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Hello, I am a dangerous parasite which has hollowed out Samnell and uses him as a meat puppet. I propose to run a themed, gestalt Iron Gods game. One spot is spoken for, so I require 3-5 PCs first level PCs to bring us to a nice 4-6 total.
The theme, you say? The most important part of the theme is where my friends hollow you out and use you as a meat p- Sorry, I mean that Numeria is already a lot like Thundarr the Barbarian or Conan, so why not push it a little further in that direction? This is Barbaric Iron Gods! Step into a strange world of savagery, super-science, and sorcery. Be the heroes that burst their bonds to fight against all the hated workers of the Dark Arts! Rar!
None of this necessarily means you’ve got to be a current member of a barbarian tribe or you need to take levels in the class, but I’m looking for characters with minimal “book learning” and other trappings of civilization. You don’t have to be innocent of cities and their ways but PCs should understand themselves as personally apart from it even if they have frequent dealings with the settled types.
Numerian barbarians are usually humans of Kellid stock, but many tribes will take in or tolerate other races and ethnicities. They may also have varying degrees of toleration for non-members who behave themselves and just hang out. The big cultural values, aside general barbarism stuff, are a very strong distrust of technology and certain forms of magic. Both of these are accursed and dark arts, associated respectively with great dangers best left buried and forgotten and the evils of the oppressive Technic League. They steal lives and twist souls.
Note that one’s barbarism isn’t necessarily an eternal state. PCs can change their minds about things or be corrupted by the strange ways of cityfolk as the game goes on. Maybe the process has already begun.
Ability Scores
Use 25 point buy. You may reduce one score below 10, but to no lower than 8, before racial modifiers. Here’s a calculator to skip the tedium of working it out by hand.
Races
Android, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Halfling, Human, Orc, Ratfolk
Both androids and ratfolk have significant populations in Numeria, but warrant some special considerations: The Technic League considers androids things, specifically things which are their personal property to do with as they will. Barbarians tend to distrust them but aren’t uniformly hostile. Ratfolk are generally seen as disreputable but not inherently evil.
Variant racial features are a-ok, provided they’re Paizo-written.
Classes
This list is meant to be complete, but I can’t survey every available archetype and concept. Archetypes which are conventionally scholarly are generally out. When in doubt, ask.
Barbarian, Bloodrager, Brawler, Cavalier, Druid, Fighter, Hunter, Oracle, Ranger, Rogue, Shaman, Skald, Slayer, Sorcerer, Unchained Summoner, Warpriest, Witch
Gestalt? What’s Gestalt?
It’s a school of psychology popular in the- Oh right, for the game. Old 3e variant rule you can find here. The very short version is that you get to level two classes in parallel. Shore up a weakness. Double-down on a specialization. Play with neat combos. Have fun. If there’s any ambiguity about how classes smash together, ask away.
Alignment
You may play any non-evil alignment you like, provided that you do so in such a way that you’re able to get along with the group rather than work constantly at cross-purposes. Tension and disagreement are fine, but PCs should not constantly be seriously at odds or creating situations that make things routinely unfun for other PCs.
Hit Points
Take your maximum at every level.
Gear
This game will use automatic bonus progression. That means your wealth by level will be halved, but you will receive built-in bonuses to model the standard magic items that the game assumes you get. However, the present bonus table slightly favors casters at the expense of martials. Instead of automatically getting your +2 ability score to a mental ability first you may choose to take either Physical Prowess or Mental Prowess when the opportunity arises. If you choose mental first, you follow the table as written. If you choose physical, swap the positions all the way down. So if you took physical prowess at 6th level, your 7th level bonus is mental prowess, and so forth.
Starting out, PCs get with the maximum gold specified for their class (if they differ, choose the better of the two) to spend on gear, keep, give to poor orphans, or whatever else you’d like. You can stretch that gold (but not the orphans) further through the use of crafting skills. Assume all pre-game rolls are successful. During the game, item crafting and item crafting feats are fair game. There will be periods when you are not racing any particular clock and can take time out to invest in making things and other pursuits. This may include technological items in due course, but probably not for quite a while, and even when it becomes an option you can’t make your own lab but rather must use one you gain access to in-game.
Technology and You
There’s a lot of technology in this AP, as there is in Numeria. However, the useful stuff tends to be kept under tight wraps by the Technic League, who are strongly inclined to persecute those who deal in technology without their sanction. A certain number of outsiders have gained mastery of its secrets without their knowledge or distant from their centers of power, but such skills are rare and ill-favored by barbaric sorts. As such, you cannot begin play with the Technologist feat. You may select it beginning at fifth level. If you select the Local Ties, Numerian Archaeologist, or Stargazer campaign traits, you may instead take the feat beginning at third level.
Also, at least for the early part of the game, useful technological items will be available to you only through finding them in the course of your adventures. Later on you may be able to buy them. Likewise, you can’t begin play with technology-oriented spells, other feats, etc except for the campaign traits.
Numerian Goo and You
There’s this sludge you can drink in-game which may give you temporary or permanent powers, horribly addict you, and/or maim you as permanently as access to divine magic allows. You’re free to drink it any time you come across the stuff but you will be playing the lottery when you do. There’s also a 1% chance it’ll kill you. The full table of results is here.
Languages
I am not a fan of the worldwide common tongue. It’s weird, gamey, and tends to devalue investment in learning local languages. It doesn’t exist in this game. Instead, every PC begins play speaking Hallit. If it’s not your native tongue, then it’s a free bonus language above and beyond any your intelligence, race, and so forth entitle you to. This is the tongue of the Kellid tribes. Civilized Numerians usually speak Taldane, which anybody may take as a bonus language from high intelligence. No one may begin play speaking Androffan, unless they take the Numerian Archaeologist campaign trait. Others may devote Linguistics ranks to learning it once they have been exposed to the tongue in-game.
Traits
Everyone loves traits. I believe traits may be secretly trying to take over the world through the corruption of our precious bodily fluids. Your PC may take two traits, one of which must be a campaign trait from the Player’s Guide. To better fit the theme of this game, the following traits deserve special consideration in your background:
Local Ties, Numerian Archaeologist, and Stargazer: These traits represent knowledge your PC has acquired which most barbarians strongly disfavor. It might have come to you as described in the text, but it might also have been forced on you through strange dreams or traumatic experiences, manifesting as flashes of things you ought not know and things you didn’t consciously realize you could do. Maybe it’s even things you learned before rejecting civilization. Your backstory should explain how your PC came upon the knowledge and what they think of it. Do they hide it from others? Revel in it? Revealing your knowledge to barbarous Numerians will negatively affect their opinion of you, shifting it toward hostile by one step, though this can be remedied through roleplay and interaction skills.
You may take one additional trait in exchange for taking a drawback.
Books you can draw from?
Let’s keep it to Paizo only. I might grant a modest exception here or there for something that fits the theme and setting really well, but I’m not going to sign on to learn whole new rules subsystems, classes, or other things on that scale.
This game will use minion rules in the interests of speeding up fights. No unusual creature will be a minion on its first appearance. Foes become minions largely based on their story role, not anything intrinsic to them. The ten guards are probably minions. The two guys in really fancy armor with them probably are not.
1) Minions will die or be rendered unconscious on a hit by a PC. The PC decides which happens.
2) Minions cannot crit PCs.
3) If a minion fails a save, it’s out of the fight.
4) When in use, especially in mixed groups, I’ll try to mark out minion status so you can plan accordingly.
5) Minions will usually roll things in batches, always initiative and other stuff depending on how many there are and what seems cool at the time. Ten minion skeletons might all roll the same save vs. a fireball, for example.
6) If you want to keep a minion alive for questioning or whatever, you can do so by simple fiat. Say you want to and it happens. It’s even fine to change your mind if you were killing them all previously. The minion was just mostly dead.
7) Boss-type foes might have the ability to sacrifice minions to protect themselves.
Every PC should come with a backstory that gives me a rough idea of who your character is and where they come from. This game will use a slightly different hook from the one in the published adventures, which you should also keep in mind for writing it. It doesn’t have to be a novel. If you can do it in a paragraph, then that’s fine. Backstories are the primary factor, though not the only, factor in which PCs I choose.
What's the Hook, then?
For whatever reason -tell me in your backstory- PCs all either strongly respect or feel beholden to Ulfar Burnhands, a wise man and shaman who advises the free people of the region about Torch. He knows you to be capable sorts and has called for you to attend him on a grave matter. The game will begin with you answering this summons.
I am to get one substantive, plot-moving post out per day. It’s inevitable that I’ll miss it sometimes, but that’s the goal. If it’s been roughly that long and I haven’t heard from you, I may bot your PC in the interests of keeping things moving. I know from experience that it’s really easy to get into a waiting loop in online games.
This game will be run as a PBP all the way, but will also use Roll20 for battle maps. This lets you control your own PC and move them as you like, just as if we had minis out on a real table. If you’ve never used it before, that’s fine. It’s browser-based and doesn’t require any installation on your part. I’ll PM you an invite link when the time comes and connect your account to your token. From your end, everything but that first time through should be a simple matter of dragging and dropping.
Please list key stats (current/total hit points, ACs, saves, initiative, perception) on the little text bar under your alias. You can include more if you want, but those are the big ones that I’ll likely need from everyone all at once and rather often so having them in the thread is very convenient.
I’ll roll combat-beginning things like perception and initiative, as well as anything else that would benefit from immediate resolution. So if I throw a fireball at you, I’ll roll the saves. You are free, and encouraged, to write flavor text for how you dodged and made your save or how you failed to do so. Likewise ACs and some other all-or-nothing defenses will be known to you when you get into a fight so you can flavor how your attacks miss or hit as I am exceptionally bad at that. I’ll do all these rolls in the open using the dice commands. I’ll bury the lot of them in a spoiler and put descriptive text outside it to avoid making walls of numbers. That does mean that the dice gods may cruelly frown upon you, even lethally. If your PC dies, you are not out of the game. Means to raise the dead (and possibly technological variants) will be available if needed. If you’d rather, you can also make a new PC.
I’ve tried some initiative variants in my other games, but they tend to hose PCs who rely on a decent chance at going first. For this game I’m going to try to do it vanilla-style. When a fight starts, I’ll roll the initiatives and resolve actions in order just like would happen around a table.
I’ll be giving out loot in this game pegged to the ABP values, so half normal, probably in the main through just ignoring things that ABP covers. Once I give it out in a loot post, that loot becomes the party’s responsibility to track. How you want to set that up is up to you. I’ve seen games do well with spreadsheets and games that did just as well with a simple procedure of take what you want and automatically sell the rest. My only requirement after I give you the goodies is that things are managed amicably.
PC submissions are due in at midnight, EDT, on Sunday, July 24, one week hence.
So this is the chance to play a Barbarian I was waiting for!
okay so no joke with this one would you allow tetori Monk? the idea is i'm combining it with white haired witch to make the ultimate in grappling capabilities with added focus on enchantment spells. i might be able to default to the brawler archetype for grappling, i havent really checked it out though
race android
concept: Look's are deceiving, what do i mean by this? well she looks dark and evil, in actuality she in a good honorable traditionalist who just so happens to strangle people with her hair.
So, I've been wanting to play a rage prophet gestalted with an arcane caster for a while, in this case sorcerer seems like the obvious choice. A lot of people ban prestige classes in gestalt, while others allow it as long as you can qualify for it all on one side of the gestalt (which is what I plan to do) how do you feel about it?
Impossible bloodline seems very fitting for this game, but sadly there is no matching bloodrager bloodline. Could I pick it still and go with either Aberrant or Arcane for the bloodrager side instead? Also regarding Impossible Bloodline, I like illusions a lot better than enchantments, would you allow changing it to work for enchantment (compulsions) to illusions (patterns)?
Well now...I have a half-orc sorcerer who is pretty barbaric that I could update into a Sorcerer-Unchained Barbarian or something similar?
(Is Unchained Barbarian OK?)
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okay so no joke with this one would you allow tetori Monk? the idea is i'm combining it with white haired witch to make the ultimate in grappling capabilities with added focus on enchantment spells. i might be able to default to the brawler archetype for grappling, i havent really checked it out though
race android
concept: Look's are deceiving, what do i mean by this? well she looks dark and evil, in actuality she in a good honorable traditionalist who just so happens to strangle people with her hair.
I was all set to say no, because no monks, but I read the archetype and tetori takes out all the flavor things that seem to clash. And a wrestler type totally fits with the theme. Go for it.
Sweet, i'll get started on a write up soon
So, I've been wanting to play a rage prophet gestalted with an arcane caster for a while, in this case sorcerer seems like the obvious choice. A lot of people ban prestige classes in gestalt, while others allow it as long as you can qualify for it all on one side of the gestalt (which is what I plan to do) how do you feel about it?
** spoiler omitted **
Impossible bloodline seems very fitting for this game, but sadly there is no matching bloodrager bloodline. Could I pick it still and go with either Aberrant or Arcane for the bloodrager side instead? Also regarding Impossible Bloodline, I like illusions a lot better than enchantments, would you allow changing it to work for enchantment (compulsions) to illusions (patterns)?
1)Prestige classes are a-ok.
2) I think what you're asking is if you can have an impossible bloodline for your sorcerer side and aberrant or arcane for bloodrager. If so, that's good by me. No reason your bloodlines have to match up. Sorcerers get weird sometimes.
3) Patterns usually work out as areas of effect, which is a bit splashier than compulsions. Charming or dominating a robot takes one foe out of the fight. Hypnotic pattern can neutralize the whole opposition. Going to say no.
Well now...I have a half-orc sorcerer who is pretty barbaric that I could update into a Sorcerer-Unchained Barbarian or something similar?
(Is Unchained Barbarian OK?)
Unchained barbarian is fine.
I built this character out a while back for a different Iron Gods game and was not selected. Would the theme and backstory be appropriate for this one?
If so, I'll see about updating it with the appropriate rules for this game, most likely choosing Bloodrager for the other side of the gestalt.
I built this character out a while back for a different Iron Gods game and was not selected. Would the theme and backstory be appropriate for this one?
Looks like he's in keeping with the theme.
Cool. I've updated the crunchy bits for Chotka, Last of the Blackeyes. Ulfar Burnhands helped to broker the trade agreement between the Blackeyes and Torch, and it was Chotka's conversations with him that led Chotka to believe that a lasting peace with the human settlements was the best path to a stronger unified orc clan.
Hey Samnell, how would you feel about a wizard with a different flavoring, along the lines of this blogpost. I'd most likely run it as a Thassilonian Magic Specialist (Wrath). Not sure what I'd gestalt it with yet but probably something with a more martial bent.
If you've seen my last two character submissions you probably know I'm hell bent on playing a warrior wizard.
Hey Samnell, how would you feel about a wizard with a different flavoring, along the lines of this blogpost. I'd most likely run it as a Thassilonian Magic Specialist (Wrath). Not sure what I'd gestalt it with yet but probably something with a more martial bent.
If you've seen my last two character submissions you probably know I'm hell bent on playing a warrior wizard.
Going to say no on the wizard, sorry. If your concept works as a witch or something similar, that would be fine.
I am thinking I like the idea of a bit of a savage Elf. Fighter//Ranger with a spear dancing build on the Fighter side and an Archer build on the Ranger side. The perfect hunter.
Greetings, praised parasite who inhabits Samnell's flesh!
I would like to express my interest... Concpet I am working with is a Ratfolk Prophet of Desna (Devout Pilgrim (Cleric)/Spell Warrior (Skald).)... Stargazer trait fit nicely...
:)
I'm ok with it if you rework the cleric half as one of the allowed classes.
Alright, I'll probably go with a different course then.
Within moments of posting this, a doc will be linked up above that has the current completed submissions listed out. If I've missed yours, let me know.
Kinda thinking an adaptive tribal, kinda like the native Americans. From a traditional hunting/gathering culture that has learned to keep up with the times like the East Coast and Midwest Indians did with learning to use guns and the Plains Indians did by adopting the horse.
Ranger or Slayer on one side, other side will be a bit trickier. How would one feel about Gunslinger as my second class in this context? Not really trained from his culture so much as learning to use the weapon out of necessity. Later segue into more advanced weapons as they become available.
Kinda thinking an adaptive tribal, kinda like the native Americans. From a traditional hunting/gathering culture that has learned to keep up with the times like the East Coast and Midwest Indians did with learning to use guns and the Plains Indians did by adopting the horse.
Ranger or Slayer on one side, other side will be a bit trickier. How would one feel about Gunslinger as my second class in this context? Not really trained from his culture so much as learning to use the weapon out of necessity. Later segue into more advanced weapons as they become available.
I might be open to gunslinger levels down the road, but not to start with.
This sounds interesting
Would you allow a Wildsoul Vigilante?
I know that the Vigilante is generally meant to be a civilized figure but I'd like to break from that.
There are many old tales about two-souled heroes, figures who housed the spirit of some totem animal, ancestor or other spirit in addition to their own. This would be such a character.
Switching identities would basically be akin to allow the spirit of his totem animal to take the reins, or at least that's what he claims.
He'd actually just have the abilities tied to the totem spirit for reasons he doesn't understand and claims he houses the spirit to increase his standing with the clans and become a legend.
This would be his dual identity. People know that he and the spirit warrior are linked but they are convinced that the latter is simply his body being a vessel for the spirit and as such isn't him any more.
Copy,let me look at some mechanics and see what brews up in this head of mine.
Thinking about a really spooky female orc Druid witch
This sounds interesting
Would you allow a Wildsoul Vigilante?
I know that the Vigilante is generally meant to be a civilized figure but I'd like to break from that.
There are many old tales about two-souled heroes, figures who housed the spirit of some totem animal, ancestor or other spirit in addition to their own. This would be such a character.
Switching identities would basically be akin to allow the spirit of his totem animal to take the reins, or at least that's what he claims.He'd actually just have the abilities tied to the totem spirit for reasons he doesn't understand and claims he houses the spirit to increase his standing with the clans and become a legend.
This would be his dual identity. People know that he and the spirit warrior are linked but they are convinced that the latter is simply his body being a vessel for the spirit and as such isn't him any more.
Wildsoul would certainly be the right archetype, but I think overall vigilantes are not really a good fit for this game.
dot
thinking either
orc barbarian (invulnerable rager)/druid (goliath)
orc barbarian (invulnerable rager)/summoner(blood god disciple/synthesist)
background skills?
Actually, yes. I meant to include them and forgot.
Amendment to Chargen: We're using background skills except that knowledge (engineering) is an adventuring skill in this game, for the obvious reasons.
Cool. I've updated the crunchy bits for Chotka, Last of the Blackeyes. Ulfar Burnhands helped to broker the trade agreement between the Blackeyes and Torch, and it was Chotka's conversations with him that led Chotka to believe that a lasting peace with the human settlements was the best path to a stronger unified orc clan.
Hey, orc guys! I was pondering: maybe wanna link backgrounds?
Oo nice Im
Here's my submission. An Oracle/Barbarian with just a little bit of Unforgiven flavor to him.
A few of the locals have gathered up the courage to ask him what happened to the ring finger on his left hand. Each time Owen simply smiled and said that he didn't remember, being as he was drunk at the time.
A sudden image flashed across Owen's mind in a haze of red. A chewed-up thing barely recognizable as a human nose arced across the room as he spat it out, laughing as he continued to reduce a man's face to a bloody ruin...
He shook his head, almost stumbling as he dragged himself back to the present. No, a little excitement wasn't worth going back to the old days.
"You all right, pa?"
Owen smiled as he looked at his son. Luthor and his mother Yala were reason enough and more to be happy with the present.
"I'm fine, son. Just a passing thought."
Owen suddenly shuddered as a foreboding feeling swept through him. At the same moment the horse stepped into a hidden mole hole and went down with a shriek and the wet snap of breaking bone.
Owen stood for a moment, looking down at the horse. There was only one thing for it. He drew his belt knife and knelt down by the horse's neck.
"Pa! Is he..."
Owen shook his head, then caught his son's eyes. "He'll never walk again. We owe it to him to make the end swift. Watch now. A man shouldn't shy from doing his duty."
He drew his knife across the horse's neck in a swift motion. It kicked a little, then grew still. The sense of foreboding still hovered over him.
With a grunt, Owen heaved the horse over so he could access its belly. He could feel his son's curiosity as he opened up the horse's gut, but Luthor held his silence. A moment later all thought of his son was crowded out of his mind as he lost himself in the reading. It had been many years since he had done this, but all the time seemed to melt away as a vision of the future unfolded...
Owen shook his head, biting back a curse before turning to his son.
"Run and tell your mother to prepare my traveling pack. I need to speak with Ulfar."
Human Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager) / Oracle (Seer) 1
Oracle Mystery: Lunar
Oracle Curse: Lame
STR: 18
DEX: 10
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 10
CHA: 16
Traits: Robot Slayer, Reactionary
Feats:
1: Power Attack
Human: Extra Revelation
Revelations:
1: Natural Divination
Extra: Prophetic Armor
Skills:
Diplomacy (1)
Perception (1)
Heal (1)
Sense Motive (1)
Intimidate (1)
Gear:
Scale mail (50 gp)
Greatsword (50 gp)
Cash (80 gp)
I can fill out the crunch details on request.
How about a shaman of one such barbaric tribe? I mean it in the sense of the title, not the class, though I think the shaman class would also fit. In a band of primitives cornered, survival sometimes forces adaptation. The evolution of tech-less to understanding the basics might be interesting for him. I'm thinking of ranger for the second class.
Northeast Michigan is that bad? I live in Macomb, and though I've never been to anything east of Cheboygan along the coast, I figured Huron up there was pretty too.
Alright, after reading the players guide and rolling it around in my mind I'm looking at Elf Ranger//Rogue(unchained) with Stargazer trait. Probably Forlorn as his other trait but I'm not 100% on that. Wandering nomad and getting to be one of the last of his clan, knowing that adaptation is the key he came to Torch to try to learn more about the sky peoples.
How about A Barbarian/Alchemist gestalt?
I'm thinking the Beastmorph archetype would go well with a Barbarian, or even a Brawler/Alchemist who drinks his mutagen, morphs into something big and bestial, then goes howling into battle and fangs claws out.
Actually, if allowed I will go with the Brawler/Alchemist (beastmorph) gestalt. From a tribe that started out eating their enemies to gain their strength, then over the centuries refined it into a form of quasi-alchemy.
Here's my submission. An Oracle/Barbarian with just a little bit of Unforgiven flavor to him.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
Consider the crunch details requested. :)
How about a shaman of one such barbaric tribe? I mean it in the sense of the title, not the class, though I think the shaman class would also fit. In a band of primitives cornered, survival sometimes forces adaptation. The evolution of tech-less to understanding the basics might be interesting for him. I'm thinking of ranger for the second class.
Sounds good.
Northeast Michigan is that bad? I live in Macomb, and though I've never been to anything east of Cheboygan along the coast, I figured Huron up there was pretty too.
I suppose it's pretty if you're into forests, but it's not the greatest place to be a gay male inhuman. Nor the best place to try living as a more visible minority. There've been incidents.
How about A Barbarian/Alchemist gestalt?
I'm thinking the Beastmorph archetype would go well with a Barbarian, or even a Brawler/Alchemist who drinks his mutagen, morphs into something big and bestial, then goes howling into battle and fangs claws out.
Actually, if allowed I will go with the Brawler/Alchemist (beastmorph) gestalt. From a tribe that started out eating their enemies to gain their strength, then over the centuries refined it into a form of quasi-alchemy.
I'd ordinarily say no to the alchemist (hence it's not on the class list) but as I think about it drinking weird things that turn you into a bestial mutant is very much in keeping with Numeria and the theme I'm going for. You've got my blessing.
Great, I'll have him made up in a day.
Thinking of calling the gestalt class 'The Spiritdrinker'.
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DM, thinking about a concept that I guess I should run through you first before anything else since even if he is still 'barbaric' it is a little bit civilized...
My idea is to make a barbarian that is secretly looking for technological stuff to sell it in Torch. Thought about this concept because I believe this AP definitely would benefit from a PC who has some 'technological skills' like Disable Device and Knowledge (engineering) but that still has a deep barbaric theme.
My plan is to go ranger (galvanic saboteur) from one side and unchained barbarian (numerian liberator/urban barbarian) from the other. The Urban Barbarian archetype is there mostly to give him a couple social skills to make his 'negotiate in Torch' thing at least viable. I'm also looking towards the Local Ties campaign trait.
Full disclosure, I have already played on most of this AP's first book (the GM was great but had to stop the game) so if that is a no-no I completely understand.
Okay, I'm gonna keep it simple this time. Dwarf druid/barbarian, wild shape focus. Smash all of the things with my pet (insert pet here).
My idea is to make a barbarian that is secretly looking for technological stuff to sell it in Torch. Thought about this concept because I believe this AP definitely would benefit from a PC who has some 'technological skills' like Disable Device and Knowledge (engineering) but that still has a deep barbaric theme.
Is it strictly a commercial thing, or is the idea more that he's going to get tech that's already surfaced into the hands of the already corrupted rather than have it taint with purer communities?
Full disclosure, I have already played on most of this AP's first book (the GM was great but had to stop the game) so if that is a no-no I completely understand.
That doesn't bother me. I'll be rearranging and changing some things anyway. Only way it might be an issue is if you were consistently guessing just the right thing to do or something like that.
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Is it strictly a commercial thing, or is the idea more that he's going to get tech that's already surfaced into the hands of the already corrupted rather than have it taint with purer communities?
I think it really depends on which alignment he ends up with. I imagine that a barbarian party would weight heavily on the Chaotic side so I imagine him being either CG or TN (or even CN if it is ok). I'm more keen to the idea of a purely commercial thing as the real reason behind his motives since I believe it would lead to more RP opportunities when the rest of the 'tech-haters' members discover about his misdeeds. You actually gave me a pretty good excuse for his dealings though! Obviously he wouldn't be able to explain why he is actively seeking more items instead of just smashing them into pieces.
That being said, I'm not looking to disrupt the party in any way so if the party is clearly more good aligned, I could for sure go real with the 'get rid of the tainted stuff' route.
That doesn't bother me. I'll be rearranging and changing some things anyway. Only way it might be an issue is if you were consistently guessing just the right thing to do or something like that.
I believe I'm pretty good at keeping player/PC knowledge apart so I promise I won't spoil anything. As a side note, there is also always the change that my group's decisions where not the 'right' ones and also our GM hand waved almost all the minor encounters so my knowledge would be more like 40-50% anyway.
Is it strictly a commercial thing, or is the idea more that he's going to get tech that's already surfaced into the hands of the already corrupted rather than have it taint with purer communities?I think it really depends on which alignment he ends up with. I imagine that a barbarian party would weight heavily on the Chaotic side so I imagine him being either CG or TN (or even CN if it is ok). I'm more keen to the idea of a purely commercial thing as the real reason behind his motives since I believe it would lead to more RP opportunities when the rest of the 'tech-haters' members discover about his misdeeds. You actually gave me a pretty good excuse for his dealings though! Obviously he wouldn't be able to explain why he is actively seeking more items instead of just smashing them into pieces.
That is an interesting dynamic. You've got my go-ahead.
Consider the crunch details requested. :)Here's my submission. An Oracle/Barbarian with just a little bit of Unforgiven flavor to him.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
Cool, here it is. I tried to wrestle Hero Lab into doing a decent gestalt character sheet, please let me know if anything looks wonky. The first level FCB is being put into the human superstition bonus.
Human (Kellid) barbarian (invulnerable rager) / oracle (seer) 1
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +3 dex)
hp 14 (1d12+2)
Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +2
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee greatsword +5 (2d6+6/19-20)
Special Attacks rage (6 rounds/day)
Oracle (Seer) Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +4)
. . 1st (4/day)—cure light wounds, divine favor, protection from evil
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, guidance, light, virtue
. . Mystery Lunar
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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Atk +1; CMB +5; CMD 15
Feats Power Attack, Extra Revelation
Traits reactionary, robot slayer
Skills Intimidate +7, Perception +4, Diplomacy +7, Heal +4, Sense Motive +4
Languages Common, Hallit
SQ fast movement, oracle's curse (lame), revelations (natural divination, prophetic armor)
Other Gear scale mail, greatsword, 80 gp
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Special Abilities
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Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
Lame One of your legs is permanently wounded, reducing your base land speed by 10 feet if your base speed is 30 feet or more. If your base speed is less than 30 feet, your speed is reduced by 5 feet. Your speed is never reduced due to encumbrance. At 5th
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Rage (6 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Natural Divination (1/day) (Su) You can gain a bonus to a save, skill check, or initiative roll which must be used within 24h.
Prophetic Armor (Ex) You may apply your Charisma modifier instead of Dexterity to AC and Reflex saves.
Hey Samnell's parasitic master, how do you feel about dinosaur animal companions?
Hey Samnell's parasitic master, how do you feel about dinosaur animal companions?
Go for it.
Also: the submissions doc should be up to date as of this post.
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With the understandable distrust of "dark magic" among barbarian tribes, how well do you think an unwilling Oracle of the Dark Tapestry might get along in this "Conan-ized" version of the setting?
And, on a related note, would you allow such an Oracle to have multiple personalities, via the Shattered Psyche curse?
To give that some actual character context, the rough idea is a young Varisian nomad who had an encounter with "something" Dark Tapestry-related as a child that thoroughly scrambled his mind. Now has two additional voices/personae in his head, one of which thoroughly terrifies him and seems to be growing stronger along with his powers.
Obviously has plenty of work to be done, and I haven't settled on the second half of the gestalt yet, but would something like that be feasible?
With the understandable distrust of "dark magic" among barbarian tribes, how well do you think an unwilling Oracle of the Dark Tapestry might get along in this "Conan-ized" version of the setting?
Someone unwittingly cursed by fell powers would fit well. Probably there would be friction with superstitious barbarian types who aren't sure if it's a curse the PC wants clear of or something that has them in thrall, but if that RP's not an issue then it's all good.
And, on a related note, would you allow such an Oracle to have multiple personalities, via the Shattered Psyche curse?
I don't think there'd be any problem with that.