Long-time fans of horror, rejoice! I have finally decided to run a supernatural modern horror campaign!
The basic premise is that all the characters have attracted the attention of some dark, terrifying force, which draws them into a hellish alternate reality much like Silent Hill.
The campaign draws heavily on inspiration from Silent Hill, Hellraiser, old horror movies, and the upcoming The Evil Within game, so expect heavy psychological and body horror. The campaign will have characters shifting from the campaign world to the 'hell dimension', so expect to spend time in both.
Time is not congruent in these two dimensions, so expect various distortions in time and perception of it when being shifted between the two.
This campaign is extremely deadly, with most regular foes encounters being ECL+2 at least and with bosses skyrocketing up to ECL+7, something normally not possible. It is not impossible, however, for I have set the encounters up to allow characters to use the environment and the creature weaknesses to their advantage (I playtested it, so I know it is possible to win!). The victories will be VERY hard-won, but very rewarding as well!
Characters will start out living their daily lives, so do not automatically assume they are in the other dimension... no in media res here!
Please note this is a VERY mature game and there will be graphic depictions of torture, gore, and various unpleasant things, so if you are squeamish you may need to look elsewhere for a game! As it stands, I will have to spoiler some of the worst parts of the campaign to conform to messageboard standards... it's that brutal of a campaign!
You must make a list of NPCs important to your character, anywhere from 3-9, and you need to list, via a PM to me, which ones are disposable. There must be at least ONE that is disposable!
Backstory is what you will be selected on, so make it good!
There will be 4 characters selected, possibly 5. One of these character slots has already been taken up by The Silver Prince, so there are 3-4 more slots left.
CHARACTER CREATION (Thanks to Princey for the basic recruitment template! :3)
Starting Level: 1
Epic 4: Once characters reach 4th level, they no longer gain HP/HD, but still gain every other benefit of leveling up and each level requires the same amount of EXP to level up as 4th did.
Sanity Points: You gain an amount of these equal to your WIS score. If you run out, you develop a mental illness of some sort, which could be either mild and barely perceptible or severe and debilitating.
Allowable Races: Human Only
CLASSES, EQUIPMENT, SKILL LIST, ECT: Listed here under Modern Adventures and the 6 Anachronistic Adventurer files. My only rule is that the Investigator class in the Modern Adventures book be renames as 'Detective', to avoid class confusion.
Point Buy: 20 from a baseline of 10, on a 1-for-1 ratio as opposed to a scaling one, and you may reduce each score by up to 2 points from any given score to gain a like amount of points to spend on another. No score should be above 18 before the human bonus, not below 08.
HP: Max HP per HD.
Skills: To reflect the various skills most modern people have, you will receive 2 extra skill points per level.
Starting Cash: $2,000, which should preferably be split into equipment.
Traits: 2
Drawback: Players may take a drawback to gain access to a 3rd trait if desired.
Story Feats: Yes, you may take Story Feats, but you MUST run them by me so I can decide how they can fit into the campaign! No ifs, ands, or buts about it! Don’t worry though, I allow quite a wide latitude of acceptable concepts.
Alignment: There will not be alignments in this campaign... the bad guys are evil and everyone else is various shades of grey, just like real life.
Criticals: There will be a variant of exploding criticals used here with firearms, since ammo is scarce. If you threaten a critical hit, you automatically deal maximum normal damage. If you confirm, you deal that damage multiplied by the critical multiplier. Also if you roll a perfect critical to confirm, you deal extra weapon damage, unmultiplied and, if you roll max on damage, you roll weapon damage again, up to seven times if you get so lucky. Please note that most enemies have DR, Fast Healing, or Regeneration and, as such, so this is not game breaking. In fact, most bosses can only be staggered by being reduced to negative HP and must be killed in a unique manner. If enemies crit characters, it follows the same rules, sans the maximizing and repeating, but characters also have to roll for an injury, which I have lists for based on injury types (Burning, bludgeoning, ect.,).
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask them... if you dare! >:)
Hello. Dotting. :) looks fun
Im thinking inforcer
Hell yea. Dotting for interest!
As a note, TSP's got dibs on the Investigator from Anachronistic Adventurers!
The city all of this takes place in is Bleakstone, a fictional city the FoS made for their fan-expansion of Masque of the Red Death, 3.X. Instead of the city in the early 1900's though, it's now a semi-metropolis in modern times. Some of the oldest buildings still have the rather unique architecture of the old city. I will add a gazetteer for you all to peruse sometime later! :)
EDIT: All classes get all skills on their class list. This is the modern times, where meatheads can learn biochemistry and bookworms practice gymnastics, after all. It only makes sense to have this type of permittence. Is it nonstandard for PFRPG? Absolutely. Then again, so are ECL+7 fights against monsters that you CAN win with the right strategy and tools!
EDIT 2: Jeez, I lurk on these boards too much lol.
EDIT 3: Just realized I unintentionally made a pun on this alias name on my last edit! It's time to go to bed! XD
In the rule book some of the classes differ from the extra pdfs you gave. Are they extra or how do they compare?
What do you mean?
Also! Campaign traits will be up later! :)
In the players handbook there are classes that look different from the other pdfs u shared.
Like the enforcer. That class is not in the phb
EDIT: All classes get all skills on their class list. This is the modern times, where meatheads can learn biochemistry and bookworms practice gymnastics, after all. It only makes sense to have this type of permittence. Is it nonstandard for PFRPG? Absolutely.
I'm not sure what you mean by this. Does everyone start with one free rank in each of their Class Skills?
I think it means that all skills are class skills and will get the +3 bonus
Oh right, that makes more sense. Cheers!
You are correct about the skills, Seth!
Ah, I see your question. Each of the classes are roughly equivelant in power, so you may choose whichever ones catch your interest. The only difference is the Anachronistic Adventurer classes are MUCH more modular, whereas the ones in Modern Adventures are more straightforward. Also, the classes listed in AA have more general application while the ones in MA are more specific. Make sense?
DOTTAGE!
I had been in the initial interest check thread but I need to bow out, a few things cropped up in other games and I don't want to overburden myself or be a liability to a new game. Good luck everybody!
I had been in the original thread as well, and likewise am going to have to bow out. Try as I might, I can't come up with a character that I find interesting.
Awww, don't tell me interest is lost! :(
Well, I guess the campaign is dead before it even began... :(
I didn't super feel like the classes fit the time period, which I think was part of why I was having trouble coming up with a character. But it's still a really damn cool idea. I'm shocked that more people aren't jumping up and down to play it.
May I present Signor Adriano Crescenzi, Spiritualist in service to the Pontifical Household (if allowed)
Medium humanoid (human)
Init -1, Senses Perception +3
DEFENSES
AC 9, touch 9, flat-footed 10 (-1 Dex)
hp 9 (1d6+2+1 favored)
Sanity 16
Fort +2, Ref -1, Will +5
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +1 (1d4+1, crit. 19-20)
Spell-like Abilities (CL 1, concentration +5)
5/day - accident
Spiritualist Spells Known (CL 1, concentration +5)
1st (4/day) - shield, detect secret doors
0 (at will) - mage hand, detect magic, light, resistance
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 8, Con 14, Wis 16, Int 15, Cha 14
BAB +0, CMB +1, CMD 10
Traits Focused Mind, Tireless Logic
Feats Arcane Strike (B), College Education (Psychology, Religion), Eschew Materials (B), Theologian
Skills (7 skillpoints)
Bluff +6, Computers +6, Craft (writing) +6, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (bureaucracy) +6, Knowledge (psychology) +8, Knowledge (religion) +10
Languages English, Italian, Medieval Latin
Combat Gear
Other Gear 2000.00
10 lb aluminum travel case with tablet computer and digital camera (120+500+800)
1 month used sedan car rental (300.00)
antique crucifix with hidden dagger (150.00)
2 clergy uniforms (180.00)
120.00
500.00
800.00
300.00
150.00
180.00
======
2050.00
Although young for a Catholic priest, Signor Crescenzi was granted a special dispensation by the Pope due to his devotions to his college and seminary studies. He has spent much of his time both as a full-fledged priest and as an acolyte, in the study of modern psychology and the interactions between human psyche and religion. Witnessing a supposed "demonic possession" in his youth intrigued the young Adriano in the dangers that the human mind could hold, and a curiosity into the nature of supernatural evil (if such a thing exists). Although his studies into such possibilities were intense, most of the confirmed texts indicated that most cases of demonic possession were nothing more than malreligious psychoses.
Still, there were a few cases that indicated something real and evil. Something beyond the pulp fiction films and novels that the mainstream media continued to churn out. Signor Crescenzi intended to use his connections in the Vatican to pursue the leads to the truly bizarre and unexplained.
As he continued to offer his services as a theologian and psychologist to the Roman Catholic Church, Adriano Crescenzi came across an unusual find in the Archives: a jeweled crucifix which no archaeological dating method had yet been able to date. After the death of the last Pope, his access to the Archives were rescinded and Signor Crescenzi found himself looking for work in odd places, such as in the States where he used his knowledge of psychology and religion to denounce false exorcism rituals, fake demonic possessions, and to generally downplay the entire Possession angle, a stance which the Catholic Church officially adopted several decades ago.
Notes As a Spiritualist Sorcerer, Adriano Crescenzi is plagued by strange and sometimes haunting events of things moving and activating on their own. I intend to have him roleplay his spells and supernatural abilities as something beyond his conscious awareness, and as startling and unusual for a skeptic mind such as his own to experience.
The crucifix has an ancient dagger hidden in its interior, but this is not something that Adriano is aware of at first. It is an unusual design crucifix and interesting enough that Signor Crescenzi adopted its usage for his business card design. It is heavily jeweled and this is the main reason why his total available funds is overspent by 50.00.
I will come up with more backstory and character background, as required. But I wanted to put out what I had already both to get the Go Ahead, and to inspire others who might have difficulty coming up with a character idea.
Someone interested!
YoricksRequiem, what classes would be sufficient to reignite your interest? I may be willing to accept other classes, should they be something that would fit flavor-wise.
Adriano Crescenzi, where does the Spiritualist Sorceror come from? If you can show me what book you got it from, I can get to approving/disapproving it sooner. It will likely be approved.
I may be interested but i need to come up with an idea
Well i actualy have one but not fleshed out.
Ill see about posting the concept tomorrow
If people are having issues with the modern times thing, I could revert it back to the late 1800's, early 1900's. Let me know your preference, because I want this campaign to be something all players enjoy!
Its in the Modern Adventures book, listed under the Sorcerer Class description. Pg 31. Apparently the book does allow for (some) magic in a modern campaign, and the three bloodlines presented indicate some of the more interesting archetypes of modern psychic abilities.
As for fleshing the characters out, its a little difficult to choose traits as most of the traits in Pathfinder have some reference to magic or saving throw bonuses I'm not sure we'll come up against in this type of campaign.
How did I forget that? :/
Traits will be incoming, assuming enough people apply.
Also, is The Silver Prince still with us, and what type of character is he playing, or do we know yet? I'm squishy and need a meat shield. :P
My idea is soldier. Survival soldier
TSP is still with us, he just will not be posting for a few days. He's had some problems with hypoglycemia and high insulin lately. :(
Well let's see thosee characters people! :)
I like the idea, but I am a little leary on Pathfinder being a basis for a modern campaign, much less a horror one. I'll read over the Campaign setting stuff and see how I like it though.
Honest question, why not just use World of Darkness?
The Pale King, that's not a reference to the Fey servitor of Arawn, is it? The reason I am sort of shying away from WoD is because of the fact that I am not as familiar with the system. I have played 2 WoD games, not campaigns, and thus am lacking confidence I can master the ruleset. That said, I have bought almost the entire New World of Darkness series because I like the fluff and artwork, which I occasionally use in other campaigns.
Got to go for a bit after this post... got a few things to do. Will check back later.
I just had some ideas (Well dreams, really). If you think that magic is too powerful for this type of game, you could have it not work at all in the Other world, or potentially work against the caster (although that would put me in a rather tight situation with little access to my main class abilities).
I had a cool idea but it didn't work with the setting so I am at a blank right now as to what to play. of course I have some other game oppurtunities coming so I may end up not applying depending on how that pans out.
I apologize for the delay! The recent storms had a way with the Internet boxes around here, but it's ok now! I'm about to go to bed, but I will post later! ^_^
Repost any questions you have and I'll get around to answering them when I log on.