Idle Note / Thought / Advice -
Something I saw on someone-or-another's character - the campfire bead. Firewood may be in short supply (and it's heavy and bulky to transport), and IMO if you're looking for somewhere to spend a few thousand GP, this is a very good way of helping to supply your people with warmth. Firepowder is another good one (10 gp, 8 hrs heat).I also created a few extra items for heating the inside of tents - braziers (5 gp, 10 lbs), and low-smoke coal (2 lbs, 5 sp, 8 hours duration) and a take-off of the campfire bead, the brazier bead (identical to the campfire bead, just for braziers). Note that braziers fill unvented tents with fumes, even from the low-smoke coal. To get the best effect, one brazier for a small or medium tent, two for a large, and four for a pavilion. An extra 20% of the tent amount will provide venting that gets rid of the fumes while minimalizing the heat loss.
Is the price of a brazier bead less? If they are identical to the campfire bead then one should be enough for a pavilion tent. Here is one I found online. It's a 10 person tent and only 10x14. A heatstone can make that comfortable down to -20 and it doesn't produce enough heat to cook food. It stands to reason a single campfire bead or brazier could make that sweltering unless properly vented. I can't afford 4 of those but I can afford one spare.
Hey Wyrm, regarding being 'familiar' with a creature for the purpose of Wild Shaping into it, is that some sort of Kn Nature check, or did you have something else in mind?
Ok other than the followers are done. I do not have the gold listed on Emma's profile since I am finishing up buying food stuffs. And I am buying some of the basic things for the followers with their gold. I have like 10,000 to spend on my wagons and gear but I am almost done! Should be done with the followers and the wagons tomorrow. I do not think I will be buying anything else for the two siblings. So [ulr=http://paizo.com/people/EmmaHolt#newPost]Emma[/url] and Ingrid are ready for review.
As to the prestige and honor thing. I am fine with both though I have no familiarity with either one. They seems interesting.
Can the cohort and PC both have an honor code? And does that need to be done before the 18th? If that is the case I will say no since I would not have time to do that much more reading.
Regarding Tents, Pavilions, Camp Fires, and Braziers -
First, do not compare modern tents with medieval ones; they simply aren't in the same weight class, whether that's in material weight, setup/breakdown time, people-space, heat retaining, wind resistance, or whatever. If you're going to pull up a 'modern' reference, it would need to be from a company such as Panther Primitives, ones that do period-appropriate replica and reconstructive designs. The space allowances for the variously-sized tents are the 1/2/4/10 medium-sized creatures, and while the smallest is indeed small, the large and the pavilion are sized to actually be able to fit (not to sleep, but standing) a fair number of people, probably up to double their numbers, triple for a short time if really pressed. Use as a benchmark the fact that you can fit 4 horses and their 2 grooms inside a pavilion tent at the same time - comfortably.
While the technicals of the heatstone does not say that it has to be inside an area, I think that from the description it is meant to be used inside a structure - even if that structure is a house, tent, pavilion, or whatever. I cannot honestly imagine a radiant alchemical non-magical creation keeping a 20'x20' open-air area 'comfortably warm' in temperatures below -20 degrees Farenheit, and twice that space between -20 and 0; I can see it working inside a pavilion tent of that size, with the canvas there to defend against the worst enemy of heat, namely wind, but I'll definitely allow it if someone can point me towards a FAQ or more information.
Of course a heatstone isn't designed to be able to be cooked over; it's a 24-hr warmth item, low controlled heat. The reason a 'small campfire' can be used inside a pavilion is because the pavilion's top is high enough to not catch fire. It's more for convenience of cooking (inside, instead of outside in what might be 'the wet') than it is for heat generation, especially since it'll be typically too small to really heat the area. Neither a small campfire nor the campfire bead (which creates a small campfire) is entirely sufficient to heat a pavilion; from experience and historical evidence I can say that one kept busy during the waking hours in order to keep the body's natural heat generation working overtime to keep you warm, and at nighttime people in tents and pavilions (hell, in houses and castles) heaped on the furs and blankets, wore three layers, and invented bed warmers to heat up (and dry out) the bedding to help out until body heat could catch up and the bedding would retain the warmth until daytime.
The brazier, on the other hand, is for what everyone is thinking about - actually making an entire area comfortably warm. For long-term use when weight considerations were critical, metal or ceramic charcoal-burning pans or pots became portable area heat sources - the brazier. Coal and charcoal are more energy-efficient, more compact, weigh less, can be carried with more easily if you're headed into a wood-poor area, and their burn can be controlled much more finely - not to mention they typically do not have open, leaping flames, and in fact are often relatively enclosed, which means they can be used inside in comparative safety. One brazier generates the same amount of heat for the same amount of time as a campfire - just more safely, which means that if you've the sufficient numbers for the space you're heating, you can strip down to your underoos, take a sponge bath, take care of your armor, and get back into warm clothing before having to get up and about again. One brazier is sufficient for a medium, 2-person tent; two for a 4-person large tent, and four for a 10-person pavilion. The difference between the small-campfire pavilion and the four-brazier pavilion is that in the former, people are still going to be bundled up - oh, without the wind-protection outer layer or two, but still bundled up - while in the latter, people can be wearing what amounts to mid-autumn/early-spring 'cool weather' clothing.
A pavilion or tent, with or without a small campfire, is going to count as at least some shelter against the cold; you aren't subject to the 'exposed' condition (though I have some thoughts on that anyhow). A campfire can stave off cold further, yes, but while a large campfire (or, IMO, a heatstone) in the middle of six medium-sized (or four large-sized) tents, or a small campfire inside a pavilion, will add another level of protection to that, a quartet of braziers inside a pavilion is the equivalent of a heatstone inside a pavilion - making life quite comfortable for an extended period of time, essentially providing protection against virtually any natural level of cold for as long as the fuel lasts.
Regarding the charcoal - going to go back to my original (home) cost on it, which was 2.5 sp (1/4 gp) per 2 lbs.
BTW, If anyone can point me to FAQ answers, textual evidence, dev commentary, or the like that helps me out on tents, campfires, exposure, etc. I'll be quite glad of it.
DeviousDevious -
Most creatures with which you'll be familiar are going to be the ones local to your usual area. Define that, and you pretty much have your 'critter set' defined for you. If it came to a roll - not likely, but possible - you'd be looking at a KS: Nature DC 10 check for anything in your home territory (call it a 20-mile radius), and a +1 for every 10 miles - or wait, this is Kingmaker, call it a 3-hex diameter circle for your 'home area' and a +1 for every additional map hex distant. Things can be very different a hundred miles away, but at the same time as you wander and familiarize yourself with the area, investigate and watch the animals, you can make yourself familiar with the critters. I'm thinking right now that if you spend double the amount of time necessary for exploration (hexploration? ;) ) you'll make yourself familiar with that hex's animal population.
DAA -
The brazier bead, like the campfire bead, transforms into already-burning fuel. The campfire bead doesn't create anything you need to support a fire, or tongs, or anything like that; neither does the brazier bead, which only turns into the burning coals. You still need the brazier itself.
Cohort and PC can both (or each independently) have a code of honor. The reading is actually rather quick; it's like two screens' worth at the top of this page, followed by a general code and then specific ones. I would prefer that you state if you want them to have codes by the close of applications, yes, but it isn't automatically vital.
Lucky Halfling -
Realized I hadn't come back to you on the whole 'gear for the followers' thing.
On the tracking sheet there is a new tab - 'Wealth by Level'. This outlines the rough amounts expected to be available by/to the leader/cohort and the followers at each level. While followers are receiving amounts of wealth equal to what a PC would have, (L6: 16,000 gp) their 'magic item' wealth is weaker. Primary and secondary items are appropriate, but the amount below that (what in PC and Cohorts are 'any magic item') is halved and limited to 3 items; they can have any number of magic items at half of that amount, though, as seen on the table.
In regards to your followers being 'troops you've trained' depending on your character's age, this can be entirely appropriate. They may not have trained together for six years, but they certainly could have trained together for six months, or two years; my restriction was on the minimum amount of time they've been your followers, not automatically your maximum. If you want them to be people you've trained, a 'Sarenite strike force' that Chalm made use of in the past, go for it - though I'd expect your character to have some time on his clock, perhaps halfway through his 'mature' age.
Thank you for updating me on the new information in the tracking sheet. I'll see if I can get things done for tomorrow night, but it is a big project and this weekend may be rather busy with the holidays and my normal bi-weekly game with some buddies outside of the Internet. No matter the outcome, I wanted to say thanks for the opportunity and the help. It's nice to get the chance to improve my writing and the chance to work on a fun project.
If it would be of interest to anyone, I created a calculator for leadership in a Google Sheet. It contains an ability score calculator as well.
Done!
Done and I am buying gear for my followers so they should be done in the next hour.
Ok the follower are on Emma's page. I could probably spend a little more of their money but I need sleep.
I should be able to get a honor code written up for the two of them tomorrow depending on how long my game runs, if I even get to go because of the weather!
Unfortunately I'm not going to have this character and everything else that it entails done for today. With that in mind, I'm going to withdraw from the recruitment. Thank you for the opportunity and perhaps I'll find my way into one of your games another time. Good luck to you and all of the applicants with the adventure that you have ahead of you. It sounds like it will be quite the undertaking.
I wanted to go ahead and give you my link to my Hero Lab file. The one file has the stuff for Kyras, Milo, my level 3 follower, 2 level 2 followers, and a handful of level 1 followers. I still have a handful more L1 followers to create, and none of the followers have names yet, but I wanted to get you access to it for beginning the review process. Link is here.
There is some stuff that I didn't have licenses for, so I had to make use of adjustments, like Drawbacks or Background Skills for example. For every adjustment I made, I added a note in the Personal tab of that character so you could know what the adjustment is for.
One question - can "community funds" be used to buy brazier beads, or do those need to come out of the main character's individual fund because they are a magic item costing more than 500gp?
dwilhelmi -
While normally I would say no in regards to the brazier beads, as they have no significant combat use I'm willing to say yes, you can. (And as an FYI, no you cannot throw/sling an object, then shout out a command word to activate it mid-air. Or rather, if I allow you to do so, it'll be a one-time Rule of Cool occurrence, not a 'always able to be done' sort of thing.)
I'm only getting a couple of errors on the characters, and from research it looks like they're a holdover from one of ShadowChemosh's old files, so they shouldn't be an issue - 'pMPFamKick' and 'pMPClDmMdf', looks like adding a kick attack to the elk and ... not sure what the other is. A Cleric Domain, maybe? Not sure what 'Mdf' would mean, though; I'll be able to go through and revise if/as necessary, though, particularly if/when you get the followers posted.
Everyone else, just under 12 hours remaining. ;)
Ok, here's the thing: I just discovered how exactly Sacred Summons work, and it seems it doesn't work well with a NG aura. That means Father Laszlo would need to change his crunch OR his fluff. With the time remaining, I don't think any of them is a viable an option, and neither is going with a class+feats combination that doesn't work.
So I guess I'll have to withdraw my submission. Right now I'm soooooo frustrated. Soooooo frustrated...
@Jereru: Sacred Summons doesn't work well for *anyone* non-evil until around level 9-11. As long as you get Summon Good monster, you should be fine, but a sacred summoner build is never actually going to be very effective at this level.
Although actually, at level 7, Summon Good Monster gives you Foo Lions, the first even slightly-decent sacred summons option, and only available to NG characters. Considering you can summon 1d3 lions at level 9, and 1d4+1 at level 11, I'd just stick with those until you hit Monadic Devas.
Since a Foo Lion (also happens with Foo Dogs) has the "Good" subtype but not the "Neutral" subtype, it doesn't exactly match my aura as Sacred Summons require. I... would need to weigh how much do I want to wait, or if I want to do some changes in the character, but right now it's 3:40 am here and I feel so demoralised by this s*** that I don't really have the strength.
Edit: Monadic Devas aren't "Neutral" either. See my point?
This is an appropriate occasion - especially since it's so last-minute - to appeal to the GM.
The GM is going to read up on the feat, compare and contrast with your Empyreal Lady of Inspired Notes, and consider the issue. You are still considered to be in the application. (And considering how many people have actually managed to be essentially done, it is highly likely that everyone who's basically submitted a final application - as well as a couple of 'last minute fails' like yourself - will get in. Because I'm nice like that.) It is most likely that, as Seramaydiel's portfolio nests rather comfortably within that of Shelyn, and as it is the GM's idle-thought prediction that the Empyrial Lady likely is (or was) a powerful vassal to the aforementioned goddess, the GM will decree that the use of this feat will use those available to Shelyn's followers.
I shall read.
Idle question regarding the various Brevic swordlord schools, on which there isn't a whole lot written that I can find. How likely is it that some schools exist whose focus is more on the function of the swordlord's art than the form?
That is, schools that emphasize using an Aldori dueling sword under combat conditions in the field, as opposed to the more regulated, one-on-one dueling style that seems to be the norm. Because Theodric, who is quite firmly a peasant with skills, doesn't seem to match up with the stereotype. Arguably, his abbreviated training could be responsible for that too, maybe in a school that taught the fundamentals before adding the polish and whatnot.
Hmm, I was expecting the last three days to have plenty of off time, but instead I didn't even have my phone and was in a whirlwind. I haven't slept since thursday (I snoozed an hour here and there).
I'm unlikely to be finished in time.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Jereru, you might wish to bookmark this post, or keep a link of it on P. Laszlo's character somewhere.
Having read, we will start by quoting:
The minions of your divine patrons stand ready to answer your call.
Prerequisites: Aura class feature, ability to cast summon monster.
Benefit: When using summon monster to summon creatures whose alignment subtype or subtypes exactly match your aura, you may cast the spell as a standard action instead of with a casting time of 1 round.
So.
P. László Nagy, a neutral good cleric of a neutral-good semi-deity, and possessing the 'Summon Good Monster' feat, has use for the Sacred Summons feat. This allows Laszlo to summon, by the fluff description, such minions of his divine patron as can be summoned, and by the crunch description (and examination of the editor's note as well as several threads devoted to the very subject), creatures whose creature subtype includes the exact alignment characteristics of his empyreal lady, specifically those whose creature subtypes include 'good', but do not include 'law' and exclude 'chaos'.
The following creatures are, by crunch definition, available to him:
SGM.III: Foo Dog (augmented, extraplanar, good), silvanshee agathion (agathion, extraplanar, good)
SGM.IV: Foo Lion (augmented, extraplanar, good)
SGM.V: Vulpinal agathion (agathion, extraplanar, good)
SGM.VI: --
SGM.VII: Movanic deva (angel, extraplanar, good)
SGM.VIII: Monadic deva (angel, aquatic, extraplanar, good)
SM.IX/SGM.IX: Astral deva (angel, extraplanar, good), leonal agathion (agathion, extraplanar, good)
The following creature is, by fluff description, notation in the and GM Fiat, available to him:
SM.II: Pseudodragon w/ Celestial template.
This last is added (is adding a celestial template going to change its CR? Should it be in the SM.III list, then?) because Seramaydiel is stated to have as minions 'aasimar bards, astral devas, celestial pseudodragons'. Since pseudodragon is in the list, and since adding 'celestial' to it is, IMNSHO, within the realm of allowability.
Furthermore, it is decreed that, should P. László Nagy ever achieve the exalted ranks of beings able to innately utilize the spell gate, the above feat shall reduce the casting time of that spell to a swift action, similar but not identical to using the quicken spell metamagic feat upon it (inasmuch as he will not be able to cast another spell, even a quickened spell, in the same round), but only if he uses the spell to summon either a) a being off the above list(s), or b) an agathion of some type. As agathions are by subtype definition good, but unrestricted to either law or chaos, all may be considered to be subject to the feat's effect - should the individual possess the intrinsic empyreal-angel-given ability to summon them.
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Velika Curak
Female
Elf
Magus(Eldrich Scion)
True Neutral
Rac Mod
Str 12
Dex 16 + 2 = 18
Con 13 - 2 = 11 + 1 = 12
Int 10 + 2 = 12
Wis 10
Cha 16
--------------------
Racial Abilities
----------------
Elven Immunities:
Elven Magic:
Low-Light Vision:
--------------------
Alternative Racial Abilities
----------------
Arcane Focus:
Dragon Magic:
--------------------
Class Abilities
----------------
Spell Combat:
Cantrips:
Arcane Pool:
Spellstrike:
Magus Arcana: Pool Ray, Natural Spell Combat
Bloodline: Draconic
Bonus Feat: Dodge
Meduim Armor:
-------
Traits
-------
Magic is Life:
Natural Born Leader:
Rebel Leader:
Dynasty Founder:
------
Feats
------
Point-Blank Shot:
Precise Shot:
Dodge:
Weapons Focus(Chakram):
----------
Languages
----------
Common, Elven, Draconic, Sylvan
---------------
Leadership Score
-------------------
7 + 3 + 3 + 1 + 1 + 3 = 18
Acrobatics: 1 + 4 + 3 = 8
Appraise:
Bluff: 1 + 3 + 3 = 4
Climb:
Craft:
Diplomacy: 1 + 3 = 4
Disable Device: 1 + 4 = 5
Disguise:
Escape Artist: 1 + 4 = 5
Fly:
Handle Animal: 1 + 3 = 4
Heal:
Intimidate:
Knowledge(Arcana): 1 + 1 + 3 = 5
Knowledge(Dungeoneering): 1 + 1 + 3 = 5
Knowledge(Engineering): 1
Knowledge(Geography): 1
Knowledge(History): 1
Knowledge(Local): 1
Knowledge(Nature): 1
Knowledge(Nobility): 1
Knowledge(Planes): 1 + 1 + 3 = 5
Knowledge(Religion): 1
Linguistics: 1 + 1 = 2
Perception: 1 + 3 = 4
Perform:
Profession: 1 + 3 = 4
Ride: 1 + 3 + 3 = 7
Sense Motive:
Sleight of Hand: 1 + 4 = 5
Spellcraft: 7 + 1 + 3 = 11
Stealth:
Survival:
Swim:
Use Magic Device: 1 + 3 + 3 = 7
0-
1-
2-
3-
0-
1-
2-
3-
Initiative: 4
--------
Offense
--------
BAB: 5
CMB: 5 + 1 + 4 = 10
Attack Damage
Longsword 1d20 + 7 1d8 + 2
Chakram 1d20 + 8 1d8 + 2
--------
Defense
--------
HP: 8 + 6 x 6 + 3 = 47
AC: 10 + 4 + 4 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 21
Touch AC: 10 + 4 = 14
Flat-Footed: 10 + 6 = 16
CMD: 10 + 5 + 1 + 4 = 20
Fortitude: 5 + 1 = 6
Reflex: 2 + 4 = 6
Will: 5 + 1 = 6
Explorers Outfit 10
Nobles Outfit 75
Magi Kit - 22
Riding Kit - 16
Spell Component Pouch 5
Mithral Armor 1100
Longsword(Magic + 1) 2000
Chakram(Magic + 1, returning) 8000
Headband of Charisma(+2) 4000
Horse 500
---------
Jewelry
---------
Arcane Signet Ring - 1000
Amulet of Natural Armor +1 - 1,500
Aegis of Recovery - 1,500
Earring of Protection - 1,500
Ring of Spell Knowledge(Cure Moderate Wounds) - 2000
Or
Ring of Spell Knowledge(Mage Armor) - 2000
Brooch 50
Earrings 50
This tall olive skinned elf is a diamond in the rough, though she rare let's her beauty shine through. Who could see her ample bosoms through her chainshirt. Who could make out every honeyed strand of silken hair through the matted locks she keeps them in. Or observe the fact that half her height is made up of luscious legs and thick thighs through worn leather breeches. And that is just to speak of physical beauty.
Loyal Strong Stuborn
Born to the of shoot of the royal family and a foreign noble house Velika was trained to be the proper elven lady. From a young age she was obsessed with heros and dragons. At the tender age of 12 it was decided to send to Brevoy to study with the Sword lords so that she might learn some discipline and win honor for her family. In order to win her parents approval she threw herself into her training.
During her initial training right before she progressed to the next lv her magic started to show. Her parents dismayed even more so than her sparring partner, sent to the academy immediately. Could not bare the thought of wasting her on the boyish art of swordwork no matter how great her masters or her own potential.
So off to the academy she went. It was at the academy that her love of dragons really took off. She even decided to take draconic as her language. She spent much if not all of her time reading about dragons.
Thus it is no surprise that when she graduated she went out into the world to seek out her dragons.
Cohort: Ding Long
Primary Followers: 5 Kobolds
Sam -
Little to none. The Swordlords' entire raison d'être is the individual duel; IMO, their primary weakness in the upcoming conflict with Northern Brevoy (i.e. Issia) is the fact that the best combat-trained individuals are trained for duels, not for war. For all the fact that we remember the Three Musketeers as being great duelists, and that the musketeers fought in battles, one must remember that what they used most often in such battles were their muskets, not their swords.
I would submit that this Western Zatōichi most likely had been an Aldori swordlord fighter-archetype, up until his combat patrol and burning, and that perhaps he saw firsthand - perhaps what led to his downfall at that time - was that the Swordlord schools do not practice multiple partners against multiple opponents, and so both a) get in each others' way, and b) are vulnerable to being ganged-up upon.
I would, perhaps, alter the 'merchant caravan rescue' event somewhat, changing what is written essentially as an easy and overwhelming Restovan (Rostlander?) victory into a harrowing battle, with skilled and ruthless bandits 'not fighting fair', i.e. double-teaming against the Swordlords. Make the fight a very close shave, including one - or several - uses of alchemist's fire or even lamp oil flung and lit. If Theodric was not the only burn casualty, and yet he is the only one to salvage his life as a fighting man by dint of letting go of the 'proven to be foolish' one-on-one style, it makes his a better, more noble, more impressive story - that this warrior, through determination, intellect, and incredible agility has persevered and learned a new way to fight even despite his handicap.
This can also account for the fact that he still possesses such swordlord-preferred feats as Weapon Finesse and the Weapon Focus for the dueling sword - that's the way he was originally trained, but he had to lose some of the older flamboyance and showmanship in order to focus on the two-sword method - and has since proven that he can hold his own against those of his old school, even if he doesn't have their flourishes and displays.
Myrza -
I'll confess I'm not entirely surprised; your silence suggested you'd either not had access, or had decided to give up. Thank you for the attempt and the interest. You always do push me to clarify my thoughts on my games. :)
LetcherMan69 -
Remember that both characters - Velika Curak and 'Ding Long' - must be fully completed. Velika is nowhere near so, including, just at a casual glance, the violation of at least one equipment rule that has been repeatedly clarified.
=====================================================================
Less than four hours, everyone!!
4 hours
Regarding Tents, Pavilions, Camp Fires, and Braziers -
Fair enough and I got what I needed. They won't be in the lap of luxury but they won't be exposed either. If a fire can't be erected with wood on hand then Lyda and the caravan have a bead. Two should be sufficient until adequate shelter can be erected.
I updated the profile of Kyras (as well as the Hero Lab file I previously shared, same location still) with the full build out of all his followers. They still don't have names (that's always the hardest part for me), but in Kyras's profile I tried to give a basic run-down of the interpersonal dynamics going on in the group and some flavor for the higher ranking followers.
Consequently, characters who are in the 'Ready To Be Reviewed' section (or, well, above this line) by close of recruitment will generally be allowed to adjust their characters for final compliance.
I am hoping that I interpreted this correctly, in that I have not yet made all of my final gear purchases, as I thought that could slide into tomorrow. I have made some, but I haven't gone through all my followers yet to figure out how much community funds I have total and buy the last bits. Here's hoping that making final gear purchases falls into something that I can adjust for final compliance.
Regardless, thanks for the enjoyable recruitment period, I had a lot of fun building all this out regardless of outcome. Now I'm off to bed.
They should be done and if they are not then I do not know what I need to do with them. I am looking forward to seeing the results on who you are going to be picking.
Good Morning.
After sleeping a bit (and reading TWO's post) I see things in a different way. Sorry about the rant and thank you to TWO (and thunderbeard) for the clarification and special ruling. Much appreciated.
So I think, then, that everything is done except from memorising spells for Father Laszlo (which I'll do during today). His HP are fixed, I've added a "most common" summoning link to every spell level, and a link to both his domain and subdomain (to quickly check his domain powers). Age for both characters is listed and references to "Pavel" re-checked.
Thank you again.
Aaaand applications are closed.
Sam -
Little to none. The Swordlords' entire raison d'être is the individual duel; IMO, their primary weakness in the upcoming conflict with Northern Brevoy (i.e. Issia) is the fact that the best combat-trained individuals are trained for duels, not for war. For all the fact that we remember the Three Musketeers as being great duelists, and that the musketeers fought in battles, one must remember that what they used most often in such battles were their muskets, not their swords.I would submit that this Western Zatōichi most likely had been an Aldori swordlord fighter-archetype, up until his combat patrol and burning, and that perhaps he saw firsthand - perhaps what led to his downfall at that time - was that the Swordlord schools do not practice multiple partners against multiple opponents, and so both a) get in each others' way, and b) are vulnerable to being ganged-up upon.
I would, perhaps, alter the 'merchant caravan rescue' event somewhat, changing what is written essentially as an easy and overwhelming Restovan (Rostlander?) victory into a harrowing battle, with skilled and ruthless bandits 'not fighting fair', i.e. double-teaming against the Swordlords. Make the fight a very close shave, including one - or several - uses of alchemist's fire or even lamp oil flung and lit. If Theodric was not the only burn casualty, and yet he is the only one to salvage his life as a fighting man by dint of letting go of the 'proven to be foolish' one-on-one style, it makes his a better, more noble, more impressive story - that this warrior, through determination, intellect, and incredible agility has persevered and learned a new way to fight even despite his handicap.
This can also account for the fact that he still possesses such swordlord-preferred feats as Weapon Finesse and the Weapon Focus for the dueling sword - that's the way he was originally trained, but he had to lose some of the older flamboyance and showmanship in order to focus on the two-sword method - and has since proven that he can hold his own against those of his old school, even if he doesn't have their flourishes and displays.
Interesting exposition. I've juggled Theodric's background a bit to incorporate your suggestion, and it does make it a bit more interesting to read. It also offers the prospect of drama with other members of his former school on a number of levels; outrage over his continued use of the sword (and two of them at that!) though he's not a "proper" swordlord; outrage over contaminating his school's teachings with his bastard hybrid adaptation; outrage over his peasant origins*; maybe even outrage that he didn't fall on his sword like he was supposed to.
*I get a faint hint of gang/elitist fraternity mentality to these schools, where Theodric might be a peasant turd, but he's also one them, which puts him a step up as long as that membership persists. With that association ended, however, his peasant status is very much an issue once again. Sound right?
========================================================================
Accepted Characters
ginganinja / Amavin Zephyra (Sorcerer (Stormborn) 7, Nemesis) and Ishana Tamanna (Warpriest (Calistria) 5); Prestige/Fame --, Honor --
JAF0 / Azrael the Avenger (Paladin (Ragathiel) 7) and Hareth (Paladin (divine hunter, Erastil) 2 / Monk (Unchained Zen Archer) 3); Prestige/Fame --, Honor --
OmniChaos / Aolis Greenborn (Incanter 7 (Spheres of Power)) and Nakir Lalish (Fey Adept 5 (Spheres of Power)); Prestige/Fame --, Honor --
Phntm888 / Aramil Wellys (Magus 7) and Porablum Flapzit (Bard 5); Prestige/Fame Y, Honor N
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Legacy Players --
As a reminder, do a review of your character and make sure they fit into the campaign, and that you've taken advantage of the extra stuff. Double-check calculations and the like.
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Characters Ready for Review
Zayne Iwatani / Lyda (Hunter 7) and Deneb Flynvias (Druid 5); Prestige/Fame --, Honor Y
wehrpig / Dargaryen Blanc (Fighter (Aldor Swordlord) 7) and Marlovaur Fellnight (Cavalier (strategist) 4/Cleric (crusader, Erastil) 1); Prestige/Fame --, Honor --
Pendrak / Yuri Magrar (Wizard 7) and Tarna Magrar (Cleric (Torag) 5); Prestige/Fame Y, Honor Y
Daedalus the Dungeon Builder / Darivan Orlovsky (Magus (Bladebound) 7) and Sylvia Calrian (Wizard (Conjurer) 5); Prestige/Fame --, Honor Y
thunderbeard / Anton Rabinoff (Fighter 6, Aldori Swordlord 1) and Orvin Rabinoff (Rogue 1, Arcanist (Spell/School Savant) 4); Prestige/Fame --, Honor --
Rostam / Bartek Yaroslav (Sorcerer (Feyblood) 7) and Kliment Yaroslav (Cavalier (Gendarme) 5); Prestige/Fame N, Honor N
derpdidruid / William Lawsrick (Samurai (Order of the Flame, Western) 7) and Winnie Lawsrick (Alchemist 5); Prestige/Fame --, Honor Y
DeviousDevious / Acaciano (Druid (Treesinger) 7) and Tai Reen; Prestige/Fame N, Honor Y
Kain Gallant / Kaellin Greenleaf (Ranger 7) and Sylvara Amalur (Bard 5); Prestige/Fame Y, Honor Y
dwilhelmi / Kyras Medvyed (Inquisitor (Monster Tactician, Erastil) 7) and Milo Orgulas (Rogue (Consigliere) 5); Prestige/Fame --, Honor --
Deaths Adorable Apprentice / Emma Holt (Oracle (Seer, Tonguecursed)) and Ingrid Holt (Fighter (Swordlord) 5); Prestige/Fame --, Honor --
Finalized Characters for Flash-Review
Sam C. / Theodric Valtrava (Fighter (Two-Weapon Warrior) 7) and Darvan Singra (Paladin (Iroran Paladin) 5); Prestige/Fame Y, Honor Y
Jereru / Tomáš Dušek (Fighter (Weapon Master, Aldori Dueling Sword) 7) and Father László (Cleric (Herald Caller) 5); Prestige/Fame Y, Honor Y
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The above players may begin posting to the Gameplay page. While you do not necessarily need to read all the previous posts, it will behoove you to do so.
The page starter post and the scene-setting post have been redone and combined into a new post, though, so you can start there if you like.
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Permitted Continued Development
"The Lucky Halfling" / Cavalier (Daring Champion) and Bard (Dawnflower Dervish) / Cavalier (Herald Squire); Prestige/Fame --, Honor --
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Sam -
While there is some 'gang / houses of Verona' mentality here, it is primarily 'us vs. them' when it comes to the sword schools. Yes, outside the school you can have some nasty 'noble vs. commoner' attitude, but since about 2/3 of the sword students overall are commoners of one stripe or another, and since giving significant attitude in a social situation is just cause for a duel between students of the sword, this is generally minimized - at least amongst the swordlords themselves, and at least in regards to the circumstances of your birth.
The attitude given to Theodric would less be about whether or not he were born a serf's son and more to the fact that 'he bloody abandoned us, he did!!'
Huh. The Italian dueling schools that I know of historically formed mostly as self-defense—small, well-balanced swords were super expensive (vs spears or simpler arming swords) and so they were swords for rich people, and if you liked walking the streets at night you'd hire an instructor to teach you (or your family) how to stop muggers, assassins, etc. Unfortunately, everyone having swords all the time meant dueling became a bigger deal, so sword schools moved further towards fighting sword-armed opponents. (With all that said, European dueling swords—which are more like rapiers than longswords, unlike the Aldori sword—were never intended for a battlefield, even if they could be used to fight a gang of thugs).
Is the gameplay for everyone (until characters are chosen)?
Everyone on the list above except TLH.
And yes, I agree with your analysis; I know the source materiel pretty decently. But equally, the Aldori schools (and the swords) are different enough, and the explanation of things in Brevoy is different enough, that it becomes 'if you can acquire a sword, you can audition to become a student.'
Sure! It's a different thing entirely. Also Brevoy neighbors a nation of alien robots, so historical allegory only goes so far.
Thank you for allowing me to continue working on this character. It makes me wonder if you have great, or horrible, things in mind for my characters. Either way, I'm going to work hard on finishing up this submission in a timely fashion so that you can review it in it's entirety.
Err whoops. Realized I'd calculated Acaciano's leadership score wrong for followers (I didn't realize my animal companion penalty only affected cohorts).
Fixed, and I'll throw some basic details on followers together when I get a quick chance.
I thought the "Voice of the Mountains" was my character. Who's the ranger? Do I come up with something for that? And can we post in discussion as well or just gameplay?
Zayne, your "Voice of Mountains" sounds awful similar to my "Voice of Trees".
Seems plausible -and maybe even likely- that Acaciano and Lyda (or Acaciano and Deneb?) are aware of each other. Interested?
I doubt it. Green Faith sounds like it might be an entirely different Order (do druids have orders?) and he is from the Stolenlands. That is a very long way. I can see a very comical scene where both groups are signing up late in the day and the one taking down the information is tired and unimaginative. "You're...Voice of the Mountain and your're Voice of the Trees. Done and done. NEXT." Care to join or group on the outskirts? Joanne has a +10 to Profession (Cook).
I think there is a better connection between Lyda and Kyras Medvyed and Darivan Orlovsky. We are all three from the same area.
... and the one taking down the information is tired and unimaginative. "You're...Voice of the Mountain and your're Voice of the Trees. Done and done. NEXT."
Not impossible. ;) And yes, you can post in discussion as well.
You're the hunter, but Deneb is not the druid. Feel free to come up with the Druid and Ranger (who are both about your level), or feel free to not do so; you don't have to stat them out even if you do. Essentially you came upon them coming to investigate the whole thing, and you grouped up 'because groups were what Chalm was looking for'.
In regards to Druidic Orders, well, this is one of the things I would have liked to have gotten around to ruling on beforehand; in my mind, and thus for all intents and purposes, no, they aren't anywhere near as formally organized as what's in Acaciano's background, especially not in the River Kingdoms, but I'll deal with that as I get to it.
I think you will want to join now. We're having a party before Wealday. Druids, hunters, rangers and the faithful (Inquisitor/Cleric/Warpriest/Oracle) of nature-based gods and their followers only allowed. Fernapalooza. Shake it like a tree but don't leaf.
So I get to play! Yay!
RE: Druidic hierarchy, let me know if you want me to walk back some of it, or just hold out for a ruling, Wyrm.
Either way, probably walking over towards the square and getting started on all that.
I had it in my head that the ones in Gronzi were organized but incredibly slow (Like the treants from Lord of the Rings) and headed by an incredibly old elf (hence the slowness), probably close to the upper tiers in power. But every few decades they gather for a meeting on anything pressing to the forest, or sooner if its bad. But it could still take weeks.
Hey, TWO. I know I'm not in, but I'm curious what you thought of how I listed out the choices I made for Myrza, if it was clear and easy to use for putting into your chargen program?
Didn't really pay attention to it, and as it's at least three pages back, not going to bother trying to hunt it down further.
Lol, I only put it in my profile, for ease of finding it. Never saw the point of posting it in the thread when it would need to be referenced often. Even the bg parts were put there so no one would need to go searching through threads (I've had to go back searching often enough to avoid searching when feasible).
:)
Reviews.
I presume, by her age, she's of elven stock? Fantastic background; gives a very good sense of how she feels, acts, and interacts with others.
Technicals:
Remember to remove 'hideous laughter' from the Offense section.
Durable blunt arrows will reflect the price increase from standard arrows to blunt arrows, i.e. x1.5.
With the traveler's any-tool, Lyda doesn't need the four masterwork artisan kits.
I have two variants of the efficient quiver which, instead of carrying 60 / 18 / 6 in the arrows/javelins/bows compartments, carry either 250 / 10 / 2 or 300 / 0 / 4. Same price.
Lyda's armor - please specify exactly what this is. Hide armor is medium armor, not light, and would cost 2515gp instead of the 1775 gp you have down, as well as slowing you down; the next closest would be lamellar (leather), same baseline armor (+1 with the magic), slightly lower max Dex (which gets revised by the material), but a cost of 1810gp. Lamellar cuirass would spend the same amount as you (1765 gp), but have a 1-lower armor rating; the very closest would be a hide shirt, for 5 gp more, everything else the same.
Craft (leather) is usually seen as allowing creation of leather/hide-type armors. You don't have to take it, unless you want to make metal armors.
Kasha:
Screwed up on 'Cat, Medium' again - I had the Hunter Animal Focus (default set to 'Tiger, +2 Dex') active. Dex is as I told you originally, (+10, -2?) and is at 19 total (with L4 increase) at 7th level, 21 when Animal Focus (Tiger) is active (which can default to 'always on' - or be switched to something else). Charisma is a -1 base, +2 at 7th, resulting in stats of 9 (starting) and 11 (current). (Stupid Hero Lab.)
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Kasha
Female mountain lion
N Medium animal
Init +4; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +7
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Defense
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AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+1 armor, +4 Dex, +5 natural)
hp 66 (6d8+18)
Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +4 (+4 morale bonus vs. Enchantment spells and effects)
Defensive Abilities evasion
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Offense
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Speed 50 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +10 (1d3+6 nonlethal) or
. . bite +11 (1d6+6), 2 claws +11 (1d4+6)
Special Attacks hunter tricks (5/day; rattling strike), pounce, rake (2 claws +11, 1d4+6)
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Statistics
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Str 21, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 11
Base Atk +4.5; CMB +9 (+13 grapple); CMD 23 (27 vs. overrun and trip)
Feats Distracting Charge[ACG], Skill Focus (Stealth), Stealth Synergy[UC], Weapon Focus (bite), Weapon Focus (claw)
Racial Traits cliff jumper
Tricks Attack, Come, Defend, Down, Get Help, Guard, Heel, Sneak, Stay
Skills Acrobatics +5 (+13 to jump), Climb +10, Perception +7, Stealth +12 (+20 in heavy undergrowth or tall grass), Swim +9; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth in heavy undergrowth or tall grass
SQ animal focus, attack, come, defend, devotion, down, get help, guard, heel, sneak, stay, woodland stride
Other Gear amulet of mighty fists +1, bracers of armor +1
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Special Abilities
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Animal Focus (Su) As a swift action, gain bonuses from emulated animal(s).
Attack [Trick] The animal will attack on command.
Cliff Jumper +1 racial trait bonus on Acrobatics and Climb checks, and on Reflex saves to avoid falling.
Come [Trick] The animal will come to you on command.
Defend [Trick] The animal will defend you.
Devotion +4 (Ex) +4 morale bonus on Will Saves vs. Enchantments.
Distracting Charge When ally with feat succeeds on a charge, you gain +2 to atk vs. target.
Down [Trick] The animal will break off combat on command.
Evasion (Ex) No damage on successful reflex save.
Get Help [Trick] Attempts to bring back people it considers "help"
Grab (Medium) (Ex) You can start a grapple as a free action if you hit with the designated weapon.
Guard [Trick] The animal stays in place and prevents others from approaching.
Heel [Trick] The animal will follow you.
Hunter Tricks (5/day):
. . Rattling Strike Declare as a free action; if this strike hits, the target is shaken for 1d4 rounds.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Pounce (Ex) You can make a full attack as part of a charge.
Scent (Ex) Detect opponents within 15+ feet by sense of smell.
Sneak [Trick] Creature stays hidden.
Stay [Trick] The animal will stay where it is.
Stealth Synergy Take the highest roll made by you and your allies on Stealth checks.
Tiger +2 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed enhancement bonus to Dex. Not active.
Woodland Stride (Ex) Move through undergrowth at normal speed.
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Stealth Synergy:
I think that the short-description here - taking the highest roll, i.e. everyone rolls and adds their score, then take the highest score amongst everyone who has the feat - is the correct/best way to do it, so we'll go with that.
Deneb:
Background Skills are overspent; only PCs gain the +1 BG skill per level. Craft (leather) allows you to make saddles, you don't need an independent skill.
'Woodland Diplomat' is actually of Nirmathas origin - 'Fangwood Diplomat'. Recommend tweaking Deneb's background so that earlier in his career he came from that area - perhaps left because of growing frustration of having to deal so frequently with people? He's good at it, but the Nirmathani independence and generally persistent 'oh, I know a better way' attitude might've finally gotten on his nerves, so he left for 'quieter pastures'. (Or quieter mountains.) His family might have disappeared inside the Fangwood at some point instead?
Druids are not proficient in crossbows; you might go with a sling instead?
Same armor issue. I think the issue might be the fact that you're using the darkleaf cloth add to the price, but only at the light armor amount of 750 gp, when you should be adding the 1,500gp medium armor amount. OTOH, you may not be meaning to use the medium 'Hide armor' at all, but instead a light armor which would not slow you down.
Wands of CLW and of Magic Fang need to be reduced to 33 charges to fit in under the 500gp limit (495 gp each).
Masterwork artisan kits can once again be removed if desired, as the any-tool fills the gap.
Otherwise, looks good.
Garuda:
1 skill point remaining. Acrobatics?
Flyby attack - Garuda needs a 3 Int for this. Change the attribute increase to Int? HP would go down to 35. If not, need a different feat.
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I notice you used Hero Lab. Considering that I asked repeatedly for such things, it would have been nice to have been provided with file(s).
Dargaryen Blanc:
What purpose is served by the idea that he is adopted, instead of his father actually being nobility, etc.? I see no reference to birth-parents, so the entire use of 'adoption' seems to be without purpose.
'Protégé' - a protégé is someone who is a close student of a teacher, being personally groomed by them to succeed and/or take their place; it comes from the term 'protected', and from the idea that such a student would be protected from the typical issues of students, e.g. not being able to pay, have a place to stay, etc. I think you mean 'Prodigy', someone who is exceptionally talented.
Presuming this is the case, understand that no strength-based full-plate-wearing fighter is going to be considered a prodigy in the Aldori schools; he'll at best be tolerated, someone they can trundle out when some heavily-armored lunk from the north (or somewhere else) decides he's gonna show these namby-pamby steel-flourishers how a real man fights; and then you go hammer-and-tongs with him, treating your (very nice) Aldori dueling sword(s) as longswords. Make no mistake, you're good with them, but you have no grace, no style - you use the dueling sword very well as a brute longsword, not as the weapon is meant to be used. You're accepted - barely. And from their point of view, you have been taught some ... unconventional things, undoubedly due to the fact that you're wearing heavy armor and gauntlets (because of course no sane person would try to deflect a swung sword with their open palm). Which makes you unusual, but by no means either a prodigy or, in any real sense, fully accepted by the swordlords. You're like ... a dog that can talk.
Darg would learn to become a professional soldier. He would serve in the Rostland military as a special forces operative. He specialized in counter-insurgency and intelligence operations. Darg spent much of his active duty time in the shadows of Issian cities, gathering intelligence on House Surtova. Darg has been trained in Rostland's elite military academy at Restov. After graduating the top of his class he was selected for further training within Rostland's elite Vanguard Unit. As part of his advanced training, Darg spent extensive time in the field training in irregular warfare. In additional to mastering all styles of martial combat, Darg has been conditioned to spend extensive time operating in a small group behind enemy lines. Darg operated primarily outside of the Rostland's borders, gathering intelligence and disrupting threats to the Rostland Federation. Darg would fight tirelessly against the enemies of Rostland with mechanical precision and single minded dedication. Eventually, Darg's hatred for House Surtova would tarnish an otherwise shining military career.
This entire paragraph needs to be rewritten at best, or by preference entirely trashed. The concept of a trained and dedicated 'special forces' as you're describing them (counter-insurgency, intelligence operations, 'irregular warfare') as a portion of the military is a relatively new concept, essentially stemming from the UDTs of the '40's and the establishment of the Green Berets. While there have been spies, saboteurs, agents provocateur, assassins, bodyguards, and secret police ever since the idea of government first occurred to humanity, and though some of those types have had military training (even semi-formal military training), the entire paragraph is, frankly, sh!t. There are no Restov or Rostland Special Forces; there are no Issian Special Forces. There are elite units in the Brevoy Army - but these are by no means 'Special Forces' in the way you're meaning them.
Darg can become a professional soldier; that's fine. He can become a spy; that's fine. He can become a rabble-rouser; that's fine. He cannot become all of those at once; he certainly cannot 'master all styles of martial combat', nor 'been conditioned to spend extensive time operating in a small group behind enemy lines', 'gathering intelligence and disrupting threats to the Rostland Federation' - because you're not Superman, and there are no such things. If you're a professional soldier, you'll work for a noble, or the Restov or Rostland militia, or the Brevoy Army; you'll do soldier things, like drills, and marching, and patrols. If you're a spy, you can gather intelligence, or do some breaking and entering, or fight desperate one-on-one faux-duels in dirty alleys while trying to escape. If you're a rabble-rouser, you can go about the villages in what was once Issia, trying to get the villages to rise up against their nasty disgusting Surtova overlords.
You can't do all of them. Pick one. I presume you'll go with 'soldier', in which case I recommend you focus on having anti-bandit and anti-monster experiences in Restov and Rostland, taunting and insulting and (eventually) duelling soldiers from the Issia side of the country, and breaking into a visiting Issian noble's rented townhome to try to 'get some information' from him, which would be enough to get your ass kicked roundly by your superiors, then sent on two years' worth of penalty patrols where you barely spend one night a month sleeping in an actual bed.
Continuing, the idea that this guy is a disciple of the patron of frontier living ... definitely strikes a sour note with me, but I'm not going to say 'no you can't'; you're just going to get a large number of very strange looks from people, clanking around in your full plate armor and swinging a longsword the way you do.
As a side note, the player should be certain to understand that the Swordlords have no voice in the selection; this is an Issian and a Surtova deciding who gets to come with him.
Technicals:
Your hit points are off immensely; you receive full HP per level at game start, so you should be at 91, not 67.
You have 7 background skill points remaining.
Not finding anything else especially wrong; you might want to spend another 75 gp just to get in under the 250 break point. Perhaps on a tent, and/or food for yourself and your horse ...
Marlovaur Fellnight:
Background seems relatively kosher. In truth, the whole blurring of 'demon' and 'Unseelie fey' thing is a little irritating, but as 'demon' can simply be a broad term for 'nastybad thing', I won't kick too hard.
I'd like ages on both of them.
Technicals:
Ditto with the HP; Marlovaur should be at 58.
Does not have a story feat listed. Indicate one or lose it.
Your horse (Daeroch) has a feat available; it too should be at max HP, 20 in this case. (Note that Darg's horse does not receive this boon, as it is not an animal companion.)
For Marlovaur's horse Daeroch, I have not checked to make sure you paid the full 600gp for the chainmail barding; I trust you have, but I won't be getting into the more nitty-gritty mundane stuff until I've finished everyone's overall review.
Are either Dargaryen or Marlovaur going to be taking a code of honor? Both (as Swordlord and as Cavalier) are primed for it, and both will see some ... social contempt, shall we say, should they not have it.
Otherwise, looks clean.
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First off, never use the OOC tag for large portions of text; the light blue is almost impossible to read against the white background of the page. While this is exactly the point when it's in a story post, it makes it totally impossible to read when that's all there is. None of your 'explanations' are legible due to this, and require copy-pasting over to another file.
Second, do not copy/paste stuff from one character to the other and then forget about them. Sylvia will have the Leadership feat (or some alternate) at 7th level; she does not have it now. Do not clone Darivan's information to her and then just leave it there, as it isn't HER information.
Third, I'm going to stop there, because neither of these two have any gear at all. Get that loaded, and then I can actually start wrenching sh!t around instead of wondering why Darivan is reading as being 9 attribute points overspent.
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Again, would have been nice to get a Hero Lab file to cut down on the time I have to spend rebuilding.
A very good and generally plausable background. Just as an FYI/reminder about the group I put you as 'the head' of (Forgedawn) - they all come from other families of Clan Golushkin (I think it's Clan Golushkin, of Golushkin Hold, right??). While they did independently gather their kinfolk together and lived in 'temporary quarters' here and there, you would almost certainly have met them some time in the past number of years in your (and their) attempts to contact your lost kindred. As a consequence, the leaders of those families (or at least, those who wish to resettle someplace else) agreed to work with you, and appointed you 'Speaker to Idiots Humans', meaning you did the primary 'face' work getting the group signed up - which is why, being younger than most of them, you're considered by the humans to be the dwarven group's leader. (In truth, it's more like a council, of the heads of families; since your older family are accepting your leadership, you're considered the current head of your family.)
Nice work on the followers; very good work on the 'favored summoned monsters' bit. Thank you for that.
Yuri Technicals:
At the interface between 'smart' and 'wary' is the Headband of Vast Intelligence. If I may offer advice, do not use it for something core to your character, such as 'KS: Arcana'. I would personally recommend either Diplomacy or Use Magic Device.
As a reminder, you cannot use both the muleback cords and the cloak of protection +1 at the same time - or rather, you cannot have their magical effects active at the same time. While there's plenty of magic items you can't wear together (two cloaks, for example), I think this pair is capable of being worn together. Since I see there's been some debate about this, my baseline rule is that it's a move action to deactivate a magic item; you can then, as the rule says, use a standard action to activate the new one. Of course, you may be putting the muleback cords onto one of the ponies ... which is IMO entirely kosher. :D
Not diving into the mundane gear, but in general it looks good. If you can, I would recommend extending the food for both ponies and people as far as you can. In regards to the various masterwork toolsets, I'd appreciate a renaming back to the crafting skill instead of 'masterwork craftman's tools'. Stick with 'masterwork artisan's tools (craft)', please.
Tarna Technicals:
Putting the +1 into your highest attribute (STR) makes available one additional attribute purchase point. You are directed to place this into Int to make it a 9 instead of an 8. I mean, you take a -1/level hit to your skills ... I'd even suggest you moving a point over from Dex; if you reduce your Charisma to 13, you can actually put her Int to 12. This would still make her able to take the Squire feat. (See next item for that.)
Bad News: You need to possess proficiency in all martial weapons to take the Squire feat, so for a cleric, that's out.
Good News: With a Charisma of at least 13 (which you could have even if you raised her Int to 12, which I very highly recommend) you can still have the Recruits Feat. While Squire's cohort is max (Level - 3), and Recruits cohorts are max (Level - 4), it's currently the difference between one 2nd level cohort or two 1st level cohorts - which will go to three 2nd level cohorts at next level.
You could also take one of the other 'single cohort' feats (Groom, Light Bringer, or Torch Bearer) and get the L2 cohort, but I do rather recommend Recruits, especially since they all have PC classes, no matter how many you possess.
Tarna is overspent by 5 points on her background skills; remember, cohorts do not gain the +1/level bonus background skill. (This could be fixed by kicking her Int to 12, and dropping 5 points into background skills - AND you'd still get 5 more points in your adventuring skills. :P :D )
As a cleric, Tarna is not proficient in heavy armor; she can't wear the full plate. She's proficient with Medium armors, though, so mountain pattern armor (+6, 300 gp for masterwork) might be good for her.
Her wands have to be reduced to 33 charges (495 gp) in order to fit under the 500gp 'any' cap.
Volken Davaast:
To be entirely honest, I did not anticipate the generation of a third-tier cohort yet. However, for the moment, build him with 15 attribute points, not 20. (Dropping Str and Con by 1 each would retrieve the 5 points necessary.) I may boost it back to 20, but I'm not sure - thought I'd have a while to play with this!! ;) Otherwise, the kid's build looks good.
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would have been nice to get a Hero Lab file
My apologies, I don't use HeroLab. Seemed too pricey for what you get, and I haven't been impressed the times I've used it at GenCon.
I think it's Clan Golushkin
In my background, I did use the term "Clan Golushkin" in reference to all the dwarves of Golushkin Hold, and just used the term family in regard to House Magrar (or House Golka, the ruling house of Golushkin). For their leaders, I used clan-chief and thane respectively. I am glad that you decided to fill my group with other Golushkin dwarves at any rate, as I was planning on having dwarves from others families, or at least other wandering dwarves, gradually trickle in to join my band as time went on (and my leadership score went up).
Headband of Vast Intelligence
Point taken, to be honest I think I had considered just that, and I just used Spellcraft as a placeholder (knowing it would definitely be something I'd have maximum ranks in), but never got around to changing.
muleback cords
For some reason I thought they were a back item. I believe I will use them on Yuri's personal pony, Adamant.
extending the food for both ponies and people
I will likely do so. Though also I think I will probably have Tarna prepare create food and water most days instead of prayer unless she specifically knows she will be engaging in combat. That provides "food and water to sustain three humans or one horse/level for 24 hours" which will take care of food for all of my crew and either 4 (if ponies eat the same as a human), 2 (if we split the difference and assume a pony, at 600 pounds, probably eats an amount of food somewhere between the amount eaten by a human and by a horse), or 1 (if we just treat the ponies as horses) of my hoofed friends. I also assume that the ponies can graze anyway, and the food is just in case something crazy happens and we go into a desert or tundra region or something. There are wild horses that live in Poland that get by fine in the winter (and horses or ponies, if healthy, can actually go about a month without eating if necessary).
You have my explicit permission to say "I told you so", loudly and often, if my poor dwarves are eating their ponies two weeks into the trip.
various masterwork toolsets
Corrected the wording on those.
Tarna Technicals
I made adjustments such that Tarna's scores before 4th level were Str 15, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 13 (and put the point in Str at 4th). Less CHA than I would have liked, especially since Yuri doesn't have that much to speak of, but she is rather shy after all. I ended up giving her more ranks in Diplomacy to even it out.
I will change Squire to Recruits. For the second cohort I will have to either invent another family member, or perhaps just bring in another member of the Forgeborn.
It was my original intent to take Heavy Armor Proficiency, so I think will just swap that for Furious Focus, so she can keep the full plate.
I fixed the charges on the wands, and will probably use the leftover to buy more communal supplies.
Volken Davaast
I mainly had Tarna take Squire in the first place because Yuri had a low leadership score, and I had miscounted and invented 1 more dwarf that should definitely have class levels than I should have. I wanted the black-sheep uncle who has lived among humans (Angrod the ranger), the fiercely loyal warrior brother (Ori the fighter), and the sister-son named after the family patriarch who hopes to someday prove himself worthy of the name (Volken the paladin). At any rate I'm glad I only made him at 1st level. I will adjust his ability scores down to 15 PB.
Lyda:
I presume, by her age, she's of elven stock? Fantastic background; gives a very good sense of how she feels, acts, and interacts with others. -Not necessarily. Tieflings have naturally long lives whether they are half-human or half-elven. But since it won't really make a difference, sure. Elven.
Technicals:
Remember to remove 'hideous laughter' from the Offense section. - removed
Durable blunt arrows will reflect the price increase from standard arrows to blunt arrows, i.e. x1.5. -increased
With the traveler's any-tool, Lyda doesn't need the four masterwork artisan kits. -Neat. Saved some money.
I have two variants of the efficient quiver which, instead of carrying 60 / 18 / 6 in the arrows/javelins/bows compartments, carry either 250 / 10 / 2 or 300 / 0 / 4. Same price. - I'll take the former 250 / 10 / 2
Lyda's armor - please specify exactly what this is. Hide armor is medium armor, not light, and would cost 2515gp instead of the 1775 gp you have down, as well as slowing you down; the next closest would be lamellar (leather), same baseline armor (+1 with the magic), slightly lower max Dex (which gets revised by the material), but a cost of 1810gp. Lamellar cuirass would spend the same amount as you (1765 gp), but have a 1-lower armor rating; the very closest would be a hide shirt, for 5 gp more, everything else the same. - Honestly don't know what happened here. On the PFSRD the table goes clothing then light armor. I must have gotten mixed up and thought it said light then medium. Either way, I spent a little extra for the lamellar leather. 1810.
Craft (leather) is usually seen as allowing creation of leather/hide-type armors. You don't have to take it, unless you want to make metal armors. -I took it more for survival benefits. Fixing armor and leather straps, making blankets, backpacks, pouches, rugs. All of the crafting was geared towards that. Bower to fix bow and make arrows, carpentry for simple household objects. I think I will change armor smiting to just smithing to fix or make mundane tools.
Kasha: -Fixed. Nat armor should be +6 though. Assmuing all nat armor stacks from the animal companion page, that's +1 base, +1 L7 adjustment and +4 from animal companion table. Why is Hero Lab making it +5? Is the +1 from L7 adjustment not an increase?
Deneb: Background Skills are overspent; only PCs gain the +1 BG skill per level. Craft (leather) allows you to make saddles, you don't need an independent skill. -Yeah. I'll just drop both then. Don't really want to pull points from anything.
'Woodland Diplomat' is actually of Nirmathas origin - 'Fangwood Diplomat'. Recommend tweaking Deneb's background so that earlier in his career he came from that area - perhaps left because of growing frustration of having to deal so frequently with people? He's good at it, but the Nirmathani independence and generally persistent 'oh, I know a better way' attitude might've finally gotten on his nerves, so he left for 'quieter pastures'. (Or quieter mountains.) His family might have disappeared inside the Fangwood at some point instead? -So what your saying is, for a trait I should move his backstory to a place a quarter of the continent away? Other side of the River Kingdoms. No thanks. I just want diplomacy as a class skill. What can I take that won't alter his backstory significantly? Peace Maker? Ease of Faith?
Druids are not proficient in crossbows; you might go with a sling instead? -Damn. Don't know where I got that but changed to sling.
Same armor issue. I think the issue might be the fact that you're using the darkleaf cloth add to the price, but only at the light armor amount of 750 gp, when you should be adding the 1,500gp medium armor amount. OTOH, you may not be meaning to use the medium 'Hide armor' at all, but instead a light armor which would not slow you down. -Lamellar here too.
Wands of CLW and of Magic Fang need to be reduced to 33 charges to fit in under the 500gp limit (495 gp each). -More money.
Masterwork artisan kits can once again be removed if desired, as the any-tool fills the gap. -Not an issue anymore.
Otherwise, looks good.
Garuda:
1 skill point remaining. Acrobatics? -Perception. Unless Stealthing while flying is a thing. Is that possible?
Flyby attack - Garuda needs a 3 Int for this. Change the attribute increase to Int? HP would go down to 35. If not, need a different feat. -I need it. +1 Int then
Thanks for the feedback on Dargaryen and Marlovaur. The requested corrections have been made in both of their profiles.
As for the gear problem, there's a link to a google excel document where I have every item, how much it cost, how many I have, and the weight. That being said, I'll also put all my gear on the profile page. I was trying to make less work for you, not more, so sorry about that. Hopefully I'll have the changes up soon.