Dreams of the Promised Age (Inactive)

Game Master CaptainMarvelous

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Would you allow an Aasimar with the alternate racial trait Scion of Humanity to qualify for the Royalty campaign trait? No worries if negative, just reviewing ideas.

I'm not going to look this up: if such an assimar has some kind of "human blood" thing that lets them count as human for the purposes of qualifying for things, then yes. If not then no.

It basically allows them to count as "human" for the purposes of feats, etc. and can disguise themselves as human easily. Basically, the celestial ancestry is so far back that they are more human than most Aasimar. (Probably as far back as the Azlanti Empire).

Edit: Ninja'd

Would it be acceptable to say, delete the old character and resubmit a new one? I feel i didnt actually get to the core of my character the last time and I'd rather not waste your time but i'm fairly new to the etiquette of how you go about all of this.

Just saw this yesterday and I really like the idea of kingdom building.

One question, if the premise is to "restoring the greatest human empire Golarion has ever known", how are you planing to integrate multiple race choices for the PCs?

What will Acavna's favored weapon be? Or is this something that we will determine as well?

I'm very interested in the Kingmaker setting, but I have a question. Does the Moon goddess tolerate people of other faiths? Or even those unsure of their faith? Or is she the "silently is trying to convert you this whole time" type of deity.

I guess i'll go ahead and post my refined idea if thats okay. It was a HobGoblin Phalanx fighter who was conscripted into the army from a very young age, his good tendencies fight with his rigorous training and he frequently questions the values he was raised on. I guess ill go with the finding a home campaign trait.

Why would a goddess of humans want a hob goblin follower? Why wouldn't the humans kill you on sight?

Why would a goddess of humans want a hob goblin follower? Why wouldn't the humans kill you on sight?

I was thinking of that too, he wanted something succint, but i was thinking he just blatantly walked out in front of a crowd of farmers, and an elderly woman noticed he was young by any terms, and decided it was wrong to murder any child regardless of race, but he was expected to work hard and earn his keep, fighting against his kin who frequently raided definitely shook his values, as did the kindness of the farmers. But this is pretty rough draft material but i'm open to suggestions and will do away with it if its THAT outlandish.

Edit: i should probably stop making things on the spot, but im not the best at planning when it comes to where i go, i tend to just spawn the idea and go from there.

Would it be acceptable to say, delete the old character and resubmit a new one? I feel i didnt actually get to the core of my character the last time and I'd rather not waste your time but i'm fairly new to the etiquette of how you go about all of this.

Yeah, go nuts. I wouldn't go so far as to delete the old one but it's your call. I'm perfectly happy to take multiple submissions from people. Just keep it within reason.

I'm posting a rough idea of where I'm at, because you wrote that many posts signaled interest. Normally, I wait until the character is more solidified in my head before posting.

Good, that's what I was going for. I like to see the rough stages of character creation so we can bounce ideas off each-other, the other players can compare what they're considering making, and the whole party comes out more organically that way.

I think I might just steal that addition to the background if you don't mind.

Of course I don't mind; that's why I suggested it :)

One question, if the premise is to "restoring the greatest human empire Golarion has ever known", how are you planing to integrate multiple race choices for the PCs?

I don't understand your problem. This isn't Warhammer 40k; humans get along with other humanoids.

What will Acavna's favored weapon be? Or is this something that we will determine as well?

Yeah, whatever the cleric PCs feel like wielding. I'd prefer some manner of sword because swords are cool and then your symbology can be sword-heavy.

Does the Moon goddess tolerate people of other faiths? Or even those unsure of their faith?

She does, but she wouldn't choose them as her representatives. She might want an atheist around for her own reasons, but someone who did have a patron deity who was different wouldn't fit.

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This is a long thread, I might have missed stuff, expect a second post shortly.

Does the Moon goddess tolerate people of other faiths? Or even those unsure of their faith?

She does, but she wouldn't choose them as her representatives. She might want an atheist around for her own reasons, but someone who did have a patron deity who was different wouldn't fit.

Oh good, and the HobGoblin isnt a turn off? I was going to make him agnostic in a way, the hob deities made him untrustful, and i was going to see if maybe she would try to be a positive influence to him along the way in the form of subtle nudging. But no he has no patron, in his youthful arrogance hes kind of trying to deny a faith but cannot help the pull of Ancavna.

I vote scimitar personally :) Any ideas on swapping some other weapon proficiency for scimitar on my bard idea?

I vote scimitar personally :) Any ideas on swapping some other weapon proficiency for scimitar on my bard idea?

Scimitars are a perfect choice! What about the Crescent bladed Khopesh just to shove out an idea and feel useful, although Scimitars are my personal favourite.

Born to a lowly fishmonger, Han'ei labored on the water for much of his young existence, the moon and the tides dictating his sleep, his work, his life. His life was one of normalcy until at the tender age of 8 his hamlet was set upon by river pirates. He lay cowering in fear within a pile of straw for a day and a night before being discovered by a local hermit, who'd come down from his den up high on yonder mountain in search of sugar. The hermit becomes Han'ei's obi-wan kenobi, bathing him in the glory of Acavna, whose dogma and philosophy he had discovered on his travels as a youth. Through Acavna Han'ei learns to manipulate his ki, the same way the moon manipulates the tides.

There's a little problem here owing to your lack of knowledge of Golarion. I'm going to go ahead and explain the story of Acavna now, so I can copy/paste it later when it inevitably comes up again:

Acavna was the Goddess of the Moon and Battle in ancient Azlant (basically Atlantis with the serial number filed off). Azlant was the height of human civilization, but it was so because the Aboleths had uplifted humanity for mysterious Lovecraftian reasons. When humans began creating gods, which the atheistic Aboleths hated, those crazy underwater jerks called down a giant meteor to crash into the Earth and destroy all life on the surface. You know, to teach them a lesson.

So Acavna finds out about this plan and she moves the moon out of orbit to intercept the meteor, which shatters it into thousands of pieces. The smaller pieces fall and devastate the planet but at least it isn't the extinction level event that the full meteor would have been.

This "kills" Acavna. She stops granting spells, her worship dies off, and she is all but forgotten. The PCs represent the first rebirth of her worship, so it doesn't make sense for your shifu to have been a worshipper of Acavna.

But I see no reason why your shifu has to be the one to introduce Acavna to your character. If you're a student who has fallen from the path, doesn't it make sense for your master to teach detachment from worldly affairs and the search for enlightenment, then his "falling away" can be the pursuit of temporal power (through kingdom building).

I've been watching a lot of kung-fu movies lately and have wanted to play the "student who's strayed from the path".

You've come to the right place. I'm pretty sure I run the only two wuxia games on these boards (aka: the source material of kung fu movies) and am a massive, massive kung-fu nerd.

I'm just curious, will there be interactions and possible assimilation with other groups? I'm just particularly interested in how some factions will react to the resurgence of Ancavna and Azlant. Hopefully it won't turn grimdark and then suddenly every cult,kingdom,bandit ring etc. (granted thats a ton of fun) wants a piece of our hides, but it is partially realistic considering the cities grandeur would be a competitive influence to many rather than a co operative one.

Oh good, and the HobGoblin isnt a turn off?

I feel like, especially in the case of the Without A Home characters, Acavna is choosing the people who will do the right thing at the right time. So, yeah, she might conceivably tap a hobgoblin.

There are reasons you might not want to play a hobgoblin, however. Any character where you don't have a lot to do outside of a combat situation isn't a good fit for this game. You'll need a really good hook to integrate a Hobgoblin properly.

I was going to make him agnostic in a way, the hob deities made him untrustful, and i was going to see if maybe she would try to be a positive influence to him along the way in the form of subtle nudging. But no he has no patron, in his youthful arrogance hes kind of trying to deny a faith but cannot help the pull of Ancavna.

That's more unaligned that agnostic. Gnosticism speaks to wisdom, and it sounds like your character acknowledges gods exist, he's just unsure if he wants anything to do with them.

but it is partially realistic considering the cities grandeur would be a competitive influence to many rather than a co operative one.

It's not like you're raising the ancient capital from the depths of the seas and magically restoring it to it's previous glory; you're founding a penny-ante kingdom in a part of the world where the major powers stake no claims because they only just barely care about it, centered around an Azlanti temple dedicated to a dead goddess who hasn't granted spells in generations. If you actually call your Kingdom Azlant they'd probably just laugh and laugh and laugh, like if I declared my shed The Holy Roman Empire. You'd have to become a regional power before they took notice beyond the level of humor.

You need to be more worried about the regional powers of the Mwangi Expanse; those are the people who are going to take this "New Azlant" seriously.

There are reasons you might not want to play a hobgoblin, however. Any character where you don't have a lot to do outside of a combat situation isn't a good fit for this game. You'll need a really good hook to integrate a Hobgoblin properly.

Definitely, I'm thinking his human upbringing (in his more recent time) will make him definitely more relatable, but I'm HOPING his being there won't be too disruptive, he knows he's generally unwanted and it has made him bitter. But he always ends up helping the same ones who tend to shun him, he does not blame them because his people did the exact same to him. Thats the whole hook I was thinking of bringing in to make him fit with this story.

I think the scimitar idea is great, personally.

Quick question about the setting-does it have anything thematically/location-wise to do with Serpent's Skull? I know you mentioned Sargava earlier, and without trying to spoil the AP, I do remember some stuff about Azlant in it, along with bits and pieces of the campaign taking place in Sargava itself.

You need to be more worried about the regional powers of the Mwangi Expanse; those are the people who are going to take this "New Azlant" seriously.

I will definitely be looking into the history of Mwangi people and Garund, it seems like an interesting read. Although I wont let it corrupt my reactions in the story, I want my HobGob (if hes chosen) to have very little knowledge of garund, except for glaringly obvious things you'd hear about the place.

Any feedback for me? :D

Any feedback for me? :D

Well, if my feedback makes you feel better, I definitely think You'd be a welcome addition to the party. And the association with a certain group of nefarious people will make for some interesting complications, all in all it looks like a fun adventure.

I'm here to post almost daily, (i'm kind of ashamed, but I have no employment yet) so, would you want to know post time NOW or is that like the character stats?

Quick question about the setting-does it have anything thematically/location-wise to do with Serpent's Skull?

It takes place on the same continent? I don't know, I've never played Serpent's Skull.

Definitely, I'm thinking his human upbringing (in his more recent time) will make him definitely more relatable, but I'm HOPING his being there won't be too disruptive, he knows he's generally unwanted and it has made him bitter. But he always ends up helping the same ones who tend to shun him, he does not blame them because his people did the exact same to him. Thats the whole hook I was thinking of bringing in to make him fit with this story.

That's a reason, not a hook. It's a justification for why he doesn't just kill everyone, but it doesn't give him a compelling reason to work with them either. If anything your reason makes him even more of an outsider to the group and it presupposes they'll be jerks to him.

A hook would be something like "I owe a life debt to one of the other PCs" or "I desperately want to be accepted by humans as an equal", "I've sworn my blade to the new Azlant King (or Queen) and I live or die by my word of honor." Something compelling that ties him into the group, not, to put it crudely, an excuse for him to be there.

Any feedback for me? :D

I'll have a look, I remember liking it in general.

I understand now, so should i cook up a reason? You havent accepted anyone yet, and I could either build it off alone or wait and see who's accepted or not.

Update I feel like an A#$, but a more hook-like thing going by what you're saying is he hopes to prove that there are some HobGoblins who are an exception to the rule, and plans on using his joining up with like-minded humanoids of many different races might prove that a Hob Goblin can deviate away from the Tyrannical society they deem the norm, and as a more important reason, so perhaps his acceptance can be a chance for other outcasts of any race to find a place of respite in Azlant.

Quote:

Quick question about the setting-does it have anything thematically/location-wise to do with Serpent's Skull?

It takes place on the same continent? I don't know, I've never played Serpent's Skull.

Ok, cool. Just wanted to make sure that we wouldn't be required to know anything about the events that took place there.

Also, do you have any criticisms of my outline? I'm not entirely new to PbP's, but this is the first one I've tried to sign up for that isn't run by someone I personally know. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The poem I just thought was appropriate, although I see how you'd get a Lovecraft vibe between that and all the dream stuff. While it wasn't my intention, there's no reason why it couldn't be your character's shtick. Maybe constantly dreaming of a goddess gives you insight into the more primeval, terrifying aspects of a being of such power. To her, you are less than insects.

Makes sense to me. She's only just starting to rise again; why wouldn't she be aloof to mortals? She has other things to focus on. Since number of worshippers doesn't correlate to divine power like in other settings, she could be completely cracked and barely even know she has worshippers and still be able to grant spells to them.

Any chance we'd be close to the Doorway to the Red Star? We're pretty low level, but a door between worlds might be of some interest to a newly resurrected deity and it seems like the kind of thing the Azlanti might have built a city near or around.

Looking at the positions needing to be filled in Kingmaker, it seems like there are eleven? That's more than the number of PCs playing the game. Would you consolidate the positions or give PCs multiple responsibilities to compensate?

Any word on how acceptable Asha might be? I can give more on the concept if it is at all interesting to you or perhaps begin work on a new concept if you feel the idea has little merit.

Well hopefully if we need to maybe we could create/have a hand in the creation of certain NPC's to fill in the roles we cannot?

Character Concept:

This as yet unnamed, male protagonist was nine years old when the creation of the Eye of Abendego washed away his home village in the kingdom of Lirgen. While frantically searching for any friends and family among the debris-strewn Sodden Lands, he began having powerful dreams that drove him deeper into the jungle. There he met a grove of druids who were exiles like himself. While they did not live together, they frequently met during the high marks of the moon. They trained him as a druid. He lived on the periphery of the Lirgeni refugees unsuccessfully maintaining his search for any pre-Eye friends and family. His druid colleagues have identified him as an Aasimar from his slow aging and darkvision. They also give him wide berth due to the accuracy of his dreams and frightening seizures when he has them.

Recently, his dreams drove him to meet the other PCs and seek out the temple. After more than 100 years, he has learned to fanatically follow his dreams, no matter where they take him.

Game mechanics: Aasimar (Lirgeni) Saurian Druid with the campaign trait: Without a Home

Any feedback?

cheers

Jubal Breakbottle wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

Any feedback?

cheers

I'd love to see him in-game with reactions and all, hopefully he'll abide an awkwardly friendly Hob-Gob! The druidic backgrounds always interested me alot, and i feel he'll be strongly related to due to his alone/strange nature. (also scalies=one of the most awesome things in Pathfinder.)

Looking at the positions needing to be filled in Kingmaker, it seems like there are eleven? That's more than the number of PCs playing the game. Would you consolidate the positions or give PCs multiple responsibilities to compensate?

Recruiting qualified NPCs to fill those positions is part of the challenge of a Kingmaker campaign.

Any chance we'd be close to the Doorway to the Red Star?

You're pretty close globally, far aware in terms of the Mwangi Expanse. If you pull up the official map of the Mwangi expanse and compare it to the map I have in the Campaign info tab you can see exactly where you are in respect to it.

Edit: I am so far behind on this thing, way more interest than I expected, so if you asked a question or are otherwise waiting for a response from me please be patient as I am trying to get to everyone as fast as I can.

If i could coax my girlfriend to submit a character, would that be okay? I hope she will but, im just checking ahead of time. I feel kind of dirty jumping into this without her ( i plan on incorporating her in some way, even if it's just a minor tidbit in the story or hopefully if she agrees, a full fledged PC) but im just checking to see how everyone feels.

Edit: to clarify i meant my back story, I wont shove her into our Game if she doesnt agree to playing with us, I already feel i'm being overbearing but I hope this just fixes any misunderstanding

For those who were worried about who the likely enemies of your nation would be:

The biggest threat is Usaro. It's the closest settlement to the temple and if you're not familiar with it it's basically a city of demon-worshiper gorilla men, awakened gorillas, demon gorillas, gorilla demons, and every possible combination of gorilla and chaotic/evil you can name. They're not misunderstood noble savages, they're just bloodthirsty hate apes and detailed descriptions of their intentions for you are in violation of obscenity laws. You probably want to put off first contact with these guys as long as possible. Usaro is the reason you're taking the river up from Sargava instead of heading south from one of the northern settlements. You don't want to attract the attention of their scouts.

Then there's Nantambu and Kibwe which are neutral/good and neutral human settlements, respectively. They're both potential allies/rivals/targets of annexation. Nantambu especially would be quite the jewel in your crown. Jaha is a bit further away and Lawful/Neutral and occupies a similar niche.

If you controlled/destroyed all of the settlements above you would pretty much control the entire Mwangi Jungle.

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Okay, now, back to Q & A:

Any feedback?

It's pretty similar to the other druid concept. Nothing really jumps out at you. You've got a cool explanation for Without a Home but from there you just kind of go through the motions. I'd try to come up with some kind of character-defining event for your training but I don't really have a sense of the personality you're going for (which is exactly why such an event would benefit your background). If you give me a sketch of your character's personality/goals I could try and come up with something for you.

The seizure thing would be more appropriate for someone with Dreams of Azlant, his dreams would be minimal and confined to "you and these other people will come together at a temple in the jungle".

Any word on how acceptable Asha might be?

I hate to ask this, but could you repost Asha? I can't find the character concept anywhere and this thread just keeps growing and growing.

I really want to play a badass sorcerer! So, I've come up with a chaotic good, human, sylvan sorc with the enemy of my enemy trait.

His childhood really works for some ideas I had for the game (although few ideas survive 5 minutes of contact with the PCs). You chose the least popular campaign trait so that's always a help. You've got a lot of fun hooks in the same general area of the campaign, so like I said before overall I liked it as-is.

Somewhere around here his connection to the story can be made, with him finding out about the goddess, igniting his desire to fight and unleash punishment on the forces of evil.

That's easy: he keeps having dreams about him and the other PCs in this temple in the jungle, which he knows he could find if he went looking for it. And since he already lives in the vicinity of Sargava, once the other PCs started showing up there he would realize there's something to this dream business.

Alright so here is the basic idea

Primarily raise by a family slave an acting patron of the Goddes and brought the stories of her to Asha as she grew, dreams and stories of Acavna lured her away from her people and there teachings, she abandoned the worship of her family's patron in favor of Acavna, when she found herself truly capable of drawing upon the Goddess' divine power she left her home and sought the surface world to seek the moon's glory.

Asha Neutral Cleric of Acavna with the Darkness(Moon Subdomain) and Protection(Defense Subdomain) Domains.

Trying to keep things tight is a bit hard for me I kept having to rewrite my entry as I just kept adding to it making it more a full back story than an overview.

I'll be going with the Priest of the Dead Goddess trait if i get in.

Here ya go Marvelous! Also quick question is your name a reference to Gokaiger?

If i could coax my girlfriend to submit a character, would that be okay?

I don't like players that are coaxed. If she's going to commit to posting once a day she can submit a character like everyone else, but don't try to coerce her.

I don't like players that are coaxed. If she's going to commit to posting once a day she can submit a character like everyone else, but don't try to coerce her.

No no, it wasnt like that, shes just very shy. But I'll ask her.

One last thing, Is my character particularly interesting or worthwhile so far? Just to be sure he's of similar quality to the better characters posted

Here ya go Marvelous! Also quick question is your name a reference to Gokaiger?

You tell me

Alright so here is the basic idea

Not really a lot to work with. So you character left their faith for Acavna (you didn't say which faith even)... how did this affect their life? Why did your character leave their home? They just discovered they could draw on the moon's power and decided to just go wander off into the night?

What's your motivation? What are your goals? What's important to your character? What formative experiences led them to become the kind of person leaves there home to seek glory in the name of a dead god?

Like I said there's really not a lot to work with. I'd start with dealing with the ramifications of the core event you have.

One last thing, Is my character particularly interesting or worthwhile so far? Just to be sure he's of similar quality to the better characters posted

He needs a thing still, there's not enough to the character for me to have a particular like or dislike to him yet. He certainly has potential, but it's not potential that has been realized as of this moment.

I'll explain what I mean by elevator pitch: the term refers to a really quick summary of the tone and premise of a movie that you could give in the duration of a trip in an elevator, so if you bump into a movie executive in one and he can't escape for that amount of time you can get it all out quickly. You're trying to impress the movie executive with how great your movie is. You want the sizzle. What makes your movie interesting? Why should it be green lit over all the other similar movies? What's the hook that's going to make people want to come see your movie? And get all that out in the time it takes to get to the fifth floor.

Right now your sizzle is "he stoically endures abuse".

The executive chews on his saliva-drenched unlit cigar and asks "and?"

I hate to play favorites like this, and I'm giving no guarantees, but I'm going to list a few of the characters that really fit into the campaign and that I'm strongly considering so people can take the information into consideration when making their own characters. Things are about to get blunt.

Wilhelm has the great synergy of Azlanti Royalty, being a Paladin, and wanting to create a (presumably lawful/good) empire. He'd make a great king and that's the one role you want to make 100% sure is a PC. I'm thinking, unless some other PC with Azlanti Royalty comes whirling in like a hurricane of unfathomable greatness, that he'll be the true heir to the Azlanti throne to give you guys a weird kind of legitimacy (at least in terms of assuming the name of Azlant).

That does not bode well for his neglectful family though.

D-Kal has had a strong presence in the thread, and has a nice solid cleric concept. I'll want to see a bit more, and D-Kal is obviously aware of this having not even named the character yet, but a human Osirian is a solid start, good to get some humans on the team and some presence in Garund never hurts. I like the idea of the dead goddess being his adopted mother, and the "coincidence" of both of his parents being assimar is a nice arrow to have in my quiver in terms of plot hooks. Even as undeveloped as it is there's a lot to work with here, I'm already connecting dots in my head.

The evil dictator Karl Prosek has a neat take on the dreamer trait, taking a Lovecraftian approach to it which is all kinds of interesting. He's also an academic which adds some variety to the team.

I've made no secret that I like Marconi's sorcerer. I spell the country different every time, but it'll be good to have someone who has contacts in Sargava, and being someone who already hates the cult of Nurgal doesn't hurt either. He's bursting with plot hooks and they're all in the general vicinity of your new stomping grounds so it's perfect.

There's a lot of fun characters with Without a Home, I'm probably going to end up grabbing more than one (because I certainly have more slots than traits) but that one for sure is the closest race.

I'm probably going to take maybe 6-7 people since interest is so high and there'll probably be attrition so this list by no means anything is on lockdown. We can still fit in more anything if you have a good idea. But if you have a character who fits a niche that isn't represented here you're going to have a higher chance of getting chosen. Don't forget to check the campaign info tab for the leadership roles.

There, that's as upfront as I've ever been about something like this. Those are my "favorites" right now. I've also explained why I like each one so you can see what I'm looking for. It doesn't mean anyone has dibs on anything or any concepts are off limits, we can have two priests or two royals or two dreamers or two anything. It doesn't mean any of the characters I didn't mention are rejected.

Are certain roles (besides the leader) more important than others? I had the General in mind for my character idea-it seems perfect for a cavalier, both RP-wise and mechanically.

Also, and I hate to bring this up again, but I really would appreciate any sort of commentary on my synopsis. Like I said before, this is the first PbP I've tried to do without my buddies running the campaign, and I'd really like some criticism on my work-even if what I wrote is crap, it'd be useful for future attempts on the forums. I'll repost it below so you don't have to go searching for it. Thanks!

A) Awesome, where did you get the coat(or did you make it? In which case even more awesome)

B) Alright so yeah it looks like my attempt to keep things compact sort of backfired big time heh I'll get to work on trying to fix her up though as I've been rereading things and taking in new information as you post it I might change things up more and go with a different idea.

Are certain roles (besides the leader) more important than others?

The assassin is the least important one because it has no vacancy penalty. The general is a good one for any kind of melee character.

Also, and I hate to bring this up again, but I really would appreciate any sort of commentary on my synopsis

Sorry, don't feel bad for bringing it up again, it must have gotten lost in the shuffle. This thread is crazy and I keep missing things so reminding me never hurts.

Karrin Dibbler

Dibbler is kind of a strange name for a Mwangi tribal family.

This is another backstory without anything really grabby. You justify getting your character out of their village and then just sort of peter off. You don't really have a lot to differentiate your character from any other cavalier. One of the biggest opportunities in your backstory to add some character depth is the relationship with the animal that saves you, but you haven't even decided what that might be.

There's just not a lot to work with. No real plot hooks and not much insight into the character's personality or formative experiences. You need to show what makes your character unique and interesting, or failing that just interesting.

Edit:

Awesome, where did you get the coat(or did you make it? In which case even more awesome)

Little sister got it for me for Christmas.

Would an aasimar be one of those races that would count as human for the royalty trait?

I've put a little more thought in Kaejo, so here goes:

Background Reminder: Kaejo is a Treesinger Druid from the Ekujae tribe in the Mwangi Expanse. He was enslaved by the Aspis Consortium and while there the elder of his tribe was killed protecting him. After being freed by his tribe, he sent himself into exile because of the guilt he feels at being the cause of the elder's death.

New Information: It has been a little bit of time since being freed, but his own self-exile has kept him from returning to his home. Kaejo wants to be part of something greater in order to make up for his perceived faults. He wants to find a new home, and that is why he embraces Acavna and her goals.

Personality: Kaejo will be somewhat naive about civilized life outside of the Ekujae tribe and his experience with the Aspis Consortium. But he will be trusting of those who share the same goals as himself. He still feels guilty about the loss of his tribe's elder and will devote himself fully to protecting his companions.

I welcome feedback! Kaejo could use a lot more development, I think, but often for me that comes through roleplay. I start to get a feel for a character while playing him. But I'm happy to try and answer some questions and develop him more now.

Ok, I guess I can try and bolster Shams' case a bit :). He's very much a 'soft power' kind of individual and would want there to be as many allies as possible for the re-ascension of Avacna and the reemergence of Azlant. I think the way I'm imagining him fits a good place in the combat level as a support character and the empire building level as the diplomat wanting to build alliances and convince the surrounding good regions to join with the new empire especially in opposition to the demons in the area. Certainly the campaign calls for a good diplomat. And all of this fits his backstory as well as he sees no reason why the lunar Avacna (of his dream homeland) and the solar Saranrae (of his physical one) can't get along. Of course the repercussions at the god level is the business of the gods (or more accurately the GMs) rather than the PCs but at the ground level New Azlant can be either allied with some of the regional powers or hostile to all of them and a good diplomat can swing it one way or the other.

He also would want the worship of Avacna to spread and being a bard is well suited to making it so that stories and songs about Avacna get some traction in the wider world. Hopefully that means pilgrims and more citizens and more money for the new empire. Cultural victory in Civ basically.

It's also I think a very interesting thing how differently my character and Karl's reacted to the same dreams. Of course my character is more a poet and would accept the dreams at the intuitive level but an academic would want to poke and pry for the logical meanings beneath the goddesses sendings which for humans leads to darker places (especially with Avacna's opposition to the aboleths thrown in). Some good roleplay possibilities there maybe between the two characters.

Do you think the backstory needs more hooks? I gave him a pretty comfortable upbringing and a NG disposition which is a bit dull by its nature. The transition from two very different regions with completely opposite themes (sun vs moon) being the interesting part of it I felt. I could make it a bit more roguish with him basically defrauding some of his patrons in order to get the money he needed to make his trip and also I had the idea of a jilted lover that had always accused him of 'loving the moon more than her' which is kinda confirmed by him just taking off. Maybe a minor deal but crazy girlfirends can get pretty crazy.

The contradiction between Saranrae and Nurgal as aspects of the sun is also something interesting that Shams would have to struggle with.

The biggest threat is Usaro. It's the closest settlement to the temple and if you're not familiar with it it's basically a city of demon-worshiper gorilla men, awakened gorillas, demon gorillas, gorilla demons, and every possible combination of gorilla and chaotic/evil you can name. They're not misunderstood noble savages, they're just bloodthirsty hate apes and detailed descriptions of their intentions for you are in violation of obscenity laws. You probably want to put off first contact with these guys as long as possible. Usaro is the reason you're taking the river up from Sargava instead of heading south from one of the northern settlements. You don't want to attract the attention of their scouts.

This is awesome. Robert E. Howard meets H.P. Lovecraft. I love this, even if the Dark Tapestry stuff only in my character's head.

Regarding the council positions, one of the ways that the Kingmaker AP made it possible to fill the council with NPCs at the beginning of the kingdom was by giving the party a lot of resident NPCs to pick from and develop relationships with over the course of the first 4 levels. I'm wondering where our NPCs are going to come from. There presumably won't be a handy-dandy trading post and/or restored temple (other than our own) nearby to poach NPCs from. I see that you mentioned a couple of Mwangi villages, but it's hard to imagine us going in and getting good candidates for the Marshal or Treasurer cold.

Unless I'm missing a step? I'm assuming since we're starting at level 4 we'll already be at the kingdom building stage when we start the game. Is that incorrect?