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Yes, anything for Knowledge can be instead applied to Lore. I'll think about an alternative feat—the goal of the Bonus Feat is to allow PCs to get past "feat taxes" and still have room for flavor feats. I did consider putting Endurance and Dodge on the list, or maybe Spell Focus. I will say, though, that Weapon Finesse and Point Blank Shot are both potentially useful for a caster—touch attacks benefit from them.
I'll post more later today. :)
Ooh, I would totally go for Spell Focus :D
Maybe we could do with the full Elephant in the Room thing? I know it's a pain to adjust the encounters, but it might be a simpler approach.
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Updated for the new page:
Already in
Cuchulainn - Broccan Dunchad - NG - Human - Brawler - Old Rival
Pixie Rogue - Edrukk Thorvirgunson - CG - Dwarf - Warpriest (Gorum) - Ominous Patron
Qunnessaa - Alaïs Thalanassa - CG - Elf - Skald (Bacchanal/Court Poet) -
Finished Applications
Albion - Reknar - CG - Half-Orc - Bard
The Archlich - Annurian - N - Shabti - Unchained Summoner (Soulbound) - Dangerous Curiosity
eriktd - Gardolf the Grim - NG - Human - Bloodrager (Enlightened Bloodrager/Metamagic Rager) - Allustan's Apprentice/Worm Chaser
TreasureFox - Skender son of Garridan - NG - Human - Druid (Restorer) - Worm Chaser
CucumberTree - Terrov - CE - Human - Sorcerer (Imperious bloodline) - Haunted By Destiny
Hrothdane - Briar Vervain - CG - Human - Oracle (Psychic Searcher) - This Tastes Like Rat Poison
Death-Lok - Jozu Lightfeather - LG - Halfling - Paladin
DBH - Jenny Drakan - NG - Tiefling (Daemon-Spawn) - Rogue (Knife Master) - This Tastes Like Rat Poison
sarah 'queen' B. - Lucia Wriothesly - N - Human - Arcanist - A Little Bird Told Me
Unfinished
Trevor86 - Elf or Half-Elf - Shaman (Life Spirit)
KingHotTrash
mellowgoth
dwilhelmi
Robert Henry - Elek? - LN - Human? - Bloodrager?
ClearSpring
Shadow_Fox
Athrehon
Torilgrey
Edelsmirge - LE - Slayer (Ankou's Shadow)
Giant Halfling
Ventiine - no name yet - N - Human - Witch (Herb Witch) - This Tastes Like Rat Poison
Fighting Chicken - Bard (Dirge Bard)
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Elephant in the Room is a nice house rule set, but it complicates things a lot more than just letting people pick one bonus feat at first level, and I'm a little irrationally attached to the clunkiness of feats. I considered it and decided to go less intrusive for this game.
With most "feat tax" feat trees, it's only the first rung—the "Combat Expertise" rung—that's really annoying. So I'm letting PCs clear that one automatically, but they still have to specialize a little around it.
With that said, I'm going to add Dodge, Improved Shield Bash (with the requirements) and Precise Shot to the list of optional bonus feats, and eliminate Point Blank Shot entirely as a feat. It's honestly just a bookkeeping pain, and one of the original "I forgot I had this bonus" bonuses. I went back and forth a lot on it (seriously, I can be an awful grognard sometimes), but I think it's for the best.
Precise Shot now substitutes for Point Blank Shot on any archery feats. Sorry if this inconveniences any archery builds!
Also, Still Spell and Silent Spell are replaced with one feat: Suppressed Spell. It still increases spell level by 1 for either somatic or verbal components to be removed, or 2 levels for both. I don't know if anyone will care about this, but I think they're a neat couple of feats and it should be easier to pull something off.
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After all, why not?
Why shouldn't I run a 7-player Age of Worms game?
H-Haha, everything's fine. Nothing to see here. Definitely not dreading the 14th.
So, no Spel Focus then? You know, when you offer me something like that and then you take it away again, it hurts me, sweetie. It hurts me in my soul.
Aw, sorry—overall, I decided Spell Focus isn't quite feat tax-y enough to justify giving it for free—I might consider it for someone who really wants Augment Summoning, but, well, summoners get that for free anyways. :P
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Cool :) More options for us!
I'm done with the mechanical part of the build for my life shaman, however my toddler daughter insisted on sleeping in my room tonight. That means I won't be able to finish the application today. Ah, the woes of fatherhood... :)
Short update on the story, going with the earlier rough outline, though making one of her supposed parents a witch from outside the druid circle. As a Stormbringer (the old Celtic denouncement for the OG druids), her mother was seen as bad luck, and with her familiar manifesting as a rat, a known carrier of disease and plague, she herself was now also seen as both tainted and a forebear of bad tidings.
I've thought about it and I've decided to pull out. I'm afraid my herb witch may be too similar mechanically to the bard skald. I wish everyone the best and happy gaming! :)
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@Dungeon Madam Those are some nice options, and Briar is also not much of a fighter, but weapon finesse suits her style, I think. She will have a poison touch attack later anyways, plus all those lovely oracle touch spells.
In terms of content warning, I don’t mind gore and I’m not easily squicked. I dislike gratuituos violence and sex stuff that is just for the male gaze. I had one too many guys try to hit on me at the gaming table to be really conmfortable with that stuff. I’m not saying don’t hit on my character or try to ‘romance’ things but don’t be surprsed if it doesn’t go anywhere.
I wanted to circle back to this just say that I am in a similar place and wish to express my agreement.
I especially want to emphasize this for Briar as she is a person used to needing to own her sexuality and who doesn't shy away from it, and some people take a character like that as an invitation to be creepers. My goals are for Briar to be grounded and realistic, not sensational and titilating. Boundaries are incredibly important to me, both my own and other peoples', and I am always happy to have open conversations about such things.
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Okay, take care, Ventiine!
I'll step in to "third" the excellent talk about boundaries. Actually, I should probably say more than that, especially with a couple of the submissions I've seen. To be clear, I have no problem with those submissions. I just think it's a good time to clarify where I stand on, say, sex worker PCs and the like. Especially since this AP starts in a location where the local brothel is one of the top employers in town.
In terms of my personal comfort level... let's put it this way: With the stuff I write for a living, it's very hard to shock me. I'm generally content to match what players put down as long as they aren't going beyond the boundaries the group has previously set. Obviously, regardless of all of this talk, fade-to-black is the furthest any risque scene would ever go. And we're not going anywhere dark with it, as a matter of my own personal comfort levels.
Also, sex work is work. The Emporium isn't a great place, but it's widely considered one of the better employers in town, and certainly isn't any more exploitative than the coal mines. Out-of-character, I suppose I'm expecting players to be generally respectful of that.
tl;dr: By default, I'm expecting a PG-13 game, with flirting, romance and some sexuality likely being elements here and there (though far from the focus—you're trying to save the world here!). However, this is sensitive to player comfort levels, and players (and the GM) always have the option of asking to skip scenes, nix them, or otherwise avoid elements they aren't comfortable with.
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Hearing all good things on my end! I had a feeling I was applying to a good game in that regard :D
Just to be clear, I also see sex work as work like any other. I know a fair amount of sex workers past and former--including people who have done survival sex work--and it's pretty normalized for me. Briar's story is not about demonizing sex work; she has a complicated relationship to it is all.
Speaking of which, the major inspiration for Briar is Primrose from Octopath Traveler, a Teen (so equivalent of PG-13) game, so the concept does not require anything explicit to work and the material I'm drawing from is well within PG-13 levels.
Wow this looks amazing! I have always wanted to try Age of Worms, and the houserules look really well thought out.
I think I'm a little late to the party though especially since I don't like rushing character creation.
There's three days left! If you get a concept together, you're welcome to submit it. Up to you. :)
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Ok thanks.
KC, do you remember the Cult of Ashiel? Mwuaahahaahaa
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Oh, that takes me back miles. Gosh, I miss Ashiel.
Updated for the new page:
Already in
Cuchulainn - Broccan Dunchad - NG - Human - Brawler - Old Rival
Pixie Rogue - Edrukk Thorvirgunson - CG - Dwarf - Warpriest (Gorum) - Ominous Patron
Qunnessaa - Alaïs Thalanassa - CG - Elf - Skald (Bacchanal/Court Poet) -Finished Applications
Albion - Reknar - CG - Half-Orc - Bard
The Archlich - Annurian - N - Shabti - Unchained Summoner (Soulbound) - Dangerous Curiosity
eriktd - Gardolf the Grim - NG - Human - Bloodrager (Enlightened Bloodrager/Metamagic Rager) - Allustan's Apprentice/Worm Chaser
TreasureFox - Skender son of Garridan - NG - Human - Druid (Restorer) - Worm Chaser
CucumberTree - Terrov - CE - Human - Sorcerer (Imperious bloodline) - Haunted By Destiny
Hrothdane - Briar Vervain - CG - Human - Oracle (Psychic Searcher) - This Tastes Like Rat Poison
Death-Lok - Jozu Lightfeather - LG - Halfling - Paladin
DBH - Jenny Drakan - NG - Tiefling (Daemon-Spawn) - Rogue (Knife Master) - This Tastes Like Rat Poison
sarah 'queen' B. - Lucia Wriothesly - N - Human - Arcanist - A Little Bird Told MeUnfinished
Trevor86 - Elf or Half-Elf - Shaman (Life Spirit)
KingHotTrash
mellowgoth
dwilhelmi
Robert Henry - Elek? - LN - Human? - Bloodrager?...
Jozu is not complete - still missing backstory. Thanks though.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I wanted to circle back to this just say that I am in a similar place and wish to express my agreement.
Thanks - I adore Archie Panjabi, she's awesome :)
Okay, take care, Ventiine!
I'll step in to "third" the excellent talk about boundaries. Actually, I should probably say more than that, especially with a couple of the submissions I've seen. To be clear, I have no problem with those submissions. I just think it's a good time to clarify where I stand on, say, sex worker PCs and the like. Especially since this AP starts in a location where the local brothel is one of the top employers in town.
** spoiler omitted **
tl;dr: By default, I'm expecting a PG-13 game, with flirting, romance and some sexuality likely being elements here and there (though far from the focus—you're trying to save the world here!). However, this is sensitive to player comfort levels, and players (and the GM) always have the option of asking to skip scenes, nix them, or otherwise avoid elements they aren't comfortable with.
Thanks Dungenon Madam for that post, I think when you introduced the game you were very clear about the grunge ang grittiness of the settig so theres' nothing I'm going to be shocked by. I have so far found this to be a very safe corner of the internet and it's just my hangups from past encounters that are making me cautious. I certainly have no issues with players who want to explore mature themes, but I'd prefer to avoid the whole "lolbewbs" mentality (if you understand, you understand. If you don't, you don't).
Anyway, I agree that Spell Fcoucus is quite powerful so I understand you not just handing it out like candy. I will take Dodge for some extra AC.
Also, can you recommend some Lore skils that Lucia could take? And have I understood it right that you're using Knolwedge skills as broad but shallow and Lore is narrower but deeper? Or is it not that simple?
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Presenting Kata Coszma, local eligist and assistant to the Pharasman/Wee Jas church. Kata's current work and facility with the grieving stretches back to a childhood misfortune where her best friend disappeared in the Whispering Cairn. Kata's mother recently died and Kata sees signs of her everywhere. She has to get out of Diamond Lake, lest her grief consume her.
N medium human
Init +2; Senses Perception +3
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Defense
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AC 15 , Touch 12, Flat footed 13, (10 +3 armor +2 dex)
Hp 9 (1d8+1)
Fort +1, (+2 vs. drugs & poisons) Ref +4, Will +1 (+2 vs. mind-affecting)
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Offense
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Spd 30 ft
Melee longspear +2 (1d8+3 /x3; brace, reach)
Ranged sling +2 (1d4+2 /x2; 50’ range)
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Stats
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Str 14 Dex 14 Con 12 Int 14 Wis 8 Cha 18
BAB +0, CMB +2 CMD 14 FFCMD 12
Feats:
Dirty trick (bonus)
Lingering performance (level 1)
Precise shot (bonus)
TBD (human)
Traits:
Child explorers (campaign; trapfinding);
Resolute (combat)
Skills 12 (6 base + 1 human + 2 background + 2 int + 1 favored class)
Climb +6 (1 ranks, 3 class, 2 str)
Diplomacy +8 (1 ranks, 3 class, 4 cha)
Disable Device +8 (1 ranks, 3 class, 2 dex, 2 mw)
Intimidate +8 (1 ranks, 3 class, 4 cha)
Knowledge [Local] +7 (1 ranks, 3 class, 2 int, 1 bardic knowledge)
Knowledge [Religion] +7 (1 ranks, 3 class, 2 int, 1 bardic knowledge)
Lore [Undead] +6 (1 ranks, 3 class, 2 int)
Perception +3 (1 ranks, 3 class, -1 wis)
*Perform [percussion] +10 (1 ranks, 3 class, 4 cha, 2 mw)
*Perform [oratory] +8 (1 ranks, 3 class, 4 cha)
*Perform [sing] +8 (1 ranks, 3 class, 4 cha)
Use Magic Device +8 (1 ranks, 3 class, 4 cha)
*Background skill
Languages Common, Necrill, Varisian
SQ: Bonus Feat; Skilled; Favored Class (1 skill); Bardic knowledge, Bardic performance (8 rounds); Trapfinding
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Spells
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0 (4; ∞/day; DC 14) - Daze, Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Light
1 (2; 2/day; DC 15) - Heightened Awareness, Grease
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Gear
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Longspear (5 gp; 9#), Sling (-;-), MW drums (50 gp, 1#), studded leather armor (25 gp, 20#), dagger (2 gp; 1#), MW thief's tools
consumables: Bullets (10, 0.1gp, 5#)
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Carrying Capacity
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Light load: 58# Medium Load: 59-116# Heavy Load: 117-175#
Total load: 36#
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GP, jems, jewelry
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117.9 gp
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Ancient History
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Kata clambered the rubble, grey streaks of dirt covering her hands and dress. Climbing was the most fun! Standing atop her pile of cairn stones, wind blew gently past Kata’s cheek, rustling the girl’s curly black hair and resonant with the Cairn’s phenomena - strange gusts of wind, improbable in the tomb’s chilly damp air, which sounded, vaguely, like whispers in a long dead and forgotten tongue. A shiver crawled up Kata’s back and Kata smiled, a crook-toothed grin lost in the cairn’s dim light. Climbing was not the most fun. ”Caith!” Kata yelled, her voice rebounding into the darkness. ”Did you hear that one? I think it said, I’m going to EAT YOU UP!”
Further in the tomb, a small mote of light appeared above Caith’s head, silhouetting the girl, who’s voice echoed back to Kata, disembodied. ”Look at you, Ka! Queen of the mountaintop!” Kata beamed - Caith was the girls’ leader: smart, athletic, and naturally gifted with sorcery. Any praise from her was to be relished and held close and nursed, like the kiss of a butterfly’s wings. Kata yelled something back - something unimportant and lost to the fog of memory - and Caith’s silhouette, backlit by her bauble of warm light, moved further into the winding cairn, the girl’s shadow spilling along the tomb walls as she went, stretched and fluttering, a cloud of shifting black shapes.
Kata turned her attention to one of the old traps nearby - she thought of them as puzzles - and the girl went to work by her candle’s light, putting the rusted metal and stone parts back together as best she could figure. Minutes passed, and the desiccated form of the trap began to take shape - a claw that would rise from the floor, intended to snare the unwary. ”Caith! Look at this! I--” Another gust of wind blew by Kata, the whispers with it more forceful, almost hungry in their delivery. Kata’s candle’s flame flickered in the wind, winking out for a second, and the cairn plunged into darkness. Kata blinked, another shiver dragged its way across her back and up her neck. Caith’s light was gone. ”Caith… Caith?” The light - and the girl attached to it - disappeared and snuffed from existence. This was the last time anyone visited the Whispering Cairn.
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Character Concepts
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Death and beginnings: Unfortunately, in Diamond Lake, funerals are as common as weddings. Perhaps the miner’s lung ends your life before your grandchildren grow. Or a cave-in, if you're even more unlucky. Maybe you get stabbed in a dark alley over a debt or an insult. Whatever the case, death in old age is something to be celebrated. Every other death is a cause for mourning.
The search party never found Caith, not even a trace of the girl. It was if, like one of those whispers that bedevil the Whispering Cairn, she was just gone, confined to memories in an instant. Even by Diamond Lake’s standards, Caith’s disappearance was a shocking event. The community publicly grieved, in the churches, in the streets, in the taverns. Most everyone turned out for the funeral procession, an empty coffin carried by hundreds of black-clad mourners through the streets, with singing, wailing, and praying spontaneously erupting, like waves crashing on a beach.
If Kata were to be honest with herself, she loved every moment of it.
Pharasman: To supplement her mother’s income, Kata went to work for the local temple of Pharasma. She started by assisting with the logistics of funerary services, cleaning the temple, and other mundane tasks, but as the years have gone by, her role has grown. Kata has charisma that the local priesthood, well-intentioned as it is, generally lacks. As such, Kata’s often called upon to counsel the grieving left behind, and to assist with funerary rights. She’s also studied with the Pharasman priests, and while not a member of the clergy, Kata has a good grounding in Phasman theology and its concerns, and a facility for minor magics.
Elegist: If Diamond Lake had a soundtrack, it would consist of hacking coughs and grim curses spoken in gravelly, tired, and often inebriated tones. Kata’s voice is - without a doubt - the finest in town. She uses this gift to great effect in funerary services; she can hit high notes when called for in hymns, and can carry a poem across a crowd, often hushed into awed silence by her words. To have her speak an elegy or sing a hymn at a funeral is considered a great honor, and the Pharasmans have encouraged this gift. Kata supplements her income by singing at The Emporium, and can even quiet the crowds there from time to time.
Smenk: Kata’s father died in a mining accident when Kata was a baby. The circumstances of his passing were due to negligence on the part of the mine’s owner, Balabar Smenk, who never faced any comeuppance for his complicity. Kata’s mother has preached patience and karma, but as the years have gone by and Smenk has grown more powerful, Kata’s hatred for the man has coalesced into her own diamond of sorts. It lurks within her, indestructible and enduring.
Alone: Kata’s mother recently died, strangely of the Miner’s Lung, even though she worked her whole life as a domestic. Outside of the Pharasmans, Kata has little social contact these days. Worse still, her mother’s presence lingers over the town like a fluttering moth, constant reminders of her life bringing waves of unwelcome grief crashing down on Kata. The eligist has decided to leave Diamond Lake by any means necessary, and is only waiting for an opportunity to present itself, legal or otherwise.
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Character Personality:
==============
Kata has a patience that comes with dealing with those grieving. She is an attentive and active listener, and generally approaches situations from a point of empathy and kindness. Like her goddess, Kata has a fondness and sympathy for the grieving, elders, the cursed, expectant mothers, and the newly born. Also like her goddess, roused to anger, her fury is absolute and tempestuous, like the crescendo of a symphony of drums. Kata has a great appreciation for birds, and would never willingly harm one.
==============
Character Appearance:
==============
Townsfolk whisper that Kata also left something behind in the Whispering Cairn the day that Caith disappeared. She is wisplike in stature and complexion, slender and pale, and yet somehow lumescent at the same time. She wears her curly black hair pulled back more often than not, or for formal occasions (funerals and singing gigs), plaited. She has a silver spiral tattoo on the back of her neck, and favors black clothes, which in a pinch can be used for her work as an elegist as well. When traveling about town, she uses a deep purple cloak emblazoned with a silver spiral across the back to keep the elements at bay.
While they may seem somewhat overlapping in purpose, Kata’s bard can supplement a court poet skald quite well. The dirge bard’s performances, especially inspire courage, can assist melee types differently and in a complimentary way to the skald’s shared rage powers, while the skald’s performance boosts Kata’s spell DCs, which combined with high charisma and (eventually) spell focus, will narrow the gap between a mid-caster and a full caster. Kata’s spell selection will focus on enchantments and necromancy which will focus on debuffing and SOS effects, and can affect the living and the undead, so she can focus in short bursts like a full caster. Kata will also provide support and buffing to melee types via performance, spells, and occasionally mixing it up herself with her longspear.
She’ll be good at identifying undead, and at later levels her human FCB will allow her to take various masterpieces, helping to further facilitate utility in and out of combat.
With her campaign trait, Kata will make a competent trapfinder.
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Hey KC,
In the setting info we have :
Nearby Locations of Note
The Mistmarsh – Three days’ journey south lies the Mushfens, and the Mistmarsh is a section of the Mushfens owned and defended
Is there something missing at the tale end of that or am I reading it wrong? Trying to get a sense about this area.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
Oops, yeah, that should finish with something like, "by a loose-knit confederation of lizardfolk tribes. Their territory is frequently under dispute—at least in the opinion of the Garrison."
I'll respond to questions tomorrow—like I said, it's a very busy day, and I'm trying to keep my time spent here today to a minimum. But yes, Lore is basically deeper, more focused Knowledge. :)
There will be no (implied or otherwise) physically intimate relationships involving teenaged or underaged characters, no matter how high anyone's Charisma score is.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I wanted to circle back to this just say that I am in a similar place and wish to express my agreement.Thanks Dungenon Madam for that post, I think when you introduced the game you were very clear about the grunge ang grittiness of the settig so theres' nothing I'm going to be shocked by. I have so far found this to be a very safe corner of the internet and it's just my hangups from past encounters that are making me cautious. I certainly have no issues with players who want to explore mature themes, but I'd prefer to avoid the whole "lolbewbs" mentality (if you understand, you understand. If you don't, you don't).I'll step in to "third" the excellent talk about boundaries. Actually, I should probably say more than that, especially with a couple of the submissions I've seen. To be clear, I have no problem with those submissions. I just think it's a good time to clarify where I stand on, say, sex worker PCs and the like. Especially since this AP starts in a location where the local brothel is one of the top employers in town.
** spoiler omitted **
tl;dr: By default, I'm expecting a PG-13 game, with flirting, romance and some sexuality likely being elements here and there (though far from the focus—you're trying to save the world here!). However, this is sensitive to player comfort levels, and players (and the GM) always have the option of asking to skip scenes, nix them, or otherwise avoid elements they aren't comfortable with.
Can I “fourth” what Briar, Lucia, and our Dungeon Madam have said? The space they’ve mapped out is very much what I aim for. Perhaps a bit more abstract than Briar, since I really ought to do more reading about the real world at some point to better inform myself, and while I try to avoid sensationalism and titillation, I'm under no illusion that I'm managing any degree of realism. (Good heavens, is that the time? What do you mean it’s not the 4th century BCE anymore? ;) ) I’m playing a character who’s a sex worker in another campaign here, and as players have come and gone, I try to make sure that everyone knows they can ask me to dial it back or avoid something at any time.
In any case, I always try to keep the level of innuendo at no more than about the ’93 Disney Musketeers, which in retrospect now kind of shocks me at what flew right over [mumble-mumble]-year-old me’s head.On a lighter note, some odds and ends:
I think I’ve got Alaïs’ mechanical details sorted now, at least tentatively, though I’m certainly willing to consider adjustments depending on final party composition. Incidentally, I think this is the first time in my life that one of my characters has taken Power Attack – or no, not quite true, but the other time it was also a bonus feat situation with the Elephant in the Room.
Anyway, you asked us, Ma’am, to clear it with you if we wanted to take any non-Core combat gear, so I have a couple of things to break out the doe eyes for: Alaïs would love to start with a dueling dagger and, true to her heritage, an elven thornblade, if that would be alright.
For posting rate, these days I generally check my games morning, noon, and evening from GMT -5 to see if my characters need to chime in on what’s doing, though I may only actually post once a day.
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@Lucia/Queen B: The only thing truly funny about boobs is how every trans girl who gets them goes through the exact same phase of bumping into doorways and corners and yelling "OW" because she's not yet used to her new Pain Spheres.
As for Lore skills, Lore (undead) will be obviously very helpful. Lore (aberrations), too. Lore (Vecna/Norgorber), Lore (doomsday prophecies), Lore (Magnimar nobility), Lore (Magnimar politics), Lore (Riddleport), Lore (Diamond Lake cults), Lore (lost artifacts), Lore (parasites), Lore (Varisian cairns), and Lore (Ebon Triad)—the latter being a particular cult of note for this AP—would all be useful for her, I think. I'm spitballing here. Lore is such a broad skill in general, it's hard to say which ones would be the most "useful".
As for the character as a whole, I really enjoy her. She's got some major moral failings, but you talk about her having room to grow, which I enjoy as a trope. It's my preference that we'd try to unpack it a little so she can have a proper redemption arc and wind up at least on the nicer side of Neutral. Her ties to Ellival and Zalamandra give plenty of fodder for plot hooks. I will say that the trait bonuses to Intimidate won't stack.
@Jenny/DBH: I quite like this character! She's a good fit for the town. Just a note, will she be able to act as a trap-disabling rogue when her archetype replaces trapfinding? Or are you not planning for her to have that role after all?
@Torilgrey: An almost-paladin of Abadar turned gunslinger is quite an exciting concept! Guns are fairly available in this version of Varisia, thanks to being so close to the Mana Wastes. They're just starting to filter in at the level where everyone knows what they are but only some people own them.
@Albion/Reknar: I know you're still mulling over traits, and I look forward to seeing what you go with. By the way, how old are you considering Reknar to be?
@Kata/Fighting Chicken: What a delightful character! I quite enjoy your writing style, for what it's worth. I can tell you know this installment pretty well, and Kata's backstory slots very neatly into things. She's probably one of the church's few public faces, though—they're generally known as, well, kind of insular cultists focused more on protecting graves than helping mourners. Can I ask what you meant about Kata loving every minute of the funeral for her friend? It reads as sinister, but maybe that's not what you meant.
Also, religious bards are always just such neat concepts. Especially in the case of Wee Jas, who is probably my favorite D&D god. A LN goddess of death, love and vanity? That's such a fun, weird assortment. Pharasma and Wee Jas have a sort of push and pull in the cult, with their common patron saint, the eponymous Green Lady, keeping it from turning into a full schism.
@Alais: (and the first of no doubt many Anglo-keyboard-fications of her name) I'm okay with those two items. Thanks for asking!
@eriktd/Gardolf: I really appreciate you keeping up with these lists, by the way, and especially you trying to organize between "finished" and "unfinished" applications.
@Annurian/adsapiens: Ah, so he'd sort of piece together his personality over the course of the campaign?
Question for all PCs planning on melee PCs: Considering that the first installment is a dungeon delve, and we have two melee PCs pre-accepted, how will you engage with a combat where there's no room for your PC to take part in the melee?
I tried to reply to everyone who posted something new since my last round-up—sorry if I missed anyone! Long, busy day!
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This is edelsmirge introducing Phoibe and her background. I really like how this build comes together and starts getting hot at 5 and 6. This is a fun build and just all around Phoibe is someone who is not book smart but common sense strong. Personality wise think la femme nakita mixed with Penny from Big Bang Theory mixed with Buffy the vampire slayer.
Someone who likes to have fun at work or play with a snarky sense of humor who talks to an imaginary friend who is actually real. These traits of liking to dance and spend time with people are the beginning of the redemption arc along with someone who is just too happy even when beating someone to death.
@Dungeon Madam
Next level she picks up Investigator and gets Trap finding from that. She will mainly concentrate on Rogue (Knife master). If lucky enough to be selected and to make it all the way through to Level 20 Jenny will be Rogue 14/Investigator 6.
So I do plan for her to be the Trap spotter & disabler. Just a little more complicated than normally.
Adding investigator is Jenny wanting to be more proactive. Rather than having something bad happen to her and lashing out with her blades she wants to be able to see why things happen and hopefully solve, or at least avoid them.
@Dungeon Madam No worries about diacritics here! Just having it in Alaïs' alias (oh ho ho!) is enough for me to know that folks will get at what I want it to sound like. :)
As to the question of crowded melees, hmm. I'm not sure if Alaïs will end up focusing on melee until much later on (I'm beyond tempted by the superstition chain of rage powers), but I think for the first few levels while I splash some skill points around (never enough!) and decide what to focus on, she might try using Bluff to feint or Intimidate to demoralize? (If she shares a party with Lucia, she'll try not to step on her toes, and just keep it as an option for when Lucia is slinging more spells than a partial caster can hope to.)
Hopefully between that and spells that should do until she can pick up Precise Shot as necessary, although I could move Arcane Strike out for that before the start of play if it looks like it's really going to get busy on the front lines.
That might even work a bit better for someone who's playing a bit at elfier-than-thou archer and woodswoman when she's really much more of a glamping person. "What do you mean, this tent doesn't come with marble tiles for flooring? Garçon!"
Buffy was always smexy without crossing that line too much. You knew that stuff was going on but it was "tastefully" done and then a fade to black to the next scene. That is where I see my character at, but I can go more towards professional dancer/courtesan rather then sex worker who is secretly a Norgorberian Assassin...
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Ugh, so, I changed my mind again. (This is Ventiine.) I’m really in love with my character (and familiar) concept so I’d like to resubmit. I think the duo is pretty cute, but in a ‘momentary wholesomeness’ way within a rather bleak world.
I just don’t know how the character will be built at higher levels, because I’m not sure about the party’s direction at those higher levels. It’s one of those wait-and-see-where-things-are situations, I suppose. She’d still be a support, but if needed she could take feats and spells for ranged damage to avoid resource overlap. Like the melee concern in this thread, I don’t want to pigeonhole myself out of the applicants because my character concept is too narrowly focused on a support role.
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Glad to see you again! I didn't think it was my place to try to talk you out of talking yourself out of it, but I just loved your suggestion of Elvina's dynamic with Hedgie!
And I think we should be able to avoid treading on each other's toes if we end up traveling together, partly by mechanics and partly by characterization? We could check to see how we might split debuffing vs. buffing, maybe, or different schools of magic? And on a purely self-serving note, I like the contrast between a humbler, more actually nature-y person who's really interested in herbal remedies and a lady of leisure who's got a more frivolous interest - oh, what shall we have in the greenhouse this season - and a bit more focused on fruit that might be fun to see fermented.
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Can I “fourth” what Briar, Lucia, and our Dungeon Madam have said? The space they’ve mapped out is very much what I aim for. Perhaps a bit more abstract than Briar, since I really ought to do more reading about the real world at some point to better inform myself, and while I try to avoid sensationalism and titillation, I'm under no illusion that I'm managing any degree of realism. (Good heavens, is that the time? What do you mean it’s not the 4th century BCE anymore? ;) ) I’m playing a character who’s a sex worker in another campaign here, and as players have come and gone, I try to make sure that everyone knows they can ask me to dial it back or avoid something at any time.
I would argue realism comes in many forms and you are accomplishing more than you think. For example, a book about an immortal bard from Medieval Ireland making an all girl metal band in the 80’s to defeat the evil fey that has been holding her girlfriend captive can have realistic emotional depth and character relationships. I know cause I’ve read that book (Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino) and it felt more real to me than many lit fic novels I’ve had to read. And I studied English in undergrad and Creative Writing in grad school, so I had to read a lot of lit fic.
The only thing truly funny about boobs is how every trans girl who gets them goes through the exact same phase of bumping into doorways and corners and yelling "OW" because she's not yet used to her new Pain Spheres
It’ll be six years this October for me and that phase feels like a lifetime ago. Never was good at paying attention to my surroundings to begin with.
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@GM: That's the hope. The shattered psyche curse is kind of strong, but it was the one that make the most sense for what he is. The Shabti, as "soul clones" of sorts, carry a lot from their creators too. I prefer to keep his creator, that "wizard", as a secret; however, I guess as the game progress (much further down the road), it would be cool if he started to get some glimpses/memories or the man (or woman) and then start putting the whole thing together in his strange, multifaceted brain :)
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@Albion/Reknar: I know you're still mulling over traits, and I look forward to seeing what you go with. By the way, how old are you considering Reknar to be?
I think I am decided on this one actually, and I am going with the Retired Goon - I think it serves well Reknar's gritty personality, and the callous attitude, which allows him to accept almost any job thrown at him.
It would make sense that he got some sort of muscle related work in town. Maybe after being involved in some fisticuffs at the tavern with some loudmouth he might have been noticed by Luzarne Parrin and offered a job? Unless she goes too much against Reknar's own sense of right and wrong, he could actually still work for her. That might be interesting.
As for age... I see him as a mature man, so I would say around 30 years old makes sense.
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OK, I didn't realise tihs needed saying, but making me relive my adolsescence is another trigger :P
Thanks for the Lore susggestions. I need more skill points! I'd frogottern about the trait bonuses not stacking, but that trait is SO on-point for Lucia's character that I'll take the hit. I like the redeptmption arc idea, I think it depends on the group that she ends up with. If the rest of the party is a bunch of goody two shoes then KA-CHING, suckers! So long and thansks for all the money! the wanting to fit in might overcome her more ususual inclinations.
@Briar (adn other transpeople): I can't imagine the horror of growing up knowning you're in the wrong body. I was going to add something lighthearted/b*tchy like "at leat you'll never know the horror of a cervical pap/smear test" but honestly my heart isn't in it.
That might even work a bit better for someone who's playing a bit at elfier-than-thou archer and woodswoman when she's really much more of a glamping person. "What do you mean, this tent doesn't come with marble tiles for flooring? Garçon!"
Ha, a girl after my own heart! (I'm a biologist in RL. Nature belongs in a laboratory)
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@eriktd/Gardolf: I really appreciate you keeping up with these lists, by the way, and especially you trying to organize between "finished" and "unfinished" applications.
Glad to help! We have a lot of comments in this thread, so I know it can be anxiety-inducing to comb through everything and worry you might have missed something. I'm glad to take the hit for you. :)
(Again, my apologies to those I've inadvertently misrepresented, and I promise I'll update them tomorrow.)
Question for all PCs planning on melee PCs: Considering that the first installment is a dungeon delve, and we have two melee PCs pre-accepted, how will you engage with a combat where there's no room for your PC to take part in the melee?
That's a very good question, worthy of ponderous thought. Here's what I've come up with (I'll copy it to my profile too so you can find my answers later if you want).
1. Demoralizing. Gardolf is a pretty intimidating fellow. Maybe not as much as the specialists in the pool, but I'd say he has a decent chance of making low-level humanoids (and cursed/mischievous halflings!) tremble in fear when he pulls himself up to his full height and speaks in his booming voice.
2. Reach. I intend Gardolf to eventually fight with reach from behind the front lines, but maybe I should make sure he has a few scrolls of long arm for the first few levels. (Probably too greedy to hope for him to be able to cast shillelagh and wail on enemies too early on.)
3. Spells. Once Gardolf gets cantrips at level 4, he can always cast guidance on the people between him and the enemy, if he is out of spell slots and scrolls. And much later on, he will be able to cast his pseudo-wizardly area spells with Selective Spell so that they ignore his friends and harm their foes.
4. Ranged weapons. I notice that Alaïs is investing points in Craft (alchemy), so I am hopeful that we might have access to things like acid flasks and tanglefoot bags for Gardolf to throw. He's not especially ranged-focused, but he has a full BAB and that's pretty great for splash weapons-- close enough is good enough for horseshoes and hand grenades!
5. Skills. If all else fails, Gardolf can still make Knowledge and Lore checks, though granted he could do that anyway. If he's really stuck, I could also have him just try to move through his allies' and the enemies' spaces. Acrobatics is a class skill for him, but he also might be a heavy enough heavy that he can just absorb the attacks of opportunity. Since we all have Dirty Fighting, having a flanker in among the enemy is probably worth the risk.
On the question of not being able to get into melee. It wouldn't be a problem. While she's not as specialized with ranged weapons she can contribute that way. Or slip around the edges for sneak attacks if possible.
Jenny isn't going to sulk if she doesn't get to hit something. :)
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Question for all PCs planning on melee PCs: Considering that the first installment is a dungeon delve, and we have two melee PCs pre-accepted, how will you engage with a combat where there's no room for your PC to take part in the melee?
Reknar is hopefully a guy with 'options' at his disposal - from early on he can:
- Inspire Courage (hopefully a recurrent one);
- Reach combat is his main 'mode' and it is a versatile one. It can allow attacks from the 'second line', but can also allow the creation of a safety perimeter around other characters which may not be so melee inclined. So he can double as support for the first line and/or protector for the second if needed;
- Use buff spells (starts slowly with Saving Finale, which I particularly like. But it ramps up as levels go);
- I expect to complement this with wands (will be investing in UMD - some will make him stronger in melee, others are meant for versatility, etc. Fact is, there will always be a use for those wands adventurers tend to find lying around with a dozen remaining charges. Hey! Reknar is a survivor! :D);
- I am going to copy Gardolf here, and say Intimidation is decent on Reknar;
- Sergeant advice! (he is supposed to be able to provide insight on almost all areas with Bardic knowledge. For some of these he will aid others. And for some he will have a good skill rank. Knowing your enemy is half the battle);
- With his current stats + Inspire Courage, he is already half decent with a ranged weapon. Once he gets a hand on a composite longbow, with his Str he can do some more serious damage ;)
Question from my end @Dungeon Madam: How will the Bardic Knowledge skill work with the addition of Lore skills? Apologies if it is written already somewhere and I missed it.
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It's all so simple. Childishly simple! A baby could've thought of it. I just have to get eight players, and then split them into two groups, and then make sure they never, ever cross paths! A newborn cliff swallow could do it. And then I'll just design a whole separate AP that they can run in concurrently linked around the same storyline and same story beats. It's brilliant! Flawless! A whole Play-By-Post campaign based around a split party! And then I needn't make any difficult decisions at all!
I recently proposed that a GM friend of mine run all three Runelords adventure paths concurrently with the same four characters, all of them caught in a weird sort of time loop. Like the iconic Paizo characters, the PCs could be different archetypes as appropriate to their particular paths. In our shared madness, the GM considered it for a while, to the point of encouraging us to make characters, before deciding that it was indeed a too, too crazy idea. Your internal monologues remind me of her increasingly disturbed messages as she wrestled with the idea.
She's recovering peacefully with good care.
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Equipment Question:
Can Broccan, as a brawler, have proficiency with a boarding axe, or would he have to take martial weapon proficiency to get it?
OK, I've added in the free dodge feat, and taken some Lore skills incluind Ebon Triad to reflect the digging around she's been doing that has landed her in enough trouble that she needs to leave asap. I've also swapped out linguistics and taken Profession: blackmailer to reflectc her background a bit btetter.
I cant' think of anything else I need to add.
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I've created an alias for Rosella Breban, Neutral Good human fighter. Her primary role is that of a ranged combatant, with a heavy focus on archery. However I've taken the Empty Quiver Style feat, (thank you GM for the extra feats), which allows her to use her bow as a melee weapon if needed. She's also a ranger lite, with Handle Animal, K. Nature, and Survival among her skills.
Profile should be complete except for equipment, which I'll worry about if selected. Please let me know if you have any questions!
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Question from my end @Dungeon Madam: How will the Bardic Knowledge skill work with the addition of Lore skills? Apologies if it is written already somewhere and I missed it.
From the PRD:
Bards: Lore is treated as a Knowledge skill for the purposes of bardic knowledge and lore master, as well as similar abilities found in other classes, creatures, and archetypes. This applies only to Lore skills in which a character is trained. In other circumstances, use the more relevant Knowledge skill.
Broccan: It's basically a handaxe, so yeah, it's still a Martial Weapon. I'd let you use it as a Simple weapon, but with only a x2 critical multiplier.
Thx for clarifying Dungeon Madam, but I am still not 100% clear :P
Mainly because of that last part - 'This applies only to Lore skills in which a character is trained'
vs
Bardic Knowledge part - 'may make all Knowledge skill checks untrained'
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What a delightful character! I quite enjoy your writing style, for what it's worth.
Thank you! I had a lot of fun creating Kata. I usually start character design with a question. Sometimes it is based off of literary tropes (What would a mad scientists' apprentice be like, if that mad scientist was also a surrogate father-figure prone to fits of melancholy and absolutely no ability to express love or possessing parenting skills, but with a great faculty for knowledge and the general demeanor of a tough college professor?), sometimes the question is silly (What would a Chelish shut-in grow up to be if their whole exposure to the world came through the diet of the devilish writings the acclaimed children's author Fiero Thrune, and his well-regarded - and endless - literature series, Elnora the Diabolic Explorer?).
In Kata's case, the question was prompted by your recruitment's character trait. What would a heroic character, who's formative experience was the disappearance of her best friend in the Whispering Cairn and its resultant trauma, turn out to be? Once I linked that question to the dirge bard, the rest fell together fairly easily.
I can tell you know this installment pretty well, and Kata's backstory slots very neatly into things.
I'm vaguely familiar with the installment. I have a general understanding of the plot arc, and remember reading about Diamond Lake and loving it when I was a kid clutching my Dungeon and Dragon magazines, but the details are fuzzy and largely lost to time. I combed through your recruitment for NPCs and setting pieces that could be used as hooks and inserted them into the story with some educated guesses as to what they look like. I envision Diamond Lake a lot like an even dirtier and soot-covered Deadwood, so a lot of Kata's creation was trying to ground someone with a beautiful talent (her voice) in that space, and to figure out how she could somewhat thrive within it. This recruitment was really well put-together and this has been immensely helpful for me to figure out Kata's relationship to Diamond Lake.
She's probably one of the church's few public faces, though—they're generally known as, well, kind of insular cultists focused more on protecting graves than helping mourners. Can I ask what you meant about Kata loving every minute of the funeral for her friend? It reads as sinister, but maybe that's not what you meant.
I had the most trouble reconciling Kata's generally comforting personality with Wee Jas, so I leaned really heavily into the Pharasman aspect of the god. I'm not sure how well this actually jives with what you've got envisioned, so if selected I'd certainly want to smooth this out. I'm envisioning the schism manifesting in Kata being one of the few devout Pharasmans in town. The Jadisians tolerate Kata, and maybe even like her, because she takes on an aspect of the god (funerary rights, sympathy for the living) that they have no interest in taking part in. I want to be mindful of your time and so as long as I'm close enough in the concept to your vision, from my perspective this is nothing that needs to be figured out at this point in a recruitment thread (unless you want to, of course).
As for the bit about Kata enjoying the funeral, I'm glad that line was impactful. I wanted it to come across as surprising and conflicting to previous paragraph, and I wanted it to be a little unclear. I may have been a little too unclear though :). It isn't exactly intended to be sinister.
This is Kata's first brush with grief on a personal level and mourning as a community process (Kata's father passed previously, but she was just a baby and didn't experience the grief associated with his passing that she would have as an older child or adult). As the sole witness to Caith's disappearance, Kata also was traumatized by the event, and this personal trauma combined with the collective grief/mourning/trauma of the community, the newness of the feelings to Kata, and the spectacle of it all left an indelible and lasting impression on the girl. She'd never admit it, and has certainly never explored her feelings about the funeral in a way that would allow for this analysis, but her enjoyment of the spectacle, the community's reaction to Caith's disappearance (so unusual Diamond Lake!), and the outpouring of grief (and healing!) so viscerally present was what was I was getting at. The funeral, being such an outsized event happening and triggering feelings and sights Kata had never seen before is what makes her later association with the church inevitable.
Also, religious bards are always just such neat concepts. Especially in the case of Wee Jas, who is probably my favorite D&D god. A LN goddess of death, love and vanity? That's such a fun, weird assortment.
I LOVE bards (and skalds) - they are so much fun and can be taken in so many directions. I rarely play religious characters, so I'm excited, if selected, to explore this PC. I'm totally in agreement with on Wee Jas. What an awesome deity.
One other build consideration I should mention: It occured to me as I was writing this that a sphere casting bard would really suit Kata, as I could theme her magic better than with Vancian casting (aside: why did I give her the grease spell? I'll be swapping that spell out). If she was a spherecaster, she'd likely focus on healing, mind, and maybe death and light spheres. I'm not sure how any of this would play with the Dirge Bard, however, so it may not even be mechanically feasible. I want to be mindful of your time, so like the Pharasman/Jadisian connection, this is nothing I feel needs to be hashed out in recruitment, but if selected, it is a possibility I'd like to raise.
Thank you for the consideration! You've run a great recruitment!
@Albion: ... huh. That is weird, isn't it? I'm pretty sure it means you still get to add half your level on Lore checks, but don't get Lore itself for free. I'll have to decide whether that applies to Lore (creature type) checks—it might be a bit of a nerf to Bardic Knowledge if it does, since Knowledge itself is getting nerfed. I think I'll let it stand. By default, Bardic Knowledge won't allow you to get the fine details on monsters, but you'll still get the bonus to any Lore skills you do pick up.
Ok yeah, it does feel like a nerf :/
Another question then - Lore are Background skills right?