Uhhh hey! Whoever I decided to invite into this game, say hi to each other, and then read the following bits at your leisure, provide input, bring me questions, and discuss with each other about things.
The first step in starting the new game is deciding what plot hook you'd be interested in pursuing first. If you happen to run into other ones that you wish to pursue later, that's fine. It's just helpful for starting placement, resources available, starting level, and the like. Here are the options that I'm interested in pursuing:
The current year is 4745 AR.
Option 1 - Pieces of a Puzzle: About two decades ago, the legacy of Kazavon the Indomitable resurfaced. The immortal, Zon-Kuthon-serving dragon, who once conquered much of the Inner Sea region with an army of orcs, was broken up into seven unbreakable pieces and spirited across the multiverse. When the teenage Queen Ileosa of Korvosa found the dragon's Fangs, she didn't know what she was getting into. It didn't take long for the dragon's spirit to possess her, kill the King, and send the city spiraling into a deadly and ridiculous dictatorship. Luckily, a group of heroes stopped her, though the Fangs have since gone missing and Korvosa was struck by a mysterious plague that rendered those who died from it undead.
Recently two of the figures from this story have been seen in Nidal, the country whose mandated state religion is Zon-Kuthon. One is Grey, the aasimar paladin of Iomedae who helped to slay Queen Ileosa, and the other is Yzadek, the efreeti lord who made away with the dragon's fangs after the whole ordeal. It appears the dragon may be making an appearance soon, and a group of heroes is needed to find out what's going on in the shadow-cloaked nation of Nidal before one of the world's most terrifying conquers returns.
[heroic adventuring/urban investigation, potentially very high-powered]
[starting locations: Korvosa, Haven, Mendev, Absalom]
Option 2 - Spite's Daughter: Haven is a nation of heroes, inventors, mages, and dreamers. It is an exercise in utopian experiments, where education, food, housing, and many other resources are practically free and available to everybody. Ruled by the god-king Aaron, who is rumoured to have inherited the lost divine power of Aroden himself, the nation has flourished in the 23 short years it's been extant. However, not all of its founders agree, and the greenwitch Aulana is one of those who disagree with Aaron. She took many who agreed with her, moved to the Narlmarches, and created the town of Oakenhearth. Designed to be a bastion against civilization, Aulana protects Oakenhearth and its 'hippie' population from industrialists, businessmen, and marauding monsters alike. The town is successful and divinely magical. Fey and magical beasts live alongside the humanoids, and immigrating there is extremely difficult due to Aulana's strict vetting process.
However, just a few weeks ago Aulana went missing. She was often gone for a few days at a time for various reasons, but recently an old crone has been seen visiting her in her home, and the last time the crone visited, Aulana left with her without so much as a word and hasn't been back since. Now, sensing the absence of the town's protector, Numerian terraforming machines move on the town. Somebody must step in and fill Aulana's place as protector of the idyllic town, or find its witchly protector if the town is to be saved by the ravages of invention.
[guerilla warfare/First World exploration, low-medium power level]
[starting in the town of Oakenhearth]
Option Three - A Queen's Origin: The newest Queen of Cheliax, Varianna Thrune, is unusual in a few ways. She is the first Queen to not have any extremely direct ties to Hell. She still has infernal servants, and she still pays lip service to Asmodeus, but she and her closest advisors do not gain their power from divinity. Instead, she has personally ushered an age of prosperity and progress to the stagnant country, bringing many modern inventions to it. Despite her youth, she has surpassed her mother Abrogail in many ways. Rumor has it, though, that she's working on something entirely new, even innovative for herself. Chelaxian agents and spies have been seen all over the world, though what task they're completing is unknown. Varianna herself has skipped many public functions, locked away in her research labs working.
Many of Cheliax's rivals and adversaries worry that she's working on some kind of doomsday weapon, while Cheliax's agents and allies know that retribution for this kind of fear naturally will follow such developments. The balance of power in the region teeter's on a knife's edge, and it would take nothing but a small group of determined individuals to shift the fate of the whole political landscape one way or the other.
[political/urban adventure/mystery campaign, medium to high powered]
[starting location: Cheliax, Andoran, Taldor, Haven]
Hi! I think they happen to be listed in my preferred order: option one seems most exciting. I like option two too, and the Cheliax based one I'm not lukewarm about (though could imagine hearing more to sway me).
My order would be: Option one, three then two.
I've played Curse of the crimson throne, run Kingmaker, but never done any of the Cheliax AP's.
Hi everyone. I think I've played with one or two people here before.
I'd say that Nidal sounds very interesting. It's rare to see a story set in that region. I've done a lot of different Cheliax adventures before, so I'm not sure I want to go back and do another one. And the second sounds like it's really not my style.
Hello!
I have to jump on the bandwagon and say that Option One sounds most intriguing.
I feel a bit burnt out on Cheliax, and Option Two sounds a little too, well, weird.
That's pretty resounding interest in option one, and assuming that your interest isn't just in comparison to the other ones, it would seem i have some writing about that to get started on.
I'll write up a few different informational blurbs about the different circumstances in which your party might start soon, but ... do any of you have any questions?
Cool, I'm excited! BTW, leinathan clarified something with me on pm that's probably worth bringing here: "potentially very high-powered" doesn't mean starting at high level, it just means we might get there--and might even go mythic at some point--but it sounds likely we'd start ~4th or 5th level.
That makes me even more excited about that option than I already was...because it makes it a potential good fit for me to get to explore the story of Unafe Two-Hearted, a character I played or a short while in a homebrew game that intended to go mythic, but didn't get that far. I offered her for consideration for Kiora's WotR but didn't make it since there were a ton of great apps there...including Ehren for the Heirophant spot.
Unafe was Mwangi for her initial campaign but below I moved her to the Realm of the Mammoth Lords to be more believably near a 1st level WotR game. She could easily be from either spot, and parts of her background would shift depending on the campaign...but part of the story I want to tell with her is of coming into her power. The mythic mechanics might be a nice avenue for that (they were part of my initial image for her) but there might be other ways to do it, too.
Depending on what leinathan fleshes out for this campaign, if it looks like a good home for her, I'd love to bring her story to life (and interweave it with the story that leinathan and the rest of you are wanting to tell).
Her story is much more important to me than her mechanics but I know mechanics influence party balance so I'll say a word about that too. I could see building her as a Shaman, Druid (Saurian Shaman), or Hunter for sure, and possibly other options too, depending on what others are interested in.
My question for the rest of y'all who're interested: Do you have any concepts you're leaning toward right now?
Option one for me as well!
What materials do we have for building characters? Super Genius/Rogue Genius Games stuff ok (thinking Godling given that the campaign could go high-level/mythic)? I have a couple ideas in mind, but need to know what's available before I settle down on a build and story.
Gyrfalcon: I thought Unafe was familiar, that was a great character. Loved reading her background during the recruitment for Kiora's campaign.
...including Ehren for the Heirophant spot.
If it's any consolation, I thought for sure that I'd lose the spot to you. Unafe is an excellent character concept - I'm looking forward to seeing her brought to life. :)
As far as character concepts go, I'm not quite sure yet. I've always wanted to play a shadowdancer, and Nidal seems like an ideal place to do play one in. Nothing set in stone, though.
Thanks! I still follow Kiora's WotR on and off. It's a great campaign with wonderful player chemistry and role-playing.
I'd have loved to join the fun, but I couldn't possibly argue with the party she picked--and Ehren is clearly a great character, with great ties to the region.
But yes, I'm glad that it looks like I'll get to bring Unafe to life here...and with a group of players who value great stories!
Hey guys,
I'm interested in this as well, and am more interested in options available to me in regards to potential characters and concepts. Are we open to any alignment as long as they work well with others? Anything against Leadership feat? Downtime rules?
Also, I'd be willing to work with one (or more) people to integrate character concepts and weave joint back stories. As far as my play style, I tend to favor heavier Role Play than Roll Play. I also like playing characters able to take their own initiative, not so much always being the lackey to someone more powerful (most games I've played, no matter how powerful the PC's become, there always is someone conveniently more powerful than them bossing them around, which is annoying to me).
Thoughts? Comments?
If we're outsiders in Nidal it's going to be tricky to get around. So I'm happy to share backgrounds. A place like that is not a good one to have the party decide to splinter halfway in.
I'm going to read up on Nidal before deciding my character, I know I can't play Paladins so that's one class gone. :)
A Slayer for a god opposed to Zon-Kuthon could be interesting. Slayer's are used to remaining undercover until they strike.
Slayer of Shelyn?
EDIT: Or Sivanna is called out here, and is one who doesn't get much play.
So, regarding concepts, I have several I would like to play, which I will list below, in order of desire to play. Keep in mind, though, that anything I list here is more than acceptable for me to enjoy playing, but I do want to add one note. Some of these characters would have evil alignments. However, I am more than capable of playing well with others as an evil character, and am actually doing so right now in a PbP campaign, and it makes the role play very entertaining. If evil alignments are not allowed, I totally understand. But, with that being said, I'm listing my character desires as follows:
1) A Necromancer Warlord. Essentially a very combat focused Undead Lord cleric. If, in the campaign idea 1, the force we were working against were also working against the nation of Nidal, I think this guy would be a great fit as he would be an agent of the nation of Nidal assigned to deal with this threat as well. Mechanically, he would definitely be animating the dead, but not in the sense of "DERP I'M A NECROMANCER I WANT UNDEAD TO RULE THE WORLD!" but more like "These bodies are better used as agents acting directly against those who oppose us, and are little more than constructs. A tool to wield against our enemies." He would also, if allowed, take Leadership to "bolster his forces," but not to the point that he is raising an army to go fight all his battles. Rather, they would be like his "background army" and only really be around for me to use as RP fodder when other PC's weren't available. Yes, I am more than willing to burn a precious feat on nothing other than RP opportunities.
2) Dragon Riding Knight. Mechanically, he'd be a Summoner whose Eidolon is designed to resemble a true dragon in every way. This character would be very focused on honor, loyalty, and protecting those who can't protect themselves.
3) Voodoo Witchdoctor. He would be essentially a caster druid, focused on all sorts of manipulative magics and tricks to accomplish his goals. Honestly, if you blend a tribal caster with a New Orleans con artist, you are likely perfectly picturing this guy.
In addition, I would also be willing to play any of the following three characters, all of which would be children of a PC I'm playing in another game:
A) A male polearm wielding fighter.
B) A enchantment focused sorceress.
C) A female wizard.
I understand the last three listed seem very bare bones, but trust me, they each have unique personalities and their own histories I have in my head, but I don't want to put anything in writing on them just yet until it is settled as to what I'm playing. Heh
Alright, I've got some questions to answer here. Let's see if I can get them all, and provide some more things for you to throw more questions at me about:
@Materials: I allow basically everything by paizo, although I typically publish a specific list of allowed races (for this game, I'm thinking Core races plus dhampir, orc, changeling, duergar, lizardfolk and fetchling). I don't allow the chained originals of the barbarian, the summoner, or the rogue and I also usually don't allow the chained monk. I don't allow antipaladins. I'd like to ban the inspired blade archetype from swashbuckler and the primalist archetype from bloodrager.
For third-party things, I allow psionics material from Dreamscarred Press, but not Path of War stuff. I allow the classes from Kobold Press and from Rogue Genius Games.
You can play any kind of character, and any alignment that you want to... with one caveat: Don't be a dick! Be a team player! Have the same objective as everyone else!
@Thron, I think that allying with Nidal is pretty much the one thing that you can't do in this campaign. I'm planning on allowing denizens of most nations, creeds, and backgrounds for this game... but the antagonist is Nidal.
@Starting Locations/Motivations:
So I'm planning for the primary driving motivation behind the campaign being to stop the immortal dragon Kazavon from returning. There are a couple of angles from which to approach this, and a few different organizations may fund an expedition into Nidal (a sekrit, spy expedition) but the primary one that would have the resources and knowledge to start it all is an organization that one of my players started called The Book Club. The Book Club is an international spy organization currently managed by a young silver dragon named Gallanda. Its founder was a youth-cursed aasimar oracle named Lailah, who has since basically retired. Its original goal was simply to have interesting people attend regular meetings and share their knowledge and perspective with each other about important events, but it has since grown in scale significantly. With hundreds of employees, the Book Club's main goal is to provide a venue for the worldwide dissemination of information, and to oppose and depose regimes that prevent that.
To this end, the Book Club would fund and organize an incursion into Nidal. Their agents who already operate there will have spotted, at various times, the paladin named Grey who was known for his mission to hunt and destroy Kazavon, and would think that maybe some further investigation would be necessary.
They would work together with basically anybody competent who would help them out with this mission, but of especial note would be:
The Pathfinder Society! For totally not-nefarious reasons, the Society wants to collect the seven artifacts that make up Kazavon's body. Because they're powerful, intelligent, ancient artifacts, the Pathfinders believe that there is much to be gained from collecting them. News of the reappearance of one of the artifacts could spur an investigation.
The Mendevian Crusades! Though the Crusades have formally ended, Mendev is still a theocracy run by a lawful good religion. The existence of countries totally dominated by evil dieties is one of the worst things, and Mendev's government believes that it may be time to prime a strike against Nidal and Cheliax. A spy mission into one of the countries to gain information may just be the first step.
...Individual Reasons? You can make whatever kind of character you want, totally unaffiliated! You don't even have to go with the Book Club. You can just go as a party and be like "nah, we'll do this ourselves"
Just remember that what organizations you choose to align yourself with also decides the resources that may or may not be available with. Suggestions are also welcome!
I kind of have an idea for a traitor in the Nidalese government. He's secretly a member of the Scions of Dou-Bral, a cult to Zon-Kuthon who worship him as Shelyn brother and a god of music, art, and beauty, but add a masochistic flair by primarily expressing themselves through intricate (and painful) body art like tattoos and piercings. He'd probably make an excellent tattooed sorcerer.
In regards to being against the Nidalese government, that's totally fine and expected honestly. I was just scheming up ways to make a character who used necromancy work. If you are fine with the mechanical aspect of a necromancer who is building an army in an attempt to conquer territory, maybe his backstory could be more along the lines of a warlord who feels the current establishment is corrupt, and needs replaced. Part of that would require tact, infiltration, and subterfuge, giving him reason to NOT be all brazen and immediately marching an army in. But, ultimately, he still knows that before all would be said and done, a war would happen.
This might make him an interesting ally to any of the above organizations you've listed, though I'm sure the Mendevian Crusades would be a bit reluctant to do so. He'd have to do some sweet talking.
I have something along the lines of a Nidalese traitor in mind as well. Likely that shadowdancer I mentioned before, starting off as a rogue or slayer (or maybe both). Not sure exactly what would catalyze his betrayal just yet - perhaps the assassination of a Desnan or Shelynite relative.
Do you have a starting level in mind yet, leinathan?
Slayer of Shelyn?
EDIT: Or Sivanna is called out here, and is one who doesn't get much play.
A Slayer of Shelyn could work, Slayer seem a bit too direct for Sivanna. :)
He or she would be focused on those members of Zon-Kuthon's clergy who attack and torture Shelyns clerics. Being a contact for, or having as contact those who are Nidalese traitors would be a good link.
It's less me and more your fellow players that need to worry about necromancy. I'm certainly not going to ban it, but you might not always be met with understanding. Expect paladins and the like to destroy your undead and scan your alignment, for instance.
Are you saying, though, that your character's goals might include militarily conquering Nidal using an army of undead? Cause that's a very tall order for a single character to complete (although an interesting goal and ally for characters who have different goals)
@DBH - there's actually a truce between worshippers of Shelyn and worshippers of Zon-Kuthon, to respect the truce between their patron gods. They pretty much leave each other alone. That's not to say that you couldn't play a worshipper of Shelyn who wants to infiltrate and f@#@ Nidal up, but it isn't a common enough occurrence of Kuthites attacking Shelynites to be something to generalize about.
Though perhaps your character could be upset about a specific incident? Like a family member being attacked by a Kuthite?
I am thinking that level 5 is a good place to start, Mahorfeus. I'll have more specific character-building parameters later on.
Re undead, leinathan, do you follow the Golarion canon that it's intrinsically, demonstrably Evil to do so (e.g. it f*&ks up the souls of the animated, or robs the gods, or whatnot)?
I tend to assume that canon is true in the game...and with that, that Good characters will be quite unlikely to tolerate it (other than perhaps as a brief and extreme means to an incredibly important end). If, on the other hand, it's taboo but not Really Evil, I can see a Good character possibly getting along.
Assuming we're going Golarion canon, my inclination is either undead minions OR Good PCs in the party but not both. (I think of Unafe as NG and someone who wouldn't likely work long with a undead lord...but if the group wants to go for a darker party I might be able to figure out a shift toward true N for her that would make sense...or just play a different character.)
Mahorfeus and kamenhero, can you speak to the alignment/personality/motives of your traitors? (Are they evil folks fighting a different evil they dislike? Or more N or G?)
On a related note, I realize this game may require more subtlety than I'd imagined at first. Do you expect the urban portions require infiltration & operating in disguise? I was thinking that undead minions might be out of place...but then realized that a spinosaurus might be even more out of place. Do you think a big predatory dinosaur companion will work (with judicious use of carry companion)? Or am I better off choosing a build without a Med/Lg companion?
(Unafe probably sticks out wherever she goes--she's "fresh off the boat" from a small tribe that lives with dinosaurs--but the dinosaur companion isn't necessarily core to her concept.)
Otherwise, leinathan, knowing we'll start at or around level 5 is helpful. The other main crunch info I'd be curious about (since it effects whether to consider more MAD builds) is the point buy.
And lastly...do we know the full group of players yet? I know you invited everyone in Kiora's game and your Jade Regent. Do you know if anyone beside those of us who've posted so far want in? Is there a chance you end up with too many interested candidates and have to whittle us down somehow?
@gyrfalcon - yes, casting animate dead is an evil act, though I don't really like to operate on the assumption that casting [evil] subtype spells makes you evil. It has weird implications for the rest of the alignment-based spells. If I'm a cleric, and I cast burst of radiance twice for every animate dead I cast... do I become good?
It will be evil for those who do it on the regular and for those whose interest lies in the necromancy itself, rather than it being a tool to be used.
A spinosaurus will be about as out-of-place in Nidal as it would be anywhere else. Nidal does allow foreign trade, so there are foreigners there, especially in Nisroch.
I expect that the campaign could be infiltration/disguise/other related things, and I think a party that had access to those things would be a smart party in an unwelcome country... however, you could easily be much less subtle in your dealings if it matched your preferences better.
As for players... I think that those who have already posted their interest form a good core of players. It's not more than I'm comfortable with, and the players themselves are satisfactory.
Well after looking through my trusty Inner sea world guide. I see that a Slayer worshipping Desna would be a much better fit in Nidal.
Desna is banned in Nidal, and her clergy operate underground, a Slayer dealing with those hunting Desna's faithful would be workable. Someone who knows Nidal, is based outside it and takes missions inside as needed.
I think I've come up with my character:
He will be a Gnome who is ostensibly a Travelling Merchant and follower of Abadar, travelling with his pet cat. Secretly, however, he is a spy for the Book Club known as The Procurer, accompanied by a large golden feline earth elemental.
I'm rolling him up as a Vigilante(Magical Child) with (eventually) a two level dip in Fighter(Eldritch Guardian). He'll be support and combat, aiding his mauler-archetype elemental familiar.
I'd be interested in playing any of these. I have several class ideas though I won't be able to solidly put anything together until next week
If we're starting at 5, I might throw together an Unchained Monk or a Paladin...they start getting fun around then.
Say, you mind connecting gameplay so we can invisi-dot, and get this added to our list of campaigns? That's the easiest way for me to see when there's been a post somewhere.
BTW, yay for gnomes! And eldritch guardians with mauler familiars!
Neutral characters might not necessarily disagree with the use of undead, but I agree that we should probably lean away from using them if the majority of the party is going to be good.
Mahorfeus and kamenhero, can you speak to the alignment/personality/motives of your traitors? (Are they evil folks fighting a different evil they dislike? Or more N or G?)
I am finding this question a little tougher to answer than I thought it would be. I should probably have a story I really like before actually settling on a character concept, aha. Especially since there are any number of builds that could fit a particular tale. This is a trap I have a tendency of walking into.
So I am more or less spitballing here, but I would definitely say that they would be of a more Chaotic Neutral bent at first (having probably started out as Neutral Evil). It would be their grudge and little more that compels them to oppose Nidal. Then, perhaps in-game, they might be influenced into believing in the Greater Good.
Are you saying, though, that your character's goals might include militarily conquering Nidal using an army of undead? Cause that's a very tall order for a single character to complete (although an interesting goal and ally for characters who have different goals)
Well, an army of undead and the living. But sure! Why not! His outlook on undead use would be to use them rather than put more of his own men's lives at risk. The dead are the dead. They are already being mourned. Best they be put to use protecting the living.
Though, it seems most here are leaning more towards a standard good character crew. While I think the potential role play of good guys working with one villain to overthrow another in the name of the greater good would be extremely fun, I am not glued to the one character and am willing to use any of the others as well. Just so happens to be a character I've built for a table game that never got started and I've been itching to play ever since. So figure it was worth a shot.
The Procurer is probably going to be LN/N for his social/vigilante identities. His actions might serve a greater good, but for him it's more about leveling the playing field and not really a good vs evil thing.
I made a gameplay thread yesterday - feel free to dot in order for it to show up on your players' tab.
I like the character concepts that are coming together, and I have some guiding questions that may help you. I also would like it if each character knew at least one other character before the game started.
Here we go:
1. Why is your character wanting to go on the mission? If they work for the Book Club, how did they first get in touch with the organization, and why did they choose to join? If they aren't an agent of the Book Club, what motivates them to help out?
2. Where is your character from? This can be from virtually anywhere on the globe, for the Book Club is a worldwide intelligence agency. However, I would like you to specify, for the different cultures of Golarion can inform your role-playing quite a bit.
3. How does your character feel about their own race and class? Perhaps they're an old soldier who no longer thinks proudly of their martial prowess, or perhaps they're an arrogant wizard who believes his arcane might makes him better than everyone. Perhaps they're a tiefling whose whole life has been defined by the difficulties surrounding their birth.
4. How does your character feel about violence? As an adventurer, you are exposed to violence on what is likely a daily basis. Killing people who stand in your way is part of the job. Some adventurers like it for the martial challenge, while others think of violence only as a means to an end.
5. What is one thing that your character wishes to complete by the end of each day? Perhaps they like to honor their goddess, or have a delicious meal, or remember to groom themselves. What is something that your character wants out of this mission? Cathartic revenge, maybe? Or experience and fun? What is something that they wish to finish by the end of their lives? Perhaps they never want to die, and want to become immortal, or perhaps they want to free all of the halflings in Cheliax.
6. If your character is religious, what is it that drove them to that particular religion? Do they attend services? Are they part of a church, or just a casual worshiper? Do they worship other gods?
7. Your character starts above level 1. How did they get there? They don't necessarily have to have had adventures, but controversial situations in which they were the one who helped to resolve them are important for gaining experience.
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Character Creation Guidelines
Level: Your characters were chosen for the mission, or are ready for it, because they have certain experience and power that novice adventurers simply don't. We'll be starting at level 6.
Point Buy: A cut above the common rabble, and with the potential to be good at just about anything, your characters will start with 25 point buy.
Wealth: Your characters will be starting with 8,000gp in addition to the Automatic Bonus progression rules, however no more than half of this may be spent on any one item.
Classes: Unchained classes are mandatory. No inspired blade swashbuckler. No sanctified slayer inquisitor. No primalist bloodrager. Dreamscarred Press psionics, as well as Rogue Genius and Kobold Press classes are allowed.
Races: To reflect the varied nature of the kinds of characters that might go on this journey, the allowed races will be all Core plus dhampir, goblin, kobold, orc, ratfolk, tengu, changeling, duergar, strix, syrinx, skinwalker, shabti and android.
- - - - -
House Rules:
1. Rolling a natural 1 or a natural 20 on a skill check, attack roll or saving throw provides a -10 (on a natural 1) or a +10 (on a natural 20) bonus or penalty to the check. Rolling a natural 1 or a natural 20 on any other roll has no effect.
2. With the exception of classes whose abilities explicitly mention it, taking 10 or taking 20 is not allowed. If there is no penalty for failure, I simply won't ask you to roll certain checks.
3. When crafting magic items, one cannot ignore a prerequisite. All prerequisites must be met. Multiple creatures can contribute to a single item's creation, though.
4. When you make a combat maneuver and you don't have the relevant Improved feat, you only provoke an attack of opportunity if you fail the combat maneuver.
5. Crossbows deal bonus damage, as if they had inherent strength bonuses. Hand crossbows deal 1 bonus damage, light crossbows deal 2 bonus damage, and heavy crossbows deal 4 bonus damage. Guns deal the same bonus damage - one-handed guns deal 2 bonus damage, two-handed guns deal 4.
- - - - -
Optional Rules
From Unchained, I am going to use automatic bonus progression and wound thresholds. We'll also be using background skills.
Cool. :)
Any chance of background skills being used? I'll work on refining my concept in the meantime.
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I don't know what you're talking about, Mahorfeus ;)
As far as Automatic Bonus Progression goes, is it possible to assign part of the bonuses to my Familiar instead?
As far as Automatic Bonus Progression goes, is it possible to assign part of the bonuses to my Familiar instead?
Yes. Characters with animal companions and familiars can freely assign bonuses to their other creatures instead of themselves. You can't split up a single bonus between yourself and your familiar, though.
For example, if you have mental prowess +4, you can't give your familiar +2 and yourself +2. If you have weapon bonus +1/+1, though, you can enchant your own weapon and one of your familiar's natural attacks.
Also! About that weapon thing - two more houserules.
One is that the ABP's enhancement bonus always stacks with the existing weapon qualities of weapons. You don't have to give up your own enhancement bonuses to have magic weapons. For example, if you can give your weapon +1 and you find a flaming longsword, you can turn it freely into a +1 flaming longsword.
The other is that when you get a second +1/+2/+3 weapon, you don't have to give up a higher bonus in order to have it. For example, at level 8 you gain weapon attunement +1/+1. This allows you to enchant a second weapon with +1. At level 9 you gain weapon attunement +2. This will allow you to take one of your existing +1 weapons and make it +2, and keep the second weapon at +1.
Interesting...
Is anyone planning a Rogue? If not I'll take Rogue trapfinding as one of my Slayer's talents so we have a trap finder.
It looks like:
gyrfalcon is planning a nature-themed divine caster
drallidur is planning a summoner
you, DBH, are planning a slayer
kamenhero mentioned a sorcerer
mahorfeus wants to play a shadowdancer, so likely a rogue-type
circadian mentioned a paladin or a monk
thron has many ideas
leinathan, how do you do ABP/weapon attunement for a wild shaping druid? Does this work like an Amulet of Mighty Fists (where whatever shape I turn into, my natural weapons are +1)? Is there a way to still buy an Amulet of Mighty Fists (since they don't need to have bonuses, and are the way to get Flaming or Holy or whatnot onto a wildshaping druid or an animal companion)?
leinathan, how do you do ABP/weapon attunement for a wild shaping druid? Does this work like an Amulet of Mighty Fists (where whatever shape I turn into, my natural weapons are +1)? Is there a way to still buy an Amulet of Mighty Fists (since they don't need to have bonuses, and are the way to get Flaming or Holy or whatnot onto a wildshaping druid or an animal companion)?
Just like with magic weapons in ABP, amulets of mighty fists exist, except that they never have enhancement bonuses. You can buy them as normal.
When you have ABP, you pick a weapon to attune to. The same thing applies to natural weapons. If you pick "natural weapons", then yes, your natural weapons are +1.
DBH: I was considering taking VMC Rogue if no one else was going to have trapfinding. But if you can take that, then I'll focus more on my character being a Face type (Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise) and either VMC something else, or find some other use for those feats (like more combat feats for my familiar).
Great, thanks leinathan. I'm still quite torn between two very different ways to build Unafe:
- Saurian Shaman druid (melee oriented, more STR than WIS. Focus on becoming a dinosaur and summoning more dinosaurs...plus casting druid buffs and other spells that aren't DC dependent). If she goes Mythic, she could be Guardian or dual Guardian-Hierophant.
- Life Spirit Shaman (avoiding melee, more of a pure caster + hexer). Would have a lot of caster flexibility due to floating Arcane Enlightenment. Would have a protector-archetype familiar + life link + channeling for plenty of healing. If she goes Mythic, she'd be pure Heirophant.
(Honestly, I'm a bit intimidated by all the flexibility in the shaman. If I go that route, I would gratefully accept suggestions from folks who've played more pure casters than I have.)
I'll probably try sketching out builds to determine if one feels more satisfying to play, but very open to suggestions from others.
Drallidur, is your Vigilante going to have a summoning focus?
leinathan, you mentioned in PM before but I wanted to make sure: in order to work my backstory into your designs, is it better for her to be from the Realm of the Mammoth Lords instead of the Mwangi Expanse? Or do either work?
leinathan, you mentioned in PM before but I wanted to make sure: in order to work my backstory into your designs, is it better for her to be from the Realm of the Mammoth Lords instead of the Mwangi Expanse? Or do either work?
Either works. As I said, you can have characters from anywhere in the world. Obviously, the Mwangi Expanse is farther away and has different cultural implications, but both are totally fine with me.
DBH: I was considering taking VMC Rogue if no one else was going to have trapfinding. But if you can take that, then I'll focus more on my character being a Face type (Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise) and either VMC something else, or find some other use for those feats (like more combat feats for my familiar).
I've built a rough draft of my slayer, no trap finding. She can disable device and has good perception but can't handle magic traps. At the moment she's a ranged combatant, but has good bluff, disguise and Sense motive.
I can easily change one talent and make her the primary trap spotter. A face character is equally valuable to the party I believe.
So build your VMC Rogue the way you want to, mine can easily be adjusted to suit the parties needs.
Seeing the desire, generally, from most of the other players to play good characters that likely wouldn't want to work with the Undead Lord, as well as the current submissions, I may go with my glaive wielding fighter. He is CG, and would be a better fit.
Background wise, he is the eldest (and only) son of a Spell Lord in Absalom, a powerful wizard and business man who married into the Blakros family. However, his father is very egotistical, and has no respect for anyone without magical talent, natural or learned.
Being unskilled at magic, his father always looked down on him as a failure to his "line," and showed more favor and attention to his younger sisters, a sorceress and wizard, respectively. While he doesn't resent his sisters, he loathes his father, and soon as he could, struck out on his own as an adventurer and freedom fighter, which eventually led him to Nidal...
Edit: Like I said, he is the son of a PC of mine from another game I'm in, so I'm scavenging some story from there to include in his backstory. Have no intentions of forcing anything on your canon for Golarion, though. So don't feel pressured to include any of it for the game, it is purely for backstory sake.
leinathan, I was reading about the Umbral Court and it looks like their ambassador to Cheliax is a vampire. Would it be plausible for him to have any dhampir progeny? The "I wanna kill my vampire dad" trope is a bit overdone, but I feel like it kinda works in this particular scenario.
I was going to go unchained rogue 5/shadowdancer 1, so I do have trapfinding and disabling covered. Unless someone else really wants to cover those bases, in which case I'd gladly take the knife master archetype to do away with the redundancy. (I feel like this is starting to resemble a certain dhampir assassin...)
A few more Qs:
1. Do you allow retraining? If I go Life Shaman I'll want as many HP as possible, and so might consider having retrained for some add'l HP.
2. Since Thron's going fighter, do you allow Stamina (either free for fighters, or for a feat)?
Yeah, I think I've settled on a Tattooed Sorcerer with the Umbral Bloodline, focused on illusion magic particularly shadow magic. Are fetchlings allowed as characters? I'll just play a human if they're not, but it would fit him well. He's actually a decent person for the most part, but he often finds the need to play along with the unsavory and unwholesome acts of the Umbral Court to stay undercover, so he's probably Lawful Neutral, acting for the greater good and trying to peacefully change Nidal from within but not afraid to get his hands dirty.
To answer your questions:
1. As a Scion of Dou-Bral, anything that prevents the more brutal and bloodthirsty aspects of the Midnight Lord's faith from gaining power is a good thing. Stopping the dragon from rising and one of Zon-Kuthon's darkest heralds from returning is a mission that must be undertaken. He's not a Book Club member, but his cult has allied with the Book Club for a while now and he's the liaison between the two groups, so he's there to do his part to support their friends.
2. He's a native of Nidal who's lived there all his life.
3. Honestly, he doesn't have very strong opinions of his class. His magic has always been a part of him, and his talent at shadow sorcery was considered a gift by many of his peers within Nidal, a blessing from the Midnight Lord if you will. It's made him a little overconfident in his work, but his position as a spy has kept his head from becoming dangerously large.
4. He's become rather desensitized to violence honestly. Being a part of the Umbral Court has made witnessing torture and pain a regular occurrence in his life. Violence simply doesn't phase him any more.
5. He likes to make sure that he preforms his proper prayers by the end of the day. He feels that offering a more peaceful prayer helps balance out all the horror that Nidal can churn out. His life long goal is to see Zon-Kuthon's faith in Nidal turned more toward his cult's veneration, peaceful and self-sacrificing in the form of art and personal modification instead of inflicting torture on others.
6. When he was younger, he saw all of the pain and suffering inflicted by the church of Zon-Kuthon and desperately wished that it didn't have to be so, but he saw no way around it with Zon-Kuthon's power protecting and empowering Nidal. He was approached by members of a secret cult that worships the Midnight Lord in his previous incarnation and sought to infiltrate and take over the government so that they could turn worship in Nidal into an act of personal passion and art instead of mutilation and pain of others. He's a devout worshiper of Zon-Kuthon still, but now follows a very different path.
7. With his innate shadow magic, he was all but guaranteed a spot among the Umbral Court from a young age. While he's more a minor court arcanist, he's one of the cult's higher placed agents and has participated in secret acts of sabotage or espionage to weaken the heads of state and provide openings for other members to gain influence and prestige.
Interesting character, my Slayer's cover is going to be a roaming hunter, collecting rare and exotic pelts for sale.
She will be an associate of the Book club, getting information about Nidal out to it, so she could easily fit in as your contact. Getting any vital information you've gathered out to the Book club.
I hope adding a rebellious cult within Nidal isn't being too presumptuous. I've always loved the Scions of Dou-Bral and this seemed like a great place to use them.
Okay, question.
I took Inscribe Magical Tattoo as a feat. I figured that it would fit thematically. Is it okay to have spell tattoos for spells I don't know, since it seems logical that I can't be the only person in the Scions who knows how to make magic tattoos?