GodEmperorDrothan's page

Indeed. The longest-running campaign I've been in was a six-year evil campaign, and it was great! The characters were all lawful evil, although I'm pretty sure things would have been fine with neutral evil and chaotic evil characters as well. Personality-wise, we had the pragmatic, calculating evil character, the sociopathic evil character, the megalomaniac evil character (mine, and the source of my avatar's name!), and a Hobbesian "life is nasty, brutish, and short" kind of evil character, and we all worked together just fine. Yeah, we disagreed quite a bit, but having a reason to work together, we never degenerated into true infighting.

Lots of people complain about evil campaigns, and most of these complaints are about backstabbing other characters and screwing everyone else over. Playing evil like that is not really playing evil, just playing stupid. In fact, people playing their characters like that usually don't need the excuse of "well, my character is EVUL!!!" to do that anyway. An evil campaign can work just as well as any other: regardless of the alignment of the characters, if the players are at all mature, they'll find a reason to make the campaign work.

Character: Alathea, initiate of the White Tower (and prospective Red Ajah member?)

Female Ebou Dari Wilder ??

Stats:
2 5 4 2 : 11
6 6 5 3 : 17
5 1 5 4 : 14
5 6 4 2 : 15
1 1 1 4 : 6
1 6 4 4 : 14
I'll arrange them so that Alathea has Str 6, Dex 11, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 17, Cha 14.

Alathea comes from the countryside surrounding Ebou Dar, the youngest daughter of a farm family. Her family wasn't rich by any stretch of the imagination, and her childhood was one of hard work and little else. Even so, she looks back on her early years fondly...at least the years before her life changed. She was always close to her brother Ralin, closer than to any of her other brothers or sisters. She was the first to notice when things started to happen around him: those who angered him would suffer injuries that they couldn't explain, he could force others to do as he wished, and other minor things. It was never serious, at least not at first--an unexplained bruise on a rival suitor for a neighbor girl's attention, another sibling unwillingly doing his chores--but she saw. It wasn't even the things that he could do that scared her, though, but the change in his personality. Where he had always been kind and generous to those around him, he grew colder and more selfish...more dangerous. Still, she kept his secrets as best she could. But it couldn't last: others began to notice Ralin's erratic behavior and the strange things that happened around him, and he was exposed as a channeler. The mob got to him before the Aes Sedai could, and she could do nothing but watch helplessly.

Three years later, Alathea herself began to channel, and her family did not take it well. Fearful of his family being seen as tainted, her father packed her up for the city under the auspices that she was to stay with a distant relation. He drove her into Ebou Dar and dropped her off at an inn, told her to find work as a barmaid, and abandoned her. In the next few months she managed to eke out a living and to gain a tenuous control over the One Power, but in her struggles, she was noticed by a local Wise Woman who passed word of her on to an agent of the White Tower.

Alathea quickly found herself in Tar Valon as a novice. Although such a life wasn't easy for her, especially as a Wilder, it was preferable to the menial labor and dangerous conditions of Ebou Dar, and she found a purpose. She hadn't been able to save Ralin from himself, but perhaps as an Aes Sedai, she would be able to save others with his condition. Determined to make a difference, she threw herself into her studies, eager to learn and eager to understand saidar. When she can be pried away from her studies, she's outgoing and friendly, and patient with her fellow initiates.

***

I see Alathea as going for full Aes Sedai as soon as she can. I like the idea of playing her as a Red Ajah who doesn't hate men, not even those that can channel. She sees the Red as a means to reach male channelers so that she can prevent them from meeting her brother's end. She sees these channelers as people who need help, not as monsters who need to be put down. Of course, her *current* idea of help is to gentle them so that they don't destroy themselves. However, I imagine that upon meeting a male channeler, her compassion for him and her understanding on what touching the Source feels like will, at the very least, shake her convictions.

I don't know at what level this game will be starting, but I imagine Alathea as relatively inexperienced. She probably still has her block, and I think that being unable to channel unless she's afraid would fit the bill. I guess that to be an adventurer, she's have to be an Accepted instead of a Novice, so that she's have responsibilities that would take her out of the tower.

Anyway, let me know what you think. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

EDIT: Spacing is my friend.

Is it too late to express my interest in this game? I've never played a PBP game before, but I've always wanted to play in a WoT game. If you're willing to take a noob, I'd love to play.

Of course, looking at the character concepts submitted upthread, I may have to consider a character other than the Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah that I've always wanted to play...

Anyway, thanks in advance!

A lot of good suggestions have been made so far, but I'd like to add my two cents. I think that despite geothermal energy potentially adding time to the growing season, the most reliable food source would be fish, walruses, seals, whales, and other seafood. Hence, I'd say that your civilization would almost certainly be coastal to harvest such a bounty. This would also supply whale oil and such for fuel, and I like the idea of a nearby source of oil or coal to supplement this.

As for beasts of burden, how about reindeer and musk oxen? As far as I know, both of these creatures can subsist on lichens and such, so they'd be able to survive in the colder climate surrounding the warmer microclimate. Due to the difficulty (at least I assume it'd be difficult) of cultivating lichens, and the small amount of humanoid-edible crops being needed for the populace, I imagine that they wouldn't be farmed like warm-climate cattle and the like, but semi-domesticated and allowed to wander as they will, and wrangled up when needed to pull a cart or when someone has a craving for reindeer steaks.

Finally, trade is a necessity for a large Egypt-style society. Perhaps your civilization is right in the middle of a busy trade route: with less reliable ship technology, maybe the merchant ships of other lands stay close to land as much as possible, and your land is conveniently located for this. Add a valuable resource like metals, gemstones (Greenland is notable for rubies, I've heard), or whatever else makes sense to you, and the motivation for traders to stop is that much better.

Finally, I think that domestic arctic foxes in place of cats would be great! While not of the arctic species, red foxes have been tamed in a research project in Russia, so I don't think that tame foxes is even a farfetched idea.

14. My go-to threat character when I'd play live-action Vampire: the Masquerade was always the Toreador Pornstar. I'd even threaten the storytellers that I'd grow a porn 'stache for the character. I guess it wasn't all that ridiculous, but we did maintain a rather serious mood for the game.

I agree with all the recommendations so far, for the reasons already stated. I'll add that the world of Earwa is fascinating, and more detailed than any other setting I've ever come across, save perhaps Tolkien's. I mean, I can stare at the map of Earwa for hours, wondering what's out there. If you're a setting-junkie like me, you'll love it, and especially appreciate the comprehensive glossary at the back of The Thousandfold Thought.

Also, since you're posting the question on this board, I've heard that the books are based off of an AD&D campaign that Bakker ran back in the day. While it doesn't necessarily make the books better, I appreciate the fact.

I'm very interested in what you come up with. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn has been a favorite of mine for many, many years, and I've read it more times than I can count.

I agree with Elf_NFB in that the Sithi and Norns are of the same race, just different cultures. Going with the elven racial traits would probably be fine. I disagree that they're less strong than humans; they seem to be better in all stats than humanity, but for game balance I'd just give them the elven bonuses.

For Dwarrows, I think that the dwarven racial traits are a good fit. I'd also extend these to the Niskies as well, although I'd switch out the bonuses to stoneworking and such with bonuses to seafaring.

I'll dissent with the suggestions so far for the Qanuc and just make them another variety of human. Although they're of dwarven size, they're clearly of human stock, and should be treated as such.

For magic, I'd make it a kind of feat-based system, with a lot of arduous pre-requisites, representing minor and subtle abilities such as bone casting or accessing the Road of Dreams, that one must master before one could use the more blatant abilities like those employed by Pryrates. I'd probably put Ineluki's use of the Art beyond the abilities of the player characters. Class-wise, I'd go with modifying the Expert into a class with a wizard-like skill list that can access these feats, which would be unavailable to other classes.

Lastly, I'd recommend an E6-style approach to a game set in Osten Ard. A 20th level fighter or such seems beyond the pale of anything in the books. (In fact, I think that very few literary settings lend themselves to standard D&D power levels.)

Off shot of another thread, this is for the non link aspects of Legend of Zelda. Races, monsters, etc.

Right now I am posting the Dekubaba. And will add in some races and other monsters shortly.
** spoiler omitted **

Not to encourage you not to do your own thing, but there is a d20 (3.0 era) conversion of Hyrule and the LoZ setting. You may want to take a look; I think it's done well and could serve you well as a base you can update to PF-era d20 rules.

Find it here: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/da.vane/ZeldaRPGSourcebook.zip.

* bump*

Cheers, JohnH / Wanda

You mean I read through all 17 pages of this thread just for a *bump*?!?

Well, I'll contribute anyway. Regarding the racial attitudes towards sexuality, I like the idea that orcs aren't homophobic. I imagine that through virtue of strength, an orc can do whoever the hell he or she wants to, and if another orc doesn't approve of it, might makes right. In a common portrayal, orcs are looters and pillagers who take what they want. Why should this not extend to sexuality?

Sex is not just a reproductive function, but also (and debatably, more importantly) a social function. As such, several social relations, among them bonding, friendship, dominance, alliance, and countless others, are inevitably intertwined with sex. While an orc may not be as likely to have sex for friendship as, say, an elf, I can certainly see orcs having sex with partners of either sex for a large number of other social reasons, and who's going to tell them that they're wrong?

@GodEmperor: I like that, and I'll be paying attention to it. it is bookmarked. :)

I'll be saving those pages.

Thanks, Darkholme! Your kind words are appreciated. And yeah, I feel having the lack of randomness is one of the largest sources of difference from my conversions from the original cards. I can't remember if I've done any "draw a card" or "discard a card" spells yet, but those will definitely have to be changed if you're using random cards. Fortunately, they should work as they do on the cards, then, since you sound like you'll be using a deck to draw from.

Anyway, I hope you keep checking and enjoying the page. Thanks again!

I've been working on a conversion of the Alpha/Beta/Unlimited set to Pathfinder rules, using a 1 card per day blog format. It doesn't use the cards, so it may not be what you're looking for, but you may get useful ideas. Feedback is welcome, and I already know the blue mage's special ability sucks in comparison to the other colors, but hey, that's why I want feedback.

If you're interested, go to pfmtg.wordpress.com and take a look.

Ven Vinder: "Son, what're you doing naked in my basement?" (after Shayliss hides)

PC: "Waiting... for you?"

That encounter was brilliant. Funny without going too far. Do you lovely people have any stories to tell from your games?

Yes. That is what immediately sprang to mind upon reading the thread title for me, too. Except it went something like:

Ven Vinder: "Shayliss, why are you undressed down here?" (After PC hides)
Shayliss: "Uh, because I'm hot and it's cool down here?"

Sadly, my character was rather cowardly and willing to let Shayliss take the heat for him. Still, he did arrange for Shayliss to meet him later at his room at the inn...

It depends on whether you're talking proper name, or chosen name. For proper name, I played a half-dragon barbarian named Tsalychrlthrin (tsa-lik-ril-ith-er-in). I figured that a draconic name would be long and difficult, and I wanted to make a name with as few vowels as I could. On the other hand, my namesake was a half-orc fighter/wizard who, in a shocking display of egomania, granted himself the title of the Merciful All-Knowing God-Emperor Drothan the Invincible. Squeezing that onto the Name space of a character sheet was a challenge.

I think evil people can work together, they just need to have a goal. I think if the end goal was strong enough, evil can work together to be "The Winning Team" we always wanted it to be.

This. As long as the evil characters have a reason to be in a group greater than "I have a better chance of surviving to take other peoples' stuff", there's no reason for the group to be less cohesive than a good or neutral group. Did the evil characters grow up together as friends? Are they members of a crime family? Do the evil characters compliment each others' strengths and cover each others' weaknesses? These are all reasons for evil characters to keep each other around, and I didn't even have to think hard to come up with them.

Honestly, while the "kill! backstab! loot!" kind of evil is certainly evil, I don't think that a character of that type is realistic. There are many, many better ways to play evil than the psychotic sociopath who stabs shopkeepers and pushes old ladies down in the street because they're "EEEEEVIL!". And if an evil party aims a bit higher than Stupid Evil, I see no reason why an evil campaign can't work.

(Myself, I played in a six-year, up to level 36 lawful evil campaign, and it worked great! I played the Merciful All-Knowing God-Emperor Drothan the Invincible, a generous-to-his-subjects, but megalomaniacal and ruthless dictator; certainly evil, but with good reasons to cooperate with his fellow party members. It is, thus far, the highlight of my lengthy role-playing career.)

Question for either the creaters or the community. Are there stats for the Drow Derro Tiefling or other races?? I ask only because I recently drank the Kool-Aid that is Pathfinder and I like what I see. As a new convert I do not have all the books yet. Can anyone help me out?

I haven't seen anything for drow or derro, but rules for tiefling PCs are available in The Bastards of Erebus, the first installment of the latest adventure path.

At least all of the PDFs are completely readable. In other engines used in Linux systems there are some characters that doesn't appear.

Well, it depends on which program you use for Linux. I prefer Evince, but that has problems with Paizo pdfs. I've had the missing characters described above, and I have problems with background images behind text, like the parchment-like graphic behind the ability scores table in the Beta ruleset, or worse, maps will have the text displaying where towns and such are, but the actual map won't show. Xpdf works fine, though, but I don't like the look of the program. So, as a freedom-hater, I use Adobe's Acroread, which I can usually get for just about any distro I use.

Anyway, sorry about the threadjack.