Faerie Dreams Reboot

Game Master Seer of Shadows

Fey should be the higher bonus, I swapped them under special attacks but forgot to under special abilities.

I think Lionel’s been with the Ainsworth’s on and off for between five and ten years most likely, hewing closer to five. A big part of how he hunts is knowing what he’s up against, so I think he’d have been proactive in learning whatever he can. Part of my thinking is that learning from them that his theories could he vindicated has kept up his motivation for the hunt and prevented him from sliding into apathy.

I’m thinking his curio is a ring either made from or containing the tuft of fur from the bigfoot. It’s a reminder of how close he was to proving the legends real and that his hesitation cost him, but also that the truth of what he seeks might not be what he finds.

I was possibly considering the Dreamwalker Hedgewitch path, which grants the Dreamspace feat. Also maybe the feats that enhance Dreamspace.

Have the events of Journey to the Center of the Earth happened on this version of earth? I was thinking my adventurer's parents might have been among the first wave of explorers after the initial discovery, and she was born down there because her momma didn't know she was preggers when they started out. If not I'll just make it South America or something, doesn't really matter all that much.

I've finished my first pass at my submission. Meet Mary Adamson Anderson, a scholar and physician with extraordinary powers over the mind and body. She doesn't exactly know it, but she also carries within her a faerie killer who might be known as "The Hunter." This being is anxious for her to give it control over their shared form so that it can do all the gory, frightening things that she won't do.

I built her as a vigilante, with The Hunter as her vigilante identity and Mary as her social identity. The Hidden Master archetype gives her different traditions and talents depending on which identity she is in, so I figure when she changes the other sort of "goes away" in her head, and either watches or doesn't watch what the body does in the meantime. It's kind of a neat mechanic, and I imagine it will be a source of deep dread for her as she realizes exactly what she is and what she does.

Just a note, I'm leaving on vacation on Friday and I will be away for two weeks with unreliable internet access. I will try to keep up with my games remotely, but it might take me an extra day or two to respond to questions or requests.

Othersoul:

You needn't worry about a few incompatible abilities from your Othersoul, as you only get some of the fey in question's powers; it wouldn't be anywhere near balanced otherwise.

The ankou's ability to treat their weapon as cold iron would come in real handy against fey, which I take it we'll see a lot of.

That ability can backfire too, given that being in contact with cold iron for more than one round can automatically end Dreamshifting and everything tied to it; see the Dreamshifting ability under the Dreamwalker Template section for more information on that. So be advised that it might not be as useful as it first appears given the circumstances.

Fey should be the higher bonus, I swapped them under special attacks but forgot to under special abilities.

I think Lionel’s been with the Ainsworth’s on and off for between five and ten years most likely, hewing closer to five. A big part of how he hunts is knowing what he’s up against, so I think he’d have been proactive in learning whatever he can. Part of my thinking is that learning from them that his theories could he vindicated has kept up his motivation for the hunt and prevented him from sliding into apathy.

Thanks for answering those two questions of mine. If you would like a few sample expeditions that Lionel may have joined the Ainsworths on so that you can splice them into his background, I can provide a few that may be of interest to you.

I was possibly considering the Dreamwalker Hedgewitch path, which grants the Dreamspace feat. Also maybe the feats that enhance Dreamspace.

The only interactions that I can think of off the top of my head are fairly basic ones, such as use the 5th level Path Power on waking targets potentially causing the Dementing to affect normal humans it is used on. There are a few corner cases where abilities that allow you to traverse the Dreaming might let you lucidly travel through it and glimpse otherwise impossible things like memories lost to the ages that were reabsorbed into the Dreaming, but those will be harder to quantify and will be handled case-by-case.

Have the events of Journey to the Center of the Earth happened on this version of earth? I was thinking my adventurer's parents might have been among the first wave of explorers after the initial discovery, and she was born down there because her momma didn't know she was preggers when they started out. If not I'll just make it South America or something, doesn't really matter all that much.

Nothing overtly fantastical has happened in this version of Earth- at least that the overwhelming majority of the population are aware of- so the Journey to the Center of the Earth angle would not work here, sadly.

I've finished my first pass at my submission. Meet Mary Adamson Anderson, a scholar and physician with extraordinary powers over the mind and body. She doesn't exactly know it, but she also carries within her a faerie killer who might be known as "The Hunter." This being is anxious for her to give it control over their shared form so that it can do all the gory, frightening things that she won't do.

Would this be a true possession by the fey in question or a particularly noteworthy case of the personality bleed I mentioned in one of the lore tabs where aspects of the Dreamwalker and their Othersoul's personalities can potentially bleed into each other, somehow having formed a whole other personality in her case?

Just a note, I'm leaving on vacation on Friday and I will be away for two weeks with unreliable internet access. I will try to keep up with my games remotely, but it might take me an extra day or two to respond to questions or requests.

There is no rush, so take all the time you need during these next few weeks. I have already chosen to extend this recruitment for an as-yet-undetermined amount of time due to there being quite a bit of player overlap between this and Reckless's epic gestalt game, so there is plenty of time for you to work out the details.

I have multiple potential options, depending on what you feel like is the more interesting option. The first few are rooted in a mechanical niche that opens the door for interesting storytelling, the second few are more thematic tools with mechanics designed to fulfill them.

Mechanical suite: The Psudo-Divine
These characters are focused around the idea of using Bottled Spells plus ritual casting to allow for other characters to essentially gain a limited form of Vancian casting for themselves. Since a spell cast with bottled spell is cast as if by the person, if used in conjunction with Combat Recharge, the caster can essentially cast the spells so long as they have the necessary spell points.

This will be used in conjunction with the Ritual Feats, which grant me limited access to vancian spells through the spending of SP, which I can then pass off to my allies or minions to cast with as needed.

If (And only if) if you allow NPCs to swear Oaths, I can then essentially bind NPCs to my service with Oathbind and grant them access to my limited spellcasting that way.

Now onto the concepts!

Tiana Grimm
Tiana Brinks is a woman obsessed with mythologies, stories, and history throughout the world, just like her uncle and father. Driven by the works of Shakespeare, Commedia dell'arte, the legacy of traveling storytellers, greek mythology and their lost musical elements, african folk stories, and all manner in between, time and time again she falls down the rabbit hole of irish mythology. Or rather, Faerie stories. So much of Irish Mythology ended up lost to her, but slowly she pieced together the stories and figured out their underlying logic, even publishing and sparkling up some of these tales for sale to the public, just like her grandfather did. Invited to this gala by the Ainsworths due to her legacy as a Grimm, she came with the utmost excitement.

What she didn't realize is that that penmanship, the ability to shift the story and it's nature, was something that would inevitably be etched into her own stories, as she gains the ability to pass over the pen to others for them to take control of their own tale.

Margaret Carnegie
This is going to require a bit of futzing with the timeline- She technically shouldn't be born at this point, I'm moving forward the visit to england, and similar things, but the point should remain the same
Andrew Carnegie was a noted philanthropist, and an absolute robber Barron willing to steal, kill, and f*#+ over as many people as needed for success. He's also a doting, loving father who spoils the daughter he has as he grows Carnagie Steel, instilling his anti-imperialist ideals interlinked with a brutal business sense, quietly warring in her head as they bounce among one another, as she struggles to realize that the business actions she takes is nothing more than a mirror of the british crown she so brutally loathes. Invited to the gala largely because of her fathers interest in the mythology of england, she is quite excited to meet new people. Little does she know what is to be unleashed in her.

The thematic rather than mechanical
These characters are all more focused around the personality rather than the mechanics. They aren't particularly mechanically interesting ATM, and lack much in the way of mechanical narrative.

Alissa Brinks
In a quiet allyway, two women stand across from one another, quietly stripping themselves down to their petticoats, binding their fingers to keep it contained. Another half-dozen ladies gather around, watching with bated breath, bets in the air. Ms. Brinks seems almost bookish, in comparison to the lady in front of her, but her eyes seem cold and brutal.
The fight begins, as she dodges, dives, punches and parries, she always seems one step ahead, one moment ahead, beating her down with ease. After it, she smiles, dons her usual clothing, and head back home to her husband's estate. Her husband does not love her, but neither does she love him- A lavender marriage between the two. Notably, one of her lovers was invited, but felt scared to go alone. That was when Alissa came in.

The Yardspinner Because every good story in the 1800s needs a texan
A cowboy in Victorian London, Rosa Virginia Chang (If that truly is her name) is an ex-ranch herder of debatable descent turned storyteller, has a pair of pistols, and occasionally mentions stories of Yoki she's met in her travels, intermixing various mythologies into a new and dynamic form. How does she know so much about the fey firsthand? Nobody knows, everyone is baffled, and they all are always surprised when she comes out and speaks fluid gaelic. She was invited largely as a curiosity for the gala, and is quite the curiosity

Would this be a true possession by the fey in question or a particularly noteworthy case of the personality bleed I mentioned in one of the lore tabs where aspects of the Dreamwalker and their Othersoul's personalities can potentially bleed into each other, somehow having formed a whole other personality in her case?

What do you think would be most interesting? I had been thinking it was her othersoul manifesting early, but it could certainly be that she has internalized the faerie in question and it has become part of her personality. I had been thinking that mechanically she is unlikely to manifest her vigilante identity when she is not Dreamwalking, and that her social identity would probably become secondary or even “go to sleep” until the Dreamwalking is concluded. But I’m not sure exactly how Dreamwalking works, and maybe some other arrangement is better for gameplay. That said, it is interesting to consider that this other personality is literally a part of her that she doesn’t want to acknowledge as herself, using her newly acquired knowledge of the fey to avoid taking responsibility, so to speak. I don’t actually want to play a serial killer, at least not most of the time— I was thinking it would come out during combat and be sort of intensely personal in its horror. I wouldn’t want other players to worry that I might turn on them or anything like that.

With the 13 extra RP of racial abilities, are they considered part of our racial traits or more liek magical effects added on? I ask because I plan on making use of some Polymorph effects, and don’t want to ‘waste’ the RP if the bonuses don’t carry over to my other forms.

I will be compiling rule clarifications and additional rules/mechanics that were added after the initial post in this thread, as well as a more detailed view of how dreamshifting works, to the campaign info tab sometime tomorrow. There have been a number of additions, granted requests, and clarifications issued over the course of the last few days an I want to ensure that this information is easy to access without having to read multiple posts to find all of them.

Tiana Grimm

Tiana Brinks is a woman obsessed with mythologies, stories, and history throughout the world, just like her uncle and father. Driven by the works of Shakespeare, Commedia dell'arte, the legacy of traveling storytellers, greek mythology and their lost musical elements, african folk stories, and all manner in between, time and time again she falls down the rabbit hole of irish mythology. Or rather, Faerie stories. So much of Irish Mythology ended up lost to her, but slowly she pieced together the stories and figured out their underlying logic, even publishing and sparkling up some of these tales for sale to the public, just like her grandfather did. Invited to this gala by the Ainsworths due to her legacy as a Grimm, she came with the utmost excitement.

What she didn't realize is that that penmanship, the ability to shift the story and it's nature, was something that would inevitably be etched into her own stories, as she gains the ability to pass over the pen to others for them to take control of their own tale.

This is an interesting idea and I quite like the themes and imagery it evokes.

Alissa Brinks

In a quiet allyway, two women stand across from one another, quietly stripping themselves down to their petticoats, binding their fingers to keep it contained. Another half-dozen ladies gather around, watching with bated breath, bets in the air. Ms. Brinks seems almost bookish, in comparison to the lady in front of her, but her eyes seem cold and brutal.
The fight begins, as she dodges, dives, punches and parries, she always seems one step ahead, one moment ahead, beating her down with ease. After it, she smiles, dons her usual clothing, and head back home to her husband's estate. Her husband does not love her, but neither does she love him- A lavender marriage between the two. Notably, one of her lovers was invited, but felt scared to go alone. That was when Alissa came in.

I'm curious about the finer details of this character and would like to know more.

What do you think would be most interesting? I had been thinking it was her othersoul manifesting early, but it could certainly be that she has internalized the faerie in question and it has become part of her personality. I had been thinking that mechanically she is unlikely to manifest her vigilante identity when she is not Dreamwalking, and that her social identity would probably become secondary or even “go to sleep” until the Dreamwalking is concluded. But I’m not sure exactly how Dreamwalking works, and maybe some other arrangement is better for gameplay. That said, it is interesting to consider that this other personality is literally a part of her that she doesn’t want to acknowledge as herself, using her newly acquired knowledge of the fey to avoid taking responsibility, so to speak. I don’t actually want to play a serial killer, at least not most of the time— I was thinking it would come out during combat and be sort of intensely personal in its horror. I wouldn’t want other players to worry that I might turn on them or anything like that.

Othersouls are not, generally speaking, bound within or fused to their Dreamwalkers; the overwhelming majority of the former reside within the Twilight Worlds at all times, in fact. Dreamwalkers draw their power from the connection with their othersouls which runs through the Dreaming that separates the worlds of mortal and fey, not an actual fusion.

Dreamshifting is the actual method of drawing power from that connection and it involves a Dreamwalker pulling power from the Twilight Worlds through the Dreaming via the connection they have to their Othersoul 'reflection' on the other side of reality. Think of dreamwalkers as a light bulb, their othersouls as a wire that connects to the 'generator' that is the Twisting Way and all the Twilight Worlds it encompasses, and the Dreaming as the circuit that closes the gap between the two so that the bulb can draw on that power to shine. Continuing from that rough analogy, dreamshifting is essentially a dreamwalker flipping their own switch. Awakening is the process by which they become aware of the Dreaming and Twilight Worlds on a deep level and, thus, are able to figure out on some level that not only do they have that switch, but that they can flip it at will. This is an imperfect analogy since the connection of dreamwalker and othersoul is much deeper and less utilitarian and the Dreaming also provides power of it's own, but it should serve to provide the necessary imagery needed to understand the process.

With all of that related information out of the way, I believe that either a severe case of personality bleed from Mary's othersoul or the delusional post-hoc justification of her own actions work better than active possession from her othersoul; they are certainly more compelling from a storytelling perspective.

With the 13 extra RP of racial abilities, are they considered part of our racial traits or more liek magical effects added on? I ask because I plan on making use of some Polymorph effects, and don’t want to ‘waste’ the RP if the bonuses don’t carry over to my other forms.

The extra racial traits are aspects of having awakened as dreamwalkers, fundamentally changing them into something more than human. I view them as both racial traits and a supernatural power layered over and throughout their very being, which could easily translate into whatever forms they take. I will need to make a note of this in an official ruling.

Gotcha! Thank you for slimming it down- I'll probably end up sticking with Tiana, but Alissa has potential too. I'd like to hear which you feel like is the better candidate after getting a more complete overview of her.

Lawful Lilly wrote:

Tiana Grimm

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This is an interesting idea and I quite like the themes and imagery it evokes.

Nice! I'm currently leaning much closer to this storyline here- It's a set of imagery and storytelling that I'm familiar with, and I'll be able to make it pretty easily and whole. But more than that, being able to give autonomy to others in order to provide them the support they require is a thematically engaging narrative hook, even if that hook requires significant foresight.

Lawful Lilly wrote:

Alissa Brinks

---------------

I'm curious about the finer details of this character and would like to know more.

Gotcha! She's based around Victorian lady boxing clubs and groups in the 1800s crossed with the ideal matron-stubborn, stalwart, strict and matronly. How that will manifest will probably be just the boxing sphere with the divination sphere interlinked together, how that will manifest I don't know yet. The character will have presence, motion, and stability. Think Granny Weatherwax if she was a bouncer instead of a myth. And also gay.

Gotcha! She's based around Victorian lady boxing clubs and groups in the 1800s crossed with the ideal matron-stubborn, stalwart, strict and matronly. How that will manifest will probably be just the boxing sphere with the divination sphere interlinked together, how that will manifest I don't know yet. The character will have presence, motion, and stability. Think Granny Weatherwax if she was a bouncer instead of a myth. And also gay.

Sounds a lot like Gallus Mag!

Alright.

So I took a pair of things for granted. Please tell me in case I should change them.

First, I decided it would be okay if the character saved one of the Ainsworth's life. That's how they met. But if that's a conflict with whatever you have in mind, I can work around it (maybe save some other's life with the Ainsworths witnessing it).

Second, I thought it would be okay that the Ainsworths would have several estates, specifically one in Ireland. Again, there are ways to fix that if you don't feel like it's a good idea. The character has been employed by the Ainsworths but it could be that they just recommended him to some friends, for example.

Now keeping up the creative work with descriptions and some other details.

Mechanically, my thoughts are on a ranged character who's probably going to be Magus/Ranger or Magus/Fighter, with the added quirk of being a lucky guy.

As promised, a compilation of major clarifications, rule additions, and other miscellaneous topics that were broached since the original post in this thread was added into the campaign info tab. While you may not have missed one of those as you perused the thread, it certainly wouldn't hurt to give it a lookover to be sure. I will give another notification if anything is to be added to it.

Gotcha! Thank you for slimming it down- I'll probably end up sticking with Tiana, but Alissa has potential too. I'd like to hear which you feel like is the better candidate after getting a more complete overview of her.

While I like both of them, Tiana has a unique concept that you rarely see in any medium and her powers are quite evocative in their imagery and themes. If I had to pick one for you to focus on, she would be the one.

So I took a pair of things for granted. Please tell me in case I should change them.

First, I decided it would be okay if the character saved one of the Ainsworth's life. That's how they met. But if that's a conflict with whatever you have in mind, I can work around it (maybe save some other's life with the Ainsworths witnessing it).

Second, I thought it would be okay that the Ainsworths would have several estates, specifically one in Ireland. Again, there are ways to fix that if you don't feel like it's a good idea. The character has been employed by the Ainsworths but it could be that they just recommended him to some friends, for example.

The first assumption is one that I can't really touch on without getting into later plot points. It is my suggestion that your character save the life of another and have that lead to the Ainsworths noticing him instead.

The second assumption is perfectly fine. Landed English nobility in the Victorian Era did often have vacation homes throughout the United Kingdoms and it's not a stretch to assume that the Ainsworths would have as well. If specific details are needed, assume that the estate is a "small"- by Victorian noble standards at least- manor in the countryside near Waterford.

Excellent, thank you!

Seer, can you give us some more details about Duncan and Bonnie??

They're supposed to be 'close acquaintances' of the PCs, but bare told us anything about either of them.

We know he's an explorer/adventurer, and she goes with him sometimes.

Do they have any sort of 'normal' jobs? You mentioned they are wealthy enough to have several estates. Did they gain that wealth just through their explorations or is it familial? If the latter, how has their family come by their money?

Aside from them going on expeditions/adventures, what sort other things do the do? Do they attend various high society events(aside from the gala they are hosting)? Do they spend any considerable time in London or any other big city on the Isles?

Might they be found spending time amongst the 'lower class' more than the 'elite'? Ie, frequenting pubs/taverns/gaming halls, etc?

Also, can you give us a solid, general overview of Waldenshire? How big is it, population, demographics, proximity to more well known IRL locations, etc?

Yes, I’d been meaning to ask the same sort of thing. They’re clearly well-off, but are talking landed gentry, or are they part of the peerage? My character is written as gentry, but I was kind of assuming Ainsworth was a low-ranking noble, a Baron or an Viscount, perhaps, thought even a Baronet or Knight would work. I might try to drop my character down to keep him a step or two socially beneath Ainsworth if need be. I certainly don't want our benefactor to be socially beneath me, that just wouldn't do, you see. Perish the thought.

Having reviewed the clarifications, I have another question: In my build as it stands, I have a monk archetype that gives up Evasion, so I bought it back with one feat, since that didn't seem like one of the monk's "Primary abilities" to me. But reviewing the Monk VMC, Evasion is there (Granted at 7th level), and you mention "that anything not listed on the list of Variant Multiclass features- except for capstones- is one feat, while those that are and capstones are three feats." Do I need to spend 3 feats to get Evasion back? If so, when do I spend the feats? All at creation, or do I spend 1 or 2 now and more as we go?

I will be placing the information on the Ainsworths and Waldenshire in the campaign info tab, as well as down below in spoilers for your convenience.

Having reviewed the clarifications, I have another question: In my build as it stands, I have a monk archetype that gives up Evasion, so I bought it back with one feat, since that didn't seem like one of the monk's "Primary abilities" to me. But reviewing the Monk VMC, Evasion is there (Granted at 7th level), and you mention "that anything not listed on the list of Variant Multiclass features- except for capstones- is one feat, while those that are and capstones are three feats." Do I need to spend 3 feats to get Evasion back? If so, when do I spend the feats? All at creation, or do I spend 1 or 2 now and more as we go?

Evasion is not something I consider a 3 feat purchase; that's mostly features like Barbarian Rage, Bombs, et cetera that are the core part of a class, which is generally what Variant Multiclass gives. So it's one feat for Evasion.

All feats used to "pay off" conflicting archetypes are paid immediately at character creation.

Hello!

1- Is this archetype allowed?

2- How many feats would need to be paid to counter Diminished Spellcasting (a feature common to certain archetypes where you cast 1 less spell of each level)? I'm not sure since, on one hand, spells must be core to a class, but on the other you're not losing the whole spellcasting feature.

The Ainsworths have been married for years, correct, and don’t yet have any children? Is that something about which Bonnie and/or Duncan would have consulted a doctor specializing in “women’s medicine”? It seems like they might have been unsuccessful in their efforts so far, but I’m not sure how old Bonnie is. It might still be possible, or it might be that Bonnie required a medical procedure that left her unable to produce heirs. The doctor-patient relationship might have drawn them very closely together regardless of the outcome, though!

A Vickar who goes off to war and comes back the local gravedigger, as he tends to keep to himself after discovering trange curios, books and oddities from his time abtoad. Is an occultist and that's how he knows the Ainsworths is his strange elvings and experiences bringing him to speak with a noble even though he is of low birth and clearly a priah due to his profession.

Is this archetype allowed?

That archetype is cleared for use.

How many feats would need to be paid to counter Diminished Spellcasting (a feature common to certain archetypes where you cast 1 less spell of each level)? I'm not sure since, on one hand, spells must be core to a class, but on the other you're not losing the whole spellcasting feature.

I would rule that one feat should suffice.

The Ainsworths have been married for years, correct, and don’t yet have any children? Is that something about which Bonnie and/or Duncan would have consulted a doctor specializing in “women’s medicine”? It seems like they might have been unsuccessful in their efforts so far, but I’m not sure how old Bonnie is. It might still be possible, or it might be that Bonnie required a medical procedure that left her unable to produce heirs. The doctor-patient relationship might have drawn them very closely together regardless of the outcome, though!

The Ainsworths have been married for over a decade and have yet to produce any children, yes. Bonnie herself is able to handle most of the medical care she could ever need, although she may have sent for your character's aid around Waldenshire given that a growing village needs an local medical professional.

A Vickar who goes off to war and comes back the local gravedigger, as he tends to keep to himself after discovering trange curios, books and oddities from his time abtoad. Is an occultist and that's how he knows the Ainsworths is his strange elvings and experiences bringing him to speak with a noble even though he is of low birth and clearly a priah due to his profession.

Would he have been a vicar of the Anglican or Catholic denomination? Those are the two I am most familiar with that have the position of vicar.

Thinking Catholic, who is older and has seen alot. Maybe did alot of the african campaigns with Quartermain and has seen things. If time matches up.

Still working on my winter witch/spheres shifter. Aiming for a "hedge witch in the forest outside the village" angle, with some Germanic tribal elements (slight weather control, herbalism flavored healing etc).

Obviously no up front obvious magic, and plan on taking Improved Familiar for the Nehushtan to explain a lot of her healing ritual's effectiveness.

Few story spoilers I don't want to give away just yet, will send some story ideas as far as her background/othersoul to you, Seer.

Gaaaaaaah, why did I chose such a hard concept as "Character granting narrative control over the story," especially without the "Character granting narrative control over the story" subsystem >_<

I think I'm mostly getting to the theme through a combo of Divination, Fate, Mind, and Time comboed with some talent flexing. I do have some questions:

(1) If an archetype has two features that are always a package deal (In this case, Poison Lore and Poison Resistance on Investigator), would those be allowed to be considered one feature for the feat buyback rule?

(2) Secondly, Ritual Casting. I mentioned it, but I want to know what level of scope and access to Ritual Casting, if any, I should expect as an advanced magic system. Ritual Casting grants limited access to Vancian Casting (Essentially preparing spells for 1-4 SP), but further limitations are on you- Are they limited to vancian spell lists? Are they unbound by vancian spell lists? Are they much more limited to vancian spell lists?

(3) Do you have any issues with the Mind sphere? Will any of the NPCs we'll be facing against be immune by default?

(4) How do you feel about the following advanced talents: Sensitive Divinations, and Heroism,, and The High Priestess. Permitted, not permitted, altered, and so on.

O think I may make him an older Muslim man, who lived in India and has done various things for a variety of religions Hindu, Bhuddism, Catholisism, Judaism,Islam,Paganism, Voodoo. He is older and has come to be a sort of sage for the Occult having sought the secrets of the Divines secrets

Hmm, victorian era England?

My current idea is a female Polish exile, who in the dream suddenly awakens to be some type of charismatic cavalier (big question about the order though)/spell warrior (skald archetype, loses a lot of flexibility but automatically benefits the party without stopping spellcasting), themed after the winged Hussars.

Few story spoilers I don't want to give away just yet, will send some story ideas as far as her background/othersoul to you, Seer.

I didn't receive any private messages, so did it get eaten by the website? Either way, feel free to send the details of her background and othersoul whenever it's convenient for you as there is still plenty of time left before the recruitment closes.

(1) If an archetype has two features that are always a package deal (In this case, Poison Lore and Poison Resistance on Investigator), would those be allowed to be considered one feature for the feat buyback rule?

In corner cases such as that and similar ones like Evasion/Improved Evasion, I would be willing to rule yes, but that it's a three-feat cost.

(2) Secondly, Ritual Casting. I mentioned it, but I want to know what level of scope and access to Ritual Casting, if any, I should expect as an advanced magic system. Ritual Casting grants limited access to Vancian Casting (Essentially preparing spells for 1-4 SP), but further limitations are on you- Are they limited to vancian spell lists? Are they unbound by vancian spell lists? Are they much more limited to vancian spell lists?

So with rituals, I will not just limit them to vancian spell lists, but anything beyond those will need to be cleared in advance and are subject to my approval.

(3) Do you have any issues with the Mind sphere? Will any of the NPCs we'll be facing against be immune by default?

I have no issues with the Mind sphere. Some NPCs and creatures will be resistant or even immune to mind-affecting effects, but it's not going to be anywhere near a universal trend, certainly not enough of one to discourage one from investing into the sphere.

(4) How do you feel about the following advanced talents: Sensitive Divinations, and Heroism,, and The High Priestess. Permitted, not permitted, altered, and so on.

All of those are cleared for use as-is with no need for alterations.

O think I may make him an older Muslim man, who lived in India and has done various things for a variety of religions Hindu, Bhuddism, Catholisism, Judaism,Islam,Paganism, Voodoo. He is older and has come to be a sort of sage for the Occult having sought the secrets of the Divines secrets

Would he originally be from the Ottomon Empire?

Hmm, victorian era England?

My current idea is a female Polish exile, who in the dream suddenly awakens to be some type of charismatic cavalier (big question about the order though)/spell warrior (skald archetype, loses a lot of flexibility but automatically benefits the party without stopping spellcasting), themed after the winged Hussars.

By the Winged Hussars, you are referring to the cavalry unit from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th to 18th centuries, correct?

An Ottoman works, having access to Egypt, NOrth Africa, India, Persia and South east Asia

I didn't receive any private messages, so did it get eaten by the website? Either way, feel free to send the details of her background and othersoul whenever it's convenient for you as there is still plenty of time left before the recruitment closes.

No, just was out for the holiday. Should get it sent over tonight!

Ah, holidays... *sigh*

Yeap, although I would be unsurprised if she ends up getting actual wings at some point (requires her faerie self to be some type of aasimar, and then wings can eventually be attained RAW), or some pegasus or hippogriff mount (also quite possible to get RAW).

Historically, Hussars were armed with a lance, a long sword, a sabre and 2 pistols (in some periods also bow and arrow), the pistols are probably the most complicated part to fit into her build.

Could we possibly burn a feat to skip an ability requirement of another feat? Maybe limiting it to only happening once, if you feel like?

In my case, I have an archetype which changes spellcasting to spontaneous but still based on Intelligence. Then I found out Spontaneous Metafocus requires 13 Cha.

Could we possibly burn a feat to skip an ability requirement of another feat? Maybe limiting it to only happening once, if you feel like?

In my case, I have an archetype which changes spellcasting to spontaneous but still based on Intelligence. Then I found out Spontaneous Metafocus requires 13 Cha.

Unsure if you saw the ability score rules, or just missed the bonus, but:

Ability Scores: Point buy (25 points). Following the point buy, choose one ability score as your primary stat and two others as your secondary stats; primary stats gain a +4 untyped bonus and secondary stats gain a +2 untyped bonus.

We also get the +2 to any ability score from being a human.

The PC I made for Seer's Kisarta game a Dex of 11 as his lowest stat, and that actually took some effort to get it that low.

Unless you really want to absolutely dump your Cha, you should be able to easily get a 13.

Unsure if you saw the ability score rules, or just missed the bonus, but:

Ability Scores: Point buy (25 points). Following the point buy, choose one ability score as your primary stat and two others as your secondary stats; primary stats gain a +4 untyped bonus and secondary stats gain a +2 untyped bonus.

We also get the +2 to any ability score from being a human.

The PC I made for Seer's Kisarta game a Dex of 11 as his lowest stat, and that actually took some effort to get it that low.

Unless you really want to absolutely dump your Cha, you should be able to easily get a 13.

I just thought assigning 3 points to an ability score just because of one feat was not a good plan for me. I'm sorry for asking and trying to build the character the way I envision it, and thus I withdraw my petition. I'll find another way around it (or not).

I just thought assigning 3 points to an ability score just because of one feat was not a good plan for me. I'm sorry for asking and trying to build the character the way I envision it, and thus I withdraw my petition. I'll find another way around it (or not).

Bruh, what? I was just offering a suggestion. I'm not the GM, so whatever I say shouldn't really matter. No need to apologize my dude. Try to build the character in the way that makes you happy!

@Seer: How might your tristalt option interact with Prestige Classes, if at all? I kind of want to add Sleepless Detective to my Brawler//Investigator, but not badly enough to take actual levels in it lol

I apologize for not replying yesterday; I was out of town for much of the day and posting from a phone can be troublesome, so the decision was made to wait until today to post something substantial.

Could we possibly burn a feat to skip an ability requirement of another feat? Maybe limiting it to only happening once, if you feel like?

As long as the ability score requirement is no higher than 14, I would be amenable to that. Anything higher than that is not permissible because there are a small number of feats out there with high ability score requirements and similarly very powerful effects.

@Seer: How might your tristalt option interact with Prestige Classes, if at all? I kind of want to add Sleepless Detective to my Brawler//Investigator, but not badly enough to take actual levels in it lol

This requires a bipartite answer.

If you are referring to the full tristalt option- that is, the one that costs the most feats- then you can take prestige classes with it as normal. Be aware that means you must still qualify for the prestige class to be able to take it at an appropriate level.

If you are referring to the semi-tristalt option- that is, the one that costs less feats but only gives you class features- then I would rule that prestige classes cannot be gained through such. My sole reason for this particular judgement is because some prestige classes have power levels designed from the ground-up for characters at or above tenth level and allowing access to those at a much earlier level can prove troublesome to manage even with a GM used to more powerful characters.

Auspicious Tattoo

Is it fine to assume the character could have gotten such a tattoo while in the army in Egypt and South Africa?

Sorry, another one.
The Legendary Fighter (which, if I am not mistaken, is pre-approved) states at the beginning of the Archetypes section that all existing archetypes for fighter should be compatible, and gives some directives on how to do it (seems easy).

Should I assume an archetype like Runesinger is available with the Legendary Fighter, then?

I've been doing some digging, and have figured out my PCs birth date:

Aug 13th, 1859, the night of the longest lunar eclipse in the entire 1800s!

Also, roughly 9 months prior is Dec. Conceived on the Winter Solstice(in Stonehenge, no less, lol), born during the above lunar eclipse!

This would make her about 27 at game start.

Auspicious Tattoo

Is it fine to assume the character could have gotten such a tattoo while in the army in Egypt and South Africa?

The tattoo itself, yes, but not the mystic power that comes from it. As I mentioned prior in the recruitment, PCs will not have any extraordinary powers at the campaign's start; those will be gained shortly after the game starts after they awaken as dreamwalkers.

Sorry, another one.

The Legendary Fighter (which, if I am not mistaken, is pre-approved) states at the beginning of the Archetypes section that all existing archetypes for fighter should be compatible, and gives some directives on how to do it (seems easy).

Should I assume an archetype like Runesinger is available with the Legendary Fighter, then?

That is a fair assumption to make and I approve it.

I've been doing some digging, and have figured out my PCs birth date:

Aug 13th, 1859, the night of the longest lunar eclipse in the entire 1800s!

Also, roughly 9 months prior is Dec. Conceived on the Winter Solstice(in Stonehenge, no less, lol), born during the above lunar eclipse!

This would make her about 27 at game start.

That is certainly a confluence of interesting astrological happenstances and, after some looking into it, looks plausible enough. Impressive research on your part!

Couple of questions:

1) Whereabouts is Waldenshire? Might help to have a rough idea to know where it's located.

2) You mentioned that the supernatural exists, but the vast majority of humanity is unaware of them. You also said that overly extraordinary events, like what happened in 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' haven't occurred.

However, without too many spoilers, have the various supernatural entities shaped history at all? Is there any significant events that might have had different outcomes or been altered at all due to the supernatural?

Obviously, none of our PCs would know any of this, but depending on your answers, it might affect our pasts. Again, I'm not asking for major spoilers, so if said answers are only spoiler territory, I'm okay with not knowing.

There are a few things I would like to touch on that may be something of note to applicants. These will be added to the campaign info tab as usual.

While only creatures of the Fey type may be selected as Othersouls, there are certain creatures who have been changed to that type for this game and, thus, are possible Othersouls for players to select. They keep whatever subtypes they have, but their typing changes to Fey and fall under one of the fey categories listed in the Faerie Ring book, which I will mention below. Be aware that, although some creatures like Linnorms and the Tane may have existing ties to the fey, their natures and themes are sufficiently different as to not warrant a full-on reclassification as Fey.

I made one omission when talking about the tristalt side that you can purchase with feats; the 'lite' verson for 12 feats also grants you the skill list of that class in addition to the class features, but does not gestalt the actual skill points.

One more thing of note is the removal of racial requirements on archetypes, feats, prestige classes, and such so long as you would otherwise meet the requirements. So you can take the Stonelord archetype for Paladin despite not being a Dwarf, for example.

1) Whereabouts is Waldenshire? Might help to have a rough idea to know where it's located.

So if you pull up North York Moors National Park on Google Maps and squint at the dark green area of the park, it will look kind of like a crescent. Waldenshire is located slightly southeast of the inner part of that crescent near what is now the yellow line for the interstate. I toyed with history a little bit for this, I will admit, but it fits fairly well with the environment I had in mind. I couldn't dig up anything that quite fit the vision I had in mind and so just had to alter things to some degree.

2) You mentioned that the supernatural exists, but the vast majority of humanity is unaware of them. You also said that overly extraordinary events, like what happened in 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' haven't occurred.

However, without too many spoilers, have the various supernatural entities shaped history at all? Is there any significant events that might have had different outcomes or been altered at all due to the supernatural?

Obviously, none of our PCs would know any of this, but depending on your answers, it might affect our pasts. Again, I'm not asking for major spoilers, so if said answers are only spoiler territory, I'm okay with not knowing.

Some supernatural entities have been at the center of major events and historical records twisted into legends and folklore. The history and tales of this version of Earth are nearly identical to that of our Earth, but the hidden details on how these things went down may cleave closer to the folklore, legends, and mythology surrounding them than the more rational explanations from our Earth.

For example, Daji, AKA the fox spirit known as Tamamo-no-Mae, really did sow chaos in noble courts across Japan and contribute to the downfall of the Shang Dynasty in China by corrupting King Zhou.

Camelot did exist. Part of the reason why it is disregarded as a mere legend is partly because of the Dementing, but I can't say more than that as of right now.

Witches not referring to the class here actually did practice magic, although the Church mistakenly categorized them as diabolists who sold their souls for magic instead of an offshoot of humanity who passed their mystical powers down an unbroken matriarchal line. Lumping in ordinary, magicless human herbalists, folk healers, and various other dissidents and pariahs into the various witch hunts and Inquisitions certainly muddied the waters from a historical perspective.

Queen Mebd of Connacht had supernatural ties that I don't want to spoil overmuch and her influence on Irish history is deeper than her already recorded deeds, with connections to the hero Lugh who slew the Fomorian King Balor, as well as a fey sovereign from the Twilight Worlds.

The Erlkonig was not just a myth turned into a Lied, but a historical event in this version of Earth and the real reason why peasants across Europe had so many deep-rooted superstitions about children being spirited away to the lands of the fey. The actual events of the Erlkonig's dark rampage across Europe may have been lost to the mists of time, but that doesn't change that it happened in this fictional Earth's history.

I don't want to get into specifics, but every living soul in Roanoke Colony vanishing without a trace most definitely has supernatural ties in this fictional iteration of Earth, albeit ties that have nothing to do with the fey.

I have been convinced to take a second look at this recruitment, and I'm kicking around some ideas. :D Playing around with the idea of someone who graduated with a math or physics degree from a prestigious university, got roped in to helping a friend "with a few things for his new company" because he needed someone "with a head for maths", who is now ten years later miserable in his position of making sure the company doesn't do anything stupid in spite of how much money he's gotten from it. Who will, one day soon, be very irritated at how he's now in a world where his cat can talk (thinking of a class that has a familiar, which turns out to be his cat getting caught up in his Awakening) and he can summon fire with a wave of his hands which completely invalidates everything he's ever learned about thermodynamics.

Interesting. GM, how do you feel about multiple submissions? With this new info I may rework my character…but it might be simpler to start from scratch and submit another.

Okay, A Psychopomp, Peri for the Othersoul. And I think Farouq will be a wizened old Arab man with a plethora of occult knowledge. He has studied various religions and practices and is currently looking over a variety of Egyptian artifacts and other African and Middle eastern artifacts brought to him.

Ideas:

As much as I like Lovecraftian stories and themes, this game is focused on both the fey and the themes surrounding them. Mythos concepts are not something that can easily be introduced without subsuming everything else and I wouldn't want to dilute the atmosphere that I'm going for by including them. Nonetheless, thank you for the suggestions.

I have been convinced to take a second look at this recruitment, and I'm kicking around some ideas. :D Playing around with the idea of someone who graduated with a math or physics degree from a prestigious university, got roped in to helping a friend "with a few things for his new company" because he needed someone "with a head for maths", who is now ten years later miserable in his position of making sure the company doesn't do anything stupid in spite of how much money he's gotten from it. Who will, one day soon, be very irritated at how he's now in a world where his cat can talk (thinking of a class that has a familiar, which turns out to be his cat getting caught up in his Awakening) and he can summon fire with a wave of his hands which completely invalidates everything he's ever learned about thermodynamics.

The notion of a hyper-intelligent individual who is prickly about the fact that many of the hard laws of science he spent years researching being shattered in mere moments before his very eyes is undeniably charming.

Interesting. GM, how do you feel about multiple submissions? With this new info I may rework my character…but it might be simpler to start from scratch and submit another.

It would always be safe to assume that I have no objections to people making multiple submissions in any game of mine. Whether that ends up being practical for applicants is another matter entirely, but I would encourage people to make characters to their heart's content as time and drive permit.

Okay, A Psychopomp, Peri for the Othersoul. And I think Farouq will be a wizened old Arab man with a plethora of occult knowledge. He has studied various religions and practices and is currently looking over a variety of Egyptian artifacts and other African and Middle eastern artifacts brought to him.

Do you have your sights set on a particular psychopomp yet?

Alright, more stuff!

May I request the following martial tradition? My character is very much not a "I pick up a sword and stab someone" type, but more the supportive active type:

> Words break bones This tradition is basically a modified scholar tradition
Equipment Sphere: Unarmored Training Either this or switching it back to staff training
Gladiator Sphere Something for the offensive mix, allowing her to do similar things, similar to alchemy sphere
Warleader Sphere something supportive, similar to the scout sphere
Variable: 1 talent from either Gladiator or Warleader sphere.

Secondly, this one focused on vancian to magic transperancy- Do racial CL boosts from vancian casting schools apply to their directly corresponding sphere's caster level (Divination to Divination and Enchantment to Mind?) What about racial DC boosts? Can we select alternate racial traits if the base trait is priced in the RP system?

I've got an idea brewing for a Japanese immigrant- an immediate relation of Saigo Takamori, gone overseas to duck the consequences of losing the Satsuma Rebellion. The time is right for a general surge in interest in Japanese culture- this is the period of The Mikado and Japnonisme. Powerwise, her Othersoul would be a Jorogumo and she would be an Incanter | Hedgewitch (Martial Hedgewitch, Charlatanism)/Hive with the magical end of things heavily focused on a subtle, flexible and dangerous Conjuration-sphere Swarm Companion, with a side order of being a social skill monkey and a Fencing-sphere swordswoman.

Given that the pool of possibles already includes an Arab and a Pole, though, I'm a little worried that you'll be reluctant to consider more than one or two world travelers in sleepy Waldenshire. Are you OK with the Ainsworths being super-cosmopolitan types with a circle of friends which would probably see them shunned in even a pretty damn tolerant 1870s English hamlet?