Hellboy with a dash of Steampunk in a dark forest...
I want to play with Pathfinder/3.5 rules but with a focus in Roleplaying.
Each player will create a monster to join up with others to put an end to the evil and the corrupt, perhaps a few more along the line.
This will be a rules lite game. Yes you still need to create a crunch, but depending on your check you can portray your actions as epic in success or failure.
This will be a story, so I will ask others to give me a strong background story. Including why you are good and not evil. Where your family is or is not. Places that we can use, and I would like it if the players could take over for a bit in one place or another so that I can just be a player for a while. Not much just a bar fight here and there. :)
I have a natural born lycantrhope wizard who has been living in the forest for some time now. He has been making friends and growing his protection brigades. Making sure to keep his kin in the forest.
Firstly, we protect the innocent and stomp out evil.
Secondly, we work to ensure the humans don't know of our existence.
I want us to make this story thrive and grow. Please be able to post once a day at least.
I'm pretty interested in this, but will need to think on it some. What are the rules for character creation? Races / Monster Races / Classes / Ability Score Generation?
Sounds cool, colour me interested.
I have an idea for a catrina psychopomp from Bestiary 4 whose impartial, uncaring ideals have been replaced with growing sympathy with mortal needs. She might have been brought unto the Material Plane to ease the passing of a cleric, and somehow being unable to return, replaces the cleric's role in a settlement (perhaps nearby the woods that your werewolf resides?) while using disguises, illusions, and her sorcerer powers to resolve day-to-day clerical duties.
Of course, as a psychopomp, she would still be concerned with the balance between life and timely death ... and would fight any evil that seeks to tilt the scales.
Dot.
Definitely intrigued by this. Would you be okay with a Succubus Oracle (Heavens)?
Ability score creation is roll 5d6 seven times. Taking the highest three die and adding them together.
Races/Monsters is pretty open, especially since your 'monster' can be on the road to redemption. It could be just one step down that road, but trying.
Thanks Aldar, I will remember that!
I don't have beastiary 4, so you are going to need to fill me in on it more wooglycakes. Sounds good though!
Minotaur - Yes, skeletal champions - maybe (give me a good story), Succubus - yes (with some adjustments).
No monster should be above a CR 5, all others will get character levels to get up to 5th. If they are above CR 5, we can de level the monster some. Also I am open to redefining a monster's abilities/reconstructing it.
...I think I can make a ghost with those limitations.
*Sparkly eyes*
Let me see here...
Hrm, did you mean 5d6 six times? Or is there a homebrewed 7th stat? Or do we just drop the lowest full one?
Either way let's see here.
= 6+6+4 = 16
= 3+4+2 = 9
= 4+4+4 = 12
= 5+5+4 = 14
= 5+5+4 = 14
= 3+3+5 = 11
= 6+5+5 = 16
5d6s and I still managed to roll terribly. EIGHT 1's.
I will have to see what I can do with this.
Hey GM Wolf, good to see your running another game. I'm going to throw out some rolls and try to get an idea made up if I can find some time as it's been a pretty busy week.
Some alright rolls.
Hmmm. This looks interesting. Dotting for now.
When you say that all others will get levels to bring them up to fifth, do you mean on a one by one basis with CR? For example something along the lines of the following chart.
CR -> Character Levels
- Less than 1 -> 5
- 1 -> 4
- 2 -> 3
- 3 -> 2
- 4 -> 1
- 5 or more -> 0
"Did you know that gargoyles dream? We do. We dream without sleeping. Perched high above our province, when we wait motionless for our next sport, our minds dream of the past.
"My dreams showed me as I always was. Powerful, a dread terror. Yet less than I was. Weaker, a body made of mere flesh and bone. In my terrible hubris, my actions grew more bold and more fierce. My death was inevitable. My rebirth was where my dreams ended and my memories began. Many years of carnage and domination. And... recently... regret.
"Is this all there is? Years and lifetimes of causing pain? Stone does not change; it merely weathers away. But what happens then? More of the same? Am I being given a second chance and squandering it? How many lives have I squandered already? The stone must change.
"All the screams. All the lives. All the terror. They must be answered!
"In my arrogance, I had long perched atop the church of Iomedae. What I thought was the height of irony I now see was a calling. At first I railed that she left me no choice. Today I see that, in fact, there was no choice at all.
"As her paladin, my wrongs will be made right. Even that will not be enough."
You drop the lowest of the seven rolls.
Horrible rolls, if you want to re-roll, you may but with one less set, thus only 6 rather than 7 sets.
Either way works though.
If you are serious start throwing out ideas of locales in the forest. Also what surrounds the forest?
What Era/Time would you like to play in? 1600th century England, Greek, Modern, future/cyberpunk, classic D&D, etc.?
Keeping: 11 , 14, 9, 16, 13, 15
Well that will work. Also another homebrew rule of mine, you may take away from one ability score and give it to another. No score higher than 18 or lower than 8.
Thus I will take away 3 from my 11, giving it to my 15, making the 15 into an 18. You could take away any number from one and give it to another with the limits in mind.
New Stats: 8, 14, 9, 16, 13, 18
In order: Str-9 Dex-16 Con-14 Int-18 Wis-8 Cha-13
Elf +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, –2 Constitution:
Lycantrope +2 Wis, –2 Cha in all forms; +2 Str, +2 Con in hybrid or wolf form.
Final: Str-9 Dex-18 Con-12 Int-20 Wis-10 Cha-11
In wolf: Str-11 Dex-18 Con-14 Int-20 Wis-10 Cha-11
Doing futuristic stuff might be a bit hard for my character, but if necessary, I could still try to make it work. XD I think I'd be okay in most settings, really. That said, some sort of Dark Ages Europe might work fairly well for monstrous characters...
Yep, that is what I mean Captain Fremont!
At the beginning of the game we will definetely be in the dark forest where very few humans are, where the rules of Golarian rule. But as a twist once we exit out it could be a different time. Kinda like 'Stardust'.
Taking 18, 16, 15, and 14. Dropping 3 rolls because Ghosts have no Constitution or Strength scores. ^^
I think I will take you up on that reroll.
So my first set was: 16, 16, 14, 14, 12, 11, 9
Let's try again.
= 14
= 17
= 13
= 13
= 15
= 16
17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 13.
Yeahhhh I'll definitely take this one.
Going to start making some decisions on my character tonight. I definitely like the more middle ages idea. Even earlier than that would be pretty interesting, I think. Since we're typically 'dark' creatures that are going against that to protect the humans, I kind of like the idea of them still being a relatively new people, perhaps such that they cannot adequately protect themselves, or understand that we aren't demons come forth from their nightmares. Ancient Rome or earlier kind of thing. Still a fledgling race. Just an idea!
As to my character - how do you feel about third-party / homebrew, out of curiosity?
/15
/15
/13
/11
/15
/14
Check Re-roll:
/13
/11
/16
/17
/15
/15
okay nothing great, but nothing bad either, re-roll looks slightly better. I can work with this, with adjustment rule it gives me:
13-3=10 STR
17 DEX
15 CON
16 INT
11 WIS
15+3=18 CHA
Let me get the base crunch done, and a possible alias created and then we can discuss how to devalue some of the succubus abilities.
In terms of time frame. I would be good with any, though I think it would be intriguing to deal with monster creatures in future/cyberpunk or dark ages. Seems like a much harder task for vigilante activities and staying secret in more technologically advanced societies, and the dark ages just works well stylistically with monster campaigns.
For my succubus I would hope that there is at least a decent sized settlement of some sort in the area. She is a social creature after all, and it would hinder my character concept a bit if there wasn't a place close by for her to be in society as she only really feels comfortable when she is surrounded by people, and is deathly afraid of being alone.
And here's my crunch! ^^ Plus fluff. According to the builder I use (Hero Lab), this is a CR5 build. Ghost traits give +4 CHA, Human bonus gives another +2, and since she's got four Class Levels, that's one more buffing her main stat. To make her more usable in a campaign, I modified a few other attributes, namely in regards to her ability to pick up and store things.
Micah
Female Human Ghost Sorcerer 4
CG Medium undead (humanoid, human, incorporeal)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +15
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 20, touch 20, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex, +7 deflection)
hp 52 (4d6+28)
Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +6; +2 vs. charm, cold, fear, fire, and sleep, +4 bonus vs. channeled energy
Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, incorporeal, rejuvenation; Immune undead traits
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (perfect)
Special Attacks corrupting touch
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 4th; concentration +11):
2nd (5/day)—disfiguring touch (DC 19)
1st (8/day)—ray of enfeeblement (DC 18), magic missile, color, curse of ineptitude (DC 18), unspeakable tongue (DC 18)
0 (at will)—haunted fey aspect, read magic, arcane mark, mage hand, detect magic, clandestine conversation, detect charm, touch of lethargy (DC 17), touch of torment (DC 17)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str —, Dex 16, Con —, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 25
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 22
Feats Eschew Materials, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Spell Penetration
Traits reactionary, sacred touch
Skills Appraise +6, Bluff +11, Disguise +8, Fly +23, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (nature) +3, Knowledge (planes) +3, Knowledge (religion) +7, Perception +15, Sense Motive +8, Spellcraft +6, Stealth +15, Use Magic Device +11; Racial Modifiers +8 Fly, +8 Perception, +8 Stealth
Languages Celestial, Common, Elven
SQ bloodlines (accursed), horrific visage, wretched endurance
Other Gear 10500 GP
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Accursed Misfortune, pestilence, and nightmares follow your family like vermin drawn to carrion. Somewhere in your family history, a hag’s foul influence entered your bloodline. You may actually be related to the hag, or you may still be suffering the effects of a curse that a hag laid upon your kin in generations past. Now the hag’s powers are part of your heritage.
Bloodline Arcana: You count as a hag for the purpose of joining a hag’s coven. The coven must contain at least one hag. In addition, whenever you are within 30 feet of another sorcerer with this bloodline or a witch with the coven hex, you can use the aid another action to grant a +1 bonus to the other spellcaster’s caster level for 1 round.
Channel Resistance +4 +4 bonus to save vs. Channel Energy.
Corrupting Touch 5d6 (DC 19) (Su) Touch does 5d6 damage from aging, ignoring most resistances (Fort half).
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Eschew Materials Cast spells without materials, if component cost is 1 gp or less.
Flight (30 feet, Perfect) You can fly!
Horrific Visage (2 rounds) (10/day) (DC 19) (Su) At 1st level, you can draw upon your hag ancestor to cause one target to perceive you as having a horrifying appearance. As a standard action, you can force one target within 30 feet to make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charism
Immunity to Critical Hits You are immune to Critical Hits
Immunity to Precision Damage You are immune to Precision Damage
Incorporeal (Ex) You aren't quite here.
Rejuvenation (Su) Ghosts can return after a few days.
Sacred Touch You were exposed to a potent source of positive energy as a child, perhaps by being born under the right cosmic sign, or maybe because one of your parents was a gifted healer. As a standard action, you may automatically stabilize a dying creature mer
Undead Traits Undead have many immunities and use Cha in place of a Con for all effects.
Wretched Endurance +2 (Ex) At 3rd level, you gain a +2 bonus on all saving throws against charm, cold, fear, fire, and sleep effects. And 9th level, these bonuses increase to +4.
--------------------
Micah's death was one of the more gruesome ones in the land, and considering the presence of monsters, that's actually saying quite a lot. What it all boiled down to, though, was the fact that a hag really, really wanted the young girl dead, and quite a lot of thugs were sent to go do it. Put simply, they succeeded, and the details are enough to seriously nauseate just about any decent person. Of course, hearing about it was nothing at all compared to experiencing it...
However, what the hag didn't count on was a tiny spark of arcane ability within the girl. A pure, seething desire to live a better life infused Micah's body even as it was broken and crushed, and she literally begged the gods to not let this be all there was. Eventually... they responded. Micah returned to the land as a ghost, and the hag's involvement in her death was the catalyst that brought her magical power into their full strength. Ever since then, Micah has shown a pronounced tendency to curse her opponents through one of many different means.
In spite of the circumstances of her death, though, Micah is a surprisingly positive person. She's yet to find (and kill) the hag responsible for her demise, but she did manage to eliminate all of the others, haunting them with all the carefree immunity that ghosts usually have. She's settled down over the years, though, and nowadays she's taken to haunting some other interesting people - namely, some monsters that have been trying to improve the world. As a ghost, Micah's really rather remarkable as a spy, easily hiding and getting into areas that others can't... and the power of her curses has helped to make everyone else's efforts that much easier. She's fairly loyal, in her own way, and always ready to help.
------------------------
Modified Qualities
-Micah uses her Dexterity in place of her Strength to determine Carrying Capacity.
-Items that Micah picks up are granted the [Incorporeal] quality, and she can interact with them. At the GM's discretion, this may not work on some items (i.e. whenever it would make things too easy).
-Micah can use her body as a portal to the Ethereal Plane, and store objects within it (similar to how a Bag of Holding works, but without the disruptive effects involved with Portable Holes). She has a weight limit of her carrying capacity (and cannot go over this), but no size limit (except that the items must be smaller than she is and able to fit through her body). This ability replaces all other methods of storage she can use (Backpacks, etc.)
Blondebandit here. Alias created. Going to go about making alterations to base Succubus to reduce CR a bit, will create backstory once basic timeframe is decided.
Edit: Okay I've done the alterations to base Succubus to bring it back a little closer to CR 5... one thing I would like to ask GM approval for is if I can adjust my Charisma value via racial bonuses. Base Succubus has 27 charisma, and all her spell-like abilities are based off of it (and really who melees with a succubus). Going from 27 to 19 with a CR 2 reduction seems like a huge drop off.
Missed the edit window. Currently using the demon-possessed template (succubus) for my racial ability mods (+2 int, +6 cha) seems to be fairly accurate. Let me know if that's okay.
Taking the plunge. Here goes:
4+6+6=16
2+4+5=11 (-1)
4+4+4=12 (-1)
2+3+4=9 (+1)
3+4+5=12 (-1)
droppped
4+6+6=16 (+2)
Modified: 18, 16, 11, 11, 10, 10
Thinking about a vampire that has a bit of a grudge against her kind.
GM Wolf, I'm bumping my below character concept because I worry that you didn't notice. But if you're just not interested or if I need to create some crunch, first, that's fine.
I should also mention that I've GMed PBPs before (although not on Paizo), and would be happy to switch out some.
"Did you know that gargoyles dream? We do. We dream without sleeping. Perched high above our province, when we wait motionless for our next sport, our minds dream of the past.
"My dreams showed me as I always was. Powerful, a dread terror. Yet less than I was. Weaker, a body made of mere flesh and bone. In my terrible hubris, my actions grew more bold and more fierce. My death was inevitable. My rebirth was where my dreams ended and my memories began. Many years of carnage and domination. And... recently... regret.
"Is this all there is? Years and lifetimes of causing pain? Stone does not change; it merely weathers away. But what happens then? More of the same? Am I being given a second chance and squandering it? How many lives have I squandered already? The stone must change.
"All the screams. All the lives. All the terror. They must be answered!
"In my arrogance, I had long perched atop the church of Iomedae. What I thought was the height of irony I now see was a calling. At first I railed that she left me no choice. Today I see that, in fact, there was no choice at all.
"As her paladin, my wrongs will be made right. Even that will not be enough."
|
Well I have two ideas now. A Faerie Dragon sorcerer (although that may not fit the whole "redemption" theme) whose compulsion spells have stupid saves or a skeletal champion ninja from osirion (or egypt or wherever pyramids and necromancers can be found).
Rollin:
6+4+4=14
6+6+5=17+1=18
5+4+2=11
5+3+2=10 (dropped)
5+4+3=12
4+3+3=10 -2
5+4+4=13+1=14
18, 14, 14, 12, 11, 8
Ability Scores: The creature's ability scores are listed here. Unless otherwise indicated, a creature's ability scores represent the baseline of its racial modifiers applied to scores of 10 or 11. Creatures with NPC class levels have stats in the standard array (13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8), while creatures with character class levels have the elite array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8); in both cases, the creature's ability score modifiers are listed at the end of its description.
I found one reference on how to calculate the racial modifiers for monsters on the PRD website. Is this relevant for us?
Also, a copy-pasta from Bestiary 4: Psychopomp (Catrina) [CR 5]. That will also most likely be her appearance, unless she dons a disguise. Now, for her rolls:
Fluff and crunch will be forthcoming on the alias page.
"Cans I'ses play?" the Gremlin asks the nice wolfy.
"I likeses to play. My cat likeses to play too."
A scruffy, dirty, sad-looking cat walks up next to the gremlin.
=13-1=12
=14
=10
=16-2=14
=10
=17+3=20
=9(DROP)
I'm going for a gremlin witch, who decided that he was really tired of playing pranks on unsuspecting travelers. (CN, 1st step to redemption)
He's really smart, but he has a speech impediment.
12 Str
14 Dex
14 Con
20 Int
10 Wis
10 Cha
Taking the plunge. Here goes:
5d6 4+6+6=16
5d6 2+4+5=11 (-1)
5d6 4+4+4=12 (-1)
5d6 2+3+4=9 (+1)
5d6 3+4+5=12 (-1)
5d6 droppped
5d6 4+6+6=16 (+2)Modified: 18, 16, 11, 11, 10, 10
Thinking about a vampire that has a bit of a grudge against her kind.
Vampires have no con, so scores are:
18, 16, 12, 11, 10 (Dropping the 9, so that puts a point back into one of the 12s)
Hey, GM Wolfy, what's your views on Half-dragon paladins?
@ YoricksRequiem - You never know until you try...
@ Rednal - Ghost is a CR 7, so I am not for sure how you would get 4 levels with that.
@Nora Brim - Cursory look, looking good... work on that story a bit.
@ Andostre - I did see your gargoyle concept and thought: Great!
The post must have got eaten. I will remember that you offered to DM, also what kind of place are you making?
@ Mr. Bojangles - You don't need to do the redemption road, for there needs to be plenty of good that goes with those wanting to do right. I like the Faerie Dragon sorcerer better. Undead bother me. Undead are not really monsters, in my book of monsters they are their own book.
@Lady Catrina - that link works to find the base stats, thus finding the ability modifiers... Now you completely chewed my homebrew bonus, you may only take from ONE ability score and give to another ONE!
@Orelius Lionpaw - go for it, but be careful... that speech impediment might just get you not signed up... or kicked off... spelling is a must with my games, if it makes sense go for it. But if over the top or really hard to determine... bad things do happen, and more often than me, it will be the other players. Now that I have rambled...
@ AdamWarnock - half dragon paladins, plan on making one for my next IRL campaign. Go for it or go for a weakened vampire!
@ Nora Brim - Yes that should work, and if you want with the next two levels you could gain them back or take a regular class. You should also drop three hit die.
@ Algar Lysandris - When in doubt revert to 3.5 ;)
+8 str, +4 con, -4 int, -2 cha,
large: -1 AC penalty, -1 attack, -4 hide, +4 CMB, lifting and carrying capacities double.
speed 30 feet.
Darkvision 60 feet.
6d8 HD, Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +5
Skill points: 6 x (2 + Int mod): class skills: imtimidate, jump , perceptoin, climb, craft,
Racial feats: 3 feats
weapons: greataxe and simple weapons
+5 natural armor
gore 1d8
natural cunning, scent
Starting languages: giant and common
favored class: barbarian
No one should have more than 6 hit die.
Votes so far, but we should all be fine with the final selection of time frame:
Rednal - Dark Ages Europe
Nora Brim - future/cyberpunk or dark ages
YorickRequim - middle ages idea. Even earlier than that would be pretty interesting
Fellow DMs:
Algar Lysandris
Andostre
Also a note that if you incorporate my character into your background in one way another that would be helpful. Also why you are wanting to be redeemed if you are going down that road. Also why you are joining up with Wolf and his merry band of misfits.
I am surprised no one has jumped at being a deamon of some sort, aka 'Hellboy' or something like that. Any 'hellgirl' takers? LOL :P
I know exactly what I want to make. I need to write it all up and check and recheck all the balancing and write up the backstory, but I should have it ready tonight or tomorrow. How long is this recruitment open for?
@Orelius Lionpaw - go for it, but be careful... that speech impediment might just get you not signed up... or kicked off... spelling is a must with my games, if it makes sense go for it. But if over the top or really hard to determine... bad things do happen, and more often than me, it will be the other players. Now that I have rambled...
But the speech impediment is a fundamental part of his character! You wouldn't really expect a gremlin to speak perfect Common, would you?
Also, it tends to become less noticeable when I need to get a point across.
Made the mistake of writing my backstory directly into the profile and forgot to copy it prior to pressing submit, got lost to the timeout gods. Had to walk away from it for the night, I really liked that backstory, just won't be the same the second time.
The backstory will be up today at some point, will write it in word first so this doesn't happen again. Figure I would have learned the first time... or tenth time that I'd lost a post due to timeout.
Question, how are you calculating ability score modifiers for races/monsters that do not have a normal template for character creation? Or you reverting back to savage species?
He's not truly a monster, but I have had a character concept for a while now that is monster like.
A skinwalker (coldborn) beastmorph/vivesectionist alchemist. His schtick would be to evoke his monster nature through alchemy, eventually taking the master chymist prestige class that would be the facsimile to a lycanthropic form.
As for my vote on setting, I would go dark ages europe, or 19th century london if possible. Cyberpunk or modern would be interesting, but that would require modding much of the pathfinder rules.
12
10
14
17
11
14
14
15
17
16
14
11
15
I'll stick with the re roll
so Str 16 Dex 14 Con 16+2 Int 18 Wis 14 +2 Cha 10 -2
Full crunch in profile later.
I'm actually going to wait on my fluff until we decide on a setting, simply because what I write for the background itself will be influenced by the setting - My character would have very different experiences in the early-middle ages than they would in 19th century london than they would in a futuristic cyberpunk setting. Personality will be very much the same, but the circumstances that cause it would be entirely different.
Another question, if we choose to roll up another stat set with only 6d5 instead of the 7d6, do we get to choose which set we keep or are we required to go with the new set?
1600th England, Cyberpunk, and classic D&D all sound interesting to me.
Throwing in my vote for dark ages/medieval setting
I used the template, not the straight monster. ^^ If we're talking actual monsters, I think I'd like to play a Dullahan. Chop off some HD, recalculate skills, etc.
My computer is basically dead, though, so it'll take me a few days to get set up again. >.< But I will have it done eventuality!
Setting Time Period: I'm okay with any of them, although I think anything futuristic is least preferred. However, some sort of low-tech post-apocalyptic setting might be fun.
Locales in the forest: Once GM Wolf's character found Karlov, he convinced Karlov to return to his forest. There, XXX has built a shrine to Iomedae (or whatever diety we use, if this is homebrewed), at the mouth of a nearby shallow cave. There, he stands stock still meditating/praying for hours on end unless he needs to hunt (old habits are hard to break).
I think that there should be a road nearby, or at least a footpath, that leads to civilization. We could also have some of the PCs build some sort of dwelling based on what sort of creature they are, but nothing too far from the wizard's tower so that they can be summoned.
Roll 1:
dropped
15
12
11
13
16
13
The re-roll was worse, so I'll stick with this one.
More to come...
Here is Garrak's Crunch.
HP: 48
AC 17 T 13 FF 15
CMB 6 CMD 18
F 8 R 6 W 3(4)
Accelerated Drinker
Unstable Mutagen
If drawbacks allowed, Loner and Pragmatic Activator
Spontaneous Healing
Feral Mutagen
Extra Feature
Bleeding Attack
Brew Potion
Beastform Mutagen
Cruel Anatomist
(shifted/mutagen)
Bite +7/9 1d6/8+4/6 20x2
Claws +7/9 1d4/6+4/6 20x2
Light Crossbow +5 1d8
9/level
Appraise 12
Craft Alchemy 17
Disable Device 10
K Nature (doubles as Heal) 12
K Arcana 12
Perception 10 (11 if shifted)
Spellcraft 12
Survival 10 (11 if shifted)
UMD 8 (12 if pragmatic activator)
1st Deathwatch
Cure Light
Enlarge
Jump
Expeditious retreat
Disguise Self
Ant Haul
Endure Elements
2nd Cure Moderate
False Life
Invisibility
I am not sure about starting gold, but this assumes normal wealth for a level 5 of 10,500 gold
+1 Mithral Chain shirt (2000)
Amulet of Mighty Strikes +1 (4000)
Bag of Holding, type 1 (2500)
Misc mundane gear worth ~2000 tbd (probably will buy a lot of spells and potions)
I'd have to know more about the setting to fully flesh it out, but in any of them, he'd be an orphan. At some point, he starts being able to shift. Being a smart boy, he tells no one but his best friend and starts to do his own research. He becomes obsessed about learning of his powers and ancestry and starts to go into alchemy as a method of eliciting the beast inside him. At some point, inciting event occurs, resulting in friends death. Maybe villagers found out what he was, or in his own rage, he killed him. Ever since inciting event, he has traveled aimlessly. Eventually, either the wolf character finds him, or he discovers the forest for himself.
By the way, I was toying with the idea of making an ooze of some sort that gained intelligence, but felt like it was too much of a stretch. :)
Anyone else is free to use the idea, though!
As others have mentioned I may wait a touch on creating the backstory fully so it can mesh well with whatever timeline we choose.
Basic concept for character is that she grew up in the Abyss, A slave to her demon master and completely devoid of happiness and hope. On her first trip to the material plane these two emotions totally overwhelmed her. Kind of that love at first site type instant connection to the emotions. She knew she could never go back and not feel them again as she has become slightly addicted to the thoughts of others instilled with these emotions. She is also petrified that her demon master will come and take her back to the abyss so is deathly afraid of being alone.
I guess I'll give a reroll a shot to see how it comes out: