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The small Selûnite village of Silvermoon Glade at the edge of the Wood of Sharp Teeth has gone unnoticed by most of the rest of the world, the only exceptions being the Selûnites and druids who reside there. A week ago, that changed.
The priests of the Moonmaiden in Baldur's Gate have not heard anything from the frontier religious settlement in nearly a week, and have in fact been receiving ominous dream portents from Our Lady in Silver recently. A darkening moon hanging in the sky over the village is the most common one, although unfortunately it is hard to sift through the relevant dreams in these times.
That's why they have reached out to several different groups they are allied with, asking for aid in reaching the village and determining just what has caused the druidic village to go dark. They have a contact with a Selûnite priest waiting in the Friendly Arm Inn (which is a day west of Silvermoon Glade and a day south of the Gate) that will likely have more information on the village's plights. Of course, it will be a paid excursion, with a promise of 300 gold pieces per person once the situation is settled.
Hello! I, like many others, have been loving Baldur's Gate 3, and want to finally dip my toes into the wonderful world of Faerûn and the Forgotten Realms. I have been brewing this idea for a few months and am now ready to open the recruitment for it. I'll still be using Pathfinder because that's the system I have the most experience with, but the world is too much fun for me to not run a game in. Now, onto the nitty gritty parts!
Note: this will be a (hopefully) long campaign with a good mix of combat, exploration, social situations, and investigation. It is good to be good at one thing, but try not to over-specialize in one field.
Character Creation:
Ability Scores: 20 point buy, nothing below an 8 after racial adjustments.
Level: 1st
Alignment: any, but I don't want a CE party wrecker character. If you're evil at all, have a good explanation for it. Good alignments will most likely have a slight advantage unless you can really sell me on an evil angle.
Classes: any Paizo, minus Antipaladin.
Races: any and all Paizo (within reason, no drow noble) are accepted, as the church isn't picky.
Traits: two normally, can take a drawback for a third.
Wealth: maximum starting for your class, you have been well equipped for the journey.
Skills: we will be using the extra Background Skills rule.
Background Questions: I'd like you to take a look at these 20 questions and answer them. This is meant to help both you and me understand who your character is and why they have chosen to accept the call for aid from the Selûnites.
1. What is your character’s name?
2. How old is your character?
3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?
7. Do you have any other family or friends?
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?
9. What is your character’s alignment?
10. What is your character’s moral code?
11. Does your character have goals?
12. Is your character religious?
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?
14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
15. Why does your character adventure? Why did your character accept the job?
16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
18. How does your character get along with others?
19. Is there anything that your character hates?
20. Is there anything that your character fears?
I aim to leave this recruitment open for around a month, and will probably end it on October 31st. What better day to end than on my favorite holiday? As always, if I find the perfect party before then, I reserve the right to close it early, but I won't close it without warning everyone in advance.
If I missed anything, or you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Oops, knew I forgot something. If you want to worship a god as a class that gets benefits from them (cleric inquisitor etc), we can talk about which Pathfinder domains they provide.
I can't pass this up. I miss FR. My very first AD&D character was Trawets Aarock evoker of Mystra. I will hopefully submit him.
Big ol' dot. Maybe a warpriest?
What level of familiarity with the Forgotten Realms setting is needed or preferred?
Dot!
Now I just gotta figure out what to submit.
Kiley Sherrow, a slayer that's definitely human, don't mind the tail and the cute, li'l fangs! The aversion to moonlight? Oh, no reason! Loves to dance and sing for coin, but isn't above getting her hands dirty if needed.
Astra Vale, a firebug kineticist who's a sweetheart, honest! The bandits who say otherwise had it coming to them anyways. Teller of silly stories and slayer of many sweets, she's a bubbly ray of sunshine just one good excuse away from going scorched earth.
Brask Alpsbane, a dwarf that is so dwarf that other dwarves kicked him out for drinking all the booze and smashing all the taverns. If there's a fight to be had, he's more than happy to tag along, especially if he gets a chance to punch a knife-ear in the nose.
Gkirkhan, a roguish half-orc with a weakness for "de vimmins" and "nize hats." On a scale of Edward Cullen to Fabio, he's a firm Bishonen. May or may not try his luck with the priestesses. Just don't tell his grandmother.
Pandora, a half-elf rogue and a remake of my very first TTRPG character, minus the attachment to the Cheliax lodge in PFS. No reason to worry about the name, she isn't curious at all! </lies> Quips will be made, laughs will be had, and coin will be stolen from unworthy pockets.
Talliree Yndercook, a young lass that likes swinging sharp things around with wild abandon and whom I most certainly did not add so I can roll a d6 if I can't make up my mind. Oh, and if anyone from Waterdeep asks, you never saw her.
GM of the Moon, this pitch may be WAY out there but I have to give it a swing. If this is a bridge too far, just say so.
I'd love to play Shaggar here again. His backstory would be nearly the same with Yeenoghu replacing Rovagug and perhaps he is from Anauroch.
Obviously, his level and stats would have to be downgraded.
Question 1: Is a good gnoll ranger too crazy?
Question 2: If a gnoll is OK, would you be OK with John Mangrum's Gnoll?
If you want to see how I played him, check out the first page of this campaign.
And one my favorite exchanges evah.
@Shaggar - that introductory post for Shaggar is not only very descriptive and full of character but also very nicely written. I fairly felt like I was a patron in the inn when Shaggar chuffed. Well done.
Thanks, OSW! I very much appreciate the compliment.
@stormraven: basically none. Like I mentioned, I’m just starting to get into the Realms setting myself, so feel free to do a bit of research on some potential characters and join in!
@AdamWarnock: sounds like a lot of exciting characters! Eager to see what you come up with.
@Shaggar: as fun as that sounds, gnolls are very much different in Faerun than Pathfinder. Iirc, gnolls are born from some demonic process from the stomachs of mutated hyenas. I’ll have to give it a bit more thought to see if it could work, but I’m not sure this is the setting to pull that off in. Sorry!
@mightypion: that Abyssal bloodrager sounds like a hilarious mistake was made somewhere.
I am interested, thinking of making up a human unchained summoner.
@AdamWarnock: sounds like a lot of exciting characters! Eager to see what you come up with.
Thanks! I do have a question for you, though.
I'm not up on Faerun lore, so I hope this isn't too off the wall. I was planning on Kiley being a Rakshasa-blooded tiefling, but reflavoring it as she's the descendant of a succubus with some rather unusual traits. As for the reason she avoids moonlight, I had this idea that she has markings that glow under the light of the moon on her skin. I'm willing to take the stealth penalties that this would impose.
And yeah, I realize that this is my inner fifteen year-old run amok. It's just such a cool visual in my head that I want it on a character that it makes sense on, well some sense on, anyway.
I also understand if you would rather I didn't. I can ditch the idea or go with another character.
@AdamWarnock: sounds like a lot of exciting characters! Eager to see what you come up with.
Thanks! I do have a question for you, though.
** spoiler omitted **
Reflavoring it that way makes sense to me. Avoiding the moonlight will have some interesting implications, given your employers are Selune worshippers (goddess of the moon). Sounds fun!
Oh, I don't doubt it will be. Funnily enough, I was thinking of having her be a worshipper of Selune since she seems to be the closest fit to Desna.
I don't suppose there's an equivalent of the Black Butterfly, is there?
@Shaggar - that introductory post for Shaggar is not only very descriptive and full of character but also very nicely written. I fairly felt like I was a patron in the inn when Shaggar chuffed. Well done.
I was lucky enough to actually BE one of those patrons :D
I can attest Shaggar was a great, memorable character in that game.
@Shaggar - that introductory post for Shaggar is not only very descriptive and full of character but also very nicely written. I fairly felt like I was a patron in the inn when Shaggar chuffed. Well done.I was lucky enough to actually BE one of those patrons :D
I can attest Shaggar was a great, memorable character in that game.
Too funny Albion. Sounds like I missed something indeed. My own Gnoll in a post-apocalypse game set in the Mana Wastes was super fun to play. She had a fondness for “shoup”. Sadly I had to step away from that game, but it is still running here…some years later.
Oh, I don't doubt it will be. Funnily enough, I was thinking of having her be a worshipper of Selune since she seems to be the closest fit to Desna.
I don't suppose there's an equivalent of the Black Butterfly, is there?
I don’t think so, no. There might be some obscure Elven pantheon deity I am not aware of, I’ll do some digging and get back to you on that.
@Shaggar: as fun as that sounds, gnolls are very much different in Faerun than Pathfinder. Iirc, gnolls are born from some demonic process from the stomachs of mutated hyenas. I’ll have to give it a bit more thought to see if it could work, but I’m not sure this is the setting to pull that off in. Sorry!
Huh. I didn't see anything like that in my limited reading... but that lore may have changed at different times. I saw one site that had lore for everything split into the individual Editions of D&D 1-5. I'm not sure if the editors were just overzealous or if the world had evolved that much. All that said, since the idea doesn't intrigue you, I'll drop it. I'll look through more FR stuff and hopefully find a concept that excites both of us.
@Shaggar: as fun as that sounds, gnolls are very much different in Faerun than Pathfinder. Iirc, gnolls are born from some demonic process from the stomachs of mutated hyenas. I’ll have to give it a bit more thought to see if it could work, but I’m not sure this is the setting to pull that off in. Sorry!Huh. I didn't see anything like that in my limited reading... but that lore may have changed at different times. I saw one site that had lore for everything split into the individual Editions of D&D 1-5. I'm not sure if the editors were just overzealous or if the world had evolved that much. All that said, since the idea doesn't intrigue you, I'll drop it. I'll look through more FR stuff and hopefully find a concept that excites both of us.
I’ll send you a PM to discuss some more details, so that we aren’t clogging up the thread.
I want to make it work if we can!
What domains would you think Selune would have, or Deneir
Selune: Animal, Chaos, Good, Darkness, Community
Denier: Good, Knowledge, MagicThese are the ones I came up with from my knowledge of the gods. Any subdomains you feel are appropriate I can approve.
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I was lucky enough to actually BE one of those patrons :D
I can attest Shaggar was a great, memorable character in that game.
Heldar! I apologize I didn't recognize your handle immediately. It's great to see you!
To be fair, the whole team was exceptional - writing, cooperating, and sharing the spotlight. We started and finished the campaign together... never lost a player and I don't recall one snippy word passing between anyone. Everyone brought their A-game to that campaign and Dien is an outstanding DM.
The timing of all this is killing me!
I’ll send you a PM to discuss some more details, so that we aren’t clogging up the thread.
I want to make it work if we can!
That is incredibly generous of you. Thanks!
Love to do a Faerun campaign after playing some BG3 myself. Got an idea for a cleric or paladin. Not quite sure on the deity just yet but I am guess as to where I would like look up Domains for a Faerun god?
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I don't know much at all about the Faerûn and the Forgotten Realms, but a vacation to somewhere that's not Golarion would be nice.
I have a hankering to play a halfling, maybe Witch or Sorcerer. I wish the Gunslinger archetypes Bolt Ace and Mysterious Stranger stacked, that could be a cool character. I'll at least consider a Bolt Ace anyway.
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@Delightful: I think I’ll have to convert them, I didn’t see any lists when I first searched. I did ones for Selûne a few posts above, but if you have any specific ones just ask and I’ll take a look!
@Critzible: sounds good, excited to see it!
@Rdknight: ah, that reminds me. Gunslinger and any gun/tech archetypes aren’t allowed. There aren’t many guns outside of certain out of the way places in Faerûn, and they fit the feel of the fantasy game I want to run.
This may be more than you can answer but, what timeframe are you running for FR? Each edition of D&D moved the time forward and most of them really screwed up the Realms. I don't particularly care for any after second edition but that is a personal preference. I'll go with whatever you choose and just have to learn the changes.
This may be more than you can answer but, what timeframe are you running for FR? Each edition of D&D moved the time forward and most of them really screwed up the Realms. I don't particularly care for any after second edition but that is a personal preference. I'll go with whatever you choose and just have to learn the changes.
My main experience with FR, as I said, is BG3. So probably sometime around 1492, (when the game is set), whichever edition that is. I guess mostly 5th edition stuff, but I’m not 100% sure what all that means quite yet.
Is there any particular connection you’re looking to make to an older timeline?
@GM of the Moon
Thanks! Right now I'm tending towards either a cleric of Sune or Eilistraee. In regard to the later I'm also curious if a cleric of Eilistraee gets to be proficient with bastard swords since that's commonly Eilistraee's favored weapon?
@GM of the Moon
Thanks! Right now I'm tending towards either a cleric of Sune or Eilistraee. In regard to the later I'm also curious if a cleric of Eilistraee gets to be proficient with bastard swords since that's commonly Eilistraee's favored weapon?
Yeah that sounds good to me. If any problem cases come up with more exotic/nonexistent weapons, I can just adjust them.
I don’t think so, no. There might be some obscure Elven pantheon deity I am not aware of, I’ll do some digging and get back to you on that.Oh, I don't doubt it will be. Funnily enough, I was thinking of having her be a worshipper of Selune since she seems to be the closest fit to Desna.
I don't suppose there's an equivalent of the Black Butterfly, is there?
Thanks! Although I think it'd be funny to have a worshipper of Selune that doesn't go out into the moonlight unless she thinks she's alone. It would certainly lead to some interesting conversations. :)
@GM of the Moon
Been thinking about it and decided I'm definitely going for a Cleric of Eilistraee who's likely going to multiclass into Bard or Ranger down the line to better augment her physical abilities and get a few more skill points. A frontline Cleric who can heal, bluff, talk (and dance!) seems like a fun build to play.
Also looked into Eilistraee's original Domains from 3e and came to the conclusion that Chaos (she's chaos-aligned), Charm (for her artistic stuff), Darkness (moonlight), Good (she's good-aligned) and Travel (leaving the Underdark for the surface) would probably best fit her for conversion into Pathfinder's Domain system. Not totally sold on it though so tell me if that works or fits for you.
@Delightful: This link seems to match up nicely with those domains, yeah. She is one of the ones that transition quite perfectly. I wanted to fit Liberation in there too, but that'd give her too many and the rest fit too perfectly.
@AdamWarnock: that does sound pretty intriguing, balancing the worship of the moon with the reluctance to be in moonlight. I'm not really finding any good equivalent to the Black Butterfly in Faerûn.
Is there any particular connection you’re looking to make to an older timeline?
What I can't stand is that they have f*ed up magic several times. Killed gods. Brought gods back. Changed the map and who is where. To a certain extent FR is unrecognizable.
Forgotten Realms is a huge world. 5th Ed has cast off the vast majority of the world and only makes stuff for the Sword Coast which is a tiny part of the world. I would say the Dalelands were the heart of the world in 2nd Ed but there was information (ie Lore) for large parts of the world that they have given up. You will see people and organizations from they other parts of the world but all in the Sword Coast.
So to answer your question there is no particular connection I'm looking to make. Sorry for the rant.
Shaggar is done save for minor tweaks or DM whimsy.
Fear the whimsy!
Thinking of my warpriest worshipping Waukeen but esp in her role as the patron of backroom deals and smuggling; think I'm a "caravan guard", always honest in my dealings but also always transporting extra illicit cargo
I got too many ideas, hard to make a choice, but the ideas I have are rogue leaning, so I thought how about I just list the ones i have you tell me which one I should flesh out;
A hobbit who thinks he is a mage,utterly convinced he is due to the charlatan who taught him. All it is is stage magic, wands,tools and good ol slight of hand. I want to play him in complete denial of not being a mage. An unchained rogue with counterfeit mage archetype. He might get a few spells later in to the game but not right a away.
An half orc Inquisitor with Sanctified Slayer with night domain, I was thinking Mask god of thievery but the wiki uses a lot of "was" so I don't know if I am able too use her. Sarcastic biting sense of humor very cool headed and I would imagine my orc would've been practicing around the local roads late at night looking for unwilling donations to his own pocketbook. CN
A human monk of Asmodus, who threw his horrible gambling habit has lost his freedom to hopefully someone else in the party, and practices malicious obedience, to hopefully get his owner indisposed for his freedom. Until then follows his contract and orders to the letter even if slavery itself is illegal, is it an institution of his god and he refuses to break it. Lawful evil. Oath of chains and hungry ghost monk. L
That's the character ideas I have, please let me know which you'd like me to flesh out.
Thank you for your time and please forgive any formating issues did this on my phone the rest will be on a CPU. Have a nice night.
Lastly a goblin gunslinger, who is convinced his body and mind was swapped by a shaman of the original owner's tribe and has been trying to hunt him body and that shaman down, even thought he admits he never saw them face to face just in a dream where he woke up like this somewhere nearby.
I'm not the GM, but this one's going to be a no-go, unfortunately. [ul=https://paizo.com/campaigns/v5748p75ivn2e/recruiting#31]GM said that guns are out.[/url]
As for the other characters, I've put my thoughts into the spoiler below. Again, I'm not the GM, but I try to be helpful. Just ignore it if you'd rather not read me rambling on.
I wouldn't advise going with the monk either, at least not as currently envisioned. That kind of behavior skirts too close player-vs-player for a lot of people to be comfortable with, myself included. It's a cool concept and could work, but that kind of character dynamic requires a lot of trust and communication to prevent it from being something that could affect the game in negative ways. Not to mention that a lot of GMs are going to be leery of that kind of thing because of the potential negative repercussions if things get out of hand.
The halfling sounds like a lot of fun and is an interesting character concept. If I had to pick one, I'd pick this one. You don't see many street magicians in games, and the idea that he thinks he's a mage is just icing on the cake in my books. I am curious if he thinks all magic is sleight of hand and misdirection or not.
The half-orc slayer is also interesting, but be forewarned that due to the stigma of certain kinds of players picking CN alignments and being utter jerks about it, many GMs are going to be leery. I don't know if GM of the Moon is one, but I figure forewarned is forearmed. Maybe he's more of a Robin Hood type that steals from the rich and greedy to give to the poor and needy. Maybe he tests out his mettle against other rogues. Maybe his word is his bond, and once given he follows through to the end. That could be an interesting way to get him introduced into the party, he gave his word to a Selunite and now they are calling in the marker. A favor for a favor kind of deal.
But yeah, out of the ones you listed, I think the halfling stage magician is the best. :)
Lastly a goblin gunslinger, who is convinced his body and mind was swapped by a shaman of the original owner's tribe and has been trying to hunt him body and that shaman down, even thought he admits he never saw them face to face just in a dream where he woke up like this somewhere nearby.I'm not the GM, but this one's going to be a no-go, unfortunately. [ul=https://paizo.com/campaigns/v5748p75ivn2e/recruiting#31]GM said that guns are out.[/url]
As for the other characters, I've put my thoughts into the spoiler below. Again, I'm not the GM, but I try to be helpful. Just ignore it if you'd rather not read me rambling on.
** spoiler omitted **...
Ope I must've missed it whatever makes my choices easier I'll just delete it then. I was in the flow zone with the writing. Thanks my dude.
@Ogre_Watts64: Any time. :)
And trust me, I understand about getting into a flow and getting excited. No worries there.
Very interested in this, as a long-time fan it's always a joy to play in the Realms, even if I'm less up on things post-Spellplague.
@GM of the Moon: In terms of classes, are Unchained versions on the table? Specifically I have an idea for a tiefling unchained rogue, moving into inquisitor. She's a worshipper of Leira (goddess of illusions and deceptions, also dead but that's another story...) and is a CN paranoid individual but also a mass of contradictions that she's working through due to her confused upbringing - at heart she wants to like and trust people but is wary of letting her guard down. I am aware of the CN/edgelord worries (which are often understandable) but have explanations and ideas about where she's come from and where I see her going. If you're open to story feats then Crisis of conscience feels like a good fit for her story arc but I also don't want to be all Main Character Energy either. As a player I'm a firm believer that it's a collaborative game, including with the GM.
Cool! I've never played in the Forgotten Realms (save for BG3). I might build a Rashemaar magus who's come to Baldur's Gate on his darjemma.