Third is a safe level right now at least. Most people coming into tables are entering at third, although it might be higher in the future. A new table altogether might also start at 3rd possibly.
Are you all swimming out to the center of the lake? Or using your tiny raft to get out there. Nathan and Lotham might look at the raft and ask if its a raft for ants ;).
We have a spot that opened on table 7, Illia/Yraazhin you are next in line. Are you ready to hop in on that table, or would you rather wait for a new table to form?
Obtaining relics depends on your deity. These things are as noted rather rare and not just laying around in a shop, and might require investment in time and effort and talking to people convincing them that you should be the one carrying it around into battle and other dangers. Being a minotaur doesn't really help much in that regard depending on the deity.
Hello Jereru, welcome. To answer your question, no it doesn't qualify.
Yeah I think you can talk at any time during your turn even by RAW. I've seen a lot of handwaving about this in practice anyhow. At tabletop, my players basically carry on full length conversations, write epic novels, and defend their dissertations all in a single round of combat. The metagaming is off the charts too. For the most part I don't care, people are having fun, drinking beer, and eating pizza and getting together to visit which is becoming increasingly rare. I try to keep it somewhat appropriate for PBP, particularly if its surprise round and you haven't gone yet, otherwise I just assume everyone is yelling and screaming nonstop.
The group relaxes and talks among themselves as the atomies flit about and do what they do. There is some tension in the air as everyone awaits the arrival of the queen. The time passes and in the distance you hear some flute music, upbeat and lively, its tones echoing through the wooded area hauntingly. The atomies flit about more energetically now. A hush falls over the assembled group and then a series of whispers pick up as it seems someone or something is coming..... Several animals make their way into the clearing, a large bear, a panther and a huge wolf. The sit patiently and you hear the soft sound of a flute playing, getting closer. The song changes, and is beautiful and haunting now, tugging at your mind, almost magically. As you struggle to not be swept in by the song a 'man' steps forth from a nearby boulder emerging from the very stone itself. He is short, near Xanya's size. His hair is a wild mane about him, beard long and unkempt. His hair flows down his back and sides, and seems to have a life of its own. Indeed as he steps into the center of the group, the hair seems to writhe about, plucking needles or pine cones from trees, an acorn from the ground, sticks, stones and other items are grasped and released. The hair snatches a dragonfly from the air, and then releases it. The man looks ruddy and well tanned and wears nothing but a rough leather apron. He has a stern look, perhaps a bit wild in his eyes. He looks intently at each of you, just long enough to be uncomfortable. That duration that reaches just the magical point where a glance becomes too long of a stare. He carries in his hands a large knobbed club. The club is covered with nicks and abrasions and you can tell it isn't just for decoration. The man appears well muscled and wiry. He stalks about the assemblage for about a minute as the flute music grows closer, saying nothing, taking stock of the situation. The three animals' gazes follow him closely as he walks about, his rough bare feet clumping softly through the pine duff. With a whoop he hops atop a nearby boulder and stands at watch. The flute music, very close now, abruptly stops and another figure leaps from behind a tree and atop another boulder. This time the being is somewhat larger, a faun as they are called, or satyr. Typical for their kind, the upper half is that of a man's torso, hairy and well muscled. The satyr sports a neatly trimmed beard, roguish in its style. The satyr has one eyebrow raised and looks about the group with a half smile on his lips. His lower body is that of a goat or ram, and his cloven hooves nimbly clamber over the top of the boulder. He wears no adornment, however his furry lower half does little to conceal his disproportionately large endowment. While few in the group are prudish of such things, the manner with which the faun seems to display his 'piece' suggests he is well aware of it and meets the gaze steadfastly of all who look upon him. Perching atop the boulder, the satyr begins to play his flute (not that flute!) again, a tune of soft meditative sounds. The atomies flit into the air and begin pointing into the forest and then all land on the ground and drop into a prostrate position as a woman steps from the forest trail. Your jaws drop as her unearthly beauty washes over you. While none of you are human and your tastes may not even find the human form specifically attractive or may find different proportions more suitable, it is unarguable that her beauty is unmatched, and physical endowments aside, she seems to radiate an aura of stunning vitality and charisma. Your hearts race, and you find yourselves sweating, pulses racing. It is almost painful to behold her, and any previous thoughts are wiped from your mind as you find yourselves unable to form anything coherent or do naught but look upon her in awe. The atomies seem in a similar state, bowing and repeating a word over and over which seems to translate into 'our queen' for those who speak the Sylvan tongue. The nymph steps into the middle of the circle, the animals moving aside, and even the animals seems to twitch nervously, tails swishing or swaying, their mouths open, panting or slobbering. The short man atop his boulder, looks down, his eyes sparkling and smiling. The faun atop his boulder stops playing and looks upon the nymph with unbridled lust and his ridiculous appendage has grown even more so. This would be awkward if you cared about anything at all aside from staring at her naked beauty. You feel as though you wish to tear your eyes out as you will never behold anything as beautiful as she. She smiles and speaks a word of greeting and though you may or may not understand it, you nearly snap inside. If you ever hear another sound it cannot compare to the perfection of her voice. You consider tearing your ears from your head, to preserve the memory of it. You feel frozen in place as she walks slowly about the circle looking at each of you. You feel dizzy and perhaps close to blacking out as she fixes her gaze upon you. You try to focus and somewhere in the back of your mind you realize you haven't blinked since she appeared, your eyes fixated on her perfection, her every move. She utters a brief incantation and a log transforms into a simple yet majestic throne. She seats herself upon it in a single graceful movement that burns itself into your memory. She speaks in a heavily accented version of the modern Common tongue. Her mellifluous voice, its dulcet tone and soothing cadence bringing a serene calm and peace to you. You find yourself kneeling on the forest floor and then sitting in front of her your faces upturned in rapt attention. "Welcome strangers." She inclines her head to you and your scrambled minds attempt to form concepts into words, and with a momentous effort of will manage to get your lips and tongue to function in response.
"Ok, well then. Let me think. I don't know what an amentum is, but if if goes with javelins, then its probably easy to find." She looks at Kiki's small sword. "Wow that is quite fancy. Umm, you will need to have someone make something like that. We can ask around. I don't think it will be a problem, it will just take some time. So tiny!" "Mithral, no way! No one gets that good stuff. Any time they find a vein of that, the Thain or even the king is all over that, like flies to poop. That stuff disappears into the vaults and only the top tier nobles and royalty get to wear armor made from that. Sorry Xanya." "Now a bow should not be too hard. They make those around here in plenty, and even for strong people. I don't know how strong you are, but they can probably adjust it for you. I am not an archer, but I think they just use some different cams and adjust the pull or something it was explained to me once." She scrunches her face up as if trying to recall some information. "We can check around for cold iron or silver stuff. Mind you, there isn't a huge demand for that for the common folk. The marshals sometimes will have things like that made probably for fighting special monsters, but no smith is going to make a fancy silver earthsmasher or whatever if its going to on his store shelf for a few years." "Ink I can help with! Lots of that to be had, they make it from some creatures that live in the lake." "Ok lets talk about magic stuff. There isn't a lot to be had around here, particularly the really expensive fancy stuff. But some of the merchants do have odds and ends sitting around. Normally the Thain or the marshals will buy up the best stuff, things that can be used in battle. Occasionally something gets overlooked. We need to ask around." "My mistress also sometimes makes magical items, though you understand it is time consuming. Making them on your own, is, well a matter of the right resources and knowledge. I don't know of any primers you can buy that explain it outright, but there may be books on enchantment theory." She acts like she is trying to speak knowledgeably, probably repeating something she hear, playing up her status as a barely wizard's apprentice. "Crafting resources should be available, but are getting scarce because not as much are coming in now, and all the mines and logging camps are on hold. Luckily we have reserves aplenty to last, but its getting used in the defense of the fort. Come, lets go." Jopple leads you through town and you visit several weaponsmiths first. Their forges are smoking away and the clinking of hammer on steel is everywhere as the smiths, master and apprentice alike are working as fast as they can to churn out resources for the defense of the town. You are able to obtain amentums quite easily as they are basically leather straps. You put in an order for a strong bow, and while they don't have anything immediately available, the bowyers advises if you return in a few hours he will have a bow adjusted for you, and he marvels that someone so small has such great strength. Visiting a second weaponsmith, you are able to convince him to attempt some more wakizashi swords for Kiki. He seems bit creeped out by the spiderling, but admires the tiny sword and its quality. He inspects it at length, taking measurements, and notes and making some sketches. He advises it may take some time, but that he will try to work on them soon. He also says he can work with alternate materials, but that also takes time and requires a custom order as well . You break for lunch and essentially get carry out from a local pub and eat it under a tree while Jopple scribbles notes, barely touching her food. "Ok next we talk to some more merchants." She gets up and starts hobbling slowly down some streets. She bangs on a battered old door in an alley and an old man answers. He raises his brows at the sight of the group, but smiles warmly at Jopple. "What have ye got yourself into lass?" "Helping the new people!" She says smiling. "They are fighting against the giants coming, and they need special things." She shows the man a list of stuff, and he runs his hand through his thinning hair. "Och, well you folk are needing a small miracle, or a much larger city. I can help with a few of these items though." Gm Rolls:
He returns with a small pouch. Inside is a pearl. Jopple nods and you exchange the gold "Sorry I can't help you folk any more than that. I don't use the thing these days so if it helps the town I will sell it." Jopple thanks the mysterious old man, and you continue further. You eventually reach the place of her studies, and meet the enchantress to whom she is apprenticed. You discuss at length the possibility of having some items enchanted. She is willing to do it for the normal prices. It of course takes time and nothing you order will be ready immediately. Quassine and the enchantress talk for a bit as well regarding theory and application of magical item creation. She returns with a few magically made copies of some diagrams and notes that can help. She doesn't have any books for sale or is willing to part with any of her library. She is willing to discuss scrolls however.
Makoto attempts her plan to see if there was an impressions left on the wood from anyone writing hard. After careful prestidigitation magics and inspection nothing is revealed.
Hey gang, I am back, will post an update tonight. Long busy weekend.
I ponder your suggestion of allowing more characters. We do have a few tables that are down 1 person as well as some that have people with low post frequency. I am still on the fence, but allowing people to roll a second character would shore up these tables. I have to think on it more.
I added a regional map (finally) to the campaign tab. This shows the progress of the groups and is a nicer version of the map that Head Marshal Hawke has given the groups, although the one you have it still quite detailed. Feel free to ask any questions.
I am the world's worst typist. I hang my head in shame.
Lump and Jopple stop by Loremaster Cronin and he supplies you with the Celestial language primer, then head into town, there is an initial escort through the fort as usual, heavily armed unit of dwarves, and through the massive fortified gates. At the gates you are met by a smaller external unit, just two dwarves who are to accompany you through town.
You make major stops at leathercraft and tailor shops giving the measurements of the people for clothing, bags, animal clothes and barding and so forth. It will take a few days to make the various items so everything should be ready in four days. You swing by the alchemy street where several shops run by gnomes are set up and sell all sorts of supplies. You purchase the lab and base ingredients as well as the heatstones etc there. You make inquiries and are able to purchase a masterwork longsword for Tayanella, as well as base wood and metal for Karkoran. ( I think a huge aklys is 6 lbs and I will say 25% metal 75% wood. Calculate the costs for whatever you are using and tally the gold. Wood and steel are plentiful here.) You find the outdoor items, nets, sleds and crafting tools in various other shops. Jopple takes Lump into another small shop where they purchase the thieve's ring, but the transaction look like they bought a book. The ring is actually in the book's binding. The dwarven guard with you know nothing of it. You spend a considerable amount of time trying to find the other magic items. (Changed my mind, there is a 75% chance for magic items 1000gp or less) - bag
It takes most of the day and you are able to purchase those three items. The parade armor needs to be custom made, which will take the armorsmith you found 4 days, and to do he uses easily worked raw materials to speed it along, this costs an extra 12.5 gp however. Keep in mind this is non-masterwork quality however, it will take longer if you want it masterwork for enchantment. You do enquire around town and there is someone who would enchant it if you had the required piece. I think this accounts for everything.
Maybe Xanya REALLY like to bake cookies, like insanely so.
Have a hero point :)
I have always found this to be a fallacy though. Yes, many of the smartest and brightest may be involved in the arcane arts, but depending how the training and schooling works, that could be prohibitively expensive, not every genius becomes a mage, and it doesn't take a genius to come up with a good idea. The peasant in the field is always looking for a way to do things easier and more efficiently, and the archmage in the tower sure doesn't have the peasant in his mind, "Let's see invent a magical plow for Bob from Muckville, or find the artifact that will let me turn into a lich muahhaha. Sorry Bob". I would think there would be plenty of mundane researchers still looking for ways to innovate. It is also hard to draw similarities in a fantasy world to real world. What if the world had no Age of Discovery, no over population, no religious schisms, more wars, less wars, etc. So many things shape the outcome of progress. The destruction of ancient libraries and lost knowledge, all fascinating what if scenarios. Throw in magic, and monsters, and Gods that manifest in flesh and blood, and other planes that you can actually travel too, and more immortal creatures that you can shake a stick at, well it gets really tricky to predict what would, could or should happen. Eventually its just a situation of 'dang my friends just want to kill some orcs on a Saturday night and eat pizza'. Fun to consider.
Bavari does tell a few of the stories, and he takes the time to translate them into Common as many of you gather around to listen to them. One story tells the tale of a loan goatling warrior who rose to greatness through prowess in battle, but as he great stronger, so did his pride, and it was almost his undoing as he met a great giant. The giant turned out to be stronger and the goatling warrior hero, named Chavalis, was forced to flee in humiliation. Chavalis swallowing his pride asked his friends to help him defeat the giant, named Norg. With his friends, Chavalis was able to defeat the giant Norg, who surrended, but tricked the goatlings and smashed a hole in the ground that led to Hell. The goatlings fell in the hole. Apparently this tale leads to a series of other tales where Chavalis and his friends who all have special powers and abilities fight their way through Hell to return home. The second tale talks of Immo, a wise goatling who travelled the world, seeking to understand all of the other races. As he travelled he learned their ways of battle so that one day he could protect the goatling people if they were attacked. Immo ends up falling in love with a goatling princess, and challenges the Chief in battle for the right to marry his daughter. Immo wins the fight and is allowed to marry the daughter, but the King banishes both of them from the lands. The two flee into the mountains and eventually live ascend into the sky to live in the stars. You suspect most of the tales to have little truth to them, and there may be an attempt to tuck some sort of life lesson in these stories, but you suspect over time pieces have been added, removed, embellished or changed to suit the audiences, or any current trends among the goat people. Bavari is about to start a new story when it appears the Battle Dance is about to begin.
@Xanya: It is meta-gamey for one raging and riding a mount in battle to magically happen to notice one party member specifically not act for a few seconds. Combat rounds are there for ease of play, but combat is supposed to be somewhat fluid and for someone to pause a bit wouldn't be particularly noticeable unless he stood there blatantly not doing anything for a few rounds or just hid. Because the player specifically posted he did not act wouldn't imply that his character wasn't looking for an opening or waiting to aid someone. Just seems a little over reactive, unless you know, you are trying to create drama and party strife or something.
I do want to stress and reiterate to all the new people coming that are looking to apply. I still want people who can post frequently and are in for the long haul. I want people that will enjoy the campaign and not just the chance to tear stuff up with uber builds, min-maxed to the nth degree. Keep in mind for every super crazy build you make I can always trump you with something else. No build is perfect, and combat is not everything, in fact in many cases your success in this campaign will not be played out on the battlefield, nor will be it attached to making a bunch of skill checks. Make sure you have read over the more fluffier parts of the original recruitment thread and not just skim past those parts to the mechanics. new recruits still start at level 1 despite most/everyone so far levelling to 2.
so much pain and suffering both dealt and received and best of all it was all good due to protecting my friends.
Here are snippets of conversation that you get as they talk softly to each other. They are unaware you can understand them, or don't care. "How will we face our brothers and sisters having failed in battle? These ancient spirits sent to test us were very strong!" "Are we sure these are spirits?" "They come with only weapons, no armor or tools, they must be spirits from the sky. We saw the location they arrived from and there are only tracks leading away, which means they came from the sky." "They came straight for the lake, they are a test of the Anual Ceremony." "But they bleed and can be defeated in battle." "That is the magic of our ancestors, they test us as part of the Lake Ceremony, so said the shamans before we attacked, remember?" "Is is true. What do you think the spirits will do to us?" "They will consume our souls, perhaps eat our flesh, and destroy us, erasing us from memory." "Maybe they will show mercy upon us, surely they would have devoured us already." "Why does the little scaly one look at us so strangely?" "That spirit will feed you to the others, it is the most dangerous. The small shadowy one will take your soul, and the other three will rip you apart and devour you. Perhaps in the Afterhunt you can meet our ancestors and ask why."
Will check in with you guys tonight, and see if we can update the battle.
Essa lays on the floor of the crypt on her back, panting, but smiling. "Whew." Lying there she marvels, "Guys, could you have imagined a week ago that we would be in some deep dark crypt, wrestling with a wood monster, risking our lives?" She ached from her wounds, and was caked in blood, and bruises. "Clearly this is not normal for people to do, we are just kids. But when you hear about the stories from the tales, this is the sort of thing heroes do. Are we heroes? I don't feel like it?" She continues to wax philosophical, perhaps she hit her head too hard at some point. She lays on the floor, rolling around a bit, her long hair a tangle around her, on the floor. "This crazy adventure with you guys, I won't ever forget, but..What happens when it is over? Do we go back to normal life? I miss the old days somehow, but I don't think I could just go back to the way it was before, the innocence is gone. I know that there are dark places filled with horrors, and someone needs to keep them from hurting normal people." She closes her eyes but keeps talking, even when Roguk nuzzles her with his head, and grabs one of her arms gingerly. "I can't imagine sitting around the fire someday and telling the young ones about the one time I went on an adventure. Only one adventure. Won't they get sick of the same story? Maybe over the years I embellish it to keep it interesting. I....I don't know...." She is quiet for a while, her chest rising and falling as she lays on the cool crypt floor, the wood golem silent next to her. "Is it possible to become hooked on this sort of thing? Will I be one of those grizzled old ones in the tales who don't know when to stop, who needs to kill one last dragon, but never returns?"
Done.
Ok just real quick preliminary tables so far. Table number doesn't indicate any real sort of priority or order. I attempted to base it off of posts, somewhat alignments, and somewhat flavor and roles. I may not have succeeded in all places but I feel like I got something workable to start. I may tweak these some, but I want to get something out there and split off the groups to make planning and RP a little easier, and to let things get a little more into full trial swing. recruitment ends soon, and I think we may get 1 or 2 more tops. I have been in messaging with a few still finalizing builds. I did message a few players who have made submissions but haven't posted in gameplay yet ( but posted in recruitment and discussion ). I will break out and create separate table threads tomorrow with more information. Ok here we go: Table 1:
Table 2:
Table 3:
Table 4:
Table 5:
I am going to link up the gameplay tab here shortly. Feel free to RP in character. The timing is right after Jovar transports you from Goodwin's pocket plane. Please just keep actions to verbal interactions. Don't wander off, don't use any abilities, powers or skills. Don't interact with the environment. Don't pick up anything or chop down trees or move rocks or attack anyone/anything, or so help me I will turn this bus around :) Just keep it to some fun light in character banter to get a good feel for each other, and help guide us all in selecting tables for playing.
What needs to be handled? Are you asking how it is decided what the symbol is? If so, it should be something thematically appropriate. Some ideal clerics may venerate an entire pantheon, or perhaps several deities, and maybe their symbol is a blend or mix of several, or possibly something meaningful to themselves. Their divine focus is just that, a material vessel to channel divine power through which symbolizes their faith and devotion. Hmm, I am not a fan of this technically. I mean sure the names are similar, and some techniques may be similar, but a quarterstaff and a bo staff are actually different. For spears well again somewhat similar ( stick it with the pointy end ) for basics, but the reason there are different kinds implies different uses. This separation implies a reason a deity's favored weapon is the way it is. Perhaps it is symbolically important, or the deity him/herself uses that weapon. Most clerics who are fervently trying to emulate their deity, are probably not going to go 'eh close enough'. I feel like I shouldn't be such a stickler really, since the impact on game play will likely be minor, but its definitely a thematic issue, which I feel is important. Also, if you blur the lines between favored weapons, one could argue the next logical step, such as well a club is basically the same as a hammer right? You just bash them. I probably didn't need such a long explanation, but I feel I owe it to you guys if I make a ruling to at least show what I am thinking.
What needs to be handled? Are you asking how it is decided what the symbol is? If so, it should be something thematically appropriate. Some ideal clerics may venerate an entire pantheon, or perhaps several deities, and maybe their symbol is a blend or mix of several, or possibly something meaningful to themselves. Their divine focus is just that, a material vessel to channel divine power through which symbolizes their faith and devotion.
I’m starting a home brew campaign with a ton of customized class and race options. I will be using most Pathfinder material, and some select resources from Dreamscarred Press. Crazy gestalt class builds, with nonstandard races. Start reading for quick summary, followed by lots and lots of reading for the nitty gritty. I will keep recruitment open for a reasonable amount of time, at least a couple of week, maybe more, depending on interest. I will nail down a finalized date as things get under way. At some time in June recruitment will end, and there will be some time for character review and other coordinating as well as a trial period to weed out the less than serious. I would expect July to be when things really get rolling. Quick Rules & Summary:
Powerful wizard raises a bunch of humanoids to be heroes. Wizard disappears and they must find and rescue him. 1. Triple Gestalt. Extra bonus classes later above and beyond triple. All core, base, hybrid, alternate(no anti-paladin initially), also Path of War and (eventually)Psionic classes from Dreamscarred Press, Pathfinder Unchained alternates allowed. 2. Non-standard races only (gnoll, grippli, kobold, changeling, duergar, nagaji, orc, vanara, catfolk, hobgoblin, kitsune, lizardfolk, ratfolk, goblin, monkey goblin, wayang, derro, merfolk, tengu, vishkanya, wyvaran, bugbear, ghoran, skinwalker, goodwin golem, mite, gargoyle, ogre, troglodyte, boggard, spiderling, medusa, minotaur, mind flayer, mongrelman) – special rules for customization beyond stock. 3. Special rules for Multiclass and Prestige classes. 4. Fast XP Advancement. 5. A feat every level. Five feats at level 1. 6. Stat advancement every 3 levels instead of 4. 7. Special starting item with bonus feats, skills, advancement, etc. 8. No starting gear besides special item. 9. No Evil Alignments 10. Generous Stats (5d6 7 times ( top 3 dice, top 6 stats ), add 10 more points and rearrange 1:1 11. Potential Mythic 12. Bonus traits (some thematic and equipment based restrictions) 13. Max Hit Points plus Free Toughness for all. 14. Hero Points 15. Pathfinder Unchained Stamina and Combat Tricks 16. Frequent Posters preferred. 17. Trial Period for Posting. This quick summary just to let people see the basics, so you can determine if you are interested in participating or not, or at least interested enough to read the wall of text that is the extended information below. Why the triple gestalt and so many bonuses? Simply, its one part experiment and one part that I want to play something powerful from the ground up. Also I want frequent posting, and if we have large party sizes and overlap of powers, you aren’t waiting a whole week for the one party member to post that can pick the lock or do whatever (usually forcing the GM to bot them ). There will be many who will scoff and chafe at such absurd levels of power, but I honestly don’t give a F*^$. I feel this could be fun, and I hope there are others too who are interested in blowing out the top and coming up with some crazy combos. It can still be challenging, and it will be. Backstory:
The Archmage Gombrian Goodwin, son of the planetar Socharial Xreychar, was a bit of an outcast from the other celestials. ‘Only’ a half celestial, he had his own goals and ideas in mind. After centuries in the outer planes fighting evil, he created his own demi-plane where he retired to dabble with his own ideas. Goodwin was intensely curious about morality and mortality. The idea that mortals with souls can choose their own path was fascinating. He was determined to try an experiment. He would rescue and convert members of evil races, raising them to be just and true, or at least not evil and debased, to show that anyone can be heroic. Over time he searched and researched and found various exceptional members of a large variety of races. These he brought to his demi-plane, a magical place where time seemed to flow differently, and day and night were something based more on the whim of Goodwin than any regular event. In this plane, no one aged, and scarcely needed to eat or drink, except for pleasure. He raised all of his new progeny to be heroes, trying to wipe away and undo much of the evil learned in their past, if any. He introduced them to some of the best trainers as well as creating a variety of training golems tailored to the needs of his students. Very skilled in planar magic as well as golemcraft, Goodwin even dabbled in necromancy and other magic. He even created his own race, a half-construct race, made from partial clones of himself, blended with arcane golemcraft. After an indeterminate amount of time, living and training with the Archmage, he told his students that he would be undertaking a lengthy and possibly dangerous trip. You are one of such students. While he revealed little else, it weighed heavily on each of your minds that your benevolent teacher was leaving or could be in any danger given his power and mastery. The last you remember is going to bed after a period of intense training. Now you awaken to something else different. You are in a small chamber of some sort, encapsulating you almost like a coffin. The lid is clear however and you see out of it as your brothers and sisters are also awakening. You hear a deep rumbling all around you and things seem ‘odd’, as if distorted slightly. You recognize Jovar, the homunculus familiar of Archmage Goodwin. It seems as though he was responsible for waking you, although you are unclear why you are in these chambers and not your quarters. The homunculus explains in a voice that sounds eerily like that of Goodwin. ”The master has been captured I fear, by powers of the lower planes. Here time passes differently, but even on the mortal planes, Master Goodwin was captured a long time ago, perhaps ten thousand years. I apologize, I do not measure time well, and here it is meaningless. He sent me to find you and tell you. I believe his hope is that you can assist in his rescue. I have spent time here pouring through the libraries and the labs to figure out how to wake you, after the Master placed you in suspended animation. I finally figured out a way and not too late, for the plane in which we inhabit is starting to rapidly collapse. I believe I know of a way to take us from here, and we must seek out a very old friend of the Master’s to determine what to do next. Quickly, gather yourselves, and what possessions you have. We must flee now.” With that Jovar flaps over to a circular design on the floor and begins chanting, holding out his tiny hands to you all. You quickly join the circle and are transported from the demi-plane moments before it collapses in on itself. You find yourself, somewhere, a rugged wood covered hillside spreads out before you. You see no sign of civilization. OOC additional details:
You are all members of various humanoid or uncommon races, plucked from your people at what would be young adult age or so. You were raised by the wizard and over time were able to overcome some of the more brutal tendencies of your race or culture. Through his patience and care, you realized you were not only special, but that some of the traditions of your original culture were less than desirable, or, if not necessarily brutal or evil, at least you felt like you could make more of a difference under the wizard’s tutelage. Goodwin saw the potential in you, and trained you in a variety of vocations, and under his watchful eye, and that of his training golems and other masters, excelled in his magical demi-plane. He trained you to be heroes of some sort, but never mentioned a plan or quest or mission. Now, you see that you have a potential purpose, to rescue your benevolent master, if you choose. Things will be hard, most of you do not even look like any civilized race, perhaps outright hated or killed on sight. Second, if Jovar is correct and ten thousand years have passed, the world will be nothing like you remember. The languages you speak may not even be spoken any more, or perhaps drastically changed. You have no possessions (although see below) and no real world experience, although Goodwin did take some efforts to teach you manners and culture and how to interact in society. Your life has been one of two worlds, that old world, your previous life before Goodwin took you and your new life, one where you lived in harmony in the utopian paradise of Goodwin’s personal plane. Potential Players! My plea to you: There is a lot of information here and I have created a large set of custom rules, part as experiment, part because this is an idea I have had for years. Please read all of the rules. Ask questions if things seem unclear (they probably are, I have read and reread these, but it took a while to write and compile all of this in no specific order). I will not accept characters in which it is obvious that they have not read or understood the character creation rules. I also want quality, committed players who can post frequently. I will accept most players into a trial period of actual play. After the trial period ends, people who have participated enough will be moved to various tables in groups of 7 or so based on post frequency and quality. Those who sort of disappeared will be tossed or mothballed and rejoin later if their schedule changes. I have no idea how many will apply for this (maybe no one), but if there are enough people, I will definitely run multiple tables. As mentioned, I am thinking of up to seven people for a table (yes this seems a lot, but this is going to be a whole different level of power). It is conceivable that different tables could interact over time (although the faster paced tables will outstrip the others in levels). Also, people could move between tables as their posting frequency ebbs and wanes (although I don’t want this to happen too often). Further, if you read everything and decide you want to make a character just to show off your character making skills, but really have no intention of ever playing, just say so. I see this a lot, people just want to showcase a build or even ‘claim’ a concept, and when chosen or the play begins, they disappear. Just mark your submissions ‘For Show Only’ and everyone can marvel at your superb build or be inspired by it, but we can move on and focus on those truly serious about playing. Also, recruitment may stay open or reopen at different periods but won’t affect anyone already playing unless we need more players. At the start of the story there will be many NPCs that are part of the exodus that will be unnamed, but may turn into PCs later on. (This allows people to join up down the road as attrition pulls people away). Characters will be very frontloaded with power at level 1 with triple gestalt and max Hit points, bonus feats and special rules. I am hoping for knowledgeable and organized players. Keeping track of all the gestalt and bonus abilities for multiple classes will take a lot of bookwork. Put the effort in to keep it organized. I won’t accept players with half-finished sheets or vague outlines. I might even award bonus XP for organized accurate characters from time to time. I will provide some a list of stuff at the end that will help keep your character organized. Everyone has their own style of organization, I don’t really care as long as all the information is there somewhere. Despite everyone being pretty powerful, there will be a lot of plot and storyline stuff, not just non-stop carnage. I hope everyone has fun and can suit a variety of playing interests. Materials – All Pathfinder, PF Unchained, DSP: Path of War, Psionics:
As mentioned in other places herein, I will use most of the Pathfinder material available. I am also using Dreamscarred Press Path of War and supplemental materials related to this, as well as some of the material from the upcoming Path of War Expanded. I won’t use classes from it yet (such as Zealot or Harbinger or Mystic) but feats, styles, disciplines, archetypes, warpaths, etc. are all available, keeping in mind they may change with final publication. If so, you must change to match the final version, or use retrain rules to pick something else. I also understand that DSP is possibly tweaking some of the already published Path of War stuff, for balancing and errata, so some of that may change too. I am also using their Psionics rules. I have Ultimate Psionics, but not any of the other material such as the various Expanded subscriptions, so I will have to rely on the SRD for whatever exists there. I also have Pathfinder Unchained and will allow the new unchained class updates, or if you want, you can still play the older version(s) if they synergize better. I will also comment on other variant rules that I will or will not be using from Unchained: 1. Multiclass fractional bonuses: Yes ( see class building rules below for how I am doing multiclassing) 2. Staggered Advancement: No ( too much bookkeeping with triple gestalt plus bonus stuff) 3. Adventuring and Background skill split: No 4. Changes to Skills: No 5. New Action Economy stuff: No 6. Stamina and Combat Tricks: Yes (feats must be chosen though, it won’t be awarded for free) 7. Wound thresholds: No (I like the concept, but I think I will hold off for now, maybe later I will change it) In depth character generation rules:
Ability score generation:
Triple gestalt can require serious MADness. Plus, you are super heroic, so let’s be generous here: 1. Roll 5d6 for each stat, using the three best rolls of the five for the stat. Roll a 7th time to generate one extra stat. 2. Ditch the lowest stat keeping the best of six of the 7 stats. 3. Arrange the 6 remaining stats as desired. 4. Rearrange points on a 1:1 ratio. 5. Take 10 more points and add on a 1:1 ratio. 6. Before applying racial bonuses or penalties (or other mods such as RP purchased bonus mods – see race stuff below), no score can be over 18 or under 8. (If by some chance you roll so well that this would cause you to waste some of the 10 bonus points – well, too bad and grats you on being so awesome ) Advancement:
1. Fast Advancement. 2. Feats every level instead of every other level. Five feats at level 1. Free Toughness feat at level 1. 3. Ability increase every 3 levels instead of every 4 levels. Mythic At some point I will begin incorporating Mythic stuff, probably more around the mid-levels, like 9+ or so. Classes:
Please read and reread the following rules. There are three separate class levelling systems that you will get to use in conjunction with each other. I am introducing some odd and probably overly complex rules as an experiment, and there may be a lot of questions, feel free to ask for clarifications or rulings on things I may have forgotten or not spelled out very well. Main Class System 1. This will be a TRIPLE gestalt build. Gestalt rules are here: Gestalt Rules. One of these gestalt classes must be designated as your Favored Class, for purposes of Favored Class bonuses. This class also has restrictions on it in terms of multiclassing. The other two of the three, less so. 2. You must select from the following classes: Allowed: All Core (Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Wizard) All Base (Alchemist, Cavalier, Gunslinger, Inquisitor, Magus, Oracle, Summoner, Witch) All Hybrid( Arcanist, Bloodrager, Brawler, Hunter, Investigator, Shaman, Skald, Slayer, Swashbuckler, Warpriest) Alternate (Samurai, Ninja only) Dreamscarred Press: Path of War: Stalker, Warder, Warlord. Pathfinder Unchained (new Barbarian, Monk, Rogue, Summoner variants ) 3. Not Allowed: I will have initial restrictions on classes like Anti-Paladin as well as any archetype that requires evil, or is fairly evil themed. This also includes starting with evil or evil-ish powers such as the Black Seraph discipline or other evil Path of War disciplines. Eventually as the campaign goes on people may multiclass into, or select these classes if their character evolves into evil or the like. 4. Note about guns: Initially I was going to ban guns, but I decided they were ok. However this is a low gun world (even 10,000 years later). Guns are somewhere between Very Rare and Emerging. I will allow Gunslinger, Amateur Gunslinger feat, Gunsmithing feat, and archetypes. All firearms are Early though, so no advanced guns. Also, I have tweaked guns in the following manner: a. Using a gun within its first range increment does not go against just touch AC. It is a regular attack (not touch), however, opponent’s armor values are reduced. All armor, shield and natural armor bonuses are halved at this first range (add them all up then round down, don’t round each one down). Any of these values from a force effect are not halved (for example mage armor or shield spells. I realize this is a bit of a nerf but a change I want to make. b. Due to my rules about special items, those who start with a gun as their special item, will have it already considered masterwork. (Thus gunslingers/gunsmiths don’t have to spend time and money to upgrade their battered starter weapon). Multiclassing and Prestige classes with your three primary gestalt classes Multiclass and Prestige classes will work in a somewhat inhibited way due to the triple gestalt set up. The best way to think of it is that each of your three gestalt classes represent separate individual columns, each a silo of autonomy that cannot interact with each other for purposes of prestige class qualifications. While feats and skills taken can help qualify for any of the three columns’ prestige class advancement, Base attack bonus or class ability requirements must be met within the column that you wish to take the prestige class with (as illogical as this may seem). Here is a summary of restrictions: 1. Primary Gestalt Favored class column: Cannot Multiclass, Can Prestige class if the requirements can be met with the single class. 2. Secondary and Tertiary Gestalt class columns: Can Multiclass within their respective columns, but not until level 4. Can Prestige class if the requirements can be met within the column. 3. You can never take a level in a class that has levels in another column. Example, Bob starts out as a wizard, cleric, rogue gestalt. Bob declares his wizard class as his favored class. He can never multiclass his wizard column with anything else, however he can advance in a prestige class if he meets the requirements for it from his wizard class alone, although he can use feats and skills gained from any class or source. For example Bob could become a Loremaster. As Bob’s career advances, he decides he also wants to become a mystic theurge. At 4th level with his secondary gestalt class (cleric) he decides to multiclass to sorcerer, because he can’t level in wizard within that column since his primary column already has wizard levels. Eventually Bob levels to 4th level Sorcerer and at level 8 qualifies for Mystic Theurge in his second column. With his third column, Bob started as a rogue, but wants to become an Arcane Trickster as well. He already knows mage hand and can cast second level spells but he cannot use these to qualify for Arcane Trickster because he can only use class abilities from his third column to qualify for the prestige class. Cursing CaveToad’s stupid rules, and after reaching level 4 as a rogue, Bob multiclasses into Arcanist and reaches level 4 before taking the Arcane Trickster class. As a level 10 character Bob would be: 1: Wizard 7/Loremaster 3 2: Cleric 3/Sorcerer 4/Mystic Theurge 3 3: Rogue 4/Arcanist 4/Arcane Trickster 2 Additional Rules to help clarify: 1. The new errata will apply stating that Spell Like Abilities do not qualify you for prestige classes (in the past you could cheese your way in with stuff like Aasimar Daylight etc). 2. Remember, for something like BAB requirement for a Prc, you must use only the BAB within that column to qualify, even though your character may have a better BAB over all. 3. I will use the fractional BAB and saves for Multiclassing detailed in Pathfinder Unchained. This may assist in a few cases. 4. As the new Path of War Expanded stuff comes out of Beta, classes like Harbinger, Zealot and Mystic will become available to multiclass into later as well as other classes (see psionics below). Also, see the rules below on Cheese Dips and Twin Mind before settling in on a concept. 5. Since you will be higher level and have developed your character, perhaps sliding back into evil, things like assassin, anti-paladin and other evil classes, powers and abilities are legal for multiclassing and prestige classing into later on. 6. A prestige class that allows advancement in spellcasting, (or any other class ability progression) must advance the progression of the classes used to enter the prestige class in the same column. In the Bob example above, Bob cannot use his Mystic Theurge levels to advance his wizard spell advancement, it must advance only cleric and sorcerer. The same applies to his Arcane Trickster advancement, it can only advance his Arcanist spell casting levels. Cheese Dips aka Extra classes for fun!
Twin Mind – Extra Insanity
Overwhelmed or Confused yet? Great! On to the complicated race rules! (See Next Post)
"Count me in!" Fluuk will spend time in that store and other book stores reading as much as he can about the strange place he is in. He also finds that books exist about a type of game that seems to mimic the world he comes from. He studies these "Pathfinder" books chuckling to himself the entire time. He watches the peculiar events on the flat crystal balls depicting events from far away places. He marvels at the 'magic' in place in this world, how the humans fight their wars, their machines that can fly and sail and drive without beast. He takes a ride in a taxi and ends up getting lost for a while. He eats a LOT of food gaining several pounds. At one point someone asks him if he shouldn't be at school. Fluuk almost responds but isn't sure he should be talking about his origins. He instead shuffles off as the oldster berates him "The youth of today will be the downfall of society! Mark my words!"
"For you old buddy, how about we split the difference between cost and full retail. For the weakest belt, 3000, mid-range 12,000, and top of the line 27,000 gold dubloons!"
"After we were ambushed on the way here from Fort Horizon by the prisoners in humanoid skins, we questioned them. I will quote the following from one of those captured and questioned, 'Benevolent! He's a mad man, a wild eyed Dwarf with a mean streak a mile wide. Goes by the name of Karl Drespor. You good folk probably have no idea who we are, where we came from. I sure as heck never knew the prison existed when I first came here. You see, all of us are criminals, of one kind or another. I don’t know but two of the others in this group, and one of them is now dead. Edward, there, that halfling that just died, he was never a friend, but we were in a cell together. One of the others, I think he goes by the name of Phil, he looks like he is going to make it, even though he got burned up pretty bad. I only know him from seeing him in the laundry. You see the company found this place, I can’t tell you I know where it is, cause they took us there with hoods over our heads, and brought us out the same way. But it is a prison, a hellish place, where the company sends people that they need to get rid of. Some of us broke the law, sure, that’s fair enough, but a lot of the prisoners came straight to this land on ships, taken from their homes, and sometimes for the smallest crimes. And it is hell I tell you. They did experiments on us, made us work on strange machines. And sometimes when people are trying to take something apart, it’ll just explode in a great ball of blue fire, if it don’t kill you, you’d wish that it had. And that ain’t the worst, stranger. See, you don’t meet anyone who’s been there too long, no, and you never hear any story about anyone ever going free, getting out of that place. There’s only two ways out for people like us, death, or sold as slaves to a race of lizard men, and them folks are never seen again.' "Where ever this prison is, you will find your answers. There was another person named Victor Jankowski who also drove the wagon and accompanied us briefly. Victor had this to say about the situation as well as who he was working for." 'If that woman is right, then the people or person trying to smuggle these artifacts out of your little fort either didn’t count on being double crossed, or maybe they are the double crossers. Either way, you take a big risk trotting those men and women into that village, showing the person at the other end of this deal that what was planned didn’t work and if they were counting on it to go the other way; it’ll bad for all of us, but worse for these miserable folk. That’s the first problem, and I might have a solution for that one. The second problem, you see, he says taking a small orange, glass-like ball out of his pocket, is this. The person I am working for is looking for the thing that is in that box. She thought there might be a clue to its location in the wagon. She never must have suspected it would be here or I imagine she wouldn’t have sent little ol’ me. Now she, and I use that term loosely, she wants that thing badly. She wanted me to find it, return to her and tell her where it was, and then she’s going to send the right kinds of people to collect it. Now, she told me that the object cannot be transported by any kind of magic, but she gave me this. It’s an orb of translocation, and using it I can return to where she is in an instant, and if I need to I can take those people with me. Oh, don’t worry, they’ll be safe, It’Dupree has a soft spot for those kinds of people. She’ll take good care of them and they won’t ever have to worry about this pace, or where ever they came from ever again. The real problem is this. I was paid handsomely to find that thing, and I always keep my deals, always. When It’Dupree finds out that it is here, she will send someone to collect it. I wasn’t paid to do that. The people, or even things, she sends might be nice, nicer than me even, but maybe not. She works, oddly enough, with a lot of very strange people. They will take that object. Nothing will stop them I guarantee it. You see, she has a problem, a problem that has been bothering her for a few hundred years and she thinks that thing will solve her problem in a big way. She wants it, in a bad way. And It’Dupree always gets what she wants.' "The prisoners and Derrick Tramsen travelled with Victor to the realm of his mistress." "The two elves, who accompanied us here are agents from another world and were interested in tracking these artifacts, and were surprised at the presence of the particularly powerful one. I do not know what has happened to these elves once we arrived here. Also our companion here,", motioning to Ritmush, "may have additional information regarding the items or things the elven agents discussed."
When no one is looking Fluuk grabs a huge handful of the pudding and stuffs it in his mouth. "SOOOOOO GOOOOOOD"
"I am only a recent hire, selected not long ago to accompany the wagon and its contents to this locale. Some in the party have more knowledge of related events prior to my arrival should your investigation require more information than I can provide. Regarding the journey here; on the way we were attacked by a ragtag band of criminals, poorly disguised, attempting to steal the wagon's contents and deliver them to their boss, a dwarf named Karl Drespor. The captured criminals and several of my travel companions mentioned some knowledge of Karl in association with the 'company'. According to the prisoners, the company takes these people and uses them as disposable fodder in experiments or sells them as slaves. While there were more travelers among us initially, some departed before our arrival here, along with the criminals who survived the battle, but those of us who remain, conclude that the contents of the wagon were never intended to arrive here safely. As the ambush failed, Drespor will have to change his plans. The Captain of the Fort is smuggling strange artifacts as regular goods and selling them off. He has a contact here that is facilitating the sale. Perhaps Mr Henderson is the contact. It is unclear to me how they are connected with Drespor. If they are on concert or not. If so, why would Drespor attempt to waylay the wagon? My associate Portia may have additional information regarding prior events." "My concern over the contract is due to the unusual circumstances surrounding what would normally be an ordinary and routine transport. My trust in strangers does not extend very far. Ms. Carvol, your attempts to uncover corruption here will most likely find a very large web of it. I hope for your sake, you are equipped to deal with some dangerous people who are interested in achieving their plans. If you find yourself in need of assistance, my services are available." "If I have misjudged this conversation, and you in fact are the contact, things will of course go very poorly."
Essa will charge slinger #1 with Roguk in tow. "Roguk attack!"
"Fluuk can assist!"
Fluuk also has the Large Nose trait and will use his super sniffer to see if it will help with the pheromones. |
