Male Dhampir (Moroi-Born) White Necromancer 7/Archmage 2 | hp 51/51 (healthy), AC 12, touch 10, ff 12, CMD 15 | Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +7, various bonuses | Init -1, Perception +2, low-light, darkvision (mythic power 7/7)
Markus instantly snaps awake, climbing out of bed. Somehow he's intimidating even in his pajamas, and his red eyes pierce the space between him and Inquisitor Corum.
This was... an understandable predicament, but that didn't make their prejudice any more evident, and that was the part that made him upset.
"Inquisitor, I must tell you that Annabelle has refused feedings the last few times I've brought it up to her. I don't understand why she would refuse my own blood but then go hunting immediately afterward."
"Not only that, but Valaria has a point. Anyone with the knowledge that Annabelle is here would have incentive to leave evidence that it was her."
Markus fidgets a bit, realizing that he shouldn't be saying these next words though. "However, I am bound to tell you that a mere bite from a vampire isn't enough to raise them as a new vampire. Not only that, but it isn't possible to my knowledge for Annabelle to be under the effects of a compulsion or a domination. She could, of course, still be possessed, but we've all been screened a dozen times."
Ary nodded to Markus as he revealed the truth of vampires being spawned. It was frightening, certainly, and did not help their case, but it was ultimately precisely why she made him her lieutenant. She trusted him. To do the right thing, even when it hurt, and otherwise.
Isilme was a little shocked to see that they were accusing Annabelle of having murdered twice. She listens as the inquisitor and mayor produce their evidence, trying to imagine what might have happened. She doesn't react when Valaria lashes out, knowing she'd likely be unable to stop her if she wanted to, and not feeling particularly motivated to defend the inquisitor either.
"I agree with Valaria. Don't you find it the least bit suspicious that Orug is alive then? Annabelle is strong enough to fell Brimoraks and Schirs. Yet somehow, in deciding to feed on innocent citizens, she manages to leave both a witness and evidence?"
"I should also add that fighting someone with supernatural strength and Annabelle's appearance is hardly evidence given the nature of the adversaries of the Crusades. I know I... I mean celestials such as Azata are capable of assuming the forms of others and possess supernatural strength. There are certainly demons who are capable of doing so as well."
She thinks for a few moments longer and asks, "Commander, are we allowed to visit the general store to see the scene of the crime ourselves? And what about the site of the other murder?"
Good choice, 'cause Isilme *wouldn't* have shared that detail :P
Commander Manaria frowns at Valaria. "Actually, none of you have been sighted in Dawnton at night. Only Annabelle. And the victims weren't just bitten to death. They were completely drained of blood. Perhaps Lieutenant Markus should examine the bodies."
Inquisitor Corum scoffs. "Better send for a Pharasman. He created her. I'm sure they're conspiring, he won't be able to give an un-biased opinion."
Commander Wardroxan turns steely. "Watch it, Corum. Don't question me." She turns to Markus. "Her words are true, but I value your words nonetheless."
Hinagiku opens her eyes to witness the arrival of the commander, inquisitor, and mayor. She slowly stands up, and watches the events unfold. As they do, she puts a hand on the young woman's shoulder as support. There were enough people accusing her, and enough protectin her, what she needed was emotional support.
allies friends, I see what you did there Kiora! Hinagiku is not there yet! But soon! Also, comments on Chaleb later tonight!
Annabelle feels the way she always has - but the hunger inside of her - once just an insidious drop inside of her, has almost completely overwhelmed her soul - a gnawing, unmet need.
Hinagiku slightly frown, she was not expecting at all to sense what she sensed.
"What I say next is for your own good. I... I do not know much about vampires, but would drinking the blood of two individuals not satiate their hunger? I ask because, I can sense Annabelle's feelings, and it does not feel as though she has drunk blood... at all."
Manaria raises an eyebrow at Hinagiku. "You can... sense feelings? I'm afraid I don't know what that even means."
Isilme wrote:
She thinks for a few moments longer and asks, "Commander, are we allowed to visit the general store to see the scene of the crime ourselves? And what about the site of the other murder?"
Tobias Luin answers her instead. "Certainly. You're welcome to nose about Dawnton as you like. But you should probably wait until civilized folk are awake, it is too early for anyone to answer any questions."
Commander Manaria crosses her arms. "Ultimately, Dawnton civilians have died, so judgment lays in their mayor's hands. I am only interested in the truth, whatever that may be. Soldiers, look through Kir's things. Corum, shackle Annabelle, and take her to the Dawnton jail."
Corum clasps the manacles around Annabelle's wrists, and the young woman's shoulders sag. One soldier rummages through her drawings - another through her backpack - and a third through the chest at the foot of her bed. The third opens the chest and pulls out one of her undershirts - the front is covered in dried blood, especially up towards the top around the neck...
Annabelle grimaces. "Oh, f%#%." She shudders, and turns to Markus, as Corum grabs her to escort her out of the Fort. "It wasn't me. You believe me, right? It wasn't me."
Male Oread (Kellid) Legendary Druid 12/Hierophant 4 | HP 148/148 | AC 26, T 25, FF 20 | Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +19 | CMD 27, freedom of movement | Immune to disease & poison | Resist Acid 10 | SR 13 (evil outsiders), 17 (demons) | Init +2 | Perception +19 (missing eye), Darkvision 60 ft., Murksight, Tremorsense 60 ft. | MP 4/11 | LP 2/2 | PM 11/11
Ehren sits on his bed quietly through almost the entire arrest, desperately trying to mull over all the details. Annabelle, a murderer? He did not want to believe it. But the evidence seemed staggering - circumstantial, yet damning. All in all however, the entire situation just seemed too perfect. He did not presume to know the mind of a murderer, much less a vampire, but the abundance of conveniently placed evidence was far too suspicious. The blunders almost seemed calculated, somehow.
Invoking his spirit sense, Ehren screens everyone in the room, just to be sure.
Ary's hackles rise as the inquisitor continues to insult her companions, but before she levels her anger, the Commander reprimanded the woman. So she waited until the men were told to look throughout Annabelle's belongings, she didn't move to stop them.
"Remember. You're accusing the man who just informed you that a piece of evidence that helped to clear his companion was untrue. I trust Markus enough to make him my lieutenant. He will do the right thing." She says, quietly, just to the inquisitor, and perhaps the Commander. Then she raised her voice.
"You mentioned two dead. Not just one, and we've heard nothing about that. Further, I would be significantly more comfortable with Annabelle under Crusader watch in the dungeons. If there is an imposter, the likelihood of them appearing within the walls of the citadel is significantly lessened, if that is possible."
Finally, she turns to Annabelle, "Just cooperate. We'll get you out as soon as we can."
"And I thought the inquisitor would be the one who couldn't understand empathy," Val deadpans. She seems too worked up to avoid taking another shot at the inquisitor, even when it's really not helping anything.
She looks at the mayor. "I think we'll be doing that. Though if this could have waited until sane folk are awake, I would have appreciated that. Some people like to sleep."
"Don't worry, we believe you," she promises Annabelle, trying to sound comforting. "If someone could get their hands on your sword, planting that would be easy. Oh, and I'm coming with you to the jail. I would hate for someone to accidentally leave her in a room with a window." Her voice is hard, bordering on threatening.
"If absolutely must be kept in jail in Dawnton, I would propose one of us stays at her side at all times. Ary is right, if someone is willing to frame her to the point of planting evidence here, they will certainly be willing to cause problems at the jail."
Other than the obvious pings that are obvious (Isilme, Valaria, Annabelle) there isn't anything out of the ordinary here.
Commander Manaria glances at Valaria. "If we waited until daylight, we would not have been able to get her out of the fort and into Dawnton. I know it's inconvenient, but there are two dead. We just learned of the second death an hour ago."
Tobias Luin shakes his head. "No, she'll be in our jail. I appreciate the crusades' aid, truly, but this is our affair." He looks at the blood-stained shirt with disgust.
He turns to Ary. "The first woman to die was a Sarkorian woman named Helha. Her body was found out on her uncle's farm. Big kellid, named Otto."
"Do you have any further questions? I would very much like to get back to sleep and think on this further."
"Helha?" Isilme asks, not expecting that name to have come up in relation to this mess. "Ehren, wasn't that the name of one of the Sarkorians we had saved from the Vermleks in Bedir?"
She looks to him and shakes her head. "This is a really bad idea... but if the goal is to frame, we could clear Annabelle's name by simply keeping it quiet that she's in jail. But trading a life for Annabelle's freedom is no trade." she says with a sigh. "I'd like one of your people to come with us as well, Inquisitor. I'd like a witness of everything we do, please and thank you."
Ary looked to the Commander, "Was there any followup on the Vermlek problem? We buried all of the bodies that we could and placed markers on each of the graves. Were any disturbed?" she then turns her attention to the little halfling, "Likewise, do you know where we can find Edgar?"
The halfling nods. "He lives out in a home on the far eastern side of town. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to leave. If you need to talk to me, come by my home."
The commander furrows her brow at Ary. "You didn't kill all of them? I thought you said the problem was taken care of?"
"Ugh... no. If I implied that, I didn't mean to. I do know that I mentioned that they have a sacrificing ground, and it would be across the road, in the water, from where we buried the bodies of their victims. There's no way I'd have said we'd handled the problem, only that we'd gotten the Kellids out." she shakes her head. "They burrowed away as soon as we had them in a tight spot. I thought that was why you were sending people to check up on it." she says, her exhaustion plain on her face.
"If they planted things here Ary, they will likely know that Annabelle was taken in, regardless of where she ends up being kept."
Isilme turns to Ehren when he mentions Edgar, "I think we should head out to Edgar's immediately to make sure he is unharmed. It is certainly no coincidence that both Rione and Helha were murdered. Edgar would be the logical next victim. Val, are you still intending to accompany Annabelle?"
"Two of them escaped," Isilme thinks to herself, "could they somehow have figured out Annabelle was a vampire and set out to frame her? It certainly would be something they would take great pleasure in, but how did they find out? Did they trail us? Are there Vermleks or cultists in town to pass them information?" Isilme's mind reels with the possibilities as she tries to piece together the puzzle before them.
She stops thinking for a moment and begins to focus. "Vermleks, Vermleks..." she thinks to herself. Isilme lets herself slip into the trance she often used to recount stories of knowledge she must have had at some point. This time, however, instead of passively watching the stories float by her, piecing them together to gain what she wanted to know, she reaches deep within herself to the same font of energy she draws upon to trace the divine runes she uses.
She reaches up to her forehead and inscribes a rune, "स्मृति" upon it, releasing a brief flash of light and causing her eyes to glow brightly. As she looks out upon the sea of stories surrounding, it seems to melt away leaving only the knowledge she seeks.
Celestial:
The divine rune for Memory
Using Pageant of the Peacock and Blessing of Desna to take 20 on a bluff check as a standard action. PotP/Bluff - Knowledge(Planes); Blessing of Desna:20 + 15 + 4 = 39
Is there anything Vermlek related that would be relevant to what is going on at this point. Ability to create vampires, or other blood drinking creatures. Or summon demons capable of similar feats. Will spend another MP to repeat the process with knowledge religion if necessary.
Val nods. "I'm not leaving her in someone's hands that I don't know, especially not right now. Too much about this situation reeks of a set-up for me to leave her alone. I'm also bringing Annabelle's things with me. If anyone has a problem with that, I suggest they shove it."
She ponders for a moment. "Does anyone have anything to measure length? If we measure the distance between Annabelle's fangs, then measure the bite marks, we can see if the attacker had the exact same bite size as she did. If it's a fake, I doubt they know enough to be that precise."
Generally, necromancers don't create vampires. Vampires create vampires. There are differing opinions as to who created the first vampire, but it is assumed all vampires came from that first source.
It's not unheard of. The Whispering Tyrant created a vampire. So Markus creating his own is not surprising. A little unsettling, maybe, but it makes sense.
Vermleks typically aren't necromancers. They have a few necromancy spells, but are unable to raise the dead. The ones you saw, though, were exceptional, no doubt. But they didn't exhibit any magic that would be on par with creating sentient undead. Creating sentient undead requires a pretty powerful necromancer.
Male Dhampir (Moroi-Born) White Necromancer 7/Archmage 2 | hp 51/51 (healthy), AC 12, touch 10, ff 12, CMD 15 | Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +7, various bonuses | Init -1, Perception +2, low-light, darkvision (mythic power 7/7)
"Unfortunately we don't have a lot of ability to chase burrowing worms. Two of them got away." says Markus. "Don't worry Annabelle - if nothing else, I believe you didn't mean to do anything. This seems too convenient."
"Ehren, Ary... we should go to Edgar's farm. Valaria is accompanying Annabelle to jail, which leaves Isilme and Hinagiku. There are already two crime scenes, yes?"
Ary sighs, trying not to whip herself for not being more clear. "Vermleks are necromancers. There's a good chance they'd at least be pretty accurate. But it's worth checking. But why Annabelle? She didn't even fight them. How did they even come into contact with them?"
She nods. "Yeah. Please... send someone to make sure no one gets near the scenes. We need to head that way, now, to make sure he doesn't end up in a bad way, too."
Male Dhampir (Moroi-Born) White Necromancer 7/Archmage 2 | hp 51/51 (healthy), AC 12, touch 10, ff 12, CMD 15 | Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +7, various bonuses | Init -1, Perception +2, low-light, darkvision (mythic power 7/7)
"I... am unconvinced that it was a vermlek. They were nowhere near powerful enough to use create undead spells.", says Markus. "And typically, vampires don't just come out of nowhere. There isn't a known spell that simply creates one."
"Let's talk while we walk, though." he says, putting on more official clothes and things, getting his backpack and stuff together.
Isilme takes a minute to get dressed as the others talk and then grabs her things to follow. "We cannot visit the crime scenes until morning, and we should have Ary there to try to see if she can find any tracks outside that don't make sense. I believe we should stick together for now in going to Edgar's."
Dawnton is a small village that sprawls out and away from Fort Portolmaeus along the Setian River, a tributary of the West Sellen River. It has a small, permanent population, but it swells to many times its size on festival days and during the harvest.
DC 20 K. Local:
Dawnton has become distrustful of strangers in the past week, due to the recent demonic attacks. This distrust is especially virulent against tieflings and others with demonic roots, influence, or appearance.
DC 25 K. Local:
Tobias Luin is the village’s sheriff and mayor. Local opinion holds that he is fair to the point of being soft. It would be unusual for him to hold an execution, but local law calls for a vote of the citizenry to decide the fate of those guilty of capital crimes.
Dawnton itself is little more than the crossroads of the River Road and the Setian river, and its population barely exceeds 100 during most of the year. But during the festival of the First Brewing, as many as 500 people converge from the eastern countryside to barter crops from wagons to barges. Which of course is helpful, given the recent battles and such.
Places of note: Orug’s General Store, Heath and Harvest (an inn), the Mayor’s House (which is also the jail), Festival Grounds, Beer Garden, Big Otto’s farm, Edgar's farm
It is currently close to dawn. There is a big crowd in front of the mayor's house.
Markus and Ary are going to Edgar's farm... with Isilme and Hinagiku.
Valaria is guarding Annabelle.
Just trying to piece things together. Did I overlook something?
The whole group sticks together, since the jail was on the way to Edgar's farm. Inquisitor Corum begrudgingly waits while everyone gets dressed and their things squared away.
Annabelle is clearly terrified by the whole situation. She doesn't say much.
Commander Wardroxan remains at the fort. Mayor Tobias Luin leads the way, with Annabelle behind him under the Inquisitor's grasp. They leave the courtyard - in full view of many crusaders. The soldiers wait until the Commander is out of earshot to whisper to one another - but they do not question what is going on in front of her.
They cross the drawbridge and go down the road into the village of Dawnton. The village is small, very small - but sprawls down the Setian river. A number of colorful tents have been set up near the fringes of the village, though no one is there at such an early hour.
There's a crowd of people out in front of Tobias' house. They rush to meet him as he approaches.
"So you have the culprit, Tobias? They're handing her over?"
Tobias shakes his head. "This is the vampire crusader, yes. I will need at least a day or two to think this over before coming to a verdict."
The crowd starts to become agitated. They would prefer justice be given now, no doubt.
"If she's a vampire, then it's obvious she did it? What other sort of monster would do such a thing to those poor women?"
"Just killin' her would be a justice to the whole world. What are the crusaders thinking keeping a monster like that around?"
Annabelle swallows. She's the center of attention, all shackled up - she's trembling like a leaf.
Ary does her best not to show any weakness as she passes the Crusaders. If they're going to talk, they'll talk. That was normal for the military, after all. When it came to the crowd, Ary was less enthused... but she had no idea how to sway them.
Diplomacy (Aid):1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19Unless no one else rolls
"While this woman may be a vampire, she is also a Crusader. She risked her life several times over, and ultimately gave her life to stop the demons from winning the war. Yes, innocent blood was shed by a monster. But she has given herself over willingly to see justice done. She has not fought, and has done nothing but cooperate. Those are not the actions of the guilty."
A short kellid man with a large potbelly emerges from the crowd, pointing at Annabelle. "I saw her! I saw that woman kill my wife! Her blood... dripping down her shirt. It was horrible!"
The crowd of peasants start to murmur angrily. Many are holding torches, which they shake about as they grow more and more agitated.
"You heard Orug!"
"Should just kill the vampire, Mayor! Good riddance!"
"One less monster in this country."
They are cutting off the group from proceeding to Mayor Luin's house. The sky is tinting orange - the sun will rise soon. Annabelle closes her eyes.
Val sticks close to Annabelle, her eyes never leave the woman for long and she keeps an eye out for any kind of threat. Having spend time in town over the past two day, she has a feeling that something bad is going to happen. The crowd in front of the mayor's house just confirms her suspicions.
"Silence! she roars, her eyes blazing gold so that the entire crowd can see her burning gaze. "Shame. On. All. Of. You! You know nothing of what has happened. Yet you stand here accusing an innocent woman, a woman that has saved countless lives, a woman that was instrumental in stopping the Worldwound Witch herself from destroying Mendev not even a week ago. You are all pathetic! You scream for justice but all you cry for is revenge and hatred. And why? Because she's scary looking? Because she's a vampire and must be evil? You stupid loathsome bigots. You let your fears control you and howl like mad dogs. Return to your homes and stop spreading this foolishness. Now!"
Diplomacy:1d20 + 21 ⇒ (11) + 21 = 32
Isilme strides forward among the group, taking her place by Ary. She calls out loudly to the crowd, attempting to attract their attention.
"This woman who addresses you now is Ary Bishop, perhaps some of you have heard her name," Isilme begins.
She allows a few moments for the name to sink in before continuing. "She, along with the rest of us, and Annabelle, the 'monster' whom you seek to deprive of the justice she's due, all served in the battle at Kenabres to protect you all. I see before me people who seek blood as surely as whatever it was that slew Rhione and Helha. Are you no better than that? If it's vengeance you seek then take mine, or any of ours. There's not a one of us who would hesitate to step forward to take her place in your gallows." Isilme steps forward towards the crowd, placing her hands before her as if to be shackled. "You'll find the taste of vengeance a cold comfort," she says, her voice wavering slightly as she speaks from the heart. "It will not replace them, and it will not bring you the peace you mistakenly believe it will."
Oops, didn't see Val snuck in ahead of me. Oh well :P
While the Mendevian villagers respond well to Isilme bringing up the Bishop name... it does little for the native Sarkorians. And Sarkorian blood was spilled these last few nights.
But all the same, the peasants start to mutter amongst themselves and allow the Mayor past.
Inquisitor Corum addresses the crowd. "I swear by the Inheritor, justice will be done."
The crowd seems to like her.
She manages to guide Annabelle into Tobias Luin's home - easily the larges private residence in Dawnton. The basement doubles as the region's jail - it's pretty small, and run by a trio of strong-looking villagers. There are no windows in the basement. It's just a straw floor with a stool.
Markus:
It's almost laughable how poor the holdings are - an actual mature vampire would assume gaseous form and float away. But these are of course a bunch of ignorant peasants in a very small village in rural Mendev.
Probably around the size of the village he grew up in in Ustalav. So I figure Markus would understand their perspective, having come from that sort of upbringing.
A man shoves his way through the crowd as they start to disperse - the heroes recognize him as Edgar. He focuses his attention on Ehren.
"Ehren, ag kraer Ferron. It 'k kuio? Tlaek vadaer... tlo 't ae qaedv'uo? I bak ir bout kaerb. Wlv aeuo vai bogorb'rs lou? A qaedv'uo x'rob div Helha."
Hallit:
Ehren, of clan Ferron. Is it true? That woman... she is a vampire? I don't understand. Why are you defending her? A vampire killed my Helha.
Annabelle is placed in the cell, and the door is locked. The bars are made of iron. She sits on the stool, looking miserable. Her eyes are close to brimming over with tears.
"Hey. No. None of that." Ary says, in mother bear mode, as she unpins her cloak, and folds it into a soft square of fabric. She takes her captain's badge off of the cloak and clasps it to her tabard, before she holds the cloak through the bars for Annabelle to take. "There. That's gonna be a lot more comfortable. I promise we'll be back soon. Stay safe, stay comfortable. We'll take care of you."
Val sits cross-legged directly in front of the door. "And I'm staying right here with you. I'm not leaving you alone with the peasants when I trust them about as far as I can throw them. You'll be fine. Just stay strong, okay?"
"You're welcome to come with us for ours!" she calls out to the inquisitor as she leaves. "How many times do I have to request she send a subordinate with us to verify everything that we find, anyway?"
Val stares at the inquisitor. "If it's all the same to you, I think I'll hope my friends find something rather than leaving it in your hands." Once Corum is gone, she turns back to Annabelle. "Don't worry. I'm here for you. Everyone is." A small smile crosses her lips. "And your welcome. I've gotten sick and tired of seeing people who base all their opinions of someone on what they are rather than who they are. If I'm going to do something about that, I need to start somewhere."
She turns to Valaria. "Speaking of that... I appreciate the sentiment. I really do... but, you were kind of playing to the stereotype. Yes, people are bigots, and racist. Hell, even I am. You are different. Just like Annabelle is different. Just like I'm different. There's not a single one of us that's going to ever be 'just a person' to everyone. Everyone will have preconceptions... and you can totally change those. But you can't do it by showing them what they expect, Butterfly. Corum is just like that crowd out there. Proving them wrong is an uphill battle. Proving them right only takes one sucker punch."
Tobias Luin leaves, going upstairs. "I'm going to try and get some rest. Please don't disturb me for a few hours unless it is urgent." The halfling leaves for bed.
With his leave the heroes are alone with Annabelle. There is a guard up the stairs - the only exit.
Annabelle looks up at Valaria and shrugs. "I don't know. I am a monster. So I understand."
"Monster is a choice." Ary says to Annabelle. "At least for us. It might be different for normal vampires, but according to Gloomy and Wardsev, the choice is yours to make as to whether or not you're a monster. I don't like what I've heard about you not eating, though. Even ordinary men and women will go crazy if they try to starve themselves. This isn't something you can just brush under a rug. If you're hungry, tell us. There's not a person here I wouldn't bleed for." she says, with a shrug.
"I'm fine with being different. I've lived with being a tiefling since your grandfather was alive. I embraced who I am before you were even born. But you tell me how many times being a Bishop has had you beaten for being what you are. You tell me how many times being a Bishop has left you hungry because no one will give you enough work for a day's worth of food and you can't even beg because everyone in town thinks you're scum and won't spare a copper. You can't ignore bigotry by smiling and nodding and trying to be all good and proper and then expect people to get it. People like that never change. Because they're nice and comfortable in their closed little world where someone can be evil because of their blood. You can be the next coming of Aroden and they'd still think it's part of some trick or plot because they simply don't care. You have to find a way to make them see that they're wrong. If that takes beating them over the head with it, then I'll do what it takes. Even if I have to be the bad guy so someone else can reap the benefits of them learning their lesson."
Val turns back to Annabelle and chuckles, a mirthless and hollow sound. "Yeah. You're a monster. I'm a demon. Markus is an undead overlord in the making. They all look at us and see that. But we don't become what they see us as unless we let it. So hold on to that good heart that we all know is in there and you're no more a monster than anyone else."
The Worldwound tore reality apart at the dawn of the Age of Lost Omens, murdering the nation of Sarkoris and unleashing a ravenous demonic horde upon the world. Only the quick action of several other nations of knights, barbarians, and heroes stemmed the demon army and contained it within lost Sarkoris, and for the next century, crusade after crusade tried to defeat the demons only to fail time and time again. Their greatest success, the line of magical artifacts known as wardstones that stand sentinel along the Worldwound’s border, barely manages to contain the demons. The demons are relentless, and the waves of the demonic host that pour out of the Worldwound and at the wardstones seem as endless as the seas. Four Crusades have failed, each one chipping away at more morale than the last. Will brave heroes finally rise up against the demon host to prevent them from swallowing the world and end a century long war?
Concept
Hello! One of my favorite APs that I have read from Paizo is none other than Wrath of the Righteous. Forgive the phrasing, but its truly mythic in scope. You rub shoulders with gods, challenge demonic lords, and venture forth into the Abyss itself on an epic quest to save the world.
Unfortunately, the adventure was tarnished with the under-playtested mythic rule set. I mean, yeah, you can run the AP without the mythic rules using a big point buy and hero points...but isn't getting mythic tiers part of the appeal? Part of the story itself? Thankfully, the 3pp company Legendary Games has taken it upon themselves fill the void with excellent work in their Mythic Plug-In line. And it is with their recommendations that I plan to give mythic a second shot.
No, you are not going to be running the AP as written. I am still going to tweak the encounters upwards, making them more difficult. Right from the start all encounters are being tweaked to max HP and +50% more mooks. There will be more mythic enemies sprinkled about for you to deal with. CRs will be scaled up.
I also plan to be using PFS scenarios, the modules The Demon Within and The Moonscar, as well as a heavy dose of homebrew stuff using material from the Campaign Setting book about the Worldwound (and 3pp stuff for good measure).
There are prominent gay and transgender NPCs in this adventure path. If you are going to be uncomfortable about that, don’t apply.
What are you looking for?
I am going to be recruiting 6 players. Recruitment will be open until May 12th, though may be open longer if we don’t get anyone wanting to fill one of the Mythic Path roles in the first week of recruitment. Play will begin May 14th, to give me a chance to review all your character sheets and make last-minute clarifications.
I’m a role-playing focused kind of GM. There will be plenty of combat. But I do expect you to have a well-rounded character with goals beyond killing and looting.
There are six seats at this virtual table, one for each Mythic Path. The first sentence of your application should clearly state which mythic path you are choosing. Even if you pick a 3pp mythic path, you must pick the closest corresponding Paizo mythic path that matches the “party role” your character is going to occupy.
You are allowed to use the dual mythic path ability to splash extra mythic paths together into some crazy conglomeration. However, your first mythic tier must be of the mythic path you declare during recruitment.
These roles are:
Archmage: Arcane spellcaster
Champion: Martial characters, combat maneuver based characters.
Guardian: Defensive tank.
Hierophant: Divine spellcaster.
Marshal: The support class.
Trickster: The roguelike class that focuses on subterfuge and cunning.
Posting Requirements
I will post 1/day. I expect you to post 1/day. In combat, when it is your turn in initiative order, you have 24 hours to post something. If you do not, I will post for you. If you hold up combat more than 3 times by forcing me to post for you, you will be kicked and replaced.
If you vanish for a week with and go out of contact, you will be kicked and replaced.
If you cannot post for some reason, you will be expected to post to the discussion board, or PM me. The game will not wait for you, you will be botted for the time you are gone. I will do you the same courtesy if something happens to myself. I am realistic.
Mythic? Isn’t that broken?
Out of the box, yes. So I intend to use a large array of house-rules to try and bring the power level of mythic down, while still retaining the “epic” feel of the play-style.
Here are the house-rules that we will be using. They are spoilered out because, while making a level 1 character, you probably don’t care. But if you have a lot of familiarity with the mythic rule set, this may satisfy your curiosity:
Mythic Nerfs:
Rule 0: The GM reserves the right to add to these nerfs as necessary if a mythic ability grows out of hand.
We will be using critical/fumble tables to determine the effects of confirmed crits and fumbles. This means that what you think is your weapon crit modifier is irrelevant. This has the net effect of reducing the average damage output of a crit (many times you will simply deal normal damage), but making crits more cinematic and interesting.
You only get +1 to stat bonuses as part of advancing in mythic tiers, not +2.
You cannot get permanent bonuses to your stats through wishes in this campaign.
The amazing initiative basic mythic ability is replaced with a bonus to initiative checks equal to one-half of your mythic tier. In addition, as a free action when rolling initiative you may expend one use of mythic power to add your surge die to your initiative roll.
The agile monster template, when applied to PC companions and summons, no longer gives the dual initiative ability. Instead, it gives haste.
The following abilities: archmage arcana, champion’s strike, guardian’s call, divine surge, marshal’s order, and trickster attack abilities are no longer usable as swift actions. Instead, they are standard actions when sued at the cost of 1 mythic power, move actions at the cost of 2 mythic power, and swift actions at the cost of 3 mythic power.
You cannot, for any reason, gain more than one additional attack at their highest attack bonus no matter how many such abilities are in effect. (Example: haste, champion’s strike abilities, etc.)
If you enter the space of a mythic creature with the Titan’s Bane ability, it is considered flat-footed only against the first attack you make against it.
Player characters (and their allies) can use only one ability that requires the expenditure of mythic power per round. This may be a mythic feat, mythic spell, mythic path ability, a power used by a legendary item, or anything else; if it involves expending mythic power, a character can use only one per round. Characters can use abilities that require spending more than one use of mythic power. Legendary power is considered separate from mythic power.
You are likewise limited to the use of only one ability that requires the expenditure of legendary power per round.
Mythic surges may be spent after a d20 has been rolled, but not after the result of the roll has been revealed.
Mythic power is regained at a rate of 1 use per day. It is refilled to full after completing a mythic trial. This rate of mythic power regeneration cannot be changed in any way through abilities or spells. The GM may allow the heroes to regenerate additional uses of mythic power as a reward for epic feats or good roleplay.
The foe-biting legendary item ability has been banned. It is replaced with the ability to expend one use of the item’s legendary power after striking an opponent with the weapon to add the bane property against that specific creature (regardless of its type and subtype) for 1 minute. If the item is already a bane weapon against that creature’s type (and subtype, if applicable), using the foe-biting property increases the effect of bane to a +3 enhancement bonus and +3d6 damage, or to +4 and +4d6 if the wielder is a mythic character and expends one use of mythic power as a swift action when expending the item’s legendary power to increase its bane effect.
The Mythic Power Attack feat is now identical to the Mythic Deadly Aim feat, except it applies to melee damage rolls, not ranged.
Mythic Vital Strike is banned.
Instead of granting a flat +20 bonus on the relevant ability check or related skill check, the universal path abilities Display of Strength/Dexterity/Constitution/Intelligence/Wisdom/Charisma grant a bonus equal to three times your mythic tier.
Using the Recuperation mythic ability costs one-half of each character’s remaining daily uses of mythic power (minimum 1).
You need to spend 2 uses of mythic power to use the unstoppable mythic ability to remove a debuff caused by a mythic effect, not 1.
Any ability that allows you to ignore immunity or resistance allows you to ignore up to 5 points of resistance or immunity, plus 5 points per 2 mythic ranks or tiers you possess.
Any ability that allows you to ignore or bypass damage reduction instead allows you to ignore 5 points of damage reduction, plus 1 point of damage reduction per mythic rank or tier you possess. This applies to mythic abilities like the fleet charge champion path feature as well as non-mythic effects like a paladin’s smite evil.
When a critical hit is confirmed against a mythic creature with damage reduction and the attack does not ignore damage reduction, the creature has a percentage chance equal to twice its damage reduction to negate the critical hit and treat the hit as a normal hit. If the creature also has the fortification universal monster ability or a similar ability to negate critical hits, add these two percentage chances together and make a single roll.
An effect that allows you to ignore spell resistance (when it would normally apply) allows you add your mythic tier on caster level checks to ignore spell resistance. You apply an additional +2 circumstance bonus if the target is a non-mythic creature or if you are casting a mythic spell; these circumstance bonuses stack.
Harmful conditions that occur even on a successful save are halved in duration (minimum 0 rounds) if the mythic rank or tier of an affected creature equals or exceeds that of the creature that created the effect. They are also halved (minimum 0 rounds) for a non-mythic creature whose CR equals or exceeds the caster level (or Hit Dice, for supernatural effects) of the creature that created the effect. This does not apply to effects with an instantaneous or permanent duration.
Wild Arcana, Inspired Spell, Arcane Surge, and Recalled Blessing can only be used on spells with a casting time of 1 standard action or less. Using these abilities requires expending one use of mythic power, plus one additional use for every 2 levels of the spell.
For Arcane Surge and Recalled Blessing, you may expend an additional 2 uses of mythic power to cast a spell as a swift action.
Mythic enemies may expend mythic surges as a swift action to add a bonus to its AC equal to the result of its surge die. If the enemy has DR or hardness, the surge die is also added to DR or hardness. If the enemy has energy resistance, it adds twice the result of its surge die to each type of energy resistance it possesses. This bonus lasts until the beginning of the enemy’s next turn; if it expends two uses of mythic power, it lasts for a number of rounds equal to one- half its mythic rank or tier (minimum 1 round).
When the actions taken by an enemy during its turn would reduce it below 0 hit points, it can expend one or more uses of mythic power to survive with 10% of its current hit points (before that enemy began its turn) for each use of mythic power you spend. All damage dealt as part of a full attack action is considered a single effect for this purpose.
How to get chosen
Alright, first thing you should do is go download the Wrath of the Righteous Player’s Guide here on Paizo.com. It is free, and gives you all the setting information you need to know. If I cannot tell that you read the Player’s Guide when reading your submission, I will not pick you. Seriously. I expect you to come in already knowing the basics of the setting.
You will be chosen based on how well your character fits the setting.
You will be chosen on how well you weave your “crunch” choices into your “fluffy” character concept. Every inch of the stuff on your character sheet needs to be integrated into your background. Use the Paizo fluff for traits. If you grab the “rich parents” trait, and you don’t mention how in the Abyss they got rich, and where they live in your fluff, you are doing it wrong. That being said, I am more likely to pick a player who picks cool traits that match their character’s backstory over the guy who went straight for the “+ initiative”, “+ starting wealth” or “get 1/day free reroll” traits.
If you pick the “gladiator” archetype and say something like “oh I wanted to refluff him as a generic mercenary” you’re doing it wrong. If you’re a gladiator then embrace the fact that your guy fought in an arena at some point. If you grab something from the “Akashic Mysteries” classes and your character is utterly devoid of Hindi or Arabic-inspired flavor, you’re doing it wrong.
Hope I got my point across.
Alright. Now that that stuff is out of the way…
Character Creation Rules
House Rules
(Note: Mythic house rules were covered above.)
1. I track encumbrance, rations, water. I revel in the book-keeping and will do this for you, however you will need to keep this in mind when making your character.
2. I use confirmed crit and fumble tables. (You confirm a fumble by rolling another attack, if you miss again, you fumble.) This overrides whatever critical modifier you think you get. NPCs do not roll on these tables (otherwise you’d be at horrible risk of being randomly beheaded by a dretch and that’d be unfun)
3. Fractional advancement is used for multi-classing.
4. Unchained crafting rules will be used.
5. Unchained Automatic Bonus Progression: I will be using this subsystem. There will be no +1/+2/+3 modifiers to weapons, or armor. There will be no bracers of armor, headbands/belts of stats, amulets of natural armor, cloaks of resistance, or rings of protection in this game.
6. We will be using the wound threshold subsystem from Pathfinder Unchained, for both PCs and NPCs.
Crunchy Stuff
1. You are free to use anything from any paizo book.
2. Unchained Summoner, Barbarian, and Rogue are mandatory.
3. Unchained Monk is optional.
4. Occult playtest stuff is welcome.
5. If you’re gonna be a necromancer, use the White Necromancer.
6. Stats: Roll 4d6, drop the lowest, 6 times. If your resultant stat array is less than a 15 point buy, you can try again, scrapping the whole first attempt and rolling another 6 4d6. And again. And again. Until you get at least 15 point buy.
7. 3pp: You may use any 3pp stuff you want from the following publishers: Legendary Games, Kobold Press, Dreamscarred Press, Green Ronin Publishing, and Rogue Genius Games…. except for races. You MUST use Paizo races. If you use 3pp stuff you need to either link your content to d20pfsrd, or share the pdf with me.
8. Average starting wealth for your class.
9. All Paizo races allowed. The weirder your race, the more convincing your background is going to need to be.
10. No evil. I might be persuaded to allow a Lawful Evil character that focuses on devils vs demons style conflict. You’ll need a great submission to pull that off.
11. 2 traits. You can take a drawback to get a third one. No campaign traits. You may use the Player’s Guide traits if you desire, but keep in mind you have to work in the fluff from those traits into your backstory if you do that.
12. Max HP.
13. In addition to your skills, you may choose 2 background skills. These need to be relevant to your backstory. The background skills are: Appraise, Artistry, Craft, Handle Animal, Knowledge (Engineering/Geography/History/Nobility), Linguistics, Lore, Perform, Profession, Sleight of Hand.
14. The Unchained stamina system is free for fighters, usable with a feat for others.
15. You may use Unchained variant multiclassing if you so desire.
Fluffy Stuff
1. You can choose your age, height, and weight.
Your character concept is more important than your crunch. I don’t care much how verbose you are here. However, you MUST answer the following questions in your background.
As a reminder, if I cannot tell whether you read the Player’s Guide, I will not pick you. The person who submits stuff that references Ancient Sarkoris or the events of the Third Crusade is gonna get picked over “Crog the generic setting-neutral Barbarian”.
1. What does your character look like? Describe what their clothes and armor look like. How do they carry themselves when they don’t think anyone is looking?
2. Why is your character at the Worldwound? Why do they want to fight demons?
3. Why is your character mythic? What exactly is the source of their mythic powers? This is your chance to go hog-wild. Want to be a child of a god? Go for it. Secret nobility? Rock it out. Chosen by the gods? Heck yeah. Dream big. This is mythic. Think more Hercules, Ali Baba, Conan the Barbarian, and Gandalf. If you don’t feel comfortable revealing that here, PM me. Look to the bottom for some inspiration.
4. Alternatively, if you want to leave the source of their mythic powers up to me, I’m fine with that too.
5. Where is your character from? Be specific. We’re on Golarion. Don’t just say “somewhere else”.
6. What is their personality like?
7. How did they become [insert class here]? Why do they wield [insert weapon here]? Were they trained? Self-taught?
8. If your character is religious, explain what lead them to worshipping that deity.
9. Explain what your character’s alignment means to them. Something like “Jessica is lawful good because she wants to stamp out evil and eradicate it. She would sacrifice herself to attain her goals.” Or “Jessica is chaotic good because she is a vigilante. She thinks she needs to deliver justice personally, and feels that the laws of the land are not sufficient to effectively deal with evil on the scale of the Worldwound” or whatever.
10. If you have a character who has sworn a code (such as a Paladin or Cavalier, for example) be explicit in what that code entails.
The campaign as written already has a couple of ideas explaining why your PC is mythic. Feel free to use these as is, or just use them as inspiration for your own:
The PC is the literal son or daughter of the deity they worship. They have had dreams from that deity their entire life.
The PC is abnormally lucky. To the point it is uncanny. The fact that they gain mythic power is more so because they were just in the right place at the right time… or is it destiny?
The PC is descended from a proud line of crusaders who have all fought in the Worldwound. Their spirits live on in the PC and spur them to succeed where they died trying.
The PC was kidnapped by demonic cultists who conspired to sacrifice them to a foul ritual… but instead of dying the ritual only made them stronger.
The PC is the child of immensely powerful mages who patrol the multiverse as protectors of the planes themselves.
The PC was kidnapped by demonic cultists and tortured. They survived…and what didn’t kill them only made them stronger.
Feel free to PM me details about your character if you wish to keep some stuff secret from the other players. I love conspiring with players.
That’s all I have for you. I look forward to your submissions!
That's a 16 point buy, which makes me real unlucky... so this should be fun. Thinking either a Lore Warden Fighter or Bloodrager of some sort, because they're the only guardian options I can think of that aren't more MAD.
I would be interested to give it a go with an unchained rogue with the trickster path. I've already played in one PbP that went through the first 5 to 6 encounters, I think and stopped due to GM real life constraints. So I'll be tempted to try again.
I've got a question about the background questions. In fluff 3, you ask why the character is mythic. In the player's guide, it's indicated that the PC aren't mythic at the start of the campaign (as a rule point of view).
So am I correct to say that I should explain the reason why the PC will become mythic at some point and that they should have a background reason that will explain this awakening?
Hmm. The Unchained Stamina system looks interesting, but I'm not sure if I'll have time to get/read the book in the next week. Would you okay with a fighter character who potentially starts using stamina as he learns about them? This could make playing a fighter really interesting.
@Llaelian: Yes, you become mythic at the end of book 1 (at level 4). You will experience a sort of awakening of mythic power, jumpstarted by a catalyst. Your radioactive spider/gamma radiation/super serum if you will. However the AP (as written) intends to work with the assumption that the PCs were born from the start to achieve something more, even before you have literal mythic ability. After all, many people are exposed to the catalyst, but only the heroes (and any back-up heroes that get rolled to replace a dead PC) gain mythic ability...why?
Remember that while your PCs are indeed "chosen ones" they are not "THE chosen one". Think the X-Men. They all have some pretty intense mythical stories. Cyclops is the son of a space pirate, with a whole family of superheroes, some good, some evil. Jean Grey is the chosen vessel for phoenix. Storm was worshipped as a literal goddess at one point. But they still need each other to attain their goals.
@Thunderbeard: You don't have to use the unchained stamina system, I just wanted to iterate its only free for fighters. (and enemies with fighter class levels will have access to it also) However, the idea of a fighter gradually learning his stamina abilities sounds great.
@Sobel: From my understanding (which may be flawed), players are simply given the big 6 as part of their character. You know... if it's required for success, shouldn't everyone just get it for free? :P
Am Going for a Dwarven Stonelord/Fighter/Tank then, not too bright just generally steadfast. Will be reusing this Char and Respecing.
Mythic Guardian
Goron Boulderstep
I dont know about the Unchained Automatic Bonus Progression thing is there a brief summary about that?
Basically with Unchained Bonus Progression, the mandatory "big 6" magic items are removed from the game. These are +1/+2/+3/etc weapons/armor, headbands and belts of stats, amulets of natural armor, rings of protection, and cloaks of resistance. The game is balanced around the assumption that PCs will use these items. These are replaced with innate bonuses that you receive as you level up. Your first bonus comes at level 3 with a +1 resistance bonus to your saves.
The reason I like this is because big 6 magic items are boring and result in all PCs having pretty much the same magic items as each other. Big 6 items lead to PCs turning down cool items with significant lore value in favor of big 6 items. This means that, unless a magic item is really, really powerful, they end up being viewed as means to gain gp to gain more big 6 items rather than as valuable treasure in of themselves.
Your WBL will probably feel kind of low as a result since all the generic cloaks of resistance and rings of protection you find all over the place in APs will be gone. ....it won't feel that low though since this AP hands out wondrous items like candy.
mm, seems really good so far. Considering an Orc Oracle(War), offspring of Gorum. Could be that nearby orc settlement was destroyed by demons resulting only in a few surviving. Gorum getting angry-> a young girl from the village, who survived "giving" herself for Gorum-> born a vessel to excel his retribution and declare war on the wretched harbringer
Ogrin the Harbringer will be crunching stuff up later
The enhancement bonus gained from having a masterwork weapon or armor does not stack with the automatic enhancement bonus given by Unchained Bonus Progression. The automatic enhancement bonus would override the masterwork quality because it is better.
This is basically the same as how you can't have a +1 masterwork longsword.
mm, seems really good so far. Considering an Orc Oracle(War), offspring of Gorum. Could be that nearby orc settlement was destroyed by demons resulting only in a few surviving. Gorum getting angry-> a young girl from the village, who survived "giving" herself for Gorum-> born a vessel to excel his retribution and declare war on the wretched harbringer
Ogrin the Harbringer will be crunching stuff up later
That works well, because the Worldwound is adjacent to the Hold of Belkzen.
Oh hey everybody, with your ridiculously amazing rolls. Seriously curious now if I'll be able to survive on my terrible stats, but it could be a rather fun challenge (max HD might be a huge help here, and it lets me feel less guilty about combining multiple powerful archetypes).
@Zoe: Brawlers are a class that are really easy to min-max for optimum fun.
Meanwhile, hmm. This may be my best chance to play a Lore Warden from level 1, so so far I've got:
-Elf Fighter (Lore Warden, Martial Master), Guardian Path
(Possible later dip into Brightness Seeker or Monk, depending on what flavor I go with)
-Str 10, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 10
-Combat Reflexes, Weapon Finesse
-Light armor, Elven Branched Spear
@Llaelian: Yes, you become mythic at the end of book 1 (at level 4). You will experience a sort of awakening of mythic power, jumpstarted by a catalyst. Your radioactive spider/gamma radiation/super serum if you will. However the AP (as written) intends to work with the assumption that the PCs were born from the start to achieve something more, even before you have literal mythic ability. After all, many people are exposed to the catalyst, but only the heroes (and any back-up heroes that get rolled to replace a dead PC) gain mythic ability...why?
Remember that while your PCs are indeed "chosen ones" they are not "THE chosen one". Think the X-Men. They all have some pretty intense mythical stories. Cyclops is the son of a space pirate, with a whole family of superheroes, some good, some evil. Jean Grey is the chosen vessel for phoenix. Storm was worshipped as a literal goddess at one point. But they still need each other to attain their goals.
Thanks for the clarification. That's what I expected but I wanted to be sure we were on the same page.
Player characters (and their allies) can use only one ability that requires the expenditure of mythic power per round. This may be a mythic feat, mythic spell, mythic path ability, a power used by a legendary item, or anything else; if it involves expending mythic power, a character can use only one per round. Characters can use abilities that require spending more than one use of mythic power. Legendary power is considered separate from mythic power.
I'm looking at Marshal Path and -may- take an ability that allows me to hand someone a surge, using my mythic power (or confidence), would this make it so that one or both of us cannot use mythic power? Is Confidence considered the same as Mythic Power in all ways?
What are your feelings on the Signature Moves trait? I can pass it up, but I really like the idea of a living steel shield being passed down her family line. :)
Probably more later.
Edit: What are your thoughts on Faithful Ranger Combat Styles?
Signature moves is great, as long as its something significant to your backstory. I will be grumpy if you sell your family heirloom at the first opportunity of some other upgrade. It's the kind of thing that you might want to drive down the legendary item path. (Not going to force you to, just saying it should carry that kind of significance.)
Faithful Ranger is great. Religious characters will fit right into this campaign for...obvious reasons. You need that extra oomph to your motivation to show why you're basically willing to go to the Worldwound to certain death. I expect a religious player to take the time to learn the ins and outs of their deity, though. Gotta convince me you're actually faithful! ;)
Using confidence is considered the same as using mythic power. It is still powerful with the nerf, because it gives you a lot of extra uses of mythic power per day, especially with Flexible confidence. Nerfing down mythic power regeneration to 1/day is one of the biggest houserule changes. (This is partially offset by the fact you regenerate mythic power after a mythic trial...but of course you will likely use a lot of mythic power to achieve a mythic trial to begin with!)
I'm guessing you're looking at Surge of Inspiration? Giving someone your surge ability would be considered a use of your own mythic power for that round. It would not spend your ally's ability to use their mythic power for that round.
I actually fully plan to have her follow the Iomedae Code of Conduct for Paladins... despite not being one. It's part of the character. :)
Are you also going to reduce Confidence regeneration in the same way you intend to reduce regeneration of Mythic Power? It wasn't really my intent to subvert that in the first place. :)
I'm gonna play it by ear and let it go at 3/day for now. I think considering that you're restricted to 1 use of mythic power/confidence per round will help keep it under control. If it shows to be too much of a problem, I will nerf it.
Really when people talk about how broken Mythic is they aren't talking about Marshals. :P Its Archmage/Champion/Trickster/Hierophant that are the problem children....with the former two being bigger issues than the latter.
To be clear, if anyone here is going to get really pouty and sad if they get nerfed further down the line, you shouldn't apply. I'll give free retrains if I do so, so no one will get 'stuck' with something they didn't want. I'll try to scale monsters up/increase encounters per day before I nerf you....but at some point something's gotta give. (Scaling monsters up tends to result in folks getting one-shot and that's no good, its generally easier to target the players)
As someone who played a lot of MMOs and deals with patch cycles for games, I realize that patching the singular problem is often significantly better than patching everything else.
As a DM who has regularly had players go for gimmicks over real characters in my home games, I also fully support the word 'no'. Giving retraining is more than reasonable in exchange. And Confidence being -just- one extra use per day is still really solid.
Derp. I respectfully withdraw my application. I just realised I don't have Pathfinder Unchained. Can't do up a barbarian.
Was thinking along the lines of.....
They took everything he loved from him.......................
They burned him, whipped him, broke almost every bone in his body and his pride. They didn't take away his rage.
No It grew. It festered...... It became everything for him. His family.....His spouse...broken.....children.....lifeless eyes pleading for him to save ......no....not......save....but End their pain..
He couldn't.....Not even that.....A failure....
They broke him, Rage gave him strength to go on. They called him overly Violent.
He wasn't.
Just like Bards sing out their heart, he was venting his.\
Only his rage
Then I scrolled up and saw Unchained Barbarian mandatory. lol
Bubble popped.
Dotting and rolling. I have a Paladin of Iomedae to apply with, and I'll retool her for the new rolls once I'm done with my school day. But as someone who often writes weird crunch detail justifications into backstories, I like the cut of your jib.
I would like to submit Xantrius Kaleson, Tiefling Paladin, Marshal Path for consideration. I have played him before in a previous WotR campaign, but it ended very early so I have not seen much of the story.
Here is the fluff, I will have to re-work the crunch to fit the new stats.
Description:
A huge, imposing figure covered in armor from head to foot, he carries a polished shield bearing a black rose. He speaks in a deep, chilling voice that sends shivers up the spine of even the boldest knights, yet when he sings his voice smooths out into a surprisingly deep, rich baritone.
Beneath the armor:
Height: 6'7"
Weight: 245#
Eyes: Red
Skin: Black
Hair: None
Once he takes off the helmet, you see a horrific black-scaled monster. Gleaming white fangs, small horns, glowing red eyes and pointed, serrated ears make him seem almost a full demon.
History:
His mother Kale caused the cracking of the Kenabres Wardstone.
At least, that is the way she tells it. Before the first attacks, she was merely one of a squad of soldiers assigned to routine duty in the city. With nothing much to do most of them spent a lot of time in the local tavern, which is where she met Arvoris. A fairly good-looking young blacksmith come to trade from a neighboring village, she started spending a lot of time with him. He asked her endless questions about her and the exciting life of a soldier, and she enjoyed the attention.
Until the attack began.
With the cracking of the Wardstone, Demons began the assault , a screaming horde ready to claim all Golarian as their own. The crusaders fought bravely but were barely holding the line. After a disastrous battle on the front where she had seen almost her whole squad killed, she and a ragged group retreated back through the city. She rushed to find her lover. When she told him he had to flee, he laughed.
And then he changed.
He was not a simple craftsman but an advance scout for the Demonic Horde. And she had provided so much valuable information! Tears in her eyes, she could not believe it. She had used her Sight on him, seen no sign of evil! He grinned and raised an amulet with strange markings on it, taunting her. She rushed him with sword raised, but he teleported away, his laughter still ringing in her ears. She changed after that. Before, she had been a devotee of Shelyn, finding beauty in everything and a firm believer that anyone could find redemption. Now, she rushed into battle and fiercely attacked the enemy with no regard for her own life. Slowly, they managed to turn the tide and reclaim the city. The Wardstone held and she joined the new crusade to push the demons further back.
Until she discovered she was pregnant.
She knew once the child was born everyone would know of her shame and betrayal, so she fled. She settled in Ustalav, kept to herself and raised the demon-child for the rest of her life. She poured all her bitterness, rage, and hate for all demons into her son and trained him to kill as soon as he could hold a sword. But she also had the wisdom to try to make him understand that he was not to blame for what he was. Through his actions, he could overcome the stain of sin left on him by both his father and herself. He took to wearing full armor as often as he could, so as to hide his horrific visage. He still rarely removes it except when alone.
But it was not all lessons about demons and training. His fondest memories are of the times when, after a long day his mother would sing to him. She had a voice that would make the goddess Shelyn herself stop and listen! She would also sometimes talk about the family she left behind, her brother Kal who as far as she knew was still fighting in Kenabres.
Last year, he returned from a trip to pick up the weapon he would need in his fight to find her dead, with a skeletal grey-skinned demon standing over her. The fiend dropped something on her body and vanished before he was able to reach them. He vowed then to destroy all demons, and to find out why she had been singled out for such misery. He still holds the strange amulet dropped by the demon, but he has not yet found someone who can tell him the meaning of the runes carved into it.
Now he has arrived in Kenabres, biding his time training in a crusader camp outside the city, ready to kill his Father and any other demon that gets in his way...
The day before...:
Awakening with the dawn, Xantrius sits up in his small tent on the outskirts of the city and starts polishing his armor. After awkwardly donning it in the small confines he exits and stirs up the embers of yesterday’s fire to cook his breakfast. He returns to his tent to eat and then puts his helm back on and checks his weapons before strapping them on. Taking one last look at the strange symbols on the amulet around his neck, he starts for the city. Nodding to the other recruits he recognizes as he leaves the large field camp stationed on the northern edge of Kenabres, he strides with purpose towards the library.
After waiting patiently for close to an hour while the guards at the gate check everyone entering the city, he recognizes the guard on duty and hails him. ”Good Morn, Roderick.” he calls out, his harsh, grating voice unnerving several others waiting to enter.
”Good Morn, Xantrius! Are you planning on joining in the festivities for Armasse tomorrow?”
”I shall be here, but I shall not have any duties. There is not much call for those who follow the Lady of Graves on this day.” he states, tapping his shield with its prominent depiction of Pharasma’s black rose.
The guard looks at him oddly. ”I still find that strange. I didn’t think there were any paladins who followed her?”
”There are a few who see their duty to escort those deserving into her embrace. But I will not keep these good folks waiting any longer. Good Day.” With a final salute he enters and heads towards the Old City. His long stride quickly takes him along the twisting roads to his destination, the same place he has come almost every day for the past couple of weeks.
As he stoops to enter the entrance to the Library, the clerk at the desk sighs. ”He’s still not in.”
Xantrius is silent for a moment. ”And I doubt you have any idea when he will be available. May I view the volumes of Maxtarus’ Demonic Lore?”
”If you must. Be careful!” As the huge knight strides away the clerk mutters ”I don’t know why they even let brutes like him in…”
Make sure you go through the character creation rules and make sure all my questions are answered in your fluff. Just go through 'em one by one if it makes it easier on you.
Not that it isn't good. Your fluff is great. Just make sure it gets all the points I need :)
2) Would an alchemist be allowed to take the Archmage Mythic Path?
1) Simulacrums are fine. I would house rule that the mythic tier is halved as well, though. Or maybe require you to use a mythic version of the spell to make a mythic simulacrum. I'll have to check my Legendary Games book and see what they did with it.
2) Archmage for alchemist is fine. They have options under Trickster as well, though, make sure you check them out. :)
Hmm, I have really wanted to try this one out. The mythic system seems interesting and the nerfs look reasonable to make it more fun. Here's hoping I get something playable ^^
Grand Finale, a 25 point build. I think I can manage something with that. Off I go into coming up with something. I think I've got an idea of a nagaji brawler (Wild Child), taken by slavers at an early age for gladiatorial combat. He would be in the long run going up the champion aspect. I shall do my best to make something worthy of choosing.
GM as far as the wild child aspect goes, would you prefer I start without an animal companion or with. Background wise, I'm thinking they had to take down the animal to take the boy and planned to use them both in the arenas idea but if you prefer I start without then I can work with it.
Ah! Kiora! This sounds great. I have to take a shot at this. If me being in your Andoran game lowers my odds of being selected, I don't mind. But I've been itching to work out a Chosen One Paladin for ages because I just cant resist that Jeanne d'Arc angle. She'd be following the Marshal Path for sure.
Yikes, there's already a few Paladins in the mix. Welp, competition breeds innovation. (I could also submit a second character, if that's fine, or a different character. To break up the homogeneity.)
Ah! Kiora! This sounds great. I have to take a shot at this. If me being in your Andoran game lowers my odds of being selected, I don't mind. But I've been itching to work out a Chosen One Paladin for ages because I just cant resist that Jeanne d'Arc angle. She'd be following the Marshal Path for sure.
Yikes, there's already a few Paladins in the mix. Welp, competition breeds innovation. (I could also submit a second character, if that's fine, or a different character. To break up the homogeneity.)
Hey there friend!
As long as you can keep up with posting ;) Otherwise I'd have to boot you from both games and that'd be a sad day. :(
Sounds great! There are a bunch of paladin Marshals up in here though, this is true. Something about WotR inspires the paladins to come out of the woodworks I guess ;)
Second characters are fine. You have to use the same stat array though.
As long as you can keep up with posting ;) Otherwise I'd have to boot you from both games and that'd be a sad day. :(
Sounds great! There are a bunch of paladin Marshals up in here though, this is true. Something about WotR inspires the paladins to come out of the woodworks I guess ;)
Second characters are fine. You have to use the same stat array though.
Dotting for interest. I've been looking to get into a WotR game for a while.
Before I roll, I do have a couple questions. I haven't been able to look at Unchained yet, so am unfamiliar with the Unchained crafting and wound threshold system. That won't be an issue, will it?
The second is do you want submissions in a full profile, or can we save that for if we get selected?
Dotting for interest. I've been looking to get into a WotR game for a while.
Before I roll, I do have a couple questions. I haven't been able to look at Unchained yet, so am unfamiliar with the Unchained crafting and wound threshold system. That won't be an issue, will it?
The second is do you want submissions in a full profile, or can we save that for if we get selected?
Unfamiliarity with unchained is not an issue unless you intend to be a summoner, barbarian, or rogue. Then you must use the Unchained rules. We can tackle crafting rules if/when we get there. (Basically unchained makes crafting into a team affair, making the whole process more cinematic.)
Wound thresholds make it so you get a negative penalty to d20 rolls and AC as you incur HP damage. This applies to both enemies and PCs. I expect to be the one reminding people of this as it happens. HeroLab basically automates this process for me. (I also like wound thresholds because it lets me alert players to roughly what % HP the enemy has left without being all meta-gamey about it.)
You don't have to make an alias just for the submission, if that's what you're asking.
GM as far as the wild child aspect goes, would you prefer I start without an animal companion or with. Background wise, I'm thinking they had to take down the animal to take the boy and planned to use them both in the arenas idea but if you prefer I start without then I can work with it.
Starting with your companion is fine. Make sure the companion makes sense (geographically) depending on where you met it.
Basically don't tell me you're from Tian Xia and you got a rhinocerous.
