In which we fine-tune, finalize, and go forward.
Hey Voice! Nice to be here. I'll wrap up the last details of the character concept. What are the creation rules? A level 6 character is quite different than a level 12 or 18, for instance :)
As I'd like to get a good grasp on the material, let's start low.
Ability Score Generation: 4d6(drop lowest), best of two sets.
Starting Level: 2
Traits: Two
Gold: Average or Rolled, your choice.
Please re-post your fluff with the crunch, and after characters are made, we can tweak the general group idea.
Ok! Will do. Should we PM the other players? I know Crayfish for sure is very active, he will appear eventually.
About the ability scores: what do you mean by two sets? Sorry, I'm a little confused. Shouldn't we try maybe 6 + 3d6 (drop lowest) to avoid something as awkward as a... 3? :) Or maybe establish something like "anything under 7 becomes a 7"?
I talked to Crayfish! Hoping he will appear here soon. I'm working on the background and overall fluff while waiting on the answers about mechanics (and the other two partners of our trio of "Internal Affairs"!)
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He means you can roll two sets and pick which one you want. For martials, stats mean more, but I think we'll be fine.
Like 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8 is a set of stat numbers. Or you could have rolled 16, 16, 16, 14, 14, 14 for your second set. And you could pick which one you wanted to use, ie, best of sets.
Someone send Burnscar his notice. I got samurai posts to make and dice to roll and maybe, just maybe I'll post our backstory again.
Sloan Rybar was from an immigrant family, but knew the ways of ambushing prey and hunting like no other. So he offered his skills to the local lord, who was a small time noble. Being accepted, he worked to feed his family.
But then bandits came and threatened the local noble house. They named the lord a coward and the lord's pride wouldn't stand for such insults. So he gathered what men he could, Sloan included, and foolishly charged into the bandit camp. He was captured and Sloan escaped.
Technically out of a job, his family became ill with their slow starvation. Losing his parents to the common cold, he became an adventurer. And was found by a recruiter of the Lords of the Wheel while hunting in the cold, mountain air.
He lived for the Lords, passing their trials with the utmost faith. Willing to commit himself to their goal wholeheartedly, he was slowly moved into the internal affairs as a man who only cared for the goal and could do away with most of those that upset the balance of things.
He now operates in a mercenary company called the Wolves of Erhearth as an undercover Solstice Lord, handling the group's foreign connections.
And then, in a little city-state called Marienburg, there was a local overlord who was spreading chaos through his hate speeches on other races. He was raising taxes to incredible, back-breaking amounts to fill his own wallet, threatening war on all of his peaceful neighbors.
The Wolves might have been led there by the trio of Solstice lords to see if they could secure a deal with this tyrant's enemies. But a fight broke out between the citizens and the guards, and the Wolves became involved.
Most of the Wolves were jailed, including the Solstice lords, under the pretense of trying to perform a coup (which wasn't a bad idea at all) and working against the city-state itself (which only included the tyrant).
I messaged him too. I thought about running a Judge Stalker (I think it's appropriate, if we're to be Lords of the Wheel). I have no idea how mechanically the tradition works though (is it just fluff?)
As per the sets, if I understood:
I'd go with this second set, as it looks quite better (assuming I did it right).
By the way, I'm a little new to Path of War - trying to understand the whole Maneuvers thing yet, and I hope to be able to learn more here :)
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Traditions offer unique bonuses.
Allegiance Benefit: A Lord of the Wheel gains a +2 insight bonus on Bluff, Sense Motive, and Stealth checks. In addition, a Lord of the Wheel of 3rd level or higher gains Lurker in Darkness as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.
And we gain access to the Riven Hourglass maneuvers and such.
This is the only mechanical benefit, the rest is pretty much paladin code stuff.
Traditions offer unique bonuses.
Allegiance Benefit: A Lord of the Wheel gains a +2 insight bonus on Bluff, Sense Motive, and Stealth checks. In addition, a Lord of the Wheel of 3rd level or higher gains Lurker in Darkness as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.
And we gain access to the Riven Hourglass maneuvers and such.
This is the only mechanical benefit, the rest is pretty much paladin code stuff.
But how do we "purchase" the tradition?
@GM: What about races? Could I use a skinwalker, for instance? :)
A Skinwalker is perfectly fine. There was one in my last game, actually.
One thing I'd like to point out is that while I will be running a game, I'm also looking to explore the characters and setting.
Path of War makes the maneuvers seem like something that not just any fighter can pick up, as it exists alongside the Core. With the traditions, it's looking much like some of the classic Wuxia movies to some degree, where the character was selected out of a group of disciples and such for something just that little bit beyond normal training. If the thought has crossed either of your minds about how they came to be chosen, or how that went, please feel free to put it here. I will be awarding bonus xp for anything that helps build the world/scene/etc.
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Sloan Rybar’s father was a retired Golden Legionnaire, old in his years but still wishing that his only son be able to defend himself properly. His father was a scarred man who relied on his heavy armor of the past age to carry him through victory and teamwork between his allies and him. If they fell, he said, then he had a greater chance of falling too. He said you had to be loud when you fought to bolster the morale of the troops, to make your voice be heard over the thunder of combat was a special skill on its own and that their race, the catfolk, had an easier time because of their connection to the wild. He learned his Golden Lion traits through his father.
Like any father would do, he taught his child how to fight. When they sparred, Father Rybar would wear his armor and carry his blade, while Sloan used whatever he could. Sometimes, he wielded the fire poker from the fire, or a heavy chair leg that they scavenged. His father stated that not always will he have a weapon, as only one blade existed between the family members, making the statement very true. There was one day where Sloan had been disarmed of the slick and water logged log, but he still had to block the incoming blow. Instead of stopping the duel as he usually did, he let his instincts take over and he caught the blade on the outside of his right claws, leaving a scar as the skin was scraped away. Surprised, his father stopped and bandaged Sloan up. Throughout the other practice matches though, Sloan steadily stopped using weapons altogether, saying that if his claws are sharp enough, then he would trust in their strength, his strength, as the spirits of winter would want him to do. He still carried a bow, but should his bowstring strap, he never knew fear of the idea. He self-learned, haphazardly, Broken Blade.
Then came his capture and did the most dishonorable thing; he left his lord to die on his own. He sat in his cage for some time, observing the moon as it shone so brightly that day. Rotating his arms upward, he settled his hands in his lap and waited for his meal. He could hear the lord speaking about how his father would come and storm the lands of these bandits, but it was just hot air. His food was delivered and he ate quietly. When the bandits had all but a few fallen asleep, he closed his eyes and began to let his mind wander, a form of meditation that he learned to perform to stave off starvation’s grasp sometimes. He must have been talking too loud, because one of the bandits came over and rattled his cage, causing him to open his eyes. The bandit said something about shutting up and then in the corner of his eye he saw something. He turned and yelled, but the beast was upon him and his blood splattered all over Sloan’s left pantleg. Scooting to the back of the cage, Sloan couldn’t do much but watch, the bandits starting to awaken. It was made of a mass of swirling darkness, turning over the wounds that it was making in the bandit’s chest to vomit blood onto the torch to extinguish it. The bandit had the key to his cage in his hand and Sloan took the chance to snatch it while the beast was feeding, its skin pulled tight and its form larger than the normal undead that he had heard about. But he unlocked the cage as the bandits drew close to engage the beast. And he ran into the night air.
Later, he stopped running when his lungs burned. He thought he saw a light (his nose being better than his eyes) in the woods, so he went towards it naturally. Clutching his chest and trying to breathe again, he stumbled into a clearing. Above him, as he neared it, lay a wood-cutter, his torso excavated and his organs missing. His twisted hand held a lantern that was still burning, just dimly. Then he looked down and jumped a bit, seeing someone else. But they looked like him, and were slowly stepping into the lit area as well. Each one had a scar, but not always on the same hand, and each were cuffed in some way. One had an ankle ball and chain, or a scar over his cheek, or even the blood spattered on his chest. Each one looked around in almost shock and recognized each other. Now, Sloan didn’t know much about the theory of multiple universes-woop, wrong story. He walked forward, watching his others walk as well, looking around as he did. He stopped when each one was within his hands reach, lifting his hand to pass through the other lifted hands. Pulling it back, each one looked up and cautiously stepped forward. Then he was alone again. He looked around but heard the cry of a beast that had its mouth sewn shut, which cued his leaving. Thus the Shattered Mirror had opened to him and he felt it burning in his chest.
His spirit aflame, he hunted, finding his body willing to imitate beasts to follow them. Strangely, he became a much better hunter after the incident so many moons ago. While hunting in the frozen tundra, he came upon a strange relic, a broken temple with a statue of a strange goddess that he’d never seen before. But when he approached it, the land around him began to shift and his heart burned. He collapsed into himself, the statue beginning to show stages of aging, growing moss. The ground around him moved into spring’s greens, and his whiskers grew longer. He struggled to his feet and stumbled away, falling once more. Having the strength to pull himself out of the statue’s range, he breathed easily as time stopped spinning around him. Laying his cheek on the wet earth, he was approached by another hunter, he thought. He looked up and took the offered hand, his clothes ripping slightly as they no longer fit him. The hunter said he could show him to control what he just experienced. Sloan readily agreed, following the man into a city that he never knew existed; even though that city lay on the land his father had tilled. Thus the Shattered Mirror opened him to the Riven Hourglass.
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Sloan Rybar
Catfolk Ambush Hunter Ranger/2
TN Medium humanoid (feline)
Init +3; Senses Scent Perception +5
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+3 dex)
HP (2d10)
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will -2
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Offense
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Melee: 2 Claws +5 (1d4+1d6+7)
Ranged: Longbow +5 (1d8)
Speed 30 ft, Climb 20ft
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
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Statistics
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Str 17, Dex 16 Con 10, Int 7, Wis 7, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 18
Feats: Discipline Focus (Broken Blade)
Bonus Feats: Aspect of the Beast (claws)
Weapon Group Profiency: Simple, Martial
Traits: Unorthodox Method (Primal Fury for Shattered Mirror), Combat Training (Pommel Strike)
Skills: Climb +8, Perception +5, Stealth +10, Survival +6, Acrobatics +8
Background Skills?
Languages: Common, Catfolk,
Gear: Claws, a Long Bow, arrows, armor.
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Special Abilities
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Scent Some catfolk favor a keen sense of smell over sensitive sight. Catfolk with this racial trait gain the scent ability. This racial trait replaces the low-light vision racial trait.
Climber Catfolk hunters excel at hunting prey from trees and other high vantage points. Catfolk with this racial trait possess a climb speed of 20 feet (along with the +8 racial bonus on Climb checks a climb speed affords). This racial trait replaces sprinter.
Cat's Luck (Ex) Once per day when a catfolk makes a Reflex saving throw, he can roll the saving throw twice and take the better result. He must decide to use this ability before the saving throw is attempted.
Natural Hunter: Catfolk receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception, Stealth, and Survival checks.
Ranger FCB: +1 to confirm critical hits (Claws)
Disciplines:
Broken Blade, Shattered Mirror, Riven Hourglass, Golden Lion
Maneuvers:
Pugilist Stance, Shards of Iron Strike (trait), Flurry Strike, Pommel Strike, Encouraging Roar, Minute Hand
Readied: Flurry Strike, Encouraging Roar, Minute Hand
HD is your choice(aside from max at Lvl 1), but you have to stick with it from there on out.
I tend to be pretty bad about WBL, so go ahead and take Level 2 gold.
Automatic Bonus Progression is something that you and the other two players can decide on. I'll side with the majority, but reserve the right to add some color into the method.
I like more ABP than the regular system (as it makes the cool/different items more relevant, and we can "forget" about the "pretty much required" ones). With that said, our WBL becomes halved if we're using ABP (so, 500 gp instead of 1000 gp at level 2).
Background skills is another fairly cool system too, which I'd recommend. For HP, I think I'd stick with the half+1 method (besides max at first level).
I'm working on a Stalker, as I mentioned before. I think it'd fit nicely with Crayfish's, although we'd lack a lot on the arcane, divine and even ranged damage dealing sides. I think it's kind of the intention of this game, though, isn't it? To be more on the up-close-and-personnel martial aspect of PF (considering the PoW thing).
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Path of war ain't gonna give much in the way of arcane and divine magic. So that was never really an option. Stalker is dex based probably can pick up a bow of some kind. There's our ranged options! I don't have like...ranged maneuvers, but I have buffs for ranged options.
But ooh, that's kinda low on hp. I'm not rocking Con bonuses, and the stalker probably isn't gonna be rocking no high Con bonus. That's like...16 hp at level 2. And I don't have any counters yet. But if that's the way you wanna rock this, I can rock that. Just don't be surprised if I get 1 to 2 shotted in GLORIOUS COMBAT! It's gonna come down to who can 1 to 2 shot something faster.
I don't have the Charisa to emulate a wand, soooo, you know. A wand of infernal healing is all we will ever need of divine sissyness. Who needs arcane when we can teleport on our own? Ha, I laugh in the face of dangah!
In Smite terms, I'm a warrior/assassin, Stalker is an assassin, and we better burst the stuffing out of everything in our way or not at all. It'll make combat real short, I'd say.
I was first designing my character to be a jumping beast, with multiple attacks and using the leaping dragon thing. As much as it sounds like a freaking cool idea and very powerful mechanically, I think that we have the "beast" part well covered already.
I thought about going towards the harbinger, then, to make something more on the Wednesday Addams side, or more grim reapery per se, but... Nah. I think I will try to build something more tanky. Someone has to be there taking the hits so you guys can do the damage dealing around.
Let's see if I can come out with something cool. I'm sincerely abusing the fact we don't have our third man here yet to go through multiple builds :) we don't need to be supermechanically optimized, but I want us to work well as a party!
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Stalker will be a wonderful stealthing buddy. Usually, stealth doesn't work well because there's always that one guy in full plate (cough, fighter, cough) who just can't sneak for a dang and doesn't wanna be left behind by the obviously superior always-broke monk.
Okay, jokes aside, party balance in POW is less important then the already non-existent party balance in the normal, non-POW games. Stalker works fine, because my character literally is an ambusher. I don't have the maneuver quantity to stay in fights long, and I have probably an escape that regular rogues drool over. My tactic is clear, my decisions are swift, my vengeance is nigh!
But yeah, you build what you want. Don't matter to me, I can only speak of my own character. Just give me max hitpoints per level, and I'll be just fine.
Here's what I'm considering at the moment (using background skills, 500 gp + ABP). I still need to buy more equipment and probably switch some stuff around, but it gives an idea:
Agatsu Hulla
Male human (Garundi) warder (zweihander sentinel) 2 ( [PoW])
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +1 (+3 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light)
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Defense
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AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+7 armor, +1 Dex, +1 shield)
hp 25 (2d12+6)
Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +4
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee armament shield bash +6 (1d3+4) or
. . greatsword +6 (2d6+6/19-20)
Special Attacks 1 encouraging roar, 1 hunting party, 1 iron shell, 1 panthera on the hunt, 1 running hunter's stance, 1 stance of the defending shell
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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 13, Con 15, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 11
Base Atk +2; CMB +6; CMD 17
Feats Combat Reflexes, Power Attack, Victorious Recovery
Traits armor expert, clever wordplay, community-minded (rahadoum)
Skills Acrobatics +1 (-3 to jump), Bluff +4, Diplomacy +4, Intimidate +8 (+10 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light), Knowledge (history) +7, Knowledge (martial) +8, Knowledge (nobility) +7, Linguistics +5, Perception +1 (+3 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light), Sense Motive +8, Stealth +0 (+2 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light), Survival +5
Languages Aklo, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Giant, Infernal, Osiriani
SQ Aegis, armament shield, Armiger's Mark, Defensive Focus, dimdweller, paranoid, zweihander training
Other Gear banded mail, greatsword, 200 gp
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Special Abilities
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1 Encouraging Roar (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Boost - Until next turn, all allies gain a +2 morale bonus to all attacks and damage.
1 Hunting Party (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: Make an attack, grant an adjacent ally an attack of opportunity against the same enemy.
1 Iron Shell (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Successful shield bash attack negates incoming attack
1 Panthera on the Hunt (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: The martial disciple gains a +2 damage bonus on a charge attack, and ignores attacks of opportunity
1 Running Hunter's Stance (Ex) Stance - While in this stance, the disciple gains the scent special ability and a +10 ft. enhancement bonus to movement speed.
1 Stance of the Defending Shell (Ex) +1 to shield AC bonus
Aegis +1 (10 feet) (Ex) +1 morale bonus to AC and Will saves for allies within 10 feet
Armament Shield Your weapon can bash as a light shield if wielded in two hands
Armiger's Mark -4 (3 rounds, 4/day) (Ex) Marked enemies get -4 to hit creatures other than you and suffer +12% to ASF for 3 rounds
Combat Reflexes (6 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Defensive Focus (10ft) (Ex) Increased threatened area, can move when making AoO, +5 to CMD vs. Acro to avoid AoO
Dimdweller +2 to Intimidate, Perception, and Stealth when in conceal due to darkness.
Paranoid Aid Another DC 15 for attempts to help you.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Victorious Recovery Recover maneuvers when you defeat an opponent 1/encounter
Zweihander Training Gain your Aegis bonus as a shield bonus when using a two-handed weapon
Sweet. My HD won't matter maxed, so it'll just be 10 per level.
I think you misunderstand. Max at Level 1, and then average or rolled for each following level, though you stick with the choice you make at level two.
Additionally, indicate your school access somewhere on your sheet, please.
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Oh, yes. I suppose I did. Some people just max out the rolls, so that's what I was asking about. Maybe roll anything below half? That probably won't matter in the end; won't even budge my playing style. If I have to chose, I'll stick with average. My dice rolls are either really high, or really low, and I could get stuck with having 15 hitpoints as a level 5 character.
You ever seen a PC at level 6, with...26 hitpoints? Let me tell you, I would have been that guy. I would have been that wizard; except I'm a martial character running into combat. Yeah. Yeeeaaahhh, so yeah, average is way better than whatever I'm going to roll.
My character will have 16 hp. Which is fine; be like a maxed hitpoint rogue with no con bonus. Yeah.
And when you say school access, do you mean disciplines? Because I have those listed. But I don't think I put my martial tradition down.
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Sloan Rybar
Catfolk Ambush Hunter Ranger/2
TN Medium humanoid (feline)
Init +3; Senses Scent Perception +5
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+3 dex)
HP (2d10)
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will -2
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Offense
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Melee: 2 Claws +5 (1d4+1d6+7)
Ranged: Longbow +5 (1d8)
Speed 30 ft, Climb 20ft
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
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Statistics
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Str 17, Dex 16 Con 10, Int 7, Wis 7, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 18
Feats: Discipline Focus (Broken Blade)
Bonus Feats: Aspect of the Beast (claws)
Weapon Group Profiency: Simple, Martial
Traits: Unorthodox Method (Primal Fury for Shattered Mirror), Combat Training (Pommel Strike)
Skills: Climb +8, Perception +5, Stealth +10, Survival +6, Acrobatics +8
Background Skills?
Languages: Common, Catfolk,
Gear: Claws, a Long Bow, arrows, armor.
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Special Abilities
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Scent Some catfolk favor a keen sense of smell over sensitive sight. Catfolk with this racial trait gain the scent ability. This racial trait replaces the low-light vision racial trait.
Climber Catfolk hunters excel at hunting prey from trees and other high vantage points. Catfolk with this racial trait possess a climb speed of 20 feet (along with the +8 racial bonus on Climb checks a climb speed affords). This racial trait replaces sprinter.
Cat's Luck (Ex) Once per day when a catfolk makes a Reflex saving throw, he can roll the saving throw twice and take the better result. He must decide to use this ability before the saving throw is attempted.
Natural Hunter: Catfolk receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception, Stealth, and Survival checks.
Ranger FCB: +1 to confirm critical hits (Claws)
Disciplines:
Broken Blade, Shattered Mirror, Riven Hourglass, Golden Lion
Maneuvers:
Pugilist Stance, Shards of Iron Strike (trait), Flurry Strike, Pommel Strike, Encouraging Roar, Minute Hand
Readied: Flurry Strike, Encouraging Roar, Minute Hand
Martial Tradition: Lords of the Wheel
Oath:“I am not an assassin, to kill for mere money. I am not a murderer, to kill for convenience, or a thug, to kill for respect. I am a Lord, who kills to bring harmony, to ensure balance, and preserve the world against the forces which would destroy it. All things have their season to flourish and their season to die, and to this principle I dedicate my blade, my heart, and my soul. The Wheel is both beautiful and inevitable, and should I turn from it, let it crush my faithless heart.”
Allegiance Benefit: A Lord of the Wheel gains a +2 insight bonus on Bluff, Sense Motive, and Stealth checks. In addition, a Lord of the Wheel of 3rd level or higher gains Lurker in Darkness as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.
Finally, the extremely secretive Solstice Lords are hidden even from the rest of the organization. Recruiting only neutral Lords who have been proven trustworthy, dedicated, and puissant, the Solstice Lords police the organization from within, murdering Lords who betray the organization’s secrets and deciding internally if a member still technically in good standing has become a threat to harmony. The head of the Solstice Lords occupies a ‘first among equals’ position with the heads of the four Seasons, possessing a tiebreaker vote in issues that affect the organization as a whole.
Available Services: The Lords of the Wheel expect much in terms of service and loyalty from their members, and they give much in exchange. Lords can expect support from temples and cults allied with their organization, access to magical goods (including the option to borrow weapons and tools from the organization’s armories), secret bolt-holes, libraries of knowledge on all manner of enemies, the dirty secrets of dozens of political figures, and much more. A Lord is expected to use these resources responsibly; getting informants caught or wasting items and wealth not only makes the organization’s mission that much harder, it displays a lack of foresight and seriousness that speaks ill of the Lord in question.
So... I think we lost our third one. GM, not sure but you might want to bring someone else, Burnscar isn't answering my messages :(
Hello! The GM invited me to replace your lost character. I am happy to be here.
- 1 = 14
- 2 = 17
- 1 = 13
- 1 = 12
- 3 = 12
- 1 = 14
- 2 = 11
- 1 = 8
- 1 = 12
- 2 = 15
- 1 = 7
- 1 = 6
I do believe I'll take that first set. 17, 14, 14, 13, 12, 12.
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To weigh in on a few things:
- Automatic Bonus Progression - I can go either way. It's nice to get some easy things out of the way, but I could see it making us too powerful with the Path of War stuff. I don't really feel strongly either way.
- Background Skills - I'm hugely a fan of these, but I tend to try and make skill monkeys, so the extra skills are always something I like.
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With Crayfish going as a Hunter with pounce and stealth, and Chess going with a defensive Warder, I should have a solid range of options to poke around at.
Right now I'm torn between two paths.
2) Something healing-based. There are two options here but one of them is subject to GM approval. Basically I could take the Zealot (Discordant) and get the Silver Crane Discipline that does some divine stuff. I sort of hate the class, though - if for no other reason than it also includes psionics.
The second option there is to ask if I can trade a Discipline (or two) to use Silver Crane with a Stalker or Mystic. In the case of Mystic I might still try to go Gunsmoke and have a kind of "charge into combat" backup plan for when we need healing. Alternatively, Stalker or standard Mystic would give me a kind of Monk/Airbender feel, which could also work. Also, if we're not "officially" part of the same Traditions, I could take Empyreal Guardians to swap a Discipline for Silver Crane, which could also work.
Alternatively (again), the Mystic gets Use Magical Device as a class skill, so I could always just go with Option 1 and pick up a Wand of Cure Light Wounds, which would be more "frequently usable" than the Silver Crane stuff anyway. And since we're starting at Level 2 WBL, I could probably afford it right away (moreso if you both each wanted to throw in like 100-150gp or something).
... Which makes me think Mystic (Gunsmoke) with the wand might just BE the better way to go. It gives me the ability to heal, still do some damage, and have some different skills / disciplines / focuses than the other characters.
I'll probably at least draft a character going in that direction, but I am open to suggestions and thoughts and feedback!
Welcome Yoricks! Welcome to the Internal Affairs!
Feel free to play whatever pleases you, my friend. If the GM approves, we will make it work :)
Yorick, there's also the Medic Class from DSP, as mentioned by Raltus. The document is out there and easy to access, though that may not fit with your idea of "something healing based".
Thanks, The Chess. :)
Yorick, there's also the Medic Class from DSP, as mentioned by Raltus. The document is out there and easy to access, though that may not fit with your idea of "something healing based".
Oh that's very cool. It's not something that I knew existed. It all seems to kind of hinge on the Triage move, which involves running around the battlefield tending to people after they're wounded. It's interesting, but is different than I want. It also super falls behind when you try to multiclass, so I'd have to drop the Gun Mystic.
I did discover, though, that there is a Trait for swapping a Discipline for another, so I'm going to stat up a build using that to get Silver Crane, and see if that looks like it might be "enough" healing. Which I suspect it will.
I'm wanting you to make what you want to play, not what may round out the idea of the classic party dynamic. If the usual amount of healing is not present, then I expect all of you to adjust accordingly.
As I like to say: "I'm not going to kill you, you're going to kill yourselves."
It seems that the majority is in favor of both Automatic Bonus Progression, and Background Skills. That being the case, please adjust your characters accordingly.
Given that the individual that was part of the original group idea is not present, are there any alterations you all want to make to the group story? Additionally, in which country did you want to start?
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Well, as long as we're not good characters, we can pick up a wand of infernal healing. (Oh, Silver Crrrrane needs goodness) Its the best out of combat healing and we don't have to roll dice for its charges. The likelyhood of us needing healing in combat is low; higher for me, but for you guys its probably still low.
Yes, that trait is super cool stuff. I gave my ranger cat Shattered Mirror for later maneuvers down the line, because its my favorite discipline. Our martial tradition gives us Riven Hourglass, which is also pretty cool. You're free to select a different martial tradition, of course.
I highly suggest you don't play a class you hate. Just from a player's perspective. Gun magic does seem pretty cool. And if we really, really needed healing, we could just rest for a day. That's 2 hitpoints per level of character. Normal rest is 1 hitpoint per level. We should be fine to bite when we can and lick our wounds after.
You pick what you think looks the coolest, as whatever option you pick is cool to me. I don't care for the myth of party balance, and POW really doesn't care.
We will get wands, for sure. Eventually. Maybe. Very unlikely. Don't think so. Still, we will find ways. I prefer no one sacrifices and plays something boring just for the sake of the myth of "party balance". The only thing I don't think we should do is overlap too much, but other than that... Bring it on!
Thanks, gang. This is all really great to hear. :)
The "problem" with wands is that they're still a DC 20 check with Use Magical Device if the spell "isn't on your spell list" - which, none of us have spell lists. And none of us have particularly great Charisma, either, so we'd be dealing with the possibility of having a wand fail up beyond 5th level.
I was contemplating a dip into Investigator (Questioner) to get the Bard spell list and added bonuses of Inspiration and a bunch more Class skills, and thus not need to roll to use Wands, but I suspect you're all right in that I'm being overly... cautious.
With that said, I think I will still take the trait to give me access to Silver Crane. It'll replace a Discipline I'm not using anyway, and it'll be good to have a healing maneuver available if it comes down to it. I like being prepared.
And if we need beyond that we can always get potions or something.
I'm planning on having the first pass of my crunch and background posted tomorrow. If there's anything you've all already set up for a backstory, please toss it up so I can see it (whether it's flexible or not, it might still provoke some inspiration!) I think the basics that I saw were that we're mercenaries together and recently got out of prison.
Chess here with the sheet updated and profile up.
Haven't moved it to an Alias yet, but here's my first pass. I still need to write the description for the Martial Tradition, but I think the basics for it are there. I'm not sure how Homebrew we're going with the world, but I did take some pretty heavy liberties with Golarion history in my background, which may or may not be something that I need to change.
Looking over your characters, it seems that most have an origin— if not currently residing— in Garund. That does present an interesting opportunity, that of setting something in Garund. That does bring up the idea of character motivation, though.
Given common threads I can pick at, looking at the character sheets, The Mwangi Expanse seems like it would be a good central area that would likely be the focus. Mina being a bodyguard would certainly allow for travel into the area, along with Osirion/Katapesh. Likewise for Agatsu, save that he might be more of a retainer than escort or scout. As for Sloan (besides the obvious cat joke), their ties make them a variable that is likely to turn up anywhere as not.
Sloan here. I'm ready to hunt and rip things apart with my bare hands.
Sounds like a plan to me :)
A few things to check/clear up before we get rolling:
I tend to roll some checks and assume passive skill checks for most things unless they are actively being opposed, or are in somewhat stressful situations. That is mostly because waiting to have someone post a single roll breaks the flow of narrative to me. Any objections?
Feel free to add color to the scene, and description is always welcome. I'll be shooting for at least two paragraphs per post, and will be working to improve my descriptive skills, so feedback is welcome.
Regarding any character-specific information, would you prefer posts in spoilers, or would you be fine with it just being written out? Any specific/secretive information for the characters, I'll PM.
I have no objections with GM rolls to speed up things (PbPs are already way too slow!), and I'm fine with everything being written out.