The Borderland (M&M): A Villager's Perspective (Inactive)

Game Master Rocan

First time DM-ing on the Paizo-forums, I want to try out my homebrew campaign I started at a tabletop.

As the title suggests this will be a tribute to one of my favourite RPG's and fantasy worlds I grew up with; the Might and Magic universe, to be more precise the world of Antagarich.

I will be keeping the Pathfinder rules, but will be adding a few new races (Lizardmen,Gnoll and re-styled goblin/orc), a new class (Beastmaster) which had been tested for a few levels and a few flavourful items and events.

My ideas for this tribute are:
- The AP from the original game, complete with the Scavenger Hunt, perhaps two groups (4-5 PC's each) could compete with each other to go on in that way.

-A new campaign I already have written several encounters for, set in a contested area where the players might start of as simple villagers or mercenaries.
As the villagers I'd like to see their progress as which role they'd take in a new team for survival. So Commoner --> Expert/Warrior/Adept --> PC classes. Perhaps also randomly rolling for stats to encompass their non-adventuring past, just to see what characters you could build, but I'll keep that as an optional thing.

Both types of campaigns could have a little bit of kingdom/city building in it, if people would want that.

However I want to see what the interest for such a campaign might be and which style people would like.

Edit: I'll put up character creation guidelines up front.
Character Build Rules
20 point-buy (or roll for villagers)
Level 1
Starting Gold: Average for your class (Villagers will be less)
Alignment: Any, but a coherent group is preferred
Classes: All Core Classes, Alchemist (no extra appendages), Cavalier, Inquisitor, Magus, Witch and my Beastmaster.
Archetypes are allowed but have to be run by me first, just one per PC.
Races: All Core Races except Gnomes, my Lizardmen and Gnoll race + standard Tiefling and Aasimar, though they are very rare in that world.

DM: what would be your rolling method ?

doting for interest btw

The rolls for the villagers would probably be 4d6 drop lowest.

stat: 4d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 1, 6) = 12 = 11
stat: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 2, 5) = 19 = 17
stat: 4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 6, 1) = 13 = 12
stat: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 5, 5) = 17 = 15
stat: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 2, 6) = 18 = 16
stat: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 5, 6) = 19 = 16

i'll play a villager i have a concept or two i want to try.

what are the stats for the Lizardmen ? / Beastmaster ?

so villagers would take first NPC class then we would retrain those levels into pc class later in the game?

Races and Class can be found here.

Lizardmen, Gnoll and Goblin.

Beastmaster Class

so villagers would take first NPC class then we would retrain those levels into pc class later in the game?

Exactly, however I would like a full group of villager enthusiasts for that.

i like the beastmaster class i would either play 1/2 elf or human... going into it.

I'm interested. I'll go with a 20 point buy. Question, what about traits?

i called a few friends over to this thread to go villager's option like me

Hmm, that I missed those.

You may have 2 Traits from different categories. If we do go for the villager plan, please make sure that neither of them requires a militaristic background or a magical one. As you have known neither, being the simple villager/peasant you are.

Well, I am one of the chosen called :)
I like the villager idea (fairly similar to an idea I have had in the back of my mind for a while, if you want details on the epic idea, pm me) and would have to see about those links and conversions you did but first stats!
4d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 6, 2) = 12 11
4d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 4, 5) = 18 14
4d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 2, 6) = 14 13
4d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 1, 5) = 14 13
4d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 4, 1) = 14 13
4d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 4, 5) = 15 13

Apparently my guy is lucky #13 :P
All odd numbers, highest is a 14. Fun times DX

I wouldn't mind trying a villager. So lets see about these rolls.
4d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 2, 5) = 13-1=12
4d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 3, 5) = 20-3=17
4d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 6, 1) = 15-1=14
4d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 5, 6) = 18-1=17
4d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 5, 3) = 11-1=10
4d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 2, 6) = 17-2=15
Now that a pretty wide spread and very useable.

Yae hello gobo hord and welcome :)

lets see how this old story teller fare shall we, while we listen to his stories by the fire)

oh btw dm we both (gobo hord and I) hope that you can post a few times per day.

I was thinking of doing an Aasimar Commoner-->Expert-->Cavalier, if this would be fine with you I will start stating him up.

Excellent we have at least enough to start a game, though I'll keep Recruitment open at least till the end of the week.
I aim to start this game next monday (15th).

What I would aks of you is to post at least your intended race and the simple weapon your proficient with.
Some proficiencies may be fluffed into a farming tool with the same stats.
For instance longspear into pitchfork and light mace into workhammer.

Farming tools and equipment will be easier to find lying around then actual weapons so be aware of that.

If I know your races, it is easier for me to determine which contested land you would be in, so as to create the beginning of this game together.

Edit: Algar, I aim to post once/twice a day, that could be more.

@Iron Killer, Aasimars are fine, though they are rare in this world, you should have a good backstory to it why an angel would have blessed your family in this way.

Human, farmboy going into stable boy going into veterinarian as a commoner (weapon: club). for PC class => Beastmaster with a dip into cavalier.

Gobo you could play a female hedge witch with healing hex and prophetic dream and the 3 of us would be chilhood friend.
Protection you on your life quest and sutch..

Sadly I never played a witch (and never really cared to, dont like the fluff the same way some dont like gunslingers) and never played a female (cant wrap my head around how, I am way to much of a guy :P)...
So sorry thats not going to work XD

As for race, I will be human but I am still trying to figure out what I can do with those... less than stellar stats ^_-

So I am currently thinking of creating a sanctified charaltian rogue loosely based off of this guy. Basically the village pastor who dosent believe what he is preaching yet he has the backing of the church.
Still working on the idea though :)

i like them alot they are a fun and polyvalent class. (male of female)

As I mentioned you are limited to only one Archetype.

But keep thinking what your PC might do as a villager before that, love the ideas. I'll have a post up regarding the place and name of the village end of the week.

who is going to take care of our mortal bodies and heal us? :)

You need not to worry about it that much in the beginning, however doing anything crazy or rash like charging into a wolves den will likely get you beyond a timely healer.

This is just a preliminary backstory:

Forfax has a very mysterious ancestry, at least mysterious to him. Generations back, further back then anyone is willing to remember, a celestial took the form of a human and seduced a beautiful young woman. Their son became well know paladin adventurer, but over the years even his name has been lost to the ages. For generations the celestial blood has laid dormant until the birth of Forfax to poor farming family, but they don't understand what is "wrong" with their son so they try to hide his differences and encourages Forfax to do the same.

Please let me know if this is acceptable and if anyone else has some suggestions how I could make it better I'm open for just about anything.

I was thinking he would be proficient with the pitchfork to evolve into a longspear or trident later on.

Dotting for interest ofc.

Str 4d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 1, 6) = 19-1= 18
Dex 4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 2, 4) = 16-2=14
Con 4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 4, 6) = 20-4=16
Int 4d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 5, 1) = 9-1=8
Wis 4d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 6, 4) = 17-3=14
Cha 4d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 5, 3) = 19-3=16

Not bad.

I'll work the on rest later.

Iron Killer, that looks good.

@ Chyrone, welcome, those are some nice stat rolls.

Everyone think of a few personality traits your character might have and a bit of his background.

We will add more to their background as we go, so not much is needed right away, just some basics.

and Joseph, I think you can work with your stats, amaze me.

Cool, I'll try to stat him up and create an alias tonight some time.

Those stats are not bad? Lol, check out my lucky #13!
Btw, yup, I should be able to make something work with those stats, tho I might not be the most effective :P
Only 1 archetype? I missed that but it is ok, santified is really for flavor only and doesn't kick in until level 4 anyways so it can be in title only.

Ah, yes, I wanted to ask about favored class bonus, I assume we don't get one until we actually get a class? If we are say an adept and we take our first level as fighter do we keep the different class skills and extra skill points? What if you went full bab npc class (like the warrior) and partial bab PC class (like rogue or mangus), do you keep the first point in bab?

Ah, yes, I wanted to ask about favored class bonus, I assume we don't get one until we actually get a class? If we are say an adept and we take our first level as fighter do we keep the different class skills and extra skill points? What if you went full bab npc class (like the warrior) and partial bab PC class (like rogue or mangus), do you keep the first point in bab?

You bring up an interesting point. I'd have thought people would choose adept if they would go magic classes, warrior if going full BAB ones and expert for skillful PC classes or flavour.

However you will get a favoured class bonus as an NPC class, keep the weapon and armor proficiencies from your previous npc class + their skill ranks. HP at level 1 will also travel with you, unless your PC class has better.

BAB and saves will travel with you, but will wait till caught up, before progressing. So a BAB of +1 will stay that until you have reached +1 BAB from your actual class. Spellcasting of the Adept will be overwritten by your next class.

Warriors going into Magus and Adepts going into Paladins is alright, Expert or Adept into Fighter for optimalisation is not.

Intrigued as well. Lets see what the dice roller says...villager stats...

4d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 4, 5) = 16
4d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 2, 4) = 14
4d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 2, 1) = 12
4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 6, 1) = 17
4d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 2, 5) = 13
4d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 3, 2) = 11

How many traits are you allowing, I know the standard is 2 but since you didn't specify in the character creation section I thought I'd ask.

You may have 2 Traits from different categories. If we do go for the villager plan, please make sure that neither of them requires a militaristic background or a magical one. As you have known neither, being the simple villager/peasant you are.

Sorry I missed that one.

I've got my character stats all done except for the gear, what is the starting wealth for a commoner?

Your starting wealth will be 50 gp, you have some gear and equipment, but not alot.

i am mostly ready also...
A club a hide armor and my Stable Boy is ready to go.

So...9/11/11/12/13/16

Lets go human commoner-->warrior-->barbarian

Initial stats would look like

strength 16
dexterity 12
constitution 13+2=15
intelligence 11
wisdom 11
charisma 9

Works in the blacksmith shop. Physically built, but that's about it. Average common sense and book smarts.

Weapon: hammer

Gear: hammer, hide armor

Gear: hammer, hide armor

I thought commoners weren't proficient with any armor?

Iron Killer,

When it comes to the hammer;
Wouldn't it be logical for a blacksmith to be proficiant with his worktool?

The hammer's fine because you can be proficient 1 weapon, or tool, but the NPC description for a Commoner says that they are not proficient with any armor or shields.

Some proficiencies may be fluffed into a farming tool with the same stats.

For instance longspear into pitchfork and light mace into workhammer.

Something along this line....but i could be wrong.

Commoners are not proficient with armor and would take the AC penalty of the armor to attack rolls and check that involve moving.

So think again if you want to actually wear that armour from the start.

The hammer is indeed fine, I'll fluff it to a blacksmith's hammer if necessary.

So we have 3 humans and an aasimar, Chyrone do you already have an idea for race?

A human armorer comes to my mind.

So we have these applications

Chyrone - Human Armorer - Blacksmith's hammer? (what kind of armorer?)
Iron Killer - Aasimar Farmer/Peasant - Pitchfork
Gilthanis - Human Blacksmith - Blacksmith's hammer
Algar Lysandris - Human Stableboy - Club
Joseph Bonkers - Human Pastor(?) - what kind of weapon?

Safe to say you are all in.

Armorer in metal. Mails, plate, metal shields.

Maybe the pastor uses heavy literature? A big tome would come to mind. Or he uses healing magics and a walking staff.

DM quick question. When we will retrain our NPC class into PC classes will we retained also feats? (i will adjust a few things depending)

You will retain your feats yes, you won't unlearn something that easily.

Sorry, forums have been acting up yesterday, I haven't been able to get on at all.

My thinking.
Commoner→Aristocrat→Charlatian Rogue.
Human, I dunno what kind of weapon :S thinking dagger.
Traits would be spirit guide and power of suggestion, still looking at these :P
As for feats, skill Focus: bluff is one possibility. False casting might be a fun, but not powerful idea.

The problem is that I will not really be great at anything, considering that I will have 0 bab and at most a +1 modifier :(
I'm still trying to think outside the box on this one :)

This is Iron Killer:
I was hoping to get this up last night but with the site down all night I was unable to, so I just created it this morning.
Here's the stat block for Forfax:
Forfax
Aasimar Commoner 1
NG Medium Outsider (native) and Humanoid (human)
Init +9; Senses Darkvision 60ft, Perception +7
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex)
hp 8 (1d6+2)
Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +1
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Pitchfork +3 (1d8+4/x3) and
Unarmed strike +3 (1d3+3/x2)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 17, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 17
Base Atk +0; CMB +3; CMD 16
Feats Improved Initiative
Traits Reactionary, Snake Hater
Skills Perception +7, Profession (Farmer) +5, Ride +7
Languages Common
Combat Gear Cavalier's Kit, Shabby Wide Brimmed Hat, Peasant's Outfit, Donkey, Pichfork, 14 gp
--------------------
TRACKED RESOURCES
--------------------
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Skilled-+2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Perception checks
Spell-Like Ability-daylight once per day
Celestial Resistance-acid resistance 5, cold resistance 5, and electricity resistance 5
Scion of Humanity-Some aasimars' heavenly ancestry is extremely distant. An aasimar with this racial trait counts as an outsider (native)and a humanoid (human) for any effect related to race. Including feat prerequisites and spells that affect humanoids. He can pass for human without using the Disguise skill. This racial trait replaces the Celestial language and alters the native subtype.
Reationary Trait-+2 to Initiative checks
Snake Hater Trait-+2 trait bonus on Knowledge (dungeoneering) checks and Knowledge (dungeoneering) is always a class skill for you.

Joseph you may not have stellar stats, but you need not be the best in combat to shine. You can get a +3 modifier at most or 2 +2 modifiers, or even a +3 and +2 with alternate racial traits of humans.

Rogues and Bards are still a possibility and are also great additions to a team, seeing as we got at least 3 melee characters that can take a punch, you might be the one that bolsters them or knows every other trick in the book they don't know.

Also Aristocrat is out of the picture, unless you are convincing enough for others to believe you are of blue blood. Skill Focus (Bluff) might still be a good idea if you want to do that.

Iron Killer, that looks great I love the idea of a commoner having +9 Initiative, ready to bolt whenever there might be real danger. Should have seen that coming though ^^.

Chyrone: since you got armor I will take craft weapons.

My barbarian is gonna take the Brutal Pugalist archetype. He likes to work with his hands since he was a smither, so it makes sense to me. Any objections? For now my simple weapon will be the morningstar, made by myself of course lol. Will get an alias up once I get some sleep :)