There is a Volcano, an island in the Dark. Mighty Volcano, god and landscape to the ifrit, is all that protects the land from the Dark that surrounds on all sides.
Truly, the natives have no reason to even name this sprawling continent where there is no Sky and no horizon - only darkness. It is simply the land, or perhaps Volcano's Land, depending on who is speaking.
Volcano's will is never directly given to mortals. In any of the three great cities, the rumbling prayers of priests can be heard at any time of day.
The worshipers of the 'lesser' gods can be found close to their masters. The undine travel endlessly up and down the thousands of meandering miles of River. The oread live off the bounty of herds of small earth elementals that roam through Great Forest. But even the bounty of River and Great Forest cannot hold sway over Volcano - many of their followers feel the call of the great cities and their splendor.
The war against the Dark and its spawn is unending. The innumerable armies of the ifrit defend the east and west, the undine hold the icy south, and the oread protect the tracts of northern Forest.
Volcano holds back the Dark.
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Greetings, potential players! I'm looking to run a fun, character-driven story set in my homebrew world.
Recruitment will be open about a week, but possibly less depending on how many responses I get. Give me character concepts sooner than later to prevent getting shut out.
Questions are welcome. I'm looking forward to this!
20 point buy
Alignment: no evil
2 traits, no flaws
HP: Max at 1st level, average (round up) after that
Starting wealth: 150 gp
Leveling: No XP, you will level as appropriate to the story and the challenges you face,
Source material: Core is fine, 3rd party is not, check with me about other PF material (not just the book, but specifically what you want from it)
Background: 10 minute background, be sure to include appearance and personality
Races: Big change here. ifrit, oread, undine, and sylph only. See RACES for more info. Also, I am intentionally not capitalizing these – we don't capitalize the word Humans, right?
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/featured-races/arg-oread
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/featured-races/arg-ifrit
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/featured-races/arg-undine
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/featured-races/arg-sylph
Classes: Big change here: No full casters (wizards, sorcerors, clerics, etc, etc) In addition, no gunslingers (or guns at all), no summoners, no vigilante, no ninja, no samurai, no occult classes. Hybrid classes and base classes are fine. Archetypes on a case-by-case basis.
Divine Classes: Divine casters are different. Talk to me about alignment, spell selection, and channeling, as well as archetypes.
Skills: Every character gets one extra skill point per level in a Craft, Profession, or Perform skill of their choice. I want you to have some kind of flavorful/cool background skill, but I don't want it to come at the cost of a better skill.
Railroading vs Sandbox: This is not a purely sandbox game. I like giving characters a good deal of choice, but there are other forces in the world besides the players. Ultimately, where the story will go is up to us, not just me.
Tone: I'm not going for “grimdark” here, but things are not happy-go-lucky, either. I like characters that act like real people, instead of using stilted “thees” and “thous”.
Frequency: I will post every day, even just to acknowledge that IC RPing is still going on. This will almost always be around 9 or 10 PM Eastern time. I will always let you know if there will be a temporary hiatus. I expect players to post as often as they need to in order to keep the story moving. A pattern of unexplained absences or long periods between posts will be grounds for ejection, but I will always talk to a player first.
Moving forward: typically, if an action is suggested by one character and seconded by another, then I will move forward as if the entire party had agreed. If one character has a strong and rational reason to move backward, that may be allowed on a case-by-case basis.
Other minor tweaks:
--Oreads are not Slow.
--Undines get a swim speed, so to make all the races roughly equal RP:
-Ifrits get Sprinter (Members of this race gain a +10 foot racial bonus to their speed when using the charge, run, or withdraw actions.)
-Oreads get burrow speed of 10 ft (dirt only!)
-Sylphs get Climb (Members of this race have a climb speed of 20 feet, and gain the +8 racial bonus on Climb checks that a climb speed normally grants.)
--Elens do interbreed, but the offspring will be one or the other, with subtle hints of the other parent's heritage
LANGUAGES (11 total)
All of the "elemental" tongues (Ignan, etc) are simply called Ifrit, Oread, etc.
In addition, there is a more esoteric dialect of each language that must be learned separately:
-High Ifrit (mostly used by the Church)
-Benthic (used by the Swem)
-Maker Script (used by the Mithral Makers)
-Sedime (pidgin used by various minor oread tribes)
There are two 'outsider' tongues: Geni (roughly equivalent to Abyssal) and Eleme (roughly equivalent to Celestial). However, neither of these languages is available to starting characters.
All races start with Common and (native language) for free, then bonus languages for high Int. Low int loses race language (common is much easier to learn, and universal)
If any race is dominant or considered the norm, it is ifrits. Correspondingly, ifrits show different cultural characteristics, depending on many factors (city vs town, which city-state you are from, North (cooler) vs South (hot)), whereas sylphs, undines and oreads are slightly more uniform in manner (like we imagine dwarves, orcs, gnomes, etc)
The following spells affect native outsiders (since there are no humanoids) in this setting:
daze
enlarge person
reduce person
charm person
hold person
ghoul touch
I refuse to awkwardly dance around the words "human" and "humanoid", so a generic term: elen.
"I am an elen being, not an animal!"
"His strength was inelen"
"The treatment of the prisoners was inelane"
"The figure was vaguely elenoid in shape"
"Though certainly elen, the bandages and robes made it impossible to determine the man's race"
Singular is eleni. Plural is elen. Male singular is el. Female singular is ele.
(a conflagration of ifrits)
(fritan)
Rough societal analog and naming conventions: Medieval Italy
Males tend towards dark red and charcoal black, sometimes ash gray. Females are lighter red, orange, sometimes ash gray. Eyes follow a roughly similar pattern, with yellow and the rare blue. Average in height and weight, and their skin is lightly scaled (such as a lizard of one kind or another might have)
Ifrit society, especially the town of Forge, revolves around the war against the Dark. They have the largest population in the land, and they proudly send their holy warriors to the battleground. Many do not return, but it is not uncommon for a soldier to complete their two years and come home. No draft; voluntary with good compensation. Alignment tends toward LG (military discipline, no tolerance for state corruption).
City-bred Ifrits have permanent buildings, feather beds, and other comforts that oreads and undines from the country aren’t used to.
Anatomy: Tough, light bones, similar to raw lumber that has been charred to a dry toughness. Blood is flammable in air, but burns too briefly to cause damage to anything (burning lint)
Common Classes: Skald, Paladin, Barbarian (marching to war)
(an avalanche of oreads)
(orean)
Rough societal analog and naming conventions: nomadic Native Americans
Males are various shades of brown, with pine needles of either green or brown/orange for hair and beards. Females are light brown and off-white (birch) and have moss-like hair with colorful flowers. Both can have skin ranging from smooth but tough (birch) to thick and heavy (oak). Oreads are solidly-built.
All Oreads are lithovores - that is, they eat rocks and similar non-organic material (and water, of course). They are nomads, following herds of earth elementals (that have the shape of what we would call deer, elk, moose, etc)
Oreads move in large nomadic tribes across Great Forest. All the tribes meet twice a year - at the height of summer, and the depth of winter. Within their tribes, oreads are boisterous and can usually be found playing music on their wooden panpipes or watching an orean wrestling match (think Greco-Roman wrestling). If outsiders are currently visiting however, they are mostly withdrawn and quiet. Tends toward CG (belief in family and tribe over outsiders, or even other tribes)
They use stone shape to make temporary shelter while they roam through Great Forest.
Anatomy: Bones are dense and resemble granite. Blood is thick, like tree sap.
Common Classes: Ranger, to hunt the herds or dangerous predators in Forest. Hunter, with special earth elemental animal companion. Monk, for the three major monasteries.
(a flood of undines)
(undan)
Rough societal analog and naming conventions: Vietnamese (tone language)
Males are lighter blue and white tones mostly. Their skin is slightly reflective and faceted, giving the appearance of ice. The females are darker blues and sea greens, and have a more uniform sheen, like a fish or a lake. Hair and eye color for both tend towards blue, pastel green, purple, and the occasional white/off-white. Silver hair for elders. Undines are built for swimming - lithe, skinny, and streamlined.
The slow, patient ways of River have been ingrained into undine society - even undine children are thoughtful and slow to anger. That is not to say they are slow in all they do - there are countless water-based sports and games the undine play that require speed and quick thinking.
Undines swim similarly to dolphins, using their sleek, lithe bodies to their advantage. Bulky or muscular undines are rare. The devout spend their lives traversing River's twists and turns, never coming out of the water voluntarily. Many of the devout go all the way to the end of River, to fight the never-ending battle to keep the Dark at bay. Undines sleep half-submerged in water, on the shore.
However, many have abandoned River's ways to move to one of the great cities, though undines are the smallest percentage of Volcano's followers. Oddly enough, Volcano's undine worshipers are often his most fanatical, and many end up working for the Inquisitors. Tendency toward NG (strong belief in doing what is right; undines can be found working together at IceFall or alone all along River)
Anatomy: bones are bluish, light and rubbery, and blood is significantly more watery than other races
Common Classes: Inquisitor, Bard (Watersinger), Bard (Dervish Dancer)
(a scattering of sylphs)
(sylphan)
Rough societal analog and naming convention: Industrial Revolution Britain, typically have vocational-based last names (like Chemic or Cheme for alchemists)
Male and females both pale (pearl, tan, gold) with the large, dark, unblinking eyes of a predatory bird. Thin-boned Sylphs are tall but strangely light. Curiosity is said to be the curse of extremely intelligent sylphs, but with a dead god all sylphs seem a little cursed at times.
With no patron god to give them guidance (Fallen Sky has been gone for at least 5,000 years), sylphs tend to be dispersed almost everywhere, especially in the great cities. They create medicines and help support the industry of the war, but few sylphs see the front lines of battle. Tendency towards neutrality (lack of unifying god and guidance; objectivity of science)
Sylphs are city-dwellers, unless circumstances find them traveling or in the army.
Anatomy: Brittle-looking, hollow bones, like a bird. They disintegrate into powder within 48 hours. Thin, clear blood evaporates immediately, leaving a chill behind.
Common classes: Magus, Alchemist, and Fighter (specifically Mutation Warrior)
Big Ideas to end with:
1) Check out Character Creation
2) I know this is a crazy amount of information - just stick with the stuff that interests you for now, and ask questions!
3) Big change #1 = restricted races
4) Big change #2 = restricted classes
5) See next post for where the story is taking place.
6) There is also a ton of information in the Campaign Info tab, if you are looking for more inspiration.
The Place
Rokerenge is a small town north of Forge. It is primarily a mining town, but has its fair share of hunting, timbering, and livestock.
Just a quiet mining town, far away from the darkspawn and the warfronts. Nothing ever happens in a simple mining town...
The Background Guidelines
In my first PbPs, I didn't encourage or require the PCs to know each other in any way, shape, or form. So, now I'm going in the other direction: I want all submissions to be siblings and cousins - part of a family.
--The father is recently deceased, killed in a mining accident.
--The mother is a bit overbearing
--Even though you are related, there is still room for different races - maybe there was an oread uncle in the family, that kind of thing. Adopted son or daughter is possible too, but let's not overdo it.
--I want an idea of what your place is in the family, and how that fits in with your class.
--Finally, your father left you all an heirloom - possibly a well-made weapon from Forge, or something else appropriate. That could well be the starting point for your class.
An undine monk who seeks inner peace. Younger son, not much expected of him. Father died before approving of him openly.
I really like your setting! I'll give some thought to creating a character that fits it.
Interesting. I gotta think about this! :)
Considering a sylph investigator. Older brother, went off to study at a university town, returned to help the family after Father's death.
@Decimus - interesting idea! Do you think the undine left town when he was younger to find his way, or was this more of a self-meditation thing?
@Axolotl - I like it, could create an interesting situation to be an "outsider" to the home town.
@Scias Starset - let me know if you have any questions!
I'm considering either an Undine or Oread elementalist shifter who is seeking balance and mastery of the four elements. Probably the youngest child, unless that's already taken. The father doted on him, but everyone else in the family considers his ambitions to be frivolous.
Heirloom is a snow-globe of the known world, accentuating the forest, the volcano, and the river.
This is interesting - my first thought was this was going to be ifrit parents, but now I'm thinking the races of the parents will have to be determined by what siblings we end up with. I love having my expectations challenged!
~taps his chin~ A fiery hearted Ifrit Barbarian. Either the youngest of the family or the Oldest makes the most sense :P Or a Bloodrager.
@Himyulmaion - depending on how your character talked about that idea, you might get in trouble with zealots from the followers of the different gods, especially Volcano. Not saying no, just something to ponder.
@Vitaliano da Riva - ifrits do have tempers!
(This is Himyulmaion)
Thanks for the info. I'm thinking his family would've beaten any desire to share his beliefs out of him.
By the by, I've got the crunch pretty far along, I'll work on the fluff tomorrow.
Interested as a Sylvan (or Undine, in that order) Brawler; a mutagenic mauler, long lost cousin and black sheep of the family who came for the reading of father's will and has stayed. An impatient, incompetent alchemist who has taken a few too many knocks to the head.
One final note - the family name is going to be Firenze, which roughly means "from Forge", which is the closest big city to this town. Since this is likely to be an eclectic group of races in predominantly ifrit region, the father decided to take a neutral-sounding fritan surname for the family.
--You can choose for your character to accept this last name, or not
--You can choose to have this in your alias name, or not (even if your character 'accepts' it, that might not be how he or she really thinks about themself)
@lobster - sounds interesting!
@All - looking forward to more details on these characters! Also, don't feel as if human-ish avatars are off-limits. If it looks roughly like the face you want, you can just describe how you really have orange skin or whatever. Samen Vloe is close enough to an oread for me, for instance.
Is the entire continent/land a big, sloping upward, volcano, a la the island of Maui? Just curious as to whether there's one gigantic shield volcano, and how tall it is.
Sylphs might want to go to the heights, but if they're full of lava, perhaps not. Also not sure if the skies are always dark/obscured with the Dark.
My investigator will probably take up glassblowing as his craft. Glass was discovered as a byproduct of metalworking, a mistake most likely, but it's blowing the wind into molten 'earth'. Very element-intersectional. :)
I think he left town for a while, disappointing his father.
@Axolotl The campaign tab has an overall map of the land, but it doesn't really give you any idea of the topography of the place.
It's mostly flat-ish land (the area around Forge and slightly to the north is more hilly/mountainous). It's not until you get closer to Volcano itself (say the last 50-100 miles out from the center) that there is a noticeable upward slope. Volcano, compared to the average lay of the land ("sea level" isn't quite accurate here since there are no apparent oceans) is about 3 miles high. I'm almost positive this is impossible under earth-like conditions, but we are talking about the representation of a god here :)
There are certainly those that live on the lower slopes of Volcano. It's rough living, but possible. The upper reaches are nigh-impossible to get to without strong magical or alchemical support.
The sky is gone/dead. Above, and from horizon to horizon, there is only the Dark. No one has been crazy enough to attempt to measure how far up the border of the Dark is in the sky, but it certainly doesn't touch the peak of Volcano, and there are still clouds in the air that mercifully block the empty darkness during heavy rains and such.
I've got this idea for a sylph who is near obsessed with finding the sky. Not sure of anything else yet, but I’ll start work on fleshing this out.
Edit: Do you have a problem with racial feats? By far the easiest way for my character to explore the skies would be to go for the Wings of Air feat.
Reading a bit more into your setting, I realize that my original concept doesn’t quite work. I’m going to make her as (if I get the terminology right) an Unbeliever who thinks that some hint of Sky can be flund in the Dark. She’d be a ranger, so I’ll pm you about the divine casting once you’ve responded with your thoughts on the concept. I also found an archetype that I think would fit this concept very well: Stormwalker.
Concept is a-ok! Remember to think about how you will fit in with this family (seems like we have a lot of people leaving town and coming back, but I need at least one or two that stayed)
Ranger, even though it's technically divine casting, won't be changed. I should have been more precise - classes with casting granted by the gods (inquisitor, paladin, warpriest) are changed.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Were those two mechanical questions I brought up okay then?
Yep, Wings of Air and the Stormwalker both look fine!
can't get high up the slopes without alchemical support, eh? Hmm...perhaps an alchemist is what's needed, not an investigator... :)
This setting seems pretty awesome! Considering an ifrit rogue, with two considerations:
A. Are Unchained Classes okay? I would prefer that version for rogue, but without it is fine.
B. Would you allow the Sczarni Swindler archetype?
Unchained is fine, and that seems like an amusing archetype - so yes!
Make sure as you are putting the character together you consider where he or she fits with the family, and what makes him believe in "fate" so strongly. (in general, oreads can be somewhat superstitious, and one of the aspects of River has "fortune in her portfolio. That's not to say that there are no ifrits that believe in luck, fate, etc - just something to think about)
This alias is Dotraj's submission. I just realized that there isn't much mention of their family in her backstory, I'll have to work that in.
Two things I feel I should make clear: Marianne isn't necessarily actually chosen by Sky, and even if she is, he didn't necessarily do anything to save her.
Also, the appearance and personality is more for my own reference so I can get stuff down as I flesh her out in my head, you don't necessarily need to read it, especially since I might keep updating it as I think more about her.
Awesome! Can't wait to more submissions, everyone! I'll be taking a close look over the weekend.
If there are any lurkers around, please submit a concept sooner than later! If I see enough good submissions, I might closer sooner than a week! As long as you have a concept submitted, you will at least be in the running!
Mulling over it, I'd like to change my concept to an oread monk. Besides race, the rest should work fine.
Sounds good! Check out the Campaign Info > Society > Oread for more info on the three major orean monasteries. I know it's not much, but hopefully it's enough to get your creative juices flowing :) I'm also more than happy for you to develop your own ideas concerning what exactly these philosophies are.
I did some tinkering with the build, and I think I'm going to go with Magus instead of Shifter.
I've re-worked the mechanics and put most of a background together. Still thinking of what secrets he might know.
Oops, I just realized that 10 minute background is a format, not a time limit to keep us from writing a novel. Does simply incorporating elements from it that I lack into my backstory sound ok?
Yep, that's fine! Sorry I wasn't more specific about what it was.
Hoping to see more sheets today and tonight - I'd like to take a closer look at everything over the weekend.
I've you've submitted a concept but not a character, I would appreciate an estimate on when you'll have something done!
I'll try to have something by the end of the day! Workin' hard at work on music. :)
Shooting for Sunday, giving time to think more on backstory.
Cool, thanks for the updates!
I'm aiming to have my oread monk ready tomorrow.
Also, I am closing this to new submissions. If you have already posted some kind of concept, no worries, take your time making your character. If you have not posted anything at all on this thread yet, I am not taking new submissions.
Here's Samoon, eldest brother who's been away.
Samoon Firenze
Male sylph alchemist (grenadier) 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 26, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 258, Pathfinder RPG Monster Codex)
NG Medium outsider (native)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4
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Defense
--------------------
AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 9 (1d8+1)
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +0
Resist sonic 5
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee dagger +1 (1d4+1/19-20)
Ranged bomb +4 (1d6+4 fire) or
. . longbow +3 (1d8/×3)
Special Attacks bomb 5/day (1d6+4 fire, DC 14)
Alchemist (Grenadier) Extracts Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +5)
. . 1st—shield, true strike
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 16, Con 11, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +0; CMB +1; CMD 14
Feats Martial Weapon Proficiency (longbow), Point-Blank Shot, Throw Anything
Traits pragmatic activator, student of philosophy
Skills Bluff +0 (+4 to lie (as a result of using Int instead of Cha)), Climb +9, Craft (alchemy) +8 (+9 to create alchemical items), Craft (glass) +8, Diplomacy +1 (+5 to persuade others but not to gather information (as a result of using Int instead of Cha)), Knowledge (arcana) +8, Knowledge (nature) +8, Linguistics +5, Perception +4, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +7, Use Magic Device +8; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth
Languages Aquan, Auran, Common, High Ifrit, Ignan, Maker Script, Terran
SQ alchemy (alchemy crafting +1), breeze-kissed[ARG], mutagen (+4/-2, +2 natural armor, 10 minutes)
Other Gear leather armor, arrows (40), dagger, longbow, alchemist starting formula book, alchemy crafting kit[APG], glassblowing tools, 31 gp
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Special Abilities
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Alchemy +1 (Su) +1 to Craft (Alchemy) to create alchemical items, can Id potions by touch.
Bomb 1d6+4 (5/day, DC 14) (Su) Thrown Splash Weapon deals 1d6+4 fire damage.
Breeze-Kissed (1/day) +2 AC versus nonmagical ranged attacks. Bull rush/trip with air 1/day within 30 ft.
Climb (20 feet) You have a Climb speed.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Energy Resistance, Sonic (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Sonic attacks.
Mutagen (DC 14) (Su) Mutagen adds +4/-2 to physical/mental attributes, and +2 nat. armor for 10 minutes.
Point-Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Throw Anything Proficient with improvised ranged weapons. +1 to hit with thrown splash weapons.
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Step 1: Write 5 background and concept elements that you feel are important to your image of the character. These can be a concept overview, a list of important life events, a physical description, a personality profile...whatever you need to get an image in your mind. 5 is just a minimum...more elements are encouraged!
- Samoon is thoughtful, somewhat distant, as the eldest brother of a clan can be. He doesn’t boast or brag, but it’s rumored that he had to kill an elen on the way home.
- Samoon is concerned, but a bit frosty, with his mother. He didn’t quite know how to relate to his miner father intellectually—talking geology was about it—but his father was far warmer than his mother, who he feels pushed him out of the house. Pushed him to university, which he is grateful for, so his feelings are complicated.
- He is up early, climbing rocks, usually with a guide. He’s not the best at tracking animals, but once someone finds it for him, he can bring them down well.
- He will break his reserved manner to show off small magic tricks—disappearing cards and exploding baubles—to kids. He didn’t think he had enough fun in his childhood, so he’s happy to pay it forward.
- Samoon wears greys and browns to blend into the rocks he loves to climb. He doesn’t carry on about being a sylph, seeing as how he’s in a town of rocks and shoots fire—he usually shrugs. When he’s in a high place, about to shoot an arrow, though, his eyes look like they are ready to drink in the unseen sky.
Step 2: List at least two goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.
- He doesn’t speak of it, but he intends to climb Volcano, all the way to the top, even if it means death. He will study along the way, of course.
- He wants to get the family out of the mining business. He’s convinced it contributed to his father’s death. [GM hook here, I suppose.]
Step 3: List at least two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises!
- His secret desire is to climb Volcano, pierce the sky and see if there is something actually -out- there that the sylphs can connect to. Or another plane, to escape to.
- Samoon’s research into magic (via alchemy) has unwittingly gotten him close to key truths about the Dark. Agents of the Dark at his University are tracking him and readying to strike should he learn too much.
- Samoon is not exactly looking forward to seeing his former love, Albreane, another sylph, who decided to stay in town and has served as a regional investigator of illegal mining and other criminal activities. She’s very good at what she does, and felt much more of an emotional bond to the community. He didn’t feel the same way, and this was a sore point that led to their split.
Step 4: Describe at least three people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.
- Kothaal i Erret - A Servant of the Dark. Rarely seen, a master of disguise and intrigue, he has been tracking Samoon for several weeks now, ready to send minions or his own poisoned blade to prevent Samoon from discovering anything further about the Dark’s plans.
- Albreane - A fiery sylph, literally, with flowing red hair and a dogged disposition for justice. They were once deeply in love, until Samoon disappointed her.
- Denerele - Samoon’s former mentor in town, an sensei monk oread of the hills, who teaches various subjects to curious pupils. She gently chides Samoon that he never did integrate mindfulness and meditation into his studies.
Step 5: Describe three memories, mannerisms, or quirks that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
- The moment when he climbed above the town with Albreane, and could have stayed. The sun was setting, red, into the endless black. The whole world seemed to hold its breath. Instead, he left. He has tried to fill that emptiness with knowledge and alchemy ever since.
- Samoon will often sit in a corner and read instead of engage with people. However, he’ll pop up if there’s a problem to solve or an interesting topic of discussion, and then he’ll be riveted into a discussion, hardly blinking.
- Samoon does his best thinking when he’s walking or climbing. If not that, he’ll pace. He has to move to think.
Very interesting submissions so far!
As the rest of you are working on your backgrounds, it looks like the family ages that have been declared in backgrounds is roughly:
--Samoon as the eldest
--Marianne as the second born
--Samen Vloe as the youngest
Oops, so used to used that DM alias in my other table. It's still me.
Oh neat, there are ways that Samoon and Marianne can interact! They have similar stories—plus, two archers!
I wasn’t sure about my age. Marianne had to be at least 13 when Father died, so I wasn’t sure if the age I listed would mesh with others’ stories.
You’re right, we do have very similar stories, although if we both get in we’ll have to figure out how well each of us knows that. Albreanne actually sounds very similar to Marianne too, I’d guess that Marianne would have gotten along with her, and by extension Samoon if he was attracted to someone so similar to Marianne.
Ah, great, Marianne will take Albreane's side. Thanks a lot, sis. Perhaps Samoon taught Marianne archery, and then she surpassed him, to his admiration and dismay.
I actually really like the idea of the two eldest siblings have similarities, as I'm sure there will be enough differences to cause friction as well. If I'm reading the background correctly, Samoon left, whereas Marianne stayed, so there's a nice bit of disagreement right there.
I should point out that Marianne has been planning to leave for the past 10 years, she just never felt the time was right. I feel like she agreed with Samoon, but would have felt like a hypocrite to say so aloud. I like the idea about learning archery from him though.
Actually, depending on relative ages, I feel like our characters and their respective so’s would have been a friend group growing up. There can’t be too many sylph children in a mining town, and Joseph (Marianne’s ex) is an alchemist as well, so he and Samoon would likely have gotten along as well as the girls.
Here is a draft for Wamblee, a 30-year old Oread monk. Incredibly stubborn and convinced that he must seek a "correct way" for the Oread people to live. He left the village after a heated row with father about the direction of his life, the last time he ever saw him alive. He has been away for several years.
Perhaps Marianne was inspired by him? Or jealous?
Samoon or Samen might have agreed with him or butted heads, and either way have had mixed feelings about him leaving and him returning.
Tall for an Oread, and well-built, Wamblee wears light leather clothing adorned with feathers that does not impede his movements.
Wamblee is stubborn and immovable as the mountain, or so others would believe. What few doubts he has, he buries deeply. He does care deeply about the Oread people as a whole but perhaps to the detriment of relationships with the Oreads around him.
The Ten-Minute Background
In an attempt to get all the information I need to create stuff from character backgrounds without having to continually push for information, I am asking that you create backgrounds the following way:
Step 1: write five things about your character’s concept and background, five things that you think are the most essential parts of your character. You don’t have to stop at five, if you like…this is just a minimum.
a) Wamblee is an incredibly stubborn thirty-year old Oread.
b) He cares a great deal about finding the "correct" way for Oreads to live.
c) He is determined to complete what he begins - even at great cost.
d) He left on bad terms with his father, who did not agree with or seem to understand Wamblee's way of thinking.
e) He has trained hard in the Way of the Root, in particular under Master Yuma, and appreciates their virtues of bravery, strength, and determination. But he sees their way as a stepping stone to something greater.
Step 2: List two goals for the character that you, as a player, think would be cool to see accomplished in-game.
a) For Wamblee to either find the "correct way" he is seeking for his people - or to conclude that there is no such thing.
b) For Wamblee to find some real peace, or a clear way to get there.
Step 3: List two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that centre around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises!
a) Wamblee is secretly deeply upset that he could not find a way to reconcile with his father, even if he still believes that his father was in the wrong.
b) That Wamblee on his travels has come to the attention of unwholesome parties, who see opportunity in manipulating him.
Step 4: Describe three people that are tied to the character though blood, romance or honor. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. All can do something useful for you, if you can get the situations to line up. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.
a) His mentor, Master Yuma. Yuma is a much older Oread, steeped in the Way of the Root. He is very fond of Wamblee, even if he is concerned at how hard-headed the youth can be.
b) A rival Oread student, Hanska. He and Wamblee quarelled often and strove to outdo the other.
c) A friend, a younger Oread student named Ohanko. He looked up to Wamblee and would likely aid him should their paths cross again.
Step 5: Describe three memories that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
a) Looking at the village and wondering "Is this it? Is this how Oreads should live?"
b) Making the decision to leave after much thought.
c) The last ill-tempered argument with his father, on his way out.
d) Being accepted into the monastary.
e) Hearing of father's death.
Wamblee
Male Oread Monk 1 (Student of the Stone)
Lawful Neutral Medium Elen
Init +2; Senses Perception +3
Favoured Class: Monk
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 10 [10 +2 Dex +3 Wis]
hp 10 (1 HD; 1d8+2 per level after 1st level)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +5
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee
Ranged
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Statistics
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Human, +2 to Str
Str 18, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 9
Base Atk +0; CMB +4; CMD 15
Feats
L1: Toughness, Monk: Improved Grapple, Stunning Fist, Improved Unarmed Strike
Traits
Quain Martial Artist - regional
Having grown up in Quain, you were taught under various schools of martial arts, and have used all you have learned to hone your fighting prowess.
Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on damage rolls when using unarmed strikes.
Student Survivalist - campaign
You have a helpful mentor NPC.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus on all Survival checks, and Survival is a class skill for you. In addition, you gain a +1 trait bonus on all attack rolls against foes that threaten your mentor.
Skills
The monk’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Stealth (Dex), and Swim (Str).
Survival is a class skill from Student Survivalist
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + 0 Int modifier
A free rank each level in Profession (herbalist)
Armour Check Penalty: 0
+Acrobatics +2 |+2 Dex
Appraise +0 |+0 Int
Bluff -1 |-1 Cha
+Climb +4 |+4 Str
+Craft +0 |+0 Int
Diplomacy -1 |-1 Cha
Disable Device* -- |+2 Dex untrained
Disguise -1 |-1 Cha
+Escape Artist +2 |+2 Dex
Fly +2 |+2 Dex
Handle Animal* -- |-1 Cha untrained
Heal +3 |+3 Wis
+Intimidate +3 |-1 Cha
Knowledge Arcana* -- |+0 Int
Knowledge Dungeoneering* -- |+0 Int untrained
Knowledge Engineering* -- |+0 Int untrained
Knowledge Geography* -- |+0 Int untrained
+Knowledge History* +4 |+0 Int +1 rank +3 class skill
Knowledge Local* -- |+0 Int untrained
Knowledge Nobility* -- |+0 Int untrained
Knowledge Nature* -- |+0 Int untrained
Knowledge Planes* -- |+0 Int untrained
+Knowledge Religion* +4 |+0 Int +1 rank +3 class skill
Linguistics* +1 |+0 Int +1 rank
+Perception +3 |+3 Wis
+Perform -1 |-1 Cha
+Profession +7 |+3 Wis +1 rank +3 class skill
+Ride +2 |+2 Dex
+Sense Motive +3 |+3 Wis
Sleight of Hand* -- |+2 Dex untrained
Spellcraft* -- |+0 Int untrained
+Stealth +2 |+2 Dex
+Survival +4 |+3 Wis +1 rank +3 class skill
+Swim +4 |+4 Str
Use Magic Device* -- |-1 Cha untrained
Languages
Common, Oread, Sedime
Special Qualities
Energy Resistance: Oreads have acid resistance 5.
Darkvision: Oreads can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Stone in the Blood Oreads with this racial trait mimic the healing abilities of the mephits, gaining fast healing 2 for 1 round anytime they are subject to acid damage (the acid damage does not need to overcome the oread’s resistances or immunities to activate this ability). The oread can heal up to 2 hit points per level per day with this ability, after which it ceases to function. This racial trait replaces earth affinity.
Treacherous Earth Once per day, an oread with this racial trait can will the earth to rumble and shift, transforming a 10-foot-radius patch of earth, unworked stone, or sand into an area of difficult terrain, centered on an area the oread touches. This lasts for a number of minutes equal to the oread’s level, after which the ground returns to normal. This racial trait replaces the spell-like ability racial trait.
Gear
Starting Gold: 150g
Spent:
Gold Remaining:
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Class Abilities
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Weapon Proficiency
Monks are proficient with the brass knuckles, cestus, club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shortspear, short sword, shuriken, siangham, sling, spear and temple sword.
Armor and Shield Proficiency: Monks are not proficient with any armor or shields. When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a monk loses his AC bonus, as well as his fast movement and flurry of blows abilities.
AC Bonus (Ex)
When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk adds his Wisdom bonus (if any) to his AC and his CMD. In addition, a monk gains a +1 bonus to AC and CMD at 4th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every four monk levels thereafter, up to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.
These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the monk is flat-footed. He loses these bonuses when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor, when he carries a shield, or when he carries a medium or heavy load.
Flurry of Blows (Ex)
Starting at 1st level, a monk can make a flurry of blows as a full-attack action.
When doing so, he may make one additional attack, taking a –2 penalty on all of his attack rolls, as if using the Two-Weapon Fighting feat. These attacks can be any combination of unarmed strikes and attacks with a monk special weapon (he does not need to use two weapons to utilize this ability).
For the purpose of these attacks, the monk’s base attack bonus from his monk class levels is equal to his monk level. For all other purposes, such as qualifying for a feat or a prestige class, the monk uses his normal base attack bonus.
At 8th level, the monk can make two additional attacks when he uses flurry of blows, as if using Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (even if the monk does not meet the prerequisites for the feat).
At 15th level, the monk can make three additional attacks using flurry of blows, as if using Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (even if the monk does not meet the prerequisites for the feat).
A monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks made with flurry of blows, whether the attacks are made with an off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands. A monk may substitute disarm, sunder, and trip combat maneuvers for unarmed attacks as part of a flurry of blows. A monk cannot use any weapon other than an unarmed strike or a special monk weapon as part of a flurry of blows. A monk with natural weapons cannot use such weapons as part of a flurry of blows, nor can he make natural attacks in addition to his flurry of blows attacks.
Unarmed Strike
At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk’s attacks may be with fist, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.
Usually a monk’s unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but he can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on his attack roll. He has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.
A monk’s unarmed strike is treated as both a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
A monk also deals more damage with his unarmed strikes than a normal person would, as shown above on Table: Monk. The unarmed damage values listed on Table: Monk are for Medium monks. A Small monk deals less damage than the amount given there with his unarmed attacks, while a Large monk deals more damage; see Table: Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage.
Table: Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage Level Damage (Small monk) Damage (Large monk)
1st–3rd 1d4 1d8
4th–7th 1d6 2d6
8th–11th 1d8 2d8
12th–15th 1d10 3d6
16th–19th 2d6 3d8
20th 2d8 4d8
Bonus Feat
At 1st level, 2nd level, and every 4 levels thereafter, a monk may select a bonus feat. These feats must be taken from the following list:
Catch Off-Guard, Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Dodge, Improved Grapple, Scorpion Style, and Throw Anything.
At 6th level, the following feats are added to the list:
Gorgon’s Fist, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Trip, and Mobility.
At 10th level, the following feats are added to the list:
Improved Critical, Medusa’s Wrath, Snatch Arrows, and Spring Attack.
A monk need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them.
Stunning Fist (Ex)
At 1st level, the monk gains Stunning Fist as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. The monk may attempt a stunning attack a number of times per day equal to his monk level, plus one more time per day for every four levels he has in classes other than monk.
At 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the monk gains the ability to apply a new condition to the target of his Stunning Fist. This condition replaces stunning the target for 1 round, and a successful saving throw still negates the effect.
At 4th level, he can choose to make the target fatigued.
At 8th level, he can make the target sickened for 1 minute.
At 12th level, he can make the target staggered for 1d6+1 rounds.
At 16th level, he can permanently blind or deafen the target.
At 20th level, he can paralyze the target for 1d6+1 rounds.
The monk must choose which condition will apply before the attack roll is made. These effects do not stack with themselves (a creature sickened by Stunning Fist cannot become nauseated if hit by Stunning Fist again), but additional hits do increase the duration.
Future Class Features from Archetype
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Hard as Stone (Ex)
At 2nd level, whenever an opponent rolls to confirm a critical hit against a student of stone, treat the student of stone’s AC as +4 higher than normal.
This ability replaces evasion.
Strength of Stone (Ex)
At 3rd level, a student of stone learns to draw strength from the earth. So long as both he and his opponent are touching the ground, the student of stone gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, bull rush and trip combat maneuver rolls, and to his CMD when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt.
This ability replaces fast movement.
Bonus Feat
At 6th level, a student of stone adds Elemental Fist to his list of available bonus feats. If the student of stone selects Elemental Fist as a bonus feat, he may only deal acid damage when using the feat.
At 10th level, the student of stone adds Shaitan Style to his list of bonus feats.
At 14th level, he adds Shaitan Skin.
At 18th level, he adds Shaitan Earthblast.
This otherwise functions as and alters the bonus feat ability.
Bones of Stone (Su)
At 7th level, as a swift action, a student of stone can spend 1 ki point to gain DR 2/magic until the beginning of his next turn.
At 10th level, he can spend 1 ki point to gain DR 2/chaotic until his next turn.
At 15th level, he can spend 1 ki point to gain DR 5/chaotic until his next turn.
This ability replaces high jump.
Body of Stone (Ex)
At 9th level, a student of stone gains the benefits of the light fortification armor property.
This ability replaces improved evasion.
Soul of Stone (Su)
At 12th level, as a swift action, a student of stone can spend 1 ki point to gain tremorsense 15 feet until his next turn.
At 16th level, the range of this tremorsense increases to 30 feet.
This ability replaces abundant step.
Stone Self
At 20th level, a student of stone becomes an outsider with the earth subtype. He gains DR 5/chaotic, burrow speed 20 feet, and tremorsense 20 feet.