|
Quick question, and I realize answering it may be a ways off, but as far as cavalier orders go, are the sun, moon, spear, and hearth the only ones available? If so, what are the stats for choosing them? If not, which ones are available?
Until then, I'm going to work Zophio Zamburu as a Cavalier of the Order of the Penitent. Basically looking for a character who's a former criminal, whose skills were called upon in exchange for his freedom. He's come to Rondel after having fulfilled his purpose and been forthwith professionally disposed of (aka they're done with him so he gets a BS assignment in a no-name town. Similar to the ex-military hook).
Also, to answer the survey:
Plot: 5
Difficulty: 3
RP: 2
Optimization: 2
SoD: 5
Combat: 3
Serious: 3
Here's my zebra, pending questions answered!
Also, I have an idea about how the Mount thing would work. The zebra would be its own mount, with all the bonuses and the like applying to itself, as if it was constantly mounted. We could also do away with it altogether, but I just wanted to run that by you.
Actually, there are some problems which need to be addressed in regard to such, which were touched on briefly in the other MLP thread.
For example, the ability to make Ride checks to have the mount not take damage...That gets a bit powerful when the character and mount are the same. It effectively becomes a 'save with your best skill against taking any damage at all.'
Mind you, I'm all for the idea of cavaliers. The idea of a unicorn cavalier/magus who could teleport-charge, or a pegasus who could dive-charge, are particularly nifty and fun, IMHO. But just saying 'Oh, apply all mount skills to the character' becomes broken really fast.
EDIT: Mounted Archery is another "Wait, how does that work exactly?" feat -- unless you're suggesting your character can run on their hind-legs while working a bow/crossbow?
I'm going to extend the deadline for completed sheets and so forth to Monday.
Everyone remember that a defining feature of how other ponies see your character is whether you are a Sun (born during the day), or a Moon (born during the night).
@Zophio It's fine to be your own mount. You'll qualify for mounted feats, etc, but you won't be able to, for example, negate hits on yourself using ride checks.
Okay, so, a cavalier of the Holy Order of the Moon. That's fine! Certainly the Order of the Moon is willing to overlook a little light crime in your past, both out of utility and to redeem you. Typically, you would have to be a Moon, which means that you would've been born at night.
I'm going to extend the deadline for completed sheets and so forth to Monday.
I'm sorry, I thought you only wanted a 3-4 line summation with race & class and the questionairre by today? I should be able to do more tonight but just this minute I have no access to my books.
<---- Shunka, in case it wasn't patently obvious.
Yep. So I guess I'm not really extending the deadline, but you get the idea (having an idea of numbers and concepts was so I could set the groups on Sunday, but that should be quite easy as we will only be one or two group, and no-one will be left out, which means no difficult decisions.
I mean, I'm flexible about some of the details if you aren't sure of equipment or something, but it'd be good to get going whilst we have some momentum!
To be clear recruitment is not closed and new players are still very welcome!
Sorry, it's 3AM and I'm not totally coherent. :)
Okay so, no damage negation (honestly wasn't expecting that). Also, mounted archery applies to all ranged attacks, right? Because I was planning on Zophio being a spear thrower (hence the two-handed throwing feat). It says "ranged weapon" ... I guess that's not necessarily the same thing...?
And would the order of the moon give me the same traits as the order of the seal in this case? Or are there different ones?
Yep, use the order of the seal mechanically. The order of the moon is a broad church.
Okay, I've done my character sheet! ^^
A Griffon Valley Kingdom works well for my original intent.
Is it fine to take monster feats that apply to the race, such as Hover, Wingover, and Flyby Attack?
Also, are there any favored class options? Not really important though.
Would it also be allowed to take claw-related Catfolk Rogue Talents? I have my eye on Vicious Claws in particular.
I saw 25 points, max gold by class, 2 traits.
Max HP for 1st level?
I note that hammers are the weapons of the chosen of the Sun...But I don't see a weapon for the Moon?
@Chandni, yep, max HP at first level.
I kind-of want to say no, Shubshi. Okay Shubshi, in principle yes, its okay, but I'm going to add some additional conditions: Hover requires one rank in fly, wingover requires three ranks in fly, flyby attack requires 8 ranks in fly. You can't take the catfolk racial talents, sorry - they're balanced for that race.
@Chandni - Longbow and rapier are the favoured Lunar weapons.
It's not a problem! I wasn't really hinging on them and I wanted to know how much mileage I could get for aerial fights because Pegasi have the magic ability to hover in place already.
Status update! So far we have...
Chandni Half-Hooved, Moonborn Hippogriff Savant - sheet received
Shubshi-Meshre-Shakkan, Griffon Scout, rashly5 - sheet received
Midnight Dove, Moonborn, Unicorn Oracle, Ythiel - sheet received
Zophio Zamburu, Moonborn, Zebra Cavalier, Order of the Moon (Order of the Seal), The Little King - sheet received
DarkLightHitomi, Changeling Sorcerer
SpaceFurry, character not set yet
...if I've missed anyone or mistaken any details or you've sent your sheet but I haven't listed it received then I've made some mistake and you should poke me a bit.
The player from my IRL group is unfortunately a bit too busy to join at the moment, so we'll go ahead with six. I'm open to the possibility of adding additional characters, so they (or anyone else who wants to) can request to join later. Six's a good number though.
Sheet notes:
Zophio and Midnight Dove... to tie things nicely together, perhaps you are heading in concert to Rondel? Gimpy Leg, as an elder half-zebran in the service of the Lunar Church, may be been something of a touchstone to Zophio too. If so, I’d suggest something like this… Midnight Dove’s has likely been troubled by dreams of trees, bearing apples of gold and silver, the whispering of the wind through their leaves the sound of fluttering pages, beneath the swift-changing phases of the moon. Archbishop Poetic Star’s archivists believe this vision may, among other possibilities, to an obscure tome in the possession of Father Crimson Zeal of the Order of the Sun. A direct request from the Church of the Moon to deliver the tome has been met with prevarication, the need to complete his own research, the dangers such an item might face upon the road and so forth. Aware that Midnight Dove has a friend in Rondel, Poetic Star is happy to assign the task of personally retrieving the tome to her in an effort to improve their relationship. He’s assigned Zophio to assist her, in the event that more than a polite request is called for, and to protect Midnight Dove on the road. Gimpy Leg would quite like you to return with a sample of the local cider, which is rumoured to be a fine curative - rumours he’d dismissed, but the tome investigation revealed a zebran living in the village, and it’s possible she may have had a hand in the brewing, possibly including some herb he’d like to add to his own store of knowledge - enough to ask you to investigate a little, since you’re going there anyway.
Zophio... first, did I answer all the questions you had? Second, no unintelligent horses. Sorry. You can have that hireling as an assistant though. Naturally, they'll be an NPC, but one who's loyally employed by you/assigned to you by the church.
As an additional footnote... is it okay if the 'military official' was a Knight of the Order of the Moon? Thus he preferred to use their internal justice rather than involving the Canterlot City Guard.
Midnight Dove Ponies get +2 to a single ability score, not all of them! Sorry…
If I’ve understood correctly, you have the ‘life’ mystery? In that case, I don’t think you have the right proficiency to use a warhammer - and anyway, it’s a bit strange for a Lunar Oracle to wield the favoured weapon of the Sun. A Morningstar (Moonstar in your case, I guess), is pretty much a straight swap, and it still deals 1d8 damage.
Chandni... basically looks fine. As a resident of Rondel, you’ll know that your half-zebran Aunt Webb occasionally recommends a half-pint of cider at the Fallen Apple as a curative for various non-specific malaises, or as part of a programme of recovery from some injury. You’ve always thought that this was likely simply to encourage ponies to take their medicine, and to improve their opinion of the medicine-woman.
Shubshi... again looks fine. My understanding is that you’re planning on using the ‘Noble Born’ plot hook (though, in fact, the hooks are not obligatory). I believe that DarkLightHitomi plans to do the same - so you can either be a mercenary hired to support DarkLight’s character, or you can be a mercenary hired by the family on the other side of this elopement.
Shubshi is Sunborn though I haven't really noted that anywhere on my sheet mostly because I didn't know where to put it.
I do plan on following the plot hook, and the main idea is that he's in town due to mercenary work. I'll leave the decision on whether or not we're working together to Chandni but I agree it's more interesting since it means he's forced to treat her as a client (maybe as protection detail or to actually do the tracking and her the convincing) and it serves to tie us in working together at the start of the game.
You can note Sunborn anywhere you like! Under 'deity' would be fine I guess. It's a bit less relevant for a griffon anyway, though it is still important.
Ah... Chandni is Shunka's character, who is also Rosza. Since they're living in Rondel, I don't think they're using a character hook.
DarkLightHitomi is someone else, as I understand it planning to play a noblepony (or a changeling imponysonating a noblepony), using the noble-born plot hook. Chandni is their half-sibling.
Whoops! I totally meant DarkLightHitomi. I just confused the name because it was right above mine and derped.
Just trying to think up a good name, any suggestions?
though I believe I'm here looking for Chandni, I've heard of the situation "the noble hook" though and figure on taking a peek into it, though still undecided about whether I'll do anything about it.
There's a pony name creator here...
http://nimbostratus.deviantart.com/art/MLP-Name-Generator-352292341
...canonically, you have an elder brother named Blade Honor, who's the Duke of Spearpoint, if that's any help.
Chandni, from her own POV, is an orphan. She knows she's somehow distantly related to her "Aunt" Webb on the pony side, but she fantasizes about being related to the great and powerful. After all, she's obviously not just any half-pegasus...At least, she likes to think it's obvious (and it kind of is)...And why else would she just be dumped in some little village with an "Aunt" who isn't one and who won't talk about "how her parents died"?
Chandni has been making up stories about being an abandoned princess with a troubled past since she was a little girl. That's tapered off a bit, lately, but she'll still go on at length about her (fictitious) heritage.
Funny when the truth is stranger than the fiction, isn't it?
I think it would be unlikely, and rather pointless for your character to not know. Hiding from the public and other nobles kinda makes sense, but leaving you in the dark like that seems rather extreme.
Personally I think the only way your heritage would come into play at all is a few folks actually know about you, which would be you and your family who would likely give you at least a little support despite keeping you hidden. Also it is the only reasonable way either of us would know about it or for it to come up in play.
Perhaps I am "passing through" but actually dropping off letters and stuff from the rest of the family. This way the heritage can affect gameplay and be a secret we actually have to attempt to keep secret from others, things like making excuses for why I spend so much talking to you when I'm obviously /way/ above your station as far as other folk are concerned. And other things that might seem suspicious to observers. Thus the secret becomes a constant goal and something that we must deal with, rather than something that is unlikely to add much to the plot/story. If all records of you are destroyed and no one treats you as family, then the secret becomes pointless as no one would believe it to begin with, nor could you be a lost heir mcguffin without killing off too many folks, myself included.
Just a suggestion.
The traditional thing to do (unless you were Charles II or William IV) was to declare the child stillborn, then smuggle them out in a bedpan and donate them to a monastery or nunnery somewhere far away (see Catherine Fitzcharles). Preferably far, far, far away. Telling them who they were was rather pointless unless they actually were in line for something, in which case they probably had more powerful guardians (as happened to Wilhelmina Caroline of Ansbach and Wilhelmina Maria Frederica of Rochlitz). Telling them who they were if they weren't guarded was liable to have them opening their mouths and talking about it. Few children can keep a secret for years.
I had initially intended her to not be in line for anything, and shuffled off more as an embarrassment and source of blackmail potential than a 'bastard heir.' That was, admittedly, before your character came into the picture (Wasn't really expecting royalty!). I'd originally conceived (hah. hah. hah. *facefault*) of her as the offspring of a lady of Pegasopolis and one of Those Damned Griffons (you know, as opposed to the nice friendly obedient ones). An embarrassment at the time due to being an extramarital affair, and an embarrassment later when the Griff Dartha seceded and the girl's father was a quite centrally placed noble on the Wrong Side of the line. Upgrading the Lady of Pegasopolis to the sister of a Duke or half-sister of the King just upgrades the need for the little mutant to be put someplace far away, I'd imagine.
Basically, from a roleplay perspective I was interested in all the Flaw elements of a 'nobility' trait without any of the bennies.
Personally I think the only way your heritage would come into play at all is a few folks actually know about you...If all records of you are destroyed and no one treats you as family, then the secret becomes pointless as no one would believe it to begin with, nor could you be a lost heir mcguffin without killing off too many folks, myself included.
Unless the point originally was not that there's any OOC desire for her to be an heir, but rather an OOC desire to have her manifesting faint echoes of actual ancestors who she believes are fictitious creations...At least until someone recognizes them and things get really confused. (A Savant's power comes through manifesting personas, which have their own little packages of capabilities that modify the Savant's. I thought it'd be interesting to play a character who believes she's making things up until they start manifesting in a pseudo-possessive fashion. I thought it would be make for some really nifty roleplay to have a latent Savant manifesting powerful heroes through her storytelling that she didn't know were really her own bloodline.)
Now that's in no way exclusive to her learning about her history, it treats it as somewhat inevitable, but I was enjoying the idea of a character who 'made up' stories to fill the hole left by a missing family, only to have it turn out (as her stories grew talons and hooves of their own and started influencing the real world) that they weren't 'made up' at all. Perhaps a solution is that stories of her manifestations have reached the family via a message from Lakshana Webb, the child's guardian, who is quite flustered because she hasn't told the child a thing, but the child is "making up" stories that are truths...And manifesting what look to be old ancestral hauntings.
Thoughts? I'm flexible, but I wanted you to know where I was coming from.
From my point of view that's all fine - but of course DLH and Chandni must both be happy with their characters.
Duchess... okay, she needs a name... Duchess Pavise Sky... as I see it a timeline of her life would look like this:
1) Marries Garrick after the death of his previous wife
2) Has children with him, from eldest to youngest... Clashing Rain (male moonborn pegasi/changeling), Blade Honor (male sunborn pegasi/changeling), DLH's character (changeling), Windy Helm (female moonborn pegasi/changeling)
3) Death of Garrick
4) Affair with noble of the Griff Dharta, Garisha Gauri
5) Birth of Chandni
6) Death in battle of Pavise Sky and Clashing Rain, during Dhartan rebellion.
If that helps for setting-clarification purposes. If you'd like different names for your relatives, that's fine too!
Honestly I never heard of the savant thing so had no idea that it could even happen, but that does make a kinda of sense. Perhaps mix that with me finding mother's journal which holds the truth. My purpose in coming to town then is to get you to not blow your cover and become a target but also to meet my long lost sibling.
I think I'll take the name Moonstar Eclipse. I'll make the alias tonight. I've been tagged into helping out today.
On a separate note, and out of pure curiosity, what happens with a child born at dawn or sunset? (I'm moonborn so this is just curious)
Also, does the sun and moon move like the show, or like reality?
Also during eclipses.
I didn't write an answer for that.
3) Death of Garrick
4) Affair with noble of the Griff Dharta, Garisha Gauri
5) Birth of Chandni
6) Death in battle of Pavise Sky and Clashing Rain, during Dhartan rebellion.If that helps for setting-clarification purposes. If you'd like different names for your relatives, that's fine too!
Actually this works just fine with me, as it provides another way in which Chandni is effectively "out of the running" but also keeping her hidden is no longer deathly necessary: with both parents dead, and a slew of elder siblings in the running (goodness, all Changeling variations) she's no longer a potential cause of embarrassment to any living parent. Who really cares about hiding the Queen's least and least powerful bastard when there are a slew of alicorn/changeling offspring floating around, and both the King and Queen are dead and can't be embarrassed by the fact? To the living successors, the things that'd make Chandni have been blackmail material to the family in the past now just ensure that she has no shot at the crown. That works great.
Honestly I never heard of the savant thing so had no idea that it could even happen, but that does make a kinda of sense. Perhaps mix that with me finding mother's journal which holds the truth. My purpose in coming to town then is to get you to not blow your cover and become a target but also to meet my long lost sibling.
The savant class is weird. There are two variations. The original was published in Kobold Quarterly and is so awful and horribly overpowered that most GMs never even glanced at the follow-up...Which appeared in the New Paths Compendium and is considerably more balanced (Someone did bother to upload it into the d20PFSRD where I tripped over it, though!). As best I can tell, there are literally NO builds for it on places like GitP or even the Paizo forums. A little discussion of it, but by and large the community gave it a giant "NOPE!"
But I happened to see the second version and this character concept popped into my head.
Just as a thought:
If conflicts between the priesthood and the nobility crop up as often as they did in our own feudal era, then noble children who are born at a 'cusp' when it's unclear whether they are sun or moon, might well be 'claimed' on the basis of whatever holy official is attending at the birth. Attaching religious significance to those born between would create a 'pseudo-nobility' within the church itself, which would probably be unwelcome by a group which already is struggling with a bunch of entitled (literally) lineages. Denigrating special cases preserves the status quo, elevating them risks messiahs (there are some amazing books out there about the constant efforts undertaken by the churches in England to stomp out the non-stop slew of bush-prophets and self-appointed messiahs and all of their followers who'd crop up persistently during and after the Crusade eras).
Also, does the sun and moon move like the show, or like reality?
The sun and the moon rise and set apparently of their own accord. Historically, the Unicorn Kingdom, ruled by Princess Platinum and her ancestors, believed they raised and lowered the sun with their innate magic channelled through their horns.
The doctrine of the Church of the Sun and Moon teaches that this was in fact a primitive form of prayer to the Sun and Moon deities to grant ponies night and day. Prayer clearly works - you can pray to the Sun or Moon, channel their energies, cast divine spells - and their are various accounts (like that Foggy Oasis) of prayer influencing the rise and set of the Sun or Moon - so this explanation is pretty compelling, and definitely sufficient to satisfy most ponies.
Backstory totally works for me! NPC hireling and all (that's what I was going for, I just couldn't work that into Hero Lab, you understand)
I'm getting giddy...
I forgot about the hireling. Hmm, need to think about that.
As for sun and moon, does the moon rise and set with the night? Does it have the lunar phases? Is it ever seen during the day?
Found a few minutes to scribble. I need to work on her design though, but it's a start. Peacock gryphon and white pegasus. I figure with a 19 Cha she's entitled to some pretty.
That's really pretty Chandni. You've got talent!
The moon rises and sets with the night. It has phases - the moon deity is lightly-chaotic, after all. The moon is never seen during the day. Which I guess means that eclipses don't happen either.
I think we're close to being ready to go. I don't mind if sheets aren't fully complete, as there will be some roleplay to start with as characters and quests are introduced, and naturally the setting will anyway be fleshed out as you play and more things are thought of.
With that in mind, can I set a go-time of twenty hours or so from now?
Yesss! Go right ahead!
And if I'm not mixing my plot hook together with Chandni's, I suppose I've been hired by the family of Sapphire Treats, unicorn wizard, who I assume is female.
I am good with starting. I'll be filling in my sheet in bits and pieces throughout today.
That's really pretty Chandni. You've got talent!
Thanks. Sadly I don't often have time to sit down and draw. I will caution you that browsing around that tumblr will lead to Adult Things (tm). There are some scribbles from a pony D&D game here as well.
I think we're close to being ready to go. I don't mind if sheets aren't fully complete, as there will be some roleplay to start with as characters and quests are introduced, and naturally the setting will anyway be fleshed out as you play and more things are thought of.
With that in mind, can I set a go-time of twenty hours or so from now?
Uhm. I was just gonna say.
I will be out of town this weekend through Tuesday for a family reunion, and while I will have some limited computer access by limited I mean 'sometimes the internet there works' as well as 'most of my time will be taken up by family.'
So while I'd love to start soon, I can't guarantee my participation until Tuesday night late.
Yesss! Go right ahead!
And if I'm not mixing my plot hook together with Chandni's, I suppose I've been hired by the family of Sapphire Treats, unicorn wizard, who I assume is female.
If you were waiting to hear from me, there's confusion going on, as Chandni wouldn't have had a mercenary on hand...She's an apothecary's apprentice gone somewhat rogue-ish (not 'gone rogue' in terms of the class!). Maybe you meant GM Darklight Hitomi's character?
No problem! We'll just start and see how it goes, but I won't hold slow or no posting against you! Thinking about it, since Chandni's living there anyway, maybe that's nice, as the others can experience the village a bit...
If you were waiting to hear from me, there's confusion going on, as Chandni wouldn't have had a mercenary on hand...She's an apothecary's apprentice gone somewhat rogue-ish (not 'gone rogue' in terms of the class!). Maybe you meant GM Darklight Hitomi's character?
...Yes. I definitely meant DarkLightHitomi's character. Still having absent-mindedness, pay no attention!
Considering that we've been confused multiple times, I guess there must be some strong family resemblance, though I'm not sure how that works between a hippogriff and pony-like person.
*Sniffles* Are you suggesting that hippogryphs aren't pony-like persons?
What? And miss out on those really neat claws...really big...and really sharp *gulp* claws...definitely pony-like persons.
:)
With all the variant colors of fur in this world, I think having similar rears can easily make you family-resemblant
I've now started the game! Recruitment will remain open if anyone wishes to request to join, when an appropriate entry point becomes available.