Crusty's Skull and Shackles Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Crustypeanut

Ah, that is right. Always forget that changed between 3.5 and Pathfinder.

Either doing a straight Cavalier (Order of the Staff)

or

A Fighter (Phalanx Fighter)/Cavalier (Musketeer) (Order of the Staff)

At least, that's what I'm thinking now. I'm so wishy-washy sometimes. Is a mount going to be universally viable enough for a class that depends a lot on it? If we're going to do a lot of sailing the high seas stuff, I'll probably go with the second combo.

Considering the shackles consists primarily of islands a standard mount probably isn't ideal.

Settled on Fighter 1 (Phalanx Soldier) and Cavalier 4 (Musketeer, Honor Guard). Going to be working with Jubal (Ordrud) on some background ties I believe, if we can get it to jive well.

Will probably take the Fighter levels up to 3rd so she can one-hand Polearms with a shield. The rest will mostly be Cavalier levels. Intend to have her be a battlefield controller with maneuvers aplenty and super-team-protecting action. Not settled on whether or not I want to gun for the Hellknight prestige class. May give it a pass after weighing my options down the road, but that's at least a level off at earliest.

Erdria will have zero capacity as a mounted combatant, but that should be alright considering our locale (as Peanuts pointed out). Mostly intend to set things up for the rest of you to knock down and keep things off our back line.

Point Buy: 25
Str 13
Dex 17
Con 16
Int 13
Wis 10
Cha 7

Hit Points: 5d10 (1 fighter, 4 cavalier)
1st level: 10
2nd level: 10
3rd level: 1d10 ⇒ 10
4th level: 1d10 ⇒ 10
5th level: 1d10 ⇒ 9

Favored Class: Cavalier (+4 hit points)
Skill Points: 28
Fighter 1: (4) 2 + 1 [Int] + 1 [Human]
Cavalier 1: (6) 4 + 1 [Int] + 1 [Human]
Cavalier 2: (6) 4 + 1 [Int] + 1 [Human]
Cavalier 3: (6) 4 + 1 [Int] + 1 [Human]
Cavalier 4: (6) 4 + 1 [Int] + 1 [Human]

* holy poop!

Heh. Anyone can be connected to Vorsan, if you want. :D

Considering the shackles consists primarily of islands a standard mount probably isn't ideal.

Which is why I need to find a dragon...

*evil grin*

I have lots of ideas/comments I will make after lunch. I will likely be doing an oracle or inquisitor who goes ino hell knight signifer.

Sounds good, Rob.

I've been thinking more on how I'm going to start this now that you guys are aiming to be Hellknights.. and I've come up with something that doesn't change too much what I originally planned. However, theres one thing I want everyone to know:

Do not be part of the Order of the Coil. You will have the chance to join them in time if you wish, but right now, all of you are from one of the other orders - none of you are fully fledged members, either, being Armigers.

I'm not picky as to which order you choose - most, if not all of them, will be represented.

You guys will also find out that the Order of the Coil are considered a laughing stock compared to the other Orders.. as the situation with the Serpentfolk isn't widely known - and in fact.. well, you'll find out more soon ;)

Gotta get my ass writing these ideas I've come up with.

Sounds intriguing.

Going Order of the Chain here. If anyone wants to go that Order and interweave a backstory lemme know.

I guess Order of the Scourge here... *Ponders*

So my idea right now is to make a half-orc witch [scarred witch doctor]/oracle (lore)/hellknight signifer from the Order of the Gate. Their pennance is carving symbols into their flesh, which tracks perfectly with Scarred Witch Doctor. He'll probably have a Thassilonian tie too, perhaps former slave liberated by the Hellknights and raised among their order.

Pretty sure the Witchacle is going to be built entirely around Con and Cha, since he's going to have a revelation that replaces his Dex mod with his Cha mod. His totem mask "familiar" will be his hellknight helmet :3

Very cool, Rob.

I'm creatively blah on my backstory. Trying to find a hook or two to get energized.

Oh, Rob, my character's got something similarly Thassilonian... Though how long ago was Karzoug summoned? I thought Saranaja said 8 years ago... *Ponders* Of course, half-orcs are mature at a younger age than humans.

Roughly eight years I think indeed.. but that doesn't mean Karzoug's first act was to abduct a few children that would eventually be accepted into the Hellknights :P

And they don't mature -much- faster Winwaar. Maybe a few years at most?

Aight boss, here be Krovax. Lemme know what you think.

I don't have him directly tied to a particular deity, but rather he reveres a twisted union of the teachings of the Whispering Way and the creed of the Order of the Chain. That ok?

Mabelode: Tiefling Evoker Wizard, aye?

Hmmm...

Well lets see. In Cheliax, they're most often, but not always considered second-class citizens. Honestly, with the civil-war, they're probably even more looked down upon, thanks to one of the leaders of the civil war being a Tiefling.

Reading up on Blood of Fiends, it says that Tieflings with easily-concealable features or the ability to magically disguise themselves as non-tieflings would be able to pretend they're normal.

However.. while certainly primarily of Cheliax.. the Hellknights are more interested in those willing and able to conform to their standards of Law and Order. While there might be prejudice early on, they would likely more readily accept a Tiefling than regular society.

The Order of the Gate, who actually works with summoning Devils on a regular basis, would probably accept a Tiefling the most - especially one with arcane abilities, such as yourself. While I'd assume most of them are either Diviners or Conjurers, I don't see why they wouldn't accept a good old-fashioned blockbuster wizard.

@Krovax: Looks good! I'll look at more detail at the mechanics once we get closer to the start of the campaign - mainly looking at the background for now.

Again, I don't know if I'll have time to do this in a more decent format, but I do have ideas as to what I want Vorsan's background to be.

He's basically a Varisian whose ancestors served an ancient sin mage of Gluttony (that is necromancy, yes?). The family had sort of kept what knowledge they had gleaned of the art throughout the ages since Thassilion's ancient fall, whilst mixing it liberally with their own freedom based morality. They became spirit-talkers and whatnot, helping ghosts move on, putting greater undead to rest whenever they could, etc. He was trained in their arts for his entire life, and so on. But when Karzoug rose again, his family fled south - right into the arms of the Chelaxians.

That's what I've got so far in my head, but more should be added soon.

Crusty

Kagehiro and I are working on a tandem background. We've discussed the points that you've made. We're a few days away from something to show you.

cheers

I look forward to it :D

A bit of a teaser, for those who don't have the Shackles map:

The Shackles Hex Map

...Its in progress, and I'm not sure if we will use hexes.. but if we do.. I'm making one just in case ;) I had to shrink this one down 50% just to get it small enough to fit onto imageshack, the full one is 10 mb in size.

The hexes are in the standard size, same as Kingmakers - 12 miles from corner to corner.

I was thinking more of a Belkzen orc who was caught up in the initial expansionism of Karzoug (some of the western tribes sided with him instead of Tar-Baphon once that madness started.) So about 5 years prior to campaign start (presuming we're starting in the same year as RoW). Then spends about 1 year in service to Big K's minions, then winds up getting liberated and spends another 4 years with the Hellknights. So raised from about the age of 12 to 17 (half orcs reach maturity at 14)

We are starting in the same year as RoW. In fact, my previous prologue idea was going to have a cameo of our RoW group - at least, a direct mention of them by the captain of the refugee ship, who happens to be an old friend of the captain of the Red Wraith.

Though you guys would have reached the Shackles two months after our RoW group left on their expedition - whether or not we succeeded by then, it would not matter, since the region isn't affected by the events of the RoW anyways, beyond the refugees - which would probably be streaming into the region even if we succeed, due to other reasons.. like the civil war, Karzoug, etc.

Can someone point me at a place where this civil war is a bit more detailed? I admit, our dwarves don't really know much about what's going on in the east. Angrin less than some.

The Civil War is due to the events of the Council of Thieves AP - I believe Rob had something somewhere on it.. though he may not have mentioned Cheliax in a ton of detail.

At first I thought you meant a full-blooded Orc, Rob - then you mentioned half-orc. XD While I certainly wouldn't say no to a full-blooded orc, they would have a hard time with the Hellknights..

Scarred Witch Doctors are fun, though! Are you going Mystic Theurge, or primarily Witch with a splatter of Oracle for the Cha->AC buff?

(I love Mystic Theurges, btw)

I found them disappointing. Mystic Theurges, I mean. In Pathfinder. The concept is incredible. But the things one loses... I couldn't do that to myself! x_x

The class abilities? Actually.. provided you pick the right ones.. it can be incredible - I suspect that is what Rob is going for. By allowing one of his primary casting stats to also work for his AC, and the other for his hit points.. he's going to be a beast.

Since I'm allowing 25 point builds, lets say he puts a 16 in Con, 17 in Cha, then an additional +1 to Cha from his 4th level bonus and a +2 to Con from his Racial - He's rolling in 18's in both of those. That means a high fort, hit points, and a surprisingly high AC for an unarmed, unbuffed caster - all while keeping his DC's high.

..He'll also have a stupidly high versatility when it comes to spells - though he'll have to prepare his Witch ones, his Oracle ones he can cast on the fly, allowing him to better specialize his Witch ones, while using the Oracle ones to cover his drawbacks.

I love Mystic Theurges! So long as you don't create your character based on class abilities that level up based on your level with that class, you're golden with 'em. Granted, Rob's Hexes will be less than perfect in their DC.. but they won't be horrible.

I had planned on playing a Oracle of Lore/Fey Sorcerer Human Mystic Theurge in a RotR campaign here on the board (We never got past the first battle >.>), and.. though he would mature stupidly slowly.. he could cast spells all day long and not run out. I think he would have had over 100 spells per day at level 20 - since his sole casting stat was Charisma, while also using CHA for his Reflex saves, AC, and Initiative.

With his focus on Enchantment Spells due to his Sorcerer Bloodline, he was surprisingly adept at charming Giants, too - my goal all along. He was Shoanti, so he had a long standing conflict with Giants - and he seeked to control them.

I'll know 80 spells by the time we're level 18. And, if all goes according to plan with stat items, I'll have 96 spells per day.

...the only issue is that my highest spell level will be 7, and I'll only have a very limited number of those (3 known between the two). Still...

Also don't mind me, I'm just getting giggity about this character, as I've been wanting to play a Mystic Theurge for ages. :P

Here it is. Level 18 is where I calculated it up to. Hehehehe

Man imagine him as an Archmage/Hierophant! o.o

Yeah... xD

At first I thought you meant a full-blooded Orc, Rob - then you mentioned half-orc. XD While I certainly wouldn't say no to a full-blooded orc, they would have a hard time with the Hellknights..

Scarred Witch Doctors are fun, though! Are you going Mystic Theurge, or primarily Witch with a splatter of Oracle for the Cha->AC buff?

(I love Mystic Theurges, btw)

My long-term plan is Oracle 1, Witch 6, Hellknight Signifer 10

The trick behind this is when you take levels of Hellknight Signifer, if you have the Warrior Priest feat, your Signifer levels count towards the power of your oracle revelations. So having one (or more with Extra Revelation) oracle revelation that works at 11th-level effectiveness by the end for one level (which gives AC assistance/spells/access to oracle spell list for spell-completion/trigger items) is pretty swank.

Alternately I could go Cleric or Inquisitor to increase the power of Domain or Inquisition abilities. I haven't looked at enough domains/inquisitions to find good options for that, however.

Oh right, Signifier.. forgot about that. XD

Nice!

Hopefully, I should get my story together over the weekend - I don't think it'll take too much longer.

No rush at all! You guys will probably be waiting on me, not the other way around. XD

Just stumbled upon something on the forums that may impact my character, so I'm tossing this up to the rules lawyers and, ultimately, Crusty as GM for a call on this. Not after a debate! No soapboxes allowed!

Undead Master

You can marshal vast armies of the undead to serve you.

Prerequisites: Spell focus (necromancy), the ability to cast animate dead or command undead .
Benefit: When you cast animate dead or use the Command Undead feat, you are considered to be four levels higher when determining the number of Hit Dice you animate. When you cast command undead , your duration is doubled.

There are numerous threads debating this feat, so instead of detailing it out, I'll simply ask which of these are how it works?

1) Animate Dead: Only HD animated affected, no change on HD controlled.
Command Undead Feat: Can't animate by default, so only affects HD controlled by feat.

2) Animate Dead: affects both animate and control limit.
Command Undead Feat: affects control limit

How the Command Undead Spell is affected in the wording is straightforward, but how it applies to the Animate Dead spell and Command Undead feat is wonky, based purely on wording compared to functionality of the CU feat. Just wanted this clarified in regards to this campaign before it came up. In my home Kingmaker game, I hadn't read it close enough to notice the poor wording and let it affect both animation and control limits, but didn't want to assume that for your game now that I've actually noticed the strange wording.

Hmm... the wording is indeed unclear.. so I'll go with #2, based off the feat's flavor description.

You can marshal vast armies of the undead to serve you.

Makes me think that you can have more than the standard necromancer, so we'll go with that! Keepin' it simple.

Effectively, you are a level 9 cleric for the purpose of animating and controlling undead.

How I understood it when I took it too. Cool beans. Now, to find a dragon...

Heh you know what would also be a fun campaign? Wrath of the Righteous - but with Hellknights.

Sounds like some Space Marines vs Chaos action right there. Heh ;P

Been checking out WotR and running it a bit with randomized PCs (generated them using UltCampaign).. and so far it is quite the awesome campaign indeed.

Though with Hellknights, the Redemption mechanic might as well be thrown out the window.. ain't no room for redemption with Hellknights! XD

You know what I also found out? Creating your own outdoor maps is hard. Thats honestly whats slowing me down the most with Beneath the Black Flag - I've got most of the stuff planned out, but getting it to look presentable (When you're borderline OCD and a perfectionist) is proving to be an annoyance. Underground/indoor maps I can do fine - they're easy.

Rob, how do you go about making your maps for RoW/QfA?

I fear the implications of dracolichdom.

I lick the lipid predations of draclerdom.

I fear the implications of dracolichdom.

Do not fear it, embrace it! Dint worry, eventually, instead of resurrects, I'll be granting fallen comrades immortality through Undeath! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

What kind of maps do you want?

ships?

shipwreck island?

maps, we got your stinkin' maps here.

of the Shackles, you say?

Just knowledge of how to make me own - I found an awesome tutorial for indoors/underground ones.. but have thus far had a difficult time applying the same tutorial for purely outdoor wilderness maps.

I need to map out a certain island on here in more detail, not to mention various encounters - 90% of which are wilderness, at least for now.

Going to look into applying This tutorial, see if I can use that. Thanks for the link!

Just knowledge of how to make me own - I found an awesome tutorial for indoors/underground ones.. but have thus far had a difficult time applying the same tutorial for purely outdoor wilderness maps.

I need to map out a certain island on here in more detail, not to mention various encounters - 90% of which are wilderness, at least for now.

D'aww. No boats for us.