That would've been a good idea, actually, but I would've had to do a bit of retooling on them, and it's too late now.
Speaking of time, yesterday was the halfway point! Lots of good submissions so far, loving what people come up with. Getting a list together of the completed ones right now.
I for one hope that, in the event i get accepted we got some characters who can use all the inspire rage things :)
I also think my guy may be on a 6-7 of the power scale (at least I only depend on STR and CHA, yay me, but Bloodrager and Skald is probably not the most optimized Gestalt build). Half of the submissions I dont really know what they actually do, but they do sound stronk.
But hej, I am a fairly competent face and a skill monkey!
Generalized question concerning Demon Dancer:
RAW, at level 7 it is
At 7th level, the demon dancer’s dances warp the minds of those who accept them even further. Whenever anyone affected by his inspired rage makes an attack against a creature, the urge to dominate this foe rises within the affected ally. The ally can attempt to resist this urge with a Will save (DC = 10 + 1/2 the skald’s class level + his Charisma modifier).
If she fails the save or chooses not to attempt one, the Strength and Constitution bonuses of the demon dancer’s inspire rage increase by 2, and she must continue to attack the same target each round. Once the target is defeated, she must burn or cut the symbol of a demon the demon dancer worships into the target’s flesh, which is a full-round action. The need to conquer and brand foes ends after this action or after the demon dancer stops performing, whichever comes first.
Given that most of the party will perhaps not worship Nocticula/Gorum, how about a possibility for a will save of DC = 10 + 1/2 the skald’s class level + his Charisma modifier to carve a symbol of whatever patron they worship instead, if they accept the rage in the first place?
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It's stupid but I'm gonna pursue the Trox living siege engine thing. Steelblood Abyssal Bloodrager/Siegebreaker Fighter. Build around overrun and bull rush. His only crime: using his second set of tiny arms to knit sweaters faster than a regular person can and crashing Kenabres' handmade garment market. Or helping the demons construct siege engines to tear down the city walls. Trox has not had his charges formally presented to him, so he knows not why he is imprisoned. He could just burrow out of the city, but the cowardly Kenabrians are holding his familiar, Baron Wilford Woolsley III, chaotic evil harbinger of Rovagug, hostage.
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Just to quickly level-set ... we would all be okay with a gestalt Smurf, right?
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Just to quickly level-set ... we would all be okay with a gestalt Smurf, right?
What type of creature are thee? I perceive no weapons upon thee, nor doest thou wear armor, but I have heard rumors of your race. Do not the rumblings of the dark tapestries vilest corners (also known as the DOTA 2 fanbase, or any other massive multiplayer online game with smurfs in its ranking system) most pitfully cry with revulsion and fear at the unnumbered heineous antics of your most vile race?
Well, I for one am willing to acknowledge you as worthy to stand besides a champion of the Lord and the Lady, if thou can prove thy aptitude for guile, murder, carnage, strength and slaughter.
Who or what do you actually are? Share your secrets, and let the meek and weak recoil from your revelations.
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Just to quickly level-set ... we would all be okay with a gestalt Smurf, right?What type of creature are thee? I perceive no weapons upon thee, nor doest thou wear armor, but I have heard rumors of your race. Do not the rumblings of the dark tapestries vilest corners (also known as the DOTA 2 fanbase, or any other massive multiplayer online game with smurfs in its ranking system) most pitfully cry with revulsion and fear at the unnumbered heineous antics of your most vile race?
Well, I for one am willing to acknowledge you as worthy to stand besides a champion of the Lord and the Lady, if thou can prove thy aptitude for guile, murder, carnage, strength and slaughter.
Who or what do you actually are? Share your secrets, and let the meek and weak recoil from your revelations.
Why did my avatar turn into a smurf? Oh Lady in Shadows, extend your gentle yet inescapale grasp unto this blighted board and set right this injustice.
OOC: Seriously, why the hell is my avatar a smurf after replying to your message?
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In my own strength and identity, do I find my salvation?
Ahh, yess, precious reality is restored! Praise the Lady and Praise the Lord.
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Any post with the S-word in it gets your avatar switched to that of a small blue person. Even in replies.
Post something without replying and it should be fine.
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Any post with the S-word in it gets your avatar switched to that of a small blue person. Even in replies.
Post something without replying and it should be fine.
Thanks, figured it out :)
Howdy! Profile is pretty much all set. This is the Necromancer/Living Grimoire I mentioned earlier. Didn't end up going Living Grimoire so Darius is a Undead Master/Occultist.
Darius enjoys the finer things in life that he didn't get to experience in his poor upbringing. Necromancy is equal parts art and science to him. His favorite hobby is the non-magical creation of undead. By putting people in horrific situations, he experiments to see in what different ways he can bring about the transformation at life's end. His most recent experiment was kidnapping a young woman and keeping her locked away in a pit with only the remains of dead humans to feed on. Unfortunately, he didn't cover his tracks well enough and crusaders caught up to him. He awaits what will likely be a short trial and execution if he can't find someway to slip his bonds.
Why did my avatar turn into a s**rf? Oh Lady in Shadows, extend your gentle yet inescapale grasp unto this blighted board and set right this injustice.OOC: Seriously, why the hell is my avatar a smurf after replying to your message?
I can't believe we created an S-chain with the replies, that was SO cool!!! Also glad no one was bemused for too long by my vile sorcery ...
Odrick Payne
2. How old is your character?
23
3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
Human, around 5’ 10”, of clear Chelaxian descent though quite pale. Brown eyes black hair, medium build and overall nondescript. You know, standard serial killer stuff.
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?
Odrick is outwardly calm, serious, and polite to most people, though in battle his lust for blood begins to show as he begins to tremble in excitement at the impending death.
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?
Payne was born in Westcrown, though his parents moved to Kenabres when he was around 8 years old. His parents were the remnants of a family of some means, who wanted to finally break free of the expectations to “make their family name stand for something ago” by becoming aides to the Crusaders.
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?
William and Selena Payne are currently making a living as merchant suppliers for the Crusader army in Kenabres.
7. Do you have any other family or friends?
None that still stand by him.
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?
Single. No kids.
9. What is your character’s alignment?
Neutral Evil.
10. What is your character’s moral code?
Odrick is unfettered from normal mortal morality. He just wants what’s best for everyone. And that is to be freed from those self-same shackles, by force if necessary.
11. Does your character have goals?
The slaying and “assimilation” of all sentient life.
12. Is your character religious?
Odrick worships the Four Horsemen of Abaddon, particularly Charon. He also has a healthy respect for Groetus.
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?
Human existence is lonely suffering. Everyone would be much happier if they were all together as one, big happy family.
14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
Odrick is envious of anyone he trusts showing affection to others.
15. Why does your character adventure?
Odrick has never adventured before, but he would seek new lives to preach the gospel of Oblivion.
16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
As an evangelist.
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
None.
18. How does your character get along with others?
Odrick is very much a people person. He wants the entire world to be his family.
19. Is there anything that your character hates?
Resurrection magic. Healers. His parents.
20. Is there anything that your character fears?
Being alone.
Cliff notes backstory: Odrick was born to two Chelaxian parents who later became Crusader aides in Kenabres. They adopted a war orphan and started paying less attention to him, thinking their new child needed more attention. Odrick began to hear whispers from Abaddon that he should kill his new brother and take his place again as the favorite son. His parents did not react well.
He killed several more people over the years, adding them to his "family" before finally being caught and thrown in prison. His parents begged for leniency for their poor, deluded son and so he has languished in Kenabres dungeon for the past 7 years.
Basic character archetype: "the devil made me do it" style serial killer.
Been watching this thread with vast interest.
Okay, will throw my hat in. Coming shortly: Nimpy Spufferbug, gnome degenerate.
(Wait, PF1 doesn't have a "degenerate" class? Hmm: shall improvise.)
You could be like Neb from Baldur's Gate 2.
While I like the idea I have come up with I think I am likely going to back out of the running on this one. I just don't think I can play a credible evil character.
So i decided to run hunter(divine hunter, primordial companion)/cleric(evangelist) of lamashtu. Settled on boring ole human because I lack so much feats I couldnt justify the penalties otherwise.
Only issue im running into is findinf an appropriate animal companion. Lamashtu favors canines but thats overdone. So im looking through and trying to find some appropriately monstrous and ugly critters and curious about other opinions.
Options are.
Giant Vulture: fits the mold of ugly, smelly and scary. Also big. Very big.
Axebeak: moves fast, hits hard, looks weird and is very very mean.
Bristleboar: has a mutant boar vibe to it that appeals. Also very tough.
Allosaurus: monstrous, vicious, relatively unique.
Elasmotherium: baron von stabface hits hard, looks weird, prone to unpredictable bouts of raw aggression.
There's a bunch of pesh related feats and even an archetype.
It was also brought to my attention that Orcus is still kicking around so Darius pays homage to Urgathoa and has picked up a few texts to Orcus since being around Mendev.
You could be like Neb from Baldur's Gate 2.
Not familiar? I'm thinking of a character who takes a lot of drugs. A *lot* of drugs.
Child-killer who enslaved the spirits of the children he killed.
Child-killer who enslaved the spirits of the children he killed.
You could be like Neb from Baldur's Gate 2.
Not familiar? I'm thinking of a character who takes a lot of drugs. A *lot* of drugs.
Hey, that's basically my character! Though he was a child killer, not a child-killer.
Hey, that's basically my character! Though he was a child killer, not a child-killer.Child-killer who enslaved the spirits of the children he killed.
You could be like Neb from Baldur's Gate 2.
Not familiar? I'm thinking of a character who takes a lot of drugs. A *lot* of drugs.
Reminds me of a guy who got the nickname "Virgin Slayer" in the arena of Alysuhinira (after rejecting, in public, certain offers from the Succubi cheerleads with the timeless words of "My Ladies, your request honors me but I am a virgin and I am saving myself for someone special"), and, after act 4, had a mythic quest to establish the nickname "the Virgin-Slayed" for a certain big bad that appears in this act, with the active and highly amused approval of the most fair (if very much non virginous) lady who actually did the slaying.
I've got a cool concept in mind for an arcane gish. Mechanically, it's a Hexcrafter Bladebound Magus + Pact Wizard. Like a Magus and Wizard glued together with a paste made out of Witch. Should make for a decent SOL+Utility Caster, Knowledge Guy, and a competent melee fighter once it all comes together.
As a character, he might be the sort who starts out the "least bad" of the villains, but harbors a rot that could make him the worst of all in the end.
The answers to the 20 Questions should be embedded in the character background, but I can break them out into a separate summary if you'd like.
Cyrion Karsomyr, Male Human, 22. Neutral Evil.
The first thing most people would notice about this young man is his piercing gaze—bright green eyes peering feverishly from a pale face under unkempt black hair. Those who hear him speak would detect bold confidence drowned out by overweening superiority.
Born in Nerosyan, Cyrion was raised to be an arcane scholar upon the first detection of his magical talent as a child. His family was once Chelish nobility, some of the first of Iomedae's faithful to heed the call and relocate to Mendev during the First Crusade. The intervening decades saw their best and brightest consumed by the war, and their material fortunes cratered following the seizure of their ancestral holdings in the new Infernal Cheliax. Thus the burden was laid upon Cyrion to be the heir to this failing dynasty.
He excelled in his studies at first, but made no real friends, and creeping resentment soon strained his relationship with his family (both parents, an older brother, and a younger sister). The pressures of academe and the urgent need—well-ingrained by adolescence—to claw back some measure of status and pride for himself eventually made Cyrion a pariah, and it drove him to cheat. He became accustomed to looking for the trick or ruse or workaround that would get him to his goal, discipline and integrity be damned.
Cyrion got ahead for a time by flouting the rules, cheating and getting away with it, but eventually of course the truth fell short of the grandiose facade he'd set up. When it came time for him to put his skill and knowledge to the test, he knew he wouldn't be able to deliver. The prospect of such a public humiliation as expulsion was unbearable. He panicked and made a reckless deal with the Black Flag, a criminal gang with whom he knew his father had shady business arrangements, mixing contraband in with legitimate cargo to bring a little extra coin to the family's depleted coffers.
He assumed vaguely that the underworld syndicate would somehow pressure his instructors to back off. Instead their aid came in the form of a sword, literally. The weapon was delivered in secret, a curved black blade with a plain steel hilt, well-made but unadorned.
"Now how can you help me out of this?" Cyrion asked idly as he unwrapped the cloth from the blade. When he grasped the hilt a series of impossibly thin runic characters lit up with cold starlight along the blade, and the sword replied. It told Cyrion exactly what he wanted to hear, flattering his narcissism expertly, promising that his power would live up to and exceed the grandeur he wanted to project. In the near-term, he would be gifted the knowledge he needed to stay on in the academy. All in exchange for future favors to the Black Flag. Cyrion saw little choice in the matter. He accepted the deal.
Cyrion went on to pass the challenges set in front of him by his mentors, but still fell in the trap. He'd overcome the challenges, true, but it was done too easily, using methods he hadn't officially been taught. He couldn't admit to having outside help (let alone from such a mysterious pact, especially in paranoid Mendev) and his refusal to name his collaborator led to the very expulsion he'd hoped to avoid. The shame proved unbearable, and the pain of it intensified in proportion to his vanity. His peers would consider him a lackwit dilettante, and his family would consider him an embarrassment to boot. He knew he wouldn't be able to look either group in the eye again.
On top of that, Cyrion knew that if he was questioned by a properly pious inquisitor, he wouldn't be able to hide the truth, and would probably end up on capital trial for aiding the Archenemy. At the first opportunity, he quietly gathered what he could from his room and slipped out of the academy, and hastily bought passage on the next caravan leaving town.
Cyrion arrived in Kenabres with a small pouch of coin, a handful of books, and the clothes on his back. He was worried about finding employment, but the Black Flag found him first, and called in their favors. Over several months, Cyrion lent magical assistance to many an illegal venture. All the while he had time to brood, curse his luck, curse his instructors at the academy, and become slowly inured to his new life of crime.
That life came to an abrupt halt following the Black Flag's brazen attempt to steal a valuable religious artifact. Nether Cyrion's magic nor the robbers' guile were sufficient to the task, and the caper ended in neither a clean getaway nor a quick arrest. Instead, they took hostages in a bid to go free. One of the robbers killed a hostage in a pique of rage, prompting the guardsmen to assault the abbey in haste, leading to three more hostages being injured in the fray.
Cyrion and his accomplices were arrested and publicly tried, a process that should have mortified him far more than being expelled from academy, but he found that he cared nothing for the gallery's judgmental glares. He felt only a vague dull hatred for the system that had brought him to this dismal point. His family was in the gallery and they made it very clear that he'd been disowned. That still stung bitterly, but he recognized in a moment of sudden clarity that he wasn't truly sorry for what he did—he was merely sorry to have been caught. He'd have happily looked them in the eye after getting away with murder, so long as they were none the wiser. He still had enough scruples then for the thought to shake him.
While I like the idea I have come up with I think I am likely going to back out of the running on this one. I just don't think I can play a credible evil character.
I also struggle with squaring evil motivations that aren't either extremely convoluted or just "haha I'm evil!" Which is why I decided to go down the route of tragedy. In another life my character could easily have been the heroic crusader of a WotR game. I got some motivation from Dracula in the Netflix adaption of Castlevania, evoking the reaction of "I see why you act this way and it is tragic, but that is no excuse and you must be stopped."
I also struggle with squaring evil motivations that aren't either extremely convoluted or just "haha I'm evil!" Which is why I decided to go down the route of tragedy. In another life my character could easily have been the heroic crusader of a WotR game. I got some motivation from Dracula in the Netflix adaption of Castlevania, evoking the reaction of "I see why you act this way and it is tragic, but that is no excuse and you must be stopped."
That's the same kind of route I went. Goresk could easily been a heroic character but an evil act done to his family sent him down a different path.
While I like the idea I have come up with I think I am likely going to back out of the running on this one. I just don't think I can play a credible evil character.I also struggle with squaring evil motivations that aren't either extremely convoluted or just "haha I'm evil!"
The most realistic approach seems to be "don't care, I'm evil." They have a goal they're working towards obtaining, maybe even a Good (or at least Neutral) one on paper, but evil people simply have fewer scruples to get in the way. Which reminds me, I need a more specific goal for my own dude aside from "get out of jail."
Goals are good to have in life! Evil goals are even better here.
Getting a list of applicants together, will have it all setup this evening.
Goals are good to have in life! Evil goals are even better here.
Getting a list of applicants together, will have it all setup this evening.
Noice
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Still working on my character.
The idea for why she's in prison is that they don't know where else to put her. She hasn't really done anything wrong and her parents are distinguished crusaders. Sure, she's been hanging with cultists but only as an observer. Even when the inquisitors attacked she just sat back and observed, making notes. Heck, they would probably have let her walk if those notes hadn't contained the horrible details of everything she had seen up to the killing of the cultists at the hands of the inquisitors, including detailed drawings. Add to that the frequent depictions of an odd bull's head and her insistence about following the advice of the whispers and the inquisitors assumed she'd been targeted by some powerful follower of Baphomet who tried to pervert her because of who her parents are. In prison she at least can't hurt anyone and she'd be protected from her attacker until they figure out a way to sever the connection.
There is no attacker though, the bull's head isn't a symbol of Baphomet and none of this has anything to do with her parents.
No, she had joined the cultists' meetings out of curiosity and stayed out of interest. No better place in all of Kenabres to study humanoid anatomy than on the sacrificial slabs used by the cultists. The talk of whispers and images of a bull had made the Baphomet cultists think she was one of them. None suspected she was a cultist of some other demon lord who favored the bull, nor did they realise that their odd sickliness was caused by her experimenting on them by spiking their water supply with compounds she hoped would cause mutations in them.
She's annoyed now though. Prison is dull and they took away her notes. Six months of work those notes contained, six months! She just hoped they hadn't burned them yet, as they had threatened to do.
Wealth: maximum for your highest of the two classes.
You say that we should have maximum wealth for our highest class, but what about equipment? You mentioned we are in prison. Should we be forgoing the purchasing of equipment for now?
Wealth: maximum for your highest of the two classes.You say that we should have maximum wealth for our highest class, but what about equipment? You mentioned we are in prison. Should we be forgoing the purchasing of equipment for now?
Nope, you should buy everything you want/need. It was just confiscated unless you can hide it sufficiently enough (sleight of hand). You’ll get it back eventually.
Coming in right under the wire is Avamedes, abandoned crusader, devoted of Pazuzu, and vicious, charming bastard!
Avamedes
Human bard 1/oracle 1/gestalt 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 42)
CE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +2; +1 trait bonus vs. divinations, domination, and effects that would compel you to speak the truth
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +0 (1d4/19-20)
Ranged shortbow +2 (1d6/×3)
Special Attacks bardic performance 8 rounds/day (countersong, distraction, fascinate [DC 14], inspire courage +1)
Bard Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +5)
. . 1st (2/day)—charm person (DC 16), ear-piercing scream[UM] (DC 15)
. . 0 (at will)—daze (DC 15), ghost sound (DC 14), mage hand, message
Oracle Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +5)
. . 1st (4/day)—bane (DC 16), command (DC 16), cure light wounds
. . 0 (at will)—bleed (DC 14), enhanced diplomacy, resistance, stabilize
. . Mystery Outer rifts
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 18
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 12
Feats Mask Of Virtue, Spell Focus (enchantment)
Traits demonic persuasion, planar savant, secret-keeper
Skills Acrobatics -1 (-5 to jump), Bluff +9, Diplomacy +8 (+10 vs. creatures of the demon subtype), Intimidate +8 (+10 vs. creatures of the demon subtype), Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (history) +6, Knowledge (planes) +9, Knowledge (religion) +6, Perception +4, Perform (sing) +8, Spellcraft +5
Languages Abyssal, Common
SQ bardic knowledge +1, oracle's curse (covetous), revelation (unearthly terrain)
Other Gear studded leather, dagger, shortbow, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, candle (10), courtier's outfit, flint and steel, jewelry[UE], mess kit[UE], pot, soap, trail rations (5), waterskin, 65 gp, 1 sp
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Special Abilities
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Bardic Knowledge +1 (Ex) Add +1 to all knowledge skill checks.
Bardic Performance (standard action, 8 rounds/day) Your performances can create magical effects.
Covetous Must wear non-magic clothing/jewelry or are sickened. Also sick if valuable item stolen.
Mask of Virtue Your alignment is concealed.
Spell Focus (Enchantment) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Unearthly Terrain (1 rd, 7/day) (Su) As a standard action, turn one 20-foot square into difficult terrain for 1 rounds.
1. What is your character’s name? Avamedes
2. How old is your character? 23
3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)? Avamedes is a slim, attractive man of fairly middling height. His mouth is usually curled into a sly smile and there’s a barely perceptible glint of viciousness in his dark eyes. His dirty blonde hair is slicked back and he wears flashy, ostentatious clothes whenever possible.
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?
Avamedes speaks with the accent of a low-class Mendevian, though he carries himself with the confidence of a man of much higher status.
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?
He was born in Kenabres to a family of blacksmiths, though from an early age he had always dreamt of joining the crusade. At 10 he became a page, and at 13 became a squire. He was totally devoted to the cause of the crusade, and served for 2 years as a squire. All that changed when his patrol was ambushed by cultists of Pazuzu. He was separated from the patrol, and though they could’ve rescued him, they didn’t. They tormented him for a while, subjecting him to the horrific degradation that most demonic cults visit upon their prisoners. In time, they found a new captive, and by then Avamedes had totally lost his faith in the crusade. He was willing and eager to submit the new captive to the same torment he’d been through. The cult opened their arms to him, and he found a new, twisted family to be a part of. He has not looked back.
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?
His parents were blacksmiths. Truly, Avamedes cares little if they’re alive or not. The boy they raised died long ago, and a new servant of Pazuzu has taken his place. If they are dead, they will at least be spared the pain of that realization.
7. Do you have any other family or friends?
Avamedes is particularly close to a fellow cultist named Kaetok. Far from having shown him kindness, Kaetok was especially cruel to him when he was first captured, tormenting him more than any other cultist. When Avamedes was inducted into the cult, however, Kaetok took special interest in him and the two men became steadfast companions and occasional lovers from then on.
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?
Avamedes is unmarried, and has no children.
9. What is your character’s alignment?
He is chaotic evil, though not in the way one would typically expect. He is cruel and vicious, and believes that the weak should dominate the strong. Unlike many demon cultists, he is subtle about it. He wishes to corrupt, to defile, to seduce the goodly into willing service to evil.
10. What is your character’s moral code?
Might makes right over all else. One must do anything within their means to assert their dominance over lesser beings. For Avamedes this means using his substantial personal charisma and magical abilities to deceive and manipulate others into doing what he wants them to.
11. Does your character have goals?
Some. His covenant with Pazuzu instilled him with an insatiable desire for a lavish lifestyle, and he seeks wealth to feed that. He also wants to improve his prestige among the cult of Pazuzu and among the demonic hosts as a whole. Additionally, he wants to maintain his cover as an innocent bystander for as long as possible.
12. Is your character religious?
Deeply. Avamedes is totally devoted to Pazuzu, though his faith manifests in odd ways, a result of a covenant sworn with Pazuzu in the moment his will for good broke and his fall the evil was cemented. Far from a standard cleric, he combines Pazuzu’s mastery of the Abyss with the temptations and social prowess that Pazuzu so loves and commands these powers in an almost instinctual way. However, his gifts came with a curse. Just as Pazuzu commands him to spread desire, so too does Avamedes feel an endless desire for wealth and luxury.
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?
Along with what’s been covered in previous questions, Avamedes sees Pazuzu as the rightful ruler of the Worldwound. Deskari, after all, is Pazuzu’s son and nominal subject, and so dominion over the region is Pazuzu’s by right. Though cults to the King of the Wind Demons are at best scattered in the Worldwound, Avamedes believes, nay, knows that it is the destiny of the Worldwound to fall under Pazuzu’s dominion. With the eons-old feud between the cult of his master and that of Lamashtu, Avamedes is also set on destroying Lamashtu’s cult wherever it may be.
14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
As mentioned before, Avamedes has an insatiable hunger for wealth and luxury. He’s also incredibly skilled at lying and deception, along with most other social graces. Just because he’s a cruel, heartless demon cultist doesn’t mean he can’t have a bit of class and subtlety.
15. Why does your character adventure?
Avamedes adventures to enhance his power and prestige and to spread the cause of evil and depravity across the land.
16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
He sees it as a religious calling from Pazuzu. His attempts to sway prospective converts have brought him to Kenabres, where he has been imprisoned for seditious behaviour and rabble-rousing. Nothing has been proven as result of one of Pazuzu’s gifts masking his true alignment, but he’s been trouble for the authorities and they figured he’d be easy to handle in jail.
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
Though he never shows it, his chest bears a scar in the shape of Pazuzu’s holy symbol, a taloned hand grasping a longsword.
18. How does your character get along with others?
Avamedes gets along quite well with others when he’s trying to. If they irk him or he knows he can get away with it, however, he is as cruel and vicious as one would expect a demon worshipper to be. There is nothing sweeter to him than gaining someone’s trust before finally betraying them, twisting the knife as he revels in their feeling of pain and shock.
19. Is there anything that your character hates?
Avamedes hates Mendev and Iomedae and everything that the crusade stands for. They are hypocrites, claiming to offer salvation and purity while they abandoned him, a devoted and loyal servant. He wants to see it burn, all sacrificed to his dark lord.
20. Is there anything that your character fears?
Deeply and truly, Avamedes fears he might be wrong. He fears that his abandonment may have been an accident, that his platoon did try to get him back and simply failed, laying down their lives to save him. He fears that all his rage and hatred and pain has been for nothing.
Avamedes is mechanically part support/part debuff caster with some healing thrown in there from the oracle. He's got pretty decent skills and bardic knowledge, and very strong social skills. As he advances in levels, I'm planning to switch bard and oracle to the evangelist and demoniac prestige classes.
Here is my submission, Britta! Or should I call her the "Cajun Queen" to the Big John comments? :P
Questions are answered on her page. Feel free to message me for more details.
Got a link to the (currently almost done) character sheet here, the answers to the 20 Questions posted in their own separate section, and a slightly edited back story reposted here for convenience.
Mechanical party role will still be as mentioned earlier, a combination of self-buffing melee fighter (Magus and Mythic action economy helps here) and debuffing caster. As spells and other abilities come down the pipe, he should become especially good at helping teammates' attacks and abilities stick.
Name: Cyrion Karsomyr
Age: 22
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 180 lbs
Skin Color: Fair
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color: Black
Physique: Muscular
Race: Human
Visible Equipment: A scimitar. Various magical accoutrements. No armor.
Speech & Mannerisms: Well-educated. Haughty. Self-serious. Brooding.
Place of Birth: Nerosyan. Raised by family in Nerosyan.
Parents: Olav and Listina Karsomyr. Both alive. Scions of nobility with dwindling fortunes, now essentially merchants.
Other family: Younger brother (Iskander, 19) apprentice Paladin of Iomedae. Younger sister (Natalina, 16) pursuing economic studies.
Friends: None.
Marital Status: Single.
Children: None.
Alignment: Neutral Evil.
Moral Code: None. He keeps his word only to the extent required to maintain a reputation, or attract and retain allies.
Goals: Near term, get out of jail. Long term, to achieve power and status such that none will question his abilities or competence.
Religion: Nominally worships Nethys, as was the general default for many of the apprentice mages at his academy. This being Mendev, he also had to pay lip service to Iomedae, but silently resented it.
Personal Beliefs: Rules are for people who can't get away with breaking them, which is most people. Fortunately, life is easier and the world works better when most people are bound by rules. Might makes right, just keep in mind that there is usually someone mightier nearby.
Personality Quirks: Entitled, self-absorbed, perfectionist.
Reason to Adventure: Owed debts to a crime syndicate.
View of Role as Adventurer: It's a travesty that things had ever come to this. But by spell or by steel, they'll get everything that's coming to them, and more.
Distinguishing Marks: None.
Getting along with others: Grew up in a well-to-do household; as such he has good manners and can make nice, even when he has to force it. He knows the importance of a good reputation and good allies, and will go to some lengths to maintain both, treating any short-term personal sacrifice as an investment that will pay later dividends.
Hates: Criticism of him, especially when his intelligence or competence is called into question. As such, he hates being embarrassed, failing a task, or losing a contest.
Fears: An ignominious death, let alone an ignominious life. Hates embarrassment to the point that he fears it, and he is the type to be embarrassed easily. For example, when taking on an opponent in a fair contest, there's every chance he might lose. He'd prefer instead to set things up so that the odds are stacked in his favor as much as possible.
Born in Nerosyan, Cyrion was raised to be an arcane scholar upon the first detection of his magical talent as a child. His family was once Chelish nobility, some of the first of Iomedae's faithful to heed the call and relocate to Mendev during the First Crusade. The intervening decades saw their best and brightest consumed by the war, and their material fortunes cratered following the seizure of their ancestral holdings in the new Infernal Cheliax. Thus the burden was laid upon Cyrion to be the heir to this failing dynasty.
He excelled in his studies at first, but made no real friends, and creeping resentment soon strained his relationship with his family (both parents, a younger brother, and a younger sister). The pressures of academe and the urgent need—well-ingrained by adolescence—to claw back some measure of status and pride for himself eventually made Cyrion a pariah, and it drove him to cheat. He became accustomed to looking for the trick or ruse or workaround that would get him to his goal, discipline and integrity be damned.
Cyrion got ahead for a time by flouting the rules, cheating and getting away with it, but eventually of course the truth fell short of the grandiose facade he'd set up. When it came time for him to put his skill and knowledge to the test, he knew he wouldn't be able to deliver. The prospect of such a public humiliation as expulsion was unbearable. He panicked and made a reckless deal with the Black Flag, a criminal gang with whom he knew his father had shady business arrangements, mixing contraband in with legitimate cargo to bring a little extra coin to the family's depleted coffers.
Cyrion had neither coin nor clout, and as such could only offer future favors based on his long-term potential. To his surprise, the syndicate agreed to aid him - in exchange for a formalized, ritual pact with their shadowy leader. Cyrion saw little choice in the matter. He accepted the deal.
He assumed vaguely that the underworld syndicate would somehow pressure his instructors to back off. Instead their aid came in the form of a sword, literally. The weapon was delivered in secret, a curved black blade with a plain steel hilt, well-made but unadorned.
"Now how can you help me out of this?" Cyrion asked idly as he unwrapped the cloth from the blade. When he grasped the hilt a series of impossibly thin runic characters lit up with cold starlight along the blade, and the sword replied. It told Cyrion exactly what he wanted to hear, flattering his narcissism expertly, promising that his power would live up to and exceed the grandeur he wanted to project. The knowledge imparted by the sword gave him the insight he needed in order to make his ability catch up to his lies about his ability. The sword even seemed perfectly shaped to his hand and balanced to his body; merely owning the weapon sparked an interest in fencing and martial pursuits that he hadn't even considered previously.
Cyrion went on to pass the challenges set before him by his mentors, but still fell in the trap. He'd passed the tests, true, but it was done too easily and too smugly, using methods he hadn't officially been taught. He couldn't admit to having outside help (let alone through such a mysterious pact, especially in paranoid Mendev) and his refusal to name his collaborator led to the very expulsion he'd hoped to avoid. The shame proved unbearable, and the pain of it intensified in proportion to his vanity. His peers would consider him a lackwit dilettante, and his family would consider him an embarrassment to boot. He knew he wouldn't be able to look either group in the eye again.
On top of that, Cyrion knew that if he was questioned by a properly pious inquisitor, he wouldn't be able to hide the truth, and would probably end up on capital trial for somehow aiding the Archenemy. At the first opportunity, he quietly gathered what he could from his room and slipped out of the academy, and hastily bought passage on the next caravan leaving town.
Cyrion arrived in Kenabres with a small pouch of coin, a handful of books, and the clothes on his back. He was worried about finding employment, but the Black Flag found him first, and called in their favors. Alone and without a friend in the world, again, Cyrion had no choice but to agree. Over the next two years, Cyrion lent magical (and occasionally more straightforward and violent) assistance to many an illegal venture. The scrawny and cloistered youth eventually found himself becoming a tougher and more worldly young man. All the while he had time to brood, curse his luck and everyone and everything that had forced him to this turn, and become inured to his new life of crime.
That life came to an abrupt halt following the Black Flag's brazen attempt to steal a valuable religious artifact. Neither Cyrion's magic nor the robbers' guile were sufficient to the task, and the caper ended in neither a clean getaway nor a quick arrest. Instead, they took hostages in a bid to go free. One of the robbers killed a hostage in a pique of rage, prompting the guardsmen to assault the abbey in haste, leading to three more hostages being injured in the fray.
Cyrion and his accomplices were arrested and publicly tried, a process that should have mortified him far more than being expelled from academy. But following the initial shock, he found that he cared little for the gallery's judgmental glares: After all, who were they to judge him? He felt only a vague dull hatred for everything that had brought him to this dismal point. His family was in the gallery and they made it very clear that he'd been disowned. That still stung bitterly, but he recognized in a moment of sudden clarity that he wasn't truly sorry for what he did—he was merely sorry to have been caught. He'd have happily looked them in the eye after getting away with murder, so long as he had truly gotten away with it and they were none the wiser. He still had enough scruples then for the thought to shake him.
Heh I think we have 3 enchanters now. Not really looked into Mesmerist before, the swift action debuff is a sweet combo for any save or suck caster gestalt.
Ok after reading Jolene I must answer with "Big, Bad John" who killed a man with his bare hands and buried a bunch of guys in a bottom of a mine.
I will be a LE cleric of Eaqueo/unchained monk very bad touch cleric...
Nice reference, sounds like he'd fit right in.
I should be done tonight. I have equipment to add and story to get together.
Heh I think we have 3 enchanters now. Not really looked into Mesmerist before, the swift action debuff is a sweet combo for any save or suck caster gestalt.
Actually, because of that, let me rework some stuff. I am going to see if I can do an enigma/rogue of some kind. Hopefully, I can get done before tomorrow.
You’ve got until midnight tomorrow, so the rest of today and all Saturday. Should be easy enough!
Yeah. I think I already found a cool build. Shouldn't take me long to edit, and I think I'll keep the fluff of the character the same regardless.
Here we go.
Lalali-Re is a scion of an old azlanti bloodline, who wants to raise the empire again.
While disliking the demons, she dislikes others even more and to further her goals has been conspiring and worshipping with cultists of Nurgal, Yamasoth and others. Currently she favors Areshkagal.
Unfortunately Lalali-Re has been caught - nearly succesfully - scheming to overthrow the current major and commander of Kenabres, inciting an rebellion against them and driving various political ploys simultaniously, all with the goal to put herself into that position.
The corrupt crusaders and noble weaklings of the city were all but some more than willing to play along, some because they secretly are demonic cultists themselves, others only to gain more personal power.
Sadly it failed ultimatively, due to some foolish goodie two shoes paladins with nothing better to do in live.
Now she resides in prison, contemplating her next moves, if she gets a chance before they hang her or worse.
I believe I'm all done with my edits to Britta!
Color me interested enough to see the full concept! A nondiscriminatory outsider-hating mortal in general is a neat idea.
Forgot to post Odrick's character sheet: Here.
Also, shifting my age down to just 18; he was very young when he started killing, and he's been in prison for 3-4 years now.
One could say that the essence of my character is a person, who sees themself as a scion of the old azlant and in succession mendevian empires, what includes an unhealthy dose of azlanti supremism, while all others, demons and crusaders alike, are intruders to be subdued and repelled.
Kind of a chaotic hellknight idea.
Around 11 hours left until the deadline, is anyone else working on any final details?
Around 11 hours left until the deadline, is anyone else working on any final details?
I have Equipment, Spells, and Languages to fill in, should be done tonight.
Getting things together and writing out the short backstory.