General, ominous warning: I'm what could be described as a 'fledgeling' or even 'still-in-the-nest' GM. You have been warned.
since time immemorial, the Orcs and Half-Orcs of clan Wolftooth have lived peacefully in the Savage Hills, occasionally trading with the humans and rarely warring with other clans in the Savage Hills. Clan Wolftooth sees no honor in mindless warfare, only battling in defense of their lands.
Now, they must take up the Wolfhide Banner once again.
All manner of races that consider themselves ‘civilized,’ even the ones who are supposedly close to nature, have been destroying forests and smaller Wolftooth villages throughout their territory in the Savage Hills.
You are some of the best warriors in clan Wolftooth, having proven yourself in combat against clan Wolftooth’s closest neighbor, clan Bearclaw.
You will lead a small band of fellow savage races who have taken up your cause in defending the Savage Hills. You will face all sorts of dangers from both other clans in the Savage Hills and the civilized races.
Are you up to the challenge?
-your backstory should connect you to clan Wolftooth in some way, even if you aren’t an Orc or Half-Orc.
-Races allowed are Orc and Half-Orc. Other races approved on a case-by-case basis.
-Gameplay is rules-lite, meaning that roleplaying will be focused on rather than combat.
-Min-maxing is frowned upon. If you have a particularly awesome concept that isn’t well-supported by the Pathfinder system, I will help you.
-Yes, the Scarred Witchdoctor is allowed.
-Characters start at level 3, putting you a cut above the average orc.
-20 Point Buy.
-I will approve a variant rage that you come up with if you are not a Barbarian.
-Characters are expected to be at least neutral. I’m waiving the non-lawful restriction on Barbarians.
Recruitment will be open for about a week. I'll choose a party of 3 to 6 based on how good your character's backstory is rather than party balance.
Here with Olrune. He's still level 2 as of yet.
Count me as very interested. I saw a cavalier and druid also in other thread. I was going to jump on that and am still interested in doing a beast rider cavalier. Though I am also interested in doing half orc skulking slayer rogue. I'll start working on fluff.
Dotting again. Still very interested in running a Druid or Thundercaller Bard who acts as sort of a shamanistic tie to nature for the clan. Still undecided, so I'll sway to one or the other depending on how other peoples' interest goes.
Although, very interesting, with the restriction lifted on barbarians, we could make a monk/barbarian that coupled with being an orc would essentially make the Hulk.
@Olrune: well, if that happens, hopefully they'll have a cool backstory as well. I'm not exactly looking for min/maxed characters here.
Hugely interested in this campaign, making a ranger. Quick question, what type of terrain is predominant in the Savage Hills?
Oh honestly it probably wouldn't be terribly effective. It would be a very MAD build, and the characters damage wouldn't be that impressive until they had enough levels in monk to have high unarmed damage. Late game it would be very cool because they could walk in butt naked and have nearly as much damage as a strait barbarian.
Hugely interested in this campaign, making a ranger. Quick question, what type of terrain is predominant in the Savage Hills?
Forests and hilly grasslands are predominant. There are two small mountains known as the High Hills in the area. There is a river known as the Waterscar running through the Savage Hills with several tributaries: it formed when clan Wolftooth destroyed a human aqueduct system built without the Orcs' knowledge.
The civilized races are primarily to the south and west, past the largest forest.
Just a shot in the dark because why not. You don't list anything about whether or not third party stuff is acceptable or on what basis, but how would you feel about the Beastmaster class? It combines the martial ability of the Barbarian (without the ragey stuff) with a Druid's animal companion and some of its naturey stuff, but no spells. Mostly just so my character could be the orc equivalent of the character from the 80s movie Beastmaster. It's cool if you shoot it down;, I still the other two class choices, I'm just exploring options right now and this sort of popped up by accident.
@Nidoran: I'm fine with most 3rd party stuff so long as you run it by me first. I actually have a beastmaster teammate in another campaign I'm in. I'll allow it.
2 questions
Is shaman allowed from the ACG (Thinking Life/Nature shaman)?
Are we allowed to use different age categories.
Generally I am thinking either an apprentice shaman/witchdoctor/etc or a older, leading one.
@Gniel: Yes to both.
Alright, awesome. I'll keep it in mind then, and see where the idea goes. I won't commit 100% to any class until I can get a feel for what sort of things might be less overplayed in the applications. Playing a Beastmaster would probably be a bit less of the spiritual leader thing that the other two classes would bring about, but on the other hand it looks pretty sweet.
Interested!
If it's accepted, I'd maybe want to play a Changeling WH Witch with the changes mentioned (except making attack rolls based off of Int, because one of the people in the other thread explained the issues to me.)
@Critz: Sure.
@Emmie: You'd better have a pretty good explanation of what a live changeling is doing as a hero of an Orcish tribe.
Hello again, I've pretty much finished my background story for Garmack but I would need more information on the battle with clan Bearclaw, how long ago this happened and also to know if it is ok if my character is in his thirties?
Sorry about that, wrong character
The battle with clan Bearclaw happened about three years ago. It was bloody. Much else would be a minor spoiler, just know that it's the reason your character was chosen. Beyond that, you're perfectly fine.
dotting with great interest.
I'm thinking of a i/2 orc bard (savage skald), with drums and chants as his performance. A few questions
How much back story do you want?
Are we using traits/drawbacks?
How are we doing equipment?
@Chill: As much backstory as you're comfortable with, plus about a paragraph more.
Are we using traits/drawbacks?
How are we doing equipment?
Sorry if you have already seen these but I wasn't certain.
Eh, it's my fault, really, I forgot to list them.
2 traits, and you can take 1 drawback to get an additional trait.
What do you mean by "how are we doing equipment?"?
Starting gold, probably. If we're going with proper WBL.
In that case, standard starting gold for level 3.
• Posting with approval from GM Gadget from another thread
Hey, I'm also interested in a campaign like this. I'm going to be playing a custom-race giant Barbarian/Fighter who focuses on running around in heavy armour, tower shield and sword named 'Odak the Iron Giant'. I'm a bit shaky when it comes to fitting into pre-existing lore but I'm sure there's some way of making it work with this campaign's backstory!
Garmack's backstory is now complete and is available on his character sheet
• Posting with approval from GM Gadget from another thread
Hey, I'm also interested in a campaign like this. I'm going to be playing a custom-race giant Barbarian/Fighter who focuses on running around in heavy armour, tower shield and sword named 'Odak the Iron Giant'. I'm a bit shaky when it comes to fitting into pre-existing lore but I'm sure there's some way of making it work with this campaign's backstory!
Oh look, fresh meat.
Hehe I'm just kidding with you. Welcome aboard! Cool race, and I like how you actually kept it balanced.
That's what caught my eye as well. You could certainly boost it to 11 RP - most races are that amount anyways.
Actually most are 10. Dwarves go up to 11 and there's a few under 10, but the only other ones above it are the not so common races.
That's what caught my eye as well. You could certainly boost it to 11 RP - most races are that amount anyways.
The page that details everything about custom pathfinder races is freely available here Advanced Race Guide. As you can see near the top, it tells you the different power levels for a race from Standard to Advanced to Monsterous. Some traits are more powerful than others so that's why they have those categories. 1 RP more might not do a lot given I think I got as many traits as is necessary for the concept.
The page should also have links to let you see the Race-Point totals of core and extra races too, to see how they were constructed.
um... Dwarvish pride?
Apparently Humans are 7 RP, and I REALLY don't agree with that.
Actually they're 9, not sure where you got 7 from. They are slightly weaker than most other races, but their flexible nature allows them to fit a lot of concepts easier.
Playing this all from memory, actually. *shrugs*
Alright, I decided to go with Druid, because as much as playing the Beastmaster is amazing, I was a little too fond of the concept to stray from it as much as I'd have to for a more Barbarian-esque character. Here is Krugga Durgnar, druid.
There was a longing to embrace the heritage her mother tried to underplay and deny. She desired the savagery, the simplicity, the removal of all the posturing and hiding of her true nature that was imposed upon her. Time spent in small wooded areas around the city calmed her, giving her an odd sense of familiarity, feeling more like home than the place where she lived. She got on better with animals, even pets and vermin, than she did with her peers, with whom she felt no connection due to the eagerness with which they lavished in the comforts and lies of civilization. Sometimes, she could hear words on the wind, absolute nonsense as far as she could tell, but they somehow resounded with clear meaning for her.
The wind told her that she did not belong in the city, that her destiny lay in the wilderness and with her people. She believed herself insane, hearing voices and confirming her own views to herself, but through her adolescence they continued. Slowly, she began to listen to them, wondering if maybe she wasn't mad, that nature had some sort of other plan for her. Her animal affinity and love of the wilderness couldn't have been coincidental.
To appeal cultured, her mother had gone to great pains to buy an exotic pet, claiming it was a thing humans often did. A gorgeous, majestic tiger from some distant land, white and black and undeserving of such a horrible fate. Alerdene rejected the idea, and began spending a lot of time with the feline, trying to keep it company in its sad existence caged in their home. It outraged her, and as an act of rebellion she began refusing the name her parents gave her, the very human name that erased what she was on the inside. Krugga Durgnar she called herself, choosing the name Krugga for herself from the whispering winds, which she had embraced, whether her own madness or not. She referred to the tiger as Tsadok, a proud and noble Orcish name rather than whatever cruel, powerless mockery her mother had given him.
On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, the winds gave her a definitive, clear order. To take the tiger and leave. Flee. It was time to rejoin her people and embrace the will of the wild. She didn't think twice about it, gathering everything she owned, unlocking the cage and urging the tiger with her, and sneaking off into the night. She knew that by the morning there would be people sent to look for her, if nothing else to retrieve her mother's expensive captive, so she didn't stop marching.
The second she stepped into the forests outside of the city, a euphoria came over both her and the tiger. Knowledge flooded into her as she did as the winds asked, rewarded for her obedience with power. The voices had not been insanity, but the will of nature calling on her to be its champion and guardian. She could create fresh water from her fingertips without a modicum of effort, and north became as intrinsic to her as a sixth sense.
Alongside her tiger, appreciative for his freedom and loyal to her, she set out for what should have been her birthplace, the land of Clan Wolftooth. Along the way she learned to master her powers better, testing out the extent of them and convening with the wild to find inner balance. No riders ever came to collect the bounty on her head she was sure her mother put out, something she attributed to the hand of nature sweeping clean her trail and leaving them clueless. She spent months on the road, slowly changing into the person she wanted to be and was clearly destined to be.
When at long last she emerged from the forest and came upon her clan, she had fully left the name Alerdene Rubani behind her. She was on every level the Orc Krugga Durgnar, coming home for the first time. She emerged changed by the long trek from the city to the distant plains where the Orcs made their home, appearing unkempt in clothes fashioned from vines, leaves, and mud. They regarded her curiously as she arrived and asked to see the clan chief, claiming to be a member of the tribe by blood. The old Orc recalled a woman of the Durgnar line who left decades ago, claiming to be bound for civilization and a better life. Though she had left under hateful, undignified circumstances and been considered exiled, the chief respected that she walked for months to rejoin the clan, and allowed her to join with the clan.
Orcish life was a lot more simple than it was among humans in a massive city, but she liked it better that way. Her people respected nature far more than humans, and there was a savagery that felt right in her soul. She learned to wield a weapon and protect herself, and in return she acted as a bridge between the clan and nature. She could feel the forest's will, and did her best to bring everyone closer to the earth, seeking a more spiritual state of mind. Though finally happy among her people, she spent days at a time in the wilderness, emerging nonchalantly from a long commune with nature.
When other clans or invaders threaten the clan's land, she takes up arms with her people, but brings more to the fight than the brutality her people are known for. She commands the creatures of the lend, calling upon them to fight alongside them and defend the land that she believes they own together. Her Druidic magic allows her to also weaponize the forest itself and summons beings to her aid. Those who seek to take her land will find that she unites her people and the wild to repel enemies much more frighteningly than just orcs alone could.
Crunch will follow in a couple days, but this is the important bit.
Also, I wanted to ask about domesticated/trained animals, and what sorts of things live in the surrounding area. I'm not sure how many non-companion animals you feel I'd be allowed to have around before it gets unreasonable.
um... Dwarvish pride?
Apparently Humans are 7 RP, and I REALLY don't agree with that.
Dwarven Swag.
But anyway, I'm happy with the current Golian Race-Points I have right now, another GM actually let me make one with incredible 23 RP Advanced race budget so long as I kept a few traits from the Ogre template he used. But really, all I want to do for this game is be a towering sentinel for my team-mates, not to show people up with a race more powerful than they are. Even though I'm absolutely sure we'll be running through some cramped dungeon for Odak to get stuck in at least once, but hey, that's part of the fun for being a giant character really.
@Nido:It's rules lite, so it doesn't really matter so long as your village isn't covered in them :P
...
Oneirohero, you're going to fit right in here.
Roleplay>Rollplay. Keep it strong.
um... Dwarvish pride?
Apparently Humans are 7 RP, and I REALLY don't agree with that.
Dwarven Swag.
But anyway, I'm happy with the current Golian Race-Points I have right now, another GM actually let me make one with incredible 23 RP Advanced race budget so long as I kept a few traits from the Ogre template he used. But really, all I want to do for this game is be a towering sentinel for my team-mates, not to show people up with a race more powerful than they are. Even though I'm absolutely sure we'll be running through some cramped dungeon for Odak to get stuck in at least once, but hey, that's part of the fun for being a giant character really.
NO DUNGEONS! I don't agree with them. They give me storytelling indigestion.
side note: I love this rules-lite thing! It's everything I've ever wished for - I don't have to make stat blocks for every little thing you come across!
Alright, cool. I'll at least write up a list if I get accepted so that I'm not pulling things out of my ass.
Dwarven Swag.
But anyway, I'm happy with the current Golian Race-Points I have right now, another GM actually let me make one with incredible 23 RP Advanced race budget so long as I kept a few traits from the Ogre template he used. But really, all I want to do for this game is be a towering sentinel for my team-mates, not to show people up with a race more powerful than they are. Even though I'm absolutely sure we'll be running through some cramped dungeon for Odak to get stuck in at least once, but hey, that's part of the fun for being a giant character really.
NO DUNGEONS! I don't agree with them. They give me storytelling indigestion.
Alrighty! I suppose they are a bit overplayed, and probably not likely to find out in nature. I'll probably have to post my character sheet for you (GM Gadget) to look at, managed to glean the starting level from the posts. The size of my guy is the main double-edged sword of his concept, so I imagine outside of Escape artist checks or breaking walls, Odak will be too big to fit in most places. In fact,
I even drew this for the character, the scale is accurate (at least from Odak to the human, sword and shield are a different question)
And it isn't even counting the fact that Odak has Jotunkin as a Barbarian archetype, he grows even BIGGER when raging. Which definitely makes him more powerful but more unwieldy at the same time. But for the most part, I've been building his early levels into providing cover and defense for his team-mates, Early grab of [Saving Shield] to provide +2 AC as an immediate action for adjacent allies, tower shield to provide cover. I'd take [Covering Defense] if I had +6 BaB as that would let me give an ally a total of +5 AC for being next to me if I total-defense that round.
And it's no wonder I tried putting a rank or two in Profession (Bodyguard) :)
Won't be a problem. I like the whole Rock Giant thing Odak has going on.
This is Chillblame with my Bard (savage Skald). I haven't equipped him but will shortly.
Karol never knew his parents, and his first memory was the sound of drums and the sight of a bonfire. This touch his soul, and so he was for all of his life wishing to be a war singer. Life was hard for an orphaned half orc in an orc tribe, especially in the savage hills, but he always had food and shelter, and much hard work. With much effort he finally was accepted at the age of 7 as an apprentice to one of the tribes skalds. He learned much from his master, knowledge of the wild and and of the lands around, the place of orcs in all this, and the history of his tribe and its myths. In him was awakened the magic of a warsinger, and his master named him Heartsinger at his manhood ceromony, for he sang from his heart and soul, and so his song had great power. Potentially.
Once he was confirmed in the tribe, he threw himself into more study, and learned the sagas and songs of his people. At the great midsummer feasts he competed with and sang beside the other bards of the the Wolftooth, At the spring feats he sang in the spring, and sang to the dying year at winter feast. His master indicated his pride and had gain great status for his pupil. When his master passed, victim of a rampaging direbear, He stood for the clans bard at his master's burning, remembering his acts and life.
The war with the Bearclaw tribe was his first war and the field of fireflies his first battle. The first of many battles and skimishes he was in, and he was always at the fore front of the fighting, inspiring his tribemates, and wielding his axe. The battles of sunken hollow, Witches grove, bonfire hill, he was in them all. And after he composed and sang, with his drum accompaning him, the brave actions enacted by his fellows that he had witnessed. All the while, as is customary for the skalds, his own acts of bravery we little mentioned, but was noted by others.
After the war, Karol went back to the everyday work of a bard, but the war had stirred something in him. A desire to write a great saga. His master had warned him about that. "Karol, one day you may find yourself writing a saga of power and strength. By warned. It will take from you your life and soul. When it is finished, nothing that you do will ever be as good. But if it is true, and strong, it will last as long as the clan does." Karol felt that urge. But what to write it on. The everyday doings of his people though worthy were not a matter for song.
It was then that he heard of the moving of the so called civilised races to the south. His people have had dealings with them in the past, as his own body attests, but rarely peaceful ones. Still, some trade had happened and these peoples were distant. But now they were here, according to the rumours. Forests cut down, villages burned. Karol's heart burned with the actions of the intruders, but he wondered. Was this the start of his saga. He needed a band of heros, He had his cause. The Wolftooth Clan would teach these intruders, these civilised peoples that the savage hills were not theirs to do with as they saw fit. Blood and War called.
I humbly, yet noisily, submit Dergosh the Loud for consideration
A while ago i put This Thread up. It was all about trying to create the quintisential Black Orc from warhammer. Id love the chance to revive him if possible :)
The two main things: making an armor clad tower shield specialist isnt very optimal, but here that dont matter :)
That and it is very similar to Oneiroheros giant :(
Since i dont want to be stepping on toes here (and Oneirohero has some big ones ;) would you be ok with an armor clad stepping stone in front of you?
Taking it a step further (bad pun, dont trip up over it -_-), i could see us being buddies, as a black orc would consider anything as large as you to be a worthwile pal, and you using some of the same armor, well :)
@Master Smashwidget: As you know from the Castrovel thread, I'm interested in rules lite, and this looks to be free of hard-boiled influences... So how about an Orc shamanic Pactgifted Champion, tribal shrine Temple Dancer or, seeing as the Scarred Witch Doctor is allowed, a primitive harlequin Dreadmasque?
@all: I've decided to allow any non-core race, WITH APPROVAL and a suitable backstory.
@OSW: Aw, c'mon, Victor (the hard-boiled detective guy) ain't that bad... he's kind of a jerk, though. Pin down a character concept and I'll approve it.
@Gobo: what do you mean by "stepping stone"?
Okay got bare bones here as the site kept eating my edits