MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - The Korvosa Files (Inactive)

Game Master Corsario

You open the book you just bought and a note is tucked inside the pages:
"Greetings <your PC name here>. The city of Korvosa needs your help. Please ask for me at the Romani's music shop at Bridgefront tomorrow at dawn. Me, and the city, will be always be in your debt. Alika."

About the campaign:
I want to run a campaign in the style of the "Mission: Impossible" TV Series. So this is not about combat, but about completing really difficult tasks with no one noticing it. Also, with no magic (or very few), so the "agents" are not to be detected by a simple "Detect Magic". They are to be heroic, uninterested and willing to fight and die for Korvosa's people. I plan to have the action just before / during / after Curse of the Crimson Throne, but outside of the Adventure Path "history". For more information about the rationale and plans for the campaign check THIS THREAD

About the recruitment:
Will do this as a Play-by-Post campaign over here, Paizo Forums. I want to keep it as a high pace game (at least one post a day, maybe more) with 5 players. It will be a fast game. If you are not sure you can do it, please let the space for somebody that can.
Your characters will be part of a special secret team, working for a mysterious seer calling herself "Alika". You get your instructions indirectly, and are not supposed to let anyone know about it. So in the missions you are not supposed to kill (or even hurt) anyone (except a handful of exceptions). Of course, you can defend yourselves from an attack.
Your characters are from Korvosa, but even if they are powerful they have been very discreet (or have been away for a long time, and just coming back, or maybe retired in anonymity), so almost no one knows them.
Submissions will be accepted until Friday Octuber 31st, so take your time to make a good proposal. Feel free to ask for questions and revisions. I will select the team over the weekend so we start on November 3rd.

Rulesets:
All official books. Paizo only, no third party.
I use D20pfsdr. If it is there (and its not third party) I will probably accept it.

Players:
Posting: Daily, even on weekends, one minimum, more better.
Experienced players preferred.
Rules lawyers and Min-Maxers will not enjoy the game. I tend to ignore Rules Lawyers, and exploit the "Min" of the Min-Maxers.
Be nice and friendly. Willing to have fun.

Characters:
Character Level 16, Multiclass required.
Point Buy: 25 points
Races: Human. Maybe I'll accept a Gnome or Halfling, if the character is very good.
Classes: Core only. Rogue Level 4 at least, a second class level 4 at least.
You character can be Fighter 12 / Rogue 4; Rogue 12 / Wizard 4; Cleric 8 / Rogue 8, or Rogue 6 / Barbarian 6 / Sorcerer 4, for example.
HP: Maximum for chosen classes
Traits: 2, one from Korvosa or Curse of the Crimson Throne.
Hero Points: 3
Gold: 300,000 gp, at least 200,000 of that in "assets" (a business, a house, a ship, properties).
No item over 4,000 GP
2 wands maximum (full charges)
10 potions/scrolls maximum
Spellbooks: You start with the normal number of spells, but you gain double the "new level" spells (4 for a wizard).
No Magic Crafting feats. If your class gives you a crafting feat I will change it for another.
Plan your character to not depend on magic.
Your character is settled in Korvosa. He will want to help the city (the people, not necessarily the government).
This is your chance to play a different character, one that uses wits and skills instead of BAB and Offensive Spells.
If you get a Magic User character do it a non-offensive one. Illusionists, Diviners, etc.

I look forward to read your submissions and gaming with you.

Count me as interested!

Classes must be Core-only, but are archetypes from other sources acceptable?

Are prestige classes from non-Core sources acceptable? It seems like the Master Spy PrC from the APG would be perfect for this game.

Does the ban on magic crafting extend to consumables such as potions and scrolls?

You have my dot!

I am guessing no, but thought I would double check. Can I play a ninja?

Tanner: Archetypes from other sources are acceptable. Master Spy sure looks great, and is acceptable.
Nohwear: Of course! But not the APG Class, using a Rogue/Sorcerer with flavor is acceptable.

If I were to add ranger, what would be a good favored enemy?

I was actually looking at the Master Spy. Not sure if it's just because I like the picture in the book.

Cardboard Tube Knight: I have no problem having two Master Spies... One Rogue and one Bard, for example.
Nohwear: Ranger favored enemy? Human, of course. 90% of Korvosa is human. Humanoids (Elf, Gnome, Halfling, etc.) for others are good too. But around 90% of your "enemies" will be human.

I think I am going to go for a kind of group Face/infiltration and impersonation position. Lots of knowledges and a lot of ranks in to disguise and bluff and diplomacy,

Currently toying with a ninja/trap ranger infiltrator who specs in smoke bomb tricks.

I have a question. I kind of want to find some way to go mostly unarmed, but as a Master Spy. With the alignment restrictions for monk that doesn't seem doable.

Nohwear: Remember, no Ninja Class. But maybe a rogue with Ninja Trick Rogue Talent...
Cardboard Tube Knight: Why not? I couldn't care less for Alignment rules, anyway, so if it makes sense "history-wise" is good with me. Just remember, combat should be the last option in the missions, normally.

Nohwear: Remember, no Ninja Class. But maybe a rogue with Ninja Trick Rogue Talent...

Cardboard Tube Knight: Why not? I couldn't care less for Alignment rules, anyway, so if it makes sense "history-wise" is good with me. Just remember, combat should be the last option in the missions, normally.

Yeah, I think the monk has some other good synergy options with the kind of character that I am wanting to make.

Here is the build I am going to start working on.

Role: Close Combat Expert

Monk (Tetori) 9 / Rogue 6 (Roof Runner) / Shadowdancer 1

Tanner: That is what I was aiming for... the Tetori Monk looks like a great choice for this campaign.

Hi, I'm very interested in this campaign, but I have a few questions :

- I'm quite certain I can make at least one post a day, sometimes more. I assume an absence is ok if said up front? (like being on vacation, personal or family related stuff, ...)

- What timezone are you in? I'm in Belgium, which is UTC + 2. I thought it might be relevant.

- I assume for the assets we use the rules from ultimate campaign?

Idea I have in my head :

Role: Infiltrator/Acrobat (Primary) Lockpick/Safecracker (Secondary)

Classes: Rogue 10 (Burglar/Underground Chemist) / Shadowdancer 6

Mostly took Underground Chemist to be capable of drawing alchemical items like weapons, so I can quickly draw things like thunderstones or other such items in a pinch. :)

Hope you like the concept.

Of course having absences is ok, from time to time, even I have them. But if it happens twice a week it won't work for us.
I am at Puebla, México, birthplace of Mole. GMT +6. And I have a variable sleep schedule.
For the assets, yes, as long as it makes sense. Or you can go the easy route and just imagine something good. Before getting accepted something general, without much detail, is ok.
The character concept looks great.

Thanks for the quick replies.
Shouldn't be a problem concerning the absences, just asked for certainty :) (Didn't know how strict you would be on it ;))

Concerning the assets, I asked because I have the book laying at home, and it's as good an excuse as any to scrounge through it some more (as that is a section I haven't familiarized myself with as of yet because it never came up in a campaign I played)

I came across some things when I started working further on my concept, so here are some more questions :
- About traits you state : "2, one from Korvosa or Curse of the Crimson Throne." Any specific place I can find these specific ones?
- As I stated before, I mainly took the Underground chemist part for its ability to draw alchemical items at the same speed as weapons. I was wondering if you would allow me to take a regular rogue talent at lvl 4 instead of the Precise Splash Weapons power they gain, seeing as I have no intention on sneak attacking with splash weapons :) I'm fine either way, just thought I'd ask.
- Magical crafting is not allowed, but can our characters craft other things, like alchemical items? Was thinking that he would have an alchemy lab somewhere in a safehouse, where he would make all his own items, as needed for his profession as a burglar. (Glue paper, acid flasks, thunderstones, ...)
- Another thing about our assets. You said that although powerful, we are not really known in Korvosa. Does this mean we for example could have several shops/other places of business, but that we are the silent patron behind them rather than the face who runs them all? (Don't have an idea yet which direction I would go with my character other than the safehouse I mentioned earlier)

Go ahead and use the Buildings and Organizations rules.
About the traits, the ones from Curse of the Crimson Throne are this and about the "Korvosa" ones I mean something that relates to Korvosa, Varisia, etc. if you don't want to take one from Crimson Throne.
About Precise Splash Weapons... what would you trade it for?
Yes, you can craft Alchemical Items... but at full price (I don't want to make a mess of the Wealth by Level. The advantage would be you can make whatever you want, and no one has to know you are doing it.
What I mean with "not known" is the Level 16 part. Normally that would make you REALLY famous. Let's say you are like a Superhero. You have all this powers, but people only knows you because you have a very good clothes shop, or you are captain of your own ship. But by night...

I am withdrawing interest. I should probably focus on other stuff.

So something in the lines of "Street Magician" by day, sneaky burglar by night is an option ^_^

Don't mind crafting at full price, was indeed for the "nobody needs to know about my hobby" kinda thing :)

About what I would exchange Precise Splash weapons for? Something along the lines of Face in the Crowd (for the assassin's creed effect ;)), Scavenger (quickly picking up items from the ground) or Fast Picks (picking locks as a standard instead of full-round action). Something along these line of rogue talents. From what I have in mind, I think most if not all of my rogue talents will be to enhance my skills/abilities, which will also enhance my chances to evade combat :)

Thanks for the link. Will look into those, see if I find something nice to fit in a background :)

Thanks again for the fast replies.

All of those talents would be good... As you say, something to evade combat.

This is the alias for my (Cardboard Tube Knight) character.

She's going for Rogue - 5/Bard - 3/ Master Spy - 8

Skimmed through my hardcover of Ultimate Campaign yesterday. As a note to those using the Buildings and Organizations rules, the prices mentioned there are what it would cost you if you "earned" the labor, goods, ... needed to hire/build things in downtown. If you just buy them (like we all most likely will be doing), you need to double the price.

@Cardboard Tube Knight, Irene looks like a very interesting character. I noticed a minor detail which you will probably like. Things like skill focus, deceitful and other feats that provide a fixed bonus to skills have an added effect once you have 10 ranks or more in that skill. The bonus the feat gives gets doubled. So Skill Focus becomes a +6 bonus rather than a +3.

@GM, here's the basic background I have for my character :
He would be the son of someone who ran a medium to large import-export business, mainly focusing on goods from and to Janderhoff. As he was being groomed to follow in his father's footsteps, he accompanied his father on several of the trips to Janderhoff and learned a lot about what is valuable and what isn't. Currently he is the owner of the business, but lets other people run it while he focuses on his big passion, being a "stage magician" focusing on seemingly impossible acrobatics and acts of legerdemain.
What started out as a kids hobby, performing for friends on the bustling streets of Korvosa, grew into a full-fledged act, which he performs on various stages in the big city.
His skills as a performer also made it possible for him to pursue another hobby, burglary. Although he has stolen a considerable amount of items (which he has hanging up in a private "gallery"), he mostly did it for the thrill that came with it. Testing if he could get past traps, guards and other protections, to get to where he wanted to be.

So basically a man with 2 public lives (although most people don't make the connection between the two, as has always used a stage name when performing) and 1 private life.

Was thinking of giving him the Coincunning (Janderhoff) trait as the Korvosa linked trait.

Also wanted to give him the Blade of Mercy(Sarenrae). Not certain yet how he came to be a follower of Sarenrae, but it fits with his beliefs of not killing people.

Opinion/feedback appreciated. (Will be writing it out better, but wanted to get the concept out there, to see if you think it would fit in your campaign).

Irene and Theorythmus: Both characters look great.
Menador Valley Winery and Socialite? Got me really intrigued. Sounds great!
About Coincunning (Janderhoff), looks ok.
Blade of Mercy(Sarenrae)? Doesn't make any sense at all, sorry.
Hope Theorythmus has a good deal of ranks in Disguise.

Character will have a different name, this is just my general username on the forum (+where I store several character concepts that don't have an alias yet)

I get where blade of mercy doesn't make sense, but i was taking it just so that if I get in combat I could deal non-lethal (sneak-attack) damage with other weapons than a sap.
Or do you rule that I can do non-lethal sneak attack with any weapon as long as I take the penalty to my to hit? (which you normally can't according to the rules -.-)

My burglar will have a decent amount of disguise normally :) Have a bunch of skillpoints and still feel like I should find some more somewhere ^_^

Well, you can do non lethal damage in a sneak attack with any non lethal weapon, not only a sap. What's the issue there?
Or you can get a merciful weapon.

Just to make it clear, you can get a +1 merciful weapon even if it breaks the 4,000 gp limit for magic items

Not many non-lethal weapons out there (most are exotic and/or have the extra penalty that as soon as someone has +1 AC or +3 NA they do nothing :)) and hadn't been looking at the merciful weapon enchant due to the "as little as possible" magic items.
Might go for a merciful rapier as my weapon of necessity then, as it would be a weapon befitting of a "gentleman" burglar ^_^

Thanks for the tip about the skill points, I forgot all about how those change after ten ranks and it just so happens I have the ranks in there for all of that.

So what's the ruling on items that aren't magic in the sense that you wear them, but they have a permanent, non magical effect on the user (for instance the Tome of Wisdom)?

If they are worth less than 4,000 gp they are good. So no.

How about a stalker? Ranger 12 / Rogue 4. The guy that can find and tail people (among other things).

That would be great... maybe an Urban Ranger

Cool. I'll give it some thought and start putting some fluff and crunch together tonight.

Sorry if this was said in the other thread, but are we going to be part of some kind of group like the IMF from the movies and TV show? Does that mean we were recruited or it's some sort of secret society?

I'm just trying to get a flavor for what we're doing here, sorry for all the questions.

If I got the first post right, our characters are in the process of being recruited in some fashion. :)

Yes, they are getting recruited "from scratch". But I am not against you knowing each other previously.

Ah, that makes it easier. I need to flesh this out more, but what I have so far looks like this.

backstory: Vesper was a young Chelish girl of high noble birth who sought the need to chase a young nobleman, Varian Jeggare, into the Pathfinder Society in a bid to impress him and win his heart. She didn’t immediately succeed or even get to be near him, but after talking down a bugbear who was about the bash a family’s heads in and convincing a group of mummy-pirates sailing near the Eye of Abendego that exactly nothing about what they were doing made sense, she gained acclaim in the lodges for being a capable negotiator and speaker. Her skills were certainly enough to warrant her some notice.

She retired from adventuring at a young age, but already having been involved in far too many small scraps and near misses to count. Her family had relocated to Korvosa and she took up residence with them. In order to have some sort of livelihood she asked her father for money to start a small winery. She made contact with Varian Jeggare to acquire the grapes needed for her wine from her home country so as to bring a bit of Chelish flavor to the streets of Korvosa.

Found a fitting trait, Stealthy Escape, comes in handy in his magic shows.

@Irene, love the background up to now :)

That is really fitting

My character is coming along! Work and family are keeping me busy. I should be ready fairly soon.

No problem, we have the (until the 31)

Just posting to let you know that I'm still busy and having loads of fun creating this character and his background story.

I was wrong in a previous statement about prices for buildings/organizations :

As a note to those using the Buildings and Organizations rules, the prices mentioned there are what it would cost you if you "earned" the labor, goods, ... needed to hire/build things in downtime. If you just buy them (like we all most likely will be doing), you need to double the price.

I calculated the prices for a few rooms and noticed that the price in GP they put behind every room is what you would pay for the various products (goods, labor, ...) you need if you just buy them. (Afterwards I actually found the text that confirmed my calculations ... That's what I get for not reading in precise detail from time to time :))

So if I got it right we currently have the following people who are in the process of making a character :

Face/infiltration and impersonation: Irene Vesper (Rogue 5 / Bard 3 / Master Spy 8), by Cardboard Tube Knight
Close Combat Expert: Unnamed character (Monk (Tetori) 9 / Rogue 6 (Roof Runner) / Shadowdancer 1), by Tanner Nielsen
Infiltrator/Acrobat (Primary) Lockpick/Safecracker (Secondary): Unnamed character (Rogue (Burglar/Underground Chemist) 10 / Shadowdancer 6), by Theorythmus
Find and tail people (amongst other things): Unnamed character (Ranger (Urban) 12 / Rogue 4), by VinGoodman

Yeah, and he could be your eye in the sky/sniper guy, too. He is a ranger, after all :)

So a Sentry/Getaway driver, master of disguise and/or tactician could be handy too, if somebody else want to join.

So I am still really excited about this game. I was looking through my character art collection and I found a person I think would be perfect for her.

Link

Other than that I wanted to check in and say that I'm still here, still working on the kind in the background and the character. Having a lot of fun with this one too!

I could be interested. Thinking rogue 4/Wizard 12 specialising in clairvoyance and teleportation. He would have reputation as extraordinary burglar rather than wizard. He would fulfil the tactician roll but could help in most areas.

I am more than little worried that teleporting could destroy many adventure ideas, let me know if this going to be a problem.

Not really, but be mindful that the premise of the campaign is that the group tackles situations where magic is not the optimal solution.

Most of the places you will be ask to "infiltrate", for example, will be warded against magic and teleportation, for example.

But an extraordinary rogue with a rope... ;)

Looking to make a rogue 6 (driver+another)/ranger 6 (horse lord+skirmisher)/ undecided 4.
Hoping to fulfill a getaway specialist position and maybe some other secondary. I'll have it figured out by tomorrow. Really excited to play something like this.

Actually, scratch that. Would you allow a divine strategist cleric with the domain of trickery? I'm looking to mostly go with buffs and illusions. I figured I'd take a more creative, less obvious approach to the lookout/getaway/escape artist role by using illusions.
Thinking of going with a rogue 8/ cleric 8. Will post with the character later today after work.