It only says "if your size is less than medium", so since 17str clearly includes small and smaller all the way to diminutive, I think it's fairly clear that 19 should apply to medium and up. But that's just me.
And you could just drop power attack and furious focus to pick up iron will and something else. Dodge, maybe, to help a little with the admittedly not so good AC.
That way you'd have 10+4+1+2+1-4=14 AC when wearing a chain shirt, increasing to 15 when attacked by something medium or larger.
You could also just drop reckless abandon, although your to hit score won't be so good for level 4. It's already a little iffy at +8, to be honest.
At 1st level, a titan fighter can wield two-handed melee...
So no giant boomstick.
That said, a Butchering Axe would be a good place to start.
Start off with that 18 in str, add +1 for level 4, along with a +2 belt, and you qualify for the 19 requirement.
On the other side of the gestalt, go Ranger 4, getting you Lead Blades once per day or so.
Alternatively, the Titan Mauler barbarian archetype's Massive Weapons ability should stack with the Titan Fighter's Giant Weapon Wielder.
The combined penalty clocks in at a massive -4(for two size categories too large)-2(Giant Weapon Wielder penalty)-4(Massive Weapons penalty)+1(Massive Weapons bonus)+1(Incredible Heft bonus)=-8.
But by then you're swinging a large Butchering Axe for a grand total of 4d6 damage per hit, which is of course amazing.
You can achieve a pretty decent to hit with the thing too.
Presupposing our 19 str(which is neccesary to not take penalties for having too puny a strength score when wielding the butchering axe) You can hit at +4BAB+4Str+1Size+1Enh-8Oversize=+2.
But we're a fighter, so we probably have weapon focus, and Big Game Hunter means we get +1 to hit against anything that's medium or bigger, so it's really +4 to hit.
But we can also Rage for +4 str, so it's really more like +6. And since we aren't complete and utter retards, we also take Reckless Abandon for our level 4 rage power, so now we hit at +8.
That's respectable enough, considering we're doing 4d6+10 damage on each whack. That's a completely respectable average of 24 damage.
Point buy would be something like
Str 19=18-2+1+2E (17pts)
Dex 14=10+4 (0pts)
Con 14 (5pts)
Int 10
Wis 12(2pts)
Cha 9=11-2 (1pt)
Well, it doesn't exactly say it doesn't, and one might take the Myrmidarch ruling to be a general rule about weapon training, instead of a specific rule about the archetype.
It's arguable either way, I grant you that.
Unrelated, the Sanguine Angel PRC is freaking awesome, and allows you to choose to progress Weapon Training twice, but only for the heavy blades group.
Notably, it also allows strength to hit with bows, and you can use the new weapon modifications to make your bow and shield fit in that weapon group. It's super cheesy, but cool.
The heaviest Genovese Crossbows had up to 1200lbs pull. More average crossbows had between 250 and 500lb pulls
The very best of the english longbows are stimated about 160lb top, and that's being drawn by guys the size of a linebacker. Average longbow pull was around 90lb.
In no way the mighty composite longbow should outdamage a crosbow. Not even close. Not even close to be even close. If ypur best mighty longbows, shot by the strongest people, do 1d8+3 or 1d8+4, then the realistic average light crossbow should start at 1d8+5, and the cranked genovese heavy crossbows should do mo less than 1d10+10, at least.
Of course, that would not be balanced. And obviously, game balance should matter more than petty obssession with selective realism, so Xbows should not do 1d10+10. But then, if game balance should matter more than realism... why bows are far better weapons?
You know, keeping the crossbow much slower than bows (so no rapid shot or the like) but at the same time making it punch for much more damage per hit is a concept that have always intrigued me. THough I have never been able to balance it.
I saw this one guy who'd applied a bunch of houserules to make standard action attacks more interesting.
Among those were the fact that a heavy crossbow did 2d8 damage, and Vital Strike was an automatic option that scaled with level, all the way to *5 at level 20.
Longbows were still better than that, of course, but it made crossbows interesting.
I've once seen someone allow the Ogre 23rp race from the Advanced Race Guide with a minotaur double crossbow. It was straight up insane damage, although it relied upon the interpretation that since it says this:
Quote:
, although critical hits and precision-based damage are only applied to one of the bolts.
Anything that isn't precision damage and critical hits apply to both bolts. This means Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot, Enhancement Bonus, Dexterity, yadda yadda.
The guy had trouble hitting for the first couple levels, but it was weighed against the occasional touch attack, and the fact that when he actually hit something, he dealt 4d8+2 damage. Still, he wound up spending the first couple levels mostly hitting stuff with an ogre hook.
When he finally got around to getting all his base feats, (point blank, rapid reload, crossbow master, precise, rapid shot) it stopped being funny. The guy would occasionally take Enlarge Person, and took to carrying around a small stock of huge sized bolts for when it happened, dealing 6d8 base damage per shot.
And that was before doubling any applicable non precision bonus damage.
The minotaur double crossbow outperforms longbows in the long run, I'm entirely certain.
"against foes who are unaware of his presence, who consider him an ally, or who are made flat-footed by startling appearance... A stalker vigilante can also deal hidden strike damage to a target that he is flanking or that is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC, but in these cases, the damage dice are reduced to d4s"
Strangle lets you deal damage. You are flanking for this damage. Hidden strike should trigger because you are both dealing damage and are flanking while you do it.
You were just saying that sneak attack would only apply because it is specifically mentioned. Now you're saying that all abilities that rely on flanking apply to the damage roll? But somehow not to the attack?
You're not flanking "for this damage" - there's no rules text that says that. You're only flanking "for the purpose of using Strangle."
So your contention is that it is considered flanking only for the limited purpose of dealing strangle damage, and since strangle damage is sneak attack damage, all sneak attack specifically (but nothing else that works on a flanking attack generally) would also apply.
Yes, if it specifically requires the target to be flanked and is part of a 'sneak attack' ability (like some rogue talents have an add-on to sneak attack damage).
That's interesting. So what about this ability, which relies on flanking?
Quote:
Dirty Fighting (Combat)
You can take advantage of a distracted foe.
Benefit(s): When you attempt a combat maneuver check against a foe you are flanking, you can forgo the +2 bonus on your attack roll for flanking to instead have the combat maneuver not provoke an attack of opportunity. If you have a feat or ability that allows you to attempt the combat maneuver without provoking an attack of opportunity, you can instead increase the bonus on your attack roll for flanking to +4 for the combat maneuver check.
Special: This feat counts as having Dex 13, Int 13, Combat Expertise, and Improved Unarmed Strike for the purposes of meeting the prerequisites of the various improved combat maneuver feats, as well as feats that require those improved combat maneuver feats as prerequisites.
The Strangler Brawler archetype gets this ability:
Strangle (Ex) wrote:
At 1st level, a strangler deals +1d6 sneak attack damage whenever she succeeds at a grapple check to damage or pin an opponent. The strangler is always considered flanking her target for the purpose of using this ability. This damage increases by +1d6 at 2nd, 8th and 15th levels.
This ability replaces unarmed strike and brawler’s flurry.
The bolded part is important. My question is this: Does a Strangler Brawler get to add the +2 bonus for flanking to his CMB roll, which is per definition also an attack roll?
Does the character get to add other abilities that rely on flanking to the attack?
This includes, but is of course not limited to sneak attack from other sources, such as the snakebite brawler archetype.
Since you're using the guild boosts, you'll be fine with the build you're using. You could squeeze more power from it by reducing the number of nonMT levels you're taking, but that's not what this is about.
Beware when you pick spells that there's a good bit of overlap between the shaman and sorc/wizard lists. Taking a sorcerer spell that's also a shaman spell is kind of a waste, when you could be expanding your capabilities instead.
Let's get down to spending.
Lesser Metamagic rods, probably one of extend and selective spell, if you ever feel like blasting. Empower maybe, too. Beyond that, they're too expensive for your level.
You should have at least a +4 wisdom booster. I'd personally also go for a +2 con belt, but you might well prefer dexterity instead. It looks like that from your stat spread, at least.
If you do go for dexterity, you should compound that with more armor class spending. Extended Mage Armor is good enough, but should be combined with a +2 or +3 mithral buckler, for instance.
Speaking of armor, while animal companion AC scales with your level, and a small cat will have appropriate AC all by itself, it still benefits greatly from picking up something like chain shirt barding. No need to get too fancy with the enhancements here.
Your casting can do a lot of heavy lifting for lack of gear, but you'll still need a cloak of resistance, +3 at least.
Drill Sergeant would be a great choice for an archetype. Normally, you wouldn't want to give up Bravery since most fighters like the Armed Bravery AWT, but since you're doing a PRC that doesn't matter.
Hp is max at first level, then average rounded up for subsequent levels.
You can pick a variant heritage for tieflings, aasimar, skinwalkers and dhampir, but you can't use the variant abilities d100 table for any of them.
Dodekatheon wrote:
Also will one player having the crafting feats increase WBL for the entire group?
No. Only for themselves. Alternatively, if you like, you can grant a portion of the WBL increase to another party member. They still have to spend it on the appropriate sort of items.
Say you're a wizard 20 with Scribe Scroll and Craft Magic Arms and Armor.
Scribe Scroll gives you 880'000*20%=176000 gp worth of scrolls. You buy this amount of scrolls, at full price.
You decide that you want a +5 heavy fortification mithral buckler, and a +5 armored kilt for your wizard.
Since you can't create the nonmagical part of the item, you pay for those bits out of your normal WBL, and use the WBL increase from your crafting feat to pay for the +5 armor and +10 shield. This comes to (10^2)*1000+(5^2)*1000=125000, leaving you with 51000 extra gp to spend on enchanting arms and armor. You donate this to the party fighter, seeing as you have little use for a magically enhanced pointy stick.
I wrote the sanguine angel with the assumption that an unarchetyped fighter would be the "obvious" choice. The class effectively continues to improve armor training and weapon training, and a fighter can afford the necessary feats while also working towards something like Sisterhood Style. (Plus, all the original Gray Maidens were fighters, so it's on theme flavorwise.) Add in the various options from WMH and AMH, and your player should have a fairly effective character.
It's certainly possible to go sister-in-arms into sanguine angel, but that wouldn't be my first choice - they're not terribly synergistic, and the sister-in-arms will have to spend all her feats just to qualify for the class. As far as I'm concerned, the sister-in-arms is probably best sticking to her class and improving the features it grants.
Hopefully this is of some assistance. If you have further questions, feel free to ask. ^_^
Oooh, you wrote that thing? Great job! It has super interesting mechanics.
It's almost a shame that it's locked to that fluff - not that the fluff is bad, it's just that it's not very appropriate to most adventures, so eh.
Edit: to actually answer the question here, I'd do something like Fighter(no archetype) 5/Sanguine Angel 10.
Since she wants to do sword and board, she'll want to obtain a steel shield with the Versatile Weapon Modification, so the shield bash counts as a heavy blade.
http://www.archivesofnethys.com/EquipmentWeaponsDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Versa tile%20design - here is the URL for that thing.
Stats would be something like STR>CON>CHA=13>WIS=DEX>INT.
You'll obviously want to delay picking up Two-Weapon Fighting until you start in on the Sanguine Angel levels, because of the heavy dexterity requirements, which are bypassed by the Maiden's Shield class feature.
Assuming you're human, you'd be looking at something like this for feat progression:
1 - Weapon Focus: Longsword
H - Shield Wall
F1 - Shield Focus
F2 - Sisterhood Style
3 - Iron Will
F4 - Improved Shield Bash
5 - Advanced Weapon Training: Warrior Spirit
Maiden's Shield6 - Two Weapon Fighting
7 - Sisterhood Rampart?
9 - Sisterhood Dedication?
Honestly, we're a little feat starved after we get into Sanguine Angel.
Ideally, we'd want Improved Two-weapon Fighting, Two-weapon Rend, Power Attack, Double Slice, Shield Slam, Shield Master and a second teamwork feat for use with Sisterhood Dedication. That's more than we get though, so choices will have to be made.
Honestly, the E6 rules don't need much more than two lines of text to be described. If you want to add more stuff to it, the P6 codex can be a good source of "Epic" feats.
Is E8 just E6 with the extra Feats and abilities for level 8? That was the one I was thinking about using. I wanted to keep third level spells but also allow 7th and 8th level class abilities while keeping hitpoints at 6 level.
I sounds like you want E6/P6. E6 stops all normal advancement at 6th level, including spell progression. Then, with the "epic" feats acquired after 6th, you can build toward those 7th and 8th level abilities, as "epic" achievements.
E8 would stop normal advancement at 8th level, integrating 4th level spells. And allow the stretch to 9th and 10th level "capstones". I personally think that is a better place to stop, leaving things like teleport and raise dead in the game, but only for the mightiest heroes.
But, if you want more of a Middle-Earth feel, classic E6 is right for you.
Here is an excellent write-up for Pathfinderized E6. Unfortunately, the writer never completed the main work, but the "abridged" version will get you a long way.
Personally, I think that, since max level is the one you'll spend most of your time playing at, raise dead becomes way too easy to get access to under E8 rules.
But then again, I use E6 mainly to be able to avoid long-distance teleportation myself, so I guess YMMV.
I would trade a feat for a specific stat bump of +2, but probably not a random one. I wouldn't trade all my feats, though.
I think I might be willing to exchange all my feats for +1 random stat bump per level on a martial character who has access to a couple bonus combat feats.
Is this a monster we would never have known about? Or would we have had information about it beforehand, and been able to make Knowledge rolls to determine potential strengths and weaknesses?
You won't know it's there 'till you meet it.
Knowledge checks will be available when you encounter it, though.
If I am involved in the combat, I only want to run one PC. Because I think it will take four individual players to take this thing down.
It's basically a daemonic tarrasque, to give you an idea of it's power level.
Then we need 3 more players. Although I will warn you, in my experience when it comes to successfully executing tactics, one head is usually better than four.
As an addendum to the character creation rules, buffs lasting an hour or longer can be cast before the fight.
Leadership is banned.
Magic item creation feats add +20% of wealth by level worth of items of the specified type to your character per feat taken.
I believe these rules reflect "standard pathfinder" pretty well, and since we're playtesting a badass monster here, that's what I think is wise to shoot for.
Monkeygod, could you post (or maybe rather pm me, since half the fun of rare monsters is the uncertainty) the stats of this thing?
Andostre wrote:
Are there level 20 iconics stats you can use?
The premade NPCs I've been able to find are built to almost ridiculously low levels of optimization. I don't think running the monster against them will be a very good test, to be honest.
these archetypes are way overpowered. Evolutions are strong abilities, while Resist Nature's Lure, Trackless Step, A thousand Faces, and Timeless Body are flavor abilities.
Primal Permutation specifically is maybe somewhere close to balanced. The rest of it is way too strong.
Past level 10, Wealth By level is worth at least 2 character levels, I'd ballpark it.
The lower level you're playing at, the less gear matters.
Animal companions, summons and eidolons are designed to function effectively without gear, and casters with enough buff time can hoist themselves up to fight at comparable levels to what they'd be doing if they had their gear around.
Fighters, of course, rely on armor and weapons for basic function, which means that without gear their challenge rating drops considerably.
This applies to all non-casting classes.
Monks are less hosed, but still rely heavily on gear to be numerically on par with the challenges they face. Expect a monk past level 5 or so to have outright pathethic armor class, for instance. It won't touch unarmored fighter levels of ridiculousness, but the difference is still noticeable.
I'm with Jurassic prat and John Murdock on this one. The RAW is very clear.
I like this rule, as it prevents divine and psychic spellcasters who don't think they're going to make touch attacks from just suiting up in fullplate and tower shields without proficiency and not getting any penalties for it.
Everyone cares about initiative.
Interestingly, it also means that people with the Noble Scion of War feat can use circlets of persuasion to boost their initiatives, which is hella cool.
The wounds/vigor rules from unchained has several considerations for feats that interact with that stuff. DM Rostam might have changes to them, but here they are for convenience:
Quote:
Deathless Initiate (Combat)
For you, impending death is a call to wrath.
Prerequisites: Str 13, Con 13, Diehard, Endurance, base attack bonus +6, orc or half-orc.
Benefit: You are not staggered when your wound points reach your wound threshold, but you lose 1 wound point if you take any action during your turn. You only take 1 wound point each round when you take actions. Furthermore, you gain a +2 bonus on melee attacks and damage rolls when your wound points are at or below your wound threshold.
Deathless Master (Combat)
Even if you suffer a grievous wound, you can shrug off the damage and continue your relentless assault.
Prerequisites: Str 13, Con 15, Deathless Initiate (above), Diehard, Endurance, Ironhide, base attack bonus +9, orc or half-orc.
Benefit: When your wound points reach your wound threshold, you do not take 1 wound point when you take an action.
Diehard
You keep on going, even when your wound points are lower than your wound threshold.
Benefit: When your current wound point total is below your wound threshold, you do not need to succeed at the DC 10 Constitution check to stay conscious.
Toughness
You have enhanced physical stamina.
Benefit: You gain 1 wound point for every level or Hit Die your character has.
To be honest, you have f&*#all for damage outside of smite evil, and even that doesn't happen before level 2 due to the Chosen One archetype.
Personally, I'd try to help out with this a bit by dumping wisdom all the way to 7(+2 for dwarf) so you can start with 14 strength.
That and starting out with a dwarven Longhammer will make sure you're not entirely useless through the first level. Which you probably would be with your current set-up, not gonna lie. In order to get proficiency with said longhammer, you'd have to give up shadow hunter, but that's not a huge deal anyway.
You'll more or less have to forget about shooting stuff until level 5(where you get precise shot), and you won't actually get good at shooting stuff until level 9, where you can have Rapid Shot and Deadly Aim.
Roaming Exorcist and Herald Caller help with Skill Points.
Scarrab Sages,Rice Runner, and Multiclassing can help with specific skills.
Both of these archetypes forfeit the second domain. Depending upon what you're interested in, that's either tolerable, or a deal-killer.
Ierox wrote:
Sir Thugsalot wrote:
Addendum: Oh, come on... Not one of those Clandestine deities has the Darkness domain? (I guess they only skulk in broad daylight.)
*sigh*
So much for that cheese.
Couldn't you Seperatist your way into it?
That is a thought...but it does nerf one of your domains with -2 levels (so it won't even activate its 1st-level powers until 3rd), which obviates the concept if cleric is the dipped class rather than the martial class. Still, the best, and at present, only, option.
Actually, the minimum cleric level is 1, for the purpose of the forbidden rites domain. So you'd still get blindfight at first level.
You cast as a 16th level sorcerer, with a BAB of +16.
Edit: just actually read the OP.
Suppose you're an empyreal sorcerer 1/Zen Archer 8, is it worth going Arcane Archer?
Probably. I'd say if you intend to go on all the way to level 20, Arcane Archer is probably the most powerful way to go. 5th level spells is nothing to sneeze at.
That said, when you're level 9 or so, it'll be more powerful to take level 10 of zen archer than level 1 of arcane archer. If the temporary tradeoff is something you can live with, then go for it.
Do swashbucklers get weapon focus instead of weapon finesse, like rogues? Or is their weapon finesse dissimilar enough from the regular one that they keep it?
If you're not using your swift action anyway, it's not worse than nothing, at least.
But given all the intimidate focused stuff the archetype gives you, you should probably really be picking up Cornugon Smash and Hurtful, so there goes your swift action after level 6.
All right, you can't have everything all the time.
Quote:
-->All archetypes allowed.
-->Forbidden Classes: Ninja, Samurai, any from Occult Adventures, all prestige.
Emphasis mine, do you allow class options for normal classes from Occult Adventures, or related books? Specifically, I'm interested in the Psychic Bloodline for a Sorcerer//Paladin character. It has the advantage of using Psychic magic, so I can cast in armor and with my hands free.
In a related question, which direction are the pre-approved characters leaning, morally? I wouldn't want to roll up with my paladin if the party expected this to be an evil, selfish or pragmatic mercenary style campaign.
Well, heavy armor proficiency seems like a good place to start. 1 feat to be able to wear full plate instead of breastplate is a fairly good trade, especially if AC seems to be an issue. Mind you, effects like blur or displacement are generally a better idea than AC eventually, unless you have an incredibly high AC to begin with.
Displacement yes, blur not so much. But you're generally right. Also, mirror image is great.
: A physician and chirurgeon trained at the University of Lepidstadt, Dr. Stefan Von Herzog is a striking man with pale skin, a piercing gaze with dark brown eyes, and dark hair streaked with gray that has receeded to a widow's peak. While he assumes an air of aristocratic authority, a sense of melancholy and loss seems to follow him. Regardless of the source of this sadness, Stefan is by nature a kind, gentle, and generous man. Normally reserved and often quiet, he will not hesitate to chime in with his opinion, and will occasionally wax poetic about particular subjects. He is well-versed in literature and enjoys the theatre, yet his main interest is in arcane medical secrets. He despises undeath, considering such dark magic to the ultimate corruption of the natural cycle of life. To that end, he has now dedicated his academic life at the University of Leipstadt to the study of necromancy, in order to combat the undead menace that suffuses his homeland. Once a favored pupil of Professor Lorrimor, Stefan's sorrow deepened even further when he learned of his mentor's recent death. He has temporarily closed his medical practice in Lepidstadt to travel to Ravengro and attend his late friend's funeral.
Dr. Stefan Von Herzog
Male middle-aged human (Varisian) wizard (necromancer) 6
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +5; Senses Perception +5
DEFENSE AC17; touch 12; flat-footed 20
(+4 armor, +1 deflection, +1 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 32 (6d6+6)
Fort +3; Reflex +3; Will +7
SPECIAL ABILITIES Arcane Bond (Su)Bonded object-- Ring. This heavy gold band is set with a heptagonal onyx stone and is etched with arcane sigils. Allows casting of any spell known 1/day, regardless of whether it was alrady prepared. (Used Today? Y)
Arcane School (Ex)Necromancy. Can cast an additional spell per day of this school per spell level.
Grave Touch (Sp) 7/day: Melee touch attack. If successful, a living target is shaken for 3 rounds. If the target is already shaken, it becomes frightened instead.
Middle Aged -1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
Opposition Schools (Ex) Enchantment and Conjuration. Preparing a spell of these schools requires an extra spell slot.
Power Over Undead (Su) 7/day. Can channel positive energy to Turn Undead (Range 0, 30 foot burst, DC 15). (7/7)
Spellbook: Contains all cantrips from Core Rulebook; First-level:burning hands, chill touch*, comprehend languages, detect undead*, expeditious retreat, identify, mage armor**, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement*, ray of sickening*, shield;Second-level:blindness/deafness*, false life*, frigid touch, gust of wind, levitate, scorching ray, spectral hand*;Third-level:dispel magic, halt undead*, illusory script, lightning bolt, ray of exhaustion*, vampiric touch*
*-spell of necromancy school
**-spell from an opposition school; costs 2 spell slots to prepare.
GEAR Weapons and armor dagger, oak cane with steel handle (club)
Clothing starched white shirt, scarlet cravat, black woolen trousers, black frock coat, black silk top hat, polished high black boots
Magic Items (single-use)haunt siphon, used haunt siphon, 2 potions of cure light wounds, 2 potions of lesser restoration, 2 potions of cure moderate wounds, potion of remove disease, scroll of detect undead, scroll of protection from evil, scroll of comprehend languages, scroll of expeditious retreat, scroll of mage armor, scroll of levitate, scrimshaw tusk scroll (ice storm, phantom steed) Magic Items (charged):wand of ghost sound (22 charges), wand of acid arrow (13 charges)
Magic Items (permanent):ring of protection +1, lesser rod of ectoplasmic metamagic, handy haversack, amulet of natural armor +1, pearl of power (1st-level)
Doctor's gear: pweter hip flask with 1 pint of brandy, healers kit (1 use), 2 healer's kits (10 uses) each, surgeon's tools, 4 vials antitoxin, 2 vials antiplague, 2 doses bloodblock, 3 doses smelling salts, 1 dose soothe syrup.
Alchemical items 4 vials of holy water, 2 sunrods, 1 flask alchemist's fire, 2 flasks acid, 3 flasks liquid ice, 2 smoke pellets
Other gear:spare explorer's outfit, leather satchel (as backpack), spell component pouch, coin purse, blank journal, bottle of ink, 3 pens, spellbook (see above), spellbook of the Splatter Man (contains: comprehend languages, dispel magic, false life, gust of wind, illusory script, levitate, mage armor, magic missile, and summon monster IV)
Money and treasure 57 pp, 115 gp, 7 sp, 8cp.
Backgound Born to a wealthy family in Lepidstadt, Ustalav, Stefan was the youngest of three children. A serious and studious boy, Stefan excelled in schooling. As a young man, he enrolled in the University of Lepidstadt to study medicine. A favorite student of Professor Lorimor, Stefan excelled in his studies. As a student, Stefan fell in love with a fellow student, Andrei Cheucesceau. The two were inseparable, and lived together happily for five years. In their third year of medical school, they were laboratory partners in a class on advanced anatomy. One night, while working on a project studying human cadavers, the subject Stefan and Andrei were working on suddenly animated and attacked. The suddenly-animated corpse seriously injured Adnrei, infecting him with a necromantic infection. Fortunately for Stefan, Professor Lorrimor happend to come by the lab at that time, destroyed the undead creature, and tried to treat Andrei's wounds. However, despite the ministrations of the medical staff at the university, Andrei succumbed to the infection, died, and rose as an undead creature, running out of the morgue after seriously injuriing another medical student. Seeking the aid of Professor Lorrimor, the two men hunted down and destroyed the thing that had been Andrei.
Devastated by the loss of the love of his life, Stefan dedicated his life to the study of the the living and how to heal them, and the undead and how to destroy them. After completing his studies as an undergraduate, Stefan became a physician. He went on to become a successful practitioner of medicine in Lepidstadt.
Stefan has never gotten over the death of Andrei, and stil pines for his lost love. He has bouts of melancholy and depression, which he tries to ignore by burying himself in his work.
Background Vignette:
Seventeen years ago...
The coffee pot burbled loudly on the stovetop as eggs sizzled in the frying pan. Stefan opened the door of the woodstove and threw in a few more sticks of firewood from the pile on the kitchen floor. I never thought I'd become a halfway decent cook while at University, he thought idly as he flipped the eggs, so I suppose not having my own cook any more has at least one advantage! The smell of breakfast filled the small apartment, and Stefan turned to set the table.
"That smells delicious," came a voice from the next room. Stefan smiled as Andrei walked into the kitchen, wearing a red silk dressing-gown and leather slippers. His long blonde hair was tied in a pony tail, and he wore a goatee to accentuate his Ulfen ancestry. "Good morning, love!" greeted Stefan, and the young men embraced.
"Ready for tonight's practical?" asked Stefan as he poured a mug of steaming coffee into a pewter mug. He held the mug to Andrei, who took the mug and slurped loudly.
"About as ready as I will be. I hope this week's subject won't smell as bad as the last one." Andrei took another sip.
"I guess that's what we get when the University is competing for corpses in Lepidstadt: peasants dead of the pox for five days. The fresher corpses just get up and walk away." They both chuckled at the joke, even if it was in poor taste. Stefan poured himself a mug of coffee, and the two men sat down to enjoy their breakfast.
. . .
The lock clicked open, and the heavy oaken door creaked on its hinges as it swung inward. The cut stone walls were damp with condensation, and the room reeked of decay. The flickering torchlight unveiled a dungeon-like room, about 20 feet square. Wooden shelves held medical equipment along the walls. In the center of the room stood a white-draped metal examining table. A humanoid shape was underneath the bloodstained sheet.
Stefan stepped into the room, and Andrei followed in silence. Stefan lit two other torches in wall sconces, placing his own torch in another, while Andrei lit the oil lamp suspended over the exam table. "Ugh! This one smells even worse than the last one!" complained Andrei, his face a grimace of disgust.
Stefan wheeled the tray of chirurgical instruments next to the exam table. "Ew. That is truly foul. This won't be a pleasant lab practical. Let's go through it as quickly as we can." He placed a medical text on the tray and opened to the current lesson while Andrei donned his apron and gloves. Stefan put on his own lab gear and picked up a scalpel. Andrei pulled back the sheet.
The naked corpse of a man of indeterminate age lay on the table. Its skin had begun to decay badly, and was now an angry purple hue. Reddish-black fluid seeped from the corpse, pooling onto the exam table and dripping onto the floor, where grooves cut into the floor channeled it into a drain. But something about the corpse didn't seem right-- did it just twitch? "Andrei, did you see that?" Andrei frowned and stepped closer to the corpse. He poked at its cheek with his scalpel.
At that, the corpse's eyes flicked open, and it roared-- a hoarse gasping roar that chilled Stefan to the bone. Shocked and alarmed, the two doctors-in-training stumbled backward as the body sat up and balefully turned its milky-white eyes toward them. It lunged at Andrei, gripping his shoulders and forcing him off his feet. Andrei fell hard on the stone floor as the zombie rent his flesh with its hideous black nails that were far sharper than they appeared. It then bit Andrei's neck, and red living blood now ran into the drainiage grooves. Andrei screamed in agony.
Stefan scanned the tray of chirurgical tools for an appropriate weapon to use on the undead thing that was trying its best to kill his lover. He grabbed a scalpel the size of a butcher knife, normally used for slicing through flesh quickly when amputating a gangrenous limb. He plunged the knife into the zombie's back, which got its attention. The zombie lurched around with one arm in an attempt to grab Stefan's ankle, but Stefan managed to sidestep. He pulled the scalpel out and plunged it back in, this time aiming for its shoulder. Maybe if I cut of its arms, it won't be able to attack, he thought.
Andrei, still clutching his own scaplel, managed to jam the instrument into what remained of the zombie's left eye. It bellowed, gurgled a moment, then exploded in a rain of nauseating black blood and a hail of putrescent organs. The force knocked Stefan off his feet.
As he staggered to his feet, covered in decayed gore, the door to the lab opened. Standing with a look of shock and horror was Professor Lorrimor. "By the Lady of Graves!" he swore. Stefan and the professor moved the now-unconscious Andrei to a stretcher and carried him to the infirmary.
"Andrei! Please stay with me! Don't leave me alone!"
