Hey guys, I'm the author of the NPC Index line of books.
It's a large repository of pre-made statblocks of class-based enemies that you can drop into your games. We've covered Warriors (Fighter, Barbarian, Champion, Ranger) and Spellcasters (Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer and Wizard) so far and each book has 112 statblocks ready to go across levels 1 - 20.
They are built and balanced using the rules to build NPCs in the Gamemastery Guide and include a modular system of special abilities and curated spell lists for you to swap in and out if you don't want to use the statblocks exactly as they are.
Simplified ancestry templates means you can take the statblock and quickly make it a dwarf, elf, android, tengu (30 ancestry templates) so the creature your players face is distinct and memorable.
They also have Foundry support, so you can literally just drop them from the repository into your games if you use that VTT.
NPC Index: Specialists is in the works which will finish off the core classes and then we'll look at whether there's appetite for the rest of the released classes.
He is a very reluctant superhero. He's a casual heroin user, foul-mouthed Scottish guy living and working illegally in NY. He was raised in a remote commune on a Scottish island where he and others were being groomed to undertake a ritual to become the physical embodiment of Gaia, and bring about an area on earth that was a literal Eden. Through a series of events the authorities came to know about this and the commune was disbanded, people arrested for abuse and the children put into foster care. He bounced around that system for a long time. Whether there was any truth to what they were doing there, or if they were just religious nuts, he doesn't know.
But as a result of his teachings and the rituals he undertook he has been able to tap into the spiritual and primal energies of everything around him and manipulate that energy to cause physical and mental effects. Which he used exclusively to travel and score drugs.
Eventually he found out that some of the leaders of the commune escaped prosecution and were looking for him so he decided to disappear, travelling to every corner of the world with just a few meagre belongings. Eventually he ended up in NY and has taken a job as a janitor in a hospital. There he often works the night shift and when it is very quiet he sits and talks with the patients, especially in the emergency room and oncology. He either uses his powers to heal them and make them better or to ease their long suffering painlessly using other powers (especially old patients in oncology or with dementia or whatever, he is doing it out of kindness). He's rough, angry, bratty and argumentative but he has a heart of gold and is looking for some meaning to his life.
Because the patients in the hospital that he helps pass in the night without seemingly any cause, or miraculously their conditions improve, there is a superstition around the hospital. They don't know if it is an actual person intervening, or just pure fortune, but they call the phenomena Midnight Mercy. That's the name I'm going to take.
All over this. Will present a character in the next few days hopefully. It should be really fun to play around with these themes and reskinning abilities for 2e.
I can't squeeze it in until later levels. Niko is going to be an all-rounder but not excellent at any one thing, I hope that doesn't hamper him or leave him without a niche in the groups.
Ok, throwing my hat in the ring with my blind occultist, Nikolos Eisley.
Having been held in suspended animation during the crashlanding of the Divinity, Niko knows little of Golarion and was awoken by back-up systems kicking in. He was awake only long enough to stumble outside and see the bombs fall - an event that took his sight.
Now he is mastering his racial psychic powers to 'see' the history of objects he finds in the wilderness and is drawn by an aura that rises like mist on the horizon - from Prevail itself.
Stats:
Nikolos Eisley
Male lashunta occultist 1 (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Bestiary 25, Pathfinder RPG Occult Adventures 46)
CG Medium humanoid (lashunta)
Init +1; Senses Perception +3
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+5 armor, +1 Dex, +2 shield)
hp 11 (1d8+3)
Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee longsword +3 (1d8+3/19-20) or
warhammer +3 (1d8+3/×3)
Ranged sling +1 (1d4+3)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +0)
At will—daze (DC 9), mage hand
1/day—detect thoughts (DC 11)
Implement Schools (6 generic focus)
Abjuration (Amulet, 0 points) Resonant—warding talisman; Focus—aegis +1, mind barrier
Transmutation (Sword, 0 points) Resonant—physical enhancement (strength); Focus—legacy weapon
Occultist Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +4)
1st (2/day)—alarm, lead blades[APG]
0 (at will)—mending, resistance
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 8
Base Atk +0; CMB +3; CMD 14
Feats Extra Mental Focus[OA]
Skills Acrobatics -5 (-9 to jump), Craft (glass) +5, Disable Device -3, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +7, Knowledge (engineering) +7, Knowledge (nature) +7, Knowledge (religion) +9, Perception +3, Spellcraft +7, Use Magic Device +3; Racial Modifiers +2 Knowledge (religion)
Languages Custom Language, Dwarven, Elven, Lashunta, Undercommon; limited telepathy
SQ implements 2, mental focus (6/day)
Other Gear scale mail, heavy steel shield, longsword, sling, warhammer, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, flint and steel, occultist's implement[OA], occultist's implement[OA], trail rations (5), waterskin, 16 gp, 3 sp
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Special Abilities
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Abjuration (Amulet) Abjuration implements are objects associated with protection and wards.
Implements: Amulet, armor, bell, bracers, brooch, cloak, holy symbol, shield.
Aegis +1 (Su) 1 focus: Grant armor or shield enh. bonus and special ability.
Implements (Su) Gain a series of items which grant access to schools and powers.
Legacy Weapon +1 (Su) 1 focus: weapon touched gains enhancement bonus plus a special ability.
Limited Telepathy (30 feet) (Su) A lashunta is able to mentally communicate with any creature within 30 feet with whom she shares a language. Otherwise this ability is identical to the telepathy ability.
Mental Focus (6/day) (Su) You have a pool of points that activate your focus powers.
Mind Barrier (-2 damage) (Sp) 1 focus, swift action: Reduce next damage taken before next turn. 2 for Imm.
Physical Enhancement (Strength) (Su) Implement grants bearer enhancement to one physical attribute.
Transmutation (Sword) Transmutation implements can alter the properties of both objects and creatures.
Niko is going to be pretty versatile. He has 6th level casting and a good selection of skills. However he will primarily be a front line combatant.
Appearance:
He is rugged and rough. He stands at just over five feet tall but like all male lashuntas he is broad and thickly muscled. His eyes are a ruin, something he hides beneath a scrap of cloth not due to his own discomfort but because he sense the change seeing his disfigured face has in people's auras. He has greying hair, a scraggly beard (think Geralt of Rivia) but his rough demeanour belies an intelligence and thirst for knowledge and beauty that all his people harbour.
Any questions, please let me know. I didn't know whether to create an actual profile for this character if we are playing on discord
Backstory:
"I am alone in a darkness you cannot fathom. But I am on your world - one that I cannot comprehend. Perhaps we are as blind as eachother, in a way." the rugged man said. He stands just over five feet tall but his shoulders are broad and fill his armour as though he were poured into it. He wears his greying hair pulled back into a neat braid but just where the crown meets the forehead, a pair of antennae jut out, twitching constantly like the whiskers of a cat.
The younger man, sitting across the fire, was half-elf most likely, Niko had some trouble seeing his aura. It had been a long time since he had been so reliant on the senses that granted him more than sight. And he had cursed himself for becoming so complacent over the years. Still, the steel of a good sword remains strong, it only needs honing to once again carry an edge. And so it is with his abilities. He takes some comfort in that, the only comfort he can find in this wretched wasteland.
"You're... you-you're from another planet?" the boy asked nervously.
Niko nods and smiles wanly. "Yes. I come from a place called the Green. A beautiful world of jungle and steam. But a day came where a great ship descended on my city. But the ocean it navigated was the night and in place of it's sails there were pits of fire that propelled it into the sky."
"Creatures came the likes of which we had never seen. My brothers and I knew of the so called 'elf gates' of course - portals that linked our world to others. We knew we were not alone. But none had seen anything like this."
"They came with weapons we could not defend against that spat fire and lightning and our defences were ravaged in less than an hour. Hundreds of us were rounded up like cattle and marched into the silver tyrant."
"My life was over then, as it was at least. There is a resonance to all things, did you know that? A power that dwells in memory and flesh and earth alike. My people have long been able to harness it, to a greater or lesser degree. But aboard that ship, when I reached out, I felt nothing but a cold, dead intelligence. Even as we hurtled into the vastness of of the stars, it was the thing that frightened me most."
He smiles then, perhaps surprisingly given the story he is telling and the boy waits patiently for more. Niko pokes at the fire and enjoys the burst of heat on his skin. He can no longer see, but with each passing moment he feels his dormant senses reawakening - much as he himself had.
"But by the grace of Shelyn, aboard that ship I saw beauty too. From a window that looked out into perpetual night. I saw shooting stars streak past us, the fire that birthed them like liquid. I saw beams of light glitter off the shoulder of Ardacondis - that constellation, there..." he points without seeing and the boy cranes his neck to the shape of the great warrior wrestling the Kraken who would destroy all of creation. "Yes, boy. There are other worlds than this. Now get some sleep, I will take first watch and will wake you in four hours and you can watch over the rest of them." a half dozen other shapes were bundled in threadbare blankets in the darkness.
Time drew out like a blade. In the days and weeks and months since he had awoken Nikolos had often wondered if he had been killed on that silver ship and now languished in one of the upper circles of Hell. For no world could be like this.
He awoke in a tube of metal and glass, wires in his skin and some foul liquid in his mouth - like lamp oil. He retched it up and screamed and kicked the glass until it shattered. Half dazed, barely able to walk and his mind full of mist, he stumbled through metal corridors lit with flickering light. Niko didn't remember much of that, save for the fear that crawled up from somewhere deep inside him and settled on his back like a weight. Every now and then he would get a flash of resonance, a memory, a feeling, anger, pain, joy, hate, love and yet more fear.
When his entropied legs would allow it he ran. He ran until his bare feet were bleeding and when he finally came to a great rent in the metal wall of his nightmarish prison he stumbled out into a rocky field and fell to his knees. As he raised his head and took his first glance at this world, and the last vision of his lifetime, he saw a flash on the horizon that burst up like a cloud. There was a tremendous rush of heat and dust and wind and the violence of it all tore skin from his body and liquified his eyes.
And when it passed he was alone in the greatest agony of his life. Blind, half-naked, disoriented - a man not of this world and a world now turned to ash. If this were not Hell then what other horrors could await in the Abyss?
In those first days he could barely function at all and spent hours just trying to find the crack he had emerged from some 10 feet away. But once inside he forced his mind to quiet and forced his pain to subside. He tried to remember all the Old Ways. The lessons he had been taught as a boy - to feel the resonance of all things, to see without seeing. And over the course of days, he did begin to see. Colours and memories and intangible snatches of energy that formed into shapes he couldn't describe.
He searched and found fetid water. He continued and found a sword, shield and armour from a place he couldn't know but somewhere he knew the owner was a man like him - taken from his world. Niko began to adapt, slowly, but surely.
Months had passed now and though he knew there was still much for him to do, he had begun sharpening his mind as a smith would sharpen steel. He saw colours everywhere now, mostly dull and lifeless and allowed the smell of this place to permeate him - especially that of the roamers who were all that were left of whatever disaster befell this planet. But occasionally he would see blues and yellows such as with this boy. And similarly he would comes across a shoe or broach or piece of pottery and know about the former owner, their hopes and fears - now unrealised. He continued to learn and to adapt. Niko was still alive and life will always find a way.
Something was drawing him. When he allowed his mind's eye to glance to the horizon he saw a flare of colour there. Greens and reds and blues and yellows. It was small, like the spark of a fire about to take hold. But it was there.
Nikolos was not leading this small band. But he was doing what he could to protect them and he knew that if they just reached that flare of colour then perhaps, just perhaps there would be a spark that could light the fire that will reforge this world anew.
"Where there is life there is beauty. Where there is beauty there is hope. And while there is hope there is possibility... that I might one day find my way home." he says to himself, watching those hues dance on the horizon.
Yes! That works really well. Perhaps even to the point where the arcane caster becomes some kind of surrogate father figure? Through that I can see my character developing beyond just wanting to write this book which would have pleased his real father, and making some dark pacts with Outer Gods to please his surrogate father.
This is all coming together in my mind as a Wizard with the Exploiter and Pact Wizard archetypes. They can be a powerful combination but I won't look to cheese it - it's just the flavour is really nice in combination with this proposed backstory. Taking every cheat and exploit just to get that attention and approval he craves and leading him down a dark road. I mean even the strange appearance works as later on the Pact Wizard has to take an oracle curse. If I go for something physical, that ties in even better.
Mort, I've been thinking and I really am wed to this idea of my character not being a good person before this whole episode. He made conscious choices, wasn't caught in a difficult position and was utterly selfish. The events of this AP (I don't know how much people know about it) will afford him the opportunity to reboot and reconsider what he has done with his life.
Diverging from my original idea, I am now looking at a young man with some pretty severe sociological problems. He has been segregated, bullied and marginalised his whole life and has become desperate to leave a mark on the world - legacy. He desperately wants approval and this is the only thing he knows how to do to gain it.
He absorbs knowledge and information like a sponge but struggles with social interaction and probably already has some borderline anxiety disorder or mania (think Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind).
His ambition is to write the seminal work on insert monster category - possibly undead if that is appropriate here. The different types, ecologies, hunting behaviour, habits and so on. In order to do that he gains a scholarship at the University of Lepistadt in Ustalav where things literally go bump in the night. That gives him the opportunity to observe creatures much more directly and leads him to doing some pretty dark things like capturing and dissecting small animals to study anatomy, or feeding those animals to the monsters he is studying for more observation and ultimately grave robbing (which could tie into a side story from Carrion Crown that would give this an extra layer but is not essential)
But none of that is enough. He eventually makes contact with the powerful arcane caster and pleads to apprentice himself to that caster. Not only to increase his own power and knowledge generally, but most especially because he could gain access to a wider variety or more eclectic and powerful monsters to fill out the chapters of his book - The Encyclopaedia Horrifica as he has grandly named it
Feedback very welcome and I can continue to flesh out as you see fit.
So we have a paladin, bloodrager/investigator, cleric and a fighter/spiritualist. I will try to round that off with a battlefield controller wizard focussing on giving us advantageous battlefield position, versatility and the classic arcane buffs.
After receiving JamZilla's PM (thank you for that), I would like to play in the game, if you'll still have me.
Happy and relieved to see you back. I am certain we're going to pull together as a functional team to overcome whatever horrors Mort throws at us and create characters that will tell an interesting story at the same time.
(Replied to you as well Ariarh - I find I have to say that because the UI of the new site really doesn't clue you in very well about the fact you have a new PM)
It was not my intention to be disrespectful in any way, I felt I only asked for input. Thats not at all the type of player I am and the backstory I have been discussing with Mort is completely class agnostic.
Given that Mort has specifically asked for us to be able to operate as a team, I think I've set us off on the wrong foot here, sorry about that. I'm going to PM Ariah.
Due to time difference, I was actually asleep when all this happened and could likely have explained if I was online at the time.
In any case I will get a character and frame of a background together today.
Having literally slept on it anyway, I'm going to be more useful to the team as a battlefield controller so again, apologies for needless discord.
Would you prefer a specialist debuffing witch or a more classic battlefield control wizard?
I've always been interested in this debuffer but never had the opportunity to try it out. It's effective but maybe a boring one trick pony later on and may not be useful to the party in the wider sense
For what it's worth, I really like the Tortured Crusader. It's a cool concept for a Paladin that's kind of seen too much and the weight of the world is pressing down on their shoulders. But they feel like they are the only ones who can bear that weight.
Hmm. Since we'll have a full arcane caster via JamZilla's wizard, I might drop my earlier witch idea and instead create a Changeling Cleric of Pharasma to give us a divine caster in game. What do you think, guys?
I'm much happier playing arcane than divine generally so I hope I haven't stepped on your toes. If you're happy with a cleric then I think that's a good idea in any AP, but I think a touch of the divine is going to be an especially great help when we're messing about with Great Old Ones.
Hi Mort, Edeldhur invited me too so very happy to be here.
However - full disclosure - I am going to GM this AP for my RL group beginning at the end of this month. As such, I have already read through it in it's entirety and become very familiar.
That being said, I am totally capable of separating player and character knowledge and am far more interested in telling an amazing collaborative story than gaining any mechanical advantage. But of course I would understand if you had reservations.
A little about me;
I'm a very experienced roleplayer having played D&D right from 1st edition and then through to 3.5 and eventually PF over the past 25 years.
I'm a huge fan of the pbp medium because I'm a roleplayer at heart and really enjoy the more in depth character and NPC interaction it affords.
I've run several successful games on these boards including an epic 5 year Carrion Crown with Edeldhur that we actually managed to finish - one of very few I'm aware of on these boards - so you know commitment wouldn't be an issue for me.
I'm in GMT, but always keen to keep the game moving quickly.
If you're willing to accept the fact I have prior knowledge then fantastic but if not, that's fine too and I wish you all a very scary successful game!
Hey guys, I'm just curious how often death occurs in your average adventure paths? I know some are obviously deadlier than others, some GMs go out of their way not to kill PCs (and some go the other way!), unlucky rolls can lead to deaths and so on.
But I'm just curious going into an adventure path how many actual PC deaths is considered average/usual?
Please don't give tips on how to make this harder for us :)
In the last session we annihilated the dragon.
We had already fought it once and it yielded when on low hit points. When we questioned it, it seemed compelled to silence. Sense Motive and detect magic confirmed that it was under some spell effect that meant it could not talk to us. We had one scroll of Break Enchantment but it failed.
My character really didn't want to kill it after it had surrendered so we left, looking for a means to break the compulsion.
Later, we ran into Ukwar. After a devastating fight where our monk died (again) and I took the drain I mentioned above, we determined she needed to be killed by a glass weapon or else turned into a gaseous form and floated off somewhere inaccessible to rejuvenate. Next we headed to the armory and clues indicated the dragon may have scoured it at some point.
We used our only 2 scrolls of teleport to get to Kaer Maga to resupply. No glass weapons available there so we decided to go back to the dragon and ask to search his horde. I also picked up a scroll of Dispel Evil to try that.
That scroll also failed and the dragon remained compelled to not cooperate. I asked to search the horde for glass weapons and said we don't want anything else from it, or to hurt the dragon, just to find a means to help free him.
As soon as I laid hands on the horde it attacked again and we were forced to kill it. This time the fighter didn't flee from the fear aura so a full attack from him, a hasted full attack of bombs from me and an immense crit from the Inquisitor laid it low and after 6 sessions we killed the first of the anchors although in a very bitter-sweet circumstance from my perspective. I can't think of anything else we could have done besides a (Limited) Wish or Miracle which we were nowhere near acquiring.
Now we have a glass weapon, info on where the rest of the anchors are but limited resources to deal with the rest of Scarwall and no means of travelling for resupply.
Not forbidden so much as impossible. We have no means of significantly rapid travel and we are nowhere near a city large enough to stock a wand of Restoration as an easily obtainable item.
The divine casters have already used their spells on us and apparently they cannot regain spells after resting in this place
From what I'm seeing we appear to be on Hard more and I'm ok with that for the most part. I think I'm just going to speak to the GM though and let him know this volume is actually breaking the immersion because far from being gritty, it's just a grind. I can see other players rapidly losing interest because it gets to a point that it just isn't that much fun to feel weak at level 14
Just curious how much trouble other groups had with Scarwall? For us, playing through the anniversary edition, it is probably the hardest dungeon I've played in many years.
Our composition is Inquisitor, alchemist, monk and archer fighter. The GM wanted a grittier feel for this campaign and so 9th level casters were off the table.
We're all experienced players but it feels like every single room wears us down a little more and the majority of them are life or death, frantic encounters. We have little in the way of restorative magic aside from what scrolls we could buy and our AC and saves just don't seem high enough to escape without serious debilitation and no reliable means to rest or resupply.
My alchemist is sitting on 6 strength drain, 6 con drain and 4 cha drain. The monk is carrying three negative levels and I don't think the others are in much better shape after six sessions in here.
Is it really meant to be this hard? How did you guys cope?
My understanding is that roll20 calculates line of sight of a token (character) based on things such as their vision and positioning relative to light sources.
That means when I click on my token I might be able to see the radius light around me because of my torch and a patch of light 100 feet up ahead where there is a lantern hanging on a wall.
My friend who is behind me and slightly around the corner would only see his light source, an arc of mine and nothing else (since the lantern is blocked by the wall).
Quick question about the feat tax options if I may.
Point blank shot is gone, but just to be clear does the +1 bonus to hit and damage within 30ft no longer exist at all or does it apply as a combat option?
I only ask because especially for 3/4 Base classes that +1 to hit is quite handy at low levels.
Also, I'm really interested in the Eldritch Archer archetype for Magus and later I'd like to use a firearm as part of the build but I have a couple of questions on that:
Ranged Weapon Bond:
At 1st level, an eldritch archer gains a bonded object as per the wizard’s arcane bonded object; it must be a ranged weapon, and it can’t be used to cast a spell once per day. Holding her bonded item does not prevent the eldritch archer from providing somatic components for her spells.
Wizard Bonded Object:
If a bonded object is damaged, it is restored to full hit points the next time the wizard prepares his spells. If the object of an arcane bond is lost or destroyed, it can be replaced after 1 week in a special ritual that costs 200 gp per wizard level plus the cost of the masterwork item. This ritual takes 8 hours to complete. Items replaced in this way do not possess any of the additional enchantments of the previous bonded item. A wizard can designate an existing magic item as his bonded item. This functions in the same way as replacing a lost or destroyed item except that the new magic item retains its abilities while gaining the benefits and drawbacks of becoming a bonded item.
GM - I can see changing the bond to a firearm when I acquire one would be a real problem. Assuming it could be around level 4, it would take a week and 1,800 gold pieces and both would probably be problematic.
Based on your earlier statement allowing people to swap out feats to make use of technology found later in the AP, how much leeway might I have on changing the arcane bond to a firearm or tech weapon later? If none, that's fine and I understand it's just something that I would have to plan ahead for.
Hmmmm I had been set on using a firearm but not necessarily as a gunslinger but I'm concerned that the lack of Quick Clear is going to be far too much of a burden.
Hey GM and prospective players, very interested in this!
I don't know about class yet but I have a very clear idea for a concept. I'm interested in playing a robot/android bounty hunter with the Robot Slayer campaign trait - very much taking Blade Runner as inspiration.
I'd like to make a joint submission with my buddy Ictoo if that's acceptable. The characters don't need to know eachother but we are botb experienced role players and are very reliable.
The Raven's Head glows with holy power even in this most dark of places and crushes the evil cenobite. Restored and furious, Davos annihilates the remaining enemy with a bolt of primal electricity.
Combat Over
Congratulations. You have finally reached Kendra and destroyed one of the Whispering Way's most ancient and powerful strongholds. YOU MAY ALL LEVEL UP!
The General turns on Sapphire and slices her badly across the shoulder. The attack is followed by a flurry of claws, bites and further sword slashes but fortunately Lucrezzia's bewitching sends the attacks wide of the mark.
Sapphire, one hit got through. Greyston, you hit also.
Cara's arrow finds it's mark and slams into the dark priest but that doesn't stop it moving forward.
Cara do you have Improved Precise Shot? If so you hit, if not, you missed.
The Priest raises it's bony hands and you see long tendrils of black energy begin to coalesce at the edge of the pit and flood toward it. Chanting in dark necril, it intones a prayer to the Whispering Tyrant and then unleashes a wave of negative energy that erupts outward and smashes into the heroes.
Sapphire follows Corum's lead and begins moving to a flanking position on the other side of the camp, hoping to catch the general in a pincer movement.
Round 1 - Enemy
Surrender? So that I can spend the rest of my days rotting in those ice prisons beneath Spurhorn? I'd rather die... or better still, just kill you!
She launches her muscular form forward and up, propelled on powerful wings toward the gathered heroes. Taking a deep breath she unleashes a blast of terrible cold that chills you to your bones.
Before your eyes the burns appear to be healing and as you push back one of her eyelids to check her response your breath catches in your throat. Her eyes have a similar purple sparkle to your own, a tell-tale sign of being touched by divinity, of being Aasimarian.
However, as you splash holy water on her wounds to clean them she utters a hiss and the flesh there shrinks back as if in protest. Something you have seen before in undead.
Something is very different about her and she is now something you have never encountered before, somehow combining traits of both divinity and undead.
Her eyes flicker but she remains unconscious (but stable).
