GM Nate's Unaffiliated Thread

Game Master nate lange

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Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

Checking in~


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

Hello!

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

I think my other friend may still be on the fence, but hopefully he’ll check in soon and let us know what he’s thinking. He doesn’t have the posting history that you two do (Ladile and Adam) but he was consistent in the high powered RotRL game I ran (plus we’ve been RL friend for like 25 years, so I can just call and pester him if he’s not keeping up).

So, what are your thoughts on a theme? I’m a sucker for a religious theme (as you may have noticed from our Runelords game) which could fit with the AP... the crusades are a big part of that region and probably directly involved with the AP, so we could do something with like aspiring knights/crusaders... we could keep it as simple as siblings/childhood friends from Kenabres, or something more exotic like Shoanti clansmen or a group from Tien Xia who have traveled to Mendev to help battle the demon-horde?


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

I'm sure we'll have his history up to snuff in no time. ;)

As far as a theme, going the religious route is a big temptation for a WotR game. It just fits. Exotic origins could work, but there's a good bit of room to play in with the Kenabres/Mendev sandbox, I think. We could definitely work something out with the Tien Xia angle. They have their own Worldwound, so who's to say what kinds of strange magic may have thrown us into Avistan of all places.

I think I'm getting ahead of myself, though.

It's late and I'm finding myself rambling as I try to type this. I think I'll come back to this tomorrow when I can actually think and don't have my mind on The Last Jedi.

Speaking of which, there's a lot of things that I wish they'd done a better job on. I had fun, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did Rogue One and The Force Awakens, though they had problems too.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Yeah- I enjoyed Last Jedi but there are things it could have done better. I really liked Rogue One.

Lady Ladille- do you have any thoughts on a theme?


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

The religious theme with the knights sounds intriguing or maybe we could do something as a group of Kellids trying to reclaim lost Sarkoris?

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Yeah- religious and knights could be done separately or together... the religious theme could be as simple as all worshipping the same god and really working that into our RP, or we could all pick classes/archetypes that are religious in nature (and, presumably, all pick the same god); or we could use a house rule to do something similar to our Runelords game where we each have some special divine power (though in this case it would maybe all be from the same god). For all aspiring knights we could do something like a house rule where we all get VMC cavalier for free (or another free VMC if you actually made a cavalier)- though we’d probably be looking at limiting ourselves to 6 level casters that way (maybe a melee cleric). Iomedae would probably be the most obvious option (especially if we combined the two), although if you wanted a unique play through we could do it with Asmodeus.

I like the remnant of Sarkoris idea too. It was a pretty barbaric land before its fall- were you thinking of a group that holds to the old ways (witches, shamans, classes/archetypes with rage) or like civilized descendants (sort of ‘normal’ classes influenced by neighboring nations)?


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

Just lost a long post.

Short version is I'm okay with all of those.

I really like the idea of our party kinda being the "Last of the Sarkori." We could even throw in some other stuff, like animal totems that reflect our characters: strong, implacable guy has a Bear totem; clever, knowledgeable mage/shaman has a fox totem; etc. We could also take a step further and say we've been tainted by the Abyss and have to reclaim Old Sarkoris to redeem ourselves in the eyes of our ancestors.

If we went the religious route, I like the idea of going Iomedaean over Asmodean, though I can manage an Asmodean character if we go that way. A Desnan party is also an interesting possibility. I've got a few ideas that can work with either of those.

The knightly idea is the one I'm least excited about. Could be a lot of fun depending on how things are set up, and we can always fold that into an Iomedaean party.

Honestly, if I had to pick right now, I'd flip a coin between the remnant of Sarkoris idea and the religious idea.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

How are you picturing the totem idea working? Would that just be flavor or are you talking about everyone getting like a free animal companion/familiar, or maybe some ability like the hunter’s animal focus (but restricted to the totem animal)?


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

More the animal focus ability than the free animal companion/familiar.


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

Regarding 'old ways' vs. 'civilized' - I'm honestly fine with either one of those or even a mix. A mix could provide enough differences between some of the characters to allow for some in-character friction but still allow for enough of a common goal that it makes sense we'd have joined up together. On the other hand, all one or the other would work just as well. I suppose it really depends on what sorts of character ideas spring to mind most easily for folks :)

I also suppose it largely goes without saying that our character ideas are lending themselves to basically an all-human party like DRotRL or at least mostly humans and maybe some half-elves or something, yes?

(I once had a vague character idea for a half-elf Kellid who was a little ashamed of her elven blood, thinking it made her weak.)

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Yeah- the religious route would give us a lot more freedom racially; with the Sarkorins we’d likely be looking at humans, half-breeds, or maybe an aasimar/tiefling with human parents. Personally, I have more ideas for a religious theme but I really like both concepts (and I’m certainly not opposed to challenging my creative muscles a little with the concept that comes less naturally). Probably the next thing we need to do is pick which concept we want to run with, then we can talk about what (if any) special rules we’d like to use?


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

If going the religious route would be a little easier for idea generation then I'm fine with that. I don't have any real concrete character ideas yet anyway; kinda waiting to see what sort of theme we decide on before I start really letting the gears turn. But yes, the more stuff we can get hammered out in advance, the better!

So it sounds like we're leaning towards the religious theme, which would be more open in terms of potential races and classes then?


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

Yeah, and to be honest I don't think that's going to be easy. Both of them have lots of stuff that we can play with.

I like Lady Ladile's half-elf kellid idea. It could be a point in common between those not of fully kellid blood.

Wrath of the Righteous as written provides more roleplaying opportunities for a religiously themed party than it does an old Sarkoris themed party. It wouldn't be hard to weave more in there, I think, but out of the box, there's more support for a party tied by religion than there is for one tied by the Worldwound being their old homeland.

I haven't really spoken about ideas I have for characters, mainly because I'm a little self-conscious about how often I've tried similar ideas. I know I need to stretch myself creatively, but I have more fun working with some concepts over others.

That said, I do have some ideas, an aasimar that suffers from imposter syndrome, a tiefling that hides who they are for fear of persecution, a smooth-talking Celish aristocrat, and a few centered around the animal totem idea. I'm not really feeling one more than the others, so it's not really a big deal for me if we go one way or the other. Like I said, if I have to choose, I'm probably going to be flipping a coin between the Reclaim Sarkoris party and the religion-themed party. I think there's a lot more flexibility with the latter, but restrictions can help with creativity.

From what it sounds like, we're all in a similar boat of not feeling pulled one way over the other. Maybe if we start putting some ideas together, then we might start going, "yeah! I really want to play this," with something. Not full on crunch and background, just enough to get a rough idea of characters.


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

Hmm...Adam does have a point. It'd be easier for a GM if we stick to themes that are more readily supported by the AP as-is, rather than going for something a bit more unusual that might require the GM to do some edits. That's something I hadn't thought of but it's a good point to consider. Hmm.


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99
Lady Ladile wrote:

If going the religious route would be a little easier for idea generation then I'm fine with that. I don't have any real concrete character ideas yet anyway; kinda waiting to see what sort of theme we decide on before I start really letting the gears turn. But yes, the more stuff we can get hammered out in advance, the better!

So it sounds like we're leaning towards the religious theme, which would be more open in terms of potential races and classes then?

What I get for not checking once I'd finished writing. I get ninja'd. :)

If we do go with a religious theme, I do have an idea that I think would be fun. There's a trope in some fantasy of the knight supported by his lady love. Since we're all in this together, we could definitely play with that.

Hm, what if one of our characters was a scion of a prominent family in Kenabres, like say the child of one of the religious leaders in the city, and some or all the others were their attendants?

Edit:
And again! :P

Okay, so it looks like we're leaning more towards the religion theme than I had thought.

I like the idea us sharing a faith, but I'm not sure I want all of us to be members of the clergy.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

I definitely don't think we need to all be clergy people, or even have any divine casting (and I don't think all casters need to be clergy or vice versa). Although, there are enough divine casting classes that we could easily do a whole party...

There's a handful of ways a religious party could be tied together; here's a few off the top of my head:
- something like Adam was suggesting where one of us has some social or ecclesial prominence and the others are bodyguards/attendants
- we could all be part of a society/order within a church who were assigned to a unit together
- if we worshiped a less influential god (say maybe Ragathiel instead of Iomedae) we could be sort of our own church- like 1 clergy person and their flock
- we could just be friends from church: like we all went through catechesis together and have been close friends ever since
- we could be united by some unusual divine power/connection (like in the Runelords game)
- we could have been drawn together by a divine mystery that we don't understand (we've been having dreams/visions of each other or audibly hearing each others' names while praying or something)

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Here's another off the top of my head list... expressly religious options.

Classes: Cleric, Inquisitor, Paladin, Warpriest
- Order of the Star Cavalier

Archetypes:
Divine Tracker (ranger)
Zealot (vigilante)
Faith Singer (bard)
Deliverer (slayer)
Sanctified Rogue (rogue)
Sacramental Alchemist (alchemist)

I'm sure there's more... and I didn't include any of the dervish ones but if we went with Sarenrae there's at least 3-4 more just from those. Plus, there's always options for religious characters besides classes/archetypes built for it (like just picking up skills/feats for it, or heading towards religious PrCs).


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

I like that last one, though I still like the idea of a VIP and their attendants.

We could also mix and match those. For example:

We have Taldon Niceguy, the son of a prominent Iomedaean priest in the Cathedral. He's aided by his attendants, Gawain Armstrong, a talented swordsman and faithful follower of Iomedae and Lianna Nightsong, a minstrel and scholar hired to help with Taldon's education and help soothe him after his recent fits.

Taldon, you see, has been seeing things, terrible things. Demons overrunning all of Avistan, great cities falling into yawning abysses, and the slaughter of millions. He's also been having episodes where he sees things, like a tiefling of demonic heritage helping some orphan or someone laying across a bar as she drowns herself in alcohol. Little do he and his father know that he's having visions, and that these people he's seeing are tied to his fate as he is to theirs.

All of the divinely connected PCs are having visions of each other and each of the PCs has been given some divine gift. Say there's six of us, then we could have the VIP and two of their attendants; a pair that know each other, friends, siblings, or some other relation; and one that's the black sheep and doesn't really have a connection to any of the others beyond the divine shenanigans.

In regards to classes. It could be fun to play a fighter that's a follower of Iomedae. If I recall correctly, there's a stigma against those of a martial bent that follow Iomedae and don't have some kind of divine ability. It could make for some interesting roleplay with NPCs and even other PCs if they believe that they are just paying lip service and aren't a true follower of the Inheritor.


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

Regarding classes, there's also the oracle, which can be flavored in a million different ways. I've got a Heavens oracle in one game that's become convinced that she gets her powers from Sarenrae, for example.

(Totally not suggesting that because I prefer oracles over clerics, nope not at all *whistles*.)

Anyhoo, the idea of a VIP and attendants could be fun - especially if not all of the attendants agree that coming to fight in the Worldwound is a good idea! I'm thinking spoiled/naive nobility and their retainers/friends who have to constantly keep him or her out of trouble starting off - it's a bit of a cliche sure, but sometimes cliches can be fun :)

Going with the idea of visions also seems like it could work to help bring the group together. And speaking of group, how many potential players are we wanting to go with? Just four and a GM or did we want five players or even six?


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

So far there's been four of us posting. Five would be about perfect I think since the game could keep going even if one or two players were having issues posting due to real life concerns and it's not too many to manage. Six can work if we have a bunch of good players like in the Shattered Star Game or the Divine Runelords game, though I'm not really worried about us getting six good players.

Naive could be a lot of fun, as could spoiled. Another possibility that might work better if we do the visions thing to diversify things a bit (like having one or two PCs being outcasts) is to have a noble that's dealing with insecurities. A noble that's suffering from imposter syndrome could be a goldmine of roleplaying opportunities as the other PCs start seeing beneath the mask.

A noble who's an oracle would be perfect for the foretold-by-prophecy idea.

I don't want to start deciding things without discussing them first, but I'm really starting to have a good idea of what I want to play now.

- The Noble Oracle: To be honest, they'll probably have a lot in common with Joanna, though they'll definitely be more reserved and thoughtful.
- The Noble's Shield: Playing the bodyguard of the noble would also be fun. There could even be some conflict if they find their charge attractive. "No, I mustn't let myself fall in love with you," and all that. :)
- The Disgraced Scion: This one could go a few ways. Basically, when the game starts, this character has a reputation because of something bad that happened. They were once a rising star, but now they're considered a has-been at best. This one could also have some layers of outcast to it. Maybe their secretly a tiefling? Maybe the incident, whatever it was, lead to them being kicked out of their church/family? Maybe they're considered a disgrace by their one-time superiors?

I'm not saying that I'll only play one of these, just that I feel drawn more towards them than some other ideas I've had.


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

The more I've been thinking about it, the more I want to run something even if Nate is able to run a game for the exchange. I'm happy with running an AP, and if that's what we go with, I'd like to run either Reign of Winter or Curse of the Crimson Throne, or if nobody minds a third-party one, I could run Rise of the Drow.

However, I keep getting an urge to run a game set in my homebrew setting, Aletheria. The link is to old notes about the setting that I compiled the last time I tried running a game there. The writing is atrocious, but the information hasn't really changed.

I'm okay with running it using Pathfinder, but I'd like to use either Savage Worlds or GURPS to be honest. Both systems are more flexible and I feel that it'll be a much better fit for the kind of setting that Aletheria is. I know that all of us know Pathfinder, but I'd like to try something different.

Thoughts?

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

My brain hurts from school... I’m not sure I’m up for learning a new setting and system... don’t let that dissuade you from running it, or offering it as a possibility for trade. And, if now isn’t the right time for us to run WotR that’s fine too. But if it is...

I didn’t mention oracle because they don’t have to be connected to a religion- they certainly could be though! Lol. I was kind of assuming it was going to be just the 3-4 of us but if you guys want to add a couple more I’m sure we know enough dependable people between us to find more... Kaede, Marcus/Randall, and Jerukh or Vigny all spring to mind.

Regarding the visions- they’d probably have to be in the past, or else we’d have to find a GM who’s into that particular element and wants to run with it.

I have the character that didn’t get picked for the game that prompted this all, that I wouldn’t mind using... he’s a born crusader that I built to be an Iomedaean, but it would be easy to tweak him for other pro-crusade gods (a support/buffer pally headed for battle Herald). I also have an idea Paladin of Shelyn- a virtuos bravo headed for the devoted muse prestige class; he could work as a noble scion too, I think, if we need a VIP. I kind of like the idea of the VIP’s clout being in/from the church instead of the aristocracy though... like maybe an upcoming clergy person being groomed to become the equivalent of a bishop or cardinal, or an oracle who receives real prophetic messages? Anyways, I have other character ideas too, those are just the two most fully formed ones.


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

I'm not familiar with Savage Worlds or GURPS so there'd be a bit of a learning curve on my end if we ended up going that direction. As Nate said though, don't let that stop you from running it if you're really feeling the itch to do so!

As far as whether 'now' is the right time for WotR or not, I just kinda assumed that we were all relatively good with starting sometime soonish since we're already here doing all this chatter. But if not, it'll still be good to get this stuff hammered out in advance so when we are ready to play, all we need to do is make the sales pitch in the Recruitment forum and see who bites.

Also, I'm quite happy with just 3 or 4 of us since we're all pretty consistent posters - and good about announcing upcoming/necessary absences as well. But if we want at least a 5th, there are a couple of people that I could try hitting up as well.

Right now I think I'm the least 'set' on character and background ideas so I'm cool with just waiting to see which direction you two/three go in and then building a character around what you guys come up with. I'm certainly game to do connected characters, whether it just be connection via the visions idea or a sibling/relative/BFF/love interest of one of the other PCs.

*edit* Though I've known you guys long enough that you also have permission to tell me to just pick something, dangit :P


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

Point taken about a new setting and a new system. Savage Worlds looks to be fairly easy to pick up though. GURPS has a steeper learning curve with the skills, advantages, and disadvantages, but a lot more depth that can be added to the base mechanics. I could run it using Pathfinder, but the magic system and how gods are treated don't really work with how the world is setup in my head. But that can be for later. In any case I need to do some reading and work before I'd run it. I was more looking to see if this would be something that you guys were interested in.

So, back to the topic at hand. I can handle playing two more games and GMing a second, so yeah, I think this is a good time for a WotR game if you do. :)

Also, take the following as me brainstorming and not trying to be dismissive or argumentative. I think we've got enough of an idea of what we want to start looking for a GM and bringing them in, unless goodwicki takes the plunge and runs it.

The VIP's clout can definitely be from the church, but there's nothing to say that it isn't tied to their family. You could have a line of priests and priestesses that have always been devout and well known in the church. It might explain why a relatively inexperienced and lowly member of the clergy is getting so much attention from the church. I do like the idea of an oracle that's been having visions. In regards to the ones tying us together, I think whether or not a GM runs with that would be a good indicator of whether or not we want them to run the game, but I digress.

Really it sounds like we've kinda hit one what themes we want to run with, though what Lady Ladile has to say is going to determine that. She may have some other ideas that take us in a totally new direction. :)

EDIT:
Okay, it looks like one of us has to say "I wanna play this!" :D
Might as well be me. :P

So, I really do want to do the VIP and their attendants. We can work out who's playing what in a bit, though I'm sure that we're going to have at least four different ways for how to play this between us.

I like the idea of our VIP being groomed for some role, preferably one that's going to offer some conflict for roleplaying goodness with the plot of the AP, which basically means anything that has them staying safely in the back.

Actually, I'm going to be making a new post. and continuing there. I'm too likely to get ninja'd or run out of time.


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

Okay, so continuing on.

It seems like who winds up playing is going to determine what kind of role they play in the game and the story. Nate definitely seems to be leaning more towards a martially minded character that may or may not have a good reserve of bravado. Lady Ladile seems like she'd be playing a character that needs to learn a lot as they grow. She could be playing a trickster as well (and wouldn't that make for an interesting twist for a party of Iomedaeans!) Me, well, more than likely I'd be playing someone reserved, either a paladin being groomed for some prestigious role or an oracle that's on their way to great things, but is struggling with visions they don't understand.

What kind of attendant I'd play would honestly depend on what everyone else is doing. I know that's not very helpful with picking out what you want to play, but that's kinda how I am. I'm fine with fitting into a role that's needed, and I try not to step on toes if I can help it.

I do have ideas, just not ones that would fit with an attendant role right out of the box.


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

Okay, the VIP thing sounds good to me. Adam, your idea about the VIP being groomed for something that would generally have them not be a combatant I think would fit pretty well with Nate's desire to have the VIP's clout be related to their position within the faith hierarchy rather than due to their family name. (Though the two can still be related, as I'm sure noble families can and do fast-track their scions into such roles through money and influence.)

So, you've got someone being fast-tracked (for whatever reason, be it family name, money, or just being that awesome) to a pretty cushy position within the faith, one that would normally have them away from the front lines or at the very least acting more in the background rather than getting their hands dirty. That's one character. So, what sort of friends/attendants would this type of person have with them? Some kind of 'muscle' seems obvious and probably someone that's pretty learned, but what else?

As far me playing a 'trickster' sort of character, that could definitely work. I always tend to play pretty nice/kind types of good-aligned characters but I don't think I've played many that have much of a mischievous streak, nor have I played very many 'rogue-like-in-function' characters. (I've played a few characters with a chaotic streak but the two aren't always the same animal.)

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Goodwicki said he needed 2 weeks to figure out if he had time to run it... I thought we were going to give him that and then try to find another GM if he didn’t?

It sounds like Adam would like to play the VIP. That’s fine with me. Actually, it just occurred to me that there could be sort of multiple VIPs in a sense... if it’s fairly common knowledge that someone is being groomed for an influential position, then people with the power to do so might try to surround him or her with other people who are being similarly groomed... like, instead of random muscle they get someone they’re hoping to make an officer in the next crusade, or who they want to get into a leadership position within a specific religious order or something (for example, a paladin they want made a knight-captain or whatever they call higher ranking members of their order, assuming the paladins and inquisitors are sort semi-autonomous within the church hierarchy).

The two more fully formed ideas I have right now are definitely more melee, although the crusader really is more of a support character than a primary melee (and would be more effective in a bigger party, or with another character who’s summoning focused). I definitely have other ideas too though who could fill other roles. It would be really helpful for me, in terms of trying to pick an idea to develop, if we picked a god to worship first?


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

Right. Sorry I am getting ahead of myself.

Didn't realize that I was sounding that way as far as being the VIP went. :)

Okay, so I guess my next question is do you guys mind me being the VIP?


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

Whoops, somehow I misread the bit about Goodwicki! Yes, of course, I'm definitely happy to wait and see what he thinks about being able to run this himself.

Adam, if you want to be the VIP - or the VIPPIEST of the VIPs - that's also fine with me :)

Regarding possible gods - Iomedae is, of course, the biggest and most obvious choice. Sarenrae could also work and I will say that there's some Desna stuff that comes up a few books in that could be interesting as well. Ragathiel is another obvious option as far as Empyreal Lords go. Any other good ideas?

Oh, not going to lie - Iomedae has always left me, as a player, a bit cold and I'm usually much more likely to opt for Sarenrae, Shelyn, or one of the Empyreal Lords when generating character ideas. On the other hand, something something breaking character molds :)


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

Okay, I know what kind of character I'm going to play if only because I want to use 'vippiest' in character.

As far as Iomedae is concerned, I'm fine with not going that route. If we didn't I'd like to go with Ragathiel, or we could have a mixture of both.

Just out of curiosity, to hat about Iomedae do you not like?

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

If we go with Ragathiel I have a heavy that I originally built for a Kingmaker game Lady Ladille’s in but I never really used him there... I could tweak him to use here (if we need a heavy hitter type). What kind of VIP are you thinking Adam? Also, what roles do we want to fill? If we end up going with only the 3 of us as players we may need to give that some thought... and we might want/need to think about building characters that can fill more than 1 role (either by building carefully, or maybe through house rules that grant extra powers/abilities). My heavy could maybe face also but he’s really pretty melee-focused otherwise right now (so, as is, he might not be a great fit if there’s only 3).

edit: he’s an oath of vengeance paladin with VMC barbarian.


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

If there is only three of us, then it might be a good idea to see if some of the others from the games we're in. Marcus/Randall's player would work well, I think. We could also ask Kaede's player. If not, then a high point buy and something like what we have with the Divine RotRL game could work if we play smart and maybe get some NapCs to help.

As for what kind of a VIP, I was waffling between playing a Knight and a more squishy prophet type character, but when I was that you were thinking about playing an angel of vengeance type character, I Hought it'd be entertaining if he was stuck guarding someone they saw as a ditz, so a very quircky prophetic type it is!

I'm not sure what the mechanics will be, but healing and buffing are definitely going to be strong suits. If we have a rough room to play with, I may think up some surprises to have I hand when things get close.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

we could probably concoct some kind of gestalt-lite type setup fairly easily that's similar in power/structure to what we're doing in the runelords game... sort of in between free VMC and gestalt in terms of its effect... if we did it with a different source for each character we could add a lot of flexibility to the characters without considerably powering them up? For example, maybe one character gets a priestly anointing and basically gets the stuff we're doing with the other game, and another has a special power within their blood and gets something similar but with a sorcerer bloodline? that wouldn't be changing anyone's BAB or saves or anything, but it would give some extra options for problem solving and what not? Or if we really want to play up the 'fated to work together' aspect we could work out some powers that can only be used cooperatively... that kind of messes with action economy (which can already be an issue with smaller parties) but if we don't have an arcane caster for example maybe we could work out a system where we can cast a certain number of arcane spells each day but only by more than one of us working together... that might be getting into the realm of headaches a GM doesn't want to deal with though?

Also, I'm not married to the angel of vengeance idea (especially, like I said, if he's not going to be flexible enough for a smaller party). I certainly wouldn't mind playing him if we go with Ragathiel and he brings enough to the table, but I also have an idea I'm rolling around for sort of a divine mage that I could probably make work with just about any god and plenty of other less formed ideas I could work on to round out a functional party. And, actually, if we're going to use some special power that may effect what I want to play too (plus, if we went with something like in Runelords, I'm not sure I'd really want to stack a VMC with that...)


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

While it's a cool idea, I don't know if the teamwork abilities would work as well in PBP. I think something like with the Divine Runelords game would work. It'd be cool if we could make the powers compliment each other, I think that's another way to play up the "fated to work together" angle.

Try as I might, I can't really come up with a good idea for what to do here. Most of them seem ill-thought out or too powerful to me.

Also hemming and hawing about what I actually want to play. Over the course of writing this post, I've gone back and forth between either playing the prophet or the knight. I feel like I'm leaning towards the prophet though.


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

I'm admittedly having a hard time settling on any real solid ideas myself since I'm not sure what everyone else is looking at, but Adam's comment about being a trickster has led me to look a little harder at stuff like the Rogue/URogue, sorcerers, etc. Once I settle on a base class to start with, then I could probably look at other stuff like VMCs and the like. Super detailed character-building in terms of mechanics isn't something I do very much so I might need some help if we're going to really get into the nitty gritty of planning builds and the like :)

*edit* Regarding Iomedae, I dunno...I've just always found her kinda boring, I guess. Stereotypical paladin god and all. Things like Sarenrae's focus on redemption if possible, Shelyn's focus on trying to see the beauty in all things and Erastil's focus on strong families and communities resonate with me more when it comes to character ideas.


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

Well, finally decided on which character. Thing I'm nervous about is if she's too close to Joanna and Tera, but I guess you'll tell me and help me out if that's the case.

I'm going to need help figuring out what fits thematically. I'm in uncharted waters for me as far as her build goes.

So, my character is the young daughter of a famed priest. She's been groomed for a rather prominent, though largely ceremonial, position in the church hierarchy. She's prone to childlike behavior, though she's not really childish, perse. She has been having visions and nightmares lately, though some say she suffers from bouts of madness. She's naive and kindhearted, almost to the point that her handlers would rather have her under lock and key at all times than risk her getting upset when she sees the suffering of those less fortunate.

She's going to be a bit whimsical, though I'm hoping I can play her so that she comes off much wiser if you take a moment to listen.


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

For what it's worth (and I think I might've mentioned this in one of our other shared games) I sometimes worry too about my PCs being a bit too 'samey' - so I understand where you're coming from. One thing I try to keep in mind is that even if some of my characters start off similar in personality and demeanor, they're going to have wildly different experiences and thus grow in different ways.

As far as class/build/whatever goes, your character as you describe her sounds like she would be a good fit for the 'gentle healer' trope/archetype though she could also be some sort of a ranged attacker like an archer or some other manner of support build :)

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

She does sound fairly similar to Jo and Tera... have we decided on a god yet? If we are going with Ragathiel maybe you could give her a little twist- sweet, whimsical girl but with a serious temper? Instead of always struggling when confronted with pain/suffering she becomes enraged by it and her attendants/handlers have to kind of remind her sometimes that one of Ragathiel’s tenets is “Rage is a virtue and a strength only when focused against the deserving. I will never seek disproportionate retribution.” Just a thought?

If you (either of you) would like help/suggestions for your build I’m pretty good at the mechanics and would be glad to help however I can.

Adam- this maybe would be a better fit if we went with Desna but if you really want to play up the dreams/nightmares angle you could look at the dreamspun sorcerer bloodline? Combining that with a power like in the Runelords game and UMD (to be able to use divine wands/scrolls) could give you a solid arcane caster who still feels pretty priestly?

I guess we’ve never really decided... do we want to include some kind of special power or would we rather keep things more standard? If we do want to add something how significant do we want it to be? (obviously the more significant it is the easier it’ll be to keep the group small) Would we want to all have the same power, or workout a separate one for each character which would be more work but give us more overall flexibility and utility? I’m cool with whatever you guys want to do. I think if we kept it just the 3 of us we could probably go as far as full on gestalt without needing too much adjustment to the AP (not that I’m pushing for us to go that far, but just to say I’d be ok with that as sort of the upper limit of how far we could go).


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

Hmm, that is an idea. I wasn't going to have her be plagued by the kinds of self-doubt that Joanna and Tera have gone through, but the idea of a cold and dangerous temper lurking underneath does sound interesting to play.

As far as religions go, maybe we can do something like we're followers of Empyreal Lords. I think there's a cult for that in Magnimar. I just mention this because I'm not sure how well my character would fit into Ragathiel's church. As far as going with the Desnan church is concerned, my understanding was they didn't really have that much of a hierarchy and given their focus on travel, a cloistered young priestess probably wouldn't be that high in what hierarchy they do have.

If we keep it to us three, I think we'd almost have to go with a Gestalt. We don't have as much of a margin for error, so if we can punch above our weight, that'd help when one of us drops. Action economy is still going to be an issue, but hopefully not enough be that much of an issue. If we have four, I think something like the boons we got in the Runelords game will be fine. I'm cool with have something more thematically tied to our characters even if it's more work for us to figure out what that is. I also think the more players we have, the less we need that boast, so if we have four, I'd say it's fine to have that little extra something, but if we have five, I'd say we shouldn't worry about it beyond maybe some minor boon, like a trait or maybe a feat.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Hmm... that's a good point about Desnan's sort of lacking the hierarchy... part of my idea for the temper was directly because it would fit with Ragathiel (although the dreamspun thing may not), and then the fish out of water element wouldn't be your desire for direct involvement (which I assume is common among his followers) but rather that you remain surprisingly bubbly/whimsical in spite of everything. Again, just a thought. I can work with just about any god/faith. I assume you guys are aware but Archives of Nethys has a pretty exhaustive list of Golarion deities and empyreal lords (including alignment and portfolio) if you want to look through for ideas?

Lady Ladille- any thoughts on gestalt/boons/etc?


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

Okay, I see now. Ragathiel would make sense, as would Iomedae. Torag could work, but most of his followers are dwarves, though it's noted that a fair number of ulfen also follow him.

We don't necessarily have to all follow the same deity either. I could play an Iomedaean guarded by a Ragathielian and advised by a Shelynite or a Sarenrite. I could see some church politics bringing that about. It could also add another layer to the story. While we're trying to fight off the demonic horde, we're also having to deal with scheming churchmen and politicians. I think it'd be more the politicians than the church, but you never know when some bishop has aspirations of being someone more important.


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

I had actually been thinking gestalt too, should we only end up with the three of us as PCs. Not sure how that would interact with the mythic stuff but I suppose we'll find out when/if we go that route!

I'm also fine with not everyone following the same deity; just because I might not be that interested in Iomedae it doesn't mean that everyone else shouldn't be able to follow her if it fits best for their character. Regarding good choices, this post lists some options.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

I agree that we don’t need to all follow the same god, but I do think it tightens up the theme a bit if we can... I really am cool with any god, is there one both of you are drawn to at all?

I know we said that Desna’s lack of hierarchy was an issue but with gestalt it might not be? Normally I’m a big proponent of diversifying with gestalt instead of super-specializing, but if you went with something like dreamspun sorcerer/heavens oracle it could be pretty believable that most or all of the most respected priests expected big things of you and weren’t real happy about you putting yourself in harm’s way... I’m not saying we’d have to do that, but it occurred to me as one possibility?


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

I like that. I like that alot. And if other religions knew about her, they'd probably be trying to get access/protect her.

I think I have something. I'm going to play around with it a bit.

EDIT: Okay, I'm going to see if I can build a really tricksy caster. Think I'm going to go with the Trickster Mythic Path. There's a couple of abilities, Combat Trickery and Down like Dominoes that I think would be perfect for her if they can be chained together the way it looks like.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

@LL- how do you feel about Desna? And, if Adam makes a double caster do you have any idea what you might want to make?

@Adam- remember that dual path is a thing! Archmage and hierophant are both so good that you’ll probably want to get at least one of them... and, actually, if you want to go the tricksy route it might be worth at least considering going bard/oracle instead... you’d lose some arcane power, obviously, and maybe a little of the distinctiveness (though I know there’s a bard archetype that connects with clerics, and there may be one with sorcerer flavor) but you’d gain a bunch of skill points, and skills that lend themselves to tricksiness (plus the ability to wear some armor). Just a thought?


Male Probably human Computer Scientist 1/ Character Synthesizer 20/ Crazy 99

I'd actually forgotten you could do that.

Though Lady Ladile did say that she was thinking about a trickster type character as well.

I think I'll dial this back a bit. Maybe not have her be so capricious.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

oh, that's right- she did say she was looking at rogues and stuff... well, a sorcerer/oracle isnt the most well-rounded gestalt but if you went dual path archmage/hierophant it'd certainly be nothing to sneeze at! I think some of the class abilities (at least from oracle, if not both) will synergize well with your other casting well too. Awesome Display, for example, effects all of your illusion (pattern) spells, not just ones you cast as an oracle (which makes color spray amazing for a lot longer). Plus, who needs to well-rounded when you have attendants to pick up the slack, lol.


Venture-Agent, Play-by-Post

Quick note, since I'm stuck at work for just a bit longer still - Desna sounds good and I have no idea what I might make if Adam wants to do the tricksy soracle, but that's okay! Once I'm home I can do some looking and see what sorts of gestalt combos are cool :D

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