The Spider God's Bride -

Game Master dain120475

I tipped my charisma down as I thought it might make more sense for an Ikuna. That said, in the general I'd like to masquerade as an Azimban. I took a colored robe for my outfit. Hopefully that'll give me a bonus on my Disguise checks.

It does make sense via the background of your character, but with that in mind, it would be good to invest heavily in Disguise and Diplomacy (either with Traits or outright Skill Focus) to help offset the penalties, just to make sure. As it stands, if you're discovered it's possible even your own party may have qualms about traveling with someone with your... tastes... ;)

I see him a bit as Drax, with a bit more smarts ;-)

I hope I can connect my backstory with one of the other characters, who kind has "adopted" me ;-)
Like groot and rocket racoon.
I am looking at you Narin. Maybe you want a bodyguard.

Incorporating how you all know each other prior to the mission would work out beautifully as it would simplify a lot. If Narin is cool with that, I have no issues with that.

Interesting side note via Drax - as an interesting aside, many people believe that Drax has high-functioning Autism (see the article - Here - for more details). It's possible your low Charisma may be because your hero has some issues - but if so, that may still complicate things for when you interact with citizens; still, picking up ranks in Diplomacy might not be a bad idea, just in case.

Picture of Bjoern

Cool pic, I like it!

And I reply Salve, morituri te salutant

Euge! Alea iacta est! :D

It does make sense via the background of your character, but with that in mind, it would be good to invest heavily in Disguise and Diplomacy (either with Traits or outright Skill Focus) to help offset the penalties, just to make sure. As it stands, if you're discovered it's possible even your own party may have qualms about traveling with someone with your... tastes... ;)

Well, my "tastes" shouldn't become known for a while. As far as anyone else knows, I am just superstitious about my diet and prepare snacks that would make other people sick. By the time even the party figures out what I really am, it should be something we can work out. And I certainly don't plan to eat any hearts in the city square or anything. A lot of it should just come down to being smart.

But Diplomacy might be valuable, true. Though there's only so much "investing" I can do at first level. And besides, between my disguise and my stealth I was hoping to avoid too much confrontation.

PS - I'm not sure if it works this way or not, but in addition to taking Azimban as a bonus language, I wanted to put a rank into Linguistics for it in order to speak it more naturally/make the disguise more believable.

I hope I can connect my backstory with one of the other characters, who kind has "adopted" me ;-)

Like groot and rocket racoon.
I am looking at you Narin. Maybe you want a bodyguard.
Picture of Bjoern

What a bear of a man! Great body guard material. ;)

I am perfectly happy to connect backstories. I think once Narin escapes her gilded cage, she finds her way to Susrah where she possibly happens upon the newly released/victorious Bjoern? Perhaps they could meet up in the wicked but wealthy trading post city of Yaatana in Susrah? Narin had just finished her business at the public bathhouse and was heading toward the central souk (market) and that's where she crosses paths with Bjeorn? Maybe at that time Bjeorn notes that Narin is being followed into the souk by two males and unbeknown to him that she has already noted the stalkers, Bjeorn steps in to successfully/promptly "handle" the men? Then Narin could see his benefit (both in size and strength) and offer him the glorious/honourable position of her bodyguard...Would this story angle appeal to you? We can nut out other details if this story arc works for you. :)

As to my spells, I'd really like to hear input from you guys, thus my question yesterday. LOL

I noted these down re Narin's spells:

Cantrips: Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound, Message, Resistance, Sift
Level 1: Grease, Silent Image

But I also like the first level spells listed below and I'm willing to pick ones that would best help the party and fit into this low magic world where not all spells are allowable (but the ones listed below are.)

And these spells are on my maybe/possible list for Level 1 (and are allowable in this world): Cause Fear, Dancing Darkness, Disguise Self, Feather Step, Remove Fear, Restful Sleep and Sleep.

Any thoughts, please? :)

I like Sleep and Restful Sleep. I'd pick Sleep first though, as the best healing is not getting hurt.

I like Sleep and Restful Sleep. I'd pick Sleep first though, as the best healing is not getting hurt.

I like Sleep at this level, as well. I appreciate your thoughts on the spells. My next question, I need to remove one of the spells I've already listed. Should it be Silent Image and keep Grease?

I think that would be the simplest choice.

Thanks, Anhur. I made the change/swap. :)

She Who Knows wrote:

Thanks for the positive words. It is a draft.

I don't have an familiar, Boudas have a fetish instead.

Sorry; I had forgotten that. In which case, make sure you keep your fetish safe. It's the source of your power and where you gain your spells. From what I read on witches in general they typically gain their spells from their familiar; but since the Familiar is a being granting them magical spells, Familiars are generally treated with fear and superstition. In this case you won't have that trouble, and most folk won't know your fetish is granting you arcane power (unless you tell them outright or unless they study it in depth, of course).

She Who Knows wrote:

On the Craft Stonemasonry, I had run out of skills that were in class. Witches don't get that many skills and I get +1 for being human and +5 for int, so I put one into stonemasonry cos Yar-Ammonites have:-

so I thought stonemasonry fit. It is possible it may go on revision checking. Will get back to round out the sheet, check stuff and complete the back story.

That makes sense, but I'm not sure that someone of your culture and breeding would have studied something like Stonemasonry - it seems like what peasants/slaves might do and your character seems far too refined for that sort of stuff. Now, to be fair, I could see you studying something like Profession: Healer or maybe Astrologer (for example) but even with the bonus to it, it just seems like an unusual choice for your girl, unless you're going for the eventual +Synergy Bonus for putting +5 to in a Profession Skill - in which case I think we can grant you some perks on that later.

Also, remember that the 4 extra skill points I gave you in the beginning can be used in any of the skills you can performed as "Untrained". So if you spend the point in one of the "Untrained Skills" (such as Swim or Climb) then even if your class isn't typically proficient in it, you will be.

That being the case, it might be helpful to try ranks in Ride...

Thanks for the response.

On the fetish, I will probably make the fetish a fragment from a statue of the Red Sphinx taken from an ancient temple to the Red Sphinx found in the deserts around Khadis.

On the Skills, I changed Profession Stoneworker to Profession Healer. I think you are right. Unless I have something wrong, that is a skill point from being a witch and I have to spend it on a class skill for a witch or it will be an untrained skill. That is why I wnt for a profession at all. I spent my 4 bonus skill points, and 4 bonus class skills, elsewhere.

"Players can choose Classes and Archetypes from the Core Rules as well as Advanced Players Guide and Ultimate Combat Guide."

That is a quote from your very first post. It does not say spells. Just wanted to confirm I can take spells from any Paizo source, unless they are excluded by the adaptation for the World of Zoth [many are].

Then again I looked at the conversion which says Core Rulebook only, APG with permission for anything.

"Players can choose Classes and Archetypes from the Core Rules as well as Advanced Players Guide and Ultimate Combat Guide."

That is a quote from your very first post. It does not say spells. Just wanted to confirm I can take spells from any Paizo source, unless they are excluded by the adaptation for the World of Zoth [many are].

I'm a lot more flexible with spells than the Xoth game is. If you see Witch Spells that are available in other sites, I'm open to them. The only issue is making sure they mesh with game prohibited spells. But if you see a good spell from another source and it can fit, I'm totally open to it :)

Oh, thank goodness. That means I don't have to select alternatives for 7 of my 8 level 1 spells. :)

Oh, thank goodness. That means I don't have to select alternatives for 7 of my 8 level 1 spells. :)

Well, I do need to read through the list and see what the book allows. Unfortunately there are some pretty heavy limitations via the game; but I'll give the list shortly...

For what it's worth; many of the spells on the list you have may not be allowable, unfortunately. But I'll have the list up soon.

Ok, the connection between Narin and Bjoern has been sorted out. I just need to add it to Narin's backstory.

After thinking some things over and getting the GM's approval, I've switched Narin's race over to Yar-Ammonite as it makes more sense and gives her a bonus to find stone traps and makes sense as Narin is also a would-be trap finder. I upped her dex and I hope it helps the group. I don't mean to step on your toes 'She Who Knows' by choosing the same human race - perhaps this gives our characters some connection as they're both from noble houses. Narin is still taking Decadent as her cultural archetype, so there's that difference. :) I now need to choose a different feat ... so I will still be playing around with my sheet until tomorrow.

Ariah- I have absolutely zero problem with your character being a Yar-Ammonite. Working up some connection seems a fine idea.

Are we looking at each others character sheets and backstories? I mean all the players not just Ariarh and I. It seems the only way to co-ordinate what we can do and give our characters some reason to be together.

Guys, this seems to be shaping up to a very enjoyable game - I wish you all loads of fun, but I don't think I can muster the time to digest all the setting and rule information to produce a decente character, so I am bowing out.

I was feeling a Fighter/Rogue vibe but... Not having darkvision on a rogue makes me want to cry ;)

Good luck with the game! Cheers!

Albion- Sorry to hear you won't be playing. Have fun elsewhere.

Dain GM -Would you have a look at my character.

The main thing I would like you to look at is the last spoilered bit, entitled "The Tale of She Who Knows".

You seemed to like the draft of my characters backstory you saw earlier. I have been expanding on it. I wanted to run this much past you before going further. I have been expanding on religions and cults and giving my character and her family a role in them.

I think I have taken enough liberty with your campaign world w/o asking you about it. If what I have written so far meets with your approval I will finish with a bit on She Who Knows travels and history with the other PCs.

If so minded, you could have a look at the two other spoilered sections, skills, to see if they are done right and spells known, to see if the spells selected are kosher.

This character creation is taking unusually long. :(

Alright. I have created a new backstory to suit the Yar-Ammonite change and I also changed my character's name to better fit her region. I'm still looking for the right character image -- the one that's on the profile page now is my original one. Not sure if I'll keep it or not. Bjoern, I've added a section just under Tairin's backstory re the meeting between our characters. Also, She Who Knows, when you're ready we can discuss a possible connection between our characters in Amenti.

I have been looking at people's char sheets and backstories to see how we'll fit/work and how we can complement one another. I don't mind if we coordinate and find some connections no matter how big or small between the characters.

And Albion, the Eye, sorry you won't be playing with us. I hope to see you on the boards elsewhere. Good luck! :)

After thinking, I'd like to change my character to a Mazanian Witch. She had to flee her home village since her brand of magic was not welcomed there and she was the scapegoat of several weather related disasters that had plagued her home region.

@Ioneyse: Respectfully, we already have quite a thought out witch submission on the board at the moment. There are still other classes which could be useful that another player could take and build upon. Perhaps you could look at one of those and try submitting another concept to help fill out the group? I seldom like to interfere in people's submissions, however this is a different type of game and we only have a select number of players willing to give it a try. Thanks! :)

It won't allow me to edit the above post as there are some technical glitches at the moment (possibly more work on the site happening currently).

The developed submissions we have so far are:

* Savage Ikuna Alchemist (Internal, Vivisectionist)
* Decadent Yar-Ammonite Bard (Temptress)
* Savage Tharag Thulan Gladiator
* Civilised Yar-Ammonite Witch (Bouda)

I'd still like to see a Trapper Ranger. Just saying.

After thinking, I'd like to change my character to a Mazanian Witch. She had to flee her home village since her brand of magic was not welcomed there and she was the scapegoat of several weather related disasters that had plagued her home region.

I'm intrigued by the concept, but as Ariarh indicated the party already has a player who did a lot of great work their background for a Witch.

However, we could use another player and technically it's possible to have a second Witch, but it does seem a little bit like overkill.

At this particular time we have little in the ways of Range Fighting as of yet. Also, while Ariarh/Tarrin is working on doing her best to cover many of the basics of a Rogue, we don't really have a formal Rogue in the party, yet, and that could be helpful, too.

We also have some Third Party classes that are pretty advantageous in the game that might be fun to try, including Scholar which has some unique options, too.

If you're really set on a Witch, toss up you concept, but if you're able to try the other options that could be really helpful for the team.

Let me know what you think of those options. After all; we still have a few days before the quest formally starts :)

I'd still like to see a Trapper Ranger. Just saying.

** spoiler omitted **

For what it's worth, there is a new Feat in the game book called "Eyes of the Cat" - you must take it on Level 1 but it grants players Low Light Vision if they do take it... Just saying ;)

I think I have taken enough liberty with your campaign world w/o asking you about it. If what I have written so far meets with your approval I will finish with a bit on She Who Knows travels and history with the other PCs.

First, I really enjoyed it, including one such religous... rite – it was a great read! That said, I liked your backstory very much! I’m going to enjoy working it into the game :)

Now, regarding your questions about the spell lists:

Allowable Cantrips –

Arcane Mark
Bleed
Dancing Lights
Daze
Guidance
Light
Message
Resistance
Putrefy Food and Drink
Spark
Stabilize
Touch of Fatigue

As for these Cantrips, I can’t really say one way or the other until I’m able to find a description on them. If you have a link where I can read up on them, I can provide you with a better answer.

Cleansing Ray
Deepen Shadow
Kobold's Fury
Leap
Leprechaun's Luck
Quicken
Seam Ripper
Tan Hide

Allowable First Level Spells

As for the First Level spells you picked, I have no issues with them, per se, except that the book does have a small caveat in it that suggests for a Caster to be able to use spells which draw things into the world that they have to have something to work with.

So, for example, it goes into detail on if you wanted to Summon a creature; vermin is easy to do anywhere, but you can’t summon something like an Earth Elemental in a stone room; and if you summon a Water Elemental you have to have something like a pool of water that is at least 3 feet deep and at least covers 3 squares (roughly 5x15 feet, basically), and so on.

This leads to the issues with casting things like Mudball or Snowball. The terrain in Susra is much like Afghanistan, so it’s possible that in high mountains it would be cold enough to Cast something like “Snowball” – and if you cast “Mudball” it would have to be in an area with dirt (not like a stone palace) close enough to you (given how the spell works, it doesn’t have to be actual mud, but it should at least be outside, but snowball would have to be in a place that is at least freezing in temprature).

Finally, I’m considering if Mage Armor should be a standard +4 to AC; but I may also grant it a +1 to DR; I’m still thinking on that.

With that in mind, what do you think?

This character creation is taking unusually long. :(

You're right; I'm about to make a quick post on that now...

Getting started

So here's what I'm going to do. Right now I'm ruling that you are starting out a small oasis at the Karjah Pass, roughly a few day's journey from Belthaar.

There are several small groups of people collected there as this place has water, and it is located near a major road.

At this point you see a stone house with roughly four rooms and a small stone storage room next to it with a cobblestone fence surrounding it. This houses a local merchant who allows people to buy water from the oasis for coin (he pays some of the coin to the nobles in Belthaar). He has six bodyguards/mercenaries to help him protect and enforce the collection of coin.

He and four of his men are asleep, there are two guards by the water, as well as several small fires for various groups.

Currently there is a camel driver with four camels and various items; he has three other men with him and they seem like they're not just merchants, but also capable fighters. They're currently eating by one of the fires.

There is a large tent and inside it there is rumored to be a priest; there are four guards outside and there are six horses attached.

Finally there is a lone nomad-looking person sharing the fire with the camel drivers; but he is clearly an outsider, but you do not where he comes from as he is wearing a shemagh that covers much of his face.

That said; what do you do?

At this point I know a lot of you are still working out kinks to your character and finalizing details. Also, we may have other players looking to submit their ideas yet given that the quest doesn't start to roughly Friday.

At this point I'm confident that even if you're not sure of your Stats/etc. you at least know how you want to play your personality.

For now you're at this oasis with some NPC's for flavor - but take the time to put your character on the Campaign Page (even if it's not completely finished) and then you can start doing some "In-Character" Social RP with the other potential players.

Hopefully you'll learn how all of your character will act In-Game best with each other, but it will give you the chance to have a little Social RP fun while you learn each other's styles even while you're finishing things up (hopefully :)

If you've already thought of a way of how your characters met, use this time to incorporate that into the story with the others and just do some Social RP to get things going. The NPC's there will still be like normal NPC's - they can be interacted with if you'd like.

With that in mind I'll still be checking the Recruitment Thread for the next couple of days to hopefully answer any follow-up questions or concerns. That said - let's see some Social RP in the meantime :)

Dain GM- First, should not the last post be on the gameplay thread, as we are going to be posting IC on it.

Now to my character.

I take your comments on limitations on some level 1 spells. Thanks.

You can find the first 2 cantrips atd20pfsrd.com . I put the descriptions below.

I hadn't realised they were 3rd party. If you don't want 3rd party I will take them off.

The other cantrips are odd. They show up on my herolab, so I included them. But they don't show up on a d20pfsrd.com search. I will just remove them.

Cleansing Ray

School necromancy; Level cleric/oracle 0, druid/shaman 0, inquisitor 1, witch 0

CASTING

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S

EFFECT

Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect ray
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yes

DESCRIPTION

You direct a ray of negative energy that is harmful to simple organisms. You must make a ranged touch attack to hit, and if the ray hits an ooze or plant creature, it deals 1d6 hp damage. You may instead target a square (AC 5), destroying a 5-ft. patch of non-creature fungus, mold, or slime and disinfecting unattended, non- magical objects in the square. Objects tainted with magical or unusual diseases, parasites, or infestations are unaffected by this spell.

Deepen Shadow

School transmutation; Level sorcerer/wizard 0, witch 0

CASTING

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S

EFFECT

Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft. per caster level)
Duration 1 min.
Saving Throw none (harmless); Spell Resistance no

DESCRIPTION

You designate a 5-ft. square in which shadows converge. This grants anyone attempting a Stealth check in that square a +4 circumstance bonus.

With so many posts, I actually missed the witch one and thought I had picked out something that hadn't been taken yet. I am set on my race, but not my class.

Is Corbie available?

No one is playing a Corbie yet, though we do have a significant melee presence already.

Was trying to figure out if a ranged corbie was possible. If not, I'll just go back to looking at what other classes may both be good for ranged and aren't already taken. It gets harder to balance those two things as more classes become spoken for.

I haven't really looked at the Corbie class but I remember it being martial in nature so I thought I'd mention the melee thing.
As far as classes, you can still do:

Aristocrat
Barbarian
Cavalier (APG)
Cultist (a variant of Oracle [APG])
Druid*
Monk
Ranger
Rogue
Warrior

But if we take out raw melee types and NPC classes, that pretty much leaves:

Cultist (a variant of Oracle [APG])
Druid*
Ranger
Rogue

Or some of the classes from the PHB, like Scholar.
Of course you can play a number of variations of those, like a storm druid, or a trapper ranger, etc. But if you're comfortable using different archetypes, you could even recycle these classes:

Alchemist (APG)
Bard
Fighter

Such as an arcane duelist or archaeologist bard, maybe a preservationist/bomb focused alchemist, or an archer or crossbowman fighter.

Or you could be crazy and play a sorcerer, but with d4 HD and tons of ire-provoking magic that feels like a death sentence.

I don't have a problem with a second witch if that is relevant. There is the question of party balance though.

On that list, my preferred ranged class is Ranger. So I will go with that then.

Personally, I do not want to see any recycled classes as it becomes redundant even with a different archetype. I'd like to see a unique class taken that would fill out the party via the skills and such we don't have.

Well, my first choice of Unique class was Bounty Hunter and that was discouraged. There's already a Gladiator, Spies do not seem like they would make valid range characters. Corbie is also doubtful for range and Scholar is of no interest too me. So recycled classes with a different archtype is the only I see left.

@Ioneyse: The only reason Bounty Hunter was discouraged was because I had already built a Mazanian Ranger and it would have been overkill to have a Mazanian Bounty Hunter in game, too. If you want to pursue Bounty Hunter now, you're free to do so as I made a different character to fill in some of the missing skill sets. But if you do mean to go Bounty Hunter, please let me know as soon as possible as I gave my girl skills to compensate for lack of any roguish skills in the party and I can remove (or possibly amend) those and finalise my Bard. Thanks.

There is also the Sniper archetype for the Rogue. But that gives up trapfinding, which is I think the main reason for wanting a rogue.

There is also the Sniper archetype for the Rogue. But that gives up trapfinding, which is I think the main reason for wanting a rogue.

At this point Ariarh/Tairin has Trapfinding - she burned a Trait for this so that role could be filled. If someone else wants to be a full rogue, that would free up the Trait for her, but I believe she's going to try to focus more on Rogue stuff as she levels.

Now, this is a new system for all of us. That being the case, I think I'm going to rule if we all make it to Level 3 then I'll let players make adjustments/slight rebuilds to their character concept if what they've built isn't working out well.

Well, then the Sniper archetype may be good as being both good at ranged combat [what the player wants] and lead to a well balanced party. But it is not my character.

I think letting players make some adjustments is an excellent idea. I dislike being stuck with poor decisions made because I don't know the system.

A couple of questions. We get the normal languages equal to out int mod? And we can take any language? I would think so but haven't seen it written anywhere.

And do we need mounts badly? She Who knows can afford a camel, just. If we are all going to need and take mounts I will.

I will be multi-classing my character on higher levels, so I'm hoping to cover more of the roguish type of things as Tairin progresses/advances. I have something in mind, but I also like to play organically and see what comes up as the game progresses and then make up my mind.

Yes, @SheWhoKnows, you get bonuses languages equal to your INT mod - but one of those bonuses must be Susrahnite and the rest wholly up to you. :) I think you're going have the most languages among us.

I'd like to know about mounts as well.

Thank you ever helpful Ariarh.

If it turns out we have mounts, and camels are easily best i think, we will have to change some of what has been said in character as they will need water too.

You're welcome. Being on the opposite hemisphere to the GM, I can answer questions he can't while abed. :)

I hear you regarding watering the camels. Unfortunately, Tairin doesn't have enough coin to purchase a riding camel (which cost 150gp). After all her weapons, armour and gear, she has around 40gp remaining. Unless she was able to steal/"borrow" one from her late father, then she probably doesn't have one. Hmm, maybe she can hire a camel or may have paid fare as part of a caravan? Just thinking aloud. :)

Question for the GM-

These are the racial traits from Yar-Ammonite-

"Racial Traits: +2 racial modifier to Intelligence;
+2 racial bonus to Knowledge (arcana) and Perception skills;
Stonecunning (+2 racial bonus on Perception checks to notice unusual stonework, detect unusual stonework within 10 feet with Perception check even if not actively searching, use the Perception skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can, and intuit depth underground)."

This is about the last 2. +2 to perception and Stonecunning. That gives a further +2 racial bonus to perception in some circumstances.

By the RAW, the 2 racial bonuses will not stack. So the +2 to perception from Stonecunning in some circumstances will never do anything.

I suggest a house rule that the 2 stack, or that the stonecunning +2 is untyped.

Ariarh- Where do you and GM Dain live?

Just curious. I am in Perth, Western Australia.

I know what you mean about running out of cash.

The good thing about being a witch is all I need is a dagger, a witch's kit [incomplete as I can't carry it all w/o encumbrance]and a second wineskin.

Ariarh- Where do you and GM Dain live?

Just curious. I am in Perth, Western Australia.

Dain resides on the east coast of the US and I'm in Sydney, Australia. Hello, fellow Aussie! :)

And I concur with allowing the perception bonuses to stack. Dain's pretty good about such things.

Hello fellow Aussie indeed.

I used to live in Sydney from 1981 to 1983, which gives away my age somewhat. I was in Neutral Bay and Chatswood and had a lot of fun. Where are you?

I lived in Wollongong during those years (born and bred - moved to Sydney in 1993). I live in the south-west of Sydney, but I used to work in North Sydney and know NB and Chatswood quite well. Always wanted to travel to/visit Perth. Never been to the west coast.

This is where I was born and bred.

Perth is a good place to live. It is not such a tourist destination to my mind. Unless you are a beach baby, the beaches here are a lot better than on the French Riviera. Sadly I am not a beach baby.

Most of what is of interest to tourists in WA is natural. Out of Perth, the Kimberleys and so on.

If you do find your way over here we might even meet face to face.

Born in a coastal town - beach baby here. lol Though I tend to burn like a lobster. Ha. Still, I do love the ocean.

I don't doubt the beaches are better there - have visited the French Riviera and have been underwhelmed (grander hopes and all that or maybe I just love our Aussie coastline better).

As to meeting face to face - I never say never. :)

Okay, VERY early start for me tomorrow, so heading to bed (never gone to bed before 1 am in a very long time - it's quite shocking to my system). Night!