Allence's Last Hope

Game Master sarpadian

Fair warning, this would be my first attempt to GM a PbP. Therefore, the technical aspects (maps, etc.) may be a little rough until I get the hang of it.

Feel free to ask questions or for further details.

I'll post as interested. Take me a little bit to get a character up.

Would you allow the playtest classes from the Advanced Class Guide?

Are you looking for the standard 1 post per day posting rate?

And for the campaign, is it going to continue after the fort? Should we expect, for example, to eventually have places to shop, craft, etc.? And should we anticipate leveling up much? The last one in particular changes what classes are useful.

@Donald: I'm not sure on the ACG classes. I'd want us to update the characters when the final book comes out, but I'm not planning on buying the book. I've asked the GM of my IRL group, who works on the PFSRD, how long he thinks it will take them to get them on the website. If he tells me it won't take long, then I'll be happy to allow them.

@Tourach: Yes, I'd like at least 1 post/day. I'll probably check in several times most days. As for the length of the campaign, I'd be willing to keep it going as long as people were enjoying themselves. I'm planning on using the fast XP track; the first mission will take you to level 2.

Are you open to classes working under wordcaster variant? Ever since I bought UM, I've been wanting to try it out and I think PbP is a good platform to do so since it has a slower pace.

Definitely interested. Let me think of a character concept.

Would you maybe be open to a half-orc character if I did a good job on the backstory? I feel like he could have more motivation than most if he was trying to make a name for himself and try to rise above the hatred of orcs that he has been subject to his whole life.

I had a similar idea incidentally. LAthough my idea was a half-orc who initially lived with the orcs and was then exiled for being weak and as such percieved at useless, and now she tries to get into good standing wiht the human side.

Quick question:

By "Human subtype", I take it you mean not just Half-orcs, but also everybody mentioned in " Bastards of Golarion" and the "Blood of x" books? And if not, which ones are excluded?

@sarpadian- Sounds good. I was interested in playing a swashbuckler. However, I can easily play one of the normal classes. :)

@sarpadian- Sounds good. I was interested in playing a swashbuckler. However, I can easily play one of the normal classes. :)

The word is that it may take them a while to get the material up, so I'm going to have to say no to the ACG classes for now.

Are you open to classes working under wordcaster variant?

Tentatively, yes. I'll look over the rules today and make sure I grasp them.

Quick question:

By "Human subtype", I take it you mean not just Half-orcs, but also everybody mentioned in " Bastards of Golarion" and the "Blood of x" books? And if not, which ones are excluded?

I'm not familiar with those books. What I had in mind when I said "human subtype" was: humans, half-elves, half-orcs, and aasimar with the Scion of Humanity alternate racial trait. If you can link to the option(s) in which you're interested on the PFSRD/PRD, however, I'll take a look and make a decision.

Regarding half-orcs:

Although elves are rare in New Allence, meaning players who want to play half-elves have some explaining to do, the decades of war between the humans of Kassht and the Taloth orcs have unfortunately resulted in a number of half-orcs. The inhabitants of the region have a variety of attitudes towards half-orcs. New Allence itself is very tolerant of half-orcs. In fact, Dakok's Bloody Hooves, the crack unit of New Allence's militia, is entirely made up of half-orcs. However, the outlying villages, particularly the ones to the north (i.e. between the Teeth and New Allence), bear the brunt of the occasional raids the orcs manage to sneak through the Teeth and have a correspondingly less enlightened attitude.

I'm interested! I love homebrew settings. This has a good ol' classic "Orcs vs. Humans" flavor to it that sounds like fun.

I'm currently playing in one other PbP game, and can pretty much guarantee 1 post a day. I'd like to submit a classic-style human sword-and-board fighter, albeit one with a small arsenal of alternate weapons. I'm putting something together now; want a full alias, or should we wait until we're picked before making one?

EDIT: Just about done making my character. I have a couple of quick questions for the GM, just for background purposes: 1) How long has it been since the orcs invaded? 2) If my character had been a Paladin, which God would they have worshiped? Thinking of my character being a failed Paladin who couldn't control his/her emotions, and ended up as a "mundane" fighter because of it.

Let me look at what you've come up with before you go to the trouble of making a full alias. I don't foresee problems (especially with something that iconic), but it can't hurt.

1) It's been forty years since the main invasion that pushed the humans back across the Teeth. With the Nunshal Pass fortified against them, the orcs can't move a large invasion force, but raiding parties come down every summer through smaller passes that are too numerous for Kassht to plug.

2)Likely Iomedae or Kroina

This is Wivvy. I'll have to tweak this character to fit the campaign (I created this for a different campaign that didn't work out) but here is the essence of the character. I'll have backstory and other thing fixed ASAP. Let me know what you think, and any tweaks you think I can make.

I am interested in playing. How does a Human Battle Oracle sound?

Waitasecond- Nunshal Pass? Noooooow I get it. ;)

Anyhoo, for extra classicness (classicity?), I went CRB-only for this character. And, since five out of the six characters I've played in the last two years were male, I decided to make a female character this time around.

Thanks for answering my questions!

DFang wrote:

Are you open to classes working under wordcaster variant?

Tentatively, yes. I'll look over the rules today and make sure I grasp them.

I've looked at the rules. I think I'll allow words of power for spontaneous arcane spellcasters.

This is Wivvy. I'll have to tweak this character to fit the campaign (I created this for a different campaign that didn't work out) but here is the essence of the character. I'll have backstory and other thing fixed ASAP. Let me know what you think, and any tweaks you think I can make.

I like the backstory, and most of it could fit in my world. I'm going to try to get a map of the region up tonight. Once I do, it will be easier to to explain the backstory tweaks I have in mind; they have to do with integrating your backstory into the geography of the campaign world. Once you re-crunch your character, you'll be in.

I am interested in playing. How does a Human Battle Oracle sound?

It sounds great.

Waitasecond- Nunshal Pass? Noooooow I get it. ;)

Anyhoo, for extra classicness (classicity?), I went CRB-only for this character. And, since five out of the six characters I've played in the last two years were male, I decided to make a female character this time around.

Glad my attempt at humor didn't go unnoticed. I like Rhona. Everything seems to be in order crunch-wise, and the backstory is great. As with Wivvy's character, there may be some tweaking we want to do once I have a map up to show how all this fits together. Go ahead and make an alias: you're in.

Would a Iroran Paladin be acceptable in this campaign? The basic idea is a character who believes that the perfection of self is reflected in the perfection of the world - by making the world a better place you make yourself a better person, and therefore closer to Enlightenment.

I am very interested in this campaign. My idea is for a straight mage that has some rogue like abilities. As such I would be taking Additional Traits so that I could gain some cross class skills as normal skills since I wont be picking up levels of rogue.

Sounds great! I'll have everything re-crunched by tonight.

I'm in! Awesome! I'll finish putting together an alias for Rhona tonight. I'm open to any tweaks we need to do to make her fit into your setting smoothly.

Also, Detskiye seems really cool. Loved reading his backstory.

SAMAS wrote:

Quick question:

By "Human subtype", I take it you mean not just Half-orcs, but also everybody mentioned in " Bastards of Golarion" and the "Blood of x" books? And if not, which ones are excluded?

I'm not familiar with those books. What I had in mind when I said "human subtype" was: humans, half-elves, half-orcs, and aasimar with the Scion of Humanity alternate racial trait. If you can link to the option(s) in which you're interested on the PFSRD/PRD, however, I'll take a look and make a decision.

Geniekin: Basically like Aasimar/Tieflings, but instead of Celestial/Fiendish, the basis of their Outsider blood is Elemental. The collective name comes from the fact that the most known cause is through the various Genies.

Ifrits (Fire/Efreet)
Oreads (Earth/Shaitan)
Sylphs (Air/Djinn)
Undines (Water/Marid)
Sulis (Multi-Elemental/Jann)

Other Bastard-Types:

Fetchlings -- Descendants of Humans trapped/living in the Shadow Plane.
Changelings -- The daughters of a man and a Hag. Hags reproduce by siring these, then turning them into Hags sometime after they grow up (they are not always willing in this). As you might expect, Changelings are always female.
Dhampirs -- Half-Vampires.

Okay, I'm pretty sure that I have everything re-crunched. Once the maps and everything are up, I'll jump right on the backstory. And thanks Budd! I like Rhona too, an ex-paladin is a brilliant idea for a backstory. Also I'm so happy you caught the Nunshal Pass joke because I completely missed it and I laughed so hard when I finally got it.

Would a Iroran Paladin be acceptable in this campaign? The basic idea is a character who believes that the perfection of self is reflected in the perfection of the world - by making the world a better place you make yourself a better person, and therefore closer to Enlightenment.

Interesting. I like it.

I am very interested in this campaign. My idea is for a straight mage that has some rogue like abilities. As such I would be taking Additional Traits so that I could gain some cross class skills as normal skills since I wont be picking up levels of rogue.

You don't have any idea how well this fits. The foremost arcane university in the Kingdom of Kassht, known as the Arcane Tower, is located in New Allence. At the Arcane Tower, each school of magic (except for necromancy) has its own professor who supervises that particular field of study. The professor of transmutation is Mau Saytung, an awakened cat. He would love the sort of personality you're describing. You might have been baleful polymorphed into a mouse a time or two, though. He has a tendency to do that sort of thing...the school keeps a couple of scrolls of dispel magic on hand for when he has a temper tantrum :).

Cool! I already drew up a character on Myth-Weavers along with a backstory. Sadly, that site is down at the moment, so I cannot show him to you at the moment.

EDIT: Mythweavers is back up. Here is my character:
Beringer the Blind
Male Lawful Good Human Oracle, Level 1, Init +6, HP 9/9, Speed 20
AC 18, Touch 12, Flat-footed 16, CMD 16, Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +1, CMB +4, Base Attack Bonus 0
Brace Longspear +4 (1d8+6, 20x3)
Alchemical Silver Dagger +4 (+2 thrown) (1d4+3, 19-20x2)
Cold Iron Morningstar +4 (1d8+4, 20x2)
Four-Mirror Armor (+6 Armor, +2 Dex)
Abilities Str 18, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 16
Condition None

@SAMAS: You seem to be construing "human" in fluff terms; I'm using "human subtype" in a very strict game sense. Fluff-wise, all of those races have a connection to humans, but none of the rules you linked mention those races being humanoid (human). Most of them are outsiders (native). Aasimars are by default outsider (native), but the Scion of Humanity alternate racial trait explicitly makes them both outsider (native) and humanoid (human), which means they're legit for this game. If you can show me a trait that explicitly makes those races humanoid (human), then OK. I hate to be picky about this. I'm usually the one asking about weird races when I'm a player. In this case, there are plot reasons for doing it the way I am. With very few exceptions (mostly professors at the Arcane Tower), the good guys are humanoid (human), and the bad guys are not.

Which map tool do you plan on using?

Alias completed! I'll probably tweak the backstory and description bits a little over the next couple days, but here's the start of it.

Here's my submission. I still have to add some more details regarding her 'spell' selection, but I'm content to go with the rest.

You don't have any idea how well this fits. The foremost arcane university in the Kingdom of Kassht, known as the Arcane Tower, is located in New Allence. At the Arcane Tower, each school of magic (except for necromancy) has its own professor who supervises that particular field of study. The professor of transmutation is Mau Saytung, an awakened cat. He would love the sort of personality you're describing. You might have been baleful polymorphed into a mouse a time or two, though. He has a tendency to do that sort of thing...the school keeps a couple of scrolls of dispel magic on hand for when he has a temper tantrum :).

I am glad that it fits so well. I will have my character crunch up later today. I would like to use 3 traits to gain Stealth, Sleight of Hand, and Use Magic Device as class skills. I was wondering if I could use the feat to get the first two and then trade a drawback for the third so that I would not have to take the feat twice? Pending that question answer I should have a character good to go in a few hrs.

Also what is your opinion on magic item creation feats?

@SAMAS: You seem to be construing "human" in fluff terms; I'm using "human subtype" in a very strict game sense. Fluff-wise, all of those races have a connection to humans, but none of the rules you linked mention those races being humanoid (human). Most of them are outsiders (native). Aasimars are by default outsider (native), but the Scion of Humanity alternate racial trait explicitly makes them both outsider (native) and humanoid (human), which means they're legit for this game. If you can show me a trait that explicitly makes those races humanoid (human), then OK. I hate to be picky about this. I'm usually the one asking about weird races when I'm a player. In this case, there are plot reasons for doing it the way I am. With very few exceptions (mostly professors at the Arcane Tower), the good guys are humanoid (human), and the bad guys are not.

That's why I asked, to clear that up. But that seems to mean Changelings and Dhamphirs yes, Fetchlings and Geniekin no.

What are you still looking for in terms of characters? I know you've been accepting on a rolling basis and I'm still somewhat interested, but trying to figure out what (if anything) to offer.

Which map tool do you plan on using?

Still undecided. For the regional map (which will be up soon), I scanned a hand-drawn map. That seemed to be the easiest way to go given that its purpose is mainly to give people some place names and such to weave into their backstories. Google Docs maps have worked well for some of the PbPs in which I've played, but I'm also thinking of looking into Maptools or Roll20. Suggestions?

I would like to use 3 traits to gain Stealth, Sleight of Hand, and Use Magic Device as class skills. I was wondering if I could use the feat to get the first two and then trade a drawback for the third so that I would not have to take the feat twice?

Go ahead.

Also what is your opinion on magic item creation feats?

They're allowed. If the party's wealth gets too out of whack, though, I reserve the right to scale down the loot somewhat to compensate.

That's why I asked, to clear that up. But that seems to mean Changelings and Dhamphirs yes, Fetchlings and Geniekin no.

No. Changelings and dhamphirs are closer, granted, since they at least have the humanoid type. However, changelings are humanoid (changeling) and dhampirs are humanoid (dhampir). Neither of those are humanoid (human).

What are you still looking for in terms of characters?

I think melee is pretty well covered. It seems like the party could use some more ranged capability. Another skill monkey might come in handy too.

I'm thinking of playing a half-elf ranger (wild shadow archetype) or a Human inquisitor. I haven't quite decided yet. Just letting you know that I'm still interested, just a little busy.

Dementia Walker wrote:

Also what is your opinion on magic item creation feats?

They're allowed. If the party's wealth gets too out of whack, though, I reserve the right to scale down the loot somewhat to compensate.

Sounds good, I wont be getting it for a few levels anyway.

Dementia Walker here, mostly done with my character, need to select one more feat, copy over my special abilities, and purchase my equipment but I am mostly done with this character. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Enough Pussyfooting around, here is my submission. The Eidolons, naturally, are not accessible until next level. I'm just planning ahead.

Threeshades's character. Background writeup pending.

How long do you plan for the campaign to last?

Here's my alias (L33Fish).

I've posted the regional map in the Campaign Info tab. It's a PDF scan of a hand-drawn map, but I think it's readable. If you have any problems with that, however, let me know. My next project is going to be providing write-ups for the locations on the map so that backstories can proceed. Then, I'll start looking over the submitted characters.

How long do you plan for the campaign to last?

I don't have any firm plans. The first adventure will take you to at least level 2. As I'm looking at the XP totals, I think you may be well on your way to level 3, depending on how the random encounters work out. When we finish the first adventure, I'll check to see how everyone feels about continuing; if there is sufficient interest, we'll keep going.

And if there are some slots open afterwards, you can always call back some of us who didn't get picked the first time.

Map looks great to me, more imaginative then any I have made hah. I look forward to the player selection.

A shorter, heavier-set, rough-looking man approaches.

How'dee'do. Name's Chantif.

See profile for character sheet link and other info.

I accidentally set up my character as a PFS character since I had never set up an alias before. Oh well, here's the actual alias I will be using.

-L33Fish

Current Applications w/Action Items:

-Wivvy/Detskiye Kotenok (N half-orc ranger 1): You appear to be missing a favored class bonus. Also, I think the damage on your attacks should be 2d6+6 for your longhammer and d6+4 for your javelin. I haven't double-checked your equipment, but it seems like you should have some gold left. Also, you still might want to change your favored enemy selection.

-L33Fish/Berenger the Blind (LG human oracle 1): Everything seems to be in order, as long as you didn't change anything when you switched aliases.

-DFang/Oshasha (N human sorcerer [wordcaster] 1): Ranged weapons can't be made of bone. If you meant that the darts are bone, you should be taking a -2 penalty on damage. I'm guessing you put your favored class bonus into HP to cancel out your negative Con mod? The way you notated your quarterstaff attack confused me. If you mean for the second listing to be for using it as a double weapon, remember the two-weapon fighting penalties and that you can't wield a double weapon in two hands when you're using both ends. From your feat choices, I'm guessing you're going for a blaster, which is fine, but it would help if you also made your spell choices so that I can see how your submission works in the context of the party.

-Dementia Walker/Drexel Morrow (Unknown human transmuter 1): Please choose an alignment. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal, but we may have a paladin in the party. As with Oshasha above, please choose the spells for your spellbook (you don't have to choose which ones you have prepared right now) so that I can see what role you are intending to fill. Also, please pick languages. You get Common for being a human, and your Intelligence bonus of 4 entitles you to four more. If the school in your backstory is the Arcane Tower (I'm OK with you deciding to be from somewhere else, if you want, though having connections there would be helpful), Elven would probably be one of them, since a lot of instruction goes on in Elven there. There are about thirty elves in New Allence, and they are all employed with the Arcane Tower in some capacity; a huge deposit of mage stone is about the only thing that will draw them out of the Wilds :).

I'll get to the rest of the submissions sometime today.

-Dementia Walker/Drexel Morrow (Unknown human transmuter 1): Please choose an alignment. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal, but we may have a paladin in the party. As with Oshasha above, please choose the spells for your spellbook (you don't have to choose which ones you have prepared right now) so that I can see what role you are intending to fill. Also, please pick languages. You get Common for being a human, and your Intelligence bonus of 4 entitles you to four more. If the school in your backstory is the Arcane Tower (I'm OK with you deciding to be from somewhere else, if you want, though having connections there would be helpful), Elven would probably be one of them, since a lot of instruction goes on in Elven...

I will finish it up today, had a pretty hectic day yesterday with the kid and as such didn't have as much time to work on it as expected. Still getting used to the whole parenting thing with a 5 month old.

-L33Fish/Berenger the Blind (LG human oracle 1): Everything seems to be in order, as long as you didn't change anything when you switched aliases.

Nope. I just copied and pasted.

I will finish it up today, had a pretty hectic day yesterday with the kid and as such didn't have as much time to work on it as expected. Still getting used to the whole parenting thing with a 5 month old.

No rush. I still have several submissions to go through, and there are still several people who have posted interest but not a character. When there is a deadline, I'll be sure to make it explicit.

Nope. I just copied and pasted.

Great.