Dark Ages

Game Master Stormchaser

Welcome all to our OOC discussion thread for my Dark Ages campaign! The first order of business here will of course be to finalise the party in both fluff and crunch.

So far, the crunch looks like this:

Magan Human Slayer
Felix Aasimar Unchained Rogue
<Name> Human? Menhir Savant Druid

and our two new additions:

Rostam's Iceni Mercenary (Human Inquisitor? Warpriest?)
fatmanspencer's Shield Maiden (Aasimar Paladin?)

Magan is also pretty much fully statted. I will leave it to Chip to post any details.

I am going to go with a Divine Commander Warpriest of Andraste, by the name of Prasutagus Iceni. Named after the last great Iceni king by his mother so that Prasutagus may watch over the end of their people, he is not sure if the name is a blessing or a curse.

To finish up my crunch I just need to know two things,

1 - What would Andraste's sacred weapons be?
2 - Are we rolling for starting gold or taking the average?

I'll be able to build pretty much everything even not knowing that stuff though so I should still be done building it soonish.

For finalizing fluff, do we know each other before game start? And are there any significant changes to the area over what's on wikipedia that would be good to know about?

Hi Rostam, glad to have you on board. A warpriest sounds great.

1 - I'm inclined to say the sacred weapon is a spear, but I'm open to discussion if you have other ideas that you can justify.
2 - Average starting gold please.

The extent to which you know each other is something I'd like to discuss amongst ourselves here. I prefer it if the party has more than just happenstance holding them together, but not everybody has to already be best buddies.

The initial context is at the very least that you have all been engaged by an agent of Gerren rac Denau ap Custennin, King of Dumnonia, to investigate rumours of a bishop who has landed in Kent.

My intent is to maintain a certain degree of historicity so there shouldn't be any major changes outside of the religious ones I already mentioned. Also, you know, magic is real. ;)

Magan has been carrying out mercenary work in the area around tintagel, slowly having worked his way west from one job to the next, until he finds himself in the service of a man named Bletius. If anybody wants to be part of the mercenary band I'm happy to link up backstories.

*Bletius ;)

I am finishing up on her, mainly getting a good name and story to fit with the group, and if I want to take up a paladin archtype. She will be an Aasimar shield maiden, and most likely will stay a paladin. I may change to another martial class, but since I am unsure of the way we would level/unlock new abilities, it does make picking which would work better harder. You mentioned feat heavy classes having an easier time, but what about special abilities? How are stats being handled?

Since her being on a crusade to help the poor souls, she could have bee n attached to the court with an envoy, as in she was just taken along with them.

Hell I could even be the maiden assigned to the mercenary band, to ensure their souls made it home and all funeral rites were properly observed. Which i do like

I recommend you stick with Paladin, but you are welcome to adopt an archetype.

There will be traditional levelling, but it will be slow and it will be capped at 5. Alongside that, I will sometimes award things like feats as we go along as reward for in-character actions and achievements. Much more rarely, I may also award a stat point, but probably only like once ever. Some class abilities, such as further mercies, may also be unlockable given time and experience.

Magan has also been granted two weapon fighting for free at level 1, others will also get a discussed bonus of some kind. Everybody gets a free story feat at level 1.

Being already associated with the court would work well for her I think. :)

Oh and weapon finesse is free if your Dex is higher than your strength.

@spencer you could have been raiding in Christian settlements along northwest Europe, had your boat destroyed and lost the rest of your party, but been fortuitously picked up by a mercenary band raiding the same settlement, and stuck with them ever since? After they brought you back, you became attached to the court, and willing to work with them towards a common goal?

I'm looking at the Sacred Shield archtype, which would add some bonus for being a shield maiden. Since its capped at five, I dont get some of the other bonuses that come from level progression, but since they seem to be able to be gotten otherwise, I believe it will be a Aasimar Sacred Shield Paladin.

@ chip I can work with that. It would make sense, as I would have to be apart of a religion that enjoys enough power I'm not burned as a witch. That and the weapons would keep them at bay.

Oh, and all characters begin with two traits.

Disclaimer: There may be a few "Oh, and"s before I have remembered all our house rules. ;) Fortunately they should generally be in your favour.

Don't worry - there will be plenty of opportunities for near-death later. ^^

How do you feel about me getting to the angel wings feat that's racial for Aasimars? I understand it would take some pretty good feats of character/bring souls to the halls of Vahalla, but I think it would be awesome. Maybe take a while, but worth the image pay off. Also, I think I'm going with the name Kara Olmsdottor

Just took a look at the pre-reqs... I won't rule it out, especially given the Valkyrie background. You'll have to put in a lot of in character work to get there though. It's a very long term goal.

You might have already been over this, but remind why exactly a Valkyrie is walking the earth in mortal form? I love the concept, I just want the details thought out. PM me if you want it private for now.

Well, its more her lineage, since Aasimar's are celestial in that sense, its what I thought would be fitting for her. The backstory I'm crafting isnt set in stone, but it does involve the higher ups of her order knowing she isnt fully human. I'm guess her calling to serve Freya drove her towards her line of work. Its really more for her good service she gains the right to be a full Valkyrie, instead of just doing the work on earth. I would imagine in the past, one of her foremothers was a Valkyrie.

Sounds great.

Helpful link to the original E6 system for those who haven't seen it before. Our system is maybe better described as Epic 5, but we will also be using the new feats noted in that PDF.

@Gm Stormchaser - I am fine with the spear being Andraste's favored weapon.

@Chip Li - I would like to be apart oft he mercenary band under Bletius. What info do you currently have on him and the mercenary band?

@Rostam glad to have you on board. Bletius is very mysterious and we know nothing about him personally other than that he has money and influence. The mercenary band is quite small, does dirty jobs effectively and mostly without question. I'll let stormchaser fill you in on what we have been doing for Bletius, but I'm thinking the last job when we bought Kara back with us, saw most of the band die.

I haven't done any work on the individual members of the group yet, but would welcome your input. I was considering that there may have been a bit of a divide between some truly dirty thugs, and those of us with some moral code, possibly culminating in a fight that saw half the group die on the mission. As I say, work in progress and I welcome any input.

@chip

I like the idea of some of the group dying because of that. Because regardless of the life they led, finding someone giving them proper burial rites would strike some of them as strange, and I would bet some would find humor in a woman being the one to ensure their body/soul was taken care of, given their treatment of others. If any of you have ever read the Black Company series by Glen Cook, that would be a good way to view things. Some are murderous thugs, and others had a moral code, but a common goal lead them all together

Horse's Vigor Points: 2d8 ⇒ (3, 6) = 9

Well that was average.

And I have read the black company series. It's one of my favorites.

Here is the stat block, tell me what you think

@Rostam We'll be taking average vigour level by level anyway, so that turned out perfectly. :P

@fatmanspencer Don't forget your alter-self spell-like-ability.

I was... surprised to see you get that many paladin archetypes to work together, so I double checked them. Divine Defender is unfortunately incompatible with Holy Guide. RAW Divine Defender would also clash with Sacred Shield, but I'll allow that since it is only a matter of what you apply your divine bond to (I'm betting shield). You need to choose between Holy Guide and Divine Defender though, because both replace mercy.

Wounds and vigour system, remember? Please adjust your hp accordingly.

I take issue with the use of a scimitar, because it doesn't really match the region at the time... either explain it to me or replace it with something that fits the era. Similarly, four mirror armour is eastern. Please use setting appropriate gear.

Don't forget your racial +2 knowledge planes.

Something I hadn't mentioned in this thread yet: common doesn't exist in this setting. Your native language will be Saxon I assume. Others are angle, briton, jute, frankish and so on.

Also, please list all your equipment. :)

@fatmanspencer Now the nice things... gain shield focus as a bonus feat and pick a story feat.

I've added a house rules summary to the campaign main page and will expand it as we go. Everybody should take a look at the language system I've set out.

I used herolab, its interesting it didn't pick out that Divine defender and holy guide clash. Honestly though they are for flavor more than any real abilities, as Sacred shield has the ones I wanted. As far as weapons go I picked the best I had with the gold I had, however, It will just change it to a longsword and chainmail, since the better paladin armor, full plate, isnt around or a thing at this point I believe.
I think one of the archtypes either Sacred shield or Divine defender meant I had to pick the shield, which works thematically anyways. ( its sacred shield.)
Since I got more than one language I'll got with Saxon as a secondary, since Norse would be my native.

Shield focus is awesome sauce and thank you! I'll be able to edit my character once I'm at the house to reflect the changes and I'll jsut do a new state block here for her. I'll drop the divine defender or holy guide, most likely holy guide.

As for the wounds I believe it would go 28 wound with a threshold of 14, and a vigor of 10?

Edit: The average would just cut all those in half so if at first level its average its 14 wound threshold 7 and vigor 5, if I'm reading the rules right

The story feat I'm thinking on is Lost Legacy, since it does match the story I have. That or Foeslayer

That's correct for the wounds and vigour.

That was the clash between Sacred Shield and Divine Defender - one requires the Bond to be a shield, the other requires an armour Bond. Since we specify shield though, you can combine them.

Longsword and chainmail is fine. A sword is unusually sophisticated, but not unrealistic.

Be aware that with Norse (Germanic) and West Saxon (Anglo-Saxon) as your languages, you won't speak the language in Dumnonia, but will in the lands you are being sent to. Celestial you keep from race.

Please make an alias for Kara under your main profile and keep her stats there for reference. :)

You know what? I bet since the Divine defender is listed as can choice, herolab didn't restrict is since I don't HAVE to. I believe that Sacred shield is also a can, but it makes sense to have Sacred Shield

Do you have no mundane gear at all? If not you should probably pick up a Paladin's Kit. Vanilla Pathfinder rules also start you with an outfit worth 10gp or less for free.

The greatest thing in the world, no matter how one tries, is that you always, always forget stuff until someone else picks up on it. It'll be an Explorer outfit, and I'll nab that paladin's kit, since my gold comes up a bit since I'm not buying the scimitar and the fourmirror armor. which is nice

That actually puts you 26gp over the 175gp starting gold, if I've added that all up right. If you go down to scale mail for starting gear you save 100 gold though. Four-mirror armour is actually cheaper than chainmail and a scimitar and longsword are the same price. Easy places to save could also be a battleaxe instead of a longsword, or a heavy wooden shield instead of steel.

Scale mail I wasnt sure would work, but if you'll allow it i'll change it. It would also let me pick up a short bow, though I will not be focusing on range. More a hunting/ back up

Would the battleaxe be a better imagine to have versus the longsword?

Up to you. Axes are certainly more common than swords in this era.

@rostam and spencer. Looks like the three of us are what's left of the mercenary band. Felix is going to be hired specifically for the job, and I struggle to imagine a druid raider.

Are you both happy that somewhere in northern France, we completed our mission, picked up Kara, got ambushed on the way back to the boat losing many of our group. The survivors had an argument leading to a fight in which we kill the captain of the band and return as a group of 3 down from 10 or so?

Then axe it'll be. Nothing but the price, which is nice. So, after I go home tonight and fix it and recopy into the stats, but otherwise I'm ready, unless ya'll see something that needs to be fixed

I like that idea. Gives us some companionship and a history that means most the group will not be freaked out by their magic user, however little I have. What would the mission have been? Did we bring back some loot, any loot?

Nothing you didn't already spend getting back across the channel.

We attacked a Christian monastery, it was more heavily defended than expected. We lost several men which probably led to everyone being even more hot headed than usual. We took it in part due to the unexpected help we received from Kara. Burned what we could to the ground, tore apart some more, and left just the stone buildings.

We were ambushed on our way back to the coast, losing yet more men, including the second in command. The captain lost his temper, accusing me of worrying more about my horse and loot than the lives of my fellows, and that if we hadn't waited for Kara to carry out her ceremony over the dead, we might have beaten the ambushing party back to the boat. The argument escalated, blades were drawn and the 3 of us were left standing with the captain wounded and swearing vengeance. I took a huge sword from my pack and took off his head for slighting my honour,and costing the lives of 2 of my friends in the violence.

Luckily I am fluent in Saxon and cornish so can translate for Kara when we return.

How does that sound?

Also, being just 3 people and fearing another attack on horseback we couldn't carry the majority of what we took, so threw it on the ground making it harder to recover and traded the rest for passage back to dumnonia, considering the sailors all died and the boats were burned

Here is Prasutagus' stat block.

I just need to finish up the amounts carried. And pretty up the stat block a bit.

In the stat block I am using the Nemesis story feat, but I was wondering if any one thought the Lost Legacy story feat fit better. I am not sure what you think of me trying to restore the Iceni to prominence GM Stormchaser so I was hesitant to take it.

@Chip Li & Magan - I am happy with that background with 1 change. One of the opposing party managed to escape me after I dealt him a grievous blow. He survived and is now my Nemesis for the story feat.

EDIT - Changed my comment to Chip Li & Magan based on comments I hadn't seen and changed language from Common to Britonic. I think that would be the Icenic language group.

I just could not leave them dead without the proper ceremony, otherwise they would not have made it to Valhalla.

@rostam I don't mind there being a surviving nemesis for you. Maybe someone you had argued with regularly before the ambush?

For what it's worth I like the lost legacy for you though. Trying to carve your ancestral lands back out of a divided kingdom at some point might be fun.

Edit:
After we convert you to the pagan faith first of course, can't have another infidel kingdom spring up :p

@fms can Christian monks be chosen for valhalla? Or do you just bury our own?

@Rostam Lost Legacy fits very nicely, but completing it could take a very long time. Whether you want to plan that long term is up to you.

Your stat block looks good for the most part. The bonus feat was supposed to be for me to award based on concept, not for you to choose. However, since Ride-By-Attack is very Iceni I'll let it go this time. ;)

You do need to specify which Brittonic language is your mother tongue and you should have max vigour at first level as per vanilla rules. Animal Companions and PCs follow different rules, like in normal Pathfinder.

I think those are the only corrections I see for now. Please do also make a character alias and keep this info there. :)

@Spencer I also notice that after originally confirming the correct wound and vigour values with me, you've now halved them all. Is there a reason for that?

@GM Storm Chaser - I only picked feats that I am able to pick, my Bonus feat is Weapon Focus from the War priest class. Heres where my feats come from:

Human Bonus - Mounted Combat
Level 1 Feat - Ride By Attack
War Priest Bonus Feat - Weapon Focus
Story Feat - Nemesis

I still need you to assign the 'DMs Choice' Bonus Feat. Sorry if my wording was confusing.

Alias will be made shortly.

EDIT - Unless you meant the story feat was supposed to be assigned by you as the bonus feat?

...no, good explanation, my bad. You still get a feat. How do you feel about power attack? You've maxed your strength after all.

I will at this point reiterate something I said to Chip at the beginning. Part of the point of you getting bonus feats, is to allow broad builds that normally don't work. Not to let all of you specialise faster.

"oh and", just remembered another house rule: Intimidate ALWAYS adds both strength and charisma, even if one or both are negative. Intimidating Prowess ceases to exist. Or, seen differently, everybody is forced to have Intimidating Prowess (for free).

Here is Prasutagus. Still needs encumbrance numbers and a bit of formatting but otherwise done.

And I am more than happy with power attack as a bonus feat. Thanks

Everything should be up and right, minus the new feat. Outside of that, because you are somewhat encouraging a little bit more for a broad build, im going to start looking at some of the ranged stuff, cuz who doesnt love throwing spears into the eye of your enemy?

@ Magan, looking over your sheet, I notice you had taken shamed, is it a secret thing or fairly obvious? Like a missing limb? Or is it a dark secret? Dont spill if it is suppose to be hidden, just wanting to learn about the other backstories. Gotta get mine on par you know

@Kara I don't mind putting a spoiler on my character sheet at some point for people to read if they are interested. But it is something magan is hiding for good reason. It's a little twist on the traditional shame though.

I apologise for the mess my character sheet is in by the way. I'm away on holiday so doing everything from my mobile, which is not easy on this forum.