The Wild Wild East (Inactive)

Game Master nate lange

@Michael- naginata is addressed in the swords document. Adamantine and mithril are fine (by 'low fantasy' I mostly meant less magic and fewer supernatural creatures.

I have re-calculated my ability scores, and here is the full write up:
Straight Point Buy:
STR 12 DEX 14 CON 14 INT 8 WIS 18 CHA 8

Racial Ability Modifiers: +2 WIS +2 CHA
STR 12 DEX 14 CON 14 INT 8 WIS 20 CHA 10

Level 4 Bump: +1 STR
STR 13 DEX 14 CON 14 INT 8 WIS 20 CHA 10

The only implications I see this having on my mechanical build is that I take Power Attack at 5 instead of 1 and switch out whatever feat I took at that slot to 1. I don't know if I'm going to stick with Antagonize or not, it will depend on where I take him with the backstory, his signature fighting style, and other personality stuff. Right now it does fit but also feels sort of superfluous.

The key is if I am selected, I will need a player in the group who wants to have such a relationship.

I would probably be more than ok with that. I love have ties to other players. I have never had the opportunity to play a samurai so much less have an aid, that is usually me.

How do you see you as becoming the retainer of a samurai? Also I would really like to try and be a female for this game.

nate lange would that be something I would have to keep hidden and pretend to be a male? I am personally fine with either option. I love the misery :)

How about the Sevenbranched Sword? I'm working on an unchained monk, and I really need a two-handed sword of some kind, preferably one that is in the 'Monk' fighter weapon group, so it qualifies for ascetic style & form.

If it helps, historic versions exist, although they were probably mostly for show. I'd claim that it's at least as real as the nine-ring broadsword.

Edit: Alternatively, would you allow the pre-erreta version of the Sacred Fist, where warpriest level counts as your monk level for flurry of blows? Then I could leverage Crusader's Flurry into something useful.

The only implications I see this having on my mechanical build is that I take Power Attack at 5 instead of 1 and switch out whatever feat I took at that slot to 1. I don't know if I'm going to stick with Antagonize or not, it will depend on where I take him with the backstory, his signature fighting style, and other personality stuff. Right now it does fit but also feels sort of superfluous.

Is there any reason not to lower your wisdom by 1 at character creation? That'd give you 4 extra points, so you could have +1str, and two points left, then raise your wisdom to 20 at level 4? It produces the same results at 4th level and after, only with 3 points to spend.

THAT MAKES SENSE. THANKSSS

Edit:
So my base now becomes
STR 13 DEX 14 CON 14 INT 11 WIS 17 CHA 8
Racial +2 WIS +2 CHA
lvl 4 +1 WIS

End result is
STR 13 DEX 14 CON 14 INT 11 WIS 20 CHA 10

Thanks again friend.

I have no real desire to have a mount though and the samurai gets one. Would I be able to trade the horse for a different animal that I can use in combat?

@Insnare- do you mean that in the sense of being a commoner who wants to be a samurai (and kind of forces his way in), or are you talking more about the oddball antics? Either way is fine, I'm just curious.

@Oyzar- magus is fine. Stance on occult classes has been updated in the classes document. Two shortswords or greatsword/feint are both fine.

@The Chess- pretty much any fighter should be, just give it some Asian flavor. Aldori swordlords wouldnt use that name in game but it would be its own school of swordplay.

@Wuliev- the Guided weapon enchantment is a 3.X remnant, I'm not going to use it as written. If you want to use it I'll make it more like agile- have it add Wis to damage when used with Guided Hand (and we could change the requirements for guided hand so inquisitors can take it). Basic setting info link is in the campaign heading.

@rungok- no I haven't seen Bunraku. I told one of my RL friends about this game and he immediately asked the same question. I checked Netflix but it's not on there anymore. Kensai if definitely an acceptable choice. Hit points are now addressed in the revised character creation link. I'm not reviewing mechanics yet at all (so feel free to tweak things if you want).

Excellent. The only thing that really changes with my character is he has 55 hp and a little bit more leftover gold. Im okay with this.

Commencing classic samurai and spaghetti western film binge.... NOW.

It will be worth it even if I don't get chosen. This whole process has just been really refreshing in general, and for that Nate, I must thank you. Sorry for posting so much, my enthusiasm is perhaps forcing my hand.

About the Guided weapon, I understand. I'll re-configure it all out and we'll work from there!

Let me know what your verdict is on making so the inquisitor fits with guided hand, and I'll make it work for you. Totally willing to spend a feat or two on that kinda MADness.

So I have looked though the orders availible to the samurai and I am liking the Ronin, Order of the Blue Rose, or the Order of the sheild.

Does one of these fit the style of game you are hoping for better than the others?

For the Ronin option I would actually like to have the characters master be killed instead of them being demoted by their own actions. This option would have a bit of a revenge style.

The blue rose is clearly a try and find a peaceful option before resorting to violence style of play. Which I tend to enjoy and it forces some creativity to achieve.

While the order of the shield is a tank, for the fighting style, and I might want to go into the prestige class, stalwart defender with this one.

I have asked a few questions so I will wait for answers before I get to building.

@The Chess- pretty much any fighter should be, just give it some Asian flavor. Aldori swordlords wouldnt use that name in game but it would be its own school of swordplay.

Thanks Nate! Exactly my intention, to add a eastern flavor to it. I'll even add a small paragraph or two about the "new" school.

@Loup- see the sword document in the campaign header for details about rapier and other swords.

@Wuliev- Asia has traditionally been pretty syncretistic when it comes to religion. We'll embrace that and the syncretism of pathfinder canon.

@Oyzar- crafting feats and skills will get extra gold to spend, but you have to pay full price for everything (details are in the revised character creation link). I'll look at the arcana again, but I'm probably not going to allow them (the magus is already plenty dangerous).

@The Chess- saw and answered.

Every good western teamup needs a guy with a shotgun. Kenoichi Harida may just be that guy for this wild wild east showdown.

Kenoichi just likes a good fight. Much like Fezzik, he's at his best when taking on mobs.

Now to find a picture, get inspired, write a background, and go back and re-adjust the lug.

Looks like maybe a dao.

@Loup- if you want to use two hands with finesse you could take an elven curve blade or estoc (see swords link for more details). Or if you want to fight more like in crouching tiger hidden dragon (where one hand holds the sword and the other is just often touching the hilt or blade) you could mechanically fight one handed and just flavor your empty hand as being on or near your sword.

@DAA- I'll allow up to one woman in the group, it would be up to her whether to hide her identity or be open about it. There aren't a ton of people who can tell a 7th level badass swordswoman what to do or how to behave.

@Burnscar- the temple sword is a monk weapon that is on the list and you can wield it in two for extra strength/power attack damage. Edit: I don't remember how they changed sacred fist but I'll look at it. I don't remember sacred fist being over powered, I'd probably allow the original (bear in my mind though, their flurry is based on a regular monk, not an unchained one).

...you could mechanically fight one handed and just flavor your empty hand as being on or near your sword.

Yep, that's exactly what I was hoping for. The elven curve blade and estoc are both nice, but I'm not in love with them myself for the most part. I'd love to build with a straight katana or a rapier for a jian user, depending on what build I decide is more unique and more fun.

To give an idea, right now I'm torn between a jian master (built, I think, with the learned duelist fighter) who's very disciplined and structured in his approach to combat, or a more carefree katana man, potentially some former ronin or criminal who's reformed to try and help people (probably a la Rurouni Kenshin, not sure on build just yet). Of course if you're more open to occult classes the medium is super neat and a favorite of mine, but maybe I'm playing too many of those already. I'll probably try a build to see how it works and decide.

EDIT: I am curious, you mention in the character creation document a homebrew feat to replace Fencing/Slashing Grace. What exactly is that feat, and how does it work? Depending on what all it works with that could open up some interesting options right there.

Making a character now... western style traveler.. noble fencer swashbuckler.. cutlass and buckler fighter so I'm interested as in the post above about homebrew slashing grace feat please?

Well I asked because it seems like there is a bit of discrimination and I wanted to know what issues she would have had becoming a samurai. If it is unheard of or simply difficult for a woman to manage to do so.

Societal pressure can tell powerful people to to a whole lot. If this society is strict on gender role and since you are accepting only one woman I am assuming they are then no one could accept her as their samurai either because a woman is weak or out of fear of what others might think of them.

Though historically there have been many female samurai. It depends on the role women hold in your world.

Also which of those orders would fit better in your mind? I rather like all three.

@DAA (or any other samurai that don't want a mount)- if you don't want a horse I'll let you take a hawk or falcon (both use the "bird" entry) or a hunting dog (using the "dog" entry) for your companion. Since that makes mounted archery useless, replace that with the cavalier's expert trainer ability. The sword saint archetype trades away the mount too if you want to look at that.

Brilliant! That works for me. So since I am trying for the samurai will there be a 'lord' I am beholden to? How much will that aspect come into play?

@Wuliev- I'm trying to get through all the questions... Hopefully after that I'll have time to look at guided hand.

@DAA- without any information about the rest of the party I can't really offer any info on which orders might fit best (keep your eyes open for posts from the guaranteed players on their guys). I would prefer you have motives beyond revenge... Someone you'd like getting revenge on is fine, but you won't be actively seeking them right now and (at least for the first adventure) you guys are more or less the good guys.

@Loup/Tharasiph/plenty others I'm sure- I'm trying to get through all the questions... Hopefully after that I'll have time to look for or rewrite my version of the Dex to damage feats.

@DAA- I was just thinking about the Samurai as a class... Women are definitely not expected to be able warriors. As a 7th level badass swordswoman you could sort of flaunt the fact that you're a female warrior if you want. In terms of actually serving a lord as a proper samurai (which you don't necessarily have to do depending on your order), you would either have to convincingly pretend to be a man or you'd have to serve a very progressive lord and will get some resistance from other proper samurai. If you're still actively serving a lord he has to have some specific interest in the frontier, and be loose enough in his attitude to send you out there on a pretty open ended mission.

Revenge takes time so that would be present in her mind but not her only driving force. As for her other motives that would be pending since I have yet to finish her. I do promise that I can make a character who wants revenge and will be able to work in a group. Other things come up and life moves on. Should she be able to avenge her master and who ever else was killed then she would do so but survival determines if she would even get that chance. A large part of survival would be finding people she can trust and who would help her. To get that help she would assume that she would have to help them with their issues. One driving force would be the need to belong again. To have a group of people that trust each other.

She may know who they are or might not. That kind of depends on what you think might make the better story, at least in my opinion. If she knows she would have to be in a position to actually do something about it. That might mean growing stronger, finding allies, or something I cannot think of at the moment.

If I am tied to wanderer82's character then she would also feel beholden to him and ensuring that he is safe.

That is fine by me. I will think on it a little and decide if I want to hide it or flaunt it. I think I am liking the Ronin option. This would allow, or force, her to have to flee. To vanish into the wilderness. Not sure yet.

I believe I am officially caught up on questions now. If I missed yours, I'm sorry please post it again (after you double check that you didn't just miss the response). I know there are a few things people are waiting on (feats, sacred fist, swashbuckler arcana...) I'm going to try to do those next and then check for more questions later.

So you mention that in the starting gold that we get an extra 100gp per rank in a craft skill correct? Is that to represent item we crafted and sold or made for ourselves?

Correct.

After seeing all the answers, I'm leaning heavily towards my oracle. I'm working out the fluff in my head, but the crunch is done.

Alright...

- Magus: for the swashbuckler related arcana we will use the post errata versions.

- Sacred Fist: for flurry of blows we will use the unchained monk's version (extra attack at full BAB; no penalty to hit, no change to normal BAB).

Alright...

- Magus: for the swashbuckler related arcana we will use the post errata version.

Okay thats fine. I dont know the difference anyways.

How do you feel about new players? I'm thinking about getting into the pbp scene, I'd love to throw a submission in for this one if you'll consider it

Hi this is Insnare's submission.

Basically, Yumiko came from a samurai family but wasn't allowed to become one because of society being against women or her family whichever fits the setting best.

She has had two jobs in her career being a midwife/healer(her power coming from her god) and being a swordswoman. I want her to be like Mifune's character being a snappy wisecracking person. She is chaotic because she doesn't like the law which has forced her into this lifestyle because of arbitrary norms, she provides a needed service by helping along the birth of babies.

Her plot hook would be that she had just finished administering a birth and then the reason for action appears.

Awesome. Thank you so much!

If I'm taking an archetype that replaces the judgment class feature can I still qualify for the feat?

Sorry to be such a persistent pain... I am making headway with his persona however, and I can promise that it shall be worth it.

Or I just don't make the cut, which is less desirable but is certainly a possible outcome.

Thanks for starting this whole maelstromic shindig.

***Important***
Here is the document with my/our version of Dex to damage feats.
It has also been linked in the 'feats' section of the revised character creation link.

This version of slashing grace replaces the published feat (which is not available), it also functions very differently. I'm going to quickly point out the major differences...
1) Deadly Agility (which is what really replaces Slashing Grace) cannot be selected for a weapon with an effortless lace because that type of weapon is not eligible for weapon finesse.
2) Because Slashing Grace makes its chosen type of weapon eligible for weapon finesse, it allows you to select Deadly Agility with that weapon.
To give a practical example... you want to make a Dex based katana wielder- you take weapon focus and weapon finesse right away; an effortless lace lets you use finesse with your katana, but does not qualify it for deadly agility. So, you pick up slashing grace- now the lace is worthless, but you can use finesse with any katana. Now that you're eligible, you take deadly grace and add Dex to hit and damage (instead of Str) with all your katana attacks.

@Ironclad- I have no objections to new players; we were all new at some point.

If I'm taking an archetype that replaces the judgment class feature can I still qualify for the feat?

you're killing me, smalls...

***Very Important***
Make sure you really read through the race information. I'm not reviewing mechanics at all yet but I've glanced at a couple of builds and can see that they haven't all adjusted their race accordingly. Aasimar and Tieflings are pretty much unchanged but humans have been augmented and genasi completely overhauled to bring them all up to around the same number of race points.

I've never used hero-lab, it might not like the changes but there must be some customization options in it? Or else you can edit the sheet after you copy it into the messageboard.

The sanctified slayer archetype replaces the judgment class feature with the studied target class feature from the slayer class.

that really doesn't leave me much to work with... I'll think about it.

I'll spend two feats to make this happen. Take 'em! I did also have all of these elements present in my original loose submission.

Here is my submission, Tsumoro. I originally put him together for a game very similar to this one. I have read the class sheet and understand your limits on barbarians. I hope to get an exception to represent his 'early training' and brutal combat style.
======================================================================

Tsumoro's mother told him that his father was a samurai. This caused Tsumoro to believe himself above the other peasants and lead him he used his size and strength to bully them. He was the terror of the village. In time, a group of ronin passed through the village and he left with them to learn the way of the samurai. As it turned out, they were bandits. Tsumoro did learn, though, and quickly became a ranking member of the group.
They eventually returned to his village where they found a group of samurai waiting for them. During the ensuing battle Tsumoro witnessed his mother's murder and he realized his own evil. Tsumoro immediately turned on his group and helped kill them all. In the end, he knelt down over his dead mother and waited for the killing blow. It never came. Instead one of the samurai, seeing the true repentance in his eyes, offered to train him in the true way of the samurai.
Tsumoro has grown much since then. He has survived many fights and has had many adventures. He now travels the land hoping that helping others will help him forgive himself.

Tsumoro is a massively muscled, hairy, human. He is burly and seems terminally unkempt. He knows his size and demeanor can be intimidating, but in combat he becomes truly fearsome. Among friends, though, he smiles easily. As a ronin, he has had to learn skills to take care of his gear and though his weapons and armor are well used, they are also well kept. Tsumoro has also developed into a passable carpenter.

Tsumoro- are you looking for a non-swordsman spot, or are you planning on switching things around to focus on your sword instead of the earthbreaker?

A non-swordsman spot, though I am not too proud to make changes if it means I get a spot. I can easily switch to a greatsword of some sort instead.

Presenting Weston "The Caged Beast" Smith, an Ex-Slave Caucasian now free, and working on truly harnessing his own powers, which he refers to as "The Uncaged." Enjoy!

Note: Him being caucasian, his name is purposely western style, and intentional. If this is TOO western / caucasian a name for this campaign, let me know and I can change it up!

@Nate: Awesome, I'll make a start on a submission

Wow, we went from tons of questions to zero questions super fast. I'm not sure if people finally ran out of questions or if I scared everyone off...

Hi all. I am the preselected player soaking up the non-swordsman spot (sorry).

Going with a L/G warpriest (in the vein of Linner from babylon 5).

Working on the outline tonight. Holler at my if you have any ideas for common backstory.

Hi nate, Chess here. Here's my submission :)

I think the questions have probably trickled out because people have asked the key ones. I have a new one, though: How would you feel about evil/morally corrupt characters in the game? This one comes down a lot to the nature of the adventure plans and how we're to work together. Westerns often have the badass evil guy that you root for even though he's not very nice, often filling an assassin type role--a gunfighter purely for hire, someone who enjoys killing, often with their own twisted sense of honor about it. Would that potentially work for this game, or would you prefer folks that lean more towards neutrality and heroics?

I'm currently torn between two character concepts: an assassin type who's known to practice an especially reckless and deadly style that gives him unmatched killing power against a chosen opponent (built with daring champion cavalier), or a swordmaster whose style focuses on fast reaction and defensive moves to subdue threats, who's worked most frequently as a shadow-bodyguard for important political figures (veiled blade/whirling dervish swashbuckler). The ideas are very different and, I think, fairly unique in terms of fighting beliefs and focus; the main question is which might work better for this game in particular.

I didn't list any alignment restrictions because that idea of an evil assassin who has who has compassion on the downtrodden (or just figures helping people is his best chance to kill people more-or-less legally) is a fairly common, and workable, trope. That said, one of the players with a guaranteed spot just said his guy is Lawful Good, so maybe consider how your guy will interact with him before making your final choice...

I do have one question-

Should I worry about spending that last little bit of gold on a ranged weapon as back up?

So I'm thinking of rolling up a tiefling ranger, two weapon style. I noticed in the class guide ranger had no listed changes, is there anything specific I would need to consider before I put pen to paper?