<--Okay, here's mine.
Some highlights:
Aabish was raised by her mother, but never knew who her father was, and since her mother was an outcast, she didn't have many dwarven role models. Perhaps this is why she grew up to be very undwarflike when compared with the typical dwarf.
Although she never lived on the street, they didn't live in the good part of town, and she saw firsthand what suffering was going on with human kids of her own age, and thought it unfortunate that they suffered so much with such short lifespans. Even as a kid she could utilize some inherent magic, and as she developed that magic solidified into ways to help the homeless humans around her. She could create water for them, purify whatever food they had scrounged so that it wouldn't harm them, and even stabilize them when they seemed to be dying, at which point Aabish would call on her mother, who worked as a minor functionary in a temple and had some healing ability.
Her mother always encouraged her to grow up to be a full fledged cleric, but though Aabish definitely had tendencies in that direction, she didn't want to become her mother, and she was too rebellious to follow the traditional "dwarven" roles, disdaining to embrace the people who had cast her mother out. Instead she emulated some of the strong figures that she observed and wanted to be more like... a strong and tall ranger who came through once a month helping to provide food for the local orphanage, or the quiet and kind minor sorceress that her mother paid when she needed something mended.
As she continued on her path, many people told her that what she wanted to be was impossible--everyone told her that dwarves weren't suited for sorcery, or archery. And yet she persisted, working to overcome her weaknesses, getting up and trying again ever time she failed, and ultimately proving that Dwarves can become anything that they set their minds to. (Don't mention to her that stubbornness is a very Dwarven Trait, or she'll take a swing at you.)
When she was studying Sorcery, and hanging out with other spellcasters, she found a tiny little Ioun Wyrd outside a mage bar, looking lost. It only had a Dull Gray Ioun stone at its center, and Aabish wasn't sure if it had been abandoned, or had been the construct of one of the unfortunates that had died earlier in a foolhardy wizard's duel. Either way, it was lost, so she took it home, and it eventually became her familiar, enjoying becoming a tattoo when around other people when she figured out how to do that. She plans to find it some better ioun stones eventually, when she has the cash.
Fast forward to the present and the thing that has brought her some attention and slight fame is her tattoo artistry. She had been working at a local tattoo shop for cash so she could continue her studies and continue to help the homeless, and one of her clients who was a nobleman started raving about her to his friends, and suddenly she was popular. She is getting free rent and got some much better artist's tools, and feels very fortunate. She just wants to make sure that her popularity doesn't pull her away from being able to do some good.
Bloodline Arcana [When casting any spell that deals fire damage, you can instead heal your targets. The spell deals no damage, and living creatures affected by the spell instead regain a number of hit points equal to half the fire damage the spell would normally deal.]
... I mean, she can't cast fireball yet, but can you imagine a healing fireball? Such fun.
Let me know if you have questions, or want more highlights rather than slogging through the whole profile. :)
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That phoenix bloodline is neat! Being able to have some healing utility with a blaster caster is awesome.
Yeah, whenever I edit my profile I make sure I do it in small blips or that I write down description/backstory in a text document before copy/paste.
I've wanted to play this AP for quite a while now and would love to throw my hat in.
@GM: Regarding to non-standard races, you said they are on a case by case basis. Would you be ok with an Ifrit, specifically a Sunsoul?
He'd pretends to be an Aasimar as those are actually accepted in Taldor while an Ifrit would suffer from a perceived connection to Qadira for being geniekin.
A while back I installed an Extension in my Chrome browser that has been a lifesaver. It's called Typio Form Recovery, and it basically saves everything you type in a form field as you type it. If you try to submit and the site chokes, you can go back, refresh the page, and then recover everything you typed in that field. I can't imagine dealing with this site without it!
After giving it too much thought, I think I'm set on a Rogue/Magus. I don't know if I'll be able to complete the submission on time, though, but I'll try anyway.
You still have a whole week. Oh jeez... a whole week.
@That Taldan GM: I would suggest you give a read to at least the two first book of the AP, they are the most likely to clash with many PCs' backgrounds.
Hey guys! Archlich here with my submission: Timm, a gnome Iroran Paladin/Pyrokineticist! I wanted to build something mechanically effective for the social interactions, providing some utility in combat (in his case, ranged) but, most importantly, interesting for all the role playing side of this module.
As I worked on him, I had been constantly visiting this thread and reading other people's backgrounds, tinkering and changing Timm's. I still didn't add the text here in his profile, but basically he's a pyromaniac gnome who controlled his strongest urges for chaos by joining the Houses of Perfection, decades ago. There, he was educated religiously as an Iroran, but also developed his passion as a jeweler, and as such became a good crafter on his several decades of life, until finally catching the attention of nobility.
I feel there's a lot of potential to intertwine his background with other people here (if we get selected together) and would love to do so. Anyone who's truly more on the good (than neutral) side, has links to nobility and has traveled through Taldor would be a great candidate!
Anyway - thanks for having me here in your midst. I will have his background complete for a submission on the next couple days, but will leave some openings in it in case the GM like the idea of linking backgrounds, to be edited after selections are made.
Cheers!
@Souls At War: Unfortunately I have to agree with you. Despite not having played this AP beyond the beginning of the first book, I know there are some backgrounds here in the forums that would not fit well with what our "true main" mission will become. But I think if people read the player's guide they can probably easily fix the issues with their stories (especially relations with some known characters, families and the throne itself), and it's something the GM might help them do even after the selections if their concept is interesting enough.
@All: If you never heard of this AP before, I strongly recommend reading the player's guide, but also to be prepared for a game more of role-playing than combat dice rolling. If this is your cup of tea, you're probably in for a treat! :)
Backstory added.
Cassiopia is socially strong and can offer all knowledge skills.
She can also help in a bit with the lockpicking.
In combat she can aid with magic and will be decent debuffer, aided by her alchemy and inspiration
Wow, I'm really starting to like the idea of playing in this campaign. I know with only eight slots for roughly thirty-two proposals we each only have about a 25% chance of getting in -- but I like my PC, like what I've heard of the campaign theme, and really like so many of the other PC builds! Part of me is like, 'Hey, my chances of getting in are like the chances of one of those super-Threat-Range PCs, 15-20, that seem to always get a Crit in combat.' But another part of me is like, 'Nah, it's more like as a DM when I throw a Dragon at the PCs and I have to roll a d4 to see how many rounds I have to wait before I can use my Breath Weapon again -- it's like I never roll a 1!'
But I digress,...
I just added a bit to Perdita Vernisant's Profile on how Martella Lotheed would have known who I was (Lady Martella being from a renown-for-Wizards House), and why on earth she would invite me to the Exaltation Gala (Maxillar Pythareus' recent public rebuke of me because I revere Sarenrae) -- something Perdita wants to reform in Taldor, but something she had hoped to do on the down-low.
Anyway, I'm also really enjoying reading many of the other PC proposals. I want to call out to a few of you to see if you want to maybe have our PCs know of each other or be, I dunno, allies or contacts. Obviously a lot of these will have to be voided once the handful of us get picked and the rest of us (We're all hoping our Keen Rapier Threatens a Crit!) regretfully have to wait for the next PbP.
I also envision Cassiopia as a female version of Prof Jordan Peterson.
Thoughtful, well read, with an interest in psychology and sociology.
Is anyone actively working on a character still? Just checking in to see how things are going.
Yes, completing the background. If you want I can speed it up - I was counting on completing by Thursday or so.
My crunch is done I just need to do a good hit on background- will get to it tonight or early tomorrow.
I might add a blurb about party role and progression, but otherwise done once I add some potions. Potions are ok right?
Here's my submission!
I did my best at involving plot hooks from the guide and the inner sear world book so as the fit the campaign and setting.
Backstory-wise, the condensed version is that he's an aging half-elven former military officer who lost both his sight and the lives of his men and career after an argument with the Strategos over discriminiation against non-pure humans (and co) in the Taldan army. Now, he's looking for a chance at redemption and setting things right.
To spice things up a bit, other than being mostly blind, he's past his prime in age and form and has to work his way back up. He also has an adult son who has joined Pythareus and is thus on 'the wrong side' and a mercenary daughter whom he hasn't heard from in a while. There are some other plothooks and possible NPC relations in the character sheet along with a short story I wrote on his background.
Game-Mechanically, he is a base paladin I oracle with the clouded vision curse and the battle mystery. He can serve as the group tank or melee damage dealer, as well as having excellent social skills out of combat (though I imagine being a half-elf will be a complicating factor in Taldan high society). Due to his classes, he also eventually learns a large contingent of healing spells and abilities and could also function decently as a tanky main healer, though his build wasn't made around this. Late game, he shines at boosting his allies with a great array of inspiring party buffs, fitting for a former commander.
Well, good luck with the other submissions everyone! I'm always open and happy to think of potential ways Jieran has met your character in the past and what their current relation might be.
Edit: As of the time of posting, my submission is about 60% done. It's missing a few sections, namely the class abilities block, the OC NPC relations, the party role/projected build idea going forward (though that's mostly discussed in this post above), and possible relationships with the other submissions. I also saw his equipment isn't specified in the statblock yet. However, the site has been acting strangely the last day and it won't allow me to update the alias' profile while it does still allow me to post. Maybe there is a maintenance issue, I guess. I'll come back to this asap and fill in the relations if other authors are willing to work on it together :)
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30 Submissions So Far!
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Let me know if I missed anyone!
I'm still working on Brigga Vinmark (only distantly related to the fresh noble house, the one raised to nobility is a fourth cousin).
She's a Senatorial Hopeful from the region of Northern Tandak who has come to the capital in hopes of garnering more attention for the region. In her opinion the regional ruler is well intentioned but doesn't take enough action, especially as the region has recently been "invaded" by fleeing nobles from Galt who think they can lord over the locals and Galtan brigands who smell a profit.
She bears the responsibility for her entire community, or at least she feels she does, as they sent her in their behalf, hoping her celestial nature as an aasimar would get her extra attention. The fact she isn't actually an aasimar but instead a sunsoul ifrit is both besides the point and not known by the people of her home. Even Brigga herself has only recently found out she isn't what she and everyone around her always assumed she was. Accidentally causing things to combust when angry isn't in the aasimar portfolio after all.
Classwise I'm not 100% settled yet. One side will be a Skald using both the Fated Champion (representing how her community views her) and Red Tongue (the reason they view her as such) archetypes.
For the other side I'm thinking Soulbound Summoner, representing the rift and doubt in her being that has come into existence when she discovered she wasn't what everyone thought she was and continuing to pretend nothing changed.
Ok, Background is updated!
@That Taldan GM- Thank you! Potions have been bought! I have also seen to getting a sling. Then a quick trip to a money changer got my remaining gold converted into various coin. Max gold for a fighter is actually a rather sizable sum when your weapons are your fists and you don't wear armor! I was surprised.
Did one of these:
His role in the party should be pretty straightforward. He has social skills and combat skills so that no matter the venue he can hold ground for the group. He definitely is not the scholar or the sneak in a group. Just because his background is a bit sheltered doesn't mean I want to play him as a stupid/silent fighter guy though. I want to play him as eager to endear himself and his strengths to a group, so he would definitely seek to learn from or help others in the party in their own endeavors. Making assist other checks, serving as a distraction for the skill monkey, bull rushing an enemy into a better position for the party, coordinating with the casters to see what magics they like to use and how that might help him. His build and his backstory make party interaction very fruitful. He is all about making connections and establishing himself. He does so for his own good though. He is more ambitious than selfless.
All right, I finished adding the missing tabs to the alias. Eagerly looking forward to the results! Good luck to everyone still writing.
Is anyone actively working on a character still? Just checking in to see how things are going.
Personally, dropping since I couldn't come up with a concept anyway.
Sort of underestimated how popular this game would be, and was thinking about closing off new applications.
especially with gestalt.
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Hi GM! My background and application are now complete. I left some hooks in my story for you, and to eventually link with other players if you and the others feel would work. Thanks for the opportunity and sorry I took so long :) It was a pleasure to put Timm together.
And her backstory is done. I hope you like it.
Is there anyone in particular that would want people to look over their profile? I want to do some browsing, but there are soooo many.
Perdita Vernisant welcomes you, Torin Argentus. I’ve been wanting to go through the other PCs myself, for quite a while — but such a task is quite Herculean considering both my schedule and that it may be a bit of a waste if I’m not one of the 25%’ers. (Well, not a waste, I’d enjoy it — it’s just that real life priorities makes reading 30+ PCs not a priority. Hopefully I’ll have an hour Friday.)
I feel the exact same way, the first few that got posted I read through completely lately I've just been glancing at a few details, Happy to have anyone look over mine though
I would feel honored to get someone to prove read mine.
Yes, Please feel free to look Thonis over. I'm the same as you Eoin, I started out reading the applications carefully, but as they piled up I started just quick glancing.
I also nominate myself for proof-reading and general excitement for the campaign :D
It seems a shame for so many of us to go to all of this work writing backgrounds that only our esteemed GM reads, so I've been going through them too when I get a moment.
Oh, I had definitely been reading the other backgrounds here. Some good stuff, people. :)
I'd be happy for anyone to read and/or critique mine. Did my best to capture 'the soldier past his prime, who lost his faith in the loyalist government' stick. Of course, i'll return the gesture too :) Perhaps we could think of some shared background.
I'm slowly going through reading the other backgrounds on my own too; people have obviously put a lot of thought in their submissions. Wish i could respond to them all but with their number and extensiveness, that's not feasable with real-life obligations. I'd have more time next week since my vacation starts then, but that would be past the deadline...
I'll start with Perdita and try to make my way through those who asked during the day. I've already looked over some of your sheets.
I have to admit I am not very familiar with hybrid classes and replacing racial traits. I'm more of a minimalist and rarely go beyond base races and archtypes myself. I originally made a half-elf for the previous recruitment, so I can get into the frowned upon reformer angle. Not sure how feasible that actually is, but that's for the DM to decide. I myself have never feared an uphill battle.
Speaking to skills and spell selection though I really like the educated and mostly practical selections. Linguistics is a favorite skill of mine, so it's always nice to see that added. The hit to perception I actually like. Gives the more perceptive characters something to contribute rather than everyone having a juiced perception. A bit troubled there are no truly practical spells like mage armor or magic missiles though. :P
In short I like the character despite the potential extra work she might have to put in.
Moving on to Eoin Atticus. Had to check into the archtype for this one.
The backstory was an interesting read. I kind of feel it's like a bad plate on "Chopped" though. It's a great dish and you technically used all the basket ingredients, but I feel like I would have liked you to have put more focus into how he became a druid. It's just there on the plate for the most part. Druid is one of the more trained classes in the game and the only mention of it in his backstory is touching a leyline(?) one time while out for a walk. I'm not trying to be negative. The way he sees the world despite being part of the nobility and the journey to come to that point was a great read.
I like that you have a wolf hound a lot. While the PG mentions how nobility collect exotic pets there is something to be said for the classics of a loyal hound. Every campaign is made richer having a good boi. Don't @ me cat people. The addition of handle animal and survival, much like a high strength modifier, could come in handy in what would otherwise be a moment of weakness in an urban campaign.
Looks to be a good healer, but I'm not sure about some of his kit. I'm mostly a dumb fighter guy, so I am unfamiliar with telempathic projections and the conjugation school.
Again, I want to stress it was a good character read and not trying to be down on it despite my criticism.
Oops, Conjugation was my phone autocorrecting conjuration thanks for pointing that out. to the druid portion yeah, I tend to agree, I felt like I didn't want to add a whole ton more to the background for fear of it being too long a read so I kinda hand waved a bit of what I had planned there. Maybe I should go back and add it though.
Thanks for the feedback
Conjugation magic is a subschool of Enchantment, right? Or is it part of Translation (language-dependent)? Either way I want to know more!
I'm fine with someone reading through Raven if they wish. I'm still thinking of any adjustments I could make, fleshing out I could do etc. I have some time tomorrow so I might make my way through this list of submissions but its very large!
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Conjugation magic is a subschool of Enchantment, right? Or is it part of Translation (language-dependent)? Either way I want to know more!
Save DC os based on your linguistics skill instead of saves, of course x'D
I would feel honored to get someone to prove read mine.
All right! Well, here is my feedback:
Countess Cassiopeia Zespire
What I think is good:
-You have uncommon classes with a realistic stat spread for a person, which makes her feel more fresh and believable, respectively.
-Your feats and traits all center around social skills, which fit your background and the campaign theme. In that, your submission feels consistent with itself.
-It contains all the information on your character that someone needs to know.
-I like the idea of the background story, which, if I understand correctly, is about a noble thinking the nobility has become rotten and has to fix itself, which fits with Taldor’s setting.
-You seem to be aware that there are a lot of spelling and style mistakes in the backstory, and asked for help in proofreading. That’s great; knowing is half the battle. Unfortunately, I can’t covert everything with the time that I have now…
What I think could be improved:
-You can probably improve the formatting itself a bit to make it more reader-friendly. For one, you tend to use large blocks of text with no full line breaks (empty lines) in between. This makes it a bit harder to read through imo and might scare off a potential reader. Secondly, you tend to make long lists of abilities in which every single spell or skill is on a separate line. This makes these lists appear very long without saying much and this enforces the wall of text problem.
For instance, looking at the spells, a much clearer way to put it down would be:
Knacks (Psychic spells):
Level 0: Daze, Detect magic, light, prestidigitation, stabilize.
Level 1: Mind thrust, sleep, burst of insight.
Similarly, when looking at your list of skills, it’s good having a full breakdown of the value of every skill but that makes it drown in a wall of text. To fix this issue, you could make a separate heading with named ’skills’, which only state the total modifier for each skill, and then name the current list ‘Skills: Breakdown’ in case someone wants to know how you got to those values. This way, you give everyone what they want: a very quick and easily-readable skill reference chart and the detailed breakdown separate from the short version.
For the background story:
I had to read it a few times to understand since the into is a bit long and becomes a bit of a word salad with the absence of line breaks and a lot ‘sweeping, overly dramatic words and statements’. Maybe what you could do is go a bit easier with generalising statements and give more examples of the problems earlier, or write her witnessing a more relatable event (for a reader) first from where we can understand why she feels those things.
Is there anyone in particular that would want people to look over their profile? I want to do some browsing, but there are soooo many.
Well, since you're giving constructive feedback to others I felt someone should reward your service :)
What I like:
-Every part of your character sheet is in it’s own spoiler section, which technically makes it easy to find whatever I’m looking for quickly.
-Monks are always cool. I haven’t seen too many people go for the athlete campaign trait yet, either.
- also like that he has a realistic stat-spread and that he isn’t coming across as clearly overpowered due to the gestalt system, with at least one clear weakness (ac).
-The backstory is fairly straightforward and to the point. It needs no convoluted plot to get a super rare race on an extremely exotic class and archetype combination. It’s a bit refreshing to see a fairly short one since most seem to be on the long end (I’m looking at you, me! Write a bit more concise once!). It’s just enough to give me an idea of what he’s about and to get me thinking about what I’m missing, in that it raises my curiosity.
What might be improved:
-Every part of your char sheet being in its own spoiler section might become a bit annoying for other people to check. You can’t just glance over it once and keep reading, but have to open six different spoiler sections.
-The backstory is one wall of text, even if it’s fairly short. Maybe a few line breaks? Also, about half of the lines start with some variation of: “He was raised to… / He was trained to…” which feels a bit repetative.
- I’d have liked to know a bit more of Torin, his personality and the people around him, since this doesn’t tell me that much. Is his mother still around? Who Is his father? Does Torin hate her for giving him up as a child? Does his patron expect something more in return for all the privilege he’s giving him? Were the monks themselves annoyed with him getting all these special privileges at the monastery? Did he have any life at all apart from training? I mean, those are good potential plot hooks, I think, and if that was all on purpose then good job. But if you leave out too much for others to fill in, it starts to feel like a bit of an empty or one-dimensional character (at least, to me).
Oh boy does this sure look a competitive recruitment with plenty of exceptional submissions already applied. I love it! Anyhow, here's me throwing my own submission in the ring, a feisty Bard (Arcane Duelist)/Swashbuckler (Inspired Duelist/Noble Fencer) that's shamelessly inspired by the real world duelist and opera singer Julie d'Aubigny.
Role-wise since she's a Arcane Duelist her Librarian abilities as a Bard have been nerfed, but I see Juliena being primarily focused on being a Face and Support that can be a decent melee Striker when necessary.
As for plot hooks for the adventure path itself and other players, she's a distant cousin to Eutropia Stavian, so she already has a reason to be looking out for the princess, and for players she's a rather rebellious noble lady that's been around both Oppara's ritzy areas and less reputable joints either getting into duels for kicks or doing a musical performance. So she might have met your character once or twice if they frequent the big city.
Of course, the background isn't quite done yet, but I'll be sure to get that done by Friday. If anyone wants to give out some advice on her stats, which are up on her alias page, feel free as I've never done gestalt before and any advice would be welcome.
Cheers!
Thanks for the feedback. I used "he was" deliberately, because it's a blurb about his origins and upbringing. Torin hasn't done much of the "I am" yet. His entire life until now has been more or less decided for him, and he has done little more than consent to go along with it.
To answer a few questions you posed:
- Unknown. Neither he nor the monastery has had anything to do with his mother since he was given up. The same could be said for his father.
- He's pretty happy with his lot. He is special and all his training has been so he can share that with the world. Torin wouldn't begin to know how to feel about parents. Supposedly his mother understood how special he was and how important it was he be trained. At least, that is what he was told.
- He might. Supposedly it's just so Torin can popularize the style, but who knows. His teacher was often hard on Torin, but it was because he wanted him to be the best. Perhaps he puts too much focus on recognition, but it's only right that people want to be acknowledged.
- Torin would say monks are supposed to be above jealousy, but he isn't your typical monk either. Oh wait... you asked if they were annoyed. Yes. Definitely. Torin received only the best training. Not everyone can appreciate the amount of pressure that puts one under. Or that such strain isn't something just anyone can endure.
- Not particularly. Constant study and training dominated Torin's life growing up. Lots of his spare time was spent just learning the basic meditation expected of all monks. Meditation lessons he seemed to always be behind on.
Hopefully I answered your questions without creating more in the process. I have a bad habit of implying things and not outright saying them. Very bad habit. That and leaving DM potential ammunition. Bad bad idea. Maybe his teacher shouldn't have been a Chell mercenary.
I know it's a little late, but I would like someone to look over my character as well. I'm really not familiar with the setting, so I kept everything low to the ground, so to speak. I'd at least like to change from generic terms like "Thieves Guild". I think it might have made my backstory stiff to read.
Mechanics-wise, I'm happy where I am thematically, but a little optimization never hurt.