Going to be helping my mother move for the next few days so posting will be sporadic. Normal schedule (which is back up pretty close to every game, every day again) should resume Thursday.
F AC 14, touch 10, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor) hp 65 (7d8+9) Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +9; +2 vs. enchantments Immune sleep
This past Saturday my right right started giving me some issues. I thought it would be getting better but today I went to the Urgent Care and the Doctor has made an emergency appointment for tomorrow afternoon at NM Eye Associates. The Urgent Care doctor thinks that my retina may be detached but wants the specialists to take a look at it.
I will keep you apprised of the situation.
This past Saturday my right right started giving me some issues. I thought it would be getting better but today I went to the Urgent Care and the Doctor has made an emergency appointment for tomorrow afternoon at NM Eye Associates. The Urgent Care doctor thinks that my retina may be detached but wants the specialists to take a look at it.
I will keep you apprised of the situation.
Oof. Hope they're wrong and it's just a little thing!
F AC 14, touch 10, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor) hp 65 (7d8+9) Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +9; +2 vs. enchantments Immune sleep
Had a follow up yesterday. Doctor is happy with how the eye is healing but there is still some swelling in the eye so vision is still a bit blurry in the right eye until that goes down.
Had a follow up yesterday. Doctor is happy with how the eye is healing but there is still some swelling in the eye so vision is still a bit blurry in the right eye until that goes down.
F AC 14, touch 10, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor) hp 65 (7d8+9) Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +9; +2 vs. enchantments Immune sleep
Happy NeW Year. I have been in bed the past few days fighting off a cold and catching up on Star Trek Voyager. I think it is my favorite of the Trekkie series.
Male Minotaur - Wizard 3 (T) - HP 26/26 [Temp 21/32]| AC= 12 | CMD = 14 | Init +10 |F - +4|R - +3|W - +3|Per + 2/+4 || Hero P 1 +2 Perception & Sense Notice when Kossel w/in 10'
Would my temporary Con damage have been healed by now or do I need a full day of rest for that? Don't remember off hand and don't have the books with me :-)
Would my temporary Con damage have been healed by now or do I need a full day of rest for that? Don't remember off hand and don't have the books with me :-)
I used to be very regular about my PBPs. Most days I could get to all six, though there were occasional slips where I missed that I had a declaration or RL intervened. The past year and change of my life have not been all that great, including repeated illness for myself and loved ones, a lot of difficult family stuff, and generally poor mental health. It’s been a regular crap tsunami. As all of you know, I’ve struggled to keep up even after shifting to resolving each game every other day. You have all been great; I just don’t have it in me to keep going as I have been.
Every GM makes a promise when they start a game that they’re going to be here and try to give you a good experience. This is me breaking it because I just can’t anymore. I have told myself many times that next round or next week I’ll be back on the d20. I recruited for replacement players on that premise. It hasn’t happened. You deserve better than I can give.
I’m sorry. Thank you all for putting up with me and I hope I was able to bring some happiness to your lives through these games. Know that you brought some to mine.
Sorry to hear that Samnell get some well deserved rest, I have certainly been entertained and enjoyed gaming with you. I understand completely what RL tsunamis can do :-(
F AC 14, touch 10, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor) hp 65 (7d8+9) Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +9; +2 vs. enchantments Immune sleep
I understand perfectly as well. Do you think that you could give us a summary post so as not to leave the campaign in Limbo and where we might be able to recruit another GM?
Hello! I’m Samnell or I have hollowed out his body and wear his skin as clothing, which is pretty much the same thing. Inspired by this thread over here, I’ve decided to give running the Dragonlance series a go. Cool? Cool.
GM in search of 4-6 PCs (and matching players) to play the Dragonlance saga. I have three spots spoken for from the thread where I got the idea. They got me excited about it, so it would be rude to shut them out. The spoken-for spots go to a player interested in a cleric, a wizard or knight, and a rogue or bard. But that’s only half to three-quarters of a party. Probably half, given the odds, but who knows? The closer I get to six, the less worried I am about having a classic or semi-classic balanced party.
But here’s some stuff.
The Dragonlance series? What?:
Yes. The original 1980s adventure epic involving the warring, riding, and lancing of various dragons. The ones with the kender, the Solamnic Knights, and the weird-eyed wizard in dire need of a lozenge.
I have the originals and started off reading through them in the course of deciding to do this, but learned after reading the first adventure in both versions that the 00s update is faithful right down to word-for-word passages and seemed to have no substantive changes to the story. So I’ll be drawing mostly from that. They don’t seem to have left anything out, except some dated presentation that I can’t say I miss. It’s not fair to compare thirty year old adventures with modern stuff, of course. I’m just more used to how adventures have been written in the past fifteen years or so and thus find it much easier to navigate.
Canon and associated PCs:
If you’re interested in this game, you probably know the story. It’s been thirty years, right? The series started before I entered kindergarten. The whole thing comes with premade PCs that have all the familiar names and probably act like the characters in the novels to most of us. That’s cool and all, but insisting upon all of that wouldn’t make for much of a game. For purposes of this game, those PCs largely do not exist. Your PCs will take their places and be the Heroes of the Lance. You are not, by and large, obligated to follow their choices. Your PCs are your PCs. We’re here to game, not play canon police. It’s fine, of course, to be inspired by a canon PC in creating your own. I am not the boss of your brain.
With regard to the canon PCs, I say “largely” replaced because a few of them on the fringes of the core group may still show up as NPCs and serve as occasional supporting players. It’s still your story. They’re just visiting.
With regard to the canon choices, I’ll be honest: The DL series has very set start and end points to scenarios and isn’t especially fault-tolerant. Within a scenario you can explore alternate options. Individual adventures can be more open-ended than the series’ reputation suggests, but sometimes they do live up to it. You don’t have to go where the plot appears to demand, but there is a limit to how far off-script one can go and how long one can remain there. This is much more like an adventure path than a sandbox. It demands a bit of playing along. While it might seem more abrupt than usual (and if you’ve ever read any of the adventures, you’ll know it gets heavy-handed) I’ll do my best to keep it within the normal social contract inherent in an adventure path.
That said, there are occasions where choices are forced. I’ll do what I can to mitigate them and try to make the choices seem reasonable in-character. This includes at least a few occasions where the party are scripted to lose fights and get taken prisoner. For the times I’ve looked closely at in advance, there seem to be ways around the foregone conclusion and they will be available to the party without breaking the plot.
But there’s a big one you can’t really dodge: About a third of the way through the main narrative, which is a very long RL time off, a party split is forced. The party remains split for the back half of the adventure path, only coming back together for the big conclusion. The two halves of the story proceed on different ends of the continent and run concurrently in-world. I plan to let the players decide how to best handle that and to pick where they go rather than imposing the choice upon you. The party will fission into two roughly equal-sized half parties, who then get augmented with new characters and/or NPCs taken over by players. We’ll work out the logistics when the time comes. If no one is really interested in one of the plot forks, I’ll skip it and you’ll all go with the one you prefer. What has to happen to keep things going, I’ll handwave as proceeding offscreen.
Will I make changes?:
Oh yes. I’m not going to turn Takhisis into a good guy, but it’s inherent in GMing that I’ll adjust things to taste (mine and the group’s), to suit the party’s abilities, and in the interests of fun as well as to accommodate the medium. I’m not a massive fan of comic relief and gully dwarves make me a little bit uneasy. That doesn’t mean either will be absent, but I’ll probably tone them down a bit. It’s fine for you to like them and all, but if you’ve just got to have the all-gully dwarf laugh parade then I’m probably not going to give you what you want in a game. No hard feelings.
PBPs are slow, so I’ll definitely be outright skipping some encounters, rolling others together, and handling others through brief narrative references like “You slay several parties of draconians on your way to the outhouse.” I’ll narrate through small potatoes stuff, not plot-critical elements or your first fight against a cool new monster. I might make reference to injuries suffered and healed in narration, but consider all that dealt with by virtual resources that don’t really count against you.
Divine Magic:
The deal at the start of the AP is that the real gods either pitched a fit, and a mountain, at Krynn and abandoned it for centuries or the people of Krynn turned against them and they respected the choice. The latter is technically the canon version, but as you might have guessed I’m open to alternative readings of events. The details don’t matter so much as the consequence: nobody has cast a divine spell or worked any species of gods-given miracle for three hundred years. All clerics, druids, and so forth are heathens who lack the knowledge and possibly the inclination to follow the true gods. As such they don’t get any magical abilities, period.
That sucks, right? Who wants to play a spell-less cleric? Possibly no one, but if someone does want to take one for the team then I’m ok with that. However, know going in that the divine blackout ends at the conclusion of the first adventure and you will have limited healing access before then via a plot device. When the blackout ends, you’ll have the option of an epiphany that permits you to swap any and all of your existing levels for levels in a divine spellcasting class. So you can play something else that fits your concept and then trade up if that’s your thing, rather than being stuck with a class missing class features for a goodly while.
The Hook
I would normally tack this on the end of the post, or at least spoiler it, but it asks a bit more than usual of you in the way of backstory and concept so I want to put it up here. The initial conceit of the game is that the party already know one another and all grew up in or around the town of Solace in Abanasinia, the latter of which I am extremely likely to misspell. Its unofficial nickname is Misspelled Ethiopia because I am a dork. Anyway, about five years back, the plucky youngsters left home on various business. They were all nominally looking for signs of the true gods, but may have had other things in mind too. Now they’re coming home, as agreed beforehand, to share what they know with one another. Nobody found the true gods just yet. It’s totally fine, and encouraged, if you and another PC spent all or part of the five years abroad together.
Solace is a majority-human place and not particularly diverse. It is at a crossroads and has trade with elves and dwarves, as well as kender crawling around, but it’s not really home to many unusual races. Even some otherwise normal Dragonlance races would be unusual. There’ll be a full list in the chargen.
Are you out of luck if you want to play something unusual? Not really. The easiest way to do that would be for your PC to meet and befriend one of the Solace crowd in their travels and come back with them. Or your friend from Solace could have died at some point, but you came to let his hometown know and get caught up in things. I’m open to suggestions.
I think that hits all the high notes of stuff you really ought to know upfront, so let’s get into some chargen stuff.
Chargen:
25 point buy. You may lower one score below 10, before racial modifiers, but don’t go too crazy with it. Feel free to avail yourself of the calculator here.
Level: PCs begin the game at 5th level. You will advance on hitting key plot points, not by xp accumulation.
Gear: You know what, I hate keeping track of gear. I bet you do too. This game will use virtual gearing. Every level you get an allowance, in gp, which you can spend on whatever gear you like provided that it’s not breaking some setting provision. (They’re fresh out of healing potions.) Whenever you level, your allowance increases and you can reconfigure your armament. You can also do so in any sufficiently large city, given a bit of downtime. You still need to track your burning through scrolls, wands, and other items with limited uses because they can run out in the wild, but when you have the ability to replenish you can replace them. If you choose to take item creation feats and/or craft skills, you can charge yourself with only the cost to craft of items you make for yourself. If you want, you can even use the skills for others. In that case, the crafting cost would come out of their budget.
Looting will mostly reveal plot devices and story information, since it’s all abstracted. However, from time to time I might give you something of in-world significance. Plot devices don’t count against your gear total, but more ordinary cool things may. It’ll be decided on a case-by-case basis. There are situations where the adventures obviously give you something to help out with a tough boss fight, usually a single-use item. I wouldn’t charge those against you. But a cool sword that’s basically a normal magic item with a good backstory? That probably would. It’s something we can talk through when the occasion arises.
This isn’t the most realistic thing around, but it skips almost all the discussions about who gets what or whether or not people are about even and it does so with very little overhead. You’re just responsible for tracking your own PC, which you would do anyway. :)
Allowed Races: human, hill dwarf, Qualinesti elf, half-elf, kender. The dwarves and elves use the PRD/PH rules. There are other kinds of dwarf and elf, but they would be more unusual in Solace and need a bit more explaining. Likewise minotaurs, which live on the far corner of Ansalon from Solace. Goblinoid sorts would be an especially hard sell.
If you need rules for one of the Krynn-specific races, let me know and I can hook you up. I’m using the versions in the 3.5 campaign setting.
Allowed Classes: Rather than make a big list, let me lay out some general points. If a class doesn’t run afoul of them, you should be good to go. If you’re not sure, please ask. I rarely bite. Also remember that divine spellcasters can’t cast spells yet.
No guns.
No Asian-themed classes.
No occult classes.
No spontaneous arcane spellcasting...except for bards. (There’s a minor continuity snarl with regard to bards, since they were very different in the 1e that DL was written for. The books have “bards” of a sort going way back, so this is my compromise. The Order of High Sorcery does not consider bardcraft within their purview. Bards cannot cast healing magic.)
No summoners.
You can play non-wizard, prepared arcane spellcasters but the Order of High Sorcery would understand them as under its purview and treat those who didn’t cooperate, take their Test, and enroll as dangerous renegades. No such character can cast any cure X wounds or other healing spell, but they can retain the rest of their spell list.
Alignment
Dragonlance is a pretty goody-good sort of story. PCs are generally assumed to be altruistic. However, it’s a goody-good story that also has as a major trope that evil turns on itself. The most famous character from the novels is a guy who starts off neutral and turns evil, but still proves an asset to the party most of the time. As long as your PC can work well enough with the other PCs and you’re not stomping on one another’s fun, I don’t particularly mind if someone wants to play neutral and/or evil. It will, however, necessarily fall on you to figure out why your PC is still on the side of the angels in this particular case. Maybe you just like the party more than you do the bad guys.
Languages
I can provide a list if necessary, but there’s one axe I’m going to grind here. The continent-wide common tongue that everyone grows up speaking drives me nuts. It’s a gaming abstraction, I know, but it’s an abstraction that gets in the way of a lot of flavor. Languages are pretty easy to acquire in PF, so I don’t think removing Common hurts too much. The dominant language of trade and commerce in Abanasinia is Abanasinian. Everyone gets it for free, no matter where you’re from. Other languages will be useful in-game, and you can probably guess or already know several of them. I don’t intend to hassle you endlessly about language matters, but now and then you might need to find an interpreter or use some magic to communicate.
Hit Points
Let’s keep it simple: take your maximum at every level.
Backstory
Give me a paragraph or so of text telling me about your PC, how they came to Solace, and what kind of person they are. You can write more if you want. This is how I’ll get a sense for who might go well with the party and who might clash badly, as well as interesting dynamics that might emerge. Other than the backstory, I only know a PC by stats and they’re rarely eloquent on such matters.
Various House Rules:
Initiative and Fights
I learned in my other PBP that trying to do individual resolutions of actions in fights bogged things down very badly and most players soon lost track of what was happening. So here’s how it’ll go: Whenever a fight begins, I’ll roll the initiatives for everyone. The PCs, and any combatant friendlies, will then have their rolls averaged together to give a group initiative. Same for the bad guys. This group initiative decides who goes first, you or the opposition. I’ll resolve individual actions together in order of posting, unless someone declares a delay, either all the good guys first or all the bad guys first, depending on the outcome of the group rolls. It’s not quite as granular as tabletop, but I found out in my other game that it was much easier for PCs to coordinate actions together and made a lot of intuitive sense to most people.
After every resolution, I’ll post up a due date for actions. Usually it’s about two days hence. If you haven’t posted a declaration by the time it rolls around, I may bot your PC for the round to keep things going.
Curse of the Magic
This is a variant rule from the 3e campaign setting. In the books, characters using arcane magic often have it take a lot out of them. To model this, whenever a character casts an arcane spell the character must roll a Fortitude Save, DC 10+spell level. If you succeed, you’re fine. On a failure, you become Fatigued. Fail again while fatigued and you’re exhausted. Fail while exhausted and you fall unconscious. These states can be remedied through rest or with restorative magic.
Given the low DC, I think this will be mostly a flavor thing unless you purposefully build for it. If it seems too intrusive or fun-ruining, let me know and we can discuss the issue. I think it’s cool, but I’m not married to it.
Norms and Expectations:
Most of this is probably pretty standard.
I will share battlemaps via Roll20. I don’t think you need to sign up for an account to view; there’ll be a link above the thread when the time comes. If you’re not familiar, Roll20 is a handy virtual tabletop that works through your browser. If you want to make accounts, then I can attach your PC token to your account so you can move yourself around the battle. It also facilitates fog of war and such very nicely, which makes for easy exploration and battle set-up. No other method I’ve used to do those things online has been half so easy to manage. It’s even got little health bars to help you keep track of friends and foes. Doing those chores used to be the absolute worst when I ran games online. I understand that not everyone loves it, but I rate the thing an essential tool.
I plan for a post a day or thereabouts. 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.
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. I’ll do all these rolls in the open using the dice commands, but bury the lot of them in a spoiler and just 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, but I’ll try to minimize fatalities. Story-driven games tend to rot when from within with too much cast turnover.
When you do something that requires a roll from an NPC, like casting a hostile spell, I’ll roll that save. There are too many conditional bonuses, resistances, and immunities that might come into play to frontload a listing of them all and at times the PCs should be surprised by them. When foes come loaded with buffing spells and the like, I will do my best to remember to indicate that in their descriptions under the premise that active magical effects in close proximity generally have some visible manifestation.
I will be more forthcoming with ACs, as they tend to be all-or-nothing affairs. If I forget, feel free to remind me. Thus you should ordinarily be able to resolve things requiring attack rolls in the post with your declaration. You’re encouraged to flavor your hits and misses how you like. Most of the time, I plan to outright give you the hit point totals of your targets so you can know right away if you did them in or not. For important NPCs and monsters, I’ll keep the hit point total hidden but plan to give you general descriptors of their condition like “unharmed” and “near death”.
Please try to get along, at least so far as the game threads go, OOC. We’re going to be spending a fair bit of time together.
I will probably screw it up. Be patient. :)
I’ll take submissions until 11:59 PM, Eastern Standard Time, on November 17. That’s a week from today, more or less.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? That’s what the thread’s for. :)
Oh wow, Dragonlance. That sounds awesome, never played the modules but I read the books as a kid.
Regarding classes, I'd be happy to play almost anything. Still I'd probably have the most fun with an order of the white robes wizard or a knight. Am I right in thinking the player who cleric/wizard/knight hadn't decided which yet?
Regarding pathfinder conversation, the knights of solomsnia are effectively paladins or cavilers right?
Oh wow, Dragonlance. That sounds awesome, never played the modules but I read the books as a kid.
Regarding classes, I'd be happy to play almost anything. Still I'd probably have the most fun with an order of the white robes wizard or a knight. Am I right in thinking the player who cleric/wizard/knight hadn't decided which yet?
Regarding pathfinder conversation, the knights of solomsnia are effectively paladins or cavilers right?
Sorry, I wrote that sentence poorly. Three players with different ambitions, not one player spread all over the place. :) The cleric is pretty settled. The Rogue/Bard and wizard/knight players aren't quite.
There are prestige classes to model the knights, which would be available to interested players. Of course you can be a member of the group in-game without taking levels. Technically, the knights are supposed to replace paladins as an option, but since they're literally paladins in most of the ways that matter I wouldn't mind if a player would rather realize their knight that way.
Thanks for the clarification on what the others want to play. Would you mind if I made a couple of submissions? Without knowing what your wizard/knight player will settle on, its hard to know what to focus on.
Thanks for the clarification on what the others want to play. Would you mind if I made a couple of submissions? Without knowing what your wizard/knight player will settle on, its hard to know what to focus on.
If you want to go to the extra effort, I don't mind.
Ooooh Dragonlance! Awesome, I would LOVE to play this! It'll take me a while to figure out what I want to play (Thinking towards a Hunter currently...) but I LOVE Dragonlance!
Storyteller Shadow here. This is my Avatar, need to bring him to 5th level it seems :-). If Tasslehoff is in the game as an NPC, and I would think he would be, I will work into my Background that I met him on the road and agreed to come west with him to seek out Wayreth so that I can take my test and become a Wizard like my idol, Magius.
Much as I want to try a Knight, I really enjoyed this character when I played him and want to give him another chance at developing into a high level character.
Storyteller Shadow here. This is my Avatar, need to bring him to 5th level it seems :-). If Tasslehoff is in the game as an NPC, and I would think he would be, I will work into my Background that I met him on the road and agreed to come west with him to seek out Wayreth so that I can take my test and become a Wizard like my idol, Magius.
I'm fairly sure the Tasselhoff role is going to be filled by Dragonofashandflame's kender rogue or bard. If he's up for that (very likely he is) then it works for me.
Also update for anyone coming into the thread: We have a cleric, a wizard, and a rogue or bard in the party. It's ok to overlap if you want, especially if we end up with six, but if you'd prefer to avoid that then now you know.
I was thinking of writing up the story of three human siblings. A mage, lets call him Justin, of the white robes who passed his test, but got burnt horribly in the process. His flame haird wild child sister, lets call her Caitlin, who came with him and watched him get burned to a crisp by his own magics. Scarred by what she saw she's intensely distrustful of magic. (Superstitious barbarian)
Their brother, lets call him Thomas, is the aspiring knight who stayed behind out of duty. The family had racked up significant debts from Justin's tutorship. He stayed behind and worked every hour the gods gave him without complaint because it was the right thing to do.
I think it'll be fun, I probably won't bother stating up Justin but I think I will stat up the other two.
Thistletorp would probably be fascinated by a giant minotaur wizard and ask him incessant questions! He'd have befriend Jakun because he's so different.
I am thinking of doing 1 or 2 levels in Fighter for the training he received as a knight even if he is not a member. Being a half-elf it might be very difficult for him to join the ranks but maybe he grew up partially in Solmania with Derek and Brian Donner while also spending time with the Qualanesti. Since he really isnt a formal knight and not liked by the elves he joined the Seekers (4 levels of cleric) to feel accepted and was stationed in Solace even though Hederick cannot stand him.
Even though he knows that he might never be a knight he still holds to what the knighthood is about, the nobility of what it stands for and as such would be attracted to the faith of Paladine, the power of Majesty who calls all to be noble, stuff like that?
I am thinking of doing 1 or 2 levels in Fighter for the training he received as a knight even if he is not a member. Being a half-elf it might be very difficult for him to join the ranks but maybe he grew up partially in Solmania with Derek and Brian Donner while also spending time with the Qualanesti. Since he really isnt a formal knight and not liked by the elves he joined the Seekers (4 levels of cleric) to feel accepted and was stationed in Solace even though Hederick cannot stand him.
How does that work??
Maybe you hid your Elven heritage and got kicked out when they found out?
Thistletorp would probably be fascinated by a giant minotaur wizard and ask him incessant questions! He'd have befriend Jakun because he's so different.
My character is fascinated by the Kender having seen none in his Homeland. I will modify my story so I journey to Kendermore and mayne that is where I meet you. Follow you on your adventures (Tas had some interesting ones you could simply swipe for your background if you look up his Wiki page) for some time until you tell me you need to go back to Solace.
Knowing that Solace is near Wayreth, I agree to go there with you until I am summoned for my test.
My character is fascinated by the Kender having seen none in his Homeland. I will modify my story so I journey to Kendermore and mayne that is where I meet you. Follow you on your adventures (Tas had some interesting ones you could simply swipe for your background if you look up his Wiki page) for some time until you tell me you need to go back to Solace.
Knowing that Solace is near Wayreth, I agree to go there with you until I am summoned for my test.
You want to do your Test in-game? Cool. I'll make the arrangements.
I am thinking of doing 1 or 2 levels in Fighter for the training he received as a knight even if he is not a member. Being a half-elf it might be very difficult for him to join the ranks but maybe he grew up partially in Solmania with Derek and Brian Donner while also spending time with the Qualanesti. Since he really isnt a formal knight and not liked by the elves he joined the Seekers (4 levels of cleric) to feel accepted and was stationed in Solace even though Hederick cannot stand him.
Even though he knows that he might never be a knight he still holds to what the knighthood is about, the nobility of what it stands for and as such would be attracted to the faith of Paladine, the power of Majesty who calls all to be noble, stuff like that?
Looks like, yeah. You can still double up, but I'm a little antsy at the present shortage of melee-oriented PCs. Less of an issue if more people take an interest, of course.
OK, my submission is complete. I will modify my Background to follow Thistletorp Babblebrook on his later background adventures arriving in Solace at the start of game with the Kender.
Yes Samnell, I think it would be interesting for him to complete the test in game. Of course if I don't make it I have a Knight concept waiting in the wings :-)
Fang Dragon, my Wizard is militant (a borderline front liner) so if you want to run a more traditional Wizard I don't see why you should not submit one!
I am sure we will get a few more submissions for the Martial characters.
Fang Dragon, my Wizard is militant (a borderline front liner) so if you want to run a more traditional Wizard I don't see why you should not submit one!
Almost sounds like a magus tbh :) Gishes are great.
OK I'll submit all three. If nothing else they could make some useful NPCs (aka Draconian bait) for Samnell to mercilessly slay.
I am thinking of doing 1 or 2 levels in Fighter for the training he received as a knight even if he is not a member. Being a half-elf it might be very difficult for him to join the ranks but maybe he grew up partially in Solmania with Derek and Brian Donner while also spending time with the Qualanesti. Since he really isnt a formal knight and not liked by the elves he joined the Seekers (4 levels of cleric) to feel accepted and was stationed in Solace even though Hederick cannot stand him.
How does that work??
Maybe you hid your Elven heritage and got kicked out when they found out?
I dont really see him ashamed of his elven heritage. He doesnt flaunt it but he loves both of his parents and sees the potentiality of goodness in the races even if not accepted by them.
I am thinking of doing 1 or 2 levels in Fighter for the training he received as a knight even if he is not a member. Being a half-elf it might be very difficult for him to join the ranks but maybe he grew up partially in Solmania with Derek and Brian Donner while also spending time with the Qualanesti. Since he really isnt a formal knight and not liked by the elves he joined the Seekers (4 levels of cleric) to feel accepted and was stationed in Solace even though Hederick cannot stand him.
How does that work??
Maybe you hid your Elven heritage and got kicked out when they found out?
I dont really see him ashamed of his elven heritage. He doesnt flaunt it but he loves both of his parents and sees the potentiality of goodness in the races even if not accepted by them.
I did not mean he would be ashamed of it but that if he hid the heritage he could have joined the Knighthood whereas a half-elf would not, at least in pre-War of the Lance times it would not have seemed that he could have.
I was asked to provide Kender stats. I cut one open and measured everything very thoroughly. Like Scully used to do on that documentary. I might also have played a bit, but only after the measurements were done. I'm a professional.
Behold the Kender Stats:
+2 Dex, -2 Str, -2 Wis
Small size
Speed 30
+1 racial bonus to all saves
+2 racial bonus to disable device, perception, sleight of hand
-4 racial penalty to concentration checks
Taunt: can use bluff to taunt foes. A taunted foe takes -1 to attacks and AC until taunter's next action. Anybody can taunt, but kender get a +4 racial bonus to bluff checks made for the purpose.
Immune to fear.
Weapon familiar: Kender are proficient with the hoopak, whippick, battack and chapak.
Automatic languages: Kenderspeak, Abnasinian (because the game starts there). Bonus: Dwarven, Ergot, Elven, Goblin, Solamnic.
Favored Class: rogue.
That would then give them reason to see him as dishonorable and they would be justified in keeping him out. Since he hasn't done anything wrong other than be born not whole of any race, the injustice is on the elves and the Solamnics.
In Races of Ansalon kender were given a speed of 30 ft and had simple weapon proficies with kender weapons like the hoopak, whippick, battack and chapak.
I am looking at either Lorewarden or Tactitican archetypes, they seem to be more appropriate flavor wise.
This might be an interesting Cleric archetype:
Eschewing physical armor for protection via the strength of his faith, an ecclesitheurge focuses on the miracles his deity bestows and the breadth of that deity's dominion.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
An ecclesitheurge is proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff, but he's not proficient with any type of armor or shield. This replaces the cleric's weapon and armor proficiencies.
Ecclesitheurge's Vow
At 1st level, an ecclesitheurge makes a vow to his deity to be protected solely by his faith, not by armor or shields. An ecclesitheurge who wears armor or uses a shield is unable to use his blessing of the faithful ability, use cleric domain powers, or cast cleric spells.
Blessing of the Faithful (Su)
As a standard action, the ecclesitheurge can bless one ally within close range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels). A blessed ally gains a +2 sacred or profane bonus (depending on whether the ecclesitheurge channels positive or negative energy) on attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, or saving throws or to AC until the ecclesitheurge's next turn. The ecclesitheurge can expend 1 use of channel energy when activating this ability to increase the duration to a number of rounds equal to the number of dice of his channel energy.
Domain Mastery
At 1st level, when an ecclesitheurge chooses his cleric domains, he designates one as his primary domain and the other as his secondary domain. An ecclesitheurge can use his non-domain spell slots to prepare spells from his primary domain's spell list.
Each day when he prepares spells, an ecclesitheurge can select a different domain granted by his deity to gain access to that domain's spell list instead of his secondary domain spell list. He does not lose access to his actual secondary domain's granted powers or gain access to the other domain's granted powers. For example, an ecclesitheurge with Glory as his primary domain and Good as his secondary domain can choose to gain access to the Healing domain; until the next time he prepares spells, he uses the Healing domain spell list as his secondary domain spell list instead of the Good domain spell list, but still keeps the granted powers of the Good domain and does not gain the granted powers of the Healing domain.
This ability alters the normal domain ability.
Bonded Holy Symbol (Su)
At 3rd level, an ecclesitheurge forms a powerful bond with a holy symbol of his deity, which functions identically to a wizard's bonded object except it can be used to cast cleric and domain spells (instead of wizard spells) and the ecclesitheurge can grant his bonded holy symbol only magic abilities appropriate for a holy symbol or a neck slot item. As with a wizard's bonded item, an ecclesitheurge can add additional magic abilities to his bonded holy symbol as if he had the required item creation feat (typically Craft Wondrous Item), provided he meets the feat's level prerequisites. For example, an ecclesitheurge with a bonded holy symbol who wants to add a wondrous amulet ability, like amulet of natural armor, to his bonded holy symbol must be at least 3rd level to do so. The magic properties of a bonded holy symbol, including any magic abilities the ecclesitheurge added to the object, function for only the ecclesitheurge. If a bonded holy symbol's owner dies or the item is replaced, the object loses all enhancements the ecclesitheurge added using this ability.
This ability replaces the increase to channel energy gained at 3rd level.
In Races of Ansalon kender were given a speed of 30 ft and had simple weapon proficies with kender weapons like the hoopak, whippick, battack and chapak.
You know what? That's fair. Other races get racial weaponry and the only small creatures that usually get a speed of 20 are PC races. I see kender as a bit spry. Post edited.
Oh gods, Dragonlance! I think I'll make up a Minotaur paladin. She always felt that the honor that was drilled into the race from birth was always lacking something fundemental. There is no honor in vengeance. She learned of an order that claimed to be the pinnacle of knighthood in the human lands and seeks them out.
Essentially she is the replacement for Sturm Brightblade and can weave into the Minotaur wizard being thought up.
What about just going heathen cleric with favored weapon longsword like paladins do that the spell progression isn't lost. We could explain it as his training with the knights.
Oh gods, Dragonlance! I think I'll make up a Minotaur paladin. She always felt that the honor that was drilled into the race from birth was always lacking something fundemental. There is no honor in vengeance. She learned of an order that claimed to be the pinnacle of knighthood in the human lands and seeks them out.
Essentially she is the replacement for Sturm Brightblade and can weave into the Minotaur wizard being thought up.
Tal's right that you'd have to wait a bit to get your paladin special abilities running. You can, however, avail yourself of an epiphany at that time. So you could play a fighter or whatever until then and trade over when the time came if you'd rather have a full-featured class.
"There are other kinds of dwarf and elf, but they would be more unusual in Solace and need a bit more explaining. Likewise minotaurs, which live on the far corner of Ansalon from Solace." I understand that the app will have to be good. I'm willing to work on it and if it doesn't get picked that it doesn't get picked. I still want to try though.
Here’s a first draft of the Weissman family. I need to flesh Thomas out a bit more. I haven’t really thought of an archetype for him, yet. Feedback would be appreciated :)
Justin Weissman:
When somebody first sees Justin, from a distance, they could be forgiven for thinking him an old man in voluminous mousy white robes. He shuffles along painfully, back bent as if by three score or more of years. A closer look would reveal his surprisingly young and gaunt face, with wispy flaxen hair, piercing blue eyes and the scalded horror of scar tissue covering everywhere else. The test was the pivotal moment of his life, leaving him with hands that are little more than claws. Every morning he has to rub in a foul smelling ointment to stop them seizing up, it wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t burn so. Walking is a nightmare of shooting pains and bone deep aches, riding is unspeakably worse. Sleeping is a trial of blinding white hot agony where his tortured back is forced yet again to take his weight. Yet not once will you hear him complain, it was his own pride and hubris that burnt him. Pain was a good teacher, it taught him he was still alive. Pain would be with him every day, closer than the lovers he could no longer have.
When he finally did get to sleep, it was always the same dream. Clomping around wayreth forest in circles, chasing a ghost with Caitlyn, bless her, going everso slightly crazy with boredom. ”We’ve been here before Justin! Look you can see where I carved my name into the tree.””Mmm oh dear, you did didn’t you. I don’t the mages like that kind of thing. They’re protective of the trees.” It had taken him a few weeks to figure out the pattern, part of the test he supposed.
The dream always shifted at this point, they had spent the best part of a week in the tower but that passed in a blur. Suddenly he was there in the test. The test chamber was huge, and filled with a peculiar mist that distorted everything, lending a sinister veneer to everything. He felt a moment of dislocation as if falling and then he was in the subterranean ruins. This was the moment he had waited and worked all his life for. Finally he, Justin Wiessman a nobody from Solace, would show the masters what he could do. That he was cool under pressure that he deserved to wear the robes and be accepted as one of them.
And then the zombies ran screeching at him, and he totally lost his cool. Reflexively he brought his hands up in front and training kicked in. He converted the autonomic reflex into the somatic form of a spell, whispering arcane words of power a vivid fan fan of fire jetted out. His spell incinerated half a dozen or more of the peutrified zombies, but not before one of them could rake it’s skeletal claws across his chest. With horror Justin looked down seeing blood, the mages had warned him that the test could be fatal. Everything was on the line so when the next wave of undead ran screaming at him, he was ready. Weaving a different spell he made the ground in front slick and tossed a handful of marbles on the floor for good measure. Sure enough, the lead pair fell over and then the others collided into them landing in a heap. It was easy to summon a small ball of spongy flames and cleanse them with fire.
Next up was a pair of skeletal knolls, powerful yet ponderous foes. Justin skipped back towards a low ruined wall and threw a pair of small bags. A gift from Caitlyn, these were full of a sticky alchemical substance that spread on contact and set hard. The first bag missed but the second hit the lead gnoll’s right foot, gluing it to the ground. Justin raced back wards and whispered another spell, a trio of missiles raced from his outstretched hand and smashed sections of the other gnoll into powder. Driven by an insatiable hatred of life the creature inched forwards despite having huge rents in it’s ribcage. Justin cast the spell again and again, and eventually the gnoll was no more. By this stage the first gnoll had freed itself and Justin had to kill it the same way. Casting so many spells was incredibly taxing and, he felt the burn at the back of his mind. Sweating freely now, he was desperate for the fight to end but wave after wave crashed over him. He had one spell left a powerful one, one he had been saving even if it meant he was reduced to killing a pair of skeletons with a gnoll femur.
Finally with his horde destroyed, the necromancer approached. A magus of the black robes. The necromancer started walking closer and closer, and with horror Justin saw his own face staring back to him. The necromancer started to cast a spell, a spell Justin knew, a spell that would summon a conflagration of fire. ”No! Why does it have to be this way?! Can’t we talk!” he cried, but the necromancer was one syllable from completing the spell! He had to be first! Justin snarled the out his one last spell and sent a tiny pea sized fleck of flame at the necromancer, but to his horror it rebounded. Suddenly the world was fire and he could see the shadows of the bones in his hands covering his face as they were consumed by hellish light.
An indeterminate length of time passed, and then there were voices as he lay wallowing in a sea of pain. ”He lives yet Caitlyn. We must speak to him. No young lady. That is not how one addresses the head of the council, be gone!””It would have been kinder if he’d died.” said another voice. The third a female voice purred, ”See how the strands of fate are twined around him. The power would have been intoxicating for one such as him as he was. That future has been burned out wouldn’t you say?” The first tsked as if he found this distasteful and whispered into his ear, ”I see you are awake, congratulations Justin you survived. Therefore you have passed although I fear the price was particularly high today. Fire and destruction isn’t the answer to all. It was just an illusion, if only you’d looked this fate could have been spared. You have proved beyond doubt that there is great power within your hands, trust this experience will temper you with a little humility. Speaking of hands you’ll need this salve, lest you lose their function and all this will have been for naught...”
Justin Build:
Justin Weissman
Human wizard 5
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 40 (5d6+10)
Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +3
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Special Attacks intense spells (+2 damage)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +7)
. . 3/day—dancing lights Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 5th; concentration +10)
. . 3rd—fireball (DC 19), fireball (DC 19), haste
. . 2nd—burning arc (DC 18), create pit[APG] (DC 17), flaming sphere (DC 18), mirror image
. . 1st—mage armor, magic missile, magic missile, magic missile, shield, vanish[APG] (DC 16)
. . 0 (at will)—acid splash, detect magic, detect poison, resistance
. . Opposition Schools Enchantment, Necromancy
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 21, Wis 8, Cha 14
Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 15
Feats Empower Spell, Intensified Spell[APG], Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (evocation), Spell Specialization[UM], Varisian Tattoo[ISWG]
Traits magical lineage, world traveler
Skills Acrobatics -1 (-5 to jump), Diplomacy +11, Knowledge (arcana) +13, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +13, Knowledge (geography) +13, Knowledge (history) +13, Knowledge (local) +13, Knowledge (planes) +13, Perception +4, Spellcraft +13
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling
SQ arcane bond (familiar), versatile evocation
Combat Gear empower metamagic rod (lesser); Other Gear headband of vast intelligence +2, 3,000 gp
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Special Abilities
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Admixture Associated School: Evocation
Arcane Familiar Nearby You gain the Alertness feat while your familiar is within arm's reach.
Deliver Touch Spells Through Familiar (Su) Your familiar can deliver touch spells for you.
Empathic Link with Familiar (Su) You have an empathic link with your Arcane Familiar.
Empower metamagic rod (lesser, 3/day) Metamagic rods hold the essence of a metamagic feat, allowing the user to apply metamagic effects to spells (but not spell like abilities) as they are cast. This does not change the spell slot of the altered spell. All the rods described here are use-activated (but casting spells in a threatened area still draws an attack of opportunity). A caster may only use one metamagic rod on any given spell, but it is permissible to combine a rod with metamagic feats possessed by the rod's wielder. In this case, only the feats possessed by the wielder adjust the spell slot of the spell being cast.
Possession of a metamagic rod does not confer the associated feat on the owner, only the ability to use the given feat a specified number of times per day. A sorcerer still must take a full-round action when using a metamagic rod, just as if using a metamagic feat he possesses (except for quicken metamagic rods, which can be used as a swift action).
The wielder can cast up to three spells per day that are empowered as though using the Empower Spell feat. Lesser metamagic rods can be used with spells of 3rd level or lower.
Construction
Requirements: Craft Rod, Empower Spell feat; Cost 4,500 gp
Empower Spell Numeric effects of a spell are increased 50%. +2 Levels.
Enchantment You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Enchantment school.
Intense Spells (+2 damage) (Su) Evocation spells deal listed extra damage.
Intensified Spell You can cast a spell that can exceed its normal damage die cap by 5 (if you have the caster level to reach beyond that cap).
Magical Lineage (Fireball) A chosen spell counts as 1 level lower when metamagic feats are applied to it.
Necromancy You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Necromancy school.
Share Spells with Familiar Can cast spells with a target of "You" on the familiar with a range of touch.
Speak with Familiar (Ex) You can communicate verbally with your familiar.
Spell Focus (Evocation) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Spell Specialization (Fireball) Pick one spell and cast it as if you were higher level
Varisian Tattoo (Evocation) Spells from chosen school gain +1 caster level.
Versatile Evocation (8/day) (Su) Change the damage type and descriptor of a spell from acid, electricity, fire, or water to any other of those types.
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Thomas Weissman:
Thomas is a man in his prime, about 6 foot, with blue eyes, flaxen hair and an immaculately shaved chin. Looking at him you can tell he can handle himself, and the sword on his back isn’t for show, yet his ready smile and laugh is disarming. In times of peace he would usually wear riding leathers, but of late he’s been sporting a battered and much loved breast plate and matching sabatons. There have been bandits and worse about, and on more than one occasion in the few months, Thomas has been called to defend the tree top homes of Solace.
Often a fixture in the Inn of the last home, but never much of a drinker, Thomas liked nothing better than to hear and retell stories of derring do and knightly glory. Yet behind the bonhomie there was a sadness. He dearly wanted to travel like his brother and sister had, and seek his destiny, yet it was his duty to stay. Somebody had to look after mother and father, and tend the farm. They were getting old now, and the debts to pay for Justin’s tuition where ruinous. Thomas had spent every hour given to him, toiling away on this job and that where anyone needed heavy labor, whittling down the debt a little each day. It wouldn't have been so bad but trade wasn’t what it was and the price his brother had paid was beyond reckoning. It had nearly killed his mother to see Justin like that, and his father had become withdrawn and distant as if his dreams had died.
Still Thomas was determined to pull the family out of penury, forge a peace as best as he can with his wild sister Caitlyn and follow his dreams to become a knight. A real knight of Solamnia. It would he hard for a commoner but surely they would see the merit in his application. He could ride well and was better at the sword and lance. He knew how to take proper care of his mount and his kit. He knew all the regulations, and he lived for the stories where the shining knights in the armor save the day through honor and valor. The stories where they are selfless paragons. The stories so very unlike the harsh reality he would one day face head on.
Thomas Build:
Thomas Weissman
Human paladin 5
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +8
Aura courage (10 ft.)
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Defense
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AC 23, touch 12, flat-footed 22 (+11 armor, +1 Dex, +1 luck)
hp 55 (5d10+5)
Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +6
Immune disease, fear
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee +1 falchion +9 (2d4+5/18-20)
Ranged +1 composite longbow +8 (1d8+4/×3)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 3/day (DC 15, 3d6), smite evil 2/day (+3 attack and AC, +5 damage)
Paladin Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +8)
. . At will—detect evil
Paladin Spells Prepared (CL 4th; concentration +7)
. . 1st—bless weapon, hero's defiance[APG]
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 17
Base Atk +5; CMB +8; CMD 21
Feats Deadly Aim, Extra Lay on Hands, Furious Focus[APG], Power Attack
Traits magical knack, seeker
Skills Acrobatics -3 (-7 to jump), Diplomacy +11, Handle Animal +11, Perception +8, Ride +5, Spellcraft +10, Survival +4
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven
SQ divine bond (weapon +1, 1/day), lay on hands 7/day (2d6), mercy (sickened)
Combat Gear jingasa of the fortunate soldier[UE]; Other Gear +2 full plate, +1 composite longbow (+3 Str), +1 falchion, 275 gp
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Special Abilities
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Aura of Courage +4 (10 ft.) (Su) Allies in aura gain a morale bonus to saves vs. fear.
Deadly Aim -2/+4 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Detect Evil (At will) (Sp) You can use detect evil at will (as the spell).
Divine Bond (Weapon +1, 5 mins, 1/day) (Sp) Weapon shines with light and gains enhancement bonuses or chosen properties.
Furious Focus If you are wielding a weapon in two hands, ignore the penalty for your first attack of each turn.
Immunity to Disease You are immune to diseases.
Immunity to Fear (Ex) You are immune to all fear effects.
Jingasa of the fortunate soldier (1/day) Activate to negate a critical hit or sneak attack as an immediate action.
Lay on Hands (2d6 hit points, 7/day) (Su) As a standard action (swift on self), touch channels positive energy and applies mercies.
Magical Knack (Paladin) +2 CL for a specific class, to a max of your HD.
Mercy (Sickened) (Su) When you use your lay on hands ability, it also removes the sickened condition.
Paladin Channel Positive Energy 3d6 (3/day, DC 15) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Smite Evil (2/day) (Su) +3 to hit, +5 to damage, +3 deflection bonus to AC when used.
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Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc.®, and are used under license.
Caitlyn Weissman:
Caitlyn was beautiful, five foot six, green eyes, fiery red hair and one hundred and sixty pounds of pure unadulterated wild cat. Armed with a wickedly sharp tongue, a lucerne hammer and a mean right hook. She attracted all the wrong kind of attention, much the chagrin of her overprotective brothers. It was fun for a while, but boys only want one thing and Caitlyn wasn’t giving. Oh sure she could drink tansy tea, they always said. Thing was that didn’t always work, as she found out to her cost. At first she didn’t want it and then when she lost it, she found that she did. Of course by then the honey eye’d half elf had drifted off back into the woods and broke her heart.
When Justin asked if she would like to accompany him on the way to wayreth, she jumped at the chance. She was so done with Solace and she was immensely proud of her big brother, going to take his test. The first candidate anyone could remember from their family. That day when they set off, is set like crystal in her memory. Her Ma and her Pa had worked so hard for all of this and when it was time to them go, they welled up. Through tears and hugs Ma had said, ”Now Caitlyn you look after Justin,. It won’t do if he gets waylaid by bandits.””Just let em try ma!”, She’d grinned back fierce as anything.
The journey had been fun at first, the weather was fine and Justin seemed to have absorbed every story in the whole world. He was fun and knew so much, and he could do magic. Small things, but it was no mistaking the real thing. Yet the tower proved maddeningly hard to find and the weeks of searching had taken their toll. Oh sure Justin still smiled and laughed, but there was a tightness gnawing at him. The letter had said they were welcome, why hadn’t they arrived weeks ago?
”It must be part of the test.” muttered Justin. ”That seems dumb to me,” replied Caitlyn, ”Surely the test is about your command of magic, not about your map reading skills.” He laughed, ”Probably just as well. Anyway you can’t find it on a map, it moves about according the the will of the masters. I figure it often follows the waxing and the waning of the moons like a dance. Trouble is we can only see two of them.”
”What do you mean Justin?! Everyone knows there are only two moons, Solinari and Lunitari!” scoffed Caitlyn. ”No there is a third. Be glad you can not see it. Still I think we can guess where it is. Look at this diagram it shows the tides and the waxing and waning of the moons we can see. If you see there is a pattern to it, matching the phases of all three moons. If I’m right we need to be right here, but we just have to wait.” And so it was. They camped in a one featureless section of wayreth forest that looked like any other section of wayreth forest, except for the morning when they woke up in the shadow of the triple towers of high sorcery, set in an equilateral triangle…
Inside the mages were courteous to Caitlyn, but they were really only interested in Justin and she spent several days bored, being told that this part and that part of the complex where off limits. Eventually Justin took his test and Caitlyn watched through a screen. She was completely unprepared for what her brother faced. Wave after wave of zombies, and strange twisted creatures with wings and hands dripping with sorcery. Caitlyn couldn’t believe her eyes when her gentle brother Justin blasted each wave into dust with spells of fire and ice. After what seemed an eternity, and having bested a horde of creatures, Justin was nearly spent. Pushed beyond all reason and in danger of frying himself through spell burn, he faced an apparition. His doppelganger. Even as he tried to communicate and make peace the doppelganger started to cast a spell… Justin sobbed as he cast his last spell, his most powerful one. A fireball of cherry red destruction. Caitlyn watched with awe as he summoned the energies and then with horror as the spell rebounded off the apparition and burnt her brother alive!
It would have been a kindness if Justin had died, but he lingered and he lingered. Eventually he was well enough to go home, but conflagration and it’s results were indelibly written into Justin’s skin and her soul. Never again would she trust magic for she had seen the price that Justin had paid. It was folly that had brought them here, folly that had branded him! What were they thinking, these oh so wise masters? It was is if they had been trying to kill him, and had very nearly succeeded. And as for that Par-Salian, with his sanctimonious, ”I hope you’ve learnt a little humility” speech. Well if she ever saw him again, she would wipe the smile of his face, permanently.
The journey home had been faster than the one there, despite her brother being a virtual cripple. What should have been a triumphant homecoming, what with Justin passing the test, was more like a funeral. It hit Ma real bad, and Pa was never the same. Thomas did what he could bless him, but there was always too much to be done and Caitlyn was just another mouth to feed. ”Why don’t you help out and find a job?” Thomas had asked, and find a job is what Caitlyn did as a mercenary. She was good at it too, at least when her tongue didn’t get her into trouble, which was most of the time.
After several years of campaigning, she left the company in (fairly) good stead and tried on as a knight. Thomas wasn’t the only one with dreams of shining armor. Of course that didn’t work out. Oh she was skilled enough with blade and horse, but she was thrown out on account of her temper. Many of the knights had been bigots at best and inconsolable letches at worst, and that was before her commander had tried to hit on her. She said no with her first and was shown the door, head first.
Not knowing what else to do, Caitlyn drifted back to Solace. There had been rumors of war, and she needed to tell Thomas the truth. The knights didn’t match up the the stores and he’d only get hurt if he followed his dreams, just like she had, just like Justin had.
Caitlyn Build:
Caitlyn Weissman
Human barbarian (superstitious) 5 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 79)
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +7
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Defense
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AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 19 (+8 armor, +1 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 70 (5d12+10)
Fort +7, Ref +3, Will +1 (+3 vs. charm and compulsion); +4 morale bonus vs. spells, supernatural abilities, and spell-like abilities while raging but must resist all spells, even allies'
Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft. (30 ft. in armor)
Melee +1 lucerne hammer +11 (1d12+8) or
. . unarmed strike +10 (1d3+5)
Special Attacks rage (14 rounds/day), rage powers (reckless abandon[APG], superstition +4)
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Statistics
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Str 21, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 14
Base Atk +5; CMB +10; CMD 21
Feats Dragon Style[UC], Improved Unarmed Strike, Power Attack, Raging Vitality[APG]
Traits axe to grind, irrepressible
Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb +10, Intimidate +10, Perception +7, Ride +6, Survival +7
Languages Common, Dwarven
SQ fast movement, sixth sense
Combat Gear quick runner's shirt[UE]; Other Gear +2 breastplate, +1 lucerne hammer[APG], amulet of natural armor +1, belt of giant strength +2, cloak of resistance +1, 1,335 gp
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Special Abilities
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Axe to Grind +1 trait bonus on damage against foes who are threatened by only you.
Dragon Style +2 vs sleep, paralysis, and stun, first unarmed strike in a rd deals 1.5x Str, and can ignore difficult terrain/allies when charging.
Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Lv >=9) (Ex) Retain DEX bonus to AC when flat-footed. You cannot be flanked unless the attacker is Level 9+.
Irrepressible You can use your Charisma modifier instead of Wisdom for Will saves vs. charm & compulsion.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Quick runner's shirt (1/day) As swift action, take an extra move action to move on your turn.
Rage (14 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Raging Vitality +2 CON while raging, Rage does not end if you become unconscious.
Reckless Abandon (+/-2) (Ex) Trade AC penalty for to hit bonus while raging.
Sixth Sense +1 (Ex) +1 initiative and +1 AC during surprise rounds.
Superstition +4 (Ex) While raging, gain bonus to save vs magic, but must resist all spells, even allies'.
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