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The Story…
Loyal Subjects of the Nation of Ambervale, hear this decree! The heir, your Crown Princess Amberlae, is missing. The circumstances surrounding the event are not known. The Crown commands that all of able body are to search for the Princess. To those who can present her in the throne room, the sum of 25,000 gp. To those who bring the Princess home, titles.
Please...find our daughter.
The island nation of Ambervale. Built on the ancient ruins of older, long lost societies, the island is far enough from other lands to generally be untroubled by other nations’ conflicts. But it’s own cluster of noble houses certainly make up for it by keeping the throne on it’s toes with constant threats of rebellion and war. Raiders from other lands keep the nation tentatively united. Natural resources and ancient artifacts make it wealthy.
But now, the nation’s most precious treasure is missing - Princess Amberlae, heir to her mother's throne, is missing. The tales told the by the palace servants claim there was some kind of fight, and now the Princess and her protectors are missing. The Queen and King are frantic with concern, and have pressed every one in the nation into find their daughter with promises of both gold and titles.
Thousands will be looking for the Princess. But not all of them have fine intentions…
Our tale begins in the early hours, when a strange awakening happens at the Gentle Ambler's Rest...
Themes
This game will be more of a game of political intrigue, backbiting and diplomacy than your usual game of Pathfinder. High Court Politics will make up much of the game.
The idea here is to first find the Princess, and hopefully become her inner circle, protectors and teachers in a world of harsh politics and brutal enemies. Or maybe you’ll be the ones in control, masters of a puppet Queen...
Of course, you still get to boot down a door, kill the orc and loot his things from the 10x10 room. But in this case it might be because you’re getting revenge for your mistress’ honour after the Orc ambassador insulted her. There will be plenty of adventure, but it will usually involve a little more planning than everyday adventurers need to use.
As a result, I strongly suggest that characters have at least some social skills. Which isn’t to say that all the characters need to be diplomatic genius’, but the terse wizard who prefers study and the savage barbarian who just wants to break stuff will be seen as weaknesses by many, and targeted by the more socially vicious.
Which can be fun too…
How The Games Will Work
Other than a stronger focus on social situations, the main thing will be the Princess. It’s your job not just to protect her (and trust me, that is no simple task) but to to raise her in the ways of the court and as a Lady. Of course, how you do this will affect exactly what kind of Princess (and eventually, ruler) will emerge.
It is entirely possible to make choices that result in a weak, easily controlled lady who you can rule from the shadows. Or a powerful, forceful queen who ignores your advice. You might as well assume a little message pops up when you make a choice, The Princess Will Remember That because it’s not just how you interact with her, but with others, that will create her Highness.
As for the game itself...this won’t be as long as a Paizo module. Nor will be it shorter than, say, three modules. I imagine this will about 4-5 modules in length, but it’ll vary depending on choices. Explore your characters and the NPC’s and we might push it to six books worth of goodies. Keep to the main plot and you’ll probably get four. I’m expecting about five, but we’ll see.
Each ‘Book’ will also be about a year in game, either by time skips or travel or various delays in such things. This does mean crafters will have a chance to make shiny things.
Game Background
Here are some details about the game’s setting. Although set in Golarion for ease, it’s far enough away from the various main areas that they won’t be especially relevant. The majority of the game will be set on Ambervale, an island nation roughly the same size as the UK. Characters are welcome to come from other areas of the world, as there backstory sees fit (read - Ninjas, Gunslingers and Ninja-Gunslingers, all welcome).
None of this is essential to character generation, but characters of a Noble background or whose backstory heavily involves Ambervale should give it a glance.
The climate ranges, from borderline tropical on the most southern isles to borderline temperate in the most northern reaches. The various farmlands are capable of producing sufficient food for the population, although famines have occurred on several occasions. Sea food is also common, especially in the coastal and island areas.
The Northern, cooler areas with the heavier farmlands tend to be more developed and civilized than the southern areas, which while warmer lack the soil to grow crops and are based more heavily on a hunter-gatherer life style. Towns down there are reliant on shipments of food and heavier fishing.
The western coast of the island is heavily forested, and covered in mountains. Several of the mountains are active volcanoes, and certain tales tell of a doom to befall the island when all of the chain erupts as one, burying the island and all who live on her shores. Only the city of Centreshore allows passage from the western side of the island.
The Eastern coastline is the most moderate areas, but wracked by heavy season storms.
When a Monarch dies without a direct heir, the matter of who rules is placed as a vote between the thirteen families, with each putting forth a candidate. If no clear victor can be found, quickly, this often erupts into a Succession War. This can also happen within the Houses themselves, although on a much smaller scale, and it is considered an act of treason for another House to involve themselves in such a matter.
Houses are only partially blood relatives - in reality two members of a Houses may not be related by blood, and most families contain several races. A House is essentially a smaller version of the nation itself - dozens of lesser hours serving under their House banner.
House Archaos - The current rules of the Island, led by Queen Ambervash. Known for their holdings in the south and middle realms of the island, the family came to power during a Succession War. The brutal Archon Guard were a key to winning the war, and have helped to keep the family in power for two hundred years. They rules from the capital of Valeshti in the middle of the island.
House Traegoh - With lands located primarily in the North-East the Traegoh are currently the main rivals to the Archaos. There lands are more stable than most, but smaller. Proud and powerful, they vie to be in position to claim the Throne when the time comes, and rumours abound that they hasten that time.
House Larensh - Masters of the mountains and forests on the West coast. Minerals, both precious and mundane, and lumber are there primary trade. They begrudge the shared control over Centreshore with Garesh, but are not in a position to do much about it.
House Kahlavest - Known for their magical talent and sorcerous bloodlines, Kahlavest are often involved in magical affairs. It was during their last reign that a series of magical academies, meant to study all magical arts and train new casters of all kinds. It is rumoured that almost every member of the House has at least some magical ability.
House Umvarell - A family of crafters and close allies to Family Larenshi. There lands are scattered across the South West and the Southern Archipelago. They forge the finest weapons. Many members of the family are Dwarves or Dwarf blooded.
House Garesh - Garesh are a clan of sailors and merchants. Their holdings are the majority of the Islands belonging to Ambervale. Relations have been strained with House Larenshi, driving the prices of lumber of quality high enough to meet the Garesh’s demand pricey, and occasionally unavailable.
The Empyreal Lord Valani is popularly worshipped, either for his command of storms or his teachings on Volcanos. Ylimancha is also often worshipped.
Gozreh is also commonly worshipped, as the island has many natural issues. Both storms and the sea are potent in the area.
The Pirate Queen Besmara is also commonly worshipped among some of the less lawful inhabitants, especially pirates and smugglers.
The darker residents of the island sometimes worship Rasvocel, while the nihilistic call on Roqorolos.
Crunch
Generation Method: 25 Point buy
Level: You will be starting at fifth level.
Funds: The usual wealth be level, 10,500gp. Crafter characters cannot use this to get shiny stuff.
Resources: All Paizo Material is acceptable. I’m open to Third-Party material, but will have to be able to read it over. Rogue/Super Genius Games and Dreamscarred Press’ Psionics are allowed, and Drop Dead Studio’s Spheres of Power system is strongly encouraged over the usual Vancian casting.
Traits: You get two Traits, one from the list below. You may select a third Trait with a Drawback.
Variant Rules: We will be using the Background Skills system and the Stamina rules from Unchained. Fighters get the Combat Stamina feat for free. Other martial characters can acquire it from any bonus feats they may get, such as a Cavalier’s usual bonus feats. Variant Multiclassing is also allowed.
Gestalt - Gestalt rules essentially allow you to merge two classes, taking the best of both in terms of BAB, hit points, skill points and saves, and the unique class features (such as spellcasting, rage, sneak attack and the like). More details can be found Here if you’re not familiar with the system.
Outlander: You were born somewhere other than Ambervale, and people forgive you the occasional gaff.
Benefit: Failing a diplomatic roll will not change the mood of the subject for the worse or count it against you...sometimes. Roll a d10 - on a five or more nothing changes. Each failure you’ve already suffered adds a -1 penalty to this roll. You can only get away with so much.
Nobleborn: Your are born of the Nobility. Your training and wealth reflects this.
Benefit: Knowledge (Nobility) and Diplomacy both receives a +1, and one becomes a class skill. In addition, you gain an additional thousand gold pieces, and continue to receive this stipend at each level up.
Lowborn: Your were born a simple member of the nation, but that means you’ve survived famine and plagues.
Benefit: Gain a +1 to Fortitude or Will. You also gain Knowledge (Local) as a class skill.
Milita: You have been trained as a member of the island’s militia since your were a child, and perhaps went even further.
Benefit: Choose a specific type of Shield or Armour. You gain a suit of this armour 900gp worth of enhancements in terms of additions or materials, and reduce the ACP by 1 and Spell Failure for this by five.
Speaker of the Cant: You have...relations...with the thieves of the nation. You know there secret tongue and signs, and have picked up certain skills.
Benefit: You understand the secret language Thieve’s Cant, and gain a +1 bonus to Sleight of Hand, Stealth and Disable Device
Academy Trained: You have attended one of several magical academies, and have picked up a few interesting tricks.
Benefit: As a favoured class bonus, you may gain a new spell or Sphere Talent every two levels.
Dungeon Diver: You have spent time within one of the ancient ruins on the island, and have both the knowledge and the trophies as proof.
Benefit: Gain an item worth 2100gp or less, and Knowledge (Dungeoneering) becomes a class skill.
Good luck, and enjoy.
Sigh. If only this weren't gestalt. Oh well. I wish those chosen and your GM a fun time.
Dot.
What are you looking for in backstories? Are out characters supposed to be associated with the nobility fron the onset? Is about three paragraphs ok for length?
Not totally sure I'll enter - seeing how some stuff pans out - but I'm pondering an Incanter/Shifter character, perhaps a creation of House Khalavest whose services are being donated to the Crown as a gesture of goodwill and solidarity.
Inspiration picture: Here.
Sigh. If only this weren't gestalt. Oh well. I wish those chosen and your GM a fun time.
I'm only intending on a four person party, and want to make sure you have all the bases covered to at least some point. Still, it's nice to hear the basic premise works! Sure I can't tempt you into trying Gestalt?
I've been tempted thanks. I like the idea of it mote than I like the building of it.
EDIT: And what can I say. I'm a Princess Maker Fan
Ooooh. I really like this idea! I have an idea for a paladin/shaman if you would like me to join. It would be my first PBP but hey I'm a quick learner...
I would really like to join.... Like really really
...this sounds rather fascinating, and very well thought-out. I'm unsure as to whether the PBP format would make a social/intrigue game easier, or harder. I like the idea of locking the game to a small-ish landmass; any larger and many games get unwieldy.
Question, what races are allowed?
I think I'd like to play Irra Sarusek, a grim and serious member of the island's military/militia who goes off to save the princess while on leave. She'll then hopefully find herself in a difficult position as almost a go-between for the military and the princess, with semi-divided loyalties. Could also take the role of instructing the princess on the matters and practices of war.
Name: Sergeant Irra Sarusek
Race: Female Gnome
Alignment: LG
Class: Bard (Sound Striker)/Oracle (Heavens Mystery, Legalistic Curse)
Backstory: The family Sarusek fled a conflict on a nearby landmass, and were allowed to settle in Ambervale when Irra was a very young child. Her father was an astronomer and her mother a barmaid who nursed a strong Desnan faith. Their child proved grimmer and more duty-bound than either parent, volunteering when she came of age to join the militia, rising to the rank of sergeant on the back of her effectiveness and the grudging respect owed by her men. When word came that the princess was missing while Irra was on leave at her family home, she donned her armor and went out to join the search.
Backstory (abilities): From her mother, Irra learnt how to sing, as well as how to polish her voice to a fine point and reach incredible notes. To her mother's mild dismay but eventual respect, she learnt to apply those talents to the battlefield, supporting and protecting her men. Her parents also gave her a childhood which made her an ample vessel for some heavenly power. Being raised learning to track the mechanical movement of the stars with her father and the corresponding prophetic meaning of that movement with her mother lead to her later in life being struck by a falling star while out one night. It left her miraculously unharmed, but ever-after a vessel for some heavenly power, as well as some outside power binding her to her oaths even more than she already bound herself.
Personality: Dutiful, stern, tough, honorable, yellingly maternal, dislikes lying, ascetic
Trait: Militia
Sheet: later
I have no issues with a first timer. We all had to start somewhere, after all, and from what I can see you write the words better than me (but so does just about everyone...I'm a bad English speaking person).
Just take a quick think and make sure you can contribute a few lines of text a day and an awful lot of thinking. If you can feel free to apply.
My way of doing these is to run these application threads for 7-10 days and picking the applications I like most, so even applying won't guarantee a place, but it does often make fun and interesting characters for use in other places.
I've been wondering about Spheres of Power, would be interesting to try a game with that system. Thinking about a Fighter (Brawler)/Oracle of Battle; her primary concern would be toughening the princess up and turning her into a powerful and respected warrior queen.
How are non-human races generally treated in this setting? I'm considering making the character a half-orc but for the concept to work she'd need to be a woman of status who already has a degree of respect prior to the campaign beginning.
Well, my character idea's been coming along nicely. XD I'll get to writing up the personality and backstory after dinner.
It's going to be SO nice when the HL files for Spheres finally comes out...
And once more I'm going to attempt to join one of your games!
I'm thinking a Sphere-casting Bard/Monk. Either going non-unchained Martial Artist monk or unchained monk, not sure just yet. Inspired by Leliana from the Dragon Age series if she had stayed an Orliesian bard and the music of Lindsey Stirling. She'll use a violin and attack mainly with her feet while she plays.
This sounds like my kind of game! Political intrigue is my favorite.
Time to think up a character and get the ball rolling. Is Path of War an acceptable resource?
Oh and how old is this Princess? Are we going to have to be dealing with things like marriage canidates, or is she too young for such things yet?
Would you mind a non Gestalt character?
Okay this sounds amazing, and I want in.
I've got a character I'd had developing for a while that I absolutely must bring in for this.
Here's hoping you don't have an objection to me being in your game.
I've got a Changeling Haunted Oracle (Mystery not yet chosen)/Spiritualist in mind. Would that be alright, given the setting? (And yes, they come from the same ghost.)
Oh, are you going to do the feat-at-every-level that a lot of people do in gestalt games?
I've been wondering about Spheres of Power, would be interesting to try a game with that system. Thinking about a Fighter (Brawler)/Oracle of Battle; her primary concern would be toughening the princess up and turning her into a powerful and respected warrior queen.
How are non-human races generally treated in this setting? I'm considering making the character a half-orc but for the concept to work she'd need to be a woman of status who already has a degree of respect prior to the campaign beginning.
Generally well. A couple of the Houses look down on such people, but there are quite a few Half-Orcs in House Archaos' Archon Guard, and as such they're generally accepted by the populace. Orcs themselves are reasonably rare these days, other than as pirates and raiders, which helps.
Well, my character idea's been coming along nicely. XD I'll get to writing up the personality and backstory after dinner.
It's going to be SO nice when the HL files for Spheres finally comes out...
Rednal!? Who invited you?
Gestalt
Oh, right...
Nice to see you. But since I don't use Hero-Labs, I know not your suffering.
And once more I'm going to attempt to join one of your games!
I'm thinking a Sphere-casting Bard/Monk. Either going non-unchained Martial Artist monk or unchained monk, not sure just yet. Inspired by Leliana from the Dragon Age series if she had stayed an Orliesian bard and the music of Lindsey Stirling. She'll use a violin and attack mainly with her feet while she plays.
Sounds cool. It is possible to make an unchained Martial Artist, if you like? Also, you better play 'Shatter Me' when you kick someone's jaw into pieces.
This sounds like my kind of game! Political intrigue is my favorite.
Time to think up a character and get the ball rolling. Is Path of War an acceptable resource?
Yes, but you'll need to explain it to me. I just can't get into reading Path of War for some reason.
Would you mind a non Gestalt character?
If the concept is good, although I recommend Gestalt to keep up with the others. If you need a hand with a character, I'm happy to help, or we can possibly talk about a Template or Variant Multiclass based solution.
Okay this sounds amazing, and I want in.
I've got a character I'd had developing for a while that I absolutely must bring in for this.
Here's hoping you don't have an objection to me being in your game.
I've got a Changeling Haunted Oracle (Mystery not yet chosen)/Spiritualist in mind. Would that be alright, given the setting? (And yes, they come from the same ghost.)
Ack, you as well?
Yeah, Haunted Oracle/Spirtualist sounds good. Haunting Regret would, potentially, make a cool drawback for it depending on the story.
Oh, are you going to do the feat-at-every-level that a lot of people do in gestalt games?
No, I'm scared enough as it is.
~~~~
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention - I only included Six of the Noble Houses for a reason. Feel free to create connections to the to the others if you want.
Also, I'm flexible. If you want something a little unusual, we can discuss it, but I make no promises.
It seems I edited my post while you were replying, sorry about that. So I'll ask again, how old of a Princess are we dealing with? Is it possible for my character to have been a playmate of hers as children? Or is she too young?
Plan on using a lot of her songs, though I was really inspired by her video Shadows when she starts dancing with her shadow while still playing her violin.
Also, how would we make a martial artist unchained monk?
Rogue. If I feel I'm up to it I may gestalt a wizard. I'm thinking a spy master type looking to be the man whispering in the future Queen's ear.
Any quick thoughts on my character?
Dot
Okay, so, a more detailed plan for the character, after I've given it some thought:
In truth, Lady Karnelia hides a dark secret: She is not at all who she claims to be. The true Lady Karnelia was snatched away in the night by an insidious hag, and replaced with the hag's own offspring, a halfling.
In truth, the woman people believe to be Lady Karnelia wants nothing more than to abandon this question of noblesse and depart on a journey of adventures, to see the world beyond the seas. However, she holds herself to a debt of honor towards someone.
As a young teenager, she had been called by the otherworldly voice of her hag mother, but rescued from becoming such an abomination by the presence of a curious specter: The spirit of the lost child, fearing for the sole remaining trace of her existence on Golarion manifested to warn her away from this danger.
Thankful, Lady Karnelia promised the specter to one day return her rightful titles and life to her. In the meantime, Lady Karnelia does what she can to uphold the lie, as being revealed as a changeling would certainly cost her her titles, and with those, all hopes of one day accomplishing her goals.
To make a long story short: Lady Karnelia is a changeling who was substituted for the daughter of House Traegoh nobles. She has bonded with the spirit of their true daughter, after the latter saved her from becoming a hag herself. In return for being saved from this fate, she has promised to one day find a way to return the true daughter to life, and give herself the freedom to set out and live her own life as an adventurer, outside of Ambervale.
How's that sound, GM?
Mechanics-wise, Lady Karnelia is a Changeling Spiritualist with a Fear Phantom, and an Haunted Oracle of the Occult Mystery. Her phantom, henceforth known as "Little Sister", will be focused on stealth and delivering touch spells, in addition to subtly assisting in social situations.
Question, Jon: Would you allow this third party Changeling racial trait for Changelings?
Inscrutable (Blood Hag): The Sense Motive check DC to gain a hunch about the changeling increases by 5.
Oh, Indescribable, if you don't want to gestalt, they made new Simple Class Templates, which basically give you a lesser version of the Core Classes as racial templates. Most are +1 CR so no real game-breakers, though some like the monk template can really make a character powerful.
Oh thanks. Could you tell me where to look? But I probably will greatly. It's occurred to me I have a wizard in the works and gestalting that will be easy when compared to starting from scratch.
It seems I edited my post while you were replying, sorry about that. So I'll ask again, how old of a Princess are we dealing with? Is it possible for my character to have been a playmate of hers as children? Or is she too young?
Yeah, I got...a lot of posts. Why won't you stop posting, I cried, Why can I never hit send!? The Princess is currently 16 years old, and if you were a Noble then you could have been.
Plan on using a lot of her songs, though I was really inspired by her video Shadows when she starts dancing with her shadow while still playing her violin.
Also, how would we make a martial artist unchained monk?
The magic of third party! I have Purple Duck Games' Unchained Monk Archetypes and am willing to share it's secrets.
Rogue. If I feel I'm up to it I may gestalt a wizard. I'm thinking a spy master type looking to be the man whispering in the future Queen's ear.
OK, sounds cool. Arcane Trickster without the Suck.
Any quick thoughts on my character?
I'm digesting it a little, but what's there is a solid concept. Sound Strikers are fun, and for once I suspect we'll see plenty of Rogues and Bard, which is kinda sweet.
As for races, I'm open to most of them. Essentially assume Ambervale is mini-Golarion. There are probably even a few Androids somewhere.
Okay, so, a more detailed plan for the character, after I've given it some thought:
** spoiler omitted **
To make a long story short: Lady Karnelia is a changeling who was substituted for the daughter of House Traegoh nobles. She has bonded with the spirit of their true daughter, after the latter saved her from becoming a hag herself. In return for being saved from this fate, she has promised to one day find a way to return the true daughter to life, and give herself the freedom to set out and live her own life as an adventurer, outside of Ambervale.
How's that sound, GM?
Mechanics-wise, Lady Karnelia is a Changeling Spiritualist with a Fear Phantom, and an Haunted Oracle of the Occult Mystery. Her phantom, henceforth known as "Little...
Sounds pretty solid. You'll need to give some thought as to how things will work if you manage to bring Little Sister back, since it won't be out of your reach for long (and possibly isn't now, at level 5).
"By the order of House Khalavest, I have come to serve the Royal Family. You may command my services as you desire."
Ellara is the result of considerable research by House Khalavest - while extremely human in her basic appearance, the truth is that she's closer to being a homonculus. Through various magical processes, they combined the life energies of several of the House's more powerful magicians and used that to generate a baby in a sorceress who emphasized healing powers (and was thus judged far safer to put an experiment in - she volunteered).
Even before birth, House Khalavest was busy experimenting on Ellara, infusing her with the innate magical energy that would later become the basis of her powers - and the experiments continued after her birth, through her childhood, and right into her adolescence. At that point, they finally decided to stop and see what had happened.
As it turned out... quite a lot.
Ellara's most notable power is her mastery of shapeshifting. She's capable of transforming her body in an almost frightening variety of ways, with everything from sprouting wings to changing size to even converting her body into elemental energy. This allows her to adjust to differing situations in mere moments, taking whatever form is most useful for the task at hand. In combat, her specialty is a rapid series of strikes with natural weapons that she spontaneously grows from her body.
Outside of her rapidly-shifting physical form, Ellara's talents are relatively diverse. She's capable of unleashing destructive blasts (including converting them into force or sonic noise to help get around resistances), and her abilities in Divination are a great help for finding hidden things.
She was also infused with healing energies, including a store of healing power she tries to keep topped-up as often as possible. This allows her to heal herself or others at a moment's notice, and her sudden regeneration of power has often come as a nasty surprise to those who've fought her in combat. Finally, just to screw with people, she was given the ability to generate magical armor for herself and teleport short distances.
Of course, while it's full of researchers, House Khalavest is NOT full of idiots, and they were perfectly aware of the trouble that could be caused if such a powerful experiment went rogue. Accordingly, from an early age, they were careful to drill the values and teachings of society into her, and as a result she's loyal to her house, then the Royal Family, then Ambervale as a whole (in that order).
As a gesture of loyalty towards the Crown, House Khalavest has recently given Ellara's services to the Royal Family, to be used in whatever capacity they desire. This is both a test of her abilities in real-world scenarios and a way of emphasizing that while they may do interesting and dangerous research, the house is not (currently) opposing the throne.
-------------------------------
Class: Incanter 5/Shifter (Beastmind) 5
Abilities: Wisdom-focused.
Skills: Decent spread. Good in Perception and Sense Motive, which I feel are useful in intrigue situations. XD She can give herself bonuses to disguises, too, if need be.
SPHERES
Alteration (B)
-Avian Transformation
-Bestial Reflexes
-Dragon Transformation
-Elemental Transformation
-Greater Transformation (B)
-Size Change
-Drawback: Lycanthropic
Destruction
-Force Blast
-Thunder Blast
Divination
-Blindfolded Oracle
Life
-Fount of Life
-Greater Healing
Protection
-Armored Magic (B)
-Drawback: Protected Soul
Warp
-Emergency Teleport
-Extradimensional Storage
-------------------------
Spheres Known Breakdown:
TOTAL: 17 (not counting bonuses)
Incanter: 10 (+1 Bonus)
2 (Base)
8 (Level)
Armored Magic (from Protected Soul Drawback)
Shifter: 5 (+2 Bonus)
2 (Base)
3 (Level)
Alteration (Bonus)
Greater Transformation (from Lycanthropic Drawback)
Academy Trained Trait: 2
2 (5 FCB, gaining 1 every two of these)
Drawbacks:
Alteration:
-Lycanthropic
Protection:
-Protected Soul
My first thought on that:
1. There's no body.
2. Even if there was a body, it died about twenty years ago.
3. The spirit is more of an emotional trace of the person Lady Karnelia could have been than the actual ghost of the deceased.
In short, a magical ritual to bring her to life would require constructing a body from scratch, one adapted to the spirit's development, developing the emotional trace into a full soul, and bonding said soul to the body.
I imagine such a ritual would be prohibitively costly. Likely, only a large favor from the ruler of a small nation could provide enough wealth to actually perform such a ritual. (See what I did there?)
Therefore, it would probably be the conclusion of Lady Karnelia's character arc, as opposed to a mid campaign development.
Took a look at it, and I admit I'm intrigued by it. If you can toss the archetype my way, I'll take a look at what I can put together.
Badabing badaboom. Here we go, this guy has a lot of potential (I feel at least) for bonding with the princess in sort of an "Don't make the same mistakes I did" sorta way. (He did a bit more to get his family to dislike him than simply being scarred and costing them Ransome but I feel that is best implemented when the game actually starts)
Name:Martyear Safan
Race:male half elf
Class:Sacred shield paladin/life shaman
He was held captive for 3 weeks as the brigands where negotiating with his family. Every week they would punish him, leaving marks that would never fully heal. Scarred both physacly and mentally, he went to live on his own as soon as he turned 15 to get away from the looks his scars brought about.
In doing this he found that the adventuring life came easily to martyear. Paladinhood came naturally as well due to his gruf but caring approach to most situations.
Upon arriving in Ambervale and hearing of the princesses similar situation he is now joined in an attempt to save the poor girl before she meets his same fate.
personality: grumpy, irritable, understanding, consideret
Edit: WOW something akin to 15 minutes looking at that for typos and after posting I relize how strong my capitalization is!
Most of a character
Well...that's most of a character. Four hours after posting the thread. I'm kinda intimidated. Maybe a little turned on? Mostly intimidated.
My first thought on that:
1. There's no body.
2. Even if there was a body, it died about twenty years ago.
3. The spirit is more of an emotional trace of the person Lady Karnelia could have been than the actual ghost of the deceased.In short, a magical ritual to bring her to life would require constructing a body from scratch, one adapted to the spirit's development, developing the emotional trace into a full soul, and bonding said soul to the body.
I imagine such a ritual would be prohibitively costly. Likely, only a large favor from the ruler of a small nation could provide enough wealth to actually perform such a ritual. (See what I did there?)
Therefore, it would probably be the conclusion of Lady Karnelia's character arc, as opposed to a mid campaign development.
OK, that sounds reasonable. Of course, if others learn about it, such things might be used against you...
Took a look at it, and I admit I'm intrigued by it. If you can toss the archetype my way, I'll take a look at what I can put together.
I'll pop it over via PM in a bit.
Badabing badaboom. Here we go, this guy has a lot of potential (I feel at least) for bonding with the princess in sort of an "Don't make the same mistakes I did sorta way. (He did a bit more to get his family to dislike him than simply being scarred and costing them Ransome but I feel that is best implemented when the game actually starts.
name:martyear safan
race:male half elf
class:sacred shield paladin/life shaman** spoiler omitted **
personality: grumpy, irritable, understanding, consideret
Cool concept. On the final form, though, please make sure to use full punctuation. It's a pet peeve of mine, I'm afraid.
Sorry about that, this was posted using a phone so it took about 30 minutes to get to that point.
No worries, I understand the pain of phone typing. Hence why I take my laptop to work.
...that, and all my games are on it.
*Holds up the magical software that lets characters be created much faster*
I cheated. XD
*Holds up the magical software that lets characters be created much faster*
I cheated. XD
True, but still a little scary.
I have a question. Do you ever allow the Flaw/Feat system? Its from the same book as Gestalt.
What races are allowed?
I have a question. Do you ever allow the Flaw/Feat system? Its from the same book as Gestalt.
What races are allowed?
Anything reasonably sensible.
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the Flaw/Feat system, although I can imagine the basic idea behind it. You get a Flaw in exchange for a feat? I sometimes allow folks to use Christina Styles' Major Drawbacks which do the same thing. So long as you don't try to cheese it up you can use that, or possibly link me to Flaw/Feat?
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm
Also with third party do you permit some 3.5 stuff? I was thinking of doing a Monk/Sorcerer(Empyreal) and I was thinking AoMF with guided.
Okay, I am thinking of a young nobleman (likely from House Kahlavest) who spent his childhood years running about with the Princess and being a bit of well liked nuisance among the other nobility. When his father died his mother blamed House Archaos for the man's death (a man -and possibly a spy- who was often whispered to be more loyal to Archaos than his own house) and took her son away from his friendships and ties to the Archaos. His new home was silent and cold, his mother withdrawn and caught up in her fanatic worship of a new god every week. It was then that he was brought under the wing of his late father's personal bodyguard, a stoic, haunted man with many talents and skills. As his training progressed he took trips with the older man, gaining valuable real world experience.
It was during one of these trips that he heard of the Princess's kidnapping. He runs away from home and his responsibilites, as he has grown bitter towards his mother and lonely in their empty manor, he has nothing but his fond memories of his time with the Princess and the skills entrusted to him by his mentor. He feels a twinge of guilt for leaving the other man behind, but he has no thought of reward, he only wants freedom - for the Princess... and for himself. -
As you may have noticed, this character has no name as of yet!
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm
Also with third party do you permit some 3.5 stuff? I was thinking of doing a Monk/Sorcerer(Empyreal) and I was thinking AoMF with guided.
I allow 3.5 stuff with the same caveat as third party, that I get to check it out. You can use Guided if you like. That's one SAD Monk/Sorcerer.
I'll look at Flaws when I get a few minutes. I wanna go eat now.
As you may have noticed, this character has no name as of yet!
I can build a whole character before naming them. Names are hard.
OK, that sounds reasonable. Of course, if others learn about it, such things might be used against you...
Yes, yes they might. That's sort of the point.
OK, that sounds reasonable. Of course, if others learn about it, such things might be used against you...Yes, yes they might. That's sort of the point.
Goooood.
So, I have a day off tomorrow, so expect some progress on the character by then.
If you're allowing the Major Drawbacks, I might take Frail. It seems fitting to my vision of the character.
Dot. Got a character idea from a while ago that I'd love to scratch together.
Dot for interest.
Got an idea, but will need time to work on it.
Gah, I know I should be playing a caster of some sort in a Gestalt game, but the more I think about it the more I REALLY don't want to. I'm a martial girl at heart, and I'm already playing a Sorcerer and a Bard in two other games... the character concept I have would best be built with a Fighter // Swashbuckler chassis but that is really doubling down on damage without bringing much else to the table. :/
Quick question for the GM: Would it be okay to count the Brawler Fighter's Close Combatant ability as Weapon Training (Close)? I'm specifically looking for the ability to take the Advanced Weapon Training feat. I wouldn't be able to swap Weapon Trainings out to get the ability for free obviously but being able to take it at least once to pick up Versatile Training for Intimidate and Sense Motive would definitely help.
Gah, I know I should be playing a caster of some sort in a Gestalt game, but the more I think about it the more I REALLY don't want to. I'm a martial girl at heart, and I'm already playing a Sorcerer and a Bard in two other games... the character concept I have would best be built with a Fighter // Swashbuckler chassis but that is really doubling down on damage without bringing much else to the table. :/
Quick question for the GM: Would it be okay to count the Brawler Fighter's Close Combatant ability as Weapon Training (Close)? I'm specifically looking for the ability to take the Advanced Weapon Training feat. I wouldn't be able to swap Weapon Trainings out to get the ability for free obviously but being able to take it at least once to pick up Versatile Training for Intimidate and Sense Motive would definitely help.
Casting is not required. There are plenty more tricks in the sea. I would suggest being good at something other than hitting things in the face, though. Gestalt always feels a little wasted if it's just to make a doomsday build.
It's almost 6AM here, so can you run me through exactly what you intend to do with Advanced Weapon Training? Cheers.
would 3.5's warlock or warmage be allowed?
Ooh. How fitting
would 3.5's warlock or warmage be allowed?
Warmage, yes, although you'll either need an updated spell list or to use the Spheres system. I'm not familiar with Warlocks and will take a look when I have a few minutes.