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Hi guys, thanks for joining me in what I believe will be an awesome AP!
We still have a bit more than two weeks before I can get my hands on the first book and read/prepare it for you but I think we can get started with the character creation and a couple more important stuff.
Abilities: 15 point buy. No ability may be lower than 8 before racial modifiers and even so, only ONE ability might be lower than 10 before racial modifiers.
Classes: Anything from Paizo is allowed. Barbarians, Rogues and Summoners should use the unchained version. Monks may use unchained or not. I think occult classes are a great fit for this AP so if you ever itched to play one, now is the time! In my opinion, more than in any other previous AP, this one will really shine with a really fitting class (and archetype), so I decided to break it down to you with my thoughts, dividing them in "Thematic", "Standard", and "Not-fitting".
- Thematic: alchemist, inquisitor, investigator, medium, mesmerist, occultist, oracle, psychic, shaman, spiritualist, witch, wizard
- Standard: arcanist, barbarian, bard, bloodrager, brawler, cleric, fighter, hunter, magus, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, slayer, sorcerer, summoner, vigilante, warpriest
- Not-fitting: cavalier, druid, gunslinger, kineticist, skald, swashbuckler
Races: Anything from Paizo with 11 race points or less is allowed, although much like the classes, I'd prefer a race that really fits the theme and the kingdom (Ustalav): changelings, dhampir, half-orc, human, skinwalker.
Alignment: No restriction, but I'm more inclined to good for obvious reasons. I trust you guys will not come up with CE.
Traits/Drawbacks: Two traits PLUS a Campaign trait and a drawback. I'd also like if you do not take the same campaign trait.
Hit Points: Max at first level. Subsequent levels will be rolled, each PC receiving a free re-roll for each Constitution modifier (Ex.: A fighter with Con 15, you'd roll 3d10 and take the higher).
Starting Gold: Average for your class or ask me to roll for you. Remember that, like the player's guide points out, you may not start with all you gear!
Background: I have high hopes that this AP will be pretty focused on a more storytelling campaign, so a good background is a must. Remember that you will be missing a couple years from memory loss (it could be fun to roll a d8 to determine how many years are missing). I'd also prefer for your PCs to be more locally tied, preferably from Ustalav. Another point that could be interesting is to not create PCs fully aware on the mythos... having a wizard/scholar among the group is completely ok, but everyone knowing a lot of stuff might ruin a bit of the enjoyment.
10 Minute Background: I just love this so here it is again. For this specific game, I'd like to add another step.
-Step 6: List one fear your character have and one fear that you have (if you are not comfortable with this, skip it).
Here is a quick link for the Strange Aeons Player's Guide. I believe you have already read it, but I put it here just in case.
Critical Hit and Fumble Decks: The Crit deck rules will only be applied to the PCs, since it is no fun to be beheaded by accident. Fumble deck will be applied to everyone.
Fear and Sanity Rules: These are two new systems from the Horror Adventures book. I'll talk more about them below.
Occult Skill Unlocks: From the Occult Adventures book, since I sense a pretty good fit. You can check them out HERE.
Stamina and Combat Tricks: Fighters receive Combat Stamina as a bonus feat at 1st level. Other classes might select this feat as normal.
Variant Multiclassing: Allowed for anyone interested.
Wound Threshold: Wound Threshold will be used to once more trying to make it more challenging. If during gameplay I sense it is causing more trouble than help, this could be removed. Both PCs and enemies will be subjected to this system. It has worked pretty nicely in all my games so far.
With the creation rules left behind, we need to talk about how to run an horror game via pbp. Since I've decided about running this AP a couple months ago, I started to look for tips on how to run a successful horror game and even if I found some good stuff, most of them are not really applicable to pbp (like music, dark ambient, etc). Here it is what I have found:
- You need to want to be scared: There is no way for us to play a Horror Campaign if you do not want to be scared. I've read that there are two ways to achieve this... I can try to scare your PC, or you, but neither of these will work without your cooperation and willingness. I believe that this game could be really terrifying if I'm not the only one trying to scare you... you also should try to scare each other, like coming up with a vivid nightmare, making your PCs really afraid of what is going on.
- Mystery: The less you know, the better. I'm really expecting that this AP will not throw goblins and orcs at you but instead creepy and unknown creatures... it is far more terrifying when we do not fight against something we know and know that "the CR is low so lets kill it". Because of this I'd like to propose to you two houserules (will talk about them later).
- No spoilers: Continuing the mystery theme, another thing that goes along with Horror is the paranoia. Usually I put stuff in spoiler for you to check if you succeed at the check but for this game I intend to send you PMs instead (unless of course you all succeeded). I'm hoping that with this, when one of you comes with an information out of nowhere, the others will think if you have shared everything or not.
To accomplish this, we have two new rules from the Horror Adventures book, Fear and Sanity, and also the two house rules I'm proposing.
Instead of having just three levels of fear (shaken, frightened, and panicked), we now have two stages of fear (lesser and greater), and seven levels of fear. When you are subject to a fear effect whose level exceeds your current fear level, your fear level increases to that level. If you are subject to a fear effect of a level equal to or lower than your current fear level, your fear level usually increases by one. However, multiple lesser fear effects can’t force you to progress from a lesser fear level to a greater one. If you are scared and are subject to an additional lesser fear effect, you are staggered for 1 round, rather than becoming frightened. You can, however, accept the frightened condition rather than be staggered while scared if you prefer (such as if you actually want to run away).
Lesser Fear
1. Spooked: The nature of your surroundings or events that you have witnessed makes you uneasy. You take a –2 penalty on saving throws against fear effects and on Perception checks, as your mind conjures potential horrors in every shadow. However, you are ready to face danger, and gain a +1 circumstance bonus on initiative checks.
2. Shaken: Fear has taken hold of you and you are no longer thinking or acting clearly. You take a –2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.
3. Scared: You are noticeably afraid, jumping at shadows and easily panicked by odd sights and unexplained noises. You take all of the penalties of the shaken condition, except the penalty on saves against fear effects becomes –4. In addition, if being subject to a lesser fear effect would increase your fear level, you are staggered for 1 round instead.
Greater Fear
4. Frightened: You are so afraid that you must flee from the source of your fear. On your turn, you must move away from any source of fear you perceive. Once you can no longer perceive any source of fear, you can act as normal, but you still take all the penalties of the shaken condition. You can use special abilities, such as spells and equipment, to flee and must resort to such abilities if they seem like the only way to escape. If you flee from the source of your fear and it later reappears while you are still frightened, you must immediately begin fleeing again. If unable to flee, you can fight.
5. Panicked: This functions as the frightened condition, but you drop anything held whenever you are forced to flee and you flee in a random direction. In addition, you treat all sources of danger as fear sources and must flee from them as well. If unable to flee, you cower in fear.
6. Terrified: This functions as panicked, but you do not treat any other character as an ally and thus must attempt saving throws against spells that allow them, even if the spells are beneficial. If unable to flee, you cower in fear. In addition, once you have fled from fear, you do not act as normal. Instead, each round you roll on a table to determine your course of action.
7. Horrified: You are transfixed with fear and can take no actions. You take a –2 penalty to your AC, are flat-footed (even if you normally cannot be), and are considered helpless.
Fear Immunity: This replaced with Fear Resistance. Someone with Fear Resistance track their fear score as normal but suffers the effects of fear two steps lower. Furthermore, effects that would cause him to become spooked or shaken doesn't increase his fear level.
As you might have guessed this system gives you a sanity score and losing it could cause your PC to gain some sort of madness. Each PC have a Sanity Score (equal to the sum of your mental ability scores), a Sanity Threshold (equal to the bonus of your highest mental ability score), and a Sanity Edge (equal to half your Sanity Score).
Whenever your PC takes sanity damage (be it from a monster, a disturbing scene or incredible profane and maddening experience) greater than your Sanity Threshold, you gain a lesser madness (if your total sanity damage is less than your Sanity Edge) or a greater madness. If your total sanity damage equals you Sanity Score, you are affected by the insanity spell, with no saves, until all your sanity is restored.
Once you get a madness you immediately suffers its effects and keeps suffering from them until you either get rid of them (similarly to a disease but many more checks), or until you completely heal your sanity damage (making you madness dormant). A dormant lesser madness only affects you again once your sanity damage exceeds your Sanity Edge, but a greater madness affects you as soon as you suffer any sanity damage.
You heal sanity, after 7 days of uninterrupted rest, equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). If you seek help, an ally can attempt a DC 15 (if your damage is below your Sanity Edge) or DC 20 Int or Wis check to also heal his Int or Wis modifier in addition to your Cha modifier. Lesser restoration heals 1d2 points, restoration heals 2d4 points, heal heals 3d4, all only once per day. Greater restoration, psychic surgery, and limited wish restore all sanity damage.
This is the first house rule. The idea is that you never know your current hp total, unless you are at full hp. The only information you'll get is your condition (healthy, grazed, wounded, critical, disabled, unconscious, dying, stable). I'm using this with my f2f group and it has been a blast. I hope that this will amp up in the uncertainty.
This is the second and more trickier house rule. The idea here is that you'll never roll any dice. You just say what you want to do and I'll roll for you. This way, you'll be kept completely in the dark, never knowing if you failed a perception check or if there wasn't really anything there... the powerful hit from a monster that brought you from healthy to critical could be a lucky critical or the monster is too though... the shady figure talking to you might be bluffing you and you have no chance to suspect it. You'll be obviously able to continue to take 10 or 20 in the appropriate situation. I'd like that you think about it with care... I really believe this could be really fun (and cellular friendly for you), but if you think this will make you not enjoy the game, I'll drop this idea.
So, any more thoughts on how to run this game?
First off, thanks for the invite! I really enjoy your games and think this could be the best of all of them.
I love that you're implementing the Horror Adventures Fear and Sanity rules. I was shocked to learn these were not already built into the AP--they fit so perfectly. Although I have been looking forward to SA since it was announced, I will not be purchasing the books or reading any spoilers online. I hate spoilers, and I encourage the other players to avoid them like a ten-mouthed shoggoth.
Both the hidden HP and Hidden rolls rules sound good to try out. The Hidden rolls rule will be brand new for me, and it makes me nervous, so we're off on the right foot! It will be interesting to see how certain class mechanics function this way, but I trust Thing and am willing to give it a shot. In addition, I often write my posts based on the outcome of my rolls, so this will no doubt create a lot of "if/then" posts.
Here is a link to a Google doc I made compiling, in alphabetical order, all class archetypes and mysteries/bloodlines suggested in the player's guide. As you can see, it places heavy emphasis on Alchemist, Inquisitor, Investigator, and Rogue. That said, I would encourage us to focus on the classes GM has noted as "Thematic," as these will make for the most flavorful campaign for all of us.
Thanks for the invite as well. This game should be a blast.
I'll post some thoughts.
HIDDEN HITPOINTS
I have been using 'hidden hit points' in my games for a while and you have both experienced that as players so that is not a problem.
HIDDEN ROLLS
I have also used a partial hidden rolls in my Numenera game. That game has a mechanic that allows you to use 'extra effort' to try and accomplish something. So whenever someone wanted to try to do something with extra effort, they would tell me and I would roll.
I would caution about using this in a PF game because there are lots of rolls and thus will make the GM's work a lot more. I would much rather you use your time and energy to create a compelling story than worry about dice rolling. Can you imagine that system with high level PCs?
But... how about if you keep the 'targets' of our rolls secret? Meaning, you don't tell us what DC we need to succeed, you don't tell the AC of the monsters, etc. That way we would do the rolling and you would compare and let us know what happened.
CHARACTER CLASSES
I agree that thematic is the way to go. However, you can take a standard class and make t creepy as hell. I have read over the campaign traits and they make any class fit the campaign. I was originally thinking of a bloodrager (aberrant) but now have started to consider other classes (investigator, psychic, and magus). I want to play something I'm not already playing.
MEMORY
I was unsure if we were going to have vague memories about everything or just the last few years. Beware that if it's just the last few years, I could go back 'home' and someone may be able to tell me what happened. Unless they just said that someone came and picked me up a few years and that is the last they've heard of me. I kind of like the idea of having vague memories about everything. Like I studied in some type of magical college but I can't quite remember details. I grew up in some sort of rich villa but I'm not sure where.
Thoughts?
I'll write some more as I have time since I just got home and need to catch up to my other games. :)
I guess I got an invite too :) Thanks for that!
Lots for me to process but it looks like a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to getting good and scared.
I'm pretty easy going about everything so I'm good with the proposed in-house rules. As usual, I just need to be told what to do and I'll adapt :)
I'm finding myself being drawn to the alchemist class. It would be good to actually be able to use my real life with the knowledge/skills of a character. (And no, I don't think I'm an alchemist but I am a molecular biologist) Can anyone point me towards where to find more info about the Mad Scientist archetype? I can't seem to find it anywhere.
Many of the listed archetypes are found in Horror Adventures, which hasn't made it to the SRD yet. I've copied and pasted it from my HA pdf below:
MAD SCIENTIST (ARCHETYPE)
The mad scientist’s colleagues laughed at her insights, mocked her theories, and hounded her from the halls of academia, simply because they were too weak and frightened to understand her work. They thought she was finished. They were wrong.
Mad Genius (Su): At 2nd level, a mad scientist can deal 1d3 points of Wisdom damage to herself (or 1d6 points of sanity damage if employing the sanity rules found on page 12) to create a genius extract as one of her daily 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-, 4th-, or 5th-level extracts. This otherwise takes the same amount of time and effort as creating a normal extract of its level, but instead of her choosing a formula she knows for it to grant, a genius extract has an unpredictable result. When the alchemist (or an ally, if she has the infusionAPG discovery) drinks the extract, it produces a random effect from the list of alchemist formulae on page 32 of the Advanced Player’s Guide of 1 spell level higher than the extract’s spell level. For instance, if she creates a genius extract using a 2nd-level extract, it would produce the effect of a random 3rd-level alchemist formula. There is no way to predict which effect a genius extract will produce before drinking it. A genius extract’s minimum caster level is equal to the minimum caster level of the extract used, not the effect produced. So, for instance, a genius extract that produced a fox’s cunning effect would have a minimum caster level of 1 (for the 1st-level extract used) rather than 4 (for the 2nd-level effect). There are 29 potential 2nd-level extracts, 23 potential 3rd-level extracts, 18 potential 4th-level extracts, 15 potential 5th-level extracts, and 15 potential 6th-level extracts. This ability alters alchemy and replaces the discovery gained at 2nd level.
Mad Mutagen (Su): At 4th level, a mad scientist can brew a mad mutagen in place of a normal mutagen. If she does so, she need not make any decisions about the mutagen (including whether to make it a cognatogenUM or another variant mutagen if she has the appropriate discoveries) when she brews it. When the mad scientist drinks her mad mutagen, she makes those decisions on the fly, but she also takes 1d4 points of Wisdom damage (or 1d8 points of sanity damage if using the sanity rules on page 12). If anyone else, even another alchemist, drinks a mad mutagen, that person must succeed at a Will save (with the same DC as for the Fortitude save against nausea) or she becomes confused for 1 hour. This ability alters the alchemist’s mutagen and replaces the discovery gained at 4th level.
I'm open to filling a variety of roles, though I am looking at a full caster--Oracle (dark tapestry or apocalypse), or the Wizard (Elder Mythos Scholar) from Horror Adventures. That last one is just dripping with potential. I'm also looking at Investigator (dex melee), Mesmerist, and Spiritualist, all of which could be pretty versatile. If I had to roll a front-liner I'm keen on Inquisitor, but I already play a paladin, and there's a warpriest down the pipe :/.
Like Shari, I'm looking to put my real-life occupation (Cult Henchman) to use here.
I'm finding myself being drawn to the alchemist class. It would be good to actually be able to use my real life with the knowledge/skills of a character. (And no, I don't think I'm an alchemist but I am a molecular biologist) Can anyone point me towards where to find more info about the Mad Scientist archetype? I can't seem to find it anywhere.
Alchemists are fun. Look into the vivisectionist for a creepy archetype.
Thanks for Doc, Wicked, but unfortunately, I don't have those archetypes until they come to SRD. I may ask you for a couple later as I continue my character selection.
Sure, not a problem at all. Just let me know which ones you'd like to see. Fabian, since you mentioned both psychic and investigator, check out the Psychic Detective investigator archetype. It gives up alchemy for psychic spellcasting. If Shari rolls alchemist, it would reduce overlap.
Sure, not a problem at all. Just let me know which ones you'd like to see. Fabian, since you mentioned both psychic and investigator, check out the Psychic Detective investigator archetype. It gives up alchemy for psychic spellcasting. If Shari rolls alchemist, it would reduce overlap.
Yeah, I have considered that but there's a 'clash' in that an investigator deals extra damage with melee attacks (unless you take the feat Ranged Study) and the psychic sorts of wants to deal ranged.
The other options for investigator deal with alchemy and I don't want to overlap with Shari and I'm already playing a full blown alchemist in another 'so-so' game. :)
Believe it or not, I'm leaning heavily to a 'plain vanilla' magus. I love them and haven't played one in a long time. I'll of course load on the flavor with personality, traits, etc. to make it a perfect PC for this AP. The idea of an aberrant bloodrager has fallen to second place.
I think I'm going for the bookish wizard-type or magus in this case.
Just for kicks, please post the archetypes of investigator cult hunter and wizard Elder Mythos Scholar (and I understand you called dibs on this one).
Thanks.
I'll be gone all day so may not be able to post them until tonight. Also, if you like the wizard I can slide right over into Oracle and do the divine thing.
Question for Thing:. Do you want our characters to be "in touch" with the mythos? A class like elder mythos scholar wizard assumes a lot. We could also play this as a bunch of unassuming individuals who just happen to get sucked into the forgotten and forbidden knowledge.
I was just rereading the rules. You know what would be fun and scary?
Keep the Sanity Score a secret from everyone. That way, you could feed us information, which we would tell our companions but they would not know if it's real or something fueled by our madness.
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No one hears anything but one PC..."I'm telling you that I hear voices behind the door. They hunger for your soul..."
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I thought I read somewhere something of a psychiatrist archetype, which would come in handy in this campaign.
This was done on mobile so excuse formatting..
Elder Mythos scholars risk their sanity to seek knowledge of
alien and awful entities from beyond the stars.
Arcane Bond: An Elder Mythos scholar must choose to bond
with an object, inscribing that object with eldritch runes.
This alters arcane bond.
Eldritch Knowledge (Su): An Elder Mythos scholar gains
two fewer daily uses of his 1st-level arcane school ability,
which is normally used a number of times per day equal to 3
+ his Intelligence modifier. If he has no such ability, he can’t
take this archetype.
When an Elder Mythos scholar attempts a Will save
against confusion, fear, insanity, or madness (see page 12),
whether magical or mundane, he can spend 2 daily uses of
that arcane school ability to apply his Intelligence modifier
instead of his Wisdom modifier to the save. However,
whenever he uses this ability, he is affected by a nightmare
the next time he sleeps, with no saving throw. Until he sleeps
and experiences the nightmare, he can’t recover the spent
uses of the arcane school ability by any means.
This ability alters the 1st-level arcane school ability.
Eldritch Grimoire: An Elder Mythos scholar keeps copious
notes on how to use magic against the servants of the Elder
Mythos in his spellbook. Every spell he adds to his spellbook
takes up an additional 1d6 pages and costs twice the normal
amount to inscribe; however, when casting spells prepared
from his grimoire, he gains a +2 bonus on caster level checks
and increases the save DCs by 1 against the creatures listed in
talisman of revealing below.
This ability alters spellbook.
Talisman of Revealing: While wearing or wielding his
bonded item, an Elder Mythos scholar can spontaneously
cast a special detect aberrationAPG spell by sacrificing a prepared
1st-level spell. Instead of detecting aberrations, this spell
detects creatures associated with the Elder Mythos, such as the
following (or similar creatures, at the GM’s discretion): bholeB4,
colour out of spaceB4, deep oneB5, deep one elderB5, denizen of
LengB2, elder thingB4, flying polypB4, gugB2, hound of TindalosB2,
Leng ghoulB5, Leng spiderB2, mi-goB4, nightgauntB4, ratlingB4,
shantakB2, shoggoth, spawn of Yog-SothothB4, star-spawn of
CthulhuB4, voonithB3, wendigoB2, and yithianB3. He gains a +2
circumstance bonus on Knowledge checks to identify such
creatures and Spellcraft checks to identify effects they create.
At 5th level, an Elder Mythos scholar adds invisibility purge
and see invisibility to his spellbook and can spontaneously
cast either spell by sacrificing a prepared spell of the same
or higher level while wearing or wielding his bonded item.
At 10th level, he adds banish seemingAPG and true seeing to his
spellbook as 5th-level spells and can spontaneously cast them
in the same fashion.
This replaces Scribe Scroll and the 5th- and 10th-level
bonus feats.
Eldritch Infusion (Su): At 8th level, once each day while
preparing spells, an Elder Mythos scholar can spend 1 extra
hour to brew a tincture of hallucinogens and alien trace
minerals. Though it has no effect for others, if he drinks it,
the elixir expands his mind and perceptions into transitive
dimensions, granting him a +4 alchemical bonus to his
Intelligence score and reducing his Wisdom and Constitution
scores by 2 for 10 minutes per wizard level he has. While
under the effects of this elixir, he adds 1/2 his class level to
his Perception checks against aberrations and creatures
listed in talisman of revealing, but subtracts the same
amount from all other Perception checks. His spells have a
20% failure chance, unless they summon, call, or contact a
creature listed in talisman of revealing or otherwise affect
only such creatures (for instance, a fireball aimed at 3 gugs but
not a fireball aimed at 3 gugs and a gnome).
This ability replaces the school ability gained at 8th level.
Cult hunters seek out heretical secret societies, purging their
ideological taint and banishing summoned servants.
Sense Madness (Ex): A cult hunter adds a bonus equal to
1/2 his class level (minimum +1) on Sense Motive checks, or
double that bonus to determine whether a creature suffers
from natural or magical insanity.
This ability replaces trapfinding.
Purify Body and Mind (Ex): At 2nd level, a cult hunter
gains a +1 bonus on saving throws against compulsions and
poisons. This bonus increases to +2 at 5th level
and +3 at 8th level. At 11th level, a cult
hunter who fails a saving throw against
a compulsion or poison can expend 1 use
of his inspiration to reroll the saving throw
(and his inspiration die, if added to the
save). He must accept the result of this
second roll, even if it is worse.
This ability replaces poison resistance
and poison immunity.
Student of the Beyond (Ex): At 2nd
level, a cult hunter gains a bonus equal
to 1/2 his class level on Knowledge and
Spellcraft checks made to recognize
any calling and summoning spells,
portals, rifts, and planar travel.
This ability replaces poison lore.
Ambush Defenses (Ex): At 3rd
level, a cult hunter gains a +1
insight bonus during a surprise
round triggered by his enemies
on Reflex saves and to his AC. This
bonus increases by 1 for every 3
investigator levels beyond 3rd.
This ability replaces trap sense.
Cultic Study (Ex): A cult hunter can
spend 8 hours studying a specific deity
or religion to gain a +1 bonus on Bluff,
Intimidate, Knowledge, Perception,
and Sense Motive checks against
followers of that deity or religion
and against extraplanar creatures.
These bonuses increase by 1 for every
4 investigator levels beyond 4th. If he
studies a new deity or religion, the
bonuses replace the former bonuses.
This ability replaces swift alchemy.
Cult Combat (Ex): A cult hunter’s bonuses on attack and
damage rolls when using studied combat increase by 1
against followers of the cult he chose with his cultic study
ability and decrease by 1 against other targets.
This ability alters studied combat.
Cult Strike (Ex): A cult hunter’s studied strike uses d8s
for the bonus damage against targets that belong to the cult
he’s studied. Against other targets, his studied strike uses
d4s for the bonus damage.
This ability alters studied strike.
Summoning Sense (Su): At 7th level, a cult hunter gains
the benefits of uncanny dodge and improved uncanny
dodge against summoned creatures.
This ability replaces the 7th-level investigator talent.
Extraplanar Expulsion (Sp): At 13th level, a cult hunter can
grant himself the ability to use dispel chaos, dispel evil,
dispel good, or dispel law as a spell-like ability (using
his investigator level as his caster level and his
Intelligence to determine the DCs) by sacrificing
an unused 5th- or 6th-level extract for the day. He
is able to use this ability as many times as he likes,
but only so long as he continues to have unused 5th-
or 6th-level extract slots to expend.
This replaces the 13th-level
investigator talent.
I'm not married to being an alchemist if someone really wants to play an investigator class. I'm willing to play anything.
I'm not married to being an alchemist if someone really wants to play an investigator class. I'm willing to play anything.
No, I think I'm set on my bookish magus (amateur investigator feat, methodical mind).
Have you considered an investigator? Think modern Sherlock Holmes and part time alchemist.
Although the Jeckell and Hyde alchemist is very fitting for a horror story, especially if you flavor your Mr. Hyde with Elder Mythos.
This was done on mobile so excuse formatting..
Thank you!
The cult hunter seems very fitting but it sort of feels like cheating. I think the idea that Thing has is for us to have some knowledge (if at all) but not too much.
Wow, lots of posts! I'll try to answer everything but if I miss something, please let me know!
HIDDEN ROLLS: I'm not sure if it would be too much of a work but I see your points, specially when we hit high levels. Another thing that could be bothersome are abilities such as Inspiration... Asking for rolls without telling the DC could be a nice idea but I'm afraid if it would not slow the game down.
When we use spoilers, I ask for a check and create an spoiler so when you make it, you are ready to post accordingly. If I ask for a roll, then wait for the check, you'll need to wait for me before posting again, effectively doubling the number of required posts. As another solution, we could do it halfway.
We could do it by splitting the job in "active checks" and "passive checks". Active Checks will be on you and I'll PM you the result, for an example, when you make a perception or knowledge by your own will. Passive Checks will be on me and I'll roll for you and PM the result, for an example, when the book asks for a specific check just by you walking in a room.
MEMORY: You are correct, Fabian, you'll indeed remember only flashes about your whole past but the last few years are completely blank. For an example, if your PC is 25 yo, his last flash could be about a teen romance.
MYTHOS KNOWLEDGE: Fabian is correct again. I think it would be more pleasing to limit the number of players with knowledge about the mythos to just one and even so the less you know the better.
HIDDEN SANITY: I loved it! Actually it makes a lot of sense since it would be weird for you not to know your hp (a visible stuff) but instead know exactly how crazy you are! If you all agree, we'll follow that route also.
PARTY COMPOSITION: Unfortunately I do not have the book yet so there is no way for me to know if it will be heavy on combat, even if I suspect it will be more focused on an investigative plot. Regarding this Alchemist vs. Investigator overlap, have any of you looked into the Questioner archetype? It trades the alchemy for bard spells and the poison lore for a kind of bardic knowledge... pretty neat IMO. Oh, and I'm thinking about a 5-player game and have already sent two more invites.
PARTY COMPOSITION: Unfortunately I do not have the book yet so there is no way for me to know if it will be heavy on combat, even if I suspect it will be more focused on an investigative plot. Regarding this Alchemist vs. Investigator overlap, have any of you looked into the...
Wow, this is good as well since it gets rid of the alchemical part, which while good but I'm already playing. I'm torn now.
Young, brash, bookish magus or older, methodical, reserved investigator?
Thing: you're Ok with the investigator potentially high knowledge bonuses?
I promise to make a decision in the next day or two.
What's everyone else thinking of?
I like the idea of limiting the "knowledgeable" character to one. As much as I like that wizard, I'm thinking he's too knowledgeable for the particular game were building. So I'm leaning toward oracle, spiritualist, or something else magical.
Either of those choices could fit will. Personally, I'd go investigator, but it's your character. Also we might need someone who can fight :).
I like the idea of limiting the "knowledgeable" character to one. As much as I like that wizard, I'm thinking he's too knowledgeable for the particular game were building. So I'm leaning toward oracle, spiritualist, or something else magical.
Either of those choices could fit will. Personally, I'd go investigator, but it's your character. Also we might need someone who can fight :).
I'm already playing a young, brash unchained rogue so a change of pace is due.
I think I'll play the older, methodical, reserved investigator as long as GM Thing is Ok with the potentially high knowledge bonus checks.
I woke up this morning inspired. I think I'd like to roll a spiritualist. They can be built as melee or casters, so my role would be determined as the rest of the party takes shape. Right now it's looking like a support/debuff caster (CLW, remove fear) with a beefier phantom.
Interestingly, spiritualists get all the knowledges, but id like to skip over taking any knowledge, at least for the first level. Even my phantom would skip K(planes) to be clueless at the beginning. Whether or not I take knowledges at all is TBD, as there's plenty of other useful skills.
It is actually pretty difficult for me to judge if high knowledge skills would be broken since I don't have it in my hands yet, but I'm inclined to trust Paizo for not creating an AP that could be spoiled/broken with a couple good rolls. Actually it would be pretty lame to make an AP with a clear mystery theme that would be broken by this.
Wicked: I think a spiritualist could be a pretty fun addition to the party and being an occult class, it also opens to you the usage of the Occult Skills Unlock. Also, skipping knowledge skills might indeed be a pretty good idea, specially with an investigator among you. Spiritualists are already a pretty dark class and many archetypes makes them even more fitting, like the fractured mind (the sanity theme) and the haunted.
I don't know much about the occult classes but a spiritualist sounds very fitting. I'll learn along with you guys. :)
FYI, my PC is coming along very well. In fact, I think I'll probably finish him this weekend, or at least a first draft so we can make tweaks as necessary.
I went 'all methodical' last night and compared my two first choices side by side (plain magus and investigator questioner) and the investigator won.
He'll have some decent knowledge skills (like a good investigator) but I can always tone it down some if it becomes a problem.
Let's get this party started. :)
Game on!
@Fabian - so your investigator will be of the Questioner archetype or are you going with one of the other archetypes?
If there wouldn't be alchemical overlap with anyone else, I'd like to move towards the Vivisectionalist. But I'm also happy to develop something else.
@Fabian - I guess we cross posted...nevermind :)
@Fabian - so your investigator will be of the Questioner archetype or are you going with one of the other archetypes?
If there wouldn't be alchemical overlap with anyone else, I'd like to move towards the Vivisectionalist. But I'm also happy to develop something else.
Yes, questioner investigator so NO alchemical overlap, which means that you have green flag for your alchemist. :)
Hello! I've kindly been invited to join this party. Thanks for the recommendation, Fabian...this game sounds like a lot of fun.
So, spiritualist, investigator, alchemist. I need to do a lot of reading, because I don't know much about any of these classes. Any recommendations about classes that would help round out the party?
Looking forward to it!
Hello! I've kindly been invited to join this party. Thanks for the recommendation, Fabian...this game sounds like a lot of fun.
So, spiritualist, investigator, alchemist. I need to do a lot of reading, because I don't know much about any of these classes. Any recommendations about classes that would help round out the party?
Looking forward to it!
GM Thing is on our side so play something that speaks to you and will be interesting and will fit the mood of the AP.
That being said, I think we could use a heavy melee type PC. My PC will provide support and will engage in melee but a main melee person would be desirable.
With that said, look into a bloodrager with the aberrant bloodline. I think you can flavor how your bloodline became 'tainted' with aberrations in very interesting ways. Or it could be a mystery that you are trying to solve.
There are other heavy hitters that are worth considering as well. Look at the .doc that Wicked linked at the beginning of this thread.
A healer type would be OK but they are usually tied to religion which is not the main theme here. I think between the spiritualist and the investigator,we may have the healing support needed.
Occult Skull Unlocks
Awwww yissssss! This is definitely incentive to skip over the knowledges and focus on some other skills (although K(arcana) unlocks Phrenology (skull reading), which is kind of cool). I'd also ask to give the phantom the Psychic Sensitivity feat to gain access to these things.
Also, it would be fun if the reason for my phantom's existence is linked to the "blank period" we've all experienced. That way we can be horrified together. Of course, this would make it harder to come up with a backstory, but we can talk about that more once Thing gets a chance to read Book 1.
Welcome Angie! Fabian is correct that we are currently lacking a dedicated "hammer," though as I mentioned spiritualist can be built for it if necessary. As an example, Horror Adventures introduces the "Exciter" archetype, which looks like a combination of the Synthesis Summoner and Bloodrager by allowing the spiritualist's phantom to manifest only as self-buffs for the spiritualist. There's even a quasi-bloodrage called Rapture.
On the other hand, many heal/buff/support spells appear on the spell list, so I could build in that direction, too. That's currently where I'm at.
@Thing: Can you remind me the steps involved in the 10minute background? I can't seem to find a link above.
I'm thinking that the Driven by Guilt campaign trait will be the one for my character. I know that Thing didn't want us all using the same trait per se so does that clash with anyone else?
Angie and I know each other so she's always welcome on my part :)
I am toying with the Sensitive Mind campaign trait. It seems suitable for a psychic caster.
Sensitive Mind: You awake in the asylum horribly
aware of dangers lurking nearby. While your memories
are hazy and indistinct, everything around you looks
vibrant and clear. You have an inkling that you have
always been perceptive and can tell a lot about a person
even in a quick meeting. This sensitivity can overwhelm
you at times, especially in your current situation.
You gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise, Perception, and
Sense Motive checks, and one of these (your choice) is
a class skill for you. In addition, once per week you can
use the psychometry occult skill unlock even if you are
not capable of casting psychic spells or have the Psychic
Sensitivity feat. See Pathfinder RPG Occult Adventures for
more information on psychometry and other relevant
occult skill unlocks.
Could this use of psychometry (Appraise) be in addition to a use of that skill based on my skill ranks?
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I was thinking of Sensitive Mind for my PC but it makes more sense for a psychic caster. I'll go with Methodical Mind.
Step 1: Write at least 5 concept elements that you feel are important to your image of the character. These can be a concept overview, a list of important life events, a physical description, a personality profile...whatever you need to get an image in your mind.
Step 2: List at least 2 goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.
Step 3: List at least 2 secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises!
Step 4: Describe at least 3 people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile.
Step 5: Describe at least 3 mannerisms, or quirks that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
Step 6: List one fear your character have and one fear that you have (if you are not comfortable with this, skip it).
@Wicked: I believe that this trait was intended for someone without the occult skill unlocks and that skill unlock is limited to 1/day. How about instead of an additional 1/week usage, you get an 1/week re-roll? It seems it would be more helpful in the long run.
Oooh, I like aberrant bloodrager. Maybe as half-orc. It would be fun to play a massive hulking meat shield who gets spooked and runs away.
I think I'll go with Enduring stoicism.
@Wicked: I believe that this trait was intended for someone without the occult skill unlocks and that skill unlock is limited to 1/day. How about instead of an additional 1/week usage, you get an 1/week re-roll? It seems it would be more helpful in the long run.
I am good with that!
What captivates a mind consumed by darkness?
This is Wicked's Spiritualist, Cerio, first draft. I've done the crunch, and here's a summary of that.
My original plan was to build as a buffer/support character, but I decided that I wanted to do something darker for this campaign. His relationship with his phantom just doesn't support that sort of "touchy feely" vibe. Fitting my planned backstory, his chosen phantom's emotional focus is instead Despair. This turns out to be a very debuff-flavored emotion, so I'm going in that direction instead. The phantom has bonuses to intimidate and uses negative emotions in enemies to boost its attacks. It will also be able to deliver touch spells for Cerio. Cerio will, in addition to his "bad touch" spellcasting, focus on Intimidating (read: scaring) enemies to enhance phantom's effectiveness. Phantom will be melee support. In other words, Cerio will soften them up while our bloodrager, vivisectionist, phantom, and even investigator tear them down.
The phantom can manifest in several forms, each with its own pros and cons. Trapped inside Cerio's mind as it currently is, it gives him Skill Focus in Intimidate and Stealth (which is why his Intimidate is currently +14!). I also gain +4 bonus on saves v. mind effects! Once it manifests in either incorporeal or ectoplasmic (physical) form, I'll lose those bonuses in exchange for other stuff.
I've gone with the Fractured Mind archetype, both because it is thematically cool and because it makes Cerio a Charisma-based caster, which boosts his intimidate even more. This also gives me a good UMD, though it trades out some interesting class features and hurts my will save.
Spiritualists are also a poor class, and their kits are 50g! I need to tinker with my shopping list. All I have now is light armor and a scythe...
Can I have "attached" as a drawback? Could make for some great roleplaying at the beginning, when we're missing all our stuff.
Here's a preview of my 'questioner' investigator (still in development):
fluff-wise
- older, educated gentleman;
- lost his wife in a fire (blames himself);
- burned drawback, which dovetails nicely to being afraid of fire;
- an old fencing student who gets better as he 'starts practicing';
- inquisitive mind;
- methodical, takes his time, not a risk-taker;
- worked in academia where he had access to many books/topics;
- obsessive with cleanliness/orderliness;
- drawn to occult topics, which may be why his house was burned down, which caused his wife's death;
crunch-wise
- many skill ranks (all knowledge skills);
- trapfinding;
- inspiration to augment skills as needed;
- bard spells (support mainly such as cure light wounds, charm person, later glitterdust, etc.)
- decent melee skills (rapier), I'll build him DEX based;
- melee gets better with levels with studied combat/strike
Thoughts?
What captivates a mind consumed by darkness?
This is Wicked's Spiritualist, Cerio, first draft. I've done the crunch, and here's a summary of that.
Looks good but that's not saying much coming from me because I don't really know the class.
I'll learn along with you. :)
@Wicked: Cerio is looking great! I thought you were going to put a point in appraise to use psychometry.
@Angie H: Sure! I'd just ask you to pick some item that could be eventually be 'stolen' for whatever the reason. I'm not saying that I'll do it, nothing like this, but it would be unfair to choose some crappy wooden ring that no one would ever want to take from you and that you'd have to reason to take it from your finger, turning the drawback in something pointless. I trust you won't do something like this though.
@Fabian: Looks great! Since you mentioned you once GMed the Carrion Crown, how about tying him to the Lepidstadt University, perhaps a professor?
@Shari: Since you are going vivisectionist, have you also considered the chirurgeon archetype? It is fully compatible with the vivisectionist and fits a 'doctor' theme, even if I'm not sure if this fits your idea.
@Fabian: Looks great! Since you mentioned you once GMed the Carrion Crown, how about tying him to the Lepidstadt University, perhaps a professor?
Yep, I actually GMed Carrion Crown where both Shari and Angie played. :)
And the University of Lepidstadt sounds great; I'll work that into the background.
Any particular subject that he would be an expert on?
Hi. Thanks for the invite!
Lots of information to read over and process. I'm on vacation now, so I might be a little slow in the discussion til Wednesday. As for what to play, I'd have to think about it. I've been kind of wanting to play a Mesmerist, either regular or Enigma (mostly so I can do a lot of this), so I might lean towards that.
@Thing: I wasn't aware you could do both Vivisectionist and Chirurgeon considering they're both archetypes. My character could be well-versed with what heals and what hurts. I didn't really see her using poison anyways so if I can meld both archetypes then I'm up for that.
@Fabian: My character will be doing research at a University with a questionable Professor so I'm not sure if we can tie the stories somehow? Let me know if you're interested.
I was leaning towards my character having the shadow-scarred drawback which leads to her being afraid of the dark. Would this be too debilitating for this AP? It would create good role-playing but I also don't want her cowering in a corner all the time...
@Fabian: I have no preferences... I'll think if I have any suggestions tomorrow since it is quite late here in Brazil!
@Shari: You can always use more than one archetype as long as they don't replace or change the same class feature. In the Chirurgeon and Vivisectionist case, the former replaces poison use, poison resistance +4, and poison immunity, while the later replaces bomb... you wouldn't be able to take Clone Master and Vivisectionist though! Regarding your question if this drawback would be too debilitating, I'm actually not yet aware since I'll only have the book on 31st! Why don't you pick it and if by the start date I'll tell you if it will be too problematic or not so you can change it if you want.
@Elenion: Welcome aboard! Oh just a little reminder for you (and wicked)... I think it is mentioned in the player's guide but psychic classes, like the spiritualist and the mesmerist, who use emotion and thought components instead of verbal and somatic components are in greater danger in this AP thanks to the possible (and probable) overload of emotional stuff!
Welcome Elenion! No, wait, I didn't see anything....
How much of our history should we as players know? Do we stop writing our history several years ago? Or should we know up to a certain time ago, and just have our PC's forget?
Here's the ten minute background. If it's supposed to be made in ten minutes, then I fail. This is taking ages! (In a good way).
Jenni Skullsplitter
1) 5 concepts.
• Born and raised in Virlych, in the outcast village of Ruwido. Mother was human, crazy, made crazier by rape during orc incursion. She completely retreated into a fantasy world during her pregnancy, and didn’t admit her child was half-orc. Jenni was raised as if she was human.
• Mother has some aberrant blood in her, but she’s unaware of it. It manifested in her as a mark on her hand that shone with a strange, purple light. Jenni inherited the mark, but the aberrant blood mixed violently with her orc blood.
• Lived in Ruwido until she was a teen. Some “heroes” came sweeping in, aiming to destroy the taint of all the “unclean” in Ruwido. Many were killed, including Jenni’s mother. Jenni fought back viciously, and was captured instead of killed because of her strength and usefulness. She was made to behave by means of a magic collar that caused her pain when she went against her owner’s wishes.
• ‘Worked’ for Wicksmere family for years, before finally managing to escape. She’s not sure how exactly she was able to do it, but when she finally regained her senses she was miles away, with blood on her neck and weapon, and a piece of the shattered collar in her hand.
• Speaks, dresses, behaves as human as possible when calm. When bloodraging, becomes much more orcish.
2. 2 goals
• Her goal: Make her way back to Ruwido and live quietly (hopefully this will change at some point).
• My goal: Learn about the sigil on her hand and bracelet, and determine its meaning.
3. 2 secrets, one known, one not
• Unknown – destined to return to the orcs as some sort of important warrior figure
• Known – There were parts of her service to the Wicksmeres that she enjoyed, and she misses the youngest daughter, whom befriended her.
4. 3 people tied to character, 2 friendly, 1 not
• Human Roan Wicksmere. He’s the one who captured her, and forced her to work for him for several years. He was badly wounded during her escape, and has sworn to find and kill her.
• Warrior dhampir Dustaan. He befriended her in Ruwido, and taught her a little of her heritage, and how to fight. She doesn’t know if he survived the raid that killed her mother.
• Orc witch half-sister, Mazon. They have never met each other, but Mazon has had visions of a half-human sister who is destined to return to the Hold of Belkzen as a mighty warrior.
5. 3 mannerisms or quirks
• Likes to keep her hair neatly brushed and braided – a habit from her mother.
• Will never wear a necklace, collar, or even anything tight around her neck as it reminds her of the collar she was made to wear as a slave.
• Always wears a valuable bracelet around her left wrist. Made of star-silver and encrusted with raw amethyst, it bears the same sigil as the light-giving one on her hand. It has been handed down from mother to daughter through several generations, though she doesn’t know the origin or importance of it.
6. 2 fears
• Being enslaved again, forced to do anything against her will.
• One of my personal fears, in real life? Something happening to my family/children.
Crunch-wise, she's pretty much going to be the meat shield. Going for STR/CON based heavy hitter, INT dump stat. Strangely, needs some CHA for spells, so that's going to be pretty decent, though no spells for a few levels.
One trait will be Marked by Unknown Forces - seemed to tie in nicely to aberrant bloodline. So no worries about fears of the dark - she'll have light in her hand! Three times a day, anyway.
How much of our history should we as players know? Do we stop writing our history several years ago? Or should we know up to a certain time ago, and just have our PC's forget?
I'd like to know this as well.
GM Thing has hinted as a couple of years and even rolling 1d8 for the number of years that we don't remember. However, I would think that whatever happened to us was a common thing (it happened to all of us together) so the number of years that each has forgotten must be the same. Or maybe not but the GM won't know either because he doesn't have the books yet.
How about we all say that we forgot the last 3 years of our lives. We can then adjust as necessary when more information becomes available.
BTW, I like Jenni Skullsplitter.
And welcome... I thought I just saw someone... :)
@Fabian: My character will be doing research at a University with a questionable Professor so I'm not sure if we can tie the stories somehow? Let me know if you're interested.
Yeah, that would be good.
So we know it's in Lepidstadt. I'm a professor of 'unknown yet' and have a curious mind for all subjects so I could see this guy making questionable choices (after he carefully evaluated the pros and cons, of course).
Are you also going to be associated to the university as a professor or just work in their labs?
It is indeed quite tricky to know about how many years each of your forgot since I don't have the book yet but I'm inclined to think that I could be different for each one of you, if not I imagine the Player's Guide would say "each of you don't remember anything about the past 5 years".
I'm as blind as you are but I imagine that the cause of the memory loss is something like some bad guy/monster/cult used you for their purpose and then erased your memory of everything that mentions he/it/them... this way the number of blank years are variable since each one of you might have been enlisted in a different date. That being said, you are free to choose a different time or stick with the same number of years like Fabian suggested.
Since the mystery of your past is a big part of this AP, I'd prefer for you to write nothing about this blank years and when you are finished your background, I'll tell you which parts of it you remember... this way you'll have some degree of control about your past and will even give me seeds to mess with you. For an example, you might remember a about a wife and seek to find her just to find out that you were the responsible for her death.
@Fabian: I think you could pick your field of study accordingly to the higher knowledge skill you have. If I correctly remember, the inventors and sages from the past used to delve in pretty different subjects (like da Vinci) unlike today where we have "PhD's of South America green parrots that fly only at night".
@Elenion/Wicked: I've just read about the mesmerist and it seems to be a pretty fun class to play but I'd like to ask you to work with Wicked's PC so you can avoid overlaps. Both of you are occult Charisma casters so you run a high risk of doubling each other roles (not even considering Angie's bloodrager).
Wicked already built his PC focused on debuffing so it might be good to build the mesmerist in a more buffing way. Another good idea might be for Wicked to leave bluff and/or diplomacy to the mesmerist since he already have a pretty good intimidate and fewer skill points.
So, we are looking for:
Alchemist (chirurgeon/vivisectionist)
Bloodrager (abyssal bloodline)
Investigator (questioner)
Mesmerist (?)
Spiritualist (fractured mind)
It looks like a pretty solid group. We'll have a ton of skills, very high magic power (even if no full caster), decent healing (with three classes with access to healing magic), and pretty good damage (specially at higher levels once studied strike, sneak attack, and painful stare kick in).
MEMORY LOSS
You are right, we could have been recruited at different times and made to perform different tasks so the memory loss time doesn't have to match for each one of us. Although I suspect that there will be some sort of 'ritual' in which we all participate in.
I'm going to write a background up to the last three years of my life and we'll go from there. However, in my background, I will have knowledge of my wife dying in a fire and me blaming myself. I will also have knowledge that I was a professor in the University of Lepidstadt.
If that becomes a problem when I'm trying to figure out who I am, then we can make as many details as sketchy as needed. I'm just trying to avoid the 'if I don't know who I am or what happened to me then I'm going to visit my old place of work (home, previous associates, etc.) because surely someone knows what happened to me'. But the above scenario could be solved as easily as people telling me, 'yes, you were a professor here but you disappeared for the last three years. Hey, glad you are OK.'
Again, this will be clearer once you get the book.
BTW, I think the bloodrager has an aberrant bloodline. Not that we would notice, because we probably want to keep our distance from a raging half-orc. :)
GN Thing, would you consider making a gameplay thread so this campaign appears in our home page? It's taking too many clicks to get here. :)
Hmm...I might need to start from the drawing board...I'm almost through a five hour car ride on which I got over excited and started my character without thoroughly reading everything. Now I have:
A) An entire backstory based on the Enduring Stoicism trait, which I just realize was already claimed.
B) A debuffing build that also uses Intimidate.
*Facepalm*
If overlap is a big concern, I think I'm just better off scrapping the Mesmerist, because while I could ditch the intimidation part of my build with no tears shed, debuffing and control are the heart and soul of the class, so it really hard to avoid those options and still have an effective character.
What gaps do we have at this point if I'm looking at other options?
Opened the gameplay thread so you can dot! Please dot and delete!
Also, it would be nice to dot with the alias you'll be using.
@Fabian: You are correct, I typed abyssal but thought about aberrant!
@Elenion: My concern with overlapping is not based on 'gameplay' but on 'not stealing the other player's spotlight'. Game-wise, some overlap is even beneficial, for example many Perception and Sense Motive checks, but in a RPing sense, if two of you build PC's to intimidate/debuff you'll be competing with each other to be effective, which is never fun to anyone IMO.
That being said, if you are looking for another class, I'd point you to an oracle or a shaman, since it will give the group a more potent healing capacity as well as a full-caster. An Oracle with the Dark Tapestry mystery and the stargazer archetype is really flavorful as well as a Shaman with the Heavens spirit and the True Silvered Throne (which links you to the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, really fitting for Ustalav).
Thing: I have placed a point in Appraise to unlock psychometry. I just forgot :(.
Welcome Elenion! I also play with you in Reign of Winter--it's nice to see you in another game :). Don't feel like you have to scrap your character right away. It's true mesmerist and spiritualist are similar--both are 3/4 bab, 6th level spontaneous casters, and we're both Charisma-based. But there may yet be room for both of us. For one thing, my spells will mostly be necromancy, while as I understand Mesmerist uses a lot of illusion/enchantment. Diplomacy and Bluff could indeed be your focus. While I currently have a +6/+8 respectively, these are mostly just consequences of my ability scores and feat/traits. I don't plan to build around either or increase them much beyond what I'm doing. As I wrote above in my concept summary, I'm mostly going to be intimidating (taking Dazzling Display in a few levels) and casting necromancy debuff spells while my phantom beats things up. I'll also keep the cure spells and some other utility spells handy.
Mesmerist can be built to be a melee class with Str/Cha and feats like vital strike, power attack, plus painful stare. See this guide for more ideas.
I don't want to reveal too many details of my backstory until I have a chance to polish it, but Cerio's phantom is his twin brother (at least he thinks).