GM Mercy's page

The view from the entrance to the Dragon's audience... cavern... was spectacular, but you aren't given much time to appreciate it. The robed pair in front of you, a kobold and a human, gesture impatiently for you to keep moving.

The chamber at the top of the mountain is enormous. The glint of sunlight on metal catches your eye, and you realize there is a huge hole in the distant cavern roof above you. The sun - nearly to its zenith - is shining down on a pile of coins and gemstones, littered here and there with large items. The whole lot is heaped against the left cavern wall.

"Not actually to my taste, but one must keep up appearances."

The voice is deceptively gentle, both in tone and volume. You glance back to your right, and not five feet from you is the great face of the Dragon. Two eyes larger than your own head, set above a maw large enough to swallow an ox.

The human and kobold attendants bow low, and after an insistent shove you remember to do so as well. "The human warrior, Surtur Murumasa."

"A pleasure."

The Dragon lifts her head somewhat, affording you a glance of the sculptured stone you lie on. At first you can make no sense of it, until your sense of scale shifts and you realize the dragon's bed is carved in the likeness of a gargantuan cityscape, complete with rubble where many of the once-proud towers and voluminous mansions had been toppled by her repose.

"Tell me, Surtur? Is what I hear about your childhood true? Were you raised in that unfortunate region they call Gelkrosh?"

Please respond in spoilers as well so we can keep this compact.

A generation ago, the Gelkrosh region - in the midst of an economic and population boom - was struck by disaster: prehistorical monsters dubbed mantids were unearthed from an ancient slumber beneath the vast coal and tarpits of the central badlands and spread rapidly, driving people away from a vast swath of the area and cutting off travel and trade for even more. But this was before the lands of the Dragon bordered Gelkrosh. She has had her alchemists devise a antidote for the most powerful weapon of the mantids - their paralytic poison. With this, she believes she can begin to make inroads to taking the region and its mines and farms for her own.

But how to do it? She is already at war with the giants to the north, and has no interest opening another front in the combat. She wishes to take the region more subtly. Picking a small number of her loyal followers, she directs them to subdue the region as much as possible before revealing her involvement.

There are many paths they can take to victory, by stealth, intrigue, and assassination, by the steady grind of clever economics, by sheer bold brutality, or by these and others mixed in a deft combination. All possible, and legitimate, paths to domination. But there will be worthy and clever opponents at every turn, and should they fail in their charge they'll have no refuge back in the Dragon's lands...

This campaign will begin with 3-5 players (one being the acknowledged leader, appointed by the Dragon herself) along with a company of around a dozen 'soldiers' (a motley crew of brutes, fit for fighting but not much else) being dispatched to the region known as Gelkrosh. They will decide on how and where to enter the region, how they'll go about building up a power base, how to deal with the other factions and threats, and how they'll rule the lands they control. It is entirely possible that they'll get in over their heads and end up assassinated, defeated in open battle, or simply deposed by an unruly populace.

Furthermore, after the players have established the "kingdom" aspect of the game, they'll be able to roll up secondary characters. These characters will be controlled as NPCs (but be available to inhabit kingdom roles that need filling, if desired) unless and until their corresponding player's primary character dies (a very real possibility), in which case they'll take over the secondary character.

I like high roleplay focus, low loot-focus games. I've created Eldreon to be a world where magic is rampant but magic items are rare. You won't be getting wealth-by-level, and even powerful characters might not have much in the form of permanent magical gear.

On Alignments: You can be any alignment. Generally speaking, I treat the alignment of any mortal character as "light." They have some leanings in that direction, but obviously are not embodiments of the alignment. The exceptions being divine spellcasters, other extremely religious people, and characters who single-mindedly fulfill their alignments tenets (mass-murdering psychos or feed-the-hungry philanthropists, to pick extreme examples). This extends to the use of Detect Evil/Good/etc spells: most regular people won't show up as anything in particular.

Also just a heads up, the economy is silver-based instead of gold based. Mostly that just means we transpose "gold pieces" to "silver pieces" and leave gold for much larger sums of wealth.

I don't want full-on character builds! I select players based on their ability to dream up and role-play a personality first and foremost. What I want to see are character concepts. Use the details about the Dragon's Realm below, sketch in a few details of your own, and run with it. You will be playing a character hand-selected by the Dragon (or at least, her top lackeys) to subjugate a region and add it to her lands. What skillsets do you have that aid that goal?

You SHOULD include at least one tidbit of history - what you have done to bring your name to the Dragon's attention. Have you worked for her directly up until now? Were you merely a notable resident somewhere in her realm? The scion of another loyal servant? Whatever. Give me some of that history.

You can include thoughts on crunch if you like, but the fluff/background is what I'm really interested in. Once characters are selected, we'll do character builds and such in the discussion thread before beginning the campaign.

As far as race/class choices go:
Race - this region of the world is highly diverse. With all sorts of races living alongside each other (though not always peacefully).

Human - common, many human cultures both sedentary and nomadic live in the area.
Hobgoblin - just as common and varied as humans (fun fact, hobgoblins in Eldreon have no native concept of gender and reproduce asexually).
Halfling - The halflings in this part of the world tend to be more rough-and-tumble than elsewhere.
Goblin - Goblins tend to be short-sighted and prone to violence, but their communities are still tolerated in some places due to their surprising industriousness and their willingness to do dirty, dangerous jobs.
Ogre - Ogres tend to be quite dumb and violent, but they're also incredibly strong. Found frequently as bodyguards and laborers when their employers have the talents and means to keep them under control.
Elf (and half-elf) - Elves are generally disliked by the other races of the region (and vice versa) due to myriad old grudges as well as the tendency for elven communities of this part of the world to "cause trouble" (freeing slaves and such). However, some elves have managed to carve a place for themselves (often by matching the violence and savagery of their neighbors). Half-elves are more common, but also frequently the subject of bigotry.
Orc (and half-orc) - Several orc tribes exist in the area and are often found in martial trades.
Kobold - Kobolds tend to stick to themselves and don't often interact with other races, but in a kingdom ruled by a Dragon several of them have risen to prominence.
Dwarf - Dwarves found in the region are usually outcasts from their holds, or the descendants of outcasts.
Gnolls - Gnolls are uncommon in this part of the world, but not unknown.
And finally, a homebrewed race called the Drecna which you can read about here. They're uncommon here as well, but are famed travelers.

Classes: You don't actually have to decide on one now, but I'm open to considering any class except barbarian, monk, and alchemist, and psionic-types. (Barbarian and monk 'flavors' can be worked into other classes if desired). I tend to favor people who work within the basic classes (fighter, ranger, wizard, etc) and their archetypes.

This campaign sticks to the region of Gelkrosh, and the players don't need to know much about the world-at large. If you would like to read a bit just to see if I'm a terrible or passable world-builder, I threw some stuff up on a blog awhile back (including some things about religion, which might be useful). The Blog Is Here.

Information you'll actually want to know is in the spoiler marked "The Gelkrosh Region" or in the attached documents.

In this folder you'll find a map and a document with some initial information on the various notable settlements.

Gelkrosh is a hinterlands region bordering The Dragon's controlled lands and a couple other regional powers, one of which (a nation ruled by giants) the Dragon is engaged in a border war with. She believes the time has come to claim it, but she wants to start things off quietly by building up a base of support so that she doesn't anger the other nations before her control of Gelkrosh is already a done deal. That is where the players come in.

General History:

In the distant past, the region was very sparsely populated, with mostly nomadic populations of humans, halflings, and hobgoblins living and warring over the grazing regions. More recently burgeoning populations to both the east and west drove settlers into the area, mostly displacing or assimilating the original tribes. Once the river floodplains were found to be incredibly fertile, the increased food production began a population and expansion boom in the area. Discovery of the tar pits and coal seams in the eastern badlands region only accelerated this. However, disaster struck early into the process - coal mining opened up a cavern which held some dormant monstrosity from earlier times, enormous venomous insectoids that were dubbed Mantids. Awakened, they erupted from their cave, slaughtering most of the nearby mining town overnight and spreading rapidly. Over the coming months they caused nearly the entirety of the badlands regions populace to flee or die, and even threatened the farming towns to the north. Furthermore, they made travel so dangerous that it choked off most of the region's trade.

Almost 25 years later, the region has reached a sort of stability. The central portion is still mostly deserted, and dominated by the mantids. Gelkrosh still provides food to the rest of the area, but must transport it along a threatened route in heavily guarded caravans. Hafton has survived on its own surrounding lands and trade from unthreatened routes to the north and west. Swampside has remaining largely cut off from the rest of the region except for a small trade in magical and alchemical goods, small enough to be carried by more highly-mobile merchants who skirt the mantid's territory or pass through it by unknown means.

As a GM, I may beat, burn, rob, abuse, and kill your characters – but I will never abandon them. I have been in several dropped games on these forums, and so here is my pledge to you as players: I will never, ever abandon a game if even one player wants to continue. We will find other players or make it a solo adventure. Due to real-life reasons, games may be delayed and they may slow down – but so long as I have players, my players have a game.

A generation ago, the Gelkrosh region - in the midst of an economic and population boom - was struck by disaster: prehistorical monsters dubbed mantids were unearthed from an ancient slumber beneath the vast coal and tarpits of the central badlands and spread rapidly, driving people away from a vast swath of the area and cutting off travel and trade for even more. But this was before the lands of the Dragon bordered Gelkrosh. She has had her alchemists devise a antidote for the most powerful weapon of the mantids - their paralytic poison. With this, she believes she can begin to make inroads to taking the region and its mines and farms for her own.

But how to do it? She is already at war with the giants to the north, and has no interest opening another front in the combat. She wishes to take the region more subtly. Picking a small number of her loyal followers, she directs them to subdue the region as much as possible before revealing her involvement.

There are many paths they can take to victory, by stealth, intrigue, and assassination, by the steady grind of clever economics, by sheer bold brutality, or by these and others mixed in a deft combination. All possible, and legitimate, paths to domination. But there will be worthy and clever opponents at every turn, and should they fail in their charge they'll have no refuge back in the Dragon's lands...

This campaign will begin with 3-5 players (one being the acknowledged leader, appointed by the Dragon herself) along with a company of around a dozen 'soldiers' (a motley crew of brutes, fit for fighting but not much else) being dispatched to the region known as Gelkrosh. They will decide on how and where to enter the region, how they'll go about building up a power base, how to deal with the other factions and threats, and how they'll rule the lands they control. It is entirely possible that they'll get in over their heads and end up assassinated, defeated in open battle, or simply deposed by an unruly populace.

Furthermore, after the players have established the "kingdom" aspect of the game, they'll be able to roll up secondary characters. These characters will be controlled as NPCs (but be available to inhabit kingdom roles that need filling, if desired) unless and until their corresponding player's primary character dies (a very real possibility), in which case they'll take over the secondary character.

I like high roleplay focus, low loot-focus games. I've created Eldreon to be a world where magic is rampant but magic items are rare. You won't be getting wealth-by-level, and even powerful characters might not have much in the form of permanent magical gear.

On Alignments: You can be any alignment. Generally speaking, I treat the alignment of any mortal character as "light." They have some leanings in that direction, but obviously are not embodiments of the alignment. The exceptions being divine spellcasters, other extremely religious people, and characters who single-mindedly fulfill their alignments tenets (mass-murdering psychos or feed-the-hungry philanthropists, to pick extreme examples). This extends to the use of Detect Evil/Good/etc spells: most regular people won't show up as anything in particular.

Also just a heads up, the economy is silver-based instead of gold based. Mostly that just means we transpose "gold pieces" to "silver pieces" and leave gold for much larger sums of wealth.

The ideal kind of player who's fit to be the "leader" of the group should enjoy the idea of the managerial aspects of a Kingdom Building game, as they'll need to be able to consider a lot of info over the course of the campaign. They also need to be able to make decisions and tell other people what to do, naturally.

I don't want full-on character builds! I select players based on their ability to dream up and role-play a personality first and foremost. What I want to see are character concepts. Use the details about the Dragon's Realm below, sketch in a few details of your own, and run with it. Will you be a clever but formidable fighter leading your subordinates in battle? A priest who wants to see the region they subdue come to the worship of a particular god? A spider-in-the-web puppetmaster who'll come to power by wit and machination? Something much less cliché than these?

You SHOULD include at least one tidbit of history - what you have done to bring your name to the Dragon's attention. Have you worked for her directly up until now? Were you merely a notable resident somewhere in her realm? The scion of another loyal servant? Whatever. Give me some of that history.

You can include thoughts on crunch if you like, but the fluff/background is what I'm really interested in. Once characters are selected, we'll do character builds and such in the discussion thread before beginning the campaign.

As far as race/class choices go:
Race - this region of the world is highly diverse. With all sorts of races living alongside each other (though not always peacefully).

Human - common, many human cultures both sedentary and nomadic live in the area.
Hobgoblin - just as common and varied as humans (fun fact, hobgoblins in Eldreon have no native concept of gender and reproduce asexually).
Halfling - The halflings in this part of the world tend to be more rough-and-tumble than elsewhere.
Goblin - Goblins tend to be short-sighted and prone to violence, but their communities are still tolerated in some places due to their surprising industriousness and their willingness to do dirty, dangerous jobs.
Ogre - Ogres tend to be quite dumb and violent, but they're also incredibly strong. Found frequently as bodyguards and laborers when their employers have the talents and means to keep them under control.
Elf (and half-elf) - Elves are generally disliked by the other races of the region (and vice versa) due to myriad old grudges as well as the tendency for elven communities of this part of the world to "cause trouble" (freeing slaves and such). However, some elves have managed to carve a place for themselves (often by matching the violence and savagery of their neighbors). Half-elves are more common, but also frequently the subject of bigotry.
Orc (and half-orc) - Several orc tribes exist in the area and are often found in martial trades.
Kobold - Kobolds tend to stick to themselves and don't often interact with other races, but in a kingdom ruled by a Dragon several of them have risen to prominence.
Gnoll - Gnolls are uncommon in this part of the world, but not unknown.
And finally, a homebrewed race called the Drecna which you can read about here. They're uncommon here as well, but are famed travelers.

Classes: You don't actually have to decide on one now, but I'm open to considering any class except barbarian, monk, and alchemist, and psionic-types. (Barbarian and monk 'flavors' can be worked into other classes if desired). I tend to favor people who work within the basic classes (fighter, ranger, wizard, etc) and their archetypes.

Currently, I'm planning to post a separate recruitment thread for the rest of the party once this recruitment is done.

This campaign sticks to the region of Gelkrosh, and the players don't need to know much about the world-at large. If you would like to read a bit just to see if I'm a terrible or passable world-builder, I threw some stuff up on a blog awhile back (including some things about religion, which might be useful). The Blog Is Here.

Information you'll actually want to know is in the spoiler marked "The Gelkrosh Region" or in the attached documents.

In this folder you'll find a map and a document with some initial information on the various notable settlements.

Gelkrosh is a hinterlands region bordering The Dragon's controlled lands and a couple other regional powers, one of which (a nation ruled by giants) the Dragon is engaged in a border war with. She believes the time has come to claim it, but she wants to start things off quietly by building up a base of support so that she doesn't anger the other nations before her control of Gelkrosh is already a done deal. That is where the players come in.

General History:

In the distant past, the region was very sparsely populated, with mostly nomadic populations of humans, halflings, and hobgoblins living and warring over the grazing regions. More recently burgeoning populations to both the east and west drove settlers into the area, mostly displacing or assimilating the original tribes. Once the river floodplains were found to be incredibly fertile, the increased food production began a population and expansion boom in the area. Discovery of the tar pits and coal seams in the eastern badlands region only accelerated this. However, disaster struck early into the process - coal mining opened up a cavern which held some dormant monstrosity from earlier times, enormous venomous insectoids that were dubbed Mantids. Awakened, they erupted from their cave, slaughtering most of the nearby mining town overnight and spreading rapidly. Over the coming months they caused nearly the entirety of the badlands regions populace to flee or die, and even threatened the farming towns to the north. Furthermore, they made travel so dangerous that it choked off most of the region's trade.

Almost 25 years later, the region has reached a sort of stability. The central portion is still mostly deserted, and dominated by the mantids. Gelkrosh still provides food to the rest of the area, but must transport it along a threatened route in heavily guarded caravans. Hafton has survived on its own surrounding lands and trade from unthreatened routes to the north and west. Swampside has remaining largely cut off from the rest of the region except for a small trade in magical and alchemical goods, small enough to be carried by more highly-mobile merchants who skirt the mantid's territory or pass through it by unknown means.

As a GM, I may beat, burn, rob, abuse, and kill your characters – but I will never abandon them. I have been in several dropped games on these forums, and so here is my pledge to you as players: I will never, ever abandon a game if even one player wants to continue. We will find other players or make it a solo adventure. Due to real-life reasons, games may be delayed and they may slow down – but so long as I have players, my players have a game.

For this recruitment I'm only interested in the fluff. Give me a character concept you think will be interesting to play within this group, this story, and this world. DO NOT GIVE ME A CHARACTER BUILD. I'm not gonna look at it. Builds will be created after recruitment and with GM input.

Questions you should probably answer (fold these into your write-up or answer them in a questionair, up to you):

Why are you in Keldradt?
Why have you decided to explore the Makon temple?

And of course, you can also think about what might happen after you and the party get done with this particular adventure. What goals do you have in life? Where do you want to go, what do you want to see and do? What connections (friends, family, events, history, etc) do you have elsewhere in the world? Because you don't know much about the world of Eldreon yet, it's okay to be vague ("I have two brothers who still live in <home city on another continent>"). I'm happy for you to adjust and refine as you play and learn about the setting.

For nearly two thousand years, Keldradt has been shorthand for evil. Formerly a rich elven port city set in the steaming jungle, it was destroyed in the war between elves and dwarves - a battle which claimed the lives of every soldier who fought in it as well as every single inhabitant of the once-great city - and then it lay untouched for centuries. And in that neglect, terrible things grew in the ruins. By the time the civilized peoples of Eldreon thought to investigate the city again, it had become wholly infested by evils of all kinds.

Eventually, the Order of Illein, comprised of both elves and dwarves, sought to purge this shameful reminder of their past enmities. Championed by wealthy patrons and the favor of the gods, they embarked on a crusade to cleanse Keldradt. They established the new city of Keldradt, which sits adjacent to the ruins like a flea on the back of a boar. For nearly a hundred years they threw their might against the curse. Countless monsters, undead, and other forms of evil were destroyed - but always Keldradt had more to replace them. The curse was painstakingly scoured from entire swathes of the ruins - but always it returned. The crusade flagged and rekindled several times, but Keldradt was never successfully cleansed. If anything, it is more dangerous now than ever.

In the present day, the Order of Illein is poor in both wealth and membership. The faithful that remain continue to guard over the ruins, doing what they can to keep the vileness within from growing and spreading outward to trouble the good peoples of the world. The city serves as a base for crusaders and fortune-seekers of all kinds, drawn to rumors of the unclaimed wealth that still lie within the ruins, and the glorious victories that might be claimed over the corrupt denizens.

You begin in Keldradt, where you will meet the party. Your reasons for being there are up to you: Are you a treasure hunter? A holy crusader? A criminal hiding in a place no-one will look? It's up to you. All we know is that you're there, and you've been there for at least a little while (at least a couple of months).

Furthermore, whether or not you are or were here for the ruins themselves, recently you've heard about a new opportunity. An ancient human civilization known as the Makon once dominated a large part of this continent, and many of their temples, cities, and holy places remain undiscovered and unspoiled. There are stories of a large Makon temple complex not far to the north of Keldradt. Perhaps, with everyone so focused on the ruins, there are other juicy prizes to be claimed, and other adventures to test yourself against. You resolve to find some companions and take a look.

Personal History Guidelines: You start at level 4 or 5, which is not a hardened veteran nor is it a green amateur. You've been adventuring for a couple/few years, been in some fights, seen some things.

NOTE: Remember, you will NOT be posting a character build in this recruitment thread! The below is simply to let you know what options you might have if you are selected.

You will start as a level 4 character (putting you just barely behind the main party in XP) OR as a level 5 character, putting you a level ahead.

Allowed Races: All Core races except Gnomes, as well as one homebrew race: the Drecna.

Drecna: The drecna were driven from their ancestral homeland centuries ago by the orc tribes that run rampant over northern Liria. There are now three different drecnan nations borne of the three great migratory groups that fled the homeland. Also known by their nickname of “mariner orcs” or “sea orcs” (a misnomer which they despise), the drecna are best known for – you guessed it – sea travel. The most famous drecna are almost universally sailors, pirates, and merchants. Their skin ranges from gray to a very pale yellow/green, and this coupled with prominently sharp teeth led to their confusion with orcs. The drecna, however, are actually bitter enemies of the many orc tribes near their homeland and greatly resent those who voice the comparison.

Allowed classes: Pretty much anything, but I vet and "adjust" a lot of classes as I see fit. I'm not a fan of barbarians (though we can work out ways for you to play a berserker-type fighter if you wish) or monks (and again, we can get the same flavor into another class if you want that).

Magic
Generally speaking, my world has lots of magic but fewer magic items than your average Pathfinder world. All magic item costs are doubled (this will likely be fine-tuned in the future).
I am revamping the item creation rules, but those are not done yet. I'll have them complete by the time any characters in my adventures start to hit level 5 or so (when they become applicable). Scroll creation will remain largely the same.

New Systems: Fate Points and World Weariness
Fate Points are my form of metacurrency and operate similar to other types of the same. They are gained for doing cool s*!$, and can be spent on doing more cool s+%#. Each player starts with 3 Fate Points. Fate Points belong to the player, not a character, and they can be traded between players as desired. Furthermore, they can be used after seeing the success or failure of a roll.

Examples of ways to spend Fate Points:
Max role on any skill check or save – 1 FP (*)
Make any attack an auto-confirmed critical – 1 FP
Stabilize and heal your character to -1 HP – 1 FP (can be used even after a blow that should have killed)
Make an enemy fail a save – 1 FP
Auto-succeed a check for a skill you are trained in, even if technically beyond possibility(**)
Make all targets of a spell or affect fail their saves – 2 FP
Cast any spell you are capable of, regardless of situation (grappled, gagged, no slots left, etc) – 2 FP
Autosucceed a skill check or similar situation, regardless of other factors – 3 FP
Plot Device! Retroactively change something fundamental about your character's situation (discuss with GM) – 5 FP

*Skill checks in my games can occasionally require multiple rolls, this only maximizes one.
**This will auto-succeed even in multiple-roll situations.

World Weariness
Weariness affects characters who receive magical healing. After a long enough time spent getting hacked, slashed, stabbed, burned, beaten, and abused – and then getting healed afterward – a character starts to lose their zest for life. They become listless and despondent as their hope for a life full of more than injury and momentary relief fades away...

Each point of magical healing a character receives also counts as a point of World Weariness. Certain other things can add to or decrease World Weariness as well. Growing levels of World Weariness have the following affects (this is subject to change and expansion). Each level is cumulative:

0-19: No Effect
20-29: -2 to Charisma
30-39: -2 to Wisdom
40-49: -2 to Intelligence
50-59: -2 to Charisma, Wisdom, and Intelligence
60-69: -2 Penalty to Reflex Saves
70-79: -2 Penalty to Fortitude Saves

Only magical healing (spells, scrolls, wands, etc) adds to World Weariness. Hitpoints regained from the use of the Heal skill and other such non-magical sources do not affect World Weariness. Hitpoints regained from magical regeneration effects are (for now) not treated as magical for the purpose of World Weariness gain.

Losing World Weariness

Only three things can reduce world weariness – rest/relaxation, divine action, and GM decree. Obviously, the first one is the most common.

Each full day of R&R your characters get reduces their World Weariness by 5. R&R is generally any activity that doesn't put your characters in danger or apply to overly “serious” pursuits.

To reduce the rate of WW gain, natural healing in Eldreon is a bit better (on average) than in regular Pathfinder. A character that is otherwise in good condition (not fatigued or starving, no diseases or poisons, etc) who gets a good nights rest (8 hours) regains hitpoints equal to 2 for each character level, plus half their CON modifier (round up) times their character level. Thus, a level 3 character with a Constitution of 14 would regain 6 + 3 = 9 hitpoints from a full, unstressed night's sleep. Yes, negative con modifier's would subtract from this (down to a minimum of 1 hp gain).

If the character is under stress (in hostile territory, has to be watchful, etc) they gain half the above (roll and divide by 2, rounding up). This includes nights when the character takes a “watch” or has their sleep interrupted for some reason.

What the hell, GM?

World Weariness is very much an experimental system, and the course of this adventure will no doubt affect how it evolves or if it is simply abandoned. It is intended to encourage “down time” for characters, where they can do other things than hack apart enemies, as well as encourage the use of non-magical healing and help make clerics more than walking bandages. Some players will no doubt feel these encouragements are unnecessary or that this system is too heavy-handed – and they may certainly be correct. Feel free to comment on that below!

I do like like rigid alignment systems except in certain specific cases. The alignment of any character is treated as "Lite" unless otherwise specified below. This means you can call yourself whatever alignment you want and, chances are, I'm not going to care how close you stick to it. Furthermore, this means that spells and abilities that depend on alignment are a lot less reliable.

The exceptions: Divine casters which depend on a deity for magic and other powers must stick more closely to their alignment (and more specifically, their particular deities' morals and rules). They also show up as more strongly aligned when subjected to Detect <Alignment> type spells. Strongly aligned creatures and Outsiders will also more powerfully embody their alignment and be affected by said spells and abilities.

Generally speaking if a player does not post in a 24 hour period I will GMPC their character to move us forward.

What you should post here: Several (3 or more) paragraphs of character story, with as much detail as you please. Because you don't know much about the world yet, just keep things like locations and deities and stuff fuzzy. Make up names for kingdoms if you like, with some description of the details. As you will be the inaugural “class” of Eldreon, I may very well incorporate some of your ideas into the actual world. You will not necessarily need to stick with this concept for the character you end up playing. Once players are chosen, character creation will be a slightly longer process because it will involve input from the GM (mostly telling you about the world you just got mixed up in!).

Consider answering some of the following questions in your character story:

What does your character love?
What does your character hate?
What is your character's idea of fun?
What do they do for a living?
What do they fear? Where might this fear have come from?
What does your character want out of life? Do they plan ahead to get it, or take life moment-by-moment?
Is your character religious? Are they particularly devoted to any causes or principles (freedom, law, helping the sick/poor?)
Does your character feel loyal to their family and friends, or do they put themselves first?

These are just to help give you ideas. None of these answers are required in your background.

All that being said, here's a peek at what the character creation will be like.

Normal
15 Point Build
Roll for gold (these sorts of rolls will be done in the discussion thread while we build characters)
2 Traits (and a third will be added by the GM upon character creation)

Allowed Races: All Core races except Gnomes. Other races need to be cleared with me first (though see rules for Special character creation).

Allowed Classes: All core and archetypes (though I am not particularly fond of barbarians or monks). Base classes and archetypes (EXCEPT for alchemists and gunslingers). Playtest and other classes need to be cleared with me first. Guns/gunpowder (and thus gun-related classes, feats, and traits) do not exist in Eldreon.

Characters will be allowed to start at Level 1 OR Level 2. Level 1 characters are generally young and haven't seen/done much. Level 2 characters have much more leeway in age and might have been through a few things in life, though obviously it wasn't particularly crazy. For instance, a level 2 fighter could have spent many years as a guardsman in a mostly-quiet village.

Spells: CRB, APG, UM – all other subject to approval

Special*
Players I select will roll 1d10 in the discussion thread. A player who gets a 10 can create a somewhat more powerful or exceptional character, choosing one of the following:
Choose Race: Tiefling, Aasimar, or any of the “elemental” subtypes. Remember these don't need to be 'human'! (I wish I saw more Aasimar dwarves, for instance...)
Choose 20 Point Build
Choose Class-Specific Boon (Discuss this with GM)

As both player and Gamemaster, I enjoy games where the stakes are high and the chance of failure is very real. In the open-world games that I love so much, failure can mean anything from “you don't get the treasure” to “you die, and the rest of the world(s) dies with you.” I have a number of mechanisms I use to try and warn players when they might be getting in over their heads (I'll describe those when I've picked players), and it is up to them to listen or not. Some of the best stories come from the riskiest decisions - players are often able to take down extraordinary challenges with some cleverness and Fate Point application (see below). I can and will make suggestions for new adventures and missions if the players want some direction.

My worlds, and my games, are not run to necessarily be “fair.” Characters won't always level up at the same time, nor will they receive items and boons calculated to treat each equally (though the characters themselves are free to take steps to even things up). I do try to prevent/correct any gross inequalities, but that's it. Players should be prepared to roll with the punches (literally and metaphorically). Obviously my goal is for all players to have fun, but if you can only have fun when the GM is enforcing parity across the character slate, I'm probably not the GM for you.

Finally, though I have lots of experience with RPing and a decent amount with GMing, I'm NOT a Pathfinder guru and players should feel free to bring up perceived errors in how I interpret the rules. My word on all rulings is final, yes, but I want my players to talk to me whenever they have a problem or are confused about why something happened.

Drecna: The drecna were driven from their ancestral homeland ages ago by the orc tribes that run rampant over northern Liria. There are now three different drecnan nations borne of the three great migratory groups that fled the homeland. Also known by their nickname of “mariner orcs” or “sea orcs” (a misnomer which they despise), the drecna are best known for – you guessed it – sea travel. The most famous drecna are almost universally sailors, pirates, and merchants. Their skin ranges from gray to a very pale yellow/green, and this coupled with prominently sharp teeth led to their confusion with orcs. The drecna, however, are actually bitter enemies of the many orc tribes near their homeland and greatly resent those who voice the comparison.

Those who'd like to try playing a drecnan character should visit their info page on the Eldreon blog (which is rather sparse at the moment).

Deities and Cosmology: Eldreon has it's own cosmology and pantheons, though certain parts of it (such as Asmodeus, the Gods of the Dark Tapestry, and some of the structure of the outer planes) have been retained.

Languages: There is no “Common” in Eldreon, nor are there species-wide languages except in the case of the dwarves. The rules for learning languages are a bit more complicated (there are multiple levels of familiarity with a language).

I am revamping the item creation rules, but those are not done yet. I'll have them complete by the time any characters in my adventures start to hit level 5 or so (when they become applicable). Scroll creation will remain largely the same.

New Systems: Fate Points and World Weariness
Fate Points are my form of metacurrency and operate similar to other types of the same. They are gained for doing cool s#~$, and can be spent on doing more cool s$&%. Each player starts with 3 Fate Points. Fate Points belong to the player, not a character, and they can be traded between players as desired. Furthermore, they can be used after seeing the success or failure of a roll.

Examples of ways to spend Fate Points:
Max role on any skill check or save – 1 FP (*)
Make any attack an auto-confirmed critical – 1 FP
Stabilize and heal your character to -1 HP – 1 FP (can be used even after a blow that should have killed)
Make an enemy fail a save – 1 FP
Auto-succeed a check for a skill you are trained in, even if technically beyond possibility(**)
Make all targets of a spell or affect fail their saves – 2 FP
Cast any spell you are capable of, regardless of situation (grappled, gagged, no slots left, etc) – 2 FP
Autosucceed a skill check or similar situation, regardless of other factors – 3 FP
Plot Device! Retroactively change something fundamental about your character's situation (discuss with GM) – 5 FP

*Skill checks in my games can occasionally require multiple rolls, this only maximizes one.
**This will auto-succeed even in multiple-roll situations.

World Weariness
Weariness affects characters who receive magical healing. After a long enough time spent getting hacked, slashed, stabbed, burned, beaten, and abused – and then getting healed afterward – a character starts to lose their zest for life. They become listless and despondent as their hope for a life full of more than injury and momentary relief fades away...

Each point of magical healing a character receives also counts as a point of World Weariness. Certain other things can add to or decrease World Weariness as well. Growing levels of World Weariness have the following affects (this is subject to change and expansion). Each level is cumulative:

0-19: No Effect
20-29: -2 to Charisma
30-39: -2 to Wisdom
40-49: -2 to Intelligence
50-59: -2 to Charisma, Wisdom, and Intelligence
60-69: -2 Penalty to Reflex Saves
70-79: -2 Penalty to Fortitude Saves

Only magical healing (spells, scrolls, wands, etc) adds to World Weariness. Hitpoints regained from the use of the Heal skill and other such non-magical sources do not affect World Weariness. Hitpoints regained from magical regeneration effects are (for now) not treated as magical for the purpose of World Weariness gain.

Losing World Weariness

Only three things can reduce world weariness – rest/relaxation, divine action, and GM decree. Obviously, the first one is the most common.

Each full day of R&R your characters get reduces their World Weariness by 5. R&R is generally any activity that doesn't put your characters in danger or apply to overly “serious” pursuits.

To reduce the rate of WW gain, natural healing in Eldreon is a bit better (on average) than in regular Pathfinder. A character that is otherwise in good condition (not fatigued or starving, no diseases or poisons, etc) who gets a good nights rest (8 hours) regains hitpoints equal to 2 for each character level, plus half their CON modifier (round up) times their character level. Thus, a level 3 character with a Constitution of 14 would regain 6 + 3 = 9 hitpoints from a full, unstressed night's sleep. Yes, negative con modifier's would subtract from this (down to a minimum of 1 hp gain).

If the character is under stress (in hostile territory, has to be watchful, etc) they gain half the above (roll and divide by 2, rounding up). This includes nights when the character takes a “watch” or has their sleep interrupted for some reason.

What the hell, GM?

World Weariness is very much an experimental system, and the course of this adventure will no doubt affect how it evolves or if it is simply abandoned. It is intended to encourage “down time” for characters, where they can do other things than hack apart enemies, as well as encourage the use of non-magical healing and help make clerics more than walking bandages. Some players will no doubt feel these encouragements are unnecessary or that this system is too heavy-handed – and they may certainly be correct. Feel free to comment on that below!