Ryuko's Wicked Ways (Inactive)

Game Master Ryuko

This Adventure Path will not take place on Golarion. It will instead take place in the mainly human/dwarf-centric country of Talingarde, which is set within a larger world which will not be touched upon except in any IC fleshing out. Talingarde is a shining beacon of goodness and law, ruled by King Markadian V, who is called the Brave and Protector of the Righteous. The Royal Family is backed extensively by the church of Mitra, LG god of Light and Justice. Also worshipped on the island (though in secret by those persecuted) is the god Asmodeus (Ported straight from Golarion). All other gods are imports from across the seas. (Any god may be worshipped by the players, just come up with something and flesh it up a bit. Same for homelands.)

All Races allowed.
Banned Classes:Paladin
Nonrecommended Classes:Ninja, Samurai, Gunslinger (All of these can be explained as being foreigners or trained by foreigners, but your loot and other options will be extremely scarce.)
Banned Alignments: All Good, Chaotic alignments are not suggested. (A contract is a major source of plot, and if you make a chaotic character, have a damn good reason that character would honor such an oath.) Antipaladins may be any evil alignment.
Two Traits: One non-Golarion and one from below
One Extra Non combat feat
2 Extra Skill Points per level (Your evil PCs will be on their own often and will have to make due.)
No financial resources. All characters will be beginning the game in Banderskar prison and will have not one thing on them but rags.
Alchemists begin with no formula book, bombs or extracts.
Bards begin without instruments.
Cavaliers and Druids mounts or animal companions have been killed, and the weeks mourning period has passed.
Clerics, Druids, Inquisitors, Bards and Oracles have spells but no holy symbol or material components.
Summoners Eidolons are unsummoned, and their hands have been bound to prevent rituals.
Witches, Wizards and Magi have no spellbooks or material components but a full complement of one days spells. Wizards and witches may have a familiar small enough to have infiltrated the prison. Wizards have no bonded items.

Stat Creation will have one Focus, one Weakness, and a roll of 1d10+7 (in order) for all other stats. This is a powerful method and will make powerful characters. Got a MAD concept? Try it out here.

Arson:You have willfully started a fire that destroyed property. To be sent to Branderscar, you didn’t start just a minor little trash fire. Your act of arson threatened a major town, city, church or castle and likely cost someone their life. You’ll be punished for your crime by facing the fire yourself.
Punishment: Death by burning
Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit with a fire attack, you receive a +2 fire damage bonus to your damage roll. This bonus is a trait bonus.

Attempted Murder:You tried to kill someone and botched the job. To be sent to Branderscar Prison, you did not try to kill just anyone. You likely assaulted someone of great importance and prominence.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus to Intimidate checks, and Intimidate is always a class skill for you.

Blasphemy:Either you have defamed the great god Mitra or you have been found guilty of worshipping one of the forbidden deities (who preeminent among them is Asmodeus).
Punishment: Death by burning
Benefit: +2 trait bonus to Knowledge (religion) and Knowledge (religion) is always a class skill for you.

Consorting with the Dark Powers(Witchcraft): You have been found guilty of summoning an evil outsider. Likely you were captured by the famed witch hunter Sir Balin of Karfeld. The last thing he said to you was, “May Mitra have mercy upon your wretched, damned soul.” If only you could get a chance at revenge!
Punishment: Death by burning
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Knowledge (planes) and Knowledge (arcana) checks, and one of these skills (your choice) is always a class skill for you

Desecration:You have violated one of the churchs, cathedrals or holy shrines of the great god Mitra. To be sent to Branderscar this was no minor act of vandalism. Instead you have done something flagrant and spectacular to dishonor the Shining Lord.
Punishment: Death by burning
Benefit: You receive +1 trait bonus on all saving throws against divine spells.

Desertion:You have deserted from the Talirean military and been recaptured. To get sent to Branderscar this was not some minor or routine dereliction of duty. Instead, you abandoned your post during a time of crisis -- perhaps battle or while defending the Watch Wall. Regardless of the exact circumstances, your laziness and cowardness must have caused loss of life.
Punishment: Death by hanging
Benefit: You receive one bonus skill point per level that must be spent on the Profession (Soldier) skill. Profession (Soldier) is always a class skill for you.

Forgery:You have forged documents issued either by the crown
or by the Church of Mitra. Alas, that your forgery while competent was not entirely undetectable. To be sent to Branderscar, this was no minor finagling of paperwork. This forged document could have cost lives, undermined the reputation of the Church or endangered the security
of the realm.
Punishment: Life at hard labor in the salt mines
Benefit: You gain a +3 trait bonus to Linguistics skill checks to commit forgery and Linguistics is always a class skill for you.

Fraud:You tried to bilk someone out of their cash. To end up in Brandescar Prison, this was no petty con job or penny ante racket. Instead, you brazenly tried to defraud someone important of a huge sum of money. And it almost worked too!
Punishment: Life at hard labor in the salt mines
Benefit: You receive a +2 trait bonus to Bluff checks and Bluff is always a class kill for you.

Dueling unto Death:You have engaged in a duel to the death and mortally wounded an opponent. The opponent was honorable enough to say nothing before he expired. Alas that his family or companions was nowhere near so honorable. Dueling was once common in Talingarde before the House of Darius came to power. The House of Barca all but encouraged duels of honor. Now, dueling of any sort is punished severely. Dueling to the death is a sure way to be sent to Branderscar Prison.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus to Fortitude saves

Extortion:You have defrauded money from someone by holding information of their wrongdoing over their heads. To end up in Branderscar, this was no minor act of merely threatening to expose someone. Instead you have attempted extortion against someone of great prominence and for exorbitant stakes.
Punishment: Life at hard labor in the salt mines
Benefit: You receive a +2 trait bonus to Intimidate checks, and Intimidate is always a class skill for you.

Grave Robbery:It is forbidden by sacred law to dishonor a corpse after it is been sealed in its tomb by a clergy of the Mitran faith. Some may not honor this ban: necromancers, golem crafters, self-styled scientists, and alchemists delving into the forbidden secrets of life and death. These ghouls can expect no mercy from the Talirean Magistrates. And by sending you to Branderscar Prison, you have received none.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to confirm critical hits

Heresy:You have denied the supremacy of Mitra and been condemned for it. For this to be a crime, you were not content to keep your heresy to yourself. You tried to sway others. Likely you were captured by the famed witch hunter Sir Balin of Karfeld. The last thing he said to you was: “Mitra may forgive you yet for your lies. Talingarde will not.” If only you could get a chance at revenge!
Punishment: Death by burning.
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus on all saving throws against divine spells.

High Theft:You had a foolproof plan to steal some great treasure. Alas, the scheme had a fatal flaw and went horribly awry. To be sent to Branderscar prison, this was no ordinary robbery attempt. You tried to steal something of great value or religious significance.
Punishment: Life at hard labor in the salt mines
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Reflex saves.

High Treason:You have willfully worked to bring down the current Monarch of Talingarde -- the beloved King Markadian V called the Brave of House Darius. To be successfully tried for High Treason you have done more than merely dislike the king, you did something tangible to undermine his rule. Alas, that you failed at your plot and are now headed to Branderscar Prison. Treason is the only crime that is still punished by the gruesome ritual of being drawn and quartered. Your stay at Branderscar will be brief.
Punishment: Death by drawing and quartering
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Will saves.

Piracy:You have been caught in the act of piracy on the high seas. This is a rare crime these days since Markadian I called the Victorious burned the last major pirate fleet to threaten these isles. Still the crime is punished harshly. Likely you are the sole survivor of your ship.
Punishment: Death by hanging
Benefit: You may select either Bluff or Intimidate. The selected skill receives a +2 trait bonus and is always a class skill for you.

Sedition:You have attempted to covertly stir up rebellion against your rightful sovereign. This differs from high treason in that you attempted to convince others to make war against Talingarde instead of taking direct action yourself. A subtle difference to be sure. But it is the difference between receiving the swift justice of the axe instead of the slow suffering upon the rack.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Bluff checks and Bluff is always a class skill for you. Further if you ever take the Leadership feat, you gain a +1 trait bonus to your Leadership score.

Kidnapping:You have abducted someone perhaps to ransom them or do unspeakable things to them. Unfortunately, you were caught and your victim was rescued (if they weren’t rescued -- you would be guilty of murder instead). To be sent to Branderscar Prison, you must have abducted someone of great importance or in a particularly gruesome manner.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to both Disarm and Grapple attempts.

Murder:You have killed without just cause and been condemned for it. To be sent to Branderscar Prison, this was no typical killing but a particularly savage and unforgiveable act. You may also have killed someone with powerful friends.
Note: You are not allowed to have killed someone in the royal family of Talingarde. You may have tried (his would instead be High Treason -- see above) but ultimately they are too well protected.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You deal 1 additional point of damage when flanking a foe. This additional damage is a trait bonus.

Slave-Taking:Slavery is illegal in Talingarde and a very rare crime. Still, once in a great while, slavers from the mainland will foolishly make an incursion into Talirean protected territories. When they are captured alive they are always made an example of.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to both Disarm and Grapple attempts.

Slave Trading:Slavery is legal in other parts of the world and it can be tempting to the most decadent of Talingarde’s nobility to acquire a “souvenir” when traveling abroad or to purchase the object of their desire from a less reputable merchant. However you ended up trading slaves in Talingarde, you were caught red handed and now you will lose more than simply your freedom.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You receive one bonus skill point per level that must be spent on the Appraise skill. The Appraise skill is always a class skill for you.

Devon grew up in the forests of Taligrade. Ostensibly his father was a woodlands trapper and furrier, but secretly he was a priest of Asmodeus. Devon's childhood was far from easy. His father, ever disdainful of weakness, demanded that his son be self sufficient and hard. Devon's father constantly tested him and severly punished any failures. All was not drudgery though. Devon did get to meet all manner of strange folk as he grew up because of his father's connections with the more unsavory races and beings that inhabited the dark places in the forest and underground. Seeing Devon's almost preternatural quickness, his father enhanced his training by having him tutored by various members of his circle.
Devon took to fencing with amazing speed. His natural grace flowing perfectly with the style of swordsmanship that utilized finesse over brute strength. He grew into exactly the man his father envisioned, tough, resourceful and merciless. He inherited in full his father's contempt of weakness. But Devon also grew extremely tired of rural life and the artificial hardships his father imposed on them. He and his father argued more and Devon's fear and respect lessened. The day came when he struck his father back and was surprised at the ease with which he knocked his father down. All the fear turned instantly into contempt and he paid his father back in the same coin that his father understood, slaying him.
Devon exulted in his new found freedom. He left the wilds and spent several years traveling from city to city. He searched out illicit fights and duels constantly; proving his superiority to others. The ban against dueling grated, but he was always able to find action. The few times he was involved in public altercations, he was able to appear as the aggrieved party. Unfortunately chance finally caught up to him. He killed an opponent in a duel for sport. Unaware that the place was being watched by the guard for suspected illegal activity, Devon was easily caught while collecting his winnings. Now he sits awaiting his sentence in Brandescar Prison. However, if these cowardly gaolers think they can just remove his head from his shoulders, they are in for a rude awakening. Devon just bides his time for now.

DEVON GERHART CR 1/2
Male Human Fighter (Weapon Master) 1
LE Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +6; Senses Perception +6
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 16, touch 16, flat-footed 10. . (+5 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 13 (1d10+2)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 30 ft.
Melee Unarmed Strike +6 (1d3+1/20/x2)
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 13, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 18
Feats Cosmopolitan: Acrobatics, Perception, Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike, Weapon Finesse
Traits Narrows Survivor, Dueling unto Death
Skills Acrobatics +9, Escape Artist +6, Perception +6, Sense Motive +7, Stealth +6, Survival +6
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Infernal, Undercommon
SQ Heart of the Wilderness +0

--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
Heart of the Wilderness +0 +5 on CON checks to stabilize, +1/2 level to negative HP level for death, +1/2 level Survival.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Narrows Survivor You gain a +1 trait bonus to Initiative and Sense Motive checks. Sense Motive is always a class skill for you.

Lorn the Barber is a pretty decent barber. Just like his father he's a travelling barber who has a preference for shaving beards and mustaches of men and curling the hair of women. He finds working with hair to be soothing and honest. Unfortunately Lorn is also a thief and a kidnapper. He has robbed many of his customers and has even been involved in a few kidnappings. The latest of these went terribly wrong for Lorn. In a flash of anger he has cut off both ears of his latest victim, a young man and son of a renowned bard. To make matters worse, the earless man escaped and had Lorn quickly arrested for his crime.

Crime: Sedition Punishment: Beheading

Vladimir was born to a once noble family whose fall from grace came upon the dawning of the shining lord and the outlawing of devil worship.

His family once had high hopes for him as his conception was overseen with a dark ritual with the intentions of breeding a fiendish prince to take the reigns of the noble house as even before their fall due to more recent events had been struggling and doing quite poorly.

Upon his houses fall from grace Vladimir swore off Asmodeus and all forms of reverence for evil deities along with turning on his former siblings and various other family members. An act which spared his head the bloc and allowed him further ability to scavenge the financial remains of his noble house at the price of the blood of his own kin.

Vladimir is a liar and over the course of the next 15 years of his life he restructured his assets and harbored the storm. All the while he masqueraded as a philanthropist accumulating followers and power. In time he began to hold secret meetings where he would discuss politics often critical of the government among like-minded individuals that over the years began to morph from mere anti-establishment political discussions to outright plans for revolution and with it the resurgence of the worship of Asmodeus and evil gods outlawed by the current establishment.

Over time his secret cabal grew splintering off into terrorist cells dedicated to causing chaos among his competitors and outright violence against the government masquerading about as a fight for religious freedom.

Eventually he was implicated and his assets where seized and his ambitions as an aspiring noble where crushed a second time. Furious at his trial he promised to burn this country to the ground with hell-fire as a new land under the banner of his dark lord would rise from the ashes like a great phoenix for the grievance of twice damning what is rightfully his birthright a calling to hold great power and influence.

Words that would unfortunately fall on deaf ears none expecting the true hell he had promised them all....

Vladimir carries himself with the pomp and reagal befit for a noble. He stands unusually tall at 5'11'' and has long white hair, gaunt features, an pale complexion with a dark gray ashen undertone, piercing bright blue eyes, and is considered by most quite handsome.

His infernal heritage is noticeable by his small vestigial horns that his long hair usually obscures. Even so he's fond of tri-cornered hats to hide that particular curiosity even further. His nails naturally grow in at sharp points and an odd natural odor of sulfur that persists about him usually obscured with cologne. He has a birth-mark that resembles three eyes the infernal symbol of Barbatos the gate-keeper of hell upon his back. Vladimir also seems to never cast a shadow.

Vladimir's inhuman charm would get him far in life, however his charms are also matched by his arrogance. He values decorum and politeness highly and applies it amusingly in situations that obviously don't call for it. He doesn't view himself as evil (even though he is), but rather strong in contrast to others weakness. He isn't cruel, but rather harsh and uncaring of those around him often finding no amorality in exploiting others vulnerabilities or misfortunes for his own gain.

In an ironic contrast any misfortune that befalls himself he views as an twisting of the natural order of the universe (which obviously should revolve around him) and a heretical perversion reality that is manipulated by the weak and undeserving.

He thinks of himself as a political prisoner. He worships Asmodeus as well as other arch-devils and holds reverence for other evil deities and outsiders he views as strong and powerful in contrast to the weakness of good deities displayed by their pitiful tenants of compassion and mercy.

Vladimir can function as a great party talker, but is primarily an arcane blaster character in combat who prefers to stay out of the front lines due to being squishy spamming daze or acid splash.

Vladimir is uniquely suited for a prison break out due to his ability to grow claws as a free action giving him offensive capability in melee without needing a weapon. As well as a full range of spells available to him without the pesky need for material components.

His trait allows him to buff with Mage Armor increasing it's duration for 3hrs at it's first casting. At later levels he'll be able to combine his natural attacks from his claws with touch of fatigue to fatigue opponents who get to close to him in melee.

Primarily he'll be blasting with ranged spells (acid splash/daze) or ending fights quickly with color spray and stabbing those with his claws if anyone gets too close to him.

As a sorcerer he's relatively powerful and has ample opportunity to cause arcane havoc with little to no resources, which should be nice given our position.

1d10 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
1d10 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
1d10 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
1d10 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11