Ethel, the daughter of an Alkenstar brigand with a Bonuwat sailor, was not a well-liked person in the Grand Lodge. She worked hard at it, in truth, taking something not completely unlike pride at treating everyone who walked through the doors of the Grand Lodge canteen with the same mix of scorn and rudeness, no matter how important they were.
But, after almost fourty years of service, she found herself losing her edge. The manifold uses of "f%$~ you, $%#stain" no longer awed her, and the faces of disappointment and disgust at the sludge she served were simply not as fun as they used to be.
The end of her career came suddenly. A new Pathfinder agent had the nerve to come to her and complain about her food, then her attitude. A lot of screaming ensued, followed by: "you idiots think banging monsters' heads is so difficult! Well, let me tell you, I can murder as well as you! Even better! I'll f+&&ing erase you fatkidneyed bastards from Golarion with my greatness!"
That same day she quit her job and applied to become a Pathfinder agent. With limited success.
Why she didn't get accepted:
Though Ethel passed all physical and combat tests with flying colours, her interviews were less than stellar. She might have told a few agents they would soon be eating shit. She might also have spat on someone's face when they questioned her bringing a frying pan to a gunfight. In her defence, Ethel's application was also met with some resistance due to people thinking the cafeteria lady out in the field was some kind of practical joke.
Personality:
Ethel's physically unable to go for more than a minute without cursing. She tried saying something kind once, but ended up in the infirmary. She shoots first, continues shooting after, and yells questions under the sound of gunfire at whatever's left standing.
Evil tried getting Ethel on its side, but quickly realised that was a terrible idea and withdrew its invitation. She remains a steadfast stream of chaos, ready to do the right thing just so she can berate someone at how bad they are.
In her free time, Ethel writes cheap romance novellas. The seventh installment of her series on "Philomena, the busty ogress" won the popular vote for Absalom's best romance in 4719.
Appearance:
Ethel has light brown skin and dark brown eyes. Her hair is thick, curly, streaked with white and silver, and in utter disarray. She dresses in a simple purple/violet dress, with leather armour haphazardly worn over it.
@GM: great! I'm just making the final adjustments to the gunslinger (plus a slightly more complete background) and will update the thread with a link to the new sheet.
@Chapel: nice to see you here. It would be nice to play on the same table again =)
Not sure I qualify for this—I have some experience, but would not call myself an expert: played three scenarios a couple of years ago, then GMed for a bit. If that's too much experience already, please disregard my application.
Since I'm not sure I should be applying, I'll keep things short. My idea for the character is a 50-year-old human who used to be the Grand Lodge's cafeteria lady. She eventually got tired of being considered a second-class member of the organization, left her cooking job, applied to be a pathfinder, and got rejected. She's absolutely fuming, and she has a gun.
Gunslinger (Way of the Drifter), holding a cast iron pan on one hand (light mace) and a double-barreled pistol on the other. Here's the rough draft on pathbuilder: https://pathbuilder2e.com/launch.html?build=357174.
As much as I love everything the GM is planning to do with this campaign, I have been accepted into two other tables and that's pretty much my limit in terms of how much PbP/PbD I can focus on at the same time.
It's clear there's more than enough interest to go around and I would rather improve the odds of others getting accepted.
Ok, here's my submission! Gaspar Guerau, a psychic whose powers manifested after an encounter with the fey.
About myself:
I’ve been playing TTRPGs for quite a few years, having started with a battered down beginner-box-style version of the original D&D. I am really fond of the storytelling elements of RPGs and find it very intriguing how each system is a sort of framework that makes it easier to tell certain stories, and harder to tell others. Though I like many aspects of PF1/2, I must admit their emphasis on violent conflict resolution gets on my nerves. Combat, IMHO, is a spice better used sparingly. Ethical issues aside (does a hero always have to come with a body count?), varied types of challenges make a better game.
That is also why I really liked the ideas behind this recruitment. Trying to find non-violent but still narratively-adequate solutions to encounters is a challenge I find much more thrilling than most well-designed fights. I also appreciate the move towards making the campaign something other than a colonialist conquest/genocide mission.
In real life, I’m a technical writer based in Italy.
TL;DR: Gaspar Guerau, the unwilling waking reverie:
Gaspar was scared of dreams. Every day before bed, he drank a herbal tea that prevented him from dreaming. A few fey decided to prank him by exchanging the ingredients with comically potent poisons and drugs. Instead of killing Gaspar, this concoction threw him in a state of continuous dreaming, at the same time causing him to uncontrollably manifest his dreams in the waking world. The Lantern King takes advantage of Gaspar’s desperation and tells him he will find the cure for his ailment in the Stolen Lands.
Ancestry: Human (versatile heritage)
Class: psychic (unconscious mind: wandering reverie, conscious mind: either infinite eye or tangible dream)
Alignment: NG
Background: Cook — helps give Gaspar a bit more depth so he’s not only defined by his “powers”
Free archetype: sorcerer dedication, either Fey or Hag bloodlines. Sleepwalker would actually fit the concept much better, but the dedication feat is only available from lvl 4.
Appearance: Gaspar was probably a bit of a chonky boy prior to his meeting with the fey. I don’t think he has eaten very well since. Dark hair, olive skin, short.
Personality: a complete coward and lazy, but mostly well-meaning. A bit selfish. His paranoiac tendencies will be at the forefront, at least at first.
Progression/development: though his initial stated goal is returning to normalcy, I could see him developing into embracing his new life. This could even develop into a slightly less cowardly disposition. I assume he will eventually discover the Lantern King is the true culprit of his situation and will have to decide whether to be angry about it or not.
Gaspar’s backstory:
Gaspar tried dreaming once, as a child. It was disturbing experience. Though he never did tell anyone what he had dreamt, he made his displeasure rather clear by refusing to sleep and bawling of exhaustion for a week. His sleep-deprived parents assembled a small army of local aunties, who eventually concocted a simple herbal tea that prevented any dreaming—and also worked as a wonderful gout preventative. The young Gaspar slept peacefully, protected both from joint problems and unsolicited mental constructs. This tea remained his steadfast companion well into his adult years.
When news of Gaspar’s refusal to dream reached a group of bored fey lords and ladies, five of them decided to take great personal offence. They raged for tens of seconds, which was just enough time to order their servants to teach the human dullard a lesson. That same night, a group of sprites sneaked inside Gaspar’s house and laced his ingredients with enough hallucinogens to tear a small hole in the fabric of reality. An angry nymph cast a glamour so a dream pollen pod looked and felt like a teacup. A few fuath filled Gaspar’s kettle with the tears of a night hag. A rusalka ground the remains of ten thousand people who died in their sleep into a fine dust and spread it around Gaspar’s bedroom. And, finally, a practical-minded redcap poured an obscene amount of poison inside Gaspar’s tea shortly before he drank it.
Gaspar did dream that night. And the following weeks. As a matter of fact, he’s still dreaming, every moment of the day and night. Dreams pour out of his eyes, ears, nose, and crawl from beneath his fingernails. A little spider in a topcoat told him the day his best friend would die. A dog with tentacles for legs ate his bed. Two women without eyes screamed every time he felt afraid, which kickstarted a frankly exhausting loop.
It’s been a bit over a month now. The chaotic reverie surrounding Gaspar has subsided slightly, enough for him to approach human settlements. A huge will o’ the wisp told him the cure for his ailment lies within the wilderness of the Stolen Lands. He saw no reason to doubt the wisp, nor did any of the dreams that happened to be materialised around him.
Carote, a catfolk oracle of the cosmos. When he’s not purring at/trying to befriend anything that moves, he can usually be found completely lost. He’s not the brightest guy and struggles with the concept of gravity.
Ah, thanks for that link, I had completely missed it. And, indeed, I also saw your original post whilst browsing through the latest recruitment threads.
I am still not done with crunch, but the concept I was going for might be mechanically similar to @tomtesserae's, so I guess it would be good to check if we wouldn't be stepping on each other's toes.
Irina Ustvolskaya would be a russian composer who builds instruments out of heavy machinery for her extremely avant-garde pieces -- instruments like twenty car engines welded together, circular blade saws that destroy each other while someone plays the violin, etc.
She is striking (app 70), freakishly tall and thin (size 75) and a bit intimidating, with a sort of silent "I will kill you with my bare hands if I find you annoying" demeanour. Also she has no sense of humour and will very rarely be seen without a lit cigarette.
Her occupational skills would be (going off quick start for now):
listen - 70
mech. repair - 60
art/craft (welding) - 60
heavy machinery - 50
intimidate - 50
locksmith - 50
credit rating - 40
art/craft (piano) - 40
elec. repair - 40
Do you think this would be an issue? I guess we could split skill focus in case we were both chosen (Irina could focus on listen, intimidate and heavy machinery, for instance?)
Interested as well. No prior experience with PbtA, but always up to try other systems.
I will prepare a proper submission later this week.
So far I'm leaning towards the mundane…would someone who believes they have some sort of supernatural skill (but don't and are actually mundane) fit the playbook? I had in mind something like a high school teacher who's really into astrology or i ching and firmly believes that it can help facing monsters and the weird. Would probably replace use magic with empath or sensitive.
I might be interested, though I have no experience with call of cthulhu.
Also, I'm not American, so I might lack some of the knowledge natives might have about the 1920s new york, but I guess this could be justified by playing a recently arrived foreigner if that fits the narrative.
Hey, just dropping by to say that I haven't had any updates from him since my last message. I do believe (and hope, since he's a PC in one of my games and the GM in one that I'm playing) he'll be back, but can't really say when.
Hello all. I'm not part of this campaign, but Chapel (aka Brignond) asked me to say he won't be able to post for the next few days due to health issues. He should come back soon, but the timeline is not clear yet. In the meantime, hang in there =)
Hello all. I'm not part of this campaign, but Chapel asked me to say he won't be able to post for the next few days due to health issues. Hopefully he will come back soon, but in the meantime: hang in there =)
@GM: I have realised that I'm currently involved in quite a few campaigns, to the point it might affect how much time I can dedicate to each game. Even though I'm really curious about playing PF2, would it ruin your plans if I ceded my spot to one of the other people who were interested?
panegyric/Kyra
name: gui machiavelli
ID#: 237207
Faction: in PF1, Liberty's Edge, but no character registered for PF2 and thus no faction.
@Merisiel-2e: this will be my 2nd PFS game, so take this with a grain of salt. If I understand it correctly, however, it seems that the credit goes to another of your characters.
If it's your first time and you don't have a character, I guess you can choose to apply to a new one once you create it? I believe this also applies if you are playing PFS2 for the first time, as it doesn't seem like credit is transferable between the two editions. Happy to be corrected if anyone is sure of how all of this works.
I am going to start a PF1 module soon (will open the recruitment thread next week), and I expect to take around 4 months to finish it, but next on my list is The Fall of Plaguestone. Want to have a a few months to read through the new rulebook carefully.
@Sapiens: I was avoiding Brad and Eugene for the exact same reasons. Have absolutely no idea how baseball works (also, another italian speaker here, lieto di essere al suo augusto cospetto).
I'd be happy to take part. And though it doesn't really change that much in terms of my interest in playing, it would be pretty cool if this were to be a PF2 game.
@Delmoth: Zellara is a drug-addicted cleaning lady. I think she would hit it off fabulously with an orc who hunts rich people/nobles for a living.
@GM: as I mentioned, I have reshuffled some of Zellara's ability scores so she's a tad more mentally stable. Other than that and some extra equipment, everything stays the same. I'll repost crunch/fluff here for the sake of convenience.
background:
Zellara was an alchemist's servant who slowly developed an interest (and a chemical dependence) on her master's practice. Her understanding of alchemy comes not only from the fact she worked for her master for almost two decades, but also because she became addicted to some of the substances manufactured in the laboratory. The fact some of these made her mind work better created a sort of simultaneously vicious and virtuous cycle: she got more and more addicted to something that made her smarter whilst being smarter made it easier for her to learn how to feed her addiction.
personality:
Zellara is rather blunt and down-to-earth, as well as often cynic and bitter. This, together with an overly sceptical outlook, means that she will be regularly unimpressed with some of the horrors she might encounter (cultists? "Gods, I hate rich people with too much free time on their hands." Unholy tentacled eater of planets? "it's just some gnomish contraption that will fall apart in 10 seconds, you'll see"). She doesn't remember much from before, but she knows that 1) she has suffered a miserable lot; 2) things always get worse; and 3) she always needs to be prepared because the transition from bad to terrible can happen in the blink of an eye. So better to just grit her teeth and move forward; as long as she can get her "little treat" after a hard day's work and smoke her special pipe the rest of the time, things will be bearable.
appearance:
Zellara is a very plain 30-year-old woman, used to being seen simply as "the help." Her hair is dark and her skin shows the signs of a hard-worker's life, already bearing noticeable wrinkles, and her brown eyes are in a constant wide-eyed gaze. When she wakes up, her clothes will be an odd sight: a leather armour over a maid's old dress, two bandoliers worn in an X on top of said armour and all of that crowned by a dirty torn bonnet on her head.
crunch:
Female human alchemist (mindchemist) 1
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +5; Senses Perception +6
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 9 (1d8+1)
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +2, You gain a +2 trait bonus on all saving throws against spells or effects with the fear or emotion descriptors. In addition, you gain a +1 trait bonus on Intimidate checks due to your intimidating presence, as people don't know what to expect from you.
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee cold iron dagger +1 (1d4+1/19-20)
Ranged cold iron dagger (thrown) +3 (1d4+2/19-20)
Ranged bomb +4 (1d6+4)
Ranged acid +4 (1d6+4)
Melee dagger +1 (1d4+1/19-20)
Ranged dagger (thrown) +3 (1d4+2/19-20)
Ranged sling +3 (1d4+1)
Ranged alchemist's fire +4 (1d6+4)
Ranged holy water +4 (2d4+4)
Ranged alkali (flask) +4 (1d6+4)
Ranged bomb +4 (1d6+4)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks bomb, throw anything
Combat Gear acid (4), oil, powder, black powder (dose), alchemist's fire, holy water, alkali (flask); Other Gear studded leather armor, cold iron dagger, acid (4), oil, dagger, sling, alchemist's fire, holy water, alkali (flask), bomb, peasant's outfit, spell component pouch, bandolier (2), formula book, sack, iron vial, sling bullets (10)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Alchemy (Su) When using Craft (Alchemy) to create an alchemical item, you gains a +1 competence bonus on the Craft (alchemy) check. In addition, you can use Craft (Alchemy) to identify potions as if using Detect Magic. He must hold the potion for 1 round to make such a check.
Background Skill (Craft (Alchemy), Craft (Clothing))
Bomb (Su) You can use 4 bombs each day. Bombs are considered weapons and can be selected using feats such as Point-Blank Shot and Weapon Focus. On a direct hit, your bomb inflicts 1d6+3 points of fire damage. Your bombs also inflict an additional 0d6 points of fire damage that is not multiplied on a critical hit or by using feats such as Vital Strike. Splash damage from an your bomb is always equal to the bomb's minimum damage (4). Those caught in the splash damage can attempt a DC 13 Reflex save for half damage.
Bonus Feat Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Brew Potion (Ex) You receive Brew Potion as a bonus feat. You can brew potions of any formulae you know (up to 3rd level), using your alchemist level as caster level. The spell must be one that can be made into a potion. You do not need to meet the prerequisites for this feat.
Cognatogen (Ex) You learn how to create a cognatogen, as the cognatogen discovery.
Enduring Stoicism Even though your pulse is pounding in your ears when you awake in the asylum, you feel strangely nonplussed. You can recognize that the situation you find yourself in is horrific, but you refuse to let that fear control you. It doesn't feel like it's worth worrying over too much. You know that when you face unspeakable forces, keeping your cool will keep you alive. You gain a +2 trait bonus on all saving throws against spells or effects with the fear or emotion descriptors. In addition, you gain a +1 trait bonus on Intimidate checks due to your intimidating presence, as people don't know what to expect from you.
Formulae An alchemist may know any number of formulae. He stores his formulae in a special tome called a formula book. He must refer to this book whenever he prepares an extract but not when he consumes it. An alchemist begins play with two 1st-level formulae of his choice, plus a number of additional forumlae equal to his Intelligence modifier. At each new alchemist level, he gains one new formula of any level that he can create. An alchemist can also add formulae to his book just like a wizard adds spells to his spellbook, using the same costs, pages, and time requirements. An alchemist can study a wizard's spellbook to learn any formula that is equivalent to a spell the spellbook contains. A wizard, however, cannot learn spells from a formula book. An alchemist does not need to decipher arcane writings before copying them.
Language Humans begin play speaking Common. Humans with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic).
Pragmatic Activator While some figure out how to use magical devices with stubborn resolve, your approach is more pragmatic. You may use your Intelligence modifier when making Use Magic Device checks instead of your Charisma modifier.
Reactionary You were bullied often as a child, but never quite developed an offensive response. Instead, you became adept at anticipating sudden attacks and reacting to danger quickly. You gain a +2 trait bonus on Initiative checks.
Skilled Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.
Throw Anything (Ex) You gain the Throw Anything feat as a bonus feat. You add your Intelligence modifier to damage done with splash weapons, including the splash damage if any. This bonus damage is already included in the bomb class feature.
I'm thinking about submitting an alchemist(vivisectionist)/barbarian. Trying to wrap my head around gestalt character creation as I've come to rely a bit too much on PCGen, but the overall concept is something like a very composed and prim female dr. moreau who experiments in altering the flesh of other beings and her own, which lead to her being much stronger than she looks (and having episodes of terryfyingly cold anger). Not necessarily evil/cruel, but definitely willing to ignore moral hurdles for the greater good and love of science.
Presenting Zellara, human mindchemist. Might change a few bits slightly depending on party composition and needs, but that's more or less what I had in mind.
Time zone: CEST (GMT +2) (hi @Diaz!)
current games: as I mentioned on my first post, I've been away from the forums for a few months, after a game I was GMing fizzled away. Meaning, I am not currently engaged in any other "table", either as GM or player.
stats:
Female human alchemist (mindchemist) 1
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +5; Senses Perception +3
### DEFENSE
AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will -1, You gain a +2 trait bonus on all saving throws against spells or effects with the fear or emotion descriptors. In addition, you gain a +1 trait bonus on Intimidate checks due to your intimidating presence, as people don't know what to expect from you.
### OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee cold iron dagger -1 (1d4-1/19-20)
Ranged cold iron dagger (thrown) +3 (1d4/19-20)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks bomb, throw anything
Alchemist Spells Prepared (CL 1st, concentration +5):
1st—cure light wounds, targeted bomb admixture UC
### SPECIAL ABILITIES Alchemy (Su) When using Craft (Alchemy) to create an alchemical item, you gains a +1 competence bonus on the Craft (alchemy) check. In addition, you can use Craft (Alchemy) to identify potions as if using Detect Magic. He must hold the potion for 1 round to make such a check.
Background Skill (Craft (Alchemy), Craft (Clothing))
Bomb (Su) You can use 5 bombs each day. Bombs are considered weapons and can be selected using feats such as Point-Blank Shot and Weapon Focus. On a direct hit, your bomb inflicts 1d6+4 points of fire damage. Your bombs also inflict an additional 0d6 points of fire damage that is not multiplied on a critical hit or by using feats such as Vital Strike. Splash damage from an your bomb is always equal to the bomb's minimum damage (5). Those caught in the splash damage can attempt a DC 14 Reflex save for half damage.
Bonus Feat Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Brew Potion (Ex) You receive Brew Potion as a bonus feat. You can brew potions of any formulae you know (up to 3rd level), using your alchemist level as caster level. The spell must be one that can be made into a potion. You do not need to meet the prerequisites for this feat.
Cognatogen (Ex) You learn how to create a cognatogen, as the cognatogen discovery.
Enduring Stoicism Even though your pulse is pounding in your ears when you awake in the asylum, you feel strangely nonplussed. You can recognize that the situation you find yourself in is horrific, but you refuse to let that fear control you. It doesn't feel like it's worth worrying over too much. You know that when you face unspeakable forces, keeping your cool will keep you alive. You gain a +2 trait bonus on all saving throws against spells or effects with the fear or emotion descriptors. In addition, you gain a +1 trait bonus on Intimidate checks due to your intimidating presence, as people don't know what to expect from you.
Formulae An alchemist may know any number of formulae. He stores his formulae in a special tome called a formula book. He must refer to this book whenever he prepares an extract but not when he consumes it. An alchemist begins play with two 1st-level formulae of his choice, plus a number of additional forumlae equal to his Intelligence modifier. At each new alchemist level, he gains one new formula of any level that he can create. An alchemist can also add formulae to his book just like a wizard adds spells to his spellbook, using the same costs, pages, and time requirements. An alchemist can study a wizard's spellbook to learn any formula that is equivalent to a spell the spellbook contains. A wizard, however, cannot learn spells from a formula book. An alchemist does not need to decipher arcane writings before copying them.
Pragmatic Activator While some figure out how to use magical devices with stubborn resolve, your approach is more pragmatic. You may use your Intelligence modifier when making Use Magic Device checks instead of your Charisma modifier.
Reactionary You were bullied often as a child, but never quite developed an offensive response. Instead, you became adept at anticipating sudden attacks and reacting to danger quickly. You gain a +2 trait bonus on Initiative checks.
Throw Anything (Ex) You gain the Throw Anything feat as a bonus feat. You add your Intelligence modifier to damage done with splash weapons, including the splash damage if any. This bonus damage is already included in the bomb class feature.
background:
Zellara was an alchemist's servant who slowly developed an interest (and a chemical dependence) on her master's practice. Her understanding of alchemy comes not only from the fact she worked for her master for almost two decades, but also because she became addicted to some of the substances manufactured in the laboratory. The fact some of these made her mind work better created a sort of simultaneously vicious and virtuous cycle: she got more and more addicted to something that made her smarter whilst being smarter made it easier for her to learn how to feed her addiction.
personality:
Zellara is rather blunt and down-to-earth, as well as often cynic and bitter. This, together with an overly sceptical outlook, means that she will be regularly unimpressed with some of the horrors she might encounter (cultists? "Gods, I hate rich people with too much free time on their hands." Unholy tentacled eater of planets? "it's just some gnomish contraption that will fall apart in 10 seconds, you'll see"). She doesn't remember much from before, but she knows that 1) she has suffered a miserable lot; 2) things always get worse; and 3) she always needs to be prepared because the transition from bad to terrible can happen in the blink of an eye. So better to just grit her teeth and move forward; as long as she can get her "little treat"" after a hard day's work and smoke her special pipe the rest of the time, things will be bearable.
appearance:
Zellara is a very plain 30-year-old woman, used to being seen simply as "the help." Her hair is dark and her skin shows the signs of a hard-worker's life, already bearing noticeable wrinkles, and her brown eyes are in a constant wide-eyed gaze. When she wakes up, her clothes will be an odd sight: a leather armour over a maid's old dress, two bandoliers worn in an X on top of said armour and all of that crowned by a dirty torn bonnet on her head.
question regarding the PFS or not discussion: if @DM Raltus does follow PFS Core, it would effectively exclude the Advanced Player’s Guide content, correct?
@DM Azure_Zero: thanks! Just checking if there was still time to submit something. I'll go with a wizard specialised in divination (have most of it ready, just need to finalise background/etc).
