DM Cobalt's Unshackled City

Game Master Craig Mercer

Warning - I've never run a pbp game, but I would like to try to run one.
I've run several ftf games, but this is my first try at pbp, so if you could, give me some help and advice if I need it.

The game will be in a slightly altered Golarian, in the region of Varisia.

Note: As I add more info, this post will grow. Be warned.

Posting interest. Will return later.

I'd like to get in on this with my cleric, Logen. I can edit his sheet to suit the campaign's needs. Thanks for considering! :]

I'm quite interested.

I'm in a few other PbP games on these boards and I run one off-site that's in it's second year now.

My posts are consistent and high quality (you can check the stats on my Characters tab and take a look at the other games if you'd like)

I'd like to play a classic frontline fighter, probably wielding a polearm or two-handed sword.

I'd like to tie the character's personal story into your plot somehow, but without knowing more about the setting I don't really know how to do that. I always prefer it when my character has a vested interest in what's going on beyond "I'm an adventurer, let's do it!" or "I'm getting paid for this"

The mechanics will start traditional and simple. High Strength, Power Attack. As the game progresses I think I'll take Bodyguard and In Harm's Way to help protect the party.

The character I have in mind is the classic hero type, a good man doing good things for little or no praise simply because they have to be done.

With a Thumbs Up from you, Mr. GM, I can have a mechanical framework up and posted shortly.

This sounds very interesting. I've been thinking about trying my hand at a monk. Did I read that correctly that we can use archetypes and feats from APG, UM, and UC? If so, I have a neat idea for a flowing monk archetype from the APG. He basically focuses on tripping his opponents and stomping them while they are down.

How much backstory do you want prior to your decision? I would like to work together with other members of the party to tie our characters together prior to playing, which would of course affect any backstory I would come up with.

Do you want a character sheet now or after you make a decision?

Thank you for considering!

I'm interested. Looking at a Cleric most likely. Are we building characters around each other?

Here is a PFS character I can level up. Or I can also make another.

Interesting general's names. . . :)

What sort of game are we looking at? Intrigue, missions/combat, RP, even mix, etc. . . Any suggestions on characters or party make up?

Looking at a Cleric most likely. Are we building characters around each other?

I'd prefer it, personally. I find that pre-game discussion that links the characters really helps.

What sort of game are we looking at? Intrigue, missions/combat, RP, even mix, etc. . . Any suggestions on characters or party make up?

+1

Mr. GM, can we have a bit more info, please?

Since we have two prospective clerics, can you give us some info about your setting's cosmology?

Well id like to bring a Bard fighter to the table if their is still room.

Answers, Answers, answers.... alway a call for answers. ^_~

Yes, you should build your character so I can see what you want to run.
Yes, you should have some backstory, but with the idea that you could modify it to fit in with whoever the rest of the group turns out to be. Maybe just your last bit of history was adventuring with the group, or maybe you are a childhood friend. I'm open to a lot.
Cosmology is standard for Golarian, with the standard Pathfinder gods.
I'm hoping for a even mix of adventures. Combat will be important, of course, but so will dealing with people (including the local nobles).
While I have no set NPCs to be romances (aka: Jade Regeant), I'm not going to rule out any romances you want to pursue.

Some more background details about Cauldron.

Here's Geoff:

I'd like to bring in Rogar Ungart if there is any room he was origanally made for legacy of fire if any changes are needed do tell

Thanks for the response. I'll have a character profile up for you tomorrow.

Oops, forgot to say this.
2 Traits, but no campaign traits (because we aren't in a campaign).

My post got eaten. . .

If accepted

I will likely play this character. I thought I had the background posted, but I guess not. He was designed for a PFS game, but I've never gotten to use him. Leveling up to 2, will look failry the same, and I am really considering dipping into Rogue 2.

My idea is a mix between the Boondock Saints and Gambit from the X-Men. Charming, sarcastic (at times), a little mysterious, but good natured at the core. Milani (deity of rebelions and freedom), is one of the few Golarion deities a really like.

I am completely willing to build another character, but may not be able to have them up for a few hours. Let me know what you all would like, though. I am planning on being decent at combat, and fairly good at skills, buffing, debuffing, with some healing.

I prefere party development, and enjoy working with other players. I am interested in a fair mix of romance ( and fade-to-black giggady, giggady), combat, story, intrigue, mystery, and RP, (all or a mix).

I am willing to work with the Gm and other players, and invite discussion for character creation.

However, there is one thing people should know. I am currently deployed in Afghanistan, and I am a medic. There may be some times (rare) that I simply either can't get online or am so busy that I can't post. It is fairly uncommon, and so far hasn't interfiered tith other games. Just keep it in mind. If I'm in, I will try to let people know if I know this is comming up, but sometimes that isn't an option. Like I said, uncommon.

Doomed Hero here, posting the bare bones of my character. Gotta run to work. I should have him all done by tomorrow.

So I have 3 ideas that are in a sort fo grey area. but i'd like to try out the characters somewhere if you'll accept the mechanics.

1. The RotL player's pdf says the Bladed scarf had reach, but that's not if the d20pfsrd entry, so I wanted to see if it can work the way it is in the book?

2. non-evil undead lord
Haunted Juju Oracle with the Spirit Vessels revelation removes the EVIL part from Animate Dead and necromancy spell.
There are several neutral death deities (although 2 come from stone giants(Ancestral Spirits, Fandarra) and, Hanspur; maybe Groetus If that's close enough t undeathness, that would allow an undead-lord to take versatile channel and use positive at a lesser power level, so there'd be non-evil undead that are not so much Undead as possessed objects that function like undead.

Kinda like the idea of a person from the river kingdoms haunted by the spirits of the drowned, and she uses her power, granted by Hanspur to give them vessels to live on and eventually be ready to move on (and stop annoying her!)
Either that or there would be someone from the north who venerates the gods of the giants, say to avoid being sacraficed,they make the sacrafices, and the ancestral spirits haunt this person, so the cleric puts the restless spirits into dead bodies so they can be a part of the world again.

3. Thunder and Fang feat uses the Earthbreaker and Klar as a double weapon at the end of a 4 feat chain.

If you'd allow any of those i'd like to toss up a class that uses those mechanics, and as 2 are from Varisia, it would make sense to see the stuff used.

Otherwise, I was thinking maybe a wizard or sorc...

Just a few comments to people who asked questions about characters...

Quick question... Sword Scion is listed as a campaign trait in Kingmaker, but as a Regional feat in the Inner Sea World Guide??? Which way for you?

May I suggest a cavalryman in the making? He is a shepherd by trade in the employ of General Cid. He is prized for his resourcefulness in rustling up livestock for the army....he is a scoundrel by nature. He shoots a wicked bullet with his slingstaff.

Quick question... Sword Scion is listed as a campaign trait in Kingmaker, but as a Regional feat in the Inner Sea World Guide??? Which way for you?

I don't see that Feat in the Inner Sea World Guide. Which page is it on?

Right. Derped on the oracle thing, my bad. Sorry.

Thunder and Fang (Combat)

You have mastered the ancient Shoanti fighting style of Thunder and Fang, allowing you to fight with increased effectiveness when wielding an earth breaker and a klar. As you swing at foes with Thunder (your earth breaker), you slash at them with the Fang (your klar).

Prerequisites: Strength 15, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (earth breaker), Weapon Focus (klar).

Benefit: As long as you are fighting with an earth breaker and a klar (and you make attacks with your klar as your offhand attack), you can fight with both weapons as if you were wielding a double weapon, and retain your shield bonus to your Armor Class granted by your klar. Treat your klar as a light weapon for the purposes of determining your total penalty to attack.

Special: A fighter may select Thunder and Fang as one of his fighter bonus feats.

It's from Pathfinder #10: CotC 4/6 A History of Ashes

Ah, that's where T&F is from.
Problem is, that is made for 3.5, not Pathfinder. And it did not make it into any of the pathfinder feat lists in the Core, APG, UM, or UC that I can find.

So I'm going to have to say, no, you can't take that feat.

Check out his profile for his stats. I haven't bought equipment yet, but it is unlikely he'll own much. His role in combat is primarily as support. He specializes in tripping his opponents and making attacks of opportunity. Outside of battle, he is not much of a speaker, but will contribute to discussions of strategy. He will not slow the party down when it comes to stealth and acrobatics.

Backstory:
Alanaes Rastova grew up as a bullied child. He had friends, but most were too meek and timid to help defend Alanaes when the bullies came to beat him up. So Alanaes had to defend himself. Unfortunately, it didn't go well and he ended up bloodied and hurt after yet another attack by the bullies.

Alanaes knew he needed to learn how to defend himself and so he sought some help from a strange Varisian neighbor. The man didn't seem to like people bothering him and turned Alanaes away a few times, but eventually Alanaes won him over. The Varisian man, a former gypsy, taught him his unique style, blending two distinct forms of martial arts into one. Alanaes learned to channel his energy in order to ground himself like a mountain. He also learned to channel his energy to redirect attacks like a river. Alanaes became like a river flowing down and around a mountain, unmovable, yet moving all the time.

During this time, his mentor preached the ways of Irori and his focus on inner strength and perfection. Alanaes soon became a devout follower of Irori himself. It only took one more attack by the bullies to convince them to leave Alanaes alone forever more. Without moving from his spot, Alanaes was able to drop all four bullies in the matter of a few seconds.

Unfortunately, one of the bullies was the child of the town's mayor, who was rather vindictive. The mayor kicked Alanaes out of town and shamed his family. And so, Alanaes decided to pursue and perfect his martial art, and traveled Varisia to visit temples to Irori. Now, 15 years later, Alanaes is 30 and using his skills for a purpose other than just self-perfection. He has joined a group of adventurers, and who knows where he will be led.

Appearances:
Alanaes is a Varisian man with long brown hair and a large mustache. He wears modest clothing and does not have many personal effects, having given away most of his items to charity.

I hope the similarity to Karate Kid isn't too much... Haha!

Edit: This is Dukeruckley from above, by the way.

Interesting character, Dukeruckly.

Just a point of interest from the GM, but no one has suggested a Arcane type yet.

Not that you need one, just odd that one hasn't shown up yet.

Galahad0430 wrote:

Quick question... Sword Scion is listed as a campaign trait in Kingmaker, but as a Regional feat in the Inner Sea World Guide??? Which way for you?

I don't see that Feat in the Inner Sea World Guide. Which page is it on?

I'll have to look it up when I get home, was using HeroLab and it had two references (might have been the IS Primer instead??)

Thank you Rogar. That is much easier to read.

Galahad0430, looking at it with my copy of Herolab, Sword Scion doesn't appear unless I check Kingmaker, and then it shows up as a campaign trait.

Out of curiosity is there an estimated date for character selection?

Nasty fever broadsided me and kept me from doing anything but drooling in a nyquil induced stupor.

I'm still here though and will have the character fleshed out tomorrow.

Yeah, haven't updated in a bit, I see it was a bug fix after the first release of the IS primer, then changed back :( No problem, I can change that trait.

I'm just going to make another character. Before I start, is there any other input that might be helpful, (from anyone)?

Ugh, school getting too intense, so i gotta withdraw. Have a good game folks! =]

Beckett, I did like your Cleric, but if you want to go with another character, I will repeat that so far no arcane types have been put forth.

I think I'll close the character selection later today, since this seems to be everyone that is interested.
A nice set of characters and concepts.

I just realised that I am planning to use the character for PathFinder Society, and didn't want to have two seperate ones that will get confussing. Kind of sucks, because I've been itching to play that guy for a while. I'm working on another right now, hopefully it will be up within a few hours. Looking at something a little similar.

I'm thinking I want to play a dark knight type character. Drawing inspiration from a mix of Batman and the Punisher (LG or NG) and The Crow, a little bit broken from the death of his wife. Building now, but let me know if this is a problem. I realize the adventure is about pirates and missions, so I am keeping that in mind as I build. I am thinking paladin like, in some aspects, but more vigilanty (in a manner of speaking), and I think I can make that work.

Here's what I have so far. . .

Not so much piratey, because you aren't going to be on the sea that often. More dungeons, because you will be in an old city on top of an extinct volcano, with plenty of underground. And plenty of wilderness to ave adventures in.

The only problem I would have with a Batman/Punisher/The crow type is the fact that they don't play well with others.
I have no problem with angst, but I do have problems with loners in a group based game.

Not really a loner, as much as less concerned with wealth, fame, glory, and more with duty. I was actually going for a fairly charismatic character, and hoping to develope a romantic relationship down the road, maybe.

I don't mind doing another concept though, if you you would like.

No, No. I was just worried about a loner type.
So far he looks fine... except where do I find his god?

Yes doomed hero is great ^^ and I will dot this for interest only since I don't really got much time to build a character for it.

Posting for interest. Will try to post later, if it is not too late. Will probably make an arcane caster of some sort.

No, No. I was just worried about a loner type.

So far he looks fine... except where do I find his god?

Off the top of my head, Inner Sea World Guide, Gazeteer, Faiths of Purity, and most of the setting books that talk about deities, I think.

Quick Link

The FF fan in me wants to be in the game, so bad. Would you be willing to allow a Tiefling character? if so, I'll have a character ready by tonight

I've no problem with a tiefling character, as long as he fits the guidelines.
And I must confess, I've stolen the FF names just to make people wonder who might really be the bad guys (although there is a little FF to be found ^_~, it just will take time to see; ie, no chocobos runing loose... maybe).
And, with the selection I've got so far, an arcane caster would be your best bet to try to get in, since I've got plenty of good characters for every other need.

I'm closing the applications now, pending on what jlord and A CR20 Seagull produce. I'll try to post name tonight.

Found your god, Beckett.
He's acceptable to me.

Cool, thank you. I'm pretty much done (with the rough draft version). I'm sort of stuck as to Feats and Traits. Nothing is really popping out as all that appropriate so far. Any suggestions?

Also, <DM Cobalt>, do you mind about the part with the armor? I was wanting it to be personal, and something I planned on using for the career, but I can't afford it yet. Anything you see you have questions about, want me to change, or anything?

Ok, Idea so far is a healing focused Tiefling Paladin of Sarenrae, With the Oath of Charity and Hospitaler Archetypes. And either the Word of Healing, or Unsanctioned Knowledge feats.

I have a solid idea for her background and whatnot. So I just need to get a profile up.

Also, Ultimate Combat has rules for a Magitech walker in the vehicle section ...*hint*

Yes doomed hero is great ^^ and I will dot this for interest only since I don't really got much time to build a character for it.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.