Gwen Portrow's page

starting base array 14/14/11/12/10/12 (racial +2 S ; 4th level +1 Con)
HP 8 at first; 6 per level after. (+1/level favored class, soulknife)

Background Skills (2 per level)
Handle Animal (to)8 = 4 +1 Ch +3 Class
Know(geography)__ 6 = 2 + 1 I +3 Class
Know(engineering) 6 = 2 + 1 I +3 Class

Regular Skills:

Acrobatics _____ 8 = 4 +2 D +3 Class - 1 Armor
Autohypnosis ____ 4 = 1 +0 W +3 Class
Climb ___________ 7 = 2 +3 S +3 Class - 1 Armor
Diplomacy _______ 8 = 4 +1 Ch +3 Class
Know(local) _____ 3 = 0 +1 I +2 Trait on local arts scene
Perform (Act) ___ 6 = 1 +1 Ch +3 Class +1 Trait
Perception ______ 6 = 3 +0 W +3 Class
Ride ____________ 5 = 1 +2 D +3 Class - 1 Armor
Sense Motive ____ 6 = 2 +0 W +3 Class +1 Trait
Stealth _________ 7 = 3 +2 D +3 Class - 1 Armor
Survival ________ 6 = 3 +0 W +3 Class
Swim ____________ 7 = 2 +3 S +3 Class - 1 Armor

Untrained:
Acrobatics 0 +2 D - 0 Armor
Appraise 0 +1 I
Bluff 0 +1 Ch
Climb 0 +3 S
Craft 0 +1 I
Diplomacy 0 +1 Ch
Disable Device (to) 0 +2 D - 0 Armor
Disguise 0 +1 Ch
Escape Artist 0 +2 D - 0 Armor
Fly 0 +2 D - 0 Armor
Handle Animal (to) 0 +1 Ch
Heal 0 +0 W
Intimidate 0 +1 Ch
Know (Arcana, Dungeoneering,Engineering, Geography, History, Local, Nature, Nobility, Planes, Religion) (to) 0 +1 I
Linguistics (to) 0 +1 I
Perception 0 +0 W
Perform 0 +1 Ch
Profession (to) 0 +0 W
Ride 0 +2 D - 0 Armor
Sense Motive 0 +0 W
Sleight of Hand (to) 0 +2 D - 0 Armor
Spellcraft (to) 0 +1 I
Stealth 0 +2 D - 0 Armor
Survival 0 +0 W
Swim 0 +3 S
Use Magic Device (to) 0 +1 Ch

Expert: pick 10 class skills -- 6 skill points/level .. Appraise, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Know(geography), Know(engineering) , Perform, Ride, Sleight of Hand, Survival,
The soulknife’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Autohypnosis (Wis), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Stealth (Dex), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier

Total ranks 26 = 6 expert + 3*4 soulknife + 4 human +4 Int

Traits:
Ear for Music (NG): You spent countless hours of your youth in one of your goddess's temples, listening to wonderful musicians and singers. You gain a +1 trait bonus on one category of Perform checks and a +2 trait bonus on any Knowledge (local) checks that deal with the local art or music scene.
Suspicious: You discovered at an early age that someone you trusted, perhaps an older sibling or a parent, had lied to you, and lied often, about something you had taken for granted, leaving you quick to question the claims of others. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks, and Sense Motive is always a class skill for you.

Human : Dodge
1st Level : Deft Manuevers
1st (SK bonus): Weapon Focus (Mind Blade)
1st SK : Mind blade,etc ; Wild Talent
2nd SK : Blade Skill -- Weapon Special (trip, brace, disarm)
3rd Level : Great Fortitude
3rd SK : Enhanced Mind Blade +1, Psychic Strike +1d8

Proficiencies: Simple weapons, light & medium armor, non-tower shields

MW Chain Shirt

Spear
Dagger
Light Crossbow, 1d8, 80' 19-20 x2 P, light 35 gp, 4 lbs.
Bolts, crossbow (20) 2 gp 1 lb.

fighter's kit
Price 9 gp; Weight 29 lbs.
This kit includes a backpack, a bedroll, a belt pouch, a flint and steel, an iron pot, a mess kit, rope, soap, torches (10), trail rations (5 days), and a waterskin.

Traveler's outfit

Holy Symbols, Erastil, Caydean Caillean, Desna

Bell

Pouch, belt
fishhooks(5)
fishing net
Tindertwig 5x
Whistle
Needles 2x
antitoxin (1 vial)

Hooded Lantern 3 oil

Haversack Load
Blanket
Bedroll
Rations, trail x10
Soap
Tent
Whetstone

Cash 27.9 gp

Daughter of a poor freeholder, Gwen grew up surrounded by a large family whose farm never quite filled their bellies. The faint air of desperation that surrounded the family made them an easy target for the nefariously opportunistic local lord. The sons helped fill his levy of troops; and they were glad of the work and food. But that left the family short of hands to work the farm. When the lord came courting the oldest daughter, Martha, the family was glad. But when she became pregnant, no proposal was forthcoming. Gwen walked three days to his liege lord's castle to lodge a complaint. The local lord was not pleased. Gwen had made a bad enemy. She, and to a lesser extent the rest of the family, became a subject for harrassment. Her brothers were posted far away. Eventually the family came to feel that they would be better off if she left.

Gwen talked Martha into leaving too. The baby was born on the road. They fell in with a band of traveling troubadores. Martha acted as cook; Gwen found herself performing a wide range of female roles, and even the occasional stint as a soldier in a large battle scene. The sisters were soon involved with a pair of brothers. Life in the troupe provided a living, but it was often hard. The brothers were able to secure places with the expedition, and they left the troupe in hopes of a better more stable life.

Gwen has a deep distrust of authority and can be quite vocal about it. She also feels the authorities don't care about the common folk and so the commoners have to do for themselves.

1. First, I'd like some kind of narrative backstory. Doesn't have to be very long or involved, or really special or dramatic (although it completely can be if you like). I would, however, like it to touch on a few key points: What was your character's upbringing like? What was their social status? Do they have any sort of profession, and how did they get into it? How old are they?
Gwen is about 21.
Daughter of a poor freeholder, Gwen grew up surrounded by a large family whose farm never quite filled their bellies. The faint air of desperation that surrounded the family made them an easy target for the nefariously opportunistic local lord. The sons helped fill his levy of troops; and they were glad of the work and food. But that left the family short of hands to work the farm. When the lord came courting the oldest daughter, Martha, the family was glad. But when she became pregnant, no proposal was forthcoming. Gwen walked three days to his liege lord's castle to lodge a complaint. The local lord was not pleased. Gwen had made a bad enemy. She, and to a lesser extent the rest of the family, became a subject for harrassment. Her brothers were posted far away. Eventually the family came to feel that they would be better off if she left.
Gwen talked Martha into leaving too. The baby was born on the road. They fell in with a band of traveling troubadores. Martha acted as cook; Gwen found herself performing a wide range of female roles, and even the occasional stint as a soldier in a large battle scene. She even helped out with set and prop construction, learning some basics of mechanics. (Engineering)
The sisters were soon involved with a pair of brothers. Life in the troupe provided a living, but it was often hard. The brothers were able to secure places with the expedition, and they left the troupe in hopes of a better more stable life.
2. Second, everyone (well, most people) have people in their lives. It's okay if your answers to this are "no people", but that has to be a conscious choice. I'd like you to include in your submission two characters: One NPC that your character is leaving behind in their previous life, and one NPC or PC that your character meets on their months at sea. What do these people mean to you? What do you think of them?
Gwen has left behind many people. Most of her family; then the troupe of entertainers. I can flesh them out if you wish.
She's held on to her sister, and nephew, her brother-in-law, and her husband. She's not particularly happy in her marriage. It seemed a good idea when they were all in the troupe, but life as a smaller unit has been more difficult, and her decision to marry was not a mature one.
On the voyage, Gwen might have become a spokesperson for the ship's cadre of settlers. As such she may have been friendly with the captain. Always a lover of maps, his charts were a beacon for her, and she passed some hours with him lokking at the charts and listening to his stories of adventure on the sea and in foreign ports. (Geography)
3. I want to know why your PCs are leaving behind everything they've ever known. Could be lots of reasons, but nobody does that sort of thing for s#&%s and giggles. Unless they do! Feel free to write a character like that, but it should be explicit.
The husbands want to give this a try. Gwen might not have really liked the idea, but she didn't have a better plan, and she wanted to keep the family together and watch out for her sister and nephew.
4. They have a class. Presumably, those abilities didn't manifest out of nowhere. Why are they whatever class they are? Did they get training? Did their grandmother f*%& a demon?
Grandma was a proper old Erastilian; no demon f~!$ing.
Gwen learned basic, primitive really, spearwork for self defense as a young village girl. That served her well on the road with her sister. With the troupe she had an opportunity to learn flashier choreographed spear work for both mass battle scenes and Shelyn pageants.
I imagine her soulknife in fact manifesting out of nowhere. She's not really cognizant of it yet. In fact, until the RP works out, she'll be wielding an actual spear that's like her focus for manifesting the mindblade. At some juncture, she'll figure out that it's not the spear she's actually wielding, but her mindblade.
5. What does your character look and act like? How do they come off?
How do they dress? What equipment do they use?
When she's with close friends and family, Gwen looks and acts like a peasant. She's easy, relaxed affectionate. In the company of strangers, she plays roles both to advance her agenda, and as a defense mechanism. She has a mix of resentment, envy, and scorn for authority figures and the upper classes. She is an advocate for the proletariat.
Her clothing and gear is utilitarian. The gear currently listed for her was actually purchased for the PC whose sheet I copied as a template for her. She'll have a chain shirt or breastplate, and coat or cloak, over homespun.
6. If your character has any self-awareness of their own alignment, what do they think of themselves? Why are they whatever alignment they are?
Gwen has the rules common to people raised in a community with some devotion to Erastil and Abadar, but those rules are a construct laid over a more free wheeling spirit. She thinks they represent what's right, but doesn't feel that way in her heart. I'd put her at mildly good near the line between neutral and chaotic.