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"What, you mean Demonsbane or whatever your sword's name is isn't cutting it? You don't see Erowin complaining, do you? He doesn't even have a shield!" ***** Oh, sure. Blame it on the gear, why don't you? Oldest excuse in the book. But when I was locked in that cell, manacled, stripped of gear, and with only the rats for friends, did you see me complaining about my gear? No! I waited until dinner-time, choked down the gruel they served me, fed the stale bread to the rats, and said, "Oh look. They gave me a spoon."
Raz turns and looks at Frank and Frederic with a patronizingly quizzical expression. "Seriously? You want to head back to town because the cart's too full of loot? We've got a job to do down here! You want to give the demons a chance to regroup? Better to finish it first. Slay now, loot later, capiche?" ***** Adventurers. Pssh. More like adventure capitalists, am I right? I mean, don't get me wrong, I like finding shiny objects just as much as the next guy. But this cave ain't the lost city of Ureh. It's not going to just disappear with everything in it as soon as the job is done. And most of this stuff is junk, anyway, worth a few silvers at best. Copper-wise, gold-foolish as they say. Give me a single cracked wand over ten superior longbows any day of the week.
Rasmus grimaces as the axe bites into his arm. "Gah! I'm gonna have to clean that! Those blades don't look sanitary." Rasmus dodges out of the way, trying to put himself somewhere useful. Finding an opening, he sinks a katar into the base of a demon's skull, severing the spine in a manner most satisfying. He turns his head to look at Frank. "See, that's how we do it in the VJ! That right there? That was textbook." OOC: I'm not really sure what enemies are still alive. I guess I'll roll an attack just in case. I'll assume it takes a move action to get in position, but I'll also assume I can manage flanking.
Rasmus blink. Then blinks again. With one dark flash, all but one of the Fallen have, well, fallen. "You know, forget what I said. Turtles are great, I love turtles!" * * * * * Necromancers. 'Priests of Rathma', they call themselves. I've never actually met one myself until Pallan, but you hear stories. Shadowy cabals of pale men with clammy skin, dark rituals carried out deep in the jungles, stuff like that. All I really know is that they aren't typically targeted by my order for elimination. I don't know who this Trey Ghoul guy is, but it seems to me like he knows a thing or two about killing demons, so he's alright in my book.
Rasmus is surprised at the defensive posture his companions take up. He'd have at least expected the hulking barbarian to charge in wildly, but instead they appeared to be trying to draw the demons toward them. Unfortunately, they might not be doing enough. The camp seems to be out in front of this so-called Den of Evil. All it would take is for one of the little red bastards to sound the warning and rally the troops below. For once, a frenzied charge might have been the better option. Take them by surprise, finish it before they can raise an alarm. Raz can't help but groan as Pallid declares a 30-ft quarantine around himself. "Yeah, turtle up right in the middle, why don't you?" he mutters to himself. Deciding their musclebound behemoth probably has the right idea, Rasmus gets into position nearby, trying to stay out of the necromancer's way. OOC: Move action up to G12, standard action to... I don't know, ready an attack? Seems unlikely that it'll go off.
Oooh, we can definitely get some good RP out of it. Some irrational fear and blaming the necromancer for his dark powers, maybe? Sorry, I was away for the weekend. I'll have a post up momentarily. I didn't explicitly say so before, but I'm interested in the masterwork katar.
Lol wut? Did you seed the loot with targeted items or is that legitimately just sweet luck? I'm not upset in either case.
The creatures aren't particularly quick. The clumsy swipes leave the creature open to attack, and Rasmus doesn't hesitate, plunging both sets of blades into the quilled hide. OOC: 5-foot step to H17; flanking Q3 with Bryna on the diagonal.
Groundhog, do you have any opinions on salvaging materials? It's not necessarily true to the Diablo style, but I imagine there will be less loot than the game (the Blood Moor probably won't be littered with cracked daggers and bolt quivers). At low levels we might make do with scavenging. For example, would the quills be usable as thrown weapons?
As the accumulated mass of flesh and steel leaves the 'safety' of the rogue's encampment, Rasmus straps strange bladed gauntlets to his wrists. Three sharp blades portrude from each hilt like the claws of some vicious animal. To a trained eye, the blades look they haven't seen much use. The metal bears few scratches and no trace of staining. It feels a bit strange to Rasmus to be traveling in such a large group. Assassins rarely travel together, and never in more than pairs or the rare trio. But with a party this large traveling over open land toward a known destination, there's little point to sending a scout ahead; they would simply deal with whatever threats that may come as they come. And come they do. The quilled beasts are quick, and with two off to their left and one peeling to the right, they appear to have some bestial understanding of pack tactics. Grimacing, Rasmus breaks ranks to tussle with the pair on the left. Closing with them should eliminate the threat of ranged quills, but the little monsters don't seem to shy away from getting up close and personal, either. "Somebody cover me with the other one," he belatedly calls to the others. OOC:
Move action to I17 in a fashion as to avoid provoking AoO.
Raz gives the creature a wide berth as he approaches, hoping to take it from the front and keep the other one off of him. Closing, he lunges, stabbing at what must pass for the creature's face.
I could see an offensive Channel Energy-focused cleric being a good fit in the setting, but I say play whatever's going to be most fun for you. After all, we're all gonna die.
Standing near the back of the gathered crowd, a small man with Eastern features and raven-black hair leans against a wagon rubbing his hands together and warming his fingers with his breath. The red scarf hanging around his neck waves gently in the breeze. He watches with some horror as the others break out into groups, apparently chomping at the bit to start cleansing the land of evil. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I heard you," he says, approaching Akara. "You said Andariel, right? You've got the Maiden of Anguish holed up in your citadel? Somebody want to tell me exactly how that happened?" * * * * * Andariel, right. I've been in this stupid kingdom for, what, like, two days now? I show up and everybody's like, "Oh, hey, we killed And speaking of the next guy, check out the crowd we're pulling. Knight in shining armor? Check. Scrawny looking kid with delusions of grandeur? Check? Smokin' hot amazon just itching for an excuse to put an arrow through my eye-socekt? Oh, you know it, baby. And don't forget about Mr. Mount Arreat over here. 'Erodin smash!' I guess I'd better just be glad he's on my side. Interesting times, my foot. We're all gonna die. * * * * * "Yeah, yeah, charge right through the gap," says the red-scarfed man, slinking up behind the others once he's finished [S]crapping his pants[/I] interrogating the High Priestess. "You first, pal. Don't worry, I'll be right behind you. Ain't that right, Eowyn?" he asks, giving the mountain of muscle a genial slap on the (lower) back. He tries not to roll his eyes as the assembled warriors introduce themselves. He makes do by resting his eyes on the bronzed Nioku. "I'm Rasmus. You can call me Raz. I hunt demons. And mages who summon them," he says with a pointed glare at the scrawny kid in second-hand Vizjerei spirit robes. Where'd he get those, anyway? "People tell me I'm sneaky, but personally, I don't see it." When the introductions are over, Rasmus approaches their armored knight. "Hey you, Gap Band. I'm new in town, and I've got a few questions for you. See, I came down here to look into this Tristram thing, but everybody's saying it's finished, talking about how they killed... well, you know," he says, looking around furtively and dropping his voice. Daring not to say the demon's name, he mouths Diablo. "Anyway, you got any more information on what might have went down in that cathedral?"
...I think there might be a timeline issue there - Diablo was defeated roughly a month ago. I do like the concept though. As always, I am not the GM; anything the GM says to contradict what follows should be preferred unambiguously. Actually, Tristram is destroyed in Diablo II immediately following the events of Diablo and doesn't recover; if you've played Act I, you know what I mean. The lore of Diablo talks some about the mythological past and the ancient past, but not about the near past. You're pretty well free to make up your own stuff there, as long as it doesn't overshadow or contradict the present problems. As for the necromancer's 'religion', they are Priests of Rathma in the sense that Rathma was the first of their order, not their deity. The closest thing they have to a deity is Trag'Oul (Trang'oul according to in-game spelling, contradicted by all published novels), some sort of dragon that exists beyond this world. The necromancers are also one of the few groups that might have a more concrete view of the cosmology of Sanctuary, the Burning Hells, and the High Heavens. Otherwise, yeah, they're very actively True Neutral, in the sense that they want to keep both the BH and the HH from interfering in Sanctuary. There's some quasi-canonical fluff I've read that their skeletons aren't full skeletons, but golems made from bone shards in the ground, but I think that was just a half-hearted handwaving to answer somebody's question about why there are full skeletons buried in the ground literally everywhere.
Thankfully the Feat Tax Breaks help us out by making it easier to focus on weapon groups instead of individual weapons. Speaking of, I'm pretty stoked about the kunai. Thrown weapons that do bludgeoning and piercing? I'm looking forward to shattering a few skeletons from range (all 10 ft of it XD)!
Here's some preliminary stuff for Rasmus. It's also in the alias, but I thought I'd post it here for convenience sake. Crunch is almost done, except for equipment. I'm aiming to appropriately capture the dark fantasy tone of Diablo, but through a character with a more modern voice. Similar to the Rat Queens comic series if you've read it, or a bit like Deadpool does Diablo. I'm prepared for you to hate it if it's not in line with what you're going for. Backstory/Writing sample:
"Who am I? Who am I? Sit down and shut up. I'm asking the questions around here, or my else name's Jim-Bob Malkowitz.
And before you ask, no, my name's not Jim-Bob Malkowitz. The name's Rasmus. Friends call me Spooner. See, there was this thing with a spoon, right? It's a long story, it's sorta involved, you had to be there. Anyway, you can call me Raz. What's your name? Warriv? Alright then, Warriv, if that is your real name, I've got some questions for you. See, Warren, I'm new in the neighborhood. It took three caravans and an ocean voyage to get in the neighborhood, but I'm here now. Long trip, right? See, I came all the way down here to this turgid, backwater kingdom because we got word that something was going down in Tristram. Something real bad. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, don't you, Warner? See, my organization, the people I work for, we're on the side of the angels, if you know I mean. Not like the actual angels or anything. What I'm saying is we do bad things to bad men who do bad things. And word is there was a very bad man in Tristram who did some very bad things. And that's a problem for me. Listen Hogwart, I'm going to level with you here. I'm a hardcore, mage-hunting, demon-killing machine. I'm a bad mamma-jamma, as they say in Kurast. A seasoned field operative. So when we hear that there's some increased demon activity out in yonder backwater western kingdom, I'm on the next boat over. No big deal, I'm thinking. It's probably just some knucklehead rogue Vizjerei with a "quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore". Happens all the time. They go digging around the wrong library, find some forbidden knowledge, next thing you know they're off summoning little red demons or whatever. You know, I don't blame them, I really don't. I've seen those cloister studies, the ink fumes alone would drive anyone to the edge. I digress. You know, I've always wanted to say that. I'm glad I get to say it with you, Wendall. I digress. So I show up in Ye Olde Feudal Monarchy, and what do I find? Demons. They're everywhere! Monsters, too. And people are saying somtheing nasty went down in Tristram. I'm hearing things about dead kings, crazed archbishops, human sacrifice. It's not a pretty picture. And I hear people talking about a demon. A big one. Yeah, you know who I'm talking abou- NO! We don't say his name! What's with you people? This ain't some minor lieutenant like Gorbacz the Vile-Tongued. This is serious business! You all should be terrified! I'm a hardened veteran, and I'm shaking in my boots! Figuratively, of course. You don't just go around name-dropping the Lord of Terror like he's in every minstrel's latest song, is what I'm saying. Speaking of, the latest minstrel songs are saying that some group of adventurers took out Big D not too long ago. But I've got a hunch that the job isn't quite finished yet. I mean, look around you, Waylan. You think, if they'd managed to finish him off, there'd be all these demons and monsters everywhere? But that's just a hunch, and I've got real work to do. I'm not talking about slaying demons, oh no. Much worse. Paperwork. Being a professional mage assassin isn't as cool as it sounds. Oh who am I kidding, it's exactly as cool as it sounds. But what they don't tell you about is the paperwork. See, there's this whole investigation process, right? I've got to sit all you witnesses down and take statements, and then there's the reports, and on and on. I'm a busy guy, is what I'm saying. I've got demons to slay and reports to file. So how's about helping me out here, huh? Help me help you. We'll take it from the top, Wayne. You say you're a caravan driver, yeah? Tell me a little more about that..." * * * * * Rasmus is an initiate in the Viz-Jaq'taar, an ancient order of assassins formed in the aftermath of the Mage Clan Wars with the sole purpose of eliminating rogue mages. After the Mage Clan Wars, the Vizjerei realized that their order had become corrupted, and in order to prevent further disaster, they would have to police themselves. Thus was founded the Viz-Jaq'taar, the Mage-Slayers, an elite force charged with ensuring that such corruption never again takes hold among the Clans. Their agents are peerless fighters, training their bodies and honing their combat skills to an artform. In order to ensure they remain above the corruption with which they are tasked to hunt and destroy, they are forbidden from studying the arcane arts. Instead harnessing mystical energies from within, they seek out rogue mages that have succumbed to demonic temptation and end their threat to the Clans and to Sanctuary. Despite his outward bluster, Rasmus is a newly-minted assassin having only just recently completed his training (which began practically at birth). Tristram was supposed to be an easy first assignment, a walk in the proverbial park. A chance to get comfortable, to spread his wings. He's in for a bit of a surprise. @Frank That's not a bad start. There's an NPC you meet at the very start of the game, Warriv. He's actually a caravan driver who gets stuck in the first game zone because the route is closed due to demons, and he ferries you to the second game zone. You mentioned merchant convoys, so that might be a lead.
@Groundhog What are your thoughts or suggestions for dealing with locks and traps? Setting traps was one of the main skill trees for assassins, but that doesn't necessarily translate well to Pathfinder combat rules. Will overcoming trapped I can take a trait to get the Trapfinding ability, but what I'm really worried about is buying the thieves' tools set. It's 30 gp for the set, which leaves me with very little for other gear, and I don't know if you've made provisions for mundane things like that to be available to purchase in the Rogue Encampment. But who knows. Maybe Gheed really will be my best friend in this forsaken camp.
Frank, let me know what you're thinking for backstory and I can help you out. PM me if you'd like. Diablo II picks up weeks or months from the end of Diablo; it's a direct sequel and is effectively contemporary (unlike Diablo III, which takes place 20 years after the events of Diablo II). Frankly, you could create a backstory as if you were a character for Diablo, but showed up late to the party. By the time you got there, the dungeon was delved and the monster slain. I might be taking this tack myself. The Diablo Wiki has plenty of lore information. For a conjuration wizard, I'd recommend starting with the Vizjerei article. The Vizjerei are a mage clan from the East, and the Diablo Sorcerer was one of them.
I'd prefer to keep the ninja/U-rogue entirely seperate. What were you hoping to get out of the ninja? Couldn't you do something like U-rogue 3/Ninja? No worries. I like the Ninja better for the Diablo Assassin flavor. The ki pool is nifty and gives it a mystical feel that Rogue/UnRogue don't really have. The ninja tricks are more interesting than the rogue talents and seem to fit in a little better with the flavor. The Viz-Jaq'taar are an order of mystical martial artists that specialize in slaying rogue mages and the demons they summon. The ninja has that little bit of extra oomph to hang the fluff on. The only thing UnRogue has going for it over the Ninja (in this specific case) is Dex to damage. Well, and Trapfinding, but I've got a trait for that. Having Dex to damage would have been nice (and I guess I could still go for Slashing Grace down the line), but not having it isn't going to kill me.
Just to note that summoners can take a feat to summon skeletons Skeleton Summoner from Ultimate Magic. That's about as good as it's gonna get for skeleton summoning, I reckon. @Groundhog Sorry, we seem to be leap-frogging each other on the ninja/rogue. I'll hold any further questions until we have a chance to get on the same page.
Noted. If you're willing to allow slightly contradictory archetypes, would you allow me to take my first level in Unchained Rogue and then just take the rest of them in the normal Ninja class and let them stack? That might be a more elegant solution to what I proposed in an edit above. Sorry for all the questions. Theorycrafting Diablo hacks with Pathfinder mechanics is something of a hobby. I still think the best way to do a real Diablo tabletop is just to homebrew the everloving love out of 4e, which is about the only time I've ever advocated for 4e.
Synthesist Summoner as werewolf druid! Do iiiiit! EDIT: I would have added this onto my previous post up above, but it's past an hour :/ Would you be willing to let me grab the Finesse Training feature from Unchained Rogue and graft it onto the Ninja? Finesse Training has two features that the Ninja (being based on the vanilla Rogue) doesn't have: Weapon Finesse for free (which you're giving thanks to the Feat Tax Returns) and Dex to damage starting at level 3. The Ninja is a very flavorful class that works great with the Diablo Assassin concept, but Paizo never did an Unhchained Ninja to go with the UnRogue. Dex to Damage as a design concept has been getting grafted onto the system in patchwork fashion (Fencing Grace/Slashing Grace are another example), but the older classes don't get quite the same level of support. There's an Unchained Ninja from a 3pp, but you're pretty clear on the Paizo products only restriction (which is totally fine). Similarly, would I be allowed to treat the tri-bladed katars as ninja weapons? As written, ninja only get simple weapons plus specific Eastern weapons. The tri-bladed katars were added in much later; they're mechanically identical to punching daggers with the exception that they're martial weapons and they do x4 crit damage instead of x3. And they cost 6 gp and weigh 2 lbs instead of 1 gp and weighing 1 lb.
Just to throw some ideas out there, how much re-working would you allow a player to do to work the classes into the Diablo mold? For example, a necromancer could be a summoner (with an eidolon as a more permanent summon), or possibly take the Master Summoner archetype with summons that last considerably longer, but for the "army of undead" feel, you'd have to have undead (mainly skeletons I would think) added to the summon list. Would you be okay with an alternate custom Summon Skeleton spell that added new templates to buff up the skeletons at each level, or would you prefer to stick with the normal Summon Monster critters and just fluff them as being skeletal?
HHHRNG! I'm not even supposed to be looking at the recruitment section, but Diablo is my white rabbit made of kryptonite. I've got a character already built for virtually this exact concept, I'll just have to adjust him down to level 1. I'll have to get a more complete backstory written up, but I'll be submitting Rasmus of the Viz-Jaq'taar, a "halfling" ninja going straight Assassin. Traps, claws, and enough snark to down a Prime Evil.
Sukur, some thematic domain choices might be Good, Glory, Protection, Strength, Sun (especially the Light subdomain) or War domains. Twilsemail, perhaps the GM would allow you to take summon swarm as a formula. GM: The Viz-Jaq'taar are technically a branch of the Vizjerei, though their order is based on Lam Essen's Black Book, which is rooted in Skatsimi magic practiced by the Taan Clan in Kejhistan. The book had been lost for centuries, but was recovered during the second game. As this game takes place over twenty years after that, do you think it would have had much affect on the assassins? I figured I should consult you before I go and start messing with lore.
That and he has an adopted 'niece' Spoiler:
who becomes Diablo. Good to know that this is post-Diablo 3; it hadn't been mentioned before. I may switch from Assassin to Demon Hunter; or it may just be a bit of both.
As the GM indicated that they would prefer to use the Diablo lore, what's the word on Golarion deities? Similarly to last time, there seem to be a couple of people referencing Iomedae. If we're trying to be more strict with the lore this time, I could post a couple of links and maybe write up a post for people who are less familiar with the lore.
Personally, I always thought that the witch's hexes could be a great chassis to model the necromancer's curses, but there's no easy solution to successfully emulate Curses, Poison & Bone, and Summoning tree skills in one class :/ I would disagree with your claim that cost was a balancing issue in Diablo 2, at least as far as the necromancer's summons went, but it's hardly an issue either way. Sin, based on my experience with the last one, there will be plenty opportunity for both; in fact, I think combat is one of the better situations to let the character shine through, at least for a Diablo game.
I appreciate that, Cole. I agree entirely about Diablo's themes, and I will admit that there were a couple cringe-worthy moments from the last game. I'm looking forward to see how Cain's apprentice plays out, assuming we get the chance. Sean, if the GM didn't want me to re-use Rasmus, necromancer was something I was considering. I'd love to see how somebody else does with the concept. The priests of Rathma are so much fun! Mechanically, I'd suggest going Master Summoner with alternate summons lists, but that's between you and the GM. That being said, since you at least seem to care about that canon, I wonder if you'd stick to the Rathman lore and the neutrality angle. There's certainly precedent for less-than-good necromancers in Diablo, but I never really thought Nihlathak made any sense.
So... is the old one not continuing? I'm a bit confused. But the last one was great, so I'd like to be involved again. Not sure if Cole considers Rasmus an oddball or not. I can re-submit with Rasmus or submit a different character.
Did we lose steam again?
Rasmus nods and turns to head back. After a few steps, he slows, turning around. He motions at the lights, then back at the crevasse. He pantomimes sending the lights into the crack, following up with a fishing pole motion.
Rasmus looks either way, stops, and takes a deep breath. He fishes into one of his pockets and pulls out an old coin. He turns to give Cole a grin and a wink before holding the coin out in the palm of his hand. Quietly, he chants, "Oh, Coin of Destiny, guide us with your wisdom. The path is cleft, the way is unclear. I pose the question: north or south?" With a flick of his thumb, he tosses the coin, catching it in the air. Opening his fist, he looks down at it in the dim light.
"South it is."
Rasmus grins and gives Cole a nod. "That's great, just like that," he whispers.
"I'm going to scout out a little. Cole, come with me. Let's try and keep the light out in front of us while we hang back. The others can stay back a ways, close enough for back-up, but far enough not to draw attention. If we see anything, we can lure them back to the group."
Rubbing his chin, Rasmus looks down the hall and then back at the globes. "That might be a useful trick. We could lure the enemy with them, or distract them while we hang back in the shadows."
Rasmus swears under his breath. "Whatever it was, it's gone now," he says to the others. "There are probably more imps down here, and plenty of other horrible things besides. We might as well keep moving, if nobody's hurt." He looks at Cole. "How far out can you send those lights?"
Rasmus stops a ways into the darkness, waiting for Dorian to catch up. He looks around, trying to let his eyes re-adjust to the darkness. He strains his ears, listening for more of the laughter, or any sound that might give his enemy away.
Rasmus jerks around at the sound from down the tunnel. After a quick glance behind him, he says, "Dorian, with me. Let's go!" He dashes off into the darkness, without checking to see if Dorian obeys.
Rasmus takes the stinger in the chest and spits on the imp as he stabs at it with one katar, following with the other.
As he fights, he calls out to the others, "They're immune to fire and poison! Anything else will kill 'em just fine!"
Rasmus ducks down as the battle explodes around him, taking a second to survey the scene. As the imp next to him suddenly falls into two pieces, he springs into action, running around Dorian to take a stab at the backside of the imp behind him.
You're a scholar, trained by the man who happens to be the most credible demon scholar currently living. I'm not the GM, so I don't know what her plans are for the setting and the languages, especially 'outsider' languages, but if there's a 'magic language', a 'demon language', and/or an 'angel language', you're probably competent with them. If the Horadrim have their own special language, probably that one too. Of course, I don't know if your character is aware of Cain's Horadrim status or if he's being trained as Horadrim or as merely a generic apprentice. If the mages of Kehjistan speak a different language (or languages), you probably speak one or two of those. From my knowledge of the setting established by Blizzard products, there only seems to be on 'human language', as there's never an indication of other dialects or languages among mortal populations.
After dismantling the trap, Rasmus passes the parts to Cole to inspect while he works on the lock. After checking to make sure there aren't any other traps, he sets to work with his picks.
Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath and sets to work. As he jiggles the picks, he whispers to the lock. "Oh, come on baby, that's right, easy does it... just like that, that's how you like it..."
"WHOA!" The fire bolt firing right over his head startles Rasmus, perhaps more than it should, singeing some hair. "Alright, stand clear everybody. I think I've got it this time..." What is it with these mages? They go through the effort of setting up a magical trap, only to put a mechanical trigger on it? I don't like this one bit...
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