Revival of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master Cellion

So I would prefer to see characters that are versatile rather than characters that can only do one thing very well. I don't mind optimization - I think that there should be some rewards for system mastery - but try to keep it under control. Leave room for side abilities, and make sure your character can do things both in and out of combat.

Backstory: Make sure your story includes where you are from, what your upbringing was like, how you ended up in Sandpoint, and why you are there. It helps to give names to family, friends, and enemies in your backstory. You are allowed to be a Sandpoint native, and I'd prefer to have at least one character who is from there. I often give minor bonuses to those who come up with a good story.

It wouldn't hurt to include a sample forum post with your submission.

Alignment: Preferably no evil. The AP assumes characters that are 'hero' types who will put their lives on the line for strangers. If you really want to play an evil character, you will need to explain why your character would act like a 'hero.' You need to play well with others.

Points: 20 point buy. Don't dump more than one score to 7. Don't dump more than two scores at all.

Race: Any Paizo Core race or any other Paizo race worth at most 10 RP. If you want to play a more powerful race I may allow it but will likely nerf it somewhat. Some races will not be appropriate for the setting and will be rejected, such as goblins, orcs, drow, etc. If you want to play something unusual make sure your backstory explains what you are doing in Sandpoint. FYI all planetouched races are considered humanoids with the outsider subtype for this game (and not outsiders with the native subtype).

HUMANS: I personally think humans' race traits are boring as f**k. So human characters MUST take an alternate racial trait that replaces either their bonus feat or skilled (or both).

Classes: Any Paizo except occult classes. No guns. Summoners must be the unchained variety. Avoid class archetypes that you know are cheese.

Starting Level: 1st.

Starting Gold: average for class or 150 gp, whichever is more.

Traits: Pick 2. Make sure they are not in the same category (please list which category they come from on your sheet). You may choose a Drawback for a third trait ONLY if A: one of your traits is a campaign trait and B: The Drawback actually hinders your character. For example, if you wanted a drawback that gave you a penalty fighting in melee, and your character never fights in melee, this doesn't hurt you at all and is not a valid drawback for you. You will also be getting a free "Caste Trait" in addition to these (see the caste trait spoiler, below).

HP: Max at first level. I will allow the players to decide whether they want to go with average round up or rolled hit dice for the rest of the levels, as long as everyone is doing it the same way.

Variants: Background skills will be allowed.

3pp Material: It is very unlikely that I will allow any 3pp material, but for me to even consider it it must be available online for free at a site like http://www.d20pfsrd.com/. It also would have to be simple. If I have to learn a whole new game system to understand your character, it's a safe bet that I won't allow it. If you can achieve what you want without using 3pp material then go that route - your chances of being accepted improve.

Crafting Feats are NOT allowed. If your class grants crafting feats as bonus feats use the PFS versions of those class bonus feats. You can still craft... see my house rules.

One more thing: Be aware that some feats, traits, and spells are restricted to specific races, nationalities, or religions. The Paizo PRD and d20pfsrd usually do not list these requirements because they are a part of the company's product identity. The Archives of Nethys lists these and is a good source for that. If you want a feature that is normally not available to your race or religion, you will need to make a pitch as to why you think it should be available to you. It will be up to me to decide if it works or not. I don't usually mind re-theming and re-skinning but I don't like it when players just assume it will be allowed.

Combat Feat Taxes:
1. The feats you may replace are: Power Attack, Weapon Finesse, Point-Blank-Shot, Weapon Focus, and Combat Expertise.

2. The feats you may use this ability to qualify for must be feats that allow an attack option with a to-hit roll. All to-hit rolls using that feat will have a -1 penalty as long as you do not have the prerequisite feat. So there is still a reason to take that feat later.

3. If your class grants bonus feats later than first level, then you must acquire the prerequisite feat before or at the level you gain a bonus feat.

Magic Feat Taxes:
As above, if you are playing a race and a class that does not get bonus feats at first level, I will allow you to ignore the requirement of the Spell Focus feat as a prerequisite for other feats, provided:

1. You acquire the feat at a level no earlier than when you could have acquired the feat and all its prerequisites. For example, if the feat had two prerequisites (including spell focus), then you could not take that feat earlier than 5th level, since it would normally be your 3rd feat.

2. Any spells cast in the school of the Spell Focus feat you are ignoring have their save DCs reduced by one. If the spell instead requires a to hit roll or caster level check those rolls are made at -1.

3. As with combat feats above, if your class grants bonus feats later than first level, then you must acquire the prerequisite feat before or at the level you gain a bonus feat.

A few changes to weapons:
* A Greatclub is a simple weapon
* A Repeating Crossbow is a simple weapon... the issue is finding one, not using it. They are as rare as any other Asian weapon.
* A longbow is an exotic weapon. The elven weapon familiarity ability makes it a martial weapon for elves rather than granting proficiency.
* When used as a double weapon, the weapon finesse feat may be used with a quarterstaff.
* Chakra only do 1d6 damage.

I may be adding some custom weapons.

Power Attack & Deadly Aim
Characters without the Power Attack Feat may make a wild swing. This functions like Power Attack except the penalty to hit starts at -3 and increases in increments of -3 instead of -1. Likewise, characters without the Deadly Aim Feat may make a deadly shot that functions as with wild swing above.

Weapon Finesse
Characters without the weapon finesse feat may make a careful strike. A careful strike is a melee attack that uses DEX instead of STR to determine hit chance. However, the character's strength is penalized by -2 for the purpose of damage for the careful strike, and the strength bonus can never add damage to the strike (it can only deduct damage if negative). However, touch attacks such as spells which do not do melee damage may use DEX as if the character had weapon finesse.

Sneak Attack and Criticals
If a character has the sneak attack ability or some other ability that adds precision damage based on flanking or the target being flat-footed, the character also does this damage on a confirmed critical. If the character makes a sneak attack and confirms a critical, he does an additional amount of damage equal to the number of sneak attack dice rolled. If the weapon's critical multiplier is x3 double this amount, and if the multiplier is x4, triple it. This extra damage is precision damage.

Combat Maneuvers:
A lot of combat maneuvers seem redundant to me. So:
* Drag and Reposition are just options with the Grapple maneuver and use the Improved Grapple Feat.
* Steal is an option with the Improved Disarm feat.
* Overrun is an option with the Improved Bull Rush feat.

Combat Maneuvers and Opportunity Attacks:
The logic behind combat maneuvers (and unarmed strikes) provoking attacks of opportunity is that if you try to grab or strike someone with your bare hands and that person is armed with a deadly weapon then they have the chance to strike at your hands.

Using this logic, combat maneuvers do not provoke if performed with a weapon, a natural attack, or by a character using the improved unarmed strike feat. If a bull rush is performed with a shield this also does not provoke. The relevant feats still protect you from AoOs if you use your bare hands.

Featless Crafting
Magic items can be made by players, but there is no price discount. A spell-casting character with a caster level is able to make any magic item if his caster level is high enough to qualify for the feat that the item normally requires. This means that casters don't have to sacrifice feats to make things for the non-casters and the party doesn't waste time making things they could just buy in a store.

If players want discounts they will need to use the downtime rules from Ultimate Campaign.

Character Size and Special Movement
Because a smaller character has much less mass, it is easier for such a character to propel his body using his muscles. Likewise, while a larger creature may be stronger, it has a much larger mass and moving that body with muscles is more difficult. As such, creatures making climb checks gain a bonus or penalty based on their size, equal to the bonus given for stealth: Fine +16, Diminutive +12, Tiny +8, Small +4, Medium +0, Large -4, Huge -8, Gargantuan -12, Colossal -16. Creatures that use Dexterity instead of Strength for climb checks ignore this rule.

A similar rule applies to swim checks. However, since buoyancy is a major factor and buoyancy does not depend on size, swim checks receive half the above bonus or penalty.

The fly skill already includes such a rule.

Miscellaneous Skill rules
* Ride is more about convincing your mount to do something than operating a set of reins and stirrups. Ride uses Charisma as it's key ability score rather than Dexterity. Another good reason for paladins and cavaliers to have good charisma! This also means that Ride is not subject to armor check penalty.

* Some perform skills, such as dance and stringed instrument, are more a matter of manual coordination than persuasiveness and social grace. If a character wishes he may use Dexterity for the key ability score of these skills, as long as his character is trained. Which particular skills apply is subject to GM approval but is usually pretty intuitive.

* Intimidate is a compensatory mechanism that people who are unable to persuade others to do things use to get their way. Someone using Intimidate may use Wisdom instead of Charisma as they key ability for that skill if they wish. Note that having the appearance of being threatening (such as an armed man intimidating an unamed one) will grant circumstance bonuses to intimidate. Any effect that grants a bonus on will saves against fear, emotions, or mind-affecting effects, also increases the DC for an intimidate check against that creature.

* Intimidate to Rally: Intimidate may be used on friendly targets to reduce the effects of demoralize or other similar effects. This works as a demoralize check, but for every round of the shaken condition this would normally impose, it instead removes 1 round of such a condition. If the target has a bonus to saves against fear effects (as above) these reduce the DC in this case. This method can also reduce the duration of the frightened condition by turning a similar number of rounds into rounds of the shaken condition instead.

* Intimidate against groups: Consider this: "Hey you! I'm gonna kill you! No, not you, him! No, no, the one in the stupid hat! Yeah, you in the blue shirt! You're dead meat!" When intimidate is used against groups, you cannot use the skill against a specific individual in that group without some easy way of picking that person out of a group (like addressing them by name). Otherwise, you must use the skill against the entire group. Anyone beyond the first person increases the DC by 2, as if that person had made a relevant aid another check to help the initial target. Thus intimidating a group of 5 people would give a +8 to the DC of the intimidate check. The Dazzling Display feat removes this increase.

This effect can also be used to rally a group (see above), with other shaken or frightened targets increasing the DC.

* Bluff can be used to simulate intimidate by making a threat that a character cannot actually carry out (such as claiming to be some kind of official who will have the victim imprisoned, or claiming that one is a wizard who will turn someone into a toad). This is first opposed by a sense motive check, or possibly a relevant knowledge check if there is a way the victim could know the character's statement was false. If the victim fails the opposed check, the bluff check may also be used as an intimidate check. If the bluff fails, the target will usually become hostile.

Alchemists (and investigators)
I don't really like the fluff behind alchemists - it seems that they do a lot of things in ways to avoid being spells but end up working just like spells. So Alchemists work a little differently.

Extracts are spells. The vial with the formula inside is simply the material component of the spell. Bombs and mutagens are spell-like abilities in the same way. Alchemists need a spell component pouch.

The good news is that this means Alchemists and Investigators get the infusion discovery for free. They also get to make extracts of cantrips and use cantrips as a Magus. If an alchemist gives an infusion to someone they have one round to use it or it is wasted.

The bad news is that since they are spells Alchemists need to make concentration checks and follow the same rules as any other spellcasting class for the purposes of concentration.

Spellcasting
If you have a plausible way a spell could be used that is not covered in the rules, I will probably allow it, as long as the consequences are not problematic for the game.

Spells that allow you to ignore the cost of material components, such as blood money, are not allowed.

Certain spells have been adjusted due to power levels.
* Frostbite is a 2nd level spell.
* Snowball is a 2nd level spell.

There may be more rulings about individual spells if the need arises.

Wealth
FYI During the game I will be monitoring the game to try and make sure character power due to wealth is on-track. If you spend money on luxuries and things that don't impact the adventuring ability of your character, you will be roleplaying well and will probably find more treasure as a result.

Golarion is written to be approachable by people living in the modern world, particularly for people living in the United States. As a result, a lot of cultural institutions exist which date from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such as public education, police forces, isolated farmsteads, and so on.

I am going to move the culture here to be more like the late middle-ages. Late enough that things like full plate armor and rapiers can exist, but class distinction will matter a lot more and literacy is not common.

However I won't go too far; Magnimar is "Magnimar the Free" and the principles of the founding of Magnimar were to reject serfdom and servitude. So most of the people in towns are freemen and owe no oaths of vassalage to anyone. Serfdom exists in the countryside of Magnimarian realms but is voluntarily accepted and allows many rights and ways to be released from serfdom.

Each character starts as a member of a social caste. People of your own social caste will generally be much friendlier towards you than those who are outside your social class. Though the gentry and aristocracy have many privileges, there are advantages to being a part of any class. Each character chooses a social caste at the start of the game and receives a corresponding trait. It is possible to change your class but this will be difficult, and will not change your trait.

Economics
Each coin weighs 1/100th of a pound. This makes the math slightly easier. It also makes the coin roughly the same weight as a Roman gold solidus... or an an American quarter.

Silver is the primary currency and for much of the game gold will be fairly rare. This does mean that treasure hoards will tend to be considerably heavier. Copper coins are used much like "small bills." A copper coin can be split into four parts (to allow amounts like 1/4 of a sp to be possible).

Promissory notes are a type of currency that you can obtain and will sometimes find. The church of Abadar maintains a banking system and issues such notes; private merchants may also do so.

It is going to be a lot harder to earn money through day jobs than what is listed in the core rules. Unskilled labor is normally paid 1 sp per day. Some trades are worth more than others, but it would be very rare for someone to earn more than 4 sp per day at a job.

I am planning to adjust the prices of masterwork gear and magic items to try to make the economy make more sense. Overall my goal is to adjust the system to make character power at a given level the same as before but to make the magic economy less broken. For starting gear, use the prices as they are for the moment. You won't get to buy things until the initial encounters are over anyway, so these rules will be posted later.

Note that your Caste will not give you any additional wealth. If you come from a wealthy family, you should have some reason to expect that either you will receive no inheritance or support (either you are on bad terms with your family or your father is healthy and will live for a long time) or that whatever inheritance or support you can expect has already been given to you (and is represented by your starting wealth).

Likewise coming from a poor caste does not reduce starting wealth. Somehow you have come into a considerable amount of money, more than those of your station normally amass.

I expect that we will get a variety of social classes here, though the players should overcome their class prejudices fairly quickly and learn to work together.

Aristocracy: Your family has large estates and considerable wealth, and is one of the families that controls the political situation in the region where they live. Aristocrats are almost exclusively of Chelaxian ancestry (though a few exceptions do exist, like the Kaijitsu family). Commoners are required to show you respect and you can punish those who do not. As an aristocrat you start with a free noble's outfit and a signet ring, you gain a +2 on checks to intimidate commoners, and a +1 to intimidate nobles of a lower social rank than you (such as gentry). Knowledge (nobility), Ride, and Diplomacy are always class skills for you. However, you get a -1 penalty on Sense Motive checks against commoners.

Gentry: Your family holds a small estate suitable to support a lower noble. They may not hold the reins of power but they at least have access to those who do. Like Aristocrats, most gentry are of Chelaxian ancestry, but exceptions are more common than among the aristocracy. Commoners are expected to defer to you and treat you with respect, and you have the right to punish those who do not, though you have to be careful not to antagonize your own vassals too much. You have a free courtier's outfit, and get a +1 on intimidate checks to intimidate commoners, but receive a -1 on sense motive checks against the same people. You gain a +1 to Ride checks, and Ride and Knowledge (nobility) are always class skills for you.

Foreign Noble: You come from a wealthy and genteel family from far abroad. The local people are unfamiliar with your customs, but they tend to give you "the benefit of the doubt" when it comes to your status. Local nobles do not consider you their equal but are polite to you and allow you to move in their society. You get a +1 on bluff checks to deceive locals and a +1 on appraise checks. Appraise and Knowledge (geography) are always class skills for you. You gain an extra bonus language. You also begin play with a noble's outfit of exotic design.

Clergy: You were raised in the confines of a church, abbey, monastery, or school, and received a thorough education. Though you may not be well prepared for hard work or the outside world your education and manners show your dignified upbringing. As long as you are a member in good standing of your priesthood and your faith is locally recognized, and if charged with a breach of law you have the right to be tried in an ecclesiastical court instead of a secular one. You gain a +1 to profession (priest or magician or scribe) and perform (oratory or sing). +1 to linguistics checks. Gain a bonus language. People of the same religion as you generally start as friendly to you. Start with a silver holy symbol for free.

Guildsman/woman: Your family were members of a guild and practiced a trade or profession, and taught you their trade as a part of raising you. Not only are you familiar with the world of your profession, but business in general has been a part of your education since you were small. You gain a +1 on appraise checks and +1 to any checks related to bargaining, and to one profession or craft skill performed by a guild (which is always a class skill for you). You also gain a +1 to bluff checks to deceive nobles or clergy. You also start with guild papers giving you the right to work as a journeyman in your field, and a set of ordinary artisan's tools if your trade requires them.

Peasant: Most people are occupied in the profession of raising food and you are no exception. The work is hard, but for the most part simple, and you grow or make most of what you use in your daily life. But the tax men and the nobility have power over you, so your best defense is to play on their prejudices by looking harmless and not worth bothering with. You have learned to hide your wealth and some of your produce to make sure that your so-called "betters" will not take everything from you. You gain a +1 on bluff checks to deceive nobles, or to look innocent or stupid or poor. You also get a +1 to profession (farmer) and to appraise checks concerning agricultural goods or implements. Handle Animal and Survival are always class skills for you. You have a strong back and your carrying capacity treated as if your STR were one point higher. You start with a farm implement of some kind (a pitchfork, pruning hook, hoe, grain threshing flail, etc.) and count as having the Catch-Off-Guard feat when wielding this implement as a weapon.

Urban Poor: While the cities are known for their craftsmen and tradesmen, most residents are simple laborers, while many more are beggars, and others are folk who look to other ways to improve their lot which might not be strictly legal. As a result the slums where such people live are rarely entered by outsiders, and you are often able to get away with things simply by sticking close to others of your class. You gain a +1 on bluff checks against nobles, clergy, and peasants. You also gain a +1 on checks to find underworld connections or spot a crime taking place, and gain a +1 on stealth checks to get lost in crowds.

Vagabond: The people in the towns and villages of the world look on you and your kind as rootless and untrustworthy, and pity your lack of a home. But they are fools, and you wouldn't trade your way of life with them. Yours is the open road, and new vistas and horizons are your life; the whole world is your palace. If a place doesn't suit you, you don't have to simply endure it; you can just pull up stakes and move on. You live a life rich with laughter and friendship, and if outsiders don't understand you that is their problem. You might have been a member of a Varisian caravan (which go by wagon or riverboat), or perhaps a member of a traveling troupe of actors, minstrels, or other performers. You get a +1 to knowledge (geography) and to survival checks to avoid getting lost, and a +1 on bluff checks to deceive someone unfamiliar with your people's reputation (which is mainly foreigners). You also receive a +1 to one skill, either profession (sailor or driver) or one particular perform skill. Handle Animal and Knowledge (geography) are always class skills for you. You also know a set of secret personal information that you could use to prove your bona fides to another caravan master or head of a performer's troupe should you desire to travel with them.

Savage: People from Sandpoint call you "barbarian," and think you primitive. You come from the wild lands beyond "civilization" and while the locals may think you ignorant, hard lives breed hard men and one of your kind is worth ten of theirs. You know how to survive where "civilized" men would wither and die. You gain +2 to survival checks to find food in the wild and +1 for any other survival checks. Survival and knowledge (nature) are always class skills for you. You also gain a +1 to intimidate checks against "civilized" folk, and attempts to intimidate you suffer a +2 to the DC. You may hustle for 1 extra hour in overland travel without negative effects. You begin play with a tribal fetish, a small bag full of ceremonial materials. It functions as a potion or oil of a 0-level spell, except that in order to activate it one crushes it or breaks it instead of drinking it.

Tell Me Who You Are:
Give me an idea of how much experience you have with Pathfinder, PbP gaming, and role-playing games in general. Any level of skill is acceptable, and won't be a major factor in selection, but this will tell me what to expect.

Formatting
Try to make your character sheet easy to read. Use headings in bold. Avoid walls of text. Insert breaks between paragraphs. Group larger sections of your characters that don't need to be looked at all the time into spoiler tags.

Self Audit
Self-Auditing means making sure it is obvious how your character achieved the results he/she has. Show me how you got there. I don't mind that you found a way to get a +18 to perception at 1st level; just show me how you did it. Don't make me dig around to figure things out. List applicable bonuses to the things that are not obvious. Herolab users: Be advised that Herolab does not do this for you. It shows the final results in the form of an official stat block. But you will have to add information to show how your character works internally.

Reference
Make sure that it's easy for me to find the source for your character material. The easiest way to do this is to provide links. Put links to things like traits, spells, feats, archetypes and so on - especially if they are not from core. Do me a favor and don't make me look up something obscure just so I can verify how your character works.

Don't Surprise Me
It's great that you found an amazing combo of abilities. But don't just spring this on me mid-game. Let me know what you are planning in advance. That way, when you get to the point where your second prestige class suddenly grants you an additional +23 to hit, and I tell you that's too much, I don't have to hear the "but I planned that all along!" or "that's the whole point of this build!" Show me a general plan of where you want to go with the character.

Explain your Role
Include a brief bit explaining how you expect your character to function in and out of combat. What strategies does he use? What kind of help would he appreciate from teammates? What is he good at? Are there any gimmicks he depends on? What is he most likely to do if you didn't post?

Know Your Character
Make sure you understand how your character works. Many abilities have conditions that mean there are some times they cannot be used. This is particularly important for spellcasters. Make sure you know what spells have a casting time of more than a standard action and don't try to cast personal spells on other people. Make sure your character sheet is referenced in a way that makes it easy for YOU to find this information.

Watch Your Hands
It's a pet peeve of mine in my home game that players forget what they are holding in their hands and then try to swap items in their hands with stowed items without paying the actions necessary to do this. Make sure you understand the action rules as they pertain to drawing weapons, pulling items out of your backpack, and putting things away. Declare what you are holding in your hands at the start of encounter areas, and on top of that it's a good idea to have a "default" setup explaining what you will normally be carrying in your hands. Pay attention to this when you select what equipment you are using.

The material is a bit messianic for my taste; you are pretty over-the-top with the "chosen one" routine. It would be perfect if this was a mythic campaign... which it isn't. The early part of the AP is pretty mundane for the "Son of God," and for the most part Gozreh wouldn't care that much about what the villains of the AP are up to. If you really want to put omens and portents in your background, I'd prefer their origin and meaning be more mysterious.

Is the Great Sky Spire in Kaer Maga your invention? I cannot find any reference to it. There are a lot of things in Kaer Maga, but a whole monastery of sky druids in that city seems unlikely. Who are the winged beings? And why did your tribe travel all the way across Varisia when they could have just found a nearby Shoanti group and joined them?

Yes, there are troll augurs in Kaer Maga, and they are famous. But they are more of a criminal organization than a legitimate religious group. They don't worship Gozreh or care about the Shoanti beyond their interest in having them as customers. I'm not saying that a character like Galjit couldn't exist, but if there is a troll prophet dedicated to Gozreh in your story, I'd like you to flesh it out a bit more why she has that role and why the Shoanti put up with one of their traditional enemies (giants) in their midst.

Overall, I think I'd prefer you to invent a place out of whole cloth rather than set this part of the story in Kaer Maga. Perhaps a hidden place high in the Kodar Mountains?

You mention Brodert Quink in your background. He is a useful guy to know, but he is not a wizard. He is a 7th-level expert with no magic abilities, so he wouldn't be teaching you magic. He's a historian. He might have ranks in use magic device but that's about it.

You also refer to "the inevitability of imperial conquest." If you are talking about the invasion of Shoanti lands by Chelaxians that period of history ended more than 100 years ago when the Chelaxian empire fell apart, and even then the rate of conquest had fallen to a trickle by that point. Most Shoanti will feel a bit of a grudge towards Chelaxians because of their past, but they generally feel that they have "stopped" the Chelaxian advance, and the wars ended generations ago. Shoanti and Chelaxians will clash a bit more in my Golarion than in the canon one, but it still doesn't happen that much any more. The timeline is also stretched out in this version of the world.

Don't take these criticisms too harshly. Overall I like the character but would want him brought into harmony with the campaign background.

I appreciate that you are using links. Though I would personally prefer that you use the Archives of Nethys over d20pfsrd. The pfsrd is very slow to load now that they changed hosts and it doesn't list things like deities or ethnicities.

I am inclined to veto celestial healing, but since this spell requires a vial of holy water as a material component I would wonder if it is worth it for you. It will be expensive to use.

You have three feats listed. Don't forget that you traded away your human bonus feat for Dual Talent. So you should only have two, unless I am missing something. But if you look at the build rules and the Featless Crafting house rule, you will see that the Scribe Scroll feat no longer exists and you can make scrolls without it. You get to trade Scribe Scroll out for Spell Focus, which I think is actually good for your build.

Herolab puts all your skills on one line, but it would be better to put line breaks between them so you can show how those numbers are derived. Did you include background skills? It looks like you did. The bonus from the child of nature trait applies to all survival checks, not just for finding food.

I would recommend a separate avatar for your familiar but that can wait until the game begins.

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Ranged shortbow +4 (1d6/x3), within 30 ft. +5 (1d6+1)
Melee handaxe +3 (1d6+2/x3)
Special Attacks Humanoid (Goblinoid) +2,

STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 16

SKILLS
Climb +5 (+1 Rank, +3 Class, +2 Str, -1 Armor Check)
Heal +6 (+1 Rank, +3 Class, +2 Wis)
Intimidate +3 (+1 Rank, +3 Class, -1 Cha) [+4 against civilized folk]
Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +6 (+1 Rank, +3 Class, +2 Int)
Knowledge (Nature) +6 (+1 Rank, +3 Class, +2 Int)
Perception +6 (+1 Rank, +3 Class, +2 Wis)
Stealth +6 (+1 Rank, +3 Class, +3 Dex, -1 Armor Check)
Survival +7, (+1 Rank, +3 Class, +2 Wis +1 Trait), [Follow or identify tracks+8] [Find Food +8]
Swim +5 (+1 Rank, +3 Class, +2 Str, -1 Armor Check)

BACKGROUND SKILLS
Profession-Trapper +7 (+1 Rank, +3 Class, +2 Int, +1 Trait)
Knowledge (History) +6 (+1 Rank, +3 Class, +2 Int)

LANGUAGES - Common, Goblin, Orc

POSSESSIONS
studded leather; outfit (traveler's); shortbow; arrow (x50); shield, light wooden; handaxe; skinning knife; Tribal Fetish (Guidance); Backpack, [Canteen ; blanket; mess kit; rations (trail/per day) (x4); whetstone; chalk (1 piece) (x6); mirror (small/steel); wire; 50gp, 10sp, 10cp] Weight 57.2 Ibs (light load is 58Ibs and under)

Heart of the Wilderness - Humans raised in the wild learn the hard way that only the strong survive. They gain a bonus equal to half their character level on Survival checks. They also gain a +5 bonus on Constitution checks to stabilize when dying and add half their character level to their Constitution score when determining the negative hit point total necessary to kill them. This racial trait replaces the skilled racial trait.

Favored Enemy Humanoid (Goblinoid) (Ex) - You gain a +2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks when using these skills against goblinoids. Likewise, you get a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against such creatures. You may make Knowledge Skill checks untrained to identify such creatures.

Track (Ex) - You gain +1 to Survival checks made to follow tracks.

Wild Empathy (Ex) - You can improve the attitude of an animal. This ability functions just like Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person. You roll 1d20+0 to determine the Wild Empathy check result. The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly. To use Wild Empathy, you and the animal must be within 30 feet of one another under normal circumstances. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute, but as with influencing people, it might take more or less time. You can use this ability to influence a magical beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but you take a -4 penalty on the check.

TRAITS
Mentored (Profession (Trapper)) - A tutor or private instructor guided you in learning your art, profession, or trade, and through your education, you became capable of teaching and guiding others. Choose a single Craft, Perform, or Profession skill. You gain a +1 trait bonus on checks with that skill. You also gain a +1 trait bonus when you aid another's skill check with any skill.

Tireless Avenger - You restlessly pursue your enemies. When you're in pursuit of one of your favored enemies, the DC for the Constitution check to avoid taking lethal damage during a forced march is 10 + 1 per extra hour, instead of 10 + 2 per extra hour.

Savage - People from Sandpoint call you "barbarian," and think you primitive. You come from the wild lands beyond "civilization" and while the locals may think you ignorant, hard lives breed hard men and one of your kind is worth ten of theirs. You know how to survive where "civilized" men would wither and die. You gain +2 to survival checks to find food in the wild and +1 for any other survival checks. Survival and knowledge (nature) are always class skills for you. You also gain a +1 to intimidate checks against "civilized" folk, and attempts to intimidate you suffer a +2 to the DC. You may hustle for 1 extra hour in overland travel without negative effects. You begin play with a tribal fetish, a small bag full of ceremonial materials. It functions as a potion or oil of a 0-level spell, except that in order to activate it one crushes it or breaks it instead of drinking it.

BACKGROUND
Will’s father Edmun was trapper in the Fogscar Mountains, and his mother Silvi was a farmer’s daughter from Sandpoint that ran off with him. After getting married at the Windsong Abbey on their way up to the mountains, they settled into life, and soon had a baby boy. They named him Will after his mother’s father. Although no farmer is pleased to have his daughter run off to live in the mountains with a savage, his attitude softened somewhat when he met his grandson, and Will grew up spending late spring and early summer with his mother’s family, and the rest of the year living in the mountains.

Will loved the mountains and forests, and quickly took to trapping and hunting with his father. He became pretty good with a bow, and learned how to set snares and fish in the lakes. Often during the early fall when his father would set out to set the first traps of the year, Will would fish in the mountain lakes and streams to build up a supply of smoked fish for the winter. During his sixteenth year while he was out fishing, a small band of Goblins found his father’s cabin and attacked, killing his mother and ransacking the house. Will and his Father set out to track down the goblins and bring vengeance upon their heads. For three days Will and Edmun followed them until they finally found them. Setting traps around the goblin camp, they began to rain arrows on the unsuspecting goblins. Several died, and several more got caught in the traps as they tried to flee, but handful of them turned with their weapons and attacked the two trappers. Will tried his best to fend up of the goblins, but soon found he was no match for the three that were trying to gang up on him. In a fit of anger his father Edmun stepped in and cut down two of them were they stood, as the goblin attacking him drove a knife into his back. Watching his father collapse with a knife sticking out of his back lent Will a cold anger and he quickly struck down the goblin in front of him with his hatchet, and then parried the last remaining goblin’s club stroke and buried his hatchet in the creature’s chest.

With ruthless efficiency, he killed the trapped goblins, and returned to his home. He continued trapping and hunting as his father before him, but he also began to go out of his way to hunt down goblins, and quickly learned how to track them and kill them efficiently. He even gave some thought to hunting Goblins in the Mushfens, although the idea of living in a swamp help no appeal to him, so he continued his life in the mountains, coming back to Sandpoint to trade. He certainly never thought he’d find adventure in Sandpoint, but life has a way of throwing the unexpected at you.

ABOUT ME
I’m relatively new to Play by Post. I’m playing two games right now, both as clerics. One is Dragon’s Demand, and one is a Campaign set in Victorian England. Off and on, I’ve played pen and paper tabletop games since 2003. I have also played my fair share of D&D based video games like BG, NWN, and DDO. I have never played a Rise of the Runelords game.

Let me preface by saying that I read this AP a few years ago and, while I've forgotten the details of most of the encounters, I am familiar with the overall plot.

I certainly understand Roakkad comes across as a bit "Mary Sue" as written. He was created for a version of RotRT where each of the six PCs was actually a "champion" of one of the six deities represented within the Sandpoint Cathedral, sent to battle against the dark forces of you-know-who. Roakkad was the chosen of Gozreh, obviously. When I created his story, his relationship with his deity was much more obscure, but that GM encouraged stronger, more explicit ties to the deities to fit the "tone" of his campaign.

This is obviously your campaign and you're entitled to your own interpretation of the AP, and I don't mind reigning in the extreme elements of my backstory. But to do the character justice, the amount of time required to create a quality re-write that conforms with each of your points really isn't possible for me to accomplish before your deadline. Maybe we can find middle ground on some of these issues, and if I'm chosen (teehee) we can work together next week to bring the story in line? Here are some ideas off the top of my head.

1. Chosen of Gozreh I am perfectly happy removing the specific references go Gozreh and making the driving force behind the omens something much more vague. That would actually be preferable for a "spirit whisperer" wizard. E.g. "whispers on the wind" are a recurring theme for him. If you see the AP to its conclusion, Roakkad will end up a level 16/17 wizard? That's practically demi-god status in its own right! Why couldn't the source of such power be a little push from an unidentified deity, especially if I'm focusing on nature-themed spells?

2. Use of Kaer Maga. I selected Kaer Maga because it's such a whimsical, fantastic city and I've been enthralled with it ever since I glanced over Pathfinder Chronicles: City of Strangers. I also chose it because I know that the events of RotR do not take place within its walls, so I knew I'd be safe in fabricating elements for my backstory. The urban flavor is also a nice contrast to the tribal culture of the Shoanti, and that dichotomy reflected the dualism of Gozreh. You're correct that all the characters and events from my background are made up. But given that the AP has only incidental connections to that city, what harm is there in creating these elements? Unless you plan on making Kaer Maga more significant in your telling of the AP?

3. Presence in Sandpoint. Like Gozreh, references to the Sandpoint Cathedral and Father Zantus could be replaced with something much more generic. Roakkad might have spent his brief time in Sandpoint working as an assistant to Brodert Quinck, sweeping floors and scribing scrolls. I can change my caste trait accordingly.

4. Shoanti as persecuted class. Again, as GM you get to create a version of Golarion to your liking. But we must strike a gentleman's disagreement on the point that modern Shoanti feel "only a bit of a grudge" toward Chelaxians. See AP #10 A History of Ashes, where war among three Shoanti tribes and an invasion into Korvosa itself seems imminent! It's also notable that in a certain ancient kingdom, the Shoanti were used as slaves, and the richness of a Shoanti wizard now rising up to fight against you-know-who is just too much fun! Anyway, that aspect didn't see much light in my brief opportunity to play Roakkad, and I don't plan to make much of it, anyway. Which leads me to....

5. Special snowflake status. I have no intention of playing Roakkad to be better or more powerful than anyone else's character, at least mechanically. I have been dealing with a player in another game who feels the need to "be the best" at everything, and I know that it is a pain in the neck. From a roleplay perspective, I see him as very vulnerable and unsure of himself. He is spoiled, however, raised among his tribesmen as a favored of the druids and mystics in Kaer Maga. But he is only a teenager, and still a boy pretending to be a man. And while he might expect respect in many instances, that doesn't mean he should receive it :).

As to crunch: the Alertness feat is a result of my familiar being within arm's reach. Celestial healing can be replaced with grease or something else useful. Scribe Scroll looks like it will be replaced with spell focus, my familiar does indeed have her own avatar, and i'll make the other changes (links, skills) this week.

Does this allay some of your concerns? Do you feel there is anything that must be "corrected" before you could consider Roakkad for your game? Again, thank you for the time invested in considering this submission!

I'd recommend using a buckler shield rather than a light shield since you can still use a bow while wearing one.

Do you plan to have an animal companion?

Was your father's family always trappers in the mountains? If so, do you have any other family there? What is their ethnic background? (BTW, your name would normally mean that the character is of Chelaxian descent, which is the "normal default.") If your father was the first in his family to go there, where was he from? Why did he choose that life?

Does your mother's family still live in Sandpoint? Give me details about them - what are they like, what do they do. Give me names.

Is there anyone else you know in Sandpoint? If you spend the springs and summers there you probably have a regular watering-hole and a few things like that.

FYI in case it is useful to you, the Turandarok river that flows through Sandpoint has its headwaters in the south end of the Fogscars. It flows south for a while and then turns roughly west. Riverboats travel this river, including some Varisian caravan-boats.

* I have no problem with your character being devoutly religious, but quite frankly, Gozreh would see the conflict in the AP as one human against another and really wouldn't care. If Karzoug returns, so what? One human kingdom replaces another; happens all the time. Gozreh doesn't care about good and evil. Only the good deities (and maybe the giant deities) would really be concerned about the Runelords.

* The Shoanti don't remember that they were a slave class, and would usually be pretty offended if you told them that. Most of them think that Thassilon was their kingdom, and it's achievements were theirs. The spirits of the dead who do remember have been dead for so long that contacting them is very difficult.

* HOWEVER, seeing as you are part of the hawk clan and your spirit animal is a hawk, if could be that some Ancestral spirits have become concerned for the fate of the Shoanti and sent the hawk to you. They might sense the spiritual effects of the Runewells opening up. But they are likely too distant to communicate in words.

* I definitely may make Kaer Maga a part of the adventure, as I did with my home game. Partly because it is a pretty neat place.

* Riddleport is a city that is very close to Hawk Clan territory and Roderic's Cove is aligned with Riddleport. Your "Sky Spire" thing would be unlikely to be there, but Gozreh is also a god of the sea and sailors tend to venerate him. As a port there are plenty of sailors in Riddleport.

* I have no problem with your use of Father Zantus. Father Zantus is a priest of Desna though so if you want to come up with a name for the local priest of Gozreh be my guest. Zantus is the "head" priest but there is at least one cleric for each deity represented there. The main worshippers of Gozreh in Sandpoint are sailors and fishermen who pray for good weather.

* Being Quink's "assistant" would not be a problem, though he doesn't really have the money to pay much (if at all). If you just wanted to learn from him that would be fine. This would make sense if your character was fascinated by Thassilonian relics - that's really all Quink is good for. He's written into the module just in case nobody has Knowledge (history).

* What I want with the Shoanti is for a Shoanti character to be able to walk down the streets of Sandpoint without the locals screaming and yelling "Injuns!". The wars need to be seen as a thing of the past, at least for most people. The Storval rise presents a very effective natural barrier between the Shoanti and the Chelaxian realms. Only in the western areas (which includes the Hawk Clan territory BTW) do the Shoanti still hold territory in the lowlands. So overall I see the typical Shoanti attitude to be one much like the average modern day Native American; they resent the fact that the white man now owns most of the lands that once belonged to their ancestors, but they generally don't think that there's much they can do about it beyond keeping them out of the lands that are still theirs.

I don't know about the stuff in AP #10; I don't own that one.

Anyway, see what you can do and let me know when to have another look.

My first thought is: are you really okay with having a CON penalty? It feels like that is pretty risky. I know you probably don't aim to be in melee, but 7 HP seems very frail. You seem to be going for a "smart" bard character, but I might be inclined to shave a couple points off INT and give them to CON. You get a lot of bonuses to knowledge so a high INT isn't as important for bards. Or you could drop WIS, though that would affect Perception and Will Saves. Maybe you could also give your FCB to HP instead of skills. You have a lot of skills and don't have to cover every knowledge skill at 1st level.

Fate's favored will improve Archaeologist's Luck which makes it a decent combo. I don't have a problem with it. I don't feel it is as good as regular bardic performance since you don't share it with everyone else, but you get a bonus to a lot more things at once, like saves and skills.

The trapfinding feature will be useful if there isn't a rogue. If you are going to be the party trapfinder you might want to look for ways to boost your perception (though you don't need to do that right away).

If you check the house rules you will note that a longbow is now an exotic weapon. Instead of automatically getting proficiency, elves consider it a martial weapon instead of exotic. So as a bard you are not proficient, but you can just use a shortbow instead. The difference is mostly just 1d6 instead of 1d8 damage. And you save some money.

It is also worth it for you to know that you can use DEX to hit in melee without the weapon finesse feat as a combat option, though for you this will mean a -1 to damage without the feat. Might be worth grabbing a shortsword or rapier.

For languages you might want consider some human ethnic languages instead of Celestial for example. The main ones you would encounter are Chelaxian, Varisian, and occasionally Shoanti. The "common tongue" is actually Taldane.

Some things I might suggest:

* You mention that "Denialan was born under Desna's blessing of luck and travel." Can you give details? You don't refer back to this ever again, and it seems you are not a worshiper of Desna.
* Do you have any siblings? Are you on bad terms with any of them?
* Did you have a lover in Kyonin? Perhaps your parents had arranged a marriage for you, which you have basically rejected?
* Was there a specific teacher you had that taught you about Thassilonian lore?
* Did the wizard that cast teleport on you have a name? Perhaps he expects some kind of favor from you in the future for this service?
* Is there anyone of note you met once you arrived in Magnimar? What about Sandpoint? Had you just arrived when the "fun" begins?

As far as getting to Sandpoint goes, It is unlikely that you would have seen a pamphlet for the festival. They aren't advertised, and Magnimar has its own festivities; it is a general Desnan holiday everywhere Desna is worshiped. Perhaps you wanted to see the Old Light in Sandpoint?

Double check your math in the Defense Section. The numbers don't match. I think the actual values are correct and the numbers you have in the formulas are wrong.

Offense: don't forget to add your STR bonus to your weapons. You might want some thrown weapons if you want more damage at range.

Race: Because of a house rule, all planetouched races (including ifrits) count as humanoids with the outsider subtype. This means instead of knowing the Ignan language (which you will probably never use) you get a human ethnic language (probably Kelish?).

This also means that the "Mostly Human" alternate racial trait is rendered rather redundant. If you want this feature you will have to give up some other race feature since you can't give up a type you no longer have. Possibly the spell-like ability. You can choose which one, actually. Even if your character looks human there should be something about him that a perceptive person might notice that shows his background. Maybe the eyes?

As a freebie you can give yourself a +2 racial bonus to perform (dance). It fits with your background.

You don't need to list skills if they have no ranks or other modifiers.

Considering your background you can swap rapier proficiency with scimitar if you want.

You may have robbed yourself here - according to the build rules you start with your average gold by class or 150 gp whichever is more. So you start with 150 gp. You haven't put prices for your stuff but it doesn't look like 150 gp to me.

But you really haven't left me anything that I can use. You haven't named a single NPC in your background, not family, friends, mentors, enemies, etc. Ideally there should be one or two unresolved issues in your background.

You are also very vague about how you got from Qadira to Magnimar. I have no problem with someone like that but give me some details.

While you're at it a separate entry for personality and appearance would be good.

Trapfinding doesn't hurt but it may or may not be necessary, so if you wanted to take an archetype that trades out the ability that would be fine. Without that ability you can still detect mundane traps and disable them.

Overall the math for the crunch looks good.

Can you include a link to where I can read about "halfling rope shot?" I have no problem with the punching dagger, though it is a bit weird that it is consecrated to Desna. Desna's sacred weapon is the starknife.

Your caste trait should indicate the environment in which you were raised. It will be apparent to others in your mannerisms and in the way you dress. Unless your parents actually were priests, academics, or magicians it doesn't make sense for you to take it. You can be religious all you want without the trait.

BTW, if you choose to change classes later, I will expect the transition to be roleplayed. You won't suddenly wake up in a dungeon with a level of wizard; you need to have found a teacher and been studying it for a while.

Does your character know that her name is Aerid Llach? Or is this a nickname? Whatever your character's real name is, your avatar name should be the name that people in Sandpoint know you by. It would be a good idea for this to be some kind of nickname and you could come up with a story about how you got the name.

Is there anyone else in Sandpoint that you know? Make up names.

The thing about being crazy and thinking you are a goddess... I can see that being funny but I can also see it annoying people. It depends on how you want to play it and if you are good at comedy. I would like to see a sample post to see if you can carry it off.

Do you expect your character will "snap out of it" at any point? What kinds of things would have to happen in the adventure for this to happen?

BTW, a punching dagger looks like THIS. They tend to have broad blades. Little tricky to use it as a hair pin, but they are sometimes concealed in things like belt buckles.