I'm not usually the one to replay things either actually, but there is just something about this Ap that is so enticing. Mostly all the extra stuff most GMs want to stuff in, like all this :P
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So, I just found where you stated about the followers
15 10th 20 2 1,
So Sir Rocknose needs to have 23/5=4 Followers created at this point, or do I round up to 5?
I have 3 already done from the last campaign, so I will be getting their Alias done up for you, and come up with [up to] 2 other just for Rocknose
Alexander is 5th level without leadership, HOWEVER you pointed out that we can have to 2 [1st level??] followers
All followers must use the NPC template correct?
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Another question just arose as I was going back through some of the posts.
Code of Honor:Chivalry, [we can take this yes?]
If yes, then what is our starting honor, does the fact we have followers increase or decrease it?
The Fame and Reputation section, if the group I identify with is Hellknights will it matter enough for me to ask you to keep track of my fame and reputation , since I am unsure if we will build a Citadel in the kingdom?
Understand that just because you're a legacy player and get a 'free in', the facts that a) you're trying to come in well after I sent out the invite as well as after game start, and b) that you were the primary problem at several points in the previous games, means that you in particular are going to be held to the same basic standards of probability, time, coherency, and simplicity to which all the other players and their characters are being held. This means a quick and basic review needs to have a 'okay, that works' result - which in this case it doesn't. I'll go over the things I came across in just a casual look-through, then my (fairly significant) issues with the background read.
Critters:
Fine, guard dogs are boring. Badgers and leopards are not boring. Neither of them are by any stretch of the imagination domesticated animals - or ones that travel well. This is a case where 'just because it's available for 15 or 100 gp and has a 30' movement speed' does not mean it's something that the GM is okay with; if you want them, you're going to have to have at least one, probably two dedicated animal handlers in your contingent, equivalent to half the number of exotic beasts (i.e. badgers and leopards) you want to drag along. (You have four animals and two species; this will essentially mean you have one handler for the leopard and a second for the badgers.)
In addition, you'll need to provide for them 'burrow/cage' space on the wagons you have, basically equal to space three times their weight (20 lbs for badgers, 130 lbs for the leopard) for the first one, plus half that for each additional member of the species in the 'den'; each species has to be on a different wagon, though, because they won't travel together very well. So the leopard will take up effectively 400 lbs worth of space on one wagon, the three badgers 60 + 30 + 30 = 120 lbs worth of space on the other.
Note that the leopard won't do very well in this campaign, except as an object of interest / entertainment. This is not its home environment, and you're starting out in the middle of bitterest winter - late January / early February, which will run a very real health risk for the critter.
Also, don't surprise me with weird sh!t like your hell-bred dogs; while you being from Cheliax is a good reason to possess them (and we'll get to the 'being from Cheliax' thing in a bit), they're definitely the sort of derivative thing (coming from the Hell's Vengeance AP as they are) to which you want to bring your GM's attention. Dogs being dogs, despite their adaptation to hot climates these won't have much of a problem with the cold.
Other Technicals:
Not finding anything especially egregious, though your HP are off - you should have at least 82. As a reminder/calling your attention to a house rule, you want to spend your gold down below 250 gp lest you lose what's above it.
Background:
... okay, this is my third time trying to write this. My basic issue stems from the fact that you have 'special snowflake disease' running rampant over your background. Let me quote:
Background: Limit your background plot twists to 1, maybe 2. An overcomplicated background typically irritates me. Let it make sense, not be a fantasia; that's what the game is for.
Writing: Be coherent, use all the rules for spelling/punctuation/capitalization/etc. Ugly writing makes for an ugly character.
Background: Overcomplex is overcomplicated is bad. Simple is beautiful. Most people are just people; most heroes are just the right people in the right place at the wrong damn time.
Axhammer has a whole passel of twists in his background, things that scream out 'I'm special', adding flavor without adding meat to the character's technical bones. He was an oracle first, but scared the priests by speaking a prophecy that made them ... basically try to kill him, I guess, by sending him to Cheliax? To be trained as a paladin there? And they're all surprised / shocked / offended that he's a gnome? Follow that up with 'no matter how he tried to help people it never turned out right', the fact that he's a paladin (5 levels of it) in a society where cruelty and oppression is enforced by law, and where the only good thing he's able to do is rescue from slavery a halfling bonded to a bear. Which, honestly, would wind up with either a free halfling or a dead bear. And the bear isn't part of the picture any more either, since Alexander is now a Qadiran horse-lord - which also requires either explanation or flavor revision.
To be entirely honest, I have continuing issues with paladins being members of the Hellknights; they might game-legally be able to be a member of the various Orders, and the basic concept of 'warrior of Law' is a great one, for all critical purposes those that are in or near Cheliax are bound to, and tools of, the rulership of Cheliax. You have a paladin trying to live and work and grow in his god (using, note, an archetype that is very much against the Abadar ideal) in a realm and for a group that simply do not care about Good the way the paladin by his very nature needs to. 'Oath of Vengeance' is all about smiting evil, even if it's protected by law; this is not the activities of the 'Order Above All' sense that I tend to get from your base character concept.
What Axhammer needs is a more specific concept. If you're going for the 'champion of order' bit, maybe you need to lose the Oath of Vengeance, and instead go with Oath Against Chaos, which would then dovetail perfectly with Hellknight. If you want to keep the ability to smite evil, I think you're going to need to relax your 'must serve law above good' ideal, as well as possibly - probably - drop the Hellknight routine, or else come up with an explanation that doesn't involve you living in Cheliax for any significant period of time (i.e. longer than a couple weeks).
Finally, the timing of 'new kingdom' and 'I go there' is, simply, impossible. I don't know if you noticed, but it's issued on the PF equivalent of the 2nd of January, and you have to report to Restov by the PF equivalent of the 26th of January. That means there's barely more than 3 weeks for a) the proclamation to get from New Stetven to you, b) you to pack up everything you own, then c) you to travel to Restov. While B won't be affected, A and C are going to be affected by it being the middle of winter; daily travel times / distances are halved in remote places, reduced by only a quarter in more active areas. While couriers going to the various cities, towns, and villages of Brevoy are going to get to All Points inside a week or so, the proclamation isn't likely to travel any real distance beyond the borders - certainly not to Cheliax! - before the end of spring. Axhammer needs to be in or near Brevoy at the time of the declaration.
Narrowing down your goal for your character - or rather, selecting a core, defining sense of what the character is - has to be the first thing. If you need / want help doing this, or in revising your background to something acceptable, I can assist with that. For example, three Hellknight orders (that of the Pike, the Nail, and the Gate) are known to maintain presences on the Crusader Road up the West Sellen River, and the Order of the Godclaw made its name (and effectively gained its origin) by way of the Mendev Crusades. Fort Inevitable (just outside of the Emerald Spire, and found in that module) is probably the nearest Hellknight stronghold. It would not be improbable or inappropriate for Axhammer to have never been in Cheliax (having to lose the hell-bred dogs, sorry), instead growing up in the River Kingdoms as an oracle and paladin of Abadar - a member of a spin-off of the Rocknose clan instead of an orphan.
Perhaps the Rocknose priest from his followers comes to the wandering 6th level paladin and asks for his help in dealing with a powerful sorceress. The charismatic Rocknose circulates among the beseiged villages and assembles a sizeable strike-force to assault the sorceress. Unfortunately, they hit her after she's summoned a powerful erinyes (CR 8) or a leveled-up barbazu. The sorceress wreaks havoc amongs the (generally L1) civilians and guardsmen, but is slain at some point, leaving only the devil. The survivors of the strike force are incapacitated, either bound by the erinyes 50' rope, but not before managing to disarm her of her bow and, perhaps, keep her from flying, or else contracted of disease and cast aside, suffering.
A Hellknight contingent, soldiers led by an actual Hellknight, come upon the end of the battle, last desperate moments of the nearly-dead gnome paladin slaying the more-powerful devil. Reviewing the remnants of the paladin-led patchwork assault team (which would become most of his current followers, the hellknight is impressed and offers to teach the gnome how to better defeat enemies of Order (i.e. induct him into the Hellknights), and Axhammer accepts - especially if doing so might well assist him in engaging foes like the devil he'd just defeated in less mortal combat, instead being able to send them back to the Hells or detach them from the current fight.
Now 7th level and accompanied by his clan-brother cleric as well as several others from the fight, Axhammer trains at Fort Inevitable. During his training, a Numerian barbarian (Alexander) is brought into the place for one reason or another, and (depending on the reason) Axhammer manages to acquire his services - either vouching for him / taking him under his wing, buying him during a slave sale (this being a legal punishment for various infractions, usually minor), whatever. The 'Numerian horse-lord' - which uses the Qadiran horselord archetype, and switches the desert terrain out for plains instead - serves out his time, but comes to respect the paladin, and becomes willing to work with him - not serve, but work with - and takes on a new name to signify this change in his life.
During a long winter patrol to the east, several other Hellknights, Axhammer, and the renamed Numerian Alexander come upon the information about the Proclamation. After a half-day of debate, one of the Hellknights goes back to Fort Inevitable to gather their people and bring them hence, while Axhammer, Alexander, and the other handful of Hellknights go on to Restov to offer their services to the king-to-be, appointing the more-charismatic Axhammer as their spokesman. When it is pointed out at the interview that he would be required to swear an oath of fealty to the new king, he notes that he would have reservations, and they agree with the reservations to god and Order; the wording of the oath allows for such a thing, in that should he be required to violate his oath of fealty, he would inform the king before doing so and ask for release from his oath - which would, note, include surrendering the rights and titles, etc. that he'd gained since. And in the few days before the announcement is made, the last Hellknight arrives with their followers, the worse for wear for almost three weeks of hard winter travel.
That's off the top of my head, details to be filled in by yourself, but it keeps him 'who he is' without creating virtually unsolvable dilemmas - paladins of good surviving for years in Cheliax while turning a blind eye to the evils there, or a message managing to cross a thousand miles, everything getting packed up, and making it back a thousand miles, all in the middle of winter.
Presuming you go with this (or something similar), I do absolutely want you to include on your character the tenets of both the paladins of Abadar and the Order of the Godclaw Hellknights.
Of all the neutral gods, only Abadar supports and promotes a holy order of paladins. As the god of civilization and order, Abadar recognizes the value of holy warriors in advancing society’s aims. His paladins follow the standard paladin code of protecting the innocent, acting with honor and honesty, and respecting lawful authority. In addition, an Abadaran paladin upholds the following creed.
- I am a protector of the roadways and keep travelers from harm. No matter their destinations or goals, if they are peaceable and legitimate travelers who harm no others on the road, I will ensure that they pass safely.
- Bandits are a plague. Under my will they come to justice. If they will not come willingly before the law, where they can protest for justice in the courts, they will come under the power of my sword.
- Corruption in the courts is the greatest corruption of civilization. Without confidence in justice, citizens cannot believe in their countries, and civilization begins to disappear. I will root out corruption wherever I find it, and if a system is fundamentally flawed, I will work to aid citizens by reforming or replacing it.
- I am an aid to the markets. I ensure equitable trade between merchants and citizens. Theft and deceit on either side are intolerable.
- I make opportunities, and teach others to recognize them. When I aid others, I open the way for them, but will not carry them—they must take responsibility.
“Righteousness by obedience.”
Symbol five-pointed iron star
Headquarters Citadel Dinyar, in the Aspodell Mountains
Leader Lictor Resarc Ountor (LN male fighter 4/cleric 2/Hellknight[super]ISWG[/super] 6)
Members crusaders, religious zealots
Armor Features breastplate with clawlike vambraces, clawlike helm
Favored Weapon morningstar
Reckoning Flagellate yourself with a five-tailed lash. Whenever you are the target of a lawful divine caster’s spell that heals hit point damage, you heal 1 additional point per die rolled. Additionally, if you cast divine spells, you can use the holy symbols of Abadar, Asmodeus, Iomedae, Irori, and Torag interchangeably.The pentomic Order of the Godclaw extols variations and virtues of five lawful deities, distilling select tenets into a dogma far from any one god's faith. Although the Godclaw venerates aspects of Abadar, Asmodeus, Iomedae, Irori, and Torag, it is unclear from which of these gods it draws its power; indeed, it is possible that its own convictions grant it divine strength. Where other orders of Hellknights enforce their visions of law out of a sense of duty and grim necessity, the Godclaw does so out of religious fervor and a belief that the world must forcibly be set upon a righteous path. The sharp-tongued Lictor Resarc Ountor preaches his order's iron-shod doctrine from its fortress Citadel Dinyar at the headwaters of the River Iseld.
Tenets Of The Godclaw
Order of the Godclaw Hellknights enforce law with a crusader’s zeal, going where they’re needed most in the fight against the forces of chaos. They know no bounds or borders in the quest for absolute order. To Hellknights of the Godclaw, the cause of order is a holy mandate for which they will travel far to battle chaos in lands that know little of civilization. To others, these Hellknights’ faith is likely inexplicable—some believe the members of the order are experts in all five individual faiths or even that they are heretics.
Individual Order of the Godclaw Hellknights work to uphold the following tenets.
- I will eliminate chaos, whatever its form and wherever it exists, resting only when the world is right.
- I will destroy those who root lawlessness in weak hearts and minds.
- I will strive to be worthy of not one, but five.
- I will seek the great principles behind life, the truths spoken through many voices.
- I will be a paragon of order—an unassailable example that others might follow.
- I will commit what I don’t know or can’t understand to the judgment of the five.
Axhammer / Alexander Questions
Followers: No. Thought this was pretty clear, but I'll back over the cat again. All you NEED to do is say what they are - '3rd lvl cleric of Abadar', '2nd level ranger', '2nd level fighter (archer)'. When you get to 6 or more individuals of any particular level - like 20 1st level characters - 2/3 of them (round down) must have only NPC classes, while 1/3 of them are allowed PC classes; it is therefore recommended you stop making followers with PC classes at 2 until you get to the point where you'd have more than that number. You in particular can now therefore have 7 1st level followers with PC classes. You do NOT have to build any of them, but you are allowed to build all of them; many players have. The build rules for followers are in the campaign information; I am not going to repeat it here.
If you want Alexander to spend one of his current feats on the Recruits feat - he does not get the free Leadership feat until he hits 7th - and he could normally acquire the Recruits feat (i.e. has a Charisma of 13 or higher), then he can gain that feat. Since the 2 cohorts he would gain must be at least 4 levels below his own, they would be 1st level.
Honor: In discovering the Honor post, you must have come across my statement as to how to determine the honor of your two core individuals (PC and Cohort); I am not going to repeat myself, but since it requires dice rolling, you need to roll here, out in the open. The possession of followers neither increases nor decreases your honor score; both of your characters may indeed take the Chivalric code of honor, as it is especially appropriate for them. They will be held to it.
I will not keep track of your fame or reputation; like everyone else, I will only give you your starting scores. Axhammer's starting Fame will be 22; Alexanders will be 8. If you do not keep track of them, they will never change.
Ignore what's been going on, and not read what I've written in these posts and spoilers. Ignoring the NPCs or the universe around you may force me to repeat myself, which I hate. Far more likely, you will receive some penalty for your IC inattention, from a one-time skill roll penalty up to and including the infliction massive damage on you, which may well result in your character's death. I hate hate hate this sort of crap. If you can't manage to be involved in the game, the game will not continue to include you.
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** spoiler omitted **...
Actually I had to hunt and find the post, cause like an idiot I didn't realize there was a search feature. I was just going off what you had linked on the top of the page under honor.
So as to followers, I will be sticking with the ones I had before that I have built already plus two 1st Level Paladins
Axhammer Rocknose Followers with PC levels
3rd Level
Cleric of Abadar
2nd Level
Fili Stonebeard [Ranger Archer]
Kili Stonebeard [Ranger Sword and Shield]
1st Level
Arthur Pentagast [Paladin of Irori]
Kushiel Hasgurt [Paladin of Ragathiel]
Editing in a background now
Do not take a Paladin of Ragathiel. Unless you manage to establish a more-G-than-L order of Hellknights - or, my preference, a non-any-Lawful order that isn't Hellknights, something that might instead take LN / LG / NG or some such - neither Ragathiel nor his paladins are going to come within a stone's throw of a Hellknight without having one hand on his weapon of choice.
The Leopard is supposed to be a gift for the King, the badgers are the "guard dogs" for the group because about 1/3 of the people are Gnomes and therefore can talk to them.
The king would not accept such a gift. That's a gift for an established king who can afford to keep such a (relatively useless) pet, not a dirt-under-his-fingernails guy who, at some point in the very near future, will undoubtedly be putting his shoulder to the wagon-wheel to help get the damn thing out of the mud. I recommend highly against the leopard gift.
In regards to the badgers, good call, then - I hadn't thought about the gnomish 'talk to burrowing animals' thing.
Please stop sending me stuff in PMs when it should go here.
Backstory:
There was a time when all I wanted to do was be a knight, jousting, drinking and for all the world a picture perfect knight. That changed when me and one of the House Scions actually started adventuring together. What had once seemed ideal turned sour in my stomache, after all how could all of these people do such things when there were wars to be fought and bandits raiding poor farmers.
Long Years did we travel together Alenestra and I, we gathered a retinue after awhile. Ones and Twos joined us, fought with us, and helped us hunt down those who preyed on the weak. We knew it wouldn't always be so, eventually she would have to return to his families lands and learn more about how to be a good Leader, but for the time we had it was pleasant.
I loved her, never really had the heart to tell her so though. I was merely a favored knight of the family, and a gnome to boot, I always thought it would never work. Looking back I wish I had said something, anything to her to show her my feelings, she writes to me still. I keep those papers tucked away in my private trunk, I carry our banner still. Love never really dies, it fades with time they say. B!#$&#!s I say, I still hurt when I hear her name, and still whinge when I hear about how she was married a few months ago.
Thats why I looked up this calling, this travel plan, this I don't even know what to call it. They want to create a kingdom, want to take it from the low lifes and bandit lords who run the area, bully for them. It will give me a reason to be somewhere, anywhere but here, the letter will stop then. Oh but part of me prays that they won't stop that she will always write to me, even about the children she has. About the good she is doing, about all the small things in life that make her happy. Because thats is truly what I want for her, for her to be happy.
Its petty of me, some will say so behind my back, some to my face if they knew. I am fleeing from the world I know, with the people who trust me with thier life. Fleeing you see to get away from the pain and the agony that is love. We will arrive late I think, though I cannot be sure, possibly a few hours late, but all will be well. I will be leaving far from here, leaving to possibly never return.
I can up with a poem you see, I think it matches the situation exactly.
Beneath the golden balm
Settling on the fields
Evening steals in calm
And farmers count their yields
The bee is in the lavender,
The honey fills the comb,
But here a rain falls never-ending
And I am far from home.
May Abadar forgive me, for I know I cannot.
... I guess I shouldn't've spent a couple hours coming up with a story that enabled you to keep all but a couple of recently-tacked-on things? All right, whatever.
Being a goth whiner is fine. However, please see my latest post on the Discussion page.
BTW - not sure what you mean by 'materials we might need when we are creating the kingdom' / resupply your own troop needs. Is this the food, or ... ??
:: Axhammer ::
I will presume it's forge materials, then, because 'materials we might need when we are creating the kingdom' is a non-item for you. In any case.
You can begin posting as you like. You will be representing the (apparently non-bannered, i.e. not going to have to swear oath - though this is an IC error that will be corrected in-game) group 'Defenders of the Lane'.
The Defenders of the Lane are 'mostly non-paladin crusaders who, on their way up the 'Crusader Road', decided that improving the lands and societies leading to the Worldwound was a better use of their abilities than trying to stave off demon attacks.' Their primary targets (per se) are bandits in the River Kingdoms proper; you will need to have been part of the group for at least the last six months, preferably for a couple or three years. Coming up to winter in Brevoy to recruit and resupply is probably the reason you and they were here originally; getting the opportunity to establish a stable kingdom in the northern borders is a godsend to those of your calling and group.
You can post in as you like.
:: The Lucky Halfling / Sir Thesius Pendrake ::
I'd like a bit more ... prose ... a background for you, besides just bullet points; note that knighthood in Brevoy (as standard for virtually all RL knighthoods in the age) is open to people who can afford it as well as the nobility and the gentry. Doing great deeds in battle can also gain you a knighthood, as happened to the Captain of the Guard, Nikita Alexeyevich - 'Kawaler' is a militant knighthood (as compared to the other variants of 'sir'), and besides the swordlord 'Vitez' the main one available to commoners.
Also, and perhaps more importantly: I see a lot of 'knighthood' there, but comparatively little 'paladin'. The shining knnight paladin may be 'the knight', but the focus is a bit less on the studly knight side and more on the 'blazing tip of the spear thrust deep into the vile black heart of evil' side. Please bring a bit more of the 'warrior of god' into the characterization.
Regarding Kyra's background, there are no functional Keleshite-descended Brevics - or rather, if there are, they are so few and scattered as to make for a very, very, poor reason for a school. This goes double if you decide to convert her to an ifrit. My recommendation to preserve as much of that background (dervish school) as possible while bringing her north would be to have the school fall onto hard times, and finally deep into debt. If the Kelesh Empire is anything like ancient Arabia, her and her family would have been sold into slavery to pay the debts. This can easily result in Kyra being dragged northward, only getting freed in some place that proves very intolerant of it - such as the River Kingdoms, a Qadiran merchant probing into new territory, being pillaged by bandits, and Kyra being unceremoniously freed. She drifts north, winds up in Brevoy, and joins the army as one of the few viable alternatives to, well, turning prostitute. :/ And the herald-squire cavalier gets added on.
That said, I think you're developed enough for me to abuse you. If I have this correctly, your LDR is a 22? Give me a name for your company, and you can also begin posting.
If you were interested in filling in, now would be the time to start presenting me with a completed character.
Mkay!
*Looks at pile of disjointed notes*
I'll get back to you in just an day or so with an option :)
(Though I realize the above may just have been directed at the horny sage huehue there would be no harm in me finally finishing up my submission for the waiting list :P)
Just what I was going to write!
Stealing my posts before I write them, you fiend!
Lol
:)
FWIW, I can very easily shoehorn in a mage and a military-style knight-commander sort.
The latter was going to be played by The Lucky Halfling, but he hasn't responded since forever, so if one of you are interested in that sort, I have a partial build available for you. LDR score of, um ... 'lots and lots'. You could take the partial build for the PC, finalize it, and then develop the cohort and followers ... within certain restrictions, admittedly, meaning 'this is a cohesive military force'. :P :D
I'll get back to you in just an day or so with an option :)
Look at him - making promises he can't hold. What a fool. Sometimes I do really dislike past time-optimistic me!
*glares at Lessah*
oh well, my time will come!
I don't think this is a race actually. So I'd worry about making something first and then outmanoeuvring the competition ^^
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Now, on the off chance that this *is* a race, I thought it might be useful to show some actual progress. Also *much* easier to ask questions this way, as it turns out!
Anyhow - this is my (Lessah's) alias for making campaign applications and stuff. It's a nice place to keep all that stuff in without cluttering up my alias page even more. Seeing as this is almost an application, I decided to keep my potential character here too.
Velar Khion’Tal, the elven eldritch knight, can be found under the "Fey Winds Blowing" header (first one right now, but that may change in the future!). Amusingly he could probably be shoe-horned into either that mage or 'military-style knight commander' slot you were looking to fill - but he probably wouldn't be perfect for either sadly. Mage would probably be the closest fit!
The character is not yet fully operational as I still have the Fame and Honour to figure out, as well as a large pile of unspent gold (how much? I'm not sure - need to tally it up too!). And as I write this I also realized I haven't put in the familiar either, whom will be an Dust Mephit.
As this feat is normally a monster feat - and crafting minions is something GM's might want to keep an close eye on - so I thought I should bring it to light.
1) How do you feel about this feat in particular - yay or nay?
2) Would it be permissible to "donate" the first golem to the fledgling nation itself?
3) Would you mind, later on, if constructs where made using the Build Point resource for the benefit of the realm?
4) Would it be okay if I swapped Dodge for Extra Traits?
I would use one for Armour Expert and give the Mephit the option to sometimes wear light armour (chain shirt maybe - or perhaps a parade armour?).
5) Would you be okay with a (small humanoid) familiar wearing armour?
All outsiders with racial dices are proficient with martial weapons. As an outsider, this would apply to the Mephit. While I don't think the occasional 1d4+1 from a shortbow would unbalance things, it is a nice option to have.
6) Are you okay with the blanket outsider proficiencies applying to a (humanoid outsider) familiar?
I like the concept of changelings in general and with the somewhat widespread worship of Gynora in the river kingdoms I think it can be fun. But being associated with such people aren't really top priority on anyones list, hence the choice of the Vigilante class. In essence Skie (the cohort) would be more interested in obscuring her actual heritage in public rather then create an complete alter ego. Now, problem is, the vigilante doesn't actually deal with pretending to be an alternative race (except one animal morphing archetype, but that isn't really right...)
7) Would it be okay if a changeling had an social identity that appeared/pretended to be human?*
In a similar vein I purchased a Hat of Disguise to help Skie being sneaky. Now the hat says it remains, but in a suitable shape, as the wearer disguises herself.
8) As mismatched eyes are one of the easiest tells I wondering it it would be possible for the Hat of Disguise to assume the form on an eyepatch while disguised as an human?*
*Would of course take the standard penalty for disguising oneself as another race on those disguise checks!
As I quite enjoy the witch-y flavour of changelings I decided to use the Cabalist archetype. It is one of those packages that takes away Vigilante specialization and plenty of combat tricks for 6th level casting - in this case from the Witch list. Some other class features however lean a bit closer to the icky side of things, so I thought I'd just bring it up before I get too much done.
9) Do you mind the Cabalist archetype and its somewhat bloodletting theme?
Lastly on a similar topic I was looking at the Wretched Curator story feat. Even more then the Cabalist, this dances on the edge of morality, so I'd like to bring it up with you before picking it. The main draw is the completion benefit of being able to cast some deliciously witchy spells like Shared Sacrifice or Excruciating Deformation if needed without giving any poor paladins too much of an heart attack (also, eventually, Mythic Death Knell is quite cool!). I'm going to go ahead and say I'm not all too interested in dealing with daemons and that stuff, so no (evil) summoning/binding.
10) Would you be okay with this story feat?
Another thing complicates things a bit further. One of the things needed to gain the full benefit is the use of an occult ritual. Now, I'm not sure, but I think that is in under the psychic stuff - obviously a no-go.
11) Would you be okay with altering that - perhaps into something coven related instead?
Whew! Sorry about this wall of text, I hope you have the time and energy to check it out. I would also like to apologize for any odd sentences or such. It is getting quite late over here and despite proofing it I'm not sure if I missed something.
Cheers! //Lessah
:: Lessah ::
Regarding Protector of the People:
I am of two minds on this, since it's in 'Horror Adventures' and by inference, though not by direct statement, this is one of the generally-disallowed pieces. However, looking at the feat, it hasn't really anything to do with the psychic stuff, so I'll allow it with - you guessed it - a couple of caveats, and an additional benefit. #1, the golem you provide must be of a CR equal to or greater than your current CR; that'd be a 6, though with a level increase and Mythic coming up, that'll shift rapidly upwards. #2, after you provide your initial construct, for every city of 10,000 or more in the nation of the authority you're sworn to (Chalm Kowalskiy), you MUST create a golem protector for that city (one which follows the rule for both the standard Protector of the People feat as well as Caveat #1 above) before creating or finishing any other construct. (Meaning if he conquers Mivon and you're in the middle of a construct, you have to drop what you're doing, build a golem to protect the city of Mivon, and only then can you go back and finish your project.) Benefit: the 10% discount for constructs that cost less than your donated golem takes the most recent donated golem's cost as its baseline 'less than'; it also applies 'equal to', as you learn cost-saving techniques. As your donated golems are likely to increase in CR as well as cost, this should mean that you get a 10% discount on more and more expensive golems and constructs.
Golems, however, cannot be donated 'to the realm'; simply stated, even a small realm of one hex is likely to be too big for a golem to really protect; a city is kind of the maximum. Regarding Build Points, probably not, but that's going to be a matter of experience with the kingdom Build Points. Or, for the Magic 8-Ball reply, "Reply Hazy. Ask Again Later."
Regarding the Familiar and Feat-Swapping:
I don't believe this was mentioned at all; I may be incorrect, but if you can quote (i.e. direct me to a post where I discuss this), and it is appropriate for your familiar, I may consider it; if your reference is what I think it is, however, (changing the hawk to falcon) the answer will be 'no'. However, as you need to have 7 arcane spellcaster levels for a mephit familiar, and you only have 6 - one level of slayer does not count towards that, especially since slayers don't get any spellcasting ability - your questions are not applicable at this time. While I am tentatively okay with answering 'yes' to them, I'll need more time to eyeball the consequences, and entirely reserve the right to say 'no'; ask when you gain a level and are capable of spending time to acquire a new familiar.
Regarding the Cohort:
A changeling can have a human identity, presuming s/he manages to consistently make the DC necessary to conceal him- or herself as human, in addition to disguising him- or herself. This, functionally, means that s/he needs to consistently hit a DC 23 on a Take 10; with a hat of disguise, this should not be a problem. The magical disguise can take care of the mismatched eyes, but cannot turn into an eyepatch.
Cabalist is not allowed, as it a) borrows on the Witch stuff, and b) is Very Seriously Not Nice Sh!t; I would, in fact, be very impressed to see an explanation as to how a Cabalist character would not inevitably descend into evil, considering the ever-increasing obsession towards bloodletting with the archetype. Wretched Curator is actually more appropriate, but is also not allowed considering one of its completion goals (an occult ritual) is not part of the campaign. No, I am not willing to alter this.
Please note that 'changeling' is one of the less-likely-to-be-accepted races; considering the overwhelming use of the word 'no' above, I recommend a complete revision on the cohort; obviously, the air mephit goes as well. (Note that this would be a familiar that would not be allowed to be at the party.)
Specifically asking regarding a Mithril Chain Shirt, not magical, but beyond the 1k threeshold for Cohort. Not sure if the intent was to allow them, thus specify magic items, or to forbid them(making "magic" an oversight).
Still a work in progress, very much so, but they are coming along nicely, mechanically.
For a background, obviously Collegiate Initiate/Arcanist will need a local flavoring. For the druidic flavor, Elves would be a natural go-to...and if I want to stay with River Kingdoms, Cordelon would seem a good choice for Nimue, while Mordred would hail from around Echo Wood.
They did hook up(in Cordelon), with Nimue deciding to accompany Mordred. Doing various jobs and small adventures on the way(they are Level 5/7), they came to the somewhat lawless stolen lands. Witnessing suffering of the local population, they decided to settle down in the narlmarch woods, founding a small commune there. It was win-win...in these lawless lands, it was easier to attune to nature, to cultivate the perfect(in their eyes) society adapting to nature, rather than the other way round. At the same time, they provided shelter and safety to refugees, standing against bandit incursions into "their" realm.
With the recent developments, it seems the stolen lands may become a "real" kingdom, with proper administration and all that entails. The only way, then, to continue their "dream", rather than be evicted from their choosen forest home, would be supporting this new king and being granted titles, and more importantly, the land they already had laid claim to, to do with as they saw fit, as long as peace and order were kept.
The story feats tie in with that, with Nimue as Dynasty Founder(opting for Living Forest settlement quality, among others), and Mordred ready to command the defensive "garrison"(combined followers) with Stronghold.(if allowed to take...it needs Leadership and it will be 2 levels before he qualifies)
Thats an overview of the proposed background. Would that work for you?
PS: Both builds make use of Nature Soul and Animal Ally with Boon Companion down the line(Mordred even giving up the human bonus feat to make it more intelligent) - so I feel compelled to state that no shenanigans are planned there. Mordred's archetype trades away the mount, so it's simply a way of getting back a horsie. And since he is riding around, Nimue needs to keep up, and also gets a sturdy horsie.
Basically it's just about having smart and well-trained mounts that don't roll over from a single area spell in a few levels - guaranteeing overland speed and open-field mobility. Anyway, just 2 horsies, no "Baby Roc and Wolf"-kind stuff there.
Monetary restrictions apply to magic items and 'special material' items. Your either/or statement is incorrect and, actually, rather snotty.
Understand also for Nimue that 'Collegiate Initiate/Arcanist' is referred to in such terms in the d20PFSRD because they cannot use the Pathfinder terms and flavor; this being the Pathfinder world (and even a Pathfinder adventure path, however twisted) the origin and flavor Abso-Grablix-Lutely applies - which means 'Magaambyan Initiate' and 'Magaambyan Arcanist', which means trying to explain how (and why!) your Mwangi Expanse jungle-living gnome got all the way up to Brevoy when her entire raison d'être is down in Mwangi. So in short, no, the background doesn't work for me, because it doesn't actually apply to what the character's classes origins are.
Regarding the Nature Soul, Animal Ally, and Boon Companion, I have no issues with them. I personally think going 'Daring Champion' with cavalier and then 'order of the green' is a (very) bad way of getting a ranger who can command a few people, but hell, it's your character build.
@Protector of the People
That seems to be a fair way of handling things.
@Familiar feats
I'm sorry - I didn't mean to imply that it was mentioned *here* (although it might have been I'll have to check) but rather in the literature produced by Paizo on the topic of familiars. There should be a short piece talking about it the Animal Archives/Familiar Folio, though finding the correct reference online has proven a challenge.
Best I can do is to point here under the headers Approximating Familiars\Familiar Folio\Advanced\Feats.
Feats: You can easily exchange a pre-built familiar's starting feats with different feats that better match your concept, such as the familiar feats. There are also new feats relating to familiars, allowing a great deal of customization and sometimes adding unusual mystical qualities and abilities.
All with a healthy dose of 'ask GM' under the introduction of course. This is one example of the ready made substitute feats provided (not to be confused with the Familiar Feats, as they are feats for people with Familiars ...).
@Arcane Caster Level
I usually parse this simply as "Caster Level in Arcane Class" though I am (mostly, now :P) aware that others may read it differently. As Velar currently have a effective wizard level for feats of 6 and a caster level in an arcane class of 7 I'd like to ask for an clarification that you did indeed mean effective wizard level (and not caster level and simply missed Magical Knack and that Eldritch Knight 1 gives no real caster level!).
@Other annoying familiar questions
Sadly for this topic, my plan B in the very likely case that you did indeed mean what you said regarding arcane caster levels is to still use the feat and pick up an Small Air Elemental. This would later be upgraded/transformed/blossom/mature into the Mephit in question (via appropriate methods). This is mostly since I'd like an as continuous familiar experience as possible; it feels quite odd to start the game with an bird and then a few months in simply kick that one out for something completely different. The Air Elemental I can at least squint at and pretend it is a Mephit lite :P
This means I would need to know your rulings on these things. Though, seeing as the elemental wouldn't be around from the start, there is no real hurry I suppose (and no, I would not mind the familiar being excluded from fancy parties!).
@Changeling
The race is enticing and the setting is, as I see it, a nice fit so I will endeavour to continue using that as a chassis still. I took the liberty of looking over the race ratios of PCs and cohorts currently in game and found only 1 of the odd races, so I believe the 1:5 ratio you mentioned can still be preserved (barring further changes of course!).
@Disguise
That is good to know. The act of rolling high on disguise checks is an thing the Vigilante class is good at!
@Cabalist
While I am a bit sad I didn't get to play with it, I understand (I mean, if I didn't have a hunch that it might be disallowed I wouldn't have felt the need to ask!). The balancing act between evil, as drawn to by the class, and good, as directed by conscience, was one of the points I was looking to explore. So I'm afraid I can't impress you with an explanation just yet, but I can get back to you if I manage to run the class in the future : )
As with the familiar I have an plan B for this as well, most likely simply rolling back to the mundane Stalker specialization, though I have a few others I'm looking at. I'll make an post with my application alias again once I've rebuilt the stats.
First off, HA isn't generally allowed? Did not know that. Good to keep in mind.
Secondly, by RAW, don't you lose any progress and money on a crafting project if you start another one? I'm guessing you're houseruling on that? Or does he lose all progress, money, and so on every time we build/conquer a new city? Plus, that seems like it would eat up all of his spare time, especially if we're rapidly expanding.
Also, ouch. Having to create a high-CR construct for every major city in our kingdom out-of-pocket? That's just.... Ouch. That would keep his WBL way below everyone else, if my quick calculations are accurate.
From an IC perspective, it's still really harsh. Forcing one of your skilled advisors to build a construct protector for every large city in your kingdom, out of pocket, is just.... Well, if I were a builder and my king wanted that, I'd look for a new source of employment really quick. Maybe Razmir is hiring?
In addition, towards the end of the campaign, what could he possibly craft? There's virtually no constructs that have a CR higher than 20, and while it sounds awesome, how practical is it really to have a mythic-level construct defending every city in the nation? Remember that a Mythic creature has a CR equal to its HD+ 1/2 its Mythic Tier. That means come the end of the game, his constructs will have to have a CR equal to or higher than CR 25. The legendary golems guarding Quantium, the "magic capital of Golarion," fashioned by the archmage Nex at the height of his power, are only CR 20! And apparently there would be a number of cities, any with more than 10,000 residents, that would have a resident construct with a CR 5 higher!
In fact, the highest-CR construct that I could find was the Iron Colossus (which isn't even a Golem- the highest CR golem was, in fact the Quantium golem, which isn't craftable), with a CR of *only* 21, and it costs 300,000 gp just to make. And if he has to create and donate a Construct of his CR or above to every city in the realm.... He literally won't be able to afford it. Besides, it feels like anything over CR 15 would be overkill for a single city, and a single construct of CR 20 or higher would be an effective guardian for the entire nation....
Something to note, though, is that I'm pretty sure PCs have a CR equal to their level. Level-1 is reserved for NPCs (with their lower WBL, and NPCs with PC-level wealth are noted to have +1 CR).
Something that might tip your hand involving building constructs being build with BP: You can build a Barracks, Black Market, Brothel, Monument, or Watchtower with Build Points, so a guardian Construct (even if just an Animated statue or the like) is something logical. Plus, could you imagine the stories?
"Don't break rules there. The stones themselves watch your every move, and the statues themselves enforce the law."
@Construct worries - I'm not sure if it will actually be that harsh. Brevoy itself only has 3 cities with over 10k people, so I don't think you will have *that* many crop up - but we'll see : )
Though the point about there not actually being many golems to craft is a good one. If one is allowed to compliment with non-golem constructs then animated objects have infinite CR scaling as one can always add extra construct points. (And as a bonus; animated object would mean that the city block literally keeps its eyes on you! :P)
Worst comes to it, simply not using the feat doesn't hurt too much (since actually using the feat - crafting constructs - isn't super useful except for flavour and money sink purposes :P).
Re: Alteration / Familiar
Well, the whole bit about altering a familiar simply seems more in line with 'I want an X, but X doesn't exist, so I'll tweak A (which is close to X) in order to create an X.' What you're discussing doesn't seem to be 'X', though, but 'Variant A'. Now, here's the thing: I wouldn't normally have a problem with this (because a small earth elemental / mephit stomping around in armor is actually kind of visually cool in my mind), but examining what you're wanting a variation of (an air elemental/mephit) and how you're wanting to tweak it (add armor) is, to me, very jarring. To me, applying a variation should bring the concept 'closer to what it really is'; an earth mephit, to continue the example, can very well do away with Dodge (and Improved Initiative) and acquire an armor feat (which it'd have to have, note, in order to wear armor), but an air mephit should have Dodge but perhaps switch Improved Initiative out for Mobility or Combat Expertise, enhancing the difficulty in hitting it.
I will note that a bit of reading has convinced me that the familiar applies all the rules of its creature type (including the outsider proficiency rules, etc.) - so your air mephit would be able to carry and use a bow of its size.
Re: Arcane Spellcaster Level
For the purposes we're discussing (level required to acquire an air mephit familiar via Improved Familiar) it means 'levels in an arcane spellcasting class'. IMO, this should add 'from the point at which they gain spellcasting' - because a bloodrager (for example) doesn't get spells until L4, which (again IMO) is the point at which you should start adding levels (e.g. L-3). In any case, this does indeed mean that you're looking at the 'prerequisites for feats' portion (6 in Velar's case).
Re: Air Elemental Into Mephit
I tend to think of elementals as being the 'core form' of every elemental critter; some of them develop into other things (mephits, geniekind, etc.), while others simply stay in elemental form forever, becoming larger and larger. So I'm perfectly comfortable with an air elemental being a quasi-air-mephit, and even having a lot of mephitlike appearance traits at the moment as it begins coalescing into mephit form - perhaps because of the expectations of its master!!
Re: Protector of the People
Darivan brings up a whole bunch of very good points, actually. What they seem to break down into are three things: Money, Golem CR, and City Qty/Size.
The money impact for this game wouldn't be quite as drastic as a percentage - I have bizarre ideas (and therefore rules) for how wealthy Mythic characters should be. If I'd thought about it I would have required only the first golem to be truly donated, the later ones being only a question of giving up your time and expertise; that's how I'd handle this should it be your selection.
The point about available CRs is, well, very appropriate a question as well; in this case, I'd definitely go for the modifications and improvements via the construct rules, as well as 'multiple/different critters increase the CR of the encounter' bit. (Yes, this means that building 6 adamantine golems would make for your CR 24 build. ;) ) In regards to the question about animated objects, I would include them in the 'multiple/different critters' part, with the caveat that they cannot be actual parts of the city (meaning the actual street itself, the building, etc), and that at least one actual golem must be a part of the construction. You would effectively be building an encounter of the set CR made entirely of constructs.
City Qty/Size - there are, in the River Kingdoms proper, only three cities of over 10,000: Mivon, with 10,870; Avendale, capital of Tuvette, with 11,280; and Daggermark, with 27,460. Truth be told, as the campaign is planned, the number of cities that would require such protectors would be somewhere around 10. I've thought about expanding it to cities of 5,000 (making it a total of 15 cities), though if I went with 'for every 10,000' it'd be between 20 and 30 ... or if I went with '1 CR for every 1,000 people' it'd be a total CR of 270, which is actually kind of tempting, requiring some comparatively minor golems (CR 6-9) for the small cities, while the largest ones requiring a veritable army of protectors.
This latter issue is something I'll have to think about, especially since this much building might take upwards of three years; I'd probably allow a combination of work (e.g. followers' time counting towards the total, whether in whole or in part, etc.), but as the campaign is intended to develop over several years, overall I think it's something we could work with.
Re: Horror Adventures
Yes, generally not allowed (as most of the stuff seems to be focused on the psychic stuff) - but case-by-case basis, ask.
@Mephit feat change
I'm merely thinking, with an empathic link and all, it would make sense for the familiar to emulate certain traits from the master. Thus the Mephit might adopt some of the martial aspects of Velar and see itself more as a squire then a classic familiar. That it is a Dust Mephit, a creature more at home in libraries or labs, and not really suited for that only makes it more enticing. Enjoying to subvert the expectations, if you will ("Go find the wizard's familiar! You'll know which one since it is the only one with a bucket on its head waving a wooden sword at a haystack." "Ooookay...").
I will concede that both Dodge and Improved Initiative seems pretty integral to the fast and darting aspect of an air related Mephit. Wanting to switch out Dodge was mostly due to it being the least impactful of the two regarding capabilities (ie it would still be fast and hard-ish to hit, only in a slightly different way).
But if you do not feel comfortable making the switch I understand and can accept that. While I do really enjoy throwing traits around (another upside by switching to Extra Traits) it is not critical to the personality I imagine.
____
Besides the very lightest of armours, say the Parade Armour, have no armour check penalty and thus there are no (mechanical) roadblocks to simply purchasing it for the familiar (paying that extra 'unusual creature multiplier' due to the wings).
Would that be an acceptable route to go?
An Mephit is build wise similar to an winged halfling (or downscaled fury/angel) and they can wear armour : )
@Arcane Caster Level
That's fair.
Though I'd have (uh *bla bla free will* -> want) to point out that bloodragers are a bit odd, as they jump straight from cl 0 to cl 4 unlike rangers and paladins and stuff for some reason. Not that it really changes anything, just an thing I find interesting :P
@Elemental -> Mephit evo!
Sweet!
@Protector
The time issue can probably be sorta worked around somehow. I mean, that expensive things take time will be true regardless of what is actually built right? Plus the Mythic Craft X feats help a bit in that regard (though there are no Craft Construct one, unless you homebrew/adapt it in!) as they let you do 8h of work instantly for the cost of 1mp (max one use per day!). That means even while working on a project, Velar could contribute to other things (assuming Mythic Craft Construct becomes a thing).
Furthermore I'd like to add that batches and numerous small golem to fill up the requirements seems like a good way to handle things! This might be useful or fun :P (Though I'm not sure about the balance implications!)
In summary I agree that we can probably find a way to work things out - and that there are no real hurry to do so.
All right - the mechanical aspects (excluding gear, need to dig up some stuff for that) are completed. If you have the time, I'd appreciate if you glanced over them and let me know if anything looks odd!
The cohort has changed to plain Vigilante with the stalker specialization, operating somewhere in between a social rogue and a spell-less selfish bard (*uh* so rogue I guess?).
The main combat trick is using Frightening Ambush and eventually Shatter Defences to keep enemies shaken+flat footed. Startling Appearance and eventually Dazzling Display will be used to start up and resume the annoyance chain when needed.
One thing that will need a closer look is the Accursed story feat - it's one of the more open ended ones (though resolving it is probably quite a bit into the future anyhow!). I'm imagining it having something to do with the Skie's heirtage; most hags have SR and Changelings can get it trough a feat. Since I'm currently reworking her backstory a bit (and thus haven't posted it yet) I realize I'm not giving much to make a hook out of - but that will come. Uh, consider this mainly a note of "eventually in the far future this needs a little look"!.
But to summarize: crunch, except gear, is complete. Fluff 80-90% done, cohort just need a bit of a touch up. And I remember now that I haven't fixed neither Honour nor Fame just yet. I'll get on that too.
Offer sanctuary and defend that offer +3
Swear fealty to a lord +3
Guardian defeats a challenging monster +2
Protect an innocent against significant odds (CR 2 or more higher than APL) +2
Swear a major oath and uphold it +2
Provide guardian construct +1 (per 40000gp)*
Accept an enemy's parole +1
Accept an enemy's parole and refuse to honor the ransom —2
Be convicted of a petty crime —2
Fail to provide guardian in timely manner -2
Offer sanctuary and betray it —4
Swear a major oath and break it —4
*This would stack with the General Honour thingy for magical items, meaning constructs (given away as in Protector of the People) is more honourable
This is basically a heavily pruned version of the Chivalric code; things added are in italics. Velar sees value in honour and protection, but isn't attached to the concept of personal combat. Thoughts?
Sorry - will get to this over the weekend.
:: Lessah ::
While I understand the 'inherit traits from the master' bit, it does not (in my opinion) change the essential nature of the creature, which is what those first feats are meant to indicate. Before this part goes much further, though, I think you need to establish exactly what kind of mephit you're talking about. Previously it was an air mephit, now you're talking dust mephit, so ...
In regards to the armor, once it hits 'mephit'; I've no issue with the creature learning to wear and then wearing any sort of armor; you can purchase armor (and have the critter wear it) if you like, but though there are no mechanical roadblocks to it wearing anything without armor check penalties (and thus have no penalty for wearing it at all), the fact that it doesn't have proficiency will mean it doesn't like wearing it - that wearing armor, even stuff w/o check penalties, is uncomfortable. This may be a RPed result, but over time this will result in negative consequences for the character's bond with the familiar. (This is the sort of thing that, long term, results in a familiar breaking the bond and becoming actively opposed to the character.)
Re: golem crafting
There are, actually, only two mythic items that apply to crafting - the universal path ability 'mythic craft', which doubles the amount of progress achieved when you used the craft skill; and the mythic feat 'mythic crafter', which enables you to craft mythic items of the types you can make, and which gives a +5 bonus on skill checks when creating non-mythic magic items for which you have the item creation feat.
I have no problem with you taking either or both.
In regards to the 'troop' subtype, it's interesting - but it is critically flawed in several respects, specifically those that have to do with dealing and receiving damage.
Re: Velar's code
Please expand it by at least ten more items; that'll allow me to winnow a few out. You might look at the other codes for ideas, particularl the Samurai honor code.
:: Corerue ::
I am taking 'fill in' and 'stand-by' applications at this time. Right now I'm looking for someone to assume two positions. The first is for a mage-type, who would assume leadership of the Frozen Flame - Eight mages looking to establish a school for elementalists and other pure-magic practitioners. The second would be the leader (horseback/leadership-centric cavalier would be highly recommended) of the core military force of the expedition; this character I have character-build recommendations available for you to draw upon, should you be interested in this side.
@Mephit - It is (and have always been) a Dust Mephit when I talked about it. But looking back I realize I only said that in the first off-hand maybe comment and didn't label my stat block either (and the differences can be hard to notice at a glance) - sorry! Air vs Dust Mephit; 1/day sla, breath weapon, 10' of flying speed and where the fast healing works. So mostly the same, down to the subtype, which is why I didn't really react to the use of "Air Mephit" earlier. Anyhow! Dust Mephit Dust Mephit Dust Mephit. Dust Mephit - there! Now it is properly declared : )
The essential nature of the creature is an interesting angle. Seeing as Velar would be present, most likely the dominant influence even, when the Familiar coagulates from a primordial blob of air into a creature proper would that not alter the essential nature of the Mephit? Just like how the elves and half-elves change drastically depending on if they are raised among pure elves or among the short lived races. (Basically nature vs nurture, though I will admit that outsiders tend to be more rigid!) But I think I have used up my 2 posts of convincing on this topic, and it is not essential, so unless this strikes a chord I'll leave it as it is.*
The psychological roadblock here is a bigger issue for me. On one hand, I realize that having players saying "oh my minion likes [insert thing that would annoy most minions here] actually!". On the other, I envision the little mephit to look up on the real knights and want to be one itself, so incompatibility between happy mephit and light armour clashes with that. Though yeah half the point was that the mephits dream might be hard to achieve but adding suffering/breaking bonds pushes it over from comedic to tragic which is, well, tragic. Hmm. I'll have to think about this...
One thing that spontaneously comes into mind is Retraining from Ultimate Campaign. Is that in use - and would it be okay to use it on the Mephit? It could solve the issue rather elegantly (in my opinion) - the Mephit would start out as normal but with its martial aspirations. But as things progress and stuff are not really working out (chafing armour as mentioned above!) it would need training. Training that teaches it to go against it's own nature (avoid) and instead trust in its gear to help it on the path. Thoughts?
*I realize the above is basically a slight morph of the original query though, but I feel that it is quite important. If you want to put your foot down, please be clear, otherwise I'll continue to discuss the issue!
@Mythic Crafting - Double checking I realize what I assumed was a Paizo feat was from that missing core supplement, so you are entirely right on this one!
Yeah that template is a bit wonky :P
@Code - Will do.
Dot
All right, sorry about the total idle on this side of things. I should be able to get answers &c. on this tonight and tomorrow; I am of a mind to accept you both, just as an FYI, and will bring you in on the 'oathtaking' portion. If I do this, I'll swap you out with one of the several dropped individuals as being leader of a group; please note that I don't recall off the top of my head which groups are now 'leaderless', but in the long run it doesn't actually matter, the reasons for which will soon become apparent.
In any case. Will write tonight.
Okay. I guess it is fair that I'll give an update too. There haven't been much progress actually, this has mostly been in the backburner these last few weeks. But there is, honestly, not that much to be done so I think I could finish up the last parts this weekend assuming nothing unexpected happens. That would work with your timeframe I hope?
*sighs* All right, here's the story. I wrote up this whole thing about elementals, and para-elementals, and quasi-elementals (old/original AD&D stuff), but the short and nasty of it is that Pathfinder uses different associations. (Which is more than just a little 'too bad', too, because the D&D version made amazing amounts of sense to me, and the 'revision' sooooo does not. Hell, I'm not sure PF even has para- or quasi-elements as such; it doesn't look like it does in standard PF, gotta go outside of it.) So anyhow, been doing lots of reading to try to re-educate myself, then working past that.
Earth elementals and variants (which, in PF for mephits, means salt) are somewhat partial to wearing armor; the core 'defensive concept' for them is resistance/absorption, which means that they'd groove to the idea of 'add resistance/absorption material to myself', in this case armor. An Air elemental and variant (which, in PF for mephits, means dust) has a different core 'defensive concept' - that concept is 'evade, avoid, deflect'.
This doesn't mean that an air elemental or elemental entity like a mephit couldn't learn to wear armor; I'm not utterly adverse. However, the powers of elemental beings such as these come from their elemental makeup. An Earth Mephit gathers stone and earth to itself in order to Enlarge itself; it heals the same way. Likewise, the Dust Mephit healing by gathering dust into itself. That fast healing is going to be reduced by at least half while the critter is wearing armor, just because there isn't as much area exposed to the gathering of substance - probably to 1 point per round for light armor, increase to 1 per 2 rounds for medium armor, and 1 per 3 rounds for heavy armor.
Now, the idea of an Earth Mephit flying with bat-like wings seems exceedingly silly to me, not to mention highly counter to its elemental nature, but hey - gotta play the game that's dealt, so to speak. At least it only has Average maneuverability. The Dust Mephit's maneuverability, on the other hand, is perfect - this is likely because it's a near-elemental of Air type. That's going to be impacted by armor as well - for the Dust Mephit, again a -1 per armor heaviness type (light/medium/heavy). Though its speed won't likely be reduced from the armor weight, keep in mind that it might.
In any case. If you feel that your little dust mephit should think that knights and armor and all that is neat, then go to - maybe it wants to be a djinni when it grows up in a couple thousand years. ;)
While I have personal reservations with the whole 'retraining' thing - including with how thoroughly it can revise a character, make incredibly radical changes, and how quickly all that can be done - it's less a matter of general conception than it is of specific execution. The mephit retraining is fine, if that's how you want to go; I'm good with flowing from air elemental into armor-wearing dust mephit.
Okay, so anyhow, getting past that. Background.
I find it food for thought that Velar is almost as old as Brevoy - 172 vs. 210. Otherwise, the background looks very, very good to me. I think it would be ... likely ... that Valerei either went with father and son (and daughters?) to Kyonin, or else went back to the snowcaster elves (which I need to read up on), perhaps with the daughters; if you feel like giving me free rein, I will gleefully run amuck. That said, if you DO give me free rein, it'll prove useful to both of us.
Looking through the build, I do have an issue with you taking only a one-level dip into Slayer (Vanguard); I know it's specifically to gain the 'all martial weapons' prerequisite for Eldrich Knight, but I dislike one-level dips as a matter of principle. Please kick the Eldrich Knight PrC to 8th (which you'll be aquiring shortly) and pick up another level in Slayer.
I'd also appreciate a notation somewhere what your Wizard specialist school is. I know - now - that it's Transmutation, but it should be somewhere notable, e.g. 'Wizard (Transmuter) 5', because I won't always remember. :P
Okay, this is going to be mostly background stuff. (Okay, it's going to be entirely background stuff. Sue me. :P ) First things first: The Lovers.
I am not adverse to interracial stuff; love knows no boundaries, and all that. However. For the vast majority of on-screen time, Nimue and Mordred will be operating in seperate places, which means both of them are going to be taking that hit a majority of the time. I'm willing to allow you to do this, but I figured that you deserved fair warning.
I'll also point out that to become lovers both of them need to be 'young adult' - this reads as 'minimum adult age', e.g. 15 for the human, 40 for the gnome. I know you're thinking of Nimue as being 'young for a gnome', but she is an arcanist, and she was out doing 'coursework' for the mini-Collegium, so she's going to be at least 46 (using the gnome's 6d6 Self-Taught timespan for the sorcerer/wizard blend that Arcanist is), and by preference at least 52 (minimum 2's on the dice rolled). As a further note on age, I recommended determining your age by either rolling the class's baseline dice (6d6 in Nimue's case) as the number of months spent in each level, so 7 x 6d6. If you want to choose her age, I've stated that the minimum number would use an average of 2 per die, so 7 x 6 x 2 = 84, or 7 years total - her minimum age being, basically, 59.
I would also consider it vastly more likely (though it isn't necessary that it be so) for the elf Magyaamban Arcanist to be in Kyonin or, perhaps, in the unclaimed area near but outside Cordelon between the two - on the east side of the Sellen, north of Riverton and Kallas Lake, perhaps in the large area south of the forest that makes up Cordelon; there are a few patches of heavy foresting down there that needn't be quite so wary of outsiders. Cordelon is also mostly human with hints of elfness; if you're looking for that gnomes-amongst-elves flavor, the gnomish town of Omesta might be more likely. As a number of elves now call Omesta (or rather, the elven ruins beneath the gnomish tree-town) home, this could easily be the location of the Garund-influenced elf mage's mini-collegium, and Nimue one of the few (or perhaps only!) non-elves allowed to attend.
Mordred's presence, of course, becomes more of an issue if they're in Kyonin, but here's the thing - Nimue would be encouraged (just as you wrote) to go out into the world and put her studies to the test in efforts against evil. So for the past number of years (at least 7) she'll have been out and about, MAYBE returning for a few weeks now and then to study at her old elven master's feet before going on the road again. (She can survive a few weeks without Mordred, right? Right?? ;) )
I do run into a much more significant issue when I get to their recent history; I am not allowing the PCs to have direct, immediate links in or to people or places in the Stolen Lands, in part because such places are not meant to exist before the AP starts. I am perfectly fine with them saving a village from bandits; that village just can't be in the Stolen Lands themselves. Only a little modification is necessary, though; the forest that is the Narlmarches extends down into Mivon, and bandits are endemic throughout the River Kingdoms.
This does somewhat put the kibosh on 'why we headed north to join'; however, there's another issue that remains, and that happens to be 'what group are we in and how did we get recognizeable enough to be accepted'. Considering their general background as well as the groups that are available, I think I would suggest that they joined up with the Defenders of the Lane at some point (a year or two past) and sought to suppress bandits both along the Crusader's Road as well as in the other areas/societies/nations. Wintering and restocking in Brevoy (which is a far more stable society than most of the others) allowed them to hear about the Proclamation, and their reputation of basically trying to keep the roads clear of and villages safe from bandits gets them in. Nimue, being the sharpest tool in the deck (and possibly their strategic director), gets put forward as their leader.
Thoughts?
@Mephit - Pathfinder cosmology is a bit interesting yeah (as in a big mess!). I do think they do some funny stuff with djinni though I'm not sure how that actually works anymore.
But the mechanical limitations of armour you suggest are more then acceptable. I was honestly not expecting much use out of the Fast Healing except as an out of combat way to heal up (ie carrying around a pouch/sack of dust and letting the Mephit dust it up when it is hurt). Flying a bit worse also makes a good trade-off between armoured and not; the mephit may ponder exactly if it is worth it - but without suffering and that is nice!
@Background - Elves are old and I really like when you get to mess with that. Brevoy being such a young nation was one of the reasons I picked that race to start with.
If you want to do something fun with that have, well, fun : )
Though it should be noted that Velar was the only child (in the household - I don't think either of his parents would be the type to sleep around but hey you never know and if a good story comes out of it ...). Otherwise growing up would probably have been a little bit less lonely.
Valeri could probably have visited Kyonin with the others if you want, that is not a big thing.
Though she would not have brought her family back to the snowcasters. They are described as sorta xenophobic and banishes people that have "fallen to the temptations of the outside world". That includes, unless I misunderstood completely, having children and lovers on the outside.
Most of my info are gathered from the two wikis (and there aren't really much of it) so if you find something else somehow be sure to point me in that direction.
@Mechanics - The Wizard School is actually listed under SQ (special qualities) in the datasheet along with his opposite schools. But since it is quite an important part of wizardy I can add it to some more accessible location too!
Now the slayer thing is trickier. I agree that one level dips are eyesores and feel odd yeah. But on the other hand the eldritch knight are an very awkward build. Being both a wizard and a fighter isn't exactly mechanically easy.
And at level 7-8 is where that is the most apparent - you fight as someone three levels bellow you and cast as someone two levels bellow you. Staying in that low spot for another level would feel really bad (as in 8th level Velar fights as a 5th level fighter and casts as a 5th level wizard, ignoring his lower/thinner stats).*
Therefore I must ask if it would be premissable to take that slayer level a bit later? As in between say Eldritch Knight level 3 and 4. Having a few of those double-function levels under the belt would really help to smooth out the curve.
Thoughts?
*Though I recall you mentioned Mythic which would probably remove any "being weak" feelings.
Looking into the Frozen Flame opening - is there a good summary of them somewhere? (Just a hint as to which thread to look through would help)
I think I want to build some kind of merchant prince character who happens to be a mage, maybe came along as a logistician and when the previous leader disappeared stepped forward to make things work? No idea if that works or not, which is why I need to read more.
For info on the Frozen Flame, I would look here. For what happened to its leaders... Look here.
There's also
Perception (DC 30), KS Nobility (DC 25), or Diplomacy (DC 20), to be uncovered as appropriate during Hour 2: several rumors are going around - that the leader of one of the groups selected to accompany Chalm was thrown off the Water Wall into the river by Chalm's security; that the rest of the group attending the party is being isolated, clamped in chains, and dumped in the dungeon; or that they were mystic assassins whose plot to summon demons to slaughter everyone here was only narrowly averted.
There's likely more. Just giving you a headstart. (Sorry if I'm stealing your thunder, GM. Just trying to keep things moving quickly.)
Thanks. That sounds hilarious and amazing and I am doubly interested in playing the gruff, practical, by the spell and balance books magic merchant.
"By Abadar and Nethys, what have you lot got yourselves into. Don't worry, I'll drag us out of it and I'll only charge you half a percent, compounded. Unless you prefer to be branded a mad mage? Or don the white? I thought not, I thought not. Come, we have much to do."
Ok, caught up on the recent discussion/gameplay and going to rush through creation tonight and tomorrow to try and get in before mayhem.
Forum goblins ate my shiny code. I think I'll have time to recreate it tonight (and then I'll make sure to save it somewhere :/)
:: Lessah ::
Mephit: Good.
Background: Good. (I have personal preference/realism issues with 'only children' in a medieval world, but if anyone would be like that, it'd be elves.)
Slayer: Not good, meaning 'yes, I insist - get that Slayer 2 level in there now.' You may fight as a L4 fighter, and cast as a L5 mage, but that's 4 more levels of fighter than a L7 mage, and 5 more levels of magic than a L7 fighter. Unless you were intending on using ONLY one or the other in each fight? It functionally means, however, that you're in one major fight like that before you gain your first level of Eldritch Knight, so don't worry TOO hard about it.
:: Mordred ::
All right, with those happening, I'm good with you playing in. PLEASE make sure your technicals are complete, because Nimue is going to be taking oath here in two minutes (as it were), and then mayhem breaks out all over the bloody place.
:: Ash ::
Work very, very quickly; see comment to Mordred.
:: All Three ::
Because of 'must have gear', we will be essentially retconning the position/existence of the original leaders. Aolis will have been one of the Frozen Flame's secondaries, presuming Ash gets completed; Nimue, not Axhammer, will always have been the leader of the road warden people; and ... Velar Khion’Tal will always have been leader of whatever group he's in. :P Understand that the specific group is not particularly critical, for reasons that will soon become apparent. :P :)
PC, Selene 'Moon': Swashbuckler 1(Musketeer)/Magus 1(Eldritch Archer)/Diviner 4/Eldritch Knight 1 - Musket + utility divinations. Open Combat with Haste + fire musket round 1, reload or rapier round 2 as required.
Cohort, Samantha 'Sam': Magus 1(Eldritch Archer)/Heavens Oracle 4(Spirit Guide(lore)) - Archery + healing. Open Combat with Glitterdust or Colorspray + Longbow round 1, longbow + heal someone round 2.
There's no reasonable story feat for Merchant Princing. I'm taking Dynasty Founder but if you want to later go back and figure out something more in line with establishing a global trade and magic guild from our fledgling kingdom that'd be more in line with Selene and Samantha's plans. We have no interest in ruling the kingdom, we're just looking to establish a base of operations to grow trade and help the elemental magics flourish.
Our divination has given us great hope for one of our followers, a fellow named Tesla Stevenson, he has ideas about using elemental lightning to make moving wagons. That's going to take a lot of capital, however. We're going to be super loyal to the king accordingly, and our long term goal is pretty much lightning rails, maybe with a dose of extraplanar portals depending on how long the game goes.
I'll dump crunch when I'm at home in front of my computer. If you want me to change any of that skeleton I'll do that too. Definitely don't want to rock the boat.
:: Ash ::
As was just gotten into with Lessah, no one-level dips. I do apologize (to both of you) that this wasn't stated in the original (or evolved) character creation directions, but up until now it wasn't really an issue. Please either take two levels in a non-PrC class, or drop the one-level class. That goes for all your characters, PC, Cohort, and if you've enough Leadership for significantly-leveled Followers (and you're building them), them as well.
Re: Merchant Prince: Dynasty Founder is probably your best bet; I'm flexible on the whole 'I will dominate a city', and allow it to be 'I will dominate an industry'. I will point out that there is (or at least can be) a difference between being a merchant prince and being a carter extraordinaire. Do you want to dominate trade? Or do you want to dominate the cargo-carrying methodologies? Striving to accomplish the latter will eventually limit your reach (or rather, your breadth of control) in the former, just because you'll be spreading your resources. As a note, there ARE two other notables - one group, Amavin's 'employer' NPCs in the Golden Company, and one individual, the 'GMPC' Coalhouse Porter - that are looking to do at least something similar. The Golden Company is a group of four merchants looking to corner the markets in the new kingdom; Coalhouse is looking to corner to freight carriers (and also has Dynasty Founder for his 'industry', which is why I'm good with you using it too. ;) )
Anyhow - be flexible in your plans, is all I hope for. ;)
That's kinda a problem for making a musket and EK in general work at all honestly, it was already sort of sketchy. Muskets are incredibly bad compared to longbows or just, you know, being a wizard.
Hrm. I'll figure out a solution. I was putting magus 1 on the cohort to tie them together thematically, so putting her to oracle 5 is easy, but getting Musket + Diviner to work together isn't simple.
And yeah, being flexible is the plan. I'm more attached to the character than the mechanics, so the exact choice of merchant concern is up in the air.