The path stuff sounds interesting I am not sure if I recognize the material, are they based on something in a particular book? I would like to know more about the specifics. Honestly though I am more then content with the extra feat to round out my character. Something that could pique my interest is options that could help build on my existing archetype with cool thematic abilities that adds something interesting, more utility or useability of existing abilities rather then straight power.
What I really am looking for is to be able to build my character to fit the image I have in my mind. I would like to pull off a character that eventually has that inscrutable wizardly air about her while keeping with my archtype's theme... At this point I believe I can reach that goal on a standard character progression even without the extra feats. Though the extra feats would be nice because they let me get there faster.
Hiriko, you don't want to create origami cranes out of scrolls that deal bleed damage? ;)
I have some exposure to LOt5R, though very limited, and I am always eager to see more. I'm also a little biased towards character abilities in lieu of items, partly because they can't be taken or lost as easily, and partly because an innate gift is part of a person's character, and requires much deeper reflection; fire powers are far more dangerous than a mere sword, and failing to control them has more consequences than wildly swinging a blade. Plus you can't just sheathe fire and leave it on a rack somewhere. Always juicer plotmeat, IMHO.
You want to scribe up some unique character progression options and put random treasure on the back burner? I'm down for that, even more so in a campaign where looting bodies is probably seen as unclean by honorable Samurai and all that.
And yes, I WOULD enjoy teleporting through enemies and slicing them in half from a sheathed stance...when they fail to negotiate in a polite and courteous manner, hehe.
Hmm... I'd be willing to... look at some paths you'd want to suggest.. or maybe work out something with you... my real concern comes from the fact that I pretty much know what I want to do with my character, and while extra abilities would be nice, I'd prefer things that helped my character be good at the path I already have him on, since it will already let him do some cool stuff.
So I'd probably want to work things out with you about a path for Alaren... so if that's okay with you I'm cool with it. If that was your original intention then I apologize in advance for being difficult. XD
The consensus thus far is more innate abilities and less items. Now, I was thinking of cutting random treasure completely out, as well as useless items, and replacing bonus feats with 'Destiny Path' abilities, the latter of which can be forfeited for the standard bonus feats. Sound fair?
Works for me. Will you be creating these paths entirely on your own or are you open to advice or even going to actively speak with us individually about them?
Everyone interested in 'Destiny Paths' or just cool abilities in place of bonus feats, just post your basic idea concepts!
Mai, do you want me to stat up a move along the lines of the ability you were referring to?
Alaren, that was along the lines of what I intended and no need to apologize!
Mamoru's basic idea is pretty simple. He's an Ogre Magi (a very classic Oni). Any abilities that make him Oni-er would be much loved.
IDEA 1:
Maybe you could tie in abilities to magical gear?
That's what I did, and it worked like a charm:
basically you still get your +1 flaming sword (easy to rank, use wealth guidelines, etc), but instead of calling it that you simply callit something else.
Destiny Path of the Fire Warrior:
Cloak of energy resistance > Attunment to fire
Flaming bastard sword > The Fire Within is the Fire Without
...
Destiny Path of the Silent Death:
Mithral +1 chain mail > Blanket of protective silence
Extra feat > Quiet Contemplation
...
Even with Mamoru, you can put a goldpiece-tag on his abilities by comparing it to items that give similar bonuses.
Let's face it, I suck at naming things :P
I hope you get my idea. I found it very difficult to take away the magical items all together, that's why we just renamed them. Everything is still monitored and it's easier to keep the party in balance (because i've seen parties break up because that one guys shadow-hop ability was WAY too much for the rest) and make sure everything is fun.
-----------------------
IDEA 2:
Look at the sorcerous bloodlines, oracle curses/revelations, witches hexes...
Giving everyone one of those that fits? Tried that one, felt really nice too. Tie it in with the background ofc, so that when Mamoru uses "healing hex" he summons some part of his evil heritage to heal the person, for example.
Just make sure you don't step on anyone's turf. The full healing oracle might not like it if they went to your character BEFORE asking her for help, or the "fire sorcerer" might not like you actually becoming more of an avatar of fire than him/herself :)
Oh, and I would suggest one feat, one time only, to help us out at level 1. It could come as a reward for fleshing out the background, and getting on track with inter party relationships?
Not every level though, it would become too much too fast. I mean, we'll become immor(t)al heroes by level ten, living gods by level 20 :P
Just be sure to keep everything balanced. Like I said: 6 people, 25 point buy > bigger than > 4 people, 15-20 point buy :)
Well then Path of Elemental Abilities Here i come.
The idea conect was for a cleric with some elemental blasting offensive ability coming from her domain spells.
Yeah... Mamoru would *never* use a Healing Hex. :)
Hmmm...what kind of "path" to walk...Well, Seori is as close to the title of "sword saint" as I can picture, at least in her intended personality. Her abilities will have to come later of course, but, well, if you've read her story you'll get the idea. All the important elements of her character are pretty well spelled out, at least in my opinion.
I have some ideas that I wrote up last night if we do decide to go the path's route. Most aren't balanced very well yet. I was more just spit balling stuff that I thought would work for the archetype I based some of it loosely on some of the many ways they use scrolls in Naruto.
In case everyone is wondering, I am waiting on an action to be taken in gameplay before I post. No rush everyone, just explaining why I'm sidelining at the moment!
It is my understainding that my character who answered a summon just got teleported to some place else (where theparty is)
Dm did you want her to "know" some of the part memebers? She is mostly a foreigner.
I imagined so far that she would have an ameiko type of background (from the acctual jade regent)
Sophia, yes you knew the others from the Twilight Monastery, though whether you were a recent addition to the ranks or whether you were simply a wanderer who stayed for an extended period of time and subsequently struck up a friendship with them is up to you. My apologies for not being clear on this. And by the Ameiko background example, you are referring to the 'shiftless wanderer' portion, correct? I ask because Mai is the royal heir.
Oh, and just to clear any confusion, I am using the Japanese naming convention here: Mai--family name, Seori--Given name. FYI.
Good thing you cleared that out :D
Seori, gotta remember that :D
Oh man, I can't believe I missed that! I feel really stupid! My apologies, Seori.
yup using the shiftless wanderer with some of the dragon empires ancestry
I will try to keep that in mind for the future Seori.
It's ok. I just really took the initiative when the campaign was going for an Asian theme. Not everyone did, and I don't expect everyone to; it's just a habit of mine.
I didn't even know they did those kinds of things.
Not that into real Asian rules and customs, except for the bowing and kneeling.
If you have the time and energy, you guys can always instruct me here if I do something wrong. I'm eager to learn, though not always by going over page after page of wikipedia dry articles :)
I wouldn't worry to much Takeshi there are many Asian cultures each with their own customs. The Dragon Empire is put together from several different ones that are only approximations to real world counterparts. Trying to follow up with all of the real ones would take as much time as a part time job let alone the fantasy versions :) Just do your best.
Hiriko speaks true, as there is at least one province in Tian Xia for every real-world Asian culture, including the Ainu culture (I believe that was the name for the real-world culture,) that were almost wiped out, then integrated by the Japanese a few thousand years ago, so no problem on not getting a specific 'Tian feel', you'll likely develop at least a small one as we go and you immerse in the culture. In my home group, we had an Ulfen barbarian that was so enraptured by the culture that he later made his character a sort of 'barbarian samurai' that combined elements of Ulfen and Tian culture. It was like The Last Samurai movie, but epic Golarion-style without guns!
Will post in a few minutes after I finish brunch! Yeah, on weekends I pretty much sleep long enough where breakfast and lunch are one and the same! :)
Not everyone did, and I don't expect everyone to; it's just a habit of mine.
I did. Mamoru is a title. Onitora is the clan he comes from.
Sophia are you playing Frigg lol :)
Not everyone did, and I don't expect everyone to; it's just a habit of mine.I did. Mamoru is a title. Onitora is the clan he comes from.
When I created Hiriko I choose to only use her first name to avoid the confusion because I recall reading somewhere about the family name first. Of coarse I then made the character and did personal name before family name on the "character sheet" thanks for the reminder it spurred me to go back and fix it.
Who that would be?
No i am just playing a character that just curses a lot... ;)
Guilded Age web comic cast If you follow the comic a bit I think you might see some parallels :) She is the third character down.
Alaren?
Oh come on, don't tell me we lost one already...
Seori, Alaren stated to me that he may be out because of some RL problems for a short period of time. If he doesn't show by tomorrow, I will GMPC him for a few days while we wait on him. If he doesn't show in 2 weeks or so, I will take votes to determine how to handle the situation. Sound good?
Ah, okay. Had me distraught there. Five people down, then the GM, now a whole new cast and someone already drops the ball? Hehe, you can see why I'd be a bit downtrodden, yeah? But it's good to hear he's still interested.
I understand completely, Seori. As it stands, he sent a load of PMs about what he wanted to do with his character about a week ago, so his enthusiasm is still up! Also, just waiting on everyone to post. If everyone chooses combat, everyone is to roll initiative and I will roll for Alaren. Unless everyone feels squicky about temporarily hijacking a player's character, that is.
I think we should continue. We have inertia despite Alaren's temporary absence. If he gave the thumbs up on boting for fights during his time away all the better. I hope he returns soon. its always better when everyone is present.
Probably best though to have the DM roll the initiatives, instead of every player by himself, no?
agreed
That's fine, I shall roll initiatives.
Right then. Long as there's consensus, then no harm is done. Let's do this.
I wondered if a situation like this would ever come up. Mamoru's evil, but he is definitely honorable. He doesn't kill people who are asleep. :)
I wasn't sure how he'd respond to that, but as usual, your reply is startling and amusing all at once.
Mamoru, that was pretty cool! 'It's dishonorable to kill a sleeping foe, so I'll turn one over to wake them up, kick them their weapons, then slaughter the Nine Hells out of them! I honestly had to try to keep from laughing because I can picture an anime caricature of this, chibi-style, where the Troglodytes look like little plush versions of themselves with huge, googly eyes, shrieking as you turn the bed over! Did I really just Munchkin-ize that scene with my thought processes? MAAAAAAAAYBE!!! :D
Just waiting on Sophia and Hiriko to post and I will resolve the surprise round's actions.
Heh. Yeah, that's pretty much the image I was going for. :)
I was honestly just like, Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot sir, that is both hilariously awesome and awesomely hilarious!
By the way, do you prefer Mamoru or Onitaru?
Mamoru. It's his title. He's big on honorifics.
Just making sure, as I'd hate to feel like a complete numbskull calling you the wrong name!
Drat Takeshi, I thought the old GM had a map up! Let me to get the map up on Google Docs!
Should we post our actions now or are we waiting on the trogs in the next room? I am confused since you rolled for initiative again.
Yes Hiriko, post your actions. Since it was a surprise round, I rolled the party's initiative. I didn't roll the Troglodytes' then because I didn't know if they'd survive the surprise round. Once they did, I rolled to see which group would go first in actual combat. See my reasoning? I apologize if you were confused.