Discussion thread.
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[Former player of Sarkast here]
So after reading the player's guide, my first thought is for some sort of druid/ranger/hunter type with an animal companion and survival-in-the-wild skills. I'd probably go with the Animal Whisperer campaign trait, or possibly the Frontier Healer.
Spiderbeard, the guide mentions taking item creation feats to help with self-sufficiency. That implies to me that there will be time in game to do such things. I might want to take Brew Potion and make the character be a local herbalist/healer as well as scout.
Character Creation
Class – All published Paizo classes allowed. This game is an outdoors old-school monster killing kind of adventure. Pick characters accordingly.
Origin and Motivation - The game is about resisting an invasion. As such, you should be from, or closely connected to Phaedren and motivated to secure its freedom and independence.
Starting wealth – 150 gp
Ability scores – 20 point buy.
Hit point generation system – Max hp at level one, half-plus-one
for each level thereafter.
Alignment restrictions – None. Evil characters require justification.
Traits – Two traits, one must be a campaign trait.
Race restrictions – Core races recommended, other races will be considered as I find the more inhuman the race the more gimmicky the character. Hobgoblin not recommended. They're the bad guys.
Please complete the following for your character:
Complete character sheet
Background
Personality
Appearance
Each character should have a class/level tag with vital information.
I haven't gone through everything in great detail but if the player's guide recommends item creation then go for it. I have no issues with item creation.
Yeah, I got inspired and had a few hours free yesterday. Here's the crunch, fluff to come.
I'll definitely be a local; if anyone else is a local or regular visitor, we would probably know each other.
Great character concept, excited to see what the others put together.
I mothballed the other campaign, think I'll activate again and remind people to look here.
Okay, waiting on the others before I decide. I think Ayesha is going martial so that leaves Dejik and myself.
Thank you for the reminder. I missed the other post.
Gregor/Dane incoming!
@GM - I have a question for you. The Stalwart feat has prerequisites of both Die Hard and Endurance. If I go orc, the racial trait Ferocity is close to Die Hard. Would you consider is Equivalent for the purposes of the prerequisite? It affects how my overall build will go, and whether I go orc or human.
Yeah, go for it. After spending way more time than I could with calculating RP and stuff like that, it's just simple if I hand-wave it as a prerequisite. The level four restriction means you're not getting DR too early anyways.
(Dejik's player here)
I'm toying with a dwarven ranger with the Kraggodan Castaway campaign trait. He'll probably be a switch-hitter and outdoor survivalist.
Ok, so sounds like we need some sort of Arcane character then!
(Unfortunately, that sort of precludes my pre generated ideas. However, I have another idea!)
I think I'll play a Witch with the Elements Patron (I'm seeing his Patron as "Nature") and the Blight Burned Trait.
Between a Druid and a Witch we should have most types of magic covered...
My basic idea is that the character would be raised deep in the Fangwood and not really be a native of Phaedren. However, whenever the campaign kicks off he would be in Phaedren peddling his herbalism.
edit: I don't like the Slumber Hex and I won't be taking it. Ever.
Looking around the PFSRD. I like This archetype alot.
Sounds like that would dovetail with the herbalist druid nicely. In fact, the non-campaign trait I am taking has this fluff text:
With the help of a druidic healer, you narrowly escaped death by disease or poisoning while on the run from Molthuni militias, whether contracting the ailment was an accident or you were the victim of more sinister forces.
Change "druidic" to "herbalist witch" and that could be you. I was poisoned while trying to get away from an attacking Molthuni force I stumbled across, and you saved me. We became friends, and now you come to Phaedren to bring me things from deep in the forest that I can't easily get to.
What do you think?
Sounds like that would dovetail with the herbalist druid nicely. In fact, the non-campaign trait I am taking has this fluff text:
With the help of a druidic healer, you narrowly escaped death by disease or poisoning while on the run from Molthuni militias, whether contracting the ailment was an accident or you were the victim of more sinister forces.Change "druidic" to "herbalist witch" and that could be you. I was poisoned while trying to get away from an attacking Molthuni force I stumbled across, and you saved me. We became friends, and now you come to Phaedren to bring me things from deep in the forest that I can't easily get to.
What do you think?
Sounds perfect. That fits seamlessly with my concept.
Keridan /KAIR e den/, or Ker /KAIR/ to his close friends
34 year old Human Male (Taldan ethnicity)
5' 7" tall, 135 lbs; Ruddy skin; dark hair and beard
Ker is good-natured and good-humored in general, though as a grandchild of Nirmathi revolutionaries he has a general distrust of Molthuni and Chelaxians. An adherent of the Green Faith, he strives for harmony with nature and balance in his life. He tends to those who need it, allowing them to pay however they can, and trusting in the bounty of the land.
Background
Born and raised in the young nation of Nirmathas, Keridan is a native of Phaendar. His grandfather fought in the revolution, then help found the town as a safe crossing of the Merideth River. Keriden's family is very close knit, and still live in the same house they built sixty years ago.
As a child, Keridan showed an aptitude for identifying and working with the herbs and plants that grew nearby. His family encouraged him to learn more, and eventually apprenticed him to a druid who occasionally passed through town.
During his apprenticeship, Keridan spent most of his time deep in the Fangwood forest, including six years in the secretive Druid enclave of Crystalhurst. He spent time helping to research a cure for the Darkblight, and it was during that period that he mastered the art of herbalism. Though Darkblight is still a bane on the forest, he came away with a thorough knowledge of how to use herbs and plants to cure diseases and heal wounds.
He eventually took his leave of the Druid camp and decided to use his knowledge to assist in the ongoing conflict with Molthune. He spent several years working in various camps, healing Nirmathi soldiers as they returned from the border. His time on the front ended after a large Molthune force overran his camp. The force overwhelmed the defenders, and Keridan barely got away with his own life.
Forced to run through the Fangwood with no supplies, he fell victim to an infection that left him weak and delirious. Stumbling through the forest, he might have died if not for a stroke of great fortune: he encountered another herbalist, a witch whose own knowledge specialized in disease and poisons. He helped Keridan recover, and when he was strong enough, the witch helped him return home to Phaendar.
Since then, Keridan has lived in his childhood home, caring for his parents and tending to the injuries and ailments of Phaendar and its surrounding lands. He does still travel into the forest, but generally not very far. Instead, he relies on a network of other druids, rangers, and hunters who deliver supplies and goods to him in exchange for his remedies and other things the town can provide.
Now, he looks forward to seeing those friends as they arrive for the Market Festival.
Lemme know how your characters are coming along. Keridan is good to go.
Like with most APs, this one has a rule set it wants us to use. Militias which are governed by board-gamey sort of rules (upgrade/activity/event phases) and give the group permanent buffs and of course a militia. Someone would have to be in charge of this stuff if we want to use this mechanic (discussion woudl take too long). Otherwise I'll hand-wave it.
I could handle it if it is relevant to the AP progression and/or important to our success. When the time comes, you can PM me the relevant information so I can post for the militia as needed.
Here are the beginnings of my character
Plans include
Taking Scribe Scroll
Taking the Cauldron Hex (Brew Potion)
So I should keep us supplied in consumables
Here are the beginnings of my character
Plans include
Taking Scribe Scroll
Taking the Cauldron Hex (Brew Potion)So I should keep us supplied in consumables
So I'm already getting the equivalent of Brew Potion as a class feature, if there is a different hex you might want to take instead.
Actually, its part of the Archetype....Maybe I should switch Archetypes??????
Derrig Blackhands
122 year old Dwarf, Gray beard, 4'2"
Personality and appearance:
It's always difficult to guess the exact age of dwarves, but it's a good bet that Derrig Blackhands is one of the oldest ones in Nirmathas. Some of the founders of Phaendar remember Derrig the Librarian from the town's early days, but none of them remember him looking young: his beard has always been gray, his pate always bald, his face always wrinkled. He's quiet and unassuming, preferring to sit in the corner reading and watching.
Despite his advanced age, Derrig's eyes are bright and alert, and he moves with more grace than one would expect. He seems lost without his books and scrolls, and the weapons he's started carrying lately seem awkward and out of place.
Background:
For over 70 years, Derrig Blackhands has kept the library in the Sky Citadel of Kraggodan, occasionally venturing forth from the citadel to perform his own research on the Darkblight. During his most recent expedition, the Molthune army lay siege to Kraggodan, and Derrig found himself cut off from both his home and his vocation. It was quite inconvenient.
With little warning and less money, Derrig relies on his woodcraft skills to earn a living, foraging for rare herbs for a young herbalist he'd met during some of his research in Crystalhurst. Unfortunately, he is also forced to rely on a far older set of skills, those earned during the 30 years he spent fighting the orcs, goblins, and other enemies of Kraggodan. He was pleased to see his skill with a polearm hasn't atrophied, Derrig was less happy to feel his old hatreds return. He had done so well, burying his years as a goblin hunter under all the books and scrolls in the library.
Perhaps, if he avoids trouble, he can wait out the siege and get back to his library, before his ink-stained hands turn red from blood…again.
Looks cool Gwen!
Okay, so waiting on Bigrin's character to be complete. I'll take some time to see if I can link you guys to any NPCs in town and then put up a free RP post while we wait for the final character sheet.
On the herbalist thing, I'm not going to police game balance. That said Keridan is an automated potion dispensing machine, so any additional potion-making is going to be just tossing a couple extra on the pile.
I'll have Gregor/Dane done today. Repercussions of all last month's trouble caught up to me this weekend. I spent all 3 days of my long weekend catching up on honey-dos (and 2 blood bowl games, but that is neither here nor there :P)
I decided to just ditch the Archetype and go straight Witch. I'll focus on Damage/Debuff.
Took the Evil Eye and Misfortune Hexes.
Gonna focus on debuff and utility Hexes.
Gregor/Dane is done, for now
Background
Most people scream "monster!" when they see Gregor and Dane coming. Well, they scream a lot of things, but "monster" is one of the most common. Not too surprising, given their half-ettin heritage. Gregor and Dane's Ma was one of those Fangwood unfortunates that got caught up in the Troubles, about 20 year or so back. Got herself in the family way in the unconventional sense, that being she was raped in an attack on the family farmstead - the same attack that killed her husband.
Molly Figlet didn't care that the boys she raised were born in the same body. She barely survived the birth, but was determined to raise them right. She raised Gregor and Dane alone in the Fangwood, asking no help from her neighbors - though she would have received little enough, being "that crazy Molly Figlet raising that moster". She taught Gregor and Dane early on to see the wonder in life, the love and joy and peace of the world around them, and to be kind to each other and to the other children.
Children were the worst. Adults would glare and spit and walk on the other side of the path when Gregor and Dane came into town with their mother, but the children would spit at them. And call them names. And say all the things their parents said behind closed doors. It got worse as Gregr and Dane grew into their father's size and strength. At 8, Gregor and Dane were nearly as tall as Ricket Farmen, the tallest woodcutter in the village, and stronger, even. The boys were mirror images of each other, with boyish good looks quickly growing into manhood.
That was when the Darkblight hit. It took their neighbors, and their livestock. When the blighted fey attacked, there was hardly anybody left to fight them off, and Gregor, Dane and their Ma ran for it, along with some of the few villagers from Harner's Mill that could escape. Molly was sick with the blight, and the others shunned both her and the boys. Dane came down with it too, and his fevered coughing wore away at his vitality and strength. The blight took Dane's eyes, and a bit of his mind away. When Molly spent their last coin for a sorcerer to heal them both, it was in desperation. The warlock took the coin and cast his spell...and Molly shrieked liked the damned as her soul was stripped from her body to feed the sorcerer's pet demon. Dane leaped up, enraged, grabbed the nearby woodaxe, and lopped the mage's head from his body.
And that was that. Molly was dead, and Dane was out of his mind with fever. Gregor tried to care for them both as best he could, and eventually he found enough odd jobs that they survived the winter. And then the one after that. They stayed in the region of their childhood, growing up in a harsh world where they always stood out as different, both in their size and the number of heads. Dane's mind never really recovered, and at the age of 22 he still had the mind and naivete of a child. Gregor encouraged this mindset, explaining the world around them to his brother in the best possible terms, preserving that innocence that he had lost those many years ago. Normally, Dane's appearance was offputting to most people, but when he smiled, he could light up a room. Gregor wanted to preserve that at all costs...and sometimes that cost was high indeed.
Eventually someone suggested that Gregor and Dane hire themselves out as caravan guards or mercenary adventurers, given the boys' size and strength. The idea seemed good enough, and Gregor and Dane took their axe to see the world, meet interesting new people, and chat with them awhile. And if the chat got rough, then yeah, they'd kill them.
First gameplay post is up! This is open RP right now so you can get your sea legs with your new characters. Nilus - I'll want some fluff on your witch.
You guys are free to of course know each other or not. As we sort things out, here's a list of NPCs in the town in case you want to associate yourselves with any of them.
Aubrin the Green: A famous cleric of Cayden Cailean who is famous for her bad language, great stories, and greater parties. She's sort of the town celebrity.
Vane Oreld: Vane runs Oreld's Fine Shop and is also the town's (reluctant) healer when certain druids are out of town. He is a difficult man, but a notorious perfectionist who has a "Somebody else would get it wrong" motto about how he goes about his life.
Kining Blondebeard: Possibly Phaendar's least popular resident. She is the town blacksmith, a dwarf that everyone knows was exiled from Glimmerhold for doing something unspeakable she will not discuss. She is notoriously greedy and lacks compassion, but is an excellent smith who always honours her word and pays her debts.
Noelan and Rhyna: They are caretakers of Phaendar's dual shrine to Erastil and Desnar. Noelan is a gentle, sweet man of a retiring disposition. His assistant Rhyna is a bubbly young woman of boundless optimism.
Jet: The local tavern called the Taproot (or 'The Root' by locals) is run by a hard-working woman who simply goes by Jet. The Root has gone through ten owners in as many years, and Jet is simply the latest to try her hand at running the place. She tends to irritate her patrons with a know-it-all attitude, but is honest and hardworking.
@Gregor/Dane Ausk has the Blightburned trait as well. Perhaps we can have it so that Ausk was around the Fangwood during that time. Certainly Ausk would know of "Crazy Molly Figlet" since he's a Fangwood native. [/ooc]
Background
Ausk's people are from the North, Belkzen to be exact. His mother and father, both half orcish, moved south into Nirmathas some 20 years ago following a particularly savage raid by the Hordes. Since the family lost everything in that raid, the two moved into Nirmathas and Ausk's father got a job logging in the Fangwood. His mother, a herb tender and shaman, fell into collecting the various fungi and flowers that grow in the Fangwood. Ausk himself was born to this pair, a wise woman and a logger, nearly 18 years ago. Ausk's mother was a member of one of those secretive groups of druids and witches that the Fangwood harbors and she quickly noticed that her son had an aptitude for such matters.
This is how Ausk grew up, his father a logger and sometime militiaman taught him the Fangwood and its dangers and his mother taught him the mystical power of the Fangwood. During one particularly bad winter, Ausk caught a case of the Blight after a raid by the Blighted fey. This raid claimed many in the Fangwood, including his own Father. Ausk then was forced to step into the role of family provider as his mother (and his six brothers and sisters) relied heavily on his Father's income. Ausk then began a bit of logging and selling his mother's herbs far and wide. This brought him into contact with Phaedren, and the man Keridan who was a particularly good customer. The two men fell into an easy friendship and each time Ausk passes near Phaedren he stays with Keridan at least a day to catch up.
Hey guys, despite the fact I'm just starting this game I'm going to be all a-travel for the next week. That said I'm not travelling anywhere without wifi so I _should_ have time to post.
To get into more detail, I'll keep the introductory open RP going until I'm firmly back on solid ground, probably next Wednesday evening.
Hey Gwen and Ausk I'll need your taglines. Just basic information at class/level on your character profiles.
Okay, so I'm not into the militia rules yet, but there is a new mechanic to keep track of: provisions!
Provision points are simple. Each point feeds one person for one day. People who are not fed go hungry. With clearing out the inn, you have gathered 5 provision points.
Okay, so I'm not into the militia rules yet, but there is a new mechanic to keep track of: provisions!
Provision points are simple. Each point feeds one person for one day. People who are not fed go hungry. With clearing out the inn, you have gathered 5 provision points.
I'll make a note of it in my spreadsheet. Do provision points get spent, or do we just accumulate them?
They get spent every day as you rest. So if you have four people, and four provision points, you will have 0 provision points the next day. So like, a day's worth of rations = 1 point. I'll also track them in the campaign tag.
Also, one mistake the game makes is treating water as provisions. But uh, there's create water spells. So I'm figuring out if just skipping water unbalances the system or anything.
Are Provision Points for feeding NPCs, or do they include PCs? Are there provisions for food generating magic (such as Goodberry - 3 berries would be a full day for one person) and characters with Survival?
PCs included. Unlike pretty much any other campaign out there, food matters and I'm tracking it. Survival is an integral part of getting provisions, so absolutely.
Goodberry is simple enough to work into the system - 3 berries = 1 provision point and you can top that up as much as you are able. I actually know Amber who wrote chapter 1 so I'm going to bug her about the create water question.
Well, with a ranger AND a druid in the party...we should be OK in wilderness survival mode.
By the way ...
"Let me get him, Gregor, you got the last two!" called Dane, and the axe, which had been aimed at the hobgoblin's spine, veered to the side.
Best RP of a failed attack roll I've seen in some time! :-)
it was one of the biggest things in my mind when creating this character. How they would interact, and how to integrate the two heads in every situation.
;-)
Yeah, I -love- the character premise.
Thanks for giving me the chance to play it :)
The order you go to each location matters. I just heard 'shrine shrine shrine' over and over again so moved there. That said if the party consensus was for the trading house I'm more than happy to retcon.
Thoughts?
IC Ausk has no reason to go against whatever Keridan chooses. So, you can assume that unless I post otherwise I'd be agreeing with Ker
You may have missed my post where I suggested following the circle around the edge of the city, hitting the trading post on the way to the shrine. The idea was to avoid the center of town, and circle around so that after the shrine we were pointed toward the bridge (which I believe Abby said was our direction out of town).
Sorry guys, conference stole all my time. Back and in business!
And no post today, I'm sick and my brain is mush. Tried to do updates but I can't word goodly.
And no post today, I'm sick and my brain is mush. Tried to do updates but I can't word goodly.
Hope you feel better, your worshipling!
(Nah, that's not quite the right title...have to think some more.)