Christoph - what's the Discord link for? I have so many sign-ins and log-ins to different things that I'm reluctant to take on another one...
I made a Discord server (text and voice chat forum) that I created specifically so we could have a non-forum place for OOC chat. In other games, I've also seen people duplicate Gameplay posts (with and without formatting) so that you can see a notification when people post. I just wanted some non-forum place available for discussion. Not sure it's critical to join, but potentially nice to have.
I apppreciate setting up the Discord and I'd like it very much if you could use it to notify me when you are ready for me to move the scene or combat forward. Lack of notifications is my biggest problem with PbP, especially once there are 3+ games running.
I know there are bots intended to help run games over discord too. I haven't used them in practice but would be interested to try.
The website gives me less and less confidence. Ellie / Freija, I hope you will reconsider and join Christoph's Discord channel ASAP. While the website was down I managed to join two games over Discord and do a complete encounter in one. We could have been much further in if we would continue playing over Discord while the forums are down.
Female Human Fighter (Lore Warden) 9 I HP 64/76 I AC 23 [T 14 FF 20] I Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +7(9) I Init +2 I Percep +1 I Conditions:
Hi all, I've been holding off from doing this, but following the website crashes and my attempts to keep the games I'm running from going under, I don't have time or headspace for this game.
I'm really sorry to do this to you, it's been a great game. I will continue to GM and I hope to see you on these boards at some future stage.
Ah. Well, I'm no stranger to overcommitment myself, so I understand. Sorry to see you go, this game and party kinda fit my headspace neatly. I wish you luck in your games and maybe our paths will cross again.
On a related note I haven't heard back from Freija for a month now, including two PMs. I am going to assume this game has 4 players now.
Sorry to see you go, Ellie (not Eldarel). I really enjoyed your character. Wishing you the best and hoping we'll get to play together again in the future.
That seems a safe assumption, CyberMephit. I've really enjoyed how things have been going so far. Sorry for not getting a post up sooner. I got a bit behind and then it kind of snowballed and I haven't had enough time to get caught up to now. It should go easier now that I'm caught up. :)
Do we need to consider recruiting any additional party members? The only thing that concerns me is we're a little light on front-liners without conjuration support or Freija.
Yeah it seems that having a frontliner would make your odds of success better. I also see that Sofia hasn't posted in 3 weeks, I hope she's still with us. I'll give it another week and then will reopen the recruitment.
EDIT: Actually I scrolled up in Discord and noticed that Sofia warned us that she will be moving on the first week of Sep, so all good.
Sorry everyone, had a bit of a relapse, but I'm actually better and able to post now, but it seems no one has posted this month. Is that part of the normal pace or have things stopped?
Voice of the Spire here also. I think we were waiting on you/Mihaela but I haven't seen Mihaela post in a long time. I'm not sure if Cybermephit is still here or not. If we're going to keep the game alive, I think we need to get back to posting regularly (daily).
I am still here! I wasn't sure where to take the game with two more sudden disappearances, and was on the cusp of calling it quits. I need to admit I have difficulties weaving sudden changes like that into the narrative.
I agree we need to be posting regularly if we want the game to keep up, it would also be nice if people warned if they don't have time to post and want me to bot them.
Delfina, I'm happy you feel better and are back in the game! I encourage you to join the Discord channel set up by Christoph so that we could more easily ping each other and alert of delays. For now please do the perception check called for in the last gameplay post!
The run-down Ustalavan town of Ravengro was as quiet and distrustful as it was dingy. Were it not for the funeral invitation to see an old acquaintance off, you would not have any reason to think twice of such a place. Every set of eyes upon you seems paranoid and uncertain of your mere presence; you're an outsider, and in such a small and insular town, they know it from the mere sight of you. But it's not the distrusting eyes that bother you most, it's the distinct wrongness in the air. You can almost taste that something is wrong with each breath, your neck tensed up as if expecting some chilly, spectral hand to grasp across it at any second.
You were asked here by Kendra Lorrimor, the daughter of an old acquaintance, Professor Petros Lorrimor. Petros passed under circumstances you don't yet know, and under the direction of his will, Kendra has asked you to visit this backwater Ustalavan town to help put him in the ground, as well as being mentioned in his will, perhaps the beneficiary of some fortune? Regardless of the relationship you two held, you have come to honour his final wishes, although every second you spent in Ravengro leaves you more and more eager to see him in the ground so that you may leave before you start to grow accustomed to the tingling up your spine.
“Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.”
― Edgar Allan Poe
Carrion Crown is an adventure path very heavy on influence from gothic horror, which is my genre, my aesthetic, my life. And so I would like to run it, but with some changes. What I'm looking for is a group of players interested in running a Carrion Crown that is much more heavily rooted in its horror influences. I will be making substantial edits to the book to give it more horror elements in the roleplay and story aspects, while also cranking up some areas challenge-wise to give the players more of a feeling of despair. I'm not looking to be a killer GM and my intentions won't be to see my players struggling in every fight, but there should be times where you don't feel like grand adventuring heroes who can take on the anything, because success will be all the sweeter for the struggle it takes to earn.
One particular way I want to bring stronger horror elements into the game is through encouraging players to create characters around the game's concepts and themes. Characters who are strongly tied to the inspiration and the genre are definitely going to get stronger consideration out of me, because I want characters who can be more readily immersed into the genre and its tone. A standard adventurer type will have a much harder time catching my eye, so please keep that in mind when putting your character together. There are many literature archetypes and character ideas in the source material that could definitely inspire something special. The mad scientist, the werewolf hunter, the dhampir raging out against the darkness in anger.
Another way to tie your character strongly to the campaign is to pull on certain classes or archetypes that feel horror appropriate. Occult Classes and Vampire Hunter are on the table, but there are also a wide variety of archetypes you can use to turn other classes into a slightly more genre-approprite bent. I'll leave the choices to you, but if anyone wants to be directed to some I can certainly provide.
I guess this is a good place to note that I am a very, very rambly man, please bear with me; I just like conveying as much information and detail as I can to make sure people fully understand the situation. The more I can convey to you, the better, I hope.
Character Creation rules:
25 Point Buy with no higher than 18 or lower than 8 after racial bonuses. This may seem high for a game I want to be tense and terrifying, but I'll be adjusting things anyway, and I want to give you the chance to put your best foot forward so that you can be challenged on it. Plus, it helps hedge your bits a bit on not getting deaded.
Races: All Core races, as well as Changeling, Dhampir, Orc, Skinwalker, and Tiefling. Many of the core races have interesting and flavourful alternate racial traits from Horror Adventures you may find useful.
Classes: All Paizo classes allowed. Barbarian, Monk, Rogue, and Summoner must use their unchained variants. All archetypes permitted, and as mentioned above archetypes or class features that lean into the setting and genre will be looked upon more favorably.
Two Traits, one of which must come from the free Carrion Crown player's guide. You may take a Drawback to gain a third trait.
Background skills will be in effect
No CE or NE characters. LE is on very, very thin ice but is possible, it will just need promises to bring someone to the table who can play with others
Starting gold as standard for your class
Content from any official Paizo book is allowed barring any weird, specific cases. Splatbooks dealing with relevant topics, like Undead Slayer's Handbook, Horror Adventures, Occult adventures, etc. will be particularly useful reference points.
Fluff:
A written character backstory. The more you give me, the better. I won't put a word minimum on it because that doesn't inherently make good characters, but I would like to see strong, well defined charactrers. Use any prompts or methods of generating one you would like.
Your backstory should contain how your character knew Professor Lorrimor. The campaign traits will give you the basic hook for that, but you're free to go into more detail and broaden the story.
Referring to the Horror Characters write-up for some guidance would not be a bad idea at all.
A character that ties into the genre and its influences will be looked on much, much more favorably. I am a fan of Gothic fiction and horror in general, and that is going to inform the game and how it's shaped. Playing to that will increase your chances of being selected.
Give your character some plot hooks. It can be goals, it can unresolved mysteries, but give me something that your character is trying to do. I'm a big fan of weaving character plotlines into the campaign story or finding places to insert side content to work through them.
A write-up of your character's personality and appearance wouldn't hurt either.
Sub-systems, house rules, and other changes:
The big one is that I will be revising and editing the books as I see fit. This can be to change encounters to reflect the party, but it can also mean plot edits, overhauling sections, changing things up, and finding places where I can tie character backstory into the content. If you played a short way into Carrion Crown this can mean new experiences for you, but can also make for some nasty surprises if expectations get thrown out the window.
The Elephant In The Room feat tax changes. You can find a doc featuring only the changes made here.
Experience is gone. I will level you up with the plot when I say so. This gives me more freedom to run encounters and side content without skewing the books too much
Variant Fear Rules. For the purposes of this system, any feature that grants Fear Immunity will turn into Fear Resistance, where you take penalties of the fear level two steps lower than you actual level, and the bottom two levels will offer no penalty. Furthermore, effects that cause you to become spooked or shaken don't increase your fear to a higher level. For a Paladin's Aura of Courage and similar abilities, the Paladin will gain the effect of their morale bonus as well.
Sanity Rules will be used sparingly and only when appropriate, rather than in the face of all undead threats and sights of unseemly horror.
Corruption isn't something I'm explicitly planning on involving in the game, but if there's a situation that I feel would warrant contracting a corruption and some really poor rolls against it, it could come up. This is more of a warning than anything.
Variant Multiclassing is allowed, but you will have limitations put on you to multiclass out into other things if you take it. If you have an idea in mind, ask me about it and we can feel things out
Micromanaging encumbrance is out, don't worry about your Str score being high enough to carry things, just play around with reason and know you'll need a Bag of Holding to carry super heavy stuff.
Game rules:
Post frequency is at least once per weekday and once per weekend. More frequent posting rates are always welcome. If you take longer than 24 hours to respond to a combat turn, I skip you and move on. Group initiative will be used to help facilitate combat speed.
A darker, mature tone comes with the territory here, but please be mature enough to handle maturity. We will be handling death, violence, psychological horror, and matters of the such, but we're not going anywhere near things like rape, and violent sexual content is not something we're touching on.
Don't be an asshat. I'd like my table to be welcoming to anyone who wants to play in it and to be inclusive, and I won't tolerate intolerance or dickishness at the table. Come on, we're adults.
If you're still with me after this rambly-ass mess and still interested then hi there, thanks for sticking it out. I'm around for any questions you might have or anything I may have forgotten. I've run a lot of meatspace games and even been a PBP player, before my only PBP DM experience was with friends over Discord, so if I missed anything I should have in the OP let me know. Recruitment will run for at least a week, I will see where interest is and how much time people need, but there'll be a few days' warning before I close it up.
Occult DOT.
As a fan of Shelley, Stroker, Lovecraft and Poe, Penny Dreadful and Frankenstein, I have to dot for this.
I think I will apply with an Occultist.
It does not look like a Geminate Invoker will work with the Unchained Barbarian (Rage is different and no Trap Sense to replace). Can I play a normal barbarian using the Geminate Invoker archetype?
Thanks
Here is the origin story. Class would be Barbarian (Geminate Invoker) - variant multiclass Gunslinger (he does not start with a gun, being estranged from his father)
Victor Windlass' Background:
Victor grew up in a wealthy and prosperous household. His father, Wesly, is a master gunsmith. Windlass Arms, is renowned for the quality of its weapons, although its small size means they are in short supply. Victor would help his father, but has always been of a more scholarly bent. Wesly indulged his son, giving him the best education and eventually studying under Professor Langdon Butler. Victor's life changed when one of Professor Butler's colleagues, the renowned Pettos Lorrimar was scheduled to speak. Determined to push the cutting edge of arcane knowledge prior to the lecture, Professor Butler invited Victor and four of his young friends to his summer cottage to some research. The Tome he had unnearthed contained knowledge man was not meant to know, and a malevolent force killed Professor Butler and possessed the young friends, driving then to murder and madness. An unhinged Victor was the only one found in the cabin come morning, amidst the chopped up remains of the others. Fortunately, Professor Lorrimar had arrived that morning and intervened with the authorities, who were more than willing to jump to conclusions and hang the young scholar. Victor was more than willing to let them do it, for one of the victims was his sister Mattilda. Lorrimar was able to deduce and prove that it was a magical possession and attack that had occured, and was instumental in reducing Victor's punishment from death to some time in an asylum. The Professor took the book with him. Now, Victor has been released from the asylum, but the feeling of paranoia have only been increasing. He feels that he has released some monstrous evil upon the world and he needs the book to set it right. Adding to his fears, he has received word of Professor Lorrimar's death. So he has come to Ravengro to pay his respects and find the cursed tome, planning to somehow send back the evil he has unleashed.
Father - Wesley Windlass
Mother - Ada Oswald Windlass
Sister - Matilda (Matty) Windlass (deceased)
Victor keeps a dark secret. He was the one who read from the book initially and was possessed. He only broke free after he killed his sister, but the evil entity proceeded to possess her undead body and he had to cut her up. Ever since he is haunted by spirits. His father blames him for Mattilda's death and has disowned him.
I run a real life game today, so I don't have time to set down and do a complete writeup now, I'll do it tomorrow. Feats would be Additional Traits and Iron will. Drawback of paranoid. Traits of Teacher's Pet (K/Arcane), Affable, Dangerously Curious, Deathtouched, Forbidden Knowledge
I /love/ horror themed games (or pretty much anything). Not sure what kind of character I want to be but I'll think of something. Probably something support. I don't want to be the brave main protagonist type. Some type of bard maybe.
This sounds interesting. I'd be looking a Skinwalker Warpriest using the Feral Champion archetype. Someone struggling with the taint of lycanthropy in his veins.
I'd be looking at either a Werewolf-kin or Werebear-kin follower of Ashava or a Wereraptor-kin follower of Tanagaar.
Here's my submission; Shai Eluvight, a human (possessed) oracle.
The principle idea behind this is that we have a terrified young woman who is compelled to face the dark by the inscrutable entities that possess her. I'm hoping that juxtaposition will enable plenty of opportunities for exploring the effects of fear, and long-term exposure to it, upon someone who should rightly be running for the hills.
Appreciate I still need to fill in the sanity details, but hopefully this should be the majority of the way there.
1) Any 3pp stuff you want/are willing to use/try?
2) Age Categories: Core (ability scores adjustments) or PFS-like (kinda cosmetic)?
3) Young Characters?
4) any Templates allowed?
Waking up to some submissions makes the graceless 4 PM Sunday wake-up feel a lot better. Once I've shaken off the sleep and got some food in me I'll take a loo at what's been finished so far.
@Kertuffle: Right, guns. I should have mentioned guns. Dammit. To get a more Victorian kind of vibe, I'm willing to use the Commonplace Guns rule to make early firearms accessible to some without needing to invest in it. Still out of budget for a first level character, but you can waive the Gunslinger VMC that way. Curious to see how a gun-wielding Barbarian would work.
@Cuan: I can dig it. I intentionally avoided archetype lists so people would piece together their own reflavouring of some not-explicitly-spooky archetypes and interpreting Feral Champion as being tied to one's latent lycanthropy is exactly the kind of jam I was eager to see people come up with.
@Souls At War:
1) No 3pp
2) Cosmetic
3) No young characters
4) No templates, you start at 1st level so there wouldn't really be room to apply any of those.
@Ariane Aurelian: Just let me know when she's all ready to go, then.
@Victor: Solid stuff. I get kind of a Lake Bodom murders vibe off of the situation, and that's some good shit, and the book is a solid and easily integratable kind of plot hook. If I pick up Victor I'm likely to colour in a lot of information about that book and sort of explain back to you elements and appearance and stuff, but I'll keep the events of what happened very much intact and write around that. Only thing I can take issue with is the nitpicky fact it's Lorrimor but that's an easy CTRL+H fix. And then there's the gun stuff I mentioned above, which you can bounce around with and adapt to as you wish.
@Shai: Looking good. Quite a few things there to work with on the hook front and those could go in a myriad of interesting ways, and I'm perpetually a sucker for characters who got lost in novels so deep it formed major parts of their lives. It's fine not taking Haunted, as if anything Tongues opens up some good avenues for complicating things. Ustalav is very superstitious and backwater towns like Ravengro are already distrusting of outsiders, but someone who shows up and babbles in arcane tongues will immediately draw a whole lot more. Roleplaying around that situation could be interesting.
Thinking the Were creature Shifter. Once a simple apprentice furrier which gets attacked and becomes a Shifter with the animal that attacked her as her. The Professor helped her at first try to cure her, but instead has told her that she is far more blessed and not evil like other were beasts seem. She thus aided him in getting objects for his research going places others wouldn't necessarily go
That could definitely be a fun way to flavour up Shifter, and provide a lycanthrope-adjacent player character option different from Cuan's, and I wouldn't be opposed to taking on both if that was something I was considering come closing time. If that pans out for you idea-wise then go for it.
@Cassandra: Interesting twist on the usual Changeling hook where the hag mother is more of an antagonizing force. I'm intrigued, there's some room to play around with there. I see you've applied her elsewhere before and that's fine, but for the purposes of my specific interests, what I would like to see from Cassandra is some kind of goal or specific motivation that drives her. What does hse want out of life? It can tie back into what you already have, but just some kind of concrete thing that can be pulled on at times.
Kitsune wasn't put on the race list because I don't totally feel they're "on theme" enough to really fit into the setting here. I want to keep the races all in the realm of either mundane, or deviating from that norm only because of genre-related circumstances. So I won't say no, but the question is, can you make a Kitsune who feels like they would belong in a Gothic Horror in a way that's at least in part due to their Kitsune-ness, rather than something you could easily have a human from Minkai be and not have to change much of the story at all? Something that's more in the vein of this or this than it is this. That may not be the kind of Kitsune you want to play and if so I totally understand, but that would be the means of convincing me to allow a Kitsune to come in, so if you feel you're up for the challenge of something like that, I welcome you to take a shot at it. If not, it's all cool.
Not sure what I want to play yet, though I'll probably go for something human, maybe even a fighter. (If the whole party are werewolves and dhampirs, it detracts from each of them, methinks.)
A few questions; what do you think about the Weapon and Armor Masters' Handbooks? I see that you're using Unchained for Barbarians and Rogues, how do you feel about combat stamina? And if it's allowed, will it be free for fighters?
Weapon and Armor Mastery feats are allowed because they're not really too out there, and I would say that yeah "Free For Fighters" would be how I would rule on stamina, since Fighters will probably need a bit of a bump to contend in this arena. Neither of those additions really complicate anything for anyone else or effect their stuff, so I'm fine adding them on.
I have a few ideas but a lot of them are are better or worse depending on my understanding of the enhanced horror theme you're going with. My apologies if I've missed something.
I do know that, regardless, we should fit into the theme but are we going to be a part of the horror aspect? The reason I ask is because I'm attracted to the idea of playing an otherwise normal person in the setting who gets sucked into the horror and is... well, horrified. But I have some ideas that would encompass being horrifying as well.
It's definitely a bit of a line to walk, but you can absolutely play something that is itself a kind of scary, as long as you can also fill a protagonist role and be scared yourself. The Wolf Man is a sympathetic character and he's still a werewolf, the original Frankenstein's monster is a reanimated corpse who has complex emotions and where he does lash out violently, there's still human motivations underneath. A character can be their own horror, but it works best if they somehow manage to be both, if a character's external horrific qualities are internal horrors they have to struggle with, or if you find ways to play around with that darker side in interesting ways.
Okay, awesome. That clears some stuff up for sure. I think I know what sort of person I'm going to go for. I just need to decide on mechanics. More on that probably tomorrow.
Dotting with this character. Haven't had a chance to play her but she still needs adjusting for her to fit the campaign. My character would benefit from being companions with another character if she makes the cut. All it would cost you is knowing sign language. <3
Interesting, never had a deaf character in a game before. I'm open to the possibility though, so just check back in when you have retooled and adjusted her as needed.
Is carrion crown the sort of game that would work with a necromancer cleric? I am thinking of a Dhampir cleric of Groetus, who is convinced the end is nigh. CN alignment.
If the party is expected to be good-aligned undead fighters then the answer is likely no.
@DBH: I do plan to change things, but it can vary from book to book if my meatspace Kingmaker game is any indication. I won't know until I sit down and really commit to a lengthy writing session how much I'm changing or keeping, but I don't see the game being radically altered to the point of being unrecognizable (like my meatspace Kingmaker game has become book by book). Prior knowledge isn't a problem if you can separate game knowledge from character knowledge, and I imagine unless you DMed it your knowledge only runs in so deep. But yes, feel free to apply.
@Peet: It would definitely depend on party make-up and how the other characters feel about things, but it's definitely a risk that would need some good wriggling about to make work, especially because if you hang around Ustalav openly practicing necromancy, you'll get a torch and pitchfork mob coming your way real fast. Also, it feels like a tough sell for a priest of Groetus, whose followers tend toward nihilism and apocalypse-seeking, to be getting involved with something that to not get spoilery about it may well involve making choices that work pretty hard against Groetus's "agenda" as it were.
Thanks for that, I'm running a CC game on the boards right now, but have barely delved into book one yet. So my game knowledge is limited.
I'm thinking of a professional rogue, a specialist in opening up tombs and dealing with whats within. One who was used by Professor Lorrimor as his assistant in getting to well hidden and well trapped relics.
Hey - race question, would you allow Androids? I love the whole 'uncanny valley: looks human but not quite' vibe they have. I'd happily drop Nanite Surge completely (gets the race down to 13RP) if that would help for balance purposes.
@Souls At War: A first level character who then gets the template Lycanthrope put on is still getting +1 CR and would still gain adjustments and abilities for it beyond what other players would be getting. If you're interested in playing a Lycanthrope, I can really only point you in the direction of the Skinwalker race on that front.
@Nikolaus: Kind of opens up the same issue I mentioned earlier from someone asking about a Kitsune. The fluff proper on Android is very much not conducive to the tone of game I'm looking for here, but in Victorianizing things up a little bit there is a question about straddling the line on something vaguely steampunk-like. If you can offer a character up who's is a little more on-theme for the genre, maybe more of a clockwork kind of thing? Something that feels more appropriate for Gothic horror and the setting than the very straight-up science fiction nature of the official Android.
@Nikolaus: Kind of opens up the same issue I mentioned earlier from someone asking about a Kitsune. The fluff proper on Android is very much not conducive to the tone of game I'm looking for here, but in Victorianizing things up a little bit there is a question about straddling the line on something vaguely steampunk-like. If you can offer a character up who's is a little more on-theme for the genre, maybe more of a clockwork kind of thing? Something that feels more appropriate for Gothic horror and the setting than the very straight-up science fiction nature of the official Android.
This is Nikolaus btw.
Oh yeah - I'll go whole-heartedly for Victorian/steam-punk fluff, I just wanted to check if the mechanics were permissable. Can I go ahead building an android without nanites then? :)[If possible I'd like to swap emotionless for 'Factual' as well (trades the sense motive penalty for one to bluff - which I always think makes more sense for highly perceptive beings).]
This alias is currently something very similar which I built for a Strange Aeon's game that died almost out of the gate. If you read the fluff you'll see that she's an android in the sense that her consciousness was transfered into an artificial shell - she's not 'high tech' or anything like that. In fact if its permitted I'll probably keep a certain amount of this background - have her run away from the Count rather than being confined to the Asylum and she can meet the Professor somewhere along the line. Does that seem ok as a starting point?
@Fifteen: The mechanics are permissable in sort of an "I'll make an exception and allow it if you can earn that through the work" kind of thing, so maybe hold off on whipping up the sheet proper until I've seen the backstory, but you have the green light to work on an Android and submit the idea, at least. It's a bit of a weird way to go about it, but I'm keeping very protective over the tone I'm aiming for and I want to make sure everything fits in well together. Agreed on the "no nanites" front, and I'm cool with the skill penalty swap.
As far as the backstory core in question, definitely more in line with the kind of flavour I would want to see. Occult rituals being behind the soul transfer are much more in line with the sorts of things I'm looking for--it being for Strange Aeons as opposed to like, Iron Gods or something, probably helped there in the inspiration. It's something to definitely retool and change around to somewhat better adapt to the specifications of what's going on here and fill out those demands, but you're definitely on the right track to the kind of on-theme exception I'm talking about.
This character has been in one failed CC campaign and has been applied to several more. I'll have to update him back to his origin, a fire-fearing magus, but initial bits and fluffy bits should be true to Barek.
Backstory for your perusal oh mighty GM! I think it has enough horror in it!
Backstory:
As a young student at the University of Leipstadt Anastasia Stephanova proved herself a fiercely gifted, but flighty, student. More interested in the school’s duelling societies and proving herself with a blade than her medical studies, despite an excellent score on the universities entrance exams, Anastasia was quickly written off as lacking the self-discipline and focus needed for a doctor and scholar of Leipstadt.
This changed when Professor Keqe took an interest in her. A reclusive, but reputedly brilliant professor of anatomical medicine, Keqe had long acted as Patron of the Malkenclaw duelling fraternity and was impressed by Anastasia’s precise duelling style and superb physical condition. Anastasia, for her part, was captivated by the older man – whose poise and aristocratic confidence she found almost irresistible. Before long, she was officially appointed his research assistant and moved into a small room adjoining his. With the Professor’s private tutelage and his high expectations of his protégée Anastasia focused much more on her studies and her grades skyrocketed – leading to general applause from the University faculty and congratulation to Professor Keqe for his dedication and pedagogical skill in turning around such a seemingly hopeless student.
After three years of her working as his research assistant Keqe finally ‘succumbed’ and took Anastasia as his lover. She was delighted, having been infatuated with the Baron almost since they met, but on his part it was a clinical act, without any sense of desire. Although he prized Anastasia as a physical specimen, her kellid heritage – dark skin and squat, muscular build – gave him no pleasure. Making the young woman his lover was merely Keqe’s final step to securing Anastasia’s absolute and unquestioning loyalty.
Deep in the catacombs under Fort Cindercairn Professor Keqe had, many years before, made the discovery that launched his career – a necromantic laboratory that preserved lost secrets of the Whispering Tyrant’s rule – where a practitioner could meld the fleshwarping technology of Thassalion with the necromantic potency of the Tyrant’s magic. Much of Professor Keqe’s reputation and almost all of his discoveries came from this laboratory – where he experimented, first with animals and then with humanoid test subjects, anyone he could lure from the streets with promise of food and payment, or even the occasional student who had caught his eye.
After nearly fifteen years of study and experimentation, Keqe was almost ready for his climactic work – to create a new life. Not simply a homunculus fragment of his own soul, but an entirely new, superior body and the mind to go with it, for he had augmented the laboratory with occult rituals of his own design, which trapped the spirits of all those he had killed over the past decade. The Professor’s hubris knew no bounds and he planned to first perfect his methods and then to craft himself a new body and transfer his mind and all his accumulated knowledge to it – effectively granting himself immortality, augmented by chosen skills and knowledge from all his ‘subjects’.
Anastasia herself had been the subject of many tests during her time as Keqe’s research assistant, although that seemed unremarkable to her at the time, as medical and personal boundaries had blurred so much in her mind that she allowed Keqe to take samples of her blood before, finally, sacrificing two fingers to his experiments. Such was her devotion to him and the new world that he claimed ‘their’ work would lead to that she did not even question him when he woke her in the middle of the night and led her, blindfolded and secretly excited, through the passages under Fort Cindercairn to his laboratory.
For all her devotion Anastasia was not a fool and the implications of the laboratory and the equipment she saw there was all too apparent to her as soon as she saw it. She turned to flee but Keqe was well prepared, with an exquisitely judged dose of Leng’s Tears, precisely calculated to leave his protégée helpless, conscious and unable to resist.
Anastasia died on Keqe’s laboratory table, her soul escaping as he, almost tenderly, dissected her mortal flesh – extracting muscle, tendons and bones, the final pieces for his true masterpiece. Trapped by the foul rituals the Baron had perfected Anastacia was forced to watch as Keqe revealed the new body he had built – one which showed the woman he truly desired, tall, slender, all flowing hair and smooth curves. Watching Keqe cut her body – the body that he had claimed to love and adore – for parts filled her soul with a terrible, uncomprehending rage and she hurled invectives at her former lover, shaking his instruments with the psychic echoes of her rage.
The Professor laughed at her, ultimately powerless, displays of rage until his work was completed and his creation was ready. A perfect synthesis of parts from over a dozen of specimens, each perfect in their own way, lacking only one thing… a soul. Activating the ritual paraphernalia around the laboratory that included, to Anastasia’s horror, her own fingers Professor Keqe drew Anastasia’s soul, along with those of all his other murdered test subjects into the new body where he began to sculpt them as he had sculpted the flesh that encased them. He excised Anastasia’s pulsing hatred and filled the void it left with calm acceptance, surgically removed the horror and despair he had consigned so many souls to and left only keen analytical skills and an uncanny alertness behind.
It was at that moment, just as Keqe prepared for the final adjustments that would obliterate any sense of self from the composite being he had created – that his crimes finally caught up with him in the form of five Sleepless Detectives, who had been hired by Dr. Leis Richleau at the urging of Professor Petros Lorrimor. The professor had long harboured a theory about arcane artefacts forgotten beneath Fort Cindercairn and had recently discovered his colleague’s laboratory and finally uncovered the full horror of Professor Keqe’s work.
As Keqe died, coughing out curses and blood on the blades of the Sleepless Detectives, the two academics themselves arrived at the laboratory, in time to watch as the new creature swung itself off the slab and fluidly rose, unperturbed by the blood that spread around its perfectly formed bare feet. ”We are Fifteen.” It said, ”Thank you for saving us.”
The whole incident was hushed up superbly. The Sleepless Detectives were paid off, their legendary discretion ensured by a handsome bonus. Dr Richleau transmuted the laboratory into solid rock personally, and Professor Lorrimor took personal guardianship of Fifteen until the new being could be (re)introduced into the wider world. It was another five years, during which Fifteen graduated from the Universities medical program with flying colours, before Lorrimor judged her ready to leave, a very different person from when she entered. Unwilling to simply abandon the woman he now felt was almost a second child Lorrimor arranged for Fifteen to be taken as an assistant by an old friend of his in Caliphas where he felt Fifteen’s medical talent could be put to good use.
Over a decade later Fifteen received a letter and, upon reading it, felt a pang of something she could almost not define… ’pain – no physical symptoms. Cause… uncertain.’
Dear Fifteen.
Since you are reading this letter, I am dead. I have thought of you fondly over the years and hope that you are well – although I suspect that it is almost impossible for you to be otherwise.
I hope and trust that you remember Kendra and I as well as we both remember you, so I feel justified in making this request of you. Please come to Ravengro for my funeral – Kendra will need your support and, since I feel fit for another thirty years of life as I write this, I fear that my death will have come as something of a shock, or worse.
Your friend,
Petros.
Fifteen didn’t even stop to consider her actions. She shut up her spartan house, said goodbye to Father Cratus and caught a river boat headed towards Ravengro. It was only as she stood at the ships prow, with the mist lying lightly on her cheeks and trickling down her skin, that she identified the feeling. Sorrow. ”Goodbye Petros, goodbye Father.”
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Appearance/Personality:
Appearance and Personality
A near-perfect fusion of physical flesh and magic Fifteen possesses a number of unusual talents. Her physical control is excellent, the gift of Keqe’s obsessive selection of ‘the best’ parts for his creation and is married to a keen intellect and observational skill. Keqe’s manipulation however erased much of what makes a person ‘normal’ leaving Fifteen cold and unemotional. Well versed in the appearance of emotion and how it presents in others, Fifteen none-the-less has little understanding of how such emotions feel and consequently lacks the empathy that would make her a great, rather than simply competent, doctor.
This emotional limitation, combined with the pervading sense of ‘wrongness’ which effects everyone who spends any time with her has prevented Fifteen from having any lasting relationships, except with Professor Lorrimor and Father Cratus – the doctor he recommended her to. Even though her features are beautiful, even and free from blemishes no-one seems to want to spend much time with her – no matter how much they might want become better acquainted with her physical charms.
Oddly enough Fifteen gets on well with children, whose direct approach to life and generally accepting natures are most able to deal with her peculiarities. Kendra Lorrimor was one of the first people she ever met and also one of her few friends, which is why Fifteen has, with characteristic abruptness, left to go to Lorrimor’s funeral and support her friend as best she can.
I don't want to overextend myself... but I will admit, a weretouched shifter with the wolf aspect, and flavoring it as being a werewolf would be appropriately fitting for a campaign like this.
Consider me tentatively dotting... the idea is enticing, if nothing else.
In agreement with CaptainFord on not wanting to overextend myself, but being intrigued. I'll do a tentative dot as well, and see if I come up with something I want to play.
Feels like things are back in place to where Barek is what he used to be.
Viola de Lacriomosa wrote:
Dotting with this character. Haven't had a chance to play her but she still needs adjusting for her to fit the campaign. My character would benefit from being companions with another character if she makes the cut. All it would cost you is knowing sign language. <3
Dotting with this character. Haven't had a chance to play her but she still needs adjusting for her to fit the campaign. My character would benefit from being companions with another character if she makes the cut. All it would cost you is knowing sign language. <3
I'd be game too. Fifteen would be able to pick it up pretty quick.
I've been giving more thought to this, and I've a few questions.
1) Are Ru-Shi dhampirs allowed? You said that dhampirs are, but the Ru-Shi are more orient-themed, so I thought I'd double check.
2) How does Combat Stamina interact with The Elephant in the Room feat tax changes? If I focused on combat maneuvers, would I be able to use the relevant combat tricks even if I don't have the feat, if I have Deft or Powerful Maneuvers?
3) Heirloom Weapon errata? Yes, no, unique solution? The old version was really strong, but the new version is very weak; it really leaves characters who want to use one weapon for their entire careers with no good options . . . if the errata version is in play (the most likely scenario) how accessible will masterwork transformation be?
EDIT
And, 4) With the feat tax rules, dodge and mobility have been combined. Is artful dodge similarly buffed? If I'm playing a Ru-Shi, I don't have the points to spare on both INT and DEX (even on your generous pointbuy, life is hard for a fighter who wants skill points) so I'll probably go for artful dodge either way.
Hmmm. Tempted to pull this character out of mothballs for another go at Carrion Crown. I created her for a modified version of the AP that seemed to have a lot of the same intentions to break from the script. It didn't get very far, unfortunately.
If selected, I'll have to re-jigger the stats to conform to the build rules (no score over 18 after bonuses), but that won't be too difficult. Other than that, she's pretty much ready to go.
Here's the background for Alana. There's also a few more vignettes in the profile, too, if you want to read more.
Background:
"You know it's my birthday tomorrow, right?" the dashing youth pleaded. His cocksure grin was effortlessly charming.
"Alvaren Brynnoch DeVere!" Delani said. "You brought me down here in this creepy crypt for that?" Delani rubbed her shoulders nervously as she looked around the dank and musty chamber that the reckless youth had managed to open and entice her inside.
"No, not just for that," Alvaren said as he placed his hands over hers. "I figure these chambers dated back to before the Tyrant's reign. I knew you're interested in this just like me. But since we're down here..."
"Have you no respect for the dead?" she scolded, although his touch sent little currents of electricity up and down her spine.
He leaned down and nuzzled her neck. "Plenty. But they're dead. We're alive. So why don't we--?" Delani cut him off as she spun around and kissed Alvaren passionately. The dead remained dead as the living enjoyed the thrills of youth.
=============================
"You're late." Alvaren's father looked impatiently at the long shadows through the window and the fading twilight. He was seated in the long dining hall of the DeVere's ancestral home. Alvaren's mother was also present in her high-necked blouse of Ardealan fashion. His younger sisters were absent, as were the house servants. The only other figure in the room besides Alvaren was an elderly gentleman who looked grave and solemn.
"Yeah, sorry. I was... delayed." Alvaren couldn't help but grin, though he tried to look abashed.
His parents exchanged a knowing glance. Though his mother looked paler and more frail than usual, her mouth was still set in disapproval. His father seemed to wave away Alvaren's dalliance. He gestured to the mysterious man. "Alvaren, this is Professor Petros Lorrimor. He's visiting to help us deal with a... problem."
Alvaren folded his arms, looking defensive. "Look. It's not a problem. It's my birthday, so--"
"Precisely," the professor stated as he unfurled an old piece of parchment. "Your eighteenth birthday, to be exact. Which will be upon us at the stroke of midnight, so we have little time."
Alvaren's confusion showed plainly on his face. His parents' grim faces worried him. "Little time to do what?"
"To prepare. Now, I must explain a few things to you. Your family has done exceedingly well here in Ardeal, even as the rest of the region crumbles about them. Your grandfather was very shrewd in his dealings and his investments have kept you in a very secure state. Well, shrewd in all his dealings save one."
At this, his father lowered his head sadly while his mother made a furious glare at his grandfather's portrait hanging above the mantle.
Professor Lorrimor cleared his throat and continued. "Part of his great fortune was due to a deal he struck. A deal with a literal devil." He traced his finger over some of the writing on the scroll in front of him. "In exchange for wishes and boons, your grandfather bargained away the firstborn son of his firstborn son. You."
Alvaren looked around in shock, disbelieving. He barked out a sharp laugh. "That's ridiculous. Absurd," he said, though he wished his voice sounded as certain as it should have.
The professor looked at him sadly and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I truly wish it were so. But I have confirmed that this contract is authentic. On the very eve of your eighteenth birthday, the devil will come to claim you."
Fear truly began to settle in Alvaren's stomach. He looked at his parents, who remained silent. "Wait. This isn't right. I didn't do anything!"
"Unfortunately, you have reaped nearly eighteen years of the bounty that your grandfather had procured. I fear that your innocence is not enough."
"NO!" Alvaren shouted as he stood up, ready to run.
"Ren, darling, just listen. Please," his mother finally broke her silence. It worked, and he sat down.
Lorrimor adjusted his collar and continued. "I believe there is a way out for you. I expect you will not like it, but it is at this point the only way. We have but a few scant hours." He opened a satchel sitting at his side and produced a flask. "The contract is very clear. Only the firstborn son is to be taken. A daughter will be safe."
Alvaren stared totally dumbfounded at the flask that the strange professor pushed toward him. Realization slowly crept over him, and he recoiled in horror. "That's going to turn me into a girl!?!" he shrieked.
At the slow, solemn nods from the stranger and his parents, Alvaren panicked. He pushed himself back to his feet and spun, trying to get to the door. He grabs at the knob as the professor chants something. "I'm sorry, son," was the last thing he heard as a spell burst around him and he faded into unconsciousness.
======================================
"It's time to wake up. You have little time. The devil will be here soon."
Alvaren stirred at the voice. His eyes fluttered open, and he realized he was in a bedroom. His sister's bedroom. He saw the old professor sitting on the edge of the bed in which he lay.
"Whu--?" he tried to speak, but his voice sounded wrong. Soft. He sat up and felt... off. His hands immediately flew to his body to find shapes and curves and features that should not have belonged to him. He drew in a breath to scream.
Lorrimor clapped a hand over his -- her? -- mouth. "You will have time for all of this later. But for now, you must remain calm. You must be the daughter that you have always been. Your father never had a son. You must do this. Perhaps once the devil leaves, we can restore you. But you must remain calm. Do you understand?"
Strange sensations from his new body assailed Alvaren, tearing away his focus, but eventually he -- she? -- nodded. Lorrimor removed his hand from her mouth.
"Oh gods. Oh gods. Oh gods," she repeated as a mantra as she drew herself to her feet.
"You're doing fine. Now get dressed and come downstairs. The devil is coming for his due. If you are lucky, he will go back to the pit unfulfilled." He handed her a dress from which she recoiled as if he'd offered her a serpent. "Put this on, now," he instructed.
Alvaren fumbled through the process of getting dressed in the type of clothes he couldn't help but recall he'd assisted in removing numerous times. Once clothed, he -- she -- followed Lorrimor downstairs and stood before his -- her -- parents. She couldn't look at them.
Her mother cried out and ran to the trembling girl, taking her into her arms. "It'll be okay," she whispered as she held her new daughter close and stroked her hair.
The professor cleared his throat. "Remember," he instructed, you are not 'Alvaren.' He never existed. You are Alana. Alana Brienne DeVere."
===================================
The DeVeres sat in the parlor awaiting the stroke of midnight. Alana had received a crash course in being a dutiful daughter from her mother as Professor Lorrimor had given them all instructions on how to respond to the devil once it appeared.
Alana sat rigid, her unfamiliar attire clinging to her unwanted curves and shapes. Sweat trickled down her back and, worse, down her front, leaving her garments damp and uncomfortable.
Everyone jumped when the clock struck its gongs suddenly and all too loudly. The peals of the bells chimed on and on as the dread crept over everyone in the room. When the final bell struck, the ringing silence was somehow worse, stretching into a tense, drawn-out agony.
"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. DeVere," said an unctuous voice from the middle of the room. Instead of some grandiose entrance, the devil spoke as if he'd been there all along. He was tall, but man-sized, crimson, and had huge black horns jutting from his head and shoulders. He wore a simple robe and was draped with long stretches of parchment and scrolls. "Where is your son? It is time."
Her father fought to find his voice. "We don't have a son."
The devil looked mildly surprised. "Oh? Why do I find that hard to believe? Part of the contract guarantees that there will be a male heir. It's right here in paragraph 212, subsection 4.2." One of the strands of parchment animated and flew directly into her father's face.
Though shaking with fear, he stuck to Lorrimor's script. He shrugged. "I'm sorry. I don't have a son. We cannot fulfill the contract. So please leave."
Calm up to this point, the devil scowled and suddenly looked much more terrifying. "I am here for Alvaren Brynnoch DeVere."
At the sound of her old name, Alana gripped the sides of her dress and squeezed her eyes shut. He knows me, she realized and worked to swallow a mouth gone dry. Her slight movement drew the devil's attention. "Hello. You look to be the right age. Who are you?" he asked as he steps to loom over her.
"A-- Alana," she said in a hoarse voice. "Alana DeVere."
The devil shook his head. "I don't think so. Tell me who you truly are."
"That's our daughter!" her mother cried. "She's our oldest. We have no son."
Denied, the devil's visage grew terrible. He bore his gaze into first her father, then her mother, and then Alana herself. She cringed under the knowing stare, terrified that he would find out the truth.
And then, the devil threw back his head and laughed. "So, you would deny me my due by making a son into a daughter! Your thoughts are laid bare to me. Do you think this ruse is clever? That it would save this pathetic boy?" he bellowed. "I will have him!"
"She's our daughter," her father said, voice quavering but still following Lorrimor's instructions. "We have no son."
"Indeed? You would deny your male heir? Your legacy?" The devil then began a grueling interrogation of her parents, but at no point did they acknowledge her as their son. Each time, they insisted she was only Alana. It stung her heart and soon tears were falling down her cheeks.
The devil then turned his attention to her. His demeanor shifted, he smiled and spoke softly as he leaned in close and touched her wet cheek. "Come now, Alvaren. You're a man, aren't you? Show me! Are you going to sit there and cry like a woman? Like a girl?"
Trembling, but warned of the attack to her ego, she said softly, "I am Alana. I'm their daughter."
The devil shook his head, anger creeping into his voice again. "Alvaren. I'm going to give you one chance or I will skin you here in front of your parents. Answer me, Alvaren Brynnoch DeVere!"
"I'm Alana."
The devil grabbed one of the sheets of parchment and waved it in front of her. "I can give you whatever you want. Your manhood back. Make you irresistible to women. As many as you want! I just need your name. Look, it's already here, written on this parchment! Alvaren"
"That's not my name. I don't want anything you can give me," she said, growing calmer in Lorrimor's instructions.
The devil exploded in rage. He roared, causing Alana to flinch and her mother to cry out. He pointed a black-nailed finger at the prize denied him. "Very well. A woman you are, a woman you shall be. I curse you, Alana DeVere. You will be a woman to the end of your days for if you ever become male again, I shall be waiting to claim my due."
