Bad to the Bones (A Rappan Athuk campaign) (Inactive)

Game Master Eric Swanson

OK we all know the classic tale of Good Vs.Evil...and this is especially true with the confrontation of the Army of Light and the dark forces of Orcus...Many hundreds of years ago, the forces of good allied to destroy the main Temple of Orcus in the ancient city of Tsar. With their temple in ruins, the surviving high priests of this accursed demon-god fled the city with an army of enemies on their trail — an army of heroic fighters, clerics and paladins—led by Zelkor, a powerful wizard. The exact fate of these evil priests was then unknown, for not only did the remnants of the followers of Orcus disappear from all human reckoning, but so did the Army of Light that followed after them disappear as well. Some said that in the eternal scales the loss of so many good men was a fair price to pay to rid the world of so much evil.

The evil cult, however, had not been destroyed. The surviving priests and their followers instead settled on a hill near the Forest of Hope, a sylvan woodland near the Coast Road. There they found a vast underground complex of caverns and mazes, carving out a volcanic intrusion beneath the hill. There, the priests of Orcus found the perfect lair to continue their vile rituals. For many years, they carried on in secret, hidden from the light and from the knowledge of men...

But not to the knowledge of Orcus’ other sworn enemies...The forging of Demonbane, a legendary weapon forged by the arch-devil Baalzebul, shows that Orcus has made enemies on many fronts, and may soon have a fight on his demonic hands that he is not fully expecting….with the Infernal forces that continually war against him.

YOU are a member of these infernal forces, charged by your devil superiors to take the fight to Orcus and vanquish him once and for all! Take the mantle of Infernal Champion...destroyers of Orcus and conquerors of Rappan Athuk!

...If you dare...

OK if you think you can handle this evil themed campaign then by all means feel free to submit your ‘bad to the bone’ character. I will accept 4 to 6 characters.

Here are the rules for character creation:

• 1st level.
  
• 20 point buy OR 4d6 6 times, drop lowest die, arrange as you like.
  
• 2 traits.
  
• HP: Max at first level, roll after each level.
  
• Money: Average starting level.
  
• AL: LE, NE N, LN ONLY. You are working for a devil who will not tolerate chaotic or good people working for him.
  
• Races: All Core Races, Non-good, Non Chaotic only (unless you can be VERY convincing).

  - NO Aasimars
  - NO Catfolk
  - NO Svirfneblin
  - Monster races, are not only allowed but encouraged. Appropriate choices for this campaign are Goblins, Hobgoblins, Kobolds, and Tieflings (of course!) Other races are on approval.
  

• Classes: All Core and Base classes are OK, with the following exceptions:

  - NO Paladins. They are replaced by the Anti Paladin alternate class.
  - NO Gunslingers.
  - NO Samurai.
  - NO Ninjas
  - Summoners will be using the Unchained rules.
  - Hybrid classes OK upon DM Approval.
  - 3PP classes are on approval ONLY.
  

All character submissions should have a decent backstory (a paragraph will do nicely). I am not looking for a novel here just a couple of background tidbits.

This game is set in The Lost Lands world (The Frog God Games campaign world) not Golarion, therefore those deities will be available for worship instead. The official deity worshiped in your home base is Hecate, Goddess of Evil Magic. I will provide a list of deities on request for those who wish to play a divine class and worship a different deity.

Some Additional House rules:

• As this is a low magic world, Item Creation feats are allowed but with the following stipulations:

  - Brew Potion, Scribe Scroll, Craft Wand are unchanged.
  - Any more powerful items will require special materials/components which will need to be gathered otherwise the chances of failure/cursed items will increase.
  

• There are NO magic shops where you can walk into buy magic items. If you desire to purchase that +3 Plate mail of Awesomeness to go with your Longsword +4 of Kick Ass ness...then you need to do some research about these long lost artifacts (and the dungeons where they may be located, he he)
  
• I will be using Hero Points (or should it be Anti-Hero points?) Rules for them can be found HERE. Each character will start with one Hero point.
  

The flavor of this game will be dungeon exploration to start out (obviously), and it will be a bit railroad-y at first as you will be tasked to prove yourselves , but as you gain levels political intrigue WILL come into play. Currently, you are perhaps the weakest faction among those you will encounter in and around Rappan Athuk so making allies and alliances (both temporary and permanent) is to be expected.

I am looking to recruit 4 to 6 players for this game, so I will leave recruitment open until I get a suitable roster. If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask!

Good luck! (You will need it to survive the Prince of Undead's machinations, he he...actually that should be Evil luck, right?)

Would an Orc also fall into your acceptable races?

Yes, as long as the Orc meets the alignment requirements, which is no chaotic alignments allowed.

Awesome! RA needs this!

I'd like to play a narcissistic vampire character a la Lestat from Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire. Long curly hair, makeup, and a perpetually open ruffly blouse. A sharp toothed smirk knowing he's better than everyone else.

Would Dhampir be allowed for this?

Dot

I'm making a Male Tiefling Fighter named Aer'en.

This is what I have so far, tell me if you think I should add something.

I have one question, do you have campaign traits?

His appearance and backstory.

Interested...

Let's see where the dice gods leave me, the I'll work on a concept.

4d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 2, 1) = 7 6 (Ouch Rastlin?)
4d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 5, 3) = 14 12
4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 6, 1) = 18 17
4d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 3, 3) = 11 10
4d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 4, 6) = 15 13
4d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 5, 6) = 15 14

That's workable... Can you chose 20pt after you roll or one or the other?

Perhaps a Tiefling or Human Summoner...

Kobold...definitely a kobold of some kind. More later!

4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 5, 6) = 17=14
4d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 2, 3) = 13=11
4d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 5, 3) = 17=15
4d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 2, 3) = 11=10
4d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 5, 6) = 16=15
4d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 3, 3) = 14=10

23 point buy....I'll take it

dot for interest. Will send my theme when I get home from work tonight.

4d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 3, 6) = 12=11
4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 6, 2) = 17=15
4d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 3, 6) = 12=11
4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 1, 3) = 10=9
4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 3, 6) = 18=15
4d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 5, 4) = 15=14

Interested in playing a Fiendish Vessel of Baalzebul. Exactly 20BP.

4d6=11

4d6=15
4d6=11
4d6=9
4d6=15
4d6=14

Interested in playing a Fiendish Vessel of Baalzebul. Exactly 20BP.

I look forward to seeing you in battle!

Fascinating! Few questions before I submit a concept.

1) Are the (anti-)hero point feats, spells, and magic items be allowable?
2) Do the bad guys sometimes have hero points?
3) Will you allow a half-human and/or tiefling to take a human alternate racial trait (specifically heroic).
4) Can we take a drawback for another trait?

Was considering a very 'lucky' witch that really concentrates on making use of the hero points as much as possible.

4d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 2, 2) = 14=12
4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 6, 4) = 19=16
4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 4, 2) = 15=13
4d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 1, 2) = 10=9
4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 5, 6) = 22=17
4d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 6, 4) = 12=11
not too bad, but more odd numbers than I like

Would Mighty Godling be approved.

He would be Half Ogre if approved

I was thinking the son of Baalzebul. He was born and raised for this purpose. The loyal son that helps to keep the others focused on the mission. If approved I will start working on the backstory. Thanks.

@TheRiverOcean: Yes, Dhampirs are an acceptable race.

@Aer'en: Since campaign traits are Golarion-specific, they would be on DM approval only.

@Scranford: Sorry, you can pick only one or the other. Keep in mind you can arrange them in any order you like.

@ElterEgo:
1) Sure.
2) Yes.
3) Yes, on DM approval.
4) Sure.

@Ashe: I will give a tentative approval to this, though I may disallow some of the divine traits. Sounds like a cool class!

Half-Ogre gets my hearty stamp of approval!

Let us see what the dice gods have in store for me

4d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 2, 3) = 15 13
4d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 2, 5) = 17 15
4d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 1, 1) = 6 5...that is awesome
4d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 6, 5) = 20 16
4d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 5, 6) = 14 13
4d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 4, 3) = 12 11

What is your feelings on wayangs, I am thinking shadow sorceror.

Edit: I just saw the core races preferred, ok halfling it is.

Sweet, badass vampire times ^.^

Winds howl across the frozen realm as thousands of creatures march through the frozen oceans and razored glaciers. Once the armies reach Cocytus in Hell's seventh layer, they drop to their knees and grovel towards His domain. At the head of a column of Oni-Spawn a dark male, dressed in black armor and white cloak throws himself before the feet of a tall, dark-skinned humanoid with compound eyes resembling a fly, "Lord of Flies, I heed your summons, Your WILL be done, Order and I Obey!"

Raaz Al'Zuul reporting for duty. Still working on Crunch, Background and Appearance, but you can access my work in progress through Alias profile. More to come.

Let's see what the dice have in store for me...

4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 6, 6) = 22 17
4d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 6, 5) = 22 17
4d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 1, 1) = 7 6
4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 6, 3) = 20 17
4d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 2, 3) = 15 13
4d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 4, 5) = 18 15

Wow! Further proof that kobolds really are superior above all others >:)

...

Wow! Further proof that kobolds really are superior above all others >:)

Try that 6 in constitution and then say that! =0

So I got most of him done, I need a backstory and 1 more trait. I am envisioning a typical halfling slave that caught the Stockholm syndrome and started snitching on others including family members to gain favors.

I am not familiar with Rappan Athuk and will not be able to purchase The Lost Lands for at least a little while. Will that be a problem?

4d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 3, 4) = 15 = 12
4d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 2, 6) = 16 = 14
4d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 1, 4) = 14 = 13
4d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 6, 3) = 13 = 11
4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 6, 6) = 19 = 17
4d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 3, 1) = 16 = 15

Oh cool, I liky liky these stats. Is Drow allowed race? I do have a character concept like Jarlaxe in my mind (from Forgotten Realms). Either going towards Bard(Arcane Duelist or Daredevil) or Fighter (Weapon Master: Rapier)

Rolls, rolls, rolls.

4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 3, 5) = 19 - 16
4d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 2, 2) = 12 - 10
4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 6, 4) = 19 - 16
4d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 1, 4) = 7 - 6
4d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 4, 4) = 16 - 14
4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 3, 1) = 11 - 10

Let's see those numbers

4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 5, 2) = 17 =15
4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 6, 2) = 14 =12
4d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 4, 2) = 13 =11
4d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 4, 3) = 16 =13
4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 5, 4) = 16 =14
4d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 4, 4) = 20 =16

I can work with this, maybe a dhampir magus
What is the ruling on playing a strix?

4d6: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 3, 6) = 19 -3=16
4d6: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 5, 1) = 13 -1=12
4d6: 4d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 6, 3) = 17 -3=14
4d6: 4d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 6, 1) = 11 -1=10
4d6: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 6, 2) = 15 -1=14
4d6: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 5, 6) = 20 -3=17

Yay! Let's see what I can put together with these rolls!

Edit: thinking about a LE Hobgoblin Inquisitor. I'd like to know something more about deities in order to choose my domain.

Aren't Anti-Paladins normally Chaotic Evil only? Or will you be changing it to Lawful Evil for this?

@ElterEgo: Don't worry about not owning the RA/Lost Lands setting books as the Campaign book is still being written! It should be released via Kickstarter sometime next year.

@Grovo: Yes, Drow is an allowed race but as they are a Chaotic Evil race and usually worship demons, you will have to be extra careful here, he he.

@Lokiel: I will allow a strix here. (Since this is an Uncommon race, I will allow only one player in the party to play one.)

@Jamie: The default deity is Hecate, Goddess of Evil Magic (LE; Law, Evil, Magic, Knowledge domains). Was there a specific domain you were thinking of selecting?

@Newbonomicon: D'OH!! You are correct here, I totally missed the AL CE for the Anti-paladin. For this campaign, Anti-Paladins MUST be Lawful Evil.

5 is a hard number to swallow, any chance of a re-roll for really low abilities?

Would you allow gunslinger if we used the bolt ace archetype? Bolt Ace

@Jamie: The default deity is Hecate, Goddess of Evil Magic (LE; Law, Evil, Magic, Knowledge domains). Was there a specific domain you were thinking of selecting?

The Madness, Trickery or Travel domains are the ones I'm most interested in.

Also, would you allow the Preacher Archetype?

@Jamie: The default deity is Hecate, Goddess of Evil Magic (LE; Law, Evil, Magic, Knowledge domains). Was there a specific domain you were thinking of selecting?

Just noticed this comment on Hecate. I built Raaz Al'Zuul as a worshipper of Baalzebul. Will that not be allowed?

Also took the Fiendish Heritage to pick Oni-Spawn instead of "normal" Tiefling. Some GM's allow alternate heritages without the feat requirement. Any chance you will waive the requirement?

@Keil: Sorry, but your die rolls are really good, despite the one bad roll there.

@Lokiel: Sorry, I will not allow any archetypes for prohibited classes.

@Jamie: Looking over my Deity list, I noticed Set does have access to the Madness domain. As Set does exist in the Lost Lands setting I will allow it. (Set is worshiped in the Khemet region, think Egypt setting there, he he.) The Trickery and Travel domains are not accessible by any of the evil gods available for worship, sorry.

The Preacher archetype is approved.

@Raaz Al'Zuul: Worshiping Baalzebul is OK. I was saying the home base where you will be based has Hel as the preferred deity.

Fiendish Heritage is from late 3.5/early PF, where Tieflings were considered significantly more powerful than other PC races, hence the feat tax. Later Tiefling material - Blood of Fiends, Advanced Race Guide, Bestiaries, NPC Codex etc. don't use or reference the feat. Therefore the feat is not required.

I did notice Sorcerer had Abyssal & Daemon Bloodline. Would that be acceptable or Sorcerer would have to go for Infernal Bloodline regarding their Patron , arch-devil Baalzebub

@Raaz Al'Zuul: Worshiping Baalzebul is OK. I was saying the home base where you will be based has Hel as the preferred deity.

Fiendish Heritage is from late 3.5/early PF, where Tieflings were considered significantly more powerful than other PC races, hence the feat tax. Later Tiefling material - Blood of Fiends, Advanced Race Guide, Bestiaries, NPC Codex etc. don't use or reference the feat. Therefore the feat is not required.

Awesome! Thanks, will make the changes. Also still need to finish up Background. I like the characters posted so far. Will be a badass party!

I love evil campaigns, so lets give some dice rolls a shot:

4d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 6, 4) = 174d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 4, 1) = 124d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 3, 1) = 74d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 3, 1) = 144d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 1, 3) = 74d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 5, 1) = 14

Hmmm....
14, 11, 6, 13, 6, 13.

That is a net total of +2+0-2+1-2+1=+0 OUCH!

Is that bad enough for a reroll?

Here is what I have come up with. Let me know if there is anything missing. I would have liked to put more background, but I am shamefully unfamiliar with The Frog God Games campaign world. :)

@Grovo: Yes you may select either Abyssal & Daemon Bloodline if you wish.

@Pale King: Sorry no re-rolls. I will allow you to use the 20 point-buy if you wish.

@Keil: Looks good.

I feel like getting the Fencer and/or Pillager traits for this character, no problem right?

Doomed Hero here with my submission.

Praetor Grey is a Necromancer who uses the Witch class as a base. Eventually he will go into the Agent of the Grave prestige class and hopefully become a lich at some point.

Starting out he'll mostly just be putting things to sleep and trying not to die.

His background is that he is a priest of [insert demon we serve here] who takes his job very seriously. Being an undead-focused character, he isn't a fan of Orcus. Nobody likes competition.

He's ambitious, pragmatic, and very serious about his job.

I haven't decided what attribute method i'm going to use. Give me a bit.

Ok, I'm going to risk rolling. We'll see how my luck turns out.

4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 6, 6) = 21 18
4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 3, 6) = 20 17
4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 6, 1) = 14 13
4d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 3, 4) = 11 10
4d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 6, 2) = 14 13
4d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 5, 1) = 15 14

Holy crud. Yeah. I can work with that.

Give me a few minutes to plug my scores in.

Ok then, I believe I am done

Alright, all done.

With the impressive stats giving me more skill points and charisma than I expected to have, I made grey into quite the diplomat. Now he'll work as a competent party Face in addition to his primary role as a support caster and zookeeper.

Hi there Eric, I had a quick question before I started developing a potential character for this.

What sort of posting speed are you looking for?

Dotting for interest. Will have to think of something to play.

4d6 - 2 ⇒ (6, 6, 5, 2) - 2 = 17
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (4, 3, 1, 4) - 1 = 11
4d6 - 2 ⇒ (4, 5, 2, 3) - 2 = 12
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (5, 5, 4, 1) - 1 = 14
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (1, 6, 6, 5) - 1 = 17
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (4, 1, 6, 3) - 1 = 13

Wow, can work with that. Are you allowing the other unchained classes (specifically the rogue or monk)?

Ok I changed my mind, I will submit a crafter extrodinaire