Carl Klutzke's page

Sorry about Sunday morning, I got put to work at True Dungeon. Next year we'll do it right.

Oh, and how was working on True Dungeon? In what capacity were you working? Was it interesting? Would you do it again?

Sorry about Sunday morning, I got put to work at True Dungeon. Next year we'll do it right.

I'll hold you to it. :)

Sorry I missed you guys. I was up late on Saturday night and overslept Sunday morning, so I couldn't make the breakfast gathering. I also spent much of the con sequestered in my hotel room working on Fellnight Queen, except for brief excursions to the exhibitor's hall, a few Paizo seminars, and dinners with friends. With three young kids at home, I must say that GenCon was some of the most peaceful time I've had in awhile. :-)

--Neil

Understood. Plans to meet at GenCon on any morning tend to be overly optimistic. Joel and I had a good breakfast, but if anyone else made it, we didn't recognize them. I asked around the Pathfinder Society room and the Paizo booth later, but never ran into you or Matt.

On the plus side, it's pretty nifty to see Fellnight Queen in the Pathfinder catalog! Woohoo!

We probably ought to describe ourselves so we can find each other. I like Neil's idea of wearing an "I <heart> Sharina" shirt, but I'd guess you wouldn't all go for that. :)

I'm 6'2", more or less blond, and I'll be wearing a white Dogtown Games polo shirt throughout the convention. The logo can be seen here.

See you Sunday, if not earlier. I'll be stopping by the Paizo booth sometime to pick up a Pathfinder book at the very least.

Actually, the easiest way to find me is probably to just hang around the Paizo booth or some other easily recognizable and convenient location we'll both know. If we check in at that location periodically, we're bound to cross paths. That's what I've done in the past, at least.

Can you make it to breakfast on Sunday? I don't actually know when I'm going to be on the convention floor: I'm squeezing it in between games and seminars.

Looks like I have a couple of slots open in my Thursday night StoryCards session if anyone's interested. :)

I was thinking maybe getting together for breakfast on Sunday.

Did you have a place in mind for breakfast? There's a place called Patachou in the Simon building, just across the street from the convention center. It's not cheap, but it's reasonable (and tasty), and they open at 8am on Sunday.

I'll swing by the Paizo booth at least once, but I don't know when.

Gents:

GenCon is my hometown convention, so I'll definitely be there, and I'd love to meet anyone who attends. I'll mostly be running StoryCards events or trying out indie games in the Games On Demand area, but breakfast on Sunday would work great for me.

-Carl

Carl Klutzke wrote:

It's been a great contest so far....It'll be interesting to see if someone uses Sharina, but I won't hold my breath. :)

Thanks for creating such a memorable, unique, and fun villain, Carl. I salute you with sincere admiration. And take a deep breath. You can breathe easy... ;-)

--Neil

I'm deeply honored. Good luck!

I'm incapable of being objective about this. You have my vote!

Hey, at least you only made a few stat block errors. My mistake was hubris.

Oh, I did worse than that. I also didn't know the history of the game well enough to avoid presenting an existing rule as a new rule, and I didn't do enough to mitigate people's expressed concerns about my concept. But it's been a good learning experience all around.

Also, if you've ever played any of the more faithful D&D-based computer games (NWN being one of the best examples), you'd get a warning if you equipped Bracers of Armor in combination with armor, something along the lines of, "You have equipped multiple items which provide non-stacking bonuses to AC. You will not gain any additional benefit from the extra items."

I really haven't played D&D since AD&D version 1 (and not much of that!), and NWN is my only exposure to 3.x. And I made a Pathfinder gnome wizard last fall, but that's it. So my experience is severely limited. If I'd known I'd make it past the first round, I'm not sure I would have entered at all!

I guess I get confused that an armor bonus is an armor bonus, whether it's granted by armor or by magic. I think I saw in the magic items section that a _magic armor bonus_ does stack with an armor bonus, and thought maybe an armor bonus granted by magic is a magic armor bonus: it's not. My concern is that if this is a frequent newbie error, it needs to be documented more explicitly in the manual. Expecting people to already know the intricacies of the stacking rules, or referring them to the SRD, isn't good enough. I wonder who I should contact?

Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment on Sharina, and especially to those of you who voted for her. I am thrilled that I made it as far in the contest as I did, especially considering that Sharina is only the second Pathfinder character I've ever created! I knew that inexperience would burn me, and believe me, I'd rather it did now than in round 4!

I'm a little abashed for my ignorance regarding the armor and the reputation rules. But I must actually apologize for not putting more work into addressing some of the issues with Sharina that people commented on in round 2. I played it safe, unwilling to risk breaking what some people liked about her in the process of fixing what others didn't like. That was a mistake. Even if it had failed, it would have been better to make the attempt, and you deserved that after so many of you voted for her. So, my apologies.

It's been a great contest so far, and I'm so glad I was able to participate. Now I look forward to seeing what the top 8 do, and what villains they do it with. It'll be interesting to see if someone uses Sharina, but I won't hold my breath. :)

Thank you again.

This is a question for those of you who aren't in the top 8: you top 8 gents have enough work to do already!

I understand I made a lame beginner mistake with the bracers not stacking with the armor. Everyone seems to know better (and I love the person who pointed out the obvious, "Why didn't you just make the mithral shirt +1? D'oh!). My question is, _how_ do they know better? I wasn't sure that would work, and I looked and didn't find anything in the rules that seemed to prevent it. So where in the rules is it explained?

Thanks!

Congratulations to the top 8! Better you than me, guys. I think I did pretty well with the second Pathfinder character I ever created, but the inexperience was obvious. I wish I hadn't made such _glaring_ mistakes, but it's a relief to be done.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with... and who you use to come up with it!

am I the only one here who wouldn't know a decent Pathfinder stat block from a poor one, or are there others with various degrees of unfamiliarity with the system?

I think I demonstrated that you are not the only one. :)

Carl Klutzke, Trevor Gulliver, Joao Beraldo and Philip Snyder are all in.

Thank you! *collapses* No, wait, can't do that, I'm supposed to be working...

I just submitted my round 3 entry (twice) and didn't get confirmation either time. Strange, considering I'm pretty sure I remember getting confirmation on my posting on previous rounds.

Sharina, Legend Singer

Female human bard 6

Description: "I will make you immortal!" - Sharina, Legend Singer

Sharina has long raven tresses, flawless dusky skin, dark eyes full of stars, and always a hint of a smile: she's tall, slim, and captivating. Her appearance would certainly draw plenty of attention even if she didn't have the grace of a cat and a voice like strawberry wine. She loves nothing better than to perform songs about legendary heroes before an adoring crowd, especially if she composed them herself. She’s known throughout the county of Silver Bluff better than Count Meliden himself.

Motivations/Goals: Sharina is out to make the PCs famous, by any means necessary. She knows that by composing and performing works about their heroic prowess, she gains even more fame than they do. So she seeks every opportunity to turn potential threats into real ones. She uses suggestions to stoke simmering hostilities. She uses her knowledge skills to seek out and antagonize dangerous beasts. And when she thinks the PCs are ready to take a featured role in it, she'll start a war. If confronted as the source of these problems she will use persuasion, acrobatics, and magic to escape, but even afterward she'll manipulate and assist from the background, turning the PCs into heroes of legend--whether they like it or not.

Schemes/Plots/Adventure Hooks: Ideally, Sharina is a companion to the PCs' party, or at least a frequent guide and ally. This is the perfect spot for her to manipulate events, where she can use bluff and diplomacy skills to provoke encounters, while still proving her value by empowering the PCs to even greater exploits, and growing more powerful as they do. The PCs can consult her on knowledge of the Silver Bluff area, and won't know that she's leading them directly into dangers they could have avoided.

A young adult white dragon has recently made its home atop Silver Peak. Sharina sends whispering winds to taunt it, daring it to attack homesteads and carry off juicy livestock.

Sharina secretly composes derogatory songs about Count Puckett, hot-headed ruler of a nearby domain. No one knows their source, but they're hilarious and contagious. Count Puckett even hears them in his sleep. When he's at the height of his ire, Sharina sends him a forged note to inform him that the songs were composed by the young son of Count Meliden.

When the PCs begin to endanger the fame she's built at their expense, Sharina launches her ultimate plan. She draws an overwhelming hostile force (say, a horde of orcs, or the army of an enraged count) to a large, poorly defended village. She then sends a message to the PCs, telling them honestly that the only way to save the villagers is for the PCs to hold a choke point in a nearby valley long enough for her to evacuate the village. She promises their glorious sacrifice will be sung of forever, and bids them farewell.

SHARINA, LEGEND SINGER CR 4 [bard level 6 - 2]
CN medium human
Init +6 [+2 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative]; Senses Perception +0
===== Defense =====
AC 18 [10, +5 armor, +2 Dex, +1 Dodge], touch 13 [10, +2 Dex, +1 Dodge], flat-footed 15 [10, +5 armor]; (+5 armor [+4 chain shirt, +1 bracers], +2 Dex, +1 Dodge)
hp 33 (6d8+6 [+1 Con])
Fort +3 [+2 bard level, +1 Con], Ref +7 [+5 bard level, +2 Dex], Will +5 [+5 bard level]
Defensive Abilities Acrobatics skill, inspire courage +2, Run feat, well-versed
===== Offense =====
Spd 30 ft. [mithral shirt], run 150 ft. [x5 Run feat]; expeditious retreat
Melee rapier +3 [+4 at bard level 6, -1 Str] (1d6-1 [-1 Str]/18-20)
Ranged composite short bow +7 [+4 at bard level 6, +2 Dex, +1 enhancement] (1d6+1 [+1 enhancement]/x3)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th):
6/day--bardic performance: countersong, distraction, fascinate (DC 17 [10, +3 1/2 bard level, +4 Cha]), inspire competence, inspire courage +2, suggestion (DC 17 [10, +3 1/2 bard level, +4 Cha])
Spells Known (bard CL 6th):
2nd (4/day [3 at bard level 6, +1 for cha])--enthrall (DC 16 [10, +2 spell level, +4 Cha]), locate object, suggestion (DC 16 [10, +2 spell level, +4 Cha]), whispering wind
1st (5/day [4 at bard level 6, +1 for cha])--charm person (DC 15 [10, +1 spell level, +4 Cha]), disguise self (DC 15 [10, +1 spell level, +4 Cha]), expeditious retreat, silent image (DC 15 [10, +1 spell level, +4 Cha])
0 (at will)--dancing lights, detect magic, flare (DC 14 [10, +4 Cha]), ghost sound (DC 14 [10, +4 Cha]), mage hand, message
===== Tactics =====
Before Combat If combat seems imminent, Sharina takes a support position at the rear of her willing-or-unwilling allies. She prefers elevated positions that offer cover or concealment. If she has no allies available, she employs Bluff, enthrall, fascinate, suggestion, and/or charm person--as appropriate to the quantity and power of the opponents--to delay combat long enough to withdraw.
During Combat Throughout combat Sharina uses bardic performance, singing to inspire courage in her allies. She switches to countersong or distraction if circumstances warrant. If directly threatened she uses suggestion and charm person to turn opponents into assistants, employing her shortbow only as a last resort while staying out of melee range. If an opponent manages to close to melee range she uses Acrobatics to withdraw without provoking attacks of opportunity; if cornered she performs total defense actions until someone comes to her aid.
Morale Sharina flees if she has lost half her hit points, if she has only a single 1st level spell allotment remaining, or if she has no remaining allies. She uses expeditious retreat to enhance her speed, and Acrobatics to jump over gaps and to jump down from high places, hoping pursuers will not follow. If a crowd makes running difficult, she instead uses disguise self to blend in until a better opportunity to flee arises. If she has a standard action during her flight she uses dancing lights, flare, or ghost sound to create a distraction. If her allies turn against her she drinks her potion of invisibility before fleeing.
===== Statistics =====
Str 8, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 18 [15, +2 human, +1 every 4 levels]
Base Atk +4; CMB +3 [+4 base attack, -1 Str]
Feats [4 total: 1st, 3rd, and 5th level feats, human bonus feat] Deceitful, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Run
Reputations fame (Silver Bluff) 3
Skills [6 ranks each in 8 (6, +1 Int, +1 human) skill selections, 6 ranks in 1 extra bardic knowledge skill (local)] Acrobatics +11 [6 ranks, +3 class, +2 Dex] (+4 to jump after a running start), Appraise +1 [+1 Int], Bluff +15 [6 ranks, +3 class, +4 Cha, +2 Deceitful] (+3 reputation bonus to deceive others in Silver Bluff), Climb -1 [-1 Str], Craft (any) +1 [+1 Int], Diplomacy +13 [6 ranks, +3 class, +4 Cha] (+3 reputation bonus in Silver Bluff), Disguise +6 [+4 Cha, +2 Deceitful] (+10 if using disguise self, +2 if using disguise kit), Escape Artist +2 [+2 Dex], Intimidate +4 [+4 Cha] (+3 reputation bonus in Silver Bluff), Knowledge (history) +13 [6 ranks, +3 class, +3 1/2 bard level, +1 Int], Knowledge (local) +13 [6 ranks, +3 class, +3 1/2 bard level, +1 Int], Knowledge (nobility) +13 [6 ranks, +3 class, +3 1/2 bard level, +1 Int], Knowledge (other) +4 [+3 1/2 bard level, +1 Int], Linguistics +10 [6 ranks, +3 class, +1 Int], Perform (sing) +13 [6 ranks, +3 class, +4 Cha] (+3 reputation bonus in Silver Bluff), Perform (other) +4 [+4 Cha] (+3 reputation bonus in Silver Bluff), Ride +2 [+2 Dex], Spellcraft +1 [+1 Int], Stealth +11 [6 ranks, +3 class, +2 Dex], Swim -1 [-1 Str]; lore master
Languages [7 total: 1 human, 6 ranks Linguistics] Common, Elven, Draconic, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan
Combat Gear composite short bow +1 with 20 arrows, rapier, mithral shirt, bracers of armor +1; Other Gear potion of invisibility, potion of cure moderate wounds, disguise kit

Reputations
A reputation is an attribute that describes how well you are known in a specific community, such as a village, a nation, or an organization. It is granted by the GM as a consequence of your actions in that community, and can increase as a result of publicity associated with those actions. Reputation values range from 1 to 5, are always assigned in the context of a specific community, and take the form of fame (good reputation) or infamy (bad reputation). You can have both good and bad reputations in the same community: your total reputation in a community is the sum of your fame and infamy values. The sum of your good and bad reputations within a community can never exceed 5.

Your reputation values modify the following skills when dealing exclusively with members of the specified community:
Bluff: On checks to deceive others, your fame value applies as a reputation bonus, and your infamy value applies as a reputation penalty.
Diplomacy: On all Diplomacy checks, your fame value applies as a reputation bonus, and your infamy value applies as a reputation penalty.
Intimidate: Your total reputation applies as a reputation bonus to your Intimidate skill checks.
Knowledge: Your total reputation subtracts from the Knowledge check DC for others to recall information about you.
Perform: On all Perform checks, your fame value applies as a reputation bonus, and your infamy value applies as a reputation penalty.
Sense Motive: Your total reputation subtracts from the Sense Motive check DC for others to get a hunch about you or sense enchantments upon you.

Reputation modifiers do not stack: if reputation values from multiple communities would apply, use the highest applicable values.

Now that it's too late to influence the voting (for good or ill) I want to thank everyone who took the time to post comments, criticism, suggestions, approval, disapproval, and song parodies about Sharina. It's been wonderfully educational. Hearing so many of you say that you plan on using her in your own campaigns has been higher praise than I ever could have hoped for. Thank you very much.

Do you remember what the reward is for getting an early lead in the Diplomacy game is?

Vividly, because it happens to me every time I play. I keep forgetting that it isn't a strategy game. We have a house rule: everyone who plays Diplomacy has to be able to get home on their own.

But don't get me wrong. I appreciate lots of folks liked my villain. And I appreciate you guys liked it and voted for it, too. I'm just saying the contest is far from over. It's only one round. Everything resets with the next assignment. And it feels...odd?...stressful?...to be singled out quite so starkly. It also heaps a lot more pressure to somehow meet a higher set of expectations...

Neil, if it helps, I didn't vote for you. :)

Out of curiosity, we don't get a vote do we?

Absolutely we get to vote. I already did.

Hey, guys...I just wanted to post here that I'm going to withhold commenting on anyone's stuff until after the voting is done. I don't want to influence anyone else's vote (positively or negatively) based on which entries I liked or disliked. Instead, I'm going to use that time to start early on my stat block. That said, I wish all of you luck and much respect.

Same here.

The villain I scrapped before coming up with my actual entry was based on the Monkey King from Chinese folklore. He was going to be an awakened monkey lich wizard (illusionist) 20 who created duplicates of himself by casting the simulacrum spell on his own hairs.

But then I realized that the concept itself wasn't original at all. (One of the Monkey King's names in Chinese folklore can be translated as Awakened Monkey, so even that design choice is entirely derivative.) Don't get me wrong, the stat block and combat tactics would have been extremely original. But a concept lifted straight from mythology probably wouldn't have made it to the stat block round.

Now that's blatant.

I dunno. Depending on how creative you were with the concept, it might have won you Wolfgang Baur's vote. Have you seen the name of his blog?

Come on people,

Update those profiles!

Did it last night. Took me too long, because, well, look at my Special Ability.

Congratulations to everyone who made it into the top 32 (and the alternates too)! I love the wondrous items you came up with, and I'm eager to see what your villain concepts are.

I'd actually forgotten about the contest! I just thought it would be fun to submit something, so I came up with a couple dozen ideas, had friends and family help me pick the most interesting one, went through the Magic Item Compendium to make sure it hadn't already been done, and then wrote it up. I don't hang out here much, so I only found out by checking my mail; my jaw hit my lap. I didn't even know what the next round was! And then I had a panic attack, because I'd spent most of a month thinking up Boundary Chalk, and now I had to come up with a villain idea in three days (and not even a weekend!).

So I did the same process for round 2. I came up with a bunch of one-line ideas for villains. It helped that I keep around a file of "story seeds": random story or adventure ideas I've had in the past that might be useful someday. I also reread a series of Villain Builder articles that I'd seen a while back. I again had friends and family narrow down the choices, and picked the one that seemed most interesting. Then I had another panic attack, calmed down, and wrote up a villain that I'm totally stoked about. I ran over the word count coming up with hooks, and trimmed it back to 495 words.

If I make it to round 3 I may be hosed, because I haven't actually played Pathfinder much, and have little confidence I can put a stat block together in three days. But I'm honored to have been selected for round one, and had such a good time with my villain concept that I feel like I won even if this is as far as I get.

You seem like a great bunch, and I'm thrilled to be included in your number. I wish all of you the best of luck.

The words "dumped unceremoniously" really make this for me.

Congrats on top 32!

Thanks everyone so much for your commentary on my item! Sorry I hadn't replied yet, but I was totally stunned to be selected, and had to really scramble to get a villain ready for round 2.

The chalk is indeed intended to work on any surface, not just floors. I originally wrote the description to say that the wall extended perpendicular to the surface, but thought it was too technical. I should have known better. :) I wanted people to be able to be creative with it, and make things like stairs (though I can't imagine how you'd get traction on them). I hadn't thought of (literal!) edge cases like drawing a line on a weapon, though!

SHARINA LEGENDSINGER

Female human bard 6

Description: "I will make you immortal!" - Sharina Legendsinger

Sharina is striking by anyone's standards, with long raven tresses, flawless dusky skin, dark eyes full of stars, and always a hint of a smile: she's tall, slim, and captivating. Her dress manages to be both practical and flattering, without being more than ever-so-slightly provocative. All this would certainly draw plenty of attention even if she didn't have the grace of a cat and a voice like strawberry wine. She loves nothing better than to perform songs about legendary heroes before an adoring crowd, especially if she composed them herself.

Motivations/Goals: Sharina is out to make the PCs famous, by any means necessary. She knows that by composing and performing works about their heroic prowess, she gains even more fame than they do. So she seeks every opportunity to turn potential threats into real ones. She uses suggestions to stoke simmering hostilities. She uses her knowledge skills to seek out and antagonize dangerous beasts. And when she thinks the PCs are ready to take a featured role in it, she'll start a war. If confronted she will use persuasion, acrobatics, and magic to escape, but even afterward she'll manipulate and assist from the background, turning the PCs into heroes of legend--whether they like it or not.

Schemes/Plots/Adventure Hooks: Ideally, Sharina is a member of the PCs' party, or at least a prized ally. This is the perfect spot for her to manipulate events, where she can use bluff and diplomacy skills to provoke encounters, while still proving her value by empowering the PCs to even greater exploits, and growing more powerful as they do. The PCs can consult her on knowledge of the area, and won't know that she's leading them directly into dangers they could have avoided.

A young adult white dragon has recently made its home on a nearby mountain peak. Sharina sends whispering winds to taunt it, daring it to attack homesteads and carry off juicy livestock.

Sharina secretly composes derogatory songs about Puckett, hot-headed monarch of a nearby kingdom. No one knows their source, but they're hilarious and contagious. King Puckett even hears them in his sleep. When he's at the height of his ire, Sharina sends him an anonymous note to inform him that the songs were composed by the young son of the PCs' liege lord.

When the PCs begin to endanger the fame she's built at their expense, Sharina launches her ultimate plan. She draws an overwhelming hostile force (say, a horde of orcs, or the army of an enraged king) to a large, poorly defended village. She then sends a message to the PCs, telling them truthfully that the only way to save the villagers is for the PCs to hold a choke point in a nearby valley long enough for her to evacuate the village. She promises their glorious sacrifice will be sung of forever, and bids them farewell.

Yes, the idea of the bracelet and being fueled by the caster's magic is a nod to the Dresden files.

I thought so. Boundary Chalk was originally inspired by Dresden Files too: it mutated considerably during development.

Congratulations on making it to round 2!

BOUNDARY CHALK
Aura moderate evocation; CL 9th
Slot —; Price 18,000 gp; Weight —

DESCRIPTION
The surface of this stick of white chalk is covered with silvery runes. Using the chalk to draw a line 1 to 10 feet long on a solid surface creates a wall of force, extending 10 feet straight out from the surface. Drawing a line takes one standard action which provokes acts of opportunity. Each wall lasts 10 minutes, but can be immediately dismissed by touching it again with the chalk. One stick of boundary chalk can draw 200 feet of line before it is used up.

CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, wall of force; Cost 9,000 gp