Overall I had a blast, and this scenario was everything I was hoping it to be! A couple things though... Spoiler:
I really wanted that sweet Fan Favor, so I was doing acrobatic stunts out the wazoo to try and impress the audience while I bode my time for a booth interview. ...It unfortunately never came as I apparently reached the quota long beforehand. I was really looking forward to it, honestly, but I suppose I can't fault our GM too much for it. Don't get me wrong, I think they're a great person and Game Master, and I respect the time out of their day they take to run our games and their generous in-the-moment fiat calls, but from a roleplaying perspective, they're relatively by the book. To be fair though, I probably could've dropped a hint or two about wanting to be interviewed.
We also didn't deal with the rainbow armadillo nonlethally, though that's more on me running a more combat-centric character both crunch and fluff wise. Apparently "they're usually pretty docile" wasn't much of a deterrent, even if I was curious why it got out of hand. XD (Kinda makes me wish Starfinder had 5e's rule of "Do you wanna take them out nonlethally?" Or at the very least, a "set your phasers on stun" option, but I digress.) On the plus side though, we had several funny moments, including, but not limited to... Spoiler:
-Me being called out as a necromantic sympathizer.
-Our group frequently referring to the rainbow armadillo as a mastiff after our GM gave us a size comparison. -Several bad puns for your viewing pleasure. -Me almost blowing myself up with shoddy flamethrower handling. -A shipping war amongst the fans about whether our lashunta envoy should be with me, our Ysoki Mechanic, or the Ysoki's drone, Ms. Frisbee. -An innuendo-laden conversation about tossing my character into a lubricated orifice. -Me choosing whether to cut off the leg or cut off the leg of the final boss. -Our aforementioned Lashunta envoy winning a Fanservice Point before it was all said and done. I also got my mileage out of my ridiculous Acrobatics bonus (+9 for a Level 2 Human Soldier), avoiding a clutch AoO from the final boss while I pushed our Android Operative out of harm's way and being literally unable to fail an Acrobatics check to stay on my feet while Greased up, so long as I wasn't being flashy about it. XD But yeah, all in all, an awesome session, and I was all for a sequel episode!
At least Uncanny Dodge still works though, right?
More weapons? Count me in! The weapon progression was something that kinda bothered me. Unless you're a Solarian, you'd basically be switching back and forth between different weapon styles or elements just to keep up. Here's hoping we can expand that arsenal, not only for more variety, but to also allow me to be thematically consistent while progressing through levels! And as unlikely as this, I am also hoping for something akin to the Shield Weaves from the Phantasy Star Portable/Online series, completely segregating defense from aesthetic. It wouldn't really do much gameplay-wise, but when the only armor that matches your character flavorwise is Defrex Hide, and maybe Second Skin... I say it'd be pretty nice.
A bit of a niche interaction. Shillelagh is druid only, Arcane Strike requires Arcane casting ability. If you're a multiclass wizard/druid or something, yeah, it works. It also works for a Voice of the Wild Bard, which is arcane, but can take spells from either the Druid or Ranger spell list every few levels! Funnily enough, VotW can actually make for a better fire dancer than the actual Flame Dancer archetype, given how Druids get access to a bunch of fire spells, like say Produce Flame or Flame Strike! Not to mention Blessing of the Salamander!
To answer your second question, PDFs ARE an option, but my phone doesn't have room for them, and I don't have a laptop that works at the moment. That pretty much means I have to get the books in my current situation. That then leads to the issue of having to scour my local bookstores for copies (in which I've never seen Bastards of Golarion (Fiery Glare) or Elemental Master's Handbook (Flamesinger) available for purchase. Weapon Master's Handbook WAS for a while, but then they sold out before I could get my hands on it.). And of course, I don't have the disposable income at the moment to go for either option anyway. My one saving grace however... If I can somehow get an external storage device for my phone, then maybe I can download the things there when I get the funds. I actually prefer physical copies, but PDFs are the most realistic and cost effective option. But basically, I'm pretty much out of luck at the moment.
Interesting! I actually have a very similar idea! An Ifrit Flame Dancer/Flamesinger Bard who wields a flaming Quarterstaff in battle! Given how double weapons work, it's practically the same idea! Now granted, I haven't gotten much of an opportunity to play him, but I can tell you what I've done! First level, I of course took Two Weapon Fighting. With 14 Str and the reduced penalties, canceling each other out, I have a pretty decent chance to land at least one attack. Then Flamesinger comes in, adding 1d4 fire damage to each attack, which I think is mighty respectable with multiple attacks. Later on, I then take Arcane Strike for even more damage and bypassing DR. Power Attack could also prove useful, once BAB gets high enough. Finally, of course, then I take the other Two-Weapon Fighting feats when I can. If you want, a dip or two into fighter might help if you wanna get them sooner. Also, for my character, spellcasting mostly takes a backseat, but I can still take a hand off my weapon and cast spells like allegro and haste to get another attack in, and any form of attack buffing spell pretty much counts double. That's my two cents on the matter. I wish you the best of luck!
Ooh, I like this! Now, what I'm about to share is a bit of a combo between guidelines, process, and trends in my character development, but it should still do the trick! 1: Come up with an interesting concept I'd like to play. I really like playing against type, so that's often a springboard for character creation. Like a swift and smart barbarian, for instance. Sometimes, I'll even think about stat and feat combinations to pull off first, then start from there (for instance, a way to make a kitsune's bite uber powerful ASAP). 2: Simplicity is king. I hate micromanagement, so I usually don't go for classes that rely limited resources. This usually means martial classes or only partial casters. Secondly, if I do play a caster in some capacity, NEVER a prepared caster. I played a Magus once, and keeping track of everything was NIGHTMARISH. Even though I was pretty much a total noob at the time, I never wanna go through that again. 3: Damage output. Plain and simple, I LOVE combat. It doesn't mean I don't enjoy the role playing (which I also really love) or adventuring aspects, but combat ability is always my primary focus. 4: Functionality. I gain great pleasure in optimization, especially since I'm often optimizing unusual character concepts. And thanks to some ideas, it does usually lend itself to versatility, like the aforementioned smart-barian, who has 3 important Knowledge skills (albeit, not all class skills) and a couple of Dex-based ones, Acrobatics and Stealth. It's also fun making a charismatic fighter whose dump stat is Constitution. XD 5: Finally, rich backstory. If this box isn't ticked, then I'll not play the character until it is. Sometimes the journey is different, sometimes building the backstory around the mechanics, others the mechanics around the backstory, but the perfect synthesis between character and ability is what I always strive for as an aspiring writer and avid gamer. If it doesn't have at least 2-3 paragraphs worth of background, there's more that needs to be done. And that's pretty much all I can think of at the moment! Hope you enjoyed!
First off, I LOVE playing against type. An agile and intelligent Barbarian, a frail finesse fighter, and a Bard specializing in melee combat come to mind. Secondly, NEVER Lawful, due my own personal disdain for strict authority and formality. Finally, they're young characters who place great value in their friends. Other commonalities are being male, of a primal/tribal aesthetic, glass cannon playstyle, and focus on melee combat, though I have broken these with a couple concepts, namely a tanky female Bloodrager and son-of-a-succubus Tiefling Sorcerer. Playing against my OWN type can be fun too. XD I have run the gamut of personalities though, ranging from hyper energetic to socially timid, from undying optimism to deep cynicism.
Well, there IS that thing called Second Skin. If someone's wearing that, they may as well be naked.
I may not have won the contest, but I'll gladly take giving someone creative inspiration! Glad I could help! I also wanna say thanks for holding this contest in the first place! This whole thread has become a repository of creativity that's a heckin' ton of fun to read and may very well being a wellspring of inspiration for many more people to come! For that, you have my gratitude. You keep doing you! ...And all your other alter egos too. EDIT: I've also done my research on Play-by-Post, and dang does it seem like a lot of fun! I'm not sure if I currently have the time to do a campaign, but I'll definitely be looking into it! Felix's original form may yet see the light of day! (I mentioned this in a previous topic of mine, but as a contingency, I made a human version of him in the event I didn't win, and that iteration is one I'm currently playing in Society. I'm writing it off as his elven DNA not being as strong.) It may also give me a chance to some of the Pathfinder characters I've built solely through online resources that would take WAY too many boons and source books to actually play in Society! TL;DR: I'll probably be doing PbP sometime down the road. Keep an eye out for any half-elf spearman or efreeti fire dancers!
Thanks for all the feedback, everyone! I dunno if I can download it onto my phone, but I'll see what I can do. I've also just submitted my entry for the contest, so here's hoping!
Thanks for telling me about this contest! Given my noob status, I don't really know how boons work, but if it'll let me play my Themeless Half-Elf Soldier, I'll definitely take a crack at it! Good thing I LOVE making backstories! So without further adieu, here he is! Who is your character?
"Wanna get ta know me, huh? Alrighty then! The name's Felix, and if you need someone to spear things in the face, I'm your guy! Kinda comes with the territory if wanna survive in the desert on your own. That, and knowing how to steal food without some 4-armed dude getting his hands on you. Saw that happen to a guy I knew once. ...I don't know him anymore. AAAANYWAY! Stabbing and running. I'm pretty good at that stuff, but that's not all I do! I've ran a few odd jobs here and there too! ...And BOY did that get boring fast! I mean, sure, it paid well enough, but still... I want something more! Action! Adventure! Seeing something other than a bunch of sand dunes for once in my life! I'm not really good with time, or other smartypants stuff like that, but I've wanted that for like, ever! ...But no dice. Then one day, I was sleeping under my usual rock, as ya do, and woke up to this SUPER loud noise! Like, louder than my stomach after not eating for a week. I got up and saw that it was this HUGE spaceship! Flashing lights, fancy logo, the works! So naturally, once the guys flying it left the thing, I just HAD to check it out. And to make a long story short, they turned out to be these people called Starfinders, and they THANKFULLY didn't chuck me out the air lock when they found me. I don't know much about them, but I'd say they're pretty cool. If they're as adventure-y as they say they are, I think I'm gonna have a ton of fun working with 'em! Oh! And one last thing! Did I mention that I LOVE cats?! THEY'RE SO AWESOME! That soft fur, that "can't-tell-me-what-to-do" attitude... I heard about these things called augmentations this one time. Think there's a way I could get some ears and tail?" Why do you want to play this character?
Win or lose, I hope you've enjoyed my entry! EDIT: I still can't think of a matching theme song, but I'll post one later if I can think of one. Also, what's Play-By-Post?
Well, it's not a TV show, but thinking to the Phantasy Star Portable/Online series has given me inspiration! I mean, all the stuff is right there! Sci-fi flavored fantasy races, futuristic melee and ranged weaponry, a core star system... Heck, the concept of Shield Weaves (Photon-based armors that are virtually invisible to allow for complete cosmetic freedom) are what I head-canon Second Skin to be! Because nothing says a good time quite like slaying a dragon in your swim trunks! |
