Okay, here is a writeup for Loch, the celestial-blooded gnome bloodrager. Still some work to be done on the crunch side (Haven't decided on feats yet, mostly).
Loch
Male Gnome Bloodrager 3
N Small Humanoid (Gnome)
Init +2+; Senses: Perception +6 (+8 to avoid being surprised and to detect incorporeal or invisible creatures)
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DEFENSE
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AC 17 , Touch , 13 Flat-Footed 15 (+2 dex, +1 size, +4 armor) (+2 dodge bonus to AC in urban environments)
HP 27
Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +3
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OFFENSE
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee
-MW Earthbreaker +7 (1d10+3) x3
-Falchion +6 (1d6+3) 18-20/x2
-Kukri +6 (1d3+2) 18-20/x2
Ranged
-Composite Longbow +6 (1d6) x3
--20 arrows
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STATISTICS
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Str 14 Dex 14 Con 15 Int 12 Wis 12 Cha 15
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats
Traits Spirit Sense (+2 perception to avoid being surprised and to detect incorporeal/invisible creatures), Etymologist (+1 Linguistics, Linguistics is class skill, learn 1 additional language), Suspicious (+1 Sense Motive, Sense motive is class skill)
Drawbacks Paranoid (DCs to be aided by Aid Another increase to 15)
Skills
Acrobatics +7 (2 rank +2 dex +3 trained
Climb +7 (2 rank +2 str +3 trained
Knowledge (Arcana) +5 (1 rank +1 int +3 trained
Knowledge (Local) +3 (2 rank +1 int
Knowledge (Planes) +4 (1 rank +1 int +2 racial
Linguistics +7 (2 rank +1 int +1 trait +3 trained
Perception +6 (2 rank +1 wis +3 trained
Sense Motive +8 (3 rank +1 wis +1 trait +3 trained
Survival +6 (2 rank +1 wis +3 trained
Swim +6 (1 rank +2 str +3 trained
Languages Common, Gnome, Sylvan, Celestial, Undercommon, Aklo, Draconic
Equipment Mithral Shirt, MW Earthbreaker. Falchion, Kukri, Composite Longbow, 20 Arrows, Cloak of Resistance +1
Gear Traveler's Outfit, Backpack, Waterskin, 50 ft. Silk Rope, Grappling Hook, Flint and Steel, 361 gold
Weight Carried: 34.5 Light - 43.5 Medium - 87 Heavy - 131
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Born to the Land +2 dodge bonus to AC while in an urban environment
Illusion Resistance +2 racial save bonus against illusion spells and effects
Darkvision 60 ft
Academician +2 Knowledge (Planes)
Gnome Magic +1 DC with illusion spells. Cast dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, and speak with animals 1/day as spell-like abilities. CL 3rd, DC 12
Small +1 AC, +1 Attack Rolls, -1 CMB and CMD, +4 Stealth, 3/4 carrying capacity
Bloodline Celestial
Fast Movement +10 ft. base speed when in no armor, light armor, or medium armor and light or medium load.
Bloodrage 10 rounds/day Free action. +4 morale bonus to strength and constitution, +2 morale bonus to will saves. -2 to AC
--Power Angelic Attacks: While in bloodrage, melee attacks are good-aligned weapons and deal +1d6 damage to evil outsiders.
Uncanny Dodge Cannot be caught flat-footed.
Blood Sanctuary +2 bonus on saves against spells cast by self or allies.
Lochlennean was born to a small community of gnomes who had taken to a rather Halfling-esque sort of lifestyle, embracing vagrancy and the open road. The lot of them being downtrodden, outcast, or misfit in some fashion or another, they had banded together over time for company as much as survival. Their caravan rolled from village to village, city to city, country to country, peddling wares both mundane and alchemical, all while looking for enough excitement and experience to keep them sane. Their travels allowed them a mostly content gnomish lifestyle, albeit migratory, though Lochlennean, or Loch as he came to prefer, was never able to embrace it. His earliest memories were of horrible things seen in dreams by both day and night and voices that clashed in his mind. He would experience domineering, intimidating, beings that seemed to want him to answer them or wanted to coerce him into some course of action. Even when they were absent, Loch could feel shadows of the presence, tugging and pulling at him. His parents and peers tried to get him set on an art or craft, and try as he might nothing would keep his attention nor his focus. And he did try, for even as these strange forces gnawed at his will, the influence of the fey that is a part of all gnomes spoke to him as well. They pushed him towards paths of excitement and whimsy, inspiring him to song, dance, and art. More often than not, however, these voices, these urges were crushed by the presence of the other beings that he could feel in his soul. Loch’s existence became a battlefield for his subconscious, and it only intensified as time went on.
His dreams became more vivid the older he became. The beings that he witnessed in them became more substantial. He would find himself drawing or painting and the images would form giant beings with the heads of lions and six wings, armored and standing over fields of ruin or city skylines, blood and death beneath them. Every time he turned to a craft, he would bring the manifestations of these creatures into being through whatever medium he was working with. It was at this point that others in his traveling community began to pull away from him, fearing that he was mad at best or a catalyst for bleaching at the worst. Loch found now true joy in anything he did, and no experience to revel in. And when his friends and family grew fearful of him, the two sources of his identity fought harder and harder until he himself believed he was mad. His dreams became even more frequent thereafter, and all too often he would see cities in them. Cities with shadows and ghosts crawling through their bowels, cities with blood running in the streets, cities with winged horrors flying from rooftop to rooftop. The urge to find such a place soon became insatiable. He was convinced that the only way stop these horrible dreams and voices was to find such a place and fulfill whatever purpose the powers that held sway over him had in store. His community hardly acknowledged his existence anymore, and he felt no reason to stay.
The caravan rolled on into Varisia, earning its coin by selling wares in a few small villages before eventually passing through Korvosa. Somehow, Loch knew that this was the place his dreams had led him to, and he abandoned his caravan for the streets. No one even came to look for him when the wagons rolled on. Loch immediately began investigating the city, for though he was there, the images in his mind continued to spur him on. He earned no true living, but found his place where he could in the alleyways and the darker corners of the city. Some that saw him no doubt thought him insane, a gnome crawling around in the gutters, talking to himself or to voices no one could see. He found that city life brought dangers he had never had to contend with - thieves and thugs, ruffians and rogues - but the presence within him taught him swiftly how to defend himself, how to fight. He had never known battle before, but it came to him naturally - the voices that had driven him to the edge of madness in the years passed grew almost helpful now that he was in the city. This helped him to survive, and also served as further proof to him that this was where he needed to be.
He became a somewhat known figure in the sectors of the city that he favored, though not in an admirable way. “The Mad Gnome” some called him, or “Wild Child” or “King Rat.” He paid no mind to these names though, for he had found his place, however bad it looked to others. And after he had grown accustomed to the city, and to the fight, and had come into his own, his blood called to him again, and he discovered the true darkest places of the city, and the real horrors that prowled there. There were monsters there, creatures of the night, dead things and man hunters. All the things he had seen in his dreams. The first time he saw one he was frightened, but just as the presence within him had called him to defend himself against thugs in the alley, they gave him the courage and the fire to fight these new enemies. After his first victory, he had another, and another. He found that he was rather good at not only destroying these things, but finding them. He also noticed that most other people in the city didn’t ever seem to talk about the creatures, nor go out to find them, and it dawned on him that a good amount of them didn’t even know they were around, creeping in their very shadows.
One night, a particular alley was the scene of some clamor and commotion. Loch was drawn the area, as he was often drawn to these creature somehow, and uncovered a small, flying creature accosting a member of the guard. Two citizens were already unconscious at his feet. Loch was hesitant, for never before had he found a monster of the dark and confronted it with any sort of audience, but he knew he had to intervene. Leaping mad from the shadows, eyes burning bright gold in the dark, he attacked the creature with his white-glowing weapons. The creature shrieked at being touched by them, and vanished.
Loch did not stay to talk to the people he had aided, but instead fled the scene and melted back into the city. He heard whispers among guards later though, about how a golden-eyed mad gnome had driven away some horrible creature. In time, Loch would come to be involved in other such incidents, where his deeds were witnessed. His name now lights upon the lips of gossips and tale-spinners from time to time, making Loch almost an urban legend himself .
I've made him up as a gnome who was constantly "fought over" internally by his fey heritage as a gnome and his celestial heritage in his blood. These two identities in him pulled him in different directions which has affected him mentally to the point where he is often suspicious and paranoid. I mention a lot in his backstory both visions and voices but really he just picks up on the celestial "presence" in him, the power in his blood that seeks to put him on a certain path that has made him a bit touched to the point that he thinks that there are really outside forces telling him what to do. And to him these beings, the angels or what have you, are intimidating and domineering, and he always thinks that they are watching him.
The celestial blood played a big part in the racial features and traits I picked (such as giving him a minor gift in languages and spirit awareness, as well as rudimentary knowledge of the planes (hence the Academician feature), and darkvision. Also, with his blood calling him to the city, I went with Born to the Land over defensive training and hatred (also due to his community not ever really dealing with giants and goblins and such). Let me know if anything doesn't make sense or if you have any questions.
Looking solid. Does Loch have any sort of residence, no matter how squalid, in the city? Or does he just wander the streets and sleep wherever he finds a warm corner? His reputation would definitely put him under consideration, but I'm wondering how they would be able to find him to even talk to him.
I have a half-orc bard archaeologist that I think would suit this campaign fairly well. Scritch is a skill monkey focused on martial combat with a falchion. She's 6th level ATM so I'll have to adjust some stuff but she's an orphan who grew up on the streets of Korvosa who was a little more clever, charismatic and lucky than your average half-orc. She's the most obsequious, ingratiating and respectful half-orc ever but the second you turn your back on her there's a real danger she will be filling her pockets with your valuables. She's very curious, which often gets her in trouble but it also means she loves learning and actively pursues new knowledge in a way that most half-orcs do not.
That's the basic fluff. I'll post the crunch tomorrow.
Sounds like some decent basics, but you'd have to tweak her to fit the campaign a bit more. The part I emphasize most about backgrounds is that they have some kind of vested reason to take an interest in this specific line of work.
A few people have been iffy on this, so I'll flesh it out a little more with a few examples out of the Party A members still around. They're really oversimplified versions, but they're just to give you an idea of what I'm looking for:
-Walther is Renfield-turned-Van Helsing. He spent most of his life as the thrall of a family of vampires, forced to find them victims. After his eventual escape, he may or may not have been blessed by Desna, but he believes that she gave him a quest to kill monsters. He's old and not much of a fighter, but he has deep knowledge about these creatures, and in his own time writes books detailing his knowledge. Backstory has a reason for him to be concerned with these specifically, and his expertise is specific and very useful, prompting his recruitment.
-For something a little less direct, Ophelia's creator (she's a clockwork automaton) went missing under mysterious circumstances, and in trying to find him, she began using her very literal robot logic and knowledge to help find loopholes to help people out of contracts made with devils in exchange for power. She's got a mystery that can be explored as the game goes on, assets that can be of good investigative/roleplay use, and her skills specialize in dealings with the sorts of creatures you might be facing.
Obviously there's a lot of directions you can go in with this rather than just these two, but hopefully it's a little clearer now. These are the kinds of backstories and reasons that I'm looking for.
Helamans entry - still some work to do but let me know if I am in the right ballpark.
***Background***
The Vachkov family, long residents of Carrion Hill, have a tradition stretching back generations... they are a family of Watchmen. For the last 5 generations (and further back no one is sure but family lore has it stretching back beyond that), at least one Vachkov son has served.
Grigor is no exception. Raised on stories from his grandfather and father and assorted watchmen who periodically drank with them, he prepared himself to also enter the family trade. All things considered, this was easy enough - all that was really required was an opening and the right introductions.
Despite his youth he did very well. He'd accumulated a lot of experience before his feet even touched the cobbles and was known to be a diligent albeit slightly zealous agent of the law, such as it was in the small city. It helped that the young Grigor was a talented brawler who was not afraid of a fight.
Overconfidence can be deadly.
When word came from Caliphas that they were looking for experienced Watchmen to take up a large number of recently vacated positions (which later turned out to be a more often than occurance than was thought), he sought a recommendation from Commander Garus and then councilman Heggry, both friends of the family. It was hard to leave the family home but the bonus money was a big incentive and Grigor hoped for better opportunities but he did take with him a personal memento - his Watchman's badge.
He was hired without reservation.
Work in Caliphas's constabulary proved to be very much different from anything he'd done on Carrion Hill but he proved just as skilled in Caliphas as a watchman... but sadly his brusque personality with those of his collegues he considered unworthy to be 'on the strength' made him few friends, and his myopic world of 'watchmen and criminals' squeezed out any other relationships. A few chance arrests brought him to the attention of some powerful patrons - a recovered valuable amulet, a captured rapist guilty of defiling a member of the wealthy family and return of a run-away bride - and attention from his superiors.
He was promoted to Sargeant and put on a special team, a team who investigated those crimes that 'certain people' would be resolved quickly, quietly, discreetly and with a certain disregard to the actual evidence. He didn't know it but he was regarded as a thug and it was figured he'd fail in finding much at all but be good in intimidating people to stay quiet or to come quietly. It didn't help that much of the pressure and many of the shadier jobs came from Captain Boverde Hoptler, Commander of the Watch and someone who had developed a dislike for Grigor as an arrogant upstart - particularly when Grigor ignored or misinterpreted orders and suggestions when he felt best to do so.
When a case of missing persons whose families were marginally wealthy enough to make noise over the issue Grigor and his team was given the case but was also told it was likely some sort of sets of random disappearances (again, more common in Caliphas than he'd originally thought) and should be closed as such.
What he discovered instead was a nightmarish trade of people Ivor the purpose of feeding of undead beings. It was a concept so perverted as to strain even a hardened coppers lack of faith in humanity. Disregarding suggestions, then instructions and then direct orders he continued with the case. In the end the trail of corruption led to one of the sons of the incredibly wealthy Meier family. Just when he was readying to strike and to bring down the ringleader, he was bought before Captain Boverde Hoptler, stripped of his position and jailed for a month.
It was in that month that Captain Hoptler captured a few members of a 'small cult' who had sadly been responsible for the earlier murders... and Lukas Meier quietly disappeared from society, rumoured perhaps to be delicate of health and in need of a brief period of hospitalisation.
The loss of position and the injustice of it was more than he could handle. Friendless, Grigor took to drink, and for around 3 months drank away such funds as he had until news reached him of his Fathers death.
Too late for the funeral he still managed to make it back to Carrion Hill to fufill the duty to support his mother as the oldest Son of the family. Taking pity on Grigor, Commander Garus pointed Grigor far from Ustav. Initally travelling as a caravan guard, he made his way to Korvosa.
He fell back on the only profession he knew and joined the city watch there, where Grigor has been for the last two years, and now held a position of Senior Watchman until recently. He still has a drinking problem, and though he is a functional alcoholic most of the time, it did lead to his dismissal.
Married to the sister of a merchant friend, Helen, whom he doesn't love and Father of a son of his own, he has become resigned to his life in Korvosa. He lives in a small apartment above one of the shops owned by his brother in law. He scrapes by now as private investigator of sorts and an unofficial bridge to the town guards, but some of his jobs are dubious in nature and skirt the boundaries of the law. While his employers are sometimes criminals at least they are 'proper criminals', rather than the scum at the top. Their crimes tend to be 'honest' ones.
Where Grigor was once diligent and driven, he now goes through the motions, only fully focusing on such cases that temporally kindle his passion. In his youth he was idealistic and zealous of obedience to the law, he is bitter and sees the law as merely a framework and something that can be exploited by those with the wealth, position or talent to do so... And almost always manipulated at the behest of darker things than their human dupes can dare to imagine.
The one thing that has meaning in his life is those moments when he can 'hit back' and investigate or thwart the designs of the rich and corrupt, and maybe, just maybe do some good and put things right.
Expanded fluff for the archaeologist I mentioned yesterday. Still hammering out the crunch. I'd appreciate if you could let me know if this is more to your liking than the brief overview I posted earlier. It's all still quite mutable and I welcome criticism. Thanks.
As she grew into adulthood, Scritch seemed blessed with an uncanny luck that saved her from the narrow scrapes where her skills and charm had deserted her. That is until she was approached by a pair of men, representing themselves as recruiters for one of the local "security" organizations, and accepted their commission to recover a treasure for them on the promise of considering her for membership in their ranks. Although she had dealt handily with the mundane traps, she had been unprepared for any magical obstacles and found herself standing paralyzed, completely at the mercy of the man whose inner sanctum she was attempting to burglarize. The man, Whaykim Panuvel, was a diabolist of some renown in Korvosa, well known for his traffic with devils and his skill in the arcane arts; a man that wiser, more experienced sneak thieves knew better than to steal from.
Scritch is not certain why Whaykim elected to spare her rather than flay her and create a half orc costume of her skin to wear to the next masquerade ball or chop her into tiny bits to feed to his devilish thralls as he had threatened, but, for whatever reason, he did not. Instead he cast a powerful compulsion spell upon her. The curse he placed upon her prevented her from stealing from him, harming him or allowing any harm to come to him through her inaction. He did not need to guard her or protect his possessions from her; if she attempted to violate the conditions placed upon her, her body and mind were wracked with a terrible illness that left her crippled and weakened her more each passing day she did not comply so she was left to freely roam his estate.
Whaykim turned Scritch into his agent about town, having her perform the subtle deeds that his extraplanar minions were ill equipped for. At the same time, he provided her with a small but, in comparison to anything she had ever known, luxuriously appointed cell and allowed her free access to the kitchen where she enjoyed meals in a frequency and of a size that astonished her. She was also allowed access to his vast library. Scritch taught herself to read and her previously dormant thirst for learning was awakened such that, whenever she was not pursuing a task at Whaykim's direction, she could be found with her stubby nose buried in one of his ancient tomes.
During her most recent excursion on his behalf, Whaykim mysteriously vanished from the estate and has not returned in the weeks that have ensued. She knows he is still alive out there somewhere, otherwise she would have been released from her magical compulsion. If not for the Geas, Scritch might take advantage of his absence to escape but her guts are gripped by the familiar sensation of the curse's punishment when she even considers the notion. Any day that she doesn't exert effort into investigating his disappearance and rescuing him from whatever circumstances keep him from returning on his own threatens to reduce her to a quivering, useless lump of agony and illness so she has sought to take up with those who can help her investigate the whereabouts of her master. And, in truth, she feels a loyalty to him despite the curse he has placed upon her. He's treated her better and with more regard than any other person in her life. He's given her opportunities and provided for her in a way that no one else ever has. It's easy to convince herself that the curse is making her look for him but she thinks that she might be searching for him without being magically compelled to do so.
@Helaman: You open the game with your recruitment into a new team, unless you start in party two in which case you're recruited into a group of four who already worked a case. This is organized by a member of the city council, at least one guard captain, and other people anyone's yet to meet. Two traits, HP at 1 and then roll, but I wouldn't worry too much about rolls like that. It's an easy thing to go back and fix. Backstory seems solid enough; his convictions might play interesingly with some later-story cases.
@born_of_fire: It's getting there, but I see a couple issues. For one, I don't see anywhere that she's really gaining notoriety or has a particular skill that's of use, in which case I'm not certain why she would be approached or even known about. Also, even if we assume she's using his library to read up on these sorts of things, still not really the best integration of the undead and such into her story to drive her. Not to mention, her need to investigate him daily or fall ill would create a lot of trouble during longer cases.
His father, Helem Porter, had owned a small accounting firm and was generally a well respected member of society. Helem lived with his wife, Arnia and sons Brenan and Sylas in a small house on the outskirts of town.
One warm summer evening, brigands came to the house, looking for money, women, pretty much the common fare of what brigands are out and about for. Breaking down the door, they began to torment the tiefling family who were enjoying their dinner, they were only three but still, Helem was not a warrior. Much to his surprise, young Sylas, then ten, slew them all promptly with a kitchen knife. When the town guard showed up to the seen the captain said "That boy was born to end lives." Sylas like the sound of that.
A few years later, Helem was killed under suspicious circumstances, some said unnatural. After that, Brenan took over the family accounting business. An eighteen year old Sylas moved into the city and fell in with a crowd of rogues and trouble makers, always up for a fight and down for a drink, he made many friends and continued to hone his fighting skills.
At the age of twenty-five, Sylas opened his own business to help his brother support their now ailing mother, he called it Mystic Solutions. Only people who needed his services really understood what it was he did. His shop was in the worst part of town and it didn't scream "Monster Slayer" but he was ok with that. Best not to be too busy in a profession of that sort.
Work had surged in the last few months, undead, vampires, ghosts. Sylas wondered what was going on. Lots of buzz from the underground channels he kept an eye on. News from the type of people normal folks avoided suggested something was going on.
--Personality--
Sylas is brash and irreverent a smug and sarcastic jokester. He often meets the gory or evil scenes he's confronted by with a grim sense of humor and an off the cuff remark. Headstrong and brave, Sylas knows what goes bump in the night and while he is afraid sometimes, he rarely lets it show. A hopeless romantic and terrible flirt, he is treated by local bar wenches as a harmless tease. He secretly wishes that there was no demand for his services and he could just raise a family like his father, the other side of him says "*&%$ that! Killing is your game Sylas! You do it well and should keep going, make a name for yourself!"
Well, thieves, cads and con artists generally avoid notoriety, it's professionally detrimental most of the time. Whaykim, however, was known about Korvosa before his disappearance so I'd like to capitaliize on his reputation rather than her own for recognition. It would be well known that she is his operative about town.
I left the circumstances of Whaykim's disappearance and his current whereabouts completely undefined so that you would have the opportunity to capitalize on these vagaries to create something suitable as you see fit; a mystery of sorts for Scritch to investigate and a method for you to motivate or direct my character as time goes on. Perhaps his disappearance is related to the undead in some way. There may also be other parties interested in his return or those interested in ensuring his return does not occur.
Even if she did not discover a specific clue each day or spend time specifically investigating his disappearance, if Scritch is working with, gaining exposure to and acquiring skills from investigators, she is making an effort to find him. She might even stumble across something immediately relevant to Whaykim during the course of working with the group but I don't even see that as necessary. I suggest that it is more about her intent than the fruitfulness of her activities. If she decided to abandon her efforts and head to Magnimar to open a massage parlour, that would be a different story.
I'm not entirely sure I understand your objections to the use of Whaykim's library or how that relates to her motivations or lack thereof. And as far as a particular useful skill, it's hard to tell from just the fluff but skills, all of them pretty much, are what she brings to the table. She's no slouch in combat and, being melee focused, will fill a hole you mentioned the party having. Here she is, almost done except for equipment.
@Sylas Porter: Solid, but could you expand a little more on exactly what connections his family has to the occult? He may have fallen accidentally into this line of work, but if he has some sorts of connections, there might be something for me to work with.
@born_of_fire: What I mean is that your character has little reason to be involved in this very particular line of work. She was the agent of someone who had employed demons, but she herself has no ties to anything. It's not an objection to the use of his library, but what I mean is that this is supposed to be a group who have some sort of special skill that makes them very useful in this line of work. Again, pointing to the example of Ophelia a few posts up, since they're somewhat similar in terms of "seeking a disappeared master". She uses her linguistic abilities to find loopholes in devils' contracts, which not only has clear applications in an investigative setting, but would be considered a specialized enough talent to warrant her inclusion. Her motivation isn't nearly as on-topic at face value as Walther's is, but she has something. What I'm trying to get at is that Scritch currently has no reason to concern herself with the undead, nor any affinity or ability that would lead her to being employed to combat them.
I also have an Inquisitor of Pharasma that might suit you better but there was another poster who said they might submit one. I don't think that one has ever materialized so, if you feel that there's just no way that Scritch will work, I'd be happy to submit the Inquisitor. Since I try not to play any published AP's to ensure I don't spoil things for the table top game I play in, I really like to get into these homebrews as much as possible.
I had thought of having Sylas' brother Brenan having hired people working for the darker forces in town to kill their father and take control of his business, possibly using the firm as a front to launder their money or aquire the bizarre things that I imagine evil death cults to need for rituals and such. Sort of like the Wolfram and Hart firm in Angel (if you've seen it)
His personal connections would be more along the lines of knowing people who know people kinda thing, just a foot in the seedier areas of life that go on behind the scenes in Korvosa. I'm always open to suggestions though if you have any cool ideas for me to implement.
@born_of_fire: It's not that I don't necessary feel Scritch won't work, just that she's lacking in some pretty big things as currently written. You're free to submit an Inquisitor; depending on how different they come out I might take both, or put them in different tables. Table 1 currently has one and a half bards, and I almost accepted a third for it.
@Sylas: As it turns out, some sort of opposing, cult-enabling bureau may or may not have been something I had in mind, so there's definitely something there.
If the characters must be interested in hunting the undead and only the undead, you may want to reconsider your OP which states we must have an interest in hunting undead, demons and strange creatures that most people don't know lie lurking in the shadows.
I'd also point out that the ability to find loopholes in contracts made with devils has no relation to the undead whatsoever. It seems strange that her relation to/interest in the diabolical is acceptable whereas mine is not. Perhaps we ended up too similar in the long run.
I understand arguing with the DM is no way to gain entry to his game. I also recognize that you are free to dislike any character you want or feel that any character is unsuitable for your game as you see fit but, as a person trying to satisfy your desires, I feel that your desires are not being made terribly clear.
I'll try again with the Inquisitor of Pharasma unless I see that other person's submission materialize before I iron mine out. I appreciate your patience and, as I stated above, I'm quite interested in participating in this game as Walther is an IRL friend of mine and it is a homebrew that will not spoil any future AP's I might play.
I'm using "undead" as shorthand because it's much, much easier to say than repeatedly typing that same thing out again. The biggest difference, to put it to its most basic, is that Ophelia's skills specialize in that field. Yes, there are devils. The very first thing the party fights is actually a fey creature of a sort. I might have been a little unclear about that exact detail at times, which is my bad. The key difference is that Ophelia has a specific skill that is of use, while I feel Scritch's relation is more of an adjacency. She worked for someone who uses devils. Her investment is completely removed from the aim of the campaign, and her skillset isn't uniquely geared toward some aspect that can be of use.
For most campaigns she would be a fine character, but understand this sort of like an 80s action movie that assembles a "best of the best" team to deal with the impossible situation. The average, well-rounded soldier is good, but usually you'd have someone who's a demolitions expert, a tactical genius leading the team, that sort of thing. If she isn't generally targetting these sorts of creatures and gaining attention by that avenue, she should at least do something in-fluff that would be a great asset.
Hopefully that's all a little clearer now.
I think what Spooky wants is:
(A) A personal reason for why your character would want to hunt <x> instead of just "because they're bad"
(B) Explanations that tie the crunch to the character's focus; anyone can take linguistics but Ophelia's player gave a "fluff" reason for having it, which is to search for those devilish loopholes.
Looking solid. Does Loch have any sort of residence, no matter how squalid, in the city? Or does he just wander the streets and sleep wherever he finds a warm corner? His reputation would definitely put him under consideration, but I'm wondering how they would be able to find him to even talk to him.
I'm not particularly familiar in detail with Korvosa off hand, but I would imagine that Loch would generally stay in a particular sector/district/neighborhood, and is more known around those parts. He moves around that area when it comes to living and sleeping, but he would have some specifically favorite haunts where he shacks up. Finding him after sunset might not be too difficult if one would happen to be in that neighborhood and was specifically looking for him. As far as specialty, I suppose his would be (I guess rather obviously) evil outsiders.
@Helaman: You open the game with your recruitment into a new team, unless you start in party two in which case you're recruited into a group of four who already worked a case. This is organized by a member of the city council, at least one guard captain, and other people anyone's yet to meet. Two traits, HP at 1 and then roll, but I wouldn't worry too much about rolls like that. It's an easy thing to go back and fix. Backstory seems solid enough; his convictions might play interesingly with some later-story cases.
Thanks - will wait on news. Hopefully a large bruiser ex cop turned 'gray' Private Investigator will work for you.
I am also considering a slight rejiggering of stats depending on if I am accepted and to which team. Your main team seems very weak apart from the Construct so a strong character would be a boon here. In another team a dexterous finesse fighter may be more useful to that team so as to increase my disable device etc.
@Lady Ladile: Nailed it, thanks. I'm too rambly to usually hit that level of concise and exact.
@Woodsmoke: Alright, just wanted to make sure they were sending someone with a letter to find him instead of mailing to a house.
@Grigor: Unfortunately, the team sort of lost their Rogue and TWF Ranger, so yes, the remainder is looking pretty weak.
This sounds like a perfect game for me. I want to make a quick post to let you know I want to start to create a character right now just so that you can temporarily hold a spot for me so that I can give you a quick idea of a character before fleshing it out to see if you like it and will accept it.
Just for a quick reference. Are these still the only characters definitely in the game?
-Laznist, Human Arcanist
-Ophelia Hale, Clockwork Automaton Archivist
-Walther, Half-Elf Inquisitor/Detective
And Shang, Samsaran Alchemist. I made the thread before he could get back to me just to keep things moving, but he wants in, I just can't go back and edit the OP. Party 1 contains those four.
As for holding spots, don't worry about it. I'm only closing recruitment in a week, so there's plenty of time to work up an idea and draw it out into something complete.
Here are some basic concepts: wind listener (wizard, sylph), deadly courtesan (rogue, vishkanya), kinslayer (inquisitor, dhampir), dusk stalker (ranger, fetchling), or purifier (oracle, aasimar).
Alright so I am going to throw my submission into the ring to be eaten by the jackals ;)
(spoilered to prevent a wall of text :P)
Unbeknownst to him, as he lay there dying a band of adventurers (corny, will change :P) had come to the rescue of the town and found him half eaten and not breathing. The party healer found a perfect opportunity for an experiment and brought him back with him to his shop/operating room. As it turns out, being half dead and out cold on the slab leaves little room for your input on what happens to you. When he awoke he had found that he had been "repaired", his vitals had mostly been replaced with automatons and machines that were keeping him alive, worse still his arms which had been gnawed off had been infected and necrotic so the "doctor" had grafted on new ones, but not just 2 new ones, rather 4 spindly, half clockwork creations. Upon his realization of the monstrosity that he had become he screamed and blacked out once more.
John is looking for 2 people in the world. Firstly, after long time spent hunting rumors from town to town, he is looking for the necromancer that had razed his hometown and was still at large. He hunts after this fiend with a passion that only a dead man who lost everything can. His driving force is to end his existence forever, only then will he believe he will find peace from his torment and his memories.
Secondly he is searching for the party that had "saved" him. For despite all rumors of their heroics and good intentions, he is the product of their twisted and deranged ulterior motives. He knows that they are heroes and good in image only and wishes to put a halt to any more "experiments" like himself.
Smith Johnson is haunted by two memories, the first is his last image of his hometown burning around him and of the zombies feasting on him. This haunts him so greatly that he often has night terrors and even now, sees the image every time he puts a bullet into an undeads head.
The second, is of his wife. The slack jawed expression of horror and pain on her face is forever etched in his mind. Even more vivid is the image of his undead stillborn, eating its mother and looking at him with dead, cold and hungry eyes. He will never forget those eyes. He will make the man responsible pay.
Appearance Johnson is a medium built, gaunt man and at first impression, would seem like any other man save for his pale and rigid face and his voluminous clothes. What you dont see, and rarely ever will, are his arms, covered by layers of loose clothing, are in fact 2 a side. Together he can just about hide their fact and as such seems to process an amazing dexterity. The other thing is his torso, a mishmash of pumps, gears, pistons and dying flesh. In fact Johnson is dying. The automatons in his chest and abdomen are forestalling this inevitable, but inevitable it is. And soon.
This area I have left purposefully open. I can take it many different ways, but I can show you the core and the variations.
Core
Human with 2 levels of alchemist (lvl 2 and 3). Feats/Discoveries: TWF, Vestigial Arm, Extra Discovery: Vestigial Arm. He wields 2 double-barreled Shotguns (because of the guns everywhere rules, these are simple weapons and only cost 700 a piece). He will have a decent dex score and at best a normal int score.
Reasoning
He walks around with two shotguns, one in each (pair of) hand. While he COULD unload everything in a single blast, unleashing quite tremendous damage, it will actually be less rare than you would think.
Firstly, the penalties are staggering, TWF (-4 for non-light weapons) and double shots (-4) mean that with a BAB of 2 and 18 DEX, he is still firing at -2, bad for even touch attacks. The other reason is reloading. While he COULD fire everything in one go, he would then have to spend the next turn reloading (two move actions). Most cases he will be moving around and firing a double shot, but if he wants to, he CAN nova :)
Variations
He has a few different things he can do to complete his build.
*Go internal alchemist and heart of the sea. This allows him to only need to breath once a day, signifying his autonomous core and how it no longer runs on oxygen as well as giving him disease resistance (further making him "machine like"). And the neat ability to appear dead.
*Go Crypt Breaker and heart of the slums. He becomes a lot more of a skill monkey as well as having some neat utility stuff. I would play up his wondering days and hard bitten life without a home for this one. He also becomes quite anti-undead focused :)
*Take first level in gunslinger (GS 1, Alch 2). This gives him quite a bit more damage as he gets dex to damage (because of guns everywhere rule). Considering that Johnson has quite a strong front load, he can do damage quite well, but it is hard for his damage to scale as he levels up. So he trades great early damage for growth potential. This makes his initial damage a lot higher.
*he also has his Human free feat to use on whatever seems needed, so skill focus or extra To Hit, or whatever I want to throw into the party :)
As he levels I intend to take the peserved organs discoveries to represent him dying and his mechanical parts taking over more of a role in keeping him alive.
Sorry for such a huge post XD
I really like this idea and I really wanted to get it down so that we can work on it together and make it into something that will make it into the campaign. i would really love to play this guy :)
As such, any feedback is greatly appreciated!
I did get quite into him :)
Looking solid, but I think your character would need to be a bit less of a spectre for him to be contacted. If he's just a wanderer whose deeds are rumour, then there wouldn't be any way to send for him, let alone enough trust in the myth to go get him.
We're actually using Commonplace Guns, not Guns Eveyrwhere. so the shotguns are still 7k a pop and require Martial weapons proficiency, so you'd have to take the Gunslinger at 1 variation. Those are the only issues I see.
Hello, this is Rasputin17's character. I'll hopefully get more of my background up within the next few days when I find time, but as far as class is concerned she's a rogue (spy, cat-burglar) / swashbuckler who uses a rapier and a pistol in her off-hand.
I'm imagining her as having early in her life immigrated to Korvosa and becoming cloistered by her close-nit extended family. She meets a few friends who teach her how to properly work her way into high society and steal valuable information and manipulate people to her 'friend's' own gain. Her friends are a necromantic cult, eventually trying to get her to join them in undeath. When she refuses, they try to hunt her down, forcing her to fight them back and kill many of them.
It sounds unformed at the moment, probably because it is, but I'll expand it later into something more cohesive and thematic.
I have most of my statistics up Here.
Please let me know if anything seems out of place.
I'll reserve my judgement on the backstory until it's more worked out, but so far, looks about right. Your build looks pretty solid though; "skill monkey who can kill s~@~" is a highly valued asset in this game.
Looking solid, but I think your character would need to be a bit less of a spectre for him to be contacted. If he's just a wanderer whose deeds are rumour, then there wouldn't be any way to send for him, let alone enough trust in the myth to go get him.
Sounds good. I can develop the part of his backstory after the sacking of the town more to reflect that.
We're actually using Commonplace Guns, not Guns Eveyrwhere. so the shotguns are still 7k a pop and require Martial weapons proficiency, so you'd have to take the Gunslinger at 1 variation. Those are the only issues I see.
Thats... Unfortunant. That was a mis-read on my part. Ill have to do some significate design changes to make it work now. Lets see what i can do :)
blondebandit's Dhampir paladin 2/Oracle 1 for submission. Took a little longer then I wanted to get it up. The crunch is up in the profile.
Let the children think there are no monsters in the night. Let the families think they are safe in the cities. If I can keep them from learning the truth then I have done my job and my goddess will continue to shine her light upon me to do what must be done.
Therie could not recall the last time that she had done something for herself, for her life wasn’t her own to live. How else was she to ever possibly live up to the path laid down by her goddess? The curse of her birth a constant reminder of why she took up this holy quest.
As she sits in the darkness, a longsword dangling comfortingly from her waist, she can see the parasites travelling below her in the alleyways. She watches the blights upon humanity as they stalk their next prey, feeding on the innocent and defenseless. The undead have no place in her town, or any town, and it was her divinely mandated quest to see that reality come to fruition. She knows her name is rumored and feared through the covens and lairs of the vile and undead, and she grins as she watches the vampire in its final moments, its death watching it from above. She can feel her incisors digging into her lower lip as they so often do, feel the blood pooling on her lip as they pierce the skin. The taste of blood bringing rage and memories to her mind.
Therie was raised in the church of Iomedae, kept isolated from other children though no one would tell her why. It wasn’t until well into her teen years that the situation around her birth finally was revealed to her; Therie had been born within the church, her mother bitten by a vampire, and bleeding out between the pews. Through Iomedae’s divine power she was saved that day, but it came at a cost. The vampire had left its mark upon her, leaving her altered from the people around her, left her a dhampir.
It was thought that through intensive teaching and training with the crusaders in the church the leanings of her kind could be overcome, that Therie could become a force of good in the world. It was in this mindset that her training began early in her teenage years, intense and all-consuming. She was still early in her training when she first tried to channel Iomedae’s healing energy into herself, having seen it been done many times before by the paladins around her. The pain that coursed through her body as the divine cure burned her was unlike anything she had felt before, and fully revealed to her the horrors of her birth. To learn that the vampire had denied her the greatest pleasure given to a paladin, had denied her the ability to feel her goddess’ power heal the aches of her body.
Shock and despair consumed her as the other crusaders shied from her, fearful of the being in their midst who was burned by the holy light. Therie had almost given up hope when Iomedae let her presence know in full to the young paladin through a dream, awakening after with new abilities capable of letting her heal her wounds. She will always remember the divine words of her goddess as they gave her life meaning and a direction that she has never strayed from since.
Fear not my child. Though the burden of your birth is something out of my power to remedy, your time her has not gone unnoticed. The powers I have given you were given to help you fight the evil that was afflicted upon you at birth. Use the divine power I have given to burn the scourge of undeath from this world, let my power cleanse them from this world. I promise you my daughter that I will be watching, and know that I feel for the burden I place upon you now. Take heart that you will be a force for change, and that I do not let any of my chosen suffer unnecessarily.
Looking solid, Therie.
Dangit, had a bad weekend. I'll finish getting my character to second, and post.
In the meantime, rolling for HP:
Because I'm submitting a paladin figured I should include her code which I forgot to mention above.
Therie's divinely given quest is the most important thing to her. She will never willingly walk away from evil. She will do whatever is necessary to this end, so long as she is confident no innocent, or defenseless good beings will be directly hurt by her actions. Better to face death herself then allow evil to take another victim.
Her word is her honor and bond to her goddess and she will never willingly break it.
If laws comes in opposition of the task Iomedae set her upon, she will forsake the law without a moments consideration. Her task is a holy mission, politicians can be corrupted by evil, and she has seen laws designed to protect the most vile and evil of beings. Their is no valor, justice, or honor in letting evil thrive because of bureaucracy.
Love the idea of this game, but I think I'm overloaded as it is. I'll let others enjoy this.
Okay, I'm advanced to third level!
@Shang: Alright, good.
@Therie: Changing the fluff is fine by me. Code looks fine; anything that isn't typical problem-inducing, too literal Paladin fare is much appreciated.
I'd like to throw in a character for this interesting sounding game. He is Ragnar Stonehead, a dwarven barbarian.
About an hour and a few gold’s worth of alcohol later…
Ah, that hit the spot. So, you heard what happened with my brother a few years back and thought it was just a wild gnome story. You heard I was in town looking for work and thought you could get the real story from me, right? You’re the third person to do this but hey, you people keep buying me drinks.
S’all started a few years back, ya see. Rogar, my older brother was merchant and was set to make a killing with some trading rights for some salt mines. Now, I too personable, but I can swing this here axe like no one’s business so Rogar hired me on as a guard. He was good like that, Rogar was, always looking out for me. See, my temper ain’t the best and sometimes when I get into fights things go a bit too far. Rogar always made sure I didn’t get into trouble, like a brother should.
One trip we were out east in some gods-forsaken place called Ustalav. He met with these three minor nobles in one of their castles. They seemed really pale, even in the candlelight, but I’d think nothing of it cause they put out a nice spread of food for everyone. Then things got a bit hazy. I thought I had too much to drink but that didn’t seem right. Then I noticed the other guards started to hit the floor. I was going to yell out something when the world went dark.
Well, a while later I woke up and saw we were in some sort of dungeon. After everyone woke up and we figured out that our hosts had knocked us out with drugs in our wine, we tried coming up with a plan to get out. That’s when we noticed the sound of the door opening. In walks in one of the three nobles, young looking human. He starts mumbling about how hungry he is, how they won’t need to go hunting now that they got a larder in the basement as he eyed Reginald. Now Reginald always was a porker, so I guess that’s why this guy decided to bite into his neck. As he is doing that, everyone his cowering in the corner of our cell. Everyone but me. No, stupid me didn’t get to be afraid. I got angry so I charged that blood sucker.
Now, I don’t know how often you try to punch a dead guy in the face but they don’t really feel it. That didn’t stop me from trying to beat this thing into the ground. After a few seconds, the five other men got the right idea and joined in. Between us, we managed to re-kill that thing and then found something to chop off Reginald’s head. One of the other guards said it was the only thing to do to keep him from turning. Damn, I miss that guy. Horrible cards player but he could tell a joke like no one’s business.
Well, now that we got our weapons back it was time to grab our goods and get the hells out of there. Only problem is that we ran into another one of those nobles in the hall where we were drugged. That one got Royard and Higgens. Both good men, both before their times. That left me, my brother and Kip, a Halfling, trying to drive away as fast as our horses could carry us. Half a mile down the road Kip’s horse gets hit by something from the woods. Kip flew a good ten feet before hitting the ground face first. Then we heard the slurping sounds from where the horse disappeared to. My brother looked at me, nodded to himself and grabbed the reins of my horse. I saw Kip start to get up as the last noble rushed out of the forest. I could hear the screams long after I lost sight of them.
Soon after we got back, Rogar broke under the strain of guilt and memories. After we got back to our clan’s home, he got very quiet. Everyone worried about him but we swore to never talk about what had happen. After a few months Rogar snapped and killed his fiancé. She was a sweetheart, she was. Heard he is in the looney bin now, screaming about how sorry he is to Kip. After that debacle, I left and have been wandering ever since. I would love to get back at that vampire one day but for now, I’m just taking any job I can get. So, was the tale I told worth all the gold you spent on drinks?
Okay. So I slept on it last night, and I came up with the character's race, back story, and alignment.
Dominant race (effective race for stats purposes) Peri-Blooded (Emberkin) Aasimar, subservient race (Tiefling), and tertiary race (human).
His alignment is CN.
Here is the back story of the race and alignment:
His anger grew and hate swelled up inside him when he lost his homeland. He turned back on his good ways and focused on what would make him powerful. An member of the Peri society who wanted to see him be punished even more tricked him into going down into a lair full of denizens from hell. While he was in there, he realized what was happening and made a deal with them. They would help each other fight the individual(s) who has/have been attacking the lair and tried to send Pyro to his death.
The feud and fighting went for a long time. During that time, Pyro mated with a Tiefling as his ultimate proof and act of rebellion against his home society.
While she was at the outpost, a flame-touched creature that was obviously not supposed to be there came inside. Seizing the moment, she stopped the intruder and the few militia inside from attacking. She beguiled the otherworldly creature to not attack and to see if she or the others may be able to offer their services to him. Her offer surprised everyone, but her command and her presence kept everyone from attacking each other.
After hearing his story and listening to the local militia that others who were of a similar nature to this foreigner had been attacking them recently. She asked him if he was willing to turn against the Peri who sent him there, because she sensed that he might not be lying about being an outcast on the run. Since he was not eager at first, she tried to seduce him a little bit to see it her way. It was then when he agreed and it was this that helped her trust him a bit more than if he was willing to switch sides so easily.
After he agreed, he was put under her care, else he would be killed without her protection. She used this power to get control over him, to keep him alive to maintain that power, and to turn his heart over to her. He was not a yes-man, but required to be more of a partner, well as much as possible, which she allowed.
After a couple of years of warring, she knew the only way to maintain control over him was to have his child; it surely wasn't out of love. Tish told Pyro that he should to show that he should do it to prove to the other Peri that he indeed has left them for good.
When the child was a few years old, an emissary was allowed to safely enter to meet with the family. She had a gift for the child. She proposed that if the gift is unacceptable, then they may take her life. This was the proposal: She would arrive to bless the child. The blessing would be a mark that would be known by both societies. This mark will show both sides that he is not to be harmed and that he must be allowed to make his own choices without fear of retribution. When he makes his choice, then the societies could choose to act accordingly. The parents and a representative of their society agreed.
She placed her hand on his head, between his small horns, moved her hand up and in a circle. A halo appeared over his head. This halo, though, was a mixture of red and silvery blue, just like the silvery blue markings on his body that he had since birth. Ever since that blessing, the war was reduced to battles between factions that grew from the war or had been happening prior to the war.
I don't know about the class yet, so I don't know about his history since early childhood.
Have there been any class slots met or filled by any of the recruits yet? I take the other players' classes into account; I understand it doesn't restrict me, but it does give me some thought of what type of characters will be in the party.
@Redshirt: So far so good.
@Bloodluster: I can't judge your backstory because it's not complete, obviously. Currently, none of the applicants have been accepted; I'm going to decide those at the end. The first party has the four people currently in it, but there's likely an entire second party, so don't worry too much about class selection. Pick what you feel like playing.
For the crunch will there be traits?
I wanted to post the history for the choice on the race, because I would have had some GMs stop me there. I wanted to give you that chance before I continued.
@Redshirt: Yeah, two traits.
@Bloodluster: I don't see any major issue with it, since you aren't mechanically hobbling some weird s+!# together for the crunch. I'm much more concerned with your character than its racial mix.
Okay. Thank you. I will continue on my hunt for the class that will suit this character and this setting.
This is my Inquisitor of Pharasma. She is based off of a 2ed Paladin of Kelemvor I had. I like how the update to PF worked out. She looks fun to play.
Crunch for Freyda Tinsmith will be coming tomorrow night, I can throw some basics at you.
1/2 Elf,
Barbarian (Urban) 1/ Ranger 2
Str 14
Dex 18 (+2 racial)
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 14
Cha 10
I'll be pursuing an archery build for the most part, taking either Undead or Humans for favored enemy. I'll be fluffing the Urban barbarian's rage ability as mild nervous breakdowns that result in a massive adrenaline rush.
Any objections, fair dm? I'm still choosing between Human and 1.2 elf at the moment, so fair warning.
I'll throw my hat in; I have two concepts, one for the definite game and one for the possible alternate game (the primary group doesn't need another alchemist). I don't have any crunch yet but here are the basic backstories:
Kurn has been brawling in bars since he was 10 years old and when he lost his job three months ago that was all he had left to do. He drank and he fought. One night as he stumbled home to the hole-in-the-wall he could no longer afford he heard a shriek in an alley he was passing by. Looking down the alley he saw what seemed to be three men feasting on a set of beautiful triplets. With a shake of his head he saw that there was only one assailant and one victim, perhaps he had drunk too much, but in either case these were odds he could handle. Charging down the alley and tore the man off his prey. By the time the fighting was over Kurn collapsed against the wall, covered in cuts, with a large gash along his shoulder where his neck had nearly been ripped out. The vampire he had fought lay crumpled beside him and he laughed exuberantly; he was more alive than he had ever felt.
Never realizing how present the 'corpses' were he began to see them everywhere, and to seek them out. He exalted in his ability to beat back death itself. It didn't take long before he started to become infamous, considered a vigilante by some, a worthless drunk by others; the guards (police?) in particular were divisive, some desperately hoping to catch him in the act and make him pay for his 'crimes', others congratulating him. Things have only escalated since he was discovered in a crypt beating a ghoulcaller senseless, shards of bone and the black ichor of the slain undead that lay around him covering his fists; the guards that discovered him were friendly and he was allowed to leave but it the necromancer he killed turned out to be the son of a powerful family in the city and Kurn has had to adopt greater secrecy in his endeavours.
Kurn will a Half-Orc Monk (Drunken Master) 3 where his class abilities will be themed as entirely brawl-based with no formal training. For that to make sense I was hoping you'd allow him to be CN, as he is really just self interested and morally ambiguous (he seeks out combat with the undead to feel a closeness to death that he finds invigorating, helping others is secondary).
This is less of a narrative as it will differ based on some campaign features that I'm unsure about. The character will be a Human Alchemist 3 (Mindchemist) that will function as a bomber.
Aleister Crumb will have been employed by either the police force or at an institute of higher learning where he was mostly ignored as a hopeless, eccentric; he was considered brilliant but his work was directionless and lacked promise. He always had his nose in obscure formulas, mixing strange concoctions and foul smelling potions with little practical result. One night while staying late to tend to some experiments he overheard some of his superiors discussing a conspiracy (or unlawful use of undead or whatever might be an appropriately bad thing for him to discover). Not being the sneakiest fellow, Aleister was seen as he fled the premises. In order to send a message the conspirators sent a number of undead to sac Aleister's house while he was away. Aleister wasn't present during the attack, but his fiance was. Aleister came home to find his home wrecked and the love of his life literally torn apart. He became consumed in private research from that point on, using what was left of his inheritance to buy himself a secluded apartment.
Shortly after this incident a rash of particularly brutal arsons broke out in the city, several bodies being found in each home that was targeted. Oddly enough, each target also belonged to the conspirators that had targeted Aleister.
Let me know which, if either, you're most into and I'll start on the crunchy bits.
@GypsyMischief: No objections, all looking pretty normal so far.
@Tieszla: There we go. Much more in line with what I'm looking for. Solid.
@Boss_Smiley: Kurn definitely seems to be a bit more on-target than Aleister does. And I can definitely allow him to play a different alignment; I prefer to let that be just a general quick-glance summary rather than something that effects gameplay and restrains what sort of things players can play.
Glad you like this one cuz I was fresh out of ideas after her. I've added some holy water and am considering switching out Furious Focus for Toughness. It depends on whether or not you think the extra HP's will be more valuable than offensive capability. I would like to be a front liner at least, if not full-on tank, but I'm not just how much combat to expect and how brutal it might be. Do you have an opinion on the matter? Are you a killer DM?? :p
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Dotting with extreme interest. I haven't read through all of the hundred posts so I apologize if I missed something important, but I skimmed far enough back to believe the recruitment is still open.
I love the horror/mystery side you're presenting, looks really intriguing.
I normally have time to post several times per day with the occasional bout of absence (college, sometimes the work piles up), but I always inform of any problems ahead of time.
Right now I have the idea of a half-drow (mechanically a half-elf with some alternate racial abilities) brawler (from the ACG, not the fighter archetype). It's not a super-focused skill heavy class that's really good with subterfuge, but with some ranks in the right areas and the ability to fight at full power without needing to hide any weapons or armor I believe he could be a big help. Especially since the current party seems to lack a tough front-liner.
I love a challenge for writing a good backstory. I'll be back later with some more details.