The empty graves of the north - a Forgotten Realms campaign

Game Master JohnLocke

I'm very interested in this game. I don't have much experience with the Forgotten Realms outside of reading some of the books.

The character concept that I am kicking around is an Aasimar Draconic sorcerer (dragon disciple future) that is utterly convinced that he is the child of Bahamut. His angelic traits only serve to reinforce his belief and arrogance. He gets very confrontational if he is challenged on it.

My question is: do you know if this will bump up against your buddy's sorcerer idea? Should I look to something else?

Thanks for any feedback!

Edit: a very quick mock-up (actual character sheet will be easier to read and parse):

@DM Locke:

Would you allow a Suli Skald (no archetype)?

Here's a rough draft of one I was working on anyway for a bit of fun. My original was a 20 point buy, but I adjusted this version for 25 points.

Thanks!

@DM Locke: Sorry, one other bit. Would you also allow material from the "Blood of the Elements" Player Companion? Specifically Suli barbarian elemental totems therein. If not, that's fine, there's an abundance of other rage power options out there already.

Hi DM Locke, here's the first draft of Aballar Brokenwood, human bard. When my Internet's a bit more stable I'll linkify a few things on his profile and expand on the lore. I'll also try and find a better avatar image; human male bard is not a very fruitful search when it comes to avatar images.

Good morning all!

@ Slyness: unless Ray changes his mind there's already a sorcerer slated for play in this game, and one with a draconic bloodline, to boot. I'd recommend looking into a combat-focused character, a divine caster (cleric or warpriest) or a rogue/scout type.

@ Xunal: sorry, I'm limiting this to the core Realms races only, along with Aasimar, tieflings, and the four types of Genasi (Ifrits, Oreads, Sylphs and Undines, as pathfinder knows them)

Here's a recap of submissions so far:

Berensen - Solvig Severus, Human Sorcerer
Tuyena - Yelsbeth Amastia, Half Elf Inquisitor*
Seth86 - Gyro Titanblade, Gnome Barbarian*
RJ the Wolf - Rawsk Bloodfang, Tiefling Hunter (Feral Hunter)
mdt - Kyril Cryptbane, Tiefling Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer)
rorek55 - Derrick Belmont, Human Rogue*
Transylvanian Tadpole - Aballar Brokenwood, Human Bard

Reserved spots:
karlprosek - Kevkas, Half Orc Oracle*
wicked_raygun - Dorn Kindleheart, Human Sorcerer*
*submissions marked with asterisks are incomplete in some manner*

My advice to Slyness applies to all potential applicants: I'd recommend looking into a combat-focused character, a divine caster (cleric or warpriest) or a rogue/scout type.

Also, just to clarify, don't put yourselves out yet creating a detailed backstory. Once the party is finalized we can define a background that fits and allows for some connection between the characters. Defining a few personality traits, flaws, and perhaps talking about how your character looks are really all I ask for at this point.

Going to go ahead and offer up Dargrim Rumblecask, a dwarven Slayer. Born to Mirabar, but he and Mirabar didn't quite agree with one another. Instead of spending his years mining (or worse, watching over people mining) he "decided" to bid farewell to his home in favor of beginning his career as a peerless glory-seeker.

Will begin working on the profile straight away. Should have something hammered together in short order.

If you want to get a feel for the characters and their personality, something I've done before is have the recruits do a 'night at the bar' RP, where they are basically in a Bar and end up talking with each other and the GM in the recruitment thread (or in a throwaway game thread).

Let's you get an idea of the personality and player styles.

Here be the aforementioned dwarf: Dargrim

@DM Locke: how advanced are Lantanites in terms of Firearms? Still Emerging?

@DM Locke: No problem. I take it either an Ifrit or Half-Orc skald would be cool, then?

@ mdt: Thanks, I do appreciate the advice from a veteran :-) I will consider it, once I get closer to decision making time.

@ Brimleydower: I like him! And that flaw is almost guaranteed to get him into all sorts of trouble!

@ DM Arknight: still fairly primitive, though any early firearm (as defined by the Pathfinder rules) is still fair game, though exceedingly rare. Too, in the Realms, smokepowder is actually magical, which is not something a lot of people catch.

@ Xunal: absolutely!

Would you allow dervish dance with a rapier?

@ Zef.: yes, certainly.

Kev is mostly ready. I have a little more starting gold to spend and a language to pick. Would you say a mount would be useful or just something you're likely to gloss over? And any suggestions for languages?

Would you allow dervish dance with a rapier?

No need- fencing grace

@ Kevkas: I wouldn't recommend a mount as being central to anyones' build, as you'll be delving into a lot of dungeons where a mount is unlikely to follow.

I've had great fun with a halfling cavalier in dungeons. Had a situation where there was a giant rock troll in the middle of a cavern.

Everyone else stayed in the cave and me and my mount did ride by attacks from one end of the 100 ft cavern to the other, repeatedly, and killed it. :) GM was quite shocked. :)

Here's Lioslan thrown into the mix!

I once had a Grippli on a giant gecko. Very cool.

But, a horse is a horse, of course... I think he meant large sized mounts or bigger.

Kris, welcome aboard, it's great to have you!

Here's a listing of our submissions:

Berensen - Solvig Severus, Human Sorcerer
Tuyena - Yelsbeth Amastia, Half Elf Inquisitor*
Seth86 - Gyro Titanblade, Gnome Barbarian*
RJ the Wolf - Rawsk Bloodfang, Tiefling Hunter (Feral Hunter)
mdt - Kyril Cryptbane, Tiefling Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer)
rorek55 - Derrick Belmont, Human Rogue*
Transylvanian Tadpole - Aballar Brokenwood, Human Bard
Brimleydower - Dargrim Rumblecask, Dwarf Slayer

Reserved spots:
karlprosek - Kevkas, Half Orc Oracle
wicked_raygun - Dorn Kindleheart, Human Sorcerer*
Krisam - Lioslan Shaelara, Elf Ranger
*submissions marked with asterisks are incomplete in some manner*

Submissions are still open! If you're going to put one forward take a look at what's been submitted already and see if you can find any gaps that can be filled.

What level are we thinking of finishing at? And how much is earth, subterranean themed?

Thanks for the feedback! I'll find something else to submit.

Evocation Wizard w/Toppling Spell? Bowling, anyone?

I'm just finishing up the first "module" of the adventure, and I'm projecting the party will be level 3 or 4 at the point it's finished. For the broader campaign I'm not sure yet, to be honest.

And there will be plenty of dungeon delving, to be sure, but also plenty of wilderness and urban action throughout the campaign. I can't give an exact breakdown but the first module is about 50% underground, specifically, in the Atthak II mine complex east of Leilon, in the foothills of the Sword Mountains. Getting there and back will be complicated by the suddenly-hot war between the Orcish horde and the Lords' Alliance.

Sweet!

Just helps imagine the character's future self. And some classes feel like "paying dues" at lower levels, with the expectation of future payoff.

Thanks for the insight.

Here is Sir Derrick Belmonte, bastard son a noble. well, most of the crunch anyways, backstory is fairly simple but effective

@DM Locke: Hi! It are I, "Xunal" again.

I've already got a profile for an Ifrit Skald, but based on 20 point buy instead of 25. Here's the tweak for 25 points:

-----

I hope I got the math right, as I don't have Hero Lab at home and am using spreadsheets to calculate this lot.

I also kitted him up under the assumption he'd have the maximum Skald starting funds of 180 GP.

Haven't done a back story for him yet. I'll try doing that tomorrow during a Caffeine Rage (Espresso with some lemon juice; yum, yum!). It was a long day today, etcetera.

Thanks!

@DM Locke: It just occurred to me that my knowledge of Forgotten Realms is, like, zero!

I'll do some thorough research on Forgotten Realms for a back story! Which really means using Google for a few minutes!

Seriously, though, could the back story include something along the lines of getting exiled or stranded from the Plane of Fire and ending up in the Forgotten Realms, of which he knows nothing at all?

What do i need to add for Gyro to be complete?

Dot

Elf Paladin (Hunter archetype)

Presenting Prometheus, the seer.

GM going to get stats up tomorrow but how do you like the backstory? Tried for "plausible psionics" coupled with a nice, juicy hook(s), did I succeed?

May I ask what levels do you expect the game to reach, if it all goes well of course?

Also, what environs are you thinking about? Is it going to be primarily a dungeon crawl, will it have urban sites, one or more cities, will the PCs travel about?

Edit: Ah, I see that a post of yours on this very page addresses pretty much both of my questions.

Thinking a Chaotic Good Swashbuckler. He is to be an Aasimar as far as mechanics are concerned, but fluff-wise he will be a noble-born elf -and he will consider and identify himself as one- albeit with enough celestial blood in his ancestry to basically make him an elven aasimar (as per the Non-Human Aasimars entry in the Blood of Angels supplement, page 4).

A couple of questions.

Could he take the Scion of Humanity alternate racial trait from the Advanced Race Guide, but as a sort of Scion of Elvenkind variant, basically replacing "human" with "elf" in its description?

Could he replace the spell-like ability with the +2 racial bonus to Dexterity from the Variant Aasimar Abilities table? It would fit his elven nature, but if not, no problem. I could make him an azata-blooded aasimar instead.

Good morning everyone!

@ Xunal: It's okay not to have a ton of knowledge about the Realms going in. This campaign is set in the early days of the published Realms, and as such a lot of the stories and "world shaking events" that happened subsequently haven't happened yet - or might not even happen at all.

As for Manzuqari, he looks good. Don't worry too much about backstory at this stage.

@ Gyro Titanblade: Gyro is level 4 - I'd want to see a level 1 version.

@ Viluki: It's certainly an interesting backstory - and it gives him a rationale for being an adventurer. It just might not tie into this story quite as well. Looking forward to seeing his stats.

@ F.Castor: With regards to your questions: 1) We could make that change, but it would be, essentially, cosmetic; it wouldn't grant immunity to sleep or the bonus vs. enchantment spells or spell-like abilities. 2) I'd rather not do that; +2 dex is a lot more valuable, overall, than daylight 1x per day.

Here are the submissions so far:

Berensen - Solvig Severus, Human Sorcerer
Tuyena - Yelsbeth Amastia, Half Elf Inquisitor*
Seth86 - Gyro Titanblade, Gnome Barbarian*
RJ the Wolf - Rawsk Bloodfang, Tiefling Hunter (Feral Hunter)
mdt - Kyril Cryptbane, Tiefling Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer)
rorek55 - Derrick Belmonte, Human Rogue*
Transylvanian Tadpole - Aballar Brokenwood, Human Bard
Brimleydower - Dargrim Rumblecask, Dwarf Slayer
Xunal - Manzuqari, Fire Genasi Skald*
Camris - Pharysene Ssethan, Elf Paladin (Divine Hunter)

Reserved spots:
karlprosek - Kevkas, Half Orc Oracle
wicked_raygun - Dorn Kindleheart, Human Sorcerer*
Krisam - Lioslan Shaelara, Elf Ranger

Keep those submissions coming in! Just to note, I'm not a big fan of the "5 minute adventuring day"; the party may face several encounters before they are able to rest. Magical healing will be important. Also, I'm not a big fan of wands of CLW. Just sayin'.

@DM Locke: okay, thanks for that! I'll try to put together a wee bit of a back story later today then.

@ F.Castor: With regards to your questions: 1) We could make that change, but it would be, essentially, cosmetic; it wouldn't grant immunity to sleep or the bonus vs. enchantment spells or spell-like abilities. 2) I'd rather not do that; +2 dex is a lot more valuable, overall, than daylight 1x per day.

1) Of course not, just like the actual alternate racial trait, Scion of Humanity, does not grant a bonus feat or bonus skill points. Basically, it removes Celestial as an automatic language and makes the aasimar count as both an outsider (native) and a humanoid (human), as well as have the aasimar pass for human without the need for Disguise checks. Basically, by substituting "human" with "elf", it becomes as follows:

Scion of Elvenkind: Some aasimars' heavenly ancestry is extremely distant. An aasimar with this racial trait counts as an outsider (native) and a humanoid (elf) for any effect related to race, including feat prerequisites and spells that affect humanoids. She can pass for an elf without using the Disguise skill. This racial trait replaces the Celestial language and alters the native subtype.

For comparison, here is a link to the original alternate racial trait.

Scion of Humanity

2) Completely understandable, just thought it did not hurt to ask. I will make him an azata-blooded (musetouched) aasimar. They are even more elf-like after all and their racial traits are more in line with a swashbuckler. Provided it is allowed, of course. For reference, here is a link to the aasimar and their variant heritages (the heritages are from the Blood of Angels Player Companion supplement from Paizo).

Aasimar

If that is not allowed, please let me know so I can look into other options.

I have the idea to work out a character concept, but it would need a little guidance. The character would be a LE "Blackguard" who used to be a part of Bane's Black March, having made a pact with Iyachtu Xvim (after the half-demon son's ascension into minor deific status, making him an appropriately evil outsider). When Bane reasserted his dominance literally through Iyachtu in 1372 and absorbed his portfolios - as well as his pacts, I assume - this character was still bound by the pact. He was one of a number of soldiers who deserted in the wake of Bane's return, taking umbrage because they were overly dedicated to the idea of Iyachtu. Due to another critical contrivance which I will invent, the character is seeking atonement, mostly because he has come to value the soul that is now in Bane's (or someone's) possession in exchange for the blackguard's power.

As such, if there is a heavily divine oriented PC accepted into the campaign I would be not only willing but very happy to be allied/associated with that PC, under the proviso that said PC is helping this blackguard to atone and maybe to break the pact that binds his soul to a dark power. That way you have a LE character who is working towards a better end but has some ways to go.

Since no Blackguard exists as a class in Pathfinder, I was thinking of going with either Antipaladin (which really doesn't seem like it would work all that well at all), or a Magus Hexcrafter (which seems to fit the Blackguard concept a lot better).

If you think this to be a little out of left field, I understand, but I thought it might be a neat concept to explore.

The general idea is that he's a sorcerer who pretends he's a wizard. He even has ties to a nameless Mages'Guild that can come into play or not. But mostly he's a guy with the long term goal of resurrecting his sister.

@DM Locke: Would Anauroch be a good starting point for an Ifrit? I was looking at the FR Wiki for places to start, figuring a hot desert climate would be most likely for an Ifrit.

@ F.Castor - sounds good, please go ahead.

@ Yossarian: I am interested in the concept; having said that, we're starting in 1358 DR and the Fall of the Gods may or may not even transpire, which affects your backstory. Also, there is no religious-oriented character thus far put forward. If only we had a cleric or warpriest, that character would definitely get a good hard look from me re: being put in the campaign. But we have none :-(

@ Dorn Kindleheart: looks ready to go!

@ Manzuqari: Calimshan and Thay are also good potential points of origin for an Ifrit/fire genasi.

@Manzuqari- If I remember correctly, Anauroch is the closest FR gets to a trackless desert. I remember a story about a Harper joining up with a Bedouin inspired tribe to fight some bad guys there, but it's mostly uninhabited. Calimshan would be a good choice, because its people have a legendary history with genies and is relatively well respected in the North, unlike Thay, which is renowned as a bad-guy nation.

And I know Kevkas isn't a cleric, but he's a paragon of Tempus worship. I wouldn't say he's 'not religious oriented.' He's just not the proselytizing kind of religious.

I may be able to make it work either way with some thought, though I would respect the timeline there, of course. I used to DM and still do design work for an old FR-themed NWN server, so I have some familiarity with the setting. But it is a huge setting with a lot of stuff so there's still plenty of mystery and surprise in it!

I'll see if I can find a way to adapt the concept appropriately and hope that maybe some divine PCs get submitted. :)

Here you go :)

@ Kevkas: well, he's not a holy man, exactly .... not even really a battle medic sort. His idea of proselytizing is to go after you with a two handed sword ;-) Still, he draws his faith and his power from Tempus, so have to acknowledge that. Did Kevkas change alignments? Also, did he get even taller and heavier?

@ Gyro Titanblade: thanks! You don't see a lot of gnome barbarians, so most interesting...

DM, since we're pretty far north- almost to Neverwinter- will you be using environmental hazards like cold weather, snow, etc.? Asked another way, should we all be investing in a cold weather outfit to keep from freezing to death?

Ha, yeah, he's taller and heavier than before. I saw that 6'6" wasn't all that out of the ordinary in the last game so decided to make him NFL linebacker material. ;)

Alignment was a typo. Fixed it, so he's back to matching Tempus's alignment now.

At some point, yeah, I think cold weather gear will be a good idea. The game will be starting on 7 Tarsahk (April) 1358 in a relatively temperate region (along the coast is warmer and wetter than the subartic climes inland). It'll be around 40 farenheit or 4 or 5 celsius, and will be getting warmer, at least for a while.

6'6" was still pretty tall in the previous game; I do suppose everyone was casting enlarge person, however, so Kev might still have been looking up a lot ;-)

Dot.

Cleric or Warpriest coming soon.

Heathens! Prepare for the smiting! :-)

⋮ (snip, snip)

@ Manzuqari: Calimshan and Thay are also good potential points of origin for an Ifrit/fire genasi.

Okay, thanks for that!

Here is my 1st submission. Tiefling (easily changed to elf or human... if needed) Witch (Cartomancer). Looking to be support role. Mainly de-buff enemies. Will be able to take rogue-ish skills as needed, maybe even dip... depends on where the adventure/party takes him.

not currently complete as this character has been submitted for several APs. I will adjust details to fit specific guidelines, if accepted

Here are a few traits you asked for in original post:

Thank you for your consideration