Asha'Val's page

Hey Mr. Jacobs.

I love to homebrew settings/scenarios, and I recall that a massive portion of Pathfinder is clearly your homebrew setting aside from the minutia like specific AP details and such. What I'm curious about is how much time you spend actually playing in this setting you have created?

I've heard it's best not to make your hobby into your job, or you'll never stop working. Do you play other systems to take a break from being constantly immersed in Pathfinder/Starfinder, or relish in it? Do you avoid tabletops in general to avoid burnout?

If you do still play Pathfinder, are you a forever GM as the creative director of the setting or do others GM for you from time to time?

As someone who is currently playing a paladin (2) / Cleric (Everything else) of Anubis, we justified it in the first two books with an amusing work around. The church of Pharasma was allowed to oversee the looting of the tombs, but able to enforce rules on it from afar. Rashida, my character, was essentially on loan from the Cult of Anubis to act as a man on the inside. Smooth things over, and keep an eye out for others breaking the rules. Rashida doesn't take anything from the tombs the party has come across, only taking from the bodies of those who he has killed for doing so. (Or, when the guardians of said tombs specifically offer things as a reward for his assistance).

Anubis's followers, in our world, essentially work as a specialized task force that the Church of Pharasma can call upon if they need it. Since Anubis has left along with the others, but his teachings remain, his Cult is incredibly small in number. It has been incredibly rewarding to play as a follower of Anubis, and while I'm probably late to the party here? I think you'd also have a blast.

(We also have a Cultist of Wadjet among our party. The Old Gods be praised!)

My particular group of monsters barely qualifies as heroes, but boy oh boy do they hate drow.

We're halfway through book 6, First Edition.

Zym, Samsaran Necromancer who is trying to find a way to stop reincarnating. Accompanied by Lavethon, his Magnum Opus, his "familiar" that he crafted by raising the boss of Book 1 as a skeleton and making her into an abomination.

Blight, Homebrew Wyrwood Druid. His "siblings" were kidnapped by drow, and he's going to get them back, no matter how many elves get in his way. Drow or otherwise. Accompanied by Nyx, his Giant Spider animal companion.

Malechai, Human Vampire-Bloodline Sorcerer. Employed by the Demon Lady of Vampires to make sure that whatever the drow are up to fails miserably. Malechai never shuts up, rocks his 8 wisdom like it's going to get him killed, and is absurdly proud of how attractive he is.

Sar'Von, Nagaji Paladin of Desna. Narcoleptic, but fear him when he is awake. He should be the emotional core of the group as a paladin, but the others run circles around him. On a divine quest to save the world from a horror beyond the stars.

And then there's Zyga... Scarred Monk Half Drow. Virtually unkillable, and many have tried. She's a horror movie villain, but as a protagonist. An absolute juggernaut, and a living threat to anything that would get in her way. The leader of our band of miscreants.

My party is nearing the end of book 3, and have turned the Arabian Nights theme into Kingmaker Lite. Ah, my lovely dorks.

Lady Izora Goldwing, LG Wyvaran Staff Magus and current Mayor of Kelmarane, right hand of Merchant Princess Almah Roveshki. Ex Slave turned aristocrat, devotee of Abadar.

Lady Khaleesia (No Last Name), CG Ifrit Flame Dancer Bard. Head of Diplomatic Relations and City Morale. Supervisor of Feliped Wells, Kelmarane's Master of Ceremonies. Adopted daughter of Haleen.

Captain Zell (No Last Name), CG Tiefling Dagger Master Rogue, Moldspeaker, and Captain of the Troubleshooter's Guild of Kelmarane. In a Will They/Won't They relationship with Kellian, Bodyguard of Almah Roveshki. Adopted son of Haleen.

And finally, Tajah/Rahul Thrall. NG/CN Suli Destined Bloodrager with multiple personalities. Tajah is a kind pacifist, and favored tea time friend of Undraala. Rahul is an idiot with not a brain cell to his name, favored wrestling buddy of Dashki.

My wife is currently DMing us through Mummy's Mask. We have just finished book 5, and I am DMing us through book 6 of Second Darkness before we swap back to her for book 6 of Mummy's Mask. Our group is ridiculously powerful, as my wife wished to challenge herself by giving us all stupid good stats and each of us got to pick a template that she would trickle-feed us as we leveled up/hit narratively significant moments for our characters. Keep that in mind, because we have a pretty odd batch of weirdos.

We have Prince Ozran (Half Celestial Sorcerer), of the lost Kingdom of Azlar. The child born from a line of terrible necromancers whose ancestors names are used as foul curses in some parts of Osirion. Oz himself was born from an awful ritual performed by his uncle which ripped the divinity from a powerful celestial being and used the unborn child as a repository for that power. His kingdom was afflicted with a plague akin to the Plague of Madness that afflicted Wati, and his father made a deal with an Archduke of Hell to halt the plague in its tracks... Which was accomplished by freezing the entire kingdom in Stasis and removing it from time.
Since his initial journey to Wati to discover a proper cure of the plague that afflicts his people, Oz has done the impossible. He has cured his kingdom, restored the being whose power was drained during his birth, and surrendered the throne to one whose talents for leadership far outclass his own. Oz prefers the life of a scholar, and is far too shy to be a proper ruler. The impending threat of Hakotep, however, threatens to reduce Oz's newly restored lands to enslavement at best or rubble at worst.

The second noble in the band is Khyen Ashar (Phoenix Blessed Archeologist Bard), a scholar and history lover who spends far too much living with his thoughts on the past and his nose in a scroll. The Heir-Apparent of the Ashar noble family of Wati, Khyen is their most closely guarded secret. He is actually a Phoenix, reincarnating time and time again for centuries every time that he dies. Khyen is haunted by fragments of past lives, memories that are not his own, and hunted by those who would seek to acquire his power for themselves. Despite this majestic heritage and (re)birthright, Khyen is a lazy slob. He is anathema to a proper noble, with poor table manners and a damningly low amount of social grace. Originally kicked out of the family estate to pursue a life of more than reading scrolls and dusty old tomes, Khyen joined the unlikely band to explore Wati's ancient crypts... And uncovered a part of history best left forgotten. Alas, Hakotep's return is imminent, and there is no doubt that Khyen's family will be subjugated under the new regime. Khyen has little choice but to finally make something of himself, and perhaps become his family's unexpected savior in the process.

After it became apparent that Khyen's travels would involve interacting with greater powers than just Wati's common folk and lesser nobility, his family hired a tutor to travel with him.