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Deep below the anarchic city of Kaer Maga, someone—or something—has begun stealing corpses from the city’s most prestigious tomb, the Godsmouth Ossuary. Fearing the worst, the clerics of Pharasma in charge of maintaining the crypts quietly call for aid, not wanting to risk their own members in combating whatever horrors may have crept in from the tunnels and hidden chambers of the legendary Undercity.
I am looking for 4 – 5 adventurers to accept this call for aid and to investigate the Godsmouth Ossuary. I will make my selection based on interesting characters (background and/or character concept), party balance and what looks like fun to play.
This adventure takes place in the Varisian City of Kaer Maga. All characters should have a tie to the city and should either be living or newly arrived in the city when the quest starts. Your ‘employer’ for the adventure will be the Church of Pharasma. Your character should be known to the Church in some way.
The ‘Crunch’
- All Paizo created classes other than Gunslinger, Summoner, Ninja and Samurai are acceptable; all characters will begin at level 1.
- 20-point ability buy.
- Maximum HP for your class.
- This being the ‘cosmopolitan’ City of Kaer Maga, Core races, Featured races and Uncommon races from the ARG will be considered (Custom races will not be considered).
- Two traits maybe selected (preferably thematic to Kaer Maga, Varisia or your Character’s background)
- Average gold for your class.
- Non-evil alignments only.
- All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials.
Recruitment will be open for about a week, during which time I will try and answer any questions, with an expected close date of 12th February, Midnight GMT. I will make my selection over the following weekend and look to start the adventure on the 16th February. The selected persons must be able to commit to posting at least once per day during the week.
I look forward to seeing some interesting characters ready to delve the Ossuary.
I am not sure if I am interested, but I thought I should ask. Is this a one shot, or will it be the start of a larger game?
This will be a one shot...possibly with enough content to see levelling up to Level 2...
are you running this as a non-pfs game?
Yes, sorry should have been clear at the start... I don't intend running this as a PFS game.
The good thing about Kaer Maga is you can go a little crazy on races...no problem with kobolds at all!!!
Okay, I'd be down for this. A Pharasmin Inquisitor, perhaps? Not sure what race, but I love the look of this module and would be super excited to play in it. That cover makes me salivate.
In a non-creepy way, of course!
dotting for interest, I played through "The Godsmouth Heresy" with PFS, hopefully that will not make a difference.
Howsabout a Dhampir Inquisitor who works for the Church of Pharasma? I'm thinking that he'll a ranged combatant wielding light armor and a crossbow. Either taking Rapid Reload or Point-blank Shot for a first feat.
I see this character being very serious about his church work, but being rather charming and light-hearted in social situations. Basically, he's nowhere near as grim and brooding as you would assume a Dhampir (or an Inquisitor, for that matter) to be.
I just finished looking through City of Strangers to set the mood. :D
Robert Henry - no problem with people having played it before (although if I get a bunch of people, I may give preference to people who haven't played it before)
Budd - sounds good to me...love the City of Strangers book...also, it is a fairly compact dungeon so a ranged character would definitely want Point Blank shot and, even then, may have some trouble if it gets crowded....
Cool. Probably going with PBS since I'll actually have a few other ranged attacks to take advantage of.
It counts on ray spells too, right? I know I've always treated it as such in my own games, but as there's no "official" ruling on it in my knowledge I just wanted to be sure.
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Any chance of allowing a Winged Marauder?
@ Nohwear a winged marauder, that's great I've not seen that before...for the Godsmouth heresy I think I will go with a Tengu warpriest of Hei Feng
- Can't see any problem with a winged marauder however, it might be a little cramped in the crypt to have much flying fun...
Fine with all proposals so far...
- looks good, have read around the sacred weapon and think it needs to be specific to he type of natural attack (rather than natural attacks per se)...if you read the sacred weapon text in ACG it says you can use a non-deity specific weapon by selecting the weapon via the Weapon Focus Feat...and the Weapon Focus Feat, needs as far as I can tell, you to select the exact type of natural attack...
Thanks for getting a character together...hopefully we'll get a few more together for a decent run beneath Kaer Maga....
Yeah, where all the applicants at? Must be a slow week for recruitment threads, what with three or four Giantslayer threads eating up everybody's attention.
My Inquisitor's crunch and fluff are both nearly finalized. I'll try to post him tomorrow after work. I've been having a hard time picking an inquisition/domain and finalizing some background details.
Also - Tengu are one of my favorite races. Looking forward to working together, Mr. Blackfeather! Jolly co-operation for all!
Well, I didn't end up getting a chance to do much today thanks to a ridiculously long work shift, but I can at least post the crunch I have thus far (warning, this is a copypasta from the PCGen output and may look rough):
Male dhampir inquisitor 1
LN Medium humanoid (dhampir, dhampir)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+3 armor, +3 Dex, +1 shield)
hp 9 (1d8+1)
Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +4
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Ranged light crossbow +3 (1d8/19-20)
Melee dagger +2 (1d4+2/19-20)
Ranged dagger (thrown) +3 (1d4/19-20)
Melee light mace +2 (1d6+2)
Melee morningstar +2 (1d8+2)
Special Attacks fire of belief, judgment / destruction, judgment / healing, judgment / justice, judgment / piercing, judgment / protection, judgment / purity, judgment / resiliency, judgment / resistance, judgment / smiting, stern gaze
Innate Spell-Like Abilities: detect undead ( 1/day)
Known Inquisitor Spells (CL 1st, concentration +3):
1st (2/day)—bless, divine favor
0 (at will)—detect magic, disrupt undead, guidance, read magic
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 14
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 15
Feats Point-Blank Shot
Skills Bluff +8 , Bluff (Potentially Sexually Attracted) +9 , Diplomacy +6 , Diplomacy (Potentially Sexually Attracted) +7 , Intimidate +7 , Knowledge (Religion) +4 , Knowledge (Religion) (ID monster) +6 , Perception +8 , Sense Motive +3 , Stealth +7
Languages Common
SQ judgment (sacred), manipulative, monster lore, spell-like ability
Gear studded leather, light crossbow, dagger (2), light mace, morningstar, buckler, crossbow bolts (10) (2)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Charming Blessed with good looks, you've come to depend on the fact that others find you attractive. You gain a +1 trait bonus when you use Bluff or Diplomacy on a character that is (or could be) sexually attracted to you, and a +1 trait bonus to the save DC of any language-dependent spell you cast on such characters or creatures.
Darkvision (Ex) Range 60 ft.; Darkvision is the extraordinary ability to see with no light source at all, out to a range specified for the creature. Darkvision is black and white only (colors cannot be discerned). It does not allow characters to see anything that they could not see otherwise-invisible objects are still invisible, and illusions are still visible as what they seem to be. Likewise, darkvision subjects a creature to gaze attacks normally. The presence of light does not spoil darkvision.
Darkvision
Domains
Fervor Inquisition
Fire of Belief (Sp) You can unleash a gout of holy or unholy flame that sears one target within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. The target takes 1d6+1 points of fire damage. If you are good, the flames only harm nongood targets. If you are evil, the flames only harm nonevil targets. If you are neither good nor evil, when you gain this ability you must decide whether the flames harm only nongood or nonevil targets; once you make this decision, it cannot be changed (though if your alignment changes, the effect of the flames changes appropriately). You can use this ability 5 times per day.
Inquisitor ~ Domains
Inquisitor ~ Judgement
Judgment / Destruction The inquisitor is filled with divine wrath, gaining a +1 sacred bonus on all weapon damage rolls.
Judgment / Healing The inquisitor is surrounded by a healing light, gaining fast healing 1. This causes the inquisitor to heal 1 point of damage each round as long as the inquisitor is alive and the judgment lasts.
Judgment / Justice This judgment spurs the inquisitor to seek justice, granting a +1 sacred bonus on all attack rolls.
Judgment / Piercing This judgment gives the inquisitor great focus and makes her spells more potent. This benefit grants a +1 sacred bonus on concentration checks and caster level checks made to overcome a target's spell resistance.
Judgment / Protection The inquisitor is surrounded by a protective aura, granting a +1 sacred bonus to Armor Class.
Judgment / Purity The inquisitor is protected from the vile taint of her foes, gaining a +1 sacred bonus on all saving throws.
Judgment / Resiliency This judgment makes the inquisitor resistant to harm, granting DR 1/magic.
Judgment / Resistance The inquisitor is shielded by a flickering aura, gaining 2 points of energy resistance against one energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic) chosen when the judgment is declared.
Judgment / Smiting This judgment bathes the inquisitor's weapons in a divine light. The inquisitor's weapons count as magic for the purposes of bypassing damage reduction.
Judgment (Sacred) (Su) An inquisitor can pronounce judgment upon her foes as a swift action. Starting when the judgment is made, the inquisitor receives a bonus or special ability based on the type of judgment made. An inquisitor can use this ability 1 times per day. Once activated, this ability lasts until the combat ends, at which point all of the bonuses immediately end. The inquisitor must participate in the combat to gain these bonuses. If she is frightened, panicked, paralyzed, stunned, unconscious, or otherwise prevented from participating in the combat, the ability does not end, but the bonuses do not resume until she can participate in the combat again. When the inquisitor uses this ability, she must select one type of judgment to make. As a swift action, she can change this judgment to another type.
Light Sensitivity
Low-Light Vision
Low-Light Vision (Ex) You can see x2 as far as humans in low illumination. Characters with low-light vision have eyes that are so sensitive to light that they can see twice as far as normal in dim light. Low-Light Vision is color vision. A spellcaster with low-light vision can read a scroll as long as even the tiniest candle flame is next to her as a source of light. Characters with low-light vision can see outdoors on a moonlit night as well as they can during the day.
Manipulative (Ex) Dhampirs receive a +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Perception checks.
Monster Lore (Ex) The inquisitor adds her Wisdom modifier on Knowledge skill checks in addition to her Intelligence modifier, when making skill checks to identify the abilities and weaknesses of creatures.
Resist Level Drain
Spell-Like Ability (Sp) Dhampirs can use detect undead 1/day as a spell-like ability.
Stern Gaze (Ex) Inquisitors are skilled at sensing deception and intimidating their foes. An inquisitor receives a +1 morale bonus on all Intimidate and Sense Motive checks.
Undead Resistance
Undead Slayer (Pharasma) Instructed at a young age in the tenets of the faith of Pharasma, you view the undead as abominations that must be destroyed, so their souls can journey beyond to be judged. You gain a +1 trait bonus on weapon damage against undead.
So do we have a roster of what's been put out so far? I'd certainly love to make a fighter if there isn't a lot of melee going on in the group so far. Someone who uses a scythe :D
Graham Sykes
Human fighter (weapon master) 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 109)
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +1
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Defense
--------------------
AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 14 (1d10+4)
Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +0
--------------------
Offense
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Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee lucerne hammer +6 (1d12+6)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 18, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +5; CMD 16
Feats Furious Focus[APG], Power Attack, Weapon Focus (lucerne hammer)
Traits thrill seeker, undead slayer
Skills Acrobatics -3 (-7 to jump), Knowledge (dungeoneering) +4, Knowledge (engineering) +4, Perception +1
Languages Common
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds, holy water; Other Gear scale mail, lucerne hammer, chalk (6), grappling hook, hammer, hemp rope (50 ft.), hooded lantern, piton (6), sledge, wire (3), 9 gp, 3 sp, 9 cp
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Special Abilities
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Furious Focus If you are wielding a weapon in two hands, ignore the penalty for your first attack of each turn.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Thrill Seeker +5 feet of movement during the first round of any combat.
Undead Slayer +1 weapon damage vs. undead.
Such was Graham's detachment that he was deemed a Sociopath, and as expected this didn't concern him in the least. At the age of 16 he purchased a longhammer, and became well-known for keeping the goblins at bay when they began to get unruly on the boarder of the town.
Graham had taken up fighting goblins strictly so that he could get into using his weapon. He figured them easy enough opponents and never killed them, rather; he would beat them to within an inch of their lives for practice. This seemed inhumane to some of the townsfolk, and worse, bothered the goblins. As the numbers slowly increased that would attempt to harass him, Graham improved.
Finally, after besting 3 at once, Graham felt he was ready to begin adventuring proper. Without a word to his parents, he told his parents and departed with his father's scalemail, starting towards Kaer Maga at the age of 19. In a bout of Irony, Graham decided instead upon arriving to find a profitable way to sell his prowess, and for about 2 years served as a guard for the church of Pharasma.
While the faith of Pharasma never really appealed to him, he did make good time learning how to defeat undead within their tutelage. He never had the opportunity to do it, mind you, and the last years, while he has worked for them, he has yet to defeat even a single undead. On the brightside, he has defeated 1 or 2 graverobbers, and lives particularly for the rush.
He is currently a guard for the local temple of Pharasma, and while he is one of their best, martially, they've had little use of his capabilities. Until now, of course.
List of what we have so far…thanks for the submissions.
Robert Henry – Taicho Blackfeather, Tengu Warpriest
Budd the C.H.U.D. – Unnamed, Dhampir Inquisitor
Duboris – Graham Sykes, Human Fighter
Nohwear – Goblin Alchemist (Winged Marauder Archetype)
Owenstreetpress – Nagaji Monk
Zed, do you take any issue with Graham's backstory or crunch?
Graham Sykes - looks okay to me...
Outstanding. So only 3 exact submissions so far then? 2 Divines, a Martial, a Monk, and an Alchemist. Could really use some arcane, couldn't we?
Hey Zed, how do you feel about a wyrwood sorcerer, given you need some arcane? Tik'Klik was created for a game (or two) as a golem that awakened as a sorcerer due to some 'creative' repairs by a couple of kids in the golem maker's household.
He's been through a couple of incarnations so far, but nothing ever panned out. I'd need to tweak him back to 1st level obviously. :)
Dhampir Fluff incoming!
One hundred years ago, a team of Duskwardens, accompanied by a priest of Pharasma named Calban Sabroque, descended deep into Kaer Maga's Undercity, searching for the perpetrator of a string of grisly murders and disappearances across the City of Strangers' various districts. Expecting to find some horrid cult or a cluster of rogue Caulborns behind the attacks, they were startled to find instead the lair of a wild vampire. In the battle that followed, the vampire was slain and his vast crimes exposed- revealing evils done as far back as two hundred years- but what surprised the party the most was the presence of a young Dhampir, locked in a cage within the vampire's twisted underground dwelling. This Dhampir knew only that the vampire was his father, and that his human mother had been kept as a thrall... a thrall slain in the battle only minutes before.
Rather than exterminate the young Dhampir, Calban Sabroque took pity on the half-living boy and took him into his custody. As time passed, he would come to think of the Dhampir as his son- and Aston, as he would come to be called, would even take the priest's family name for his own.
But a human's life is painfully short compared to that of a Dhampir, and by the time Aston reached physical maturity, Calban was an old, dying man. Calban left the Dhampir in the care of his fellow Pharasmins at Kaer Maga's Godsmouth Ossuary, where his training in the faith and practices of the Lady of Graves could continue. Seeing the Dhampir's potential as an agent of the Church, and wishing to honor good Calban's legacy, they agreed to keep the Dhampir on in secret, training him as an inquisitor, rather than a cleric as Aston might have expected. After all, prowling about in secret and silently eliminating the enemies of the faith was a far better fit for a half-undead being than being a public face...
That said, Aston Sabroque is hardly the grim, scowling agent of death and destruction one might expect from an Inquisitor of the goddess of fate and death. Rather, he is a laid-back, often lazy cad who has a history of shirking his studies to frequent Kaer Maga's centers of pleasure and entertainment, working his charms on any person that catches his interest. He grows bored easily and seems impatient, though when called upon to perform some task for the church, he knows when to put his game face on. Although a specialist in ranged combat, he always keeps his Pharasmin dagger handy, both as a symbol of strength and comfort and in case an enemy gets too close.
Trained specially to detect and destroy the undead, he seems a natural fit to tackle the mystery of the missing bodies from the crypts of the Ossuary.
Aston's various trysts have failed to blossom into any meaningful relationships, though about a decade ago he was approached by a young woman named Abigail, who shook Aston's world to its very foundation by revealing herself to be his daughter. Now thirty years old, Abigail is a human sorceress (Undead bloodline), and has become Aston's most trusted friend and only real loved one. When bored, restless, or looking for advice, Aston often turns to his daughter- even if she now appears to be older than him.
EDIT: Also, I support Tik'Klik! Wyrwoods are one of the few sample races from the Advanced Race Guide I really liked.
They also made it into the Bestiary 4.
Gosh, they sure did, didn't they? I almost completely forgot about that. Haven't opened up #4 in a while.
Note to self...don't start an adventure just when an AP is about to launch!!!
Four good characters so far...and, even if no-one else joins, it looks like the core of a balanced party...
Will close recruitment in a couple of hours...
Is Tik'Klik one of those four good characters? If so, I'll rebuild him to meet the requirements for the game. :) Just wanted to make sure before I rebuild him. :)
Is it Giantslayer that's about to launch? I've heard good things about that, but I've yet to try and get into it. That whole "Blood of Giants" thing means that almost every fighter that gets into it is going to be hoisting around a giant two hander, unfortunately.
'Good-to-go' (moreorless) characters:
Robert Henry – Taicho Blackfeather, Tengu Warpriest
Budd the C.H.U.D. – Aston Sabroque, Dhampir Inquisitor
Duboris – Graham Sykes, Human Fighter
mdt - Tik'klik, Wyrwood Sorcerer
Not sure if nohwear or owenstreetpress are submitting or not...
Updated...
Is it Giantslayer that's about to launch? I've heard good things about that, but I've yet to try and get into it. That whole "Blood of Giants" thing means that almost every fighter that gets into it is going to be hoisting around a giant two hander, unfortunately.
Yep. I was actually really excited about this AP as well, but trying to get into a game for it right at launch is torture. Not to mention that a lot of the characters I'm seeing get submitted in those threads are very, very samey. Lots of hulking two-handed fighters and dwarves, especially rangers. Lots of talk about all-dwarf parties, too, which sounded like a cool idea until I realized that like half of all Giantslayer campaigns are going to be that.
I might try Giantslayer again later, like when the second or third book is out.
Anyhoo, sounds like we have a cool party lined up. I'll get an alias set up for Aston as soon as I can.
Alias in progress!
Taicho is going to be confusing for him, as it's similar to Tychi, who is also a tengu, and in one of his other games. So if you see him post Tychi, that's why. :)
btw, +1 for Tengu. :)
Moments like this I'm just fairly happy that I'm one of those people that like to play fighters consistently. Giant slayer is a godsend for bastard swords, but at the same time as much as I love the idea of being a "Larger than life" fighter with a +6 to kill s#$@ doing 2d8+6 damage at level 1, but, in the world of metagame, so does everyone else.
So yeah. My second option was a Universalist wizard eldritch knight, who used a two handed large weapon with his per-day ability that lets you basically throw stuff with your mind. Fun fact: The intelligence score apparently isn't penalized in it's bab with that setup, so you wouldn't even really need giant blooded, now would you? Exotic weapon proficiency; Bastard sword lets you two-hand a large one naturally, with a little -2 penalty I think. Doesn't stop you from throwing it with your mind.
Nice idea, personally.
Regardless, for now I'm just trying to wriggle my way in with a reach weapon fighter.
Helps to be a GM on the boards, you wouldn't believe how many posts you do as one.
Recruitment Closed - really pleased that we look to have a fun little group...
Robert Henry – Taicho Blackfeather, Tengu Warpriest
Budd the C.H.U.D. – Aston Sabroque, Dhampir Inquisitor
Duboris – Graham Sykes, Human Fighter
mdt - Tik'klik, Wyrwood Sorcerer
Get all of your characters together / finalised as needed and watch out fir a Gameplay thread shortly...
Looking forward to it, Zed.
If you don't mind, I usually like for Tik'Klik to start off crated up, usually found in a dusty corner of an attic or something by one of the PCs. Shipping mistake or something, and having been there for a decade or two, if possible. :) Not sure if the AP allows for something like that.