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Currently, I am running a slow (and had been fairly steady) homebrew campaign on my group's private forums. We have lost a few players due to real life complications. After conversing with the remaining players, we have decided together to look for a few more players to fill in the gaps. I would also like to encourage newer players (either to PF, RPGs, or just PBP), and will be strictly picking characters based on backgrounds and concepts (for concepts, mostly just things that work or will not overshadow the other players).
This campaign is set to be at a comfortable pace. I am looking for people that can check in at least 3 times a week. We are looking to have around 6 players, but I am comfortable with large groups and small groups (the remaining solid players would like company). The posting speed is variable, mostly up to the players and their time commitments for the day. Some days we go with posts, some days we see several posts. Weekends are normally low activity due to my schedule, but I update as soon as I can. We would mostly prefer to use our private forums as some people can access them at work, but not Paizo. IF we have to, we can move them to the Paizo forums, but we lose some of the extra organizational stuff that the private forums allows (such as each character gets their own thread, and different discussion sections). I make my own maps (I am not super artistic though) when I can, or for important things. Otherwise, I pull in some free to use maps.
Now that some of that is out of the way, let me get to the campaign.
The campaign is set in a homebrew world of my creation. This is actually the third game I have run from this world (each from different time periods). The campaign is heavily influenced by the PCs as there is only a little bit of plot to move the story along and keep things cohesive, but the story-line is centered entirely on the players and I write along as needed to reflect their decisions. The world is currently in a state of peace and has been for some time. There are no monsters (in the inhabited portions of the world) or mythical creatures really. Please keep this in mind when you make your characters.
The characters are currently level 2 (and a bit). Solid players that are locked in are a witch (specializing in charms, enchantments, etc), and an archer-based fighter. There is also a sword and board fighter and a necromancer-ish wizard that I have not confirmed with them if they wish to continue. The story as of this point is mostly only important to the current players. New players will not be required to make their stories match up. I have some minor helper NPCs currently with the party, but will remove them from the game later if they are not needed.
Classes:I am looking for a complete party, but more importantly, I want characters people would like to run. If there is no healer or whatever, I can and will supplement as needed. Again, I would prefer everyone gets to play concepts that they wish.
-20 point buy, No 7's can be purchased (Anything below an 8 must come from racial).
-You can be young, but no young template will be applied.
-Every Ability Score increase by level (4, 8, 12, etc.) you can increase two different ability scores instead of one.
-We will use Racial HP from the beta rules. Which are basically as follows:
If your race has a -2 Con modifer (or greater penalty), add +4HP to your hit points at 1st level.
If your race has no Con mod, add +6 HP to your hit points at 1st level.
If your race has a +2 Con mod (or higher), add +8 HP to your hit points.
The HP will make up for lower than high adventurer stats, not allowing a true dump stat, and will increase survival ability across the board.
Alignments: The Characters have mostly been of Good alignment. That being said, this is not a strictly "good only" campaign, but it does make things easier. Your character's origins can be of your own choosing, but make sure that it is something realistic for a level 1 or 2 character.
The main Gods/Demons of the world are centered (and taken) from the Ancient Sumerian/Akkadian/Mesopotamian deities. Most people in the world are not religious or have little to do with the gods. The gods and demons almost never mettle with mortals anymore.
Adad or Ishkur - god of storms
Alû, demon of night
Anu or An - god of heaven and the sky, lord of constellations, and father of the gods
Asag - monstrous demon whose presence makes fish boil alive in the rivers
Enki or Ea - god of crafts, water, intelligence, mischief and creation
Enlil or Anshur - god of the wind and divine ruler human
Ereshkigal - goddess of the Underworld
Gallû, underworld demon
Hanbi or Hanpa - father of Pazuzu
Humbaba – Forest Guardian
Inanna or Ishtar - goddess of fertility, love, and war
Lamashtu - a malevolent being who menaced women during childbirth
Lilû, wandering demon
Marduk - patron deity of Babylon who eventually became regarded as the head of the Babylonian pantheon
Mukīl rēš lemutti demon of headaches
Nabu - god of wisdom and writing
Nanshe - goddess of social justice, prophecy, fertility and fishing
Nergal - god of plague, war, and the sun in its destructive capacity
Ninhursag or Mami, Belet-Ili, Ki, Ninmah, Nintu, or Aruru - earth and mother goddess
Ninlil - goddess of the air; consort of Enlil
Ninurta - champion of the gods, the epitome of youthful vigour, and god of agriculture
Pazuzu - king of the demons of the wind; he also represented the southwestern wind, the bearer of storms and drought
Rabisu - an evil vampiric spirit
Shamash or Utu - god of the sun, arbiter of justice and patron of travellers
Sin or Nanna - god of the moon
Tammuz or Dumuzi - god of food and vegetation
The edimmu - ghosts of those who were not buried properly
Zu - divine storm-bird and the personification of the southern wind and the thunder clouds
Races: Because of the nature of the campaign world, only core races and very human-like races will be accepted. I may make exceptions, but it will be in very special cases.
Traits: Each character will be starting with two traits following normal rules. If you would like a campaign trait or something tailored for background reasons, let me know.
Starting Gold: New players will use the maximum wealth for level 1 characters based on their class. I know you are level two, but the current players are not far off of this and I'll get things fixed and sorted soon.
One of the previous players shared the following form with us. You are by no means required to use it, but it might give you an idea of some things to include.
Step 1: Write 5 background and concept elements that you feel are important to your image of the character. These can be a concept overview, a list of important life events, a physical description, a personality profile...whatever you need to get an image in your mind. 5 is just a minimum...more elements are encouraged!
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Step 2: List at least two goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.
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Step 3: List at least two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character.
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Step 4: Describe at least three people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.
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Step 5: Describe three memories, mannerisms, or quirks that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
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I think that is everything (or at least everything I can think of for now). If you have any questions, you can post them here or PM me. I'll keep this open until at least noon (CST) Monday 2/23 or until I'm satisfied with the party.
Edit: Knew I forgot something as soon as I hit submit. Here is the old recruitment thread if you would like to see what was discussed previously.
good homebrews are hard to come by and they are even harder to keep going. If you show me the original game, I might be interested.
The original gameplay is here. But you have to make an account first to view it. I'm currently online so I can approve people right away to look in on there game.
Currently, I don't have all that info up nor with me (scattered in various journals from the other games), but I know most of it by heart. If you have general ideas, I can help with some choices in regions and give more details about said regions as needed.
Would you be open to Psionic? Or maybe a reflavoring of the soulknife or the aegis?
@Nohwear - I am currently hesitant about running Psionics. Mostly for two reasons: I have not become familiar with the Dreamscarred Press version and The workings of psionics from 3.5 make the workings of how I have magic set-up no longer make as much sense. Reflavoring something is possible, but will take me a little time to re-do a class (could be one sitting or more depending on what work shows up on my desk and lab tables).
@DM-DR, I do not know much about your world, but my thoughts on a reflavoring are in the direction using raw elemental power. For example, the soulknife's weapon is made raw elemental water.
@DM-DR, I do not know much about your world, but my thoughts on a reflavoring are in the direction using raw elemental power. For example, the soulknife's weapon is made raw elemental water.
(current player here.) Would a Blackblade Magus work for the character you had in mind? Maybe one that's Suli or Undine and has a black blade that's been reflavored as you said?
@DM-DR, I do not know much about your world, but my thoughts on a reflavoring are in the direction using raw elemental power. For example, the soulknife's weapon is made raw elemental water.(current player here.) Would a Blackblade Magus work for the character you had in mind? Maybe one that's Suli or Undine and has a black blade that's been reflavored as you said?
That could work.
@Nohwear, there is also the Greensting Slayer and Spellbalde Magus Archetypes that stack. This would give you basically the elemental blade with the Sneak attack like bonus as well.
@Val- Glad to see you here helping me. :)
@BigP4nda- What kind of playtesting do you have in mind? I really try to keep things at a balance, so 3rd party classes and such I tend to go over with a fine comb when I have the time to do so.
@Nohwear, there is also the Greensting Slayer and Spellbalde Magus Archetypes that stack. This would give you basically the elemental blade with the Sneak attack like bonus as well.
@Val- Glad to see you here helping me. :)
Anytime! :)
Spellblade only does the offhand sadly. I think reflavored Blackblade would work better for the original suggestion. Greensting is good but won't stack with Bladebound. But Elemental Knight will if Suli are allowed.
I'm dotting. I'm asking a lot of questions in PM.
Answered a few questions for someone and thought that I would share these with you all for clarifications. Some of it was mixed and buried in the old recruitment and some of it, I don't think ever made it onto these forums but were discussed on the forums we are using. (I did fix a few typos form the message I sent and feel like a loser for the bad spelling and grammar).
Can you give me a short synopsis of the world? I know the gods are based in Mesopotamian origins, but my questions are more things like:
1. Who are the most famous/infamous people in the world and why are they so revered (i.e., what kind of people, both local and national, would my character be exposed to as "idols")?
2. Where would it make the most sense for someone who will be "divinely or otherwise inspired" to grow up? What influences would there be on his childhood (was he surrounded by people of wealth, though he had none? was he surrounded by talented people, and he felt inferior? was he the greatest damn peasant the city had ever seen, and thus elevated to an amazing status before even realizing his call to arms?)?
3. How has technology progressed?
4. What legends and tales are told around the fires of his hometown?
5. What are the greatest fears plaguing the people involved in my character's life?
The current timeline of the world everyone is playing in is very open right now. I did this so that I could focus more on character storylines that people would like to see developed and less about the workings of the world. This is taking place several years before the other two campaigns IRL that I have ran with this world (neither has currently finished as I have no time to meet up for IRL games now). In those two games, things were much less open because they were plot-driven.
Some big things to note, Humans set the peace through the lands and occupy 95% of the entire world's population. There hasn't been a war in over 2000 years (when the humans brought an end to all wars and began ruling with an Iron Fist). This peace has also brought about the end of adventuring. No one goes to seek adventure and glory anymore because there is none to be had (as people think). This might all sound boring, but it was designed for one specific "grand scheme" beyond the character story lines to still give it that epic adventure/campaign plot.
That should answer a large part of your questions, but I'll try to answer a little further on each as well.
1. With the state of the world, there really is no one famous/infamous openly. There are some monarchies and and such, but none are really famous. Currently, the party has a single nemesis by the name of Pritchard. He is the leader of a group known as the "Riders of Mynyddsey". They are a sort of local law enforcement group, but not part of the government. There is also a secret organization that is said to run the government of Mynyddsey and he is rumored to be in charge or at least a part of that group. In society, he is actually well received. For idols and villans, I allowed everyone to sort of make up their own (see the form posted on the recruitment thread).
2. Because gods have virtually no interaction, very few people feel divinely inspired. Most often, the only people that become part of the clergy are those raised in the churches as orphans. Paladins tend to be more of the "hospitaler"/"traveling healers". Some are knights for royal armies, but these armies are all for show as there hasn't been a war in many, many generations. People that feel a "call to arms" normally do so either because they are of nobility and do it for show, or join an army or town guard because they need to make a living.
3. Technology has been very slow to improve. Guns are in the early stages, and nothing like what you would find in Numeria exists. Again, this has to do with the long standing peace. There has been no need for new innovations.
4. Most people have forgotten about monsters and the like because they haven't been seen in over 2000 years. Since no one has been needed (or felt the need) to seek out glory, there are no real heroes of old. The only real tales and legends are about how the humans conquered all the civilized lands and united everyone under different ruling nations.
5. Most people that are not privileged are just trying to make ends meet. There are many corrupt organizations, but everything stays under radar or has bought out their governments. Nothing is openly bad enough that people wish to rebel (in part due to the large armies and police forces). The area the party came from (a town called Dawsbury) was experiencing another large drought which affected their crops (as well as the merchants that traveled through the town to get to Mynyddsey). Dawsbury recently (about a week ago during the adventure) was burned to the ground with no known survivors or found cause of the fires.
I guess I never directly asked, can I play a Suli? I think that would fit my elemental Black Blade Magus idea best. If that will not work then oh well.
@Nohwear, I'll tell you what I told Valeriya about her Changeling. Monster-related humans don't exist naturally as there are no monsters. However, there is something in-place mechanics-wise (this is part of the storyline for the characters and thus would be spoilers if I explained in too much detail) that allows for similar workings. For the most part, you would look like a human and be from human parents. You would use the Suli race instead of human for your character, except because of the Suli's racial traits, some would be missing until later (most won't even matter).
Energy Resistance: Only have 1 elemental damage type at first.
Elemental Assault: Again, only 1 energy type, which must be the same as your resistance.
Other elements will be gained back during the adventure.
1. With the state of the world, there really is no one famous/infamous openly. There are some monarchies and and such, but none are really famous. Currently, the party has a single nemesis by the name of Pritchard. He is the leader of a group known as the "Riders of Mynyddsey". They are a sort of local law enforcement group, but not part of the government. There is also a secret organization that is said to run the government of Mynyddsey and he is rumored to be in charge or at least a part of that group. In society, he is actually well received. For idols and villans, I allowed everyone to sort of make up their own (see the form posted on the recruitment thread).
I dunno about that. What about a celebrity bard? Or a famous Wizard, tourney champion, social reformer, etc.?
Here's a freebie: a summoner artist who keeps working on his masterpiece aka his eidolon.
Killing Dragons isn't the only way to be popular.
Well, as I also stated, I let you guys make your own related NPCs so that you can feel like your characters are more involved with the story (because you are making some of it) rather than trying to fit your characters to an existing story.
Well, as I also stated, I let you guys make your own related NPCs so that you can feel like your characters are more involved with the story (because you are making some of it) rather than trying to fit your characters to an existing story.
Fair enough.
Another of the players here.
Just to say that I'm playing the fighter, a young rookie town-guard in Dawsbury, that previouly earned his own by hunting in the nearby woods and trading with a the town's little dwarf comunity.
Being orphan, the only important figure in the world for him is his grandfather, that raised him. Now, the young warrior takes care of him, as the old one have... well, some issues.
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I would like to show my interrest and I also have a few questions. I am planing to make a rogue like social type
1) I would like to ask about if you would consider allowing a Tiefling, Kitsune or Fetchling?
2) Also could we find a way for me to get the butterfly sting which normally requires worshipper of Desna?
3) About the health does a first lvl rogue gain 8 from die, +X from con/favored class and those +6 from being a race without any bonuses/penalties to con. and is the rest half dice rounded up or down ?
Can't answer the first two but I can answer the third somewhat.
For your rogue, the HP would be 1d8 + CON + FCB (if you choose) + 6. Though you'll probably start at second level 'cause that's where we are. I don't understand the "and is the rest half dice rounded up or down ?" part. There are no half dice that I can see at this point.
P.S. We could definitely use a Face so good on ya.
@Warrick
1) The Tiefling could be used with some slight modification (like the suli) The Kitsune and Fetchling wouldn't fit though (again for story-line reasons).
2) Yeah, that's fine, we can work that in (if you are talking about the feat that passes your critical on to the next person).
3) As Val said. We are doing the first 3 levels at max HP (1d8+Con+FC bonus) at each level. You get the racial HP only at level 1 (+6 for the no +/- con mods). After that we will be rolling HP in your character's personal thread when you level up.
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@ DM-DR
1) Truth be told it was the tiefling i was hoping most of all to be allowed to play and i dont mind some modifications as long as i don't loose the darkvision and skilled :-)
2) That is the feat I had in mind, i dont feel like criticals are worth making for rogues with allmost pure die roll.
3) ok and just to be sure a second lvl rogue would have a healthpool of: 16+con+(fc bonus)+ 6 ?
@Warrick
Modified Tiefling- Looks exactly as a human. Loses: All resistances (for now). Stay away from the alternate racial traits (though some may be gained later if you desire).
Yeah, 16+ 2x Con (for 2 levels) +6 racial (if a +0 con race)+ 0>2 FC
So far, the only hard hitter(s) had both left the game.
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@ DM-DR
I'm ok with loosing the resistances but i would like maybe later to gain the prehensile tail.
If I'm choosen to join your campaign i will look at the finished team before finishing my rogue:
My main ideas right now is:
They are all social but i have with different combat roles.
Feinter with butterfly sting to give my crits to other melee.
Feinter with sap master for knocking people out.
A sniper.
@Warrick Blackstone
We have a witch for ranged debuff, an archery-based fighter for ranged damage, and our tank-y fighter is confirmed to still be in the group. So if you choose to go melee, you will have support. The melee fight wield a flail so only x2 crits.
So the sap master is best for our current makeup. If someone else joins with a good weapon then the butterfly guy might be better. Maybe a knife-master feinter, or even a bard for buffing and social skills might be better?
@Warrick Blackstone
You're right I forgot about the penalty. My only tiefling character is a Demonspawn so she actually gets a bonus to CHA.
The variant heritages really aren't so bad on the tiefling. Hope you can get it. Bards are really fun and versatile.
So GM, any updates?
So far I have had 2 background submissions. Would like to see others from those there has posted interest. Those with backgrounds, please proceed to making a crunch. Also, alternate races are still aged like humans (except the other core races). I have a template I use for character crunches that is set-up like a bestiary entry. We'll convert those that make it in to that format, but for now, use any character sheet/format you like.
Sure, that wouldn't be an issue.
I am interested in this game and would like to submit a Shaman/Sword Saint, although I'm unsure if the recruitment is still open. Additionally, I'd want to make sure if Eastern characters would conflict with the setting (if so I can drop the Samurai levels for something similar).
Either way I won't be able to prepare a full submission until I get off of work in about 4 hours from this post. If no one has any issues with a Shaman/Samurai then I should be able to have a complete character ready to go by later tonight.
At low levels such as this I try and shoot for 2-3 paragraphs for a character's backstory. Is that alright?
I am interested in this game and would like to submit a Shaman/Sword Saint, although I'm unsure if the recruitment is still open. Additionally, I'd want to make sure if Eastern characters would conflict with the setting (if so I can drop the Samurai levels for something similar).
Either way I won't be able to prepare a full submission until I get off of work in about 4 hours from this post. If no one has any issues with a Shaman/Samurai then I should be able to have a complete character ready to go by later tonight.
At low levels such as this I try and shoot for 2-3 paragraphs for a character's backstory. Is that alright?
(sincerity mode) I'm interested to see how you tie the Shaman and Samurai stuff together provided the Japanese stuff is allowed. Would the Shaman part be like a Shinto Priest(ess)?
If Samurai isn't allowed then Barbarian is the best dip mechanically though fighter fits the disciplined samurai ideal a lot better.
I apologize as I don't have a whole lot of time to explain my thought process right now. I'm also only loosely familiar with the setting since, like I said, I'm at work. There is one thing that I did consider important though and that is that there has been no large scale warfare in nearly 2000 years. That means that military organizations will be largely nonexistant and where they are present they will be poorly trained and funded. Thus playing a traditional Samurai makes pretty much no sense; and this is where the Shaman aspect becomes important I believe.
Right now my working concept is a character who was born and raised by the equivalent of a shash-mix between a gypsy troupe and a travelling carnival. Among other things, they would have likely put on dramatized reenactments of historical events. That's where the Sword Saint comes in, as the Sword Saint is a cultural depiction of a Samurai rather than a strictly historical one.
The Shaman provides the "real-thing" in a sense. By selecting the Battle spirit and the Possessed Shaman archetype I can make the case that my character is being aided/possessed/haunted by one of the long-dead warriors depicted in their plays. Thus the mere "performer" channels a restless spirit to become the real thing.
TL;DR I was just pretending, but then things got weird.
That sounds really interesting. I hope you get that to work out mechanically. (I was never good at multi-classing)
Iaijitsu strike will be flashy enough I think, and combined with the Blade of Mercy trait and a high Dex will give me something that looks pretty similar to stage combat. After that the Battle spirit hexes and abilities will carry me in an actual combat, plus I'll still have spellcasting. I think it'll be interesting at least, maybe not effective.
This is Johnnycat again, reporting in with my initial submission. I will hold off on doing a full backstory until a decision is made regarding eastern elements (though my crunch is up and ready). For now though I tryed to put together a short blurb that should hopefully better summarize the character while still being usable if samurai's are not allowed.
Two millennia without war, such a long time - perhaps the world no longer has need for legends? Indeed, most have been reduced to an almost unrecognizable state; told only by travelling bands of tradesmen intent on warming the heart and separating the unwary from their coin. But what of the player who left the stage, young Dunja Hana, whose persona would take on a life of its own? The lines between truth and fiction have become strained. A strange wooden icon, a broken sword, and the whispering of those things beyond: what will become of this unfortunate soul?
As always feedback/criticism are welcome and appreciated. Hopefully it doesn't suck. It's like 20 minutes before bed so everything seems like a good idea right now.
@Dunja Hana
Don't knock being super tired. Science says it's actually better for the creative process because it shuts down the rational part of your brain and lets the creative part have more control.
We're only level two so the crunch won't good no matter what character you're on (except maybe a fighter.)
Between your ability to buff attack rolls and my ability to debuff enemies' AC, you should be effective.
Hey, I'm interested in applying if you still are looking. I was thinking of building a swashbuckler or slayer, but I'm curious to learn more about the criminal underground before I start building her personality and story.
There are many corrupt organizations, but everything stays under radar or has bought out their governments. Nothing is openly bad enough that people wish to rebel (in part due to the large armies and police forces).
Are there any kinds of thieves guilds or government sponsored spies or something like that? People who normally stick to the shadows and work clandestinely? I understand that you said that it's been a peaceful time, but I tend to think that governments aim towards jerk-ass-ness nonetheless.
If I'm completely off base just let me know and I can adjust!