Well, I've got a couple of days to kill until recruitment closes... so, if our GM doesn't mind, would anybody like me to do a Harrowing of their completed character? XD
Right now, I'm thinking something along the lines of Viktor having sought out Zummabu, on one hand attempting to learn proper wizardry, though his borderline recklessness and haste lead him to cast a tad bit off the cuff compared to a wizard, and trying to find any information regarding his family heirlooms, the rapier and buckler he wields, nonmagical (as far as he knows) relics of an age long past. (The buckler really is, and will continue to be, nonmagical, lest he get it enchanted. Might go crazy thinking some ancient relative is speaking to him through the sword once he hits three, though.) Would that be a decent fit, once more thoroughly fleshed out?
That sounds like a decent fit.
Also: Do you mind if I paid the difference in cost between the Masterwork Rapier granted by Blade Adept and a gold-plated version? I don't see any real issues, it's 40gp for a slightly more fancy sword, but I figured I ought to run it past you regardless.
No objection at all.
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I think I'm zeroing in on a Skald+Bard (Archaeologist) combo. I just wasn't feeling the paladin. Too many internal Don Quixote references.
I already have most if the build done on the Skald side. A one level dip in bloodrager(arcane) will give me skills and a melee presence.
Story wise he is still bound to the wizard for a time as repayment for a debt. His personal goals, however, focus on self perfection through rage and uniting himself with the rhythm of the world.
Well, I've got a couple of days to kill until recruitment closes... so, if our GM doesn't mind, would anybody like me to do a Harrowing of their completed character? XD
I don't mind.
For the record, though, it's still until the end of Friday on recruitment. No need for anyone to worry about running out the clock just yet. :)
Hmmmm...I never actually played any Forbidden Realms, but keep hearing good things about Age of Worms. This poses an issue.
Would a character with limited knowledge of the setting be OK? Other than having to dump Knowledges (Local) and (Geography) for thematic reasons. And Religion. And probably some others...
My basic idea is to play a slightly odd person who believes they're actually a fallen celestial or deity of some kind and that with their fall all knowledge of them was removed too. Whether the character is a little unhinged or whether they're right will be part of the fun of discovery.
*Amused look*
That aside, I should probably do Saeri as a warm-up... *Goes to dig out his books*
*Amused look*
That aside, I should probably do Saeri as a warm-up... *Goes to dig out his books*
Ya sure, you can do Namtar
Hmmmm...I never actually played any Forbidden Realms, but keep hearing good things about Age of Worms. This poses an issue.
Would a character with limited knowledge of the setting be OK? Other than having to dump Knowledges (Local) and (Geography) for thematic reasons. And Religion. And probably some others...
My basic idea is to play a slightly odd person who believes they're actually a fallen celestial or deity of some kind and that with their fall all knowledge of them was removed too. Whether the character is a little unhinged or whether they're right will be part of the fun of discovery.
That's not a problem at all.
Here's my practice reading. I'll see about doing Namtar's tomorrow. XD
Saeri and her teacher just looked at the card for a moment in quiet disbelief. It was the Joke - the Chaotic Good card of Intelligence. More relevantly, it was Saeri's Role Card - the card that best represented her, completely misaligned in every way. "My dear..." she said, looking up. "There is no good in the joke of your past."
Saeri's mouth twisted in a wry smile. Many made light of the cards - but it was events like these that proved there was far more to the Harrow than most believed. "You're right." she agreed quietly. "My instincts tell me that it's about my parents... that perhaps fate itself is having a laugh at me. I know the cards too well for things like 'at least it's in the past'. Continue the reading, please."
The old woman nodded and flipped over the negative card of Saeri's present.
"The Brass Dwarf, representing immunity to current peril. Yet it is in a very bad place - at the bottom of the present, it means you are not immune to the threats you face." the old woman was clearly a bit shaken by what the cards had revealed. "Are you sure you wish to continue? This has not been an auspicious reading."
"I am. Life does not consist only of positive things - we much accept the bad as well as the good." Saeri answered. "Read my future."
Her mentor nodded and flipped up the next card.
"The worst of your future is The Beating... you will be attacked from all sides. Your journey will be dangerous, Saeri, make no mistake about that." With a heavy sigh, she nodded, then moved on to the middle row. "Now let us speak of uncertainty, beginning with your past."
"The Paladin, who stands fast under adversity. A curious place for it to appear - he is a bold card, and does not appear in this row very often. You may have felt you stood firm, but whether or not you truly did... perhaps we will never know." she gently shook her head and moved on to the card of the uncertain present.
"The Midwife, representing the new life you are approaching. Aye, a very apt place indeed - with this spread, it is hard to say if your future will be for good or for ill... and I doubt this next one will illuminate much."
"Somehow, I am not surprised. The Rabbit Prince, my dear, representing capriciousness in combat... and in his proper place in the tapestry. Saeri, this entire tapestry has been a warning - the fights in your future will be wild and dangerous, and you must exercise all due caution in what you face. Let us see if the cards speak of a happy ending." She turned over the positive card representing Saeri's past.
"Hmph!" she chuckled. "What a place for the Carnival - it speaks of false dreams, but in the good part of your past, that can only mean the dreams you had as a child were well worth it. Perhaps there is some hope left." she said, flipping up the next card.
"..."
"..."
The two of them stared at the result for a few moments, as a second Carnival lay on the board.
"...You didn't shuffle two decks together by mistake, did you?" Saeri asked hesitantly.
"Don't be daft, girl." her teacher said, jabbing a finger down. "The same card appearing twice in a row, out of nowhere? It is the magic of the Harrow at work, and make no mistake. And this is auspicious indeed. Your dreams have been a great strength from you, from your past until now." she said. "But we'll only understand the true meaning with your last card."
"The positive aspect of your future is the Forge - of strength through diversity." Saeri's teacher pronounced. "Your dreams must change and grow if you are to reach your potential. So, too, should you look for new friends with many skills. Do not be content to be stuck in the same world - you will be attacked in the future, make no mistake, and your fights will be wild... but we would not have had your dreams be repeated were there no other options."
With that, Saeri's teacher scrutinize the tapestry more closely.
"There is one line - moral neutrality is a positive for you. I know you seek to do good in the world, but do not be overzealous about it - be tolerant of others." she said. "The most common cards are those of the Hammer and the Star - strength and wisdom. In particular, wisdom will help you, while strength - of many kinds - lies in your future. It may well be that wisdom will give you strength."
"Yet for all this, heed the warning of your truest card. It is a terrible result, Saeri... I shall be praying for you, every day." she bustled around the table and embraced her future. "That city is a dark one, and your future is clouded - but we, more than any, know the future is not set in stone. Be the light that shines in the darkness, Saeri, come what may."
---
Final spread:
CN | CN | LN
LG | NG | CN
CG | LN | NE
Wis | Wis | Str
Str | Wis | Dex
Int | Con | Str
Carnival | Carnival | Forge
Paladin | Midwife | Rabbit Prince
Joke | Brass Dwarf | Beating
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...Welp, that was a ride. XD
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@Samnell: A clarification: In the character creation guidelines, for traits it says to re-purpose for a campaign trait. Are you saying we have to take a trait marked as a campaign trait for one of the Paizo campaigns and re-fluff it for this, or can we take any trait, tie it into the campaign, and make that our campaign trait?
I really hope it's the latter, because I've been scrolling through the proper Campaign traits and finding it hard to re-flavor such specific material. :-/
What about Torm or Helm? Are they acceptable? :)They are. Looks like the one-step rule and the 3.5-era mechanics should work. Helm's Planning Domain is War (Tactics) in PF.
Geographically, the center of Torm's faith is nearer but there's no reason a Helmite couldn't have come along on the trade routes or as a mercenary too. Some 2e-era flavor Helm and Torm in the links.
Do Torm. Torm is better than that loser Helm. But Helm is cool. Waty better than that dweeb Torm
@Samnell: A clarification: In the character creation guidelines, for traits it says to re-purpose for a campaign trait. Are you saying we have to take a trait marked as a campaign trait for one of the Paizo campaigns and re-fluff it for this, or can we take any trait, tie it into the campaign, and make that our campaign trait?
I really hope it's the latter, because I've been scrolling through the proper Campaign traits and finding it hard to re-flavor such specific material. :-/
You can do it either way, really. But if you have a campaign trait like (making one up here) Craps Lightning that gives you a +90 bonus to your Electric Bowels attack when used against middle-aged gnomes, then that could be adapted by switching the target to something more Unther-suited. It could be foreign or heretical religious movements, say. Or domestic ones, because Gilgeam's clergy really are awful. Keep the core mechanics, but re-skin the flavor and you're good.
Basically, I sat down to write six campaign traits and wrote two mediocre ones before deciding I had no facility for traits and jobbed it out. :)
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You can do it either way, really. But if you have a campaign trait like (making one up here) Craps Lightning that gives you a +90 bonus to your Electric Bowels attack when used against middle-aged gnomes, then that could be adapted by switching the target to something more Unther-suited. It could be foreign or heretical religious movements, say. Or domestic ones, because Gilgeam's clergy really are awful. Keep the core mechanics, but re-skin the flavor and you're good.
Basically, I sat down to write six campaign traits and wrote two mediocre ones before deciding I had no facility for traits and jobbed it out. :)
Got it, thanks!
The card representing the positive aspects of your past is the Neutral Good card of Intelligence, The Wanderer. It represents finding worth and value in cast-off things - perhaps the things that you lost when you were taken and trained for battle. Perhaps you will grow to rediscover these things.
The card of your uncertain past is the Neutral Evil card of Intelligence, the Idiot, representing grave foolishness and greed. You have done things that were perhaps less than wise, especially when it came to being successful in the arena, but it's not clear whether or not that will ultimately end up helping or harming you.
The negative part of your past is represented by the Lawful Neutral card of Intelligence, the Inquisitor. This card represents immutable reality, the things that cannot be changed. Your past has not been a particularly happy one, and the way you have been forced into matters was most definitely not for the best. This is an important card, for it matches your alignment. Now, let us turn to the present.
Ah, now here is an auspicious placement! The positive part of your future is represented by the Lawful Neutral card of Constitution, the Brass Dwarf. Like the previous card, this matches your alignment - but it has the meaning of invulnerability to current peril. The dangers you are in right now are ones that the cards believe you can handle.
...Well, blit. Now I know the decks are just teasing us, because they usually don't repeat cards the way they did for Saeri - but the Wanderer has appeared a second time. Its meaning here is the same - finding value in cast-off things. However, with this changed placement, it's not clear if cast-off things will be truly valuable to you. I would suggest not looting enemies for awhile - they may hold something you shouldn't touch.
Aaaaaand this just keeps getting worse. Twice in a row, the cards repeat themselves, but this is a curious reading indeed. In its previous position, the Brass Dwarf tells us that your resistance to a current peril was good - but here, it says the very same thing is bad. This is a complex situation - and with a properly aligned card, no less. Your resilience will benefit you, but it may also harm you - pay attention to what occurs around you. Let's see if the future can help us interpret this better.
The card of your positive future is the Lawful Evil card of Strength, the Fiend. This card is misaligned, and its meaning is salvation from a calamity. There are troubles for you in the future, my friend, but it seems they are not something to be afraid of.
This board. Do you have any idea how tangled your fate must be to have THREE duplicate cards on it? The idiot is back again, showing that you're likely to display foolishness and greed in the future as well. Just as with the past, it's not clear if this is wise. Look, I'm gonna be honest with you... if it's really old and really shiny, you probably shouldn't touch it. I feel like the cards are speaking of a curse your greed could trigger.
The negative part of your future is represented by the Neutral Evil card of Dexterity, the crows. It stands for the taking of loved ones or items. In this position, it's very likely that you will face a thief, or perhaps some situation in which your things are taken from you. This is unlikely to go well for you.
There are several lines in your results, and they are curious indeed. Neutrality between good and evil is tied to uncertainty in this tapestry, from the past to the future. You are hovering between them, without commitment, and it is difficult to see where this will lead. Similarly, your uncertainty is also represented by a line of cards representing Intelligence - perhaps you are uncertain because you simply do not know enough.
Less pleasantly, your future is represented by cards of evil right down the column. There is darkness ahead of you, no matter what you do. Intelligence has by far the most impact on this tapestry, and yet it is your worst area. In particular, the cards show all of the choices made with intelligence in the past leading to an uncertain future. Your decisions in the future will be interesting... especially given what an unusual spread this is. Three duplicate cards, two in opposing positions? That's a definite sign of conflict...
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Final Spreads:
NG | LN | LE
NE | NG | NE
LN | LN | NE
Int | Con | Str
Int | Int | Int
Int | Con | Dex
Wanderer | Brass Dwarf | Fiend
Idiot | Wanderer | Idiot
Inquisitor | Brass Dwarf | Crows
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And for the second time in a row, we have a rather crazy result. XD
That was pretty good! Thanks!
This is Choon
Here is the alias I will be using. The bones of the bloodrager/skald side is there, though it requires significant editing. The other side of the gestalt week be Paladin (Sacred Servant) serving Ishtar at the Two Tears.
I will create an alias if I am selected, since I have like 35 or so already =)
I would also take a harrowing Rednal.
Is your character done? I checked the last page, but it looks like you were missing a few important details on your sheet (like alignment, which is important for the reading).
Ok, here's the crunch for Demon Lurking's submission. I'm working up a more complete background.
i gotta say i'm excited to see this game. It'd be kind of fun to play in the Realms again.
the Realms is probably my favorite setting. some of my fondest characters came from there. I think the best one was a Red Wizard who was running through an adaptation of Return to Tomb of Horrors. He had a half-red dragon half-ogre cohort, and somehow, managed to broker a deal with a great wyrm bronze dragon so they could track down Acererak. Naked, because the dragon didn't want the wizard to play any tricks.
Plus, we're in Unther! The Old Empires is probably my favorite part of the Realms, although I have a weird fondness for the Serpent Kingdoms (Tashalar and Lapaiya), Narfell, and old Netheril.
Shining south was a fun area. Halruua definitely hasn't a lot of moving parts. There were a lot ofreat parts to the Realms (except for the Dales. The Dales blow).
I regret not having played more of Al-Qadim. Zakhara was an interesting area that didn't get a lot of justice or attention. But, it was interesting that they connected it and Kara-Tur with Faerun into a sort of meta-world.
And, Rashemen was interesting with the witches and all. Very interesting RP options there
It's my favorite setting too. Shame they discontinued it with 4e.
I'm partial to the whole west coast myself. Piles of ink spilled on everything north of Amn to draw on and some really great 2e books on Amn and points south for the rest. But I wanted to go with a different feel from my other games and Unther is much less typical pseudoeuropean fantasy than most of that. Calimshan could have fit the bill, and certainly has the necessary seediness down, but I like Unther a bit more than it.
Oh ya! Calimshan! I wonder if anyone has ever attempted a Legacy of Fire adaptation that uses either Zakhara or Calimshan
Oh ya! Calimshan! I wonder if anyone has ever attempted a Legacy of Fire adaptation that uses either Zakhara or Calimshan
Calimshan would be a really good fit, honestly. Dunno about Zakhara; always had trouble getting my head around that one. I know a (very) little bit more about early Islamic history than I did when I read it, though. Should probably revisit at some point.
...and now I'll be idly brainstorming AP adaptations to FR all night.
Here's some for you:
Rise of the Runelords: Return of Netherese
Skull and Shackles: palling around the Moonshae Isles
Wrath of the Righteous: Rise of Lolth or Rise of Demons (depending on your timeframe)
Jade Regent: Travelling the Golden Road
Curse of the Crimson Throne: Gameplay set in The Dalelands (not sure what dale this would be best for, since they all kinda blend in my mind)
I've been going back and forth on either a Zen Archer / Inquisitor or a Wizard / Unchained Monk. You have any preference between those two mechanically?
Would you allow the Zen Archer archetype on the unchained monk? By RAW it doesn't work, since it replaces a couple of things that unchained gives up, but there are a couple people out there who have recommended ways of tweaking it to make it work. For example: http://endzeitgeist.com/unchained-monk-archetypes/. It's a $2 purchase to get the PDF, but they give an outline of it on that page.
I've been going back and forth on either a Zen Archer / Inquisitor or a Wizard / Unchained Monk. You have any preference between those two mechanically?
Would you allow the Zen Archer archetype on the unchained monk? By RAW it doesn't work, since it replaces a couple of things that unchained gives up, but there are a couple people out there who have recommended ways of tweaking it to make it work. For example: http://endzeitgeist.com/unchained-monk-archetypes/. It's a $2 purchase to get the PDF, but they give an outline of it on that page.
It looks like the differences are maneuver training and diamond body. Diamond body isn't that big of a deal to me. You just can't take it or things that rely on it as a ki power. Maneuver training is built into the unchained class and pretty core to it, so much harder to pull back out. Getting your wisdom to ranged attacks is good enough that something's got to go. Going to have to say no, Zen Archer doesn't play with the unchained monk.
Vanilla monk zen archer/inquisitor is still an option, though. Between that and the wizard/monk, I think the latter is more mechanically interesting but archery is also a whole lot of fun. So I only lean a little toward the wiz.
Worth pointing out, Unchained monks can take no Monk archetypes, unless the archetype specifically says otherwise. Its in the part at the beginning of the class section of PU.
Going to have to say no, Zen Archer doesn't play with the unchained monk.
That makes sense, no worries. Couple of questions regarding animal companions. First, in a gestalt game like this, are animal companions viable? My understanding is that ACs are already somewhat squishy, relatively, and going up against the tougher beasties we will be facing, I wasn't sure if it would survive long. Second, would we have difficulties with a large ape running around with the party, from an RP perspective? Or would a giant ape hanging out with some adventurers be not terribly out of the ordinary?
I've always liked the idea of playing a ranged sacred inquisitor with a bodyguard ape, so toying around with that.
Is there a FR deity who could fill in for Sarenrae? I'd like to try to build a dawnflower dervish cleric of a deity who can take the sun domain.
It depends what part of Sarenrae is the biggest factor for you. While it would be unusual for a cleric to not primarily wield a god's favored weapon, it's not religiously impure or anything like that. Particularly if you carry one as a backup weapon or something so it doesn't look like you're making a point of shunning it.
Looking at the Sun domain, we have the aforementioned Lathander, the Morninglord. He's the god of spring, dawn, birth, renewal, creativity, youth, and vitality. That's not quite Sarenrae's bag, but in the ballpark.
Outside the Faerunian pantheon, we've got Horus-Re in Mulhorand. That's the empire immediately adjacent to Unther, which has many of the same cultural tropes but significantly less of a crapsack. It's theme park Egypt. Geographically it's quite close enough for a Mulhorandi priest to have come for whatever reason. Even at their heights, Mulhorand and Unther were quite careful not to challenge one another and basically got on. The Mulan cultural tropes apply, except that Mulhorand is generally much more insistent on the head shaving thing.
Over there the king of the gods is Horus-Re, who has Sun. He's LG (accepts LN and NG too) and into the sun (shockingly!) vengeance, rulership, kings, and life. Ideologically he's into social stability in a way that Sarenrae isn't, but there's some decent overlap. Domains: Good, Law, Nobility, Sun. He likes khopeshes.
Is there a greek equivalent region with islands and seafaring warriors around? I kind of want to make a cleric/fighter with the new Shield Brace feat and some storm themery.
Chessenta is sort of Greek-like. ALthough it doesn't have the islands. It's more like mainland Greece.
Is there a greek equivalent region with islands and seafaring warriors around? I kind of want to make a cleric/fighter with the new Shield Brace feat and some storm themery.
Like Namtar said, Chessenta is your best bet. It's a mix of Greece and early modern Italy for the most part. City-states, lots of mercenary bands running around. The major religions of the area, neglecting non-martial deities, are:
Anhur (primarily a Mulhorandi deity)
Titles: General of the Gods, Champion of Physical Prowess, Falcon of War
Symbol: Hawk-headed falchion bound with a cord
Portfolio: War, conflict, physical prowess, thunder, rain
Alignments: CG, CN, NG
Domains: Chaos, Good, Strength, War, Weather (Storms)
Weapon: falchion
Assuran (formerly an Untheric deity, now banished from Unther)
Titles: The Doombringer, Lord of Three Thunders, the Poet of Justice, Hurler of thunders
Symbol: A black-gloved right hand holding a coin with a two-faced head or three lightning bolts
Portfolio: Revenge, retribution, poetic justice
Alignments: LG, LN, LE
Domains: Destruction (Catastrophe), Law, Luck (Fate), Travel
Weapon: javelin
Red Knight (more oriented around strategy, no storm stuff)
Tchazzar (the ascended warrior who freed Chessenta from Unther centuries back)
Titles: Father of Chessenta, the Invincible Warrior
Symbol: a red dragon against a black mountain
Portfolio: Chessenta, rulership, war
Alignments: CG, CN, CE
Domains: Chaos, Liberation, Strength, War
Weapon: greatsword
Is there a FR deity who could fill in for Sarenrae? I'd like to try to build a dawnflower dervish cleric of a deity who can take the sun domain.
I would also point out that Lathander used to be Amaunator/Amaunator is an aspect of Lathander, who did have some of the Sarenrae style to him.
Ah, it seems there's still plenty of time left to make a proper submission.
There is indeed. :)
Dot!
I do love me some Forgotten Realms and this is a place I haven't visited yet, that could be exciting.
As a preliminary idea I'm thinking foreign mercenary and fencer of some type, but a quick glance shows the later has been suggested. So I'll have to think a bit : )
Some thinking later; Fighter(Swordlord)|Bard maybe...
I assume it is okay to treat an Aldori Duelling Sword as just a fancy sword right?
As much as I like my Paladin/Monk concept, I'm not seeing any "skilled" characters. I'm going to see if I can work something up.
I'm thinking either Magus (kensai)/Investigator (empiricist) or Swashbuckler (inspired blade)/Investigator (empiricist).
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Actually, I really think the flavor of Lathander would work for what I'm trying for. I could gestalt either a cleric of Lathander and an unchained rogue, using a light mace for a dex based cleric, or even more fun might be to build a paladin/rogue for a dex based paladin. The sun domain would make the cleric much better at channeling energy against undead, which sounds very fitting in this campaign.
I will be submitting a slayer/arcanist.