Red Rose Wanderer

Game Master Bane88

Specific initiator levels, not that I know of (although there might be something in Path of War: Expanded I don't know about). However, you can take the Martial Training line of feats, which gives you access to (a more limited selection of) maneuvers without needing to take levels in an Initiator class.

*Taps chin thoughtfully*

Have you played Crypt of the Everflame? I'm thinking of a slightly modified version of that to start out with, but if you've gone through it before, I can pull up another adventure instead.

I have not. No idea about it at all actually.

Eeeeeexcellent. This ought to work rather nicely, then.

Is any character concept inappropriate for the setting?

I probably wouldn't create a Giantblood Half-Dragon Awakened Platypus if I were you. I suspect you wouldn't be in the area for too long anyways - mostly the length of three starting quests or so, to level up and unlock your first bits of power.

(Although you might seriously want to consider being at least gestalt from the start or, failing that, picking something nice 'n adaptable. XD You are solo, after all, and don't have a party to back you up.)

Thinking fighter, something to start. I don't really want too many magic things and spells to start. Maybe gestalt Mighty Godling.

Thinking of the celestial blessed creature templet. Probably planetar angel possessed retooled as God Blessed.

Any ideas at build rules?

If you prefer lower, thematic magic, consider Spheres of Power. Many of its options can be flavored as self-buffs and the like. XD So it could be, for example, using a martial arts kata to focus your mind and help you dodge, or an old society tradition to protect you from evil, or whatever.

Otherwise... 30 point buy, and 1.5x HP, max each level. (This seems to be a pretty good amount, going by my other games.)

My normal build rules for solo games are tristalt characters - one class with no or low magic, one class with full magic, and one class with anything except full magic. Rose follows that design principle, which is intended to help mandate character diversity and avoid over-specialization.

I've found that you don't want to make a character for a solo game that's really good at one thing, and one thing only. Being super-smashy sounds fun at first... right up until you run into something you can't smash. Characters who are spread out have a significantly greater chance of being able to deal with most challenges on their own. For that reason, I recommend accepting magic as a part of your build. Flavor it however you want (it acts as magic but it's some other kind of ritual/ability, it's something your character is learning and reluctant to use early on, whatever you prefer), but consider having the same build rules from the start. XD At the early levels, even a tristalt character isn't really stronger than a normal character, it just has more options.

(Ah, and don't try to stack stuff that shouldn't be stacked. It also helps if you intentionally try to keep within the game's expectations of power level. That's part of the reason for the high point buy - instead of drastically raising one stat and trying to base everything on that, you can be a genuinely functional MAD character, because everything can be raised to a decent level. No big, glaring weaknesses that will screw you over later.)

Ok cool but first level to start with? And 30 on a 1-1 or normal buy rules.

I'm fine with magic I'll just take a spontaneous casting class and tool it as "god powers"

What about Mighty Godling/Eldritch Godling/Stalker with celestial blessed or half celestial.

Heh - reminds me of Camiel, an older character of mine here on the forums. XD If you'd prefer to hold off on the template, I have an idea for when in the story it could be acquired. That class combination should be workable, but since I can't easily duplicate it in Hero Lab, please keep detailed notes of what you're getting from each class at each level for easy double-checking.

Also, normal buy rules, but start from 12 instead of 10, and don't go over 19 after racial. That should let you end up with generally high abilities all-around, and trust me, you won't regret that. Also, add four skill points a level, and a +4 untyped bonus to your saves. (This will make it so you're affected by things far less often, which is 100% intentional - you have nobody to save you if you get hit with mind domination or paralysis something, so you SHOULD be less likely to be affected by things.)

Do you have godling options on herolab?

Nope. Supposedly they want to (eventually) make them, and I dearly hope they do, but they're not available right now.

Do I start with gear?

Yeah, figure you probably would start with some. ^^ Say, 150 GP worth of stuff?

(I'm always pretty easy on stuff like food, by the way. XD It might crop up if you're gonna cross a desert or something, but I prefer to focus on roleplay and adventuring, not Fantasy Food-Eating Simulator 500.)

That is amazing. Ok, to stick with my hercules theme, could I have access to the Scarlet throne discipline. Stalker doesn't usually grant it but all the ones it grants are close, light or monk weapon focused. Except Solar wind. I might take some from solar wind because of the awesome flavor for throwing spears. Which seems very herculean to me.

Basically I want to have a spear or two, maybe a buckler and a bastard sword that I wield two handed.

Eh, it's what I'm used to. XD

Access to disciplines is as listed. The classes have limitations for balance reasons and the ways that different class abilities are likely to affect the use of each discipline. Godling classes are already pretty high on the power scale, and I don't want to accidentally break the system through unintended combinations of powers. XD;

I'm wondering if you might prefer Warlord/Eldritch Godling/Something Else. A Tristalt character really only needs one damage-dealing class, and I feel like there'd be a lot of overlap between Mighty Godling and Stalker, especially in the realm of increasing damage much faster than it should be increased. (Dealing insane damage sounds fun at first, but gets old for both the player and the GM pretty fast. XD;) Warlord would have a heroic feel - especially with the Gambits, which are pretty much "do something heroically risky and get rewarded if you succeed" - and would cover damage nicely, while Eldritch Godling offers magic and divine traits. A third class doing something else entirely would create a more well-balanced character and help ensure your versatility.

Ok what about Eldritch godling/warlord/ranger/ then I could take favored enemy and go for a monster slayer vibe. Also animal companion or mighty steed.

*Taps chin*

Apologies in advance if I'm sounding pretty tough on the ideas. I'm just basing this on my personal experience in tristalt games, and I'm trying to be sure your idea is one that would remain fun and viable long-term. Most people haven't done solo tristalt stuff at all, and you really do need to rethink a lot of how you'd normally build a character. I'd be remiss in my duties as a GM if I didn't take this seriously and try to help you build the most fun character you could have. XD

That said, Ranger is probably not a good choice. It has basically two things going for it - additional damage (from Favored Enemy) and an Animal Companion. Neither is going to be very useful for you. You don't need extra damage (certainly not to the point of spending so many class abilities on getting such a small boost to it), and honestly, anything that's going to genuinely threaten you is going to make mincemeat of an animal companion. XD; They're already less-useful than usual in gestalt games, and it gets worse in tristalt, because you'll often face smaller numbers of strong foes rather than lots of weak minions.

Right now, I feel like you're too deep in the mindset of "I need to be stronger, like a hero". You keep suggesting class combinations that would give you a lot of extra strength and let you kill things better, but wouldn't help you resolve things in different ways if your normal method didn't work. Your strength is fine as it is.

For a third class, it's usually best to focus on something that gives you a lot of new options. Skill-focused classes with good class abilities tend to work well in that role, as do utility-based casters. Basically, think about how a class could help you solve a problem in a different way, not the same way but better. There are inevitably times when your normal way of solving problems isn't very effective, and the more options you have, the better off you'll be. *Speaking from lots of experience on that*

That's fine. I agree with your point and appreciate your help. I just have little love for the skill classes. But lets run them down.

-Alchemist. Very useful. Don't care for the fluff. The feel of the character doesn't mesh well. But extracts, bombs, mutagens, all good stuff.

-Inquisitor. Interesting. Judgments add some versatility. Spell list seems very buffing/defensive. Monster lore is very thematic. Teamwork feats are all but useless.

Investigator. Never played one. Seems cool, once again, the whole Sherlock Holmes vibe is off putting to me. Abilities are skill heavy but also damage heavy.

I was thinking of psionic classes. The wilder is very flavorful, but to destruction based.

I like marksman, particularly finesse marksman as it focuses on battlefield control. And I could choose spears as a weapon favored group.

The cryptic is very versatile and has a strong defensive and divination feel. Also very flavorful. gets trap finding and rogue staples which is cool.

Monk is always cool in gestalt. I like tetoris but all are versatile and flavorful.

Rogue, obvious original skill monkey.

What do you mean by utility casters? I will likely take wizard sorcerer list for eldritch godling. would like an oracle be what you mean? Or even a prepared spell caster.

Shamans are pretty cool. Or even a oracle as a whole. I particularly like the Solar mystery.

What do you think?/What would you suggest.

Utility Casting is any casting with a lot of non-combat emphasis. Teleport, for example, is primarily a utility power. So're things that let you decipher languages, carry more loot, change the environment, and generally resolve problems without blowing them up.

Cryptic might actually be a pretty good choice. ^^ The breakdown would basically be:

Warlord: Offense and Buffing
Eldritch Godling: Arcane Casting and Battlefield Control
Cryptic: Defense and Utility

That's not a bad spread, especially if you go for Int-based casting as an Eldritch Godling, which would give you bonus skills as well as good magic and bonuses for your psionics. Not too much overlap in action economy, either.

Is there anything about the setting that I should know for race selection.

Is just a PF human fine?

Also I will go with that build and start making a character sheet.

I thought it might be cool to be raised by humans and be a "human" but as he advances you could dole out templates, RP abilities, mythic levels etc.

Human's always fine. XD

Incidentally, I'm waiting on making your game until your character's done and ready for review. o wo/ We can get started pretty much whenever you're ready.

I know, I'm just not used to trisalt sheets and I want to make it pretty and concise like Rose's

Eh, it's pretty much just what you'd get if you multiclassed a character. XD Not too abnormal, really. Just... y'know, more stuff, 'cuz three classes simultaneously instead of one at a time.

Yeah it's more of the formatting it in whatever the code that one uses to format on this site is called.

You all right?

Yeah! Thanks for asking.