Zeitgeist

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

"Listen up recruits! You have passed the initial screening process. Now you must submit to more rigorous scrutiny to determine if you are right for the Royal Homeland Constabulary. Should you continue on, you will become official RHC agents and wield authority from King Aodhan himself. Remember that, and be worthy of that authority. Now line up and prepare for final selection." The Viscount declares and signals with his hands where to line up. He is wearing full military regalia today, a rarity for this humble veteran of the fourth Yerasol War. Though he needs no such uniform to wield respect, his charisma and competence as a commander are obvious.

Welcome to the Zeitgeist Recruitment. Here is the players guide Zeitgeist Player's Guide Become familiar with it before you submit a character please.

Character Creation:

25 points. This AP is heavy investigation so consider adding points into int for more skills. No Traits The players guide has theme feats to chose from that are actually quite powerful. You get to choose only 1. Races Core races, Gnomes in this setting are rarer and more connected to the fey and what is called the Dreaming. Tieflings are common and allowed, though you may be regarded with some suspicion. There are two races that are AP specific, the Deva and the Eladrin which are also allowed find them in the player's guide. Other races exist in the AP, but will require a compelling back story to justify them as a PC. Classes Core classes, barbarians are rare and will require justification. Advanced Player's Guide classes are allowed with the exception of the summoner. Gunslingers are also allowed from the Ultimate Combat. Starting Gear 150 gold in starting gear. Third Party No other third party will be allowed in this campaign as the AP itself has a lot of additional material to sort through. Alignment No Evil alignments. LG-N for all others. CN alignments are allowed for gnome characters due to the strange nature of those associated with the dreaming in this setting. Background Your background should include why you joined the RHC and show that you have read the player's guide. It does not need to be a novel. Expect that I will use things you write about.

I expect to finish recruitment a week from now. I expect people to post once a day, not including the weekends. I will not bot your character just narrate a reason for your absence. I will be adding information to the campaign tab this weekend. I originally was not going to generate a recruitment thread yet, but I have to in order to have access to the campaign tab so apologies if things are a bit piece meal initially.

[Oceanshieldwolf]

Dotting - will check the Player's Guide and generate a concept...

[Aipaca]

Chucking on a dot, will probably roll an Alchemist, would the Gunchemist archetype be acceptable?

Edit: Also I may be going crazy, but I can't find the Eladrin or Deva races anywhere in the player's guide?

[Starfinder GM]

Aipaca wrote:

Chucking on a dot, will probably roll an Alchemist, would the Gunchemist archetype be acceptable?

Edit: Also I may be going crazy, but I can't find the Eladrin or Deva races anywhere in the player's guide?

Page 5.

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

Aipaca wrote:

Chucking on a dot, will probably roll an Alchemist, would the Gunchemist archetype be acceptable?

Edit: Also I may be going crazy, but I can't find the Eladrin or Deva races anywhere in the player's guide?

Yes, page 5. Where is Gunchemist from?

[Aipaca]

Viscount Inspector Nigel wrote:

Aipaca wrote:

Chucking on a dot, will probably roll an Alchemist, would the Gunchemist archetype be acceptable?

Edit: Also I may be going crazy, but I can't find the Eladrin or Deva races anywhere in the player's guide?

Yes, page 5. Where is Gunchemist from?

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/alchemist/archetypes/paizo-al chemist-archetypes/gun-chemist-alchemist-archetype/ it's an archetype from Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the Wastes which gives the Alchemist gun prof. and Gunsmithing and effectively lets them load their explosives into a gun.

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

Aipaca wrote:

Viscount Inspector Nigel wrote:

Aipaca wrote:

Chucking on a dot, will probably roll an Alchemist, would the Gunchemist archetype be acceptable?

Edit: Also I may be going crazy, but I can't find the Eladrin or Deva races anywhere in the player's guide?

Yes, page 5. Where is Gunchemist from?

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/alchemist/archetypes/paizo-al chemist-archetypes/gun-chemist-alchemist-archetype/ it's an archetype from Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the Wastes which gives the Alchemist gun prof. and Gunsmithing and effectively lets them load their explosives into a gun.

That is a bit over the top I'd say. Its important to point out that the guns in this era are primarily muzzle loaders. We are talking early guns.

[Spazmodeus]

Hmm, no investigator....too bad.

I'll have to think...

[Chobo]

Interested! Are the unchained versions of barbarian and rogue allowed?

[Vrog Skyreaver]

First of all, dotting.

Secondly, I can't find the Eladrin or Deva anywhere in the PDF you linked. It's possible that they have been errated out.

[alexgndl]

This sounds cool, dotting. Just making sure, investigators aren't allowed?

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

Try this one. Apparently there is an extended players guide too. If its not on this one I am not sure what to think because its on page 5 for me. Extended Players Guide

Investigators are also fine, I missed a few things as this was a bit rushed. I really wish that they let you get your ducks in a row with the campaign tab before they make you present a recruitment thread. It seems backwards to me.

[Spazmodeus]

Viscount...that's the campaign guide...lots of spoilers in there...

Here's the link to the extended players guide...link

[alexgndl]

Perfect, gonna try to make a Toxin Codexer investigator if that's alright. Seems like a really interesting take on a poisoner.

[R0B0GEISHA]

Dotting. Thinking about a fighter, Yerasol veteran.

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

Spazmodeus wrote:

Viscount...that's the campaign guide...lots of spoilers in there...

Here's the link to the extended players guide...link

ok...thanks...that's why I like to be set up before recruitment...sigh....

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

alexgndl wrote:

Perfect, gonna try to make a Toxin Codexer investigator if that's alright. Seems like a really interesting take on a poisoner.

That looks ok at first glance. It looks like more flavor than bonus hunting I hope I am right.

That reminds me, please do not try to break the game with stacked bonuses. I am sure you are all competent in 8th grade math and can hunt down the best bonuses, but that isn't going to create the best gaming experience in the long run. I think a 25 point buy is generous and should fill any perceived gaps.

[wanderer82]

Really intrigued by this game. Working on concepts now, but I do have two questions:

Given the focus on investigation and skills, are you going to use the Background Skills system?

Also, have you given any consideration to the Elephant in the Room: Feat Tax adjustment that is frequently used on the boards? By streamlining feat trees, it allows feats to also be spent on more flavorful options.

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

wanderer82 wrote:

Really intrigued by this game. Working on concepts now, but I do have two questions:

Given the focus on investigation and skills, are you going to use the Background Skills system?

Also, have you given any consideration to the Elephant in the Room: Feat Tax adjustment that is frequently used on the boards? By streamlining feat trees, it allows feats to also be spent on more flavorful options.

No not using those options sorry. Your characters will be quite capable with a 25 point buy and the theme feat from the AP itself. I would like to keep it as close to core as possible otherwise I need to spice up the encounters to keep things on par and I am not willing to do that much work frankly.

[Vrog Skyreaver]

Okay, here is my submission:

Lysander (L'Syndra):

CG Female Eladrin Oracle 1

STR 10
DEX 12
CON 14
INT 14
WIS 10
CHA 18

HP 10
AC 20 (10 base +4 armor +4 cha +2 shield), T 14, FF 16
BAB 0
Init +1

Fort +2
Ref +1
Will +2

Speed 30'

Spell DC: 14 + spell level

Skills: Disguise r1 +5, Bluff r1 +5, Knowledge (Arcana, Dungeoneering, Nature, Planes, Religion) r1 +6

Feats: Vekeshi Mystic, Extra Revelation

Class Features: Oracle's Curse (Deaf), Mystery (Lore), Revelations (Sidestep Secret, Lore Keeper)

Spells/Day: -/4

Spells Known
0: Create Water, Detect Magic, Guidance, Light

1: Cure Light Wounds, Bless

Equipment: Chain Shirt, Shield, Spell Component Pouch x2

Quick Backstory:

L'Syndra is a female Eladrin. Growing up as a child, she knew that she had little choice but to marry a powerful Eladrin man and bear him children. L'Syndra has always been deaf, but she was well-liked by everyone she encountered.

When she became a teenager, she was betrothed to a pig of a man and made the decision to escape into the world a men.

Disguising herself as male, she fled Elfaivar for Flint, where she did her best to blend in and hide, always staying in the guise of a man, for fear of being sold off into slavery.

L'Syndra saw a posting looking for applicants to the Royal Homeland Constabulary, and so she applied.

In her guise as a man, she calls herself Lysander. "Lysander" is a divine spellcaster, who draws upon the power of knowledge itself to call down the power of magic.

[Declan Thorne]

This is Chobo's submission Declan Thorne Gunslinger (pistolero archetype). All his information (Background, Crunch, etc..) is in this alias.

To be upfront I have never played a gunslinger before and I am not sure if there are any flaws in my build. I'll look at some guides over the weekend and might make some changes before the deadline. I'll keep you updated.

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

I will give those a look over and some feedback by Monday Vrog and Chobo.

[Vrog Skyreaver]

Okie dokie!

[Chobo]

Thanks.

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

Vrog(Lysander):

I like it and looks correct. Do you intend to continue to pose as a male even for your fellow agents, or are you going to reveal that you are a female to the team?

Chobo:

So far it looks good it looks like you kept to early firearm pistol for the build I appreciate that. I have not had the time to read your background I will probably get to that later, but mechanically it looks fine.

[Chobo]

Sounds good, thanks for taking a look at it.

[Vrog Skyreaver]

GM:

At the start I will. Once I know that they are trustworthy and would not sell me off for the likely millions of GP that they could make, I'll reveal it to them.[/ooc]

[DoubleGold]

Nevermind, question was already asked, but dotting

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

Chobo(Declan Backstory):

Backstory looks good. Dima may be seeing you for some paperwork soon.

Sounds good DoubleGold.

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

I am hoping to wrap recruitment up by Friday, but so far interest in this seems to have waned. I am willing to attempt to run it with as few as three people, but less than that I do not think I can properly adjust for.

[Lazyclownfish]

I'm working on a steel hound investigator. It's been a busy weekend but I'll have him submitted before Friday.

[Chobo]

I think submission will pick up through out the week. It seems that investigator might be a popular class.

[Nikolaus de'Shade]

I'm still planning to put something together - just been busy over the weekend.

[Lazyclownfish]

Chobo wrote:

I think submission will pick up through out the week. It seems that investigator might be a popular class.

Hilariously, my first plan was a gunslinger. Apparently we think alike somewhat since this keeps happening... lol

But the investigator ended up being a little closer to what I intended.

[Chobo]

Ha! Great minds and all....

[DBH]

I've been going through the players book. I'll have something rolled up shortly. It looks like an Arcane caster of some form could be useful.

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

Ok sounds good guys.

[Oceanshieldwolf]

Still nominally interested. Will see if I can generate something in the next few days...

[R0B0GEISHA]

I'm still here too.

[Teddy Ruxsbin]

There will be a couple of changes here as this was for way of the wicked but please consider this my application

[Nikolaus de'Shade]

Seconding the earlier question - are Unchained classes (except Summoner of course!) ok? I'm wondering about a rogue, but they're SO BAD unless they can be unchained.

[Nikolaus de'Shade]

Having missed my edit window...

Are the following archetypes allowed?

Royal Accuser
Sanctified Slayer
Urban Detective

I believe they're all stackable (since the class skill change from Royal Accuser is also included in Urban Detective), but they are from other books than Core/APG so I thought I should ask first!

As you probably guessed I'm building an Inquisitor, specifically a Deva, Spirit Medium Inquisitor (provisionally with a lot of archetypes!).

Background:

It is a mistake to say that Deva cannot die. We can, and we do. We die just like anyone else and enter death as all souls do, but we are denied the comfort and peace of the final Gate – and so we return, each and every time. But whether we return as who we were or as someone new, well… that depends.

All Deva’s remember The Moment though. When Srasama was hurled through the gates and on to the final death Death itself groaned in pain. Gods are not meant to die, they are life incarnate and Srasama was not just life, but experience, the container of all Elandrian women who had ever been. The Gate itself cracked to let her pass through, the edges of life and death blurred for a moment. The Field was flattened by wind, the waves of the River roiled and collapsed and the Wind calmed as Life surged out of Death and returned to the World. We were its vessels, even now the spot she died still blooms – even as Danor lost its magic. Now we Devas are suffused with Life, and Death rejects us. Perhaps, in ten thousand years it will have consumed Srasama utterly and we will no longer fly against the Wind, swim against the River, and walk through the Field without glancing at the stars, but until then we always return.

Life makes us special. Magic, beyond the reach of many comes easily to us and some of us can even speak to the Dead. Spend enough time with them and their thoughts whisper to you, their voices fall on your ears and their pain wrenches at your spirit.

I seek to join the RHC because I desire peace. Not for myself, since I know I will not receive it, but for those around me. For the multitudes of short-lived, those who lose their parents, children and friends. My gifts are meant to be used and I would use them in service to a good, rather than my own purse or the fragile egos of my peers, who are too afraid to live or act for themselves.

Viscountess Hizlari Bas.

Application letter to the RHC, found in the locked Superintendent’s office when he arrived for work in the morning.

Official Dossier of Nobility 4927.1: Viscountess Hizlari Bas.
Name(s): Charlotte Francesca Bas (birth). Hizlari (legally adopted).
Date of Birth: -32 B.O.V (suspected – records lost).

Race: Deva (formerly Human).

Claim to Nobility: Daughter to Count Fredrik Bas of Slate’s Forth Castle. (Verified).

Powers: Divine Magic (Current - Confirmed), Arcane Magic (Previous – Confirmed), Psychic Magic (Previous – Unconfirmed), Communication with the Dead (Current – Claimed).

Biography: Viscountess Bas served in the Crusading Armies formed to resist the elandrin counter-attack in -2 B.O.V. She was present at the final battlefield when the elandrin Goddess, Srasama, was righteously slain and was one of the unfortunates who became ‘Devas’.

Following the Royal Decree’s regularizing succession in the Nobility, Lady Bas was confirmed with her title of Viscountess in perpetuity, as long as she claimed it and submitted to appropriate inheritance testing in each new ‘incarnation’. As a Deva, the Viscountess no-longer has inheritance rights to the Bas fortune but receives a family stipend to fund her lifestyle. (Unconfirmed – 279 A.O.V Confirmed – 416 A.O.V) It should be noted that since the Viscountess is no longer human, her title is now strictly honorary and the Viscountess therefore has no precedence over human nobles of equal rank.

This background is written with a fairly specific idea for how death works, based on Garth Nix's Abhorsen Series, please let me know if you like/do not like/want me to change.

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

No unchained sorry. I meant to address that when asked about background skills, nothing from Pathfinder Unchained is appropriate for what I have planed for this AP. Please understand that this AP was not made with all these extras some of you are asking for. If I allow them for your PCs then I need to adjust the NPCs to be on the same footing. It might mean I get less applicants, but I want a good game that has the potential to go the long haul.

Teddy Ruxsbin:

That name is a bit over the top silly. Fey bloodline could work with this AP, will have to look into tattooed sorcerer not familiar with that.

Nikolaus de'Shade:

3 archetypes from multiple sources is a bit much eh. Consider that I crafted all the NPCs in the same manner (which is what I would have to do to keep things challenging ) I like that you put some time into your background I do not have time until this evening to read it all, but I will before tomorrow- I work graveyards.

[DoubleGold]

How much does party composition mean to you? Like if you had three fighter submissions, would you take all three if they had good backgrounds.
What books can we use when creating and leveling our character? I assume core, advanced player's guide, advanced race guide and the ultimate combat/magic are usually safe, but I assume you don't want us to go outside of that. Most of that other expanded stuff other than advance and ultimate is feats and traits however.
Will we be allowed Prestige much later on in the campaign?

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

I am not allowing "books" so much as certain content. Stick to the core rulebook as much as possible, but certain elements from other books make sense. Investigators, Inquisitors ext. But Summoners and Samurai don't. I judge submissions on case by case. Party composition is important and I will not take 3 fighters. I may take 3 martial characters though that compliment each other. Are you referring to prestige from the adventure path or prestige classes? In the adventure path certain things can effect your prestige raiting right away. Being a docker for example raises the party's initial prestige in the docks with the locals.

[Teddy Ruxsbin]

Perhaps too much whimsy? Hey I can make what ever, I am just very interested in this game.

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

Nikolaus ( Viscountess Bas):

I like your story and dossier. I can say that I am ok for that being your personal death experience and perspective, but death might present itself different to others so I don't want to give you the impression that I am going to keep strictly to the concept you presented, but I am ok for you using in your background. I am ok with each archetype individually, together though I am not sure. I am willing to hear your arguments to and where you are planning to take this character.

Teddy Ruxsbin:

A sorcerer should be ok. I suggest reading the AP and deciding what theme feat you would want. Please read the players guide I linked at the top for that. Tattooed Sorceror I will allow, but remember you have to use materials for your spells now and this would be a practice you would probably only see in foreign lands so consider being from Ber, Elfainar or Danor.

[Nikolaus de'Shade]

GM:

No problems re. Death - it was just an idea I had so I ran with it.

Archetypes: Sanctified Slayer is because I'm not a huge fan of Judgements, and I think Studied Target makes more more sense for an investigating type game/character. I don't see Hizlari as the kind of person who is so convinced in her own righteousness that she can actually pronounce judgement like that - studying a target carefully I can see.

I really like Urban Infiltrator and again it seems very fitting, especially as I'll end up taking the prestige class that involves talking to the city.

Royal Accuser is probably the least important. Again it has some fluffy stuff (like Informed Hunch) but I'll happily drop it if you'd prefer. :)

[Viscount Inspector Nigel]

Nikolaus:

Ok, you make some good points. I can not see a real game to the system you are presenting here by having these changes so I will allow all three. I assume your Deity is Srasama, though a case could be made for a member of "The Clergy" I suppose.

Applicants so far Let me know if I missed anyone

Lysander Eladrin Oracle
Declane Thorne Human (Risur) Gunslinger
Viscountess Bas Deva Inquisitor(various archetypes more like investigator)
Teddy Ruxsbin(pending name change) Sorcerer need to see more on backstory before I give thumbs up to a Kitsune. Possibly one from the Kingdom of Ber.

There are others that have mentioned having concepts, like a Yerasol Veteran Fighter ect.

[Teddy Ruxsbin]

With so many casters I can also go front line with a cavalier. Would you consider a Wayang?