All right, looks like we've got a group of players here, all people I've played with before, so I think we'll have a good game. The players are:
Black Tom
Garden Tool
Ferret
SuperUberGeek
Deevor
Everybody, say "hi" and let's start seeing how we can pull a party out of this. I know some of you already have some concepts in mind - so far, I think your concepts haven't overlapped too badly, so I think it should work out.
For the purposes of planning, let me break down the chargen rules I'm going to use:
* 20 pt buy
* Standard core rules races
* Any classes/archetypes from core, APG, Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat, plus the ARG (3PP material potentially allowed - I don't have a lot of it, though, so it's by approval only)
* Feats and spells from any Paizo-produced Pathfinder RPG source (with stuff from the 3.5 Pathfinder era potentially allowed - I'm mostly thinking of the spells from Gods and Magic that haven't been converted yet)
* Two Traits, one of which must be from the Shattered Star Player's Guide.
* Starting gold equal to your class' average.
I might be open to a more expanded race list, given all the coolness in the ARG, but I would prefer to assume not until convinced otherwise. Also, because Ultimate Equipment will release at the same time the AP does, it will probably be available as well, but it's not likely to come up during chargen, I wouldn't think.
Everybody, say "hi" and let's start seeing how we can pull a party out of this. I know some of you already have some concepts in mind - so far, I think your concepts haven't overlapped too badly, so I think it should work out.
Hullo!
I'm still trying to think of what I would be playing, but tend to try to fill any role that hasn't been chosen by the rest of the party.
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Hi, all. Longtime GM, sometime player. Founder and writer for Abandoned Arts. Running a few gams of my own. Pathfinder gamer since Beta, and 3.5 since day one. Nice to mee you all.
I'm thinking of an arcanist. A witch or sorcerer. Crowd control / debuffing as a primary function. Possibly a knowledge-monkey, as well, if I go witch (the class I'm leaning toward). Almost surely human, because Golarion is supposed to be humanocentric, and others will probably want free reign go nuts with the new awesomeness in the ARG.
Hi all .. I guess I've been a gamer for 10 years now, when if I'd only started when it all came out, I could say 40-ish years. So many years I missed ...
Anyway I was thinking Human or something a little more unusual, but will probably stick to Human as the prevalent race. As for class, I don't want to be a cleric or oracle, possibly a barbarian but I honestly don't have much of a clue at the moment.
I do have a character I used in another game that folded, a half-orc rogue, who uses a mace for damage .. I could bring him back in, he's a bit of a mysoganist and I've created a PFS character with his characteristics. I quite like him, he might do the trick. He's Natty but not sure quite yet.
Oh yeah .. not that it'll matter too much, but I'm out for the next few days, until next Tuesday and don't expect to be posting as I'll only have very limited internet access.
A couple more notes, just as I think of them:
From what I have seen, the AP presumes the PCs are entry-level members of the Pathfinder Society, so I would prefer that your concepts take such things into account. I assume the Campaign Traits will deal with that in more detail, but it would be useful to have that in mind as we begin.
Also, specifically with regard to Natty, Deevor: you're going to be using the newest lodge of the Pathfinder Society, Heidmarch Manor in Magnimar, as yoru home base for much, possibly all, of the campaign. The Venture-Captain of the Magnimar Lodge is Sheila Heidmarch, and I suspect she's not the sort to take a lot of crap from her subordinates, particularly over the matter of her gender. Just so you know.
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I've just remembered that witches can heal quite well, so that cements it for me. Witch, if I play an arcane caster.
If someone else wants dibs on arcanist, though, I've just remembered another concept I statted up but never got to play: an archery ranger whose in-game goal is to kill one of everything. He takes trophies from each - from scales to claws to entire heads, and he keeps a very detailed list of everything he's killed.
Hi all,
I'm toying with the concept of a gnome cleric of Abadar, going for buffing and summoning. I hope it will not be too suboptimal.
Looks like we have casters covered, more or less. Anybody want to claim the beatstick or skilluser slots?
If Natty is a Pathfinder, then the pathfinders have asked him to join to stop the Aspis Consortium from employing his skills, as he has a bit of a reputation for his pick pocketing and general thieving. Obviously from the seedy part of town.
If neither Ferret or SuperUberGeek fancy the skill role then I'm sure Natty would be able to get along with the Venture Captain, he's not stupid. His build will have a few small differences from the one linked to, but its a start.
Sorry it took so long for me to post guys, I have not been able to get on Paizo. I will go beat stick. I am thinking barbarian.
Looking again, it will be a dwarf cleric of Abadar with the Nobility and Travel domains. The gnome cleric didn't make any sense.
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So:
fighting, healing cleric
beatstick barbarian
crowd-control, off-healer witch
maybe a fighting, skill-monkey rogue
That leaves... what? A defensive or "sticky" front-liner? A crowd-controler who doesn't target Will? A Knowledge-junkie? A dedicated source of ranged damage? Some combination of the above?
I think the cleric is going to be more buffs/summons than fighting, but I could be mistaken.
Fifth guy has to be a bard. It is in the rules.
Fifth guy has to be a bard. It is in the rules.
Bleh.
Looking at a Druid of some stripe, but still trying to find something that really feels right.
Stripe-y druids are tiger shamans, right?
Gentlemen (and ladies? It occurs to me that I don't actually know), allow me to present the Shattered Star Player's Guide! Let's dig in and see what we've got, shall we?
> Racial low-light vision or darkvision
Tom's dwarf's got darkvision, if Deevor runs with his rogue he's got darkvision, and Ferret hasn't picked a race yet to my knowledge...
> Defender of the Society
I really like pretty much all the Society traits, particularly when you'll note it will be possible to pick them up later via spending Prestige Points (so if you don't have a ki pool or favored terrain now but want it later...).
question about traits. First, do the pathfinder society traits count as the one mandatory Shattered star trait. And second, with the possibility to buy them latter, is it still only possible to have only one society trait.
1) No, they don't. The mandatory traits are the ones centered on Magnimar, not the Society.
2) I suspect I would strongly resist swapping out the campaign trait via Prestige Points, so it's probably irrelevant. If I did allow it, though, you could have two Society traits - but the traits would still have to come from different categories, so you couldn't have, for instance, Berserker of the Society and Defender of the Society both, as they are both combat traits.
EDIT: though there is the Additional Traits feat, which would make it much easier to get multiple traits if you really wanted them.
Thank you.
Ferret hasn't picked a race yet to my knowledge ...
Human Inquisitor in the service of the Empyreal Lord Sinashakti. Exchange Agent, and some other trait I haven't decided on yet.
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Yyyeah, none of these traits are calling to me at all. This'll require some thought.
I might work out some stats soon. And speaking of that...
Shisumo: I really feel like this witch is Lawful Evil. I'll play it Lawful Neutral if that's what you'd prefer, but my thinking is that the guy has seen the true nature of the world, and of others, and has come to acknowledge that in order to affect any real good one must be willing to do whatever it takes. If someone used detect evil to definitively show him that his heart was black with evil, he would say:
"Yes. And you're welcome for that."
He does what must be done. Evil, for good.
Can I sell you on a Lawful Evil alignment?
I've got no problem with it as a matter of course, but I reserve the right to talk about it later if it should somehow become a problem. Does anyone else have an issue with it?
Nope, though I reserve the right to hit it later if it become a problem.
I've got no problem with it as a matter of course, but I reserve the right to talk about it later if it should somehow become a problem. Does anyone else have an issue with it?
Getting a "4th Imperial Legion" vibe from this group, Shisumo-sama.
I think I like it.
Ah yes the 4th legion. Vader's Elbow.
Just for the record, I got my "shipping soon" email for Shards of Sin (as well as Paths of Prestige and Ultimate Equipment, among other things) on Thursday, which likely means my PDFs will be available for download sometime this coming week.
I'll be going to GenCon next week, but I'm hoping to get this game started before I leave.
It does indeed, and that's fine with me. An Irrisen witch, eh? You really do wish this were the Baba Yaga AP, don't you? ;)
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Maaaaybe. But I've changed my mind about the winter witch archetype already (for this character, at least). It's too weird considering the trait (and the patron) that I want, and the benefits I really want from it won't kick in until forever from now, so screw it.
Stat block will be up later today. I'm just going plain-old-witch, no archetype.
Mechanically: I will be looking at an optimized Bluff modifier and a jacked up set of spell DCs with a jacked-up Slumber hex for my bread-and-butter technique. I'll be covering the Knowledge-junkie role, too, including the Guide-recommended Knowledge (history) skill at +9 or so.
Fluff-wise: Campaign trait will be Ex-Sczarni, and the breakaway from the familiy will not have been amicable. So, have fun with that.
I'll be toting around a companion familiar - a viper - with whom I have a bit of an adversarial relationship. More to come as I figure out exactly why. Something to do with the Sczarni break.
This character will be LE, and a man of few words. He doesn't use two words when one word will do. He's a bad guy who commits evil against other bad guys, and - despite being evil - can easily be motivated to help others. He does what needs to be done. He does what the "other" good guys won't do. That said, he's not a "wimpy" shade of evil, he can get pretty gruesome if he feels that the situation requires it. He's not above sacrificing innocents if it means saving more lives than the sacrifice would cost, either. This includes his own life - he's an enemy of evil (specifically: organized crime) by deed, not just by name. Though he knows his heart is black, he considers himself a virtuous man. He does not consider those two traits to be contradictory. Self-sacrifice is not a desirable outcome, of course, and he knows he's a more valuable asset than most "common" men or even "common" heroes. That's not arrogance; it's the realist in him. He's got a genius-level IQ and a set of rare arcane powers, and he knows it.
Looking forward to playing this guy.
Okay, Zeuth is done. I need to stat out his familiar and choose his prepared spells for day 1 of the campaign, but otherwise, he's finished. Backstory and other notes are yet to come.
I have one question for you, Shisumo. I have the Witch Knife feat, which requires me to select a masterwork or magical dagger when I prepare my spells. I then gain a +1 bonus to the DC of my patron spells as long as I hold the dagger. My question is this: if I messed with my known spells list and added shadow weapon or icicle dagger to the list, could I specify either of those weapons as my chosen dagger? Would I need to have the spell cast at the time, or could I specify a dagger called by a future casting of the spell? Or to any/every casting of the spell?
It may not be worth the trouble either way, but seeing as how I can't afford a masterwork dagger just yet, I figured I'd ask.
I have one question for you, Shisumo. I have the Witch Knife feat, which requires me to select a masterwork or magical dagger when I prepare my spells. I then gain a +1 bonus to the DC of my patron spells as long as I hold the dagger. My question is this: if I messed with my known spells list and added shadow weapon or icicle dagger to the list, could I specify either of those weapons as my chosen dagger? Would I need to have the spell cast at the time, or could I specify a dagger called by a future casting of the spell? Or to any/every casting of the spell?
Based on the wording of the feat - "transforming it into a witch knife" - I think you'd have to actually have a knife in hand at the time. You can't transform something that doesn't exist.
A couple other notes: while I'm certainly not telling you not to do it, I feel like I should say that I've played alongside a slumber-spamming witch before. They are crazy effective, but the player got terribly bored with the character really fast. Just be aware of the danger there. Also, did you originally have a Strength of 8? All your melee combat stats (attack, damage, CMB and CMD) are calculated off of a -1 modifier rather than your current Strength mod of -2.
As for the Sczarni break not being friendly... heh. I think that will work out just fine.
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I prefer understated, "wave of the hand" spells and effects on my casters. The slumber hex is just an excuse to give Zeuth something worthwhile to do in combat. What I really want from him is social skill, support spellcasting, and healing (in that order).
In any case, I fixed the Strength issue, and put my backstory up. The backstory includes a Sczarni NPC whose name has been blocked out. I can make one up, but since the NPC constitutes a "villain" for Zeuth, I thought you might want to substitute the name of an existing Sczarni NPC from the module. Let me know and I'll edit it in.
This doesn't need to be a major plot-point, either. It might be cooler if the revenge is short, messy, and unsatisfying. Then again, if I do manage get the bastard with my slumber hex and slap my manacles on him...
EDIT: Oh, and as you can imagine, Zeuth has a less-than-companionable relationship with his familiar. Significantly less-than-companionable.
Added a little something to my gear and changed Zeuth's profile picture to something that better reflects his age and ethnicity.
Greetings!
I plan to be ranged support, throwing around judgments as I can.
Quick clarification on illuminating touch: as written, it does nothing whatsoever at 1st level. I strongly suspect this was an oversight in the editing process, since every other domain that works similarly as a "(minimum +1)" clause attached - as such, I'm ruling that it was supposed to be there for illuminating touch as well.
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Shisumo - once you get your hands on your Shards of Sin PDF, let me know if I should use a specific NPC name for the Sczarni NPC in my backstory, or make one up.
On that note, a question: how accommodating are the APs when it comes to working in PC goals and PC-centric events, motivations, side quests, and so on? Remember that in all my many years of playing I've (more or less) never played OR run an AP. When you, specifically, run a module, do you intend the / story to be the focus, rather than the PCs?
Sorry if this question seems dumb. I'm a module-virgin.
I know there's at least one person in the module who will work - I'm just waiting on the PDF to figure out if there's anyone who would work better. Since the PDFs have already started going out, though, I'm hopeful we can get started in a day or two (though Deevor might still need some time to work on his character, since he's been offline all this weekend).
Typically, when I run a preprinted mod, I try to substitute in PC storyline elements for similar events already in the mod, to make them as seamless as I can. It doesn't always work, but I usually manage it okay. If there's something that really catches my attention, I might actually write a sidequest to accomodate it, but a lot of the reason I run APs on the boards is because I don't have a lot of time to write my own stuff for Pathfinder (I've got this whole other campaign I'm the head writer for, after all). So I try to make it work as best I can by changing names and faces or otherwise making fairly small tweaks to work things in.
Obviously, that works a whole lot better if I get lots of advance warning. So if there's something you're interested in having happen, let me know as soon as you decide on it...
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(Hey, cool. Would you ever consider writing for Abandoned Arts?)
I just want to get my hands on the guy (or gal). From there, Zeuth will have to find something else to do - something to assuage his guilt. Maybe Pathfinding will satisfy him.
Well, I can promise the hands-getting-on will occur. Or, more accurately, that you will have the opportunity to get your hands on the individual in question. (Actually making sure you put him/her down... well, that ball is in your court.) Beyond that, though... well, even I don't have that answer yet.
I'll get Erwin done as soon as possible. I am seriously tempted to shoot for Balanced Scale of Abadar, if that would even be possible. It just fits perfectly, as he considers himself a treasure-finder, who's not at all greedy, he just thinks that someone needs to take proper care of all those pretty forgotten things. ;-)
The balanced scale PrC would probably be allowed, using the conversion listed at d20pfsrd.
Got my PDFs just now. Will read up tonight. Then tomorrow... maybe...