Welcome everyone, very glad to have you aboard. We’ve largely done introductions in the recruitment thread but do say hi!
This will probably be lengthy and I will probably have forgotten something so please shout and raise any questions.
First, could I please ask you to dot and delete in the Gameplay thread.
I know some of you have posted some of your ideas already, and I’m positive that you’re all at least thinking of them, but please feel free to start sharing your character ideas, both in terms of concept and mechanics. We can then see how things are shaping up as a party, which might nudge some of you in particular directions, see whether there are opportunities for existing character relationships etc. - I’m all for encouraging good group dynamics.
The crunch
Here are my proposed build rules but as mentioned previously I’m open to input on some of them.
Level: Just in case it’s not clear, we’re starting at level 1!
Stats: 20 point, nothing below an 8 after racial mods. I’m open to rolling if the whole group is down for it. If so, it really should go without saying but I’m going to spell it out: rolling means you need to be ok with the fact that you may end up with worse stats than other people.
HP: My default option is max at 1st level and half HD +1 thereafter but open to group thoughts on this one too.
Classes: All Paizo except anti-paladin. Summoner must be unchained; for other classes with an unchained version it’s your choice. Archetypes are fine provided they’re first party. If there’s something that you like the flavour of but the trade-offs don’t entirely make sense or just plain suck then I’m happy to see what we can do to make it viable.
Races: Taldor is a human-centric society. Core races are encouraged and even then it’s worth noting that half-elves and half-orcs are far from universally loved by society. I’m not specifically saying anything is off the table but you’d have to really sell me on the concept regarding anything particularly exotic-looking and how it would work in this AP. To pick examples from two of my current games, this is definitely a “four humans, a gnome and a tiefling” game rather than “a gnoll, a drow, a tiefling, a halfling and a half-orc walk into a tavern” game.
Alignment: No evil - let’s keep it straightforward. Politics is of course a murky business and there are certainly shades of grey here, but on other levels this is a broadly heroic AP with the aim of allowing a decent person to be able to rule.
Skills: Background skills are in play. As mentioned in recruitment, I’m also bumping up the not-Int-based classes with 2 ranks/level to 4 ranks given the nature of the AP. I think this is just Cleric, Fighter and Paladin but please correct me if I’ve missed something.
Traits: Two, one of which must be a campaign trait. You may take a third in exchange for a drawback. I love traits and think they’re a good way to add some flavour to characters but I do want to see them roleplayed, including any drawbacks.
VMC: Yes, you can use it if you’re so inclined.
Gear: Max starting gold for your class. You have a generous patron and I’d rather PCs have the chance to add flavourful stuff by having more gold to spend than missing out because it all needs to go on basics like armour and weapons. I’m not an absolute stickler for carrying capacity but if you dumped Strength and you can’t pick up more than a handful of feathers without being encumbered that’s your problem - like most things in life, there are always trade-offs.
Third party: No.
Elephant in the Room: I’m on the fence. No does make it easier for me not having to change anything but it’s definitely manageable and I’m persuadable if the group is keen. It does generally give martials a boost and it also opens up the possibility of picking up some less used/more interesting feats that might otherwise be off the table because most builds tend to end up wanting more feats than they have available.
ABP: For simplicity (for me!) I’m going to say no for this as it would be a lot of extra work to redo and rebalance loot for an entire AP. I generally like it because the game requires numbers to maintain the expected balance so everybody gets those numbers and, for similar reasons to EitR, it’s nice to see more interesting items be used that otherwise might not be because everyone needs a cloak of resistance. To address both of these in a slightly different way I’m open to custom items that stack different abilities or theoretically, say, a vest of resistance instead of the cloak.
Overall I’d rather try and accommodate you to be able to play the character you want so let me know if you have any questions or ideas.
For similar reasons, and as mentioned in the recruitment, I’m also open to tweaking things if they’re not working for you. Again, long-term it’s good to keep everyone happy and I’d always prefer to work with you. Let’s keep this to level ups but if you feel a feat or spell or something isn’t doing what you want then you’re welcome to trade it out for something else without worrying about retraining. I just ask you to please be transparent about it, not to abuse it, and try not to tinker overmuch.
The fluff
In terms of the flavour, please make sure your character sheet includes:
Appearance
Personality
Background
None of these need to be hugely long, though if you want to write a novel please go for it! Exact details can be fleshed out as we go and characters develop. I do enjoy knowing about a PC’s family/friends/connections but again, that’s something that can be added as we go rather than a necessity from the start (or at all).
Along similar lines, you’re welcome to use one of the various sets of questions to help develop your characters (and I do think they’re pretty useful for helping you think and for shaping personalities and interesting details) but I’m not going to enforce it.
Here are a couple I see commonly used:
2. How old is your character?
3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin colour, eye colour, hair colour, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. speech, mannerisms)?
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?
7. Do you have any other family or friends?
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?
9. What is your character’s alignment?
10. What is your character’s moral code?
11. Does your character have goals?
12. Is your character religious?
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?
14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
15. Why does your character adventure?
16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
18. How does your character get along with others?
19. Is there anything that your character hates?
20. Is there anything that your character fears?
2. List two goals for the character that you, as a player, think would be cool to see accomplished in-game.
3. List two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves them but that they are not actually aware of yet.
4. Describe three people that are tied to the character through blood, romance or honour. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. All can do something useful for you, if you can get the situations to line up. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.
5. Describe three memories that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavour.
Again, even if you do one of these in detail it shouldn’t be seen as a straitjacket if you change your mind on something, and of course character growth and development is part of the fun of playing.
Finally, to crib directly from the initial recruitment post, you will need a reason why your character is here, in this particular campaign:
Your character will want a reason to support Eutropia’s bid to inherit the Lion Throne, or at the very least be ambiguous about it. I think she’s objectively a pretty decent candidate and easy to support, but this isn’t a campaign where you get to back the candidate of your choice. Nor is it a game where you’re looking to put one of your characters on the throne.
You don’t have to be Taldan, but, as with the above point, you are going to need a reason to care about Taldor and its future direction.
That’s probably plenty to be digesting for the moment!
Signing in for the greater glory of Taldor!
So, I have a dot but my post doesn't show in the gameplay thread or my posts. It could be that you have to leave a post as the GM to officially launch the thread. But since my dot was achieved somehow, I'm not asking questions. :)
My build idea is a minor noble (Baronet) and Taldan patriot (of sorts) social reformer who wants to see the Senate gain power while the monarchy and aristocracy are reduced in their influence, even though that will impact him as well. He is also working to get in the Senate himself. (Trait: Senatorial Hopeful)
He backs Eutropia because she sees the need for change. She may not be willing to go as far as he wants to, but at least she is going in the right direction. He backs Alcasti because he'd be a useful ally if he regains his title. He is also in favor of Exaltation Day because raising a commoner to noble status is getting new blood into the anemic aristocracy. If any of the PCs are true nobles, he will definitely see advantages in allying with them, especially if they are also into social reform.
Personality-wise, he plays a fop, bon vivant, and court 'barnacle' to be underestimated while still gaining access. In reality, he’s a thoughtful man. If you are familiar with the story or movies, think Scarlet Pimpernel.
So my build idea is...
Rogue (Guerrilla archetype), probably with a dip into Slayer (Cleaner archetype - to cover his tracks), then Master Spy PrC.
I'm fine with Point Buy over rolling but if everyone wants to roll, I'm flexible.
I am a fan of the Elephant in the Room rules. Given feats are received only every other level, having so many pre-req 'hurdles' seems unduly punitive to me. For instance, I have never ever used Combat Expertise except as a pre-req for other feats. That, to me, is bad game design. So instead of being able to do 'X' at 1st level, now I have to blow a feat slot on Combat Expertise at 1st (which I'll likely never use) only to grab 'X' at 3rd. My suspicion is many of the feat pre-reqs were designed with fighters (who gain a lot of combat bonus feats in addition to the regular ones) in mind - to slow down their chain-building. Unfortunately, that also impacts every other class. The choice is yours but, IMO, EitR is a good addition to the rules and isn't crazy powerful. It gives characters a few more options early on.
I'm also a fan of ABP BUT that does require a fair amount of in-game re-tooling for 'off the shelf' adventures so I totally understand NOT going in that direction. I do think your idea of adding flexibility to the body slots used for each item is a really good solution. There are a number of good belts out there so being able to turn your Belt of STR into, I dunno, Boots of STR... provides more item flexibility without forcing any re-tooling of treasure.
Thanks for choosing me! ;-)
Stats: 20 point buy works perfectly fine for me. I’m not in favor of rolling.
HP: Max at 1st and half HD +1 afterwards sounds good. Maybe rolling once and if it is higher than that, then we can keep that?
Races: As initially mentioned, I’d love to be able to play a plane touched character or a Kitsune maybe. I think Ifrits etc have the “Mostly human” racial trait and if it would be possible to use then I’d appreciate that.
Alignment: Fully on board with no evil.
Skills / Background Skills: Big fan of this.
Traits:
I really like the emphasis on roleplaying traits and drawbacks!
VMC: I probably won’t personally use it, but of course I’m ok with that being available
Gear: Max starting gold sounds great.
Third Party: No issue there at all.
Elephant in the Room: I think it would be a great option to add this rule set.
~
I would finalize my character idea and post answers to your questions asap.
HOORAH!
Very excited, and hello to the familiar faces I am already gaming with or have gamed with before. And an extra hello to the ones I haven't!
I have SO many concepts here of my own that I could make a full party out of them. (sweat-drop smile) I very much like to let the campaign premise and setting play a major role in who my character is (probably like all of us in this group) and the major themes of War for the Crown appear to be things like class, politics, and even gender, which I find a little interesting since more often in Pathfinder, the world likes to treat gender in a bit of a pleasant haze of 'sure, your gender has no bearing on what you are or aren't allowed to do in world or what classes you can be, and actual gender-based discrimination is fairly rare!'
Which is of course pleasant from a play perspective-- I'm not saying I really WANT to play games regularly in a setting with extreme built-in inequality of the sexes-- but at the same time from a writing perspective it makes it difficult to tell certain kinds of stories. Like, 'Mulan cuts her hair and pretends to be a man to go join the army to save her father from that fate' tends to need some heavy massaging to be workable if you're in a setting where women can join the army just fine, thanks. Eutropia's situation is one of the first I can recall seeing in Pathfinder where the princess's gender actually means she is barred from doing an important thing-- not just discouraged or tsked, but outright barred. So Taldor is a place where I can tell certain types of stories that might make less sense in, say, Andoran, etc.
Then of course you also have the theme of class and power and the fact that a lot of players will OOCly not inherently feel that a monarchy is the best rule system, even if it's going to the 'reformer' who has good ideas-- how ethical can inherited power possibly be, etc. Yet at the same time Taldor's a declining monarchy it is in many ways the epitome of capitalism, since you can buy your way into the nobility and so very many do. Money literally is power.
(My very first Pathfinder organized play character was a Taldane minor noble who wound up going into vigilante when that was released and terrorized both criminals and her fellow nobles as the Scarlet Rose! very Pimpernel indeed, with a dash of Zorro. I was really tempted to play her here, but, I've done that one, time for something new. But damn is vigilante a good one for this campaign, if anyone still needs notions....)
Anyway, with those two themes bouncing around in my head, I came up with two different concepts, either of which I could really enjoy playing. They are paired narratively, as a sister and a brother from Taldor's middle class. The sister is full of common sense and has been playing the role of the mother to her family since she was ten-- so a lot of that common sense has been learned, and a lot of invisible labor has been shouldered by her. She's watched her father invest substantially into her younger brother's welfare and education, while she was expected to manage the household and eventually marry. She has the unique frustrations of someone whose own common sense and clear head would make her a much better choice to take over the family business than her somewhat flighty and spoilt younger brother.... but every suggestion she makes gets ignored because she should 'stay in her lane.' Suffice to say she will have some strong personal empathy for Eutropia's situation. And has a lot of personal resentments that she gets out of her system by PUNCHING. And getting in people's faces like a brick.
Meanwhile, the younger brother has had the weight of the family's future success and social rise placed on him from childhood on, which is a burden regardless, but especially so when you develop awkward powers in your early teens that would absolutely damage your family's reputation. And when you lean into some dodgy gambling to try and make money fast in order to meet those expectations. And when you get caught gambling and get beaten so badly that your spine gets broken. And the family has to cough up a lot of money they really don't have in order to fix you. And you have to cope with the fact that the family's slide from the middle class to, really, the lower class, is entirely your fault and you have just GOT to find a way to make it up to your sister and father and fix the problem you created....
The sister would be a martial (at this point, tentatively a slayer, with a brawler dip) and would do martial type things but also focus on debuffing with Intimidate and combat maneuvers. Her damage would be not the highest in the world, but she would hopefully be able to be a solid tank and would be a strength-based character and frontliner.
The brother would be probably a Lore psychic, with a lot of potential versatility given how weird psychics are. He couldn't be too much of an HP-healer character but psychics get a lot of interesting weird abilities when it comes to status removal and things, and I'd be working to make him at least viable in that regard. He'd also know ALL THE THINGS. (Kineticist is also a potential second class choice for him)
I'm super happy to play either, as I've never played psychic at all and only had the lightest taste of slayer, so I'll make a final decision based on what the party is starting to coalesce into and what we need.
Because I am a very big dork, I also made a spreadsheet to try and get a sense of our party concepts-- this is entirely optional if you want to use it, if not feel free to ignore:
If you're still forming several concepts, feel free to insert a new row for yourself to list your ideas, if you wanna.
*********
MY VOTE IS FOR ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM ESPECIALLY IF I PLAY THE SISTER
more thoughts~
Point buy vs rolls: I'm fine with point buy but always tempted by rolling, I admit. That said I might be more open to rolls if there were a safety net (like we did in Golaripalooza) where if your final point buy after rolling was less than 15 pts, you could add points to get to that minimum, at least. That would still mean an element of risk in that you are sacrificing a guaranteed 20 pt buy, but at least it would prevent truly catastrophic dice from ruining your life.
HP at half+1 is fine by me.
Yay background skills!
No other thoughts on the mechanics other than my previously mentioned 'yes please' for EITR.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
This is sr, here's my tentative build, background, etc.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Thank you for inviting me into this adventure. Like I mentioned in my pitch:
I'd want to play a middle to high class noble with an academicor mercantileangle, looking at sociopolitical reforms as a natural evolution for Taldor to survive. He'll most likely be LG or LN, and if religious he'll be worshiping Abadar.
So, with the present line up of concepts, I'm thinking a cleric of Abadar with the Law and Protection domains and ranks in barrister/history/linguistics. Think Orion Pax en route to becoming Optimus Prime. Suit of armor plus spectacles. I'm torn between Child of Oppara or Young Reformer for the campaign trait.
I'm okay with point-buy and appreciate the increased skill allotment. I'll definitely be taking a drawback, as I always promote them in my own games. As a GM I allow ABP and EitR but I don't use them for my own character builds - mostly because I don't usually get to play.
I'll have a profile and stats ready before Monday. PS, think his name is Thandren.
HP: Max at 1st and half HD +1 afterwards sounds good. Maybe rolling once and if it is higher than that, then we can keep that?
This is the GM's call to me and I'm happy to go with 1/2HD+1 or whatever choice he makes. Personally, I use 1/2HD + 1/2... so,
d6 HP? = roll 1d3+3d8 HP? = roll 1d4+4
d10 HP? = roll 1d5+5
It is statistically better for the characters than 'Roll or take 1/2HD+1'. I do it in my games because (as a couple folks here know) I do make some challenging encounters where the characters can get beaten bloody. That said, I'm simply sharing my method - not suggesting Slowdrifter adopt it. Just a GM to GM share since it seems most of us spend time on the other side of the table. :)
Here is the profile for TheChelaxian's Abadaran reformist. I'll be filling in the fluffier bits over the weekend. Planning on using the tables from Ultimate Campaign to determine things like siblings and general concepts then build up from there.
Excellent! a cleric is always a valuable addition to the party- there's a reason it's still a gold-tier class. excited to see what the tables give for Neriros's background.
I'm also amused that 'nerd' is part of his name. :D
Thanks for choosing me!
Like I said in the recruitment thread, I'm fine with a variety of different possible class combinations - at the moment, I'm thinking an archery-focused slayer, perhaps with the Velvet Blade archetype? It would let him help out in combat while still holding his own in social situations. I'll try and work on the profile and stats this weekend - I'm looking forward to playing with everyone!
As for the mechanics, everything's looking good so far - regarding Elephant in the Room, I personally think it's great. Without it, most of the good martial feats take quite a while longer to get hold of.
We always like tasty ranged damage! I will be really amused if we have three people in the party who are either slayers or have slayer dips, haha.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Apologies for not getting back to you yesterday, as I'm sure you noticed the boards were being particularly cranky.
Anyway, some really great character ideas here and the makings of a pretty well-rounded party. Very excited to see where we end up. =D
Thanks for your input and suggestions too. We'll definitely go with 20 point buy and Elephant in the Room then, consider these locked in. For HP I'm going to suggest roll twice, take the higher one. It has the fun of rolling and statistically should give better than average overall, without having quite such a high floor as stormraven's method.
Races: As initially mentioned, I’d love to be able to play a plane touched character or a Kitsune maybe. I think Ifrits etc have the “Mostly human” racial trait and if it would be possible to use then I’d appreciate that.
Per the Player's Guide, geniekin will face stigma and prejudice from a lot of people in Taldor so that is something to consider. I'd prefer not to have a party made up of them (doesn't look like that's where we're headed anyway) but given both can do a reasonable job of passing as human most of the time (mostly human alternative racial trait is fine) then I'm open to it, with the aforementioned caveat. It’s not something that I’d want to overdo because I don’t think that’s necessarily fun but it is something that could hamper you in certain situations, e.g. certain NPCs may have a less favourable view of you. Provided they realise you’re not human, anyway! And I think from a character point of view it has loads of scope for someone used to suffering prejudice, being forced to hide themself etc.
Worth nothing that unlike the aasimar and tiefling equivalents, for the geniekin it doesn't explicitly say that you don't need to roll disguise checks to pass as human, so therefore you would need to do so. If you wanted to go that route, my first thought is that as mostly human I'd rule you'd get the +5 bonus for hiding minor details only and not give the -2 penalty for disguising yourself as a different race (it's a different thing compared to trying to pass as an elf or a dwarf). So providing you’re just using disguise to pass as human rather than anything else I’d give you a basic +5 as default out of the gate. And obviously not everyone is going to be scrutinising you closely anyway. How does that sound?
I'd want to play a middle to high class noble with an academicor mercantileangle, looking at sociopolitical reforms as a natural evolution for Taldor to survive. He'll most likely be LG or LN, and if religious he'll be worshiping Abadar.
I'm sure you've seen this anyway but the Player's Guide has details on some of the high ranking families via Noble Scion. Given you've said potentially Child of Oppara, I'm guessing that means more of a mid-ranking family? Feel free to grab a family name you find interesting from somewhere or come up with something. If there's one thing Taldor is not short of it's nobility!
I've got some material on Taldor generally and Oppara specifically that I'll share later. I'm sure some of you will have access to the many, many books available but not everyone will. The wiki is always a decent place to look too.
And I'll get a discord server set up and send you invitations.
I mean, it seems like we have rather a lot of martial characters - I'd be happy to pivot Zhao to a sorcerer if we need to do so, though I understand we could use a ranged damage-dealer as well.
You know, it's something of a tangent, but I'm a bit of a history buff, and reading through the Players' Guide, this seems very familiar...
From the looks of it, War for the Crown is essentially the First Carlist War, with the players on the side of the cristinos.
Races: As initially mentioned, I’d love to be able to play a plane touched character or a Kitsune maybe. I think Ifrits etc have the “Mostly human” racial trait and if it would be possible to use then I’d appreciate that.Per the Player's Guide, geniekin will face stigma and prejudice from a lot of people in Taldor so that is something to consider. I'd prefer not to have a party made up of them (doesn't look like that's where we're headed anyway) but given both can do a reasonable job of passing as human most of the time (mostly human alternative racial trait is fine) then I'm open to it, with the aforementioned caveat. It’s not something that I’d want to overdo because I don’t think that’s necessarily fun but it is something that could hamper you in certain situations, e.g. certain NPCs may have a less favourable view of you. Provided they realise you’re not human, anyway! And I think from a character point of view it has loads of scope for someone used to suffering prejudice, being forced to hide themself etc.
Worth nothing that unlike the aasimar and tiefling equivalents, for the geniekin it doesn't explicitly say that you don't need to roll disguise checks to pass as human, so therefore you would need to do so. If you wanted to go that route, my first thought is that as mostly human I'd rule you'd get the +5 bonus for hiding minor details only and not give the -2 penalty for...
Thanks for the explanation! I am not 100% sure about the race and might also go human or Kitsune, but just asking if you would be ok with a +10 bonus on the disguise check for mostly human geeniekin as is the case for a Kitsune turning into a human or is standard for polymorph effects under disguise? Totally fine with +5 if that does not work for you. ;-)
Another question that I had is how the Swashbuckler and their Finesse class feature would be changed under the EitR changed feat rules and if you have an idea about a replacement for said class feature?
Thanks!
I mean, it seems like we have rather a lot of martial characters - I'd be happy to pivot Zhao to a sorcerer if we need to do so, though I understand we could use a ranged damage-dealer as well.
You know, it's something of a tangent, but I'm a bit of a history buff, and reading through the Players' Guide, this seems very familiar...
From the looks of it, War for the Crown is essentially the First Carlist War, with the players on the side of the cristinos.
I think 'a lot' of martial characters re our current roster is arguable.... we have various striker-type characters in terms of damage. If you stick with your archer, you'd be dealing some of the most consistent damage in the game most likely, but you're probably not standing in the front line and taking a hit. A rogue is often sort of a secondary martial-- striker damage, but situational, without the HP (and usually ac) to serve as a frontline. Kari will be playing a Dex-based 2-weapon urban ranger (I was helping with sheet creation last night) who will also be a bit light on the AC for a while though will hopefully pump out decent damage... so while we do have several 'martials' they all slllightly secondary martials, in a sense, I guess? Anyway, a sorcerer wouldn't necessarily go AMISS, but the ranged damage, as you say, would also be very useful.
If Nerosis is still envisioning their cleric as a 'tank in the front lines' then it is posssssible I might switch to my psychic (since otherwise we don't currently have an arcane caster), but let me know your thoughts on that, Chelaxian, since I saw you removed 'tanking' from Nerosis's roles in the Sheet.
Conversely, if Nowruz goes swashbuckler I would probably definitely switch to the psychic! Because then we definitely would have enough martials.
I stress again that I'm super happy to play either of them.
***
Woooo History buffs!! I have a tiny bit of niche historical knowledge of Rome in the early-and-pre-Imperial and I love history despite being not remotely well read enough to qualify as a buff. Off I go to learn about the Carlist Wars.
(hehee we could be the Eutropinos!)
If Nerosis is still envisioning their cleric as a 'tank in the front lines' then it is posssssible I might switch to my psychic (since otherwise we don't currently have an arcane caster), but let me know your thoughts on that, Chelaxian, since I saw you removed 'tanking' from Nerosis's roles in the Sheet.
No, I'm not thinking tank, more of a defensive casting/crossbow cleric staying out of melee if possible.
Neurosis is a great new nickname, which is funny considering his updating fluffy bits. Thankfully, the rolls on the UC tables mostly kept to the vision for the character, but those that didn't exactly fit did allow for some alt flavor.
I went with Young Reformer rather than Child of Oppara, GM, as the character was being constructed being a noble while holding disdain for the nobility felt too hypocritical for my tastes. While I was initially worried about looking like a rebel while being a cleric of Abadar, Neriros is not opposed to the law, he just sees a better way and follows that set of laws - even if they aren't voted on and approved yet. He sees Eutropia as the hope for Taldor's future and thus hopes to ride her coattails to set his vision into motion.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
While I was initially worried about looking like a rebel while being a cleric of Abadar, Neriros is not opposed to the law, he just sees a better way and follows that set of laws - even if they aren't voted on and approved yet. He sees Eutropia as the hope for Taldor's future and thus hopes to ride her coattails to set his vision into motion.
I mean, there's a utilitarian argument to be had there, too - it's mentioned that the Loyalists' primary focus is Taldor's primogeniture laws. For the time being, there is no valid heir to the throne, and the faction opposing Eutropia are the irredentists - you could absolutely make the case that the choice is between legally changing from Salic law to absolute primogeniture, ensuring a peaceful transfer of power and a more peaceful foreign policy; or the retention of Salic law, years of bloody power struggle due to the lack of a valid heir, and decades of foreign wars as the militarists take power.
I'd argue that Abadar would promote following the legal reform process, rather than letting the nation plunge into the chaos of a protracted civil war. I referenced the First Carlist War earlier - that holds the record for the single bloodiest civil war of the 19th century and led to the deaths of 5% of Spain's population, so I'd say any god that doesn't actively revel in slaughter would prefer a peaceful transfer of power by any means necessary.
Oh, and GM, I think I now know why the gameplay thread does not allow us to post in there. I assume that you posted in the gameplay thread and then deleted your first post. Unfortunately, that is a bug of these forums that in this case no more posts are visible in the gameplay thread.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
...
Neriros! Not sure how I got that wrong. I cannot promise that Sully would not call him Neurosis.
I mean, it seems like we have rather a lot of martial characters - I'd be happy to pivot Zhao to a sorcerer if we need to do so, though I understand we could use a ranged damage-dealer as well.
Party balance is a consideration but I’d also say that playing what you want matters, arguably more so. And I don't think anyone is going to argue that a ranged damage dealer is definitely bringing something good to the group.
Thanks for the explanation! I am not 100% sure about the race and might also go human or Kitsune, but just asking if you would be ok with a +10 bonus on the disguise check for mostly human geeniekin as is the case for a Kitsune turning into a human or is standard for polymorph effects under disguise? Totally fine with +5 if that does not work for you. ;-)
I’m gonna say no on the +10. It’s a supernatural ability for kitsune vs just mundane Disguise checks for geniekin for so I don’t think they’re like for like. As another point of comparison, half-orcs don’t have an alt racial but as a trait, Almost human does something very similar and that only nets a +4 on Disguise checks to pass as human (and Disguise as a class skill, which is useful if you don’t have it). And that of course costs you a trait.
Another question that I had is how the Swashbuckler and their Finesse class feature would be changed under the EitR changed feat rules and if you have an idea about a replacement for said class feature?...
Good question. I think switching the Weapon finesse element for Weapon focus (light blades) makes the most sense. It fits the swashbuckler’s niche of being a specialist with a particular style and kind of weapon and it’s probably a feat you’d want to pick up anyway as a prerequisite for one of the Dex-to-damage ones.
Oh, and GM, I think I now know why the gameplay thread does not allow us to post in there. I assume that you posted in the gameplay thread and then deleted your first post. Unfortunately, that is a bug of these forums that in this case no more posts are visible in the gameplay thread.
Can confirm this is what I did, good to know. I’ll sort that out later, probably by dropping the first actual gameplay post but I want to read through it again first and that’s probably not happening tonight. Note this does not mean we’re ready to go on gameplay quite yet but it will give you something to read and can start drafting posts if you’re keen for when we are.
Discord is live but you knew that already. =)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Awright! Ignore the pointed ears, these are not the ears you're looking for, move along ... but Ash has arrived!
I wish I had it in me to write a more informative intro post, but I was up until 5:30 with that bio and I have to be at work in 45 minutes. O_o Let me know if you have ???
Please see here Livia's profile.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I successfully ported over the old discussion thread. It doesn't look like you can do that with the recruitment but that's probably fine at this point. But for posterity here's a copy of the initial recruitment post. The original thread is here.
Grand Prince Stavian III is an ageing man, long widowed and refusing to remarry. Since the death of his only son, Prince Carrius II, in a riding accident a score of years ago, a succession crisis has been brewing. As a woman, Princess Eutropia, his sole surviving child, cannot inherit the Primogen Crown due to the ancient law of agnatic primogeniture. With no named heir, it is unclear what will happen when Stavian passes, a question that keeps many of Taldor’s sharpest minds awake at night. It is not the Princess’ nature to submit to defeat over such backwards-looking traditions, however, and after years of work she has ambitious plans to repeal the law, implement long-overdue reforms and drag her country firmly into the present day.
Following a week of festivities marked by a nationwide holiday to celebrate Taldor’s glorious history, on the Grand Day of Exaltation the Grand Prince is empowered to elevate a commoner to the ranks of nobility. While the common folk flock to the capital city of Oppara to enjoy the celebrations, nobles and merchants use the week to conduct business deals and throw lavish parties. With politicians from across the country gathering in the capital, the Taldan Senate also meets to vote on matters of nationwide importance. To that end Princess Eutropia has been assembling a powerful coalition to support her bid to strike down the law of male primogeniture and intends to put forward a motion in the Senate to do just that. Traditionalists may baulk at a move they see as against the ancient values of Taldor and a naked power grab by the Princess; reformers view her as a potentially stabilising power that could unify the empire and usher in a new golden age.
Eutropia is not the only one with ambitious plans. He might not be positioning himself to sit atop the Lion Throne, but Remaio Alcasti is determined to reclaim the title he believes was wrongfully stripped from his family by the Crown generations ago. By clearing the name of his wrongfully-shamed ancestor he intends to put himself forward as a prime candidate for ennoblement on the Grand Day of Exaltation. To help him collect the evidence he needs and assemble his case Remaio has advertised for intrepid investigators. Who will answer his call?
I’m intending to run the War for the Crown Adventure Path in Pathfinder 1st Edition and I’m looking for players to join me. I’ve spoilered the various sections below for length but the key point in selection criteria is I intend to pick players - there’s no need to create a character at this point. I want to know about you in order to assemble a group that I think will play well together and mesh with the campaign and what I enjoy in playing.
I’m going to keep recruitment open for a week, closing it at midnight (GMT) on Thursday 21st May. Given there’s no need to build a character yet that should hopefully be sufficient for people to register interest. Thank you for your time and good luck!
This is probably 1E’s most social-heavy AP. As such, it’s possibly not for everyone - if you’re looking for a kick-the-door-in-and-bash-some-goblin-skulls game (and hey, we all enjoy bashing goblin skulls), this is not it. This AP really gives you the chance to really develop your character and lean into the roleplay.
It’s not Kingmaker but there are some sandbox elements to the game. As such you should be prepared to take the initiative perhaps more than the average AP. This is also your chance for your character to pursue their own plans and goals - having some would therefore be advantageous.
You’ll still be rolling dice, but there will likely be extended periods where you won’t be rolling initiative in a traditional way. Not every character needs to be a face or a skill monkey but social skills, knowledge skills, and skills in general are going to be heavily used and everyone will want some out of combat utility. That said, this is still Pathfinder and you’ll want to be able to function in combat too. The AP also makes good use of the social combat rules.
You will have plenty of opportunities to solve things in different ways. There may be confrontations but they don’t have to end violently and there are definitely rewards for playing smartly and creatively.
Similarly, there is not always a right or wrong decision but decisions that you do make may have consequences for yourselves and your patrons.
For the moment I’m planning on wrapping things up at the end of Book 4, with PCs hitting level 13. There are a few reasons for this:
The first four books tell a compelling story and there is a very obvious end point at the end of them.
APs are long and PBP is slow so this hopefully increases the chances of making it to the end.
Similarly, to improve the odds, I’ll probably cut some encounters because APs can have filler to pad them out and I’d rather focus on plot-critical encounters. I’ll be doing milestone levelling at appropriate points so no need to worry about missing out on XP.
I also don’t love everything about the direction of the AP in Books 5 and 6 (mostly looking at you, Book 5). I do have ideas about what I’d do to continue anyway so that’s a potential option depending on how the table is feeling as and when we get there.
Despite what I just said about length, I’m planning on running an amended version of the PFS scenario Honour’s Echo as a prologue to the campaign proper. As mentioned elsewhere in the post, this does change the initial hook from that given in the Player’s Guide. Again, this is for a few reasons:
Running a sort-of session zero gives everyone a chance to get to grips with the social rules in particular and what to expect from the campaign in general.
The story leads very nicely into the main part of the campaign from both a story and setting perspective.
It brings the party together so they’re already a group before the start of Book 1.
If you’re interested, please tell me a bit about yourself, feel free to link me to games/characters that you love - I will be basing my decision on posting history, style etc. It’s not the most scientific method but I’m aiming to select people who I hope will vibe with the game and with the group.
You’re welcome to pitch an idea or two of basic character concepts, but I’m not looking for builds, backgrounds etc. at this point. I’ll have everyone work on their characters after recruitment so you can develop your characters as a group. You can of course come into this with some ideas, and generally I’m a fan of people playing what they want. I’m not a stickler for having a Fighter/Cleric/Wizard/Rogue party make up and the beauty of Pathfinder is there’s plenty of ways to cover different bases. Being able to cover them as a group is still pretty useful though!
My aim is to pick 5, maybe 6, players. Player attrition is real and more players means more people who can pick up any slack. To give some people a chance to play there might be a slight bias towards people not already playing a dozen games. On the flip side, juggling so many games shows commitment for anyone who manages to do that so it’s absolutely not a dealbreaker. Inevitably I won’t be able to pick everyone and I’m genuinely sorry about that, I know recruitment decisions are always tough to make.
I’m not planning on anything particularly unusual in terms of build rules. I have some things I’m fairly fixed on but I’m also happy to get input from the group to help decide some of them after recruitment.
The points below are basically all covered in the Player’s Guide, which I would definitely recommend you read, but I wanted to draw out a few key things here (and I’m more interested in your character’s personality, background, motivations etc anyway).
Your character will want a reason to support Eutropia’s bid to inherit the Lion Throne, or at the very least be ambiguous about it. I think she’s objectively a pretty decent candidate and easy to support, but this isn’t a campaign where you get to back the candidate of your choice. Nor is it a game where you’re looking to put one of your characters on the throne.
You don’t have to be Taldan, but, as with the above point, you are going to need a reason to care about Taldor and its future direction.
Taldor is a very human-centric society so humans will simply have an easier time than most other races, some of whom will probably struggle to work in this AP.
You have the option of being a noble but you certainly don’t need to be. There will be plenty of hobnobbing with the bigwigs (and that’s a good potential opportunity for some fish out of water roleplaying), as well as a broad section of the population.
One other point worth noting is the initial hook for this game is different to that contained within the Player’s Guide. Per the initial descriptive text, the PCs will be hired by Remaio Alcasti to help clear his ancestor’s name and win back the family’s noble title.
Equally, communication is key to a successful game. Life happens to us all so please let me know if you’re going to be away for a period of time and I’ll do likewise. Relatedly, most problems that are solvable can be solved by talking so I’d much rather resolve things that way.
I like using Discord for out of game chat - it can help with resolving some things more quickly (e.g. open the door on the left or the one on the right) and for more in depth discussions (e.g. what to do next, tactics). I also find it helps with group bonding too and that is useful for a game’s longevity.
I’ll be using Google Slides and Drawings for maps and handouts.
Finally, I wanted to shout out and thank Peachbottom, Kittenmancer and FangDragon for generously sharing their time, advice and resources while I’ve been preparing. It’s been greatly appreciated.