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Hello everyone and welcome! This is a formal recruitment for an old Kingmaker campaign. If you've been invited here, post either here or in the Recruitment tab, and introduce yourself! As always, if there are any questions or something I have not yet addressed, please ask.
Character Creation:
Abilities: Standard: Roll 4d6, and drop the lowest.
Alignment Any, provided this does not cause disruption. This module assumes characters are neutral or good.
Hit Points: PFS hit points. Maximum at first level then 1/2+1 at level up.
Race: Core Paizo races are automatically approved. Uncommon and Rare races need approval.
Class: Any Paizo. If there is a third party class you wish to play, run it by me. Caveat! If I wanted to put the effort into creating encounters specifically to challenge your PC, I'd be running a homebrew, not an adventure path. So while I won't impose (many) limits, I ask that you limit yourselves! In that same vein, if you've always wanted to play a fighter who took the feat "fleet" 10 times and has an 80 foot movespeed in full plate- this is your game! No one else will be terribly optimized either.
Feats: Any Paizo feat deemed legal by Pathfinder Society is approved. An easy way to see if your feat is PFS approved is to search for it at Archives of Nethys, and if it has the Pathfinder Society logo next to it, it is legal.
Equipment: Starting gp is 150. Any equipment that meets the criteria described in the ‘Feats’ section is approved.
Traits: Two traits, or one Drawback for a third trait.
Backstory: A paragraph can suffice here. More is always appreciated. Since I plan to incorporate each of your backstories into the AP, make them rad!
Other Rules: Scrolls will be PFS style throughout the adventure, meaning no distinction between arcane/divine. If it’s on your spell list, you can cast it from an identified scroll.
Hi! I am Gummy Bear. I've been on those boards since May 2015 and really love the PbP medium.
GM Artemis, forgive me, but who are you? I'd like to know more about you as a GM too!
I have played the first one and a half books of this AP (they were refluffed a little though) and (if that doesn't disqualify me) would love to play it all the way through!
Questions:
How will we be approaching the kingdom building aspect of this game? PbP is slow to begin with and the kingdom building part takes up A LOT of time. Have you given any thought to streamlining/taking it over/whatever at all?
For recruitment, will you be looking for a balanced party right off the bat, or would you accept an imbalanced party but with the caveat that you'd like some people to shuffle their builds up a little?
For ability score generation, do you have any mercy rules? IME, the equivalent point-buy for most of the results is really low. No worries if that is what you are looking for, just figured I'd ask.
EDIT: How many players are you looking to run through this? Tentatively looking at submitting an Elven Falconer Ranger with an archery focus.
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Hello!
I'll try to answer all those questions, in order, as best I can.
I've been playing Pathfinder, and a few other RPG"s (WoD, Shadowrun, M&M) for 6 years now. I started with 3.5, went to Pathfinder, and have been in love ever since.
Up until recently, I played most of my games via Roll20, in addition to a home game I play ad occasionally DM in. I gave the forums here a shot back in November, and I must say, I think I like the forums here more than Roll20. Though, of course, you may disagree with me.
My first experience DMing came about 4 years ago, in my home game, working with the other DM and trading on and off with him. I did run a campaign a year ago with a group of players, and unfortunately, that recently ended due to IRL problems with a few of the players. Of course, I had a blast doing it! So, after a little bit of time playing on the forums, I figured I'd kick the hat again and see how much fun we can have.
1. Ya'll came here to be heroes. If I'm doing my job right, you should, at all times, feel like a hero. Even when facing imminent death, you should at least feel like a tragic hero.
2. There will never be a situation you all aren't capable of working through. Ya'll are heroes, right? Well, heroes are awesome, and don't run from fights! So, you guys got this.
3. I do tend to favor roleplay over combat. Expect that most situations will have a backdoor, or some way to resolve without violence. Of course, I've also never run a game where the PC's didn't end up in combat at least a few times, so see Rule 2: You got this.
4. Backstories are important! Ya'll put time into them- so should I! I'll put time into making your stories come to life in the AP, even if I have to add it in somewhere.
5. Please communicate with me! I want to have fun. I want you to have fun. Together we can all have fun- but I need you to tell me what you want. Whatever you guys want, let me know, and I'll try my best to make it happen. If you're not having fun, let me know and I'll try to involve you more in the story. If there is a dispute, or something, we'll work to resolve it. Just have fun!
And now that I've written more than I intended to, I'll simply say that I hope that answers any questions! If you have others, let me know.
Oh wow, let me first say thank you for sending me a PM. I honestly wasn't expecting that when I saw that you had set up a Closed Recruitment. I hope that the dice and the GM find me favorable in the end.
I suppose I best get this out of the way and throw them bones eh?
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Hmm...Alright, definitely a bit lackluster but for the most part workable just not sure where to throw that six at all...
Anywho, I figure I should probably toss out a bit about myself.
I've been playing for about I'd say 5 years and I've played a pretty diverse set of games. As you can see by the Character I'm using for Recruitment purposes one of those is Vampire the Masquerade. Others include Pathfinder, D&D 3.0, 3.5, and a smidgeon of 5e. One of the games I have the most experience with is Fantasy Flight's Star Wars Edge of the Empire. Apart from those, I've had limited exposure to about 20 other systems so I don't like to include those when mentioning games.
I've been playing here on the board for a while now, Three years roughly in fact (And that's just this character in particular, there has been a small hiatus on the GMs part but we're getting back at it shortly).
This will be my 5th total attempt to play Kingmaker (That's a lot ain't it.) Two games started on here and died, two at table (Kingdom building issues eventually became the death of both those games. It's rough to appease everyone and sometimes that leads to people quitting unfortunately.) So I'm hoping to see this one through to the end!
As you can perhaps tell by some of what I've said, I have some experience in the game (Never made it past much of book 2) and know some of the dangers and pitfalls.
I will wait a short minute to see what the GM decides on finalized rolled stats for me before I start character creation. My preferred method is stats, class, skills, then backstory. I feel that I can get a good sense of the character based on skills I've chosen and the like.
I look forwards to talking and hopefully playing with you all. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might want to know.
I do have a concept that I've started flushing out, a Human Thundercaller Bard. Bards can still shine with no real advantages (Apart from a high Charisma that is.)
I'll think about it overnight and we'll see where this all takes me.
Hey Jovich!
Adding to the information about me:
I've been playing Pathfinder for about nine years now. I have dabbled in other TTRPG systems, but nothing has really stuck. Call of Cthulhu was fun, but then I moved away from the group. I think I've played 4e once. I started on 3.5 and played that for a couple of months and then my group got quickly sucked into Pathfinder. I really like a good story and that is what keeps bringing me back to the PbP medium. In person, I can RP ok, but I think I do a much better job when I can sit, think, and type it all out.
GM Artemis, thank you for answering all of my questions! I appreciate the time and effort you took to write all that out. Assuming I am selected, I think our player/GM style would be pretty compatible. I'll drum up an application!
Should probably actually roll...
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That's... really solid! Sweet.
I don't intend on dragging my feet on this, but for scheduling purposes, what is your timeline for applications?
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Also, from what I've seen, you're alright! Just get a character up and hopefully we'll have an excellent time!
Can't wait to see the application! I feel the same way in terms of RP; I can do it in person, but I have this horrible tendency to make really silly decisions; much better when I can contemplate my actions for 5 minutes. Doesn't mean the silly stuff doesn't happen, just means there's less of it!
Hi GM Artemis, I was invited by Jovich. I initially said I was a little full for PbP games, but two of those seem peripatetic/dying and the other Kingmaker I am in is really nutty.* I must say I very much like your presented DMing style and approach - I'm fine with danger and death, and letting the dice fall where they may and letting the dust settle on my burnt bones...
As for me, I've been playing iterations of DnD (and other RPGs) for 35 years - I like character and developing character over max'd DPR and tend to play martial or divine 3/4 casters like Inquisitors...
I've just reread the Player's Guide (now this adventure makes a bit more sense!) and...still not got a firm class in mind yet. Let us consult the dice:
= 11
= 14
= 13
= 9
= 8
= 16
*We are still in Book 1, and I'm not really sure if our group has a solid focus beyond everyone wanting to recruit their own army except my character. I am ttally fine with separating player knowledge from character knowledge...
16/14/13/11/9/8 Fairly solid for a Fighter or... another Fighter.
@GM Artemis - any chance you'd allow the Savage 3PP Hybrid class? Thinking of a Human with either the Pioneer or Brigand Campaign trait that has gone a little feral, and now works as a guide/mercenary for the Swordlord's thrust into the Stolen Lands. A little Last of the Mohicans/gunstock club/tomahawk style...
howdy, and again, thanks for the invite. Let's see what we have to work with here.
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well that's not too shabby. Let me see what I can think up with this.
ahh, I should add an about me. I, too, am an old gamer. Been playing RPGs in one form or another for ummm, this will be 36 years in August. My RL game buddies have mostly drifted, but gaming is how I relax dammit, so I started doing this about a year ago. Unless something drastic happens, I check the boards at least twice a day, so games don't usually pause on account of me.
Okay, should have looked in the discussion thread. Thanks for the invite.
Let's see, rolling:
Hm. 20-point buy A bit boring, but maybe I can work with it.
quick clarification: if you chose a race that modifies stats, those would still get modified, correct?
I think I'm gonna switch it up slightly and go Elf.
That said, I have two questions.
Bards and Versatile Performance: I have hated this and loved it all at the same time for quite some time, it's a very frustrating "skill". Do you allow players to retrain redundant skills? Do Bards need to just lump into the appropriate Perform and suddenly...DUN DUN DUH, at various levels they are amazing at two skills they had no knowledge of before....Or do you allow players to choose one skill associated with Perform (Blah) and allow them to use Perform in place of, till they get the appropriate level and can then use it in place of both when they select that Perform?
Also, Background skills? (As a Bard who has Versatile Performance, I would not use my Background Skills to select Perform skills...that's just gross misuse.) I've loved them because it allows you to choose crafting and profession skills for purely flavor reasons and I think that helps flesh out characters.
Edit: Third question, how would you feel about a Discord server so that we can break up discussions into topics (IE one for the kingdom decisions, one for chatting, one for questions) and for being able to post our post in (I'd say posting first in Paizo so that you can include rolls, and then copy pasting the results in the Discord topic section). I think that would give people a way of being alerted that things are moving forwards and help remind players to post and possibly also push our post per day up slightly.
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I'll elaborate more in a moment, but for now, I'll tentatively allow the Savage, mostly because Endzeitgeist gave it a 5 Star review. However, I will reserve the right to have you change your character if it becomes too crazy.
Also, I do apologize about your other KM game, mostly because I probably caused it. I'm currently playing this nutty character....Abaos
There's been a lot of good questions and other statements I want to make a point to hit, so I'll go through them now.
So I reached out to GM Artemis about taking up that game and I think that is what we are going to do. Not completely sure yet if he is on board with that. The game only got about 6 hexes explored and completed 4 part of the game. The first contact with the bandits, the bandit encampment, the mites and the kobolds.
As Jovich stated, I am porting over his character into the game. I am, however, quite undecided as to continue where he left off, or to start over. My big thing is I don't want to deprive anyone of starting from scratch if they want to, so I leave it to a vote to you guys. Would you like to start off where Jovich left, or start anew? I'm fine with either.
Also, thanks Jovich!
@GM Artemis - any chance you'd allow the Savage 3PP Hybrid class?
As a rule, I've never really had anything against 3PP, but I do worry about balance issues. Paizo does a decent job balancing out their classes (). I know the 3PP guys do try to make it balanced, but some of it is breakable, and I am not always able to see immediately how exploitable a class may be. So, 3PP with this caveat- if you start overshadowing other players, I do reserve the right to ask you to play another character. That's the rule, even if I approve it initially. So, just be prepared, and remember- your fellow players want ot feel like heroes too!
quick clarification: if you chose a race that modifies stats, those would still get modified, correct?
Absolutely!
Also, Background skills?
I'll approve Background Skills, just please remember the rule: please don't super- optimize yourself! We all want to have fun!
Ok, voting time. ~scratches head~ IF...I'm not mistaken from what I can surmise, I believe they haven't even faced the first ~insert spoiler here~, they've only really faced the first true encounter of the game.
However, the early time is a great time to establish roles and personalities and comradery. If I were to agree to starting there, I would want to talk with the players about how we knew each other, and do a brief overview of how things PROBABLY went in the encounters up till that point. I would not want to have him come back to camp, have all of his party leave, and then sudden reinforcements arrive. I would rather it have been all of us together since the beginning.
Thoughts?
They ended up being level 2, I would be fine with starting there personally.
I believe if I read it right, they've only encountered the mite village and succeeded against their threat. I won't go into greater detail. But they haven't even dealt with the first big threat
Ilamin Medvyed
Elf bard (thundercaller) 1 (Ultimate Wilderness 41)
NG Medium humanoid (elf)
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +5
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Defense
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AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +4 Dex)
hp 8 (1d8)
Fort +0, Ref +6, Will +1; +2 vs. enchantments
Immune sleep; Resist noble born - medvyed
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +1 (1d4+1/19-20) or
dagger +1 (1d4+1/19-20)
Ranged longbow +4 (1d8/×3)
Special Attacks bardic performance 8 rounds/day (countersong, distraction, fascinate [DC 14], inspire courage +1)
Bard (Thundercaller) Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +5)
1st (2/day)—charm person (DC 15), cure light wounds
0 (at will)—detect magic, light, prestidigitation, spark[APG] (DC 14)
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 16, Wis 9, Cha 18
Base Atk +0; CMB +1; CMD 15
Feats Nature Soul
Traits noble born - medvyed, poverty-stricken
Skills Acrobatics +7, Diplomacy +8, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (nature) +11 (+12 while in forest terrain), Knowledge (nobility) +7, Perception +5, Profession (butcher) +3, Spellcraft +7, Stealth +7, Survival +8 (+9 while in forest terrain); Racial Modifiers +1 Knowledge (nature), +2 Perception, +1 Survival, noble born - medvyed, woodcraft[APG]
Languages Common, Draconic, Elven, Orc, Sylvan
Other Gear studded leather, arrows (40), dagger, dagger, longbow, backpack, fishhook, fishing net, kit, campsite (worth 12 gp, 80 lb)[UE], mug/tankard, snuffbox, wood[ACG], 20 gp, 8 sp, 8 cp
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Special Abilities
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Bardic Performance (standard action, 8 rounds/day) Your performances can create magical effects.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Woodcraft +1 Knowledge (Nature) and Survival, increasing to +2 in forests.
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Alright. Here is my crunch for my character based on first level. I plan on being a bard as stated before and will primarily deal with Know Arcana, Know Nature, Know Local, and Know Nobility.
I will also be pretty heavy on the Survival and talking skills. (Except lying. I may learn it one day but for now, I think I'm gonna make him an honest Elf.)
I will gladly be the camp's cook...provided that the GM is ok with Prof Butcher and Prof Cook are one complete profession. If not, I'm cool with splitting the role with another person. I haven't wrote his backstory yet but in truth, he could be a good king or a diplomat as far as roles are concerned. Or anything that is Dex and/or Cha based.
Introductions:
I am a GM for Jovich in a Rise of the Runelords PbP campaign. I also run two other games and Kingmaker is a campaign I'd like to GM eventually. I tend to come up with a lot of house rules for my own games and I like to tinker with things.
I was introduced to D&D as a little kid back in 1978 and have been hooked ever since. Yep, I'm an over-the-hill gamer. :) I've played a bunch of things. I like Pathfinder because of how customizable it is and because there is a strong player base. I also like the organized play aspect though I don't participate in that as much as I might care to. I also appreciate the OGL and the fact that everything can be found online, even though I have spent tons of $ on Pathfinder stuff.
I am also a big history buff, particularly the medieval period, and my major in university was Medieval Studies. Sadly this did not lead to the career in the viking industry that I had hoped for. :)
I believe that characters need to be able to do something on and off the battlefield. I have little patience for "lame duck" characters who basically sit out fights because it is "good roleplaying." Pathfinder is a combat-oriented game. At the same time, characters that are only good at fighting can be pretty dull too.
Most of the time I tend to play characters that like to talk and usually have a sense of humour. I prefer for there to be some comedy in my games, though I could also play in a broodingly dark campaign if that came up.
Of all the various APs though it also has the most work for GMs, and I have been in a variety of KM games that have died - at least five. Often before or just after the first encounter. So I have a stable of Kingmaker-suitable characters that have enough posts that I can't change their names.
GM: this means that if you need help administering things, feel free to ask for help. I can chip in and probably so can others.
I am also in two currently running games of Kingmaker as a player, and am pretty familiar with the first module. If this is a problem I can withdraw.
Most of the encounters in Kingmaker are quite easy for the party (though some of the random encounters can be really scary... "1d4 trolls" is on the random encounter table and you can meet them when you are first level!). GM: as a result, you will probably have to ramp up most encounters notably since there are going to be 6 of us. Adding extra lower-level minions is a good way to do that for most encounters. It's also worth mentioning that most of the time you end up having only one encounter per day, so classes with limited daily resources aren't often hurt by that.
FYI I also have a good familiarity with the kingdom building rules from Ultimate Campaign and can help administer that if necessary.
For everyone:
About 'Balanced Parties':
I appreciate a GM that says "play what you want to play," but as a player I don't want to be doing the things that other players are doing. I want my character to shine in his or her "niche." So even with no restrictions on class I would still prefer to play a different type of character as everyone else.
It is more important in Kingmaker because if you don't coordinate then everyone ends up wanting to play a high-charisma character hoping to be king. Well, not always, but it can happen. It is good to have a variety of high ability scores in the party, and to sort out kingdom roles in advance so nobody has hurt feelings.
So... What does everyone want to play?
While we're at it...
What alignments do people want to play?
A few things can cause friction in this adventure, particularly what do you do with captured prisoners? I have seen this turn into arguments in three different KM games and it helps if people are on the same page about it.
I also have a few characters that are 'morally ambiguous.' I don't like to play characters that are outright evil, but I have a few characters that would be fun to try out assuming a more permissible alignment environment. Like a necromancer cleric.
So I'd like to know what kind of alignments we are dealing with and how people feel about these things.
Honestly, I am pretty open for a lot of things. I did end up choosing to play the bard, at first just because the dice rolls kind of leaned towards a spellcaster. (One discernable Advantage and middling to mediocre stats for everything else.)
I felt even though the GM was kind and did some rerolls for me, that to change my original intention would have been a bit of a betrayal to the chaos gods and their original judgement!
If you can't tell by the last sentence, I am a bit of a nutty person and enjoy being surprising, comical, and intriguing as a player and a character.
That's not to say I don't like serious roles, but more that I find ways to lighten the mood of serious roles. (I played one particularly serious and too hard hitting role only recently for over a year at a once a week, 12 hour day at table game. It's devastating to be that depressing and serious.)
Personally, I agree that the concept of Kingmaker is the idea that you will be Some kind of Lawful to Neutral Good character. I'd only change from the expectation of LG, NG, CG, LN, N characters IF all other players and the GM agreed to an evil campaign. (That's not to say if someone else wishes to play evil along side a bunch of Goodie Goodies that I have an objection, I'm more saying I personally don't lean evil unless everyone else is because I'll lean hard.)
When in terms of Roles you wish to play come into aspect, the current idea I have for the backstory of this character leans towards the following: Ruler, Councilor, Spymaster as my HIGH interests, then Grand Diplomat, Magister.
When it comes to idea's I'm pretty open as far as problem solving, especially in the idea of "punishment". Typically I'm not one to just be off with their heads or to the dungeon with them kind of person. If there is even a shred of ability to trust them or find a way to enforce the "punishment" I'm for finding constructive alternatives for the community.
By that I mean things like the community is lacking in X job, force them in pennace to serve helping out in that field under the watchful eye of X person. It gives people a chance to reform, helps the community as a whole, and who knows what else. Sure it has a chance to backfire but as long as you're careful, read things well, and find good leash holders it can be far better.
That said, I'm not above just flat out killing someone who shows no remorse and an eagerness to seek revenge or is just a plan sociopath. (Though to be honest, like 90% of Adventurers always feel like they are sociopaths ^_^)
I believe our current group is looking as follows: An Elven Bard (Vitaliano), A Human Cavalier(Sir Andreas), and I think an Elven Ranger (Gummy).
Roles so far... I believe Sir Andreas has mentioned General/Ruler(?) and Vitaliano as Ruler, Councilor, Spymaster but apart from that I've not seen any further declarations.
I think I also lean on the side of Sir Andreas of, I don't particularly mind any character concept as long as they are not Lawful Unwilling to Compromise.
Peet makes a good point about balanced parties/party roles. Personally, I have had a soft spot for necromancy clerics since day one, but have never had the chance to play or play with one and if we can swing it/Peet wants to play one, I'd support that if it doesn't make life difficult for everyone else...
I'm still set on the Elven Ranger (still considering archetypes though). Archery is heavily dex focused, which roles benefit from that?
Being morally ambiguous is fine with me, full evil isn't super fun for me unless the campaign is built for it.
Royal Enforcer (Also Known as Royal Assassin), Spymaster, and Marshal are Dex based.
This time, I think my character will be fairly straightforward in that he's less torn about the changes happening in the Stolen Lands...
I'll get started on character with amended stats....
* I'm not fussed about roles in the coming Kingdom(s), so that's really a non-issue for me currently.
* Alignment: Morally ambiguous is fine, I'm likely to follow a CG path, and a no-nonsense approach to prisoners with a keen eye on preserving the party's safety (and by extension, my character).
Oh, and my vote is to start the adventure anew, even though I've just completed this very portion of the adventure - mainly to allow our characters time to introduce and experience each other and ascertain how we want to approach the "mission". But I'm happy either way
a cavalier, a ranger, a bard, and a barbarian/monk hybrid walk into a bar.
I'm still pondering this. I think I'd like to make a rogue. I haven't had a chance to play with the unchained version yet and that looks like fun. I'm also wondering about a magus.
I know basically nothing about Kingmaker. I'll be reading the player guide later today. I think it'd be nice to start the AP basically fresh, but I'm not opposed to skipping some bits and starting in medias res.
Morally ambiguous is fine. I'm not even against a despotic rule.
I do notice that we're short on healing at the moment... and kind of light on magic all around.
Well, currently we could get by with a CLW wand just fine. Two people who can use it is technically plenty to be safe (With both of them being Ranged types, it makes it doubley more so). So I wouldn't push to have a dedicated healer.
That is just my two cents at the moment. Now, actual bakoom fireworks power, I agree we are lacking. I've seen full martial parties work from start (Where they excel) to finish (Where they tend to struggle) so it's not impossible but indeed having a bit of flashy magic on our side isn't terrible a terrible idea at all.
@Sir Andreas I'm not 100% opposed to that, charters can be amended and the like, however it'd be one of those in character moments where we all show up and try to discuss our motives and objectives in character and roleplay wise it may not go the best. We'd probably spend the first week IRL discussing IC what we are looking for in a new nation and drawing out plans before setting out. It'd be a little rough but it'd be good in character conversation. (I think though, it'd leave our poor GM waiting for each player to raise their hand and say ready to move out.)
The beauty of restarting is, we purely discuss this out of character because we would have come together because we were like minded individuals, or someone knew someone when X person started talking about the charter and through a long list of candidates we eventually founded a group with fairly similar goals and ideals.
Either way, we'd definitely want to hash out things sooner rather than later of what kind of kingdom we're wanting as that can affect the type of character personality and backstory we may want.
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One more question I'm seeing come up a lot- just because you are in a currently running KM campaign does NOT disqualify you from being in this one. It's a sandbox, and some things will be different, and some things will be the same, but I trust ya'll enough to keep IC knowledge and OOC knowledge separate.
There are plenty of reasons why ya'll might be at Oleg's when Sir Andreas returns, which I will address if/when we get there.
On the vote: I've had 2 for starting fresh, 1 for starting in media res, and 1 "starting where we left off but pretend we were together the whole time"- just a tally.
Here's OSW's submission, Skow Ku. Just have to pick a Campaign Trait (either Bandit or Pioneer) and write up the appropriately rad backstory...
Skow is a mercenary through and through, a capable bushman and serious wannabe (bounty) hunter. In person he's laconic/laidback, likes a nice bit of cynicism and is fond of collecting sharp things.
(Currently has a boomerang listed as a ranged weapon - the Savage neglects to list this in its list of Savage Weapons - if this is a no-no I'll revert to tomahwak...)
Boomerang ~insert large happy puppy eyes here~
It's from APG so I don't see why it'd be excluded. True it's an exotic but several classes (more particularly Archetypes) give access to one or two of those.
What is media res? I'm ok with starting where things left off if we could do an "opening encounter" of sorts. Like in every AP, they have a moment where everyone works together for the first time.
As long as there is a dex based role for me to fill, I'll be happy :)
Elros Dryadson
Elf Ranger for Kingmaker
LN, Worship Erastil
Woodcraft (replaces Elven Magic) - +1 nature/survival. In forest terrain, +2.
Long-Limbed (replaces Weapon Familiarity) - 35ft move speed
Traits - Suspicious, Deadeye Bowman
Str: 15 Dex: 18 Con: 12 Int: 14 Wis: 13 Cha: 8
Skills (8)
Nature 7
Sense Motive 6
Survival 6
Perception 7
Stealth 8
Climb/Swim/Heal 6
Ride 8
Soldier 5
Background Skills (2)
Handle Animal 3
Geography 6
Feats
1 Point Blank Shot
2 Precise Shot
3 Rapid Shot
5 Boon Companion
6 Manyshot
7 Deadly Aim
9 Weapon Focus
10 Improved Precise Shot
11 Iron Will
Like many Elves, Elros Dryadson was born in Kyonin. Unlike most of his brethren, he had a burning desire to learn from other races, especially humans and their impeccable thirst for life (despite their rapid mortality). When he finally came of age, Elros left the safety of Kyonin and immersed himself in several cities across Avistan. From Absalom, to Kaer Maga, he spent several years in each, consuming the cultures within. Eventually, his obsession began to pass and he turned to more sparsely populated areas where the steady thrum of nature wasn't drowned out by the panicked noises of an urban center.
Over time, he has found that returning to his Elven roots is a more satisfying endeavor, yet he still retains many fond memories of his past. Working as a traveling hunter, he has slowly meandered across Avistan and has found himself on the edge of the Stolen Lands in a place called Oleg's Tavern...
Notable People in his life:
[Name]: A renowned woodsman and soldier, this elf trained Elros since he could first draw a bow. While [name] was disappointed in his decision to leave Kyonin and the elven people, he respects the decision as a learning experience and hopes to see Elros again some day.
[Name]: She was one of Elros' first trysts with a human in Absalom, approximately 40 years ago. Unfortunately, Elros learned that she had been subtly exploiting his talents for money that was made under the table. After a fiery argument, the pair hasn't seen each other since.
[Name]: Old when Elros met him, [name] is the elven priest who tutored him in the ways of Erastil. While Elros has become somewhat jaded from [name]'s optimistic view, he never the less thinks fondly of his teachings during his more formative years.
GM, please let me know if there is anything else you would like as part of my application.
Apologies,the opening of the game is not as fresh in my mind and I think the last GM may have included that as an "interviewing process" before being allowed to receive the charter.
I think the last time I've done the game from scratch has been two years. So I may be incorrect in my knowledge of whether we know what awaits us or nah.
@gummy bear:"in medias res"= in the middle of things, where action starts immediately. Often used in literature where you start with a suspenseful scene and then later exposition shows how that scene came to be
@GM: is VMC ok? If so, I think I'll go magus vmc rogue. Sounds like a fun combo. If not, I'll stick with magus and perhaps dip rogue in the future
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We have not been given any charter that says we are to be rulers...That is my understanding of the first part...is this correct?
I'll answer this question with a quote:
Be it so known that the bearer of this charter has been charged by the Swordlords of Restov, acting upon the greater good and authority vested within them by the office of the Regent of the Dragonscale Throne, has granted the right of exploration and travel within the wilderness region known as the Greenbelt. Exploration should be limited to an area no further than thirty-six miles east and west and sixty miles south of Oleg’s Trading Post. The carrier of this charter should also strive against banditry and other unlawful behavior to be encountered. The punishment for unrepentant banditry remains, as always, execution by sword or rope. So witnessed on this 24th day of Calistril, under watchful eye of the Lordship of Restov and authority granted by Noleski Surtova, current Regent of the Dragonscale Throne.
So, short answer, you do not have the right of rulership: just the right of exploration. Thus far.
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Ah, then if it's pure Exploration. Yea, no I'm fine with in medias res. I'm good with either having been the same grew all along or showing up in the middle of everything.
I'm never upset by missing first level shenanigans. I've lost two characters to just bad first level luck and then having that feeling of putting a lot of work for nothing. I don't let GMs coddle me with free resurrections as Luck is part of the bag.
Edit: Alright, I got all the bits and bobs together for the character. Backstory and Crunch up in the Profile. Apart from being switched to level 2, I should be good. I also have everything ready if we start at level 2.
Let me know if anything is missing or anyone wants to do some kind of connection in our backstories.
As far as Skow is concerned, his parents, uncles and aunts, grandparents and the rest are all barmy. And he is as far as he could possibly get from them right now. Within reason. Because, truth to tell, if his own people are mad, these foreign folk are crazier still. Skow prides himself on being a man of the world (though he isn't) and open-minded (he is not) but the vagaries of the Brevoy-folk and parts further outward from the hamlet in Dunsward (just on the border with Iobaria) where Skow grew up have him confused, and if he were honest about it (again, not likely) he might admit to being just a little frightened.
Skow's folk are a lost remnant of Kellids, fractured from their kin but holding strong to ways and modes bygone amongst most of their contemporaries. They trade a little with the Nomen centaurs (an equally xenophobic lot) and eke a bare subsistence from the frontier they find themselves in. Skow disparages them publically, but in his heart he misses his backward clan, and hopes one day to return to them, if not a portended champion, at least a successful warlord or, possibly, rich. Furs, cows, skins - real wealth, not the shiny coins the civilised folk kill each other for.
One thing does remain in Skow's mind - if he does attain a zoic fetish, he could return to his people with it, and show them - it may be magical, but it is not the portal to a new beginning for the clan. They must look outward, and learn of the world outside, the world that everyday threatens to envelop them, and destroy their ways. If they do not learn, and adapt, as Skow has been, their heritage will not survive.
Skow earns his "coinstuff" by tracking, guiding and hunting - sometimes even finding lost fugitives for pay. He likes the wilds and disdains the comforts of civilisation - he particularly avoids over-processed food and alcohol. He is superstitious, but not overly, and enjoys a good joke. He dwells on the darker side where the light casts a dim shadow, but does not brood. Life is too short, and there are adventures to be had...
I have not come up with names yet, but I am also open to working with the GM to include already created NPC's to fill those parts of his backstory.
Okay we seem to have so far:
Skow - a low quality ship or barge human savage... I'm guessing that's kind of a monk/barbarian hybrid, am I right?
Ilamin - Half-elf Thundercaller bard ... Ilamin, did your character live among the Shoanti? The fluff of the Thundercaller is that it is a Shoanti version of bard.
Sir Andreas - human cavalier - and from the original party, yes?
Elros Dryadson - elf ranger
RobL sounds like he is working on a magus/VMC rogue
Looks like we have plenty of combat guys.
I'm seeing mostly good alignments so I think my necromancer cleric will have to stay on the bench. Besides, he sucks at healing.
There's not a lot of support for them but they are pretty neat.
Azul Aros is a character I created for another recruitment which allowed a lot of weird stuff. The crunch would have to be adjusted to my new stats but is basically good. Haven't picked spells or a feat yet. But the background is good.
Basically Azul Aros is a knowledge-y oracle who is also half-decent in combat, though not amazing.
The original GM allowed me to swap out the suggestion ability. I'm not a big fan of mind control for RP reasons - it just feels a little evil. So we switched it for 1 point of natural armor (since Shabti are originally built out of inanimate materials like gold and wood) and proficiency in 1 weapon (Falcata, as the builder was a master of Rondelero). RP cost is the same.
What do you think?
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@Peet I've actually never truly looked at the fluff for archetypes. I should do so proper in the future. My thoughts on this given the limited exposure to knowledge surrounding is....Druidic Elves....he spent a lot of time communing with nature with Druidic elves....and while he himself could not call upon the divine and become truly one with nature, he learned to bend it slightly to his whim.
I apologize, I'll probably make another spoiler at some point to add in Background for his Adulthood. I wrote mostly the story of his namesake more than the story of Ilamin. Kingmaker, the Campaign Trait, and the region really tied into my story building for him more than his own personal abilities and I have seen that and felt I needed to add more at some point but I've not started putting fingers to keys on it yet. Still trying to feel out some inspiration.
~facepalms~ Druidic Elves. Yep that feels like a bit of a cop out. I'll see if I can't find more lore and scratch my head hopefully Monday.
well, the vmc just isn't working out in my concept. Backstory isn't done, but the character is coming along. Hexcrafter magus. Btw GM, I've never played a magus so I may need to ask you some questions as we go along
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Alright, so I took some time to look at the Fluff for Thundercaller (All two lines of it in UW. If there is more please direct me.)
It gave me a bit of inspiration that I'm gonna work off the earlier comment. Given the Medvyed trait, Elven Heritage, Druid association.....change the word ancestors to spirits of nature. I shall fuss with doing some actual writing tomorrow.
Alright, so I took some time to look at the Fluff for Thundercaller (All two lines of it in UW. If there is more please direct me.)
Thundercaller is originally from the Varisia: Birthplace of Legends book. I didn't realize it had made it into Ultimate Wilderness.
There's not a lot in the archetype entry either, though one of the Shoanti sayings listed is "Our Thunder Rolls Across the Storval Plateau," which seems directly connected. This is what it says:
Among the mystical leaders of the Shoanti are those who speak for the spirits of the land, who bear the knowledge of the ancients, and whose voices ring like thunder, calling the sky's wrath down upon their enemies.
Thundercallers are mentioned in the Shoanti entry in Inner Sea Races:
...Each tribe is ruled by a warchief, called a jothka, who is advised by a shaman known as a thundercaller-a storyteller and performer who maintains and passes on the tribe's history....