The idea for why she's in prison is that they don't know where else to put her. She hasn't really done anything wrong and her parents are distinguished crusaders. Sure, she's been hanging with cultists but only as an observer. Even when the inquisitors attacked she just sat back and observed, making notes. Heck, they would probably have let her walk if those notes hadn't contained the horrible details of everything she had seen up to the killing of the cultists at the hands of the inquisitors, including detailed drawings. Add to that the frequent depictions of an odd bull's head and her insistence about following the advice of the whispers and the inquisitors assumed she'd been targeted by some powerful follower of Baphomet who tried to pervert her because of who her parents are. In prison she at least can't hurt anyone and she'd be protected from her attacker until they figure out a way to sever the connection.
There is no attacker though, the bull's head isn't a symbol of Baphomet and none of this has anything to do with her parents.
No, she had joined the cultists' meetings out of curiosity and stayed out of interest. No better place in all of Kenabres to study humanoid anatomy than on the sacrificial slabs used by the cultists. The talk of whispers and images of a bull had made the Baphomet cultists think she was one of them. None suspected she was a cultist of some other demon lord who favored the bull, nor did they realise that their odd sickliness was caused by her experimenting on them by spiking their water supply with compounds she hoped would cause mutations in them.
She's annoyed now though. Prison is dull and they took away her notes. Six months of work those notes contained, six months! She just hoped they hadn't burned them yet, as they had threatened to do.
Basically have two ideas that I have to decide between.
The first is a follower of the Demon Lord Haagenti who sees the Worldwound as a great place to conduct it's experiments. Would be aiming at having a Mutagens, through either Vivisectionist Alchemist or the Fighter or Brawler archetype, and be going for the Evangelist PrC for Haagenti.
The second is the crusader of Szuriel I mentioned before. It's goal would be to keep the fighting in the Worldwound going and have it kill as many people and demons as possible. Would be aiming for the Souldrinker PrC here.
Both of them would look to prolong the fighting. The first because it provides plenty of access to raw materials for it's experiments and the latter in order to cause as much destruction as possible.
NE Human Oracle (Dual-Cursed) 3 / Slayer (Ankou's Shadow) 3 | HP 36/36 | AC 17 T 12 FF 15 | F +5 R +4 W +3 | CMD 22 | Init +6 | Darkvision 60 ft. P +5 | Crit, Flanking, Sleep immune | conditions -
Decided to stick with Oracle and swapping out the mystery for Shadow. In addition I'll swap Fighter out for Slayer using the Ankou's Shadow archetype to double down on the shadow part. I'd drop the official flavor of that archetype, but that's almost entirely in the name anyway.
She'd be the death that lurks in the shadow.
I'm also convinced she'll have a skeletal servant at some point which she'll name Betsy or Lucy or something along those lines.
Doing quite a bit of shuffling on feats as well, not in the least because I'm losing 2 of them due to swapping out Fighter.
CN Goblin Fighter|Hedgewitch/Incanter | HP 30/30 | AC 18, T 15, FF 14 | F +5 R +5 W +4 | CMD 16 | Init +4 | Darkvision 60 ft., Perc +10 (+12 for hearing) | SP 5/8 Sta 4/4 | conditions -
I sincerely apologize for my prolonged silence. Work has been weird the last few weeks with a very intense last month for my current job interspersed with fixing stuff for my new job and then the possibility for a newer new job as well.
Combine that with with having to help my mom more as her MS plays up in the aftermath of a covid infection and it all results in quite a messy time in which I just can't seem to get my head straight for cohesive thought beyond the essential stuff.
Hey, Cuan, have you checked out the Luckbringer to balance out the Malefex in the whole 'twisting fate' idea?
Hadn't seen it before no.
It looks nice, but I'm not sure. It would be another classes with many moving parts (that I'm not familiar with). That and it's Charisma based making me more MAD and clashing a bit with the only thematic race I have found so far, the Hexbreather and it's -2 Cha.
Best fitting third class on the cursing front I have found would be Mageknight, from the Spheres stuff,, with the Grim Disciple archetype. But on mechanics it would be less of a fit as that one is full BAB while the other 2 aren't.
CN Goblin Fighter|Hedgewitch/Incanter | HP 30/30 | AC 18, T 15, FF 14 | F +5 R +5 W +4 | CMD 16 | Init +4 | Darkvision 60 ft., Perc +10 (+12 for hearing) | SP 5/8 Sta 4/4 | conditions -
The moment Ripnugget dies Batry loses all interest in the goblin chief. Instead he jumps from Snookums' back and starts to slowly approach the ex-chief's lizard mount. "Shh now, your bad boss is gone, you be free now. You want to be friends?"
NE Human Oracle (Dual-Cursed) 3 / Slayer (Ankou's Shadow) 3 | HP 36/36 | AC 17 T 12 FF 15 | F +5 R +4 W +3 | CMD 22 | Init +6 | Darkvision 60 ft. P +5 | Crit, Flanking, Sleep immune | conditions -
Hilda looked curiously at both manor and the slaves. "Never seen a slave before. Why did you become slaves? Doesn't sound like a fun job at all. Maybe I need a bath, and some new clothes, but my hair is fine." It was, in fact, greasy, stringy and a straight up mess, "The beetles don't like water."
"But can you get me anything? Then I really want some good clay, the fine stuff they use to make porcelain. I want a new mask. I smashed the old one when I thought they were coming for me because of the killing." She grinned, as if it was a good memory. "Ooh, and some beef. I always liked beef but it was too expensive. Only ever ate it at new year. Just sear the outside, for the flavor, inside is best raw."
NE Human Oracle (Dual-Cursed) 3 / Slayer (Ankou's Shadow) 3 | HP 36/36 | AC 17 T 12 FF 15 | F +5 R +4 W +3 | CMD 22 | Init +6 | Darkvision 60 ft. P +5 | Crit, Flanking, Sleep immune | conditions -
Seeing the massive toad and hearing the thing is notorious enough to have a name, Hilda sighed as she drew her great sword. "Stupid beasty. If you just waited there would have been dog and guard for you to eat. Now you have to die."
She closed the distance with the toad and then lunged for it.
I'd probably work better in another group, since I may have "missed my chance" to really get embroiled in the coincidental throwing together of those characters.
...Plus I've always wanted to see a Vigilante in action.
Do keep in mind that Rhami is not the Paizo Vigilante, but instead uses the archetype of the same name for DSP's Stalker.
Question for the future: Regarding Access Psionic Talent vs Unlocked talent— the former being a prereq for the latter, would it be safe to eschew Wild Talent for Unlocked Talent as recommended in the link?
that's fine
In that case I'll go ahead and swap out my Wild Talent for Unlocked Talent
Rhami Phaethor, my Hummingbird Tengu Vigilante Stalker is almost done, just need to get him some gear.
Wealth:4d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 5, 4) = 17x10 = 170 gp
Nice, a slight bonus compared to average.
He has sworn an Oath of Candor and, as a result of that oath, has recently forsworn an Oath against Psionics (a transposed version of the Oath against Magic) when he discovered his own innate ability, even if it's minor.
I'm still busy on my Hummingbird Tengu Vigilante Stalker.
He will be grabbing Wild Talent to have a small degree of Psionic talent.
The idea beyond that is that he comes from an island nation outside the described part of the setting and travelled to the Ophid Protectorate on ships of the Maquoran Fleet.
The idea being that he comes from a place with a lot of parallels with the real world Aztecs (they thought hummingbirds were the reincarnated spirits of warriors) where they worship giant, feathered serpent (some sort of variant coatl). They bring this serpent humanoid sacrifices in the form of those psionically gifted, which is why psionics are more or less non existent. My character was trained to track those with psionic abilities so they could be taken and sacrificed and fled when he discovered he had a tiny measure of psionic ability himself, fearing of the same grizzly fate.
Imagine his surprise when he landed in a nation of psionic snake people.
Another question from me: How do you feel about the Hummingbird variant Tengu? It fits with the preference for, among other, avian races from the campaign info.
As far as character goes, I'm looking at a Vigilante Stalker, part of The Wayward Path martial tradition. The idea behind the character is that he's an outsider within the land, currently making ends meet as a low grade private eye. His original reason for coming here would be exploring his own budding Psionic ability (Wild Talent feat), which marked him as an outsider back home.
At the moment I'm looking at making a Stalker using the Soul Hunter archetype.
While strictly speaking a martial character it would, at the very least, be highly mystical. So my question simply is: is this too close to "regular" magic or would you say it either isn't magic or that it's vague enough to pass as sort of psionic?
What I'd ideally be looking at is a Kobold, so non Psionic. Ideally I'd be using Spheres of Might as you listed that as an option as well. If guns are an option I'd like to try and integrate those as well, though I'm probably not looking at a fully ranged build.
Combat Stamina would be ideal, but not required.
Skill Unlocks are always nice, though rarely spectacular.
Action Points I have no opinion on as I have no experience with them.
NE Human Oracle (Dual-Cursed) 3 / Slayer (Ankou's Shadow) 3 | HP 36/36 | AC 17 T 12 FF 15 | F +5 R +4 W +3 | CMD 22 | Init +6 | Darkvision 60 ft. P +5 | Crit, Flanking, Sleep immune | conditions -
Hilda nodded after seeing Ceres' state. "You should rest yeah. Perhaps send the ogre up instead of Tawg? Wouldn't really mind if that big lug bites it but Tawg is fun."
Perception:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Besides, the ogre feels appropriate with that Shrek clip
Sorry for the slowness on my end. It's been an odd week. My goal is to finish my character this weekend.
I decided to pick up the Spirit Guide archetype, with the spirits in question being previous royals and angelic spirits.
The archetype says that some spirits would be off-limit due to the character's mystery and ethos. I'd suggest that in Handerbald's case those would be Bones, Slums and Tribe. None of those fit him.
I'd keep Dark Tapestry, just like Pacifa has the Void domain. It would be a last resort though, something to reach for in times of desperation.
I agree that divine dominance would be the way to go though if possible I'd also like to put some effort in the development of science, particularly astronomy. Only fitting for a country with Pacifa as it's state deity. It would also help with navigation, making us a stronger seafaring nation.
As for the state armies, currently the Lancer Corpse are listed as Fighters. Personally I'd envisioned them as Cavaliers, mostly a mix of Order of the Lion and Order of the Star, all with the Celestial Servant feat for their celestial horses.
I just wanted to bring that up because a Whirling Dervish is how I submitted this character, and I wanted to see if Storm Crow or His Highness Handerbald had any issues with that.
@Eldric: To be honest, Eldric already was a very easy fit. He's an Aasimar, a noble and a member of the Church of Pacifa, all the things that get you far in Tharbenia.
@Jimothy: On the God King part, Handeribald really believes he should set an example on how to live. So while he officially is above the law, he does abide to it, at least to it's spirit. You could say that where others are forced to obey the law he does because he is convinced they are a good thing and he chooses to. He wants to be a good and moral ruler that people can admire and adore. He wants to deserve praise and not to be praised because he happens to be king.
@ScegfOd: Celestial ponies are fine but do note you'd have to have distinguished yourself in some major way to join the corpse without being noble born, which being a halfling isn't in the cards within Tharbenia. That said, Jimothy already provides you another route, as he must have a human mother who could be from a noble family, even if being human would place her at the bottom of the pecking order among nobles.
The idea is for the character to be a Signer. As in the race's description, it's home planet would have been destroyed ages ago, when my character was still a youngling. He travelled with kin for ages and has called many places home including Akiton (Golarion's neighbouring planet), Abeir, Earth and even Axis. He has been on Sigil for a while now though and it's there he chose to part ways with his kin, who have since moved to some frozen planet.
@TheWaskally: Might be interesting to see if you can find info on the 'Stilyagi' or 'Culture Crows'. They are young Jadwiga who are upset/bored with Jadwiga society and instead choose to emulate other cultures in style and behaviour. Their references are outdated though, so they emulate how things were in the past.
They are based on a real movement of the same name that existed mid 20th century in the USSR.
NE Human Oracle (Dual-Cursed) 3 / Slayer (Ankou's Shadow) 3 | HP 36/36 | AC 17 T 12 FF 15 | F +5 R +4 W +3 | CMD 22 | Init +6 | Darkvision 60 ft. P +5 | Crit, Flanking, Sleep immune | conditions -
It's a good thing Hilda isn't in the room where they are toying with the guard. She would have started a discussion on how she, in fact, does not eat fingers. The things are just skin, tendons and bone, no meat at all.
NE Human Oracle (Dual-Cursed) 3 / Slayer (Ankou's Shadow) 3 | HP 36/36 | AC 17 T 12 FF 15 | F +5 R +4 W +3 | CMD 22 | Init +6 | Darkvision 60 ft. P +5 | Crit, Flanking, Sleep immune | conditions -
Not me, we have 4. Hilda would also like to grab one.
As for the chimney, should the magic dampening thing wear off Hilda can Create Water to put out the fire at the bottom.
Another idea would be to block the chimney so that rooms below us that are linked to it fill with smoke.
NE Human Oracle (Dual-Cursed) 3 / Slayer (Ankou's Shadow) 3 | HP 36/36 | AC 17 T 12 FF 15 | F +5 R +4 W +3 | CMD 22 | Init +6 | Darkvision 60 ft. P +5 | Crit, Flanking, Sleep immune | conditions -
With a little bit of hesitation Hilda follows Ceres and enters just in time to hear the ogre more or less threaten Ceres. "Hear now, you big oaf, we're here offering to get you out and all you do is threaten? We can leave you here to rot just as easily. Now there is food for you coming this way that is also willing to scream, you just need to peel them out of their armor. Their taste is decent enough." A grin spreads across her blood smeared face.
"So do we have a deal? We let you out and in return you don't eat any other escapee, and you help us so we can all get out of this place. What say you? Oh, and don't get any funny thoughts, we have several more people including a guy your own size so we outnumber you easily."
NE Human Oracle (Dual-Cursed) 3 / Slayer (Ankou's Shadow) 3 | HP 36/36 | AC 17 T 12 FF 15 | F +5 R +4 W +3 | CMD 22 | Init +6 | Darkvision 60 ft. P +5 | Crit, Flanking, Sleep immune | conditions -
A permanent grin adorned Hilda's face, though none could see it as her black, now rather greasy and matted, hair fell before her face. Those that paid attention could spot movement in her hair, small, glossy black beetles crawled through it. And from behind the curtain of hair occasionally came the sound of someone swallowing, though the crack someone would expect when biting on such a beetle was never heard.
Beyond her matted hair the woman looked sickly and severely malnourished, despite the fact she was the only one that had received any food, just before she was chained up. Still her stomach rumbled loudly, complaining about the lack of nourishment.
"Chop chop! They'll take my head and then the bugs will eat me. They've been waiting, you know. Ever so patiently." The grin on her face somehow shone through in her voice. "I only sold them for parts you know? Didn't eat them or anything. Not fresh enough."
May I introduce, Hilda Gustaviir.
Took a bit of puzzling with my two 8's and not wanting to go caster on both ends.
In the end she is a Human Dual Cursed Oracle with the Shattered Mind and Ghoul curses, the latter not progressing, on one end and a straight up Fighter on the other. There is a decent chance of multiclassing on the Fighter side.
In time she'll be a Worm that Walks, but for now she is a scrawny, young woman with sallow skin, an unhealthy complexion as well as a charming smile and gorgeous black hair. Just don't mind the glossy black beetles that crawl through her hair, the patches of skin that sometimes move as if something crawls underneath or her ravenous appetite for raw meat.
She's been arrested for Grave Robbery but that's only because they haven't been able to link the murders she committed to her. After all, the few witnesses that saw her leave only saw a heavy cloak and a porcelain white mask. The broken shards of that mask haven't been found, yet.
Background:
Hilda was born to Torvald and Magda. Her father was the son of a soldier that died fighting for Talingarde and the housekeeper of a temple to Mitra. Her mother was the youngest daughter of the priest that ran that same temple. The two fell in love as teens and stuck together, even Torval taking on the job as grave keeper for the temple did not change that, at least not in the beginning.
For while nobody loved the grave keeper they all respected him and were happy with his work. Sure, the town gossips liked to talk about how she could do better but that was just spite. Spite that vanished when first Svard and then Hilda were born. Grandfather, the priest, doted upon his grandson for he had no sons himself and both their mother and the town joined in the adoration. Hilda on the other hand was her father's favorite. She had looked just like his mother, who had passed away just before Hilda's birth.
The family lived a happy, uneventful life for many years.
It was all upended when Hilda was about twelve. Suddenly new graves started being dug up during the night with no trace of the corpse or the culprit. The townspeople quickly came to the conclusion that it must be grave robbery, rumours of their activity had arrived with travelling merchants, and blame was quickly laid at the feet of the grave keeper. Either he did it himself or he allowed it to happen, which was just as bad. A missive was sent to the capital asking for the aid of inquisitors but when none came the town guard took it upon themselves to incarcerate and "interrogate" Hilda's father.
Then more graves were desecrated while Hilda's father was still imprisoned, so they had to let him go. The damage had already been done though. To most townspeople he was still guilty, even if just of neglect, and his wife, son and priestly father in law all distanced himself from him. The priest soon found grounds to have the marriage dissolved and then adopted his grandson to prevent him from being a child of what were now unmarried parents. Both mother and son then left, moving to the capital.
Hilda and her father stayed behind.
The young girl however was determined to prove her father's innocence once and for all and for weeks on end she'd go out into the graveyard at night to find the real culprits while during the day she started spreading spiteful rumours about those she deemed responsible for her father's pain.
It was after several months, around midwinter, that Hilda finally found something. In the graveyard sat a hunched figure over a freshly dug up corpse. Then it started stuffing the corpse into a large sack. Only when it started to lift the sack did the light from the temple shine on it's malformed, fanged face. Hilda gasped. The creature heard.
Before Hilda realised what she had done the monster dropped the bag and charged towards her. Hilda started to run but it was to late. In one swift motion it pushed her down to the floor and flipped her around so it faced her. She stared in those feral eyes for only a second before all went dark. Visions of undead monsters, fiends and burning Mitran temples passed before her eyes and she was sure she was dying.
Then she woke up. The ghoul was nowhere to be found. For a moment she though she dreamt it all but then she noticed something weird. All around her were millions of beetles, flies and other creeping things yet for some curious reason they all kept clear of her. When she moved to get up all the critters scattered. Then she coughed and out came a single glossy black beetle. Then she started vomiting and out came endless streams of beetles.
Then she woke up once more. This time in her own bed, her father by her side. He seemed worried. Behind him she could see his shovel standing against the wall with smears on it of what could be blood. When she tried to speak he just hugged her.
Many more years went by. Few of the townsfolk believed some undead monster was behind the opened graves and those that did, did not believe the grave keeper had killed it. Hilda and her father became more and more isolated in the town. Figuring it all didn't really matter anymore, Hilda, looking to make some extra money to supplement the family income, starting digging up the graves herself to sell the corpses to less than savoury folk. Very cautious to make sure her father did not figure out where the funds came from she lied and said the funds came from some cleaning jobs in town.
The truth was the townsfolk wouldn't even hire her to clean their latrines, even without the constant presence of beetles in her hair.
In the end her father could no longer cope with the stigma and the isolation and his heart gave out. This stoked a new fire within Hilda. She buried her father in the same grave where her grandmother's remains laid and continued doing his work as if nothing had happened. Her father's tendency to work in the early hours of the day benefitted her greatly.
Then she started making plans to take vengeance. Where she first tried to shame the culprits of her father's misery she now decided to take more rigorous measure. She'd kill them in the night and when the corpses were brought in for burial she instead shipped them off to her contacts.
To her dismay this was how she got caught. One of her buyers had been arrested and for the promise of reducing his punishment to hard labour he ratted out all his contacts, including Hilda. When the inquisitors started walking up the path in the graveyard she panicked, thinking they came because of the murders. She smashed the mask she had worn on those evenings, crushing many pieces while dumping the rest in one of the open coffins waiting to be buried. When they notified her they were there on charges of grave robbery and not murder she let out a sigh of relief, which then faded again when they mentioned the penalty was death by beheading after a short stint in Branderscar.
Hilda fought them off best she could, breaking a nose and a jaw as she punched several inquisitors,, but in the end she was chained and dragged out towards their wagon to be shipped off to Branderscar while the townsfolk leered at her and smirked.
CN Goblin Fighter|Hedgewitch/Incanter | HP 30/30 | AC 18, T 15, FF 14 | F +5 R +5 W +4 | CMD 16 | Init +4 | Darkvision 60 ft., Perc +10 (+12 for hearing) | SP 5/8 Sta 4/4 | conditions -
Batry lets out a sigh, "Bit disappointing, but thanks." Batry closes the portal with a flick of his wrist. He then nods and leaves, making a mental note not to forget to tell the others to burn everything down around the boutique but leave that one alone.
He then proceeds to the square.
Knowledge: Civ:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16 Possible Spellcraft for the energy bolt:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
Adventurers? Here? Why do those idiots always have to complicate things?
He then notices that Swaggy he started his usual routine and smiles. Good.
He then extends a hand to the side, wanting to give Snookums some orders but instead finds only air as the lumbering beast has already charged to the closest opponent.
Batry smirks as he sees Snookums attack connect.
Snookums Full-Round Charge Kyra Attack:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14Damage:1d10 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10 -2 AC until next turn, so at AC 18
He then sets his own eyes upon the old man. This was one of the cliche groups so the old man must be the wizard. That meant he carried a good book for reading. Batry wanted that book. And he probably was a big threat.
So he aims Tiffany, readjusts his position, aims again, pulls the trigger and smiles as he hears the satisfying thud of the bolt hitting it's mark. "Tiffany likes you old man, but love hurts." It was a sudden inspiration, probably caused by Swaggy, and he'd blurted it out before he knew it.
He then slots another bolt into Tiffany.
CN Goblin Fighter|Hedgewitch/Incanter | HP 30/30 | AC 18, T 15, FF 14 | F +5 R +5 W +4 | CMD 16 | Init +4 | Darkvision 60 ft., Perc +10 (+12 for hearing) | SP 5/8 Sta 4/4 | conditions -
The moment the woman notices Snookums Batry lets out a sigh while his large ears droop.
He then gathers himself, ears perking up and eyes fixed on the woman, "She's gorgeous, isn't she? Now please, my crazy tribe be running around in the perfumed place and I'm sure the longshanks in there need help. My tribe be less well behaved than me, they probably be biting and killing your peoples. So be a good longshanks and help your kind." Batry sounds a bit offended while speaking as the woman for some reason didn't follow his plan.
"And no, you can't pet Snookums! She don't like it."
CN Goblin Fighter|Hedgewitch/Incanter | HP 30/30 | AC 18, T 15, FF 14 | F +5 R +5 W +4 | CMD 16 | Init +4 | Darkvision 60 ft., Perc +10 (+12 for hearing) | SP 5/8 Sta 4/4 | conditions -
Delighted with the seeming success of his ruse Batry grins while urging Snookums to take some steps back and into the street marked 'Market Street'. He wanted to give the woman a free run towards where he had pointed her.
He still kept Tiffany at the ready though, just in case.
CN Goblin Fighter|Hedgewitch/Incanter | HP 30/30 | AC 18, T 15, FF 14 | F +5 R +5 W +4 | CMD 16 | Init +4 | Darkvision 60 ft., Perc +10 (+12 for hearing) | SP 5/8 Sta 4/4 | conditions -
When it comes to Swaggy and Batry I think they'd make a fun, if somewhat unlikely duo. To begin they could bond over their mutual lack of hate towards dogs.
I could also see Batry correcting Swaggy's lyrics on supposed spelling or grammatical errors or complimenting him when he made a particularly clever play on words.
I could also see a potential point of conflict in Swaggy and his cronies trying to 'borrow' Wartface to lick the toad's back for the mildly hallucinogenic toxins.
As for his relation with Wamba, I could see Batry appreciate her for being among the smarter part of the tribe and even see her as a potential mate. It's a more an academic approach than a crush though and he is watching her and a handful of other female goblins to see who proves herself worthy of him (Yes he's arrogant and he has an inflated ego). He would have tried to have conversations with her to gauge her intellect.
I could also see Wamba be fond of Snookums, the giant lumbering beast that does whatever she wants with minimal regard for the wishes of others (except maybe Batry).
CN Goblin Fighter|Hedgewitch/Incanter | HP 30/30 | AC 18, T 15, FF 14 | F +5 R +5 W +4 | CMD 16 | Init +4 | Darkvision 60 ft., Perc +10 (+12 for hearing) | SP 5/8 Sta 4/4 | conditions -
Batry showed up at the tribal gathering as the usual stack of creatures. On the bottom was Snookums the Snookums (Batry was the first of his tribe to find such a creature so he had named the species), lazily chewing on some of the straw some goblin had used for the roofing of his hovel.
Laying on Snookums' back was Batry himself. He had found that it was a good idea to lay down when chief spoke, that way you wouldn't be blown away by the guy's stupidity. Snookums probably had more brain to her than the chief.
The last of the stack was Wartface the permanently bored toad, lazily dozing on top of Batry's head.
When he hears the chief he sighs. Stupid man. His plan was useful but only because groups 1, 2 and 4 would distract the longshanks while he could do the important work in group 3. The important work here was saving the good books, stashing them away in his secret hidy hole. Stupid chief was too dumb to realise that books were harmless. It was the act of writing that was evil and stole the soul. When the soul was in the pages you could read it and take bits of the soul into yourself and become stronger!
So he'd go with group 3, no matter where chief put him, and save the good books. Was just too bad he couldn't save the poor doggies and secure some horse meat. Then again, eh could count on the stupidity of his fellows to save the misshapen wolfspawn.
Then the chief put him in group 2. Another sigh. Batry jumped off Snookum's back, Wartface holding on for dear life, and ran over to the most stupid goblin in the book group. It was easy to find one that would rather attack the longshanks that burn books. It was after all more fun to set fire to a longshanks than to a book. So now Batry found himself in the good group. Next step would be to make himself boss of the book group, but that he must do when chief wasn't near.
CN Goblin Fighter|Hedgewitch/Incanter | HP 30/30 | AC 18, T 15, FF 14 | F +5 R +5 W +4 | CMD 16 | Init +4 | Darkvision 60 ft., Perc +10 (+12 for hearing) | SP 5/8 Sta 4/4 | conditions -
Let me introduce you to Batry Big Ears, also known as Batry or Bibi.
He actually is a follower of the Green Faith as opposed to a more standard Goblin faith, though it's more a reverence for nature than a formal faith.
Batry is fairly calm by Goblin standards, preferring to think things through. As such he likely is one of the few in the tribe that has made peaceful contact with longshanks in the past. This happened mostly during his solo forays onto the Storval Plateau and into old Thasillonian ruins and consists of hermits and fellow ruin raiders. The latter were perfectly fine with Batry near as he has a tendency to pick the things they find useless, like a head from a broke statuette or a single coin adorned with a face. The presence of Snookums, his giant skunk companion, also helped deter hostile behaviour.
He also is very un-goblin-like in that he doesn't mind dogs. They are just handicapped wolves after all, can't blame them for being born as runts. Horses though are only good for eating. In fact, horse might just be Batry's favorite food (even though he has never eaten one).
In addition to Snookums, Batry is also accompanied by Wartface, a toad that he carries on his head. He is very protective of the toad as in the past other goblins have stolen him to lick his back for the slightly hallucinogenic toxins in his skin.
EDIT: As far as Blackened and weapons goes, I think it only applies to manufactured and natural weapons. Rays don't fit in either of those.
I'll have to read up on spheres again, it's been a while, but it looks good.
As far as the campaigns go, it's just option 3 I'm not really a fan of. And the "as goblins" could be fun. In case of Mummy's Mask I'll most likely submit a Duskwalker.
I'll be submitting Fara Volavkin, my Changeling Fighter who will go Ironbound Sword Samurai at some later point when it's fitting for both her and the story.
She'll also vastly improve her skill as an archer as soon as her ability with her glaive is set up.
Now if you look at her portrait you'll see I used a Half Orc, but that's what you get as a Changeling when your father is a Half Orc. It's also why it took a reading from Niska Mvashti, Koya's recently departed mother, to figure out that she was anything other than a Half Orc.
Fara is 21 years old, tall and generally looks like a female half orc. Like many other Changelings she has heterochromia, but the differences are fairly subtle; one eye is olive while the other is a dark sea green.
She wears her hair short as it tangles very easily and is an absolute pain to maintain.
Another odd thing about her is her smell. When others would smell sweaty, she instead smells like brackish water.
When it comes to personality, Fara is kind, upbeat and prone to acting before she thinks. On the other hand she might actually overthink things she finds very important and subsequently fail to make decisions. She is very caring towards both friends and family.
For those who have seen Gravity Falls, think of her as close to Mabel Pines, except also 9 years older and more mature as a result.
She loves painting people and landscapes. Knowing long travels over harsh terrain aren't that well suited to such pursuits she has bought journals, pens and ink to instead do series of pen drawings.
Oh, and she brings a pet ferret named Alphonse.
I divided Fara's background in two; the part before she was born and her early life. Despite that it's still quite long.
Origin, or how Fara came to be:
Fara's father was an easy target.
A young half orc man who just had to flee for his life after trying to contact his father's Shoanti clan, his Quah, and was now on his way home to Magnimar once more. Sure, he had known the Shadde-Quah were wary of outsiders and Shoanti in general weren't fond of Orcs but he hadn't expected them to straight up attack him while he tried to explain their blood also ran through his veins. Maybe he should have studied their language more, make sure he used the right words. At least he lived and could try again in the future.
That future would not be though. Unbeknownst to the man he was being stalked by a feared creature of the Lost Coast, the sea hag Peg o'Ness and he wouldn't know it until it was too late. Disguising herself as a beautiful young woman she approached him, asking for help with some fabricated problem. The moment she had an opening she attacked him, knocked him out and dragged him to her lair. There she had her way with the terrified man before killing him and feeding him to the sharks that patrolled the waters close to her lair.
Months later the hag sought herself a family to dump her newborn child. It was here that her choice for a half orc father, a novelty for her, came back to bite her as there were no fitting family's accessible to her for a swap. Instead travelled for a while just off the Old Coast road in hopes of spotting a Varisian caravan as those were likely to adopt and raise a foundling.
So when she spotted such a caravan approaching she rushed ahead, placed the child on a roadside shrine to Desna where the travellers were likely to stop for a moment and slapped the babe across the face just so it would cry. Then she hid and, once satisfied that the travellers had picked up the child, headed back to the sea.
Background:
Fara's childhood was fairly straightforward for a Varisian child. She knew her parents adopted her from a very early age, though it would have been quite a challenge to hide it for she was quite different from the rest of her family. She was taller, had pointier ears and, most of all, tiny tusks. She was a Half Orc. Despite all this she was never ostracised or even bullied by the other children because of it, probably because of all the weirdness they encountered while travelling. Next to the monkey-man that accompanied them from Riddleport all the way to Turvik in the north Fara suddenly looked very human, and he wasn't the only strange guest, or even the strangest, they had during the many years on the road.
Yet even though the travels took her family from Kerse in Druma all the way the way to Turvik in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings they always returned to Sandpoint. When they did they'd always invite mother and daughter Mvashki, known as granny Niska and aunty Koya to the children, to join their camp. And every time they were told how granny Niska, who was the sister of her father's great-grandmother, had saved their grandmother from some horrible disease when she had been a child, thus making sure their father and they themselves could be born. While this didn't strictly apply to Fara, it impressed her all the same. As a result, the fact granny Niska appeared to take a shine to her filled Fara with pride. Why that was she would not discover until she was much older.
In fact she was sixteen. The family had just left Kerse in Druma when word reached them of a large scale goblin attack on Sandpoint. The entire caravan was brought into gear to get to Sandpoint as quickly as possible. By the time they reached Nirmathas there came news of giants attacking Sandpoint. At that point the entire family expected to find nothing but ruins and corpses by the time they'd reach the town. Yet before they even left Nirmathas and entered the Bloodsworn Vale news once more reached them, telling them Sandpoint was safe due to the work of a group of adventuring heroes and that most people from the town had survived. While this allowed the entire extended family to relax a bit, they still continued on towards Sandpoint.
To Fara this last news opened a window to new possibilities. For a while she had been thinking of striking out on her own and leaving the same route her family travelled year after year. She longed to make her own stories just like the many guests that journeyed along with the caravan for short amounts of time did, just like the monkey-man had done (he had travelled all the way from Vudra! On foot!). And now she heard tales of adventurers who were heroes and had even saved Sandpoint. Very few things could be more exciting than that. She then made a promise to herself to strike out on her own, when she was old enough and knew how to defend herself.
It was the next day she started asking the ones on guard duty to train her but was dismissed every time. On the caravan everyone had a place and a duty and so far she had shown to be very able both in handling the animals and in handling people, there was no need for her to learn to fight. The only one that was willing to teach her anything was the new guy they had picked up in Longshadow in Nirmathas for the trek through Bloodsworn Vale just days before. The other guards already did not like him much, considering him a softy picking flowers on the road and softly reciting poetry while on patrol. Fara had liked him because he marked himself as a Shelynite and she also liked the goddess of art and beauty, often praying for inspiration and a steady hand while painting the gorgeous landscapes the caravan passed by. But while she liked him she didn't think he'd be much of a fighter. She was wrong. He did not train her in the use of a sword, as Fara had expected, but instead used a glaive, Shelyn's own weapon of choice. The trick, according to him, was to wield it like some sort of oversized paintbrush, delivering stroke after stroke as if the battlefield was the canvas.
By the time they finally reached Sandpoint Fara was able to hold her own, provided her trainer chose not to go all out.
In Sandpoint they all reunited with the Mvashti's. Koya, who had not been present for the attacks, had returned a mere week before they had arrived. The whole family then joined in helping restore the damage to Sandpoint. Fara had longed to meet the heroes who had saved the town but apparently they had left again, chasing down whoever was behind the attack. It was during this visit to Sandpoint that Niska called Fara to her to talk. Expecting her parents had somehow figured out her plan of eventually striking out on her own and had asked granny Niska to talk some sense into her Fara came expecting admonishment. It didn't come. Instead Niska invited Fara to take a seat across from her while she'd lay down the Harrow for her. What came from that surprised Fara but seemed to only confirm things for Niska.
First she was a daughter of the sea, which to Niska meant Fara was in fact the changeling daughter of a sea hag. The sea hag of the area in fact, old Peg Powler or Peg o'Ness. Soon, somewhere in the next few years, there would come a choice. One path would allow her to stay with her kin and live a happy life for a while, maybe even a family of her own, but would eventually lead to The Mute Hag, Fara's own transformation into a hag which would then be followed by death and despair for her kin. The other choice was more open ended but it would mean travelling far away from here not to return, leaving her family behind forever. Realising this was quite a lot to lay upon a sixteen year old Niska told her she didn't have to make a choice right then and there. In fact if she'd make sure she'd return to Niska four years and four days from now at which point Niska would read the cards again to give her more clarity so she could make the proper choice.
Fara was shocked, mostly by the revelation that she was more 'other' than she always had thought she was and dreams of hags and other monstrous crones haunted her nightmares and her paintings for many months. It also got her to think. She had already intended to travel but the idea was always that she'd have her parents and siblings to return to. Yet now she knew the only way to keep them save was to go away for good.
After those four years, which she had filled with planning and training for a journey she wasn't sure would come, Fara returned to Sandpoint while her family was still camped outside Magnimar. Yet when she arrived Niska looked frail and old. She always had been old but for the first time she actually looked old. She no longer read the cards, her eyes wouldn't let her anymore, but she did still see. In Fara she saw the doubt, which Fara also explained to her. On the one hand she wanted her family to be save but on the other she did not think she could live without them to fall back on. She wanted to do the good thing for them but she did not know if she could. Niska just smiled as if she already knew this would happen. So when Fara was done talking and crying Niska told her what was going to happen next. In a few weeks she'd be gone, she'd join Desna up in the night sky, leaving her daughter to fend for herself. Koya, like Fara, wanted to make a long journey away from Sandpoint but wasn't sure she could. If she went though, she needed someone to come with her and watch her back. And, according to Niska, that someone should be Fara. So she made Far swear she'd do just that, watch Koya's back when she went to travel. That way she'd not only have the an extra reason to do the good thing and leave Sandpoint and her family behind but she also had at least some family with her on her journey. But the choice for Koya would also come shortly, within the year so Fara needed to be ready.
It's now been a few months since old Niska passed away. Fara and her family were just east of Korvosa when it happened and they turned around as quickly as they could. But while her family had gone back on the road after the funeral, Fara had stayed behind. They understood, she had been very close to the old woman and they pick her up when they came by at the end of the year on their way back up north again. Fara nodded and agreed as she hugged them goodbye, knowing full well that she'd already have moved on from Sandpoint by the time they'd come back.
I'm curious about what went on with Achaekek there, how he regained his senses and what role, if any, his little sister, Nana Anadi aka Grandmother Spider, played in that.
Actually, I'm mostly interested in Nana Anadi there as I adore both her and the African/Caribbean god Anansi she's (partially) based on.
I'm looking at an Animal Order druid whose bear companion was rescued from a cruel noble that had it as a pet and mistreated it. It would be an Arcadian bear imported to show off (modelled after real world spectacled bears and the extinct giant shortfaced bears).
The character itself would be a Halfling with ties to the Bellflower Network, who also freed the bear from captivity.
I'm still working on the character but I'm thinking of a town watch recruit loosely inspired by Carrot Ironfounderson from the Discworld series. In short, he'd be big, strong, heart of gold, and not quite as stupid and naive as he appears.
The moment he entered the K-Mart Basil remembered why he never went there. The healthy food was overpriced while sugar and saturated fat were cheap. It was almost bad enough to make him miss the Tesco down the street where he grew up. Almost.
It had almost always been an issue during his years in the US. Food. Or better put, good, healthy food. Large portions of his budget would end up being used to buy fresh vegetables and fresh fish. The latter being one of the main reasons he preferred coastal areas as there he could usually buy his fish directly from the fishermen.
Luckily he wasn't here for the food. He needed equipment if he was going out into the world to actually find hidden treasures of his own. Yet when he asked the store clerk for equipment fitting for sleuthing she had pointed him to the 'Little Sherlock: kit for the junior sleuth and alchemist', which wasn't quite what he was looking for. Now he ended up with a kit intended for 'Wack Wizards', but at least it contained all the things he needed.
Next step would be armor, preferably something light, and some weapons to go with the heirloom katana he already had. Some daggers and perhaps something like a shortbow.
So he bought a Wizard's Kit at 16g 8s, meaning he has 103g 2s left. He is now looking at light armor, leather lamellar if available, and as he says, 2-3 daggers, a shortbow and some arrows. Assuming there also is the 20% discount on those he'd end up with a remainder of 24g
As far as I heard you only go there for the burgers.
If I'm looking for good fries I won't go to a fast food chain at all but instead visit a smaller, local shop where they sell handmade fries.
As for the portions thing, over here they are at most half of what US portions are.
I'd appreciate a bit of a description for most typically US stores and the such. Then again, Basil also still isn't all that familiar with the variety of stores, having grown up in the UK.
3d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 1) = 12 so that's 120. I didn't roll for Basil's craft skill as that's not how he makes his money but purely a thing he learned as part of a family tradition.
The weapon he has is functional but at the moment it serves as a mantelpiece. It's the sword of his great-grandmother, the woman who had a dalliance with a human official at the imperial court that resulted in Basil's grandfather. His grandfather passed it onto him when he received it after his mother's death, feeling he himself was unworthy of wielding it and Basil's father refused it.
While I'm working on the crunch, here's the fluff.
Basil Yamamoto:
His name is Basil Yamamoto, or actually Vassilios Yamamoto but only his mother and grandma call him that. His mother's family, the Aphorite side of him, comes from Greece. Having weathered the second world war on the isle of Cyprus they fled to the UK when the Greek civil war broke out shortly after they had returned to mainland Greece.
There his mother met his father, the son of a disgraced Japanese Half Orc. The disgrace being that he was only half an Orc and not a full-blooded Orc like his kin who had served as the emperor's bodyguards since the reign of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
As such Basil was born an Aphorite with some distinctly Half Orc characteristics, like the small tusks jutting up from his lower jaw and the slightly pointed ears.
He grew up in the greater London area where he went to a state funded elementary school and then to Westminster School for secondary education. Afterwards he attended Oxford University where he studied history and Japanese. Afterwards he worked as a junior curator at the British Museum.
Trying to get away from the influence of his mother and grandmother Basil left for the USA several years ago in hopes of getting a job at the Smithsonian Museum. Sadly he had no such luck.
When the Antiques Roadshow by PBS was hosted in a smaller local museum in the same area he managed to secure a job as an appraiser for the show. He then toured the country with the show for several years, specialising in European and East Asian historical objects.
Recently he made his return to the area where his adventure in the US had started, settling down in the area between Richmond and Norfolk. He is determined to try his luck at the Smithsonian again. Perhaps they'd be more receptive if he brought them a new piece for their collection?
Crunch wise I'm still not entirely sure whether I want him as a Curator Occultist or an Antiquarian Investigator, though I'm leaning towards the latter.
I'm also envisioning museums in the world to be even tighter on security, especially magical security. Entire buildings warded against teleporation and curses, the Egyptian wing with a ward against the undead...
The idea is to make an Occultist who now works as an appraiser of old objects. He'd actually work for the Antiques Roadshow TV program as one of the first group of (off-camera) appraisers that determines if something is possibly worth showing on TV. He dreams of making it as one of the show's main appraisers and only got sucked into a live of adventure through an item he worked with.
What that item is exactly I'm still figuring out.
I popped in here to apologize for my sudden disappearance at the end of last year.
Simply put, my life had a rather drastic change of direction, for the better luckily, and I kinda lost track with tons of things. Sadly that included this game.
It's good to see you are still going strong.
So again, I apologize for my vanishing and, well, have fun with it all.
