As the autumnal equinox approaches, Sandpoint's residents ready themselves for the Swallowtail festival. Five years after the Late Unpleasantness and the fire that claimed the old church and several lives, including those of Father Tobyn and his adopted daughter Nualia, the new Sandpoint Cathedral has been completed and is ready for its consecration. There are dark things lurking on the horizon, however. Sandpoint is in need of heroes! Will you answer the call?
Hi! I've been itching to try running this again for a while, and with things going pretty well in my other game, I think I can manage GMing one more. This AP is what got me interested in them in the first place.
House Rules:
- Elves mature at the same rate as Half-elves until they hit adulthood.
- Drawing a weapon and a shield or two weapons can be done as one move action
- Rolling a Nat 20 on an aid another roll doubles the effect.
- Unchained rogues replace the Weapon Finesse bonus feat at first level with one of the following feats:
-- Acrobatic
-- Alertness
-- Athletic
-- Deceitful
-- Deft Hands
-- Persuasive
-- Stealthy
or
-- 1 combat feat that they meet the prerequisites for.
- Any class or archetype that grants a feat that has been turned into a combat option by the Elephant in the Room rules gets a bonus combat feat instead.
- Any class or archetype that grants a feat that is replaced by the Elephant in the Room rules gets the replacement feat instead.
- Any class or archetype that grants feats that have been combined get the combined feat when they would first get the normal feat and replace the other feats with bonus combat feats.
Banned Items, Classes, Archetypes, Etc. - No Gunslinger, No Archetypes that use guns, No Guns, No technologic items.
Races - Core Races, Aaismar, Changeling, Ifrit, Oread, Sylph, Tiefling, Undine are allowed. Other races will require GM approval.
Starting Level - 1st
Starting Wealth - Average for your class
Attributes - 20 point buy.
Hit Points - Max at 1st level, higher of average (rounded up) or roll from 2nd on
Traits - 3, 1 trait must be a campaign trait from the Player's Guide or the Heroes of Varisia book. Players can gain another trait by taking a drawback.
Alignment - Non-evil alignments only
Initiative, Rolls, and Crits:
Initiative
Whether or not I roll initiative depends on the situation. In cases like this where one side ambushes the other and the other side was not ready for a fight, I won't bother rolling it. The ambushers go then the defenders respond and that'll be the initiative order. It goes both ways, so if y'all get the drop on a bunch of goblins not expecting a , for example, you'd go, then the goblins go.
When I do roll initiative, I roll once for each type of enemy in the fight and for any "hero units" that are part of the fight. This gives me blocks of enemies that act together and PCs that are next to each other in the turn order act together.
For example: Let's say y'all are attacking a group of baddies. There's two types of them and they have a captain and a mage. The group is also expecting trouble.
So after the surprise round, the turn order would look like this.
Iniative Order:
- Captain
- Baddie Type 2
- Baddie Type 1
- PC 1, PC 2, PC 3, PC 4, PC 5, and PC 6
- Mage
For the sake of this example, let's say PC 1 and PC 3 rolled 20's on their initiative.
Then the order would look like this:
Iniative Order:
- PC 1 and PC 3
- Captain
- Baddie Type 2
- Baddie Type 1
- PC 2, PC 4, PC 5, and PC 6
- Mage
In either case, whether I roll or not, I go in the order that people post their actions. Combat in PBP is slow enough without having to go back, get clarification, and resolve what happens. So in the above example. when it's PC 2's, PC 4's, PC 5's, and PC 6's turn, if PC 4 posts first and PC 6 starts an Inspire Courage Bardic Performance in the nest post, she wouldn't get the benefits of it that round, but she would the next. When PC 6 ends the performance, everyone still gets it the round he ends it.
I do it this way to try and keep things moving and to keep my what little sanity I have intact. It's not a perfect system, but I don't believe such a thing exists and this, more importantly, works pretty well in my experience.
Rolls
When making any roll, I always try to split out what bonuses and penalties are affecting the roll. I'm not going to make you list out the always on stuff, like Weapon Focus, Skill Focus, or the various save improvement feats. I do want you to list out the more transient modifiers like flanking or being prone. Also, if you're attacking an enemy and there's a map, I try to color code the enemies so you can make it clear who's on the receiving end. Here a few examples:
Power Attacking the Blue Ghoul with Flank and Shaken wielding a greatsword, STR: +3, BAB: +3:
Attack (Greatsword, Power Attack, Flank, Shaken) vs. Blue Ghoul: 1d20 + 6 - 1 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 6 - 1 + 2 - 2 = 24
Damage: 2d6 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (6, 5) + 4 + 3 = 18
Picking a lock with improvised tools and guidance, DEX: +2, Disable Device: +3 for Class Skill, +2 for ranks:
Disable Device (Improvised Tools, Guiadance): 1d20 + 7 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 7 - 2 + 1 = 16
For knowledge checks, there will be times where it's going to be obvious what to roll, but for those occassions where it isn't, please roll once for each topic and list out the modifiers for your knowledge rolls like so:
Knowledge on Topic 1: 1d20 ⇒ 14 Modifiers: Arcana +x, Dungeoneering +x, Engineering +x Geography +x, History +x, Local +x, Nature +x, Nobles +x, Planes +x, Religion +x
Knowledge on Topic 2: 1d20 ⇒ 16 Modifiers: Arcana +x, Dungeoneering +x, Engineering +x Geography +x, History +x, Local +x, Nature +x, Nobles +x, Planes +x, Religion +x
When we eventually get to the point where weapons do various types of damage, like Fire or Electricity, I'd also like for y'all to do the same there. So in the attack example, if that was a Frost/Shock greatsword and the attacker got sneak attack (5d6), the damage dice would look like this.
Damage (Power Attack, Sneak Attack, Frost, Shock): 2d6 + 4 + 3 + 5d6 + 1d6 + 1d6 ⇒ (3, 4) + 4 + 3 + (5, 4, 5, 5, 6) + (2) + (1) = 42
This way, if something has, say Resist Cold 5, I know how much damage came from the Frost and can take off the appropriate amount.
Crits
I like to roll double damage, but, if you'd rather double your damage roll, that's fine too. If you get a critical threat, roll to confirm and roll or calculate the extra damage. So if we take the above example with the greatsword, I'd preview the roll and see if I confirmed, so the dice looks like this:
Character Sheet - At a bare minimum, needs to have race, class, and attributes. Would prefer a complete sheet
Character Background - Doesn't need to be a novel, but I would appreciate at least a few paragraphs explaining who your character is, where they came from, where they are going, and how they wound up in Sandpoint if they aren't from there originally.
If you need some help fleshing this out, here are a few things that might help.
What is your character's name?
How old is your character?
What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?
Where was your character born?
Where were you raised?
By who?
Who are your parents?
Are they alive?
What do they do for a living?
Do you have any other family or friends?
What is your character's marital status?
Kids?
What is your character's alignment?
What is your character's moral code?
Does your character have goals?
Is your character religious?
What are your character's personal beliefs?
Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
Why does your character adventure?
How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
How does your character get along with others?
Is there anything that your character hates?
Is there anything that your character fears?
20 Questions for Deep Character Creation:
Sadly, the page I found this on has since been zapped from the internet. Thankfully I had copied the questions.
Concept
These are the fundamentals, the broadest strokes. Every character should have answers to these five, including NPCs. It's the quickest way to give the sense of a full individual instead of a cardboard stereotype.
1. What emotion best describes your character? Find one primary emotion your character expresses. Try to use a colorful, specific word to describe it. For instance, instead of "angry" you might say "vengeful" or "raging," or instead of happy you might say "cheerful" or "exalting."
2. What emotion does your character evoke in others? How do others react to you? Do you impress, scare, calm, excite, or perhaps annoy? Again try to find the most specific term you can. Is this reaction different between friends and enemies?
3. What does your character need most? If your character had everything he or she needed, why go on an adventure? Most people's needs are fairly universal, although they can change over time. Common needs are survival, security, companionship, esteem, romance, family, or wisdom. Consider what your character's starting needs are, and where you want them to be by the end of the adventure or campaign. It helps to establish this need with the GM, to ensure it fits with the themes of the game.
4. What is your character's goal in life? This should be the principle, underlying motivation for everything your character thinks, says, and does. If your character were lying on the brink of death, what makes him or her cling to life? What could your character lose that he or she would consider worse than death? This goal is often broad, and sometimes unachievable. Whatever the nature of the goal, it should be something your character can strive for his or her entire life. The best goals are ones that can be threatened, as they will help create more compelling adventures. Ideas include justice, revenge, protecting loved ones, redeeming one's self, or gaining some kind of power. When you think of something, ask yourself "why?" to make sure it isn't because of some larger, more important goal.
5. How does your character believe this goal can be accomplished? Because the goal can often be ideological, the method to achieving it is sometimes equally insubstantial. Your character's methods should be strongly tied to beliefs (or lack of beliefs), and primarily be a decision of lifestyle. A character bent on revenge might consider perfecting a fighting discipline, while a character devoted to a cause might consider a religious or philosophical doctrine.
Background
For any campaign, a character should have come from somewhere. Spend any length of time with someone and their history is bound to come up. These questions give your character history, and therefore dramatic and emotional weight.
6. Where did your character come from? Consider your character's initial roots, before he or she was a teenager. These times are what shape your character the most. Who were your parents? Where did you live? What was your family's economic and social status? How were you educated? What were the three most important lessons you learned?
7. When did you grow up? Everyone begins taking responsability for their own lives at different times and in different ways. Describe the events related to when your character started taking care of him- or herself.
8. What values does your character hold? Name three things your character considers sacred, and three things he or she is idealogically opposed to. These things will usually stem from a combination of your goals and your personal history. Consider especially where the values came from. Was your character taught these values? Did they develop as a reaction to something your character considered noble or diabolical? Establish lines that your character will not cross in pursuit of his or her goal to add challenge to playing your character.
9. How does your character dress? Start generally with an overall statement of the quality of your character's appearance, such as projected social status, trade, common activities, or how groomed or slovenly your character is. Begin to hone in on telling details, especially those things that most people take for granted. How exactly does your character style his or her hair? What decorative articles does your character wear, such as jewelry, decorated buttons or buckles, a belt, gloves, etc.?One especially telling detail is footwear. Describe in detail what your character wears on his or her feet, including cut, tightness or looseness, heel height, sole hardness or softness, lacing/buckling/tying or lack thereof, toe shape (square, round, pointed…?), color, material, shininess, cleanliness, repair or disrepair, and any other details you can think of.
10. What are your character's means? Consider all the resources your character has. This should include material resources such as money and property, social resources such as friends and allies, and personal resources such as skill, courage, strength, wits, etc. It might help to make a list of all your character's resources that he or she might use to overcome adversity. Consider challenges like fights, puzzles, traveling, persuading (and being persuaded), and any others.
Details
Now we're picking nits. These five are all about texture and color. These answers take your character beyond an adventure serial persona and into reality. Answers to these make your characters memorable for years.
11. What are your character's personal tastes? Name at least three things your character enjoys for no reason other than personal preference. A good place to start is with each of the five senses. Consider a sound, smell, taste, feeling, or sight that is uniquely pleasing to your character. Also consider activities such as hobbies or habits. Name three things your character dislikes, as well.
12. What are your character's opinions? Decide upon at least three major aspects of local society and your character's opinion on them. This could be generalizations such as rich or poor people, more specific areas like a particular political or religious group, or very specific things like a prominent individual or an aspect of the character's job. Check with your GM for relevant things in the campaign to have opinions about.
13. What is your character's comfort zone? What environment, activity, or mindset puts your character at ease? This can add a lot of color to your character during stressful moments, as he or she will have a place to go or a thing to do at these times. It helps to have a comfort zone broken up into the above parts so at least some of it is portable.
14. Who has had the biggest impact on your character's life? Name and briefly describe at least one person who had a significant impact on how your character perceives the world today. You can name more than one, but they should each reflect different aspects of your character's beliefs. Use this as a reference point when your character has to make difficult decisions (i.e., "What would so-and-so do?").
15. What are some of your character's unexpected quirks? Name three things that are unexpected about the way your character behaves, such as things that go against his or her normal social status, age, or trade. How about three unexpected talents or abilities like being able to sing, or knowing some trivial knowledge, or being good at math? Three things your character can't do that most other people can such as whistling, swimming, or reading well? How about three things your character fears, such as heights, dogs, or insects?
Player
These five questions direct your play experience itself rather than your character. What do you want out of your game? If a group answers these together, they can expect dramatically rewarding game sessions, and the GM will know clearly what's expected to give everyone a good time.
16. What kind of story does your character belong in? Who are the characters your character interacts with? What settings does he or she inhabit? What themes are important? What conflicts does your character face? These things are important to understand so your GM can create adventures that will engage your character, and so you will have a better chance at getting along with your fellow players' characters.
17. What role does your character fill? Roleplaying is all about the ensemble cast. Make sure you fill a unique role in the party, and you aren't stepping on anyone else's toes. Consider your role in the interpersonal relations of the party, your role in combat, what skills your character is best at, and what thematic note your character hits.
18. What should the other players know about your character? These should be major thematic points, your character's general emotion (if it isn't secret), potential surprises or areas that might be difficult, and any other pertinent information. Also start sketching out potential interactions, such as another character you might go to for help (or who might go to you for help), or someone you'll probably butt heads with. Getting these things out in the open is important to ensure there aren't unpleasant surprises.
19. What is your play style? Do you like heavy character immersion, or attention to detail in the rules, or perhaps you're especially goal-oriented? Maybe you're a bit competitive. Do you prefer lots of colorful descriptions, or a quicker framework understanding of situations? Do you speak in your character's voice? You may not even be aware of your own play style. Keep this in mind as you play so you can better communicate with your fellow players about the direction of the party as a whole, and the course of the adventure. This also helps your GM understand your personal needs at the gaming table.
20. How do you want your character to die? Your character won't live forever, although you might not play him or her to the end. If you had your choice of deaths for your character, what would it be? Death of old age, having survived through all his or her trials? Perhaps a bloody, violent death? A noble sacrifice? Happenstance? It can also provide an unusual layer of texture to your roleplaying, as you have a better understanding of your character's fate. It will also tell you if your character is a tragic or heroic one. Finally, it can help your GM in resolving conflicts in-game if he or she has an idea of your comfort zone with threats to your character's life.
Character Personality and Appearance - Doesn't need to be detailed, a few sentences will do. I would like to know character height, build, age, and distinguishing characteristics.
Roleplaying Sample - Links to other characters you've played or, if you don't have any or want to showcase this character, write a short scene involving them.
Player Questionnaire - Fill out the questionnaire below. It's mostly to help me know where redlines are, where you'd like the story to go, and what you are expecting from me, though I do like getting to know people.
1. What time zone are you in?
2. How long have you been playing TTRPGs?
3. What's your favorite part about playing TTRPGs?
4. What do you expect from this game?
5. What do you expect out of your fellow players?
6. What do you expect out of me?
7. (If you don't want this to be public, PM me the answer to this one and just note that you did so.) Beyond the obvious (generally stuff already prohibited by Paizo's forum rules,) what are your redlines? Are there any topics, themes, or imagery that you absolutely do not want to see in the game?
For the sake of everyone's sanity, be sure to put the original, english text in a spoiler and mark it as the language being used. In general, it's best to go in order and use a separate spoiler for each one. Especially if you're using the Zalgo generator.
For example wrote:
"میں بیوقوفوں سے گھرا ہوا ہوں۔," The Dread Lord of the Crypts sighed in Abyssal. He picked up his staff and settled into his throne. "Iltqajt sew! X'nista 'nagħmel għalik," he says in the goblin tongue, his voice cheery.
Abyssal
Spoiler:
"I am surrounded by idiots."
Goblin
Spoiler:
"Well met! What may I do for you?"
Tokens and Character Art
If you'd like to make life on your GM a little easier, here are some tools and resources that you can use to create tokens for the battlemap or pick out art for your character. While AI artbots are an option, I'd ask that you not use them due to ethical concerns about how they were/are developed. If you grab something online, please link back to the original artist in your character's profile.
Contact Information
If you need to contact me or would like to chat outside of the boards, here's my email and Discord username.
Email: salsa.the.geek@gmail.com
Discord: salsathegeek
A special thanks
I want to thank the following people. They may no longer be active on the boards, but they have inspired me to be a better player and a better GM.
