DM Monty's Strange Aeons

Game Master MontCestMoi

20 point buy: Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 14(+2 Human)=16

Physical Appearance
You’ve probably never seen someone with such excellent posture as this tall gentleman with a polished head. His shiny dome contrasts with the magnificent mustache styled with wax into curled tips. He’s wearing an expensive shirt, but you’re only able to tell if you’re looking closely because it’s inside out. He doesn’t seem to have noticed.

Deity: Abadar

Hit Points: 1d10 (+2 Con) = 12/12
Initiative: (+1 Dex) = 1
BAB: +1

AC: 10(+1 Dex) = 11
Touch: 10(+1 Dex) = 11
Flat-footed: 10 = 10
CMB: (+1 BAB, +3 Str, +0 Size) = +4
CMD: (+1 BAB, +3 Str, +1 Dex, +0 Size) +10 = 15

Fort: (+2 Base, +2 Con) = 4
Ref: (+0 Base, +1 Dex) = 1
Will: (+2 Base, +1 Wis) = 3

Languages Common

Skills (2, -2 Int, +1 Human, +1 Favored Class, +2 Background Skills)
Diplomacy +7 (1 rank, 3 class, 3 Char)
Handle Animal BACKGROUND +7 (1 rank, 3 class, 3 Char)
Heal +1 (0 rank, 0 class, 1 Wis)
Knowledge Nobility BACKGROUND +2 (1 rank, 3 class, -2 Int)
Knowledge Religion -2 (0 rank, 0 class, -2 Int)
Perception +1 (0 rank, 1 Wis)
Ride +1 (0 rank, 0 class, 1 Dex)
Sense Motive +4 (1 rank, 3 class, 1 Wis)
Spellcraft -2 (0 rank, 0 class, -2 Int)

Feats Furious Focus, Iron Will

Traits
TBD

Specials
Aura of good, detect evil, smite evil 1/day

Combat Expertise Attack (+1 to AC from Combat Expertise)
To hit (Falchion) 1d20+3 (+1 BAB, +3 Str, -1 Combat Expertise)
Damage (Falchion) 2d4+5 (+3, Str, +2 Power Attack)

Character Progression
I don’t have the feats for levels 3 and 5 locked down. I was thinking of taking the other save feats. At level 7, Vital Strike to double dice damage on rounds he isn’t full-round attacking. Then at level 9, Improved Critical to change crit range of the falchion from 18-20 to 15-20. (Divine Bond Weapon at level 5 for Keen until the level 9 feat.) Ability score increases into Strength. Mechanically, classic paladin until level 6 when he gains the ability to remove confusion (Soul Sentinel Archetype) effects with Lay on Hands. Haven’t purchased items but they will be standard items. And a signet ring because of his background. I'll play his personality like a serious character (although not too bright.)

Vano is a tall and somber middle-aged man whose thick black hair and beard are shot with silver. His skin is light for a Varisian, and totemic serpent tattoos cover his body. The sight of one of these, a skeletal ouroboros inked on his throat, makes Vano feel unsettled and ashamed, though he cannot remember why.

In his worn but well-mended traveling clothes, Vano could be taken for an ordinary caravan tinker or trader. But when he dons his ceremonial mantle of hardened bear hide, he is unmistakably a druid of the oldest ways. Wearing the hide gives him a sense of comfort and belonging, though he flinches a little from its old stains of charcoal, woad, and blood.

Vano speaks hesitantly, and walks with his head cast down. There is little confidence in the way he carries his large frame.

Vano Martoff believes he is cursed. Nothing else makes sense. Why should he remember the names of stars and the constellations they form, but not where he learned them, or who taught him? Why should he feel such warm familiarity and fierce loyalty to his constrictor companion Luneca, but have no idea how they met, or why the patterns of scales on her back are tattooed on his hands? It must be a curse. He must have angered a, a...someone. Something. Something is angry at him, that much he can remember. Can't he?

He has a few jumbled memories that he thinks are more than dreams--the memories of a child. An angry man, shouting at him about the stones, the stones. He's written on the standing stones with chalk. What of it? There are old words carved all over the stones. The angry man's eyes are wide, his face red, spittle flies from his shouting mouth and spatters Vano's face just before his hand slaps it.

A naked woman, her hairy parts startling. She's rising from the river, dripping wet. She's covered with black butterflies and violet flowers. She laughs when she sees Vano in the bushes, and he runs, ashamed.

A rabbit in a snare. A valley wreathed in mist. Wrapping ribbons around a pole. Shivering as snow falls by a campfire. Slipping down a rocky slope, blood on his palms. Stripping the silk from an ear of corn, finding beetles writhing inside. Each memory fragment is fraught with old emotion, but none of them tell him who he is.

Since his memories have failed him, Vano grasps at any hint of his identity. He speaks Varisian with a slight Hallit accent that other Ustalavics say is peculiar to the palatinate of Vieland, far to the northwest of Versex. His tattoos are all in the same style, perhaps the work of a single artist. His hair and beard and nails are long, but recently groomed. He has calloused feet from much walking, calloused hands from much manual labor. He knows how to set bones and brew tea to ease a fever. He knows exactly how and when to feed Luneca, how to keep her warm, how to save her shed skin for...something.

In a place deeper than memory, the old magic coils inside him, primal, instinctual. He can call animals, raise plants, produce water and flame. He is a druid, a druid to his bones. He can feel the life of the world flowing in ley lines near and far. But nearer still, he feels things not meant to be in the world--unnatural things, cruel things, things that could drive a man mad.

Vano Martoff believes he is cursed. Not mad. Please, let him not be mad.

Stargazing. Naps. Hot springs. Folk music. Being listened to.

City folk who shave but don't wash properly. Formal social events. Not knowing why the hem of his ceremonial hide is stiff with dried blood.

Insists despite the lack of any evidence that Luneca constantly does funny, charming things. Speaks for the snake in a silly voice when he thinks no one is listening.

Numerophobia. Has mild anxiety about counting change and other simple math tasks. Having to think about large numbers is worse, a brush with an existential dread. Worst of all is complicated geometry, charts and signs and angles that make him think that maybe the lines of the world aren't as straight as they seem, and something might be hiding between here and there. Also, he really doesn't like the idea that he might be crazy.

Jennet Halfgait, from a Kingmaker game.
Sour Heck, from a Carrion Crown game.
Thüm Göertatroth, from an Iron Gods game.

Erebus, a.k.a. "Slip"
Male Halfling Psychic Searcher (Oracle) 1
NG Small humanoid (halfling)
Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., deaf; Perception +6 (-4 on opposed checks, auto-fail all sound-based checks)

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Defense
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AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +4 armor, +1 shield, +1 size)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +2

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Offense
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Speed: 30 ft.
Melee: dagger +4 (1d3/19-20)
Ranged: light crossbow +4 (1d6/19-20)
Oracle Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +4)
1st (4/day) bless, shadow trap
0 (at will) create water, detect magic, guidance, light, stabilize

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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 17
Base Atk +0; CMB -1; CMD 12

Feats: Combat Reflexes
Traits: Sensitive Mind (campaign), Helpful (race)
Skills: appraise +6, bluff +7, diplomacy +7, linguistics +2, perception +6, sense motive +4, stealth +11, use magic device +7
Languages: Common (Taldane), Halfling, Lipreading, Taldane Sign Language (TSL)
SQ: fey thoughts (perception, use magic device), fleet of foot, halfling luck, keen senses, shadowplay; Shadow Mystery (Revelation: Pierce the Shadows); Oracle Curse: Deaf
Gear buckler, dagger, leather lamellar armor, light crossbow with 30 bolts; belt pouch, 3 candles, chalk, signal whistle, rice paper sheet, sling, flint & steel, mirror, dice; remaining gp and puchased items tbd

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Special Abilities
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Deaf: You cannot hear and suffer all of the usual penalties for being deafened. You cast all of your spells as if they were modified by the Silent Spell feat. This does not increase their level or casting time. At 5th level, you receive a +3 competence bonus on Perception checks that do not rely upon hearing, and the initiative penalty for being deaf is reduced to –2. At 10th level, you gain scent and you do not suffer any penalty on initiative checks due to being deaf. At 15th level, you gain tremorsense out to a range of 30 feet.

Pierce the Shadows (Su): The shadows step aside from your baleful gaze, affording you sight in even the deepest darkness. You gain darkvision 60 feet. If you already have darkvision, increase your existing darkvision by 60 feet instead. At 11th level, you can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, even in absolute darkness or the darkness created by a deeper darkness spell.

Helpful (race trait): You see nothing wrong with letting others achieve greatness so long as the job gets done. Whenever you successfully perform an aid another action, you grant your ally a +4 bonus instead of the normal +2.

Sensitive Mind (campaign trait): You awake in the asylum horribly aware of dangers lurking nearby. While your memories are hazy and indistinct, everything around you looks vibrant and clear. You have an inkling that you have always been perceptive and can tell a lot about a person even in a quick meeting. This sensitivity can overwhelm you at times, especially in your current situation.

You gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise, Perception, and Sense Motive checks, and one of these (your choice) is a class skill for you. In addition, once per week you can use the psychometry occult skill unlock even if you are not capable of casting psychic spells or have the Psychic Sensitivity feat.

Racial Abilities:
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, –2 Strength: Halflings are nimble and strong-willed, but their small statures make them weaker than other races.
Small: Halflings are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty on combat maneuver checks and to their Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Fleet of Foot: Some halflings are quicker than their kin but less cautious. Halflings with this racial trait move at normal speed and have a base speed of 30 feet. This racial trait replaces slow speed and sure-footed.
Fey Thoughts: The character sees the world more like a native of the First World. Select two of the following skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Climb, Diplomacy, Disguise, Escape Artist, Fly, Knowledge (nature), Perception, Perform, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Swim, or Use Magic Device. The selected skills are always class skills for the character. A halfling can take this trait in place of fearless.
Halfling Luck: Halflings receive a +1 racial bonus on all saving throws.
Keen Senses: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Shadowplay: Some illusionists are experts in manipulating light and darkness. Characters with this trait cast spells with the darkness, light, or shadow descriptor at +1 caster level. Halflings can take this trait in place of weapon familiarity.
Languages: Halflings begin play speaking Common and Halfling. Halflings with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following languages: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, and Goblin.

Personality: Stubborn, self-critical, strong-willed, easily frustrated, anxious, independent, perfectionistic, wanting to prove himself
Memories: One of Erebus’ strongest memories is being thrown into a dark, bare room with his hands tied behind his back and a scratchy piece of cloth tied around his eyes. He doesn’t know who put him there or why, but he remembers feeling things crawling on him. But he also remembers what it was like to hear when he was very young. There is a song someone sang—his mother he thinks—that he will sometimes hum to himself to calm himself down. He doesn’t know how close he is to the actual tune, but he remembers holding his hand gently over a woman’s throat and feeling her throat vibrate and move up and down while she sang. He will do the same while he tries to hum, trying to associate the vibrations with the tones he thinks he remembers.
Likes: Poetry, sculpture, and paintings; mystery novels; dragon punch whiskey; a good Vudran pale ale (VPA) or Dwarven stout
Dislikes: When people talk over each other or talk at an angle that makes it hard to read their lips; horses; half-orc; slavers
Quirks: Erebus apparently doesn’t sound deaf most of the time (whatever that means), or he tries not to, but this takes a lot of effort. If he is tired of trying to talk out loud and read lips, he will huffily reach for something to write with and just rely on the written word. But in better circumstances, he tries to direct the flow of conversation so that he can see everyone he is talking to so he can read their lips. He is adamant that people don’t talk over each other or transition too quickly because it makes it harder to follow along. Erebus gets easily frustrated when people don’t follow his simple instructions, but he gets even more frustrated when people treat him like he’s stupid or inadequate, so he’s usually happy to be involved and treated normally. He has an intense need to want to prove that he is capable and independent, which makes him come across stubborn and self-critical.
Phobias: Because he is deaf, Erebus relies on his eyes to stay safe. He isn’t just afraid of the dark: he is afraid of any situation where he can’t see well. Even though he can see in the dark—uncommon for a halfling—there are so many other times when you can’t see. He remembers being blindfolded with his hands ties behind his back, screaming until his throat felt raw. On the other end of things, crowds aren’t really pleasant either: it’s so easy to lose someone that you’re with, and so easy for someone to sneak up on you. Erebus is also afraid of horses, though he can’t remember why, or if there is a why.

Given his nickname of the Slip, he was probably a slave in Cheliax or somewhere else. I have tried to depict this sort of thing in the background information at the bottom of his profile. Obviously, I don't know, but I hope to find out!

Slip will stay with Oracle from Level 1 until the end of the campaign.

Shadow Oracle doesn't really start to take off until later. Early on, Slip will take Combat Reflexes and Bodyguard to provide +4 aid another bonuses and keep other people safe and/or hitting better. Once I hit Level 5 or 7, I'll probably be putting most of my feats into Extra Revelation and may even retrain earlier feats. I might also grab Spell Focus (illusion) and its Greater version to boost the DCs sky-high. There are some other shadow-oriented spells that could be fun to play with (shadow gambit, solid shadows, shadow's shroud, and the lead up to shadow grasp, but I'm not sure about any of those yet.

I almost took the Dual-Cursed Oracle archetype to pick up the Haunted curse, which would give him the Mage Hand spell, but the archetype trades away important skills and (more importantly) doesn't stack with psychic searcher archetype specifically called out in the player's handbook. There is another trait called two-world magic that would allow him to pick up Mage Hand, but the Helpful trait seemed better overall.

The main reason to pick up Mage Hand would be because of the Magic Trick feat, which would enable Slip to provide Aid Another bonuses from a distance. It's a neat trick, but hardly a powerplay, and it definitely doesn't fit into where Slip is headed.

The focus of the build is three-fold.
1) Slip will became a true sensate. With the Deaf "curse", he'll gain Scent and tremorsense, and will continue picking up Perception bonuses.
2) Although he currently has no knowledges, he'll get Inspiration and have the ability to spend it on Diplomacy, Knowledges, and Sense Motive. This will make him an even stronger face and a miniature library. From a mechanics perspective, he'll pick up (at least) Knowledge (history, planes, and religion). From a roleplaying perspective, I would love to play his new acquisitions as repressed memories stretching out through his amnesia. His first psychic talent will probably be Perceptive Tracking (the available options at Level 3 are uninspiring), but I'd like to retrain that to Empathy and eventually Eidetic Recollection.
3) Slip will eventually be a battlefield terror. Since you don't like summoners, don't worry: I'm not planning to take Army of Darkness. Instead, I will be taking Shadow Projection at Level 7, allowing Slip to run around any battlefield doing strength damage to opponents as touch attacks. I'll also take Dark Secrets, enabling him to pick up all manner of shadow spells (specifically the shadow conjuration, enchantment, evocation, and transmutation lines to be able to mimic almost any spell), along with Shadow Mastery to make them even more real. If I can fit in Cloak of Darkness and Wings of Darkness, and maybe even Stealth Mastery, then Slip will be a terrifying scout who will be very well-defended.

In a journey to fight the eldritch horrors of the dark tapestry, I want Slip to become the monster that they fear. The idea of a tiny halfling drowning his enemies in inky darkness just delights me.