As a paladin of the Dawnflower, your employment varies considerably in Sandpoint. For the most, however, you are attached to a regular militia patrol of the hinterlands, acting as a liason between the concerns of the city and those of the few scattered farmers without that provide support to the citizens. In this capacity you, perhaps more than the others, have come upon Shalelu with greater frequency, as your concerns are similar. For the past few weeks, however, you have not seen her at all. This is no new phenomenon, however, you are well aware that the elf travels as she wants, and holds a special regard for the security of Sandpoint and its natives.
Back at the garrison, you wash thoroughly and whisper a prayer to the goddess of the dawn at sunset before joining your companions at the galley for your evening meal. The faire is simple, but hearty, and the conversation about you runs high to adventure. The good natured lads of your company dream of meeting dragons, rescuing maidens and falling in love. Few here possess scars, however, and from their method of speech, it is painfully apparent that they have seen little outside of Sandpoint. You doubt that these young men have even seen a goblin, much less faced one in battle, for all their tales of encounters. Listening with a critical ear for truth, it sounds as though the goblins they have encountered are much more likely to be inebriated humans stumbling from the Hagfish in the early hours, picking fights with each other, and upsetting garbage bins in the process. Sure, there may have been a little blood spilt by the combatants, but relatively little threat to your brothers in arms. They are, after all, trained professionals.
In the evening, you are relaxing in the bed in your cell, not quite tired, but eagerly awaiting being awake to celebrate another dawn with devotion when a curious display makes the entire room light up from without. You rise and look out your window to see something very much like flowers, or… in the worst light, a cheap mockery of your goddess’s sunlight exploding on the southwestern horizon, filling the sky with false light for a few brilliant moments, and then fading from view. Several more times these lights appear, and then all is still again…
Valcrim Flinthammer:
As every day, you are in the forge after you have broken your fast, industriously crafting in devotion to your god, the Father of Creation. The set of mail beneath your hammer belongs to an elder man, passing his legacy down to his son. The youth is considerably larger than his father was, you recognized when you took his proportions, though in their mannerisms it is clear where the father’s talents lay. You do not doubt that the young lad is quite suited to taking orders, and if he can follow them, is likely to do extremely well. Whether or not he will succeed however, only the gods can answer.
Hours pass as you are invested in your work. You scarcely notice the entrance of customers. Your apprentice seems to squeak more these days, or perhaps it is simply that his sometimes shrill, sometimes base voice is interrupting the rhythm of your blows. You gradually become aware that he is not alone, this time. Behind him is an infrequent customer you recognize on sight, the wilding blooded Sheriff Belor. Sweat beads on his bald pate, and his expression is not at all friendly, perhaps somewhat annoyed. In one large hand he carries a battered breastplate, in the other a helm into which he has placed his gloves and gauntlet. He lifts his chin when he recognizes that you have acknowledged his presence, his weight shifting less aggressively than you would expect, considering…
Yamamoto Seiji:
The cool sake glides down your throat and rests uneasily in your stomach, almost as great a weight as the crossbow at your side. The greater number of patrons in the tavern – or is that the few at this hour? – murmur quietly. Ameiko whispers to her partner, and leaves the bar to attend her guests. Her voice is sweet as she takes orders, and speaks with one traveler and another. A few who you puzzle are likely local ask her to sing. The lady accepts, and as her lovely voice begins enumerating a few lines in the clumsy trader’s tongue, you recognize from her pitch and intonation and the structure of the sounds that she has adapted a Tian song into Taldane, and likely purposefully mistranslated several words to suit the native’s sensibilities. It is a song of loss of love and of difficulties that appeals on a somewhat more visceral level than your unconscious translation finds… tasteful. Ameiko’s partner, a cheerful halfling woman pours you another cup of sake.
”Courtesy the Lady,” she says brightly, and leans forward on her slighter but shapely arms and whispers in Tian. ”Folks is dour enough with the talk of goblins, friend. They say Sheriff Belor’s reininstatin’ the bounty.”
Thought I would just expand on the scene that you had started for your intro… more to follow!
Broderus and Joyabraund Northropple:
Travel with a Varisian caravan is far better than one might expect, if significantly slower. Shreiking children chase livestock and a pack of dogs of a highly variable size around the tracks, amusing themselves with simple games like seeing how many times they can touch the old gray wolfhound’s tail before he turns and snaps at them. Of course, several children have been bitten already, but never severely. The caravan’s matron, and mother of your captain Sandru, Koya Mvashti has treated worse scrapes from your brethren falling down after too many rounds of brandy with their employer, but she has yet to say a word about teasing the old cur. Perhaps she wishes for the children to learn on their own, however, it does not seem as though they are inclined.
Varisian tradition states that any who ask hospitality are welcomed with feast and performances. As guards, you find this practice frustrating, if your charges will not think of their own safety, how are you to maintain the ruse? But the natural performances of the dark and slight people are quite good, and with Joyabraund performing as well, sometimes, even better. The caravan takes on the atmosphere of a large, traveling home, warm and inviting.
It is with incredible trepidation that your captain realizes as you approach the oft mentioned destination, Sandpoint, that you have seen increasingly less travelers on the road. The road, which once seemed almost alive with possibilities seems stark and lonely in comparison, your captain increasingly withdrawn and frequently conversing with his mother in her small wagon. About three days out, you discover the remains of another caravan beside the road, broken and charred. Broderus, upon examining the wreckage you see that whatever incident occurred could not have happened more than a few days back. You report your findings to your captain, whose typically friendly face seems dour and conflicted. Even the children seem less likely to play as of late, sensing the tension playing among the adults…
All
It was a typical early spring day in the northern coastal community of Sandpoint. The very last of the deposits of snow on the ground were tucked into corners that rarely saw light, a dull gray color and almost completely without moisture, simply waiting for the temperature to rise just a few degrees more to melt completely. Heavy clouds obscured and filtered the sunlight in patches. The air carried the threat of rain that caused sweat to stand out on the skin with the slightest exertion, so slight as simply breathing, but none had fallen. The breeze rising from the sea was scarcely a comfort this afternoon.
Few citizens walk the streets at this time, though in the afternoons previous many would be walking and visiting the shops and its market. It has been several days since any traveling merchants with groups larger than a few individuals has landed, and business and interest are wanning. The few individuals found on the street have a rather haunted look, keeping their hands close to their packs, their eyes quick and their postures betraying a certain amount of caution… or is it fear?
Several Sandpoint deputies patrol the streets, here and there stopping to converse with a young lady, or an elder with her children, a young child walking a shaggy dog. Their increased presence is disquieting, and it is reflected in their exchanges even if you cannot hear them. A small group of concerned businessmen have gathered outside the town’s jail when the door slams open, admitting Sheriff Belor, clad in freshly polished plate that does little to conceal that it is well worn, with several scars and pits from battle evident to the naked eye. He scowls at the gathering, and they part to allow him the freedom to walk to the side of the building, where he produces a printed page and two large nails. Unfurling the document, he slams the nails into the wall to pin it with his mailed fists. Apparently a man of few words, he turns and regards the crowd with an irritated expression, then returns to his office, slamming the door behind himself.
The crowd surges forward to read the Sheriff's notice, and gradually falls away, shaking their heads and muttering in disbelief.
Belor’s Poster wrote:
WANTED!
GOBLINS RESPONSIBLE FOR ATTACK ON TRADE CARAVANS. FOR EACH RELATIVELY FRESH EAR, EACH MAN MAY CLAIM 10 GOLD PIECES FROM THE ABADAR'S VAULT AT THE SANDPOINT CATHEDRAL.
AN ADDITIONAL 300 GOLD PIECES WILL BE AWARDED FOR THE HEAD OF LICKTOAD GOBLIN CHIEF GUTWAD.
You read the words and puzzle at the meaning. It seems as though there is a world of information the block letters printed on the expanse of paper do not mention. Several citizens remain, whispering amongst themselves and darting nervous glances at those who read the poster. It is not difficult to imagine that their livelihoods are directly impacted by the Sheriff’s announcement, but then, all of Sandpoint has a reason to fear goblins.
I strongly believe that character creation and leveling up is a subject for potential parties to consider together. Because ultimately, you're going to have to rely on one another in combat, and whether or not that is the dreaded Meta is in how you approach as characters and not as players, in my humble opinion.
Character creation. I see at this point 2 options:
First option - 15 pt buy. Yes I know, rather droll, but it would allow me to run the monsters without significant tweaking, and I sort of like the idea of PCs distinguishing themselves from the horde of heroic NPCs by being heroic characters. Mechanically you'll be no better than Sandru, Ameiko, Koya and Shalelu, you just get the spotlight because you, proud warriors, go where others fear to tread!
Second option - 20 pt buy. This makes you substantially better than the average guy. It also makes it more work for me tweaking the encounters to keep them challenging for you all.
I will give you guys time to discuss the pros and cons of both, and come up with a decision. I will abide by whichever you choose.
Second Order of Business - Loot Distribution
This is the most fracture inducing part of PbP, I think, as everyone has an opinion about how it should be done. To avoid pitfalls later, I am setting it down now.
It is my job as GM to make sure that you guys are properly outfitted. It behooves you as players and as characters to cooperate with one another. If there is a stat raising item that is contested, I hope that you will be good enough to solve it like adults. Martial characters have the first pick on physical stat raising items, as well as on the weapons they favor (also my job), and casters and skill monkeys on the mental stat items and skill items. Potions and such are dolled out by the AP and myself to help the party as a whole. That potion of bull's strength may earn you some jangle in your pocket, but if your fighter quaffs it and slays the demon in a few hits, you overcome a challenge to the forces of goodness!
For example, in a horde you find a +1 sword, a +2 Str item, a wand of cure light wounds, a mwk chainmail and say, a wizard's spell book containing 3rd level spells. Fighters can use the first two items, the wand is useful to everyone and who doesn't have chainmail - but wait, the spellbook! No one can use that - feel free to sell that sucka, and I do hope that you would be good enough to give the bulk of the proceeds to the folk that could not make use of any of the items there so that they can get what they need.
Again, its my job as the GM to make sure you guys are outfitted to meet and defeat the challenges presented in this AP as a group. If you feel that you're getting the short end of the stick, let me know and I will address your concerns.
Hrm... Cannot think of anything else at this moment.
Oh! The NPCs! Well... I will expound more on what I consider their role is vs. yours later.
I don't think any of you have the crush trait, but uh... yeah, romance is still an option. Or not, depending on your preferences. I am not sure I will be enforcing the letter of the rules, but since someone pointed out that there are mechanical benefits associated with them, I may have to, at least in part. I'll be thinking more on this later.
Please if you have not already make aliases for your characters and link me your backgrounds at the very least so I don't have to go looking all over when I'm crafting my intro to this game. I tend to work on them over a few days to make them accessible to my players.
Greetings ladies and gentlemen of the boards. I have decided to take a crack at running Paizo's magnum opus AP as a PbP here on these boards and am looking for four characters to fill four open slots.
At this time, I am not really looking for crunch. Maybe I'll do 15 pt. buy, maybe I'll do 20, have not really decided as yet. At this point, mechanics do not interest me so much as character.
So, requirements as of now:
History including some explanation of the campaign trait you will be choosing;
and
Concept (Tank, Striker, Blaster, Support Caster or if you really want to you can give me class and archetype. It's all Greek to me, just let me know what you plan on doing for 17 levels.)
I will be choosing characters based on what appeals to me and how I imagine this game running. So the more personality or lack thereof you can thrill me with in your writing, the better!
A quick note before you open your Word or Open Office documents -
Ninjas and Samurai are not native to Avistan, and neither is their gear. Tian heritage is pretty rare. You want to make any of those, justify it in your history.
Also, gunslingers ain't exactly my thing. Boomsticks in my Pathfinder... not so much. Make me an Ash character, or someone just as cool as The Chin, and I might consider adding one to the team.
Questions? Complaints? Tribulations?
Oh... yeah. Will be running modified relationship rules, because I don't think that PC to NPC relationships should be governed by algebra, or look like a bank statement. Every person has good and bad days, handing a lady a doughnut with sprinkles on a bad day can be taken one of a plethora of ways, and I don't think you should be penalized or get some brand spanking new digit in your relationship score for an isolated event. And I'm not looking to run a dating sim.
That said, I'm not really uncomfortable with bi/homosexual relationships, I've already run one in a previous game, but if it comes up in the final group, it's a chat we'll have in the OOC.
Sound good?
Letsee, it's holiday times at the moment... so... I'll make the cut off date 30 November, looking to start in the first week of December.
Archaic and crumbling, the Immortal Principality of Ustalav affords the casual observer the last countenance of civilization south of the Worldwound. With a history steeped in human misery, and its terrain inhospitable to even its natives, Ustalav is of very little political consequence to any save its own elite. Ustalav’s government is fractured along the lines of longstanding principalities, now termed counties passing from generation to generation of its noble houses, who jockey for power and grasp at fantasies of regaining their former glory.
The people of Ustalav fair no better. Subjugated by the undead armies of the Whispering Tyrant, many have grown to accept the oppressive rule of the nobility if for no other reason than tradition. They are insular, and highly suspicious of magic, religion, foreigners, and also of themselves. Their lives are tragedies that conclude with catastrophe, with little hope of progress. In recent years, however, there have been several successful peasant uprisings, particularly in the northeast, whereby the common man has gained a modicum of control of his own future.
Within this country, with its varied terrain and political upheaval lies the county of Canterwall, and the hamlet of Ravengro. For fifteen years this sleepy community has been the residence for Petros Lorrimor, a prominent and well traveled peer of the arcane arts, and now it will serve as his final resting place. The majority of its homes, belonging to a solitary and functionally destitute population, are modest and bereft of any distinguishing feature. At this late date in Rova, heavy rainfall confines them to their homes. Even the livestock kept close without have little to speak about on this day, with a marked preference to keep to any eaves or shelter they might from the downpour.
Regardless of the distance you have traveled, each of you have gathered at the entrance to the Restlands, Ravengro’s cemetery. This woman stands beside a simple pine coffin, wearing a simple but finely cut dress of gray wool that is bereft of any adornment and a sensible cap that conceals the majority of her hair. She is attended by this man and a young boy whose awkward stance and pockmarked face give lend to the impression that he is currently wallowing in adolescence. The boy holds a large umbrella over the woman while his white shirt, which appears to fit too snuggly about the neck and be too short for his growing arms, displays spatters of mud water cast from the sizable puddle to his left. At no considerable distance this man appears to lay in wait, his eyes seeming to stray towards the young woman on occasion before righting themselves and looking to his companion, with whom he seems to share some intimacy. He nods, and his eyes glance in your direction before he answers in a muted tone, and falls silent once again. Standing a good deal apart from any group of mourners is this woman who frequently looks towards the casket and the young woman beside it, but does not appear to dare to approach.
The young woman besides the coffin looks up at your approach. She dabs at her raw eyes with a handkerchief, but her face and person are otherwise comported. Her eyes are unfocused but a moment, then study each of you in turn, quick and discriminating. ”Ah, you must be my father’s associates,” she says, swallows, and offers you a polite salute with an inclination of her head. ”It is good of you to come. I had thought…” she arrests herself and drags her bottom lip between her teeth as her eyes seem to wander over the small crowd gathered. ”I was beginning to worry that the weather might have delayed you.”
Okay, people. Single file, please. Take a seat wherever you would like and make yourselves comfortable.
On your chairs you will find the iternary for this afternoon's (evenings/mornings) discussion -
First call to order:
Since we have not gone all that far in the AP, would you like me to restart it and get a jump on this thing fresh, or consider what we have already done cannon?
Second call to order:
I generally frown at the GMPC, but I would really like to run Anca as I built her for this campaign, and to stretch myself as a player. I will leave it in your hands if you are uncomfortable with me running her, I will open up recruitment to replace her, should you think it necessary.
Okie, all that said, feel free to ask any questions you may have. I'll be making a separate field on my GM profile to keep track of things that will be important to this game as we get closer to starting it.
For those of you who reply, feel welcome! I am committed to this AP and will post at least once a day, for sure, even if it's just here to say that reality has somehow crumbled and I am unable to post in the IC thread.
The murder has just occurred. Your father, a reserved man inclined to patience seemingly despite Tam’s criminal activities has never appeared angrier. When you, Mordekai, returned your sister Elaine to the family home allowed you only the scant amount of time required to gather your things before banishing you. With your kit firmly in hand, the only possessions you believe you can now lay claim to given your father’s dismissal of you, you wander towards the seedier districts of town hoping to find your brother. Only, you are no criminal, and having traveled much the past few years, you cannot fathom where he would be at this hour. You ask a few locals, but they shy away from your authoritative gait and voice, then whisper behind their hands when you have moved on.
You, Tam, arrive home late that evening, smelling of cheap liquor, dank smoke and the filthy corners of the underworld you haunt, only to find that your normally quiet home is in an uproar. Lanterns are lit everywhere, and your father’s office, which is almost always closed, stands open. He spies you before your mother descending on the stair, has a chance to reach you, rises and begins cursing at you in a somewhat shrill and strained voice, telling you to remove yourself immediately. Your mother, Felicia, interrupts, throwing herself between you two, at which point your father simply breaks, shakes his head and walks upstairs and enters Elaine’s bedroom. A few moments later you hear sobbing, but it does not sound feminine.
Your mother recounts the story as she has it from Elaine. Some villain assaulted her and your brother, Mordekai murdered him. Your father has banished him from the house, not wishing to invite legal reprisal on the family, least of all your sister in her delicate state. Your mother begs you to find Mordekai, and stay with him, and promises that she will do her best to ensure that the two of you are safe through whichever means are necessary. After all, you are both her sons, and she is your mother. It is her duty.
It is not difficult for you to track Mordekai’s whereabouts. He is a large man, and one completely unaware of the nature of the underworld you skirt so well. The thought occurs to you that if it is so easy for you to track your brother here, it might be equally easy for others to as well. You hurry and find him in a dive that you are known to frequent on occasion, nursing an ale, looking so haunted not even the regular ladies will approach, despite his handsome face and rugged features.
Having been bitten by this AP twice, and not getting the experience out of it I wanted as a player, I decided to run it myself. I wrote a good two page proposal so that each player knew exactly what I was expecting from my group - A noble bright adventure.
I'm a new GM all together. I run a solo game via IM/Maptools (which I am not all that familiar with) for my husband that is highly political and sandbox in nature. He's got 8 things he can investigate now, some of them narrow out to the same thread, which widens again as he chooses it... lots of on the fly adaptation to maintain the illusion that it was all connected. I know how to employ misdirection, and I'm getting better at the small rules, and have planned and run two dungeons thus far without getting anyone killed... well... someone almost died. I thought an AP would be an excellent way to introduce myself as a more capable GM.
My husband is part of the adventure, because he GMed our RL game, and, well, he's my husband. I've let the group know that he'll be co-chairing in terms of rules that I am not intimately familiar with, but I know two of my players are also GMs themselves, and have opened myself up for critique and suggestions.
I'm somewhat familiar with most of the players from another game with good atmosphere, which is what made me decide to even try this.
So, my questions are these:
1. How do you guys handle the whole map situation? I know we're not allowed to post links to paizo maps on their site for copyright reasons. I was thinking of making approximations, maybe with some changes in paint or Gimp if it required (like of Oleg's, Erastil's temple, the mite dungeon, and the Stag Lord's fortress). Should I change some details?
2. How are you handling rolls for randoms during exploration? Or, how are you handling exploration at all? I've already stated that I am not going to be a rectum about players encumbrance and asked if they wanted horses to assist them, specifically I offered them to borrow against eventual purchase of a combat trained war horse (none of them are cavaliers) although no one has answered that one yet. I'm not worried about survival rolls unless the AP specifically asks for one, assuming that they can probably figure out how not to set up a camp by now.
3. How do you reward XP? Given that it will be a highly social game, and, I can hope, cooperative, I want to encourage smart play just as much as meeting with random monsters. Should I give XP as brownie points to continue being awesome, or just level them as I see the adventure calling for it?
Thanks, anyone who responds for reading through my wall of text, and in advance for any suggestions I receive.
Allow me to preface this recruitment with a tale of woe. I have twice been a Kingmaker player, once at the physical table top, and once in cyber space and have been twice burnt by this AP. I will not go into the drama, just know that both have influenced how I view this AP, and my requirements for players. If you find my stipulations offensive, please do not rail at me for being narrow minded and dismissive of a type of play.
That being said…
I am a newbie GM. My experience thus far has been running a solo campaign via instant messenger. I’m not all that clear on the rules, but I figure following an AP is going to help me along.
Details, details, details…
15 pt buy. I don’t really want to hassle with converting encounters to entertain crazy strong players. Also, I rather like the idea of some guy who isn’t mechanically better than the NPCs distinguishing himself by just plain being awesome, rather than being comparatively super human. To qualify, I prefer Batman to Superman, Bruce Wayne has made sacrifices to be a hero, he doesn’t have X-Ray vision and the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Two Traits, one from the Kingmaker Player's Guide, one free unless you make a compelling argument otherwise.
No Evil alignments. Furthermore, I frown upon neutral alignments as thus far I’ve seen them abused to do evil things, and that isn’t a game that I am interested in running.
CRB and APG and Magus class only. If you want to play some wild archetype, that’s cool, too. Some spells taken from UM, or feats from UC I suppose can be cool, but as I don’t own the UC, I’d like a link to something on the SRD at the very least to review. These restrictions are a personal preference, I really don’t want to have to police player’s ambitions to milk the game for mechanical profit. I’m not as interested in mechanics as I am in creative play. Samurai and ninja would be out of place in the sweaty armpit of Avistan.
Crazy multiclassing will be discouraged. I can understand dipping a class to pick up some skill points, or make you better at what you want to do, but a paladin/monk/rogue/gunslinger is not only an extremely silly idea, but it hampers your effectiveness as a character mechanically and within a group. This is a cooperative game.
Core Races only. This is the Stolen Lands, and there is some weird stuff about, but as I’m using the standard fantasy spread, it’d be disingenuous and unbalancing to allow the more exotic races, and to be honest it rather breaks my immersion as well.
Compelling story telling. Give me a reason why your character would possibly consider why he or she would not only be willing to travel to the untamed, lawless sweaty armpit of Avistan, but settle and try to establish a government in a hostile environment. Please remember, this is intended to be a social and political game.
As an aside, characters with histories with such violent and cruel incidences as rape I will dismiss outright, and history will be the first thing I read after the class and role you are applying for. Yes, the Stolen Lands are cruel, and some people are bad, but that is not the game that I am looking to run. I like a little moral gray to confound now and then, but villains are villains, and I like the knee jerk reaction to evil in and of itself to drive characters to do good, not some deep dark inner turmoil.
At least one post a day. This is meant to be a cooperative game, if you’re not around to respond to challenges or your fellow party members, it will drag. I’m not expecting more than a few posts per day from everyone, in fact I encourage quality over quantity. I understand people have jobs, significant others, children, etc. If you have to make a longer post later on to cover everything, I will read it, and hope everyone else will as well.
If you are currently in a game, or several, I’d like you to provide a link so I can get a sense of your play style. Pick whichever one you like the best, or showcases your talents. If you’re perpetually a GM, or haven’t ever played a PbP before, that’s cool too, as I said above, character history and concept are what intrigue me most, write those well and we’re golden.
All that being said, what I am prepared to give:
A noble bright adventure. Yeah, I want to see you all become goodly heroes. Everyone loves the good guy, everyone. Except the bad guys, but they’re there to remind you why you’re good, not to punish you. There will be challenges but think of them as opportunities to excel in your righteousness.
A full AP. I am interested in seeing this thing all the way through.
A responsive GM. There will be an OOC thread. If you want more of something, say, like you’re really missing out on the opportunity to mill about in the wilds and grind random monsters for XP and loot, I will try to indulge. But in that case, I would like a unanimous decision. Otherwise, I will reward good teamwork and social RP the same as random encounters and just level you appropriately with the AP. That being said, if you want to run at the final boss straight of the bat, I will strongly discourage that, but as I assume that you don’t want to face a TPK it won’t be an issue.
Fun. I don’t see the game as being a competition between GM and players, I’m interested in facilitating your fun. If you say to me, “Well, my character will not be fun to play without having this feat from this obscure splat book” then my answer to you would be “all righty, let’s slay some evil things in crazy ways, I’d like to see it!”
Finally:
If, after all the above, you’re still interested, throw me up an introductory post telling me how you learned about the charter, and what lengths your character would go to to secure one for him or herself.
And one last thing...
I really want to say is that I will not allow anyone to build towards and just assume that they can be the ruler, or that it has to be a monarchy. It could be an Oligarchy, or a meritocracy. I want the group to decide how the kingdom is founded. And I will be tracking how the characters play in game towards that end.
It's my first time running a game. What is going on in my game right now is my husband's Magus is on a ship bound for Oppara to essentially overthrow the monarchy, the bureaucracy, the petty nobility and establish his own rulership... and eventually conquer the world. Yeah, I know, good starting out campaign, right?
In "party" he currently has a barbarian and a 3.5 priest variant (I dislike the cloistered cleric for this particular game, it is too limited for what he needs to do) of Shelyn. Also attending him are a higher level bard meant to do all the social stuff he might want to do but I don't want to have to RP such as "hey, my dude needs a noble lady on his arm to solidify his position, but will take DAYS of gathering info and exhaustive interviews besides" to just give him the options. Yes, railroading, booo. There is also a Flame oracle, and because he as a PC apparently is known to do, focused on this one NPC I did not intend to become important, a 16 year old former slave girl.
She's a good girl, though. And she is... Love, really, in all its forms. I currently have her "studying" under the priest of Shelyn to kinda diffuse the situation because with kinda low mental stats other than CHA she isn't much use at this point in the story when he's supposed to be gathering strong allies to himself.
But, she could be. So I am asking, what exactly constitutes "training" a paladin? She's got a priest that can teach her how to channel divine energy, and the barbarian can sorta teach her how to fight. I am just wondering if it is too much a leap of logic to let this girl learn some basic healing and empathy and moves and call her a paladin so that she might be retained when they land, or just ship her off to the temple to be picked up at a later date as a cohort.
Okay, I may just be too close to this thing to be thinking clearly but, here goes.
My bard is the hostess for one of the Eldest, the fey lords of the First World, Count Ranalc. As she understands it, Ranalc basically OWNS the Shadow Plane. Last session before my husband and GM said he needed to take a break from our campaign, my bard called on Ranalc to save a one time party member from being sacrificed to a black dragon wishing to ascend to dragon god-hood. Ranalc answered, because my bard throwing herself in front of and talking smack to a huge, named black dragon amused him. In exchange for his assistance, he asked her to murder the cleric of Sarenrae for him, because he despises the light. If she did, he would give her back her lover who had died earlier in the night, implying that if she did not, she would not be able to bring him back at all. It was a really tough decision for a period of two minutes, because she really loved the guy and he died not five feet from her, torn apart by dragons because of her mistake (should have cast sculpt sound on the man in full plate to sneak passed dragons). In the end, though, she said "No."
After wiping out a host of black dragons, and organizing teams of survivors to help each other out, my bard passed out, and was transported to the Shadow Plane where Ranalc had prepared a cozy little spot for her and her lover to say goodbye to each other, while he watched, of course. My bard refused to placate him, bad idea number 3 of the night, and he turned the lover to solid ice and altered her memories so that she would continue to amuse instead of grieving. Also, Ranalc made it so that every time that she sees the priestess whose life she saved, she gets this awful feeling in her stomach like something has been torn out of it.
Prior to this, when I first encountered Ranalc, I was wondering how to portray his influence over my bard mechanically, and I thought, "hey, why not dip a level of Oracle, get the clouded vision curse and the Dark Tapestry mystery because thematically appropriate." Charismatic caster who comes into contact and can channel the power of something older than the gods? Oracle! Check!
So, problem is this, she resisted a pretty bold temptation to become evil and serve Ranalc's will before her own. But, she feels... changed.
She loves being a bard, for the social aspects, and the campaign would suffer if she were not as good at these things as she is now. Part of me is still thinking Oracle because the clouded vision curse is a great way to represent a new perspective of the world mechanically, but heavens mystery, while having a lot of the same revelations as dark tapestry, does not make sense with clouded vision. Like yeah, you are prone to staring up at the night sky, which you can no longer see... great.
Maybe a level as a variant paladin? or fey blooded sorchie? I am completely stumped.
"this garment allows its wearer to alter her appearance. It functions as an alter self spell"
I hadn't really thought of it before, and it does not specifically state in the item description, but does function asAlter Self mean that you waive the requirement of having the required material component for the spell when you put the hat on your head?
Is a pretty hefty chunk of change to spend my precious reluctant homicidal transient loot on even for the crafting cost, so any help would be appreciated.
In our latest session, my bard "priestess of Calistria" (previous story line basically lead her to believe that she was favored among Calistria's scions, including some pretty sweet stat bonuses) learned that the external influence on her appetite was not that of the wasp queen of harlots, but
Kingmaker spoiler:
Count Ranalc
. Being essentially a spoiled, willful child whose experience is investigative with a history of failure, her knowledge skills are weak, and her checks, while over twenty were not enough to come up with even a hint about the terrifying and alluring creature that sucked her and her employer into a den of shadows.
A little background, several weeks ago, the character was led to a theatre in Pitax and from there was brought over to the First World where she confronted a creature of unspeakable evil who ordered a dominated manservant to do some pretty bad things to her. She was saved by the intervention of a pixie (so far as she knows) and returned to find the city colored by Irovetti's ascension and herself an outlaw. After some weeks of fairly fruitless investigation with basically nothing to go on, it seemed as though someone had tampered with her memories, completely invalidating about six weeks worth of experiences, including some very important to her character development NPCs. She had just gotten passed the overwhelming hurdle of discarding what she could not trust and continuing with her journey. And she was doing remotely well, confident enough with her progress to test her boundaries by approaching a Chelish man flanked by Hellknights in full view of a River Kingdoms community devoted to Erastil.
Her ambitious and unfortunate potential employer gambled unwisely on his suspicions concerning her "divine patron" and despite his successful summons was frozen solid for his impertinence. The shadow creature embraced her and promised her even greater power, then forced an obsidian maul into her hand and told her to abandon her humanity and crush her companion, or embrace him and bring him back. Well, she crushed him, but for much different reasons, because over the course of their introduction she has learned that he was a sociopath who thought nothing of killing others at a whim, and not exactly the type of dude that she really wanted to work for. The creature mocked her and gathered the pieces to make them look like her favorite lover, and knowing from previous experience that his particular flavor could manipulate anything in their home plane she was stricken. Essentially, she was teetering on the edge of madness when he basically giggled and approved, assured her that he would be watching and it would benefit her to entertain him, and then disappeared into her chest, which he referred to as "his current residence." His parting gift to her was a single Miracle spell, which after some thought, she used to revive the man she killed, though she desperately wanted to free a particular NPC.
After informing the resurrected "ambiguous" NPC that she had killed him, and revived him, and receiving some vague promise of payment for services rendered, she returned to home to her lover. She found their corner of the brothel swathed in darkness and cold, and assumed it was her cohabitant's influence.
So my 16 year old, Wisdom 8 bard is aware that she is host to a completely alien sentience that has essentially ordered her to pull a prank on Calistria's faithful to get them to follow his creed so that he can gain more power and influence on "the prime," and he has told her that if she fails to entertain he will drive her to murder everyone she cares for. She knows that these manner of creatures care very little for mortals in general, only so much as they are scurrying for their amusement, but... She has very few allies she can trust, having driven one boy wizard to madness and the other seems a little too willing to help out, overcompensating for earlier transgressions. And, even then, there seems very little either can do to help her with a creature that claims to be creation. I am thinking that essentially, this is a death sentence either way, as Calistria and her faithful aren't likely to take kindly to an adolescent human girl's pranks. At the same time, noble sacrifice of self is completely out as a review of earlier sessions has given me the suspicion that her cohabitant can and has previously possessed others, as well.
I am absolutely stumped about what I am supposed to do with this character now. She was so relieved that it wasn't Calistria's favor she carried that she wept, but her current situation is infinitely worse than being forced to suppress her feelings for her lovers. Mechanically, she is tricked out till level 15, but... I am just at a loss to figure what is going to compel her to move foreword from this point on.
Just out of curiosity, why is it that the bard, the quintessential communication character does not have access to the sending spell? The only time that the bard could communicate with others through her personal magics is if they chose the Dream spell among her first fifth level spells at level 13, while the cleric can prepare and cast sending at level 7. There are so many possible complications to negate the spell, as well.
I'm just curious why they cannot reliably communicate with people across miles and planes. Is access to the sending spell too much to ask?
Nena - Sacred Prostitute of Calistria
Shirish - Priestess of Kurgess
Julian Pegasson - Inquisitor of Iomedae
Antagonists:
Darusio Aldiovaren - Sorcerer and Assassin
Leonardo Auditore - Iron Fox agent
Horatio Vareno - Prince Berengar's Herald
The Irregulars:
Bregan Battlebrew - dwarven alchemist
"Fausto" - Diviner and pimp
Corax - Lumberjack, drunk and bully
The scene opens at the gates of Littletown, a thriving market city several days travel west of Pitax named centuries ago by its founders, a group of halflings escaped from Cheliax with few plans for expansion. The community, firmly rooted in surplus agriculture, is devoted to the Stag god Erastil. Its guards are hearty lads only tolerably suited for the task of maintaining the peace, its government and people reliant on the political and military might of Pitax for protection. Entering stage right is Nena, a most unlikely heroine. At sixteen years, this attractive and talented performer earns her fare as a sacred prostitute of Calistria. She is held at the gates by a delegation of the city guard, and after giving an impromptu performance on summoned pan pipes is detained by their Sargent for questioning. Nena informs the dog riding halfling bearing the symbol of Erastil on his breastplate that she has no intention of undermining the community, meaning simply to rest and resupply on her journey to the capital.
The best of intentions is quickly set aside, however, as she gathers rumors that the girls employed at the house burlesque in the city are compelled by a Qadiri wizard. Nena investigates and is assured by the man himself that nothing can be further than the truth. He spins a tale of oppression wrought by the lawful authorities, disease visited on the house and the lack of ability to treat with the priest and adepts of Erastil to treat the afflicted. Nena, a prostitute by choice, regarding her talents else-wise a gift meant to champion the cause of lowest, is personally affronted by the pimp's version of the truth and swears to resolve the issue. She attends mass at the temple in full Calistrian regalia, and interrupts the good priest's sermon on the needs of the community with the argument that ignoring the needy is furthest from His ideals and very near incites a riot. The passionate youth's idealism clashes with the elder priest's responsibilities and their private audience ends in an uneasy truce, Nena will sequester herself at the brothel in exchange for his assistance in reversing the judgment of the authorities.
Treating with the priest of Erastil was but the first in a driven plot to usurp the lawful authorities directed by the Liacenza trade house, and the twin princes Berengar and Lothaire. Nena is led through the sleepy city by the nose by an interested cast of irregulars, including a talented half elven sorcerer posing as a prostitute, and a handsome agent of the Iron Fox. She uncovers a slaving operation administered by key government figures, among them the Lord Mayor and his associates, and the Strocalle trade family. In her official function as the priestess of Her shrine, Nena is drawn into a spiral of maddening lust which gives her no respite to consider her actions. She finds herself alone at the precipice of civil war, not a single one of her many talented partners standing beside her as barbarian hordes descend on the city. Burdened by four unconscious girls and as many recent, disorientated prisoners, Nena returns to the surface to dance with a barbarian more than twice her mass. Humiliatingly defeated by him, Nena wakes to find her companion priestess of Kurgess standing over a decapitated corpse, and dazed, witnesses the timely arrival of Prince Berengar and a detachment of Pitax regulars dispatched to recover Littletown.
Having been directed to remove the Lord Mayor from power, Nena and her band of refugees were stopped in the street by a quickly organized patrol and brought before Berengar's lord herald, the Silver General Horatio Vareno. The elder bard and politico is mildly amused with Nena's gifting of the Lord Mayor's unconscious form, and calmly explains to his fatigued puppet that he has choreographed each and every step she has taken since she arrived, an admission which is completely lost on her. Nena retires to the brothel to assume the mantle of priestess of Calistria. The next morning she is summoned to the Lord Herald's tents and given a new task, to investigate the ruins of the slaving operation and recover any slaves that may be at large. Nena gathers a new party, including a young inquisitor of Iomedae named Julian Pegasson, a former slave of diabolic Chelaxians himself.
Nena and party travel to Fort Leafshadow, a trading post north of Littletown, but she is never far from the Calistria's influence as among her companions is an alchemist devoted to Her who offers to quell the various aches in her heart with hallucinogens. Nena makes time to converse with the inquisitor about life, and faith, and begins questioning her lifestyle and her goals, but is immediately reminded of her obligations to Her with a spell of intense lust that can only be satisfied by him. The party arrives and quickly and for the most bloodlessly dispatch the resistance within and make off with ten imprisoned women and their captors. The large party return to Littletown and Nena gains a personal audience with the Lord Herald, who is eager to express his gratitude for her assistance. After a particularly satisfying session, Nena begins setting into motion a plot of her own device, to give every impression that she is a defeated and miserable creature, hoping to gain unquestioned entrance to the drug dens of Pitax on her arrival. She easily manipulates Corax, a partner who has scorned her affection, into assaulting her in full view of the patrons of the local tavern, succeeding in punishing herself and exposing his violent nature to the public.
The plot that has dictated Nena's actions since arrival has only just begun to resolve itself. As she prays for guidance at Calistria's shrine, she is overwhelmed, and wakes to find herself surrounded by flames. Nena narrowly escapes with her life to find that the entire town is burning. She reports to Vareno, driven by a vision of the persons responsible for the blaze, and is immediately and dramatically dispatched by an assassin and just as suddenly revived by a passingly interested cleric. Madness descends on the city as the citizens struggle to save their homes and businesses, and look for an instigator to blame. A determined Julian insists that their unlikely pairing depart for Pitax immediately while the trail of their prey, the parties responsible for the fires, is still fresh.
I'm currently playing a bard of Calistria who has recently... shall we say acquired an apprentice of sorts, a willing initiate of the faith. Two, actually, but one is slightly more eager to learn than the other appears.
A problem arises when I read the supplemental information available in The Second Darkness #17. Calistria's faith is CN, but there is training mandated for her priests and sacred prostitutes. I as a player of my CG character see this as an opportunity to scare the NPC straight and off the honeyed scent of the tricksey Elven goddess of just as soon crush the throat of the one who worships Her if his or her voice happens to offend at that moment. The NPC priests and followers of Her my bard has encountered are, well... self absorbed at best, or just plain CE monsters wearing humanoid skins (think MiB "Edgar suit). She views her faith as a test of her character, and her will to do good considering the collective sigh and disinterest of the entirety of Her church. She's recently chosen to retain that faith at a fairly high personal cost of maybe someday acknowledging the feelings of a boy who had every appearance of loving her.
Second problem is the whole issue of "love." In the first portion of the supplemental, it says the goddess Herself spurns emotional attachment. It is made perfectly clear that lust is the object, and to indulge in affection is almost an offense. Then under the aphorism section I stab at thee with all my heart it reads "in the rare cases where members of the church pursue a genuine love, couples often use this as a form of vow between them to indicate the strength and sincerity of their feeling," and then directly beneath that it reads Love the Food, Not the Chef. I'm left wondering what the deal is here. I'm left wondering if the ambiguity was intentional to drive roleplayers mad, or poor editing.
My character as a young, silly and good-aligned bard is rather prone to developing affection for those she shares Her worship with, to the point her naieve wisdom 8 heart breaks when she gets dumped which is quite often. To date there have been... well, has been one serious contender for her heart with another strong contender in the works, and I guess I really just want some more thoughts on this issue.
Okay, here's the set-up: My bard served a brief tour of duty on the First World which encompassed some pretty nasty stuff happening, and miraculously escaped with her mind intact. She returned "home" to find herself displaced in time by three and a half weeks, during which a certain tyrant had installed himself as the leader of a state in the River Kingdoms. Her friend the diviner informed her that following her disappearance her lover was captured and has been subjected to systematic physical and mental abuse, likely aimed at bringing him over to the dark side. Short term goal of those involved is to bring my bard out of hiding and kill her, or, if she doesn't, send him to kill her once he's completely broken. Long term goal, use him to keep dissent violently, artificially low.
Last session, overwhelmed by grief and panic, she agreed to help an NPC break into the dungeon where he's being kept with the intention of ending her lover's suffering. After a few nights of agonizing over it as a player, I have remembered that my character is "chaotic stupid" good aligned, and she really does love the boy.
Currently my ally is a diviner of incredible intelligence, and... diddly and squat. She has been set up by more obvious bad dudes in the past, and even though she and the mage are scrambling at stale breadcrumbs like starved mice, she doesn't trust the NPC that's sending her down there further than she can reliably toss him. My bard is built around enchantments, has very few offensive spells, and her third levels are both debuffs, which may keep her alive, but not necessarily her lover. If charm person can work against his awesome saves (and any equipment or charm that they have already put on him in anticipation of this move) that's my best shot of getting him out of it alive.
Okay, having an argument with my GM about this. Situation is, my bard priestess of Calistria is traveling with an Inquisitor of Iomedae who is showing quite a bit of favor for a certain wasp-related portfolio recently. She's got crap wisdom, and will basically jump at any chance to open that portfolio, and having nearly lost him to a wyvern attack (which was soo NOT neutral, btw) invited him to join in her favorite form of worship with a diplomacy roll. Having trained in it via perform oratory and versatile performer, and with a very lucky roll, she succeeded in "convincing" him.
GM says is more like coercion, which I am finding hard to stomach. Do diplomacy rolls negate choice on the part of the NPC? GM's argument is that if you roll high enough you can get someone who is hostile to kill their own child, or some other terrifying thing. I should think that if that was the case, charm person, which is a spell and not skill check, would not allow the subject a save if you asked him to do something that was against his interests. Or, alternatively, charm person plus high diplomacy check = suggestion and/or dominate.
In our Kingmaker campaign, my well meaning cleric got a mid-level NPC in a bit of a pickle with an evil creature who can hop planes bent on destroying everything she holds dear. So, here I was thinking that I'd stash him on a boat warded with the forbiddance spell to get him out of the castle and motivated to go on and do good things without her looking over his shoulder constantly... however, my GM is insisting that forbiddance only works on permanent structures. There is no permanency requirement written in the text of the spell, but... perhaps I am not reading the intent correctly.
In solo RP, my cleric is faced with the challenge of curing a large scale epidemic of bubonic plague in a neighboring country. I did some investigation this morning to find that Heroes Feast may be able to help me do this. I would like some clarification of the rule, however.
"Every creature partaking of the feast is cured of all sickness and nausea, and receives the benefits of both neutralize poison and remove disease [&ct...]"
Receives the benefits of... does this mean that this happens automatically (provided that the spell is not interrupted in its duration) or is this something that I will have to roll a check against the affliction's DC against?
AAAaaah. So, long story short, I built my cleric to be a diplomat, max the skill and took a trait to make me even better, but my group is all about slaughtering everything in sight with very little time at table devoted to RP. We've spared more monster tribes than killed them, but with humans we're extremely cautious. I've never once been out of the area on a diplomatic mission, which lead me to harbor all sorts of angst with the political "roll(s)" in game. Nearing the end of scripted encounters for Rivers Run Red and our little Duchy has graduated to Kingdom courtesy the clever machinations of our Father/Grandfather figure cleric of Iomedae and who else shows up to our cavaliers coronation but the big bad whose picture adorns Part 5 but King Irovetti himself!
Now my cleric has long harbored ambitions of playing nice with her neighbors, and for plot reasons in our game she was just itching to get at the guy (and apparently every other woman in the kingdom as well, as I figure Irovetti to be the combination of "insert your favorite charismatic world leader here" and Freddy Mercury) and my GM ran a special solo session just for me to talk to him. Squee! He is sooo awesome. Yes, I am concerned that my mid-level cleric with lots of wisdom and maxed sense motive can't get a clue about his intentions from speaking with him and as a player I'm questioning his proposition to have him send a number of my healers to his kingdom for the purposes of ministering to his people, but he's just too dang cool. In character I've offered to lead him to my cathedral on the eastern border, and I really can't wait to travel with him. As a player, I know the inevitable betrayal will be heart-wrenching to my idealistic cleric, but I am incredibly eager for this experience.
I suppose in this thread we can discuss player RP with the awesome and fearsome NPCs that populate Kingmaker. *sigh* I love RP.
I'm currently running a priestess of Sarenrae from Qadira in our campaign, and well... since convincing Hubby GM to solo some RP with me, it has become apparent that a heck of a lot of people react negatively to her native costume. Something to do with the whole slaving issue, which is a big no-no I have learned after our 3 and 1/2 years of making the Stolen Lands a better place. Obviously my character has all the reason in the world to keep her native dress, least of all is her goddess's whole edict to be honest, but secondly... what little IS represented of River Kingdoms costume is typically made of what seems to be cured hides of woodland creatures and low level monsters stitched together with shoe laces.
So... yeah, where can I get some good examples of River Kingdom costume?
A warning, this post may contain spoilers for people who have not played the Kingmaker AP Blood for Blood.
My priestess of Sarenrae recently went out of her way to negate the party's pronouncement that Baron Drelev rot in his dungeon till the day he dies. During the course of their conversation he pulled a "Gladiator" type stunt and showed off his strength and desire to know my character carnally, then the next second went all crazy for his former lover. I suspected he was under compulsion, and successfully dispelled it (freaking him out in the process).
My situation now is this, first, I didn't consult the party when I did this, and I have to take full responsibility for him, and second, the good Lord Irovetti of Pitax has this guy's number and has already sent one of his totally awesome NPC bards to mess his stuff up. I need for this not to be able to happen again, but short of tooling this guy up better than my cohort, who already gets better than 50% of what comes to me, I have no real clue how to go about it. GM says that Pitax should leave this guy alone now, but it took quite a bit of maneuvering behind the scenes to get Hannis to trust my character, it's to my benefit to keep him safe and happy.
As I see it, my choices to help him are imbue with spell ability (detect charm, protection from evil, owl's wisdom), or mark of justice something similar to what he was ordered to do, which was attack us and our country.
In our campaign, I play a priestess of Sarenrae fully dedicated to healing. Now that we're on our way to becoming autonomous, her aims are a bit lofty. She wants to build a hospital. Therein lies the rub, there are no rules, benefits, etc for such a building.
Would anyone like to tackle the challenge of stating and figuring the costs of such humanitarian buildings as a hospital, orphanage, homeless/refugee shelters?
To challenge myself RP wise (and add some to our campaign to please my GM) I am thinking of having my priestess of Sarenrae attempt to redeem what appears to be our main villain as of late.
A little background, my character has always been Chaotic almost stupidly Good. Instead of allowing the senseless slaughter of every bandit in sight, she more often than not spared their lives and convinced them to work off their debt to society at Oleg's. She was the first to suggest friendship with Elga, and basically the only one the witch prefers to deal with. She fell in love with Akiros Ismort, who the villain used as bait to lure the group away from the capital and subsequently drove the biggest hooty bear ever over some of our buildings and killed our citizens. On the hunt that followed, the villain strolled up to her and told her that her boyfriend was kinda poop, and he was enjoying seeing her party put to the test, then charmed the ever-loving stuffing out of her.
As far as my character knows, this guy with the bat wings and the cloven feet is pretty darn attractive, and competent. And, according to the tenets of her faith and her personal history of doing her utmost to see people brought into the light, she may consider this her ultimate test of faith.
The problem is, then, that he is going to try his darnedest to tempt her. Currently, she serves as the kingdom's high priestess. If she falls, and adopts another faith, does that cause any problems for the kingdom?
Full Name
Lucius Chiaraviglio
Race
Half-Human
Classes/Levels
Modern Necromancer -1 / Technomage -1 (really badly optimized)
Gender
M
Size
Average
Age
More than it should be
Special Abilities
Ad Resistance 30
Alignment
My back is DEFINITELY out of alignment
Deity
None. I will not be beholden to any religion or divine manifestation thereof.
Location
Brookline, MA
Languages
English
Occupation
I told you above, Modern Necromancer/Technomage
Strength
8
Dexterity
8
Constitution
9
Intelligence
12
Wisdom
12
Charisma
10
About UnArcaneElection
If you have your votes counted by magic, they'll be stolen by magic:
Abjured by those who Envy your ability to vote differently from them;
Conjured by those too Slothful to earn votes legitimately;
Divined by those Treacherous enough to spy on and insinuate their influence into everything;
Enchanted even before they leave their voter by those who Lust for power (and worse) and know how to exploit the weaknesses of others;
Evoked into oblivion by those Wrathful that you could disagree with them or deny their claim of sole right to patriotism;
Illusion-incarnated by those so filled with Pride as to insist that they know your will better than you (and if you fall for their tricks, they do);
Raised from the Dead by those who profit from the continuation and eternal expansion of Gluttony;
Transmuted by those whose Greed is limited only by faults in technique . . . and their technique has gotten quite proficient lately.
* * * * * * * *
Character Concepts
I am developing characters according to Pathfinder Adventure Path, although some of them may also have decent alternative Adventure Paths. As you may notice, I like to develop characters who thematically play to or against something about the Adventure Path. This is beginning to grow into UnArcaneElection's Weirdo Collection, but right now, most are still To Be Announced (TBA), as currently I have just 3 characters with fleshed-out backgrounds, of which just 2 (along with the cat for one) are complete.
Note that I am generally NOT thinking (currently 1 exception noted below in Iron Gods) of using a race that doesn't have much backstory, and in the exception I am using adoption by Humans or some other Core Race as an excuse for a backstory that is seriously mismatched with heritage.
Pathfinder Adventure Paths (with dates or expected dates of release) and characters intended for them:
Rise of the Runelords (August 2007 - January 2008, Anniversary Edition released more recently): Mirosir Tepescik-Tessadril (Dhampir Wizard) (strongly preferred). For a long time, this Adventure Path was a source of embarrassment, in that I couldn't think of a fitting original character for the Adventure Path that started it all . . . and then, one day, when feeling my inherent resistance to doing anything useful, it suddenly hit me: Slacker beats Slavedriver: Thassilonian (Sin Magic Specialist) Conjuration (Sloth) Wizard! After all, the 5th chapter of this Adventure Path (or at least the product blurb fot it) does ask "Can the PCs hone the sins within themselves into weapons against their true foe, Karzoug, the resurrected Runelord of Greed?" -- Sin of Sloth, coming right up! And it only took me several weeks to quit procrastinating . . . And in the space of just a few days, the concept grew into a full-fledged character (and his cat), to participate in my first PbP campaign of Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition. Unfortunately didn't get into the one I applied for, but at least this is done and ready to go for the next RotRL recruitment thread I come upon. (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP.) In the event that somebody insists on being the Wizard (or Wizard equivalent), this is also a decent Adventure Path for a Tower Shieldadin or maybe even a Reach Witch (see below; Elf/Half-Elf version preferred).
Curse of the Crimson Throne (February 2008 - July 2008, Hardcover Edition released more recently): TBA. After seeing this really good PbP, I am thinking of using a Summoner Switch: Start with a Summoner that is doomed to die (and/or worse -- the more gruesome the fate, the better) early in the Adventure Path during or shortly after aiding a certain legendary freedom fighter in preventing a certain travesty of justice, and be replaced by the newly Unfettered Eidolon, which is a heretical (from Hell's point of view) Devil which the Summoner had accidentally rescued from punitive reconstitution and reprogramming. The tricky part is coming up with workable mechanics for this while requiring only a minimum of GM handwaving (note: the Devil Imposter archetype of Unchained Summoner fits very well with the starting side of the Summoner Switch, but unfortunately provides no assistance with the finishing side of the Summoner Switch -- how do you make an Unfettered Eidolon into a balanced character?). (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP, in an odd way.) The risk that this won't be mechanically workable is substantial, so I need to come up with an alternative, although for thematic reasons, the concept of a scheduled character swap is still appealing -- for instance, start with a revolutionary Bard (as proposed for Council of Thieves, below), which is then executed and/or worse (as specified for the Summoner Switch above), and replaced by a VERY VENGEFUL sibling (Vigilante? Vindictive Bastard Ex-Paladin?) (both siblings probably Human) . . . .
Second Darkness (August 2008 - January 2009): Sariel Cerea (Drow Oracle) (strongly preferred). This is the Adventure Path that I intended her for, and I have tried to design her backstory so as not to break the Adventure Path (actually not too hard to avoid), as well as to avoid making a Drizzt Do'Urden clone (I haven't even ready any of those stories, but I did check the Wikipedia article just to be sure I wasn't fortuitously creating a clone). This character is my standard-bearer example of what I mean by thematically playing to or against the Adventure Path, but has turned out to be surprisingly hard to build. (Note: Plays AGAINST the theme of the AP.)
Legacy of Fire (February 2009 - July 2009): TBA. Another spot of embarrassment: less than Rise of the Runelords (above) was (before I finally figured out a character concept for it) because at least it isn't the first Adventure Path, but at the same time more than Rise of the Runelords because currently I didn't even have a good unoriginal character concept for this Adventure Path. To throw in the requisite monkey wrench, I want to play a no-excuses full progression spellcaster (preferably other than Oracle or Wizard, which I already have covered in character concepts for a few other Adventure Paths, although if one of these gets converted into something else, these classes are still open to consideration here). That isn't particularly original, and spellcasters (including Wizards) are not as overbearingly powerful as some people make them out to be, but I want to fit at least one of these in somewhere. To throw in the requisite monkey wrench, I note that the social environment in this Adventure Path presents grounds for revolution (against the slaveholders), so having the character be a devotee (maybe even a Cleric, but Bloodrager has its attraction as well) of Milani seems fitting (or clashing, depending upon your point of view). (Note: Plays AGAINST the theme of the AP.) Thematically fitting with this, have the character (if a full caster) become a Daivrat (friend of the genies) -- except for one problem: Daivrat has not been updated to Pathfinder RPG rules, and entry into this prestige class from a divine casting, while technically possible, is just terrible, so in practice, I can't count this as part of the concept.
Council of Thieves (August 2009 - January 2010): TBA. Going to have a really hard time filling the shoes of the more permanent characters in this awesome PbP, and would have a pretty hard time filling the shoes of the various DMs too. One thing I would do differently if I was DM would be to play up the dystopian aspect of Cheliax a LOT, while adding in enemy rebels who are REALLY NASTY, forcing some hard choices upon the heroic rebels. But this space is for listing character concepts, not DM concepts -- my best thought for this right now is a revolutionary Bard (probably Human). (Actually, I wonder if an all-Bard or almost all-Bardband party could work for this Adventure Path? See this thread for discussion of similar concepts -- an all-Bard party seems to be the second most popular one-class party concept. If someone wants to join with me in this endeavor, I'm in.) (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP.) The heretical Devil (Summoner switch) idea for Curse of the Crimson Throne (above) or Hell's Rebels (below) could also work, provided that the mechanics could be worked out, but (minor spoiler follows) even if they can be, it may get in the way of development of 1 or even 2 interesting existing NPCs. This might also be one of the few Adventure Paths that is mostly (except for the last part) well suited to an Arcane Trickster, which also would thematically fit with the revolutionary ideal (although it DOESN'T fit with the idea of starting off as a Bard, even though that is technically possible). Another possibility is an Andoren spy, possibly in combination with the Arcane Trickster idea just mentioned, or (if not going the spellcasting route) a Rogue (Pathfinder Unchained version) or Ninja possibly transitioning into Master Spy; however, this might be better saved for War for the Crown (below).
Kingmaker (February 2010 - July 2010): TBA. This Adventure Path just seems made for a Battle Herald who actually DOESN'T trade away the Cavalier's Mount. Now if only you didn't need to dip into a non-martial class to qualify (technically, Brawler Examplar Archetype allows avoiding this, but is not good for a mounted Battle Herald) . . . Assuming that Variant Multiclassing is allowed, single-class entry into this is both possible and desirable -- and I've got a devious idea for it: A Stolen Lands Kobold sees that Humans are coming into the Stolen Lands, like it or not -- so why not be the one to lead them in and thereby get the opportunity to do it your way? (If Variant Multiclassing is not allowed, this normally calls for at least triple-classing, so a Half-Elf with Multitalented Mastery is almost required from a mechanical standpoint if Variant Multiclassing is not allowed, and the thematic fit is even pretty good.) (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP, although potentially with a weird twist.) In the unlikely event that the whole (or almost the whole) party is Small, this becomes a decent Adventure Path for a Halfling Tower Shieldadin Battle Herald.
Serpent's Skull (August 2010 - January 2011): TBA. First choice is a character interested in defusing tensions in Sargava (Negotiator Bard, maybe? -- probably Human). (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP.) This is also a potential alternate choice for a character primarily intended for Skull and Shackles (below -- the character MEANT to infiltrate the Shackles Pirates, but instead got shipwrecked); however, then a character swap probably needs to be engineered after escaping Smuggler's Shiv.
Carrion Crown (February 2011 - July 2011): TBA. Was originally thinking of a REALLY DUMB political type character, but Hell's Vengeance is just too good (er, Evil) an opportunity to pass up for this. In the absence of another a preferred replacement, I have been toying with the idea of a highly agile thrown weapon Human (Shadowhunter) Fighter who shows that sometimes you CAN solve spooky problems with a blade. (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP.) Darien Usher-Tessadril (see Wrath of the Righteous, below) is a possible alternate here (as something of an eldritch horror himself), as is a Tower Shieldadin or a Reach Witch (see below; Elf/Half-Elf version preferred). Although I've heard that this AP has especially severe poverty if you DON'T go on a full looting spree, so some adjustments may be necessary.
Jade Regent (August 2011 - January 2012): TBA. An idea (to be fleshed out more later) can be found in this post, following a suggestion from the Jade Regent Player's Guide that one or more of Ameiko, Koya, Sandru, and Shalelu be player characters, despite some painfully obvious clashes of backstory with starting level, especially in the case of Koya, which is the one for whom I have the best concept (as described in the linked post). Despite the obvious problems (including required non-optimization), if somebody wants me in on a party composed of the above 4 characters, I'm in. (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP.) This Adventure Path is also a potential alternate choice for any character (including Mirosir Tepescik-Tessadril) primarily intended for Rise of the Runelords (above).
Skull and Shackles (February 2012 - July 2012): TBA. Definitely don't want a character who is going into piracy for profit or for some romanticized idea of piracy, but rather getting into it for a greater purpose, for instance, an infiltration mission (probably Ninja or Pathfinder Unchained Rogue transitioning into Master Spy), or something like THIS awesome PbP (just as much to my liking as a story idea, although my character ideas for a similar campaign are currently less well developed). (Note: Plays AGAINST the theme of the AP.) This also has potential for late entry into this Adventure Path if the character first went through part of Serpent's Skull (above), and then finally manages to get back to the mission after escaping Smuggler's Shiv.
Shattered Star (August 2012 - January 2013): TBA. This Adventure Path needs a really skilled Rogue or Ninja. These days, Rogues (as restored by Pathfinder Unchained) and Ninjas have few places to shine; this is one of them. In particular, the starting location seems like a good fit for a Rogue concept I have been thinking of based upon what seems to be the Paizo Messageboard's most common typo: THE ROUGE. Just have to figure out how to get makeup to be mechanically important for more than just Disguise. (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP, although in an odd way.) Mirosir Tepescik-Tessadril (but not necessarily just any character) intended for Rise of the Runelords (above) also has a possible alternate spot here. If others have the Rogue/Ninja and Wizard roles already covered, this is a good Adventure Path for a (probably Dwarven) Stalwart Defender Tower Shieldadin or a Reach Witch (see below; Elf/Half-Elf version preferred).
Reign of Winter (February 2013 - July 2013): TBA. This Adventure Path seems both thematically and (game) mechanically good for a manifested/metamorphosed Witchblood, probably built as an appropriately Dual-Cursed (for Witch-like Fortune/Misfortune powers, including reskinned Wasting Curse for Witchblood metamorphosis) and Flame (or maybe Solar) Mysteried Oracle. (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP, although in an odd way.) Also strongly thinking of NOT accepting the "blessing" from greater you-know-who, who is NOT clearly less bad than lesser you-know-who.
Wrath of the Righteous (August 2013 - January 2014) (preferably Non-Mythic): Darien Usher-Tessadril (probably Slayer, but might be able to build as Inquisitor) (strongly preferred). Remember that even though they are nominally of the same Alignment, Qlippoths hate Demons, too, because Demons killed off many of them and drove the rest of them out of much of their habitat. (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP, although in an odd way.) I could also consider an Annis Changeling/Witchblood Abyssal Bloodrager; this character concept could be built instead as a Rage Prophet with the Wrecker Curse, and use a reskinned Wasting Oracle's Curse to get Witch-like luck manipulation powers and reflect scary appearance; not yet sure which Mystery is best. Note that Rage Prophet has serious mechanical problems, most obviously the lack of awarding additional rounds of Rage with level; while Oracle VMC Barbarian fixes that problem, it introduces arguably worse problems, but don't totally rule it out yet. Also note that reportedly this Adventure Path is highly broken anyway. Either way, this character would be Wreck-It Rafaela; however, she (in the Rage Prophet incarnation, if it can be made to work) might actually be better saved for Iron Gods (see below). Sariel Cerea (see Second Darkness, above) also has a possible alternate spot here. If none of these are acceptable, this is also a decent Adventure Path for a Tower Shieldadin or a Reach Witch (see below; Orc/Half-Orc version preferred for high point buy, otherwise Elf/Half-Elf). I have said this above with respect to Wrath of the Righteous, but I'll say it again: Please let me get into a campaign of this that is NOT MYTHIC, unless somebody manages to pull off a Miracle in fixing the brokenness of Mythic rules.
Mummy's Mask (February 2014 - July 2014): TBA. I have the weird idea of a character (Human Arbiter Bard or Archaeologist Bard, maybe?) who is interested in (and has acquired skills to make a plausible attempt at) starting the Andoren Geographic Society. (Note: Plays AGAINST the theme of the AP.) This character has the weird idea of making this work by attempting to befriend the local authorities, by bucking the general trend of legalized-looter-style tomb-raiding, and instead cataloging everything very thoroughly and transparently to the authorities for local curation (preferred), and (if possible and needed as a failsafe) arranging for that which cannot be curated safely in the local area to be shipped back to a trusted museum in Andoran. Of course, making this concept work will require considerable buy-in from the rest of the party -- it isn't going to fit with money-grubbing treasure hunters, and probably not even with Indiana Jones types.
Iron Gods (August 2014 - January 2015): TBA. The Wreck-It Rafaela (Witchblood) concept described above as a possible alternate for Wrath of the Righteous, but preferring the Rage Prophet build over the Bloodrager build (if mechanical problems with the Rage Prophet can be overcome). Also thinking of a Kasatha (but otherwise standard) Bard -- this doesn't necessarily work all that well (game) mechanically, and normally I wouldn't want to use a race that doesn't have its own backstory yet, and his backstory would have to be designed and his racial abilities pruned to avoid breaking the Adventure Path (hence, he was an orphan raised by Humans or some other Core Race -- potential problem: not sure of Kasatha lifespan). However, a four-handed organist is just too good to pass up . . . if the concept can be made to work mechanically. In either case, part of the idea is: Robot Problem? Monster Solution! (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP, although in an odd way.) Yet another possible alternate character would be Mirosir Tepescik-Tessadril (see Rise of the Runelords, above), whose deep-seated slacker nature creates a natural attraction to technology for its potential of enabling the evasion of even more work. Sariel Cerea (see Second Darkness, above) also has a possible alternate spot here.
Giantslayer (February 2015 - July 2015): TBA. Mechanically, the title suggests a character geared towards fighting small numbers of very powerful enemies; but to play against the theme, a redeemer would be fitting. Alternatively, perhaps this Adventure Path is the place to put a full-fledged debuffing Halfling Witch (likely in need of redemption), which would fit both mechanically and thematically. (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP, although in an odd way.) If somebody else already has this covered, this is a good Adventure Path for a Halfling Mouser Tower Shieldadin (blend in Battle Herald if the party lacks a Bard). If somebody else already has this covered too, this is a good Adventure Path for a Halfling Mouser Underfoot Adept Monk Monkey Shiner (no link yet available to this build concept -- will update if/when one becomes available).
Hell's Rebels (August 2015 - January 2016): TBA. Would like to get -- not just a Tiefling, but somehow a full-blooded (although initially lowly) Devil in here. This Devil would of course have to be heretical (from Hell's point of view). Might be able to do this using the Summoner switch trick proposed for Curse of the Crimson Throne or Council of Thieves (both above). A potential problem is (minor spoiler follows) that this may get in the way of development of an interesting existing NPC. (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP, although in an odd way.) Failing that, pending more information about this Adventure Path, I might also consider this a suitable Adventure Path for an Arcane Trickster (for the revolutionary theme; again see Council of Thieves, above, except that Arcane Trickster fits better thematically here than there -- even so, if somebody wants an all-Bard band party, sign me up); alternatively, if I was ever going to use an Alchemist or other class Archetype that uses Bombs (Mad Bomber for the revolution!), this Adventure Path would be the place. Of course, given a certain prejudice enforced by the head villain, maybe it's time for a Ratfolk Vigilante who eventually picks up a Tatterdemalion Witch cohort: Ratman and Bobbin. (Note: This too plays TO the theme of the AP, although also in an odd way.)
Hell's Vengeance (February 2016 - July 2016): TBA. Thinking of a REALLY DUMB character, but he's not your stereotypical Big Stupid Fighter/Barbarian, but a political type, for playing to the mobs, especially to the poorly educated -- now that's REALLY SCARY . . . and like Barzillai Thrune of Hell's Rebels, he is of House Thrune (Human), and plotting to become a Genius Loci, although in his case that would be more of a Sub-Genius Loci. The character build would be Celebrity Bard possibly transitioning into Noble Scion, or maybe to get even more frightening (in the form of Mad Cowboy Disease), some type of Gunslinger (maybe Mysterious Stranger reskinned as a Mad Cowboy) possibly transitioning into Noble Scion. (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP.) Either way, for inspiration I need only look to some of the recent holders of the higher offices in our land, and some of the aspirants to said offices . . . .
Strange Aeons (August 2016 - January 2017): TBA. But imagine waking up not knowing where you are or how how you got here or even who you are, and then realizing that you've woken up next to A CENOBITE . . . oh, that's just a Kyton-Spawned Tiefling . . . uh, it is just a Tiefling, isn't it . . . ISN'T IT?! Vivisectionist Alchemist Kyton-Spawned Tiefling with chain "tentacles", that's the ticket . . . . (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP, although in an odd way.) Although I've heard that this AP has especially severe poverty if you DON'T go on a full looting spree, so some adjustments may be necessary.
Ironfang Invasion (February 2017 - July 2017): TBA. But a more traditional approach has considerable appeal here -- specifically some variation of a Tank Magus (also see earlier post and even earlier post) (Dwarf) knocking all those Goblinoids around like bowling pins. Tough part is for an arcane/martial hybrid to survive out in the wild, but that should be possible to work around (although Ranger is an alternative worthy of consideration, as is Bloodrager, either way still as a Dwarf). Another possibility would be an Elven Fighter who makes good use of high Intelligence (including Elven Battle Training and Elven Battle Style), and mocks the Hobgoblins for their disrespect of Elves and Elven Magic. (Note: Either way, plays TO the theme of the AP.)
Ruins of Azlant (August 2017 - January 2018): TBA. But I heard an investigation is needed for this mission from Andoran? Human Investigator sounds like the ticket. (Note: Plays TO the theme of the AP.)
War for the Crown (February 2018 - July 2018): We don't get enough from Andoran, so here's another Andoren agent (probably Human Vigilante) -- initially the lowly assistant of an higher Andoren agent who has been getting conflicting orders about whether to try to help reform in Taldor (from those in the Andoren government who do not want Taldor to collapse and turn into another Galt or a puppet of Qadira), or to use the opportunity to weaken it from within (from those cynics who insist that the existing government of Taldor cannot be reformed, and must be destroyed). The former choice sounds better, but sinister forces from both Andoran and Taldor are working the other way, even if not necessarily in concert with each other. And then the lead agent disappears under mysterious circumstances . . . . (Note: Plays To the theme of the AP, although from a perhaps unexpected point of view.)
Return of the Runelords (August 2018 - January 2019): TBD, and from the Player's Guide, it is important what you did in Rise of the Runelords and Shattered Star (and possibly other APs) -- and that's a good thing. Arguably another spot for another Sin Magic (Thassilonian) Specialist or Runesage Wizard, although Mirosir Tepescik-Tessadril himself is certainly plausible here if he REALLY oversleeps . . . . (Note: Most likely plays TO theme of the AP.)
Tyrant's Grasp (February 2019 - July 2019): TBA. But a more traditional approach has considerable appeal here -- see the entry for Ironfang Invasion above, and use one of the concepts that was proposed but not chosen for that one. (Note: Most likely plays TO theme of the AP.)
Counting up the character concepts by Class and Race
One thing I want to do is make sure I am not putting too many eggs in 1 thematic basket (class or race). Of 23 released or announced Adventure Paths to date, here is an approximate count of character concepts by Class and Race, counting the primary concept for each Adventure Path, except counting the next concepts after the possibly unworkable Summoner Switches (for explanation, see Curse of the Crimson Throne above) and Kasatha (for explanation, see Iron Gods above) as ties with them, and not counting class dips of 1 or 2 levels:
Class (preferred choice only unless mechanical problems are likely to force choice of an alternate)
Alchemist: 1
Bard: 3
Battle Herald (including entry classes): 1
Cleric or Bloodrager (tie): 1
Fighter: 2
Investigator: 1
Mad Cowboy (some kind of Bard or Gunslinger into {Ig}Noble Scion): 1
Magus, Ranger, or Bloodrager (3-way tie): 1
Master Spy (including entry classes): 1
Oracle: 2
Rage Prophet (including entry classes), Bloodrager, or Bard (3-way tie): 1
Rogue (Pathfinder Unchained version): 1
Slayer or Inquisitor (tie): 1
Summoner Switch, Arcane Trickster (including entry classes), or Alchemist (3-way tie): 1
Summoner Switch or Bard (tie): 2
Vigilante: 1
Witch: 1
Wizard: 1
Quasi-Pregenerated character (class determined by which character is selected): 1
Undecided/Unknown: 2
Alternates for various Tower Shieldadin builds: (Not counted yet, because this is not a primary choice for any Adventure Path -- totals up to 6, of which 1 and possibly 2 might transition into Battle Herald)
Note: Reach Witch is mentioned above for several Adventure Paths -- this does not yet have any counts of its own (currently appears in 4 places, but is not a primary choice for any of them right now). This concept refers to a Witch wielding a polearm to fish for Attacks of Opportunity while debuffing enemy after enemy with Hexes and the occasional spell. Update: Came up with a Half-Elven Hexcrafter Magus build that effectively does this (which also includes a bonus non-Hexcrafter version for other purposes) -- depending upon refinements, I might use this or some variant of it to replace one or both of the original concepts entirely. For the original versions of this idea, see this post for the Elf/Half-Elf (Dexterity-based, otherwise standard Witch) version and this post for the Orc/Half-Orc (Strength-based, Scarred Witch Doctor) version, although the unfortunate change to Scarred Witch Doctor has made the latter a lot less viable except at high point buy. Might want to consider some kind of Hexcrafter Magus build instead of these, if a workable way can be found to use a Reach weapon or compensate for the lack thereof.
Race (preferred choice only unless mechanical problems are likely to force choice of an alternate; Summoner Switch also appears here due to whatever the starting race was getting replaced by the unfettered Eidolon)
Changeling (Witchblood): 1
Changeling (Witchblood) or Kasatha (tie): 1
Dhampir: 1
Drow: 1
Dwarf: 1
Elf: 1
Kobold or Half-Elf: 1
Halfling: 1
Human: 6
Human or Elf (depending upon which of 4 quasi-pregenerated characters is selected): 1
Summoner Switch or Human (2-way tie): 2
Summoner Switch or Human or Ratfolk (3-way tie): 1
Tiefling (Kyton-Spawn): 1
Tiefling (Qlippoth-Spawn): 1
Undecided/Unknown: 5
Alternates for various Tower Shieldadin builds or Reach Witch alternate class choices (generally different race from the primary choices): (Not counted yet -- totals up to 6 Tower Shieldadin and 4 Reach Witch)
Playing TO or AGAINST the theme of the AP (because people have complained about my character concepts being against the theme of APs, even though their AP experience isn't affected)
Plays TO the theme of the AP: 20 (although 9 do so in an odd way)
Plays AGAINST the theme of the AP: 4 (all deliberate but carefully conceived clashes that are intended to work like fine spices to flavor the adventures)
So far, not too shabby; Oracle count currently resisting the tendency to go a bit high due to the thematic need for Oracle's Curse, but Bard count is a little high; full martial count is definitely low (only Battle Herald and Slayer count, and only mostly); Human count is a bit high (especially keeping in mind that Undecided/Undetermined has a good chance to turn out to be Human), but fits reasonably well with the demographics of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting. Playing AGAINST the theme of the AP is kept fairly rare, and thus more likely to be precious.
