The Dread Realm (Inactive)

Game Master Sai Ling

The last stars fade as a another day dawns. The clouds blaze fiery orange and bloody red over the shoulders of the rugged Balinok Mountains, burning away the night. The road here rises onto a bald hilltop, giving a view of a seemingly endless forest of spruce and hemlock trees that covers the foothills, and columns of thick steam rise up from the numerous hot springs that dot the land, feeding the streams with warm water and filling the cool air of late summer with patches of hot mist.

In the distance, just visible beyond the rolling hills, the sun's first rays glint off the golden spire of the Grand Cathedral of Ezra, in Levkarest. In a week's time, the Sefeasa - the head of Borca's greatest noble house - will be married there, and a celebration has been declared for the week before and after her wedding. The houses of the nobility will be bright as elegant parties and decadent masquerades are held, and in the villages and slums, the poor will likewise be released from their labors to indulge whatever vices they can afford. Envoys from many other domains are arriving, and merchants and traders from near and far are crowding into the city, for there are fortunes to be made.

Character Crunch:

Starting at first level

Ability Scores.
The player ranks the ability scores in DESCENDING order of preference (1 intelligence, 2 dexterity, 3 Con, 4 wis 5 strength, 6 cha for a typical wizard, for example)
You then roll 3d6 for each ability score.
1 best of 4 3d6 rolls (roll 3d6 4x and take the best)
2 best of 3 3d6 rolls
3 best of 3 3d6 rolls
4 best of 2 3d6 rolls
5 best of 2 3d6 rolls
6 3d6

If you end up with ability bonuses totalling less than 5 or more than 10 before racial modifiers, or if your 1st picked ability score is 13 or less, reroll the character.

Race: CRB plus tieflings, fetchlings and changelings. Half-orcs will be replaced by Calibans - statistically identical, but born to human parents. Be warned that Ravenloft is an extremely xenophobic place, and non-humans seldom receive a warm welcome. Each race has an outcast rating which applies as a penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy and Perform checks, but as a bonus to Intimidate.

Caliban* 5
Changeling* 4+1 for each Mother's Gift
Dwarf 3
Elf 3
Fetchling* 6
Gnome 2
Half-Elf 1
Halfling 1
Human (foriegner) 1
Tiefling* 7

* These races are considered monstrous by many and are rarely protected by the law of the land, or by any code of civilized conduct.

Classes: CRB & APG (minus Summoners - the Ravenloft rules about outsiders and dread companions make dealing with Eidolons far too much of a headache). Most Paizo archetypes in the PFSRD are valid. Certain class abilities will be modified to suit the setting, following the 3.5 Ravenloft rules where applicable. Where it isn't applicable, I'll figure something out.

Guns: Emerging Guns, but no Gunslinger class.

Feats, Traits, Spells: All Paizo feats, traits and spells in the PFSRD are valid, though many spells will be modified to suit the setting's peculiarities. These modifications will be made according to the 3.5 Ravenloft rules where applicable, and will otherwise be ruled on the fly by me. Disputing these rulings will drive me crazy, and will therefore be cause for madness checks at grotesquely unfair DCs.

Starting Wealth: Average for your class

Hit Points: Max at 1st level, best of 2 rolls at other levels.

Background:

Background: The story begins outside Levkarest, at the beginning of a two-week festival celebrating the wedding of that realms ruler. Each character should have a reason to be there.

Tell us your story. Make it interesting, but remember that you are not highly experienced adventurers. Players with connections to the world around them (friends, family, loved ones as well as rivals, adversaries and mortal enemies) are more likely to be chosen.

Answer as many of these as you like, but try to do so in some depth. More than a paragraph is probably unnecessary in most cases.

1. What do you look like?
2. Where is your family?
3. What is your greatest love?
4. What is your greatest regret?
5. What is your greatest shame?
6. What is your greatest fear?
7. What fascinates you?
8. What are your habits?
9. What are your secrets?
10. Are you more rational or passionate?
11. Are you more sophisticated or superstitious?
12. How strong is your faith?
13. What drives you to adventure?