Oniwaban's Strange Aeons

Game Master Oniwaban


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Silver Crusade

djpika wrote:
I'm toying around with an idea inspired by Dark Matter: an anti-paladin wakes up with amnesia and pursues a different path. The problem with the idea is that the mechanics for an ex-anti-paladin are rather harsh. Taking what would essentially be an NPC level equivalent is probably too severe of a drawback. Any thoughts on how to balance that out?

There’s the Vindictive Bastard fallen Archetype for Paladins.

Silver Crusade

Hmmm, never played a Rogue before, might submit a Sylvan Trickster.


May I present Azmerai for consideration:

Background:

Patient HO-6-21 (male Half-orc, maybe 26 years. Has been brought to this institution after being found in a fugue state in a hamlet south of Sen´s Pass. He was a lone survivor of a most brutal attack of (assumed) undead from the Castle Galdyce.

Patient HO-6-21 has been in this institution for 3 years now. While he has a very brutal mien and is incredibly strong, so far he has been of remarkable docility. His hands and muscles indicate a worker class profession, reinforced by his skill with stone. He is heavily scarred and tattooed, so we assume a very hard childhood. While not dumb he is also not very bright, can hardly read and write and is slow with numbers.
So far we are unable to verify this assumptions, as he is utterly unable to remember what happened before he came to this institution. He endures most of his treatments with enduring stoicism and pragmatism.
The only time he did protest was with the water treatment. Patient HO-6-21, when submerged in the ice cold water not only fell into some kind of rage, but also broke his bonds as if the hardened leather was cotton, injured a handler that was about five foot away from him and his fearful mien was enough that the other handler had to change his trousers afterwards.
He is only interested in leaving this institution, returning home to find out what happened to his clan.

Example:

Azmerai looked at the cell in front of him. What a mess! Must have been really angry, the bloke. All the sauce! At least was not me!
Moving carefully inside the cell, sniffing for any strange smells and keeping his steel ready in strong fingers he prepared for the face-eater. His eyes darted first to the corners, then to the bed leading the tip of his blade.
”Come in, blokes, seems clear!”

Info:

The Big Guy.
Strong, Tough, but not overly bright.
Twohanded weapon ready to wreck enemys
Used to be a stone mason.
Social: Intimidate


Character:
Preston knows who he is, or at least thinks he does. He is a scientist! He knows alchemy, and can make things into other things. He says that he knows the secrets of life itself! So of course people think he's mad. He was locked up and tends to rant at length about topics that sound much like babbling to others, but he's completely sane! Sort of. He can't really remember much from his past, but he remembers alchemy! So he must have been a very important alchemist, right?

His actual history is more reclusive. He had a family, which is who committed him. He became obsessed, searching for secrets that he swears he was on the verge of discovering. He would stop eating, stop sleeping for days at a time, all to research, and it drove him to the brink of madness, or perhaps beyond. That is why he is in the asylum. There may be more secrets to learn, but that which he does not know is currently locked off from him.

Idea:
Alchemist (Homunculist). Don't really have much of an idea beyond the start, probably continue alchemist for most if not all of it.

RP Sample:
Dressed in his finery, Preston stood before the academic board. "So you see, gentlemen, the secret was blood! Human blood, of course, not animal. You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs, as they say. You must contribute an amount of blood, preferably your own, in order to achieve new life! This isn't to say you couldn't use sacrifice or others to gather this blood, but I worry the intent would be clouded if you used unwilling blood." He waited for the appreciative nods, and waited. Why weren't they saying anything, or asking questions? His expression of calm threatened to break as his face itched, he restrained his hand from reaching up to scratch, cheek twitching in aggravation. "So you see, we can create new life! What was once the purview of gods or necromancers can now be made by science! The limits are only in our imagination! Which is not to say we cannot be limited, we are technically bound by volume of materials and blood, but with practice I think we can perfect this!" Still no response. What was wrong with these people? He was handing them the secrets to life itself, perhaps to immortality!

From across his cell, the assemblage of dead rats and flies looked back with their cold, empty eyes. They were unimpressed with his presentation, as it would not bring them back from their dead state. They were also not the academic board of the local academy of sciences. His voice echoed from the walls back to himself, and warped to words of congratulations. A grin spread across his lips as within the straight-jacket his hands clasped imagined handshakes, his back bent to the congratulatory slaps that were not there.


Hello Oniwaban,

Sigrun here is the character I'd like to submit as my application.

All of her details are in her profile, background, personality and appearance, and build.

The brief summary is she's a half-elven urban/primalist bloodrager with the arcane bloodline, originally from the Linnorm Kingdoms.

I did play about 2 weeks into a PbP Strange Aeons with this character back a couple of years ago. We lost the DM before we exited the first room though.

I'll send my role play sample to you via private message since I plan to use the opening of the old Strange Aeons game and I don't want to put any spoilers on the recruitment page.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, PF Special Edition Subscriber

I love Lovecraftian horror - and I think one of the primary things that drives it is that the mythos works off of the characters fears. So I tried to think of characters that would have a lot to lose from the awakening/schemes of the Elder Gods… So! I started thinking of the world and I feel like a Druid would surprisingly fit well as the sanctity and preservation of nature would operate in direct opposition to most of the Elder Gods desires. I also enjoy the idea of a druid out of place – the campaign guide mentions a lot of the campaign being set in urban environments and enclosed spaces. It is interesting to me to see someone uncomfortable as that always offers more roleplaying opportunities than someone stuck in a comfortable environment. So, here’s Mithras!

I wanted to mash up some existing Golarion lore with a bit of the story of the Roanoke Colony for his background – so with all that in mind.

MITHRAS

Mechanics:
: I would either take the Goliath or Nature’s Fang archetypes depending on the needs of the party. If the party is lacking a front-line, definitely a Goliath druid. If it needs more support – then the Nature’s Fang so he can sling support spells while firing a bow from the rear. I will say, since the Player’s Guide mentions that a lot of the environments are urban, I would avoid an animal companion and instead use either the Herbalism or Domains for his nature’s bond. Straight druid to 20 is the plan – but I am always cool to dip into a class for roleplaying reasons. No matter what archetype I end up using, his background and personality would stay roughly the same.

Background:

“It is always better
to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning.
For every one of us, living in this world
means waiting for our end. Let whoever can
win glory before death. When a warrior is gone,
that will be his best and only bulwark.”

-Beowulf

Amongst the tribes of the Linnorm Kings there exists a legend passed down from tongue to tongue by their skalds and storytellers. It tells of a rift to another world, from which the Linnorms that give the lands their name are born. And on the northern end of that rift – where the ice sheets of the Winterwall Glacier crack against each other there was once a village of settlers from throughout the region who hunted on the ice floes for ivory and blubber and meat.

The skies there are said to be so clear that on the breaking of dawn of the first frost the rift between Golarion and the First World can be seen crackling amongst the stars. The village was there for years, decades even, until one tragic when everyone in the village disappeared without a trace. Traders who came upon the site later remarked how everything remained where it was. Cooking pots still hung over now dead firepits with frozen stew sitting in them, feeding troughs of livestock remained full, and many tables were set for the morning’s breakfast.

Many suggested the fey were responsible, others a plague, still others had wilder theories – but only one person knows what really happened.

The first trader to arrive on the scene of the village found it abandoned except for a stifled murmur. What they found was a young boy, clad only in the thinnest of clothes – not appropriate for the weather – and caked in dried blood, murmuring the same phrase over and over again: “It whispered…”

Since that day Mithras has not spoken about the incident to anyone – and it took a full year before he could talk again. His memories from that day are brief flashes – bits and pieces of many-armed horrors that come surging to the forefront of his mind for a brief moment before vanished back into the recesses of his memories. And always, a single word accompanied those memories – unpronounceable to his tongue but echoing around him. But Mithras was descended from Ulfen stock – and the people from the Land of the Linnorm Kings do not give up so easily.

He sought revenge, for the loss of his family and friends, but against what he did not know. All he had were fragments of memories he kept buried – flashes of eldritch horrors – and it was there he began. Following the path his mother laid before him, one where the sanctity of nature was revered and worshipped, Mithras began his long walk.

His walk was aimless – and he journeyed where the wind called to him, whispering its own secrets, sometimes stopping to rest for days before it spoke to him again. He slept fitfully, his dreams filled with the screams of his friends and his family, and took to drinking a sleeping draught before bed to sleep through the night. And when those were not readily available, medicinal whisky had to do.

He felt comfortable in the wilds – but knew that the secrets he hunted for lurked in the libraries of cities – and so it was there he went. Searching, researching, and studying whatever he could find. And then one day it all ended. And he woke up someplace new –

Personality:

I try to stay away from characters that are brooding – so while Mithras may have had a very traumatic past – he does his best to keep it buried. I think the best description of him would be a blend of Madmartigan with a bit of honor-and-glory that the Ulfen people are so known for. He does his best to keep his fears and worries buried – and that does result in him appearing more stoic than the norm, but things just keep happening to him and he feels cursed with bad luck. He has a sharp tongue – though he largely uses his wit on himself, in a “Of course this is happening to me,” sort of way. It also comes out when he is placed in uncomfortable situations which, judging by the Player’s Guide, is largely what Strange Aeons will force him into.

Roleplay Sample:

You can view one of my other characters in a currently ongoing PbP here. But here’s a sample from it

Cass felt a flush of anger rise to his cheeks at the slur. He had heard the word bandied about before in the Academy towards a young skive girl who had worked in the kitchens and answered the insult with a punch to the perpetrator’s nose. Cass had broken the kid’s nose and ended up having to copy a textbook on proper etiquette seven times by rote as punishment. He didn’t regret it at all, but seeing how the other kid wasn’t punishment was just yet another reason he grew dissatisfied with the rigid structure of the academy.

”We use words here, not our fists,” echoed in his mind from the instructor that had grabbed him by his collar and dragged him away from hurting that kid even worse.Fine, Cass glowered at the guard. Words it is.

He quickly ran through the arcane formulas he had committed to memory, cross-referencing them to some of the notes he had scribbled in his journal before settling on one. Illusion was a tricky school to master but he found it very useful when he was in a tight spot before. Unfortunately it wouldn’t help much here. But Illusion had another property – Cass considered the differential equations for those spells to be fairly congruent to one another. Both affected the way someone saw the world without affecting matter itself. It would do.

Cass quickly distributed the formula of the spell, breaking the geometric patterns into derivations of the pattern before making a few tweaks. Shifting the formula about he recalculated his work, distributing the arcane energy where it needed to go until his mind cleared, the old illusion spell having been replaced by a different one. In the past – working through the necessary formulas would have taken Cass several minutes, but he had prided himself on discovering several shortcuts that enabled him to recalculate and reform the arcane energies that hummed through Ikeroth in a matter of seconds.

All it would take was a simple word and a gesture but Cass didn’t force it yet. He wanted to see how it all played out – especially how Draegar responded. It was, after all, his move. He had no idea what the guard's problem was but he knew enough to know nothing good would come out of a person using that kind of language. He also knew that he should only cast something on someone in a position of authority as a last resort. So he waited - Cass was, after all, a man of infinite patience when needed.


Getting close to selection time! Good luck everyone!


Ok, last minute hat in the ring! As my submission is getting near selection time, I understand if other submissions have become faves already...and I must honorably declare that I have been in a Strange Aeons pbem game that slowly, loathsomely, lignified into a collection of curiously agonized, mummified forms, the exact shape of which I cannot and will not recall.

Anyhoo, here's my submission for Nirupama "Niru" Chhipakalee.

Niru Background:

A parchment found next to a raving lunatic washed up from Lake Encarthan. The madwoman left deep wounds in the flesh of her rescuers, and the noises emanating from her throat were not human. The writing is primarily a rushed and wobbly Vudrani, but at times devolves into writing not seen in Avistan save by one sage who refused to translate it. The woman has been taken to the local asylum.

"I write these words for whomever finds this; I shall not remember my tale, for I can feel my reason ebbing away. The last months have been horror upon untold horror, and only a dive into the whirling deep that They call The Great Below shall take me away from this existence, and into a sweet oblivion. I can hear them scrabbling to get in, so I shall be brief.

I was born into an esoteric family in the marches and great deltas of mangroves of the far reaches of the Impossible Kingdoms, beneath a towering plateau of forest and the looming mountains above those. There I frolicked, uncaring of the occasional hard stares given my family--some say that my ancestors trafficked with boggards or the like, and the fact that the witches and sorcerers of my clan were friendly with grippli did not earn them the amity of their neighbors, but their healing and cures were met with grudging thanks.

My own curiosity about my family, though, grew as I changed from laughing child to liaison for my village region--Niru of the large eyes and silver tongue, they called me, for my skills in diplomacy, strong in arm and thew for one of arcane upbringing, although no magical talents called to me. Eventually I found myself poring through strange texts about other kingdoms, beneath the marches, and even extending out into the sunken reefs.

That was how They found me, as I wandered the mangroves after dusk, blindfolded, trusting to Chadali and Serendip to guide my aimless walk. They appeared around me, their breath bubbling in lungs more suited to underneath the ocean. "So, an errant child of our marsh-bound inferiors seeks to learn about the world beyond. Take her," barked a croaking voice. I was roughly dragged, horrified, into the ocean by my unseen captors.

I awoke in an undersea cavern surrounded by croaking batrachian horrors. They were not grippli, nor sahuagin, but something disgusting between frog, fish, and man--and their eyes glittered as they recognized something of a kinship with me. "The blood that flows within you is only distantly related to Us," said one in a horrible voice, "...but we shall awaken it. You may prove a useful tool. The Silver-Tongued, you are called--we shall give you the tongue to speak of things far beyond this mere world, beyond the rim of space, below the deeps that we inhabit now. Prepare her." And with that I was held down while something, reedy and awful and insectile, was repeatedly stung or applied to my mouth and limbs. Soon, blessedly, I knew no more.

The next 'awakenings' were never quite complete; I knew I stirred and magic was in my veins, but my mind was not fully my own. I moved with other, twisted, prisoners in the damp caverns and on lightless beaches. I stalked with Them, and preyed, on whatever they hunted in their dark, half-flooded tunnels beneath the ocean, and when prodded, I was able to gurgle out their horrible speech with a tongue that--did it fill my mouth? Extend beyond it? Periods of blackness and unconsciousness peppered my existence--eating something unspeakable that mewled in the dark--merely opening my mouth and seizing it without moving--going with Them on some raid of another civilization, against legless things that writhed and glowed--and finally, something of myself came back to me. I could control my own thoughts--a bit. I saw the great vortices of water that took Them through the Great Below and to other oceans, other bodies of water, although I never dared to go through one by myself--they said it would rip my mind apart. But I did dare, this most recent period of consciousness, to touch Kamog, my jailer, or companion, or what dare it be, and gift it with the touch of cold death I have learned in my magic. It silenced Kamog for a time, and I ran, to this abandoned area, with one vortex, and hid myself inside. And They are coming. I must go now...

Concept/Plans for Progress/Personality:

Niru is an aberrant sorcerer whose bloodline, and whose grippli heritage, has been activated by contact with Deep Ones. Yes...yes, I did come up with an aberrant sorcerer with tongue touch attacks, but Deep Ones! She was used by them as some sort of arcane warhound for them for a while until she escaped, winding up on the shores of Lake Encarthan. This concept also allows for her to speak Aklo, as her tongue has literally been reshaped for it.

Past horrors aside, she is good for diplomacy and has a strong desire, though she knows not where from, to free those under the yoke of slavery. The plan is for a standard Face/Sorcerer with good touch attacks, although she is currently only realizing what her magic is or does.

Personality: Niru can be a bit grim at times, having been through imprisonment, alteration, and the like, but retains her optimism and trust in fortune. The faith in Chadali is one of accepting strange circumstances. However, her trust in Chadali is at war with the guilt and anger that her god led her astray and sent her off to be some aberrations' assassin. She finds this bleakly amusing at times.

RP Example:

Here's my stick in the mud alchemist finally remembering he should get back together with his lost love and doing a pretty good job of bluffing his way into a bank:

Samoon Bluffs

And here's some ridiculous Bewildering Koan, just a short bit:

Koan Gnome


Rysky wrote:
djpika wrote:
I'm toying around with an idea inspired by Dark Matter: an anti-paladin wakes up with amnesia and pursues a different path. The problem with the idea is that the mechanics for an ex-anti-paladin are rather harsh. Taking what would essentially be an NPC level equivalent is probably too severe of a drawback. Any thoughts on how to balance that out?
There’s the Vindictive Bastard fallen Archetype for Paladins.

Thanks, that's not that bad. It doesn't appear to apply to anti-paladins, but they're pretty much mirror images of each other, so I don't think it would be a stretch to allow it... or to just make a paladin with this archetype and fluff that the level 1 was something like an anti-paladin or hell knight.


This is my thinking face. I am thinking. I will see what I think of.

Liberty's Edge

Here are compiled the submission up to this point, to the best of my abilites.

Chandlore - Cellaich Seocan, Human Unchained Rogue
Phntm888 - Renlo Tacksa, Human Investigator
Mat_H - Lilia Arulo, Halfling Oracle (Psychic Searcher)
Sapiens - Konrad Schroedersen, Gnome Cleric of Hastur (Elder Mythos Cultist)
Mat_H - Amestri al-Naadhira Batgali, Human Witch (Ashiftah)
Zorblag - Catia, Human Brawler (Mutagenic Mauler, Turfer)
MrStr4ng3 - Endol Onnend, Ratfolk Fighter
Helikon - Azmerai, Half-Orc Aberrant Bloodrager
ScorchedOne - Preston Sucner, Human (?) Alchemist (Homunculist)
rdknight - Sigrún the Magpie, Half-Elf Arcane Bloodrager (Urban Bloodrager, Primalist)
A Real Human Being - Mithras, ? Druid (Goliath or Nature's Fang)
Axolotl - Nirupama "Niru" Chhipakalee, ? Aberrant Sorcerer


Yes, I believe Preston is human. Barring some half breed blood surfacing.

Silver Crusade

djpika wrote:
Rysky wrote:
djpika wrote:
I'm toying around with an idea inspired by Dark Matter: an anti-paladin wakes up with amnesia and pursues a different path. The problem with the idea is that the mechanics for an ex-anti-paladin are rather harsh. Taking what would essentially be an NPC level equivalent is probably too severe of a drawback. Any thoughts on how to balance that out?
There’s the Vindictive Bastard fallen Archetype for Paladins.
Thanks, that's not that bad. It doesn't appear to apply to anti-paladins, but they're pretty much mirror images of each other, so I don't think it would be a stretch to allow it... or to just make a paladin with this archetype and fluff that the level 1 was something like an anti-paladin or hell knight.

*nods* Np ^w^

Paladin that fell then fell again... or maybe they didn't fall as far as they thought? Divine intervention? *shrugs*


Sapiens wrote:

Here are compiled the submission up to this point, to the best of my abilites.

Chandlore - Cellaich Seocan, Human Unchained Rogue
Phntm888 - Renlo Tacksa, Human Investigator
Mat_H - Lilia Arulo, Halfling Oracle (Psychic Searcher)
Sapiens - Konrad Schroedersen, Gnome Cleric of Hastur (Elder Mythos Cultist)
Mat_H - Amestri al-Naadhira Batgali, Human Witch (Ashiftah)
Zorblag - Catia, Human Brawler (Mutagenic Mauler, Turfer)
MrStr4ng3 - Endol Onnend, Ratfolk Fighter
Helikon - Azmerai, Half-Orc Aberrant Bloodrager
ScorchedOne - Preston Sucner, Human (?) Alchemist (Homunculist)
rdknight - Sigrún the Magpie, Half-Elf Arcane Bloodrager (Urban Bloodrager, Primalist)
A Real Human Being - Mithras, ? Druid (Goliath or Nature's Fang)
Axolotl - Nirupama "Niru" Chhipakalee, ? Aberrant Sorcerer

Since the list is being compiled now, I just wanted to remind everyone that Amestri is my primary and preferred submission, with Lilia being secondary. This is the first AP I've seen where the GM allowed two submissions so I wanted to make sure there was no confusion.


Sapiens wrote:

Here are compiled the submission up to this point, to the best of my abilites.

Chandlore - Cellaich Seocan, Human Unchained Rogue
Phntm888 - Renlo Tacksa, Human Investigator
Mat_H - Lilia Arulo, Halfling Oracle (Psychic Searcher)
Sapiens - Konrad Schroedersen, Gnome Cleric of Hastur (Elder Mythos Cultist)
Mat_H - Amestri al-Naadhira Batgali, Human Witch (Ashiftah)
Zorblag - Catia, Human Brawler (Mutagenic Mauler, Turfer)
MrStr4ng3 - Endol Onnend, Ratfolk Fighter
Helikon - Azmerai, Half-Orc Aberrant Bloodrager
ScorchedOne - Preston Sucner, Human (?) Alchemist (Homunculist)
rdknight - Sigrún the Magpie, Half-Elf Arcane Bloodrager (Urban Bloodrager, Primalist)
A Real Human Being - Mithras, ? Druid (Goliath or Nature's Fang)
Axolotl - Nirupama "Niru" Chhipakalee, ? Aberrant Sorcerer

I'd also like to real quick specify that my Unchained Rogue is NOT going to stay a Rogue beyond level one, and will be mostly a Wizard. I prefer my Arcane Tricksters to be much more Arcane than they are Tricky.

Also, I've finally got around to writing up an RP sample, the day before the deadline! Sounds like my schooling career. It's a bit long- sorry about that, it got a bit out of hand while I was writing it.

Roleplay Sample:

Cellaich peers through the shrubbery, his hand on the hilt of his sword. The foresters of his village had received word that a large number of Recaps were assembling in the woods not far from their village. The rangers had sent Cellaich to scout, being one of their more talented sneaks, and he gladly obliged them. Narrowing his eyes, he was quickly able to confirm the rangers’ fears, laying eyes on a group of at least thirteen Redcaps- with more joining them. He cursed to himself as he realized that his escape route was cut off by another group of Redcaps, their leader shouting to the others in Aklo.
“Hurry now!” the Recap laughed, “don’t be late! Can’t be late, should try not to be late!”
With his escape route cut off, and there being far too many for him to engage, Cellaich sheaths his sword, looking around for an alternate escape route. He finds a narrow path through the trees, and not a moment too soon, as the Redcaps appeared to have noticed something amiss. Cellaich deftly slips through the trees, putting as much distance between himself and the fey as possible, before finally letting himself relax- only to realise he was lost. Yes, even the most experience Nirmathi could get lost in the Fangwood. Cellaich cursed to himself again, attempting to find his way home, and eventually wandered into a clearing.
As he entered the clearing, he heard laughter echoing through the trees- fey laughter. He swiftly drew his sword, the dull sheen of the cold iron reflecting under a glint of sunlight. He heard the same giggle again.
“Come now,” a female voice cooed, “put that away. You don’t need that awful thing.”
Cellaich whipped his head around in the direction of the voice to lay eyes on a dryad, who giggled upon making eye contact with him.
“How barbaric!” another voice called from behind Cellaich- a satyr. The two fey spoke in common, slowly walking towards Cellaich. Cellaich, having been sufficiently guilt-tripped, sheathed his sword, looking between the two of them.
“I, er… I got lost,” he murmurs, averting his gaze to his feet.
“We can see that!” laughs the dryad.
“Don’t ye worry, lad, we’ll get ye home safe,” replies the satyr, “just watch her.”
Cellaich turns his gaze back to the dryad, who’s already begun casting a spell. Reflexively laying his hand on the hilt of his sword, he looks back to the satyr, who simply laughs. Cellaich relaxes turning back to the dryad as a beautiful display of lights begin around her. Cellaich’s eyes widen as the faerie fire begins to illuminate a path out of the clearing, seemingly in the direction of his village.
“Don’t want ye getting caught by any o’ those redcaps, now, do we?” asks the satyr, giving Cellaich a warm smile.
“But… how… er… thank you,” murmurs Cellaich, still entranced by the dryad’s display of magic.
“Feel free to come back any time,” she giggles, her casting ritual having concluded. Cellaich looks between the two of them, confused as to why they helped him, but thankful nonetheless. He stammers out a few words of thanks before following the wisps of light into the forest- and within the hour was back at home, warning the foresters about the congregation of dark fey, and still thinking about what he had seen.

Scarab Sages

Want to throw in Grimmil Haferstoff - Dwarf Inquisitor, before the cutoff tomorrow. Still finalizing some things on him but here are the broad strokes.

Grimmil Background:

As noted still fleshing this out some but wanted to get the basics down.

Grimmil is your classic old grumpy dwarf, but for good reason. For much of his youth he was haunted by horrible nightmares. Nightmares of cataclysm and creatures that lurked in the darkest of dark places. He sought the aid of the clans local cleric of Torag but no matter what they tried nothing seemed to help. Finally Grimmil left his clan and the darkness of their underground home in search of a cure.

In his travels he came across a caravan of Varisian Harrow-Tellers. Ready to try anything he sat down with one of the old woman who gave him his fortune, a dark fortune telling of mysterious beings on the fringe of reality and the their twisting horrors and somehow Grimmil was involved. Grimmil didn't give much faith to her words but that night instead of his chaotic and terrible dreams, he dreamed of a fair elven maiden, with brilliant wings like a butterfly. She came to him and pulled him from the darkness and the horror of his nightmares to a starry place of peace. The elven maiden whispered to Grimmil "Fight the nightmares, so that we might spread the dreams of prosperity." Then in an instant she disappeared in a flash of moon light. Grimmil awoke in the back of one of the gypsy carts, finding it to be nearly three days later. He felt refreshed and rested for the first time in as long as he could remember.

The same woman that provided his fortune was driving the cart he had been resting in. When they stopped the woman explained that the Tender of Dreams has a purpose for him. She didn't know what he saw or what he should do but he should follow the wisdom of the goddess. Ever since, Grimmil rarely has his nightmares and when he does he often findings meaning or guidance in them. He turned his life to the servitude of Desna seeking out the horrors and corruption of dreams to put an end to them.

Concept/Plans:
The idea behind Grimmil is the purifier of nightmarish things. In service to Desna he seeks out the occult and the horrors of the night to purify them and their hold on the nightmares they manifest. Primarily a front liner, two-handed build. Not a tank, but will be up there able to take a hit and to also give one. Plan to go pretty much pure inquisitor. May dip into fighter but undecided on that for now.

Will work on an RP Example tonight/tomorrow.


Hey all,

Thanks for all of the submissions! I am excited to have so many solid choices, and faced with the ever-unenviable task of having to whittle it down.

It is interesting to note that it seems we have a melee-heavy selection list. Not much in the way of ranged, very little in the way of arcane casting... not how I expected that to turn out.

I will announce now that cutoff for submissions/changes is at 12:01am CDT, Wednesday, October 31st. Anything you want to change between now and then, feel free (@Dakcenturi don't sweat it if you don't have your RP sample in by midnight, as far as I am concerned you've submitted, and I will look over the sample as part of the selection process even if it is past the cutoff). If you want to throw a second option in the ring, feel free, but I do ask you to provide me with your preference between the two, as Mat_H has kindly done.

Thank you all, and also please note that if anyone leaves the chosen group for whatever reason, I will show priority to the original applicants when looking for a replacement.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, PF Special Edition Subscriber

Good luck selecting! A few quick notes. I haven't selected Mithras' race yet, this is deliberate, so I could see how the rest of the party shapes up and pick something appropriate and flavorful that will provide interesting opportunities with the group.

And with a melee heavy party - he'd definitely go with the Nature's Fang archetype and primarily use a bow and spells to support the rest of the group.

Non-melee heavy and looking for a front-line? Goliath Druid fits that niche nicely.

The background will, of course, be tweaked appropriately.


Ha, and Niru's built as kind of a bad touch sorcerer plus face. Well, ranged arcane casters aren't usually that great, with a few exceptions.

Nature's Fang don't get longbows, unless you elf it up or something, yeah?

Oh, and Niru is a human. I mean, with some Grippli Heritage thrown in.

Just in case you want to review crunch:

Niru Stats:

Nirupama Chhipakalee
Human (Vudrani) sorcerer 1
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +0; Senses Perception +0
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Defense
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AC 11, touch 10, flat-footed 11 (+1 armor)
hp 8 (1d6+2)
Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +2; +1 trait bonus vs. spell effects from evil creatures
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee cestus +2 (1d4+2/19-20)
Ranged sling +0 (1d4+2)
Bloodline Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +5)
. . 7/day—acidic ray (1d6 acid)
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +5)
. . 1st (4/day)—chill touch (DC 15), mage armor
. . 0 (at will)—light, ray of frost, resistance, touch of fatigue (DC 14)
. . Bloodline Aberrant
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 18
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 12
Feats Agile Tongue[ARG], Eschew Materials, Racial Heritage[APG]
Traits driven by guilt, freedom fighter, transmuter of korada
Skills Bluff +8, Diplomacy +10, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Spellcraft +5
Languages Celestial, Common, Vudrani
SQ bloodline arcana (+50% duration on polymorphs)
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds; Other Gear haramaki[UC], cestus[APG], sling, sling bullets (10), bedroll, canteen[UE], flint and steel, 88 gp, 8 sp
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Special Abilities
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Acidic Ray (1d6 acid, 7/day) (Sp) As a standard action, ranged touch attack deals acid damage to foe.
Agile Tongue Your long pink tongue is capable of manipulating small items and even stealing objects.
Bloodline Arcana: Aberrant (Ex) Increase the duration of [polymorph] spells by 50% (min 1 rd).
Eschew Materials Cast spells without materials, if component cost is 1 gp or less.
Racial Heritage (Grippli) You count as another race for the purpose of prerequisites.

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About 9 hours remaining! Good luck everyone, and have fun picking @Oniwaban!


I suspect that the no feat tax rules tend to tempt people into melee characters as it's easier to make them fun faster. I know that factored into my deciding to make Catia here. I'd imagine it's influenced the character list to at least some degree. Having said that, I'll see if I can find time to throw together a shaman before the deadline as a second character. It's not a perfect match for a Cthulhu Mythos themed game, but it's close enough that I could work with it as a second choice in a melee heavy crowd.

Scarab Sages

For Grimmil, I was actually torn between going to melee or ranged. I could easily go the ranged route instead, the only difference would be I would likely dip into Monk or potentially ranger, and potentially change the race around. I will work up an alternate as a ranged build (same base concept/background with some variations) and post it tomorrow.


Right, definitely not going to be able to get a shaman that I'd be happy playing planned out by the deadline, so I'll just stick with Catia here who should be lots of fun if she gets in.

Sample RP:
The night in which Catia became known as the Butcher of Kavapesta, Part I.

Catia moved like a shadow through the night, creeping into a position to left of the main door to the mansion. She'd watched the guards from the shadows enough nights to know their routine by heart. Happily, it was one that could be exploited easily enough. Now she waited until the first guard walked in front of the door from the right side, looking like he always did, out towards the shadows of the street, and not towards the house itself.

Catia's blow caught him in the temple, and he collapsed, boneless and almost silently. Almost. Catia tensed momentarily, ready to run, waiting to see if his partner would react. When there was no further noise, the rugged street brawler let out a breath and quickly dragged the unconsious body into the bushes before taking her new position to the right side of the front door.

The second guard was trickier because she made a habit of scanning the entire area she patrolled, but Catia's practice in lurking in the shadows paid off and soon the body in the bushes was joined by another. The hard part of her job done Catia gave the bird call signal to summon the rest of her crew to do their parts.

As they slipped into the house they nodded their thanks and Catia gave a whispered "Be quick in there, but be thorough. I'll be here listening for any signals." She didn't need to say it of course, they knew what they were doing, but she still felt better making things explicit.

From here on out things should be easy. Their informant had assured them that the house was empty with the magistrate and his servants out of town on some business. The safe should be full of treasure and no change of guard should happen for another 3 hours at the earliest. Catia's crew were good at what they did and should have no trouble getting in and out quickly.

Catia took up position in the branches of a tree, watching for anyone who might approach unexpectedly, and making sure that the two guards she'd already dealt with stayed unconscious. She hoped she wouldn't need to do anything more to them, but was pragmatic enough to know that she could if she needed to. Satisfied that she'd taken care of everything on her end she settled in to wait.


Okay, here's what I've got:

There are those who quake in the presence of extradimensional horrorterrors. There are those who steel their resolve, and prepare to fight. There are those who are driven insane by the revelations of eldritch horrorterrors man was not meant to know.

And then there is Springy Bedpost.

Springy Bedpost, a neon pink haired gnome with a strange affinity for wildly inappropriate songs, has no idea who she is. She has no idea why she arrived there. She literally named herself after the first thing she saw when she woke up in the asylum. As far as she knows, this is where she came into existence, full and complete and having just finished a weird dream of alien beings whose face-tentacles made them look hilarious.

She is a bard with a penchant for wildly inappropriate songs, a love of irreverence, and a questionable mental state. As she levels, she will become able to inspire people in her party to do things that aren't strangle her for being incapable of taking anything seriously. Also, I guess she'll get really good at lying to people and seeing through their motives. She partakes in the *dirtiest* of tricks in battle, using whatever she has handy in order to inconvenience, blind, and generally mess with her opponents.

I fully expect her to do things like make a knowledge check early into a thing, then wait for the rest of the party to have finished chiming in before sliding in from the side via grabbing onto someone and popping her head up over the shoulder to chime in with "Heeeey. I know a thing."

She will probably do this multiple times, until the party just starts off by going 'ok springy, do you know a thing or not' at which point she will respond "Oh, I always know a thing," inevitably whiff the knowledge roll, and chime in with something that has nothing to do with the situation at all.

...Springy is a bit odd, but can you blame her? She's spent her entire life in an asylum. As far as any of you know.


That would be one way to react to the situation I suppose.

Good luck to Spring Bedpost and good luck to everyone else as well!


If I get selected and Springy doesn't I'm going to petition to have her as a companion of some kind. I really want something sitting on my shoulder that "knows a thing".

It also seems like most people have put why they were in the asylum into their backgrounds and I left that part unknown. I'm wondering if I'm setting myself up for GM decided nastiness in my past.


Amestri al-Naadhira Batgali wrote:
I'm wondering if I'm setting myself up for GM decided nastiness in my past.

Muhahahahahaahaaahahaha


*shrugs* Last thing I remember was being hauled out of a river, so your guess is as good as mine for why I'm here (and apparently now know how to use mutagens?)


Oh yeah, I had one other question regarding mechanics- the Fractional BAB Progression rules from Unchained benefit multiclass characters (like mine!) greatly. You didn't mention that they were in use, but I figured I'd ask anyway, since you're using other Unchained and Quality-of-Life rules.


Cellaich Seocan wrote:
Oh yeah, I had one other question regarding mechanics- the Fractional BAB Progression rules from Unchained benefit multiclass characters (like mine!) greatly. You didn't mention that they were in use, but I figured I'd ask anyway, since you're using other Unchained and Quality-of-Life rules.

Thanks for calling this out. I knew I'd forgotten something. Yeah, by all means, use the Fractional BAB. I've never felt that characters should be penalized for spreading their wings and trying other paths.


The Player's Guide states that you don't have to write up a background at all, and there's a strong implication that the GM may tell you something about your background that you didn't consider--so who knows what the real back story is? :D I'm sure it will be fine.

Makes me wonder if the Guide was written that way to get rid of all those incredibly long backstories some people like to write (I'm guilty of that sometimes, I admit). :D


Springy Bedpost will have the Prankster trait from Dirty Tactics Toolbox, yes? :) Whoa, there's also a Gnome Prankster Bard archetype!


Oh I'm pretty sure that the Player's Guide and AP are setting us all up for unknowns in our past. I'm actually looking forward to GM (or AP) inspired nastiness, not worried about it. That's why I purposely left an unknown amount of time completely blank. :D


Amestri al-Naadhira Batgali wrote:
Oh I'm aware that the Player's Guide is setting us all up for unknowns in our past. I'm actually looking forward to GM inspired nastiness, not worried about it. That's why I purposely left an unknown amount of time completely blank. :D

Yeah, despite the fact that I wrote a lot, I was trying to leave it very open-ended and give the GM a lot to work with. I'm really into this campaign, based on what I read in the player's guide- if I don't get selected, I'll probably start looking specifically for another Strange Aeons, or if I have the time, run one myself.


I'm with you. This is the last of the couple APs I've really been looking to run. I've been looking for it specifically for a while now.


I'll withdraw from submitting... with no feedback on the anti-paladin concept at this point in time, a submission would be at a much higher risk of not making the cut.


With less than an hour left, why not leave it in? No chance after of making it due to withdrawing is worse than a "higher risk of not making the cut"


Here's my background for Ji Min, my catfolk Wizard. Sadly I couldn't think of anything that would make a good roleplay sample.

Backstory:
Ji Min’s life was doomed to be harsh before she was even born. Her parents fled from their homeland of Tian Xia for unknown reasons. Died of illness when she was six. and left her with nothing except the clothes that she had.

Her childhood was even worse. Ji was quickly forced into a life of picking pockets and cutting purses, neither of which she was particularly good at, and left her beaten and covered in dirt.

As Ji grew older and more intelligent she realized that people were not only hateful towards her for her appearance but also fearful of her. She started playing into the persona of a greedy monster who demanded tribute from beggars and thieves or they would face her avaricious wrath. Eventually she saved up enough gold for a tuition at a university for arcane study. It was only one term but it was enough.


Hopefully this is in still under the wire. If it helps I'm on Pacific time and forgot about the zone difference.

I'm still working on some details but Miren is an elven arcanist, Void school savant.

This is a second application and pairs with Sigrun. Having gotten in to creating Miren though, I think she might be my slight preference of the two.

Yeah, both my applications have fairly detailed backgrounds but they stop some undefined time before the beginning of the adventure so no reasons are given for being in the asylum. I also expect that much to nothing of the backgrounds would be known to the characters at the start.

Silver Crusade

Sorry I didn't give a formal submission, outside of Ratfolk who is Sylvan Trickster Rogue (maybe) I couldn't really think of a concept/backstory for the character.

Good luck to all who submitted!


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on the upside, Rysky, 'backstory' in strange aeons is frequently something you can outsource to the GM.

If you're willing to risk being an amnesiac baby-eater or something crazy like that anyways--

HEY ACTUALLY CAN I CHANGE MY CONCEPT--(No, no I'm kidding.)


So would you be an amnesiac that eats babies, or someone who eats amnesiac babies? Asking because the first would be horrible to find out later what you've been up to, but I'm completely on board with the second one.

Scarab Sages

RP Example:
Quick note, decided to change his name from Grimmil to Jagray just so I can use an old unused alias.

Jagray sat in the corner of the tavern nursing his ail as he kept an eye on the door. The place was quiet and smelled of mildew, but that wasn’t surprising since the wretched place was on the far outskirts of Lepidstadt. The owner of the place wasn’t overly excited to have an unknown visitor, so the only company he had was his own thoughts. He shook his head as he thought ”Been waitin’ in this dump fer days now. I hope those wretches I had ta put a beatin’ on for the information they gave weren’t lyin’ ta me…”

His latest lead in his search for the occult brought him here. From rumors he forcibly obtained from others, this was a common meeting spot for members of some secret cult. Just as he was about to turn in for the night two men walked into the tavern. Jagray tilted his head and the brim of his hat down to cover his face just enough so he could barely see what was going on. The two humans didn’t pay him much mind and went over to speak with the owner. Jagray could barely over hear them mention that more were coming, and they had arrived early. Letting out a sigh Jagray stood, picked up his mug and downed the contents before walking over to the bar where the owner and the unknown humans waited. Catching a glimpse of a small tattoo on one of the mans wrists Jagray knew these were the men he had been waiting for.

Letting out a loud belch he strolled right up to one of the men and with a slight jump, clocked him on the head with the mug. The man crumpled to the floor unconscious. Jagray smirked as he promptly popped a dagger into his hand from his wrist sheath holding it to the other mans genitals "Best ya don'na move laddie, less ya na plannin' ta ever have another night with a lass." The man put his hands up in surrender and Jagray motioned him along outside at the point of his dagger, flipping the owner a few coins for the trouble.

After a few minutes and a couple puncture marks later the man told Jagray everything he needed to know. One of the lead members of the cult worked out of some asylum. Having gotten what he came for Jagray knocked the man's feet out from under him and as he fell to his knees he slipped the dagger into the mans chest "Ya won't be spreadin' yer fear and darkness any longer. More importantly, ya won't be lettin' any of yer friends know I'm commin' fer 'em." Wiping the blade clean on the mans shirt Jagray had his next lead and headed off to continue his pursuit of squelching the nightmares that plagued him and so many others.

Quick question for you on your thoughts with alignment. So obviously inquisitor needs to be within one step of their deity. I really like the thought of him being an inquisitor of Desna and wanting to hunt down the darkness and things that feast on nightmares. All of this to cleanse the taint they present to Desna's sphere of influence on dreams. However, I see him much more of a lawful neutral - follow his own code, based on his interpretation of of his faith, and he is willing to do what needs to be done to see it through. Just wanted to get your thoughts on if that one step restriction could be overruled. If not, I can adjust accordingly but thought I would get your input.


I have no issue with that, in this instance. While I feel that that rule is generally a good one, I also think its main purpose is to keep someone from creating a CE Inquistor of Desna who slaughters his way around the world, justifying it by saying, "What? I like to have nice dreams." :D


Oniwaban wrote:
I have no issue with that, in this instance. While I feel that that rule is generally a good one, I also think its main purpose is to keep someone from creating a CE Inquistor of Desna who slaughters his way around the world, justifying it by saying, "What? I like to have nice dreams." :D

Plus, it helps that all of the flavor (and mechanics) for inquisitors reflect the concept of following your own path to bring about your deity's ideals. Unlike Paladins, Clerics and Warpriests, Inquisitors can't fall and lose their abilities.


Cellaich Seocan wrote:
Plus, it helps that all of the flavor (and mechanics) for inquisitors reflect the concept of following your own path to bring about your deity's ideals. Unlike Paladins, Clerics and Warpriests, Inquisitors can't fall and lose their abilities.

I agree. I honestly wish they would get rid of alignment restrictions on Inquisitors and put some kind of requirement to act in accordance with the diety's domains and focus, as that would fit how an Inquisitor works better. I think it might be too much to expect everyone to track that very well though, so they went with the easier option.


Amestri al-Naadhira Batgali wrote:
Cellaich Seocan wrote:
Plus, it helps that all of the flavor (and mechanics) for inquisitors reflect the concept of following your own path to bring about your deity's ideals. Unlike Paladins, Clerics and Warpriests, Inquisitors can't fall and lose their abilities.
I agree. I honestly wish they would get rid of alignment restrictions on Inquisitors and put some kind of requirement to act in accordance with the diety's domains and focus, as that would fit how an Inquisitor works better. I think it might be too much to expect everyone to track that very well though, so they went with the easier option.

Agreed, as this would likely mean that no one would play an Inquisitor without having a possibly long chat with their GM to say, "Will you let me act this way?" etc. since a player's interpretation might differ vastly from what their GM or even fellow players think about that God and their focus. Easier just to shoehorn them into staying close to alignment.


It's as much my fault as anyone's but we should probably stop chatting, as I keep getting alerts there's a new message and I come hoping to see the selection lol.

Good luck one last time everyone!


You were chosen, Amestri! To be part of this conversation.

As for inquisitors, ugh, I dunno. The concept of an inquisitor (not the game class) is so semi-Lawful Evil to me (no one expects the Spanish Inquisition!) that I often feel like the class should be re-named.


Alright... I've been somewhat agonizing over this while walking the kids around to trick-or-treat tonight... but here goes.

Selected:
Jagray - Dwarf Inquisitor of Desna
Amestri - Human Witch
Springy Bedpost - Gnome Bard (this name reminds me of Squealy Nord)
Cellaich - Human Rogue
Endol - Ratfolk fighter

This was not an easy decision, and I wish I had the time to run two tables right now.

Thanks to all for applying.

Those chosen can proceed to the discussion tab and finalize builds/aliases/talk... I will likely open the game on Friday.

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