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I'm not sure if a "round tabletop" is a thing, or if it's called that. But anyway, here's what I mean...
I'm looking for a group interested in playing sort of a pseudo-medieval justice league. The party goes on a series of adventures, the first of which is GM'd by me, the next, GM'd by another player, and so on.
The only rules other than as-written:
#1. PCs don't get killed off.
#2. The GM's PC does not play.
#3. Char-Gen:
• Class: core/base/alt/hybrid, any archetype
• Race: standard races only, please
• Alignment: LG / NG / CG
• Stats: 18–18—14–14—10–10
• Health: Max HD
#4. XP does not exist.
#5. The rest is up to the GM of whatever episode we're on:
• The setting
• The threat
• The stakes
• The rewards
• The scope
The challenge level and mood will likely fluctuate from one GM to the next... but as long as we all prioritize fun, the different styles might just keep the game fresh.
But anyway, that's the short of it. As for my character, I'm posting as mild-mannered Addison Lane, but she's really...
...the Vermilion Vixen! (Vigilante)
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You know, I'd been thinking about the concept of a 'Round Table GMing' game for a while now, although I didn't have that great name to call it by. But I had the exact same image of taking turns GMing.
I also had fantasy superheroes in my head too, but that was unrelated.
Let me think about this for bit. But I'm intrigued!
Funny... I was also thinking about a superhero theme, but wanted to try my hand at PF instead of yet-another homebrew. Well, if you do end up playing, that avatar works! In the meantime (or "meanwhile..."), thanks for considering.
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Oh, sounds interesting. Like playing PFS but between ourselves. Could be fun!
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Would this be set on Golarion?
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I'm so in!
Are you looking for character submissions or GM submissions?
Or just looking for a solid group of players and then build characters together?
@Jer,
I suppose this is more or less a mini-PFS. I think it will be fun if we all go into the game trying to make our episodes fun.
@Lobster,
I personally am not invested in Golarion, so I wasn't planning on that.
I was actually thinking the fictional world could grow with the game, so as each GM runs an episode, we need to investigate a different area. I might, for example, start us off in a place called Westedge—a wild-west setting with monsters straight out of the Greek myths... but the Ep.2 GM might have us sail eastward to the volcanic island of Asahi, where chainsaw-katana-wielding oni have enslaved peaceful villagers.
And having said that, our HQ should either be a ship or a building in a "hub location."
Oh, also... we could REQUIRE each GM to create a location. Then, the 2nd time we GM, we have that episode take place in a location that a different GM created. The area is different—and whether it's in ruins or prospering depends on how successful the party was last time they were in town.
@Ska,
Everyone gets a turn GM'ing as long as all players stay active. As for your character, feel free to share.
Oh...! And for those who want leadership at Lv.7, or have any companion that players are meant to create stats for, I'll put this out there now:
"Hero" stats are 18-18-14-14-10-10 / PC = hero
"Sidekick" stats are 16-16-12-12-8-8 / cohort or animal companion = sidekick
"Normal Person" stats are 14-14-10-10-6-6 or all 10s / NPC or follower = normal person
Max HD for all
Villainous NPCs can have whatever stats the GM see fit, though my personal preference is that villains have hero stats; henchmen have sidekick stats. If I want someone stronger than the hero, it will be a huge monster or other nonplayer race.
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Alright, I think I have it. The Mask of the Living God Ninja archetype essentially gives you a secret identity. Would you mind if I used all the same class features and rules but reflavoured it to be a generic disguise instead of a religious symbol? Seems a good way to be Batman.
So that's what I'm going to go with. A ninja designed for crazy acrobatic stunts and melee combat. Stat block and cool name in progress.
I don't mind that at all. In fact, I like that you found a non-vigilante type that fits a super heroic theme.
So when both our characters play, will we have to excuse ourselves to run off and change clothes while the rest of the party stalls? The worst part is that I'm playing a Magical Girl Vigilante, so she'll always be quicker at changing outfits, and is probably less patient in her chaotic persona. (Not like she'll give you any crap. More like she'll be nervous about badguys getting away, but won't wanna leave a teammate behind.)
Looking forward to what other players come up with!
Oh... and this thread is now attached to a campaign thread called "Awesome Warriors of the Round Table." Confession: Addison means Awesome, and the surname Lane means Warrior. I like to look up name meanings when I name characters.
Do we have a starting level in mind?
How about Lv.3 + 3000 gp?
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Aha! Addison Lane might have to excuse yourself, but Narissa Nokolo (Awesome superhero name pending) only needs a move action to don her superhero persona. Good thing too, as she is useless without it. For the cost of a whole minute in privacy however, she can adopt a convincing disguise as some random peasant.
I'm making way on the character sheet. For my quest to be Batman, I took Forgotten Trick which lets you do literally anything for 2 ki points. I'm calling it 'The Utility Belt'. Haven't started on equipment yet. She's going to be capable of ambushes, melee brawls, and crazy rooftop chases. Diplomacy and planning may be beyond her capabilities, however.
What's your opinion on traits? 0? 2?
I do like the name. Much better than my strategy of picking words that 'feel right'.
I have no opinion on traits, but I was going to give you guys one more starting goodie, and that works:
2 traits.
Addy's 2 traits are also 1 descriptor:
"Extremely Fashionable Muscle of the Society"
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The build I'd like I need permission to get it to work just so; I'm thinking an Eldritch Guardian with my own hand as my familiar (with the mauler archetype), moving into Vermin Tamer Cavalier of the Order of the Reins.
What I was going to ask was if I could either have my hand operate as my mount class feature, but leveling as a familiar and not a mount, or if I could retool my build each level up to keep it legal.
And since it's vaguely hero themed, the name would be Handsome Henrietta maybe.
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I have to HAND it to you, that build is incredible. I love it dearly. There's just something special about it that I can't quite put my FINGER on.
I'm interested as well, though not sure yet what character I'd like to build. How many people are we up to at this point?
Actually I think I'm going to keep things relatively simple. Elven wizard with a Sin Magic (Sloth/Conjuration) specialty. Thoughts?
@Lobster,
Short answer: YES.
Longer version: I think it's no different than having a little animal on a leash. Your hand can attack, and can have its own HP. If you are unconscious but your hand is not, the hand can drag your KO'd body around or attack hostiles. (I assume it has blind-sense, or tremor-sense, or whatever those hand monsters have.)
I say this assuming the hand is attached, and will check the links later. In any case, I like it!
I also have plans to make my familiar a sidekick as if she and Addy are a Shrinking Violet / Lightning Lass duo, and the familiars I'm using to pull this off work. I just need to NOT used my fey-touched creature's "change shape" ability until Lv.9 to make my interpretation work. Will post that bit later, when I'm not at work.
I'll submit Ivy Dornn aka "the Daughter of the Dryad"
Female Half-orc Verdant Blooded Spelleater Bloodrager
A Nature-themed pseudo-unkillable melee combatant.
I look forward t the rotation allowing for shorter but interesting episodes rather than a long campaign. I hope the episodes keep things fresh.
Whats the deity situation if not Golarion?
Ah, but that's the brilliance of this build: it does come off, acting as a not undead, crawling hand familiar that levels with my character.
However, it doesn't gain traditional familiar progression unless I take a class granting me a familiar, which I do in the form of Eldritch Guardian. Now that my hand is a wizard's familiar, I can apply the Mauler archetype to it, allowing it to grow into a Medium familiar 3/day. With the first level of Vermin Tamer cav, I get Undersized Mount and essentially start a normal cavalier lance build but two levels late with an underpowered mount (albeit an underpowered mount with hefty grapple bonuses and a climb speed).
The other nice aspects of the build are that at level 2 of Eldritch Guardian, I share combat feats with my familiar instead of spells, so the bonus teamwork feats I gain as a cavalier, I share with my mount for free. If I take only ones that apply to adjacent allies, my hand now counts as my own adjacent ally when it is attached!
Combining this with Outflank and Blades Above and Below, if my hand is attached to my body, I gain a +4 to hit when flanking with myself (and give my hand a free aoo on a critical hit).
Interestingly, that same ability to share combat feats allows my size medium hand to use me as a mount.
Well, I'm glad you asked because I actually wanted to make a visual adjustment to my own familiar. In fact, I am sticking to the rules but simply saying that the level 3 form is misinterpreted by onlookers. The only thing I need to make my version of "how it really is" work is to hold off on the fey-touched creature's Change Shape power until Lv.9, which is when my familiar gets all of her forms.
The idea is to have a Lightning Lass / Shrinking Violet type duo, so here are my sidekick's forms:
Social Form:
Lv.1 = Petrifern (diminutive girl-shaped plant)
Vigilante Forms:
Lv.3 = Fey-Touched Creature: Fairyfly (fine / a fairyfly is, in real life, a 0.006" long wasp)
Lv.5 = Sprite (diminutive)
Lv.7 = Azata, Lykrien (tiny)
Lv.9 = Can change into any of the above Vigilante forms at-will
The Sidekick is "Fairy Blossom." (She blossoms from plant to fairy to human-ish.)
Her stats will be RAW for the Lv.5 and Lv.7 forms, and I'm fine with the Lv.3 form being statted as a fine insect. The deal is that she'll be a fairyfly or fine wasp stats-wise. In reality, she is an extremely small fairy that is mistaken for an insect, and has the same inability to communicate, carry weapons, cast spells, etc. The only use of her fine form is to slip through any space the world's smallest living creature can fit through.
I would find it hard to believe that anyone would notice her at this size, or care if they did see her, since she is (thought to be) a bug. Having said that, I would say that Fairy Blossom would only travel freely in her diminutive, tiny, or human-sized forms. It's not believable that she would travel as a harmless, hummingbird-snack-sized creature just for a stealth bonus.
Oh... and I am starting Addy's backstory. VV's backstory will be the other half.
Addy's talent was not singing, but rather speaking. She told stories as Hanako played on, and at times translated Hanako's songs, sung in her eastern tongue. Addy loved to hear Hanako speak of the east, but there was one story she never did hear from her friend:
What brought Hanako to Westedge?
Hanako was Addy's BFF (and sole fashion model), and the two could talk about anything--anything except for Hanako's past. The closer the two became, the more apparent it was that Hanako's memories had been taken from her. It seemed her father was a swordsman--which would explain the long curved blade Hanako wore on her back on the day of her arrival. And there was trouble with the Yakuza--the local crime families. That much Addy deduced.
But how close was Hanako?
Addy found out the hard way. The night she found her beloved friend sprawled in an alley with her throat slit...
@Shalm,
As long as the Sin Magic wizard can be of a good alignment, I'm fine with it.
@All,
Under campaign info, I made a note of the char-gem requirements, adding the bit about starting level (3), starting gold (3000) and traits (2).
Would familiars/animal companions/cohorts also get full HD? And are racial bonuses applied after the array or before? Likewise, for the hand would the array apply for the base form (diminutive) or the "battle form" (medium)?
Racial is after. So my stats are 20-14-10-14-10-18 with racial.
Yes to full HD. Use cohort stats for the medium form. I'll get back to you on the diminutive adjustment.
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Vix combs back every curl, glaring at the freckled sad sack in the mirror.
We failed to protect her. That's what we do for the ones we love. We bleed for her. We kill for her.
The naked fool just stares back.
We still can.
There's a look in those emerald eyes. Addison smiles. It is a wicked grin. Vix approves.
We made a lovely outfit, Vix says as she watches Addy dress in the mirror. It's the right shade o' red.
Addison and Vix present their nodachi to each other, and sheathe it in synch.
Vermilion, the Vixen goes on. Bloodstains fade to this color.
She turns her back on Addison Lane, who surely will be waiting for her in the mirror. She will love to hear how the Vermilion Vixen dispensed justice tonight. No, it won't be Hanako's killer. But it will help Addy sleep well, and hold her head up high in public, and smile at strangers, and maybe.. just maybe... find another girlfriend.
If ye mean to give our heart to another girl, Addy, I'll cut it out of us.
Last questions probably: not that we need further advantages but are we using background skills? I love the versatility they introduce both as a player and DM. And how about drawbacks for a third trait?
Hey guys, Goddity here! I'd like you all to meet Narissa Nokolo, one eyed half orc ninja. When she wears her mask, she's known as Blackeye (who will be getting a separate alias the instant I can find an appropriate avatar image). Her talents include daring feats of acrobatics, stunning feats of strength, disappearing into crowds as her third identity, an average half orc, and hitting things with an oversized axe. The full melee ninja might not be the most mechanically optimized build, but I giggled crazily while designing it anyway.
Gear is being fine tuned, as is the backstory. I'm debating the merits of a wand of cure light wounds and UMD vs a bunch of interesting potions. Thoughts?
Okay... for sizes, I was looking at Beast Shape, which gives +4 DEX / +2 STR when you shrink to Tiny... but then I realized it's like Alter Self, which gives you +2 DEX for Small and no penalty for STR. Therefore, our tiny and diminutive helpers shouldn't get a freebie, right?
Therefore...
Tiny: +2 DEX / -2 STR
Diminutive: +4 DEX / -4 STR
Fine: +8 DEX / -8 STR (1 minimum)
...and also the usual adjustments to AC, CMB/D, Fly and Stealth.
As much as I think tinies SHOULD have a lower HD, druids still have 80 HP when you step on their diminutive squirrel forms, so... whatever the creature's HD is, full HD per level. My fey sidekick is D6, so at least she won't out-tough Addy... unless I give Fairy Blossom a 12 in CON.
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@Goddity,
Blackeye! Love the name!
CLW wand... uh... okay, as GM do I beat the crap out of you all, or play softball so he CLW wand is still relatively full when I'm playing?
I kid, but I do like the team-player mindset you have as you spend starting gold.
...
@Lobster,
Sorry... I'd rather not add more to the char-gen phase. I think we just leave it where we are, and I say that after blowing SP on useless skills! That's not to say I'm against the drawbacks, just iffy about them...
@Anyone else,
If the group wants drawbacks, please weigh in.
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Personally, I would like to take a drawback regardless of getting a third trait, ^^
I love having a character flaw or physical defect that is represented mechanically.
That's what I'm asking... if everyone would *like* to add a drawback, and nothing more. I personally like it, but want to hear from others.
If we do add the drawback, I will pick Lovesick, given that I just wrote Vermilion Vixen threatening to cut out Addison Lane's heart if she dares to move on from the death of her BFF. And yes, VV is aware Addy is the same person... just taking her Survivor's Guilt a step further than most.
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Beat us up! If Addie or the Vixen want healing, they can help pay! (I kid. They're welcome to it)
The other option would be to have everyone chip in. For 4 people, we'd be talking about just under 200 gp each. Or if someone has reliable access to cure light wounds, I might not even buy the wand. I think I'll hang off on finishing gear until I know what gaps need to be filled.
Hmmm. I'm sorta with The Lobster as a useful flavour tool, but I'm terrible at picking options that reduce my characters stats. I definitely support everyone taking a no benefit drawback, I just don't know what seems appropriate for Narissa. Maybe I should just roll for one randomly...
That's where I'm iffy... I don't know if a drawback truly fits my character, but as I'm looking at social talents and skills, I realize I am actually building a non-optimal character knowingly. Like "In Vogue"... it's great when I want to play Addison Lane whose fashion is all the rage, but that and SP in crafting? No in-game benefit.
So here I am *knowingly* doing something detrimental because it makes Addy more like the girl I want to play. The idea that NPC ladies will wear outfits with the subtle vermilion Addison Lane logo is way cooler than +2 intimidate.
Therefore, I should not stop Lobster from taking 1 drawback with no benefit... because the PC gains nothing, and the player does.
So my decision is that: it's an option; if you want a drawback, take it.
...
@Lobster, sorry it took me a while to get there. Goditty's reply and my own char-gen process helped me think it through!
Yeah my whole character is super un-optimized, I'm not even done with the feats I want in this chain before I can start taking the mounted combat line. I might blend Vermin Rider with Gendarme or Emissary to get early access to those, but both archetypes strip me of the teamwork feats I would otherwise share with my familiar.
And as far as suboptimal skills go, that's part of what I love in the background skills system, cause rarely otherwise will I take profession, craft, or perform as a nonbard, never mind taking two of them every level. It really encourages roleplay, imo.
I edited the Campaign Info bit, adding "drawback" to char-gen as an option and this:
Players & PCs:
• Goditty as Narissa Nikolai, a.k.a. Blackeye
• SkaTalon as Ivy Dornn, a.k.a. Daughter of the Dryad
• Lobster as Handsome Hernrietta
@Shalm, @TheNine,
Welcome (if I didn't already say so)! If you have a name for your PC, I'll add them to the list.@Jereru,
You showed interest early on, so if you're in just let me know who you're playing as.
I like 5-7 as the group size (self-included), keeping the party at 4-6 PCs.
@Lobster,
I read about Background Skills. So this means everyone gets additional SP, and the bonus SP must be spent on Background skills...
Acrobatics
Bluff
Climb
Diplomacy
Disable Device
Disguise
Escape Artist
Fly
Heal
Intimidate
Knowledge (arcana)
Knowledge (dungeoneering)
Knowledge (local)
Knowledge (nature)
Knowledge (planes)
Knowledge (religion)
Perception
Ride
Sense Motive
Spellcraft
Stealth
Survival
Swim
Use Magic Device
Background Skills
Appraise
Artistry (INT)
Craft
Handle Animal
Knowledge (engineering)
Knowledge (geography)
Knowledge (history)
Knowledge (nobility)
Linguistics
Lore (INT - trained only)
Perform
Profession
Sleight of Hand
It doesn't sound game-breaking, but instead it forces... er, I mean... encourages every PC to have a useful skill for an ordinary life. Thematically, that works. So I'm sold!
YES to background skills, with a BUT...
Choose one of the following:
• 1 Drawback AND +2 SP/Lv. which MUST be spent on Background Skills
-OR-
• +1 SP/Lv. which MUST be spent on Background Skills
I was trying to think of what the trade-off is for taking a drawback, so I'll tie it to background skills since both were suggested by Lobster.
You all get +1 SP per Level no matter what, and must spend that SP on a background skill. If you take a drawback, you get +2 SP per Level and must spend at least 2 SP on background skills.
Anyone can spend the normal SP on whatever skills they want, so it's okay to have Craft, Perform, and Artistry—which is what Addy will have, drawback or not.
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Wow, sounds like a really fun concept for a game that will be both continuous and yet evolve. I feel like a grumpy Dwarven Smith / priest would be a perfect addition, but the concept is penalized be cleric being the only class (core/base/alt/hybrid) that uses different stats for its special abilities and spellcasting. My tabletop group plays with Channel for clerics being based on wisdom rather than charisma (the warpriest getting it in the form of fervor, which uses wisdom, providing proof that it need no longer be charisma based). Would you be open to such an adjustment, given that its sole purpose is to allow increased healing of party members?
Welcome, Wanderer!
I hate to say no, but I will for two reasons:
• #1) It's like climbing with DEX or using CHA for will saves--makes sense, but I'd rather not houserule how attributes work because once you start, there's a precedent that sets up many other rules for debate.
• #2) I get it. In real life, there's a charismatic priest at my church. He likes to celebrate the diverse cultures in my town with international food festivals and a multilingual mass on Easter. He's relatable--not a distant man in a fancy vestibule. He just turned 50 but has the energy level of a guy in his thirties. He's fun to talk to. The church is full, thanks to him, and even families that used to attend Spanish-speaking masses goes here. "Charismatic" is the word most people use to describe him.
...so given that, if you play a priest and make CHA one of your 14 or 18-point stats, Leadership is a possibility. For any religious PC, especially a priest, followers convert to your religion. I think that's what PF is trying to do--just my guess... so a warrior-cleric might be STR/WIS, whereas a priest who spreads his faith to others is CHA/WIS.
I will try to make it worth your while if you RP a prayerful cleric (regardless of stats) while I'm GM'ing. Since I GM episode one, probably something subtle. By the time I GM a second time, I'll have dreamed up something cooler to do for longtime players based on how they RP.
That's my big hope for this game. That we will all have very different ideas on how to GM, so the game will change up a lot. The mood, threat level, even how gods guide their followers (subtle sign, booming voice, angel in a mortal body, nothing, a spell doubles in power)... it all changes when the GM changes. Our PCs are the only constant.
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No one asked for this, but I'm giving away one more char-gen gift to sort of make up for the issue Wanderer pointed out. The issue is that some characters may have two stats they rely heavily on, where as others just have one that matters (at least from the player's PoV).
I was considering an idea for the array (before I created this thread), and between Wanderer's post and Goddity's 18-18-16 build, it just feels right to do THIS:
Char-gen phase:
• Class: core/base/alt/hybrid, any archetype
• Race: standard only, please
• Alignment: LG / NG / CG
• Stats: 19–19—15–15—11–11
• HP: Max HD
Odd numbers!
So at Lv.4 you improve a mod. And then what?—keep pumping that mod until you hit Lv.20? Or do you improve another stat at Lv.8...?
Cohorts get the odd numbers as well.
This update has no effect on your current mods, for those who already created characters. It may affect how you decide to improve your stats from Lv.8 on.
Odd numbers! I do love odd numbers.
You bring up an interesting point there about customizing adventures to the characters. We could do a bit where each GM has to write an adventure around a different character's backstory for the second rotation. Thoughts?
I love it, Goddity!
@Ska,
Deity... I was thinking Olympian, but won't force that. You can use PF gods if you want. Norse is allowed too--valkyries are heroic, right? I'm thinking Artemis for Addy.
If not a PF deity, and you're a cleric, just pick domains that make sense. Like Artemis could have the Animals domain, but Fire is more of a Hephaestus thing. Plant is Demeter, but could still apply to Artemis as well.
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I always do outlandishly long backstories and I apologize, but here we go:
Ol' Handy Hank died when she was 8 years old anyway, but not before writing it in his will that she would inherit the workshop when she turned 18. The will also stated that Kurava, Hank's half orc apprentice, would raise her, and not her mother, so she could be properly educated as an engineer. Eventually, despite Kurava's willingness to part with the child and Henrietta's own desire to stay with her mother, the courts ruled that Kurava had to follow Hank's wishes, for she was Henrietta's mother now.
Neither of them were very thrilled about it.
Kurava tried desperately to get Henrietta interested in the workshop, but the girl proved too distractable: all that was imparted on her was how to lift heavy things and a basic understanding of engineering. The young girl spent her life staring out the window, watching wild horses run over the hills and wishing that she could be like them, running free.
She regularly snuck out at night to do just that, running in her nightgown, climbing up rocks and felled trees and trying to sneak up on horses to jump on their backs. Oh how she wished she could ride something.
After years of washing ratty and mysteriously muddy nightclothes, Kurava asked Henrietta what she was sneaking out to do every night, and she confessed. Upon hearing of the child's dreams of riding horses and great beasts, Kurava took pity on her and taught her how to wrangle and ride animals. Well not animals. Spiders.
Henrietta took to spider racing like a fish to water, running down the track, along walls and ceilings, beating out the competition every time. She and Kurava grew into fast friends, sisters even, and they closed down the workshop to pursue her fast-moving career as 'Handsome Henrietta Howard,' pro spider jockey.
This, however, did not sit well with the restless spirit of Ol' Handy Hank Howard.
His wishes having been denied, Hank visited Henrietta in a dream, demanding she quit and return to the family practice. But she was far richer than he had ever been, and argued with him, calling his career meaningless, pointless and boring.
In her dream, the ghost of her father climbed into her hand and slapped her.
And then she awoke, her own hand having fallen on her. Initially, she thought nothing of it, but then her hand began throwing races. Despite urging her great beast forward with the reins, her hand would pat its side and ask it to slow. Receiving two sets of conflicting orders, the spider would buck her off and attack her.
No one believed her when she explained what happened. But it happened again, and again.
After the fourth time, she had had enough. Drunk and angry at herself for this repeated embarrassment at the high point of her career, she tied her arm to a column and cut off her hand with a saw.
Her severed hand twitched and seized like a dying spider, oozing blood from its stump. She stepped on it once, twice, and then it grew rigid, lifting itself and crawling up her body, dripping blood all over. Her screams awoke Kurava, who ran downstairs to find her friend and adopted sister badly bleeding, tied down and under attack. The hand was strangling her.
The two of them pulled and pulled, but could not gain purchase on the twitching thing, wet with blood. Henrietta's sight began to fade and her legs grew weak from lack of both blood and air, when finally, through their combined effort, they threw the thing off her.
Kurava launched herself atop it and stabbed it with a knife until it stopped moving.
Only for the dreams to begin again.
In her dreams, she knew that that had been her father, exercising his will over her, telling her that he could still punish her. But she was steadfast, and refused to be dominated, to have her life decided. She was going to race and that was that. He was just going to have to get used to it.
A week later, her hand was back. Kurava took her to doctors and healers trying to discern what to do about it. All were convinced that the hand was normal, even the healers who had helped seal her wounds, and knew from firsthand experience that her hand had been missing swore that it was her hand, that it was normal, and nothing out of the ordinary about it. So they started searching for answers outside of the normal.
They met a spiritualist, a kind older woman who invited them to a seance, where any question they had would be answered. Unbelieving but desperate, they attended.
The woman summoned forth the spirit of Hank Howard, the spirit in Henrietta's own hand. In Hank's voice, he accused his child and apprentice of betrayal. How dare they work together to undermine his legacy. It was Kurava that spoke him down, telling him that Henrietta was his legacy and that she was the best spider jockey around. How dare he lay a finger on her, the pompous ass. He was not the man she had known, but a twisted and cruel spirit brought about by two decades of impatience and anger towards his daughter's refusal of the workshop.
The spirit sobbed, and sank back into the shadows. The spiritualist, possessed of herself once more, told the pair that Henrietta could learn to control him if she took the time to do so. Said he could be an asset, an ally. When they asked for further advice, she simply shook her head and directed them to her friend, a gnome wizard in a tall tower to the south.
The wizard laughed at the story, and with some effort, popped his own hand off and threw it down at the ground. It clambered up his frame to his shoulder, where it sat fidgeting. This was just a thing that happens sometimes, he explained. The hands of good people get possessed by malevolent forces, but you can learn to live with it.
He took her in, and taught her how to master the hand, to work with it not just as an extension of her body, but as something more. How to sever it cleanly and cause it to grow and shrink on command. She could even ride it. Oh, how her father must have hated that, to be sat upon like a common racing spider.
And he did hate it. He made that very clear. She could feel his thoughts, know just how demeaning he thought it to be, but she broke him like any other steed, as Kurava had taught her.
She even got permission to ride him in the spider races.
And the other half of this intrepid duo
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Love it!
Hank can have a theme song! Spider Hand, Spider Hand, does whatever a...
Or not.
I plan to create a discussion thread soon. Before I do, one question:
Should we all use our "blue names" for GM roles? Mine is...
< This guy.
I personally intend on creating an alias for mine