Oh I'm sure it will at some point. Less of if and more of a when, but Thank you!
Map is up. Roll initiative. I'm only showing horses if needed, to avoid clutter. Assuming everyone is mounted at the start.
I love Frostbite! ^_^
Can you access the combat map Autumn? I can move your tokens if not. I gave the bandits colors to help differentiate between them. I seem to forget to do that...
I can see them but I cannot move them.
Alright. I'll move you as needed then.
Thank you!!
I did my best to describe who they where attacking, as I didn't have the colors at the time! XD
Same here view access only.
What condition are mine and the bandits horses in? I suspect both are very near spent.
Hey Drazen, what is the spell failure chance for?
Right the Cuirass! I keep forgetting he has that! I'm not use to arcane spell casters having armor! XD
Wednesday or Thursday I should be able to resume full time posting :)
Ok, map should work now.
Since we have an actual knight in the group, also I am just so jelly about your statement btw the best we get is the medieval fair with actors, will we be using the Honor system when we settle?
I'm just kinda reading through the Ultimate Campaign book making sure I have a good idea of everything and I came across it.
So it's like, waaay better Medieval times!
Medieval times is a dinner and show kind of place in Texas USA. It's fun! Don't get me wrong but there is artistic flavor to it as well.
I should correct myself, artistic licencing. But still it was a lot of fun! I need to go back some time.
Also Titian, you where hoping to fill the General position right?
I'm doing my over thinking again and am bored so I making a chart of who has what and is more likely to fill what role via states then taking into account character types and... *sigh* this is what happens when I have too much energy and something I enjoy to focus it on...
According to the recruitment rules we will each be taking two roles, we have time to work this out and it's probably best to wait to see how the characters act together before making any decisions given it's many months away from being needed. It certainly doesn't hurt to see what roles each character would be best at though.
Herger- I'd like the time Torek and you met be less than a few years back to make a consistent timeline. While I think it good to keep exact times vague for future flexibility, a certain sequence of events is assumed.
A quick brief on meeting his friends.
Torek and his father are trappers on some frontier. Torek meets Autumn when she is about 15 and he would be 18, about 4 years ago. She teaches him some things, introducing him to the ways of Erastil but he defers to his father and stays with worship of spirits. They lose touch after trappers are forced out of the increasingly hostile frontier, bandits stealing the traps and contents. Torek and family move to Restov, and after some time Torek's dad dies of a fever. Torek tries his hand at bounty hunting to make ends meet with limited success. He meets Herger, who guides him to less violent approaches to dealing with his quarry(Diplomacy), and help him on the path to Erastil - gifting him the "Parables of Erastil" and is the source of his acquisition of the Ease of Faith trait. Thereafter they lose touch for some reason, and Torek prospers in his trade but is dissatisfied, leading to current events.
Does this seems good to both of you Autumn and Herger?
Yeah most of what I'm working on right now is strictly mechanical based. For example Titian has the best strength so anything that has to deal with strength would be the best fit for him. And Drazen has the best charisma so he would do well in any role that would need that.
But there are role-playing aspects that could change that. For example how one leads and how one does under pressure. You're not going to give treasurer to the one in the group that doesn't know how to handle money.
Also yes, this sounds good to me Torek!
Herger is not up to well killing them just yet, if they will agree to aid the community and he detects no dishonesty he will ask the others to help guard them till they can return to the trading post... to the others who wont agree or seem like filthy liars... well, He intends to lop off a hand and send them on their way as a warning that bandits and theives are no longer welcome in these lands.
Just an FYI not really that germane to this campaign.
Just to test Pathfinder II I rebuilt Torek in it to see what it was like. I obeyed P2 rules as exactly as I understood them, so his stats are lower, and there are many changes but the flavor seems to come through. P2 is quite the departure from P1 more so than I expected. I not sure I like it, it really restrains the power and versatility of the characters compared to P1 but I have to play it to be sure what that means.
Torek in Pathfinder II
Ancestry Human
Background Acrobat
Class Ranger
Languages Common, Hallit
Ability scores
STR +2 14
DEX +3 !6
CON +1 12
INT +1 12
WIS +1 12
CHA +1 12
Armor: trained in Light and medium but not heavy or shields
Weapons: trained all simple and martial weapons.
Perception +3 +1 from Wis expert prof +2
AC 17 +3 DEX or +% DEX cap trained Prof +2 item +2
TAC 15 same except for item bonus
SKILLS total roll stat bonus sig skill y/n prof armor
Only partially filled out because you get the idea and I'm lazy.
ACROBATICS 5 dex 3 Sig yes prof 2 armor 0
ARCANA x
ATHLETICS 4
CRAFTING x sig yes
DECEPTION x
DIPLOMACY 3 sig yes
INTIMIDATION 3
LORE(Circus) 3
MEDICINE x
NATURE 3 sig yes
OCCULTISM x
PERFORMANCE x
SOCIETY x
STEALTH 5 sig yes
SURVIVAL 3 sig yes
THIEVERY 5 sig yes
Ancetry feat
Skilled
Class Feats and features
Hunt target
Monster Hunter (best of a boring lot.)
2nd level
Ranger feat took multiclass feat for rogue class: Rogue Dedication gives sneak attack skill feat and makes thievery signature.
Skill feat
Steady Balance (from Acrobat Background)
Track
General Feats
(Shield Profiency) at 3 level. gives the ability with shields that Torek had before.
Bonus feats
From the rogue dedication above
Sneak Attack
Cat Fall
Studded leather expert quality
Bastard Sword
Dagger
Resonance 3 +1 CHR +2 from level. For magic items.
I have no plans to convert this game to PF 2. I don't have time to do conversions on that scale.
To be clear I wasn't suggesting that we should at all! It was just an experiment to see what characters in it looked like. The comment about I'd have to play it to be sure was a general note about it's hard to tell how good a game is without trying it out, not a request of any kind. I thought people might comment on it with their opinion about but nothing more, certainly no conversion, too much work, I agree, for everyone.
Convertions of older APs into a newer system should be left to the professionals I say. Mainly because I don't want that headache! ^_~
Though I do sometimes feel bad for going hunter in a game before it existed, but then I remember it's the only class that does animal companion right... that isnt a druid that is. Druids are nice, but I just like hunter more.
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The hunter does seem to be a good balance between Ranger and Druid. I never thought the spells a ranger had was a good idea. Just didn't seem to fit for me and was weak, the main use was that rangers could use some good magic items non-casters couldn't but just not worth the bother in my (not-at-all) humble opinion.
I did look over our stats as a group, Str and Chr are our highs and Int is our low. Autumn's the smart one which seems right. I, as the roguish ranger, have the Dex high, everyone else follows their class expected stat.
Lol! "Autumn's the smart one which seems right" cracked me up! That has now made it on my wall of statements. Because she is likely the lease educated out of all of you. But she does have good intuition and learns very quickly. All apart of her past of having to take on an adult role much too soon.
Yeah I've been keeping track of our stats and rp moments that would make a character stickout more for one job or the next. Though with so many new people, which isn't a bad thing, my data is... less. XD
The more we go along the more there will be of course! ^_^
So I was going through some of my old PDFs and found the PDF of Faiths of Purity. Since we're all followers of Erastil I figured I'd just put this here for all of you to enjoy! ^_^
Born when the world was young, before humans knew how
to farm, Erastil is said to have given the first bow to mortals
as a gift to help them hunt and survive. He is a nature deity,
a stag-headed god of small towns and untamed spaces,
a step between the Green Faith and the modern faiths
of the cities. He is a stern patriarch but a friend to those
in need. He is not a god for glory-seekers, but for those
who seek stability and cooperation in the world. He is a
traditionalist, and frowns on those who break tradition
without careful thought. Erastil’s alignment is lawful
good; his portfolio is family, farming, hunting, and trade;
and his domains are Animal, Community, Good, Law, and
Plant. His favored weapon is the longbow.
Due to his focus on the home and family, and the need
for adults to be practical providers for their children and
communities, Erastil produces fewer adventurers than
many other gods. When his faithful do strike out on an
adventure, it’s inevitably to help those they leave behind.
Followers of Erastil seek riches not for their own sake,
but for what they can do for their family and community,
and those forced to embark on a long adventure regularly
count the days until they can return to the warmth and
simplicity of home.
As one of his faithful, you want to keep the peace, and
while you do what you have to, the farther a conf lict strays
from regions that directly affect your chosen community,
the less you feel compelled to continue the fight. You are
a paragon of stability—some might say too much so—yet
while some might call your traditional values quaint or
backward, you feel that they serve as anchors for hearth,
home, and family, and you understand their place in rural
communities where roles must be well defined.
You’re an intentionally simple person, and prefer
straightforward answers to problems. Erastil is quite
popular with rangers, and if you’re one of them, you’re
probably the type who protects a given community, using
your skills to help your people survive and prosper. Other
classes prevalent among Erastil’s worshipers include
clerics, druids, and the occasional paladin.
As a worshiper of the stag-headed god, you’re probably
not a sorcerer or wizard; Erastil has little time for arcane
study when there’s plenty of straightforward manual labor
to be done. If you’re a rogue, you’re the sort who focuses
on stealthy activity but not theft—stealing breaks apart
communities faster than almost anything. Bards talk too much when they should be working, monks are too worried
about enlightenment, and barbarians are by definition
rejecting the basic tenets of civilization that Erastil tries
to encourage. Fighters and other martial classes may be
necessary, but followers of Erastil inherently distrust
anyone whose entire business is fighting—after all, peace
and prosperity are a threat to their job security.
If you’re a cleric of Erastil, you’re probably the only one
from your village. Your days are spent helping build and
maintain your hamlet. You oversee the celebrations of the
solstices and equinoxes. You might be sent out to fetch
news or seeds from the greater world, and maybe escort
new supplies or settlers back home. You’re stubborn and
hardheaded—though you prefer the word “dedicated”—
and you always put the good of your constituency over
your own.
When you worship Erastil, you worship the simple things
in life: close-knit families, healthy communities, verdant
wildlands, and fertile farmlands. You want to preserve
these things, retain traditional values, and ensure that the
hectic pace of modern city life doesn’t destroy the life you
hold dear. You want to teach people to be self-sufficient,
rather than doing their work for them, but that doesn’t
mean you’ll stand by and watch them be destroyed. If
you’re a traveling adventurer, you’re trying to help build
other villages, towns, and people into strong and selfreliant
families of faith. You’d prefer to settle down,
but either your home is comfortable, can spare you, and
believes you should follow this calling, or your home is
in grave peril, and you are trying to find anything that
will save them.
The symbol of Erastil is a bow and arrow, turned sideways
and fashioned to look like an elk’s antlers. Your church
does not abide by useless frippery, and your brethren
are straightforward in their beliefs. You might carry the
symbol of Erastil burned into your leather cloak, or as a
wooden badge or emblem displayed on your shirt. When
you meet others of the faithful, you greet them simply but
earnestly, with a handclasp or a respectful bow.
Erastil’s faith is essentially all or nothing. Either you
accept his teachings and belong to your Erastil-worshiping
community, or you do not, and quickly tire of the closeknit
exclusiveness of your neighbors. Participation in
the community and service to your people is a form of
devotion, and if you do neither, they’ll know it—you’ll
have the choice to start pitching in or leave.
Your dealings with the faithful of other gods depend
largely on your own personality, but they always boil down
to a quiet sense of the superiority of your faith over theirs.
This might manifest in many ways, but the message is
typically: You children don’t understand what you’re doing.
The most important truth in Erastil’s philosophy is that
people should be useful to their communities, in whatever
fashion they can. Worshipers who claim Erastil's faith
but spurn his simple teachings earn his wrath, and
stories tell of false worshipers who have been turned
into trees or pigs so that they’ll eventually give back to
their towns. Even those who lose his favor can regain it by
undertaking ambitious projects that help a small rural
community, preferably one that enjoys broad community
support and requires the aid of others, such as building
a watchtower, new irrigation channels for the fields, or a
new palisade to keep out the wild creatures of the wood.
You might also consider teaching the local youth valuable
skills that enable them to contribute to their families.
Erastil’s Speaker (Erastil): You understand
the importance of keeping the peace in
your community, and you have learned
how to speak to the faithful in ways that
they understand. You gain a +1 trait bonus
on Diplomacy checks, and Diplomacy is
always a class skill for you.
Wise Teacher (Erastil): You are skilled in
passing along knowledge of rural matters. If you
have 4 or more ranks in Survival or Knowledge
(Nature), when you aid another with these
skills, you grant a +4 bonus on the check
you are aiding instead of the normal +2.
The church of Erastil is most common in the forests and untamed plains, where wild animals still roam free and people work the land for a living. He’s not a god of bleak and blasted landscapes, but of green swards and foggy mornings and snowy mountains. If you want to find Erastil’s worshipers, look for woods and rolling hills away from the cities. There’s no set hierarchy for the church. The priests of Erastil take conventional roles in the community, and are priests as a sideline. They’ll bless farmlands, cure sickness, and oversee trade, but they tend to their own homes as well. There’s no central church for the faith, and so there’s no real top-down direction. Elder priests are respected but not revered, and the home priest of a village has greater authority than a stranger. The church has no specific holy sites—the deep woods and freshly tilled fields are enough. Churches of Erastil serve numerous functions in addition to being places of worship, serving as town halls, seed storage houses, and so forth. Erastil's holy book is short and to the point: The Parables of Erastil provide useful homilies and practical advice on rural life, dealing with such subjects as hunting, planting, family life, and nature lore. You are free to modify the book by adding illustrative fables from your hometown, or by removing chapters that have nothing to do with your area— if you live in the middle of the woods, why would you need to know how to space corn for maximum pollination? As with everything else, Erastil’s text deals with practical matters and sets aside the rest.
Good point Titian.
GM Waterhammer - I do appreciate the difficulties a GM has in balancing RL with GMing. I know being all the NPCs and everything that happens in the world is a time-consuming task, read everyones post, figure out what it means, tell us the weather, all the relevant sights, sounds etc. and to make it interesting and compelling is a monumental task. Thanks for the effort you put in and hope things get better for you soon.
Even more so in a Kingmaker campaign. This is a sandbox game! It has unlimited possibilities! Well... more limited in our group because we're all Erastian, but still a multitude of possibilities! We have such a wide variety of worshippers that it is interesting to theorize let alone read how they work together.
Take how Drazen reacted to being told the horse was his for example. He is thankful and didn't expect it from people he hardly knows yet to Autumn and Herger, Drazen has a charter which makes him a part of their group and thus a part of their community. They would be failing in their Erastian faith to let him go without one. But Autumn can understand that feeling of being indebted to someone for something so vital, but she doesn't want to be paid back for it. Her return on this "investment" would be having him help them as he already planned on doing. Because that is all she wants. However Herger might ask for something different, because while both agree on the actions taken they may agree for different reasons because they are different forms of Erastians. Herger wants to settle on a farm, bring up crops, and be at peace. He strikes me as more of the kind of guy who wouldn't get into other people's business unless asked or if there was no other choice and it was effecting the community. Where as Autumn is much more agressive in her approach, if she sees you as a threat you best explain yourself fast else meet the pointy end of her arrows.
Herger is the wall that guards the town where as Autumn is the ballista that sits on top of said wall. For an analogy if you wish. I also use Autumn and Herger the most in this because they are the characters I feel I know the most. They're the two left from the original group so they've been through a bit more together than the rest have and that isnt a bad thing it just paints a clearer picture of the two. I'm starting to get a grasp on the pictures for Drazen and Titian and the color for Torek is only just being mixed. Yet already I can see each takes their faith and place within the group differently. Drazen is more laid back, quieter, yet does take a firm stand when he believes something. Titian while strong in his faith still seems a bit new in it because it is likely that being in a larger city his spiritual growth was stunted, but that doesn't stop him from trying. Then Torek, so new to the faith, is so eager to learn and be a part of this, comes across almost zealously devoted. This is a wide range of followers that is great to see! Because, especially in Erastian follows, many followers of the same deity can feel single noted.
This is one of the reasons I enjoy this game so much! I have fellow players whose characters feel like actual people, and I'm invested in what happens to them! In how they grow together and how they see their futures. The land they build together, I believe anywas, is going to be a vastly interesting one if only because of where they are all coming from. Their end goal is the same and thus they can work towards it together, but how they get there I think will be the most interesting. I mean we have three city Erastians and two country Ersstians. That has got to make for some good roleplaying!
Aaaand what was suppose to be a small post became several paragraphs divulging into three different topics I believe, either way, it is out there so... enjoy. It took too long to type out on my phone to erase. Plus I'm kinda proud of it...
Trying to encourage me to talk Autumn? You'll succeed too well.
About Erastil, this is one of the more deeply written faith Pazio has, but there are a few odd points. For a god all about family why doesn't he have one? Many Pazio gods have little to nothing in the way of family relationships, and for Erastil it seems particularly glaring.
Erastil as presented, and I believe should be used, is a very human(demi-human)-centric god. He isn't the god of nature he is the god of humanities relationship with nature. The father of fields and forest but how. He is a farmer, hunter, and protector of people and the wise use of nature, not the protector of all that is wild. Here, I think, the write-ups fall short, they seem to have the city attitude that it's farm or wilderness nothing in between. Actually forests before modern times were more and very thoroughly managed than today. They had to be as they were the primary source for fuel and critical for building and for food, medicines and spices. So while Erastil respects wild-lands felling as needs be only for farms or to manage forests but not all of it would be okay if respect for nature was kept.
Also given Erastil's lawfulness, I don't quite agree with the idea that there is no hierarchy or clear (if unwritten) rules governing how the faith is administered. That it is humble, with not much ceremony or pomp and circumstance is very believable. It's not a Catholic or Orthodox type church. Rather I think it more like the Amish church, very humble with no ostentation. But I think there is a confusion with ceremony and strict rules and procedures and a well-defined hierarchy. The Amish Churches have Bishops, ministers, and deacons that organize that faithful very well indeed. The bishops get together when needed to take care of matters for groups of churches. It's not casual and I don't think it would be for the Erastilian faith. Even the write-up is a bit contradictory on this, Clerics of settled areas are higher status than itinerant clerics like Herger, both are higher status than druids in the faith (I think Autumn would be regarded as a kind of druid with her spells, though other opinions are valid). While humble, the authority of the clerics, the Elders, even if they were not especially old would carry a weight in their flock, few priests of more overtly rigidly organized faiths could even dream of.
And one more thing (ouch! that stone hurt!), Eratil encourages prosperity as a god of trade. His view of that would be very different than that of a follower of Abadar. Abadarians would see wealth as bank full of gold while an Erastilian would see pointless and vain waste. To Erastil wealth is a happy and safe community with full granaries, fertile fields, and large herds of sleek cattle. Even in trade there would be a difference, food and flax exchanged for metals or metalwork or salt, even cloth, if necessary. This serves the community, but stacking up great sums of money would not be a good goal. The peddler that sells scythes, shovels, and hoes is useful, the traveling tinker that fixes them has his honored place. The merchant that trades in luxuries misses the point. The small merchant that binds the villages and market towns together is favored by Erastil. The great merchant that trades in expensive items in great quantities over vast area, concentrated in the cities, that is the domain of Abadar.
Yes it's a good group, and the differences should make for more interesting role-play. Torek never really had a true home, often on the move. Making a home for himself is a driving goal that even he may not fully understand.
Well I've managed to make Autumn look terse, and you are probably asleep before having gotten this far, so I'll shut up now.
Hay! I didn't mean to scare anyone off! Please post something someone. Are the boards really working?
Test
Yay!!! We're back! For the momwnt!
I had typed this whole thing out to talk more about Erastil and the missing family, then the post didn't work...
But many acrually believe that Erastil has or had a family. Being a God is a dangerous buisness, it is likely we don't hear anything about then because he doesn't want the fact to be public knowlegde less they become a target. Another idea is that in life he had a family, before he became a god. He had children and watched them grow till he reached old age, he wife passed and he focused his attention so much upon the community that he didn't ever die. He found himself a god. So he doesn't have a family because that time for him has passed. Now all of his followers are his children and it is his responsibility as a father of the faith to look after their spiritual needs.
Yes most merchants would not find this a good place to make money. But a great place to pick up raw materials. Fruits, Vegetables, meats, wool, hide, and otger such things would be at market here so long as the season is right.
Forums very miss with few hits.
I've learned to write my posts in notepad then cut and paste, or other similar things.
Yes, lots of theories just not a lot of official support. Paizo, like most companies don't do a lot of deep interconnections amoung the gods the way most pantheons historically worked. On the other hand there is Chasotiumm's Glorantha that almost makes up for that just by itself.
Yes, I guess my point is the this is an almost ideal place for an Erastlian merchant to do business, not for the riches exactly but for service to the rising community, if there is a community to rise. On the other hand, followers of Abadar sometime are forward looking and may take a chance on long-term investment with possible riches down the road.
Does this work?
Yay it does! Also maybe we sgould think about getting discord chat or something. Just to be able to check in with eacgother if that happens again.
And I agree that it is odd they do not have a fertility goddess. I mean the closest they have is Pharasma and I only say that because of her work with midwives. But we know that the people of Golarian know and care about fertility to some point, I mean it is even called out in one of the little side books about types of fertility charms made from Aasimar hair. (Yes this is why she comments about her hair being long. She always made charms out of it for newlyweds in her old village so she's never had it past her shoulders for longer than a week)
Paizo finally completed the ritual to summon a new demon to replace the old one running the board. (Surely they don't use something as ordinary as a computer.) Wonder which posts/posters will mysteriously vanish as the next sacrifice? :)
Yes the lack of a fertility deity is weird, I'd say they would want to avoid certain controversies except they have Calistria so that seems unlikely. Anyway yes there should be a female fertility deity and Erastil should be the male one but isn't, at least now he isn't. Maybe he was very different or seen as different in an earlier age.
But I'd like the view as to how we should relate to our character's faith to be as open as possible don't want to create an unneeded controversy if there are differences in opinions about how the religion works. For instance many view Erastil as very patriarchal, women should remain in the home, cooking and taking care of the kids. This is problematic in this era and for this campaign. How do you view this Autumn?
Okay no joke, as I was writing this my internet connection went down. I think the search for sacrifices has begun. (Begins to look suspiciously over his shoulder.)
checking back in :)
I always viewed him as more, placest than sexist. Everyone in the community has a place and you shouldn't step out of said place. Which would give way to women remaining more at home while men did other things mainly because, well they could end up being in bed for many days because of pregnancy and thus doing labor intensive jobs could cause a problem. But if their job is similar to Autumn's (hunting and such) then she would have to limit the amount of time she is down for and look to the community and her husband to help. In return for this she supplies extra food and helps keep the home safe. A buck maybe the main defender in a fighe but a doe can be just a lethal if she must be.
Autumn would be unusual yes, but I don't believe she would be frowned upon by Erastil. She maybe a little stubborn but she became what she is because of the need of her family and community. She took the role of head of the house when none could because of her mother's grief, saw to it that her younger sister was set to marry a local boy who would treat her right, was asking her second sister if she had any ideas what she wanted in a husband, and was teaching her younger brother to be a hunter like herself, all while keeping the community's stores full with game. Most of her age would have been looking to see about a husband for themselves while Autumn put the need of her family and community before herself.
That isn't saying she would never have married. Far from it. But she saw it as her duty to her family to ensure her sisters where married first and her brother had a role model to look up to. That was her place as the eldest sibling, to ensure the livilyhood of those who came after her just as she would her own children. After her secound sister Winter was married she would have sought her own husband and fulfiled the last part of her duty to the community as she was to have a family of her own. She would have been older than most in her village but all would know why.
The only thing I think Erastil would be a little nervous about, would be her current situation. After losing it all her place is adrift and dangerously so. A crisis of faith could very likely happen (if it wasn't for all of the Erastian support) to Autumn, and any who would wish to smear her character could do so with ease by pointing out she travels with an all male group. In most Erastian villages any two caught in... suggestive positions are swiftly married to ensure no scandals or bastards whose fathers do not claim them. There is a reason Autumn bought the single tent for herself! Some form of shield between her and what people might imply. This wasn't as big of an issue when other females where in the group, now... she is the only female.
Just saw all these posts! Very interesting read. I have absolutely no time to post anything substantial, but thanks for inspiring me to ponder...
Disclaimer: my wife just gave birth to our second child – a happy and healthy baby girl – so we're in the sleep-to-survive phase of parenting. And with the server being down more often than not, it's been difficult to read and post, to say the least!
I'll keep up as best I can :)
Congrats!
So it has come up a bit in my other games so I'm going to ask here. Are we thinking about finding another channel to talk through? Either discord or something? In case paizo goes down again?
Also because the site went down we didn't get the chance to finish the topic that Torek brought up. Are people okay with the way I see Erastil? Are there any comments or concerns you want to bring foreword?