Recent Posts
Overview
Master of Jade, Mistress of Iron (MoJ/MoI) is a D&D 3.5 campaign set in the homebrew World of Conclave. It has a vaguely Asian feel to it, in that it has jade, spirits, fighting styles, elephant-headed gods, divinely-appointed Emperors, rice, bamboo, yen and ancient empires (etc.) but it is not meant as a Fantasy Asia. It has other elements such as worldwide banking and merchant empires, printing presses and clockwork that puts it closer to late 17th century Europe. It also draws upon a range of other influences such as Egypt, Polynesia and Imperial Russia.
Website Here
The Background
You’ve lost track of how long you’ve been here. Five days working the mines, one day off, then back to the rock face again. Manacled at night, fed on watery gruel, driven by sadistic slavers all for the sake of the magical metal they call dragonsblood.
In fact, you’re not even sure where you are. You were bought here by ship, you are on an island with volcanoes and jungles inland. The prison, or simply Prison, is a colony of ne’er-do-wells ruled by the cruel warden they call Little Tev, (but never to his face). Your fellow prisoners are men and women sent here for all sorts of reasons. They annoyed the wrong people, they were framed, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up as “warm cargo”. And some, perhaps you, are really guilty of the crimes they were accused of. One thing you’ve learned, it’s best not to ask. Another thing you’ve learned is that you want out. And the most interesting thing you’ve learned… there are others who think the same.
Character Creation
Looking for 4-6 players. I can accommodate more – my experience of PbP has shown me that groups tend to deteriorate to a core of about 4 players anyway.
Ability Scores: Use 28 point buy.
Character Race: Use World of Conclave races, as given below. Further details found here
• Humans. There are a variety of different racial types of human with purely role-play differences between them.
• Salsham’ai (Tree Folk). Small-sized, human-like except for their prehensile feet. Wise, dextrous, with a kinship to nature spirits. Pick one of these of you like characters who are always calm, or if you want good stealth abilities.
• Tlaxu. Somewhat cat-like, the tlaxu have at least three known cultural/racial subdivisions (although all are the same in mechanical terms). Due to a tlaxu invasion about 150 years ago, tlaxu are still disliked in this part of the world. Good senses and the chance of taking racial levels to improve physical stats. Pick a tlaxu if you like cat-folk, active characters or having a sinister reputation.
• Ura. Tiny-sized folk from beneath the deserts of the Outer Continent, Ura are proud warriors who make opportunistic use of the discards of larger races. Pick an ura if you like small but feisty characters or gregarious travellers.
• Ti-Kop. Also known as ‘gloppies’. The Ti-Kop are an aquatic race common to the shoreline. They are tough, but materially poor, with a tense relationship to humans due to fishing rights and egg-stealing. Pick a Ti-Kop if you like aquatic races or want to play a primitive race.
• Nai-nek-chai. Shapechangers that can take the form of human or animal, nai-nek-chai are the descendants of mortals and great animal spirits. They generally do not fit in in either the human or animal worlds. Pick a nai-nek-chai if you like shapechangers or like playing the confused outsider.
• Edraldi. Earth spirits in mortal form. The edraldi are tough, stocky beings with earth-dark skin and tangled roots for hair, often resembling ram’s horns. They come in four different variants and are quite secretive of their society. Pick an edraldi if you like tough characters or having an otherwordly touch.
Character Class:
• You may use any class in the SRD. You are allowed (and encouraged) to use any of the class variants (originally from Unearthed Arcana) that are given in the SRD. Of the psionic classes, only psion or psychic warrior are allowed – these represent the Yana Mystics of far northern Ut’Bharma. Other classes are allowed by arrangement but bear in mind I don’t have any Complete books or PHB 2 so you may have to give me details. This game may involve a fair amount of sea-based play, so options (but not races) from Stormwrack are possible. Spells from Oriental Adventures are allowed, but I see no need for the classes.
• Conclave races do not have favoured class. Multi-classing may be done freely without penalty.
• Paladins do not serve an alignment, instead there are variants based upon causes. Ask for further details.
• Shaman characters are available, these are a homebrew variant that function mostly as spontaneous divine casters. Ask for further details, or see website.
• Various fighting styles exist that can be used with monks or fighters. You may use the styles from the SRD, or there are also some in-house styles available. Ask for further details.
• Priests are either wandering mendicants or ceremonial priests. Most revere the Ten Thousand Immortals as a whole, whilst a rare few focus on specific gods.
• Your characters start with no equipment except the clothes on their backs, so bear that in mind if creating a character that relies heavily on an item or focus. Spellcasters can start with their full complement of readied spells.
• I usually allow for a re-jigging of your character after a short while of play (perhaps a month realtime) if you find that your original concept doesn’t work for you.
Other elements
• All characters begin at 1st level.
• Your character starts with nothing. The standard currency is the glass yen. One yen equals one copper piece, thus 1 sp = 10 yen, 1 gp = 100 yen and so forth. Relative costs, etc. are the same as SRD.
• Generally, I prefer feats, spells etc. from the SRD only since it makes it easier to look up, but I’m open to variants (with the caveat given above re: class). There are a few homebrew feats available.
• There is no alignment.
• Starting hit points are Con score, plus Con bonus, plus maximum class hit die. Hit points beyond 1st level are hit dice plus Con bonus, as usual.
Your character background
As sparse or as detailed as you’d prefer. I’m open to Design In Play background as much (perhaps more) than a long and in-depth backstory. You will need some reason for being in the slave mines – perhaps framed by a rival, or you got on the wrong side of organised criminals. Perhaps you are a habitual criminal yourself. This game would probably suit characters with fairly low moral fibre and a will to expediency moreso than a Johnny Upright, but a personality clash or two will make for interesting times.
Try to avoid real world names – most Conclave names tend to be translated into some from of description such as Chance, Amber, Five Lives, Fifth Fortunate Son etc. Generally, the richer somebody is, the more florid their name tends to be. See the World of Conclave website for other ideas. Non-human names are covered in the PDF file for each race.
Playing the Game
• Generally, I’ll do the dice rolls and report the results. You are welcome to use Invisible Castle for attack rolls, initiative etc. if you like, or for any skill checks where success/failure is immediately apparent.
• Use Spoiler boxes for private messages and for OOC mechanics, etc.
• Experience will be fairly free-form, unless or until anybody wants to run a crafter or make heavy use of XP-cost spells. Usually, I will tell you when you gain a level. 10th or higher level characters are considered quite important heroes/villains in the World of Conclave. Characters above 16th level or so are pretty much unheard of except in legend.
• I use Diplomacy slightly differently. You don’t, generally, change the attitude of an NPC by more than one step per successful roll. You can over a series of good rolls, talk them round, but equally you can annoy them as well with a series of bad rolls. NPCs have varying susceptibilities to Diplomacy, Bluff and Intimidate.
• There is no predetermined “plot” to speak of. There are things going on in the world that may intersect with your characters, and there will be, initially, some obvious choices available to your characters, but a lot of the game will revolve around the actions of the characters, and the consequences of those actions. What I’m trying to avoid in this game is having a patron NPC sending you off on missions.
Focused Attack
Req: Weapon Focus, ranks in Concentration
Effects: As a move action, make a Concentration check. Depending on the result, the next attack you deal with a weapon of choice will cause extra damage:
Concentration check Damage
10-19 +1d6
20-29 +2d6
30-39 +3d6
40-49 +4d6
50-59 +5d6
etc.
You can't Take 10 on this check, and the attack must be made immediately after the Concentration check.
Special: If you have Quick Draw you can draw and focus (but not also move) at the same time. This also stacks with Sneak Attack damage if applicable (a focused strike against a flat-footed foe). This is an adaption of the Iaijutsu rules.
Lion's Roar
Req: Cha 13+, BAB +1 or better
Once per day, as a standard action you can unleash a terrifying battle cry. All opponents who are within 30 ft., able to hear you and have lower HD/ than you must make a Will save (DC 10 +1/2 your character level + your Charisma modifer) or be shaken for 1d6 rounds. (Adaptation of Ki Shout)
Fire Mage
Req: Spontaneous spellcaster
You add the following spells to your known spell list. Essentially you get one bonus known spell per level. This doesn't affect spells per day.
1. Fiery Eyes* - your eyes glow, illuminating area. May ignite objects with focussed gaze.
2. Animate Fire* - turn Small or smaller fire into animated object.
3. Fire Wings* - arms become flaming wings. May fly and burn things.
4. Wall of Fire
5. Fire Breath* - breath fire 1/round. 1d8 per 2 levels to 1 target in 15ft.
6. Fires of Purity* - subject bathed in aura of fire, becoming dangerous weapon.
7. Firestorm
8. Incendiary Cloud
9. Internal Fire* - target burns from inside out.
*These are all from Oriental Adventures, and may need a little bit of re-jigging to make them 3.5 compatible.
Note: Yes, this is more potent than the existing feat that allows spontaneous casters *one* extra spell, but I don't think it's too unbalancing as its benefits play out over a long period. I doubt we'll be seeing 18th level in a PBP game, unless we fast-forward over a few levels. Other themed spell lists could be available.
Scribe Scroll becomes Craft Spell-Completion Item. The end product is the same - an item that gives a single use of a spell, that can be used by anyone with that spell on his spell list. It may be a scroll - sutras and ofudas are fairly common, it may be a talisman or lucky charm. The exact form is up to you, depending on the character of your spellcaster.
Brew Potion becomes Craft Single Use Item. This is a single use magical item, usable by anybody. It may be a potion or oil, it may be a specially grown fruit, it may be a scroll, it may be a pebble inscribed with magical symbols. Most spells can be turned into single use items. Ranged attack spells are usually turned into 'detonations' that require a ranged touch attack to work. Some special cases may need review on an individual basis.
The Bonded Item feat may be taken by any character of 3rd level or above, provided that they have used the item in question through several dangerous situations (and it has made a difference). A bonded item gives a +1 enhancement bonus to its 'normal use'. Most common would be a weapon, gaining this bonus to attack. A suit of armour may also benefit but other items such as thieves tools, rope, artists brushes and so forth are all candidates. Once bonded, the wielder can also spend XP to add further enhancements to the bonded item. Thus a bonded sword can gain further bonuses or special abilities. Obviously this is easier to adjudicate for weapons and armour but imagination can be applied to other equipment.
This means that, for example, swords become legendary because of who wields them, not who made them.
Losing a bonded item may or may not be a real pain. They should be fixable, with maybe a monetary cost for the ceremonial materials. Still on the subject of swords, that gives you a quest to retrieve the Green Destiny sword, or to reforge the Sword That Was Broken etc.
Spell Slots
For spontaneous casters, I'm thinking of including a ruling from Arcana Evolved.
You can 'weave together' three spell slots of a given level to create one of a higher level. Thus you can give up 3 0th level slots to cast another 1st level spell.
Conversely, you can 'unweave' a higher level spell slot to give two slots of the next level down. Thus you can give up one 2nd level slot to create two 1st level slots.
Weaving up can be done indefinitely. You can weave three 0th level spell slots, add that new 1st level spell slots to 2 existing 1st level spell slots, weave those three to give a new 2nd level, and so forth.
Weaving down can only be done for one level. The spell energy 'released' is weaker and less stable. Spell slots created by unweaving a higher level spell cannot be unwoven further.
0th level spells cannot be unwoven. 9th level spells cannot be woven. (Neither has anywhere to go!).
This gives greater flexibility to casters and makes them more useful for longer. It also adds a very fun element of resource management where a caster can 'throw his last bit on magical power' into one hopefully crucial spell, rather than being stuck with a bunch of 0th level resistance spells.
Death and Dying
Again, adopted from Arcana Evolved/Book of Experimental Might.
If you have a Con score that gives you a bonus, your 'disabled' range spans 0 and minus that bonus. Your 'dying' range then goes to minus your Con.
So, if you have Con 14 (+2 bonus), you are disabled from 0 to -2 hit points, and dying from -3 to -14 hit points. If you have a Con 9 (-1), you are disabled as normal on 0 hit points and dying from -1 to -9 hit points.
Would you allow some ranger variants (or other classes) done by myself, but based on UA? Such as loose animal companion and spells to gain more feats? What about traits and flaws? Could I create some of my own?
One more thing: are we using Pathfinder Beta or just SRD?
Hmm... I'm tempted to use Pathfinder Beta because the base classes are better, although I'd need to rejig some of the Conclave races, and it's quicker for me to refer to the SRD. If there's overwhelming support for PF, then I'll go that way.
I'm happy to review any variant, er, variants, subject to approval. I generally dislike traits and flaws so I'm not allowing them, but you all start with one trait similar to those offered in the Pathfinder Adventure Paths.
You gain a +2 bonus to one skill, plus one of the following:
+2 bonus to another skill or
+1 initiative or
+1 to any one save or
A bonus language.
The combinations are up to you, but ought to make some sort of sense connected with your background.
Opdigan: No spellbook, no components pouch. Just that you have your full number of spells prepared, or spell slots available.
However, I'm going to ignore the requirement for a spellbook as it isn't thematically appropriate to the setting anyway. For wizards, you have a number of spells known, and of those, a number prepared (as usual). You don't need to actually read from a book to prepare spells, but you do need the same amount of time to prepare spells as per the usual rules for wizards. The difference is, you are meditating, or praying to the Immortals, or communing with your ancestors or whatever method you prefer. When you learn new spells, you don't "write them into your book", merely learn them and add them to your repertoire.
Material components - you will need to improvise these from what's available. Anything thematically appropriate will probably work.
If you require a Divine Focus, spells cast without one take twice as long to cast, i.e a Standard action becomes a Full Round, a Full Round becomes 2 rounds etc.
Nightflier: Not sure I understand the question. Post your character here, please.
MaxPowers: Thanks, it's not all my own work. I've only really been using it for gaming for about a year, although the setting dates back to 1999 in its original conception. It took a while to grow to something useable, and to get all the d20 mechanics in place!
Dr Simon, I have decided to go with a Gem Edraldi Druid. I feel it will be a little bit more thematically appropriate.
I am just having a bit of trouble finding the Age/Weight part of the race. Can you point me in the right direction please?
Ooh, don't think I ever did that! You can use the height/weight of a dwarf. As for age, the Edraldi are "born" fully formed, so I'd say 1d6+1 years old for an "adult" character, with middle age setting in about 60 years old.
Name: Kordev the Absolute
Race: Gem Edraldi
Class: Druid
Personality: None are more easily distracted than this druid. Kordev easily slips away into daydreams when busy with mundane tasks, and can normally by found mumbling about some exotic gem he is trying to find. When prompted to speak though, he becomes very withdrawn. Most conversations with him turn out to be very cryptic, since he over thinks his answers and alludes as little as possible to his train of thought.
Background: Kordev was out one night on the fringe of his territory when he heard voices. He silently approached and found a group of men on the beach. They were loading crates off a boat and onto a cart. There were at least a dozen men. Kordev watched as one man twisted his ankle on the beach and dropped one side of a crate. The box smashed open and thousands of gems poured out onto the sand. The druid was captivated when he saw a monstrous diamond roll out. It must have been at least as big as the sling-bullets on his belt. His eyes locked onto the rock and his feet started to move forward. He had to touch that diamond.
Needless to say he never got close to the stone. After a couple of steps he was hit on the head and woke up a day or so later, in a crate. Now he finds himself slaving away in a mine. The cruelest torture imaginable for someone like Kordev. Even if he finds a beautiful stone, he can only keep it for a second. They know he likes gems, and they are watching him more so for it.
Sorry for double post. Can't edit previous post for some reason. Clicking on the name takes you to the character sheet. Let me know if its ok.
Name: Kordev the Absolute
Race: Gem Edraldi
Class: Druid
All looks in order to me, although you need another 1st level spell, and in languages replace "Common" with "Low Imperial". There's nothing like a widespread druidic brotherhood either, so there's no Druidic language. You can use Spiritspeech instead, if you like, which is a common language to all creatures of the spirit world.
In answer to your previous question, I think any of those animal companions would be okay. I think we can assume that he has befriended this creature since becoming a prisoner in the mines, rather than it having come with him.
Another point about Edraldi is that due to the Stonebond racial characteristic he probably would have been quite sick on the long sea journey to his current location. Obviously, he's better now!
Visually, I have in mind for the Edraldi a sort of mixture of Aughra from the Dark Crystal, the Thivin race from Skyrealms of Jorune, and Raggety the troll from Rupert the Bear. You may need to Google some of those!
(And as for Edit, I haven't used these forums much, but it seems like there is a finite period of time after posting that you can go back and edit your post. After that, the option disappears).
Ok, will update those points and google the races. Are you sure its not just 2 spells? One from level 1 and one bonus.It does seem to have a edit time after which it is locked.
If I might ask, where are you based? UK?
Re: Spells, I'll check your sheet again, I thought you only had Produce Flame down for 1st level, but, yes, you should have 2 1st level spells in total.
Of those visual aids, I found Aughra to be the easiest to find pictures of, the others are a bit more obscure. It's not vital that you do so, it just gives you a rough idea of the image I have of the Edraldi, except that hair/beard/horns are made from material like tree-roots.
Yes, UK.
I've created the character using Beta rules, but I haven't done all the fine tuning. Here's the concept for your approval:
N Human Male Ranger(variant) 1
28 point buy
STR 11
DEX 18(+2)
CON 10
INT 16
WIS 10
CHA 10
Headhunter Ranger Variant
Ranger looses Wild Empathy, Hunter's Bond and Spells but gains bonus feat at first level and additional Combat Style whenever combat style is gained.
Skills (6 + 3 Int + 1 race + 1 fav. class) 11
Climb +4
Craft(Weaponsmithing) +9 (+2 bonus)
Craft(Bowmaking) +7
Craft(Armorsmithing) +7
Heal +4
Intimidate +4
Perception +4
Ride +9
Stealth +11 (+2 bonus)
Survival +4
Swim +4
Feats 3 (1 standard at 1st level, 1 race bonus feat, 1 class bonus feat)
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Sword - katana equivalent)
Weapon Bond (Bastard Sword/Dex)*
Stealthy
*(Choose an ability score other than Strength to modify your attacks and damage with the bonded weapon; consider the
chosen ability score’s bonus your Strength bonus for these purposes.)
Appearance
Kai is a young man, perhaps 19 years of age, perhaps few years older - or younger. He is tall and thin from a long hunger. His body is covered in scars from old wounds and some of his bones were obviously broken. Kai was once a handsome young man, but not any more. Left side of his face bears a terrible scar - a brand in the form of a dragon eating his own tail. On his right arm there is a beautiful black and smoky-gray tattoo of a dragon coiled around the arm, with head just beneath Kai's shoulder. Eyes above sharp cheakbones are green as a bamboo forest in spring, and crudely shorned hair is black like the raven's wing.
Personality
Kai is the silent loner who spends much of the time trying to learn how to play crude flute he has made.
Background
Kai knows nothing about himself except his name. His past is a clean slate. That earned him a nickname "Kai of No Past".
Here's my character. These are basic stats. For the rest, I have the books.
Sev 19 years old Female Tlaxu (Monk 1)
Saves: REF +4 WIL +4 FOR +4
AC: 14
HP: 25
Stats:
STR 10
DEX 15
CON 15
INT 8
WIS 15
CHA 10
Skills:
If 3.5
Climb 4+2
Listen 4+2
Spot4+2
If Beta
Climb 1+3+2
Perception 1+3+2
Acrobatics 1+3+2
Feats:
Focused attack.
5 feet 8 inches.
Okay, cool, thanks folks. I'll give a full look later.
Well, looks like we have some groundswell towards using PF Beta, and to be honest I'm tempted myself. So, Opdigan, I don't think that affects you massively except for 0th level spells, and you can choose the domain ability version of nature bond instead of an animal companion if you like. Some skills may need to be re-jigged.
I think most of the racial bonuses are easy enough to convert to PF skills, but PF races have a net +2 to ability scores so I think the following should be applied:
Edraldi +2 Con (changing the bonus of Earth Edraldi to +2 Dex)
Tlaxu +2 Str
Other races if they come up.
Okay, cool, thanks folks. I'll give a full look later.
Well, looks like we have some groundswell towards using PF Beta, and to be honest I'm tempted myself. So, Opdigan, I don't think that affects you massively except for 0th level spells, and you can choose the domain ability version of nature bond instead of an animal companion if you like. Some skills may need to be re-jigged.
I think most of the racial bonuses are easy enough to convert to PF skills, but PF races have a net +2 to ability scores so I think the following should be applied:
Edraldi +2 Con (changing the bonus of Earth Edraldi to +2 Dex)
Tlaxu +2 StrOther races if they come up.
If its possible I would like to go back to my first choice of wizard then. I really want to try out the PF wizard. My character will stay basically the same, except that he will become a steel edraldi wizard.
Okay, some other points on re-reading things:
Nightflier - seems fine to me. What's the progression on the bonus feats? My gut would be to use the same as SRD wizard (1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th) rather than two per level with Combat Style (although there might be overlap). I like Kai's mysterious past, there are some tie-ins that already suggest themself to me....
Spinning Dice: Tlerixxial seems good, carry on.
Kevin-Eric, Sev looks fine at first glance, needs more skills. I've noticed that Focussed Attack uses Concentration as I've written it, but this is folded into Spellcraft in PF. This doesn't seem like the right skill, so I'm changing it to Sense Motive (class skill for Monk and Paladin, who seem the right sort of character to use this kind of attack).
Favoured classes for Conclave races:
Edraldi: Druid and Barbarian
Tlaxu: Ranger and Shaman
Salsham'ai: Rogue and Shaman
Ti-Kop: Ranger and Cleric
Ura: Fighter and Cleric
Nai-nek-Chai: Rogue and Sorcerer
I'm still working out this ranger variant. I've decided to call it Hunter-Killer. PFRPG Beta Ranger receives Wild Empathy at 1st level, but HK receives Weapon Bond bonus feat instead. WB is based on the trait of same name from Iron Heroes. Ranger receives Hunter's Bond at 4th level; I would replace that with bonus feat. Additional bonus feats would be gained every time that animal companion would progress in power: 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th. So, suma sumarum - bonus feat at 1st and 6 bonus feats starting at 4th. Remeber - no animal companion, no wild empathy and no spells.
Considering background, Kai has in fact gained the enmity of a powerful enemy and sometimes has nightmares, but he doesn't remember them when he wakes. Perhaps HK's were some kind of monastic or knightly order destroyed by someone and he's only survivor?
I'm still working out this ranger variant. I've decided to call it Hunter-Killer. PFRPG Beta Ranger receives Wild Empathy at 1st level, but HK receives Weapon Bond bonus feat instead. WB is based on the trait of same name from Iron Heroes. Ranger receives Hunter's Bond at 4th level; I would replace that with bonus feat. Additional bonus feats would be gained every time that animal companion would progress in power: 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th. So, suma sumarum - bonus feat at 1st and 6 bonus feats starting at 4th. Remeber - no animal companion, no wild empathy and no spells.
Considering background, Kai has in fact gained the enmity of a powerful enemy and sometimes has nightmares, but he doesn't remember them when he wakes. Perhaps HK's were some kind of monastic or knightly order destroyed by someone and he's only survivor?
Hmm... last survivor of a monastic order? Kai? Sounds like Lone Wolf to me :). Well... could be, we'll see how things pan out in play.
I don't think a feat progression like that will be too unbalanced, but maybe have a list to select from, even if the same as Fighter bonus feats. I thought I'd seen that feat somewhere before. Well, since I was originally planning the prison-mine set up for an Iron Heroes game, it seems appropos.
To all:
Don't forget the "campaign traits" I mentioned above. Some examples:
Old Salt. You have grown up around and on board sea-going ships. +2 to Swim and Profession (sailor).
Educated. You have been raised with fine tutors who have educated in topics worthy of a Magister. High Imperial language, +2 to Knowledge (nobility and courtesy).
Hunted. Someone is after you, and has been for some while. You are always having to keep one step ahead. +2 Listen and +1 Initiative.
Magical Knack. Perhaps the spirit world flows in your veins, but you have a minor talent for magic even though you have no training. Light (or other 0th level spell) at will. +2 Use Magic Device.
Also:
I have a number of "Bloodline Levels" that you could use if you want your character to have some sort of heritage from the spirit world (or another aspect is draconic bloodlines, but I haven't worked out the full details). These are 3 level classes that you can multi-class into that grant class abilities appropriate to the spirit type. For example River Spirit Bloodline gives you a swim speed, the ability to speak with fish and ultimately water breathing. Fire spirit is a physical kind of thing giving you bonuses to Strength and Dexterity, and (I think) eventually Fire Resistance. Sun Spirit, on the other hand, shows a heritage connection to Golden Crow, geomantic animal of the sky and rulership. It grants various spell-like abilities based on charm, rulership and blessings.
You *could* start at 1st level with one of these but it probably isn't worth it. If you're interested in exploring the concept further, let me know.
KEB: Forget what I said about the skills for Sev, I am an idiot and didn't see the 8 Int!
Lone Wolf never crossed my mind; this is fine example of subconsciousness at work. :) Fighter feats are fine by me, and I've considered some dragon connection in Kai's past. Are dragons oriental? A question: do you have katana equivalent in your world, or should I think of something? Perhaps straight-edged blade and curved handle?
Lone Wolf never crossed my mind; this is fine example of subconsciousness at work. :) Fighter feats are fine by me, and I've considered some dragon connection in Kai's past. Are dragons oriental? A question: do you have katana equivalent in your world, or should I think of something? Perhaps straight-edged blade and curved handle?
Dragons: Its not so much a case of "oriental" or not, although what I have done is combined the standard dragons with the "lung" dragons of Oriental Adventures. Dragon types are all related to what element or natural feature they are connected with, not so much by colour and alignment. So you have fire dragons, storm dragons, river dragons, star dragons, celestial dragons etc. However, there aren't many at large in the world. This article might be of interest.
Katana: Not by that name, as such, but similar weapons would exist. Famed amomgst the Empire of Splendour and her former holdings are the so-called Silent Swords, named because they are made in Fnoi Province, formerly the Nome of Silence. These are known to be well-made, from good quality steel due to the skill of the local craftsmen. Apart from that, they have no special qualities (although would usually be considered masterwork).
Alternatively, the distant nation of Obrenaja craft a sword known as the felles, which has a long hilt allowing one or two handed use, and is superbly balanced to negate the weight of the blade for the user. More information (and pictures!) are here, but be warned this is the old Conclave site and there will be annoying pop-ups.
Humans
For those of you who have chosen human characters, there are several branches of humanity that you can choose from.
The Empire of Splendour once ruled most of the southern portion of the Inner Continent and the seas beyond, but has shrunk over the centuries. The Nekuu people are the most numerous in this area, looking the most East Asian. They span from the far northern province of Ut'Bharma all the way down the Necklace of Plenty island chain. In traditional Imperial areas they are considered as peasants and workers.
The Ashara people are tall with coffee-coloured skin and almond eyes, often quite androgynous. In the Empire, the Asharans usually assume positions of power and rulership. The Anhoi people come from the eastern part of the Empire, and are olive-skinned with dark blue-black curly hair. The Empire regards them as merchants or troublemakers. The Dron come from Dronistor, in the west of the Empire. They have striking orange skin, blond hair and blue eyes - these dronish characteristics are always present together, or not at all, in people of mixed dron descent.
Outside the Empire, there are many other nationalities and phenotypes.
The Moa-Ruaki are sea-going nomads with a Polynesian appearance. The Denra-Lyr are similar to the Asharans in appearance but their culture is much less ordered and regulated than the Imperial model. Vaarta is a vast xenophobic country with similarities to Imperial Russia. As well as the Vaartan people (pale-skinned, blone or brown hair) there are the Hinar and the Tenguru, similar to the Nekuuese.
The Atala are a strange green-skinned race of humans, scattered across the Southern Sea area after the destruction of their homeland back in the times of legend. They are most numerous in the Technocracy of Hudan.
Note that any and all of these physical characteristics can be intermixed. Imperial prejudices have no bearing in truth, or game terms (i.e. you don't get a bonus to Appraise for being Anhoin)
I like the concept of Obrenaj. I'll change my character accordingly. I still don't know what to do with the swords. Are those swords you mentioned different from bastard in terms of damage, critical and so forth? Perhaps I could design my own flavor, better to supplement character's background, if it's ok by you?
I like the concept of Obrenaj. I'll change my character accordingly. I still don't know what to do with the swords. Are those swords you mentioned different from bastard in terms of damage, critical and so forth? Perhaps I could design my own flavor, better to supplement character's background, if it's ok by you?
I think, mechanically, they'd be the same as a bastard sword, so if you want to come up with yur own flavour text, be my guest. Don't forget, however, that he's got no equipment at the start of the game, so finding one could be part of his motivation.
Spinning Dice: All looks correct to me. I've only seen a PF barbarian in action at 1st level so far, so I hope he lasts to level up and you get to choose a rage ability.
Languages of Conclave:
Low Imperial - effectively, the Common tongue for this part of the world.
High Imperial - Used in the Empire for official documents, and courtly etiquette. Has various modes depicting relative status between speaker and listener.
Ut'Bharman - Provincial Imperial langauge from the far north.
Dronish - Provincial Imperial language from the western province of Dronistor.
Thell - Provincial Imperial language from the small mountain nation of Thellingerstan.
Denra-Lyr - human language from the nation of Denra-Lyr.
Moa-Ruaki - human langauge used by Moa-Ruaki sea-going nomads. Something of a trade tongue amongst islanders.
Vaartan - human language from the Khazarate of Vaarta.
Hinar and Tenguru - local languages within Vaarta.
Themnassic - main language of the Salsham'ai.
Shromic - a secondary Salsham'ai language, similar to Spiritspeech. Usually only used by spellcasters.
Tlaxan - Language of the Plains and Mountain Tlaxu.
Mopendine - Language of the Mopendor Tlaxu, similar enough to Tlaxan to be usable.
Tik - Language of the Ti-Kop fish-folk. Non- Ti-Kop can only hope to speak/understand a fraction of the nuances of sound.
Uran - language of the Ura folk.
Edraldi - language of the Edraldi, obviously!
Obrenje - language of the Obrenaja, who are quite a long way from the start of this campaign.
Geil, Imbata, a'Keshite - languages from the Outer Continent, even further from the start of the campaign.
Draconic - as per SRD
Spiritspeech - common tongue of the spirit world. Kind of supercedes Celestial, Infernal and Abyssal, and also overlaps the elemental languages too, since the cosmology is different to the "great wheel" idea.
I'm pretty certain there are other languages too that I've forgotten.
Jaden - all looks good, but I think you need a background trait as well, I couldn't see one.
Kai - looks good. I'd put Low Imperial down as his "known" language.
Kordev - looks good, background is still the gem version but that's just cosmetic. You might want to change either Sylvan or Terran to Spiritspeech, as you'll probably find that more useful.
Waiting for the final versions of the tlaxu characters now, then we'll start.
