The defeat of Chronarcus left the world in a shattered state. Old gods died, new gods were born. Nations forged and destroyed. In the wake of battle, the Champions of Silval the Bloodcloaked dispersed. Only some of what happened to them is known. It is rumoured that Mortuus and Seleran Delar were tasked by the gods with guarding the bones of Chronarcus. No one knows where the teen known only as "Door" disappeared to, or the summoner Vare. Sault is now the High Priest of Dracutl in the land of the same name. Others... lesser players in the campaign against Chronarcus still wander the world, moving from place to place, but the effects of the battle have caused many countries to splinter. Among these is the Khallan Empire, who now faces a rebellion in the territory of Lord's Landing, and unrest and discontent fermenting in the homeland.
I know next to nothing about character options, of course, but I have a few vague ideas:
1. Hobgoblin fighter or inquisitor. A mercenary who dislikes gods and other 'magic things', seeing the current state of affairs as 'their fault'. Very lawful.
2. Kobold fighter. Wields a polearm, big on attacks of opportunity. This is a build I've wanted to play for ages. A wandering questant, and fairly interested in anything fairly interesting.
3. Dwarf rogue. A fellow with a fondness for gears, and tries to be apathetic towards all else.
Sorry if this is too soon. I haven't made a proper character in ages. :P
Oh sorry, I forgot to note:
No monster characters (Kobolds, orcs, etc) as most Humanoids on this planet are Human or a subtype thereof (which means no elves, dwarves, halflings, etc). Sorry if that destroys your hope for me Kobold Cleaver.
If you want to play a Small character, you can play a pre-teen (as that's what Door (mentioned in the inital block) was). Simply change size to small and add -2 Str and +2 Dex to the stats.
I'm definitely interested. I have a halfling character who could easily be converted to human child. She's a sorceror who is obsessed with sparkly things. And she tends to talk in paragraphs instead of sentences. :)
I'm sure I can come up with other ideas too, but that one has gotten cut off before I got much chance to play her due to pbp's ending shortly after beginning, so I would love to have a chance to play her longer term.
Bloodlines are now updated (they were in 3.5 rules previously). I realize some of the bonuses are ridiculous (like the Noctals See in Darkness), but that's fine. If it becomes a problem, I will tone them down. Remember that the bloodline's physical descriptions are general guidelines. You could be a blonde, blue-eyed, pale skinned Noctal.
In case it wasn't apparent, the "Champions" were the PCs from the last campaign, but they are Epic and so most have either moved on or won't be playing a significant role in the adventure.
Also in case it wasn't apparent, the game will be mostly focused in the Khallan Empire and it's colonies. The Khallan Empire is kinda a mix of the Roman Empire's expansionism mixed with the Sunwak.. Spanish Inquisition's religious fervor. It's not a nice combination.
Anything from Paizo is allowed. 3.5 materials and 3rd party stuff is to be put through me before it's allowed.
Custom classes/archetypes will also be considered, but I want to see character reasons for them, kay? <3
The bloodlines are human, and since they are difficult to determine precisely what someone's bloodline might be just from looking at them (though sometimes it's obvious), there's not MUCH prejudice. Noctals tend to form their own communities though, mostly because of the negative energy thing.
If two people of the same bloodline have a child, the child is almost always that bloodline. Very few exceptions. Beyond that, not much is known about how the bloodlines interact. Some scholars think that certain bloodlines "overwrite" others, while others believe the parent with more willpower at the time of conception is the progenitor. (Basically, whatever works for your character. There are no hard-set rules). Also, sometimes the bloodlines which are opposed (Cinder/Wake, Geode/Gust, Aurel/Noctal) will cancel each other out, and you end up with an "Unblooded" human. Which is simply the standard human with no affinity.
Obviously, Cinders favour fire-based Sorcerer bloodlines, but again, nothing hard-set.
Also, because I know it's going to come up, undead and negative energy are not de facto Evil in this world. In fact, there's a whole country of undead (the Divine Kingdom of Sehlash). As far as game implications, this means that all Channeling is chosen as though you were Neutral in the game rules. This also means that a Paladin can select to have his Lay on Hands do Negative Energy.
Updated my post with some edits.
It's also work time now. I've updated the campaign info with some history (under Countries), but the best way to find out about the world is to ask me questions, since we mostly fleshed the world out while playing it last time. Bombard me with questions and maybe I'll post a FAQ section in the campaign info.
At work now, so nothing new until later tonight anyway. Best way to learn about the world is just to ask me. Bombard me with questions and I might post a FAQ later on.
@DW: No worries, I won't start recruiting/character creation until I've got all the countries, gods and relevant history posted so that you guys know what you're getting into.
I'm thinking we'll be using the Slow XP track, with roleplaying bonus XP. Characters will start halfway into the first level. (1500/3000)
Since the campaign won't be always combat-heavy, I will have rules presented for roleplaying xp, but as always the most important thing will be to have fun. I don't want people thinking that have to write 12 paragraphs each post to earn a little extra xp. Also, I probably won't let any one character get too powerful (no higher than 1.5 levels above the APL generally).
Further, if you'd like to contact me with specific questions private to your character, my email is my board account name at gmail.
I have the same wondering; Trio is built to be a magic item maker and vague booster/hexer, but she's pretty old school witch what with the poisoning of apples and such (but, for justice!). It seems like the kinda game which I could get away with such activities; she's not built for the murder kill jump across pits kinda game (although she would do such things, but badly.) I'd love to put her through such activities, but I would hope no one expects me to make her that kinda awesome.
It's a valid question, and I'll answer it like this: I am trying to be super political at the beginning. I doubt there will be much combat at all until about level 4 unless you guys instigate it. That being said, sometimes, dungeons will happen. Wars happen. Combat WILL occur. Combat where your characters might feel outmatched or at least under-useful, unless they have some combat ability.
However, there are things for rogues to do in a pitched battle. Discord to sow, generals to murder, etc.
I don't want to give the impression that the game will simply be talking the whole way through. But it won't be your regular dungeon crawl.
So, in order to sum up my confusing writing: Spies and less combat focused characters will find a place, but remember that combat will still occur.
I mean, it's a civil war after all.
That's an awesome answer actually. I've always said, Xander from Buffy was an awesome character, and you should make him and play him, but recognize that you've made Xander, and he's not much good for anything.
Very excited Fireclaw, not enough people run games of political intrigues, and I've always wanted to play in one.
Kinda makes me want to check out the Geisha archetype for the bard...NO! I'm sticking with my Witch.
Now, back to finals...
Also, I've basically copy-pasted from my notes into the "Political Factions" section in the campaign. It needs some editing, and is not very organized, but it has the basic idea of what you guys should need. Don't take everything that it says at face value, especially since alot if it is things like "loosely based on Bedouin culture". That's not very helpful to you guys.
I'm going to say yes to the Racer base form Dragonborn, but when you make your character, please keep a link to that thread just to avoid confusion.
As far as the custom summon list... I'd like to know what you had in mind? As a general rule, I like creative characters, but game-breaking gets you this face: ಠ_ಠ
I purchased the Advanced Options Witch Hexes and Bullet Points 13 Witch Hexes...books? from super genius games, and they have a lot of fun options, like the hex Trio has on her profile now. Would you allow these if I pass them by you beforehand?
Slowly working on trying to reformat her background and character to meet your setting (should really be working on final final essay). Any race already have green skin in the setting?
What is the technology level in this game?
I'm wondering because I'd like to try out a Pistol Magus, but it won't work unless there are guns.
Before the war with Chronarchus, a "True Nethysian" was someone born in Nethys with magical talent (which was a good deal of the population), and anyone else was called the "Vanguard". The Vanguard had very few rights in Nethys, and the treatment of the Vanguard were part of the reason Gand rebelled and separated. The faction controlling the old capitol of Nethys has stolen the term and it using it like propaganda.
All the main sections are done. Working on recent history but you should be able to get the important parts by reading the countries.
Regional Traits are forthcoming.
Gonna try to find a way to upload the world map.
For character creation, what I usually do is allow everyone 1 set of 4d6-drop-the-lowest rolls, 3.5 style, 1 Three Dragon Ante Tarot Reading at 25pts (see Dragon Magazine 346 for details), and they if they don't like either of those results, they can do a 20pt buy.
HP is the same as normal.