Alshoodone's Untitled Campaign

Game Master Alshoodone

Before we begin, I must sincerely apologize. Despite the high interest, and my promises to open the game on Teusday for recruitment, I realized that there were adjustments that needed to be made to the player's guide. While not present in this version I'll show you, here are the following adjustments.

The game I'm presenting to you is heavily influenced, if only by it's setting and mood, by a mixture of Van Helsing, Lovecraftian tones, and Bloodborne. The game also takes a lot away from the backstory part of the character creation process, but there are reasons for this.

When you make your character you will be picking a Memento, and this singular object will be what dictates who you "Were." What that ultimately means is that your characters can't remember their pasts. They know how to use their skills, and can remember things on the fly, but the exact intricacies of their "Story" are left to be found as the game progresses. This means that no matter what you make, you may remember... quite horrible things about yourself.

El'Da'Vaughn is not going to be white washed. Don't get me wrong, it's not a sexual game in the slightest and your characters aren't going to get diddled at every turn, but there are some rather cruel, critical topics that will come up. It's not for the people that could get squeamish.

In addition to the Memento, you must pick your "Essence" type. This is significant as it will effect what goes down when you die. Dying isn't an uncommon thing in El'Da'Vaughn, for those that are left in it. There are a number of Essences to choose from, and all of them have pretty significant penalties when you die. However, you don't stay dead until your essence is gone.

With that said, I welcome you to El'Da'Vaughn, and beseech you to read the majority of the player's guide. Recruitment is over on July 14th.

Players Guide

Oh, and this does use the Pathfinder System.

Dotting in with continued interest. Level 6 now? Hmm.

Give me a moment. Need to concentrate to update my oracle to 6. Whats the magic item availability in the game? I am considering if I should take Craft Wondrous. I won't take any of the dark feats (essence choice forbids it already).

Also in the Players guide - it says certain covenants - regain divine casting. What effect does it have with spontaneous casters who just know their spells? Or does it apply only to prepared divine casters?

I'll craft the items myself then. Now - What would you require for magical item crafting - i.e - just GP or something more? Also, I suppose a ring of sustenance will let you sleep for 2 h, spend the rest of the time casting and still regain spells?

Heh...my mystery itself already opens up to being a monster... I also may change character name, but roughly the concept is there.

Wand availability?

@Loup Blanc Yes, it is level 6 now.
@Just a Mort Magical Items are available throughout the entirety of the world, but craftsmen for them are few and far between. There doesn't really exist anything close to a metropolis's shop, unfortunately, so they are hard to cherry pick and buy.

Just FYI, I watched Dark souls and Bloodbourne lets play as well as some lore videos on both games. Prefered Dark Souls universe to Bloodbourne, as I found the rally mechanic not make sense. I think rifle spears rock my socks with the impaling charge, and the Bloodbourne backstab visual is awesome(your hand turns into a claw, how cool is that?).

Don't own a PS or Xbox, so I can't play either game, not that my (slow) reflexes would allow me to play in a satisfactory manner. The games are unforgiving on (player) mistakes and I doubt any universe based on the games would be any less forgiving.

I'm above 21 and no, I'm not squeamish.

dot

hmmmmmmm... like it! Let me see what I can do.

@Just a Mort - Bloodborne's combat was much better, and the lore was easier to comprehend than the souls trilogy. That said, it has some fantastic weapons, enemies, and gameplay. Hence the influence it has on this game in particular.

For me it was the opposite. I didn't understand what was happening in Bloodborne till 2/3rd of the lets play, at least in dark souls you know what you need to do - ring the bells of awakening, collect the lord souls right from the start. BTw I just watched Dark Souls, have not watched Dark Souls 2, watched a bit of Dark Souls 3.

How can you regain hp by hitting others, unless you're some kind of vampire, which bloodborne lore does not really support. Even at the end of bloodbourne, there are many questions unanswered, namely if the moon presence is good or evil, how it fit into the picture. The best I can say is that they are beyond good and evil, and their ways are not ours and we cannot judge them by human morality.

Also, in Bloodborne, the more insight one has, the more power the abilities of some monsters. And the "best" ending may not exactly be the best...depending from which angle you look at it.

So all players will start with an Essence of 3 since we're now starting at Level 6?

@Here4daFreeSwag - You are absolutely correct, sir.

For those of you that are reading through this and perhaps thinking "I don't even know what I'm looking for." Allow me to summarize the character creation process with this post.

Starting Level: 6
Starting Wealth: 16,000 Gp (No single Item may cost more than half this wealth, save for weapons and armor that are +2 or 3)
Memento: This dictates who you were in the past and what memories you'll get by exploring the world.
Method: This dictates how you'll handle Eldritch Knowledge.
Essence: This dictates how you'll handle dying.
Race: Human, but you choose what your qualities are.

The ban list is as follows, as far as character creation is concerned.

- You may not mix any class with a Mutagen with any class that has the ability to rage.
- The Falcata is strictly banned, as is any other weapon with a x3 critical with a 19-20 range.
- If a class has an unchained version, use the unchained version.
- Synthesist summoner is banned as usual.
- Gunslingers are dealing with emerging guns, so advanced Firearms do not exist in any sense.
- The Minimum any stat can be, starting out, before racial modifiers, is 7.
- Please do not attempt to cheese your way into a prestige class.
- All 3rd party is strictly illegal and not allowed under any circumstances. Do not ask.
- The Vigilante is not allowed.
- The Spiritualist is not allowed.

Hope that clears some things up.

Okay. I. Am. In.

Revised my oracle. Crafted items are at 75% WBL, correct?

@Just a Mort - I'd prefer you not treat items your character starts with as crafted items. Also, I'd prefer to know how your stats come out, so include their base points, followed by +1 or +2 depending on whether it's your ability bonuses as a human, or the +1 from being level 4.

Does that mean I cannot choose what items I start with, or the items I start cannot be crafted so are at 100% WBL. Either way, I need to make adjustments for it.

Also, what do you count to suffice for somatic component of a spell (with regard to non humanoid casting - mostly animal/ magical beast form) - Dragons are known to cast with claws, and I've seen a casting quasit, casting Lamias.

Stats

20 point buy.

14 Str, 10 Dex, 14 Con, 10 Wis, 14 Int, 14 Cha

El'Da'Vaughn humans get dual +2s to abilities, I choose Str and Cha. Lv 4 adjustment to Cha. Another +2 from Headband of Alluring Charisma to Cha, to a total of 19.

@Just a Mort - The items you begin with are purchased at 100% store value, not crafting value. A Headband of Alluring Charisma is 4000 gp, for example.

@Just a Mort - Human hands, Quasit hands, Dragon claws, all suffice for casting magical spells. Even Imps and whatnot can cast spells. Animals, Vermin, etc, etc, cannot. You'll need the Natural Spell feat to cast in beast form, for example.

There are ways to deal with it. If I can speak(ring of eloquence), then all I need is still spell. Fair enough, then it shall be done that way - since there is no way I can qualify for natural spell(other shapechangers except for druids sort of got screwed in that manner). What matters is how everything is laid on the table.

Do magical beasts count as intelligent non animals? Shapeshift list is only animals and magical beasts(later). If it helps urm some magical beasts have int the level of a pally mount, or the paladin (if he's nagaji and dumped his int).

Gear list remains the same - 850 gp left over.

@Just a Mort - Sorry about that. If you shape change into a Quasit, or an intelligent non-animal, you'd be able to cast just fine. The ring of Eloquence works just fine, though for the verbal.

May as well get those hit point rolls out of the way...

Prospective Kineticist hitpoints: 6d8 ⇒ (6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 8) = 32.

Definitely could work with the numbers gotten. ;)

Haven't made any permanent decision on the type of Kineticist element to be used yet; wanted to see how our party pans out before committing to any concrete plans and to reduce any possible "overlap".

That being said, I'm considering at stat spread of:

Str:11
Dex:17 (15 base, +2)
Con:17 (15 base, +2)
Int:12
Wis:14 (13 base, +1 from 4th level)
Cha:10

Obviously, both +2 have gone to Dex and Con, although I'm willing to alter the spread (via dump-statting) if needed/requested.

Additional Quality, Human: Still up in the air at the moment.

Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Finesse (Not set in stone, still changable).

Memento: Wrought Iron Lantern (A greenish glowing lantern, heh. ;))
Essence: Still Deciding between Thick, Strider, or Careful.
Method: First Hand Experience (Con, Wis)

This was from the previous interest thread. Obviously, the favored class bonuses will net an extra wild talent instead of 4/6th of one, the feats increased by one, plus infusions and talents now number three instead of two; all part of the change from 4th to 6th level. ;)

Still not entirely sure if this character will be archetyped or not.

I'm still here too, slowly trying to figure out what precisely I want to play. I was looking at a magus but kinda fell out of interest with that. Now I'm thinking of going back to my fighter idea, or maybe a paladin.

For now I'm rolling with the fighter, so let me do hit points...
HP: 5d10 ⇒ (7, 8, 3, 2, 2) = 22
Ouch. Ah well, I'm building for dodging in any case. Just have to hope that works well.

Hp: 6d8 ⇒ (7, 6, 6, 6, 7, 1) = 33

Not sure if we get full hp at lv 1, assuming not, so rolled all.

Players get max health at first level. Also! To give you an idea of what you're up against, this is a CR 9 that you'll meet, most likely, at level 8.

Alright, Loup Blanc here with my submission more or less mechanically finished. Still need to fill out his mundane gear but I can do that if/when the time comes. I think I'm filled out with all the special stuff for this campaign, but if anything looks off or missing, let me know.

As for that CR 9... well, it seems I can hit it, and make it have some trouble hitting me, so long as we actually get into melee. Niko's very much a fighter, with all their strengths and weaknesses, so some magic support to get him where he needs to be is always welcome.

Interesting. You intend to beat this using finesse? At just a glance, everything seems to be in order. I for one thoroughly enjoy the build you put forth.

Interesting. You intend to beat this using finesse? At just a glance, everything seems to be in order. I for one thoroughly enjoy the build you put forth.

Well, I haven't played Bloodborne, but I've played Dark Souls, and in that I honestly prefer dodging to shields and blocking for the most part, and I know Bloodborne prefers fast, mobile fighting styles in most cases, so it makes sense. Add in the big support there's been for Finesse builds in recent releases and it really paved the way for something like this. Not getting hit seems like the best way to survive, short of not getting into fights at all.

I would say even Darksouls doesn't encourage shield blocking. Sure, against SOME mooks, you can shield block, riposte crit back, but blocking bosses consumes a LOT of your stamina, you still take hp(if you don't have enough stamina). Not to mention many boss attacks are simply unblockable, you need to roll out of the way. Pillars and rocks are your friends for cover, right till you get stuck in them.

Darksouls 3, blocking is a sometimes food - quoting EpicNameBro.

And everyone complains when the stuff they carry makes them do the fat roll.

My attempts to play Witcher 3 - I never learnt to parry properly, can't sidestep for nuts, I only know how to roll out of the way(which has like no finesse at all and will screw me over in confined places). Oh well, for every screwup, there's Quen.

@Just a Mort - True enough, but this is only thematically influenced by it. Plenty of things in this game are capable of being blocked, and whatnot. I wouldn't encourage everyone to go with dodge-crunch, is what I'm saying. Being able to take hits is going to be just as valuable.

"A shield engenders passivity." I LOLed when I first saw that text. Look at it this way, heavy armor route means you move at 20 ft. And the thing about the bear?

"I don't need to outrun the bear, I just need to outrun the person next to me."

Also DR in pathfinder is a tad hard to come by. If I were building for DR I think I'd try an Earth Kineticist.

For all dex builds, blindfight is your friend.

@Just a Mort - Damage Reduction is not hard to come by in pathfinder after you get beyond level 6, which is when you start. Plenty of things in this campaign have damage reduction.

As a player. Ways of getting DR:
Earth Kineticist
Barbarians(invulnerable ragers are better at it)
Stoneskin spell
Planar wildshape
Invulnerability on armor
Angelic Aspect
Deadly Jaggernaut
Adamantine armor
Resinous skin
Stalwart chain of feats

The list isn't that long, and many of them require a specific casting class. So far i haven't seen anyone build around it(I did try but nope it didn't work out too well).

As a monster its easy to find DR everywhere.

Guess I can look into being that Earth Kineticist then. ;)

Bumping this as we have 2 days to deadline(from my timezone), 2 completed submissions, 1 semi complete submission and 1 person who has expressed interest but yet to submit anything.

I'm not well-versed in Pathfinder, but I've wanted to play for a long time and I love Dark Souls, so...

Rolling them fighter hit dice): 5d10 + 10 + 12 ⇒ (8, 1, 7, 5, 4) + 10 + 12 = 47

I'll clean her up, give her an alias and finish her gear sheet tomorrow. Intent was to make an aggro tank, so my prediction is she will die horribly and often 'til she can't die no more.

Your ac is 1 higher. Full plate gives 9 armor, not 8. Fighters can move 30 ft in full plate(lv 7 armor training), but your weight from a casual glance puts you at minimum medium encumbrance.

Duly noted. We're starting out at level 6 with regards to the full plate movement speed. I'm pretty sure she's falling all the way into heavy right now but I might tune her back into a medium when I make the gear list tomorrow.

Hey, thanks for the heads up Just a Mort. Realized that last post was kind of rude, I appreciate the pointers. :)

I rebalanced her from scratch using PCgen since it turned out to be a lot easier on me. I don't think I'm missing anything. Crunch is on the profile. :)

Alshoodone,

In relation to the choice of Wild talents, I was wondering if Earth Child is acceptable to take as one of the Wild talents.

It basically turns a character into almost an Oread with the alternate crystaline form plus darkvision, 20' movement, magic stone, becoming a native outsider, etc. All original previous racial bonuses and stuff are kept save for just movement and possibly the original race type.

Of course, it does go against the ideal of just having human type characters, so if it is disallowed, I would be fine with just taking Elemental grip instead.

@Here4daFreeSwag - Please take Elemental Grip instead. I do apologize.

Due to low turnout, the deadline may be increased by a week. Check back to this post to find out in 6 hours.

If everyone is going to be a non-spellcaster, there won't be enough place in melee, must as well do full spellcaster bent.

The New Deadline is July 21st

Just found this thread. Will have a character up and running later today. Thinking of going with a psychic class character or some kind of archer character. Maybe the archer barbarian archetype.

Well this sounds fascinating! While I have not played any of the Dark Souls or Bloodborne games I have spent hours watching my roommate do so. Along with one session of a Dark Souls RPG that never continued. I love Lovecraft and Hellsing is wonderful. I love dark and morbid games and so rarely get to play them. Plus I love playing in a world I now little about and learning as I go. Hopefully no one minds that.

I will not have time to do anything now, it is almost time for work, but I will give the players guide a more through reading and start on something tonight.

I think I would like to try with a Sorcerer. I have never had to opportunity to play a boom mage.

Or a Magus going into Shadowdancer. From what I watched of my roommate playing that would be a fun prestige to dabble into, even with the loss of a few levels of spells.

And hi Mort Math Kitty!

I told you so, right, Ronk? *waves*

*meows at Ronk*

Yes, yes you did. This game sounds rather interesting.

So with those spells. I would have to take the feat Dark study and they are added to my spell list, correct? How does that work with a Sorcerer and the limited number of spells they get to know. And do they cost 2 essences to cast?

I will admit the essence is a little confusing to me. It mentions that we are able to steal essence from others which I assume is how we temporarily get extra to be able to cast the rather fun looking spells without killing ourselves, right? And this is done by killing something and taking the white mist. Much like I have seen in the games.

I may have looked over it but what is the threshold? Lowering it comes from losing or spending essence. If we steal essence is it temporary or do we keep it until we have spent it?

I definitely want to try for a sorcerer. And I do not see an rouge type in the group so I think I would like to take the Seeker archetype. I can most assuredly play the slightly obsessive. Will I be able to take the Eldritch Heritage feats to get my bloodline abilities back?

Not sure which bloodline I will be wanting. The Undead, Ghoul, Aberrant, Pestilence bloodline seem like they would be a good fit for the area. And they look like fun. Noodley appendage love or undead fun and games.

My stats are going to be Str 8, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 16 as the base. With the human bonuses going into Int and Cha. With the +1 from level four I am at Str 8, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 18.

Hit points: 5d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 2, 3, 4) = 17 Wow that was bad. I will totally die :) So with the full D6 at first level and my con bonuses I have a whopping 35 hit points. Definitely a boom mage of the tactic of death from far away.

Hopefully I wake up with enough time to pick get my crunchy bits put together before work.

Humans get trapfinding in this, if they want to start with it -> see player guide. The kineticist has currently taken trapfinding, so seeker is not really required, unless you want to do a backup.

What I know about essence is this - please correct me if my understanding is wrong.

We start with 3 essence out of total 3 essence. If we are killed by something, we lose essence depending on the type of essence we have. Ie, dark essence loses 3 upon death, white only 1. However, enemies have a chance to take our essence upon our death, where they roll d20+best mental stat to see if they can steal our essence. Some essence is easier to steal then others - can range from DC 15 to 25 depending on essence type. If you ever reach 0 essence, you're permanently dead.

Say if you are at 2/3 essence due to a death, you take the penalties that your essence type says you take. Until you gain essence by murderhoboing something and rolling d20+best mental stat you take the penalties your essence type says you take.

Lets say at 7, you take a dark feat. Your essence threshold is lowered permanently, which means you only get 2/2 essence, where someone of your level who had not taken any dark feats would have 3/3 essence.

You cannot gain any more essence above what your maximum essence is(essentially your essence threshold).

I hope I didnt sound too complicated.

Nope that make sense to me. Thank you Mort :)

Ok so the rouge thing is maybe covered and I think I would have more fun with the cross-blooded archetype. I will be so shocking!

I am wanting to be a boom mage so I will be taking the Stormborn bloodline mixed with the Elemental Bloodline and I will be picking air as the element for that one. I will bring the boom!