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Hello Everyone,
I’ve been really getting back into the PbP groove as of late, so I’ve decided to push it to limit and run a game that I’ve been wanting to for a while, EN publishing’s War of the Burning Sky. I will be running it as a PF1e restricted Gestalt game (see character creation spoilers for details).
Setting the Stage:
It is New Year’s eve in the free city-state of Gate Pass. Located in the mountain pass which separates two hostile nations, Ragesia and Shahalesti, Gate Pass has been neutral since the end of their last war, but now from Ragesia a new menace comes for the city.
By now, every magic-user in Gate Pass knows of the Scourge. The Emperor of Ragesia died barely a month ago, and in a move to cement herself as the next emperor of Ragesia, Leska, leader of the Ragesian inquisitors, has decreed that all disloyal users of magic, arcane or divine, are to be tracked down and killed, to prevent future threats to the empire. To carry out Leska’s command, the inquisitors, clerics specialized in countermagic, travel with military escorts to the borders of Ragesia. Their first target is Gate Pass, its neutrality long viewed as an insult to the nation’s honor. Those who resist them will have to face the searing power of the Ragesian Empire.
An entire army marches for Gate Pass, and the people of the city fear that they will not be able to resist the might of the Ragesian military. The city leaders are bowing under pressure, and have barred the exit from the city, intending to welcome the inquisitors that come with the army, for they foolishly hope that the Ragesians will reward their cooperation with mercy.
A local resistance movement, devoted to keeping both the Ragesians and the Shahalesti out of the city, has gathered vital military intelligence, and they need messengers to deliver the information to allies at a distant wizard’s school. With all their strongest warriors preparing to hold back the Ragesian assault, this vital mission falls to a party of desperate heroes.
The Ragesian army is nearly at Gate Pass’s doorstep, so time is short. The war is about to begin
Gate Pass has the distinction of being the only city to successfully drive out occupation by the Ragesian Empire. Forty years ago, Emperor Coaltongue defeated the city’s army, set up a military government, and erected a 90-foot-tall statue of himself in the grand square on Summer’s Bluff before moving on to his next conquest. For two years, citizens waged an insurgency against the occupying army, until finally Coaltongue decided the city wasn’t worth the loss of men.
Shahalesti and Ragesia, once allies, were approaching open war, and Coaltongue declared that he would withdraw from Gate Pass, if the Lord of Shahalesti agreed to leave the city as a neutral buffer between their two nations. The elves agreed, the city celebrated its victory, and trade between the two nations began to flow.
The Ragesian Empire is based in the capital city of Ragos, located on central lowlands dominated by many lakes. While the core of the empire is populated heavily by orcs and half-orcs, the outer regions have wildly diverse cultures and populations, the result of having once been many separate nations before being conquered. Every region has a large component of orcs in the population, along with heavy military presence to ensure loyalty and peace. Though the people of Ragesia have been conquered, most are content that they live today in relative safety. Given the power of the empire, rebellion just doesn’t seem worth it. The majority of the population is still human however, and different ethnic groups remain mostly concentrated in their old homelands, which are often separated by low, long mountain ranges.
On the far side of the mountains that mark Ragesia’s eastern border spreads the Shining Land of Shahalesti, ruled by Lord Shaaladel, a middle-aged elf who rose from being a military commander to the nation’s ruler during the ascension of the Ragesian Empire. Shahalesti was in danger of being conquered like Ragesia’s other neighbors, and Shaaladel’s aggressive displays of force, including the conquest and destruction of two nearby elvish lands that were hostile to it, are credited as major reasons why Ragesia has so far not looked east for conquest.
Shahalesti is not an entirely elvish nation. The majority of its population is human, but they live as commoners with little real power. The aristocracy is almost exclusively elvish, as well as the higher ranks among the military. Despite a grudging alliance with Ragesia, however, orcs and half-orcs are despised and persecuted, unable to hold any public positions, often horribly exploited as nearly slave labor. A few outposts of wealthy orcs with ties to Ragesia have tried to start their own communities, causing a steady source of internal strife.
The Kingdom of Dassen lies to the south of Ragesia, and the southwest of Shahalesti, its borders defined by craggy mountains defended by hundreds of small dwarven strongholds. Dassen’s people, a swarthy assortment of humans and dwarves, cherish their land, to the point that superstitious cavalrymen even put dirt in their boots so they never have to stop touching the soil of their homeland.
King Steppengard rules a patchwork of eight feudal holdings, many of them controlled by distant relatives with claims to the throne of numbing complexity. To assure that he never has to worry about untangling these claims, Steppengard has had a huge family with eighteen children, all of them legitimate on the word of his oath.
Who Are you?: The PC’s are members of the local Gate Pass Ragesian resistance movement, or at least trusted associates of it. Perhaps you are a local, a refugee from the last war or a recent arrival to the city having fled the Scourge. Regardless of your past, as a magic user refusing to submit to the Ragesian Empire, you have reason to fear being caught up in the purge when the its army arrives to claim the city.
Some stuff to know before you get started: (1) This adventure was written for 3.X D&D and I plan to run it mostly as is and only convert things as needed on the fly. As such, there might be the occasional weird non-RAW pathfinder thing. It should be fine, but just a heads up. (2) I will be using google docs for maps and the like, so if you can’t access those while posting, you’re going to have a bad time. (3) I generally post once per day and am looking for people with similar posting habits.
With that out of the way, I’m looking for 5ish first level PCs.
Character Creation Guidelines:
15 point buy, Max HP at start.
Recall that:
• Strength measures muscle and physical power.
• Dexterity measures agility, reflexes, and balance.
• Constitution represents your character's health and stamina.
• Intelligence determines how well your character learns and reasons.
• Wisdom describes a character's willpower, common sense, awareness, and intuition.
• Charisma measures a character's personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and appearance.
For each ability score ≥16 or ≤ 8, include a characteristic in your PC description associated with that ability. These are your defining features and, if nothing else, are how other people would describe you.
• All core plus Orc
• The region is predominantly human. As such, expect a slight bias towards selecting human and half-human PCs.
• All Paizo with the exception of Gunslingers, Ninjas and Samurais, as they don’t fit the setting, and I will consider 3rd party classes on a case-by-case basis. Going to say no to Spheres of Power though.
• Unchained versions of the Barbarian, Monk, Rogue can be used and the unchained Summoner must be used.
• Note of Gestalt: To fit the narrative of the campaign, one half of your gestalt build must be a caster (divine or arcane). Occult classes would count as arcane casters.
Skills:
• We will be using the background skills alternative rules.
Feats:
• No crafting, as per PFS organized play rules.
• We will be using the Elephant in the room alternate rules. For those not familiar it basically removes a lot of the feat taxes that exist in the game and tweaks a few other aspects of the game.
Traits:
• One trait, but make sure it fits your fluff. No drawbacks.
Wealth:
• Average starting gold.
• I’m not looking for a ton, but please give me enough of a character sketch so I can get a feel for how you plan on playing the character. You can even just describe your character in terms of other fictional characters, or just in terms of your ability score descriptions. While I don't need more than a few sentences, feel to elaborate as much as you want. Honestly, this is as much for you as for me. These campaigns go on forever, so create a PC you want to spend some time with.
• I’d also appreciate it if you can give a bit of idea of what you envision your party role would be. Frontline bruiser, ranged caster, party face, etc.
Note on applications: You don’t need to have a fully complete character sheet and profile to apply. What I do need is a brief description of your character (race, classes/archetypes, party role, etc) and a sketch of your character background. If you get selected, then you can flesh out the details. For now, I’m looking for some cool and interesting character concepts that fit the setting and would work well together.
Tentative Deadline: Assuming sufficient interest, recruitment will be open for expressions of interest until Monday, April 26th and I’ll probably review and select PCs on the Wednesday.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Hey GM Fanguar, interesting idea. Let me dot, and see what I can come up with. I had played a bloodrager/oracle in an alt-earth game. I may see if I can adopt him to this setting.
I'll be dotting as well. This setting seems familiar to me for some reason but I can't remember if I just applied to a game set here or got into one that didn't go far.
When you say one half has to be a caster do you mean it must be full caster or will 2/3 caster count?
Dotting. That's interesting! Considering something exotic like a combination of brawler/sorcerer or maybe like brawler/kineticist... Ideas, ideas :) I'll develop more tomorrow once I understand the setting better, work on the fluff and let the crunch come naturally after.
I'm very interested in this, as I've never seen this AP from the player side of the table. Would my pre-existing knowledge preclude me from selection? I can keep out-of-character knowledge separate.
Interest!
My alt-earth bloodrager/oracle was a sailor. After reading more, not a good fit for the setting. So starting from scratch.
a couple ideas, leaning toward a haflling rogue on the lamb. Ended up in Gate Pass and stayed when the crap hit the fan in Ragesia. Now with the Ragesians comming, he's looking to get out of town. Not sure what to do with the other half. Either sorcerer or Oracle to take advantage of the Charisma.
I would think that Clerics of other gods would be very concerned about this. Do we have a list of deities?
Hey Archlich are you thinking a 'blaster'? if so, I may go a different direction with the caster class.
When you say one half has to be a caster do you mean it must be full caster or will 2/3 caster count?
2/3 caster counts. Basically anything that has access to first level spells from the get go should be fine.
Dotting. That's interesting! Considering something exotic like a combination of brawler/sorcerer or maybe like brawler/kineticist... Ideas, ideas :) I'll develop more tomorrow once I understand the setting better, work on the fluff and let the crunch come naturally after.
There's a player's guide out there for the campaign. Most of it deals with Gate Pass itself and I don't plan on using the campaign feat in it, but you might find it useful.
I'm very interested in this, as I've never seen this AP from the player side of the table. Would my pre-existing knowledge preclude me from selection? I can keep out-of-character knowledge separate.
Shouldn't be a problem. A little familiarity with the setting can't hurt.
I would think that Clerics of other gods would be very concerned about this. Do we have a list of deities?
Are we using golarion pantheon?
For the sake of convenience, we'll just stick with the Golarion pantheon, but assume that the Gods have a light touch. Flavor wise, the local myths deal more with giant elemental beasts than with Gods.
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Would you be open to the following 3pp class?-
Machine smith Perhaps an ex "mage hunter" whose morals turned him away?
I've really been hoping to get to play one. If you allowed it, would you consider it a "caster" class?
Also considering the vigilante class, possible warlock or avenger.... Honestly I'm rifling through a huge list of character concepts I'd love to play. Narrowing them down is the hardest for me.
I mean, the ultimate blaster class- sorcerer/wizard gestalt(going EK or DD PRC). Haha.
I would like to submit Gilfroy Fezziwig for consideration. Obviously, he needs reworking to your creation criteria, but this alias gives you a rough idea.
He's a gnome oracle/sorcerer who focuses on illusions, fast-talking, and deceit to solve problems in creative and interesting ways. In Golarion pantheon, he follows Sivanah. In combat, he'll use battlefield control spells (both real and illusory) to confuse and hamper the enemy, and will soon become quite proficient with colour spray. In social situations, despite his strong personality, he doesn't like to dominate a room, but rather bend it to his way of thinking through guile.
Interested!
Let me summon some inspiration...
On 3rd party, would you allow Path of War classes?
Speaking of the ever lovely Dreamscarred Press, would the Malefex be a suitable class, and if so would it be considered a magical one for one half of the gestalt? The Malefex is a bit odd, as while it doesn't cast spells it basically curses targets to suffer a variety of debuffs. Sort of like a Witch who gave up spellcasting for some Rogue abilities?
Would you be open to the following 3pp class?-
Machine smith Perhaps an ex "mage hunter" whose morals turned him away?
I've really been hoping to get to play one. If you allowed it, would you consider it a "caster" class?
Machine smith seems fine. Probably could qualify as a caster, but I'd want to downplay the tech aspect a bit. So less magic as electricity to run tech and more gear serving as a conduit to focus your magic.
I would like to submit Gilfroy Fezziwig for consideration. Obviously, he needs reworking to your creation criteria, but this alias gives you a rough idea.
Sounds goods. Who doesn't love a gnomish 'illusionist'
On 3rd party, would you allow Path of War classes?
Might depend on the class, but probably
Speaking of the ever lovely Dreamscarred Press, would the Malefex be a suitable class, and if so would it be considered a magical one for one half of the gestalt? The Malefex is a bit odd, as while it doesn't cast spells it basically curses targets to suffer a variety of debuffs. Sort of like a Witch who gave up spellcasting for some Rogue abilities?
The class seems fine. It's kind of borderline for a 'caster, but probably close enough to pass the sniff test.
@all: My general rule of thumb when it comes to 3rd party stuff is to say yes, but if anything ends up being overly broken in play, I will ask that it gets tweaked.
Hi GM Fanguar! Here's Archlich with my submission, Arue, for your consideration :) she's a brawler/spiritualist. Thanks!
This looks awesome! I'll need to spend some time thinking over it, but my initial favorite concepts are a magus/slayer, an inquisitor/monk, and a bard/paladin. I want to find a read the player's guide before I do any more development, but consider this an intrigued and excited dot!
Tentative: Half-orc Barbarian|Goliath Druid
The machine smith class can easily be flavored as a sort of hex tech theme(channeling user magic and ambient magic for power) Which I'm fine with, however they get craft wondrous items at level 3, and later craft construct. Would you be okay with maybe swapping that out for an extra trick?
Yup that seems reasonable.
For the caster side are you allowing PrC to be used such as a Sorcerer to Dragon Disciple or Wizard to Eldrich Archer?
For the caster side are you allowing PrC to be used such as a Sorcerer to Dragon Disciple or Wizard to Eldrich Archer?
Yes, eventually going into a spellcasting PrC would be fine.
Since there's some 3pp material allowed, would you also consider the Warlord class? Thinking about meshing that up with a Battle Oracle!
It's probably fine, but if anything ends up a little too unbalanced in play, then I'd ask that you tweak it. At a quick glance, some of the maneuvers feel a little over tuned on paper, but who knows whether or not that ends up being the case in play.
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It's probably fine, but if anything ends up a little too unbalanced in play, then I'd ask that you tweak it. At a quick glance, some of the maneuvers feel a little over tuned on paper, but who knows whether or not that ends up being the case in play.
Honestly, I don't know. I've never played one before, it's just that I really liked the warlords from D&D 4e and wanted to see how the pathfinder equivalent matches up. I'll be reading up on it and seeing how it goes! Thanks for giving it a chance :)
Path of War tends to be very strong at low levels, but when casters start hovering over the battlefield and raining laser eye fire down on pathetic people they are about on par. I personally prefer Spheres of Power, since Spheres of Power isn't as focused on cranking martial power up but instead making it so using a standard action is worth doing and adding versatility.
Note on applications: You don’t need to have a fully complete character sheet and profile to apply. What I do need is a brief description of your character (race, classes/archetypes, party role, etc) and a sketch of your character background. If you get selected, then you can flesh out the details. For now, I’m looking for some cool and interesting character concepts that fit the setting and would work well together.
I'd like to apply with a gestalt Druid/Shifter. They have some shared abilities, but those mostly seem to be little-used and situational (Woodland Stride, A Thousand Faces, and Timeless Body). The obvious exception is Wild Shape, which is a major ability that both classes get at 4th level, but I like the concept enough that I'm okay with the overlap. None of the archetypes immediately speak to me, so I'd probably just go with the standard version of both classes. I see this character as a front-line striker, but I could pick up some tank abilities if the party needs it.
My background concept is that this is a Shahalesti half-elf who was displaced from his original land during one of the conquests that Lord Shaaladel lead. This has sown a distrust in pretty much any form of organized government, and he's especially appalled at their war machines' disregard for the natural world and beings that live there. He's neutral by class mandate, but joining an anti-lawful resistance fits within the Green Faith's purview of maintaining balance, especially against a force that wants to destroy the druidic tradition. He's passionate about what he believes in, but he tries to remain outwardly calm (and sometimes arrogant) like his elven relatives.
I'm familiar with all of the background rules in play, and I have years of experience with PbPs. I understand that it's the responsibility of both the players and the GM to drive the story and keep posting momentum going. I consider myself laid back about rules and GM rulings.
Is this sufficient for an application, or do you want more?
@GM, if you have any questions or concerns about Arue, just let me know. Otherwise I'll just stay lurking here the topic :)
Does kineticist count as casty enough for the casty side? It starts out as just blasty, but later it gets lots of options. Some of them are at-will.
This is very tempting and i have some good ideas^^
As far as Path of War classes go, I'm looking at either a Zealot, which would be combined with Bard or Skald, or a Warder, which would grab Ordained Defender and Zweihander Sentinel archetypes and combine with a divine caster most likely Druid or Inquisitor.
The first idea would be a fantastic supporting character while the second would be a fairly hardcore defender of the faith.
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Gestalt! Alright. Going to be throwing something into the mix that can't be done without gestalt.
Class 1: Constructed Pugilist
Class 2: Golemfist Magus
Why? Because both classes replace an arm with a constructed limb! Mechanically is this the best combination? Probably not. Having 2 weapon archetypes that sacrifices spell casting is really not ideal. But it's cool. And at the end of the day I find that to be quite important.
As far as stats go, a 15pt buy doesn't leave much, especially when going for a race which doesn't give bonuses where they are needed. But: Str (15) Dex (12) Con (14) Int (14) Wis (14) Cha (6). That's good enough for what he has to do.
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Background:
Khardon hails from rural Dassen. He and his family ran a small farm in the mountains. He was a blacksmith, making tools and fixing equipment for the farmers and herdsmen in the region, while his family tended to a herd of mountain goats. Life in the wilderness was never easy, but with a strong arm and stubborness, they protected what was theirs. This ended when a full fledged Ragesian raiding party descended upon his lands. Caught by surprise, the dwarf made the decision to resist, holding the entrance to his home with naught but his fists to fight and a smithing apron to defend himself. He managed to injure the first two raiders which tried to force their way past him. Seeing this, the leader of the warband stepped forward. Unlike Khardon, he was a true warrior, and the dwarf stood no chance. Rather than kill him, Khadorn was made into an example. His forearms were cut off and the wounds sealed with flames. The crippled dwarf was left in the burnt out ruins of his homestead, with the orcs making off with all that he owned.
His neighbors, a word used in the loosest sense given the distance between them, found him and brought him back to the stronghold. There his kinsmen made his steel arms, inscribed with runes to give them life. While his body has been reforged, the mental scars could not be healed with steel and runes. Rather than rebuilding his life at home, Khardon has come to Gate Pass, in the hope of one day finding the orc who took his arms and his home, so that he might pay him back in kind.
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GM, would you allow use of multiclass archetypes? They seem like a good fit for a gestalt game.
Here's my concept.
Karvagg, half-orc barbarian/geokineticist
Karvagg's mother was a slave held in the capital of Ragos. She refuses to talk about what happened there, but her scars tell much of the tale. She escaped and made her way south, avoiding cities and patrols. She arrived at a Dassen border fort in the dead of winter and ready to give birth.
They took her in, and brought her to the town just below the fortress. A town split between humans and dwarves. She settled in, hunting to feed them and make some coin. She was caring but tough on her child. Teaching him to be strong to protect himself and others, that nothing is worse than to take the freedom from another. Karvagg had a temper, but she taught him to master it. To ride the surge without losing himself.
As he grew, he found that stone responded to his will, first sand and gravel, but eventually he could throw sizable rocks. Useful in battle, though of limited skill in the quarry.
Recently word has come of Ragesian troops on the march. He couldn't stand aside. The rumors were that they would come for Gate Pass first. He set out to help them hold the line against the Empire.
How well are Aasimars and/or goblins represented in your world?- Aasimar with goblin variant-
"Non-human aasimars have the same statistics as human aasimars with the exception of size. Thus a halfling aasimar is Small but otherwise possesses the same statistics and abilities as a human aasimar—the difference is purely cosmetic. Non-human aasimars do not possess any of the racial abilities of their base race. However, they are usually raised in the same cultural context as other members of their base race, and thus generally adopt the same fighting style as their peers, use the same types of weapons and armor, and study the same skills."
but with Scion of Humanity racial trait-
"Scion of Humanity
Source Advanced Race Guide pg. 85
Some aasimars’ heavenly ancestry is extremely distant. An aasimar with this racial trait counts as an outsider (native) and a humanoid (human) for any effect related to race, including feat prerequisites and spells that affect humanoids. She can pass for human without using the Disguise skill. This racial trait replaces the Celestial language and alters the native subtype"
So, he would be a small-sized, but still very human-looking Aasimar with Racial Heritage Feat: Goblin at level 1, so he qualifies for Goblin racial traits, feats, etc.-
Thinking of some sort of Alchemist: Promethean Alchemist/Witch: Hex Channeler combo.
Samson Remoh whose latent celestial bloodline manifested itself when lost his Goblin wife Do Li Laah for being a rogue witch. Now he fights along side of his Homunculus Companion made in her image and uses his channeling power to heal those who would stand with him in his quest for revenge...
Does kineticist count as casty enough for the casty side? It starts out as just blasty, but later it gets lots of options. Some of them are at-will.
Sure, but note that all psionics are being re-flavored as arcane magic and would be susceptible to things like counterspells and the like.
GM, would you allow use of multiclass archetypes? They seem like a good fit for a gestalt game.
Going to say no. Those seem more appropriate for a non-gestalt game.
How well are Aasimars and/or goblins represented in your world?- Aasimar with goblin variant-
As per the character creation guidelines:
Allowed Races:
• All core plus Orc
• The region is predominantly human. As such, expect a slight bias towards selecting human and half-human PCs.
Bummer, alright.
Submissions so far:
Complete
The Archlich: Arue Karinn (brawler spiritualist)
Grumbaki: Khardon Dourstone (constructed pugilist/golemfist magus)
Nazard: Gilfroy Fezziwig (sorcerer/oracle)
Philo Pharynx: half-orc barbarian/geokineticist
Concepts
ElbowtotheFace: Half-orc Barbarian/Goliath Druid
Andostre: half-elf Druid/Shifter
Expressions of Interest Only
Robert Henry
trawets71
Azoth Lapis
Camris
hustonj
rorek55
Jereru
Cuan
JonGarrett
Trevor86
VoodooMonkey
Simeon
I'm contemplating putting together a half-orc skald and something on the other half. Ranger or slayer seems a good route. Barbarian seems the obvious route, but brawler also tickles my fancy thematically
So after watching and thinking it over a while I'm going to put together an elf Grenadier Alchemist/School Savant (Transmuter) Arcanist. He'll be from Shahalesti originally, should be able to do some ranged damage (largely with bombs and a longbow,) and have the spells and extracts (with infusion) to hopefully fill in the other needs the party might have (though I suspect this party won't be hurting for that.) He can even do some melee support in a pinch with an elven branched spear or rapier, but that's not what he'd like to be doing most of the time. I should be able to put together a build over the next day and post a more detailed backstory.
As per the character creation guidelines:
Allowed Races:
• All core plus Orc
• The region is predominantly human. As such, expect a slight bias towards selecting human and half-human PCs.
I apologize for any difficulty-I was just exploring the possibility of any unique interpretation for listed "Human."
Decided to make the Constructed Puglist / Golemfist Brawler into a Constructed Puglist / Golemfist Hexcrafter Brawler.
Came to the conclusion that the golemfist alone just doesn't have enough magic. And what magic it does have goes into making things explode. The hexes give utility, which I think is in the spirit of this campaign. Planned the character's feats out. Between Brawler and Magus there are plenty of bonus feats, so will be able to spend alot on extra arcana to buy more hexes. :)
Submissions so far:
Complete
The Archlich: Arue Karinn (brawler spiritualist)
Grumbaki: Khardon Dourstone (constructed pugilist/golemfist magus)
Nazard: Gilfroy Fezziwig (sorcerer/oracle)
Philo Pharynx: half-orc barbarian/geokineticist
Concepts
ElbowtotheFace: Half-orc Barbarian/Goliath Druid
Andostre: half-elf Druid/Shifter
Trevor86: half-orc warlord/bard or warlord/urban skald
Zorblag: elven grenadier alchemist/school savant arcanist
ArendK: half-orc skald/??
Expressions of Interest Only
Robert Henry
trawets71
Azoth Lapis
Camris
hustonj
rorek55
Jereru
Cuan
JonGarrett
VoodooMonkey
Simeon
Character build is finished. :)
* Constructed Pugilist Strong-Side Boxer Brawler (left arm is geared towards defense, giving him +2 shield AC, +1 natural armor, and an increase in natural armor every 5 levels)
* Golemfist Hexcrafter Magus (right arm is geared towards offense. At lvl 3 and every 4 levels thereafter he gets +1 enchantment bonus, and arcane pool increases it further. Hexcrafter makes up for lost spells)
Added stats (with fluff explanations), mechanics, party role and background to profile.