Nestled in the western foothills of the World’s Edge Mountains, the alpine Taldane village of Lyon’s Brook represents the decline of Taldane splendour and the resourcefulness of its people. Essentially abandoned by the nobility and bureaucracy, the common Unbearded folk of this quaint little town have created a good life for themselves, one of peace and quiet. But hey, even sleepy towns need heroes, too!
Unlike other games I’ve run on these boards in the past, there is no overarching plan in place. I have a few pivotal villains in mind and some of the things they might be up to, but how we get there is up to the players. My goal is to string together a series of mid-sized adventures (PCs will level up at the end of each adventure), all based in and around this small town, with some adventures dealing with the fallout of previous adventures. I have a general idea of how the first adventure will look, and will write the rest based on the actions and backstories of the PCs. I know this sounds like standard fare, but I haven’t played such a game in almost twenty years, with everything lately being adventure paths, either published or homebrew. So maybe this is just old school.
To get things started, I have detailed some basic stats and background info for most of the village’s 122 residents, though more can be added to accommodate the PCs (families, etc.). All of this information is what a character would get with a Diplomacy (Gather Information) or Knowledge Local check of DC 10. These characters, some ordinary, some colourful, form the cast for our little drama. Rather than a standard recruitment where we try to fill party roles and assemble a crack strike force, instead you will be auditioning for roles in this drama, and it’s up to you how you want to try to fill each role. Please incorporate one or more of the town citizens in your background, even inserting yourself into a family if that’s appropriate (just ask first).
Source Material: You can ask, but if it’s 3pp, it’s almost a guaranteed no. This is not a game for outlandish builds.
System: Pathfinder 1st Edition
20-pt buy
Alignment: any good
Level: 1
Classes: Core + Alchemist, Arcanist, Brawler, Hunter, Inquisitor, Investigator, Kineticist, Magus, Oracle, Slayer, Summoner (Unchained), Warpriest, but depends on role (when the role says “any”, it means from this list)
I’m not a fan of crazy, niche builds, especially for a game that is supposed to invoke “small town feel”, so the more “old-fashioned” your build, the more likely to be chosen.
Races: Core, but depends on role (when the role says “any”, it means any core)
Traits: 2, plus “campaign”
Background Skills: Yes
Elephant in the Room: Yes
VMC, fractional bonuses, guns, weird steampunk things, psionic stuff: No
HP: Max at first, roll for later (keep your own roll, or take mine)
Starting Gold: depends on role
Starting Age: fresh-faced, whatever that means for your chosen race
I’ll be taking 5 PCs, one for each of the following tropes, I mean, roles:
You are thought well of by almost everybody, especially the core group of citizens. Born and bred locally, you are trusted and respected. You’re a young person with good prospects, a good reputation, probably even Threefold Council material a few years down the road. Perhaps it’s just that you’ve always been a good rules-follower as a kid, or that you’ve been exceptional in some way, or maybe you were a minor hero as a youth. You may have left town at some point, but everybody is glad you’re back. You gain a +2 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks to interact with locals and once per level, when attempting to sell something, a local merchant will give you 20% more than the standard sale price for that item.
Allowed Classes: any
Allowed Races: human or half-elf
Starting Gold: Max
You are thought poorly of by almost everybody. It’s not that you’re a bad person at all, but trouble always seems to find you. You have a poor reputation, perhaps through no fault of your own (or maybe it’s well-earned). You may have left town at some point, and everybody was disappointed to see you had returned. You may, if you wish, have one local who champions your cause and believes in you, though they certainly haven’t helped you much so far. People in town just don’t trust you and are always prepared to think the worst of you, but you’re used to it and it has honed your ability to sense the feel of a room and to keep out of people’s way. When dealing with locals, you have a -1 penalty on Diplomacy and Bluff checks, but a +2 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks, and a +2 trait bonus to Stealth checks to move unseen about town. As you continue to repair your reputation with the locals, the penalties will gradually disappear over time.
Allowed Classes: any except for level 9 casters or paladin
Allowed Races: halfling, human, half-elf, half-orc, or dwarf
Starting Gold: Min + 20%
Every drama has background characters, and that’s you. You don’t really have much of a reputation in town at all, despite living there your whole life, and it’s doubtful that many folks would notice if you suddenly weren’t there. You’ve never done something as strange as leave town. You do have a surprising secret, though (you may or may not know what it is yourself), and your time is coming. For each local in town, you gain a one-time only +4 bonus to a single Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate check, due to their shock that you have asserted yourself.
Allowed Classes: any self-taught or innate class
Allowed Races: human
Starting Gold: Average (duh)
Six months ago, you came to live with Sir Eustus, the kindly, venerable, ex-adventurer knight who is technically the nobility in charge of this town. You’ve spent most of this time living in his grand but faded country estate to the south of town, along with his dusty butler Halvers, cranky incompetent cook, and a host of unseen servants. You may or may not want to be there, but due to circumstances beyond your control, you’re stuck there for the time being. You are a mystery to the folks in town and the source of much speculation, you’re sure. You have only just recently been allowed to make your way into town to look around, and have yet to make any friends there. You gain a +2 trait bonus to Bluff checks made against locals and a +2 trait bonus to one Knowledge skill of your choice, except for Local, to which you have a -2 penalty.
Allowed Classes: any
Allowed Races: any
Starting Gold: Max + 20%
You just arrived in town: literally, the campaign starts today, Seranith 17, 4710 AR, with your arrival. Why you’re there is anybody’s guess, and Lyon’s Brook may or may not be your intended destination. You don’t know anyone in town, and nobody knows you, but maybe your fate and the fate of this town were destined to intertwine. You’ve seen something of the world and are a bit tougher than the run of the mill townie. You gain a +1 trait bonus to any one saving throw of your choice.
Allowed Classes: any
Allowed Races: any
Starting Gold: Max
Special: With this role, you can quite easily weird yourself out of contention. A young adventurer from Cassomir, a Desnan priest from Absalom, a wandering dwarf looking for gold are all good options, but there’s no reasonable scenario where a half-orc headhunter from the Mwangi Expanse with six kitsune tails, a singing vestigial head, and a vendetta against drow and people who eat parsley ends up in Lyon’s Brook.
Applying will be a little different as well. I would like for the five selected characters to not know each others’ backgrounds. As such, I would like for characters to be submitted via private message and not in this thread. I will provide here a running list of the bare bones of each submission, including which role it’s for, and if you have any questions about the recruitment process or Lyon’s Brook itself, or just want express interest, you can ask them here, but everything character-specific stays in private message.
I also don’t care about builds at this stage, beyond your basics like race and class, though if anything starts to sniff of outlandish tomfoolery, I’ll probably pass on your submission. If we have 5 human rogues, then we have 5 human rogues and I’ll make appropriate adventures accordingly. Of course, you can build the character if you want, but I don’t plan to consider the stats at this stage. What I would like is a 10-minute background for your character.
Step 1: Write 5 background and concept elements that you feel are important to your image of the character. These can be a concept overview, a list of important life events, a physical description, a personality profile...whatever you need to get an image in your mind. 5 is just a minimum...more elements are encouraged!
Step 2: List at least two goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.
Step 3: List at least two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises!
Step 4: Describe at least three people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.
Step 5: Describe three memories, mannerisms, or quirks that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
For the roles of Pride of Lyon’s Brook, Black Sheep, and Average Joe/Josephine, blend your life story with the established locals and recent history of Lyon’s Brook. For the Sir Eustus’ Ward role, what exactly is your connection to the venerable knight of the realm? For the Stranger in Town role, why are you here and what are some juicy parts of your past I can mine for interesting tales? These aren’t separate questions, just things to keep in mind when doing the 5 steps of the 10-minute background.
Links:
Overview of Lyon’s Brook and its Citizens
Map of Lyon’s Brook
Map of Taldor (showing where Lyon’s Brook is)
Soft Deadline: Midnight AST of July 31. If I happen to get 30 entries in the first 3 days, I'll probably wrap it up sooner, but I promise to give fair warning for any changes to this date. I know there's a lot of information in those links, though, so if folks need more time, that's fine, too.
Interesting! I’ve got an idea brewing for a nornkith monk, filling the stranger role.
Interest!
Dotting for interest!
Dotting for interest also.
In thinking it over more, I think barring the Black Sheep from level 9 casters is wrong. I’m not even sure what my rationalization was at the time. For that matter, no reason he/she couldn’t have left town and found training as a paladin. After all, the Black Sheep reputation could be wholly undeserved, or perhaps moving away gave perspective and helped turn their life around. It’ll just take the locals a good while to figure that out.
Thanks for mentioning you started this. I have an idea in mind and will get it too you should I have the time.
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Thanks for mentioning this in the other thread!
I'll read up a bit on the town and setting and such. I wanted to try a spirit talker oracle for a class once on the mechanical side of the character creation, but with the setting in Taldor that might be more inappropriate. Let's see if something else comes to me.
Edit: Wow. Like... every single inhabitant of the town has their own entry in the guide! I don't think I've ever seen that before. I must admit I kind of lost track after the first forty or so. O_o
Edit: Wow. Like... every single inhabitant of the town has their own entry in the guide! I don't think I've ever seen that before. I must admit I kind of lost track after the first forty or so. O_o
Hm. Interesting. I'll need to take a way closer look at this game tomorrow.
In thinking it over more, I think barring the Black Sheep from level 9 casters is wrong. I’m not even sure what my rationalization was at the time. For that matter, no reason he/she couldn’t have left town and found training as a paladin. After all, the Black Sheep reputation could be wholly undeserved, or perhaps moving away gave perspective and helped turn their life around. It’ll just take the locals a good while to figure that out.
Ok then, so I can assume that the restriction is gone then, okay.
Also yes, that roster of characters is great.
I stand by the average joe restriction, though. He’s never done anything so noteworthy as study with a wizard, but no reason he couldn’t be just developing latent sorcerer powers. He could be a rogue, playing up blandness as an act, or a Ranger who spent a lot of time alone in the woods.
Interesting. Dot.
Ooh, I like this approach. Looks like there will be plenty of RP to be had! Let me read the materials you provided and think about it.
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Dot, leaning towards stranger in town or pride of lyons brook. If I go stranger, it'll probably be themed around the whole "mysterious rough looking stranger in town" vibe you get from some western stuff.
Question, would you allow the gunslinger archetype Bolt Ace? It uses crossbows instead of guns.
All this said, a bard as pride of lyons brook seems like fun too.
I don’t have a problem with bolt ace (the only gunslinger archetype I like since I’m firmly anti-gun), but the bard idea also sounds good. Likely to be a lot more competition for the Stranger role.
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true, but I'm a bit of a sucker for the "grizzled, weary and worn, wanderer" trope.
Perhaps a retiree, come to town to nurse an injury, or old wound and try to find a semblance of a life. Mid 30s, maybe late 30s. (or equivalent in whatever race I chose)
Or a young gun, on the trail of someone that wronged him, brash, impetuous and bold. Nothing to weigh him down anymore (or yet).
If either of those tickle your fancy, let me know. Otherwise I'll never be able to narrow it down XD.
I'll also see if I can dig up a fun bard idea for the pride.
Either of those would work, though it would be best if Lyon’s Brook was the destination so they have a reason to be interested in participating in the adventure.
I'm currently eyeing the Average Joe archetype. I was thinking maybe a town courier who also got some training under Father Martus to become a relatively standard archer ranger, and his "secret" has to do with the animal companion or divine spellcasting? I've already got a couple of ideas to flesh that one out so I might type something down when I get the time.
This is really cool and the amount of work that has been put into this is amazing. I'm already invested in a few recruitments and don't want to overextend myself more than I need to. If they fall through, I'll definitely poke back in here again.
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Thought about the character some more and I'll be shooting for the Ward role, probably. I suppose the story could also work for the visitor in town to a lesser degree. As per the character submission guidelines I'll keep the specifics to myself and send it by PM.
Have to say it IS quite refreshing to have a PBP where everyone's background is completely unknown to the other players/applicants! Would that carry into the campaign as well?
One mechanical question, I am considering a character that has access to hexes through an archetype for the allowed classes. Would that be automatically disallowed since both Witch and Shaman are not allowed classes themselves? It would steer the story of the character one way or the other.
@SuperdodoI don’t think Lyon’s Brook us big enough to need a courier. A natural lead-in to becoming a Ranger trained by Brother Martus would be to add him to the hunting crew and make it a group of five. Note: being trained by Martus means your character has to be a dude—he would not train a female for something like that. Now, if we’re talking a Mulan situation, that would certainly count as an incredible secret…
@rdknightNo idea how high level this will go, but affiliating Sir Eustus with the a Starstone Brewers is totally possible
@Trevor86Hexes through archetype is fine. Probably out a few peoples’ backs up in town. The mystery about backgrounds will stay a mystery until it comes out naturally in play. Hopefully, folks won’t just do a background exposition dump at the first campfire. The three locals, while they might or might not be friends, will know each other (it’s a small town), but won’t necessarily know their secrets.
Application List To Date
Sir Eustus’ Ward: human tactician fighter
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Okay, I think I may go with the grizzled retired soldier. Though a lion's blade hopeful still does seem interesting. Are you wanting all young, fresh faced adventurers? Or would one with a little more experienced background be allowed? I would ask which of the two following ideas fits better with what you had envisioned for this game. Since both are interesting to me.
As stated, the concept for stranger in town would be a retired captain/ lower ranked soldier. He received a crippling wound, mainly in his right arm/shoulder and chest, which both weakened him and more or less made it so he would never wield a sword or other blade well again. Luckily, crossbows are effective, and don't strain his arm. He was discharged, and was going to be sent to a "frontier" town/village, as a sort of additional "unofficial" guard.
He was fine with heading to Lyon's brook, where he planned on setting up a small farm and cabin and living out the rest of his days in relative peace. Maybe even find some time to find love.
Potentially has become acquainted with Burria, since he would be making a home on the outskirts of the village.
The other, would be the Pride of Lyon's Brook.
He would be a young, confident (perhaps overly so) lad(around 18-20). At best, the towns light and fun, at worst, a good natured rapscallion, he had a natural voice, and was blessed with naturally good looks. He was a bit of a layabout all things told, but he often was easily able to talk his way out of any ill will. He got his first instruments on a trip to Maheto. The only time he really got into actual trouble was when he got too... "playful" with Pullia in the Public house. He wasn't allowed to sing or play their for at least a couple months afterwards. He considers himself friends with most of the people in town, and is not afraid to refer to any one of them as his avid fans. He often thinks of himself a hero in the making, why, just the other day he rescued a kitten. Proficient in sarcasm, he refuses to put any real effort into learning carpentry and woodworking, much to his fathers aggravation. He has heard legends of the lions blade, now, if he were to become one of those, imagine the renown!
I'll go into much more detail later, but again, I wanted to put time and effort into a character that fits your envisioned setting/theme.
The second idea definitely fits much better, but the first isn’t out-of-bounds by any means.
My first idea of the bunch would be some sort of Wizard apprentice Elrithrathiel if it would be allowed. Though they'd be in the Black Sheep role if that would be ok?
My first idea of the bunch would be some sort of Wizard apprentice Elrithrathiel if it would be allowed. Though they'd be in the Black Sheep role if that would be ok?
Absolutely. If you do go that route, you would get to learn a little (well, a lot) more about her, but I expected someone might want to go that way. Doing it with Black Sheep would be fantastic. I purposely didn’t decide what kind of wizard she is in case someone wanted to make an apprentice, so whatever school you want, go for it.
My first idea of the bunch would be some sort of Wizard apprentice Elrithrathiel if it would be allowed. Though they'd be in the Black Sheep role if that would be ok?Absolutely. If you do go that route, you would get to learn a little (well, a lot) more about her, but I expected someone might want to go that way. Doing it with Black Sheep would be fantastic. I purposely didn’t decide what kind of wizard she is in case someone wanted to make an apprentice, so whatever school you want, go for it.
Cool, thank you.
Application List To Date
Black Sheep: half-elf wizard
Sir Eustus’ Ward: human tactician fighter
I'll go for the pride of Lyon's bard in that case.
Bard, with big dreams of being a lion blade, and renowned bard. I'll get up the background in a day or so.
If he’s supposed to be into carpentry but not really, he probably knows Tomos, the half-orc town carpenter. Perhaps Tomos and your character’s father are partners? Tomos is young, but it could work.
It could also be that your character’s father is the carpenter who died 4 years ago in the sickness.
There are a few submissions interested in exploring the mystery pregnancy of Vipsta Livianus. I think it would be really neat if multiple PCs were interested in solving this mystery (since she’ll never tell).
Feel free to have your character THINK they know who it is, but they’re probably wrong. :)
Elephant in the Room does shaft unchained rogues a little bit at level 2, but unless you have a +1 BAB, you can’t normally use Weapon Finesse (or Power Attack or Deadly Aim), which is an often missed detail about EitR. Unchained rogues basically give you Weapon Finesse for free at first level though so it’s still a help (and at level 2, when you qualify for Finesse, you don’t usually have a feat available).
Anyway, all of that means sorry, but no. You are already getting something for the finesse training.
Are you considering an unRogue instead of bard for the Pride of Lyon’s Brook (I was wondering where you were going to get the +2d6 sneak attack requirement for Lion Blade)? Ironic given the wizard applying for Black Sheep…I kind of had that going the other way when I wrote out the roles. Awesome!
Everything's getting tipsy turvey.
Application List To Date
Pride of Lyon’s Brook: human? Bard/rogue combo (still WIP)
Black Sheep: half-elf wizard
Sir Eustus’ Ward: human tactician fighter
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You can actually use weapon finesse and combat expertise without a BaB of +1, its not a requirement to take them, power attack however, you cannot, as it does require a +1.
And I was possibly considering a few levels of rogue, Likely only a 1 level dip, and figured I'd ask, I may end up going archeologist, but I'm looking at other archtypes as well.
This said, I'm not planning for Varian to actually take lion blade PrC in all likelihood. It was just a fun little flavor to add for a goal.
Combat expertise requires +1 but weapon finesse doesn’t. Huh. I could have sworn it used to. Maybe one of the earlier versions did.
Application List To Date
Pride of Lyon’s Brook: human? Bard/rogue combo (still WIP)
Black Sheep: half-elf wizard
Average Joe: human rogue
Sir Eustus’ Ward: human tactician fighter
Man, if a strange dwarven cleric suddenly arrives in town, we have a pretty classic adventuring party there!
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Prerequisite: Int 13.
Benefit: You can choose to take a –1 penalty on melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +1 dodge bonus to your Armor Class. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every +4 thereafter, the penalty increases by –1 and the dodge bonus increases by +1. You can only choose to use this feat when you declare that you are making an attack or a full-attack action with a melee weapon. The effects of this feat last until your next turn.
I agree, it doesn't make sense that you can take it without having a BaB of +1, but you can. Its weird, I had to double check myself. I should have a mostly finished background up by tonight.
Prerequisite: Int 13.
Benefit: You can choose to take a –1 penalty on melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +1 dodge bonus to your Armor Class. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every +4 thereafter, the penalty increases by –1 and the dodge bonus increases by +1. You can only choose to use this feat when you declare that you are making an attack or a full-attack action with a melee weapon. The effects of this feat last until your next turn.
I agree, it doesn't make sense that you can take it without having a BaB of +1, but you can. Its weird, I had to double check myself. I should have a mostly finished background up by tonight.
That's from the Core Rulebook, but in the EitR document, it says this about Combat Expertise:
Combat Expertise
Gone. Now simply a combat option for any class with
at least +1 BAB.
The most heinous feat tax next to Weapon Finesse.
Combat Expertise is taken to progress to better feats then
promptly forgotten about. I like it as an option, but it’s not
worth spending a feat on. Power Attack and Deadly Aim say the same thing, but Weapon Finesse does not specify the +1 BAB.
In reading through the Unchained Rogue Finesse Ability, I see that the class does just give you Weapon Finesse, so you should have something to make up for the loss. I'm not comfortable with Weapon Focus (which under EitR applies to entire weapon groups now), but I would be fine with a choice of Acrobatic, Alertness, Athletic, Deceitful, Deft Hands, Stealthy, Nimble, or any of the other +2 to two skills feats I might be forgetting.
Message sent with description of character.
Application List To Date
Pride of Lyon’s Brook: human? Bard/rogue combo (still WIP)
Black Sheep: half-elf wizard
Average Joe: human rogue, human paladin
Sir Eustus’ Ward: human tactician fighter
I have never used EitR either. Thankfully I'm magic XD
I have never used EitR either. Thankfully I'm magic XD
One nice thing about the system for wizards is Precise Shot now has no pre-requisites. Point Blank Shot still exists but you don’t have to take it, a big plus for feat starved ray builds.
I have never used EitR either. Thankfully I'm magic XDOne nice thing about the system for wizards is Precise Shot now has no pre-requisites. Point Blank Shot still exists but you don’t have to take it, a big plus for feat starved ray builds.
Cool