I too am so happy to be chosen! I'll age Samantha up.
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I think I will! Once I have skill feats to spend.
I'll go with Cursed. Thank you for thinking this through with me!
Root Worker is a perfect fit for her training and upbringing. I like Cursed for two reasons. First, there is a lot of rich thematic resonance between being blessed by the gods and cursed by them. From a mortal perspective positive and negative divine attention can look a lot alike. I really like that this background presages her becoming an Oracle. (I will totally admit that when I was thinking of the curse of Cursed I was thinking about her eventual Oracle curse. That being said, if Cursed augmented (read worsened) or was somehow thematically related to her oracle curse, that would be kinda cool (for me, obviously not for Samantha).) Another issue that's floating in my mind here is nature versus nurture. I want her background to reflect the nascent origins of her magic as justification. Would this nature be eclipsed by nurture if I went Root Worker? I'm mostly thinking aloud, but if you have any thoughts feel free to share them. If you don't, I'll probably settle on Root Worker because it fits really well and would create less work for you.
Oh! I saw that restriction; I should have read the other submissions first. I think Cursed or Root Worker could also fit with her story. Do you prefer either of those for her?
Initial Backstory:
There was a summer storm the night Samantha Willow was born to Rachel Willow and her husband, Ash Willow. It was a fierce storm; it uprooted several trees. But storms can happen any day, even fierce ones. Ash never attached much significance to the storm until a few years later when Samantha began having nightmares of storms roiling across the sky.
The youngest of seven children -- Apple, Elisa, Rowan, Thad, Oak, and Marissa -- Samantha has never known for a want of love. The Willow home is a happy, prosperous home. While some might think that wetlands make for poor farming, Ash cultivates rice and mulberries. It is said in Swampwood that Rachel can charm fish into her hands from the streams and little rivers of these woods. Neither Rachel nor Ash wanted to admit that there was something odd about their youngest. Sure, she seems to react to distant thunder before others could hear it. Sure, she suffers from terrible nightmares, but all children have bad dreams sometimes. Samantha's dreams grew worse and worse as she grew from a toddler to a small child. They grew so bad that eventually Rachel and Ash sought help. The local priest of Indara didn't know how to help the child. Physically, there was nothing wrong with Samantha, and the priest could discern no evidence of trauma. It was Old Mother Dima who had taken one look at Samantha and told her parents that their baby girl was "touched by the gods." Old Mother Dima carved a mandrake root and had Rachel place it under Samantha's pillow and told her to send the girl to her in the afternoons to "do chores and such." Samantha no longer remembers her dreams anymore (as long as there is a mandrake root beneath her pillow), not even fear of the Piper troubled her sleep. For the last six years, she has helped Old Mother Dimas prepare simples and care for the broken and abandoned things around the village such as Jonah who was kicked in the head by a traveller's horse a few years back. Jonah is sweet and gentle, despite being addled. Samantha has grown to love the older boy as if he were one of her own siblings. Though Samantha didn't realize it at first, Old Mother Dima is teaching her more than just simples. She taught Samantha stories of the gods and more local spirits. She taught Samantha to harness the dubious blessing that has been bestowed on her. Name: Samantha Willow
Questions: 1. Is there anything I should add to or alter about the backstory?
What are the religions practiced in this setting? Or more specifically, this town?
What sorts of things can one learn from Baba Yaga or Old Mage Jatembe?
In the playtest, Life Oracles were enervated by their curse healing people hurt them. I didn't like this because I've always like the idea that life oracles were very vital and vibrant. In the official version, is the Life Mystery curse still enervating?
Hag: Unknown, presumably here causing problems. See with See Invisibility Witch: The same. Basically there are bad guys that you have the potential to spot but we do not.
Oh! That's important!Apparently, the ley-line attunement is necessary for this ritual.
It should be neutralize poison. Truly, I am a visionary.
I wonder if the missing 4th level spell from the Unicorn Bloodline is Neutralize Poison since unicorns are kinda famous for that?
What about wildflower magic and other witchy things?
Where, if anywhere, can I find the racial stats for the anadi? They seem neat from the references in this book, and I would like to learn more.
I wonder how many of the Vudrani gods are focused on the different ways to achieve enlightenment and transcendence. If they have one that does so through emotional excess and hedonism then they will have their transcendence bases covered.
Thank you. This is excellent to hear. I'm just sad I have to wait two weeks now to buy it. :-)
What kind of roles do their respective priests and priestesses play?
I'm sold.
What do you feel comfortable telling us about Grandmother Spider?
I have these languages: Khazistani, Susrahnite, Lamurian, Taraamite, Yar-Ammonite, Elder Kuthan, Ptahaanan I need two more popular amongst sorcerers and ancient texts. What did the ancient serpent men speak? Suggestions?
Man I loved building that villain. A tank lifesteal wizard. Surprisingly viable. Had to pump her con to make up for that d6 hit die though. Well, she had insane fast healing. I think I'll stick with spectral hand and cowering. :-)
When I noticed that this type of sorcerer has Vampiric Touch, gaming with Talar who will always be Omen in my mind gave me an idea. :-) I'm looking forward to play this game with him too.
Deific Obedience is a feat. The basic idea is that you perform so action or set of actions and the god or demigod blesses you with some small measure of his or her sacred or profane gifts. As your HD increase further blessings are unlocked. With just the feat these are gated at high levels (12, 16, and 20). However, there are three related prestige classes Evangelist (for everybody else), Exalted (for Clerics), Sentinels (for martials) that allow earlier access to these more potent boons and change what boons are rewarded. There is another feat Diverse Obedience that lets you mix and match which boons one recieves from the three lines. If you go to the archive of Nethys site, under the deity section all the major gods and all the main fiendish demigods have their obediences and boons listed if you want to peak around. Well if there are nicer or at least less blood-thirsty beings out there, I would be open to discussing how one could be worked into Yeth-Kolsot's backstory. Otherwise, I'm working on some horrific narrative to justify this Xoth feat called Demonic Pact that I found on the internet. What better way to learn magic that be taught by a demon? :-p Demonic Pact [General] You have entered a pact with a demonic, extra-planar creature. Prerequisites: Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks, Taint 1+. Benefits: You have the benefit of a demonic master who teaches you sorcery. Whenever you advance a level in a class capable of spellcasting, you may select two spells (of any level you may cast) from the list of the spells that the demon teaches (as determined by the DM). Instead of learning a new spell, you may choose to ask the demon for a special favor: Either to provide information in response to a specific question (the DM determines what the demon knows), to guard a location or item for a specific interval of time, or to attack your enemies. In the two latter cases, the demon may choose to send one or more of its minions instead of performing the duty itself. You can also ask for additional favors at any time, but at the risk of gaining Taint and possibly angering the demon with your petty requests. By performing the special summoning ritual (described below), you may call up the demon and ask for a favor. Additionally, you must make a Will save (DC 10 + current Taint score + Hit Dice of demon) or gain 1 point of Taint. The source I found didn't describe the ritual and I'm not certain this is a complete version of the feat, but I'm intrigued.
Xoth.If it were the Pathfinder sorcerer I would be lobbying to draw my blood from the Goat with a Thousand Young. :-p Though the scorpion and poison angle will be diminished since Yeth-Kolsot will not be a Witch, but a Sorcerer. I'm currently considering how to build out his story. Dain GM, how do you feel about Deific Obediences? This wouldn't be an immediate concern but it could be an interesting way to represent drawing power from demons and gods. With the book of the damned and the various god books, it wouldn't be that difficult to mix and match or create our own for the appropriate outsiders. I like to plan ahead for character builds and goals.
I didn't mean to suggest that Dain was leading me to choose that ethnicity. I do feel he encouraged the priestess angle, but the ethnicity thing was kind of something else (just a random answer in a vast sea of questions.) I wasn't imagine Ia-Shala as a vixen or a temptress. I'm imagining her to be beautiful, yes, but more in a hallowed, numinous sense and less in a seduce you for secrets sense. Sex is for ritual and divine communion. (Though I was going to have her pick up Charm and Dominate.) Though I'm getting the sense that you would just prefer that I go with Yeth-Kolsot both from party purpose, flavor, and back story. This is a request that I'm more than happy to honor.
Also, I think the proper name for a grouping of four or more Yar-Ammonites is not 'family' but 'conspiracy'. :-p
Thank you for letting me know! I have no desire to diminish your sparkle and shine. (The extra +1 DC, skill points, and extra spells just aren't worth it to me.) Speaking of which do you think that the fertility priestess angle impinges too much on your schtick? I'm happy to go with the poisoner guy instead. I had the feeling that Dain GM preferred the Belet-Lil angle, but I also believe that he places a higher priority on party unity. :-)
Honestly, I'm not entirely set on her ethnicity. The Race that would get her the most bang for her buck in terms of ability scores is Yar-Ammonite. That +2 Int is hard to pass up for an Int based caster, and there are a sizable minority of that people in Zul-Bazzir. I was leaning towards Susrahnite earlier because Belet-Lil is a primary goddess of that people, but Dain GM informed me that ethnicity is not destiny when it comes to religious worship in Xoth. At the moment, I'm a willow in the wind when it comes to that choice. I feel like knowing more of the city and the temple could help here. RE: Pregnancy Thanks! That detect pregnancy and herbal remedies is rather helpful. Which reminds me that I should ask whether I can pick up Diagnose Disease. Nobody wants syphilis in a low magic world. One of the tropes of sword and sorcery are the scantily clad nubile priestesses. Are there any feats for Xoth that help with AC when going unarmored? (That Temptress ability is fire.) Running around in silken robes is all fun and games until somebody stabs you repeatedly.
Hello! I'm bringing the discussion I was having in recruitment over here. Re: which character: Honestly, I think I could be happy with either. I'm glad you like Yeth-Kolsot, Tairin; I found him intriguing as well. The more I talk with Dain GM the more inspiration I have for Ia-Shala. The easy thing about writing Yeth-Kolsot's backstory is that Lamra is far away and can be referenced in a vague way. Since the city that party is currently near has a temple of Belet-Lil, I feel like she could be woven into the story in a tighter and more specific way. I have some questions about the city. What is its recent history? What stories and events from the past inform the imaginary of its citizens? What is its economic relation to the surrounding region? Regarding the cult of Belet-Lil: Since they practice sacred prostitution, do they have medical or magical forms of birth control? I noticed the Fertility Charm spell; do they have a reverse of that to prevent pregnancy? Or are the children of such sacred unions seen as gifts from the goddess? Edit: Are there old languages commonly used in magical writings, like how draconic is in Golarion?
Hi, Ariarh Kane! That campaign ended both strangely and abruptly. I'm looking forward to play with you again. :-) I've been thinking through two ideas. The Cultist of Belet-Lil: Ia-Shala Thanks for the advice, Tairin, I will definitely go with Susrahnite I must admit I'm having great difficulty building the character, since the class abilities listed for Belet-Lil's Cult don't seem to work without access to cure spells. (I worry that Dain will think I'm a broken record. haha) And, the spell list for Oracle/Cleric in general seems a bad thematic fit for swords and sorcery. So, I'm taking a step back from the mechanical portions of character building to focus on what's more important: character. The kernel of my idea for the Cultist is that she was sold to the temple as a child and raised to be an initiate (Yes, I am cribbing notes from Melisandre's backstory.) She has lived a happy enough life learning the mysteries of Belet-Lil and worshiping her goddess by her divine love to the citizens of the city as temple prostitute. Recently, she caught the eye of someone powerful and unsavory. Someone her superiors in the temple neither like nor trust. He is too powerful to openly oppose so rather than giving Ia-Shala to him, they are sending her out of the city in secret. Do any of you guys have recommendations on this unsavory, powerful person could be? The other idea that I have been developing is an outgrowth of my idea of a Lamuran Sorcerer. Originally, I was thinking of doing a bad-touch character, but one of things I found interesting about the magic of sword and sorcery worlds are the characters who work their magic through poisons and powders. Since the party has a character who is a potent debuffer, I thought the Veneficus Witch could be mechanically a good way to represent that and take advantage of a Bouda inflicting penalties to saves. Yeth-Kolsot, the Bane Speaker Lamra is not a place safe for the weak or the powerless. In this fell city, there is much to fear: the smooth-pated sorcerers, the priestesses of Nhakhramat, and the priests of Yader. Yet far more terrible than any of these dark magi are the dread rulers of Lamra -- the priests of Yot-Kamoth. Yeth-Kolsot served one of the rulers of Lamra by grinding his powders and brewing his potions. This was all he knew of life for many years. All children must issue from some parents, but Yeth-Kolsot does not remember his. For all he knew the priest, Ptoskur, whose meals he fetched and whose rooms he kept clean was both his father and his mother. When Ptoskur discovered that Yeth-Kolsot possesses a cunning mind and quick fingers, he taught the boy enough to do more dangerous work. One does not live to be an old sorcerer inhaling vile powders and preparing curdling reagents. The boy can does this work. If he died? Well, it isn't like Lamra has a shortage of orphaned children. Such a fate might have been Yeth-Kolsot's. Three years ago, he was milking the venom from a strange jet and emerald scorpion. It twisted in his hands and stung his wrist. Rather than kill the boy, the venom woke something within him as it coursed like fire through his veins. He feels a strange kinship with the scorpion who stung him and it whispers eldritch secrets in his mind. Under the scorpion's tutelage, he began to understand how the parts of the labor he performed for Ptoskur combined to a greater whole. This powder mixed with this powder could blind a man. This root boiled in a tincture of spider venom would heal a man instead of harm him. Yeth-Kolsot even learned to read incantations from the scrolls and tablets that Ptoskur studied as the venom awakened his mind from the slumber of ignorance. Ptoskur did not worry that the illiterate boy he had grinding poison powders was secretly learning his secrets. The priest regretted his carelessness when he caught Yeth-Kolsot attempting to puzzle meaning from the fragments of a shattered tablet brought to the temple of Yot-Kamoth by demon wings. Ptoskur would have killed his erstwhile helper if, Yeth-Kolsot hadn't lulled him into a poisoned fugue before slitting his throat. Yeth-Kolsot fled the temple and Lamra that night taking with him all the poisons and powders he could carry. He also brought with him the fragmented tablet that led to his master's demise and, of course, the jet and emerald scorpion that started all of this. For the last year, Yeth-Kolsot has been on the run. Whether he is pursued by his own shadow or something far more dangerous he is unsure. He has taken to shaving his head as people expect sorcerers of Lamra to do. He sells cures and poisons alike. Yeth-Kolsot believes that he knows the true shape of the world, that the weak bend to the strong or are made to bend. He hopes to master the eldritch secrets for which he has killed and stolen, before he is made to bend or break. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Which of these two should I develop more?
5. Do Ethnicities determine religion? Could one worship the nameless fire god and not be Zadjites? That bonus feat for long spears that Azimban is nice. I've always thought that spears were a good fit for fire worshipers. 6. What is the Eyes of the Cat feat that Lamurans receive? Currently, I'm thinking of three potential characters: 1. A Cultist of Belet-Lil depending on what you think of their Secrets and getting cure spells. Either a Susrahnite or a Mazanian, since both seem to be known for their beauty. Is there a thriving slave trade? Could one be sold to a temple to be raised as a priestess? On a rules related question, depending one their secrets would it be possible to change or add to their list from the Lunar Mystery since that goddess is moon-aspected? 2. An Azimban fire cultist with a metal spear. 3. Either a Nabastissean or a Lamuran sorcerer depending on how that class works. Sorry for the deluge of questions.
4. How is being multi-ethnic handled? Is that possible?
Awesome! I have a ton of questions: 1. I was asking about the Cultist Class. It seems a bit confusing to me that the Cultist of Belet-Lil can learn Secrets like: Combat Healer, Enhanced Cures, Safe Curing, and Spirit Boost without access to the Cure line of spells. I then thought perhaps healing was something unique to that cult, since over half of the Secrets they could learn wouldn't actually work in Xoth. If they do, I'm very drawn to that goddess because I love lunar deities. 2. My other Cultist idea was for a flame priest. When faced with abominations sometimes purify fire can be a good thing. 3. I saw that there was a variant of sorcerer available? What are the details on that? I saw a Shub-Niggurath (Sorcerer Bloodline) in Sandy Peterson Cthulhu Mythos that might be a decent fit for power left better unmeddled with. The only problem there is that they have minor healing abilities and a yin for transformative magic which might be a problem. I can provide the bloodline via PM if you are interested. I'm also open to Occultist if Cultist and Sorcerer aren't a good fit.
I just saw this thread. It looks really cool! I'm all for magic feeling magical. Is it still possible to submit a character? I understand that this is a low magic world, is the cultist class an appropriate choice? If it is, does that mean that the cultist of Belet-lil can heal since their secrets are around that? If one could be a cultist, which cults are open? On a slightly different vein, in a previous post you mention that classes from Advanced Players are open. Does that mean one could play a Summoner meddle with forces best left unmeddled with?
What can you tell us about the culture of Daggor? What sort of people live there? Whom do they worship? (Could a cleric choose any god?) If one grew up nearby, what sort of local history and legends be common knowledge?
I'm very impressed by what the witches are getting here from your guy's descriptions.
What do witches get in terms of hexes or archetypes? Thank you.
I love the Sylvan Trickster archetype. Can someone in the know -- a contributor, editor, designer -- let us know if the Rogue can count her Rogue levels as witch levels while using her Hexes? Please? I'm assuming that you can, but it doesn't exactly specify.
What are the hexes? Did the witch get a new archetype? If so, what is it like?
Did you say there are antipaladins? What do they do? Are there any shaman options? Any cool rituals?
Do the witch patrons use the specific patron mechanic developed in Blood of the Coven? What are the general gists of the witch archetypes? What are the new patrons?
"I have wrapped my tree friend in silken garlands to protect him from the violence of men."
Thanks! Do they use the specific patron system that they developed in Blood of the Coven at all?
May I inquire about the witch archetypes? Are there new hexes?
What do witches get?
I think it's safe to read he or she as the default gender without presuming it genders anyone in particular.
Yep. I definitely was not saying otherwise.
Ah. So there are a couple of new patrons in the book. Rot, for example, would not be appropriate for a Winter Witch. There are also new specific patrons, like Fey Gifts, which represent potent fey creatures that bargain with people for witchcraft. These specific patrons modify the spell lists of a sub-set of Patrons like "ancestors, deception, enchantment, endurance, moon, occult, portents, stars, transformation, trickery, water, winter, or wisdom" to better represent the nature of magical bargains with powerful fey. They also grant a particular hex and a corresponding bane. In my example of Fey Gifts, Winter is one of the Patrons you can choose. So if you chose it you get the spells granted by Winter modified by its fey origins. You also sign up for the fey f&!+ing with you for its own amusement because that is how they roll. So while you could be a Winter Witch and use the new specific patron system as long as the base Patron was appropriate, the new Patrons, like Rot, are not added to the list of acceptable Winter Witch options. Does that clarify things?
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