Haiku's page

I'm curious myself as to the full benefit of this. Does "powers and abilities" include everything as OP is thinking - feats, bloodline spells, etc? RAW it indicates the whole kit and caboodle, but I'm inclined to believe RAI would be bloodline powers progression only.

Bolt is quick to react, moving in from the horse's blind side to make a wicked jab with his spear. Prime's bolt is right on target but pierces the saddlebag and doesn't seem to deal any damage. The raging animal strikes again with its hooves, this time at Nial, but Nial's hammer blow meets it mid air and the two are knocked a step away from one another by the recoil. Mokrim, taking advantage of the creature's shift in attention, makes a neat strike with the longsword that leaves a deep gash in the horse's neck. Whether concussed or suffering from the sudden loss of blood, it keels over with a significant thump, barely breathing. The rider remains motionless.

Sorry for moving without Caelreth and Brine, but I'm unsure of the etiquette for speeding up combat in a PbP and am trying to make up for my recent slowness to respond

As the bleary eyed party makes an impressive effort to make ready for this interruption, the horse snorts twice, followed by a shriek that wouldn't be recognizably from a horse, if the animal wasn't right in front of everyone. As the ululating cry dies down, the beast surges forward and lashes out at Mokrim with a rapid beating down of its from hooves. The rider barely stays on the animal, and offers neither greeting nor battle cry.

Sorry guys, I'm dropping the ball on posting so many times that I feel more like a bad juggler than a GM. I'll get at least one post in this evening, and again around this time tomorrow.

Kearan's watch passes uneventfully, and Prime's seems to be much the same. As he counts down to the appointed time to wake another his ears pick up a rapid approach of hooves. Within a moment, as Prime prepares to alert the others, he and perhaps Nial, based on his previous post make out the shape of a horse and rider in the faint moonlight, roughly 100 feet from the camp.

Oscus quickly accepts Bolt's gift of food.
"Thank you, young man, this'll liven up my meal sure enough. And I'll be glad to pass word along to the sheriff when I see him. He's usually an easy one to find.

He begins to work on cleaning the squirrel right away, and has is spitted over the growing fire by the time everyone has taken their seats on the wagon.

The next couple of hours are uneventful, though a combination of vanishing daylight and a less visible trail make it difficult to travel with much certainty. About the time time everyone prepares to make camp, someone next poster notices a wheel of yellow cheese, a hunk of hard bread, and a half dozen full waterskins stowed in the wagon. The night is cool, but not uncomfortably so, and the forest is quiet - uncomfortably so.

Sorry for the delay, everyone - I'll try to do better keeping about making at least a nightly post.

Oscus thinks for a minute before committing to a description.

"Well, the fellow had his hood up, so I never did see his face. He was riding a fine looking horse, solid black, taller than most I see around. The rider looked to have a shirt of metal rings on, so he's certainly a man of means. I've saw him pass me by and then head back toward town on my last job out this way, a couple weeks ago."

Fishing out what indeed appears to be little more than crumbs, the man begins to lay out his supper on a treestump, after quickly wiping it somewhat clean with his sleeve.

"Suit yourselves if you'd rather trudge on - and keep ane eye out for an empty house on up the road. I expect you'll get that far by tomorrow night. Been years since I've been that far out but I expect it's holding up well enough to make a decent shelter. And a'course, good luck with finding what you need to find."

"Well I don't aim to hold up any man from his own business. Truth be told I ought to have been back by town a couple days ago. I won't have a bite left for tomorrow's breakfast as it is. No particular reason for stayin out so long save p'raps my own curiosity. Saw some of the sheriff's men heading out a while back, but I never saw any come back."

He raises an eyebrow and looks closely at Caelreth.

"Saw another man heading the same direction a day behind, but he hasn't been back either. If you're lookin for something particular, I may be able to help a bit. Just don't interrogate me.

Oscus loosens his grip on the axe handle, and slowly lays it across a stump, bodily lowering himself onto the same. A big grin spreads across his face, revealing two teeth missing from his lower set.

"Pr'aps you fellows have something for a decent meal tonight? I'm down to crumbs at this point, but I wanted to meet a sort of self imposed quota, if you will. Can't head back to town with a job half done"

With a grunt he rises again, giving a louder grunt as he jumps up to grab the hanging pack. A few moments of rummaging as the man ambles over to the fire pit produces flint and a well worn bit of steel.

"May as well get a fire going, 'specially if I'm having company."

As the whistling continues toward the group, Brine and Caelreth get the first glimpse of a thoroughly sweat soaked human man whose patch covered clothes also have a liberal coating of bark and wood chips. As he steps further into the clearing, right past the lumber pile where Brine remains hidden at his back, the man becomes visible to everyone. He has prominent jowls and many laugh lines, with a smattering of graying hair remaining, though he seems fairly muscular for an obviously aging man. With a start he notices Nial bending over the tracks (which aren't remarkably large) and takes a step backward, then glances at Kearan and Mokrim, finally settling his eyes on Caelreth. Or rather, Calereth's bow.

"Well hello, uh, gentlemen. May I ask what your business is this far out, and this late in the evening? I trust mine is obvious enough."

He indicates the primitive, but well made, stone-headed axe that rests on his shoulder.

"My name is Oscus. I hope this isn't a robbery, mostly for your sake. The timber is the most valuable thing you'll find here.

He gives a dry chuckle, but readjusts the grip on his axe.

I should have stated it more clearly - everyone finds it just a bit out of reach, though Kearan might be able to just brush it with his fingertips on tiptoe. A decent jump would likely make it easy enough to grab.

Prime quickly notices the remains of a campfire, as Mokrim crouches to take a closer look. This one is fresher - surely from last night. Poking around a bit more, Mokrim uncovers a few bones that have been halfheartedly buried. As they point this out to everyone, the entire group sees a half dozen young ash trees that have been felled, broken down into transportable logs, and neatly stacked to one side of the clearing.

Just as Prime focuses in an some tracks heading further into the forest, he, Mokrim, and Brine hear what appears to be someone whistling a tune, accompanied by rustling as something approaches the clearing from the same direction the tracks point.

Llewellyn takes a moment to shake hands with everyone present, then prepares to depart.
"I've got to check in with a man who claims his brother was out in the direction I'm sending you, and is a day overdue. Keep an eye out for a a burly older man with a shaved head. Name of Oscus, supposed to have been looking for some choice lumber. Don't let it slow you down from our main concern, though. Watch out for one another - I know you aren't fast friends, but you'll need to act like it."

With that he departs, setting a rapid pace on foot back the way he came.

A couple of hours down the road Caelreth spots the remains of a campfire by the roadside. A closer inspection reveals that it is at least two days old. The trail started off well worn, but by the time night approaches it becomes obvious that there isn't much traffic this far out of the settled areas. The old mule doesn't seem to care where the group is headed, and happily plods along at the easy pace being set.

As the light dims, Brine spots a circle with three dots in it clearly marked at head height on a tree. Peering through the dimming light, she notices a stump not too far off the path, then several more. It's a small clearing, with the look of recent work. A bedroll and sack hang from a tree branch barely out of reach.

As the party ventures northward Caelreth notices someone approaching from the opposite direction. Halting for a few moments, the group is soon able to make out an open-topped wagon pulled by a sturdy, if used, looking mule. Sheriff Llewellyn hails them as he draws nearer.

"Taking off so soon? You lot are lucky I didn't hold out for something better and wait till after the evening meal to seek you out. This old fellow has seen better days, but his master owed me a favor. This was the best I could do on short notice, so he's yours for the time being."

Brine sees nothing but clear skies today, and there is a fair smell on the air from this spring's flowers. She predicts at least another two or three days of pleasantly warm and sunny weather for traveling. Surrounding the house are Kearan's fields where the young crops line up in rows of healthy green, and in the distance the road disappears into a forest. She sees nothing otherwise remarkable.

What exactly do we know about Dunstone, other than what the books just told us?

It's fairly common knowledge that Dunstone was the largest and most populous settlement before the famine, and probably one of the oldest in the world. It had been the center of civilization, so to speak, since the first flood wiped out all the towns not in an elevated location. Dunstone had already begun to experience a slow decline after the earthquake the people call the Broken Ground, but was completely abandoned after the chaotic times during the famine.

Wow - great to come home from work to a big string of posts. I guess this is where my lack of knowledge on the PBP side shows. I had figured to give you guys the weekend to make the obligatory "I arrive at Kearan's place" but it looks like everyone was waiting on me. In future I'll provide more directive nudges - or, as i should have done with Kearan in this case, ask a player to briefly provide a description of something they would know about.

With Kearan's guidance to the appropriate sections of his library, the group is able to uncover a few choice bits of information.

Caelreth comes across a hefty tome with no listed author, really more a collection of notes than a properly edited book. It begins with a rambling series of accounts on the second Terror, the "Time of the Hungry Wild." Flipping through to a few different points reveals the gist of the author's findings - there is anecdotal evidence from word of mouth that there has been unusual animal behavior around the time of each of the Terrors. The author then shifts to wild speculation on whether this occurs early, as a warning, or perhaps the beasts are simply caught up in the air of chaos afterward, or if there is a force actively controlling them.

Mokrim pulls out a history of Dunstone that appears to be very old and badly in need of rebinding. The writer names himself one Lethiel Tasar. When Caelreth finishes with his first book he and Mokrim together realize that the annotations of an unknown reader may prove more useful than the history itself. These suggest an interesting possibility about the city's origin, specifically that Dunstone may have thrived initially because of a series of existing catacombs beneath the city. It seems that, at some point in time, there were tales of rooms beneath the city bearing strange sigils much like those on the obelisks.

"Mokrim is the boy with the sword - one of Dashiell's men and his son, or so Dashiell has claimed him to be. The tattooed fellow...seems off to me. I've never seen him and he claims to have no memory. I'd keep a close eye on the both of them, and the orcish looking girl as well."

As best as Caelreth can tell, the sheriff isn't holding anything back.

"Well, Caelreth, you know what they say about desperate times - and I think desperate times truly are on the horizon."
He continues in a whisper,
"I've noticed some odd behavior by Dashiell Armistead and his men - he may know something we don't. I don't think it's any accident that Mokrim is here, either. Keep this outfit under control and I'll keep working on this end. Sometimes you just have to have a little faith if you want to make new allies."

The sherrif considers Brine's request for a few moments, then shrugs once Mokrim has chipped in.

"I'm already short the mounts of the men that are missing, and it'll be hard to scrounge up many extra without raising suspicions. I'll see what I can do and have what I can out to Kearan's this evening - it's in the right direction so you all can take a moonlight start, if you think that's best. Just be careful - I'm doing my best to have men ready most anywhere and couriers ready to spread any news.

Maynard gives a curt nod to Matthias on the way out of the inn, and finishes speaking in the afternoon sun.
"This may turn out to be happenstance, but my gut tells me different. I've had reports of a few missing livestock in the past week- maybe a wolf pack feeling a bit bold, but maybe more. Some say the if the last obelisk activates, we'll all be killed. Some say it will be something wonderful to make up for all the past suffering. I think we're facing the same thing as any of the terrors, a brief dark time that can be overcome. And this time, once the survivors rebuild, we might really have peace."

The sheriff nods, then stands up from the table to address the group.
"Thank you. To begin, I'd better tell what a few of you may already know. I maintain a constant watch on the twelfth obelisk in the hopes of being warned before some calamity swoops down on us. Two men are there at any given time, and there's always a brief overlap when the fresh pair arrives to settle in before the current crew rotates out. That leaves ten days travel, assuming fair weather, before a pair of rangers gets back to report everything is clear. Of course, they're all under orders to work their mount to the brink of death getting back if they have sufficient news."

He stops to take a drink of water, and perhaps to gauge the reactions thus far.

"I'm sure you can see what I'm driving at - the replacement pair left out of Piravel thirteen days ago, and not one of the four dispatched rangers has reported in. There's been neither storm nor fog to slow them down, so they are sure to be dead or incapacitated in some way. I fear the obelisk has become active and something dark is on the horizon, but I just don't know. And if word gets out at the wrong time, in the wrong way, or to the wrong people, we'll have anarchy on our hands. The famine brought out the worst in a lot of people - we can't let that happen again. I intend for your group to depart soon, travel swiftly, and take every precaution so that at least some of you - Erastil willing, all of you - make it back so that we can have news and react accordingly."

Caelreth recognized Idecca at the bar. He's an elf at the end of his natural lifespan who is called "The Arcanist" because he spent most of his years attempting to work magic, to no effect. He was always eager to share this knowledge, but now has sunk into a depression after a life of fruitless research.

Maynard smiles when Caelreth finally shows up.
"I figured something had come up, you're not one to tarry without good reason

A few moments laterafter Bolt's last comment
"It's possible that this stranger is related to some recent events that are troubling me - the reason I've called you together. And Brine, you'll be welcome along as well so long as you give me an oath that you'll not tell anyonethe information I'm about to share until you all have at least completed this task and conferred with me concerning what you find.
The sheriff pauses, making eye contact for a few seconds with each person present.
I expect the same promise from each of you, though truth be told I think most anyone will see that it's in everyone's best interest to keep quiet for now. I can tell you the essentials before you commit - four of my men are missing, and I have little hope to see them alive again. The area to search will be about as far as one can travel from here, not far outside the Dunstone ruins. I need a capable group that can get there, find out what happened, and get back as quickly as possible. You're free to go with just that information, if you like, but I'll take you at your word if you want to hear the rest and agree to be silent on the matter

"I'm not trying to be hostile, now, but I'd like a little more information on who I'm talking to before I start providing the details for what I'd intended to let slip to as few ears as possible."

Maynard nods in Mokrim's direction, proceeding to take a bite of his bread, which he has now slathered with honey. After swallowing, he continues.

"Mokrim's explanation is fair enough, and I imagine his father would have gotten wind of this soon enough anyhow. To be honest, I'd appreciate the help. But you, with the tattoos, I don't recognize - and I've seen pretty much everyone in this world at least once. Would you care explain what's brought you here?"

The sheriff takes a seat at the head of the long table and begins to butter a slab of bread.
I was referring to one of my deputies who was supposed to be at this meeting, though he appears to be lagging behind. But as a matter of fact, searching for someone is involved with the task I have in mind. But I fear it may be quite a bit more serious than just a man lost in the woods."

A clatter announces the sheriff's arrival, and a moment later a dirty blonde mop of hair and broad set of shoulders appears at the entryway. He pauses mid-ascent and looks around the room, his eyes lingering on Prime, Brine, and particularly Mokrim.
"Well, it looks like I'm short one deputy and ahead two strangers and an unexpected guest. Has someone else been passing out invitations?"

The Belching Boar is a modest inn and tavern that doesn't appear very remarkable, but is particularly respected by the hunters and gatherers in the region as a place where drifters are welcome. The building is log cabin built from rough hewn cedar with a small second story reaching up over the common room. The barkeep, a balding human by the name of Matthias, asks everyone entering to please keep quiet, as there's an important meeting upstairs today. When he hears that you are attending this meeting, he blinks for a moment, then points toward a ladder that is attached to the back of the brick fireplace. "Sheriff said there'd be a few arriving by now, but he had to tend to something quick like. Food is all layed out upstairs. Help yourself till he gets back."
A single elven man is sleeping slumped over the bar, and a gentle murmur is audible from a table in the back where two human men are speaking as their steaming bowls of stew cool down.

There is indeed a day/night cycle. Gameplay thread to open shortly.

These initial responses will be by PM since a couple of individuals have somewhat different reasons for attending this meeting than the bulk of the group, and may have slightly different information going in. Once most everyone has checked in I will open the gameplay thread with Llewellyn giving everyone a rundown of his important business.

PMs are going out to everyone now - bolt is dead one about a minor RL issue putting me a bit off schedule, but we should have everyone squared away with a reason to meet in Piravel at the respected Belching Boar inn for a midday meal to discuss a proposal with Sheriff Llewellyn.

After deliberating today, I've decided to widen the pool of players all the way to 8. If I bungle anything early on I hope you'll forgive me as this will be new to me both due to the number of players and the play-by-post nature. I somewhat regret expanding the player base since that leaves us only a few applicants not brought in, and it does seem an arbitrary cut off - but I figure the line must be drawn somewhere. Thanks again to everyone who expressed interest and rolled up character for my unorthodox beginning - and a hearty welcome to the following characters:

Bolt
Brine Baxter
Caelreth Dho’Eldren
Kearan the Short
Merle Rutter
Mokrim
Nial Farnell
Rotann

Out of character discussion thread is open here.

Welcome! Between a post in this thread tomorrow and a couple of PMs, I hope to have all the characters gathered for a meeting with sheriff Llewellyn that will provide us with a starting point and a chance for in character introductions early this week.

Send all submissions to Rick Hershey and / or Jason Stoffa via

fatgoblingames@gmail.com :D

Thanks - I've got a homebrew class in particular that I think could work once I give it a bit more polish.

Where should we head if looking for a submission address and guidelines?

"The Terrors" or "The Devil's Coin"

Few written records exist from the earliest settlers in this world, but those few that remain and oral tradition make a few things clear. Somewhere, there is a larger world, where the first settlers of this smaller one first lived. Something terrible was happening in this other world, and many tried to flee. Somehow, a caravan of refugees learned of the entry to this place, and were told that it would mean a home for them and their children - but at a price that would remain unspoken. Whether this was a celestial being, a mortal of great power, or Asmodeus himself is unknown, but over the generation many have ended up believing it is the latter. It didn't take long for the populace to learn that the obelisks were somehow related, and to begin keeping a watch on them. Sometimes hundreds of years pass between the terrors, but there have been times when one followed on another's heels in mere days.

The First Death - Something like smoke in the air killed many who breathed it, and killed every last dwarf that had come to this supposed refuge. This is said to have happened very shortly after the settlers arrive.

Time of the hungry wild - A few years after the first death, packs of wolves, and according to legend more dangerous creatures, suddenly arrived in great numbers, roaming and killing until a group of heroes fought them off. The wolves and such that now live in the wild are generally skittish, aside from the occasional raid on livestock.

The Flood - Suddenly rising waters left only a few pockets of land habitable, leaving only a few isolated communities. Dunstone, situated on a high hill, was the largest of these settlements.

The Sudden Flame - A fire swept from pole to pole, destroying homes, crops, and forestland. it took a decade to restore normalcy.

The rage - Something in the air, or in the water, caused men and women to be filled with anger at best, and murderous rage at the worst. This lasted only for a few days, but it was enough to cause terrible damage. In its wake, many who could not live with the knowledge of what they had done - regardless of the unnatural influence - chose to take their own lives.

The Great Storm - History says this event was relatively mild - much destruction of homes and crops occurred, but little loss of life.

The Second Death- Just days after the great storm, a visible blackness came on the wind, and again those who breathed it sickened and died. What records and stories remained from the time of the first death suggest that this second one was a trifle in comparison, though the toll seemed terrible enough to those at its time.

The Mixed Blessing - A metal giant emerged from the forest unexpecedly and with ferocity, wiping out many dozens before it was rendered lifeless. The metal harvested from its remains proved invaluable in forging tools.

The Second Flood - This second flood wiped out the lowlands again, but most people were able to gather at least some of their belongings and speedily travel to one of the hilltop settlements. After a few tense months of cramped living, the people dispersed and rebuilding began

The Broken Ground - An earthquake shook the land and threw down much that had been built since the time of the flood. Worse still was the fate of Nethor, a town which had thrived from its quarry, supplying this world with stone. When the quake ended, nothing of Nethor remained but a large sinkhole. When early attempts to search for survivors resulted only in several would-be rescuers becoming trapped in rubble or falling to their deaths, Nethor was abandoned. There
have occasionally been those brave enough to tunnel into the ruins in search of valuables.

The Famine - A supernatural blight on the land caused crops to wither, livestock to die off en-masse, and stored grains and meats to rot away. The ordered society that had existed for generations, centered around the hilltop communities that survived the first flood, broke down into anarchy. Among those alive today there are many ashamed of what they did to survive in those days - and some who regret only that they did not react quicker to their own benefit.

~
Sorry about the delay in posting - yesterday evening was busy, and I've had family over today capitalizing on a bit of winter weather to much enjoyment. I'll confirm our player list soon - which I will relent and expand to include 6 or 7 instead of my initial plan of 4. Thanks to all for the effort in submitting their characters.

Note to Bolt - A first level character does indeed get their normal beginning feat, a bonus feat from the class, 3 points to spend from the training feature, and potentially a racial bonus feat if they are human.

To everyone: Submissions due by 8:00pm EST on the 25th
I will make a post tomorrow night welcoming the initial four players.

To DM Jelani:
Drugs aren't illegal, though there are elements that would like them to be. Sheriff Llewellyn frowns upon those who make production and distrubution their livelihood, and thinks no good can come from drug use. He lacks the power to do much about it, however, and it's not high on his list of priorities to begin with. Merle's background won't be a problem.

To imjohnnyrah:
Stone arrowheads are fine, and would function as ordinary arrows.

To Rotolutundro:
-Yes, a human could potentially start off with quite a few feats. -Players may take an additional hit point or skill point for each level in adventurer, treating it as a favored class.
-Pretty much any language from a Paizo book is acceptable, though most would likely be an academic knowledge. Those who make the effort to learn something beyond common may do so to maintain their racial heritage, or just to broaden their knowledge. Armistead and his higher ranking underlings use a combination of speaking draconic and using code words even within that language to safeguard much of their communcations.

To derosiere:
I'll keep an eye out for a character submission.

To Chakka/Bolt
Dwarvish ruins in the backstory are a no go, but finding a stash of weapons with some of dwarven make fits and is interesting. I appreciate you (and others) weaving in the setting material I've given you so readily.

To Lastname/Rotann:
Submission looks good. We may end up with a couple of lone wolf wilderness dwellers forming the adventuring party, which might be interesting to see.

~
To be honest I wasn't sure there would be interest in this, so I'm glad we've got more applicants than slots. That said, I know most PbP games run well over the 4 i've stated, and I don't like having to turn a couple of potential players away. I think the best approach here will be to stick with my initial player cap, with the addendum that I will most likely be looking for 2 additional players to join up in a month or so if things are going well and they would like to join. When I determine the initial four, a degree of preference will be given to those who expressed interest earlier - but please don't let this discourage late submissions.

While traditional alignments will be used for the necessary in game effect, I find them less useful for understanding a character because individual opinion can vary on what is acceptable for certain alignments. Selected characters will be required to list their position on a sliding scale between the following opposites. There are five positions for each. On the first pairing, for example, a character may fall Strongly on the side of Order, Somewhat on the side of Order, Neutral with respect to order and Chaos, or Somewhat or Strongly on the side of chaos. Submitted character don't have to add this, but will get a bonus when selection time comes if they choose to do so.
Order-Chaos
Altruism-Avarice
Peace-Violence
Mercy-Vengeance
Courage-Cowardice
Planner-Impulsive
Prudish-Raunchy
Introversion-Extroversion

The concept is a Ronin/Summoner, where the Eidolon is a female ancestral spirit and the summoned creatures are Kami. The Eidolon would lend guidance, mentor and do what the samurai should not.

I think the concept is valid - stat up an alias if you want to get in the running.

Okay, I'll work up an alias. Do we have names for the LG town and NE town?

Edit:Changed the name to Rutter. Podunk was too cliche. Here's my initial work. More to come later. What's the deal with starting equipment?

Looking good to me. Does this alias have a brother named Daryl?

Think I'm going to have to put in for this game; the premise sounds very interesting. I have a few ideas, but I also have a few questions to figure out with the training points.

First, when we get our full class at level 4, will we get all of the regular feats that go along with that class, such as weapon and armour training?

Second, for feats such as Martial Weapon Proficiency, does that refer to proficiency with 1 weapon, or proficiency with all martial weapons, such as you would usually get when taking a martial oriented class?

Thanks for pointing out a gap in my explanation - gaining a level in a core class will not grant the normal armor proficiencies, but will expand weapon proficiencies. Any other class features will apply as normal. The martial weapon proficiency from the training feature is indeed for only a single weapon.

I've come up with a character concept and background. This will need to be expanded. You can find the alias here

Looks like you're almost there on this character - I can see it working very well.

~
A few more tidbits-

World size: Departing from Piravel on foot, maintaining a steady pace and stopping only sparsely and to rest overnight, a traveler could arrive at the empty city of Dunstone in about 12 days. Dunstone was once home to a thousand souls, though now it is overgrown and only occasionally visited by scouts.

Prominent families:
Dashiell Armistead, a human 47 years of age, is uncontested in his command of Oakenhaven. He has been tempered somewhat since leading a band of opportunistic cutthroats to power during the famine, but is unwilling to let slip what he has built. Few doubt that he would like anything more than to earn the loyalty of enough farmsteads to declare himself a king. Few fear that this will happen, since his past crimes are not forgotten.

Maynard Llewellyn is sheriff in Piravel, and has big plans. A 31 year old human with elf blood in his veins, Maynard grew into adulthood but never let the suffering and wrongdoing around him dampen his idealism. In the few months since his appointment as sheriff, he has sent scouts to report on the condition of the portion of the world left uninhabited. He hopes to see families settled in Dunstone again before the year is through.

Alright, I wanna be a backwoods moonshiner. From one of the clan-holds. While not evil per say, I'd like the family to be where this world gets its illicit substances. Flayleaf, moonshine, and pesh or its equivalent. My character would be the oldest son of the Matriarch, who is also his aunt. (Incest wasn't common before the drop in population, but now there's not much choice).

The clan name can be Podunk. They live far away from both large settlements, and tend to do more business in the NE one. They're not violent unless protecting their monopoly. If a new dealer shows up, they try to buy him/her out and marry them into the clan. Is that don't work, they start breaking body parts until the person finds a new career path.

Crunch-wise as I said, he'll be focusing on unarmed combat for his adventurer levels. Then I'll probably dip maneuver master monk and go rogue for the remainder.

Sound like something that could work here?

Sounds like a good fit to me. Given the limited scope of the starting area, I'm all for allowing the players to weave their backstory in as part of the initial setting.

Hello, I find this interesting as well. Seems a little OP on the feats, but I think that kinda balances with the lack of regular classes at first.8D I have a concept for a hunter/ outcast from the small society, eventually becoming a ranger or rogue. You said cured meats so i assume there are some kinda of animals in the sphere. Hopefully wild ones as well. Bolt is his name and he has a temper, thus he hunts alone outside the community.

There are definitely wild animals. In fact, following the relatively recent famine, some of the settled area of this world was abandoned and has become more wild that the remaining population would like. If the largest settlement were one pole of this hollow sphere, then the other pole (which once was the site of a much larger settlement) is now abandoned. I like the character concept, and a survivalist type would definitely be a boon in this setting.

You realize the array you offered is a 30 pt buy right?

Yes, I was aiming to offer a sweet deal to tempt players away from min maxing to get 18 in their key stat. Now that I think about, I may have made the deal a little too sweet, and probably ought to drop one of those 14s to another 12.

-several questions about the setting-

There are two "large" towns for this world, one with a LG feel that is focused on keeping an eye on the scattered farmholds, with a permanent population of around 350, swelling significantly on market and festival days when family units make a brief journey and socialize. This town employs a roving force of peacekeepers who patrol the farmlands and keep a watch on lands that have grown wild.

are traits being used?

Yes, everyone can grab two traits. And I'm definitely liking the character you've put together.

Are you planning on this being combat heavy, or more roleplaying?

I strive for a reasonable balance. This is intended to be me telling the broad strokes of a story, while the players fill in the details and make choices that may nudge me in a somewhat different direction. But when there is violence in this story, I am for a combat that is as brief as possible, embellished with some cinematic descriptions.

~
I think I've addressed most people, and will aim to fill in the cracks in a couple of hours. I'll provide a brief write up with some more setting information tomorrow, but I hope there's enough thus far to give an idea what backgrounds will work.

Can the points from Training be saved between levels, or must they all be spent immediately?

They may indeed be saved.

Also, how many players are you looking for, and how much backstory do you want for the characters?

I'm aiming to keep this small with just four players, and perhaps start something larger if there if a)enough people are sufficiently interested to try this and b)those people enjoy it and I feel continuing will be worthwhile. A paragraph of backstory is sufficient, though I've made it difficult to say much due to the limited setting. Within this small agrarian community you may still have had unique pursuits. Someone opting to take several knowledge skills for their class skills, for example, may have been responsible for maintaining or transcribing the few ancient texts passed down over the generations this population has been encapsulated in its demiplane.

Could the character be from a community that descended from Eastern influences? A line of Samurai? Any taboo on Summoners?

An eastern influence is definitely possible. I think part of the effect of being in this isolated community would likely be an inclination to cling to culture and focus on passing traditions to one's children. Branching into summoner once you get core class levels will be acceptable, though I hope the goal isn't to powergame.

I might be wrong, but I understood Haiku's comment as meaning that ARG races were allowed with the caveat that if you aren't playing a core race, "one of the last of a dying race" is automatically in your backstory.

This is correct. If anyone is looking at racial archetypes and concerned about this, I think the majority of them could be re-fluffed and allowable for other races.

This sounds very interesting, especially with the option to use that class to create a very unique character. I'll see if I come up with a concept.

I appreciate the interest. The more I think about it the more I wish I'd spent some more time on the initial writeup for the homebrew class component, but perhaps it can work well enough as is.

Is that "any core race except Dwarf" or are races from the ARG allowable? So oracles, druids, and rangers are the only available divine casters, right? Would you allow paladins who take the spell-less Warrior of the Holy Light archetype?

Correct on all points, though uncommon races will be very uncommon in this small population - perhaps the last of a family that has slowly died out. A non-casting Paladin is acceptable, and perhaps even ideal. The demiplane where we begin has the dead magic trait, so it will be a short bit into the adventure before powers latent in the blood may begin to manifest.

That's three levels where the only healing options are mundane healing, potions, and UMD.

Right on the money, but I've no intention of making things impossible to survive.

Am I correct in assuming that the Adventurer is proficient with all simple weapons and gets at least 2 + int mod skill ranks per level? Does the Adventurer have any class skills?

Thank you, I neglected to specify: simple weapon proficiency is part of the class and skill ranks are 4+Int. Class skills you will be able to pick and choose, selecting 9 class skills in addition to Craft and Profession being class skills. Try not to powergame this, if you can.

Are guns allowed?

There won't be guns initially, but someone wishing to be a gunslinger will be able to find a gun by the time they are ready to take a level in the class.

I do appreciate the request for clarification - I knew I'd end up leaving something off but that's a bit more than I anticipated. And only after reading this to I see how wary I'd be of starting off as some homebrew class, and with limited options to follow. My goal is to have the number of bonus feats available early on allow a greater degree of customization while making up for the delay in class feature progression once levels are taken in a core class.

Also, traits are on the table even if the fluff doesn't make sense. Just provide some reasoning for why you have the crunch it provides.

Greetings,

I'm forced to confess myself a relatively inexperienced DM, but my players have enjoyed our past sessions, so I'm encouraged enough to hope others can do the same. After a campaign that took a twist away from my intentions due to the party's spur of the moment decision to incite mutiny on a ship and become a pirate crew, I've decided to try and administer a PbP game. I intend for this to be short, to begin with, due to my zero experience with the PbP system. At a reasonable point I'll declare an end to the first chapter of this story, and hope to continue if things have gone well and there is continued interest.

Don't come looking for a very fast pace - I myself will check the thread once around 7AM EST before work, and at least once around 6:30 EST after supper(Perhaps dinner for you, but certainly supper for me).

My game will be limited to Paizo published products, but within that everything should be fair game except the Leadership feat. Players may choose any race except Dwarf, and may not be a Cleric, Paladin, or Inquisitor for reasons that will become apparent during the game.

So here's a bit to chew on, at least. For the time being I'd like to keep this small, so I'm looking for only 4 players. My home games have only been 2-3 players assisted by their NPC buddy as needed, and I'd like a more controlled setting while I get used to running things PbP. If there's enough interest, I'll hope to get slots picked next week, and get things rolling the week of the 28th.

Thanks - I'm downloading now and will check it out in the near future.

One of my player just reached Magus 7 / Soul Drinker 2, gaining the following ability:

Energy Drain (Su): At 2nd level, a souldrinker gains the
energy drain ability. By making a touch attack as a standard
action, she bestows one negative level on the target (two levels
on a critical hit). The souldrinker gains 5 temporary hit
points for each negative level she bestows on an opponent.
These temporary hit points last for a maximum of 1 hour.
The DC to remove this negative level is 10 + the souldrinker’s
class level + her spellcaster ability modifier. At 6th level, this
touch attack bestows two negative levels (four on a critical hit).

How would the energy drain fit in with his spell combat, etc - it seems to more than lean toward OP if this can apply at the same time as spell delivery and a couple of melee attacks. And secondly, given that the text mentions no opportunity to save against this, is it a guaranteed negative level on every touch attack?

I suppose I'd better concede that as a very, very strict RAW. Given that the character doesn't gain double class features, though, I see no reason to not allow it. I feel like the intent is to prevent gaining an extra class feature, which doesn't happen in this case.

By a strict reading, they both modify the 7th level bloodline feat.

It seems to me that while crosblooded offers you two two lists to choose from for the 7th level bloodline feat, it isn't actually modifying it. Tattooed Sorcerer would simply nullify those options by replacing the feat entirely.

Which class features conflict? From my reading, they seem compatible.

Its not for a re-roll. For any attack roll using one of those weapons (zen includes his bows) you can choose to make a perfect strike and roll twice instead of once. You can do this once per round.

Sorry - what I was thinking and what I typed were quite different. But based on your response, it is indeed only one attack from a flurry that can benefit from this effect?

For a zen archer making a flurry of blows, would this apply only to a single attack roll, and remain usable only for a single re-roll per round? RAW that seems to be the case.

Benefit:
You must declare that you are using this feat before you make your attack roll (thus a failed attack roll ruins the attempt). You must use one of the following weapons to make the attack: kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, and siangham. You can roll your attack roll twice and take the higher result. If one of these rolls is a critical threat, the other roll is used as your confirmation roll (your choice if they are both critical threats). You may attempt a perfect attack once per day for every four levels you have attained (but see Special), and no more than once per round.

My question is simple - how should this be handled if it is cast on a PC? The spell allows no saving throw, and while the spell description does say that "A clever recipient can subvert some instructions," it generally sounds like they would be forced to obey. The consequences for not following the order are clear, but the spell doesn't say the target can choose to disobey and take the penalties, because the penalties are listed in the context of "If the subject is prevented from obeying."

RAW, it sounds like the enchantment specializing sorceress my player may end up fighting could simply cast Geas with a command of "defend me from your allies," giving them almost no way to prevent the effect. So, fellow GMs, how would you handle this? I've included some more snippets from the spell description below.
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:Places a magical command on a creature to carry out some service or to refrain from some action or course of activity, as desired by you.

:While a geas cannot compel a creature to kill itself or perform acts that would result in certain death, it can cause almost any other course of activity.

:The geased creature must follow the given instructions until the geas is completed, no matter how long it takes.

:This spell functions similarly to lesser geas, except that it affects a creature of any HD and allows no saving throw.
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If you aren't worried about using a wrist slot, you can always grab a 5gp spring loaded wrist sheath from the Adventurer's Armory:

Wrist Sheath:
This is a sheath designed to be strapped to your forearm and hidden under a long sleeve. The sheath can hold one light weapon, ranged weapon, or wand that weighs less than 1 pound. Alternatively, you may store up to 1 pound of ammunition in a wrist sheath. As a move action, you can bend your wrist to cause some or all of these items to drop into your hand. You have a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks made to oppose the Perception check of someone observing or frisking you
regarding items in the sheath. You can only wear one wrist sheath per arm.

Wrist Sheath, Spring Loaded:
This item works like a standard wrist sheath, but releasing an item from it is an immediate action. Preparing the sheath for this use requires cranking the sheath’s tiny gears and springs into place (a fullround action that provokes an attack of opportunity).