I invite you to consider joining us for a season or two in the Ustalavic county of Lozeri.
Where mournful spirits wander the night and you had better get any extraneous bites and scratches checked by a healer...just in case.
Ascanor will be accepting reservations until August 3rd, 12:01 A.M. M.T.
Please appraise yourself of the amenities available here.
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I find myself intrigued.
Might it be possible to play a scion of the Caromarc family - heir to a lesser but still extant title - grieving Vieland's loss to the Palatines?
Dotting.
I find myself intrigued.
Might it be possible to play a scion of the Caromarc family - heir to a lesser but still extant title - grieving Vieland's loss to the Palatines?
That is an excellent idea, and would open up some interesting choices down the road.
I love me someravenloft...er gothic stuff. Would you like us to roll for stats or point buy?
Thank you for reminding me, we'll be doing point buy at 25 points.
Dotting for interest. :)
Will the Occult Adventures classes be available? If so, can create the character using the playtest information, and then redo it once the book is released?
Dotting for interest. :)
Will the Occult Adventures classes be available? If so, can create the character using the playtest information, and then redo it once the book is released?
They are and that's acceptable.
Should we be the Heroes or Villains of the Gothic stories? Given the alignments specified, my suspicion is villains - though not villeins.
The Gothic protagonist is an amalgamation of both concepts, popularized by "grey and dark grey" morality.
Color me intrigued! I've got a character I'd love to throw into this, all I need to do is rework his background a bit. How do you feel about a necromancer in the midst of your gothic horror campaign?
Color me intrigued! I've got a character I'd love to throw into this, all I need to do is rework his background a bit. How do you feel about a necromancer in the midst of your gothic horror campaign?
Good Sir, the prospect fills me with dread delight.
This has got my interest. I will try to come up with something in a couple of days. So far thinking about an alchemists.
I'm spiriting this away from Leinathan's Rise of the Runelords recruitment thread and utilizing toward my own dark purpose.
I'll be asking a lot of questions about the characters that I'm interested in, and will likely choose characters in the next two weeks, but I'm willing to wait as long as it takes to make a party that I can be invested in.
Otherwise, I will add this: once the party has established its base of operations, the sandbox opens quite wide. Truly, you may proceed with your usurpation of Lozeri by any avenue that suits you (and by extension the group); all manner of potential allies and enemies are endemic to the region. Remember, Ustalav's native alignment is Neutral Evil, and many of its residents will be quick to remind you should you forget. Lessons that are perhaps best left in the mind of the teacher.
Thinking of going with a Cleric, that might end up attempting to enter the Umbral Court Agent PrC. Would this idea/concept/Prestige Class work within your campaign, or am I better off thinking of something else?
Thinking of going with a Cleric, that might end up attempting to enter the Umbral Court Agent PrC. Would this idea/concept/Prestige Class work within your campaign, or am I better off thinking of something else?
That seems appropriate, especially since:
"Those [Umbral Court Agents] acting abroad seek out positions in rival nations’ halls of power."
That being said, it will be each character's personal story and motivations that will determine whether or not the concept will have a place in the game. I look forward to finding out how a scion of Ustalav's devout faithful might have fallen so low as to enter Zon-Kuthon's embrace. Not that your character needs to be from Ustalav.
I think I'm changing my concept around a bit and going investigator. :)
As a concept, I am thinking of Vladymir Andachi Tamriv, descendant of Count Andachi, Vetala-born Dhampir Investigator with an interest in reclaiming lands within Centerwall.
He will have the Meticulous Drawback, and use Disguise in general to mitigate his "brass-like" skin appearance.
Would that fit?
I think I'm changing my concept around a bit and going investigator. :)
As a concept, I am thinking of Vladymir Andachi Tamriv, descendant of Count Andachi, Vetala-born Dhampir Investigator with an interest in reclaiming lands within Centerwall.
He will have the Meticulous Drawback, and use Disguise in general to mitigate his "brass-like" skin appearance.
Would that fit?
Vetala is a bit of a stretch for the region, how does that fit in? Why the change to Investigator? Why do you want Meticulous to be your character's flaw?
I like the Count Andachi connection.
So, I'm starting to iron out more who the necromancer is exactly, but I do have a question or two.
Chester Marcel Banderfeld is a cleric and worshiper of Norgorber (which is apparently accepted in Absalom, so that's handy) with the Death and Trickery domains. A fairly frail individual unto himself, he is almost never seen outside of the company of his servants and aides. Curiously, these servants never seem to speak and always keep themselves completely covered, though most write that off as orders from their very strict master. Not nearly as shy about showing his skin, the master in question is rarely seen without his black mask either in hand or upon his face. He's going to have the Warded Against Nature drawback, which seems fairly appropriate for someone in the practice of reanimating dead people.
I'm tinkering with the idea of him being something of a bastard, given that he is a half-elf, but I'm open to suggestions there. Now, question-wise, I have two quick ones. 1) Would you be okay with me using the Undeath subdomain in addition to the Death domain, despite it not being on Norgorber's portfolio? And 2) is it all right if Chester has a normal skeleton/zombie or two from the get go? The second question is more because his strength score is shameful and he's going to struggle to carry most of his own stuff around. Not to mention it just seems appropriate for a necromancer to have minions at all times.
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I am intrigued and trying to figure out my character idea. Probably a sneaky caster of some sort. The alignment is throwing me off. Will we be fighting undead, joining them, fighting nondead? Just trying to figure out what to expect. I am down to either an Inquisitor or a shaman, and trying to decide how to build it.
Chester Marcel Banderfeld is a cleric and worshiper of Norgorber (which is apparently accepted in Absalom, so that's handy) with the Death and Trickery domains.
Why does a necromancer worship Norgorber?
Does the character worship Norgorber directly, or one of his aspects that might be more in line with learning information from the dead?
Historically, necromancers were basically diviners who asked the dead for information beyond the knowing of mortals.
That's a perfectly legitimate way to go about a necromancer.
You can steal this answer or make up your own.
A fairly frail individual unto himself, he is almost never seen outside of the company of his servants and aides. Curiously, these servants never seem to speak and always keep themselves completely covered, though most write that off as orders from their very strict master. Not nearly as shy about showing his skin, the master in question is rarely seen without his black mask either in hand or upon his face.
I like the mask bit, and classic mysterious servants. I have good news about those servants later.
He's going to have the Warded Against Nature drawback, which seems fairly appropriate for someone in the practice of reanimating dead people.
Yes, I like that a lot.
I'm tinkering with the idea of him being something of a bastard, given that he is a half-elf, but I'm open to suggestions there.
Your character's background, as far as you've revealed, didn't give me any reason to think of your character as any sort of elf.
And I think it undermines the concept.
Now, question-wise, I have two quick ones. 1) Would you be okay with me using the Undeath subdomain in addition to the Death domain, despite it not being on Norgorber's portfolio?
No doubling down on domains. But don't lose hope.
And 2) is it all right if Chester has a normal skeleton/zombie or two from the get go? The second question is more because his strength score is shameful and he's going to struggle to carry most of his own stuff around. Not to mention it just seems appropriate for a necromancer to have minions at all times.
Now for the good news: scroll down to the bottom of this link. That will give you what you're looking for.
Notice that you only need access to the Death domain to acquire the archetype.
Now, if you really want the Undead domain, you'll need to change divine patrons, or worship Undeath itself.
I'm happy to help with finding the right divinity for this concept, let me know what you decide to do.
Just to make sure I understood the set-up.
43 years ago revolution - out with the bad - in with the even more bad
2 years ago Carrion Crown
Last year the guy ousted 43 years ago started recruiting for the counter revolution to get himself back in power
characters are semi-nobles
at least part human (or otherwise disguisable as human)
group trying to take over, but we are certainly not the good guys
Correct?
Ok, I'm actually thinking someone from outside the area. Sent in from (I will check the map if you don't have a place in mind) to help the newcomers gain power and have influence with them. Maybe even have them dependent on him for certain things so he has even more influence with them.
So that sounds like some sort of assassin-ish build. Maybe even an up-and-coming Mantis wanabee. He will be specifically ordered to actually be faithful to his new found friends. This is a very long term mission to gain significant influence, not a short term betrayal for momentary gain. So most likely a LE sort.
I will have to do some investigating before I have even a preliminary build figured out.
I am intrigued and trying to figure out my character idea. Probably a sneaky caster of some sort. The alignment is throwing me off. Will we be fighting undead, joining them, fighting nondead? Just trying to figure out what to expect. I am down to either an Inquisitor or a shaman, and trying to decide how to build it.
Depends on the character you want to play, and what the other characters are doing, and what the characters are hiding from each other.
I think you should approach it from another angle. Build the character first, then crunch the numbers. The choices of the party, and your character's personal choices, will influence the threats faced.
What matters is that you give me some gravitas!
This is Gothic Horror, embrace that.
At the very least, check out the pertinent wiki and tvtropes pages.
Last year the guy ousted 43 years ago started recruiting for the counter revolution to get himself back in power
I can see where there would be confusion here. The guy is on his death bed, at the core of the matter is nature vs nurture. He wants noble blood (nature) to overcome common rule (nurture). Once his thesis has been proven, he can die happy, because it legitimizes everything he's every lived, breathed, and fought for.
group trying to take over, but we are certainly not the good guys
Bringing stability back to a realm fraught with danger? Isn't that good?
Ok, I'm actually thinking someone from outside the area. Sent in from (I will check the map if you don't have a place in mind) to help the newcomers gain power and have influence with them. Maybe even have them dependent on him for certain things so he has even more influence with them.
So that sounds like some sort of assassin-ish build. Maybe even an up-and-coming Mantis wanabee. He will be specifically ordered to actually be faithful to his new found friends. This is a very long term mission to gain significant influence, not a short term betrayal for momentary gain. So most likely a LE sort.
I will have to do some investigating before I have even a preliminary build figured out.
So you want to play the devil.
Last year the guy ousted 43 years ago started recruiting for the counter revolution to get himself back in powerI can see where there would be confusion here. The guy is on his death bed, at the core of the matter is nature vs nurture. He wants noble blood (nature) to overcome common rule (nurture). Once his thesis has been proven, he can die happy, because it legitimizes everything he's every lived, breathed, and fought for. ...
Aha, ok. That makes a bit more sense.
...group trying to take over, but we are certainly not the good guysBringing stability back to a realm fraught with danger? Isn't that good? ...
Well, not good aligments, use the terror of the populace to help us, etc... I could probably manage to justify it adequately, but it is really just a power grab cause some old guy doesn't want to see the peasants in charge.
...So you want to play the devil.Ok, I'm actually thinking someone from outside the area. Sent in from (I will check the map if you don't have a place in mind) to help the newcomers gain power and have influence with them. Maybe even have them dependent on him for certain things so he has even more influence with them.
So that sounds like some sort of assassin-ish build. Maybe even an up-and-coming Mantis wanabee. He will be specifically ordered to actually be faithful to his new found friends. This is a very long term mission to gain significant influence, not a short term betrayal for momentary gain. So most likely a LE sort.
I will have to do some investigating before I have even a preliminary build figured out.
Yup! Or at least a close facsimile there-of.
Well, not good aligments, use the terror of the populace to help us, etc... I could probably manage to justify it adequately, but it is really just a power grab cause some old guy doesn't want to see the peasants in charge.
This makes me want to ban alignments and alignment related nonsense.
It's not about justification, it's about perception.
Each character should have a personal stake in what's happening in the campaign, that's why everyone should be playing a disenfranchised noble. They have the same thing to gain that Beauturne does, and to lose, which is their identity.
How the characters exercise their nobility is another question (a necromancer and a detective have their own kinds of nobility to offer the world).
The "devil" doesn't have those connections, and wouldn't be a good fit for the game as a player character.
Why does a necromancer worship Norgorber?
Does the character worship Norgorber directly, or one of his aspects that might be more in line with learning information from the dead?
Chester worships the Reaper of Reputation aspect of Norgorber more than anything else. A part of it is the push for knowledge because knowledge IS power, but another part of it is disdain for a waste of precious resources. Certainly, life is precious, but once the mortal coil is shuffled off, why should we so casually throw away a perfectly good body? The applications behind necromancy are vast, from farming to manual and unskilled labor to safety to transportation. And we elect to distance ourselves from the mildly distasteful practice of putting those who have passed on to good use for the betterment of all? That is wasteful and downright closed minded. Or so his rationale goes. He is very much a pragmatist and endlessly utilitarian, as much as he can be anyway.
I like the mask bit, and classic mysterious servants.
Still working on what exactly the mask is OF, but it was an interesting tidbit from my reading up on Norgorber that I liked, so I ran with it.
Your character's background, as far as you've revealed, didn't give me any reason to think of your character as any sort of elf.
And I think it undermines the concept.
That's fair. I think I'm going to stick with him being a half-elf, but maybe goes to great pains to hide the fact. He insists that his looks and longevity of life is simply the result of good genes and proper breeding, maybe.
No doubling down on domains. But don't lose hope. Now for the good news: scroll down to the bottom of this link. That will give you what you're looking for.
Notice that you only need access to the Death domain to acquire the archetype.
I was under the impression that you could take a pair of domains and their corresponding subdomains (if you want), given that it only introduces a substitution to what the normal domain gives you, rather than in addition to what it gives. If I'm off-base on this, please feel free to correct me. That said, I completely accept that you'd rather not bend the rules for the pantheon's domains. If you've got better recommendations for what god would fit over Norgorber, I'm all ears.
As for the Undead Lord archetype, I've looked into it in the past and it's kind of underwhelming. You sacrifice one of your domains for a permanent minion, a free feat, and eventually some extra undead-healing ability. Which is handy, but cuts down on a bit of the cleric's versatility. If I were to go that archetype, I'd probably swap his deity over to Urgathoa so that I could capitalize on the Undeath domain and still have the option to heal people who aren't already dead. Definitely something to consider, though, and it would be really thematically appropriate.
Chester worships the Reaper of Reputation aspect of Norgorber more than anything else. A part of it is the push for knowledge because knowledge IS power, but another part of it is disdain for a waste of precious resources. Certainly, life is precious, but once the mortal coil is shuffled off, why should we so casually throw away a perfectly good body? The applications behind necromancy are vast, from farming to manual and unskilled labor to safety to transportation. And we elect to distance ourselves from the mildly distasteful practice of putting those who have passed on to good use for the betterment of all? That is wasteful and downright closed minded. Or so his rationale goes. He is very much a pragmatist and endlessly utilitarian, as much as he can be anyway.
Beautiful.
Still working on what exactly the mask is OF, but it was an interesting tidbit from my reading up on Norgorber that I liked, so I ran with it.
As someone who hosts masquerades with some frequency, I know your pain.
That's fair. I think I'm going to stick with him being a half-elf, but maybe goes to great pains to hide the fact. He insists that his looks and longevity of life is simply the result of good genes and proper breeding, maybe.
That's the window dressing, what's inside your half-elf backstory house?
I was under the impression that you could take a pair of domains and their corresponding subdomains (if you want), given that it only introduces a substitution to what the normal domain gives you, rather than in addition to what it gives. If I'm off-base on this, please feel free to correct me.
From the Advanced Player's Guide: "If a cleric selects a subdomain, she cannot select its associated domain as her other domain choice (in effect, the subdomain replaces its associated domain)."
That said, I completely accept that you'd rather not bend the rules for the pantheon's domains. If you've got better recommendations for what god would fit over Norgorber, I'm all ears.
I'll have some stuff for you later today.
As for the Undead Lord archetype, I've looked into it in the past and it's kind of underwhelming. You sacrifice one of your domains for a permanent minion, a free feat, and eventually some extra undead-healing ability. Which is handy, but cuts down on a bit of the cleric's versatility.
Or you could play a Necroccultist.
Well, not good aligments, use the terror of the populace to help us, etc... I could probably manage to justify it adequately, but it is really just a power grab cause some old guy doesn't want to see the peasants in charge.This makes me want to ban alignments and alignment related nonsense.
It's not about justification, it's about perception.
Each character should have a personal stake in what's happening in the campaign, that's why everyone should be playing a disenfranchised noble. They have the same thing to gain that Beauturne does, and to lose, which is their identity.
How the characters exercise their nobility is another question (a necromancer and a detective have their own kinds of nobility to offer the world).
The "devil" doesn't have those connections, and wouldn't be a good fit for the game as a player character.
Ok, so are you wanting a ruling council or the party to split the land into 5+ sections to be ruled? I guess I was assuming one of us would be ruler and the others would be helping that one.
I will give some thought to a different idea.
I'll be honest, I haven't looked into the Occult playtest stuff at all, really. That said, if it offers avenues for being a necromancer, I may just have to as soon as I get a minute.
Ok, so are you wanting a ruling council or the party to split the land into 5+ sections to be ruled? I guess I was assuming one of us would be ruler and the others would be helping that one.
We'll be using the standard Kingdom Builder rules for political positions. I imagine there might be a bit of contention.
Just as planned, really.
I'll be honest, I haven't looked into the Occult playtest stuff at all, really. That said, if it offers avenues for being a necromancer, I may just have to as soon as I get a minute.
The Necroccultist gets you a refreshable and upgradeable skeleton or zombie minion for 10 minutes/per Necroccultist level. And a Wiz/Sorc necromancy spell every level to your spells known. And a few other cool tricks.
At the end of the day, it's a wizard that can fight I guess, which might be contrary to your character concept. I can give you more info if the class interests you.
Gods:
And the short list:
Urgathoa, if you're not a fan of Goetic devils/demons/daemons.
Yaezhing, is a sort of Eastern Norgorber.
I think I'm changing my concept around a bit and going investigator. :)
As a concept, I am thinking of Vladymir Andachi Tamriv, descendant of Count Andachi, Vetala-born Dhampir Investigator with an interest in reclaiming lands within Centerwall.
He will have the Meticulous Drawback, and use Disguise in general to mitigate his "brass-like" skin appearance.
Would that fit?
Vetala is a bit of a stretch for the region, how does that fit in? Why the change to Investigator? Why do you want Meticulous to be your character's flaw?
I like the Count Andachi connection.
The way I see it, just befor he began calling on Zon-Kuthon, the Count sent family members in the care of an elf servant to Jalmeray for protection. Over the 650 years since, physically, they've become more Vudrani than <Ustalav> but over the generations, the human family and elven one mingled closely and kept the family histories alive orally and through journals.
As Vladymir is a little over 100 years old, I'm thinking that, his mother, knowing the power of information and knowledge in general, made a deal with a Vetala for a child that would reclaim her ancestral throne, and give the Vetala the promise of an inside track on a noble family in a part of the world that it could have all kinds of new feasts and experiences. Vladymir has been spending the last couple of decades disguised and simply living in Ustalav, biding his time....
I like the class for the combination of Alchemy and knowledge, but I hear that there will be an Archetype in Occult Adventures called the Psychic Detective that trades Alchemy and poison abilities for Psychic magic and that might fit well. :) And, as he tends to concentrate on matters at hand and lose focus on things he's not focusing on, that just seemed perfect for meticulous.
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I'll be honest, I haven't looked into the Occult playtest stuff at all, really. That said, if it offers avenues for being a necromancer, I may just have to as soon as I get a minute.The Necroccultist gets you a refreshable and upgradeable skeleton or zombie minion for 10 minutes/per Necroccultist level. And a Wiz/Sorc necromancy spell every level to your spells known. And a few other cool tricks.
At the end of the day, it's a wizard that can fight I guess, which might be contrary to your character concept. I can give you more info if the class interests you.
Gods:
And the short list:
Urgathoa, if you're not a fan of Goetic devils/demons/daemons.
Yaezhing, is a sort of Eastern Norgorber.
Well Shoot. I was working up a Half-orc Shaman of Asmodeus. Guess I gotta make some changes again.
Well Shoot. I was working up a Half-orc Shaman of Asmodeus. Guess I gotta make some changes again.
Hold it, that list was for Chester specifically.
The way I see it, just befor he began calling on Zon-Kuthon, the Count sent family members in the care of an elf servant to Jalmeray for protection. Over the 650 years since, physically, they've become more Vudrani than <Ustalav> but over the generations, the human family and elven one mingled closely and kept the family histories alive orally and through journals.
As Vladymir is a little over 100 years old, I'm thinking that, his mother, knowing the power of information and knowledge in general, made a deal with a Vetala for a child that would reclaim her ancestral throne, and give the Vetala the promise of an inside track on a noble family in a part of the world that it could have all kinds of new feasts and experiences. Vladymir has been spending the last couple of decades disguised and simply living in Ustalav, biding his time....
I don't think that's a good fit for the game.
I like the class for the combination of Alchemy and knowledge, but I hear that there will be an Archetype in Occult Adventures called the Psychic Detective that trades Alchemy and poison abilities for Psychic magic and that might fit well. :) And, as he tends to concentrate on matters at hand and lose focus on things he's not focusing on, that just seemed perfect for meticulous.
The Psychic Detective is a neat archetype. And that's a good use for meticulous.
I'm sensing a trend forming, so I'm going to nip it in the bud.
Going forward this will be the standard for race selection:
"Races: Humans. Two partially human characters will be allowed, but they require two things: a compelling backstory and they have to pass for human."
I don't think that's a good fit for the game.The way I see it, just befor he began calling on Zon-Kuthon, the Count sent family members in the care of an elf servant to Jalmeray for protection. Over the 650 years since, physically, they've become more Vudrani than <Ustalav> but over the generations, the human family and elven one mingled closely and kept the family histories alive orally and through journals.
As Vladymir is a little over 100 years old, I'm thinking that, his mother, knowing the power of information and knowledge in general, made a deal with a Vetala for a child that would reclaim her ancestral throne, and give the Vetala the promise of an inside track on a noble family in a part of the world that it could have all kinds of new feasts and experiences. Vladymir has been spending the last couple of decades disguised and simply living in Ustalav, biding his time....
yeah, I admit I was reaching for a reason for a Vudrani vampire offspring to be in Ustalav :)
Would a Half-Elf with the Human-Looking feat be workable with that kind of 'spirited away by trusted advisor' theme? If not, I can go straight Human, no biggie :)
I like the class for the combination of Alchemy and knowledge, but I hear that there will be an Archetype in Occult Adventures called the Psychic Detective that trades Alchemy and poison abilities for Psychic magic and that might fit well. :) And, as he tends to concentrate on matters at hand and lose focus on things he's not focusing on, that just seemed perfect for meticulous.The Psychic Detective is a neat archetype. And that's a good use for meticulous.
It does sound cool, I just hate having to wait a full week to get the PDF with it... lol
Yep, might get rid of my Cleric Umbral Court Agent idea then. Kinda wanted to be able to throw people around with Channel Force, but with race restrictions thats not going to be possible. I'll think of something else.
yeah, I admit I was reaching for a reason for a Vudrani vampire offspring to be in Ustalav :)
Would a Half-Elf with the Human-Looking feat be workable with that kind of 'spirited away by trusted advisor' theme? If not, I can go straight Human, no biggie :)
The problem is two-fold: Beauturne needs to know who you are, and he needs to know where you are.
Half-elf with Human-looking would be workable yes.
Counting the base Dhampir, there are three other types of vampire spawn native to Ustalav, so there's that too.
It does sound cool, I just hate having to wait a full week to get the PDF with it... lol
It's worth it. And the material in that book perfect for the campaign.
And I can help you get the character started too, that's no problem; that goes for anybody who wants to use an Occult Adventures class.
Any reservations about firearms?
Yep, might get rid of my Cleric Umbral Court Agent idea then. Kinda wanted to be able to throw people around with Channel Force, but with race restrictions thats not going to be possible. I'll think of something else.
I'm not familiar with the race/class combo shenanigans, which race did you have in mind?
Any reservations about firearms?
As long as it doesn't come out of Numeria.
Actually, now that I'm reading through these, Mahathallah sounds pretty great for a noble necromancer. Although, Ruzel does seem pretty interesting with Humor being one of his main points. I like the idea of having Chester keyed into some greater cosmic joke, finding the little ironies in everything.
I'm not familiar with the race/class combo shenanigans, which race did you have in mind?
Standard Aasimar, which has the ability to select the Channel Force line of (Racial) feats, which lets you pull or push people if they fail a save against your channel energy.
Actually, now that I'm reading through these, Mahathallah sounds pretty great for a noble necromancer. Although, Ruzel does seem pretty interesting with Humor being one of his main points. I like the idea of having Chester keyed into some greater cosmic joke, finding the little ironies in everything.
I'm glad my research paid off.