Justice League of Golarion

Game Master Nidoran Duran

There are some people who rise above titles like 'adventurer' or 'guardsman' to become something much greater than the common cut of folks who usually populate those fields. The potential for glory and deeds that bards will stumble over themselves to tell. They become heroes.

I'm looking to run some very derivative, very high power superhero fun, and to give all those people who ponder the Pathfinder builds for fictional characters something to work with. I'd like to run a superhero campaign set in the official Pathfinder world (with minor tweaks where needed), featuring versions of famous superheroes in all but name adapted into the setting. As noted below, this will be achieved through playing with gestalt rules, which will allow for high powered builds that let you get all the powers of a character that you need without multiclass dipping into uselessness. Obviously the game can't 100% emulate the power of someone like, say, Thor, at this level, but you can definitely get a facsimilie of it, and have fun roleplaying as that character nonetheless.

Also, while this looks like a high-power cheesefest, know that I'm not going to be throwing you up against threats for a normal CR 8 party. Your enemies will be strong too, and important villains will also be gestalt. This won't be a pummelfest because that's just not fun.

Character Creation Guidelines:
-Any character from Marvel or DC comics, save for the following banned heroes, are allowed, no matter how obscure they are.
The following are not allowed because they are planned as either a major NPC, or some other reason I'll be vague about. I may disallow others as they arise:
--Banned DC heroes: any of the New Gods, Booster Gold, Brainiac 5, Flex Mentallo, Superman, Swamp Thing
--Banned Marvel heroes: Doctor Strange, Hulk, Jean Grey, Nick Fury, Professor X, Reed Richards, The Punisher, Silver Surfer, and either heroic version of Venom (as tempting as it is to just build a party to run a campaign that is literally just Venom: Circle of Four)
-Gestalt. If you're not familiar with the rules, you can read them here.
-25 point buy
-Starting level is 8th
-Two traits
-Material from any official Paizo sourcebook is allowable, save for Mythic Adventures and Mythic Origins. Psionics have already been approved.
-Third party material is on a case-by-case basis. The biggest issue is my being able to see it; if I have the book or it's freely available on a site like D20PFSRD then I will be able to approve or deny it. If I can't, then it's a flat "no".
-Any race under 20 RP.
-Everything is allowed to be refluffed. Everything. Want to run Thor as a cleric? He doesn't need to worship anything. Want to use the dwarf stats for him because of the bonus against giants? He doesn't have to be 5'0". I'm flexible as s$~+ about this.
-33,000 GP, as is appropriate for your level.
-You may take item creation feats and begin play with items crafted for yourself if you can succeed on a Take 10 roll.
-We're using a "race enhanancer" feature that I made up to get everyone's powersets to where they ought to be. Everybody gets ten additional race points for an extra point buy. You can't use these to just amass powers you like; they have to be things your hero actually uses. You can use these points to buy any of the traits, without meeting requirements, listed on this page.

You can also spend one point to "embed" a magical item inside of you. You still have to buy this item, but you will get the effect while no longer taking up a slot, and it cannot be removed, broken, or dispelled (although the plot monster may find some way to supress things if needed for drama's sake). Again, these have to be items that fit your character's canon powers. For instance, if you're making Martian Manhunter, you can embed a Hat of Disguise, allowing you to change shape and disguise yourself fluidly at will.

I'll allow allow custom abilities where needed, particularly for things not easily emulatable by anything else in the game.
-I'm flexible and willing to houserule a great deal of things to achieve the intended aim of a character, so feel free to ask about any changes or tweaks.
-Obviously, provide a background wherein you rewrite and refluff your character's origin story to fit the setting, replacing details like "science experiment" with magic and alchemy where required.

On a note of morality and tone; killing is obviously more acceptable in this universe than it is in the universes of comic books. As a result, even characters notable for the golden rule will not be expecting to uphold it here, although making someone who has focus on nonlethal damage so that they don't have to just kill all the time is certainly a good way to go. However, I'm very much of the "superheroes are fun" camp. Complexity and conflict are good and can build deep characters, but endless brooding and angst are not. Broody necksnappiness is not something I'm keen on, and characters who just kill kill kill like The Punisher are also not really what I'm after. Look to the recent Marvel movies for the sort of thing I'm going for; superheroes are fun and good; Captain America isn't a dick, and at the end of the day the hero shows expression that aren't just scowls.

The interest check thread ran for almost a week, and can be found here. A lot of people already have their builds fleshed out/mostly completed. Others just have vague ideas. I also have two meatspace friends interested who are in (one wants to run Gambit, the other is considering Fantomex last I asked), whom I can vouch for as solid players from my real life table. I don't know how party selection is going to go beyond that. I might make two parties, might just make one that's large. It depends on how many I really like and how things go.

Just because someone has an idea for a hero doesn't mean you can't try your own, different build and distinct take on it. Granted, I'll won't take more than one Captain Andoran (if I do), but feel free to try. And also to ask me for advice, because I am a giant f%**ing comics nerd and retain a lot of system information, and am glad to help piece together how to recreate things properly, as are some of the other people who've been interested, by the looks of it.Recruitment will probably run through next weekend, to give people time to work out their concepts and build them. Gestalt is a pretty daunting thing to work with.

I would love to roll up Gambit! I'm thinking Staff Magus/something. Bard maybe?!

Like I said, a friend of mine is running Gambit and he's automatically in, so that might not be the best idea.

Like I said, a friend of mine is running Gambit and he's automatically in, so that might not be the best idea.

Thanks. Somehow I missed that above. I'll head back to the drawing board.

Edit: I see that now. Very sorry. :)

No worries.

Dotting for interest. This is simply a fascinating concept for me. I'm leaning towards either Lobo or Hal Jordan.

Wolverine checking in. Thought about 1 RP for the embedded magic item. What about embedding claws of the ice bear? We can fluff the adamantine claws, because he has totem claws that can bypass hardness with Smasher when raging already.

I'll work on his background when I get time around this conference.

cheers

Iceman checking in. Still working on completing crunch and will work on background this weekend.

Since Undine is only 7 RP, would a custom racial ability or embedded item that allows him to create ice bridges at will be okay? (His class abilities already allow him to move across ice as if it is solid ground)

Meatspace Gambit checking in, just need to spend the gold and the build is done - Staff Magus 8 Gestalt for Rogue 5/Arcane Trickster 3.

Dotting with my Nightcrawler idea, going to build the alias this weekend.

@Lord Manticore: Interesting. I haven't yet totally figured out how the Green Lantern Bearers will work out gameplay-wise, so I'd be interested to see where you go with it.

@Logan: Yeah, that works.

@Robert: Maybe a reflavoured Broom of Flying, which gives you Overland Flight for nine hours a day. We would change into making an ice bridge below you that only exists in the square you're presently on.

Alright, got the additional race points divvied up to make HS more durable and stronger. I buffed his fire resistance and natural armor considerably and got him a much better stat array. The downside is that the site ate the backstory I had typed up. I'll need to recreate it.

Well, I could create a custom continuous activation level 1 spell item for much less that attacks a 15 foot cone, freezes ground, and has a chance to slow enemies (cold version of burning hands), but I'm looking more for flavor than utility.

Perhaps an at will swift action ability to create ice along a 60ft line or curve(all squares needing to be connected), that can raise elevation by up to 5 feet within a square by spending an extra 5 feet of the original sixty (so that square would cost 15ft total)? No squares would be able to occupy the same space as an enemy or ally and ice would disappear at end of next turn (allowing him to use to same ice bridge for the next turn or create a new one to travel along before the ice melts out underneath him).

This could basically be his innate mutant ability, adding on for some RP to the base race. With his class abilities he could charge or run across all 60 ft in a turn or use this to catch a falling ally.

I suppose that could work, but 60 feet as a swift action seems a bit much; you'd be doubling your move speed pretty much eternally. Maybe bring it down to 40, so that you can mobility without being too excessive. And then you could use it some number of times per day to push out sixty for when it's needed. And I would allow it to raise elevation only by spending 10.

EDIT: Wait no having reread your abilities (granted, I've never seen Oracle of Winter before) you don't just double move on ice, so it'd be a swift action every two rounds. I can live with that.

So quick clarification on the RP system. If we pick a race say Aasimar at 15RP, we get 10RP to shore up powers? So I could use the 10RP on my Dhampir race to say raise my fast heal to 2 and probably a bonus to saves to reflect Blade's resilience. Is that how it works?

Yeah. You get 10 additional race points regardless of starting race.

Dotting my captain andoran idea. Nearly finished.

How many RP would it cost to upgrade a prehensile tail (normally just capable of retrieving objects, not wielding a weapon) to one like Nightcrawler's, capable of wielding a weapon (although it hurts my head too much to consider "three-weapon fighting") and supporting his entire weight?

Also, just spitballing here, how many RP would it cost to give him dimension door at will? doing that via RP would allow me to forego taking Psion (since i am mostly taking it for the BAMFing). Then i could take the Fast Step psionic feat to change it from a standard to a move, the Dimensional line of feats for situational changes to it, and later (lv14 like Psion, perhaps) it could be an immediate action, the lv20 could be a free action (also like Psion)

Regarding that cost, i see that it would be 4 RP to have it 1/day, and the Greater Spell-like Ability trait is at-will, but only goes to level 3, and costs spell level x2.

So perhaps 8 RP for at-will dimension door, and 2 more RP to upgrade a regular prehensile tail to a stronger prehensile tail?

Hey Spooky! I would like to put together Natasha Romanoff! I would probably go with ninja/bard so she can be a skill monkey/investigator/spy/assassin. I'm not sure if anyone else had wanted to build her. I'll try to start brainstorming. Feel free to throw out some ideas if you want!

@Tenro: This honestly sounds like Too Much: The Post. Having a third weapon, even if canonically something he's done, is too excessive for me to want to go anywhere near. And Dimension Door as a move action would give you the ability to move hundreds of feet and attack every turn.

Movement options have restrictions for a reason and this is expressly why; at level 14 you'll be able to move 960 feet as a swift action every turn. Nomad's Step already gives you 55 feet, and even that is something I'm a hard sell on, but it's sort of build necessary, so go for it.

@jules1: Cool. And through the whole interest check thread nobody asked to play her, so go for it.

Posting with interest as Flint Marko, aka Sandman. Details later.

I can change it, but it doesn't effect my movement speed in any way

The 60 feet only allows me to do a double move action if I choose to without running out of ice (assuming I don't raise the elevation), as well as make a 4x3 or 6x2 platform or bridge.

At 40, I could only use a single move action but with 10 instead of 15 cost for elevation I could still reduce a fall by up to 20 feet (the same amount). I could also only create a 4x2 bridge this way.

Either works, but perhaps an immediate action instead of swift for the 40 so I can leave it unused and use it to reduce the fall of allies outside my turn if needed?

@Tenro: This honestly sounds like Too Much: The Post. Having a third weapon, even if canonically something he's done, is too excessive for me to want to go anywhere near. And Dimension Door as a move action would give you the ability to move hundreds of feet and attack every turn.

Movement options have restrictions for a reason and this is expressly why; at level 14 you'll be able to move 960 feet as a swift action every turn. Nomad's Step already gives you 55 feet, and even that is something I'm a hard sell on, but it's sort of build necessary, so go for it.

RE: Tail: right. I wouldn't be trying "3WF", and i don't even think multiattack (which i could never figure out) even made it into PF, but i was just wondering if it were possible to spend RP on. Initially, i was thinking "what if i needed one hand for something, and i could TWF with one hand and the tail" but in hindsight that sounds silly, assuming the tail could be doing whatever the one hand was supposed to be doing, and just fighting with no more than two weapons at a time. ULTIMATELY i just wanted to make sure i could use it to hang from stuff and support my weight, rather than just being able to manipulate small objects.

RE: Dimension Door: certainly fair enough. I was just wondering at the feasibility of it, seeing that I am only taking one entire half of the character for the Nomad's Step ability, when i realized it could potentially be purchased with RP.

Follow-up question regarding purchasing Dimension Door at-will SLA with RP: what if its distance were limited similarly to the class ability? so rather than 960ft at lv14, it would be 75? not trying to bug you or cajole you by way of argument, but "you cant get what you dont ask for"

@Robert Louis Drake: No, I'd say it's fine to make it allowable for a sixty foot line/ramp of variable length, since it's not able to effect much other than you, and leaves you open to use swift actions for other things, should you have them.

@Tenro: I think the spell level x2 is kept at 3 or lower for a reason, and it's only available to monsters; bumping it to a 4th level spell would probably put it well out of your budget, because the power it gives is just that big. Nomad's Step is seriously a considerable enough feature that it seems like the sort of thing that aught to be half of your gestalt; movement options are huge.

Spooky are you expecting that everyone has made their way to Absolam to start. I had written my history to include an location change from Korvosa (Early DD in New York) to Absolam (He has also worked in San Fransisco or in this case Metropolis). No problem there I see but I figured that he was closer to Fisque in Absolam given the near global reach you described Fisque in the interest thread?

Alright, re-built the rough draft of Hellson's backstory.

@Robert Louis Drake: No, I'd say it's fine to make it allowable for a sixty foot line/ramp of variable length, since it's not able to effect much other than you, and leaves you open to use swift actions for other things, should you have them.

@Tenro: I think the spell level x2 is kept at 3 or lower for a reason, and it's only available to monsters; bumping it to a 4th level spell would probably put it well out of your budget, because the power it gives is just that big. Nomad's Step is seriously a considerable enough feature that it seems like the sort of thing that aught to be half of your gestalt; movement options are huge.

Alrighty, fair enough.

How do you want to do the tail thing? Spend RP to make it stronger? Capable of using a weapon (even if he flat out cant use 3 at once because doing so would be too crazy) or simply strong enough to support his weight but not fine enough motor control to use a weapon? Would he be able to use it for maneuvers like steal/dirty trick? etc. trying to get limitations ironed out before they come up in play

Oops, I forgot to note that in the thread.

EVERYBODY NEEDS A REASON/EXCUSE TO BE IN ABSALOM AT THE START OF THE GAME.

Fisque is centered in Korvosa, but Daredevil could easily be following a lead or trying to break up an important deal in Absalom; maybe intercepting a hit squad or a courier. Anything works, but in terms of growing up in a city where Fisque is present and at his most powerful,m that's Korvosa.

I will adjust some things. I used the Owl as Fisque's Lieutenant in Korvosa and relocated to Absolam after some tragic events. I will sort some things around.

Gnomezrule here.

Okay here it is true believers. Daredevil the Man Without Fear.

I used some elements of the Curse of the Crimson Throne for his history. I assumed that Blackjack (a NPC from Curse of the Crimson Throne very much a Zoro figure) was active when DD was young. If there is a player who is Batman I think Batman really should be it. Heck if there is no who comes up with Batman you might want to add him just for the flavor. I also mashed long time Daredevil enemies the Hand with the assassins featured in the Curse of the Crimson Throne the Red Mantis.

I have not added his magical equipment yet because we have not worked out the his transforming stick yet.

For his powers I figured the biggest thing was going to be his senses. I used 8 Rp so far:

All-Around Vision (4 RP)
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: Members of this race have some way of seeing all around them, granting them a +4 racial bonus onPerception checks and making them immune to flanking.

Blindsense 30 Feet (4 RP)
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: Using nonvisual senses such as acute smell or hearing, members of this race notice things they cannot see. Members of this race usually do not need to make Perception checks to pinpoint the location of a creature within 30 feet, provided they have line of effect to that creature. A creature that members of this race cannot see still has total concealment against individuals with blindsense, and members of this race still have the normal miss chance when attacking creatures that have concealment. Visibility still affects the movement of members of this race. Members of this race are still denied their Dexterity bonus to AC against attacks from creatures they cannot see.

This leaves me 2 for Daredevil's Club. This worries me a little because I am not sure if that is enough for it.

I was thinking this cantrip would work for the grapnel ability of the stick. [url=http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/3rd-party-spells/rite-publishing---3rd-party-spells/s/spiders-thread]

As for its transforming from stick to grapnel to stick with long cable so one end could whip out at range. I was thinking that metor hammer would be the right idea though it should have a longer reach than 10 feet. I do not want to cheese it up by having it threaten further I think that would be too much. However if it functioned like the Steel Scarf ability of the Metal Oracle I think that would be cool. However it would be a bludgeon. Though it has a 30 foot range it does not threaten. The fluff would be part of the stick shooting out and knocking the #%#$# out of people. The bonuses to level I don't think fit here I included it for help understanding the concept.

Steel Scarf (Su): As a swift action, you can harden a scarf, sleeve, cloak, or other piece of your clothing into something as hard as steel that stretches out to be up to 30 feet long. You can then strike outward with it as if it were a weapon making a melee attack. For the purpose of this ability, you are proficient with this weapon. You can use the weapon to perform combat maneuvers. Make a melee attack roll against a creature within 30 feet; you may use Weapon Finesse with this attack. If you hit, the weapon deals 1d8 points of slashing damage + 1 point for every two oracle levels you possess. After this attack, the clothing returns to its normal length and hardness. You do not threaten an area with this weapon and cannot use it to make attacks of opportunity. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

I would be happy to spend some GP in addition to the 2 RP.

Daredevil: Should I be accepted, I would like to intertwine portions of our background. I am building Black Widow and plan for her to originally be an agent of The Hand (brainwashed). I am thinking about Ninja/Red Mantis Assassin/Fighter or Ranger. Born in The Shackles and orphaned by a fire. Recruited by Fisque and trained as a spy/assassin.

~Jules1

Was thinking about Longshot --- Thinking swashbuckler from the ACG playest / Inquisitor with luck domain...

Or maybe Archaeologist Bard / Sacred Servant Paladin (Luck Domain)...

DD and Black Widow certainly had a history. Widow and their romance was why DD relocated from Hell's Kitchen (New York City) to San Francisco.

In my history I had Franklin Nellsken's (Franklin "Foggy" Nelson in the comics) niece get killed by hirelings of Fisque namely Bullseye. I would imagine that after DD found out Widow was part of the "Hand of the Red Mantis" he would not be too thrilled. It might be interesting now for Widow to be working for Stark's Trade Guild or the Pathfinders (not sure if the Pathfinders are Spooky's stand in for Shield or not).

Longshot!!! I thought about him too. He needs super throwing skills for all the throwing knives he had.

I am now soooooo looking forward to fighting Gog, Ma-gog, Spiral and Mojo Master of the Opera.

Here's 'Lock for your consideration. Crunch coming soon!

I'm not sure at which point in his career he should be. How long could he have known Dr. Xavier? Should he know Apocalypse or Loki or Spider-Man yet?

In canon, Bobby Drake was one of the original X-men and had a pretty varied career as a part of different teams such as the Champions, Defenders, and X-factor, as well as becoming an accountant and teacher at some point.

Gah, f&!&ing posts happening when I'm busy writing up posts.

@Tenro: You could pump three into it to give it an equivalent of the Slap Tail trait; you could use a weapon in the tail; maybe another three to let it work as something that can steal and pick up objects as normal.

@The Daredevil: Oh believe me, one way or another there will be Batman. Honestly the only reason I don't slap Batman onto 100% NPC territory is so in his stead I could theoretically use Batwoman because I'm a huge Batwoman fanboy.

I'd say 1 is enough for the club, honestly. It's not the most useful thing in the world, it just gives you some versatility in how you do attacks. It's actually just barely useful enough to not be 100% filler. We could put some kind of enchantment on it to make it use Spider's Thread at will, something flat cost-ey and not counting toward your +10 total.

Pathfinder Society is currently exactly what it is in canon. That is all I will say on the issue.

@Natasha: Alright, interesting direction to go in; a little more Elektra than Widow, but I guess in the absence of a Russia stand-in it works fine.

@Robert: You should assume that your character is in an early leg of their career, one way or another. As a member of the Ex-Men you would know about the Brotherhood and some minor X-Men villains of your choice if desired, but you wouldn't have been on other teams, nor would you know any of the listed characters. You can know Xavier pretty much however long as you'd like; whether he's young and starting out, or an adult recently graduated who's known the doctor for most of his life.

Posting to re-state my interest to play Ghost/Phantom Rider.

If Blade and Hellson are accepted, it could be fun to tie us three together.

Hmmmm . . .

So here is what I am thinking.

Daredevil's Cane 2RP (the poor man's Spiderman has a poor monk's "Rod of Lordly Might")

1- Its a blind guy's cane! and hey its a bo staff
2- It has a grapnel using the Spider's Thread ability.
3- It can split into a pair of "billy clubs" (purely cosmetic fluff that it is a pair) stats as a club
4- It sprouts a kama blade stats as a kama
5- It grows a point stats as a Singham
6- It uses more of that "spider thread" and can be used as a ranged attacking bludgeon 30 foot range hits like a meteor hammer.

If you think that is only worth 1 RP perhaps the 2nd RP could add a +1 to all the uses. Further enchantment I could pay for with GP and any enchantment would only effect each weapon separately.

Edited #6 on the weapon abilities.

I would like to put up my interest in playing either:

Black Canary (aka Dinah Lance) as a Bard/unarmed fighter

or

The Flash (Wally West) as a Bard/Alchemist.

Thanks! This campaign makes me super excited. I will work on getting my alias(es?) up in the next few days.

@Daredevil: Two RP for an at-will cantrip. 2,500 flat for a nerfed transformative that counts only as a +1 bonus for the purpose of your +10 maximum.

@Paper Gator: Cool. Maybe consider Sound Striker Bard for one half of Black Canary?

Going to roll up Johnny Storm. Oracle of Flame will be one of his classes. Any ideas for a good second?

whoa lots of post since last checked in. Working on Blade now. Going to the beach tomorrow so will be out most of the day. I am willing to work with whoever wants to work in a backstory together.

Spooky you may have a build in mind, but feel free to use my Hulk build as your NPC if you wish.

@Lord Manticore: Interesting. I haven't yet totally figured out how the Green Lantern Bearers will work out gameplay-wise, so I'd be interested to see where you go with it.

Well the "Distant Worlds" book has information on the whole solar system of Golarion. I could see the Lanterns acting on a Solar System level with one of their Aetherships crashing near Hal Jordan who prior to meeting the dying Lantern in the ship was just a sailor (or hang-glider pilot). Now he would be all sorts of evocation and conjuration magic with lots of green thematic spells. Time to bring back all the Bigby's Hand spells, Spiritual Weapon.

@Spooky: I like it! It makes sense with her powers. Thanks for the suggestion!

@Uncle Taco: Maybe Elemental (Fire) Sorceror? It's basically the fire version of what someone is building Iceman with, but it's also pretty much perfect.

@Ashe: Oh believe me the idea I have in mind for Hulk is going to put him way past the boundaries of what any PC can accomplish with class levels, even gestalted. If you guys get far enough believe me it's going to be messy.

@Daredevil: I already have something listed in the setting collapse, and an idea in mind for their in-universe roll. I have an idea for how they'd work gameplay wise that seems a little too much for a PC to be given though, so I'm interested to see how that would be handled by someone who doesn't have what I have written down.

I believe I will create a Zarthos-Touched Tiefling variant as way to best represent GR.

How about Danny the Street? :)

Hey Spooky, great to see the official recruitment up now. I think this game is going to be a lot of fun! Here's Gar Logan, the Beast Boy, checking in for your consideration.

A couple questions: first, we'd talked about building Gar (and possibly other heroes) with some monster levels. Is that still allowed or should I try to build him with only classes + race points? (If you are ambivalent about the monster levels, just let me know.)

More generally, any feedback on the character before I work out the rest of the backstory? Do you have any opinion about whether it would be interesting to keep him a teen, or an adult? From my perspective teen heroes -- from Robin to Kitty Pryde to the Teen Titans -- are a rich part of comic canon, and fit especially well given that you're going more for "superheroes are fun" feel than brooding antiheroes...but I could easily write/play Gar as an adult, if that fits your vision better. There's canon about him at both ages.

@Daredevil: Two RP for an at-will cantrip. 2,500 flat for a nerfed transformative that counts only as a +1 bonus for the purpose of your +10 maximum.

So I should look to make it more powerful.

Any suggestions?

The simplest is simply uping the + to hit or damage to the various forms of the weapon or . . . all of the weapons I chose are monk weapons perhaps they could scale with the monk's unarmed strike damage.