Thron's Whispering Way Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Thron

Whispering Way Roll20 Link


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"Awaken, my loyal servant. The Master calls to you. The time has come to release me from my infernal prison of Gallowspire. For this task, I am calling forth my most capable of subjects both near and far to do what must be done. Enter the portal, and join with the others..."

This is an interest/recruitment thread for, what I hope to be, an interesting, epic campaign of villainy and intrigue on a large scale. If the little snippit above doesn't make it clear, the PC's in this venture are going to be agents of the Whispering Way, servants of Tar-Baphon seeking to ensure his release from Gallowspire. This is going to be entirely homebrew on my part, and will be a mixture of Sandbox, driven by PC decisions and interests, as well as some rails placed when things seem to be at an impasse.

First, about myself:

I am a full time nurse, working night shift, 12 hour shifts, usually 6-8 shifts in a row. Loads of fun. Been married for almost 3 years. I travel to visit relatives frequently. However, I still, situation pending, find the time to try to post once per day in the games I am currently in, one as a player, one as a GM. The only things that really hold me up are if I have little to contribute to the scene or any of the above RL obstacles getting in the way, though I do my best to minimize such occurrences, as well as to notify the groups to my potential posting lulls. A lot of the time I post from a mobile device, as my computer is currently being repaired. I am not a grammatical genius, nor am I a typing beast. I will make mistakes, so I won't hold you to any unrealistic standards regarding the English language, but the better you write and easier your post is to read, the better.

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I like to keep things moving at a decent pace, and as such, will be looking for posts from people at least once per day, exceptions being the weekends. If you have nothing to really contribute to the current scene for the moment, please say so out of character and I will be fine with that. If things are ready to progress in-game, and we are waiting for actions from someone, I will post out of character a request for that individual to act, and if 24 hours pass, I reserve the right to DMPC that characters actions for the round, or move the scene along without their input.

Also, I enjoy PbP more as a RolePlaying medium than a RollPlaying one. As such, I tend to prefer characters who are driven more by the story than they are by the mechanics/minutia of combat.

Does this mean this is going to be a combat free game? No way. Where'd be the fun in that!? What it means, though, is that the focus in this campaign is going to be the interactions of the PC's with one another as well as with various NPC's introduced.

So, if you are fine with what you've read so far, I invite you to apply! Here are the character creation guidelines to follow:

Character Information:
Starting Level: 1st level

Stats: 20 point buy.

Alignment: Clearly, this campaign is going to favor characters of Evil alignments. However, if you have a submission with another alignment that has an interesting hook as to why they'd be willingly seeking Tar-Baphon's release, I'm all ears. NOTE: While this is an evil campaign, I am NOT looking for posts/actions by the players that are lude/offensive. I expect the players to censor themselves when it comes to posting their actions. If you need clarification as to what I mean by this, feel free to ask.

HP: Max for 1st level; after that, you can either roll upon leveling up or take the average.

Classes: Core Material available on the PRD will be accepted, minus Gunslinger. If you can find it here, I will most likely allow it.

Races: All races except the following will be okay: Ratfolk, Tengu, Grippli, Samsarans, Strix, Vishkanyas, or Wayangs. If you choose to play something monstrous, for example: a Kobold, explain why you are tolerated in civilized lands, as good portions of this game WILL be taking place in said locations.

Drawbacks: I will be allowing Drawbacks.

Traits: Two traits.

Wealth: Max starting wealth.

Downtime: I will be allowing some of the downtime rules in regards to teams and bases of operation, should the campaign take such a turn.

Submitting a Character:
Create a profile/alias and include relevant information and mechanics inside. I’m going to be asking that character submissions follow this format. You don’t have to follow that exactly; as long as it’s not a nightmare to read and the information is all there, I’ll be content.

Be sure to include the following in your profile, preferably at the bottom and in spoilers:

Description - Please provide a description of your character as if someone were seeing them for the first time. If you have a picture reference, please include it.

Personality - Self explanatory I hope.

Background - Your character is not of great renown, at least not yet. Feel free to go as in depth as you'd like on this section, but keep in mind that you are level one, and while above the cut of your average soldier or town guard, you haven't done any great wonders yet.

Your characters will be able to interact prior to game start in the Gameplay Thread, partly as a way to have fun and pass the time, partly to help me evaluate your posting style/frequency/character personality. Posting in the pre-game RP thread does not necessarily improve or hurt your chances of acceptance.

Also, please submit at least two examples of your previous PbP experience that you are feel are best representative of your style. I am not looking for inexperienced posters for this game, so unfortunately, if you are new to PbP play, you will be facing stiff scrutiny, but you still have a chance.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Recruitment will be open until Noon EST January 29th, and I will try to make my decisions by the 31st.


Dot. Thinking a vivisectionist alchemist, a la mad scientist :). As this is a long recruitment, will you be able to offer feedback on draft submissions?


As I notice it, yes.

However, please feel free to re-post any questions that I may overlook, or if you'd prefer to keep something secret, send it to me in a PM.

But who would want to keep secrets from other PC's in an evil campaign, anyway?

*evil grin*


Alchemist is normally not considered core. What do you mean by "Core Material on the PRD"? Everything on the PRD or just classes from the core book?


Heh, a typo that I overlooked. Go figure.

Basically, anything on the PRD. Minus the Gunslinger. I don't like Gunslingers.

I suppose what I should have said was no third party stuff. If it is on the PRD, it is more than likely okay. If you have any concerns/doubts, post them here and I will address them on a case by case basis.


Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

This sounds really cool, I'll start working on something. I'm not sure what I'm gunna do exactly but it'll most likely involve undead things.


Considering what I want to do. So many options.


This sounds interesting.

I really like to tailor PCs to the GM and his campaign so can you give us a little more information on how we can make PCs that 'fit'.

For example:

What's our tie to Tar-Baphon?

Are already agents of the Whispering Way or will that come later (i.e. we'll be recruited during the campaign)?

Are you looking for PCs from Ustalav only?

As there is no 'Player's Guide', Anything you can leak to us would be helpful.

Game on!


Interesting...you be dotted !

Grand Lodge

Dotting for future submission. I'm having a couple ideas flash in my head. First one was an orc something.

Silver Crusade

dot


I enjoy playing villains far too much for my own good. Seriously. I'm having a ball with my Edmund the Tainted alias, who is Lawful Evil, but I really want to cut loose with a hordemaster. I think given the nature of PbP, it's one of the only mediums where, given the nature of how everyone is waiting hours for the next player to go ANYWAY and how you can make a ton of character sheet references for minions, the traditional necromancer can really shine.

I know Whispering Way is typically arcane, but I think a Bone or Juju (if it is on the PRD, I'll have to check - I mostly deal with d20pfsrd) Oracle, or barring that a cleric of Urgathoa could shine. In particular an Urgathoan/Whispering Way alliance would probably be just the kind of terrifying scenario that could set Tar Barphon free. A neutral or chaotic evil straight nutjob who just wants to see death cover the world before submitting to it's embrace himself.

What do you think of that idea?


Fabian Benavente wrote:

This sounds interesting.

I really like to tailor PCs to the GM and his campaign so can you give us a little more information on how we can make PCs that 'fit'.

For example:

What's our tie to Tar-Baphon?

Are already agents of the Whispering Way or will that come later (i.e. we'll be recruited during the campaign)?

Are you looking for PCs from Ustalav only?

As there is no 'Player's Guide', Anything you can leak to us would be helpful.

Game on!

I most certainly can!

1) Your tie to Tar-Baphon can be anything you wish. Are you a recently depressed soul who has considered giving up on life, but were approached by a cultist and swayed by their words in a moment of weakness? Are you an arcanist who has always been fascinated by undeath and wish to learn more about the necromantic arts? Are you, in fact, a good person and skilled sword maiden, but your family has been taken hostage and you are being blackmailed into service by the threat of their death and reanimation? The sky is the limit, but it is assumed that as of campaign start, your allegiance to the Whispering Way has already been secured.

2) PC's can be from anywhere, as the introductory snippit has you all being teleported to a remote location (twist on Mage's Magnificent Mansion) for the initial meeting. So, you could just as easily play a cultist from Ustalav, an orc from Belkzen, a dabbler of necromancy from the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, or a shaman from Mwangi.

3) I know there is no real Players Guide, and apologize for the limited information I am able to provide without being asked directly, but this campaign will in fact be what the players make of it. In order to achieve your goals, you could take a headlong approach, muster up an army of the living and the dead, and storm the city of Vigil as the Tyrant did before you. You could do some conniving political maneuvering and turn nations against each other, allowing your foes to weaken themselves and draw their attentions away from your machinations. You could sneak into the cities and try to steal what you need. There is no real set path this game can take, beyond the fact that the ultimate goal is to release Tar-Baphon. It may take the group, in-game time, months to accomplish, or it may take them decades. He has waited 900 years for this, being undead grants you incredible patience, BUT, even that can be worn thin at times...so if you get distracted with personal interests, his more powerful agents may come to prod you along on your task.


Hey Thron!

For folks who haven't played with Thron yet, he's a top notch PBP DM: a great writer, good at keeping games moving, and someone who I've seen help players reach new heights in online roleplaying. I'm a part of his Rise of the Runelords game, that's been going strong now for almost 2 years (and where we're approaching getting to 7th level).

Needless to say, I recommend him...and I recommend trying to build a really realized personality/character for this game, who you'll enjoy roleplaying and see grow over time. (I'm personally nervous about an evil sandbox-y game on PBP...but if anyone can pull it off, I bet Thron can.)

Thron, have you considered bringing any of the Unchained rules? I'm in particular a fan of:
1) background skills
2) automatic bonus progression

Anyway, I'm ready to submit Hoosible Drybriar (a gnomish gnecromancer / juju oracle)[/url] for your consideration. His backstory is complete in his profile, and his stats are 90% done (though there may be a few that're off as I just leveled him back from 2nd to 1st).

For convenience:

/HOOZ-ible DRY-briar/

Hoosible Drybriar
Male Gnome Oracle (Dual-Cursed Oracle, Wordcaster) 1
NE Small humanoid (gnome)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +3
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+5 armor, +2 Dex, +1 size)
hp 11 (1d8+3)
Fort +3 (+5 circumstance bonus vs. cold weather), Ref +2, Will +4; +2 vs. illusions, +4 Competence bonus vs. disease, +2 bonus vs. fear and despair
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Offense
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Speed 15 ft.
Melee longspear -1 (1d6-1/×3)
Ranged light crossbow +4 (1d6/19-20)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 2nd; concentration +6)
. . 1/day—bleed (DC 12), chill touch (DC 13), detect poison, touch of fatigue (DC 12)
Oracle (Dual-Cursed Oracle, Wordcaster) Spells Known (CL 2nd; concentration +6):
1st (5/day)—lesser cure (CL+1), fog bank, ill omen, lesser wound (DC 16)
0 (at will)—boost, cramp (DC 15), decipher, distant, ghost sound, mage hand, sense magic, soothing touch (DC 14)
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Statistics
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Str 9, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 19
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 12
Feats Command Undead, Extra Revelation
Traits deathtouched, reactionary, student of faith
Skills Bluff +0, Diplomacy +4, Disguise +0, Heal +5, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (history) +4, Knowledge (planes) +4, Knowledge (religion) +6, Perception +3, Sense Motive +6, Spellcraft +5
Languages Common, Gnome, Sylvan
SQ eternal hope, meta word limit, mysteries (mystery [juju]), oracle's curses (haunted, wasting), revelations (misfortune, undead servitude)
Other Gear kikko armor, crossbow bolts (20), TBD
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Special Abilities
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Cold weather outfit +5 Fort save vs. cold weather.
Command Undead (7/day) Channel energy can take control of undead.
Darkvision (60 feet) (Darkvision) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Eternal Hope (1/day) +2 save vs. fear and despair. 1/day, reroll a 1 rolled on 1d20.
Haunted Retrieving stored gear is a Standard action or worse, dropped items land 10' away.
Misfortune (Ex) At 1st level, as an immediate action, you can force a creature within 30 feet to reroll any one d20 roll that it has just made before the results of the roll are revealed. The creature must take the result of the reroll, even if it's worse than the o
Oracle Meta Word Limit (1/day) A wordcaster can only use meta words a number of times a day equal to half his caster level in his wordcasting class (minimum 1).
Student of Faith +1 caster level of cure spells. +1 to DC of channeled energy.
Wasting +4 competence bonus to save vs. Disease

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Appearance
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Standing 3’4” in height and weighing a gaunt 37 lbs, it’s apparent even to those who aren’t familiar with gnomes that there’s something odd about Hoosible. While his beard is a deep plum and his eyes have the lively spark of youth, his skin has the look (and smell) of a corpse. Likewise, those who watch him for more than a few minutes tend to notice odd occurrences around him: a moaning wind that comes and goes, and small objects rattling or flying off in odd directions.

His dress is eclectic, having selected various things along his recent journey out of the Bandu Hills and into society. He wears a long brown leather coat over kikko armor, and a black felted tricorne hat that has dried flowers, lavender, bones, and dried bird feet tucked into the brim.

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Background
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Youthful Indiscretions: Childhood in the Bandu Foothills, Sargava
Jez Drybriar (a gnomish goldsmith) and her husband Doppelbye Drybriar (a gemcutter) moved to the colony of Sargava, looking for new opportunities and exposure to new experiences. They worked for Calavast Tern, a human colonist who ran his own tiny "company town" in the Bandu foothills, mining gold and gems, and smithing them into salable jewelry...much of which became tribute to the Free Captains for their protection. The Drybriars had just one son, and in the beginning his idiosyncrasies delighted them. They were just the sort of child-like surprises to stave off the Bleaching.

Like most colonial children, Hoosible has plenty of time to himself. He spent much of it venturing into the Bandu foothills. He would follow and befriend small animals, and he went through a long series of obsessive phases collecting found objects -- first colorful stones, then long seed pods, then dried scat from various animals -- but his lasting obsessions turned out to be collecting dried flowers...and the dried corpses of animals he'd find in the woods. Hoosible would sit staring at his treasures for hours, arranging them in new ways, and then starting again.

Even amongst gnomish parents the latter raised a few eyebrows when it endured beyond a passing fancy. While Jez and Dopplebye hoped his interest in corpses would wane, instead it deepened. He moved his collection down into an unused root cellar (away from annoying questions) and moved on from arranging the corpses to stitching them together in new, even more beautiful ways.

Meanwhile Tern's seven year old daughter, Sarra, who Hoosible often played with, took ill and died. The morning after she was buried, the small community awakened in horror to find that her grave had been disturbed and her body was missing. When word reached them at their workbenches, Mr. and Mrs. Drybriar glanced nervously at one another and crept home to knock on the door to Hoosible's cellar. There was Sarra's body...or at least most of it, stitched together in new ways with dried parts of a orangutan and an ibex, and wreathed in dried flowers. And there was Hoosible, beaming with joy at the new creation he'd brought into the world, and arranging the dried flowers to get them just right.

Dopplebye said they needed to keep this a secret -- say nothing -- but Jez was firm. She dragged a confused Hoosible to Calavast Tern to apologize and beg forgiveness. Outraged and aghast but not wanting to lose the Drybriars’ labor, Tern declared the parents could be forgiven only if Hoosible (a gnomish “pre-teen” at the time) was banished. It was likely a death sentence...but if they refused then the entire family would be banished...and honestly the Drybriars felt a thread of relief when Tern freed them of the son who was growing to horrify them. Packing Hoosible a knife, a bedroll, and some rations, they sent him off into the hills.

Exile and Apprenticeship: Adolescence amongst the Wendo
By some providence, Hoosible survived the week. He wandered, lost, in the Bandu foothills. Alone and scared, he found the presence of birds and small monkeys reassuring, and followed them deeper up into the hills. After three weeks alone, out of food and sunburnt, resigning himself mentally for his final collapse, a Wendo spirit appeared to him and led him -- stumbling -- to a corpselike Bekyar hermit with a necklace of finger bones.

The ashen Bekyar man towered menacingly over the young gnome, but Hoosible was too far gone to care. Over the next few weeks the hermit (who introduced himself as Gej but otherwise said little) nursed him back to health. With the aid of some strange and foul tasting concoctions (mixing black blood with local barks and roots), a dried bird claw fetish, and what Hoosible eventually learned were Wendifa Words of Power, Gej brought Hoosible back from the edge of death.

Gej also explained that Hoosible’s draw to the dead was because he was Wendo-touched. For the next 21 years, Gej taught the gnome the ways of the Wendifa, including how to speak the Words of Power by which the Wendo could be called to aid him. While Hoosible recovered and grew, he was...different, his flesh growing more corpselike with each passing year. Gej also taught him to use Wendo spirits to control the undead. Gej hoped to train Hoosible to the point that Hoosible could reanimate Gej as a juju zombie when he passed...but alas, human lives are brief and gnomish childhoods are long. Gej died in Hoosible’s 45th year.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Venturing out, and dealing with the Devil
Hoosible grieved that he was unable to fulfill Gej’s wish to be raised as a Wendo zombie. In honor of his master, he made a sacred oath to continue communing with the Wendo, growing as a Wendifa until the point where he could draw Wendo spirits into lifeless corpses, bringing them to a new “life”. He had discovered as a child that a dried corpse had a beautiful simplicity once no longer occupied by it’s original spirit...and now understood that when a Wendo was embodied in that same corpse it achieved an even higher aesthetic beauty. It is his life’s work to bring that terrible beauty into the world, to craft corpses like other artists might do with gems or gold.

At the same time, Hoosible began to get restless to experience more of the world. When his mentor was alive, Hoosible was content to study and learn from him, but when his master died it was clear to Hoosible that he had no place (or interest) in joining Sargavan tribal life. Neither was there any way he could he return to the mining town his parents lived in; that door had closed long ago. Where was his place then? With Gej’s death he was done with the Bandu hills and thirsty to reenter the world of his childhood, and beyond.

Skirting the town of his birth and the parents who’d abandoned him, he made his way across Sargava, eventually arriving in Eleder. Quickly on his journey he discovered that his appearance disturbed most, and that (like so many artists) his art was misunderstood by the throng. There were some, though, that appreciated his unique artistic vision. In Eleder he came across Urix, a cultist of Tar-Baphon, who told him that the Whispering Tyrant had room for his skills and...hobbies. Seeing that options to pursue his art would be scarce at best, Hoosible readily agreed to join the Whispering Way...and with nervous excitement stepped through the portal and getting opportunities to entertain his art.

Mechanically, he'll be a word-casting oracle focused primarily on reanimating and controlling undead, with other utility options (and little if any ability to contribute directly to melee).

Personality-wise, he cares naught for wealth, power, or for that matter the Whispering Tyrant...he's an artist whose media are dried flowers and dried corpses, and he's (barely) wise enough to realize that the Whispering Way provide him with a unique the opportunity to explore his art.


See? This is why I encourage questions! I had fully intended to state that I will be using both of those systems, but got wrapped up with double checking my formatting to forget adding those tidbits.

For the record: yes, background skills and automatic bonus progression will be in effect for this game.


Nice, now I'm really getting excited :).


What are your thoughts on non-chaotic evil antipaladins? I am thinking lawful evil here.


Hey DM,

Please consider Corbin Nicodemus for inclusion in your game.

I've yet to put stats together or an alias but will do so if selected, unless you would like to see them before hand.
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fluffy parts:

CORBIN NICODEMUS, dhampir anti-paladin

APPEARANCE
Corbin doesn’t smile often but when he does, a perceptive person may get a glimpse of his elongated canines. His dark, greasy hair frames a long face of ghostly pallid skin. He is a tall and slender dhampir, typical of his kind, but with a thick layer of stringy muscle under his impeccably clean clothes. He usually wears a black outfit befitting a noble of his status with shiny, black boots to match when not expecting trouble. When trouble is near, he puts on a black breastplate trimmed in silver; his horned helmet is never far from his side. Whether expecting to fight or not, he is never without his demon-hilted greatsword, seeing the weapon a sign of his privileged place in life.

BACKGROUND (from Corbin’s journal)
Now, with over a 150 years in this world, I see things more clearly. I do not know who my real mother was, curse her soul, but my father is Count Viktor Puskas and I will find him one day.

I’ll start at the beginning... my mother died at childbirth. My father, heartbroken, but, not able to raise me, gave me to the Nicodemus family. I don’t know whether out of fear of him or because of some sort of debt, but I had a happy childhood at the Nicodemus Estate in Vauntil, Caliphas. The Nicodemus adopted me as their own son and told me, and everyone else, that I was really their nephew born to one of their family member and a Varisian elven woman who charmed my young noble father. That helped explain why I was on a different aging process as them, and it made sense at the time.

My childhood memories are filled with vineyards, lazy summers, and all the trappings of a minor noble family. And of Viktor. My father, whom I didn’t know as such at the time, would come to visit me every few months and speak to me about the world and how he would show me the splendors of Ustalav one day. When asked why I could not go with him, Viktor would merely say that I was not old enough yet. Now I understand that my father was waiting for the right time to make me as he was, eternal.

Years went by and my brothers turned into fathers and then grandfathers while I still was a youth in many aspects. Viktor stopped coming (I don’t know why but I mean to find out) and my relationship with the newer generation of the Nicodemus started to falter. As the senior member of the Nicodemus Family, I had pretty much free use of the family funds but left the managing of the estate to the younger generations. I built myself a small villa some miles from the main house and distanced myself from them as much as possible.

By this time, I poured myself almost completely into my knight training and I discovered Tar-Baphon. He came to me in a dream and I built a secret altar in his name. Years passed and the relationship with the Nicodemus festered; the current head of the family threatening to cut off my funds if I didn’t account myself in family matters. Also at this time, Tar-Baphon came to me every night with visions of grandeur and plans and destiny that required my presence.

Matters with my family became intolerable. Well, not really my family since those I had known had died years ago; these from the younger generation were strangers to me, hostile strangers. They wanted to cut off my funds! They wanted to strip me of my title! So I did what anyone in their right mind would do; I left.

The information in bold is not 'known' to other players unless specifically told by Corbin
But not before I made sure a plague spread throughout the Nicodemus household killing most of them. Those that resisted the disease were too weak to fight me and fell to my blade. Of course, as a gifted speaker, I was able to let everyone know how sorry I was for the tragedy that befell my family. I hired a new help to merely maintain the estate and left to cope with my grief, so I said. No one knows that I followed Tar-Baphon’s commands. Destiny awaits...

PERSONALITY
Corbin feels like he is entitled to all the good things in life. He is very bitter about his mother dying and taking away his chance at being eternal. At times, he will play up his noble heritage and call himself Count Corbin. This persona of his is obsessive with cleanliness and basically speaks to people as if they were all his servants. The dhampir is an accomplished liar and will talk his way out of most social situations.

However, when the problem is past talking, he is ruthless with his sword only seeing people as enemies and temporary allies. His betrayal by his family has left a sour taste in his mouth, and he is very wary of new people and slow to trust.

His usual delusion of trying to become a vampire may surface again but now it has been replaced with the illusion of the prophetic destiny promised by Tar-Baphon.


The Pale King: I am not as tied to the alignment system as this campaign description may lead you to believe. I am WAY more interested in interesting characters and their interactions.

If it makes more sense for your concept to be LE than CE for the antipaladin, I am fine with that. Further mechanical adjustments could be handled easily enough to keep with the theme.
__________

Fabian Benavente: I would prefer to see crunch ahead of time, so as to be able to visualize group interactions on a mechanical level as well as a potential RP level. As you can see by Hoosible's submission, he scavenged up an old alias for this submission, and that is also perfectly acceptable as long as the stats I am looking at in the alias are in fact for this game.
__________

To All: Please refrain from posting incomplete aliases to this recruitment thread, to simplify things on my end. Much appreciated in advance.


Totally dotting! Normally, I would want to apply with one of my favorite PCs from my real life gaming, Veldrin. However, he's a necromancer and we already have a few such submissions so I will come up with something else instead.

I wish there was a really solid Paizo undead warrior build. Knight of the Sepulcher isn't terrible, but it isn't really *wowing* me either.

There's of course a few 3pp stuff that could handle this, including the Death Knight from Rogue Genius or the Bone Knight PrC from Eberron, but nothing really from Paizo itself.


DM Thron wrote:
Fabian Benavente: I would prefer to see crunch ahead of time, so as to be able to visualize group interactions on a mechanical level as well as a potential RP level. As you can see by Hoosible's submission, he scavenged up an old alias for this submission, and that is also perfectly acceptable as long as the stats I am looking at in the alias are in fact for this game.

Seeing that the preliminary concept is acceptable, I'll complete my submission with stats and sample posts in the next couple of days.


I really dislike automatic bonus progression, the limited flexibility limits the number of viable strategies. For example you are forced to use a considerable amount of your wealth on AC, so other means of defense (miss chance and parry). Casters are also left witha lot of resources invested in weapons. Unarmed strikes or natural weapons don't normally work under APB at all, how are you going to rule those? Can we use the weapon bond for an amulet of mighty fists?

Your concept is so awesome that it's hard to let it go just because you are using APB though. I still haven't figured out what character I want to play though... What kind of enemies will we encounter? Will it be mostly humans or all sorts of races? I'm considering going with a damphir with an appetite for blood, using the Blood Drinker feat and that works much better with less diversity in opponents. Though I would love it if you powered up Diverse Palate a bit so it would actually be reasonably consistent. I'm unsure on how exactly I'll get a bite attack or even what class(es) I'll take, maybe unchained monk. I'm thinking that one of the parents is a half-orc and then take the Tusked trait (I'll have to do it through adopted, as the character won't technically be a half-orc). I hope that is ok (the normal damphir bite can only be used on a bit which is fairly limiting)? The concept of a blood drinking half-vampire is just really cool, but sadly it doesn't actually work without knowing more about what we might encounter.


"Well, she told me to listen to the whispers in my dream, but all I see are more meat-sacks talking via message." Indicating Drovius' lack of understanding of the World Wide Web.

Hey, I saw this and I jumped right on it. Submitting Drovius the Half-Dead, still living unfortunately, but he plans on changing that sooner rather than later. I believe he is good to go, crunch and fluff in his alias, along with a very flattering photo of his good side via link. Let me know, almighty DM Thron, if I missed anything.


Oyzar: To be honest, after rereading the ABP rules myself, I find myself torn on them. So for now, I'm going to make the following new addendum...

ABP: Whether or not I use this alternate rules set will be left up to a vote to the players I select.

Background Skills: Definitely will be used.

As for your other questions: the types of monsters/enemies you will face will vary based on my own personal whims and the direction the group takes with the campaign. However, I will definitely give opportunities for each character to shine. In my RotR campaign, I specifically have been sprinkling added bits here and there especially for each and every one of the PC's. Not all of them have had theirs yet, but their time will come.

As for racial traits: as long as they make sense to the character I am fine with it. But don't make extremely desperate reaches to get specific traits to make a build work, because I will see that a mile away and it will only hurt a submission.


oyzar wrote:
I really dislike automatic bonus progression, the limited flexibility limits the number of viable strategies. For example you are forced to use a considerable amount of your wealth on AC, so other means of defense (miss chance and parry). Casters are also left witha lot of resources invested in weapons. Unarmed strikes or natural weapons don't normally work under APB at all, how are you going to rule those? Can we use the weapon bond for an amulet of mighty fists?

Wait, what? ABP allows for way more customization. No longer must you spend tons of gold to get a decent AC, saves, weapons, etc. Customization is kinda the whole point of the system.

For example, in the tristalt game, I had to spend almost 100k just to make sure I had a decent AC, saves, and stats.

Also, I see no reason you could not just 'enchant' your natural weapons/unarmed strikes via the weapon bonuses. There's nothing in the rules saying you can't.


Let's avoid a rules debate, please. We will hold a vote on that particular decision once the group is chosen. Besides, either way it has 0 impact on a level one character.


Well, I pretty much described the build/concept already. It would be nice to know if that is something you find cool (and not a desperate reach). If not I'll have to go look for something else. The idea is pretty much a classic vampire, biting his opponents and draining their blood, though in this case the character will be a damphir, a half-vampire with half-orc on the non-vampire side.

mechanics:
Mechanically this is achieved by (Unchained?) Monk + Feral Combat Training + Blood Drinker + Tusked allowing me to flurry with a bite. Due to only having a single natural attack the bite will be a primary natural attack(full bab) and add 1.5 str to damage (though still only 1d4 rather than unarmed base damage). Sadly as a damphir with none of the monk bonus feats helping me out it'll take until 5th level to actually get things together.

Of course with 20 point buy making a monk work would be hard, but the concept is cool enough to go for it I think :).


Figured out at least one aspect of my character: Going to be a worshiper of Zura, possibly even taking the Obedience feats. Might even end up as a caster and take the Demoniac PrC.


Oyzar: the concept is perfectly fine and fits the theme. I was mainly posting most of that so we don't see things like halflings who were adopted by dragons and taking dragon-blooded traits or some nonsense like that, lol.


As this is a total homebrew, roughly how many PCs are you looking for?


I'm going to keep it around 5, +/- 1.

Grand Lodge

As I'm toying with a couple Divine concepts, do you have any problem going into splat books for Dieties? Specifically looking at Zyphus or one of the Undead related demon lords (like Orcus)


This sounds cool, I'm thinking of a wizard or arcanist. Would you allow the Bloatmage prestige class later?


Michael Meunier: As long as you can link to me their connection to Golarion, as well as their domains and such, I'm okay with that.

Shub-Niggurath's cousin Al: If the source is from Paizo, I will allow it. But I'm not allowing 3pp stuffs. So Bloat/Blood mage is good to go. Do keep in mind, though, that being an evil campaign with dealings with undead, if you were to die and be animated as an intelligent undead later, having no blood flowing through your veins could hurt you in that PrC.


I don't suppose I could trade out some of the normal monk bonus feats for the feats to get biting to work? Sorta like a mini-archtype? Would be a lot more fun to be able to flurry-feast at level 2 rather than level 5.

Grand Lodge

Thanks, not as fond of the divine characters the more I look at them. The ones I really liked didn't connect to Tar-Baphon as neatly as I liked. I'll probably finish my Orc Slayer with a merc/slaver angle, but I had one more question. Would you allow a divine character (Cleric or more likely Inquisitor or Warpriest in my case) dedicated to the Whispering Way as a Philosophy? I don't think it should be too hard to come up with a list of Domains/Inquisitions that would make sense. I'd mostly be looking at the Vengeance or Persistence inquisitions.


Michael: Most definitely.

Oyzar: Build it up the way you want it, and submit it to me. I'll look it over and if I have any concerns, I'll let you know.


Thanks! Most GMs don't allow "homebrewed" archtypes like that, no matter how minor/cool. I'll get to working on my submission. For reference here's what I was thinking of:

Quote:


Disciple of the Fang (Unchained Monk Archtype)

Some monks use the natural bite from their heritage to fight as much as they hands or feet.

A Disciple of the Fang gains Weapon focus (bite) as a bonus feat at first level and Feral Combat Training as a bonus feat at second level. These replace the normal monk bonus feats normally gained at these levels.


Just remember, I reserve the right to change my mind. Fair warning.


I'm kind of new to PbP here, so I doubt I would get in anyway, but I love this concept and want to see the characters submitted, especially since some of the ideas tossed around already have been very thought-provoking. In particular, I find myself wondering how things would work out with a vampire bloatmage, since they would still sort of have blood flowing through their veins and a simple mechanic for acquiring more on demand.


With the heavy focus on role-playing that is likely to be in this game I'm starting to doubt my choice of going for what'll end up as somewhat of a "big stupid fighter". The concept is really cool, but actually playing the character might not be as fun as one more heavy on skills, spells or both. Monks are really MAD, making 20 point buy really rough. :( I guess I'll go back to drawing board. Now I have to find another concept that really speaks to me... Though if I don't find anything better, maybe I'll stick with what I got.

Will combat stamina be available? Will it be free?


I've finished the crunch for my vivisectionist alchemist. He'll take the old feral mutagen/melee route. Conceptually, he'll be a neuro surgeon who's gone, well, insane. Perhaps he performed one of his experiments on himself, resulting in an unfortunate case of dementia (and evil). Will need to flesh out (teehee) the backstory.


I'm a sucker for evil games, so I wanted to get your opinion on potentially making a Summoner for this! Most likely of the Unchained variety since that seems to be literally everyone's preference, understandably. Thoughts? Preferences? If you're not a fan of the class, I can always shoot for another one. I just thought it'd break of the mass of people leaning more toward the divine casting a bit.


Lab rat: I have no qualms with that.


Would you rather I was traditional or Unchained Summoner, out of curiosity?


I've been kicking around ideas for this campaign, and I think I'm going to work up an apprentice Magus who is on the run after murdering and robbing his (comparably wicked and cruel) master (who really should have seen it coming). His combination of amoral desperation and ambition make him an ideal pawn candidate for the Whispering Way... ;)


Been a while since I have been on the forums (DM Thron, feel free to PM me about that) but I am finally getting some of the inklings for a character again. Dotting interest, was thinking a NE or CN (not sure yet which fits better) Fetchling Slayer. I will work up the concept and post via an alias my submission soon.


Lab Rat: Let's stick w/ Unchained Summoner.

Silver Crusade

Dervish dance does this work with bucklers gm thron sir?


Tharasiph: I'm going to have to say nay to that, as it is clear the intent of the feat is for the user to use only a scimitar.

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