Perception +6
AC 15; Fort +4; Ref +5; Will +7; +1 vs. a spell you had Critical Success in identifying.
HP 15
Speed 25 feet
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Languages Mwangi, Elven, Taldane, Osiriani, Sylvan, Tien
Skills Academia Lore +7, Arcana +7, Crafting +7, Library Lore +7, Magaambya Lore +7, Medicine +5, Nature +5, Occultism +7, Religion +5
Str 10 (+0), Dex 14 (+2), Con 12 (+1), Int 18 (+4), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 10 (+0)
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Arcane Wizard Spells DC 17, attack +7; 1st mage armor, pocket library Cantrips (1st) detect magic, light, mage hand, prestidigitation, shield
Carried Items Cane (Bonded Item), belt pouch, belt pouch, fine clothing, material component pouch, On the Source of Magic (spellbook), satchel, writing set, familiar, waterskin, purse (6 gp; 2 sp)
~Ancestry Feats~ Arcane Tattoos (electric arc)(Ancestry 1): You have tattoos on your body corresponding to one of the ancient Thassilonian schools of magic. Choose one of the following schools of magic: evocation (electric arc) You can cast the associated cantrip (listed in parentheses) as an innate arcane spell at will.
~Class Feats~ Familiar (Universalist Wizard 1): You make a pact with creature that serves you and assists your spellcasting. You gain a familiar.
~Skill Feats~
Dubious Knowledge (Versatile Human): You’re a treasure trove of information, but not all of it comes from reputable sources. When you fail a Recall Knowledge check using any skill, you learn a bit of true knowledge and a bit of erroneous knowledge, but you don’t have any way to differentiate which is which.
Recognize Spell (Reaction) (Background): If you are trained in the appropriate skill for the spell’s tradition and it’s a common spell of 2nd level or lower, you automatically identify it (you still roll to attempt to get a critical success, but can’t get a worse result than success). The highest level of spell you automatically identify increases to 4 if you’re an expert, 6 if you’re a master, and 10 if you’re legendary. The GM rolls a secret Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion check, whichever corresponds to the tradition of the spell being cast. If you’re not trained in the skill, you can’t get a result better than failure.
~Other Abilities~ Arcane Bond (Cane): You place some of your magical power in a bonded item. Each day when you prepare your spells, you can designate a single item you own as your bonded item. This is typically an item associated with spellcasting, such as a wand, ring, or staff, but you are free to designate a weapon or other item. You gain the Drain Bonded Item free action.
Arcane School (Universalist): Instead of specializing narrowly in an arcane school, you can become a universalist wizard—by studying all the schools equally, you devote yourself to understanding the full breadth of the arcane arts. For each level of spell you can cast, you can use Drain Bonded item once per day to recall a spell of that level (instead of using it only once per day in total). You gain an extra wizard class feat, and you add one 1st-level spell of your choice to your spellbook.
Arcane spellcasting: Through dedicated study and practice, you can harness arcane power to cast spells. You can cast arcane spells using the Cast a Spell activity, and you can supply material, somatic, and verbal components when casting spells.
Arcane Thesis (Spell Blending): When you make your daily preparations, you can trade two spell slots of the same level for a bonus spell slot of up to 2 levels higher than the traded spell slots. You can exchange as many spell slots as you have available. Bonus spell slots must be of a level you can normally cast, and each bonus spell slot must be of a different spell level. You can also trade any spell slot for two additional cantrips, though you cannot trade more than one spell slot at a time for additional cantrips in this way.
Background (Magaambya Academic): Choose two ability boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Charisma, and one is a free ability boost. You're trained in your choice of either the Arcana or Nature skill, as well as the Academia Lore skill. You gain the Recognize Spell skill feat.
Drain Bonded Item (1st level): You expend the power stored in your bonded item. This gives you the ability to cast one spell you prepared today and already cast, without spending a spell slot. You must still Cast the Spell and meet the spell’s other requirements.
Heritage (Versatile Heritage): Humanity’s versatility and ambition have fueled its ascendance to be the most common ancestry in most nations throughout the world. Select a general feat of your choice for which you meet the prerequisites (as with your ancestry feat, you can select this general feat at any point during character creation).
On the Source of Magic (spellbook):
0th Level Spells: Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Light, Mage Hand, Message, Prestidigitation, Produce Flame, Ray of Frost, Shield, Telekinetic Projectile
Raven
N, Tiny, Animal, Minion
low-light vision
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AC 14; Fort +4; Ref +5; Will +7
HP 5
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Speed 25 feet, fly 25 feet
Other Abilities flier, land speed, speech (mwangi)
Step 1: write five things about your character’s concept and background, five things that you think are the most essential parts of your character.
1. Joseph is the only child of Rick and Evelyn Curwen, well known -and quite wealthy- archeologists. The Curwens are from Absolom, but Joseph grew up traveling the world with his parents as they traveled the world, tracking down lost cities and forgotten tombs.
2. He has a ferocious appetite for magical knowledge, to the point of often being downright reckless in his pursuit for more.
3. From clay tablets found in sunken tombs off the coast of the Lands of the Linnorm kings, to books excavated from forbidden libraries buried deep beneath the dunes of Osira, to the oral traditions of the magic warriors of the Mwangi Expance, Joseph believes he has found evidence that the the four primary "branches" of magic can be unified under a single school of magic. This would allow any spellcaster to easily master all forms of magic, not just one or two.
4. He has already attended the Magaambya university for one semester, though that was when he was much younger. At the time, his parents felt it was too dangerous for him to travel with them on that particular expedition, so they left him in the care of the school.
5. Joseph is returning to the Magaambya academy to finish his education and advance his thesis on unified magic. Not only is the academy the most prestigious school of magic in the history of Golarion, Joseph has met mwangi wizards and druids that already seemed to draw freely from multiple schools of magic, making the mwangi academy the most logical place for him to research his thesis.
Step 2: List two goals for the character that you, as a player, think would be cool to see accomplished in-game.
1. Become a Halcyon Speaker, thus completing his thesis.
2. Joseph has had a life full of adventure and is naturally gifted in magic. He is not used to failure. Might be nice to see him humbled a bit.
3. Due to the nature of his childhood, endless travels with his parents and their team, he is not the most sociable or very good at making friends. He should learn to be more of a people person and have a social life. Life isn't just about books.
Step 3: List two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet.
Known: Joseph has a crush on Mikami!
Unknown: Joseph is adopted. When his parents were younger and childless, their adventures were often far more adventurous than something as mundane as outrunning a sandstorm. Their combined knowledge in the esoteric gods and rituals of the world was often called upon by the churches of Sarenrae, Iomedae and other good deities to help track down cultists intent on summoning unspeakable horrors and eldritch abominations to the material plane. On one such hunt for cultists, the Andoran Steel Falcons the Curwens were working with were able to interrupt a ritual to summon the Crawling Chaos - a ritual performed by insane followers of a dead god - on a small, rocky island off the coast of Osirion. Joseph, a newborn, was to be their blood sacrifice. The Curwens took the infant as their own, the fate of his biological parents unknown. Sometimes they worry that the nearly-completed ritual had marked their son, somehow, and that the Crawling Chaos would try to take his life again...
Step 4: Describe three people that are tied to the character though blood, romance or honor. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. All can do something useful for you, if you can get the situations to line up. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.
1. Mikami Yayoi - A year Joseph's junior, Mikami as a Tian-Yae woman Joseph first met on a trip to excavate a temple dedicated to an imperial air dragon in the Valashmai Jungle in souther Tian Xia when he was twelve. A rambunctious girl, she forced friendship onto the unsocial Joseph. She gave him a tattoo in the style of her people - a long and sinewy sky dragon snaking its way down his left arm, its head ending on his palm. The tattoo is infused with arcane-saturated inks, and allows Joseph to channel some of the lightning the sky dragons controlled. His parents weren't particularly happy about it. Mikami traveled with the Curwens on a number of occasions. A tempest druid, Mikami is also attending the academy to study primal magic.
2. Mischief - Joseph's familiar. Joseph found Mischief, who was taking the form of a scorpion at the time, in an excavation in the Osiron desert when he was thirteen. Mischief was hiding under one of Joseph's spellbooks. Joseph was going to shoo the scorpion away, but something about the insect stayed his hand. Perhaps it was the way the scorpion spoke ancient Osiriani? The scorpion promised to help Joseph in his studies of magic in exchange for a home. Later, a small ritual converted the scorpion into a more usable form - that of a raven. Mischief is a troublemaker, but wise and knowledgable.
3. Tokugawa Hidekazu - A year Joseph's senior, Tokugawa is a Tian-dan man and a powerful shadow sorcerer. Met on the same expedition where he met Mikami, Tokugawa considers himself Joseph's rival for Mikami's affections, even though Joseph had never indicated he was interested in her. Tokugawa is a strict traditionalist, and they idea of a Tian woman being romantically involved with a Thassilonian infuriates him. He is also attending the academy, studying arcane magics.
Step 5: Describe three memories that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
1. The first time Joseph entered a sealed, hidden room in a lost city that had sunk into the swamps in the River Kingdomes. A child, he was the smallest of the crew and, as soon as enough rubble was cleared away, he squeezed into the narrow passageway, crawling over mud and stone to find the mostly intact library on the other side. Taking one of the clay tablets from the stone shelves, he was in awe at the idea that he was the only living person on Golarion to have been in that room. Awed by the fact that, for a brief few minutes, he was the only one who know what information those tablets held.
2. The first time he attempted to cast a divine spell. Magic supposedly granted by the gods themselves, Joseph could not complete the spell, but he could feel the divine magic at his fingertips. That kindled in him the belief that all magic could be linked.
3. Frequent dreams of a tall, handsom, jolly-looking man walking across the desert of Osirion at night. As he approached a city or village, the people would joyously welcome him, but as he walked down the streets and through the city, the buildings and denizens would crumble to dust as he passed.
4. Strange, but positive feelings when he learned Mikami would be attending the Magaambya academy at the same time as he.
Flaw: Joseph struggles to accept that there are others that might know more than him.
Quirk: Joseph does even the most mundane tasks, like retrieving a bottle of ink, with magic when possible.
