Cinna Had a happy childhood, if not normal growing up in a camp of the Blackthorn Bandits. Her parents were respected by the other bandits and she was fairly likable child. While there weren't many other children to play with the forest and the adults taught her fun things like hunting and fighting. She had been good at fighting and had enjoyed lording that over the other children.
Cinna ancestors had like most of the bandits had been farmers and woodsmen inside Sarkoris before the war. The building of the ward stones had sacrificed their land. It was only right they got their revenge and living off those who hadn't had their land stolen, at least that is what the leader, Jonathan. They struck and then retreated within the wardstones where no one dared to follow them.
Things started to change when her mother died giving birth to her sister Sophie when Cinna was 9. Cinna was left to look to look after Sophie most of time as her father starting to regularly get drunk. That was alright and she knew life wasn't fair, they stole from those who couldn't stop them after all but she missed her mother and even her father. But she quickly learnt to get her way from almost any of the adults in camp. Most of time she could force one of the other kids or trick one of the adults into taking care of her responsibility with Sophie and go hunting or fighting.
At the age of thirteen the truth of the gang emerged. At first it was good, she joined the adult on the raids, even though she was younger than some of the kids who had to stay behind. She enjoyed the power and rush of taking and stealing, it was even more than the bullying of the other kids because she was taking from adults. But becoming an adult had its downsides too, she started to get unwanted attention from some of the men (at least unwanted from the ugly ones, which was most of them), her father was so drunk he did nothing to stop it. Most of the time is was minor and she could deal with however a few time the men got carried away and then Jonathan always stopped it before it went far by reminding the men that Cinna was special and was not to be despoiled by the likes of them.
The full meaning of this became apparent less than a year later on her 14th birthday. She was woken early and tied and dragged into the forest to a slab of stone next to one of the wardstones. To this day she can't remember all the details of what happened.
She remembers that seeing her father among the other bandits, they were worshipping some demon. She was naked and unable to move, she wasn't tied but her body did not respond to her will. Next to her was the demon. The ritual went on she felt them combining, of course that was not possible but that is what it felt like. Then it hit her, the rage, it was overpowering, and overwhelmed her and when it left her she was many miles away, blood under finger nails.
She was found a patrol, and their healer a priest of Sarenrae, Dawn-Rose. Dawn-Rose comforted the child and brought her back to a holy place of Sarerae and the crusade within Mendev. Those first days and weeks are almost as patchy as the ritual. The rage would other take her and she would always recover looking at Dawn-Rose's face surrounded by destruction. Over the course of the next few years became she became her almost constant companion and in many ways a second mother. She learnt first the things that triggered the rage and then slowly the healing light from the Dawnflower that could resist it. Even now when her or other's lives are threatened the rage rises, but now she can control it, focus it and use it.
It took a long time before Cinna trusted anyone who even looked at her like the bandit men had and really it was only after she found out that if she cut her hair short and strapped her chest flat people tended to treat her like one of the boys. She has sworn to herself to never be touched by a man in that way and now shaves and straps her chest flat to avoid uncomfortable conversations and situations as much as to feel safe herself.
Cinna always feels the rage, the evil, living within her but she had been given mental strength to match her physical by the redemption of the Dawnflower. She dedicated to returning to others what Dawn-Rose and Sarenrae gave her. She has now been training for the crusade in the hope of saving others, most particularly her sister.
Appearance:
Cinna has done her best to make her self unattractive, her hair has been shaved away and her chest strapped close to her body, her body is covered in formless yellow and green clothes and armour. Yet somehow she has failed, maybe it is her piecing dark eyes or her smile but is something about her that attracts and commands the attention those around her.
Around her neck is a leather cord, attached to it is a small wooden Angelic ankh, the holy symbol of Sarenrae. At her waist is the curved blade of a scimitar and on her back she has two-handed version of the sword. In addition on her back is a Shield painted with a rising sun over a green field and blue sky. Other than that she seems to be carrying little, a small pouch on her belt could carry a little coin or other small items.
Goals and motivations:
Cinna is driven by a desire to protect those that can't protect themselves, particularly the young and females. She doesn't believe any mortal beings can be inherently evil, only that they can do evil acts. She firmly believes that any mortal can change and should be given the chance to do so, and as many times as they need. While the law is important it gives us line we shouldn't cross and should stop others crossing but we are made imperfect so will all do wrong. We have to understand that when we judge others and give everyone understanding and forgiveness so that they might redeem themselves, with whatever help they require. She will never kill an intelligent being deliberately and the only thing that would stop her saving a fallen foe on the battlefield is a threat to other people. After that threat is past she would use any healing she can on friend and foe alike.
Notes on gender:
I am male, and generally avoid playing female characters out of respect and the fact most males play females as asexual or sexual fantasies. Part of the tension within Cinna is balance between her being a teenager and sworn to chastity. I will do my best to handle this respectfully but let me know if I slip up. If there are any females in the group firstly I apologize and secondly I would appreciate any advice (or criticisms) on how I am playing her.
Crunch GM Rednal submission:
Cinna Blackthorn
Female Human Paladin (Holy Guide)/Oracle (Battle) 1
Lawful Good Medium Humanoid/Human
Init +0 (Roll twice take the better)
• Defence
AC 15 (17), touch 10, flat-footed 15 (17) (+0 Dex, +5 Scalemail, (+2 Large Wooden Shield))
HP 13 (10 + 2 Con + 1 Favoured class)
Fort +5, Ref +0, Will +2
CMD 14
• Offence
Spd 20 ft.
Melee
Falchion +5 (2d4+9 18-20/x2) (+1 damage if non-lethal damage) (Power attack and ferious focus already applied)
Scimitar +5 (1d6+4 18-20/x2) (+1 damage if non-lethal damage)
Ranged
None currently
• Statistics
18 Str, 10 Dex, 15 Con, 14 Int, 10 Wis, 20 Cha
Base Atk +1; CMB +4 (+2 vs demons); CMD 14
Favoured class: Paladin +1 Hp per level
• Racial Traits +2 to One Ability Score: Human characters get a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Humans are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Humans have a base speed of 30 feet.
Bonus Feat: Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Skilled: Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.
Languages: Humans begin play speaking Common. Humans with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic)
• Traits Stolen Fury:You were forced to take part in a demonic ritual as a youth after having been captured by cultists. Whatever the ritual’s purpose may have been, it didn't work out the way your captors envisioned—rather than corrupting your soul, you absorbed the ritual’s energy and made it your own before you escaped to safety. Ever since, you've been haunted by strange nightmares about the ritual, and have long felt that the energies it bathed you in have changed you. Recently, those energies have changed — it’s as if you've finally managed to come to terms with your past and have turned the ritual’s after effects to your advantage, following the old adage of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. You’ve been unable to learn more about the ritual or what it was for, but the question lingers in the back of your head to this day. This nagging has instilled in you a fury against demonkind. Today, when you face demons in combat, those energies bolster your fury, granting you a +2 trait bonus on all combat maneuver checks against demons.
Associated Mythic Path: Champion. Multiple Characters: You and any other PC who takes this trait were all part of the same ritual, and it was only by working together that you managed to escape—further, the support of your fellow ritual survivors has played a key role in your coming to terms with it, and you retain a close bond of friendship (or perhaps a friendly rivalry) to this day.
Blade of Mercy (Sarenrae): You know that within the heart of even the most hateful and cruel living creature exists a sliver of shame and hope for redemption. You have trained long on martial techniques to use bladed weapons not to kill, but to subdue.
Benefit: When striking to inflict nonlethal damage with any slashing weapon, you do not take the normal –4 penalty on your attack roll, and gain a +1 trait bonus to any nonlethal damage you inflict with a slashing weapon.
• Feats Power Attack: You can make exceptionally deadly melee attacks by sacrificing accuracy for strength. You can choose to take a –1 penalty on all melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +2 bonus on all melee damage rolls. This bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls. This bonus to damage is halved (–50%) if you are making an attack with an off-hand weapon or secondary natural weapon. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every 4 points thereafter, the penalty increases by –1 and the bonus to damage increases by +2. You must choose to use this feat before making an attack roll, and its effects last until your next turn. The bonus damage does not apply to touch attacks or effects that do not deal hit point damage
Furious Focus: Even in the midst of fierce and furious blows, you can find focus in the carnage and your seemingly wild blows strike home. When you are wielding a two-handed weapon or a one-handed weapon with two hands, and using the Power Attack feat, you do not suffer Power Attack's penalty on melee attack rolls on the first attack you make each turn. You still suffer the penalty on any additional attacks, including attacks of opportunity.
• Paladin Special abilities Aura of Good (Ex): The power of a paladin's aura of good (see the detect good spell) is equal to her paladin level.
Detect Evil (Sp): At will, a paladin can use detect evil, as the spell. A paladin can, as a move action, concentrate on a single item or individual within 60 feet and determine if it is evil, learning the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds. While focusing on one individual or object, the paladin does not detect evil in any other object or individual within range.
Smite Evil (Su): Once per day, a paladin can call out to the powers of good to aid her in her struggle against evil. As a swift action, the paladin chooses one target within sight to smite. If this target is evil, the paladin adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her attack rolls and adds her paladin level to all damage rolls made against the target of her smite. If the target of smite evil is an outsider with the evil subtype, an evil-aligned dragon, or an undead creature, the bonus to damage on the first successful attack increases to 2 points of damage per level the paladin possesses. Regardless of the target, smite evil attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.
In addition, while smite evil is in effect, the paladin gains a deflection bonus equal to her Charisma modifier (if any) to her AC against attacks made by the target of the smite. If the paladin targets a creature that is not evil, the smite is wasted with no effect.
The smite evil effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the paladin rests and regains her uses of this ability. At 4th level, and at every three levels thereafter, the paladin may smite evil one additional time per day, as indicated on Table: Paladin, to a maximum of seven times per day at 19th level.
• Oracle Special abilities Curse (Tongues (Abyssal)): In times of stress or unease, you speak in tongues. Pick one of the following languages: Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Ignan, Infernal, or Terran. Whenever you are in combat, you can only speak and understand the selected language. This does not interfere with spellcasting, but it does apply to spells that are language dependent. You gain the selected language as a bonus language. At 5th level, pick an additional language to speak in combat and add it to your list of known languages. At 10th level, you can understand any spoken language, as if under the effects of tongues, even during combat. At 15th level, you can speak and understand any language, but your speech is still restricted during combat.
Battle Mystery Class Skills: An oracle with the battle mystery adds Intimidate, Knowledge (engineering), Perception, and Ride to her list of class skills.
Battle Mystery Bonus Spells: enlarge person (2nd), fog cloud (4th), magic vestment (6th), wall of fire (8th), righteous might (10th), mass bull’s strength (12th), control weather (14th), earthquake (16th), storm of vengeance (18th).
Revelation (War Sight (Su)): Whenever you roll for initiative, you can roll twice and take either result. At 7th level, you can always act in the surprise round, but if you fail to notice the ambush, you act last, regardless of your initiative result (you act in the normal order in following rounds). At 11th level, you can roll for initiative three times and take any one of the results.
Oracle Spells:An oracle casts divine spells drawn from the cleric spell lists. She can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, an oracle must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an oracle's spell is 10 + the spell's level + the oracle's Charisma modifier.
Like other spellcasters, an oracle can cast only a certain number of spells per day of each spell level. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table 2–5. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Charisma score (see Table 1–3 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook).
Unlike other divine spellcasters, an oracle's selection of spells is extremely limited. An oracle begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of her choice. At each new oracle level, she gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table 2–6. Unlike spells per day, the number of spells an oracle knows is not affected by her Charisma score; the numbers on Table 2–6 are fixed.
In addition to the spells gained by oracles as they gain levels, each oracle also adds all of either the cure spells or the inflict spells to her list of spells known (cure spells include all spells with “cure” in the name, inflict spells include all spells with “inflict” in the name). These spells are added as soon as the oracle is capable of casting them. This choice is made when the oracle gains her first level and cannot be changed.
Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered oracle level after that (6th, 8th, and so on), an oracle can choose to learn a new spell in place of one she already knows. In effect, the oracle loses the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell's level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. An oracle may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that she gains new spells known for the level. She cannot swap any cure or inflict spells, nor can she swap any spells gained from her mystery.
Unlike a cleric, an oracle need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell she knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level. Oracles do not need to provide a divine focus to cast spells that list divine focus (DF) as part of the components.
• Equipment Worn/Carried by Cinna
Traveler's clothes
Wooden holy symbol (Sarenrae) 1g
Falchion 75g
Scimitar 15g
Scalemail 50g
Large wooden shield 7g
Belt pouch 2g
Crunch Spooky GM submission:
Cinna Blackthorn
Female Human Paladin (Holy Tactician)
Neutral Good Medium Humanoid/Human
Init +0
• Defence
AC 15 (17), touch 9, flat-footed 15 (17) (-1 Dex, +6 Chainmail, (+2 Large Steel Shield))
HP 13 (10 + 2 Con + 1 Favoured class)
Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +2
CMD 14
• Offence
Spd 20 ft.
Melee
Falchion +3 (2d4+6 18-20/x2) (+1 damage if non-lethal damage) (Power attack and ferious focus already applied)
Scimitar +3 (1d6+2 18-20/x2) (+1 damage if non-lethal damage)
Ranged
None currently
• Statistics
15 Str, 8 Dex, 14 Con, 10 Int, 10 Wis, 18 Cha
Base Atk +1; CMB +4 (+2 vs demons); CMD 14
Favoured class: Paladin +1 Hp per level
• Racial Traits +2 to One Ability Score: Human characters get a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Humans are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Humans have a base speed of 30 feet.
Bonus Feat: Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Skilled: Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.
Languages: Humans begin play speaking Common. Humans with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic)
• Traits Stolen Fury:You were forced to take part in a demonic ritual as a youth after having been captured by cultists. Whatever the ritual’s purpose may have been, it didn't work out the way your captors envisioned—rather than corrupting your soul, you absorbed the ritual’s energy and made it your own before you escaped to safety. Ever since, you've been haunted by strange nightmares about the ritual, and have long felt that the energies it bathed you in have changed you. Recently, those energies have changed — it’s as if you've finally managed to come to terms with your past and have turned the ritual’s after effects to your advantage, following the old adage of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. You’ve been unable to learn more about the ritual or what it was for, but the question lingers in the back of your head to this day. This nagging has instilled in you a fury against demonkind. Today, when you face demons in combat, those energies bolster your fury, granting you a +2 trait bonus on all combat maneuver checks against demons.
Associated Mythic Path: Champion. Multiple Characters: You and any other PC who takes this trait were all part of the same ritual, and it was only by working together that you managed to escape—further, the support of your fellow ritual survivors has played a key role in your coming to terms with it, and you retain a close bond of friendship (or perhaps a friendly rivalry) to this day.
Blade of Mercy (Sarenrae): You know that within the heart of even the most hateful and cruel living creature exists a sliver of shame and hope for redemption. You have trained long on martial techniques to use bladed weapons not to kill, but to subdue.
Benefit: When striking to inflict nonlethal damage with any slashing weapon, you do not take the normal –4 penalty on your attack roll, and gain a +1 trait bonus to any nonlethal damage you inflict with a slashing weapon.
• Feats Power Attack: You can make exceptionally deadly melee attacks by sacrificing accuracy for strength. You can choose to take a –1 penalty on all melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +2 bonus on all melee damage rolls. This bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls. This bonus to damage is halved (–50%) if you are making an attack with an off-hand weapon or secondary natural weapon. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every 4 points thereafter, the penalty increases by –1 and the bonus to damage increases by +2. You must choose to use this feat before making an attack roll, and its effects last until your next turn. The bonus damage does not apply to touch attacks or effects that do not deal hit point damage
Furious Focus: Even in the midst of fierce and furious blows, you can find focus in the carnage and your seemingly wild blows strike home. When you are wielding a two-handed weapon or a one-handed weapon with two hands, and using the Power Attack feat, you do not suffer Power Attack's penalty on melee attack rolls on the first attack you make each turn. You still suffer the penalty on any additional attacks, including attacks of opportunity.
• Paladin Special abilities Aura of Good (Ex): The power of a paladin's aura of good (see the detect good spell) is equal to her paladin level.
Detect Evil (Sp): At will, a paladin can use detect evil, as the spell. A paladin can, as a move action, concentrate on a single item or individual within 60 feet and determine if it is evil, learning the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds. While focusing on one individual or object, the paladin does not detect evil in any other object or individual within range.
Weal's Champion (Su): Once per day as swift action, a holy tactician can call on the powers of good to aid her against evil. Against evil targets, the holy tactician gains her Charisma bonus (if any) on her attack rolls against evil creatures, and if she hits, she adds 1/2 her paladin level on her weapon damage rolls as well. These bonuses last for 1 round for every two paladin levels the holy tactician has attained (minimum 1 round).
In addition, for 1 round after the holy tactician successfully strikes an evil creature, all non-evil allies within 30 feet of her gain a competence bonus on attack rolls equal to 1/2 her Charisma bonus against that creature as well as a +1 competence bonus on damage rolls. The bonus on damage rolls increases by +1 for every five levels the holy tactician attains (to a maximum of +5 at 20th level). She can grant this bonus against more than one creature at a time. To gain this benefit, the holy tactician's allies must be able to see or hear her, and she must be conscious.
At 4th level, and every three levels thereafter, the holy tactician may use weal's champion one additional time per day (to a maximum of seven times per day at 19th level). This ability replaces smite evil.
• Equipment Worn/Carried by Cinna
Traveler's clothes
Wooden holy symbol (Sarenrae) (incl. in kit)
Falchion 75g
Scimitar 15g
Chainmail 150g
Large steel shield 20g
Paladin’s Kit 11g
This kit includes a backpack, a bedroll, a belt pouch, a cheap holy text, a flint and steel, an iron pot, a mess kit, rope, soap, torches (10), trail rations (5 days), a waterskin, and a wooden holy symbol.
Coin 29g worth (mostly in silvers and coppers)
