Hello, this is the Discussion thread. I will be posting something more substantive momentarily.
Welcome to one of my tables of Carrion Crown. Please take some time to dot the threads and to consider character creation. Please start by downloading the Carrion Crown Players' Guide. It provides some information about the country of Ustalav and some valuable insight into character-creation. However, don't bother with the campaign traits. Because I am adjusting the beginning zone, the traits relating to Professor Lorrimor's funeral just don't work anymore.
The campaign will begin in the city of Lepidstadt. Lepidstadt is in the county of Vieland, ruled by a council that is based in the city. Until recently, Lepidstadt was ruled by a count called Caromarc (like most of the country was ruled by various members of old aristocracy), but he voluntarily deposed himself during the country's turn towards democracy. Lepidstadt is also known for its university, an internationally-renowned center of learning, for its large chapel dedicated to Pharasma (Gravecharge), and for an old, mysterious circle of standing stones called the Spiral Cromlech.
The campaign will begin as a young woman - Jeminda Anikee - contacts the PCs or their friends, looking for a small competent group of people to go looking for her brother-in-law. One of the Ustalavic townships around Lepidstadt is late on taxes, and Jeminda's brother-in-law Kyle recently traveled there to collect. He's been missing for a couple of weeks along with the payment, and someone needs to go see what happened to him...
This is a horror campaign. I will endeavor to increase the desperation and tragedy and to make it more realistic, although I'm not aiming for edgelord cringe. Let me know if you have concerns about tone, or if you have any subjects you would not like broached.
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Level: 3, plus Gestalt
Races: Core plus dhampir, goblin, hobgoblin, orc, tiefling, changeling, and skinwalker. Human ethnicities are most commonly Kellid and Varisian.
Traits You can take two, and you may take a drawback to gain a third.
Classes: Paizo material is allowed by default. However:
- The unchained monk may be treated as an archetype, but the unchained barbarian/summoner/rogue are mandatory.
- The primalist (bloodrager), inspired blade (swashbuckler), sanctified slayer (inquisitor), the gunslinger, and all gun-related archetypes are banned.
- Rogue Genius Games' Witch Hunter and Death Mage are allowed. Kobold Press' White Necromancer is allowed. The psionics material from Dreamscarred Press is allowed.
Alignment: Alignment will be removed for this game, Except in the case of outsiders. Outsiders with an alignment subtype still have alignment.
Point-Buy: 20!
Wealth: Half WBL (which is 1,500gp). Plus, we will be using Automatic Bonus Progression, which at your level grants a +1 resistance bonus to all your saves.
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To increase the grittiness and because I want to, we'll be using the Wounds and Vigor subsystem, which increases your total amount of HP available to you but makes it more difficult to heal.
As I mention above, we'll be using Automatic Bonus Progression, which replaces all magic items that give practically-required static bonuses.
We will also be using the Elephant in the Room feat tax elimination rules. There is one rule not discussed in that thread: Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Grapple are merged into a single feat called Unarmed Combatant.
Lemme know if you've got Qs, for which I have As. I will be posting up a character questionnaire when I have more time (probably tomorrow after work) to help guide character creation.
Hello. I need to work out what I want to do, but I'm checking in.
NOTE: The Gameplay thread is available for dot.
This questionnaire is optional, and meant to help guide character-writing.
Character Questionnaire:
1. What's your characters economic situation, and the economic situation of their family? A desperately poor character with a rich family tells a very different story than a desperately poor character with a poor family.
2. What does your character look like? Describe their fashion sense, their hair, their eyes and skin. Is there a reason they dress or act the way they do? How do they carry themselves when they don’t think anyone is looking?
3. Where was your character born? In Ustalav? Somewhere else? Why did they move to Ustalav, if they were born elsewhere?
4. How did your character become whatever class they are or learn the skills they have?
5. What does your character do for a living? How did they get into doing that?
6. What is their personality like?
7. If your character is religious, explain why and how. If not, there may be a reason for that as well.
8. Much of the campaign will involve traveling all over Ustalav and foiling the plots of various horrifying monsters. Why does your character care about doing this? Is he an Ustalav patriot, a Pharasman undeath hunter, a monster slayer for sport, or something else?
9. What are your character's moral lines? What would they never do? What can they not stand by and watch? What will they always take advantage of?
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.
I'm still playing around with concepts, but I just came up with an idea for a medical doctor from the university who's fascinated with monstrous and non-humanoid anatomy and has a tendency to get into trouble hunting after research subjects. Right now I'm thinking Alchemist with the Vivisectionist and maybe Preservationist archetypes. Still need to think about gestalt, but Bard with either Archaeologist or Archivist would probably fit the theme, but I'm still looking.
DBH checking in. I've played Gestalt, so I can work out a character.
So far I see an Occultist/? and a Alchemist/Bard. I'll give it some though and should have an idea for my character soon.
Oh, question. Are we using Background Skills?
We are not! If you want more skills, gestalt into rogue ;)
Okay, I think I am going to do the Alchemist (Vivisectionist)/Bard (Archaeologist). It's going to make me a lot more rogue-like than being heavy on support like a lot of bards. Does that work for everyone? I'm planning on trying to grab a lot of support spells like buffs and illusions, so I'll at have that, but I think I'll be a little more skill focused.
I'll write up some more about the setting later today, after my school's recruiting event. Hopefully I can give you some stuff to work with.
Also, please feel free to collaborate. Your characters should probably be acquainted so that it's plausible to send you guys on an adventure together. I can write up a few NPCs that can put you in contact with the first couple quests too if that helps.
I'm planning on a Fighter(ustalav Duelist)/Investigator gestalt. He went to Lepidstat university, studying history, dueling, boozing and womanizing. Taking a few Investigators courses due to the instructors lovely figure. And finding to his surprise he was actually good at it.
My current idea is that my character is a professor of medicine and alchemy at the university, and I'm planning to have him be a bit on the older side. So maybe characters who have recently gone to the university could have had him as a teacher?
That could in theory be why Jeminda includes him in the group she contacts too if she's a student or has friends who are.
Also, is pre-game crafting okay? I'm probably going to be looking at a lot of alchemical items
Pre-game crafting is okay as long as you can make the DC on a roll of 10.
Seems like some good built-in relationship between kamenhero and DBH's characters. Maybe even JM's character too?
Hey guys, we are merging the two groups now. We'll have one group of 6 instead of two groups of 3 - the other three concepts that are planned to be joining us are all warrior-types. With their introduction, I want to also say that Path of War will be allowed. Two of the players in the second group had asked me for their usage, so I'll be opening that up if you want to adjust class choices.
Hello to everyone from the other group who's joining us here! Glad to have you.
This is the alias for my doctor/professor with a mostly ready stat block. I'll write up some quick answers to the background questions now to give a general idea of his personality and try to have a more complete backstory later.
2. Henry considers himself stylish, though he's a little behind the times. He favors dark brown slacks and jacket over a white shirt for the most part. When he's in town, he usually wears a heavier overcoat and a hat when the weather is poor, but when he's traveling her uses a more practical cloak to keep the weather off. He's well into his forties, nearing fifty, though his age doesn't show much on his face yet, save a few stress lines that he's developed dealing with troublesome students. However, he is starting to go grey, with light streaks in his formerly black hair. He thinks the salt and pepper look makes him distinguished though, and takes it in good humor. His bear matches, though he usually keeps it trimmed to a goatee. His eyes are very pale, making them look more grey than anything else, and he wears spectacles most of the time. He doesn't need them for much more than reading small print, but he wears them most of the time to enforce his scholarly image. His complexion is less pale than some of his colleagues, as his time traveling and doing field work keeps him from becoming too pale.
3. Henry was born in Lepidstadt and has lived there most of his life, though he has left and traveled other parts of the country a fair few times over the years. His entire family in fact are locals and have lived in the city for generations.
4. Henry learned his skills in anatomy from his father first, as he was intended to continue the family business of working with the dead. However, he found that his interests more broad and was interested in helping the living as much as caring for the dead. He was able to gain enrollment at the University in his younger years and studied in the department of medicine and the department of alchemy to learn all he could of medicine, anatomy, and potioneering. Seeing himself as a bit of a renaissance man, he made sure to take diverse courses of study, also taking classes in history, philosophy, and similar subjects. This gives him a wide academic background to draw knowledge from on top of his specialties. He also was briefly involved with one of the school's dueling fraternities as a student, though he reluctantly admitted that he lacked the physical ability to keep up with the more skilled members. He learned the basics of using a rapier and was talented at picking targets, but found it not quite to his tastes.
5. Henry is currently on tenure at the University, having taken a position as an assistant professor almost immediately after graduating and working his way up to a respected member of the department of medicine. During his time there, he grew to love learning and believes that passing on his skills to others so they can become skilled doctors and healers does more than simply opening his own practice.
6. Henry tries to be gregarious and open with others, and he greatly enjoys helping people when he can. Even though he doesn't have much time to actually practice as a physician with his work at the school, he's always happy to try to help when students have issues and he spends some time volunteering in the university's clinic to help treat the students' health issues. He views teaching as a great thing, for spreading knowledge is an invaluable act and tries to have a good relationship with his students. However, he is a somewhat vain man, taking a great deal of pride in his abilities and history and this has a tendency to make him a bit pigheaded. He doesn't like to give up on theories unless solid proof opposes his ideas and he maintains his image and appearance carefully to keep up the image of a respectable scholar.
7. Henry is not terribly religious. His father was a devout adherent of Pharasma, as was appropriate for his profession, but Henry never really picked up the faith. He has respect for most faiths, save the very dark ones, but doesn't practice. He does have a great deal of respect for healers who specialize in divine magic though, as he sees their skills as extremely valuable.
8. Henry is considered something of an eccentric by his colleagues because of his obsession with what he calls 'field work'. He loves to travel, especially when he hears stories of rare or possibly new creatures and maladies. He frequently takes leaves of absence to journey out to study various creatures or simply humans in unusual circumstances. And an unfortunate number of these involve killing said creature so that he can dissect it to learn from the body. As such, a monster slaying journey would be like hunting the subject of his next paper: another journey for the history books.
9. Henry enjoys helping people and spreading knowledge, but he finds those that abuse medicine and science despicable. Knowledge is for the benefit of mankind, not to keep killing more people. He also dislikes killing people if he can help it, though his life has hardly been bloodless, if only because bandits or the like on the roads can sometimes simply not be avoided. However, his frequent quests for knowledge have a tendency to give him tunnel vision. He's the kind of person who would insist on taking as many samples for study as possible before treating a victim of new or rare disease or the kind who would want to catalog a monster's habits and habitat before slaying it, even if it put him or his comrades in a bit of danger.
10. Aside from his standard oath as a physician, Henry is under not particular oaths or promises.
Well if the three joining us are all warrior types I'll change my character. Hows the arcane side of things? I'm pondering a Arcanist/Investigator.
The same background, just less flouncing around with rapiers.
Looks like we have:
- A Path of War warder/occultist or investigator
- A Path of War stalker/bloodrager
- A gunslinger (bolt ace) / slayer
And then we have this party's alchemist/bard and JM's occultist idea.
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Looks good so far, kamenhero. Seems like a very classic adventurer.
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I'm not reaaaally looking for maximum effort here - just PCs that you think'll be fun to play and to RP, and who have realistic motivations for sticking with the campaign so that it doesn't feel weird.
Looking at that list I see a lack of Divine magic, and not much prospect for higher level Arcane either? I know nothing of the Path of war classes.
I'll give it some thought, plenty of melee and skill there. so a double caster would be very useful.
Yup, some magic-ish effects from path of war, but they're pure melee otherwise. K'ra (The Bloodrager/Stalker) will be focused on the skills a hunter would need (Perception, Stealth, Survivial, Acrobatics), and heavy intimidation.
Here are my questions:
K’ra’s was raised in extreme poverty in a remote corner of the island of Jalmeray. His father kept them mostly hidden, and scavenged or stole what he could to help make ends meet. As a child K’ra also resorted to stealing from time to time, to help fill his own belly. By contrast, his grandmother is the head of one of the wealthiest noble houses on the island.
K’ra wears a ragged, blood-stained leather armor he ‘acquired’ from an elf he ambushed after his escape from Arena in the Shackles. Beneath the armor he is bare-chested, and he bears various tattoos and scars from his time as a slave and gladiator. The scars extend all over his body, and he makes a point to display them as evidence of all the fights he has survived. Three slashes cross his right eye, which has glazed over white from the wound, leaving it useless. His tanned skin and black hair give away his Vudrani heritage when he is in human form. When he changes shape, his scars remain, but his fur is the ruddy orange with the dark stripes of a weretiger-kin, with white fur lining his chest. The scars he has suffered are clearly visible, the skin there no longer capable of producing fur.
K’ra is forever scanning the area around him. He has the bearing of a predator, derived naturally from his blood and honed through years in the gladiatorial arena in Arena and in the Mwangi Jungles after escaping the Shackles. He looks down on anyone who is not a warrior, and he usually does little to hide the sneer on his face when dealing with such weaklings. Around other warriors, however, he is competitive bordering on jovial, seeing fighting and hunting as a sport to be relished. Those who fight well earn his respect, and those he considers his equals he can even develop camaraderie with.
K’ra was born on the island of Jalmeray. He was exiled from the island after failing to kill his grandmother, one of the rajas of the island who is secretly also a Rakshasa. Amused by his attempt to reclaim his place as scion of her house, she briefly taught him to fight before selling him to slavers looking for gladiators for the matches in Arena in the Shackles. There he fought for many years, clawing his way up the ranks one fight at a time, taking advantage of his weretiger abilities and his innate rage to help him. In time he even began to harness the abyssal taint he had inherited from his grandmother alongside the weretiger blood of his grandfather.
Though he learned much during his time there, including how to instill fear in even the mightiest foes, he eventually grew bored of the arena, desiring a chance to set out in the world to fight bigger foes. He managed to escape during one of the matches, using his innate prowess to jump into the stands, and fled the Shackles into the Mwangi Expanse. During his time living in the Jungles there, he ran into a group of adventurers who told tales of the horrors present in Ustalav. A true opportunity for a monster hunter. Of especial interest to him were the tales of tribes of werewolves present in the region, as they were often described as fearsome, something he seriously doubted. Given his lack of attachments and his desire to best ever greater foes in preparation for returning to defeat his grandmother, he set off for Ustalav.
His childhood taught him how to steal and take from those when he needed. Ambushing travelers and roughing up the weak for food was more his style than outright stealing, but he was quite adept at skulking about as well. In the arena he developed those skills further towards killing, developing a fighting style based on intimidation and the brute strength that flowed through his veins.
In addition, the magic and hatred he had inherited from his grandmother were ever-present, manifesting in his bloodrage, which he used quite aggressively.
K’ra doesn’t do things for a living. While he will use money when needed, he is perfectly capable of hunting to live, and enjoys living in the wilderness. Nevertheless, in order to hunt monsters it helps to interact with people, as rumors and the like are an excellent means of guiding him to his next challenge.
His personality varies from jovial to cold, and almost always arrogant. Much of how he interacts with others is dependent on how capable he sees them as. Fighters command respect, most others receive his derision, unless they are obsequious towards him. He responds well to flattery and will boast about his battles if given any chance to do so.
His father was an Iroran, though he himself is not religious, seeing those who depend upon the gods for power as weak. Despite this, his behavior is actually rather Iroran, as he believes strongly in self-perfection, and much of his disdain for the weak comes from seeing it as a personal failure. The strong are strong because they strive for it, the weak are weak because they do not. It is a cruel and unfeeling interpretation of Iroran beliefs.
K’ra is a hunter for sport, without a doubt. His goal isn’t to gain fame or wealth. It is to prove himself in battle after battle, until he is capable of returning to Jalmeray to claim his noble heritage and kill his grandmother. Even with that goal, he cares more about the fact he is owed it than the wealth or prestige that goes with it. Nor does he resent or harbor hatred for his grandmother. he is merely the ultimate challenge he has before him, the mount he wishes to summit in his search for perfection.
K’ra has little in the way of morality, though he sees little point in slaughtering the weak. He has no taste for human flesh--though he enjoys the taste of blood when fighting—so the weak are not food to him. Ideally, they should just shut up and stay out of his way, allowing him to take what he desires. Still, laws and society exist and can be useful to him, so he sees little point in breaking laws just to spite them.
Foes who slaughter the weak or helpless anger him, and he will intervene to slay the such foes, though he draws the line at that. Once he has slain them he moves on, for his objection was not to the slaying of the weak or innocent, but merely to the fact that someone would waste time on them when they could be fighting someone capable.
James,
The way I approach it is to first figure out what your character's main class lacks that your character should have. Weaknesses that don't fit, or abilities/utility they are lacking that would fit the theme. I then begin looking for classes that fill that gap and play around with the build to see if it makes sense.
For example, K'ra should be believably a great hunter. Bloodrager fit what I wanted out of him primarily, but it lacked the skills and utility I wanted him to have. Specifically, it left him bad at stealth, perception and the other skills that hunters should be good at. Picking up Rogue upped his skill points, and gave him sneak attack which fit really well with the "stalking predator" theme I wanted. Later I tweaked it to go for stalker as it has some really nice options for intimidation, which was also essential to the character, as well as buffs to the various skills he'd be using to accomplish his goals.
I'm not familiar with Occultist, but assuming it's a psychic caster, does the character excel in casting beyond that? Is it a major portion of their capabilities? Do they instead have more skills or combat ability? Answering those questions will narrow down what you want out of a second class. Consider also that gestalt opens up the possibility of making use of some of the more interesting prestige classes that would normally be rather limiting (sorc + dragon disciple, arcane trickster, etc.), as your second class gives you stability and stuff to do while your prestige class comes online.
Hi! My character will be young woman with a horror inside her that, that she reluctantly harnesses to defeat other horrors. She'll definitely be a Warder (Fiendbound Marauder), which gives her a mechanical way to have her arm sometimes turn into a mass of tentacles and teeth (among other things).
Rough notes:
Backstory / personality
- I have a terrible horror inside me
- I didn’t choose this but I must harness it, to deal with the horrors that surround us
- Whatever’s inside me is hungry. It's trying to control me, to take over. I need to be stronger than it.
- On my darker days--or are they my clearer days?--I know that one day it will win, but I must hold out as long as I'm able...and in the meantime make the horrors around me pay.
Questions:
- Who did this to me? (Maybe a parent, trying to create a weapon to fight back some Ustalavian (sp?) dangers)
- Might have been raised in a cult, as a weapon against something. (Open to suggestions on what?)
- How much do I know about the horror within me? (A tie to a Daemon? An aberration of some sort? One of the Elder Gods? Lamashtu?) As far as this goes, I'm flexible if it fits in well with the the campaign, or with someone else's backstory.
It might be interesting roleplay to have at least some of yall now know about her ability to transform until it happens for the first time.
More to come soon!
To James question: I like the way K'ra thinks about it.
Another option: Is there a character you'd like to get to play, that the mechanics of just a single class (or traditional multiclassing) make awkward? As an example, one of my favorite gestalt characters was a Bard-Cleric of Shelyn who was as good at creating beauty as I felt he ought to be, as a Shelynite cleric. It also gave me the confidence to build him without any really ability in melee, knowing that two caster classes together would give him enough staying power, even at low levels. Another was a Swashbuckler-Cleric of Besmara, who I really wanted to be both casting *and* swinging from the rigging with a rapier in his hand. I also think about someday playing a Monk-Cleric of Sun Wukong, if the right game presents itself. (And yes, many of my gestalt ideas are clerics...but I have an affection for divine casters in general.)
Note, that gestalt can make you
a) more flexible/well rounded than normal (e.g. a Sorcerer/Slayer, who is a great caster & has combat prowess)
b) better-than-the-best at one thing (e.g. a Fighter's BAB & feats plus Warpriest's self-buffing)
c) better staying power (e.g. a Sorcerer/Wizard who can cast til the cows come home)
d) better able to express a unique concept (e.g. my Bard-Cleric of Shelyn).
Placing another dot in here. I think I've settled on using inquisitor instead of slayer as my second class. That would give me a lot more utility without losing out on a lot of killing power.
Right now I am just debating on whether to go human or tiefling. Losing a feat would hurt, but I feel like the latter would work better for the backstory I have in mind. I'd still be able to qualify for Crossbow Mastery by level 5, in either case. Once I've made up my mind on that, I'll put up some answers to those questions.
Indeed, James Martin - to phrase it another way, gestalt is a way to reinforce your character concept with additional abilities. As an example, my last character was a scrappy street rat with some monstrous heritage, so I built her as a brawler/rogue to represent that she was a pickpocket and a dirty fighter, but also that her fists were as strong as iron and that she was scrappy and would try anything to win a fight.
I'm sure we can help you if you would like us to, as well.
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Sorry for changing the name and confusing you!
While you guys are writing up your PCs backstories and those questionnaires, I'd also like you to ponder whether your PCs have existing relationships. Do you know each other from the university? If you live in Lepitstadt, are you friends? Do you own an adventuring company?
Not necessary, but I think it helps.
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I've added the normal houserules that I have in my games. They're in the campaign info tab now, and here they are:
1. Weapon and armor attunement from automatic bonus progression does not have to be given up in order to further enchant a weapon. For example, if you have +1 weapon attunement and you buy a flaming longsword, you now have a +1 flaming longsword.
2. When you attempt a combat maneuver, it does not provoke an AoO unless it fails. If you have the relevant Improved feat, it does not provoke an AoO at all.
3. If you die, you can instead take a trauma, a crippling injury. You can sustain a number of traumas equal to your CON mod, and if you take one you stabilize at your negative CON score + 1. If you are not in combat, you miraculously survive whatever situation you are in. Traumas can typically be healed with a regeneration spell.
4. When crafting magic items, one cannot ignore a prerequisite. All prerequisites must be met. Multiple creatures can contribute to a single item's creation, though.
Doublepost!
The link in the campaign info tab has been changed from the Elephant in the Room article to an article by the same guy with just a revised list of the feats in the Core Rulebook.
I like it because it fixes a lot of the problems I see in some of the feats. For example, Deflect Arrows can be taken if you have Shield Focus, Natural Spell can be used by anybody with 13 Wisdom, Rapid Reload affects sling staffs, etc. etc. Another change is that everything that mentions a single weapon (like Weapon Focus or Weapon Proficiency) now mentions a fighter weapon group. For example, you can take proficiency in heavy blades.
There are also new feats that allow some types of characters to function better in their chosen role. For example, Iron Guard (preq. Shield Focus) gives evasion to people wearing heavy shields, Savage Charge lets you use Vital Strike upon a charge, Whirling Cleave lets you take a 5-ft. step during Cleave, and the new hamstring maneuver lets you root foes in place.
Take a look through it if you have a minute. It may have feats that you'd be interested in taking.
Hey gang, I'm narrowing in on my second class. Ideally I'm looking for something that emphasizes either hungering to eat ones foes (e.g. Inquisitor: Sin Eater) or an Evil that gains influence on him (e.g. Medium: Outer Channeler-Daemon or Fiend Keeper). I'm also considering Malefex for the curse flavor or Psychic Detective for spooky psychic flavor.
Influence and Taboos in particular are great flavor...but Charisma-based is awkward for me, and I'm not sure I'd channel a spirit other than the Champion, so I'm missing out on a lot of what a Medium is supposed to be.
Anyone know of a class with mechanics like Influence/Taboos that might be an interesting fit? Or one where eating ones foes matters mechanically?
Also, Leinathan, is the Malefex allowed as part of allowing Dreamscarred psionic classes?
Thanks,
Sure, the Malefex is allowed.
You can look into the Spirit-Ridden and Channel Spirit feats if you don't want to go full medium. You also might find that channeling other kinds of spirits may be useful to you in abnormal situations. For example, channeling heirophant or archmage if there's a particular spell that you need - you can flavor it as being the same being if you want to, of course.
I think there may be archetypes that allow you to gain the medium's spirit ability. I'll look.
You could also go oracle (or VMC) and choose a thematic curse like Possessed, Demonic, Shadowbound, Ghoul, or Hunger.
Ghoul IS a great curse for me. Is there anything that makes Oracle not-CHA based?
I'll have to look at VMC.
Hi! My character will be young woman with a horror inside her that, that she reluctantly harnesses to defeat other horrors. She'll definitely be a Warder (Fiendbound Marauder), which gives her a mechanical way to have her arm sometimes turn into a mass of tentacles and teeth (among other things).
Rough notes:
Backstory / personality
- I have a terrible horror inside me
- I didn’t choose this but I must harness it, to deal with the horrors that surround us
- Whatever’s inside me is hungry. It's trying to control me, to take over. I need to be stronger than it.
- On my darker days--or are they my clearer days?--I know that one day it will win, but I must hold out as long as I'm able...and in the meantime make the horrors around me pay.Questions:
- Who did this to me? (Maybe a parent, trying to create a weapon to fight back some Ustalavian (sp?) dangers)
- Might have been raised in a cult, as a weapon against something. (Open to suggestions on what?)
- How much do I know about the horror within me? (A tie to a Daemon? An aberration of some sort? One of the Elder Gods? Lamashtu?) As far as this goes, I'm flexible if it fits in well with the the campaign, or with someone else's backstory.It might be interesting roleplay to have at least some of yall now know about her ability to transform until it happens for the first time.
More to come soon!
Something a bit like this? Girl with problems
Or this? What did I say?
I found them while looking through Pintrest for character inspirations.
Nice! My first inspiration was the amazing graphic novel Monstress. This short video gives a nice impression of Maika Halfwolf, the protagonist.
DBH, and you still thinking Arcanist/Investigator?
Monstress is spectacular! I have the first two Trade Paperbacks. Very cool concept to draw from :)
Actually I'm now thinking Oracle(Bone)/Rogue(Relic raider). Using the 1st image as inspiration. A girl who is desperately seeking the reason everyone in her family dies young? And why she seems to have such a link to necromancy?
A scholar at Leipstat university, quiet and bookish. Haunting the library for information on her family history, and sneaking into tombs and houses to look for more hidden information. :)
I found a funny feat for K'ra.
Sounds like a good concept with some good potential hooks there, DBH. What curse are you looking at?
Tongues or Wasting at the moment. Wasting seems the best fit, especially since no one in her family seems to live past thirty. :)
That's a pretty cool feat! Will definitely see if I have room. Picking up skill focus is gonna be hard, but after 11 there's probably room.
DBH: Have you considered literally being bookish with Inquisitor(Living Grimoire) as your second half? Would be less tomb-raiderish, but on the other hand, beating people to death with a book is fun :p
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, 2011 Top 32
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My new build is a Occultist/Bard (archeologist). Built to be an art historian/retrieval expert. She's a bundle of random bits. I want to see how it comes together in action.
Octavia Wittelstein
Changeling Female Occultist/Bard (archeologist) 3
Init +4; Senses Perception +6; darkvision
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DEFENSE
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AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +2 dex, +1 natural)
VP 18 (3d8); WP 20 (2xCON)
Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +4
SR 9
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OFFENSE
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Spd 20'
Melee 2 claws +3 (1d4+1) or whip +4 (1d3+1)
Ranged mwk light crossbow +5 (1d8)
Space 5'; Reach 5'
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STATISTICS
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Str 12, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 11, Cha 16
BAB +2; CMB +3; CMD 15
Feats (2) Mother's Gift (uncanny resistance: SR 6+level), Precise Shot
Skills (9 skill) Appraise +9 (+11*), Bluff +9, Diplomacy +9, Disable Device +9 (+10*), Know (arcana) +10, Know (local) +10, Know (history) +10, Perception +7, Use Magic Device +10
Racial Abilities: witchborn alternate racial trait, natural armor, claws, darkvision, green widow (+2 bluff vs creatures sexually attracted to her)
Special Abilities: focus powers (3 schools), implement schools (3), knacks, mental focus (6 pts), magic item skill (+1/2 level on UMD), object reading, bardic knowledge (+4), archaeologist's luck (+1, 7 rounds), clever explorer (+1/2 level on DD and Perc), uncanny dodge, trap sense +1 (+ to reflex saves and Dodge vs Attacks made by traps)
Implement Schools and Focus Powers: (base +1 more from each school)
- Abjuration: Base: Mind Barrier & Planar Ward & Energy Shield (Implement: Coat of Many Colors)
- Illusion: Base: Minor Figment & Cloak Image (Implement: Broken Ring with rrinning silver rat skull with emerald eyes)
- Evocation: Base: Energy Ray (Implement: Bone wand with scorched end)
Bard Spells Known (4/day)
0 - (6) detect magic, know direction, mage hand, open/close, read magic, sift
1st - (4) abundant ammunition, comprehend languages, innocence, liberating command
Occultist Spells Known (4/day)
0 - resistance, ghost sound, telekinetic projectile
1st - (3) burning hands, alarm, shadow weapon
Traits: x
Languages: Common, Varisian, Aklo, Draconic, Giant
Purchases: (1500 gp) mwk light crossbow (335 gp), masterwork thieves' tools (100 gp), Witch's kit (21 gp), masterwork tools (appraise, 50 gp), armored coat (50 gp), whip (1 gp), wand of cure light wounds (50 charges, 750 gp), 193 gp
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Stat Math:
Str 12 (2 points)
Dex 14 (5 points)
Con 10 (2 points -2 racial)
Int 16 (5 points +2 racial)
Wis 11 (1 points)
Cha 16 (5 points +2 racial)
James and Kamenhero, thanks for sharing your builds. I hope to have one soon too (together with more coherent backstory).
Toward that end, I'm narrowing in on my second class. It's funny that the thing I really want from Medium is the *disadvantage* it comes with. Leinathan (or others) you haven't found anything else that borrows the Influence mechanic, have you? I've looked but came up empty, alas.
Assuming no, I'm inclined right now to do one of either:
a) Malefex - which adds utility and cursing flavor, and seems like a lot of fun mechanically
b) Medium (Outer Channeler OR Fiend Keeper) - which gives the super flavorful influence mechanic, but otherwise will mechanically amount 90% of the time to some bonuses to hit and damage, and the ability to reroll attack rolls and fortitude saves.
Happy to hear any other suggestions (or questions).
Just getting the disadvantage of a class is honestly a lot harder than the advantages. Most feats or whatever aren't going to give you the downsides. Just going Medium is probably the only way you're going to get it, but I could be wrong. In the end, you'll probably enjoy the character more if you just pick whatever build you prefer.
@ James: Seeing as we're both doing scholarly types, I was thinking that we might have met before. Perhaps your character has done work for the university before. Also, I want to ask how you're thinking of progressing your character since we're using the same class. I don't want to end up stepping on each other's toes too much.
I feel like it's possible that you're underestimating the medium. It allows you to:
a.) have full ranks in any skill you want
b.) have any spell from the wizard or cleric spell list of your choice
c.) be pretty decent at melee
d.) fiend keeper lets you fly or use high-level divination magic
Anyway
On the other hand, the Malefex looks pretty powerful and unique. It's got a pretty interesting flavor too, that's not really present in most current classes. It's like the martial version of the witch, which is pretty unique.
Looks like we're a really skilled, swashbuckling party so far!
I've finally got the concept I want for my character, I'm sticking with the Bone Oracle, but the other class will be investigator. "It's horrible, and it just gets worse. But I have to know!"
DBH: I like it! It'll be interesting to see how the horror that plagues you and the one that plagues me play out.
leinathan: You may be right that I'm underselling Medium. I was discounting the wizard and cleric options because as a Warder I need to invest significantly in either STR or DEX and either WIS or INT...and
so getting even a 13 CHA would be a stretch (thus being unable to cast mid-to-high level spells)
That said, I just had a new inspiration: I went back on a lark and read the Void Prophet archetype which is *also* very thematic for what I'm going for. I'll sleep on it but I may actually let go of the Fiendbound Marauder. If I do, I think I'll be:
Zealot (Void Prophet) 3 | Oracle 1 / Medium (Fiend Keeper) 2
That would get me the dynamics of Influence, the Ghoul curse (which works even better than Sin Eater)...and some creepy otherworldly curse-y Void Prophet powers.
Let's see what I think in the AM!
The only way I can find to gain the medium's spirit ability other than through the medium is with the Prowler at World's End bloodrager archetype, which... doesn't seem to fit flavorfully.
If you don't need some specific revelation that you take at level 1, you might consider VMC oracle instead. You will get better progression on your curse later on, and the revelation you take at 3 will scale with level starting at 7. Of course that's assuming you can afford to lose the feats.
Mahorfeus: I was thinking our characters could be partners who met when you hunted Kra down intending to kill him. Your char faught Kra to a standstill, earning his respect in doing so.
OK. I've finally made up my mind. So many trade offs to consider. In the end though, I think the following best captures the character I'm aiming for: Warder (Fiendbound Marauder, Ordained Defender, Sin Eater) | Malefex
Now I'll start building crunch and ironing out backstory...
Unless things have changed, I *think* that means this is our party:
* James - Occultist | Bard (Archeologist)
* Mahorfeus - Bolt Ace | Inquisitor
* 'Khar - Bloodrager (Bloody-Knuckled Rowdy) | Rogue (Bandit, Thug) /Stalker (Brutal Slayer)
* DBH - Oracle (Bones) | Investigator
* Kamenhero - Alchemist | Bard (Archeologist)
* Gyrfalcon - Warder (Fiendbound Marauder, Ordained Defender, Sin Eater) | Malefex
BTW, is anyone thinking of taking Bluff and/or Diplomacy?
leinathan, I just came across Dreamscarred's Heritage feats, since one of the Malefex's knocks can grant a free one:
- These that have various heritage requirements, and
- This which can give you a new mixed heritage (and an associated benefit).
How wide have you opened the door on 3rd party materials at this point? All the Path of War feats? These heritage feats? Note that some seem *very* powerful, e.g. Aberrant Heritage can grant
Your unusual nature affects your vitality, bolstering you in ways different from other mortals.
Prerequisite: Aberration, fey, ooze, plant, or undead type.
Benefit: Choose Wisdom or Charisma. You calculate your bonus hit points per Hit Die based on the chosen ability score instead of your constitution
I wanna say that I'm gonna allow everything by Dreamscarred Press (feats, etc)... with the right to ban or nerf something that I view as OP. However, I don't do that much, preferring to ban things that I view as being redundant, overshadowing existing options or which are poorly-written or defined.
For example: Sacred Geometry totally overshadows existing metamagic feats.