I've chosen to go for a dedicated healer. I know pretty much nothing about spheres, so I hope that doesn't leave me too far behind the power level of the other applicants. :P
I wouldn't worry about it, Zaboom. Several of us are pitching builds that aren't uber-optimized or using 3PP materials. SoS has been playing his/her/their cards pretty close to the vest... no real indicators that complex builds are any more likely to make the cut than PF1E-only builds. My approach (and my unsolicited advice) would be to build the character you think fits the themes of this post-death world and would be a blast to play. And then let the chips fall where they may.
Regarding Amn... have you tried adding punctuation to her name: A'mn or Amn. ? You might get lucky.
A friend of mine played an amnesiac character once, who was named "after the first word he said when he woke up".
I bet you can all guess the name, or land very close :p
It's also worth noting that Spheres magic-users are going to be pound for pound weaker than your average full caster, so I wouldn't worry about falling behind.
Spheres martials though tend to be stronger than non-Spheres martials; the average Conscript for example is about on par with a well-built Barbarian or Paladin.
The main benefit of Spheres is flexibility. You can play your exact, hyper-specific character concept from as early as level 1. Like if you wanted to be a telekinetic Wizard, your options are: Mage Hand at 1st level, and then you have to wait until 9th level just to even get access to Telekinesis a couple of times per day.
And then it doesn't scale in power or utility at all after that.
A Spheres user specialized in Telekinesis can do a whole lot more in that very narrow focus, but is going to lack the big power "blockbuster" options of a standard PF caster.
A friend of mine played an amnesiac character once, who was named "after the first word he said when he woke up".
I bet you can all guess the name, or land very close :p
I'm guessing his name was "F+~*", followed by "my head hurts"? =p
He screamed "Rutabaga!" No one knows why. :)
Wha'doIwin?!?!
I'm gonna take the time to finish Denaro tonight should have a submission before the end of the day.
I have very little experience with any 3pp stuff, so I've been looking through some of it as people talk about it. There's definitely some interesting options out there. I've noticed though that there seems to be a lot of interest in stuff from spheres of power materials, but not much from the paths of war stuff... is that system just less popular, or are people avoiding it because it's underpowered (or maybe because its overpowered and likely to be disallowed)?
Path of War is not overpowered, per se, but there's a lot of it that makes martials more powerful in really boring ways; mostly in terms of MASSIVE damage increases and "no u" Counters.
Path of War characters can dish out the pain, and survive almost anything, but they get old after a while of playing with them, and Counters are kind of annoying to adjudicate in PbP to boot.
Spheres of Might does what Path of War was TRYING to do (buff martials and give them a more interesting suite of abilities) but executes on it much better.
Particularly, SoM still feels like a martial character. Everything is pretty much at-will and you build off of previous abilities to gain more power in a specific niche; kind of like Feat chains but not s@$*ty.
PoW Maneuvers are...spells with the Ex tag, for the most part. They come in levels 1-9, they have discrete effects, and are not really related to each other in any way besides having a thematic tie due to being in the same Discipline.
For warforged are you talking about this site?
Or this site?
The first site that you linked is the one I was referring to.
The only thing I need to ask about now is the chronomancer archetype for the symbiat, along with the Time, Warp, Protection, and Destruction spheres. I’ll have links for everything I use in my character, but is it safe to assume the actual Spheres of the system are cleared for use?
Those are all cleared for use. It would be safe to assume that all the Spheres classes, as well as the actual Spheres, produced by Drop Dead Studios are cleared for use in the future. That doesn't mean all of the working components are, however, as some content like Deific Talents are denied.
I could also look more into 3rd party races instead of trying to force a Halfling to fit. For example I just found the Blinklings from Dreamscarred which are a small furry race with Darkvision.
Blinklings are cleared for use if that is the route you wish to take.
@Seer of Shadows- I know that was a ton of questions you had to answer, but I think you missed my question about godling specific feats? I’m wondering if emergent divinity, divine traits focus, and extra talent are all allowed (there’s links in the previous post if you want/need to look at them).
All three of those feats are cleared for use. Remember that Emergent Divinity may only be taken once every three levels.
How about Mymidon Fighter Archetype from Path of War Expanded?
The Myrmidon archetype is cleared for use.
To avoid cluttering up your recruitment thread, feel free to drop me a PM and we can knock out your questions and brainstorm as needed.
In that case, expect a message sometime after this post goes live.
@Seer - Is the Spheres of Power Painted Savage Archetype for UnBarbs allowed?
The Painted Savage archetype is cleared for use with both chained and unchained Barbarians.
May I use the Spheres of Origin rules to create an appropriate insectoid race?
Custom races aren't allowed, per the character creation rules. I can look for the Thri-kreen conversion later and post a link to it for you, however, if that an acceptable compromise?
I also have a couple questions. The first being, would she remember anything about herself? I assumed not, but it's worth asking.
Every character on Kisarta remembers their death upon first awakening, even if they remember nothing else from their previous existence.
Second, how does the Deathwatch spell work? Probably going human anyway, but tiefling can get it as an at will ability, which is kinda cool for healer. But everyone is dead. :(
While everyone on Kisarta is dead, the bodies of aether that they inhabit are nearly identical in form and function to what they possessed in life. As a result, spells like Deathwatch work normally.
All right, I think the only thing left for Rahlmaat now is buying equipment.
I did go for the two oaths. I'm kind of laughing about what I did with Forbidden Knowledge--through a long chain of abilities I used it to get an Oracle curse's downside, and went with Accursed, which means she doesn't benefit from morale bonuses. I picture her 'madness' taking the form of being so detached due to her vast knowledge that she just... isn't impressed by much of anything any more.
Oath of Offerings I picture as using expensive components and even magic items to enhance her own innate magic.
I was thinking I would reflavor her Spiratualism path as "Shattered Memories"--it's her dredging through the ruined fragments of her long memories for useful knowledge and magical skills.
I did grab Prescient Dodger... her AC ended up being 37. I feel like that's... rather high. It'd be 27 without it. Maybe if she gets picked we can look and see if it needs to be removed to keep her AC more in line with the rest of the party.
Custom races aren't allowed, per the character creation rules. I can look for the Thri-kreen conversion later and post a link to it for you, however, if that an acceptable compromise?
Ah, yeah, I forgot you'd already vetoed that. If you can find it easily, let me know. I've played Kreen in the past, but I think it was a custom race?
At least based on the stats in the sheet. This was back in 2016:
Type: Monstrous Humanoid (3 RP)
Medium size, Normal speed (0 RP)
Standard Stats (0 RP): +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Cha. Xixchil are skilled surgeons and natural Alchemists and as such are intelligent and dexterous. However, their almost universally alien appearance and even more alien views on morality make them off-putting.
Standard Languages (0 RP): Common and Kreen. Can choose Aklo, Elven, Abyssal, Protean, Undercommon, Draconic, Imperial KreenFast (1 RP): +10 ft base speed
Elven Immunities (2 RP)
Four Arms (8 RP)
Never Need to Sleep (3 RP)
Honestly it doesn't need to be a Thri-Kreen necessarily, just any insectoid race that's not Small. That last part seems to be the hardest to fulfill.
Failing finding a satisfactory bug-man to play, my second thoughst were to either be an Android or the Dreamscarred Forgeborn; being an offshoot of an AI isn't all too dissimilar from being a former member of a bug hivemind.
@Rahlmaat - I was actually considering submitting Grandfather Somnus, an ancient bronze dragon from Osirion I built for another game. Could have been geriatric quadrupedal sand buddies :P
I did grab Prescient Dodger... her AC ended up being 37. I feel like that's... rather high. It'd be 27 without it. Maybe if she gets picked we can look and see if it needs to be removed to keep her AC more in line with the rest of the party.
An AC of 37 is fairly high for an 8th level character, but it's not the highest I've seen and it certainly isn't impossible to deal with from my side of the table. I have seen basic, albeit well-optimized, fighters at my table that regularly land in that general ballpark and without some of the more restrictive caveats and pitfalls that Prescient Dodger has.
I did go for the two oaths. I'm kind of laughing about what I did with Forbidden Knowledge--through a long chain of abilities I used it to get an Oracle curse's downside, and went with Accursed, which means she doesn't benefit from morale bonuses. I picture her 'madness' taking the form of being so detached due to her vast knowledge that she just... isn't impressed by much of anything any more.
Oath of Offerings I picture as using expensive components and even magic items to enhance her own innate magic.
I was thinking I would reflavor her Spiratualism path as "Shattered Memories"--it's her dredging through the ruined fragments of her long memories for useful knowledge and magical skills.
All of those fluff changes are perfectly acceptable to me.
Ah, yeah, I forgot you'd already vetoed that. If you can find it easily, let me know. I've played Kreen in the past, but I think it was a custom race?
Honestly it doesn't need to be a Thri-Kreen necessarily, just any insectoid race that's not Small. That last part seems to be the hardest to fulfill.
Failing finding a satisfactory bug-man to play, my second thoughst were to either be an Android or the Dreamscarred Forgeborn; being an offshoot of an AI isn't all too dissimilar from being a former member of a bug hivemind.
I will look for the Dark Sun conversion later tonight. If memory serves, it was on a homebrewer's Google Drive that they had linked in a Reddit thread.
Failing that, I know of several other insectile/hivemind races that I could suggest. There is even a literal hivemind swarm race- yes, you are playing the collective swarm and the hivemind that drives it- from a third-party book that I could recommend.
To update my Previous post
To update my Previous post
-Eternal Wand
-Warforged Repair Kit
Both of those are cleared for use.
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These are the maneuvers I was looking at, with links and basic descriptions, submitted for approval
Iron Tortoise Maneuvers
2 enduring shell,
3 burnished shell,
Piercing Thunder Maneuvers
1 oaken shield,
STANCE: 3 twin thunder stance,
Scarlet Throne Maneuvers
2 rising zenith strike,
Tempest Gale Maneuvers
1 disarming shot,
1 distant gale,
STANCE: 1 galebreaker's stance,
1 slipstream strike,
3 cascading draft,
Elemental Flux Maneuvers
STANCE: 1 elemental nimbus,
STANCE: 1 embrace the elements,
1 fluctuation movement,
2 elemental strike,
4 energy hammer,
Riven Hourglass Maneuvers
1 minute hand,
3 flickering defense,
3 time skitter,
Shattered Mirror Maneuvers
1 funhouse waltz,
4 fetch’s wrath,
Solar Wind Maneuvers
1 curving ray shot,
2 feel the wind,
3 solar reflection,
Veiled Moon Maneuvers
1 ghost hunting blow,
2 half-gone,
STANCE: 3 formless dance,
1 Disarming Shot (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Make a ranged disarm attempt using Sleight of Hand instead of CMB
1 Distant Gale (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Ranged attack deals +1 damage per 20ft of distance
1 Elemental Nimbus (Su) Offensive stance that grants variable benefits depending on active element.
1 Embrace the Elements (Su) Defensive stance grants variable benefits depending on active element.
1 Fluctuation Movement (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Su) Grants movement method based on active element.
1 Funhouse Waltz (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Su) Boost – Gain 10 foot bonus to movement speeds, can turn while charging and running.
1 Galebreaker's Stance (Ex) Ignore weather effects and wind wall (and related spells) while in this stance.
1 Ghost Hunting Blow (Readied, 1/Encounter) Your attacks for the round gain the ghost touch property
1 Minute Hand (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Su) Swift-action attack with -2 to hit, +2 damage
1 Oaken Shield (Readied, 1/Encounter) Gain +4 shield bonus vs incoming attack
1 Slipstream Strike (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Ranged attack ignores cover bonuses to AC
2 Elemental Strike (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Su) Attack does +2d6 damage of your element, extra effect based on element
2 Enduring Shell (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Add shield bonus to a single Fort or Ref save
2 Feel the Wind (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Boost: Overcome environmental difficulties for ranged combat.
2 Half-Gone (Readied, 1/Encounter) Become incorporeal vs. incoming attack or spell with a Stealth check
2 Rising Zenith Strike (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: Make a Sense Motive check, strike does double damage.
3 Burnished Shell (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Roll BAB + shield bonus vs enemy CL check, success negates targeted spell
3 Cascading Draft (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Next ranged attack deals +2 damage per 20 ft of distance (max +20)
3 Flickering Defense (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Su) Counter forces attacker to roll twice at -4 and take the worse result
3 Formless Dance (Ex) Gain effects of Blur and See Invisibility spells
3 Solar Reflection (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: Make a ranged attack at a foe with a +2d6 damage bonus, if this attack is successful you can ricochet the shot to another enemy within 20ft using the same attack roll (no bonus damage).
3 Time Skitter (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Su) Gain haste for rounds equal to your IM
3 Twin Thunder Stance (Ex) Dual-wield 2-hand weapons as if they were 1-hand
4 Energy Hammer (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Su) Attack deals +6d6 damage of your element, can stun foe
4 Fetch’s Wrath (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Su) Strike – Make a melee attack with an additional 4d6 damage, teleport before or after the attack.
Did you know there's a bunch of pictures of Aroden but zero profile pictures? A travesty.
Everything's in place save memorized spells and organizing the equipment onto the sheet proper which I probably won't do till near the start of the game and the group is more figured out. In any case we already discussed a bit in the earlier thread on what this concept was so lemme try and put it together into a stronger pitch.
I'll add all this into the profile later but for now it's here for easy access.
Denaro remembers much about his past life but only in the sense of a shattered mirrored. Millions of reflections, places, names, battles, victories, defeats, places and things so fantastical and alien as he can't decide whether it's real or a dream or something in between. In one memory he is bowing before a bejeweled emperor presenting him the finest sword in the empire, in another he driving the same sword deep into the heart of a dragon, in still yet another he stands atop a pile of dead and broken demons with an even finer jeweled sword in hand, and on and on and on. One of the first things he did when he awoke on Kisarta is he wrote in a journal a list of every category of things he could remember in the hopes of building connections between them. He remembered having nearly a dozen good friends, several lovers, many children and even grandchildren whose names he could not remember, when he got to a list of enemies he gave up as it would take up too many pages. His clearest memories, and the ones that leave him with the greatest sense of peace are days spent at the forge. Though he realized quickly that what he saw as a forge was nothing like the hot dirty places as other blacksmiths. His people created heat without fire, though they were more than capable of working metal and more exotic materials into fine weapons without any heat, many of which he realized he had created himself. Skills he realized he still had even as his mind already went over the steps to turn a piece of star metal into a heavy cleaving blade suitable for felling trees or disassembling golems. He knows only three things as matter of fact, his name, that he is definitively human, and that he was alive for a long long time longer than the empire and longer than the darkness that followed.
The memory that truly disturbs him is the one that repeats itself in all his dreams. He was seeking the source of the ancient darkness that brought ruin to his empire. Deep in the blackness of the sea he found the stone that was brought down from the dark tapestry nearly an age ago. He found that not only did it still exist, but that it contained within a mighty power that the veiled masters that he called enemy could not have comprehended. In the blackness of those depths he laid his hands upon that glowing stone and laughed. He laughed in the face of extinction as he held the would be apocalypse in his hands and drank in it's power. His consciousness expanded, his every muscle tightened and exalted in the mythical power radiating from the stone, as he rose it above his head towards the heavens beyond the dark abyss around him he felt himself rise as by will alone he lifted himself and the land all around. At it's height just as the stone was about to kiss the rays of the sun for the first time since earthfall did his dream and memory cut short. Was it too much? Did his arrogance obliterate not only his body but any hope he had of a real afterlife in the Great Beyond? He felt such answers were far too easy. His only choice now is to find out everything he could about this Aroden from the few people from his home that also came here a truly daunting task, but one he is unafraid to take on as he had done countless times before. And should he find new purpose here in this bizarre land all the better.
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Idara was not the first generational ship to flee Kasath's dying ecosystem. Thousands of years earlier, a relatively small generation ship called the Idoma left to scout the universe and find a new place called home.
This ship was flung far from its original course, flung through a strange dimension, and, under enormous pressure, forced to crash upon a small blue-green planet orbiting a yellow sun.
Very few of the crew survived the crash. Additionally, the dimensional rift had permanently shorted out the ship's equipment, leaving the surviving kasatha very little means of protection and survival.
Making matters worse, the ship had crashed into a remote and bitter cold part of the planet. Struggling to survive and make it to civilization, the remaining kasatha were decimated by the cold. Less than two dozen kathas made the trip to a small village on the frozen wilderness' edge.
The strange, pale, pink creatures in the village were confused and angered by the kasathas' appearance, and reacted with violence. By the end of the night, only four kasathas remained in the village, every human fighting to their last breath against the so-called invaders. The kasatha took all they could carry that they needed from the village, burned their dead, and left the villagers for the crows.
Travelling by dark of night, they made their way until they found someplace warm enough- if barely, and formed a hidden enclave. One of the surviving kasatha was Piotr's mother, Tarla. Piotr was born in the spring, in the month the humans call May.
Piotr's mother and the other three members of the enclave taught him from a very young age how to hide, how to fool the humans into thinking he was one of them, and how to build and use their weapons. They wrapped his head in tight bonds from the time he was a baby, and his head was mishappen because of this-- shorter, squatter, not a proper kasathan head at all. He suffered from headaches and chills in the cold environs, but his suffering only made him stronger.
When Piotr's parents passed away, he was still quite young, but they had taught him enough to survive. He was born with another name, but by the time he was an adult, he couldn't remember it. He took a name that fit in with the local humans. He learned their language and customs.
Then, the Great War came. Piotr fought alongside his "countrymen", meeting other soldiers from around the planet, sharing in a comradery he hadn't known in peace time. He managed to maintain his disguise and kept from serious injury to avoid notice.
Until he met Grigori Rasputin. The canny monk saw through his disguise, threatening exposure to blackmail him into service and servitude. So it was that Piotr came under the power of the mad monk. When the revolutionists killed Rasputin, Piotr thought he might finally be free, but quickly came to realize the foolishness of that assumption. For Grigori Rasputin was not such an easy man to kill.
Piotr was brought to Rasputin's Akuvskaya Prison Camp, serving as one of its many guards. He presumed he would die there, in service to the seemingly immortal madman.
But then, heroes from Golarion arrived via Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut. All of Piotr's childhood tales of stars beyond Sol came flooding back to the kasatha and he took a chance, revealing himself to the adventurers and begging them to take him with them and let him help them overthrow Rasputin for good.
The final battle against Rasputin was fierce and frenzied, and Piotr came close to dying several times, but Imesha, an aasimar priestess, kept him from passing that day.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Alden, a warrior and companion of Imesha's. As he died from fatal wounds, energy drain, and poisons, Alden passed the mantle of Baba Yaga's Red Horseman to Piotr, who was ready to leave Earth behind without regret.
He never made it farther than Baba Yaga's Hut, or more precisely, her Cauldron within the extradimensional space within the hut, where he dies fighting Queen Elvanna of Irrisen. His last words were "What do you mean, you're out of healing spells?"
Piotr often appears as a haggard, thin, long-bearded and grey-pallored man with a slightly large head in a world war one era Russian uniform with a flowing trenchcoat.
When not in disguise, however, his kasathan features are more prominently noticeable, what with the four arms, lack of a nose, and hairless, misshapen head. Unlike most kasatha, his head is shorter and squatter, more human-shaped, although still a bit larger and longer than a human's. He is shorter than most kasatha thanks to his suffering as a child with frequent malnutrition and colder than acceptable climate.
His reborn self is still packed for the war he died fighting, loaded for bear against any environs he might have travelled to in the Hut.
Piotr has a somewhat Russian fatalistic outlook on life, happiest when he has something to complain about. He is more comfortable in small groups than larger society, and forms bonds with fellow combatants readily.
He has a bit of trouble fitting in with society because he's never really been in one he belonged to. That said, through years of painstaking practice, he has learned how to compensate by pretending to be someone he is not.
Piotr has a wry sense of humor, dry sarcasm being his specialty.
I just need to finalize spell choices, but am mostly ready.
One narrative question:
My character would have 3-4 different memories about who or what killed him, and strongly suspects to have been killed under the effect of powerful illusion magic. He remembers his life otherwise, but is an unreliable narrator about it.
Mechanical:
Defensively he relies on opportune parry and riposte, as his AC of 25/14/20 is easily hittable by level 8 threats.
Fort save is his weakness at just +7, reflex is really high at 17, will is midle of the pack at 13.
Offense (assuming haste and heroism are on):
8 (Bab) +9 (dex) +1 (weapon focus) +1 (attunement) -2 (twf) -2(rapid shot) -3 (deadly aim) +2 (heroism) +1 (haste)
=+15/+15/+15/+10 (Pistol)
Hitting for d4(spell cartrigdes) +18 (arcane strike, dex to damage, deadly aim etc.) +2d6 precision damage from pistolero.
With a +15 (some light weapon in off hand, just noted I cant actually use a rapier for it because its not light)
hitting for probably d6+10 (mostly used to crit fish and refuell grit and panache).
If hasted, he does get into 100ish DPR range with a fair bit of regularity, given that he hits with force damage and vs touch AC.
Interest...
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But that wasn't the only time Piotr died. By that time, Imesha was powerful enough in her faith to be able to bring him back to life. It was in this way that he finally escaped his Earth-bound life and came to Golarion.
And it was on Golarion, in this second life, that he helped install a new Queen of Irrisen, Rasputin's very own grand-daughter Anastasia. He and Anastasia learned of this new world in each others' company, with the occasional supervisory visit from Imesha. Piotr's life seemed to find some balance and rare happiness, despite all the whispers behind his back- and sometimes right in front of him.
Imesha had gone on to even greater adventures across the planes in service of Baba Yaga as part of a bargain she had struck with the hag, but refused to talk about. These missions began to change Imesha, darkening her in ways subtle and unseen. She began to see Piotr's resurrection not as something she did out of guilt, but rather as a favor he needed to repay.
So one dark winter night in the middle of Golarion's summer (Irrisen, for all its other charms, was still always in winter), Imesha came to call upon that favore, and that is when Piotr met his second death. He doesn't remember this death nearly as clearly as his first, but he remembers burning waves of fire all around and thinking "Finally, I am warm!
I will look for the Dark Sun conversion later tonight. If memory serves, it was on a homebrewer's Google Drive that they had linked in a Reddit thread.
Failing that, I know of several other insectile/hivemind races that I could suggest. There is even a literal hivemind swarm race- yes, you are playing the collective swarm and the hivemind that drives it- from a third-party book that I could recommend.
That sounds...super interesting, actually. Like a Worm That Walks as a playable race. I'd be really interested in looking over all of these options, thanks!
Hive mind race. Interesting. Would there be a link to the hive once materialising in Kirasta?
I could also look more into 3rd party races instead of trying to force a Halfling to fit. For example I just found the Blinklings from Dreamscarred which are a small furry race with Darkvision.Blinklings are cleared for use if that is the route you wish to take.
Thank you. I've adjusted Bronwyn accordingly. Unless there's something I forgot about she should be completely finished.
Rahlmaat
Hey, I remember Rahlmaat from Into the Abyss :)
Seer, as a general question, is there anything divine casters should know before starting out about the nature of religion and gods in this place, whether deities take an active interest, etc.? Whether that's very setting-specific gods, say Iomedae or Milani, or gods whose influence embraces multiple worlds and perhaps settings, e.g. Asmodeus or Pharasma.
Also, juuuuuuust out of curiosity, how do you feel about CG paladins? I'm only starting to think about this and am not at all committed to either CG or paladin, so this is an informational question, not a please-consider-allowing-them-even-if-you-don't-normally-like-them question.
Yes, that is where I first made Rahlmaat. :D
These are the maneuvers I was looking at, with links and basic descriptions, submitted for approval
All Disciplines and Maneuvers are cleared for use.
Did you know there's a bunch of pictures of Aroden but zero profile pictures? A travesty.
There isn't? That seems like a very strange omission, if I may say so myself.
His last words were "What do you mean, you're out of healing spells?"
He doesn't remember this death nearly as clearly as his first, but he remembers burning waves of fire all around and thinking "Finally, I am warm!
These darkly humorous last words managed to draw a chuckle out of me.
That sounds...super interesting, actually. Like a Worm That Walks as a playable race. I'd be really interested in looking over all of these options, thanks!
The race in question is the Coalescent, which has a mandatory ten level racial prestige class. It is located within the It Came from the Stars! Campaign Guide, pages 5-7. It's quite fun to play in my experience and has a lot of customization options over the course of that class. There is also the added benefit of being able to switch between a swarm form that occupies four contiguous squares or packing the swarm into a condensed approximation of the humanoid form that is able to wear and use items. There is one change that I would make to the race, however, and it's a beneficial one that affects the altered healing rules the race normally has. But I'll hold off on that until you decide if you even want to use that race or not.
I did not forget my promise to post the Pathfinder Thri-kreen conversion for you and so here it is.
Medium: Thri-Kreen are Medium monstrous humanoids and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Thri-Kreen have a base speed of 30 feet.
Carapace: Thri-Kreen gain a +2 natural armour bonus to their Armour Class.
Darkvision: Thri-Kreen can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Exotic Frame: Thri-Kreen cannot use clothing or armour that is not specifically designed for them. Normal
clothing or armour costs twice as much for a thri-kreen as it does for other races. The base cost for magical
clothing or armour is also doubled.
Jumper: Thri-Kreen are always considered to have a running start when making Acrobatics checks to jump.
Multi-Armed: Thri-Kreen have four limbs, each one capable of making a claw attack. These are primary natural
attacks dealing 1d3 points of damage on a successful strike. Only one hand is considered its primary hand;
all other hands are considered off-hands. It can use any of its hands for other purposes that require free hands.
Toxic Bite: Thri-Kreen possess a bite attack that deals 1d3 points of damage on a successful strike. Additionally,
a number of times per day equal to the thri-kreen’s Constitution modifier, a thri-kreen’s bite can inflict a
paralytic venom (DC 10 + 1/2 character level + Constitution modifier Fortitude save; frequency 1/round for 6
rounds; effect 1d2 Dexterity; cure 1 save). The thri-kreen must decide to envenom their bite before the attack
roll is made.
Wild Talent: Thri-kreen begin play with a psionic talent, determined by a roll on the Wild Talent table (p.45).
Languages: Thri-Kreen begin play speaking Common and Kreen. Thri-Kreen with high Intelligence scores can
choose from the following: Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Gith and Halfling.
Hive mind race. Interesting. Would there be a link to the hive once materialising in Kirasta?
The Coalescent race is the entire hivemind, as it's a living swarm of diminutive creatures that share a hivemind. It raises an interesting question about the link of consciousness and the soul with a swarm of hivemind creatures manifesting on Kisarta within a single grave, but I like the weird implications of it.
Thank you. I've adjusted Bronwyn accordingly. Unless there's something I forgot about she should be completely finished.
I am curious: what choices did you make during the events of the games with this character?
Seer, as a general question, is there anything divine casters should know before starting out about the nature of religion and gods in this place, whether deities take an active interest, etc.? Whether that's very setting-specific gods, say Iomedae or Milani, or gods whose influence embraces multiple worlds and perhaps settings, e.g. Asmodeus or Pharasma.
There are a few things that divine casters will find out, but some of those may be mild spoilers. I'll put them in a spoiler tag for those who wish to engage with the information.
How Divine Casters Receive Power on Kisarta: It is supplied to them via unseen forces, at least that is what most on Kisarta believe. The truth is that the Black Circle grant this power for their own reasons.
Falling from Grace: Divine casters can still fall from grace. Although the Black Circle cares not one whit for the doctrines and dogmas of the deities that came after them, they do care about motivations and convictions. A being who dedicates their life to a doctrine and betrays it must have weak convictions and therefore are stripped of power. This is not done maliciously, but simply to see what path they will take as a result of this. Switching religions, handling atonement, and such all function as they do in the outside world because of this.
Kisarta-Specific Faiths: The Dominion of Limbo might have shrines dedicated to every deity- living or dead- of the infinite cosmologies, but Kisarta has it's own unique faiths which many adopt as well.
The Church of the Dying Saints is the largest faith and it reveres the memory of souls who performed miracles or great sacrifices, the majority of which have experienced the True Death. Souls thus canonized by the church are worshipped both individually as 'Saints' and collectively as 'The Host'. The Church is headed by a member of the Black Circle known as the Unredeemed Patriarch, himself one of the Saints, and he personally leads major ceremonies and processions between the Holy Sepulchers.
The Cult of Yla the Martyr worships the memory of a saintess who sacrificed her very soul to save countless billions of souls from the powerful archfiend servants of Malphaas known as the Dark Heralds. The cult preaches a message of hope, mercy, and redemption and it's ordained warriors and agents make pilgrimages across Kisarta to bring light to Kisarta's darkest corners.
The Seers of the Void are a mysterious cult that seeks to commune with the Primordial Void, the darkness that encircles creation. The Seers insist that the Void is sentient and many who gaze into it find it gazes back into them. Not every member can handle the terrifying cosmic secrets that the cult's communions manage to discern and more than a few are driven mad by the revelations.
There are numerous cults to the Guardians, the Black Circle, and even the Pale Sun Kisarta itself that exist as well.
Also, juuuuuuust out of curiosity, how do you feel about CG paladins? I'm only starting to think about this and am not at all committed to either CG or paladin, so this is an informational question, not a please-consider-allowing-them-even-if-you-don't-normally-like-them question.
I allow NG or CG paladins and have ever since the days of 3.5. There are changes that would need to be made, of course, such as CG paladins making requisite substitutions of abilities concerning law with chaos. But overall, I don't mind and have always found it strange that antipaladins can be anywhere on the ethical axis (with archetypes and such), but paladins were stuck on lawful.
Amn has a profile now. :)
There's a short background (two, technically!), and a few links. Is it ok if I keep my sheet on Mythweavers? Sometimes the site here seems to forget my updates once in a while.
The race in question is the Coalescent, which has a mandatory ten level racial prestige class. It is located within the It Came from the Stars! Campaign Guide, pages 5-7. It's quite fun to play in my experience and has a lot of customization options over the course of that class. There is also the added benefit of being able to switch between a swarm form that occupies four contiguous squares or packing the swarm into a condensed approximation of the humanoid form that is able to wear and use items. There is one change that I would make to the race, however, and it's a beneficial one that affects the altered healing rules the race normally has. But I'll hold off on that until you decide if you even want to use that race or not.
I did not forget my promise to post the Pathfinder Thri-kreen conversion for you and so here it is.
Thri-Kreen:Racial Modifiers: +4 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
Medium: Thri-Kreen are Medium monstrous humanoids and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Thri-Kreen have a base speed of 30 feet.
Carapace: Thri-Kreen gain a +2 natural armour bonus to their Armour Class.
Darkvision: Thri-Kreen can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Exotic Frame: Thri-Kreen cannot use clothing or armour that is not specifically designed for them. Normal
clothing or armour costs twice as much for a thri-kreen as it does for other races. The base cost for magical
clothing or armour is also doubled.
Jumper: Thri-Kreen are always considered to have a running start when making Acrobatics checks to jump.
Multi-Armed: Thri-Kreen have four limbs, each one capable of making a claw attack. These are primary natural
attacks dealing 1d3 points of damage on a successful strike. Only one hand is considered its primary hand;
all other hands are considered off-hands. It can use any of its hands for other purposes that require free hands.
Toxic Bite: Thri-Kreen possess a bite attack that deals 1d3 points of damage on a successful strike. Additionally,
a number of times per day equal to the thri-kreen’s Constitution modifier, a thri-kreen’s bite can inflict a
paralytic venom (DC 10 + 1/2 character level + Constitution modifier Fortitude save; frequency 1/round for 6
rounds; effect 1d2 Dexterity; cure 1 save). The thri-kreen must decide to envenom their bite before the attack
roll is made.
Wild Talent: Thri-kreen begin play with a psionic talent, determined by a roll on the Wild Talent table (p.45).
Languages: Thri-Kreen begin play speaking Common and Kreen. Thri-Kreen with high Intelligence scores can
choose from the following: Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Gith and Halfling.
Thanks! I don't really like the sound of a mandatory 10 level PrC, so I'll have to mull over the Coalescent. Need to decide whether I want to buy the PDF just to see the race or not.
Okay so I understand the basics of the Spheres of Power system, but does anyone here have enough experience to give me some pointers on a build? I’m struggling to fit all the pieces I have together into one build.
What is it you're trying to do exactly? I've seen you throw out a few Sphere and class ideas, but I don't have a solid grasp on character theme/fantasy or what specifically kind of abilities you're envisioning.
You can build basically anything in Spheres but it can take some finagling.
Amn has a profile now. :)
There's a short background (two, technically!), and a few links. Is it ok if I keep my sheet on Mythweavers? Sometimes the site here seems to forget my updates once in a while.
Sheet
Mythweavers sheets are fine. My home table actually uses them to make it easier for me to access when we aren't gathered together.
Thanks! I don't really like the sound of a mandatory 10 level PrC, so I'll have to mull over the Coalescent. Need to decide whether I want to buy the PDF just to see the race or not.
The racial prestige class isn't technically mandatory, but it provides the ability to coalesce into a humanoid shape at first level for access to item/equipment use. Moreover, later levels provide many of the more characteristically "swarmlike" abilities. Endzeitgeist did a review of the book, which I confirmed can be found here on Paizo. He gave a more in-depth breakdown of the race and it's accompanying racial class.
Thank you. I've adjusted Bronwyn accordingly. Unless there's something I forgot about she should be completely finished.I am curious: what choices did you make during the events of the games with this character?
Feel free to PM me if you want to talk any more about these decisions or why Bronwyn made them.
I'm running through the ending slides to remind myself of all the possible options so if these are in a weird order that's why.
Allied with Berath and sent the Hollowborn souls back to the Wheel. It was a close call between this and Hylea's option, but given how many Hollowborn were (understandably) killed in infancy Bronwyn worried returning the souls to their original bodies would cause more harm than good.
Erased Thaos' memories so he could be reborn without them. This was mentioned in her background, but for everything Thaos had done she didn't hate him. This felt like the kindest option.
Killed Raedric twice. Bronwyn didn't like Kolsc, but she liked Raedric less. The Hanging Tree in Gilded Vale left quite an impression on her.
Sided with the Crucible Knights in Defiance Bay, but urged them to stop the Forge Knights project and return to their roots. She also tried to talk them out of their anti-animancy stance. House Doemenel wasn't happening and she thought of the Dozens as petty thugs.
She destroyed the machine in Heritage Hill.
She convinced the duc to rule in favor of animancy. It's a tool as far as she's concerned and she didn't want the research to stop.
Wiped out the cult of Skaen in Dyrfood, freed Aelys from their control, then assassinated Lord Harond. Bronwyn's a kind person but she has hard limits and he crossed all of them.
Maxed out Caed Nua's stats. (Which made the second game hurt all the more.)
She killed Simoc after he demanded she help kill a baby. She did not take Vela with her.
She let the Eyeless return to Abydon but helped them compromise with Ondra and understand the nuances of the situation.
Stalwart accepted the Flames-That-Whisper clan as neighbors and eventually formed an alliance with them.
Completed all the companion quests with one exception. For details on how they all turned out...
Companions:
Hiravias: Ended up sticking with Wael. Bronwyn's not a huge fan of Galawain, (as you've probably guessed).
Edér: Became mayor of Dyrford.
Aloth: Worked on dismantling the Leaden Key.
Kana: Became an influential figure encouraging Rauatai to welcome foreign influence. His academic standing wasn't as high, but he seemed happy.
Grieving Mother: Bronwyn did not wipe her memory. Overall she believes more in facing your problems than hiding from them. (She only wiped Thaos' memories because letting him be reborn with memories intact could put future generations at risk.)
Durance: Told him the truth about Magran so he's off on another god-killing journey.
Sagani: She became a respected elder of her tribe.
Zahua: He created a new tribe, the Tacanaquin, and taught them everything he knew.
Devil of Caroc: Bronwyn refused to use her as a companion and did nothing with her.
Maneha: She did not drink from the pool. She returned to Rauatai and reconciled with her family.
Convinced Eothas to inspire mortals. If he was going to destroy the machine that let kith reincarnate, he'd better well give them a leg up on fixing it.
Bronwyn did not side with any faction. She figured stopping Eothas was the priority and she'd sort out Deadfire politics later. That...didn't work out so well.
She helped Maia deliver her letters and was very, very upset when she learned what they were. Unfortunately she learned this too late to save anyone. Port Maje was basically destroyed as everyone blamed each other for Governor Clario and Storm Speaker Ikawha's deaths.
She talked Prince Aruihi into actually helping out the Roparu in the Gullet, so at least they ended up better off.
She freed Scyorielaphas but kept part of their essence bound so the watershapers could still function. (At that point of the game I was planning on siding with the Huana, which influenced the decision to not free Scyorielaphas entirely)
The Children of the Dawnstars kept their faith and continued doing good all across the Deadfire.
Nairi was the leader of Tikawara but was assassinated. The whole tribe scattered.
Crookspur was burned to the ground and the ashes salted. Bronwyn has Strong Opinions about slavery.
She closed the void at the Dead Floe and put Hafjórn in charge. The cult all returned home and left the Deadfire behind.
She refused to be Rymrgand's champion, fought him, and won. Maybe. It's hard to tell with him.
She repaired the adra connection at Kazuwari, thus allowing Galawain to continue harvesting souls there. (More importantly from her perspective, animancers can study the island to get ideas about how to rebuild the Wheel.)
She talked the Three Faces into staying and continuing to serve as Galawain's representatives.
She convinced Wael to kill his body and destroy the Black Isles. The Godseed was given to Llengrath. (Bronwyn likes Llengrath.)
Once again all companion quests were completed.
Companions:
Xoti: Let go of the souls Xoti. Do not keep reaping more Xoti. Put the Gaun-damned lantern down Xoti! Somehow Xoti survived and returned to the Dawnstars in a much healthier mental state.
Aloth: He continued working to dismantle the Leaden Key.
Serafen: Became a highly regarded anti-slavery pirate with his own ship, the Taste of Freedom.
Pallegina: Was forgiven for not convincing Bronwyn to support the VTC and remained employed. Giacolo was saved and the two remained close friends.
Maia Rua: Apparently took Bronwyn's words to heart and argued against Rauatai's insistence on assassination being the first, last, and only option. Supposedly the ranga nui listened.
Tekēhu: He tried to lead his people and inspire them to rely on each other rather than traditions.
What is it you're trying to do exactly? I've seen you throw out a few Sphere and class ideas, but I don't have a solid grasp on character theme/fantasy or what specifically kind of abilities you're envisioning.
You can build basically anything in Spheres but it can take some finagling.
Sent a pm!
Feel free to pm it to me if you want to keep it close to your chest.
That seems like a good idea to me. It’s nice to have all the rules in one spot and it might serve to focus folks on finishing their builds.
Okay so I understand the basics of the Spheres of Power system, but does anyone here have enough experience to give me some pointers on a build? I’m struggling to fit all the pieces I have together into one build.
Some tips.
* Pay attention to which abilities require spell points and which don't. Many of the spheres have a lot of useful powers that don't require spell points. With the right choices you can go for a long day without spending SP. If you pick expensive ones, you'll be tuckered out by the second encounter.
* I usually figure out how many talents I have to play with and divide those into the spheres I want. You can jigger this later, but this budget helps you focus on what you want to do.
* If you want to dip a couple talents into a sphere, look at the Sphere-specific drawbacks. Often there are ones that will give you a new talent by limiting what parts of the sphere you have access to. If you don't need the whole sphere, take the drawback. This is really good if you want to play a dabbler generalist or to add some other abilities to a specialist. I only have three levels of mid caster, but I have several drawbacks that let me get more talents. You can buy off drawbacks later.
* Some talents may not work the way you assume. For example, the detect magic you get with base divination takes a minute. You need a further talent to do it quicker.
* If you like a sphere, look at the list of archetypes at the bottom. Some of them can inspire new ways to look at the world. Often they will say "this class is usually a mid caster, but they get full caster level with this sphere."
* Casting traditions let you copy different types of standard spellcaster. But you can customize this based on how you want to play.
*The new classes can be cool, but they have sperecasting archetypes for all of the existing Paizo classes, and a few third party classes.
That would probably be helpful, I'm interested to know all the different universes people are making characters from.
GM, you stated using ABP would be optional. The starting wealth is set to 33,000 gp. Shall I assume if we decide to use it we should cut the budget in half (to 16,500)?
Also, I would like to request the following spell: Lightsight
[ooc]I will get around to compiling the current list of applicants and cleared third-party material either tonight or tomorrow so that people can look it over.
Feel free to PM me if you want to talk any more about these decisions or why Bronwyn made them.
1st Game:
2nd Game:
Thanks for the information. Knowing what you chose helps paint a clearer picture of your character and I feel a better grasp on who she is.
GM, you stated using ABP would be optional. The starting wealth is set to 33,000 gp. Shall I assume if we decide to use it we should cut the budget in half (to 16,500)?
That is correct. It would also be a good idea to assume that there will be less equipment tailored to ABP characters as well and that treasure should be divided accordingly as well.
Also, I would like to request the following spell: Lightsight
Lightsight is cleared for use.
I've been trying to familiarize myself some with spheres of power/might and paths of war, and I've realize 2 things.
1. My mighty godling/adept godling is very flavorful but would not be able to keep up with a lot of the other submissions in combat at all.
2. I want to build like 10 different characters just to see how these all work together, and that's with consciously trying not to get too far into all the psionic stuff at all. (I'm assuming we're only allowed one application each?)
I'm curious as to why you think a gestalted Godling wouldn't be able to keep up in combat; Godlings are primarily just big piles of stats and whatever class features you'd like from any Core or Base classes you prefer.
They're one of the few 3pp things I have a specific ban on in my games because if I wanted to let a player build their own class I'd just use the Freeform Class Selection system I made years ago.
Not really a concern (balance-wise) in a gestalt game but they should keep up just fine.
Is not knowing who or what killed you in what way, due to high level treachery with several different memories of how you died fine?
Act 1:
Initially a Galtese spy to keep tab on both the "reactionary imperialist Mendevian scum" and the "vile extraplanar invaders" stationed in Kenabres, Korramzadehs assault cast him into the tunnel system beneath it, where he found an unlikely group of later allies.
To his great surprised, the not quite doomed group managed to stop the vile plans of the Demons, making ample use of his aptitude at stealth and bluffing. He felt rather smart about bluffing his way into a Cultist safe house pretending to serve Nocticula, and then killing everyone but one cultist inside as a false flag attack.
While the rest of the party saw Iomedae during their mythic ascension, he saw someone else, specifically, he believed he saw Nocticula pretending to be Iomedae.
Act 2:
He died once to a bite in the dark, being genuinely impressed after being raised that what killed him was a mere quasit with a wand of summon monster, he himself attributed this death to Nocticula, as a punishment for his false flag attempt.
Drezen was taken by a fair bit of subterfuge, in conjunction with a traitor from the inside, the Succubus Kiandrah whom he bluffed into believing that Nocticula supports the crusade, causing the demoness to change her allegiance from Baphomet to the Lady in Shadow.
Act 3:
Aquiring the ability to cast mythic tears to wine, and having a contact between him and Alyushinyrra (the aforementioned Succubus) Cydric quickly set up a wine for prisoners trading route to Nocticulas capital. The Crusaders being willing to look the other way. He had a massive grudgematch with Jerribeth, whose Kellid Slaves were making high powered Mead that competed with his own Mythic wine. He won the battle by succesfully exploding a massive sentient Mimic-Destillery while Jerribeth was in the blast radius.
Act 4:
His preexisting connections, and that he was utterly beyond morality at this point, quickly resulted in an audience with Nocticula, whose offer he accepted. Colyphyr was easily overrun by the heroic group, and Baphomets involuntary summoning resulted in the prepped and ready party pouncing, shooting and rushing he Demonlord. In Cydrics view, they would have killed him without Nocticulas intervention, but her intervention was certainly usefull political.
A few moments later, Cydric died.
Interestingly he does not remember any of his allies, at all.
1. My mighty godling/adept godling is very flavorful but would not be able to keep up with a lot of the other submissions in combat at all.
Are you sure that is worth fretting over?
I ask that question for the following reasons:
1. There is no guarantee any of the characters that seem 'higher-powered' than you will be picked for the game.
2. SoS has dropped a few hints that this game will not be a balls-to-the-wall combat slog, such as:
Exploration and discovery will no doubt [play] a larger role in the campaign than combat, although there will likely be plenty of that as well.
I may be misreading the situation but I think the non-combat qualities and personality of the characters is weighted more heavily than raw combat prowess in terms of his decision process.
3. Any GM worth their salt can even the playing field so that every character gets their moments in the sun. Based on his posts, I believe SoS knows exactly what he is doing behind the GM screen.
Just my two cents on the matter. Take it or leave it, as you choose!
I'm hoping it'll be more exploration and utility oriented, as that's how I'll most likely build up any of my characters. In this case, I'll drop the buffer mage, and instead double down on either the Corporation or the Doctor Who knockoff
Before I start digging even deeper into character building than I have, I'd like to know which you would prefer. While I know the other two spheres systems have been given a blanket go-ahead (Might and Magic), is the newness of Guile something that I am going to have to be concerned about? Currently, a lot of the material just finished being published, and I access it mostly through the Wiki or the playtest documents. I mostly use the Faction sphere and the Mastermind class.
In addition, this is largely a question of what type of character you'd really prefer- A wandering woman who has learned that her entire experience is constantly falling into chaos, and because of that she needs to plan for everything, and has constantly had to rely on creating traps and similar to prevent things from trying to hurt her.
or the aforementioned living corporation, not quite knowing how the f+@& it's alive, but understanding for the fact that it is in fact alive and wanting to figure out how to keep itself from dying a whole second time.
I think the newness will be an issue in the sense that a lot of it's not on the wiki yet so you're gonna have trouble linking it to the GM I'd figure.
or the aforementioned living corporation, not quite knowing how the f**# it's alive, but understanding for the fact that it is in fact alive and wanting to figure out how to keep itself from dying a whole second time.
...Okay now you're making me want to change my character concept to Pepsi-Man. =p
I'm curious as to why you think a gestalted Godling wouldn't be able to keep up in combat; Godlings are primarily just big piles of stats and whatever class features you'd like from any Core or Base classes you prefer.
They're one of the few 3pp things I have a specific ban on in my games because if I wanted to let a player build their own class I'd just use the Freeform Class Selection system I made years ago.
Not really a concern (balance-wise) in a gestalt game but they should keep up just fine.
Maybe it's just because I was choosing abilities based on flavor instead of trying to optimize, but even with two godling classes gestalted I'd only have a couple revelations from one mystery and a couple bloodline powers from one bloodline, maybe a hex or two. It seemed pretty underwhelming compared to some of the other 3pp options. Of course, some of that might also be because I'm looking at all those options for the first time, so there might just be some newbie awe?
Are you sure that is worth fretting over?
I'm not really fretting. I moved away from all my gamer friends (for work) and now this is the only venue I have to express surprise when new mechanics change my perspective on things. I'd heard that godlings were really powerful (enough so that I was worried that the idea of gestalting two would be autobanned or end up game breaking) but now that I've built one, and I'm comparing it to some of the other 3pp options available (or even some more optimized 1st party combos), I've just been surprised by how much less potent they are than expected. So I took to the only venue available to me and expressed that surprise (apparently not very well).
I do trust that SoS will do well managing whatever party they pick and I apologize if I gave the impression otherwise.
You mentioned the ironborn being approved, but mentioned "racial classes", but I don't see anything like that on here. Is there something I'm missing, and are these ironborn the legal ones?
These look to be a much better fit to necrons than the warforged, what with the connection to the "creators" (the Ctan).
Well, this strikes me as a really cool concept for a game. I played a "Halfling" paladin in a long-running wrath of the righteous game, that made it into the 4th book, but sadly never further. He had been nearly sacrificed as a child by a demon cult, and in his rescue ended up with the shard of an angel bound to his soul. So he actually was statted as a small aasimar, to give a few quirks. I have wondered a few times what a gestalt build might look like. I don't have any real experience withe spheres of power and mighr that a lot of people are looking at, so will likely build him using paizo published material. I hope to pop back in soon!
Well, this strikes me as a really cool concept for a game. I played a "Halfling" paladin in a long-running wrath of the righteous game, that made it into the 4th book, but sadly never further. He had been nearly sacrificed as a child by a demon cult, and in his rescue ended up with the shard of an angel bound to his soul. So he actually was statted as a small aasimar, to give a few quirks. I have wondered a few times what a gestalt build might look like. I don't have any real experience withe spheres of power and mighr that a lot of people are looking at, so will likely build him using paizo published material. I hope to pop back in soon!
The way I’ve seen it described, vancian casting is more powerful but sphere casting is more specialized and versatile.
Neither system is strictly better than the other, they just do different things.