Hey Mowque - discussion thread as promised.
Quick reminder of the gen rules:
Stats: 20pt buy (or 4d6, drop lowest if you want the risk!)
Starting Level: 7
Wealth: ABP +2, so 25% of normal.
Races: Core and Featured
Classes: Anything Paizo
Traits: 2, drawback for a 3rd.
Other: Background skills, ABP +2
Bonus: 1 bonus feat, must be a Story Feat.
Anything else you want to know? Fluff is still ongoing I'm afraid.
How much combat will there be? Lots, very little, my choice? Will I have a trusty band of NPCs? Intrigue can mean alot of things, high-level meetings, spywork, robbery, police work...what are you thinking as the big themes?
Combat will be very much up to you - are you familiar with the 'social combat' add on cards? I have a set so that kind of method of conflict will generally be available (if there's demon summoning however then diplomacy may be off the cards!) Things like ritual duels etc will also feature - so all out melees won't be the norm, but you can always instigate them!
Think courtly intrigue - so spywork, certainly. Meeting with a like-minded group, probably. Robbery and detective work, well thats up to you and your preferred methods. If you want to play some sort of 'spymaster' diviner wizard then fine. If you want a super sneaky rogue who is only a step up from a common thief then fine too. :) Nice thing about solo games is adapting to the player and their strengths (or not, you lightning immune happy GM! :P)
NPC's - certainly some, both above you and below unless you want to be the kings brother in which case... probably on your level or below :P
Work has gotten crazy today but I'll do my best to get an introductory fluff post up as soon as I can.
I am curious what the gist of the game will be. Dying king, incipient civil war, ongoing mystery, could be alot of different elements.
Provisionally I'm going to set the game in a post-Reign of Winter Irrisen, so some departures to game as written.
Basically the reigning queen is defeated by some adventurers, who use their favour to have Baba Yaga leave Golarion forever. So no Winter Queen - no more children of Baba Yaga and one large power vacuum. There will be lots of factions jockeying to place their candidate on the throne, and high-level ex PC's will be some of them, along with the Witches and more. Will be able to flesh this all out once I've had a chance to read the campaign setting.
The initial hook will be 'dying king' certainly. You a Game of Thrones fan?
Interesting. Irrisen is a very cool place, lots of potential there. It has a really nasty edge, but that helps not hinders. Plenty of factions, both good and evil, going on (even monster factions). Not to mention all the other nearby kingdoms.
I have read all the books and watched the show (which has crashed and burned in the last few season). The first two are some of the best fantasy out there but they really grew bloated later.
Just be careful about the RoW spoilers. ;) I have a dwarf to torture properly... I mean, that needs to save the world over here.
Yes, to be clear.
GM_Alomonihah is running a solo RoW game for me (we are still in Book One, I think?). So yeah, spoilers will be a bit of a problem...
We're nearing the end of book one, yes.
I think you'd actually be able to run an idea like this with very minimal spoilers for Reign of Winter, actually. I just thought I'd point it out just in case, since the middle section of RoW is best if you can avoid being too spoiled on it.
Ahh, that clarifies things a bit!
Shouldn't be any problem at all - the amount I spoiled in the posts above is about all I need to spoil. I was going to use a certain girl from book 5 as a throne claimnant but I can avoid that if you'd prefer Almonihah.
So, any progress? Judging from your posting, you have been busy the last few days. Just thought I'd ask.
Yeah, work is v busy unfortunately. That said I have a choice for you.
Either you can wait a while so I can do my reading about Irrisen
or
We can move to Qadira and I should be able to get the game started much earlier.
Your call :)
I am perfectly content moving it.
I'll get a post up soon then. :) It'll be a general scene setter. One question before I start - you'll be starting off in Katheer, the capital city. Do you want to be a native or a newcomer?
So what is the general theme exactly? I'm assuming parts of it have changed?
Do you picture lots of combat or should I build a very sociable guy? Is it sandboxy or more railed?
I'm certainly aiming for a sandbox - part of the fun of a solo game is having choices right? I'll dangle quests in front of you and you can pick whatever you like most. :)
As to theme, its going to be a bit less intrigue focused. Ash wouldn't do so well here because he's a bit short on the talky skills so honestly well rounded will do no harm. There'll be trips into the desert, sneaking around cities and of course massive political unrest and possibilities for someone enterprising to rise very high indeed! Basically if you want to pick a character focus, go for it - I can make it happen.
Would you mind making a gameplay thread so I can dot it?
Also, thinking Inquisitor....any religion that would work very well with the plot you have in mind?
Sarenae is the dominant religion but no, anything you like really, just be aware that Rovagug and Asmodeus will make your life hard! :D
Gameplay is up now!
Thank you, very much.
I will put together the character tonight. You can put up the first fluff post if you like. Totally up to you.
Would having an animal companion be a big issue?
Not at all - I'm a fan!
Wondering, can I assume my ape companion has Improved Unarmed Strike since he is an ape?
I am looking toward giving him Improved Grapple.
if not,t hat is OK, I'll build him for more damage-output orientated.
Jewel of the East works!
I present to you...Usmond Sigdum and his loyal ape companion, Etmek.
Wondering, can I assume my ape companion has Improved Unarmed Strike since he is an ape?
I am looking toward giving him Improved Grapple.
if not,t hat is OK, I'll build him for more damage-output orientated.
Yeah, you can have IUS if you want it. It's not too broken... :)
Well, otherwise, he is done.
What do you think? Problems, concerns, typos?
Fluff will be incoming, do you need that before we can start?
basically he is a shamed and broken ex-mercenary from the Inner Sea. He washes up here, hoping to re-make himself in Qadira. He is a brutal man who thinks military organization is the best way to run things, assuming the best can rise to the top through merit.
Fluff would be useful, I've got Katheer pretty much ready to go, but the more I know about Usmond the better the start can be. :)
Given what you've said of him I might need to know his opinion on Taldor!
Tell me what you think...
The teenage Usmond was a rowdy lad, quick to start a fight for whatever reason. He battled for order just as much as against it depending on his mood. As he aged though and grew more talented with weapons, he grew dissatisfied, looking for more. The night he broke a drunk gang’s leaders jaw over an argument was the last straw. Seething, he left and looked for other ways to make his violent nature pay.
He found it in a struggling mercenary group at the docks. The strapping man joined up and was soon inducted into the life of a sellsword. It appealed to him as the job were usually longer duration and were an outlet for his skills. Most importantly it let him interact with true veterans, and real masters of the warrior arts. For several years he worked in Varisia, putting down this Shonati raid or protecting that wagon train. Finally, finding he outclassed his fellows, he went further afield for greater glory, for greater challenges.
Still a young man, he entered into the maelstrom of real wars. Usmond cared little for the exact morals of who hired him, he fought alongside devils in Cheliax, and then atheists in Garund. Full pitched battles on the plains of Thuvia to defeating pirates off Absalom. It was in this years, at the highest of his powers, he found his true calling. A priest of Gorum. Here was a god he could respect, one that was worthy of submitting to. He dedicated himself The Lord in Iron, and mastered the greatsword, his holy weapon. In his devotion he even uncovered a gift of magic, granted to him by a pleased god. His bloodstained hands became holy, his killings a sacrifice to the divine.
He became a minor legend among the mercenaries among the Inner Sea, a common sight at the constant conflicts. He made friends, enemies, unlikely allies. In the Mwangai Expanse, working for the Aspis Consortium he found an ape, captured and tortured by some heathen tribesman. After Usmond slaughtered the enemy tribe, he freed the beast. He named it Etmek and found the beast became a loyal pet then a loyal friend. His connection to Gorum revealed a depth of power and cunning in the beast. Somehow the warrior god touched the beast and Etmek learned to wear armor, to fight more in the manner of men.
The two, the huge man bearing a bloody blade and the roaring, tearing ape, became a terrifying sight on many a battlefield. Then came the Taldor contract. Usmond cared little for the Taldane, finding them decadent and craven, even if they paid well. The job, guarding the northern reaches of the empire from Galt and Andoran involved many seasons of spent in the barracks, watching waiting, merely honing skills long since turned razor sharp.
It was here, Usmond fell in love. She was a camp follower, one of the many who washed and cleaned (and slept with) the soldiers. A tender young beauty, Sarin stole his heart over one long winter. They would find time to sneak away into woods or into back rooms. He would tell her stories of his fights and detailed the strategies of battles. The hulking warrior even found himself muttering sweet nothings to her as they clasped hands. It was a glimpse of a life beyond that of battle and violence.
But war still called and in the spring, war re-started with the Andorans. After a long and tearful night with Sarin, Usmond went to battle, telling himself this was the last time. After this fight, he would stop, retire this life. Perhaps he could become a trainer or teacher in a fighting school, anything that would allow him to be with the one he loved, the one who had melted his heart.
On the field the forces joined combat and as always the song of violence filled him, completed in a way nothing else did (except the arms of his love). But the song was wrong, the notes disjointed. The enemy was everywhere, predicting every move, foes in the wrong place at the wrong time. Disaster as the Tadlor forces were routed, and thousands filled in retreat. Usmond and Etmek barely escaped, flying from ruin. How had the enemy known? The question echoed throughout the shaken and nearly empty camp.
It soon became known. Sarin. She had been a spy from the beginning, working for Androan. The young woman had simply played him, strung him along so he would reveal all he knew. All those late nights, all those innocent questions. Each was like a sword wound. When it was revealed he was deemed a traitor and ordered to be executed by Taldor. Usmond defeated the men sent to arrest him and fled, with Etmek at his side, from the Empire.
He entered Qadira, a broken and shattered man. A heavy burden, worse then any wound weighed on him. The land was hot, dry and strange. He had no eye for it though, no sense of the grandeur and expanse of this exotic land. He only felt the sword in his hand, the armor on his back.
He could worship Gorum here, and perhaps blind devotion to his Lord would save his soul…and his heart.
Awesome, I'm going to change the start to fit in with your background better but this is good! :D
Sorry to make your job harder.
Thanks for the testimonial in my Ironfang recruitment thread.
Would you be interested in the second slot? I'm sure we can come up with some good characters together!
Any idea on level or other character creation information?
I'll suggest level 2 and either 20 or 25pt buy. :) Just keep your eye on the thread and you'll see things as quick as I do!
So I am playing Obi-Wan to your younger more impressionable hero? Any class you are itching to play?
I'm planning to play a Dragonrider. I'm feeling a proper Eragon vibe from this AP.
So Obi-Wan by all means or simply just a friend, similar age - perhaps slightly older and more experienced? Depends what you want to be going with really. I get to bring good melee and a smattering of arcane. I'm tempted by gestalt actually - add sorceror in to buff my casting some. Would that be good for you or put you off?
I'm not a big fan of gestalt or 3pp to be fair. Granted, we are running an AP with two of us, so I doubt we'll be over powered. Have to think about it.
I can see the issue - thats the reason I went for a specific recruitment to play a Dragonrider in, it wouldn't really work in a normal game.
Gestalt I'm not fussed about either way - its just an easy way of covering the party bases. If you went something mildly divine like Hunter or Druid we'd cover most of the bases apart from lockpicking though...
We have a gameplay thread here
I'll go check it out.
You ok? You don't have to play Ironfang if you don't want to.
Oh, man. I apologize! I explained what happened.
You ok Mow?
Work has been strangling me lately, and I have fallen behind in all my games. My apologises, today should be the last day of being behind.
Don't worry about it - you know how I drop out for nearly a week at a time so I have no intention of throwing stones :)
Man, wonder if I'm going to die in the first battle!
Congratulations on your new rank!
You have achieved some new benefits - because I am a kind and munificent GM!
As a captain of auxiliaries you now have Taresh and his kaleen at your service. Mechanically you gain leadership as your bonus feat. Taresh is your cohort and his/your kaleen provides your followers.
Any preferences on Taresh's class? Some flavour of cavalier would be most appropriate but you can have some leeway if you want another class or a particular archetype.
You've also gained High Commander al-Samiya as a patron. This gets you the following favours.
Access: Once a month al-Samyia can secure you entrance to some event or function that you would normally not be able to enter, by paying an entry fee, securing an invitation, getting you sold out tickets etc.
Resources: Once a month Al-Samiya can provide you with up to 350gp worth of resources such as mounts, military equipment etc. You can multiply this amount by expending Clout. 2 points of clout would double it, 3 points would triple it etc. You can also multiply the amount by 10 if it is a loan, rather than a gift.
Al-Samiya can also introduce you to other people, but unless it directly serves his agenda he won't yet - he doesn't owe you enough yet.
You have 6 points of clout currently, which measures how much al-Samiya owes you. In addition to the favours above (which don't cost clout) you can expend clout to get bigger favours.
Examples include:
Secure one of the above services more than 1/month - Costs 1 clout the first time, 2 the second time etc.
Request a spellcasting service - 1/3 spell level (although you pay for expensive material components).
Service which presents a mild risk to the patron's life, property or reputation - 2 clout.
Service which presents a moderate risk to the patron's life, property or reputation - 6 clout.
Service which presents a major risk to the patron's life, property or reputation - 10 clout.
Improve patrons disposition from aware to impressed - 10 clout
Improve disposition from impressed to indebted - 20 clout.
There are 3 levels for the patron/client relationship: awareness, impressed and indebted. The higher the level, the more the patron will do for you.
Your current relationship.
Patron: High Commander al-Samiya
Patronage Level: Aware
Clout: 6
This is very cool!
What this tells me is that I need to research Al-Samiya some more....Any special rules for that?
I do have to ask, is there something like this you want for your game? Sorry I have been spotty lately, but that should be over now!
Don't worry about the spotty - it's taken me ages to get enough time to sit down and write this up, so no worries.
In mine - I'm not fussed. The patronage system is something presented in the Qadira source book so I though it would be fun to use - and since you're a soldier having your own little trop seemed appropiate. Ash has always been more of a loner until now any way :D
Researching al-Samiya would be a matter of gather information and knowledge checks - nothing special. Obviously doing so while you are still in camp will make life easier, but perhaps not give the most well rounded picture.
Loving this game.
Will be out of town until Tuesday!