Still working on Tokku. Yes, he's mildly inspired in the L5R character, Toku.
New hellos to Noro, Master Han Del, and Tokku! (I am admittedly not familiar with L5R, so take it away with your inspirations!)
Q19: Do Shadow Spells which replicate spells with expensive material components still require said components? A: No, the shadow spells are mimicking the spells on which they are based, but do not themselves have any additional material components. The trade for this is that you're using a 4th-level spell slot to cast a 3rd-level spell with a reasonable chance of disbelief and reduced effects of disbelieved. So that seems like a fair enough trade.
Q20: What are the contest rules regarding minions such as Familiars, Animal Companions, Animated Undead and long duration summoned creatures (like Mount and Draconic Ally)? Are they allowed? A: The tournament's six rules are below:
Before they are allowed to enter the Grand Pavilion, the PCs must sign an entrance contract before an Abadaran cleric. On the contract, the PCs must write their team name, and the name of each member of the team. They must also each sign their names to the contests’ six simple rules, which are:
1) The commands of the Emissary and his agents are to be obeyed at all times, and the Emissary's word is final. None shall take violent action against the Emissary or his agents.
2) No contestant may leave Xielan Island until the conclusion of the tournament for any reason.
3) Once a round has begun, no contestant may receive any aid, be it magical or mundane, from anyone not participating in the round as a contestant.
4) Should any contestant yield to a foe and forfeit the battle, failure of other contestants to honor that forfeit will result in immediate disqualification.
5) No contestant shall loot the body of a fallen foe.
6) All contestants agree that there shall be no ties; only one team may be named the champions.
Familiars and Animal Companions are allowed without reservation and are regarded as part of the registered team. Long-term summons are a tricky spot. If they are defeated, dismissed, and/or banished, then they leave Xielan island and are in violation of Rule 2. Short-term summons may constitute a violation of Rule 3.
Even if the Emissary accepts the tactic as not a rules violation, the crowd generally wants to watch fighters fight each other, so summons might draw boos from people in the crowd who dislike the tactic.
Oh! I hadn't read all the performance rules. I might have to retool for and get another one... or two.
I came up with this:
Tokku was a Jinin kid of humble origin who dreamed of being a samurai. It was technically impossible, but the boy was bold and determined - when the chance arrived, he wore the armor of a deceased warrior and was involved in a battle to defend the territories his family lived in.
It didn't go too well for him, but he caught the eye of an old elf who appreciated the kid's spirit. Having lost his family in the war, Tokku was adopted as a student by Taiga, the experienced warrior.
Tokku grew up in age and power under the teachings of Taiga, who happened to be more than meets the eye, and who taught him how to capitalize from his inner power. Together in a permanent musha shugyo, they fought duels, helped the need and unearthed magical secrets. During these adventures, Tokku's determination grew and he stubbornly held to the idea of once becoming a samurai. He learned how to forge his own weapons, how to address a noble and many other different things, all with one goal in mind.
The day came when the Ruby Championship was announced. Taiga told Tokku about it, and to back it up he said he had no more to teach him unless he won the tournament, thinking the young elf had a strong chance and this could open a way to being accepted into the samurai ranks. Tokku easily managed to win the classificatory contest, and some Jinin peers already noticed his capabilities.
Tokku is a very stubborn boy, being used to fight his inner demons from a tender age, and he’s methodical in all steps of the path to his goal. He has a strange connection to the magical world from birth, though he’s never cared much about it. Already honorable before meeting Taiga, the old elf has further cultivated Tokku’s senses of duty and courage, and has taught him how to focus his strange powers to improve his fighting prowess.
Abuse of power and blatant cruelty can get Tokku out of his mind. Several times he’s risked his life to defend a poor soul being abused. Of course, this has more often than not ended up with Tokku and Taiga in trouble, but that hasn’t stopped them from falling in the same pit again.
With his traditional vests and his pair of self-made elven swords, he actually looks like a fancy young samurai in his training pilgrimage. When he rests after a long journey, though, the kid that lost his family long ago blossoms again, and he takes joy in something as simple as a bowl of spiced rice - his mom’s specialty - and a cup of tea. During the night, dreams of his goal come to him, and the fact that winning the championship is the obstacle to overcome makes him focus all his efforts on it.
Though I'm not sure I won't tweak here and there. Also, the character is finished except for some leftover coins I should spend somewhere.
I'll be looking through the submitted profiles this week to offer feedback.
I would also encourage the other applicants to do the same. Do you see any common motivations or other links between your PC and another that could make for an interesting team?
Hmmm... great question about meshing background/goals. Looking now.
Jemini - as I look (and I love the back story, truly and completely btw, it made me smile quite happily), I noticed a cloak of resistance and muleback cords. As someone who quite regularly ends ups with under-strengthed characters, I've hit the issue that the rather affordable muleback cords are a shoulder item, and the cloak of resistance, which is a staple, is as well.
Unless I missed something which is always possible.
If you are open to suggestions, Ant haul is open to you and at this level would last a WHILE. Or a wand at a little less and probably at an hour a pop probably would last every arena battle (my lady with her 8 strength and medium armor went that route, and if we end up as teammates would share without a worry)
Now back to looking at stories and goals.
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Hello Poly,
Ai Lua's main goal is FAME, winning brings more fame, so she wants to win each and every bout, and have each bout greater than the last. So if she had her druthers, she would want teammates to be combat gods/goddesses who looked DARNED good while beating the pudding out of the opponents.
Not charisma particularly, but just hitting someone and making them fall over wouldn't make the crowd go wild, one would need to hit the badie with Style and flourish, like an uppercut to her chin that made them fly into the air trailing sparkles and then exploded into fireworks (but didn't die! somehow)
So... that being said I tried to create comments that I think my CHARACTER would think, NOT ME. (well there are a couple of mine peppered in as well, but those are not negative).
In no order whatsoever...
An angel in the flesh, a stunning paladin who is physically perfect, good-aligned like Lua, and who based on her stats could beat the living poop out of poor Lua if Hitome was inclined. AND with healing hands. Lau could be in love (as a teammate of course). The only minuses are a lack of crowd-pleasing feats/skills, like perform act/dance/comedy (unless Calligraphy, which is COOL, can be used to sway the masses, a HUGE brush maybe) And of course being Lawful!
His bloodline of a dragon would resonate with Lau, and his ability to do damage with a sword and spell would make her salivate. The average charisma and lack of crowd-pleasing performances would make her second-guess him as a flashy enough fighter. The drive to please a 'father figure' would speak to Lau's secondary hidden goal (hidden only if there wasn't a moment of too much melancholy and sake). Improvised Poetry is fantastic though btw and SHOULD be able to be used for all performance combat checks.
While his purpose of winning to be left alone would make her nose scrunch in distaste (since she wants the adoration), his charm, looks (assumed based on the charisma value), grace to draw the crowd in and make fun of their opponents (perform dance and mocking dance) would make her eyes gleam in avariciousness. He fits with her play style probably the most so far, though the two of them overlap a little on spells, Lau could change hers.
Especially her wild side would ignite a kindred spirit in Lau, given her chaotic nature, which the persona Lau assumes tries to mask in her own nature, which it seems like Saria does as well (just shy of CG at NG). The goal is enough aligned, win to be to become stronger vs win to be cheered. They don't clash but they significantly mesh either. But a Tank would be greatly appreciated by a squishy like Lau. Combined with high charisma, skills, and feats to win over the crowd, magical tails (!!!! even if she doesn't show them off), and her flanking sneak attacks (which Lau would help with), Lau would definitely and happily join her team.
Goodness, she could wipe the ever-loving floor with poor Lau, and I love the grumpy picture. A pirate captain and chaotic nature would definitely fit my vision with potential after parties that Lau's fame-desiring self would be drawn to. And doing this for her family would ping her secret heart a bit. She would frown at the woman's brashness (low charisma) and lack of crowd-pleasing skills and feats though, but not at her punches (cause Lau isn't an idiot)
Last but certainly not least. First and foremost, HEALING!!! Oh, such wonderful healing. And a Tengu is exotic for our group of humanoids presented, which is great for crowd-drawing. This is great especially good when combined with his good charisma and quite lovely buffing skills and hexes, letting others SHINE in his stead (something a fame-seeking bard would love). He would have the most conflict with Lau alignment-wise (lawful without the good, neutral without the chaos) but conflict is happy drama on the boards. The only real drawback Lau would say about him in the arena is as stated to others, lack of crowd-pleasing abilities. That and his goal of honorable champion of his people, which Lau as chaotic and as a human wouldn't truly understand.
And all that is from what I think Lau's thoughts on teammates would be. 'I' think they all look fun to play with.
Done now and Thanks again! And if I got anything wrong, or missed anything, about anyone's character, please forgive me.
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Ooh, I can answer the Muleback Cords of Resistance +2 question!
Cloak : Cloak of Resistance +2 <1 > {4000 }
Muleback Cords (x1.5) < > {1500 }
With Muleback Cords originally worth 1000 gp and now valued at 1500 (1.5x the original cost). This came up in in Qs15-16, with reference to Adding New Abilities.
Most straight-up numerical bonuses in 1E follow quadratic growth in their cost with different values of n. Armor, resistance, and ability score bonuses are straight up , while bonuses to deflection, natural armor, and weapon enhancements are .
It's a way (other than automatic bonus progression) to get around the absolute tying of a given stat boost to a particular slot without cutting a person off from other useful items.
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As always, I appreciate the in-depth look, John Gs!
OH! That makes complete sense. Sorry for my misplaced nose poking, Jemini.
You will basically have the same opportunities that your opponents do to buff ahead of matches. There are no rules specific to this.
Each day, all tournament participants will participate in 1) one sanctioned tournament match, 2) one exhibition match, and 3) one test of skill, strength, fortitude, and/or will. The order and content of these is typically not announced to competitors ahead of time, so it is equally as possible that there will be little to no break between a team's matches as that they will have hours of downtime in between.
In some combats you will have explicit time dedicated to casting spells before the match begins. In others you will be ushered directly into the arena with no warning and no buff time. I will always make it clear when you do and don't have time to cast spells.
Looks like I am the only foreigner. But I could ne wrong
Noro: I believe that Jonovan Wick is not originally from Tian Xia either. (I'm not sure exactly where, though.
This is a pretty good fan-made map of Tian Xia if you're trying to figure out who might be neighbors or easier to find and such.
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A few other potential connections:
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And now a few notes & questions:
On Tokku:
Humble and obscure origins are what relegates Tokku's family to being outcasts - having orcish blood somewhere in the distant past (probably in their Kyonin days) being part of the problem. Not all, but many relatives experiment strange powers and aptitudes. Most of them can't control their gifts, and though the family tries to hide these from common people, they have a bad name. Every now and then, a family member has healing or midwifery powers that they can use, and peasants at least tolerate them. But joining the samurai? That just doesn't have room in their heads - except for Tokku, of course.
Yeah, you're right. The spell is unable to be learned, so I'll remove it. Some cantrips will be enough to contribute to his notoriety, though.
Any Hobgoblin raid can be appropriate. The battle was just the tool to make Tokku wear a samurai suit - which actually put everything in motion.
I didn't know about Shokuro Toryaka, t now that I do, it seems inevitable that this man ends up being Tokku's idol. I don't know how to weave him into the story, though... I'll have to think of something (suggestions accepted).
Questions for us! Awesome...
I will work on them tonight. Brief thoughts about her Dad. When I wrote it I was thinking he had passed away, but now I think it would be more dramatic if he had disappeared. She was too young at the time, her mother would never speak to why, and to add mystery the townsfolk didn't really know him well enough to know anything, other than he had money enough not to work, was charming, and didn't seem to get involved.
This way she can hold conflicting emotions. Love, cause he had been a wonderful father, and hate cause he left them (assuming he left them instead of her more fanciful notions she came up with as a child: trapped by an enchanted mirror; was really a dragon and was murdered by a hero; asleep in a magical wood for decades)
Thank you for the review. I shall dig deep into the bird's psyche....lol!
So this is about the L5R character on which Tokku is inspired, so that you know a bit where do my ideas come from.
Toku was a peasant boy, enthusiastic about samurai, who was forced to fight to defend his village against some bandits in a scenario much like 7 samurais (there were actually seven samurais, and they all died). Toku somehow survived (sheer luck, I guess) and picked some items from the dead samurais (armour, weapons, horse, etc), pretending to be a ronin here and there. His origins were low but his spirit high, and in his adventures he met different samurai who thought him important lessons. One of those, Toturi, was heir to an important clan and got impressed with the young "ronin". When Toturi's clan fell from grace and he became a ronin himself (Toturi the Black), he gathered an army of outcasts (Toturi's Army) and summoned Toku to be one of his personal guards.
Time later, Toturi became emperor and offered Toku the charge of Imperial Guard Captain. Then Toku confessed about his origins and Toturi said:
"You are like a monkey, always wanting to grab what's out of your reach. In any case, only a samurai can have the position We're offering. We will fix that."
Thus he gave him the status of samurai and allowed him to create a minor clan, which Toku named the Monkey Clan.
After his death, Toku was named Fortune of Virtue by the Son of Heaven.
Maybe Tokku's sensei comes from Shokuro and he plans on offering Tokku a samurai position there?
For traits, I took the paranoid drawback to gain an additional trait. Which increases the DC to aid her from 10 to 15
For background, Noro and her crew did win the regatta. However her father is a very traditional Tien former samauri man. He does not consider Noro's association with pirates appropriate to the family.
Her father favored her brother Lou who most likely 8s involved in the Jade Regent AP
Besides,a chance at a great treasure isn't all that bad either.
I tried to weave the adventures I already played this character in into the back story.
Hitome: The Divine Warrior trait is typically keyed to Iomedae. I'm fine with re-flavoring, but you should be aware of Ancestor's Blade and Pristine Reputation as well. Where is Hitome from? What is the biggest obstacle that Hitome has faced so far? How does she feel about her destiny--or does she know of it?
Hmmm...Ancestor's bade definitely works thematically and the flavor of the feat suits her background, though I really don't see her using weapons much. If it could be reflavored to apply to an unarmed strike (like an ancestral birthmark on her hand that would carry the trait bonus to attacks (by extension applying to all weapons of that type = unarmed strikes) that could work.
If that doesn't work then Pristine Reputation would be a good alternative. The +1 to attack isn't all that big a deal and the tradeoff of +2 to a save against a charm or compulsion effect on a re-roll of a failed save (on top of having a paladin's saves) would definitely give her an aura of being untouchable by mind magic.
In terms of where she’s from, I’m thinking Minkai. She’s had enough hints toward her destiny that she feels a great sense of purpose and destiny driving her, but may not truly have grasped where her path is truly headed yet.
Greatest challenge...I'll have to think about that for a bit.
Can the Ring of Spell Knowledge hold Divine Spells? Specifically Negate Aroma.
It looks like no: only spells with an arcane version are able to be taught to the ring. A decent wand should only be 750 gp, though, lasting an hour a pop.
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For Jonovan: If you want Golarion lore, you've come to the right place!
Tian Xia is relatively isolated from Avistan and other continents, but clearly not unknown. The primary land route between Avistan and Tian Xia is the Path of Aganhei in the Crown of the World. Sea routes are more challenging, though not unheard of, requiring sailing around Casmaron and the Embaral Ocean (to the east) or around Arcadia and the Okaiyo Ocean (to the west). One of these happened a little over a hundred years ago in Taldor's Eighth Army of Exploration, in which General Orphyrea Amanandar established a Taldan colony in the heart of Tian Xia. There are other magical means as well, but they are typically only accessible to beings of incredible power.
So it's very reasonable! Part of my reasoning in asking was trying to determine whether that could lead to backstory connections between Jonovan and any other prospective PCs.
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For Tokku: It's true that there are very few orcs in Tian Xia, with the few half-orcs present tending to take up in either Goka, Hongal or Nagajor. Having inherited a little bit of orc blood from the time in Avistan makes some sense. But if I could offer another thought: I love the lore around the elves of Jinin being related to the drow. There's all sorts of interesting parallels between the dwarven Quest for Sky and stuff around Earthfall. Jininese elves don't have much association with Kyonin, having fled Earthfall from the Mierani Forest in Varisia 10000 years ago by going underground. But unlike the drow, they kept going through the Darklands for hundreds of years until they found mithral veins and followed them up into their new home.
Since orcs were originally from the Darklands, it's very possible that the Jininese elves encountered them during their trek thousands of years ago.
I love the integration with Shokuro, Tokku! (And thanks for the background on the L5R character, too!) It does seem likely that, if the elves of Jinin maintained stricter laws around their shogunate, that the nation of Shokuro might take them in!
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For Noro: I had said in the original post "You may not choose a drawback to gain a third trait." Sorry abut that. In this case, you can have the drawback if you want it for flavor, but not to gain the extra trait.
It sounds like maybe Noro's father was trying to maintain his heritage as a samurai despite not having personally been to Minkai, with all of the loyalty to his pledged family (especially with how much of a bastard, both figuratively and literally, Tsuto was). Woof, that's rough. And complicated!
So perhaps being recognized as a strong warrior in this sanctioned Tournament could demonstrate to Noro's father that she is worthy of the family name?
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For Hitome: I'm happy to reflavor things ^_^ Birthmark, tattoo--something connected to that celestial heritage. We could also sidegrade the smite evil part into the personal trial instead.
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Curiouser and curiouser, down the rabbit hole we go for everyone!
It also looks like we have several people associated with samurai: Lua, Tokku, Noro, and Ōtani. Just things to think about.
I removed the bullied trait and the drawback
I like those modifications to the back story as well
Um, here is some answers (I just read that one of Desna's anathemas was 'causing fear' and am doubting poor Lua's entire gameplay right now).
"Does Lua have any sense of who her father is and where he might be?"
The pristine dark-haired child sits calmly, perfectly still as she waited for her father to return.
He loved her perfect manners and praised her while frowning at her rambunctious sons (though he would wrestle with them later). He always attended her dance lessons, sat with tea with her, and was a perfect father to a perfect daughter.
But not today.
Today, he didn't return.
No one knows why. He was simply gone. No sign was found. No body was found. After they found out about debts. Overextending himself, some gambling, living another life of vice away from his bubble of perfection.
Everything was taken.
Mother never spoke ill of the man, refused to consider a new husband. She said he was her dragon and no man would ever compare. She whispered fanciful tales of his might, his hidden magics, even of transforming, but her stories were meaningless to the sad little girl.
"Does she have a sense of the veracity or origin of her draconic heritage, and does this manifest in any specific way?"
As some Ian-Dan do, Ai Lua has a streak of pure white in her black hair, matching the soft silver of her eyes. Her father had the same.
"What makes her a good evangelist for Desna?"
As her childhood shattered, Lua started to stray from the rigid path of being the perfectly behaved child, and more toward living by her heart and whims. All while still holding true to being good. It wasn't until she found her passion in the arena, started traveling to other towns, and saw the world grow so much bigger did she truly find Desna. She openly worships the resplendent Goddess of Fortune, prays before every battle, etches the butterfly in red on her banner and armor, and toasts her in every tavern, giving all the credit to Her for giving Lua the courage to follow her dreams.
So in summary, she loved her father but doesn't know a bunch about him. Mother eludes to him being more than human. She has the standard Tian-Dan dragon traits. Father leaving led her to follow her heart (had been faking a more lawful alignment for his approval but has embraced fully her chaotic nature, except when she's embracing etiquette for etiquette's sake) and Desna is REALLY cool and probably doesn't really mind when she demoralizes her opponents into running away.
Curiouser and curiouser, down the rabbit hole we go for everyone!
Rabbit hole traveling at its best here! I started researching how one becomes a Samurai. That led me down, down, down and around until I was reading about a samurai general and his named swords...lol.
I think that I may have over shot the question! Fun reading though...lol.
I will have something this weekend.
For Hitome: I'm happy to reflavor things ^_^ Birthmark, tattoo--something connected to that celestial heritage. We could also sidegrade the smite evil part into the personal trial instead.
That would be perfect, since it would essentially keep the same mechanical function.
So it just occurred to me that there's actually no overlap between enlightened Paladin and Warrior of Holy Light.
Taking both archetypes would not only give me a decent boost to AC/Attacks/Damage/Saves vs fear, and provide buffs to my allies, but also ramp up healing with extra uses of Lay on Hands and the ability to heal modest ability damage. Thematically the Holy Light is just an increased manifestation of her emerging divine nature.
Given her ties to Shizuru (Goddess of the Sun) and possibly Tsukiyo (God of the Moon), both sources of celestial light this would be perfect. All at the cost of Spellcasting.
And now a few notes & questions:
Saria: Was the monastery where Saria trained associated with any particular deity, philosophy, or style? Was her uncle the leader of the school, another student, or a master? Picking up a bit of dueling, crane, and osyluth styles is nothing to sneeze at.
Hey, as mentioned I've been pretty ill lately, but I can gladly flesh out the monastery more if that is desirable(I had a lot of information in the back of my head, just not in writing) - easiest question first: her uncle was one of the masters - he may have been a student earlier in his life and journeyed following that but by now has decided to remain there as a teacher.
Also, most people would probably not know of their relation - her uncle is open about his nature, while she is clearly human. Which does not match up (albeit some people will have known, she managed to keep her nature secret well enough).I believe the defensive style is also one way they get the young ones. "Oh, I see you have a lot of anger in you. You need to get rid of that anger. It's ok. Strike me...if you can." and then just letting them flail ineffectually at them.
Saria is a bit of a deviation from the norm in that normally, there would be some method of forcing submission to go along with the training. Classic Monks may just go with nonlethal punches, Brawlers may grapply people into submission, others may be disarm or tripping specialists. Sometimes in conjunction with ways to create opening - Feint or Feinting Flurry come to mind.
But mastering her chosen weapon left her little time to learn any of those other things.
I was considering the deities, but Tian Xia are too few - the closest match would probably have been Qi Zhong - but not close enough to dedicated the place to him.
The philosophy is influenced by the audience...troubled youths, young people who quit shady organizations and had nowhere to go, orphans or unwanted children - there are more prestigious schools out there for people that care about that.
But most of those who end up here had a tendency to get into trouble, cause trouble, or no one to shield them from trouble.
So the first order of business is to build them up and give them self-worth by teaching them to stand for themselves. Only when they master that will advanced training start.
So the motto is quite simple: "The mountain endures"
Rushing blindly at an opponent you know nothing about is just a coin toss on when you get killed. It is better to proceed with caution, to understand the opponent, try and read his patterns, and see what he attempts to do, then only strike once an opening presents itself, or can be arranged.
If you cannot find an opening, it is better to disengage than to die.
So yeah, all students will learn the basics of Unarmed Combat, Crane Style and Deflect Arrows.
Some will go all the way through Crane Style(the vanilla choice), others go for Osyluth Guile(good Bluffers, often with feint), some for Improved Spring Attack(high speed, reach weapon users).
But in parallel, they then learn some offensive means, often either feints, maneuvers or other means to disable and/or subdue/pin the opponent.
As for the combination of dueling, crane and osyluth in-game: Yeah, and it is not supposed to be sneezed at, either - but Saria can ONLY maintain her full AC bonus against a single melee opponent if she can force an exchange of full attacks. No full attacks? diminished AC. More than one enemy? Only one gets the Osyluth AC.
Saria has no build-in healing, so it seemed pretty sensible to get her as resistant to damage as reasonably possible in the AC-sense.
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Thanks for the back-and-forth, y'all! This is giving me a better sense of who you all are envisioning! (It's also making decisions harder, but that's a good thing.)
Hitome: I usually use this archetype crawler to double-check compatible archetypes, and it's true the Warrior of the Holy Light and the Iroran/Enlightened Paladin have no overlap. The mythos around Shizuru and Tsukiyo is a lot of fun, too.
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I don't think I have any other questions/comments at the moment, or questions to answer. Please continue discussing, asking and answering each others' questions!
@Jiminizero. Good point! Easy fix...lol.
Kwanlai
Lady Sutarai-Gongen sat smiling at those gathered to be the one Tengu chosen to represent the Tengu nation of Kwanlai at the upcoming Ruby Phoenix Tournament in Goka. The half Celestial Cleric of Hei Feng nods her head in approval of each Tengu before her.
May you represent us with all honor, skill and Diplomacy, as our Champion of Kwanlai!
Her jade eyes roam as she voices her speech to rest upon the only Tengu Samurai in attendance. Standing quite splendidly in his blue O-yoroi armor, mithral buckler on his blue-black featherd arm, Ōtani Yoshitsugu appeared an impressive vision of a proper Samurai. Katana, Wakizashi, Tetsubo and horse bow all in their proper places, the 6' Tengu certainly will maake quite the impression at the tournament.
Those gathered in attendance of this initial sponsorship of the Tengu nation watched in awe, approval and aspirations as each of the dozen finalists were announced.
The cheers and stomping of taloned feet grew loudest, as she called the name that will represent the nation of Kwanlai among the finalist!
Ōtani Yoshitsugu!
@GM Polyfrequencies This has been edited
Ōtani, I'd like to know more about Ōtani's journey to become a samurai and his motivations both to represent Kwanlai in the tournament and to enter it in the first place. Is Kwanlai aiming to claim something in particular from Hao Jin's vault, or to establish tengus as a force to be reckoned with across Tian Xia? Can you also tell me a bit more about having a rat as a spirit animal? It's a very fun image! And in what way does Ōtani commune with this spirit to access Lore, and what sort of Lore comes to this samurai/shaman?
A shaman who is selected by the lore spirit appears far wiser and knowing that his age would suggest. Though he can seem unassuming, his eyes give the impression he is peering deep into all he looks at, seeing the secrets of the essential merely by concentrating.
Ōtani Yoshitsugu lives by the words of Oda Nobunaga inscribed on the katana that he inherited. The young Tengu student's midnight blue eyes match the blue of the steel of the blade. He is rumored to actually be the famous Samurai reborn.
Ōtani Yoshitsugu is a Tengu Lore Shaman. His ancestor Oda Nobunaga was the first ever Tengu Samurai. Ōtani began hearing the voice of his much-removed Grandfather since he could remember. Guiding Ōtani through the trial, tests, and teachings of the way of the Samurai, Oda Nobunaga's spirit manifested itself inside a rat. Together they traveled the country to establish confidence in the rising leadership. Promoting the ascension of Lady Sutarai-Gongen throughout Kwanlai, Ōtani Yoshitsugu's reputation grew as a hero of the Tengu people.
As I understand the Magic Item Creation rules, you can't craft a given item unless you have all of the required feats. The spells are optional, only costing a DC +5. So Jonovan could purchase a Cloak of the Hunt but could not craft it himself. I'm fine with that.
As for the pull-ring of scent, it seems like the spirit of it is to be worn by an animal companion (or similar), especially with the clause "and its rider" for what effects are wearer-exclusive and what gets passed on. It's a bit odd (and expensive for what you're looking for), but it also seems fine to me.
As I understand the Magic Item Creation rules, you can't craft a given item unless you have all of the required feats. The spells are optional, only costing a DC +5.
Actually,
The DC to create a magic item increases by 5 for each prerequisite the caster does not meet. The only exception to this is the requisite item creation feat, which is mandatory.
the only required Feat is the Magic item Creation Feat itself - all the others can seemingly also be substituted with a +5 DC increase.(Which is ALSO true for caster level - you can create items way beyond what you should be capable of making.)
I might add that I was severely tempted to use one freebie Feat on Item Creation for that mighty sweet spending money increase, but I resisted. All tails, all the time. That is the way.I also tried to briefly skim some profiles but could not go in-depth enough for some last minute chatter or smalltalk...but I do wonder on Lua:
on thoughts regarding Saria, you wrote "Lau" 5 times :)
Just a stubborn repetitive typo, or would you like that to be the nickname she uses for you :D
But aye, I think I made her so she can play well with many others, she has some independent options but magical buffing of all sorts and especially healing between rounds is of course highly welcome.
I am horrible at spelling, completely and totally. I would like to say that if Lau/Lua gets to come to life, that I wouldn't mess that up repeatedly... but I probably will. Without a spellchecker I am lost.
OH, maybe it isn't her REAL name, but a stage name which is why she/I can't spell it!!!
Considering that mythic items list Mythic Crafter as one of the requisite item creation feats, and that the text of the feat says:
Benefit: You can create any mythic magic item for which you have the appropriate item creation feat. In addition, you gain a +5 bonus on skill checks when creating nonmythic magic items.
I'll stick with the previous ruling of no craft-discount, only buy.
But regardless, the dawn of the final day approaches! At the time of posting, you have about 25 hours to finalize* submissions!
Aha, clever! Unfortunately I'll say no to that one. We'll see that there's something just tremendously unique about a mythic crafter that means their magical signatures can't be easily altered.
Ah, the excitement.
Made no better by never being able to remember what exact time the boards run by, so 25 hours on from 08pm saturday make 9pm sunday or so, which may or may not be around now, which is lunchtime europe on monday.
Ah, I'll just continue being excited and celebrate being fever-free.
Yup! Pencils down, everyone. I request the next 48 hours to do my final determinations (basically after the American holiday). Then you can expect a decision!
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This has been a very challenging decision. The last time I did a recruitment, I was so indecisive that I ended up running two tables. I considered it this time, too! (I also considered having two different teams on opposite ends of the bracket that could potentially face each other in the final match, united by a common discussion thread for out-of-combat interactions, with two separate gameplay threads.) But in the interest of providing better focus (and not burning out), I'm sticking with my initial plan of taking four people. To that end, I would like to invite the following players and characters to dot and delete in Gameplay and then head on over to the Discussion to begin settling choices on team identity, etc:
To Ōtani, Saria, and Tokku: thank you for the depth of investment that you put into this! Please let me know if you want to be considered as a team alternate if one of the current players has to withdraw for any reason.
Thank you sir. After spending time reading everyone's build, I know it was a VERY hard choice, so doubly, triplely, quadruplely thank you!!
Congratulations to those chosen. Have fun.
Regarding replacement: No unless someone steps back in the next month. You said yourself the scope of this is about half a year.
Coming in for the last 2 months with a character that did not make the cut just as a filler? Doesn't feel right. My opinion is that you'd be better of botting whoever has to withdraw.
Much appreciation for the opportunity. I will also choose not to be on stand-by. I wish the group much fun! The submissions were really good!
Thank you! It's an honor