Darkness in the Heartlands - a Pathfinder 1e / Forgotten Realms AdventureGame Master Tara Ravenheart
Recent threads in Play-by-Post
Oooo, it's been a long time since I've revisited Faerun. Let's see... +6->13
Definitely a good stat spread... hmm... Speaking of playable species and thinking of what's in Faerun... how would you feel about any of the following Pathfinder-to-Faerun substitutions? Tengu for kenku
@Tara How do you handle the Lawful Good alignment? Is it so strict that a Paladin can't maneuver? Or is it more like (similar in sentiment to) the Fed-Up Citizen <<< Link campaign trait in Hell's Rebels? The idea that when the law does not serve the people, perhaps there should be changes made. For me it would be LG (with NG tendencies). 
That's a good question. I was thinking about a Paladin or Warpriest of the Red Knight, or maybe Bahamut. 
Looks interesting. I'll start by throwing some dice and see what I can come up with.
Incredibly tempting... let's see how heroic-y we can be!
VERY heroic-y! Question, as I don't see this one specifically asked and answered. Are Unchained versions of the classes acceptable? If I missed this somewhere, I apologize! My initial thought is a Sorcerer/uMonk... heavy on the sorcerer and almost certainly human. 
I had an idea for a Sacred Fist Warpriest, but I wanted him to be a healer / warrior, and there didn't seem to be a big stroke in getting to the healing side. I am now leaning toward a Life mystery Oracle, possibly either Halfling or Human. Still looking through archetypes as well, as I am not the most familiar with the Oracle class. 
There are a lot of questions to answer, I am going to get the first half posted now, and the rest later - here we go: Thank you for the answers! :) 
Is that actually a thing? Sounds a bit extreme. 
Apologies, no interest in playing but I do love rolling for abilities... = 16
Well, I guess it does make a suitably heroic array. Have fun all! 
Extremely interested, thinking of some flavor of Draconic Druid. Few questions though. 1. With the free archetype thing, the archetype replaces the domain/companion choice (and a few other things) completely and gives you a Drake companion. Would I be allowed to choose a domain anyway? Don’t worry, I wouldn’t select another companion, I just think Drake companions kinda suck. 2. It alters my wild shape, giving me a lesser form (kinda bad) in exchange for losing every wild shape form until 10th level, when I can turn into a medium dragon. Would I keep the base wild shape ability for beast shape? 3. Is this free archetype the only archetype we can take? Or can we trade the abilities out normally as well? And of course, the rolls.
Actually not as bad as I expected. Plenty suitable!
The GM will have the final word, but from what she explained a couple posts up, you get to keep the replaced abilities, but the altered remains as altered by the archetype. In your example, the draconic archetype replaces basically every single druid ability short of wild shape and trackless step, so you get to keep nature bond, nature sense, resist nature's lure, wild empathy, woodland stride, venom immunity, a thousand faces, and timeless body. The wild shape, however, is altered by the archetype, so you'll have to take the altered version. Still, seems pretty strong!
That’s what I thought it’ll end up being, but I wanted to clarify! 
Thanks for running this, I'm very interested as old school Forgotten Realms is definitely my jam. The Heartlands, you say? Perfect. I think I have something up my sleeve for just such an occasion: a moon elf witch with hex channeler as the free archetype. She's a worshipper of Sehanine Moonbow and something of a mystic, straddling the boundary between arcane and divine. Let's roll up some stats:
I think I can probably live with those as stats! 
+6=16
That’s outstanding. Will gin things up over the weekend. This profile.
I was thinking of doing a fetchling but I don’t see them in the forgotten realms lore. Would you prefer i use a different race? 
Are D&D 3.X books open for pilfering as I see them on the boundary of being both official content and 3PP at the same time,
Thinking of Half-Elf War priest( Calamity Caller of Tymora. He is stuck between Good and Bad Luck ..lol. 
Oooh.... definitely interested! Daring tiefling rogue, noble-hearted elven ranger, or reboot my beloved Fighter/Cleric of Sune?
4+6+6 = 16
Let's see what I can come up with!
Note PrCs got an overhaul in how they worked between 3.x and Pathfinder so they'd need a bit of conversion/tweaking to work. I do wonder if Faerun 3.x regional feats such as from the Player's Guide are available. 
Zahir here. I offer up Norde for this adventure. I believe everything you requested is in his profile, sort of somewhere. HP's: 7
I know they would need some tweaking, and reworking of some features if a feature or feat changed from how it worked in D&D 3.X to it's PF version. It is a balancing act on some parts when converting and re-tweaking D&D 3.X stuff to PF 1e Stuff.
Hmmm... toying around with the idea of a witch... how do you usually do familiars? Is the player or the GM responsible for role-playing them? 
[wipes brow]
Lords and ladies, I present Baron Joreld Huntsilver of House Huntsilver of Cormyr! He is a paladin of The Morninglord, Lathlander. Though his home is Suzail, this righteous warrior seeks to protect all of the Heartlands and beyond!! I was surprised by how dark parts of his story was, when I began to craft him. I welcome criticism, and I am more than happy to mesh his story with other submitted heroes from Cormyr and The Heartlands.
Also HP for a d8 HD character: 
Thinking about making a Cleric for this since I'm a big fan of Faerûn's pantheon. Let's see where the dice take me.
6+5+6 = 17
Interesting... 
Holy jeebus heck, I absolutely love the Realms!! Tied with Golarion for my favorite settings. A few more questions: For both ability scores and HP for levels 2-5, do we have to roll, or can we just do point buy/average? Since he said he isn't playing, can I 'steal' Oceanshieldwolf's above rolled stat array? lol As for my concept, I am currently leaning towards some sort of moon themed worshiper of Selune.
Happy for you to take them away Monkeygod!!!
Are we using Variant Multiclassing? With the generous extra feats, it would be relatively easy to trade a few for the ability to further customize characters.
Are we using Variant Multiclassing? With the generous extra feats, it would be relatively easy to trade a few for the ability to further customize characters. Yes, she'd mentioned they can be used for such.
Tara, I see you listed me as incomplete. What am I missing? I’ll get that corrected. 
I'm planning on using the Blossoming Light cleric archetype. Since it says it says all its changes are "alterations", not replacements, I was wondering if you'd let me keep either the ability to use armor or the domain spells?
Appreciate the concept approval, so.... Roll them dice!:
+6-2 = 13 +6-1 = 15 +6-2 = 12 +6-3 = 18 +6-2 = 15 +6-2 = 11 Probable Array
37 point buy seems ludicrous...lol. 
I'll be bowing out! Have a great game people! 
This will be Dorian Grey's work in progress....
Here is my submission: Flame Ashhammer, NG Half-Elf Warpriest of Sune About Me as a Poster:
I am experienced gamer in D&D and Pathfinder and I used to freelance edit for Paizo. I ADORE the Forgotten Realms. I've played PBP here for MANY years and have a very good track record for posting regularly and communicating when I can't post/need a break. I have sometimes pulled out of games that I didn't click with. I try to communicate clearly and give civil, constructive feedback; the good and bad news is I don't stay silent when something is wrong or I'm unhappy--I would rather try to resolve problems and find solutions than suffer in silence. Though I strive always for respect and civility, some people have seen me therefore as someone who "rocks the boat," whereas others have seen me as someone who keeps dialogues open and the story moving. You are welcome (understanding you have your work cut out for you checking applications) to check my campaign posting history to get a sense of my approach to gameplay and RP.
My "red lines": I do not mind dark and mature themes, and can even write them well, but I don't want to see graphic violence and sexual assault, especially toward minors, without a warning and a check-in first. As we are all relative strangers here, I also want an OOC check-in prior to initiating acts in game like affection, intimacy, or romance. Build Notes:
1. I know: people love the Faerun pantheon so a lot of folks are going to post divine casters and I'm adding to the plethora. This is both an explanation and an apology to creating all this overlap. If I were more calculating I'd submit something else.... but Flame is a character muse that has, inexplicably recently reawakened (I first played her in AD&D 2e in the 90s as a fighter/cleric), I've been itching to play her with zero opportunities arriving... UNTIL this recruitment came along AND not only is it "her era" of the FR, it takes place near her home base (Daerlun, Sembia)... and I can get close to the stupid ridiculous stats I rolled for her in 1997. So I took it as fate and can only hope for the best. If somehow everyone in the world also puts in a divine caster and the GM would allow it/prefer it, I can swap out for my tiefling slayer I've got lying around here somewhere. 2. Yes, she has item creation stuff. I don't really expect her to be able to craft a bunch of items during the adventure, and moreover this is my pledge not to pull shenanigans to try to craft a bunch of stuff to either make the party broken through equipment they shouldn't have yet or make unwarranted profits. It's just: making armor is part of Flame's story. She wants to prove you can make properly functional, protective armor that is also beautiful and thus in the service of Sune. She will likely want to quest for unusual materials in the service of making the ultimate suit of armor, but this is for the journey, not the destination. (Now: if you do give us downtime and we can make stuff, cool, but I'm not going to press for it.) 3. I took a trait that is for Shelyn that seemed very appropriate for Sune. If this is not okay, I can find another. I also did an alternate race ability that is technically to do with the fey, but all it does is give you extra class skills, so it's really just meant to reflect her diverse upbringing. If that is also not okay I can adjust (it's mainly to replace the half-elf ability multitalented, which your house rule about favored classes renders moot). 4. If I understood the way the "free" archetype works, and you don't have to give up what is replaced, she gets two Warpriest bonus feats at 3rd level, one of which is Craft Magic Arms and armor. If this is too cheesy on top of the bonus feats you gave us, I can adjust. I will no doubt update the character sheet as I note embarrassing math errors, etc. and questions or comments are welcome. 
Okay, took me awhile but here is my submission. I present Ezmelda the Bard Swashbuckler half elf. I hope I've got everything right in that profile mechanics wise but think I managed. For the fluff, I went with the 10 minute background (Thank you, TheWaskally for reminding me of it) but I confess it took a lot longer than ten minutes. Short version, Ezmelda is originally from Hillsfar, yes, THAT Hillsfar, where nonhumans are frowned on, and there began her tragic story. SHe's lived through a lot, lost a lot, and gotten the chip on the shoulder to prove it but is a heroine none the less. She'll likely favor bard over swashbuckler unless the party needs the otherway around in which case she'll build swashbuckler up. As a traveling minstrel, she can be where ever the story starts more or less, and I can change some fluff to better suit the story or make connections.
Ok, take 6s for the other two so that is 10, 6x3.
Oh. I did forget her hit dice rolls
Looks like only improvement over half plus 1 is that 8 for the first swashbuckler level.
GM, can we get a confirmation on whether unchained classes are OK? Please and thank you.
Harper prestige class (@Dorian Grey) as I recall from back in the day, the Harper prestige classes were rather underwhelming. You can certainly be a Harper agent without having a prestige class, Unique Races (@Almonihah) I would say those all sound like appropriate replacements. As I mentioned in the recruitment, I am not looking for a party of entirely exotics, so keep that in mind. I am also hesitant to have players that have natural flying ability from first level. Thoughts on Alignment (@Kaliban, @Ouachitonian) This could be a very long reply - I have pages of notes and communications with my GM from when I played a paladin for 14 levels across almost 4 years in a Wrath of the Righteous campaign. I will start by saying “Lawful Good is NOT Lawful Stupid”. Alignment is a guideline to help form a character’s background and motivations, and provide parameters for roleplaying. It should not be a tool a GM uses to punish a player, not a justification for a player to be mean/cruel to other players. I actually think the website TV Tropes does a great job with its
Here is a simple synopsis. A Lawful Good character follows a strong moral code based on good and justice. He will follow orders and rules of a just society or organization, but not blindly so. The key there is just, so if in an evil or unjust land, a Lawful Good character would not have to follow unjust laws - for instance, if a demon was disguised as their superior officer and ordered them to murder a child, they would know that is wrong and not do it. I think a great moment showing the flexibility of a Lawful Good character was in Avengers: Endgame, when Captain America goes to the alternate timeline to get Loki’s scepter, and knowing they are all secretly Hydra agents, deceives them by saying “Hail Hydra”. A GM who embraces Lawful Stupid would say he violated his lawful nature by lying, but as a Lawful Good character he Unchained Classes (@Stormraven) I knew I was forgetting something when I did the “Classes” section. Yes, you may choose between Unchained for Barbarian, Monk, and Rogue. I would prefer Unchained for Summoner, though if there is a specific build that cannot be achieved, we can discuss. Fetchling (@Marcus Nocturnus) The fetchling is a pathfinder specific race. That being said, I think they could fit into a interesting role, especially with the recent arrival of the City of Shade. PM me what you are thinking for a concept and we can try to flesh it out. 3.5 Faerun Material and Feats (@RHMG Animator, @DeathQuaker) Interesting question. I will cautiously say yes, if both thematic and not being used in a broken manner. If someone really wants an FR prestige class, PM me and we can discuss. Familiars, roleplay & control (@Almonihah) I default to allowing players to control their familiars and animal companions. Ability Scores & Power Level (@MonkeyGod, @EVERYONE)
Okay, so I have previously used this rolling method, and even did a test batch of 20 sets to get an idea. Most sets fell between being a 35 and 45 pt buy, with one “terrible” set at a 26, and the best at a 53. I never imagined having so many sets roll 60 plus and even 70- point buy range. I want everyone to know I will be doing some Power balancing for the group that is selected. So if you rolled a 30ish point buy, do not be dejected, and unfortunately, if you are on the higher end, there will likely be some reduction, though kept on the soft side (and with some boons to counterbalance the loss). There are a lot of great concepts floating around, I am looking forward to seeing what characters get submitted once fleshed out. I do ask that everyone having breakdown by level of what feats, skills, and ability advances they gain, to make it easier to review each applicant. Let’s keep it going.
@GM: undertabaly missed my question, but can we take an archetype (trading things out as normal) for our class or is the free archetype the only one we get?
All done here I believe. As bigrig mentioned I took the free archetype and then stacked a standard archetype, if this is too much I will remove it. Marcus is a half-elf with some drow in his heritage so that he has some of the traits thereof. He is a paladin of Milil, a servant of Oghma. I have his history taking him to Neverwinter with ties to Waterdeep. If he needs to end up elsewhere this could easily be accomplished. He is a virtuous bravo with a level dip in swashbuckler to open up some skills. He brings a near front-line AC of 22, incredible saves, typical dmg range of 16-21, the ability to heal at a touch, can channel energy, and has the heal skill, but no spells unless I need to drop the tempered champion. Or if selected and the group needs someone who can use a wand of CLW and the like, I could drop tempered champion. Thank you for your consideration.
Familiars, roleplay & control (@Almonihah) I default to allowing players to control their familiars and animal companions. All right! That definitely means I'm leaning towards a human witch with a very particular fox familiar... :D
Unchained Classes (@Stormraven) I knew I was forgetting something when I did the “Classes” section. Yes, you may choose between Unchained for Barbarian, Monk, and Rogue. I would prefer Unchained for Summoner, though if there is a specific build that cannot be achieved, we can discuss. Thanks!
I’m leaning hard towards a Warpriest (Divine Commander) VMC Inquisitor of the Red Knight. A wandering Knight, lending aid and advice wherever She leads him to travel. LN, just like his goddess. Avoids any Paladin code issues, and Divine Commander is just a lot easier to wrap my head around for the free archetype stuff. Depending on the answer to bigrig107’s question above I might take Arsenal Chaplain as well. Still got some things to work out, mostly because I don’t know the Realms as well as I know Golarion. Where are we starting again? 
Theo's fluff is largely complete and in the profile. Character sheet is linked but I'm still working on the crunch. Going Magus with the Kensai(free) and Bladebound archetypes.
I think it's going to be Paladin 2 / uRogue 3.
Rerolls
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