Ok, here is a thread where we can hash out this 'duo' idea.
Should I introduce you to each other using your aliases you are using in my games or what? Either way, say hi and get to know each other a bit. IF we start a game, you'll be hanging out alot...
Anyway, I have a few vague ideas for games.
1. Each of you would be from rival nations (say Chelix and Andoran or Molthune and Nimtharis) and are forced to work together to overcome a greater evil.
2. Members of a monster hunting guild that take jobs to capture/kill/defeat dangerous beasts all over the world.
3. A duo run of an AP?
Anything here strike a fancy and if you have your own ideas, please feel free to share it! Even if not an idea for a game, maybe some character idea or some game theme you'd like to see explored.
Let's figure out something fun...
I figured that I might as well use my name rather than the alias I play under so...hi, my name is Shari. Thanks GM Mowque for inviting me.
I like both options 1 and 2 (and I'm always a fan of secret option #3) although I'm not sure I know enough of the ins and outs of the different cultures/nations to do #1 justice but I'd be willing to do some homework.
I'm nothing if not flexible and easy going. I'm good to go with whatever. Same holds true with the type of character I play. I'm good at filling niches.
I always feel awkward going first so I'll just leave it at that for now. Looking forward to collaborating and meeting the other player :)
Hi Shari, nice to meet you! And thanks for inviting me to the game GM!
I have a confession to make. I've been lurking all of GM Mowque's other games as they're a great way to pass the time and I think you're from the archaeologist game? Sad to say that I don't think I'd be able to live up to how prolific both of you are and how great a read that game has been!
The other challenge though is that I'm pretty easy going on kind of game too and I only really start coming up with character concepts after I know what the campaign is.
I guess I might as well throw out some random thoughts.
I love my character in the other game I'm in with GM Mowque but she's a full on driven alpha leader who wants to proclaim speeches at the drop of a hat. Getting away from that would mean I'm thinking very roughly of a more laid back, laconic dude. That doesn't mean I wouldn't 'always be pushing' though and not giving you guys things to respond to.
Also I think I wouldn't be playing a full caster.
I like the first idea as long as there's no possibility of PVP one way or the other which, I don't know, might be hard to do? There's a lot of bad blood between Golarion nations and any proud nationalist character is going to have a hard time getting over the really terrible history that's in the lore.
I like the second idea too as it might be a more light hearted romp? Plus it's a flexible enough concept to change to another kind of game if we want.
I like APs too but it might be constraining to you GM? This might be the only way I can get to complete one of the darn things but they're all pretty railroady other than Kingmaker.
What kind of adventure 'feel' are you guys looking for? Honestly I'm more for light-hearted adventures these days. Too much actual grimdark in reality to have more of it in play time.
And what kind of adventuring companion do you think would be fun Shari? Close friends? Buddy cop? Friendly rivals?
Just to chime in (although most of that was aimed at you, Shari), I have deeply flattered you are reading my other games and I have no doubts about either of you as players. You both fit well with my own style (so far anyway), so I'm not concerned.
Also yeah, not interested in PvP. That always ends poorly.
Carry on!
Nice to meet you Azih!
Thanks for the kind words. Unless Mowque has another archaeologist game running, you are correct in that I play Shalina. I think we're always hardest on ourselves. I'm surprised when people want to play with me. As the GM said, he has faith in both of us...more the fool him :)
I'm totally fine with something more light-hearted although there's always room for a little dark.
As for adventuring companion, I always do better with interactions if my character cares on some level for the other. And who says that close friends also can't be friendly rivals?
For class, I was contemplating Brawler or Summoner considering I've never played either of those classes before. Since you already said that you didn't want to go full caster, maybe I'll explore Summoner a little more.
Not sure what kind of time zones you all are in. I'm on Mountain Standard.
I'm EST. Live in the Toronto area.
Summoners are pretty powerful and give an eidolon to round things out. I've played a Brawler before though in a game that fizzled out and they're... they're basically almost martial spellcasters. Being able to pull from the entire Combat Feat library as a swift action is really quite powerful though it does reward you the more you know about Combat Feats. Both seem fun.
I was thinking of a Monk that's focused on getting as many extra attack as possible. Sort of a Jackie Chan type. I like monks as a class in pathfinder but have never managed to get in a game that's lasted for very long.
As for an idea. I was thinking about #2 and instead of being in a formal guild how about a starting hook of two down on their luck adventurers knocking about backwater towns in some area of Golarion trying to earn some money by offering their 'mercenary' services to the locals which usually involves monster hunting. The reason for them to be moving about like this is one of them is trying to search for something while the other is running away from something else and they somehow ran across each other and decided to team up. For the character running away it obviously makes sense to keep a low profile by moving around, and the character searching for something can't just scry and teleport straight to whatever because they're not certain what it is they're looking for for some reason?
Does that sound like a fun starting point at the very least?
So I'm getting we are looking for a more light-hearted game in this one?
Summoner is a fun class, if a bit complicated. We'd have to use unchained because I think they would overshadow a monk pretty easily.
What level are you guys feeling? Start low and work our way up rather quickly?
Well I'm just firing off ideas at the moment. I don't think anything's decided yet :).
I think overall light-hearted can still have the moments of darkness Shari mentioned. Bad things are bad after all.
Another Canuck, nice! I'm in the Calgary area.
I like the searching for or running away for the characters. Would you be leaning towards one or the other? I could make either work.
So it sounds like unchained Summoner and Monk. Interesting combo. If you think that Summoner would be too complicated, I can look at doing something else. I'm totally open to suggestions.
I don't mind starting low level but I'd vote no lower than 2nd level. 1st level can be frustrating when a sneeze can kill you.
I think I'd rather be the running away guy. I've got an idea on why he would be running away that's kind of absurd and others might actually be funny (comedy is hard).
Level two to start with quick leveling at least initially sounds good to me.
GM Mowque: What do you think of Reducing Feat Taxes. Just lets martial characters have more stuff to do sooner and makes it so they don't have to be hyper specialized. Up to you either way.
Azih- I'll look into it but I'm not sure.
So thinking monk then, Azih?
I like the idea of a summoner Shari, VERY different then Shalina.
I can do level 2 if you guys want, although I tend to lean toward more like 4-5.
I'm more than happy to be level 4 or 5 :) I'm used to another GM who never lets us start that high so I wasn't sure that was an option. In that case, I'd ask for level 5 because there are a couple evolutions that I can only select at level 5.
If it's ok, I'd like her eidolon to appear as a dragon which I guess would fall into the protean/serpentine category. Only because I've always wanted a pet dragon so it'll be cool if she can have a dragon as a companion.
Eidolon shape is up to you, and dragons are very cool. His exact stats will be dictated by the evolutions of course, but flavor goes a LONG way (In one game, my ediolon is a giant praying mantis thing).
Just so you guys know, while it'll be combat heavy and infiltrating lairs and such, I do plan on some social interactions, so have some skills in that.
Maybe even a fun NPC or two!
Turns out I was not looking at the unchained summoner so now that I have, her Eidolon will most likely be an Agathion that looks like a dragon.
Summoner seems to have their spells go off charisma so she'll be ok with social interactions, I hope. And you know that I'm always up for fun and interesting NPCs :) We'll need those NPCs for healing and unlocking doors...
I have a rough idea in my head for a character but probably won't go much further with the crunch until I get direction on the build parameters. Or in case something changes with types of characters.
I think let's say I'm locked in to a monk on the lam from his dojo for reasons and I'll start building him once we have the creation details locked down.
Ok, so time to be a GM?
I am thinking...
Level 5
20 Point Buy
Automatic Bonus Progression (so 1/2 WBL)
Background Skills
Unchained Summoner and Unchained Monk.
Azih- Feel free to start but I may have a few rule things to juice you up. I find monks to be quite low powered and summoners are high powered so we'll need to balance a bit.
As for locations, I will try to shake it up, so don't over specialize (I mean, unless you want to).
Other questions, comments?
Won't say no to juice! I'll build assuming standard rules and then we'll see afterwards.
How 'Lawful' do you need a monk to be. The way the backstory is working out this character has a little bit of a chip on his shoulder and, well, he is on the run from his dojo. I mean the situation wasn'[t exactly fair but the most 'Lawful' thing to do would have been to grimly accept judgment and punishment which this guy obviously didn't do.
I'm flexible on class/alignment matchups.
(Somewhere, a nagaji druid shouts to the heavens and a cruel God).
You can respect the law but not want to be punished. Being a bit of a coward/ unwilling to be a martyr isn't unlawful. Have fun with it and if we need to tweak it, we can.
Going for any archetype?
No I think straight unchained monk. The unchained monk is getting some interesting archetypes but none are really fitting.
I am willing to take one of the 'chained' monk archetypes and port it over to unchained, if you like? Up to you, of course.
Do you want a full background or a 10min background?
Do you want a full background or a 10min background?
Whatever you think the character needs.
I'd say this will be a light less-plot based game but I thought that about Into Unknown Shadows as well, and looked how that ended up.
But a short 10 min bio should suffice.
Slowly plugging away at the build. Hopefully by Thursday?
No rush!
Also, one thing to ask both of you. What are some monsters/beasts you'd like to fight, encounter, talk to?
Any level, just curious what you guys haven't seen in games before or would like to see my take on.
Well I think kung fu stuff works best on another humanoids so occasionally having an adventure with lots of two legged things to beat up on could be fun. Maybe bandit camps? I think having a more episodic feel would allow us to play with a lot of different kinds of enemies too.
I plan on shaking it up but the main thrust, in my mind, will be on big 'finale' monsters at the end of each episode. Getting to them effectively may require some planning, as knocking on a dragon lair's front door is often unwise.
Glad that there's no rush because I have company until Saturday so I won't have a lot of free time to work on my character.
As for monsters, I've never really thought about what I'd like to fight. There's probably a lot of things I don't want to fight but that's besides the point :)
I've always been happy enough to leave it up to the GM's discretion. As GM Mowque already knows, when I'm given too many choices then there's too many permutations and I'm just a squirrel at a rave.
Huh, a rave of squirrels is a great idea Shari!
I'm imagining some fey drug up a load of them for a laugh and make them go wild with some insane music and we end up having to fight off a swarm of squirrels while the fey fire off glitter dust and stuff.
Swarms are actually pretty nasty in Pathfinder.
Yeah, don't worry about a delay Shari, it isn't like you two are going anywhere. I have you right where you want you! besides, Summoners take a bit anyway since it basically making two characters, you and the ediolon.
Funny you should mention fey...*cackles*
Great.. speaking of I was looking over a somewhat completed character and... what do you think of the kata master archetype actually? Gives some nice swashbuckly flavour to my monk which fits with his flavour anyway.
Seems like what it replaces is easily transferable to unchained also for the first five levels.
Targeted Strike can probably be pushed back to 8th or moved forward to 6th and replace a Ki power while the same can be done for Dizzying Defense with level 14 or 16 ki power.
Azih: No objection to that archetype. You can replace the ki powers are whichever level you like.
Also, to both of you, I think you'll like the first adventure. Give you a hint, you'll be in the splash zone so bring your water-wings!
Dizzying Defense is a mess as to what it actually does. I guess we'll deal with it when we gain ten or so levels :)
Also, I will note, I plan on the monsters you plan to hunt to be a good bit above your CR and will require strategy, planning (and perhaps hilarious traps) to defeat. Rushing in and fighting it like a dungeon crawl would be...most unwise.
I must say that the squirrel rave sounds both terrifying as well as the funnest thing ever :)
My company is gone and I hope to solidify a few things today. Specifically her 10min background.
Question: do you want my Eidolon to have his own profile or do I just post his actions under the Summoner's? I was leaning towards having their own profile but will submit to whichever the GM prefers.
You can do it separate but I doubt you need to. Entirely up to you.
Alright, I think her 10min background is finished. There's a lot of room to expand certain things. I also welcome feedback if something doesn't make sense.
I also think that I'll keep her Eidolon under her own profile. Seems easier that way than trying to juggle two profiles.
Still working on the crunch so I'll slowly be developing her profile over the next little bit.
Bryndis 10min Background:
Step 1: Write at least 5 concept elements that you feel are important to your image of the character. These can be a concept overview, a list of important life events, a physical description, a personality profile...whatever you need to get an image in your mind.
• Bryndis has the stereotypical coloring of an Ulfen – pale blonde hair, light blue eyes, pale skin. However what isn’t stereotypical is her stature. Bryndis is very short (standing 5’4”) and slight (not strong at all)
• Bryndis is very beautiful but because she is considered fragile and a liability by the rest of her family and community, she has very low self-esteem. She was bullied as a child because of her small size. The most common thing she heard was that she was a curse – not cursed but an actual curse
• Because of the bullying experienced from her peers, Bryndis often went into the woods surrounding Losthome to spend time by herself. On one of these escapes when she was twelve, she came across an isolated hut in the woods which was occupied by an odd, grisled old woman. Unbeknownst to Bryndis, this woman was mistrusted by the townsfolk because she was a witch and considering how close they lived to Irrisen, all witches were mistrusted. She started spending all of her freetime out in the woods with Gudrun who began teaching her about magic which Bryndis took to naturally. Knowing how her parents would feel about this, Bryndis kept her trips and training secret from them.
• Gudrun didn’t have many books but she had one that looked very old to Bryndis. She was told not to touch it but one time when Gudrun was out gathering ingredients from the woods and Bryndis arrived to an empty hut, her curiosity won out and she began to read it. This was the day that she met Kell. With her limited experience and natural magical talent, Bryndis summoned Kell to that tiny hut. She was so shocked at his appearance that she promptly fainted, a fact that he still won’t let her forget to this day no matter how often she reminds him that the sudden appearance of a dragon out of thin air is a lot for a 15 year old to handle. Kell became her only friend aside from Gudrun and she discovered not only could she summon him but she could also summon other smaller creatures – but for the most part, it was just her and Kell hanging out in the woods.
• A year later it came time to marry off Bryndis which was no small feat considering her reputation within the town. She was viewed as a curse – not good for childbearing nor strong enough to help in the logging industry; therefore, the man her parents planned to marry her off to was not a nice man. After spending an afternoon with Kell bemoaning her future and shedding a few tears, he suggested something she had never considered…that they leave. She was still hesitant until after she tried to reason with her parents. When they informed her that this arranged marriage would be the best she could ever hope for, that it reflected her value to the family, she decided to listen to Kell. That night, she gathered what meager belongings she had and left Losthome with Kell but not before saying goodbye to Gudrun who gave her a few trinkets to help her in her new life.
Step 2: List at least 2 goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.
• Bryndis views Kell as her best friend and life saver therefore her goal is to make him happy. Even though she was the one who summoned him, she doesn’t fully believe that he won’t leave her if she upsets him.
• My goal for Bryndis is to recognize her internal value that isn’t dependent on what anyone or anything thinks about her
Step 3: List at least 2 secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet.
• The secret that Bryndis doesn’t know is that Kell chose her. She may have used magic to summon an eidolon but he chose to answer her call specifically, sensing something within her that resonated with his quest for vanquishing evil and protecting good.
• The secret that Bryndis knows is that when she was little, and sometimes now, she’ll take smaller items from people who’ve treated her poorly and put them in an unexpected place. She doesn’t steal per se but rather relocates the item
Step 4: Describe at least 3 people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile.
• Friendly = Gudrun; local witch of Losthome who taught Bryndis about magic
• Friendly = Kell; Bryndis’ eidolon who appears as a medium size dragon, metallic navy blue in color
• Hostile = Torkel and Sigunn Dahlstrøm who blame their daughter for all their misfortune in life
Step 5: Describe at least 3 mannerisms, or quirks that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
• Bryndis is often self-deprecating. Many people view it as her fishing for compliments since she has beauty and has been blessed with magic but she still views herself as the curse that everyone told her she was when growing up
• She wears her hair in the typical Ulfen way of intricate braiding but instead of metal, ivory, or bone she has weaved blue and white ribbon throughout her braids
• She appears stoic or stand-offish until she knows whether she can trust you or not. Her demeanor is like night and day whether she’s interacting with people or Kell
Step 6: List one fear your character have
• I want to say that she’s queasy at the sight of blood, especially her own, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say she’s afraid of the sight of blood
Almost done with the Crunch in this alias. And...... I think I'll have to fall back to vanilla monk. Kata Master is nice flavour and some potentially nice mechanics that ended up being far more CHA dependent or swift action dependent then I realized and this guy can't afford that. I already picked one sub optimal monk choice for flavour reasons!
Thanks for letting me play with the Reduced Feat Taxes though GM! It'll make him a pretty decent martial I think.
Will work on the fluff next. Are we going to start 'in media res' with the Pa-Soa and Bryndis already working together on a mission or will it involve how the two first teamed up?
I'd like the question of why he's running to come out through a conversation in game though if that's alright. It's nothing that spectacular but it makes sense to me that both Byrndis and Pa-Soa wouldn't confide in each other right at the start but when they know each other a little better.
I think, to save time, we'll start when you guys are teamed up, maybe your first job together? Bryndis being Ulfen is great since our first adventure will take place int he Land of the Linnormn Kings.
Pa-Soa Sieng- Makes sense to me to keep some stuff secret.
Looking forward to this!
Alright... I think I'm done. Crunch is in alias. Fluff is in spoiler. I really like the setup your character has Bryndis.
Step 1: write five things about your character’s concept and background, five things that you think are the most essential parts of your character. You don’t have to stop at five, if you like…this is just a minimum.
1. Aggrieved, the events that caused him to flee Quain seem profoundly unfair to him
2. Conflicted, he believes in laws and rules and his personal training is one of rigorous discipline and yet he fled the law
3. Self Confident, he is proud of his training and what he can accomplish
4. Dedicated, he certainly wants to continue on the quest for self perfection that is the ethos of many monks, even without formal training.
5. Empathic, he is a young man that truly feels for others and wishes to help if he can with the skills that he has.
6. Jovial, outside of his training and combat he does enjoy the finer things in life.
Step 2: List at least 2 goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.
1. Ensure that he either stays one step ahead of anyone who might be pursuing him, or be assured that the chase has ceased
2. Find some way to resolve his chaotic action with his lawful frame of mind.
Step 3: List at least 2 secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet
1. The reason he fled!
2. Don't know what he is not aware of!
Step 4: Describe at least 3 people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile.
Thom Jonisson - Friendly : A local innkeeper who has taken a liking to the obviously fish out of water Tian in the Land of the Linnorm Kings. Lets Pa-Soa do manual labour around the inn in exchange for free room and board. Currently Pa-Soa is trying to save up to get some cold weather clothing!
Kung Hajio - Hostile: A particularly dogged manhunter who had chased Pa-Soa to bring him to justice
Step 5: Describe at least 3 mannerisms, or quirks that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
* Trains daily rigoroulsy
* Oddly enough not very strong and has a bit of a hard time with the manual tasks that require pure strength at the inn such as hauling around kegs. He gets by though by using his incredible agility to yank heavy things to their destination inch by inch. He does not quit at a task.
* Has started to take part in bar fights as he feels his combat skills languishing. It doesn't help much, but it's better than nothing.
Step 6: List one fear
* Getting caught and being hauled back in shame to Quain.
Pa-Soa is a taller than average man with sharp Tianeese features; sharp enough that some people who have not had contact with Tian people before think he's an elf or half-elf! His hair is a single neat pony tail that starts from a patch of hair high on his otherwisely cleanly shaved dome. He keeps his face clean shaven as well. He is wearing a loose gray robe that has obviously been cleaned and re-cleaned many times over but is made of cloth tough even to withstand rough use and hard travel.
A simple amulet hangs from his neck that is a small rectangle of Tianese lettering. This thin and flexible cotton cord is wrapped several times around Pa-Soa's waist. These items detect with auras of faint evocation and transmutation if Detect Magic is used.
I intend to start with both of you knowing each other and being hired for your first mission. Just so you know and we'll be starting in the whaling town of Asleifar.
I've got the idea that Pa-Soa panicked and attacked Kell the first time he saw the eidolon. How do you feel about that Shari?
I see Bryndis has a build under her profile. Pending my review, are we good to go?
The build isn't totally done but it's close.
I'm ok with Pa-Soa attacking Kell the first time they met but if Bryndis or Kell don't have a valid reason to believe that Pa-Soa doesn't actually mean real harm, it could go sideways :)
I think I just have her gear left to do. Is it standard wealth for level5?
Do eidolons get traits?
I think I just have her gear left to do. Is it standard wealth for level5?
Do eidolons get traits?
1. Yes since we didn't use ABP.
2. No, they do not.
Wait.. we didn't use ABP? I built Pa-Soa with those bonuses in there...
Just realized that I forgot to add Fly as a skill for Kell so I'll be doing some editing of his skills. I will also work on her gear (hopefully tonight)
I couldn't remember and I didn't see it...
Bryndis, please the ABP rules (if you didn't already) and that means 1/2 WBL.
Sorry about that!
I did not so I'll have a little more tinkering to do later tonight.
So how did you get that fancy 'o' in your last name, Bryndis? I don't have that one on my keyboard.