In the far north of Avistan, Irrisen, the frigid kingdom of the Winter Witches, has long been locked in an eternal winter, brought on by the power of its rulers. Each queen has fought against foes beyond her borders and within her own lands to try and prove herself before her mother, the immortal witch Baba Yaga, returns to spirit her away and replace her with another of her sisters. Yet something is beginning to go wrong. The legendary witch has yet to appear, missing her centennial visit for the first time in recorded history. And Irrisen’s eternal winter has begun to spread beyond its borders. Heroes of great skill and legendary potential are needed to prevent winter from consuming all of Golarion.
Introduction
Hey there. As you’ve probably guessed, I’m a fan of the Reign of Winter AP. I enjoy the themes, the adventures and the truly strange locations you visit. The thing is, for a campaign focused so heavily on the Winter Witches and the kingdom of Irrisen, you spend very little time actually in Irrisen. So I’ve decided to try something a little different: a Reign of Winter story that takes place entirely within the borders of the kingdom of eternal winter.
Anyone who’s interested in exploring the realm of Irrisen in-depth, dealing with the Winter Witches as both enemies and allies, and taking the fight against tyranny straight to the most corrupt of the Jadwiga, this may be the adventure for you. Obviously, this will change a number of the campaign elements, but I’ll do my best to keep the spirit of the campaign intact. Furthermore, I will be including some extra adventures, both homemade and from modules, primarily from the Witchwar Legacy module.
And one more element will play a central role in the game. Mythic tiers. The party won’t be ascending all the way to tier 10, but their role as heroes will grant them legendary powers. Considering that the Mythic system is unbalanced at best, I’ll be instituting a number of nerfs to try and keep things a little more under control.
• Rule 0: The GM reserves the right to add to these nerfs as necessary if a mythic ability grows out of hand.
• You only get +1 to stat bonuses as part of advancing in mythic tiers, not +2.
• You cannot get permanent bonuses to your stats through wishes in this campaign.
• The amazing initiative basic mythic ability is replaced with a bonus to initiative checks equal to one-half of your mythic tier. In addition, as a free action when rolling initiative you may expend one use of mythic power to add your surge die to your initiative roll.
• The agile monster template, when applied to PC companions and summons, no longer gives the dual initiative ability. Instead, it gives haste.
• The following abilities: archmage arcana, champion’s strike, guardian’s call, divine surge, marshal’s order, and trickster attack abilities are no longer usable as swift actions. Instead, they are standard actions when sued at the cost of 1 mythic power, move actions at the cost of 2 mythic power, and swift actions at the cost of 3 mythic power.
• You cannot, for any reason, gain more than one additional attack at their highest attack bonus no matter how many such abilities are in effect. (Example: haste, champion’s strike abilities, etc.)
• If you enter the space of a mythic creature with the Titan’s Bane ability, it is considered flat-footed only against the first attack you make against it.
• Player characters (and their allies) can use only one ability that requires the expenditure of mythic power per round. This may be a mythic feat, mythic spell, mythic path ability, a power used by a legendary item, or anything else; if it involves expending mythic power, a character can use only one per round. Characters can use abilities that require spending more than one use of mythic power. Legendary power is considered separate from mythic power.
• You are likewise limited to the use of only one ability that requires the expenditure of legendary power per round.
• Mythic surges may be spent after a d20 has been rolled, but not after the result of the roll has been revealed.
• Mythic power is regained at a rate of 1 use per day. It is refilled to full after completing a mythic trial. This rate of mythic power regeneration cannot be changed in any way through abilities or spells. The GM may allow the heroes to regenerate additional uses of mythic power as a reward for epic feats or good roleplay.
• The foe-biting legendary item ability has been banned. It is replaced with the ability to expend one use of the item’s legendary power after striking an opponent with the weapon to add the bane property against that specific creature (regardless of its type and subtype) for 1 minute. If the item is already a bane weapon against that creature’s type (and subtype, if applicable), using the foe-biting property increases the effect of bane to a +3 enhancement bonus and +3d6 damage, or to +4 and +4d6 if the wielder is a mythic character and expends one use of mythic power as a swift action when expending the item’s legendary power to increase its bane effect.
• The Mythic Power Attack feat is now identical to the Mythic Deadly Aim feat, except it applies to melee damage rolls, not ranged.
• Mythic Vital Strike is banned.
• Instead of granting a flat +20 bonus on the relevant ability check or related skill check, the universal path abilities Display of Strength/Dexterity/Constitution/Intelligence/Wisdom/Charisma grant a bonus equal to three times your mythic tier.
• Using the Recuperation mythic ability costs one-half of each character’s remaining daily uses of mythic power (minimum 1).
• You need to spend 2 uses of mythic power to use the unstoppable mythic ability to remove a debuff caused by a mythic effect, not 1.
• Any ability that allows you to ignore immunity or resistance allows you to ignore up to 5 points of resistance or immunity, plus 5 points per 2 mythic ranks or tiers you possess.
• Any ability that allows you to ignore or bypass damage reduction instead allows you to ignore 5 points of damage reduction, plus 1 point of damage reduction per mythic rank or tier you possess. This applies to mythic abilities like the fleet charge champion path feature as well as non-mythic effects like a paladin’s smite evil.
• When a critical hit is confirmed against a mythic creature with damage reduction and the attack does not ignore damage reduction, the creature has a percentage chance equal to twice its damage reduction to negate the critical hit and treat the hit as a normal hit. If the creature also has the fortification universal monster ability or a similar ability to negate critical hits, add these two percentage chances together and make a single roll.
• An effect that allows you to ignore spell resistance (when it would normally apply) allows you add your mythic tier on caster level checks to ignore spell resistance. You apply an additional +2 circumstance bonus if the target is a non-mythic creature or if you are casting a mythic spell; these circumstance bonuses stack.
• Harmful conditions that occur even on a successful save are halved in duration (minimum 0 rounds) if the mythic rank or tier of an affected creature equals or exceeds that of the creature that created the effect. They are also halved (minimum 0 rounds) for a non-mythic creature whose CR equals or exceeds the caster level (or Hit Dice, for supernatural effects) of the creature that created the effect. This does not apply to effects with an instantaneous or permanent duration.
• Wild Arcana, Inspired Spell, Arcane Surge, and Recalled Blessing can only be used on spells with a casting time of 1 standard action or less. Using these abilities requires expending one use of mythic power, plus one additional use for every 2 levels of the spell.
• For Arcane Surge and Recalled Blessing, you may expend an additional 2 uses of mythic power to cast a spell as a swift action.
• Mythic enemies may expend mythic surges as a swift action to add a bonus to its AC equal to the result of its surge die. If the enemy has DR or hardness, the surge die is also added to DR or hardness. If the enemy has energy resistance, it adds twice the result of its surge die to each type of energy resistance it possesses. This bonus lasts until the beginning of the enemy’s next turn; if it expends two uses of mythic power, it lasts for a number of rounds equal to one- half its mythic rank or tier (minimum 1 round).
• When the actions taken by an enemy during its turn would reduce it below 0 hit points, it can expend one or more uses of mythic power to survive with 10% of its current hit points (before that enemy began its turn) for each use of mythic power you spend. All damage dealt as part of a full attack action is considered a single effect for this purpose.
What I’m Looking For
I’m looking for 6 players. Recruitment will be open until September 12th, and hopefully the game will begin on September 14th.
I enjoy combat as much as the next gamer, but I’m not just looking for a character that can kill the best. I’m going to be selecting the characters that are well-rounded, with interesting backgrounds and character traits to inspire roleplay. I’m much more interested in RP than in running combat all of the time.
On that note, please integrate your crunch and fluff to the best of your ability. If your character has an archetype, consider where they learned that style of combat and why. If you have a trait, explain why you have it and work the fluff into your character. Don’t pick Reactionary just because you want better initiative or Rich Parents for extra starting wealth. Pick traits that fit your character concept best.
I will be selecting one character for each mythic path (Archmage, Champion, Guardian, Hierophant, Marshal, and Trickster). The Dual Path ability is fine to mix and match with some unusual combinations, but please include which your primary path will be in your submission. Anyone that doesn’t will not be considered.
Also, in the interest of keeping the game moving, I have one more requirement. Please be able to post at least once per day. More is great (preferable even), but at least that please. If you miss a day, it kills the pacing and I will likely bot you to keep things moving. If you have a reason to be unable to post, just message me and we'll work out how to handle things. However, repeated uninformed missed days and unexplained absences will make me assume that you're not interested and I will start looking for a replacement.
Character Creation Rules
Crunch
Stats: Roll 4d6 and drop the lowest. Do this 6 times and put them in any order you like. If your stats total below 15 point buy or you have two or more stats that are 7 or lower, you may reroll.
Races: All Paizo races are allowed. However, the stranger the race, the better back story you’re going to need to convince me to accept it.
Classes: Any Paizo class is allowed (including Gunslinger, Samurai, Ninja, and anything from Occult Adventures), including prestige classes at higher levels. Unchained Rogue, Barbarian, and Summoner are required and Unchained Monk is recommended but not required. Archetypes will all be permitted unless something really crazy comes up. No 3rd party classes or archetypes. Period. And no Ultimate Intrigue Playtest, so no vigilante.
Alignment: No evil characters. I might be able to be talked into it with a particularly good backstory, but short of something absolutely mind blowing, it’s not going to happen.
Skills: In addition to your normal skills, I am using the Background Skills from Unchained. They can be found on the PFSRD for anyone without the book. These should be relevant to your back story.
Traits: You may select two traits. These do not have to be campaign traits from Reign of Winter (though you can select one if you want), but no campaign traits from other APs. You may take a single drawback and obtain a third trait if you wish, but no more than that.
Average starting wealth for your class.
Max hit points at each level, this also applies to all enemies. Bosses will likely get a HP boost beyond that, but I’ll make a final decision once I see how the party plays in combat.
The Stamina system in Unchained is free for Fighters at 1st level, and the feat is available for anyone else to take.
The Varient Multiclassing system in Unchained is permitted.
The Wound Threshold system from Unchained will be used. This can be harsh at low levels, but it will improve with time.
The Automatic Advancement system from Unchained will be used. This means generic +X weapons and armor, Bracers of Armor, Rings of Protection, Cloaks of Resistance, Amulets of Natural Armor, and Headbands and Belts of [X Stat] do not exist.
Fluff
This is the part that’s really going to get you into the game. First and foremost, read the Player’s Guide. It’s free on Paizo.com so no one should have too much trouble getting their hands on it. Your character should have some reason to be willing to get involved in the situation in Irrisen, so the campaign traits can give ideas, but please be creative. Second, make sure all of the following questions are answered for me. I don’t care how long or short it is, but make it convincing and interesting.
1. What does your character look like? (Height, weight, age, appearance, etc.)
2. What is your character’s personality?
3. Where is your character from? Golarion’s history and geography is very detailed. Make good use of that.
4. Why does your character have the class, feats, weapon, etc. that they do? Where and how did they learn to fight? What made them take up this path?
5. Is your character religious? If so, who do they worship and why?
6. What is your character’s reason to get involved with Irrisen? It can be something as simple as hating tyranny, but something more detailed will certainly help your chances.
Sounds like you have thought this out well, colour me interested.
Well, let's see where the dice take me!
Desna Bless me... :0
Is this starting level one like the normal AP?
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I'll take it! I'm thinking of an aether-kineticist focused mainly on projectiles, but I'll have to see what it turns into as I build it. Just as a quick questions, what level do we start at? And I'd assume that we don't start with any mythic tiers, but it never hurts to make sure.
Yes, starting at 1st level.
Sooo yeah i'll be keeping these. I'll try to have something up within the next couple days.
I'm interested - let me go ahead and take a stab at stats...
So it's only a sixteen point buy before you take into account the points you earn back from the stat so low you actually can't buy it that far...treating the six as a seven, twelve point buy. So, reroll. :)
Uhh...tonight's apparently not my night...thirteen point buy. Third time's the charm?
Now that's more like it. :) Let me take a look at the player's guide, and I'll be back with a character idea.
I might be interested. Let's go ahead and roll stats.
Subtracting the lowest numbers...
15
8
14
12
17
14
Thinking Arcanist or Sorcerer
=12
=11
=13
=14
=11
=12
=14
=5
=12
=11
=12
=15
=5
=13
=10
=11
=15
=11
=14
=9
=16
=11
=15
=9
Finally, something workable.
Potential dot (my IRL RoW game recently died, so...). I may be overcommitted right now, but I'll see where the recruitments I'm in go by the time this closes.
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Aha! Hotaru, this is clearly the dice gods ranting me payback against you for all those other recruitments...
Hi Facelss GM, first of all thanks for promoting this new game!
Now some questions:
- How far do you plan to divert from the original AP?
- Are you just adding some content and changing the location of encounters, events and NPCs?
- Or will most part of books not running around Irrisen be replaced by something different with or without similar flavor? including its encounters, events, NPCs etc...
- About the new content at what proportion will it be borrowed from other Paizo products or homemade?
The shepherd paced in his field, his jacket light and unsuited to the sudden cold snap. Maybe soon someone'll figure out what the hell's goin' on... Then he turns and is greeted with a sight possibly even stranger than the chill in the air.
A good-sized wolf pads along the grassy hill, with another beside it, still with the short stature and oversized paws of youth. Astride the larger wolf is a girl, blonde hair pulled into a high, bouncy ponytail. She wears a wild cat's skin bound over her shoulders, and a long spear bounces against the wolf's side, tied to a curious saddle.
Immediately the shepherd takes up his crook, ready to defend his flock from the wolves, but the girl sees his defensive stance and calls out.
Oh, sorry! No worries, sir - they won't harm your flock, they'll stay with me. She suddenly grins as if hearing a private joke. Though they wouldn't say no if you gave them one...
She rides up close to the man and grabs at the fur on the scruff of the wolf's neck, signaling it to stop. Up close, he can see the long, pointed ears and overlarge eyes - not a girl, but a gnome woman. I'm Caia - the Wildwood druids sent me? Said you folks were having some sort of weird weather going on? That's why I'm here.
Hmm. Played through the first chapter of RoW, it was fun. I think I'll apply here. I'm thinking some sort of warrior, maybe a ranger or fighter.
Is witchwar legacy one of those AP enhancements that legendary games turn out from time to time? I have the one for Carrion Crown, judging from that one they make pretty good quality stuff, I think.
8 -
8 -
12 -
8 -
6 -
11 -
12, 11, 8, 8, 8, 6: I do believe that's a negative ~7 point buy. I don't think I've ever rolled that badly before. Here's a reroll:
18, 15, 10, 9, 8, 6. ~17 point buy. Ye gods. I think I'll have to make a caster of some sort. Not really warrior material.
Hmm... Caster. I think I'll go Sorcerer, making a trickster character of sorts.
Str 6
Dex 17
Con 9
Int 10
Wis 6
Cha 20
Start out as Sorcerer 1, Variant Multiclass Rogue. At 5th level, grabs a level of Snakebiter Brawler and the Accomplished Sneak Attacker feat, go Arcane Trickster from there, and at 7th level (where it gains sneak attack from variant multiclassing), retrain snakebite brawler into another level of Arcane Trickster.
Trickster as mythic path, maybe with dual path (archmage) as a secondary path.
Main choice of spells are Fire evocations, enchantments, and illusions, with a little touch of transmutations.
Do you allow class level retraining and Variant Multiclassing?
@ The Dragon
Its written above that he does allow Variant Multiclassing.
In other news, I decided to go Brown Fur Transmutator for my Arcanist, which should be pretty fun with all sorts of wacky things he could do. Hmm, I could even make him melee, since mythic does have all those wonderful options for giving casters full BAB.
Thank you. Don't know how I failed to notice that. Hmm. Just noted the Wound Treshholds - I might go gnome instead of halfling, having negative con seems ill-adviced with those in place.
How far do you plan to divert from the original AP?
Are you just adding some content and changing the location of encounters, events and NPCs?
Or will most part of books not running around Irrisen be replaced by something different with or without similar flavor? including its encounters, events, NPCs etc...
About the new content at what proportion will it be borrowed from other Paizo products or homemade?
I'm keeping many of the original ideas for the AP, but moving them to Irrisen and altering them to fit the area. This means a lot of non-combat content will have a similar feel, but will be different from the AP's version. Most of it will be homebrew, but I'm basing as much as possible on Paizo's existing lore for the region.
Do you allow class level retraining and Variant Multiclassing?
Yes and yes.
15
14
14
4
6
12
About a 10 point buy...
reroll:
11
15
14
9
9
6
About a 7 point buy...
reroll:
13
14
17
13
14
7
25 point buy. I'll be taking option 3!
Ok, I should just about be good to go on crunch now. I expanded storyline and personality as well. Does everything look ok, Faceless?
EDIT: Just to be clear, both wolves will be with me from the start, but only Doreah will be a proper companion for now - Tavi will start out more as a pet. Tavi will join her as an actual companion once I've got enough effective druid levels to give him one, and possibly a little bit later so I keep the "age difference" between them.
Looks pretty good Caia. A few quick questions.
1) Beast of the Society means you're a member of the Pathfinder Society. I don't see that anywhere in your backstory.
2) The Klar is traditionally a Varisian weapon used by the Shoanti. Why did Caia pick this particular weapon/shield and where did she learn to use it?
1) Shoot, just realized that I'd meant to ask about Beast of the Society. Would it be ok to re-fluff it to reflect my time studying with the Wildwood druids, or would you prefer to keep it Society-only? If Society-only, I'll probably choose another trait - I'm not feeling like going Pathfinder Society with her.
2) Traveling with the caravan, she saw a couple of Shoanti guards using skulls for shields and logged it away in the back of her mind. When she was traveling on her own, she found the skull, discovered it to be the right size, and figured out through trial and error how to make it work for her as a shield. (I think I'm going to change my Obsessive bonus from Craft (weapons) to Craft (armor) - it's the armor she's ending up being more creative with.) Again, if you'd prefer, I'll change to a light wooden shield, but I thought the klar felt a bit more druidic to me, as well as fitting in with the idea of her assembling her bits and pieces as she went, like the hide armor being from a cat her pack killed along the way.
Dotting for much interest :)
Am musing a Ulfen Occultist (Battle Host) as my pitch.
Above works for me. Will fire something up over the weekend.
Skal!
Caia:
1) I'm trying to keep fluff unaltered for the most part. If you have another trait in mind, I would prefer you use that.
2) Sounds great. And nice way of integrating her skills into her current equipment.
I'll pick another, then. Thanks! :)
On an unrelated side note - I like your randomization system, TheNine. I've got something similar for when inspiration just refuses to strike, haha.
TheNine:
Ok, I'm updated now. I changed out Beast of the Society for Deft Dodger, for the full complement of trait bonuses to saves. :) I also added a bit about her klar's origins.
All looks good :)
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Thanks, mate. I'll keep eyes on the thread. Good luck choosing a team - I hope it's difficult, because that means you got lots of wonderful submissions. :)
Thank you Caia. Actually, one question for confirmation because I stupidly forgot to ask. Which Mythic Path are you taking?
You stupidly forgot to ask; I stupidly forgot to think about it. So really, we're square. :)
I've never played Mythic, so I'm not terribly familiar with it, but at first glance, I think I'm looking toward the Guardian path. I plan to lean a little more toward wildshaping than spellcasting (although I'm definitely taking Natural Spell at 5th), so I think the Guardian fits best, especially flavor-wise.
EDIT: Although if there's a way to dip into other paths, Mythic Wild Shape from Hierophant sounds like a valid life choice...
Guardian is the Tank role without a doubt. Alright then.
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I'll be submitting a half-elf ranger (guide, trapper) for consideration, utilizing the Champion mythic path.
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This sounds really interesting. I'm not sure if I'll actually get something together in time, but this sounds like a fun one to try out a Skald (either Marshal or Trickster path) in.
13
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13 Point Buy. Try again.
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...and the RNG massively overcorrects with a 54 point buy...
Edit: If I were to use this (and I'd completely understand shutting the idea down), I think I'd have to go for some sort of option that's generally considered unwise (like the non-early entry Mystic Theurge). Any suggestions?
Thinking a lorewarden/polearm type. Was recenty about atgeir and think I could put the idea to use. Mythic Champion path...more to come...
If you really want to have fun with this, Lore Wardens make even better Mythic Guardians than Champions. Throw up Retributive Reach, Mythic Combat Reflexes, and your polearm becomes a physical wall; add in Stand Still and Dimensional Grappler a few levels later, wear Resonating Adamantine Armor while using Absorb Blow, and watch as nothing ever hits you in combat again.
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Thinking a lorewarden/polearm type. Was recenty about atgeir and think I could put the idea to use. Mythic Champion path...more to come...If you really want to have fun with this, Lore Wardens make even better Mythic Guardians than Champions. Throw up Retributive Reach, Mythic Combat Reflexes, and your polearm becomes a physical wall; add in Stand Still and Dimensional Grappler a few levels later, wear Resonating Adamantine Armor while using Absorb Blow, and watch as nothing ever hits you in combat again.
*gears start turning* *reactor fires up*
Thank you thunderbeard I will keep that in mind...
Yay! Realm of Winter! Let me try here :)
= 17
= 11
= 13
= 15
= 8
= 9
21-point buy... Not bad, and I like the stats. So many odds... Interesting, to say the least!
Fluff to follow. I'm thinking a story around psychopomps, probably playing a Summoner :) I'll get it going soon. Thanks in advance for the consideration.
Wee question/request regards my pitch - would you be willing to waive the +1 BAB requirement for Exotic Weapon Proficiency?
I'm drawing on archetypal norse myth and have my character carry a dwarven forged war axe - but prefer to wield it 1H as I'm going with a shield/weapon combo for my Occultist...
Appreciate it may well be a nei - but want to ask as it'll affect my build somewhat.
Cheers
Hello again Archlich, I seem to be seeing you a fair bit lately :)
As for my submission, my first idea is Gale, the halfling fighter.
Gale is fast like the wind, and strikes with broad, sweeping blows akin to the wind whiping around the field of battle. He is a halfling fighter with some kind of axe and fights with the cleave feat.
He is by no means optimized (and hes a fighter, so limited focus and little skills) so I will have to do some work to make sure he stays competent, but I really like the idea of a short whirlwind with a big axe :)
Decent stats, but having a 14 strength, I dont really know if I can make a halfling fighter work with that... might have to re-think for this one...
I also havent used the would threshold ruleset yet, so will have to educate myself there :)
Archlich here :) Here's my submission. All questions, fluff & crunch on the profile. Please feel free to give any feedback, or if you need more information, let me know.
@Gobo: Nice to see you again, my friend.
As of right now I'm working on a Kitsune inspired blade swashbuckler. If that doesn't jive with your ideas for the campaign let me know. I assure you the backstory will be good.
Im making friends XD
So instead of a halfing fighter, I have a different idea that I am going to run with.
This one will be an Orc Unbreakable fighter (with only 18 str, and trying not to dump the mentals as much as possible).
In a nutshell, he was a orc, abandoned as an infant to the harsh frozen expanses and expected to die. However he did not, and he managed to fend for himself in the harsh expanses by hunting small game, and then bigger game as he quickly grew up and became stronger. Here he lived a solidarity life in the mountains until he stumbled upon a village and found out about the rest of civilization. Slowly, and with a fair few bumps along the way he started to learn to speak common, and even started to become a trapper/trader for the small village, or as a guide for those leaving and braving the harsh environs. It was here that he became to be known as a sort of village icon, "the Enduring Orc of the Frigid Norths" and gained some respect from the village itself.
There have been more then a few times that the orc bit off more then he could chew, or gotten into a fight that he could not win, yet every time he did, he always managed to limp away and hide in a cave or crevice long enough for his incredible constitution to bring him back from the brink, and it was this constitution that allows him to remain conscious and kicking even from the most grievous of wounds.
A quick bit about his crunch, he is an orc unbreakable fighter with the Fast Healing feat. He is VERY durable and capable of taking tremendous damage and keep fighting (or fleeing). After taking this beating he can also heal up quickly enough. Out of combat, he will have the skills of a trapper and guide, knowing the local area and how to survive and hunt for food in the wilds.
Thats a quick bit about him at least :)
I will work on him significantly more to get him up as time goes on.
Question for anyone Is it just me, or does the Stamina rules seem kinda useless? Im searching through them trying to figure out what cool things I can use them to do, even if I have to get an otherwise less useful feat, and so far my findings are... There arnt any. Pity, as I am a fighter with a high con and I figured I would be the one to use them... Anyone else have some ideas?