give the soulbound doll class levels.
I was struck by an idea for an Aboleth.
Was thinking might need to be young-young-young, and work mostly through pawns.
Can see three ways to do it
(A) Aboleths were indirectly using Professor to stop some great power rising in the drylands, and have now decided to send someone to carry on his work.
(B) Professor saved the life of an Aboleth (who is LAWFUL evil) and now said Aboleth is honour bound to avenge him.
(C) Professor was somehow accepted by a subset of Aboleth society (possibly killed a Kraken) and honored by the Aboleth as "ally-human-who-is-not-a-slave" and is now being avenged.
I like (C) the most as I get a real "enemy mine" feeling from it.
@Aramuth Is that a werewolf I spy?
@Axolmotl I've actually always wanted to play through a campaign as a soul bound doll. But anyways, I'm sure you could work something out, either through an eidolon or a modified druid companion. You could even work up a weak non-combat child character and then give the soulbound doll class levels.
Thinking natural born half lycanthrope using the shapeshifter ranger as the premises.
And have a Dhampir Inq as well. Both are heavily Ustalav based characters.
So, I've got the idea for the summoner a little more solid (sketched up something while I was thinking) and I'd like to be a young girl-turned lich (because of the backstory I cooked up while I was doodling), but then remembered that liches get bonuses based on charisma, and summoners are sorta kinda charisma based. While I really liked the concept I have going, and the first post said this idea lends itself to powerful characters, this seems to work together too well. So um, thoughts?
Oh, and the backstory, or at least in a nutshell, is the as-of-now-unnamed PC was raised in high society, and spent a lot of time studying and practicing etiquette, and as such, didn't have time to do much of anything else. Her best friend was a lower-class distant cousin who'd visit from time to time, though his health was poor, and she knew he'd die soon. She began work on a doll that would keep his soul after his body gave out, and because of her inexperience, it worked, but had odd consequences. She noticed she no longer had a pulse, and while the doll moved and talked, its personality only vaguely resembled her friend's. The doll now holds an amnesiac soul, and the soul of the now lich-summoner.
Not sure how the phylactery-is-my-best-friend thing would work with how eidolons aren't really destroyed, and just sent back to their home plane. I guess that would take a bit of homebrew ruling? Gonna get to work on that.
So, I've got the idea for the summoner a little more solid (sketched up something while I was thinking) and I'd like to be a young girl-turned lich (because of the backstory I cooked up while I was doodling), but then remembered that liches get bonuses based on charisma, and summoners are sorta kinda charisma based. While I really liked the concept I have going, and the first post said this idea lends itself to powerful characters, this seems to work together too well. So um, thoughts?
Oh, and the backstory, or at least in a nutshell, is the as-of-now-unnamed PC was raised in high society, and spent a lot of time studying and practicing etiquette, and as such, didn't have time to do much of anything else. Her best friend was a lower-class distant cousin who'd visit from time to time, though his health was poor, and she knew he'd die soon. She began work on a doll that would keep his soul after his body gave out, and because of her inexperience, it worked, but had odd consequences. She noticed she no longer had a pulse, and while the doll moved and talked, its personality only vaguely resembled her friend's. The doll now holds an amnesiac soul, and the soul of the now lich-summoner.
Not sure how the phylactery-is-my-best-friend thing would work with how eidolons aren't really destroyed, and just sent back to their home plane. I guess that would take a bit of homebrew ruling? Gonna get to work on that.
Or the kid is the eidolon and the DOLL IS THE SUMMONER. That would be seriously freaky.
I was actually thinking about that, but I'd probably subconsciously make it like a character from something I like. It's a doll and what looks like a child, but some people think the child is the doll and the smaller girl is the puppetmaster, so to speak.
Whichever way you go with it i say kudos to the concept. Creepy kids in horror movies are just....uhhh(shivers)
This sounds silly, fun, and interesting. Ah, what the heck.
I'm interested in applying as an unfettered eidolon - should I use the base scores for the form, or would the point buy override them? Do I use the d10 racial hit die, or whatever die is appropriate for the class I choose?
This sounds silly, fun, and interesting.
Doesnt it though. So far half the ideas ive seen wouldnt be able to walk into a town without the ole mob grabbing their pitchforks!
EVERBODY ALL TOGETHER NOW!!DO THE MONSTER MASH!!
So far half the ideas ive seen wouldnt be able to walk into a town without the ole mob grabbing their pitchforks!
Assuming an Aboleth 1HD (small or medium) with effortless trickery
My thought was that my guy travels in a "circus cart" along with three dominated performers (a ringleader and two performers). The circus cart has a large tank for him to swim in (obviously this only works if he is reasonably small).
Upon reaching a town a large tent is set up, and the contents of the carts are carried inside. If at all possible the tent is set up quite near a water source, if not the three dominated people dig out a pit and pump water in so he can stay wet.
He then runs a circus each night. Mostly consists of trippy lighting (Hypnotic Wall), a series of acts (illusions), stage magic (also illusion) and making his dominated people do things. One of the highlights would be a trained aquatic animal (him, using veil to look like a dolphin or shark or something in a dodgy costume) doing fancy tricks.
From the townsfolk's point of view a weird, itinerant, small circus would pull into town. There'd be a creepy looking Ringmaster whose desperate eyes don't seem to match his smile. Two jerky looking clown performers, one of whom seems to be always on the verge of tears, and one with dead looking eyes who whispers "we are all damned". And every night there'd be an amazing (if disquieting) circus act people can't - quite - remember. If one of the performers need replacing, why one of the townsfolk will "run away to join the circus".
Roll up, roll up one and all.