@GM Coyote, I know different GMs do it different ways, so if you have a preference, let me know, but rolling below for a variant Aasimar ability:
That one is "Once per day, you can exhibit a burst of speed, moving as if your base land speed were 50 feet for 1 round."
Let me know if that is okay to take instead of the normal spell-like ability (Daylight once a day), or if you want to roll yourself, or if you have some other method.
Of course it is okay if you disallow them entirely as well, just let me know which. :)
(I'm working on an Aasimar Sorcerer (Local Campaign trait) with a Rakshasa bloodline, and coordinating a backstory with the previously submitted character Rigel Pordyras.)
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Ray: Mechanically looks fine, though I'd also like to see some backstory for him.
Zanbabe: Looks like a fine ability. Some of those can get a little overpowered, but that's a balanced trade-off.
Alright, this is Ouachitonian's submission. Othniel is a half elf born in Crossroads to a Drow and a Yakuza. He's grown up with a foot in both underworlds, but also made his own way. He mostly serves as a go-between and translator between various factions in Crossroads' underworld.
Mechanically, I took a dip of gunslinger followed by Magus (Eldritch Archer) 4. I always have wanted to spellstrike with a pistol. Now I can do so while wearing a nice suit in a speakeasy. He can do some more generalized arcane stuff, has a decent (and rising) number of skill points. But mostly he talks and he listens. And, when necessary, he shoots people.
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Ray Brautigan was born to the owners of a horse farm in central Kentucky, but he was never comfortable with the easy, opulent life of the gentree class. As a teenager he ran way, headed west. As the frontier, rough and tumble days died, he saw the tail end of a lifestyle he'd never fullly get back to. The war came, and he enlisted to go fight overseas. While in the trenches, he saw more pain and suffering than any human should. He doesn't like to talk about it.
When he returned, the country life was far too quiet for his addled psyche, so he found himself in Los Angeles. Good with a gun and deceptively intelligent and observant, he was taken in by an older private detective and shown the ropes. At first he was the old man's fist and legs, but eventually his knack for the mental work was clear. The old man eventually retired and Ray took over the practice. Mostly divorce work, the job kept his brain busy enough that his anxieties and memories were more or less drowned out.
But this one, a missing person case ...he'd had a few and they ranged from mundane to shady, but nothing was ever like this case. The trail had brought him to a place between places, where things stopped making sense. Not entirely sure if he was hallucinating it all, he's trying to figure the place out enough to find the girl.
GM Coyote, let me know if Erasmus Night is in consideration.
The Night family was traveling from the Hamptons to California to visit their new holdings via private train car. A baby cries, Eramus is oddly unruly at this time of night. Cedric Night was a businessman who worked with various other influential families. He was making a calculated play to gain a Monopoly within the United States. To stall for time, he took his family across country along the scenic route in several train cars.
Cedric was in consistent contact using the Telegraph Machine with the Home Office and Wall Street as he took his family out west. During a storm where lightning bolts hit the Kansas farmlands, Cedric worked at the Telegraph Machine frantically tapping. When several bolts of lightning touched down in the cornfield surrounding the tracks, the ambient light momentarily blinded everyone.
The silence of the Telegraph Machine wasn't noticed as vision was restored to everyone. Cedric had vanished, his coffee cup spilled! His young wife, Morgan, was in a frenzied and decisive panic during the next several hours. Also vanished from a sleeper car, was Cedric's eldest offspring, a daughter, whom he nick named Una.
In it's place was a feral creature resembling Una. Cheeks tear stained, cold eyes coal black, Morgan simply pushed the Changeling out the speeding train car as it was crossing a bridge. "This is not my daughter."
Morgan Night drug her middle eldest daughter, Tempest Night, by the arm to the Engineer compartment. Tempest, technicality now the eldest, brought a basket with a young baby boy, Erasmus, who would not stop crying.
At gunpoint Morgan directed the Engineer to an unused track.
The Engineer died within a mile of the unused tracks. The basket handle broke as Morgan drug Tempest out at the Precise Time along the Unused Track at Platform 52.
The train, however, did not stop, no matter what screams Morgan let loose.
Erasmus was the only living being alive within the Train when it came to a stop within Mount Storm. As the last puff of smoke, the train came to a stop, young Erasmus was teleported to the claws of a Dragon on the Carousal.
The Dragon, Abithriax, adopted the baby, Erasmus. Using its hoard in moments while conscious, it provided nannies and boarding school for Erasmus.
For the last couple decades the only home that Erasus knew was the decrepit train on the outskirts of Storm Mount and the Carousal. Technically, the Cross Roads Boarding Schools was a Battle Zone, so it was not home.
Erasmus Night is a High Roller, living off the Largess of the Night Family coffers from the Train and the Abithriax Hoard.
Erasmus has been living life aimlessly because he does not know Secrets.
Ray: Looks good to me!
Brett Chenault: I’d like to see at least some sort of character build. A few background notes I should clarify, Junction 27 is the only way to reach Crossroads from Earth barring rare instances of magic, and something as large as a train definitely couldn’t make it through. Additionally, the creatures on the carousel aren’t exactly alive, just constructs that animate to delight (or terrify) riders.
Dotting for interest, this looks amazing and I have a view ideas in mind already. Is there a deadline for applications?
How long has junction 27 been open? Essentially, could a character be someone descended from a human who wandered in decades ago? Asking for backstory purposes.
Secondly, do you have any positions on spheres of might classes/ archetypes? I ask only because I saw spheres of power being allowed, but not necessarily its non-magical counterpart.
Name: Thomas Anderson
Serial Number: 397232
Rank: Captain
Description: 5’ 8” tall, white but tans easily, cropped blond hair, piercing blue eyes with a ready smile. Wears a well pressed shirt and tie over chainmail with a gun holster and kukri knife. A silver hip flask is never far from his belt.
Bio: A child of empire, Thomas was born on Feb 13th 1896 at Glenburn Tea Estate, Darjeeling. His family moved to Harrow in 1907 and Thomas enrolled in Harrow boys school the same year. Later aged sixteen he enrolled in Sandhurst 1912 with five school friends. In 1913 he deployed to Cyprus. Later he served in the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 as an officer attached to a regiment of Gurkas and developed a reputation as a crack shot. In 1916 he was recalled to fight in France and fought in the first and second battles of the Somme. In 1918 he was badly wounded storming a trench and was medically discharged. By the end of hostilities almost every officer he knew from Sandhurst including his five school friends were dead. The horrors of war scarred Thomas but as was expected he kept a stiff upper lip and never spoke about it again afterwards although the nightmares never went away.
In 1919 he traveled to America to visit family in Chicago and San Francisco where a distant cousin was having a wedding. His aunt Agatha was travelling independently to the same wedding from Minneapolis but never turned up. The sheriffs were stumped, private detectives were hired and turned up nothing but bills. So with his trusty Webley service revolver in tow Thomas set out to retrace her steps which lead to Kansas where she apparently misread her map and made the fateful mistake of turning south instead of west at Junction 27.
Upon entering Crossroads Thomas at first thought he’d gone mad for things that had no right to exist, slivered and talked and even wore pin-stripe suits! Over the next few years reality dawned that he was stuck and he might as well make the best of it. Military experience proved to be a valuable commodity and he found work as a bouncer in several of the downtown clubs including the Obelisk Lounge and scraped together enough coin to live in Providence Arbors where the paranormal wasn’t quite so in your face.
Despite an extensive search, Thomas has been unable to establish what happened to aunt Agatha beyond sightings in The Burrows, Downtown and Southfields. So far Thomas has mostly kept his head down, although as a man of principles there was always going to be a time when this was no longer possible…
Mannerisms: Thomas is well spoken and polite to a point. He never used to drink but the horrors of war lead to finding solace in bottle although he rarely gets drunk regarding the loss of control as unseemly. Still a sip of gin now and then never hurt anyone...
Captain Thomas Anderson
Male human barbarian (savage technologist) 5 (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Technology Guide 13)
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4; Senses Perception +8
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Defense
--------------------
AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+5 armor, +1 deflection, +3 Dex)
hp 55 (5d12+15)
Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +2
Defensive Abilities trap sense +1
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Offense
--------------------
Speed 40 ft.
Melee mwk kukri +7 (1d4/18-20)
Ranged +1 revolver +7 (1d8+1/×4)
Special Attacks rage (14 rounds/day), rage powers (good for what ails you[APG], reckless abandon[APG])
--------------------
Statistics
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Str 13, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +5; CMB +8; CMD 20
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Barroom Brawler[ACG], Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Reckless Aim
Traits - custom trait -, tactician
Skills Acrobatics +6 (+10 to jump), Climb +4, Diplomacy +9 (+10 when interacting with tribal cultures), Intimidate +6, Knowledge (local) +10, Linguistics +6, Perception +8, Profession (soldier) +5, Sense Motive +9, Survival +8, Swim +4
Languages Common, French, German, Nepalese
SQ fast movement, finesse weapon attack attribute, primal magnetism, sword and gun
Other Gear mwk chain shirt, mwk revolver[UC], mwk kukri
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Special Abilities
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Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Barroom Brawler (1/day) As mv act, gain combat feat that you meet prereqs for for 1 min.
Combat Expertise +/-2 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Deadly Aim -2/+4 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
Finesse Weapon Attack Attribute Finesse weapons use Dexterity on attack rolls.
Good for What Ails You (Ex) While raging, drink alchohol to re-save vs. various conditions.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
Primal Magnetism (Ex) Spend 2 rds/rage to gain +2 bonus to a Diplomacy check.
Rage (14 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Dex, +2 to Will saves when enraged.
Rapid Shot You get an extra attack with ranged weapons. Each attack is at -2.
Reckless Abandon (+/-2) (Ex) Trade AC penalty for to hit bonus while raging.
Reckless Aim Your lack of regard for others proves a boon when you fire projectiles into melee.
Prerequisites: Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot.
Benefit: When you shoot or throw ranged weapons at an opponent engaged in melee, you can choose to t
Sword and Gun (Ex) When wielding firearm and light or one-handed weapon, do not provoke with firearm attacks.
Trap Sense +1 (Ex) +1 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
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Michael7123: Time doesn’t flow exactly normally in Crossroads, so you’re able to have been in Crossroads and away from reality for as long as you’d like. Spheres of Might is fine by me. The tentative deadline is the 24th, though I may extend it slightly.
Silas: Looks good! Which campaign trait did you choose?
<< Okay, I think Zandora is finished (though let me know if you see anything off. Wouldn't be the first time I missed something).
Note that this character has a coordinated background with the previously submitted character Rigel Pordyras, who she works for.
I statted Thomas up with Local thinking he'd been stuck for some time, still Wrong Turn would fit his backstory too if that's contended.
As far as guns go, it looks as most modern firearms would be available, but between those and advanced firearms I still don't see any semi-auto pistols (i.e. M1911) Are those a thing? Also, is their a version of Wrong Turn for standard fantasy people? Crossroads has openings randomly everywhere, so it makes sense that that could happen.
Steffanio: I’d prefer you stick with normal, advanced firearms rather than modern ones. The magical version of Wrong Turn would be Stranger.
17
12
8
11
9
15
Erasmus Night could have been lied to since he was raised by the adoptive parents. A replica train? Can't see why anyone would build one though.
If the Carousel doesn't have any intelligent creatures trapped in the mix, then let's remove that from the backstory.
Are there vehicles and subway cars in Crossroads?
Rolling for statistics because why not.
So, when lowest is dropped:
13
12
11
15
15
10
And... that’s a 20 point buy anyways, lol.
Any thoughts on mine, GM (immediately before Ray)?
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Ouachitonian: Looks good to me. What campaign trait did you take?
Brett Chenault: There are streetcars and cars, and a few horses in the poorer parts of the city.
Ouachitonian: Looks good to me. What campaign trait did you take?
Brett Chenault: There are streetcars and cars, and a few horses in the poorer parts of the city.
Local. Seemed appropriate since he grew up in town.
While I intend to work more on this in the coming days, here is my completed backstory along with the broad outlines of how my character will function mechanically.
Are custom casting traditions/ custom sphere specific backgrounds in use for sphere casters?
Would you have any objection to my character sheet being done on Mythweavers (with a link to it available in my profile)? It's the format I'm most comfortable with.
Trait High Roller (or possibly local, honestly both work)
class Spheres of Power's Wraith (no archetype, no multiclass)
Spheres of Interest Divination, Time, Darkness, Mind, Blood
Race: Dhampir
At a glance Zanrecht would appear like a normal human reporter (the press card tucked into the side of his panama hat gives his profession away) in his early thirties dressed for work. His attire is formal, but not particularly fancy. However, beyond a glance his undead nature becomes more noticeable. The pale skin and the fact that he's just about always wearing sunglasses no matter how cloudy the weather is really are giveaways. And for those who are really slow on the uptake, his ability to simply turn into a ghost for a small period of a time let even them know that he is not quite an altogether natural creature.
He's seldom seen without a notepad and pencil, camera, and some variety of cigarette, pipe, cigar, or really any form of tobacco to smoke.
Zanrecht was born in the burrows in poverty to a mother he barely remembers- speaking of her wasn't an option when he grew up. Best he can tell, he was the result of a fling his father, a Vampire of the Velvet Hand named Goethe Woerfel, had with a human woman employed in the oldest profession named Lyn. While his first 5 years were spent in abject squalor, all that changed after he was kidnapped by his long absent father's goons. His father was a member of high society and published poet living comfortably off the interest of a family fortune amassed a lifetime ago combined with some particularly skilled investments in the stock market. He was not the only child of Mr. Woerfel (he was well known for profligacy), and while his father was distant at the best of times his later childhood was not a difficult one.
That is not to say Zanrecht grew up grateful. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. While unmarried, his father had a clear (albeit unofficial) dividing line between his "legitimate" children and those whom he spent less time on and were expected to make their own way in the world. Having luxury and opulence dangled in front of you for over a decade, only to have it largely denied to you later in life would make anyone bitter. Having always been fond of books and writing (talents his artistic father was all too glad to fund and support without a second thought), Zanrecht took to writing on his life experiences, an revisited the Burrow for the first time in decades and conducted interviews among the destitute. His writing was good enough to actually get published in some respectable papers, and from there he was able to springboard himself into a full blow journalism career.
At the present, he's a moderately well known and respected investigative journalist (or muckraker among those less than thrilled about his topics of investigation) who mainly covers political and labor news and conversation for the media outlet "The Daily Telegraph", which operates both a daily newspaper and a radio outlet. For anyone who would follows the news regularly and recognizes him, they'd probably recall his interview of Johil the Magnificent around a year ago, which was widely regarded as an excellent and illuminating dialogue from people all over the city's political spectrum. In spite of his clearly left of center politics, he's maintained enough respectability and contacts with his associates to make him very, very good at reporting on the politics of the entirety of The Crossroad. He's been to parties in Uptown and watched strikers nearly riot in Southfield, and reported on both. His arcane abilities from his bloodline that his father's tutors taught him to utilize and control make him an astonishingly good sleuth for information others would like to not be made public.
He's married a human woman from earth named Caroline Smith 5 years ago, and they have a 3 year old son named Christopher. They live together in a middle class apartment in Downtown. They both mean the world to him, and the fact that the work he does makes enemies of powerful people who might endanger them has kept him up at night. What helps him find rest is the belief that the work he's doing will ensure that his son gets to grow up in a slightly more just world than he himself did. Well, that and a shot of whisky.
He arrived at the Obelisk Lounge one Thursday night, attempting to meet a source for a story he was working on who demanded discretion before he provided any information.
Having experienced both poverty and wealth, he's grown to have a sort of envy of the latter but also enough empathy to desire that everyone enjoy the abundance that the city has to offer. This drives his political convictions, his investigative journalism, and generally his day to day life. The chip on his shoulder over the certain aspects of his neglect in his upbringing aren't something he talks about much, but something that comes to the attention of anyone who knows him well. There is a bitterness there that actively pushes him towards becoming a more and more well renowned writer, "in a field much more important than mere poetry" as Zanrecht might say with a sneer.
The dual nature of his upbringing allows him to squeeze into just about any social situation regardless of class. He knows the language of both the poor and the rich, and has no misgivings about using either one whenever the situation serves his ends. On top of that, his genuine clever wit and charm make him rather affable, but many an interviewee has been enticed into agreeing to a formal live interview only to quickly regret it when they notice the sharpened edge to the questions he asks. If asked for an honest summary of his profession, he would ultimately say it is about the making and destruction of reputations. And some of his work *has* brought ruin to those in power who were too careless to cover their tracks. There's a sort of ruthless pragmatism to Zanrecht that's held in check by the necessities of his profession (he's a journalist who needs people to talk to him, not an anarchist bomb thrower) and the fact that he has dedicated his life to broadly admirable causes. Yet those tendencies may come to light in unpleasant ways should his life take some unexpected turns.
If there's any issue with this I'd be happy to adjust. I don't recall seeing any other journalists apply and given that this is 1920's noir with a lot of political focus in the setting details, I thought a muckraker would be quite fitting.
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Okay, looked through to figure out what had been submitted so far under each campaign trait. Please forgive any mistakes.
Submissions so far:
Wrong Turn
Adney de Montchele / "Shadow" by Edelsmirge / Mallory -- Neutral Human Slayer
Crossroads Seeker
Charity Drake by DBH -- CG Human Oracle
Jace Rayne by mighty_avenger -- N / CN Human Vigilante Warlock
Local
Othniel Laurentius by Ouachitonian -- Neutral Elf Gunslinger 1/Magus (Eldritch Archer) 4
Captain Thomas Anderson by Silas Hawkwinter -- LG Human Barbarian (savage technologist)
Zandora by Zanbabe -- CG Aasimar Sorcerer (Rakshasa Bloodline)
Stranger
"Dorian" by TheWaskally -- NE Small advanced humanoid (gray)
High Roller
Rigel Pordyras by C B 380 -- Humanoid (Dhampir) Investigator
Kolaiah by Zahir ibn Mahmoud ibn Jothan -- LN Minotaur Rogue (Consigliere)
Zanrecht by Michael7123 -- ? Dhampir Wraith
Private Investigator
Ray Brautigan by joerice / Digger Chandler -- CG Human Gunslinger (Mysterious Stranger/Maverick) 3/Investigator (Empiricist/Sleuth) 2
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Zanrecht: I’d prefer you have your stats, or at least the critical information, in your profile. No unique Spheres things for Crossroads.
Zanbabe: Thanks for the list!
Would you allow multiple submissions? I’m a bit surprised that more people aren’t playing monsters, I’d thought that lame would be crowded. I like Othniel, but I’d also be interested in submitting something a bit more off the wall.
Would you allow multiple submissions? I’m a bit surprised that more people aren’t playing monsters, I’d thought that lame would be crowded. I like Othniel, but I’d also be interested in submitting something a bit more off the wall.
He's said yes to multiple characters, If I have time I'll be submitting a monstrous second character.
Also, what's the deal with equipment? I may've missed it, but I haven't seen anything.
I must've missed that. Thanks.
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Steffanio: Starting wealth is 6000 gold and Automatic Bonus Progression.
Think I might submit a true dragon. Straight up, no class levels to start out. Gonna have to be a Wyrmling or Very Young, depending on the variety. Now to figure out why there’s a baby dragon in town unchaperoned...
Alright, so this is Ouachitonian's Monster submission. What campaign is complete without a Dragon? Drahkn is a blue wyrmling (CR 5), who spent most of his life enslaved in an interplanar traveling circus. A year or so ago, he led a revolt that brought the whole place tumbling down. It was in Crossroads at the time, and he stuck around. Didn't really have anywhere else to go, even if it is chilly here. He's worming (wyrming?) his way into the local underworld, but he's got time. Dragons are good at the long game.
Let's talk alignment: Blue Dragons are Lawful Evil. I guess I could say he's the exception that proves the rule, the Drizzt of blue dragons. But I'm not going to. He's evil. But he's not stupid. He's happy to ingratiate himself with the nice folks around town. He'd happily spent a few decades hanging out with a party full of paladins. It's good to have respectable people that owe you favors. Nobody expects the Good folks to be working for the Evil dragon because they're in his debt, and maybe he has some compromising material on them. All that to say; he'll play nice with the party, even if they're all good-aligned. This whole campaign is basically a youthful dalliance. He's got plenty of centuries left to use that reputation that he's actually remarkably nice and generous, for a Blue, to turn to his advantage long after the rest of the party has died of old age. Don't worry about him having trouble with the party.
I'm really not sure where I'll take him yet. The good thing about dragons is they can go any direction. If the party needs arcane, he can go Sorcerer. If the party needs melee, he can go Bloodrager. If the party needs ranged, well, Breath Weapon. If the party needs a Rogue, he can do that too; he already has lots of skills and Disable Device as a class skill. He could even go divine, but he'd need to go Oracle or Anti-paladin. He is a bit naive. I blame his youth and inexperience (Translation: I rolled a 6, it had to go somewhere, and a dragon with low wisdom sounded fun. lol).
Also, this town is no barbarous frontier village. They have culture here. That's why he's had his studded leather tailored to look like a tuxedo. I mean, dragons have to have armor custom-tailored anyway, so why not?
Looks great! Guessing you’re going with the Stranger trait?
Yes.
By the way, we settled on the "subtract 10 for even scores, 11 for odd scores" thing for calculating monster stats, right? That's what I did. Can adjust if need be.
Yep, sounds good.
I'm curious if anyone else has stats under a 20pt build. Most humans on earth probably have under a 15pt build.
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I'm of the school of thought where the PCs have some extra spark of heroism that puts them in the right (or sometimes wrong) place at the right time, giving them a 20 point buy. Most NPCs who aren't crucial to the story or important in some other way have 15 or less points.
Going to have to withdraw my app due to time considerations. Best of luck to everyone!
Updated List:
Wrong Turn
Adney de Montchele / "Shadow" by Edelsmirge / Mallory -- N Human Slayer
Crossroads Seeker
Charity Drake by DBH -- CG Human Oracle
Jace Rayne by mighty_avenger -- N / CN Human Vigilante Warlock
Local
Othniel Laurentius by Ouachitonian -- N Elf Gunslinger 1/Magus (Eldritch Archer) 4
Captain Thomas Anderson by Silas Hawkwinter -- LG Human Barbarian (savage technologist)
Zandora by Zanbabe -- CG Aasimar Sorcerer (Rakshasa Bloodline)
Stranger
"Dorian" by TheWaskally -- NE Gray (small advanced humanoid)
Drahkn by Ouachitonian -- LE Blue Dragon (wyrmling)
High Roller
Rigel Pordyras by C B 380 -- N Dhampir Investigator
Kolaiah by Zahir ibn Mahmoud ibn Jothan -- LN Minotaur Rogue (Consigliere)
Private Investigator
Ray Brautigan by joerice / Digger Chandler -- CG Human Gunslinger (Mysterious Stranger/Maverick) 3/Investigator (Empiricist/Sleuth) 2
--Note 1: Rigel and Zandora have coordinated backgrounds
--Note 2: Othniel and Drahkn are both submitted by the same person
... Let me know if I missed anyone or left anything out.
Fair enough re 20pt, if selected I'd probably bump Anderson's dex up to 18. Anyway some interesting concepts here, promises to be a game to watch :)
Alma used to be a denizen of the aetherial plane, a misplaced newborn soul.
While wandering one day, a woman from the material plane, a talented practitioner of the arcane, had entered the aetherial.
As the woman, by the name of Lady Fiona Vezzara, an aasimar, frequented it every so often, the two struck a friendship, and got along like sisters.
At some point, lady Fiona had been researching a way to summon spirits into the material plane, and Alma volunteered for the testing of her early trials.
It worked, after some trial and error, and Alma formed in a body made of smoke like ectoplasm.
It had been some time since, but Alma had to decide what to do with her unusual existence.
Aside from being an arcane practitioner, lady Fiona ran a restaurant with a small restaurant included.
Alma took a fancy to music and singing, watching the various performers over time, and practiced it fervently when she thought nobody was looking.
But, as fate would have it, after one event at the restaurant, when she thought it empty, someone did stay a bit longer.
A noblewoman of particular pale complexion, Madam DiRuzza, from the posher part of The Crossroads, took a liking to the curious phantom girl.
"How would you like to perform for real, for an actual crowd to enjoy your singing? You have talent, my girl."
Alma's interest was moved and, eager to experience more, accepted. Such began her time as a protogé and aide of the woman, owner of an actual theater, fit for a large crowd.
Much of the usual crowd were the rich and of nobility, and Alma became quite versed in conversation and studies involving The Crossroads itself.
Current day, she has become a modest but well spoken young lady, always seeking civiliy before anything else.
Lady DiRuzza, for some odd reason, vanished one night, leaving the theater closed, and Alma looking for the disappearance of her patron and friend.
This leads her to be, hoping to hear anything that might be a clue, in the Obelisk Lounge on a rather fateful Thursday night.
Also a late entry, but I finally have my tooth fairy Stranger in for consideration: Ratón Pérez, the tooth mouse. It uses it/its pronouns as they/them just seemed too familiar somehow.
I do have a few questions about traits, but I'll wait to get clarification on them until selection.
The truth was harsher.
Despite its name, and other shared attributes between a mouse and itself, Ratón was a fairy, a tooth fairy in fact, and a freelancer. It had an especial skill for infiltrating into locked buildings, then exfiltrating people's teeth and kneecaps. The target was typically assigned by one of the numerous mobs or mafia families, and Ratón would blindly follow orders, enjoying the pain it inflicted as much as they enjoyed the cash it brought in.
Until about three months ago. Three months ago, it received an assignment from another fairy, high up in the Cauldron. A restaurateur was refusing to pay rent and protection, and the owner's daughter had just finished losing her baby teeth. Go into the house, and take all of her adult ones.
She screamed. Normally screaming only encouraged Ratón, but what she screamed hit different. "Why are you hurting me?" she yelled in between the plucking of teeth. Utterly unaware of her family's sins, and yet paying for them.
Ratón had never before injured such innocence, and as it reluctantly flew in to steal another tooth, the door burst in. The fairy recognized the man standing before it: an old mob contact for the Lucenzo mafia, recently retired. Probably why he didn't fear the consequences of not paying rent or protection.
In an act of preemptive self defense, Ratón swept in and stabbed the man in the neck, before taking a blow from a baseball bat that sent it flying through the window.
For days, Ratón was unable to get in contact with either the Lucenzos to try and explain the situation, or its fairy friend in the Cauldron, and by the time it did, it was too late. There was no understanding to be had from the Lucenzos, and no offer of loyalty or protection from the Cauldron. The Cauldron claimed Ratón was acting on its own, unbidden, and off of false or incomplete information. The Lucenzos saw simply treachery.
The tooth fairy negotiated a tenuous peace with both the Cauldron and the Lucenzos, but at a cost. Its livelihood, or its freedom. No longer could the Lucenzos tolerate such a dangerous 'freelancer'; if Ratón continued to work, it would be killed.
There was also, of course, a tacit understanding that if Ratón were to ally itself with another family, the Lucenzos would have to respect that decision, but Ratón had worked most often for the Lucenzos and the Cauldron, two bridges it had just burned, and no one would dare cross two crime families for the sake of one enforcer.
In the short months since, Ratón has done little but ponder the child's plaintive cries. "Why are you hurting me." Few had ever asked them that question, and for those that had, there had always been an answer.
It was the first moral quandary the tooth fairy had ever experienced in its long life. In fairness, it was probably one of the first moral quandaries any fae had experienced in the history of Crossroads.
Fae morality isn't quite comparable to humanity's, nor is their lived experience. Most experience neither adolescence nor old age, simply beginning one day and ending another.
But Ratón at least understood the innocence of a child. It sat there, eating at its insides. Festering. Guilt is not something a fae is built to carry, and it changed Ratón, slowly at first, but then all at once.
First a snowflake, and then, an avalanche.
There must always be a reason for everything. Often these reasons are small or unimportant or seemingly altogether irrelevant, but it's the having it that matters. A single sunrise might inspire one fairy to wax poetic for days on end, inspire another to rob a bank, but both are respectable goals given the reason.
Common in many physically smaller fey is a lack of empathy, coupled with an inability to easily feel complex emotions or several at one time. As JM Barrie wrote, "Tink was not all bad: or, rather, she was all bad just now, but, on the other hand, sometimes she was all good. Fairies have to be one thing or the other, because being so small they unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time. They are, however, allowed to change, only it must be a complete change."
For many, but not all, they possess only a limited concept of mortality or the impermanence of being. Some fey might understand but not actively remember that the world existed before they did, or ever realize the world's continuance is not dependent on their survival. Very often, if one threatens to kill a fairy, it will laugh. It's never died before. How novel.
Ratón Pérez, CN Diminutive Fey (extraplanar)
Tooth Fairy Swashbuckler (Mouser) 3/Fighter (Opportunist) 1
Init +6; Perception +8
Darkvision 60 ft., Low Light Vision
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DEFENSE
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AC 24, touch 22, flatfooted 16 (+6 Dex +2 Armor +1 Deflection +1 Dodge +4 Size)
HP 40 (1d6+4d10+10)
Fort +6, Ref +12, Will +8
DR 2/cold iron
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OFFENSE
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Speed 15 ft. Fly 60 ft. (Perfect)
Melee
+1 Agile Pliers, +17, d4+7, 19-20x2
Bite +15 (d4-3 plus paralysis)
Space 1 ft; Reach 0 ft (5 ft with pliers)
Special Attacks death throes, paralysis (1d3 rounds, DC 11), pliers, tricky thief
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +7)
At will—mage hand, open/close
1/day—invisibility (self only), sleep (DC 13)
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STATISTICS
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STR 04 DEX 22 CON 14 INT 12 WIS 18 CHA 18
Base Attack +5; CMB +12(21;20); CMD 15(19)
F: +6 R: +12 W: +8
Feats: Agile Combatant (Racial, Replaces Weapon Finesse), Improved Steal, Greater Steal, Greater Dirty Trick*, Deft Maneuvers (Class, Replaces Weapon Finesse), Combat Reflexes (Level 3), Improved Dirty Trick (Fighter 1), Weapon Focus (Light Blades) (Level 5)
Traits: Stranger (+2 bonus on saves vs. mind-affecting effects), Dirty Trickster OR Prankster, Criminal OR Gold Finger
Drawback: Infamous OR Xenophobic (or nothing if not allowed; will choose Criminal/Gold Finger as trait)
Skills (6/Tooth Fairy, 5/Swashbuckler, 5/Fighter):
Acrobatics +10 (+6 when jumping) (1 ranks, 3 class, 6 DEX)
Bluff +9 (1 ranks, 3 class, 4 CHA)
Diplomacy +9 (1 ranks, 3 class, 4 CHA)
Disable Device +13 (3 ranks, 3 class, 6 DEX, 1 trait)
Escape Artist +10 (1 ranks, 3 class, 6 DEX)
Fly +27 (4 ranks, 3 class, 6 DEX, 8 perfect, 6 size)
K. Local +8 (4 ranks, 3 class, 1 INT)
Perception +8 (1 ranks, 3 class, 4 WIS)
Sense Motive +8 (1 ranks, 3 class, 4 WIS)
Stealth +26 (5 ranks, 3 class, 6 DEX, 12 size)
Background Skills (2/level):
Appraise: +3 (2 ranks, 1 INT)
K. Nobility +7 (3 ranks, 3 class, 1 INT)
Sleight of Hand +14 (5 ranks, 3 class, 6 DEX)
Languages: Sylvan, English
Equipment:
+1 agile pliers (free, damage as medium dagger, range 5 ft)
Traveler's Any-Tool 250gp
Heward's Handy Haversack 2000gp
Muleback Cords 1000gp
Cracked Magenta Prism Ioun Stone 800gp
Tengu Drinking Jug 1000gp
+1 Haramaki 3 gp
Pickpocket's Outfit 5gp
497 gp
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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-Racial Abilities-
Death Throes (Su) When killed, a tooth fairy explodes into a cloud of sparkling white fairy dust that clings to creatures within 5 feet. This glittery substance has a stench so foul that it sickens any creature coated by it for 1d4 rounds (Fortitude DC 10 negates). This is a poison effect. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Pliers (Su) Each tooth fairy owns a pair of pliers it uses to torment its victims. In the hands of a tooth fairy, the pliers deal damage as a +1 dagger wielded by a Medium creature. The pliers have hardness 10 and 3 hit points. If its pliers are destroyed, a tooth fairy is stunned for 1 round. If the tooth fairy is killed, the pliers rust away into worthless splinters 1d4 rounds later. A tooth fairy can create a new pair of pliers by spending one hour crafting (no materials required), which destroys the previous pair. The pliers grant the tooth fairy the Greater Dirty Trick feat and a +4 bonus on dirty trick and steal combat maneuvers.
Tricky Thief (Su) A tooth fairy can use a dirty trick combat maneuver with its pliers to pinch an opponent’s fingers, or a steal combat maneuver to steal an opponent’s tooth. A finger pinch deals 1 point of Dexterity damage. Stealing a tooth deals 1 point of Charisma damage and 1 point of bleed damage. If the stolen tooth is reattached within 10 minutes and the character receives any amount of magical healing, the tooth reattaches, the bleed damage ends, and the Charisma damage is cured.
Racial Modifiers –4 Acrobatics when jumping
-Class Abilities-
Swashbuckler:
Panache (Ex)
More than just a lightly armored warrior, a swashbuckler is a daring combatant. She fights with panache: a fluctuating measure of a swashbuckler’s ability to perform amazing actions in combat. At the start of each day, a swashbuckler gains a number of panache points equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 1). Her panache goes up or down throughout the day, but usually cannot go higher than her Charisma modifier (minimum 1), though feats and magic items can affect this maximum. A swashbuckler spends panache to accomplish deeds (see below), and regains panache in the following ways.
Critical Hit with a Light or One-Handed Piercing Melee Weapon: Each time the swashbuckler confirms a critical hit with a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon, she regains 1 panache point. Confirming a critical hit on a helpless or unaware creature or a creature that has fewer Hit Dice than half the swashbuckler’s character level doesn’t restore panache.
Killing Blow with a Light or One-Handed Piercing Melee Weapon: When the swashbuckler reduces a creature to 0 or fewer hit points with a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon attack while in combat, she regains 1 panache point. Destroying an unattended object, reducing a helpless or unaware creature to 0 or fewer hit points, or reducing a creature that has fewer Hit Dice than half the swashbuckler’s character level to 0 or fewer hit points doesn’t restore any panache.
Deeds:
Derring-Do (Ex): At 1st level, a swashbuckler can spend 1 panache point when she makes an Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim check to roll 1d6 and add the result to the check. She can do this after she makes the check but before the result is revealed. If the result of the d6 roll is a natural 6, she rolls another 1d6 and adds it to the check. She can continue to do this as long as she rolls natural 6s, up to a number of times equal to her Dexterity modifier (minimum 1).
Dodging Panache (Ex): At 1st level, when an opponent attempts a melee attack against the swashbuckler, the swashbuckler can as an immediate action spend 1 panache point to move 5 feet; doing so grants the swashbuckler a dodge bonus to AC equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 0) against the triggering attack. This movement doesn’t negate the attack, which is still resolved as if the swashbuckler had not moved from the original square. This movement is not a 5-foot step; it provokes attacks of opportunity from creatures other than the one who triggered this deed. The swashbuckler can only perform this deed while wearing light or no armor, and while carrying no heavier than a light load.
Opportune Parry and Riposte (Ex): At 1st level, when an opponent makes a melee attack against the swashbuckler, she can spend 1 panache point and expend a use of an attack of opportunity to attempt to parry that attack. The swashbuckler makes an attack roll as if she were making an attack of opportunity; for each size category the attacking creature is larger than the swashbuckler, the swashbuckler takes a –2 penalty on this roll. If her result is greater than the attacking creature’s result, the creature’s attack automatically misses. The swashbuckler must declare the use of this ability after the creature’s attack is announced, but before its attack roll is made. Upon performing a successful parry and if she has at least 1 panache point, the swashbuckler can as an immediate action make an attack against the creature whose attack she parried, provided that creature is within her reach. This deed’s cost cannot be reduced by any ability or effect that reduces the number of panache points a deed costs.
Underfoot Assault (Ex): At 1st level, if a foe whose size is larger than the mouser’s is adjacent to her and misses her with a melee attack, the mouser can as an immediate action spend 1 panache point to move 5 feet into an area of the attacker’s space. This movement does not count against the mouser’s movement the next round, and it doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. While the mouser is within a foe’s space, she is considered to occupy her square within that foe’s space.
While the mouser is within her foe’s space, the foe takes a –4 penalty on all attack rolls and combat maneuver checks not made against the mouser, and all of the mouser’s allies that are adjacent to both the foe and the mouser are considered to be flanking the foe. The mouser is considered to be flanking the foe whose space she is within if she is adjacent to an ally who is also adjacent to the foe. The mouser can move within her foe’s space and leave the foe’s space unhindered and without provoking attacks of opportunity, but if the foe attempts to move to a position where the mouser is no longer in its space, the movement provokes an attack of opportunity from the mouser.
This deed replaces opportune parry and riposte.
Kip-Up (Ex): At 3rd level, while the swashbuckler has at least 1 panache point, she can kip-up from prone as a move action without provoking an attack of opportunity. She can kip-up as a swift action instead by spending 1 panache point.
Menacing Swordplay (Ex): At 3rd level, while she has at least 1 panache point, when a swashbuckler hits an opponent with a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon, she can choose to use Intimidate to demoralize that opponent as a swift action instead of a standard action.
Quick Steal (Ex): At 3rd level, as a swift action the mouser can spend 1 panache point when she hits a for larger than her size with a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon to attempt a steal combat maneuver check against the creature she hit. Using this deed does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
This deed replaces menacing swordplay.
Precise Strike (Ex): At 3rd level, while she has at least 1 panache point, a swashbuckler gains the ability to strike precisely with a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon (though not natural weapon attacks), adding her swashbuckler level to the damage dealt. To use this deed, a swashbuckler cannot attack with a weapon in her other hand or use a shield other than a buckler. She can even use this ability with thrown light or one-handed piercing melee weapons, so long as the target is within 30 feet of her. Any creature that is immune to sneak attacks is immune to the additional damage granted by precise strike, and any item or ability that protects a creature from critical hits also protects a creature from the additional damage of a precise strike. This additional damage is precision damage, and isn’t multiplied on a critical hit. As a swift action, a swashbuckler can spend 1 panache point to double her precise strike’s damage bonus on the next attack. This benefit must be used before the end of her turn, or it is lost. This deed’s cost cannot be reduced by any ability or effect that reduces the amount of panache points a deed costs (such as the Signature Deed feat).
Swashbuckler Initiative (Ex): At 3rd level, while the swashbuckler has at least 1 panache point, she gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks. In addition, if she has the Quick Draw feat, her hands are free and unrestrained, and she has any single light or one-handed piercing melee weapon that isn’t hidden, she can draw that weapon as part of the initiative check.
Swashbuckler Finesse (Ex)
At 1st level, a swashbuckler gains the benefits of the Weapon Finesse Deft Maneuvers feat with light or one-handed piercing melee weapons, and she can use her Charisma score in place of Intelligence as a prerequisite for combat feats. This ability counts as having the Weapon Finesse feat for purposes of meeting feat prerequisites.
Charmed Life (Ex)
At 2nd level, the swashbuckler gains a knack for getting out of trouble. Three times per day as an immediate action before attempting a saving throw, she can add her Charisma modifier to the result of the save. She must choose to do this before the roll is made. At 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter, the number of times she can do this per day increases by one (to a maximum of 7 times per day at 18th level).
Nimble (Ex)
At 3rd level, a swashbuckler gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC while wearing light or no armor. Anything that causes the swashbuckler to lose her Dexterity bonus to AC also causes her to lose this dodge bonus. This bonus increases by 1 for every 4 levels beyond 3rd (to a maximum of +5 at 19th level).
Fighter:
This ability replaces bravery and alters the fighter’s class skills.
Underhanded (Ex): An opportunist gains Improved Dirty Trick as a bonus feat at 1st level even if he does not meet the prerequisites.
This ability replaces the bonus feat gained at 1st level.
Alright, got this guy done, no matter what school had to say about it.(This is Steffanio, if I missed the window that's fine)
Crunch is on the Alias page, but He's just a Human Bard/Rogue, who performs at/outside the Obelisk Lounge, and likes gambling.
I haven't finished the competently written backstory, so here's a overview. He was a Shepard in what is effectively a alternate version of the German Alps, he was very good with the sheep, he could calm and control them with his singing, etc. (normal bard shtuff). One day he was going after a stray sheep, when he got sucked into the Crossroads. He was lost and disoriented, and chose the largest landmark (the Obelisk Lounge), and started walking. When he got there, he was enamored by the atmosphere of the place, and he soon found his way to one of the card tables. He left later that night with pockets full of chance, won through a combination of beginners luck and charisma. That was six years ago. Since then he has taken a anglicized name, picked up the saxophone, and become a regular at the Obelisk, both on stage and at a card table.
Updated List:
Wrong Turn
Adney de Montchele / "Shadow" by Edelsmirge / Mallory -- N Human Slayer
Crossroads Seeker
Charity Drake by DBH -- CG Human Oracle
Jace Rayne by mighty_avenger -- N / CN Human Vigilante Warlock
Local
Othniel Laurentius by Ouachitonian -- N Elf Gunslinger 1/Magus (Eldritch Archer) 4
Captain Thomas Anderson by Silas Hawkwinter -- LG Human Barbarian (savage technologist)
Zandora by Zanbabe -- CG Aasimar Sorcerer (Rakshasa Bloodline)
Stranger
"Dorian" by TheWaskally -- NE Gray (small advanced humanoid)
Drahkn by Ouachitonian -- LE Blue Dragon (wyrmling)
Ratón Pérez by The Lobster -- CN Tooth Fairy Swashbuckler (Mouser) 3/Fighter (Opportunist) 1
Leo Sullivan by Steffanio -- NG Human Bard 4/Rogue (Swindler) 1
High Roller
Rigel Pordyras by C B 380 -- N Dhampir Investigator
Kolaiah by Zahir ibn Mahmoud ibn Jothan -- LN Minotaur Rogue (Consigliere)
Alma The Soulborn by Chyrone -- N Deathless Ghost Bard
Private Investigator
Ray Brautigan by joerice / Digger Chandler -- CG Human Gunslinger (Mysterious Stranger/Maverick) 3/Investigator (Empiricist/Sleuth) 2
--Note 1: Rigel and Zandora have coordinated backgrounds
--Note 2: Othniel and Drahkn are both submitted by the same person
... Let me know if I missed anyone or left anything out.
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Thanks for keeping that list updated Zanbabe!
Alright folks, I’ll give another day for any last minute submissions and to think things over, and I should have my selections up by tomorrow or the day after at the latest.
Hey, this is Oblivion's Scion, dotting in with my Halfling Distiller (Gunslinger / Bard) who sells his whiskey, moonshine, and the like across all corners of Crossroads (trait: Local). the Blackbottom brand has even made it into the speakeasies of the Midwest, though none can speak to its origins.
I still need to finish equipment, but the fluff and crunch are all fleshed out. This is a great game concept, GM Coyote is going to have his hands full with all the applicants.
Alright then, this was an exceptionally tough decision, one of the hardest selections I've made throughout my games. Nevertheless, they've been made.
Would the following players please join me:
Zandora!
Rigel Pordyras!
Kolaiah!
Ratón Pérez!
Drahkn!
and
Milo Blackbottom!
This was far from an easy decision, and I want to thank all of you for such great submissions. To those not selected, I may bring along a seventh depending on what the players feel, so feel free to stick around here for a bit.
Grats to the ones making the cut.
I am definitely sticking around if so.
Huzzah!
Hope y'all enjoy your game, I'll have to stick around just in case.
Woohoo!
Enjoy folks!
Thank you so much, I m very excited to dive in.
I see the preferred choice for seventh is made, so i'll be moving along.
If anything happens along the way, Alma would still be interested.