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On second thought, especially with archetypes being opened up (and now that I've had a chance to look at the existing party a bit more), I'm leaning more towards bringing in an Inquisitor of...some god TBD. Someone in the Sandpoint Pantheon for sure. The two leading archetypes right now are:
I may retool this paladin to fit the build specifications or I may start fresh, but she was built for a Rise game. One way or another I will likely bring some divine flavor.
Karina grins at Ro. "A Nymph or Not?, huh? Sounds like fun! I'd love to attend!" She grabs a spare sheet of paper from one of the chests and scribbles onto it. "Here's my address. Call on me whenever. And I'll let you know about my performances at the Trio, too." She also wrinkles her nose a little at Lia's proclamation. "He's...a duly elected, arrogant, self-serving man. I don't know if I'd call him the worst, especially given Justice Ironbriar. Surely there are some prisoners in The Hells, or some Sczarni who are worse. But I don't know what a lamia considers bad, so..." She shrugs. "It's been a long day, and I need to get home to feed my cat. I hope to see you all around under less exciting circumstances. Good luck."
Karina is anything but stealthy at the best of times, but the four from Sandpoint had become engrossed in their findings. She followed the patter between Lia and Ro arguing about the note like a back-and-forth ball game. She clears her throat and speaks up. "It sounds like you should talk to the lord-mayor. Whether you decide to go to Turtleback Ferry yourselves or not, this does concern Magnimar. And I'm sure the lord-mayor would appreciate knowing that this Xanesha has been targeting him." She shrugs. "And according to you, apparently still could be."
"There could be what?" Karina has just reached for the rebec when she hears Karmid reference the possibility of trapped, crushed innocents, and she thrusts the instrument back into Ro's arms as she practically dives into the rubble, lifting large chunks of stone above her head and tossing them to the side. "Another time!" she cries.
Karina puts one hand back on her hip. "Well, then. Fellow artists doing good in their spare time. What are the odds?" The other hand she puts into the air to make a lazy circle indicating the surrounding area. "Hell of a world we live in when artists are doing more good than paid guards." But getting the impression than Ro wants to move on, so her eyes light up at the mention of the rebec. "Ooh, I haven't tried that one. Is it anything like the kontra? Mom had one of those growing up. Oooh, and what are you scoring? When does it premiere?" She seems to have almost moved on from the discussion of politics unless someone drags her back.
"Cello," Karina offers. "At the Triodea mostly." She seems about to ask what the other musicians in the group play when Lia turns towards the rubble. Her eyes widen. "That was you all?" she asks. Karina looks around and draws a bit closer to Ro and Lia, lowering her voice. "Ironbriar, I mean." She shakes her head. "The government has been trying to keep it quiet, but there's been talk."
The taller woman's expression roils between amusement and frustration at the differing reactions of Lia and Ro, and she shrugs in short order and reaches a hand out to the blue-haired one with manners. "I'm Karina. It's nice to meet you, Lia." Her eyes flit over towards Ro, and then the others as she seems to contemplate Ro's question. She shakes her head. "I'm, uh, just a musician," she says. "I got a feeling something bad was happening here. Lots bad happens here."
I appreciated your invite to me, but it was 10 months ago now and I have made two in-character posts as this character--3 months ago. I have no real skin in the game. I recently started running Karmid and Lia through their Iron Gods campaign as they transitioned from Book 2 to Book 3. So if you all are interested, I could probably do the same thing here.
Then for the sake of expediency, I recommend the above plan that I proposed for dealing with damage negation. In that case: Results of Tower Damage
Let's just stick with that and keep moving forward.
GM said to claim and write how you got help. I was just summarizing to help people grasp the mechanics of the situation and help them translate into action. So whoever is claiming should write it as such. If we engage in a chase through Magnimar, things could get hairy, but you have two fresh PCs with all their resources ready to go.
Drasven took two hits for 19 damage. Negating one will take that down to 9. Karmid took one hit for 8 damage. Since he got this by going back inside, an assist probably won't help (though he was also the most injured going into the fight). Lia took two hits for 17 damage and already declared that she would use one assist to reduce that to 7 damage. Ro took one hit for 12 damage. So that's a total of 6 hits and 3 assists (from Karina, Karmid, and Ro), one of which has already been claimed. Logistically, it makes sense to me for one of the assists to each go to Drasven, Lia, and Ro. Ro can't help herself, so her aid probably went to either Drasven or Lia, probably Lia. Karina and Karmid, rushing in at the end, probably assist Drasven and Ro respectively.
Though her feat ache from sprinting along the cobblestone (and worse) paths into Underbridge, Karina finally reaches the source of the rumbling: the crumbling Shadow Clock. Hadn't the city condemned this thing? A woman points and screams. It's nearly impossible to tell in which direction the tower will fall. Karina watches in horror as a Shoanti man jumps from the top of the tower, only to cast a spell on the way down and avoid breaking his legs from the fall. Then he starts running back inside. Were other people inside this thing?! "Shelyn preserve me," she says, remembering last year's apartment fire. Why was she always doing things like this? Casting her heels aside, Karina rushes into the collapsing building after the Shoanti man.
Almost immediately as she crosses the threshold she hears a clanging as a splintered brass bell crashes through the steps above her. She rolls out of the way, her dress snagging and tearing on something sharp. A scythe? And not far from it an enormous, foul-smelling golem. Something mad had happened here.
Karina sees two more young women and a dwarf skittering down the stairs and leaps ahead when she sees a wooden beam crack and begin swinging towards them. She leaps up and grabs the beam with both hands, twisting in midair and snapping it off before it hits them. Before she clatters to the ground, she swings the beam down and uses it as a makeshift pole to vault to the higher level where the trio is running down the stairs. "Need any help?" she says as she sails to the rescue.
Recurring villains are fun! I finally figured on a fun intro post for Karina, so she's officially on her way to the scene of the crime (whenever the GM wants her to show up). I also have very few (if any) hard lines beyond what the GM has discussed. If something is brought up in gameplay that bothers me that I didn't expect would bother me, then I'll bring it up respectfully in discussion.
The City of Monuments was home to many people. Rich, poor, good, bad, and from all strata in between. There had been rumors of nefarious activity of late: murders, cults, that sort of stuff. But most people went about their lives. They baked, they shopped, they played, they loved. But there was a definite pall over the Magnimar. And Karina Rotarescu was unable to escape the miasma of it all. Not that she wasn't trying. She was sitting outside of a little cafe in Lowcleft across from a vaguely handsome boy named Marius who had asked her out on a date. She was wearing a white dress wrapped with a floral print and was--unfortunately--wearing heels. He was a sailor and was adamantly dressed the part. Normally that would have been cute, but his uniform didn't fit properly. He was also a dreadfully boring conversationalist, seemingly unaware that he had nattered on for nearly an hour without asking her any questions. When she tried to respond, he mistook whatever affirmation she offered as an endorsement to continue unabated. She was stirring the grounds of her second cup of coffee with the noisy scrapes of a spoon and wondering why he had bothered asking her out if he wasn't going to get to know her at all. Were all of the sailor boys like this? She tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear and tries to give the clearest nonverbal signal that she can that she is bored, but he doesn't pick up on it. It would be one thing if he had interesting things to say, but he was even a bad storyteller. One would think that sailing around the Varisian Bay would provide captivating tales, but the boy's uneven sense of detail promises only a lack of depth with a plethora of unnecessary background and rushed climaxes. Her parents would probably warn that he'd be the same way in other areas as well...not that she was willing to find out. Karina has just started to scratch lightly at the edge of her latest tattoo, a peacock feather on her left forearm, when she hears a distant crack! She turns her head immediately to the northwest, towards the Irespan, while Marius discusses the finer points of different hitches. He seems not to notice that he has officially lost the remnants of her attention. She stops scratching and feels a pang of panic in her mind. Dragoste was worried. "Anyway, that's how we managed to survive getting eaten by reefclaws," Marius says. Karina turns back to him and slides a few silver pieces onto the table.
Congratulations on the baby! If the tower collapses (just a hunch), would it make enough of a sound that a certain musical paladin in the city would notice it and could make an introductory reaction post? Not to join in the combat/ensuing chase, but just to be there.
It's under her daily abilities. Reposted here for convenience. Spells prepared (+1 caster level vs getting dispelled)
Cycling the GM slot is also a good potentially viable option. That's how one of my groups did War for the Crown. It made long-term planning somewhat difficult, as the next person might not know major story beats and how to foreshadow them, but since each book can be (and often is) relatively standalone, it can work. If I were to cycle GMing through an AP now, I would have one person in the group (probably the one who starts Book One) have a good sense of the overarching narrative, and then feed each subsequent GM the information that they need to provide the connective tissue that links each book to the next. Like...
And so on and so forth. The lead story GM knows where things are going but can still enjoy time as a player between their time GMing even if they know the story beats. This is especially the case if each individual GM puts their own spin on their books. The GM just has to ensure that their GMPC isn't the focus and doesn't overshadow the other PCs, such as by having metanarrative knowledge. In the aforementioned War... game, we actually had the current GM's PC disappear for that book, usually as part of their character's story. For instance, I was set up to run Book Four of the AP. Some of the major enemies that we fought were of the same ancestry as my PC, and so he went to go find out more about his heritage during Book Four, using some breadcrumbs that the Book Three GM was kind enough to leave. Then I set up the PC of Book Five's GM to find out that his assumed-dead brother was actually alive and being imprisoned by the enemies behind the scenes.
I am generally in favor of any strategy that those who enjoy this hobby want to use to ensure that they can keep enjoying it. So breaks and regular check-ins both sound good to me. My long-time in-person gaming group has stayed together largely because we have had flexibility. We take weeks off, or sometimes even months. Individual people might only jump in for a single module, and then only jump in when they're available. We're experimenting with a change in our usual day right now because that will allow one person to stick with us instead of having to duck out for the next 4 months due to work. So yeah, I'm down for this.
Thanks for the chime, Rojava. I'll unhide this again (that was fast!) and hope to be able to bring this character to life at some point. GM, I have recently been experiencing something similar. I think it can be very healthy to take breaks, and I'm very familiar with that guilt. I hope that you are taking care of yourself.
Hi all. Since it's been almost 6 months since I first posted in this campaign and haven't been able to bring Karina in, I'm going to hide the campaign from my campaign tabs to reduce clutter. I'm not officially dropping from the campaign. However, if this resumes at some point and there is still interest in bringing the new players onboard, I can be contacted here on this site through private messages or on Discord. I hope that all of you are well.
Still here.
There are ample stressors. Fingers crossed that they're doing well. I'm still hoping to have a chance to play Karina with you all at some point
Would it help to set up a channel on the Discord for us to keep up with each other off site?
Willkommen! Also, Karmid, we need to get you a new RNG.
Yes, definitely: a Cleric 5/Evangelist 2 is essentially a Cleric 6. Get you some extra spell slots.
Just figured I'd throw out this gem from the description of Mirror Image in case it helps the party at all: If the attack misses by 5 or less, one of your figments is destroyed by the near miss.
Ro, if you're taking a standard action to identify a monster as a bard with Lore Master, then you take 20 instead of rolling. Otherwise, it's a free action. You can also always take 10.
Offering Attack Calculation Help:
If you want to just take the dice as they rolled in order, then it should be:
Attack #1 (Earthbreaker): 27 for 11 damage
Or you could just throw out the hasted attack. Somewhere in the city of Magnimar, unaware of the climactic battle against the forces of evil happening elsewhere, a young Varisian woman sits playing her cello.
I'm getting pumped up to watch this boss fight.
What if I super-duper ultra-mega pinky swear promise not to smite? /s I'm just eager :) --- If you all have been chasing a foe for a while, I would just encourage you to get to her. If the enemy is intelligent, she might just be able to tell that you're trying to wait out her magic and then come fight you anyway. There's nothing saying that you have any more advantage over her in your current location versus the next floor up. You might as well just face her.
If you all do break for lunch, then it's not unreasonable that a certain fey-raised archer sorcerer and a blundering I'm-not-doing-this paladin could come investigate that massive that just reverberated from the tower. Just saying.
Poor Drasven.
"Thirty-nine electricity damage. Better not get on Lia's bad side."
Karina plugs her fingers in her ears. "You all are so gross," she says, sticking her tongue out and ignoring the ample gross things that she has done and/or been privy to.
Lurk lurk lurk. Gonna be a hero, yup.
Karina is a poet. Her hands are covered in ink.
16k gp sounds good to me. That lets me snag a magical weapon, magical suit of armor, a magical shield, a magical belt, and a magical headband, and still have some dough leftover to get more fun things!
One thing I haven't asked the new players (at least I think I haven't asked them), is whether they have any experience with the RotR AP, and if so, what the experience is. You did ask this question previously, and what I said at the time was: I have listened to the Rocks and Runelords podcast, but it feels like they have frequently gone way off script. It has also been a long time since they were in Book 2, so I barely remember anything. I'll stick with the Paladin 6/Spiritualist 1 version of Karina, then. That dip leads to some interesting roleplay possibilities in any case. One of the biggest questions that came up was what level of wealth Karina and Issengrim are coming in with, and whether we might bring a magic weapon and/or suit of armor in to bolster the current party members. My assumption was that we would come in with 23,500 gp, the standard WBL for 7th-level characters. But as was pointed out, such an assumption placed our stats well above what anyone else had. @GM: After I get some more work done today, I'll probably be PMing you regarding Karina's backstory based on a bit of my own (much more limited) reading of the thread. But until then: how/when do you want to introduce us into the game?
There's no need to apologize. I just wanted to demonstrate alternative stats that might be more of the speed you were expecting. I do love Change of Heart, and I'm definitely keeping it. Options to settle combats nonlethally are going to be big for a paladin of Shelyn. I also respect the desire to meet characters fresh, especially since I'm not assuming that Karina knows you all. If anything, depending on how you all have interacted with people in the city of Magnimar, you might have heard of her. I leave that to the GM and the whims of Knowledge (local) dice rolls. I can see her family having visited Sandpoint, but I doubt she would have lived there for any extended period of time. Izzy: Just wondering where you're getting the chronology, especially the passage of three years from the opening scene of the game to now? The game started late 2015. The AP debuted in 2007, with the anniversary edition in 2012. Canonically, the events of the AP happened in 4707-4708 AR. And there's a post from about 3.5 years ago placing these events more or less in 4707. I would assume that it has been less than a chronological year since the beginning of the AP, though I don't know if anyone in the party has kept a calendar/diary.
And now with backstory! If you want to know before you meet her, read on. If you would rather be surprised and meet Karina fresh, please ignore. Meet Karina: Karina Rotarescu was born to two Varisian nomads: Henric, a tattoo artist, and Alina, a harrower. Upon her birth, the midwife noticed that Karina had a multi-hued birthmark right in the middle of her chest. It was at first just a swirl of rainbow colors that, but as often happened was these so-called birth tattoos, it grew with her until Alina noticed that it was beginning to look more and more like a songbird. So Alina and Henric dedicated their young daughter to the Eternal Rose, Shelyn, seeing her birth as a sign of the goddess’ favor on them.
Karina grew up with large family: at least a dozen siblings that she knows for certain are direct blood relations, and many more that seemed enough like siblings, whether they were cousins, or just other members of the caravan. Henric and Alina were—are—openly polyamorous, and so Karina also had numerous uncles, aunts, and auncles who doted on or disciplined her. Theirs was a family deeply dedicated to the infinitude and necessity of love and beauty, and so worshiped Shelyn in all her aspects. It was kind of...a lot. For her part, Karina was deeply drawn to music and poetry, and often lingered in the performance halls of the Varisian cities that they visited. She had played several of the beautiful instruments of her people—the cobza, the kontra, the gardon—but found herself entranced by the majesty of a Chelaxian instrument played on the stage of the Triodea in Magnimar: the cello. She begged her family for the gold to purchase one of these instruments and for permission to study with one of the virtuosi in the city. Karina’s family was rich in love and art, but their wealth was not so much material. But two years ago, Karina finally scrimped and saved enough money to purchase her own instrument and to enroll in a conservatory in the Naos district. She even has a meager apartment that she shares with three other students her age. The work has been hard, but it has been worth it to have the opportunity to play in an orchestra in Stonewall Hall! Karina eventually took the stage name Kendra Rosen to avoid ideas of “exoticism” levied by some of the grosser people of Magnimar. But she wasn’t trying to get away from her heritage. If anything, she delved deeper into it, often getting a new tattoo in celebration of some event. After she was promoted to fifth chair in the Naos Philharmonic Orchestra, Karina went out and bought herself a pet songbird that she named Dragoste: the Varisian word for love. She would often practice with Dragoste, mimicking some of her song, or being delighted when the bird would singing something that she had just played. Never mind even her roommates. They were just jealous that her bird was more talented than they were. One night Karina was coming back from a late night of rehearsing (all too common) when she smelled smoke. Turning the corner onto the avenue where her apartment building was, she was horrified to see her building on fire. She ran past the fire brigade, who tried their best to stop her, and tore into the building. As mages and laypeople alike levied water to try to tamp down the blaze, Karina called out to everyone she knew in the building. Through horrendous coughing and no fewer than two fallen beams, she persisted in rescuing eleven people from the blaze. And although she lost all of her belongings, she knew that many had lost so much more. She and the other neighborhood heroes had not been able to save everyone’s lives. There were over two dozen who had perished in the blaze. Karina would have joined them had two of her roommates not tackled wheezing her to the ground. When she woke two days later, she was surprised to see Dragoste perched on her chest. “I think you’re ready, Karina,” Dragoste said. Karina screamed again until she passed out, and she woke again shakily asked an attending nurse 1) whether she was alive or dead, and 2) whether she had gone crazy or the bird was actually talking. The nurse informed her that she was both alive and, as far as she could tell in her expert opinion, sane, because the bird was indeed talking. Karina responded about as well as someone who had almost just died could: she screamed again. Once she finally got that infernal screaming out of her system, Dragoste informed her that she had been chosen by Shelyn herself to serve as her avatar in Magnimar. Karina asked what exactly that would entail, as she really only wanted to play her music and write her poetry and spend time with her friends, and wasn’t there someone more qualified for this sort of thing who wouldn’t ask to many questions and be so distracted, and—? Her concerns were noted and summarily ignored. Of course the Eternal Rose wanted her to do all of those things. But Karina had shown a strength—and a certain rash temerity—that had caught the goddess’ notice. Not all servants of the gods were called to epic deeds or grand crusades. They were just as often tasked with direct service to their community. But Karina was being called to defend her fellows. And this would require her to be a shield. The first thing that Karina did upon recovering from her near-death experience was go to rehearsal. The second thing that Karina did upon recovering was get another tattoo in honor and remembrance of the people whose lives she could not save in the fire. And the third thing was to start learning what this new lifestyle entailed for her. Dragoste began to instruct Karina both in religious dogma and martial art using Shelyn’s bladed brush technique. Karina became adept at moving about in heavier and heavier armor, spinning a long-bladed polearm about in a sort of dance-like motion, and found that she enjoyed this. Thankfully, such training was often brief, allowing her ample time to continue to her training at the conservatory. It was also deeply secret. Karina wanted no one to know that she was learning to fight, much less from a talking bird. They already thought she was a crazy poet, but a warrior poet? That would be the death of her social life. Karina’s service to Shelyn has been, so far, mostly bloodless. Dragoste is usually vague about where they are going when she leads Karina on an excursion, and Karina is often adamant about having to attend rehearsal. But she is usually helping some star-crossed lovers mediate between their families, or helping some fellow artist who is about to lose their home to find some way of continuing on. There have been a small handful of times when a rampaging beast of some sort was threatening a group of nomads like the one she grew up with, and where she had to actually slick her blade with blood. But it was always only ever to protect the innocent. And Karina would prefer to keep it that way, thank you very much. But things are beginning to change in Karina’s mind. As she has continued helping people, she is recognizing more and more of how she can help. The nobles of Magnimar, and other cities like it all over Golarion, had grown fat while people starved in their ghettos. People spent their entire lives in the shadow of the Irespan because they could not afford to move. The rich ignored the inherent beauty of the lives of the people with a bit of dirt on their faces. Soon Karina began deciding on her own missions, ignoring the advice of Dragoste and going directly into the poorer districts of Magnimar to seek out who she could help. She even—gasp!—missed some rehearsals to serve in soup kitchens! She has been turning over more and more of her earnings as direct charity to the people she serves. As Karina grows more certain of her role as Shelyn’s hand, she is ready to lend her blade and, if necessary, her life, to protect the people she cares so deeply about.
Oh no! After avoiding it for 2 years, I got COVID back in May. That was a long, uncomfortable time out of the lab. Good luck to you. --- My third trait in the above draft would be Weapon of Peace.
Hi all. In the spirit of trying to play ball, I present a second possible draft of Kendra. Features of this draft:
I'm still trying to decide on a third trait for this draft, but I wanted to run it by you to see what you thought.
Paladin:
Kendra Rotarescu
Female Varisian Human Chosen One Paladin of Shelyn 6 / Fractured Mind Exciter (Spiritualist) 1 LG Medium humanoid (human) Init +2; Senses Perception -1 Aura courage (10 ft.) --------------------
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Detect Evil (Sp): At will, a paladin can use detect evil, as the spell. A paladin can, as a move action, concentrate on a single item or individual within 60 feet and determine if it is evil, learning the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds. While focusing on one individual or object, the paladin does not detect evil in any other object or individual within range. Smite Evil (Su): Once per day, a paladin can call out to the powers of good to aid her in her struggle against evil. As a swift action, the paladin chooses one target within sight to smite. If this target is evil, the paladin adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her attack rolls and adds her paladin level to all damage rolls made against the target of her smite. If the target of smite evil is an outsider with the evil subtype, an evil-aligned dragon, or an undead creature, the bonus to damage on the first successful attack increases to 2 points of damage per level the paladin possesses. Regardless of the target, smite evil attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess. In addition, while smite evil is in effect, the paladin gains a deflection bonus equal to her Charisma modifier (if any) to her AC against attacks made by the target of the smite. If the paladin targets a creature that is not evil, the smite is wasted with no effect. The smite evil effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the paladin rests and regains her uses of this ability. At 4th level, and at every three levels thereafter, the paladin may smite evil one additional time per day, as indicated on Table: Paladin, to a maximum of seven times per day at 19th level. Divine Grace (Su): At 2nd level, a paladin gains a bonus equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws. Lay On Hands (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, a paladin can heal wounds (her own or those of others) by touch. Each day she can use this ability a number of times equal to 1/2 her paladin level plus her Charisma modifier. With one use of this ability, a paladin can heal 1d6 hit points of damage for every two paladin levels she possesses. Using this ability is a standard action, unless the paladin targets herself, in which case it is a swift action. Despite the name of this ability, a paladin only needs one free hand to use this ability. Alternatively, a paladin can use this healing power to deal damage to undead creatures, dealing 1d6 points of damage for every two levels the paladin possesses. Using lay on hands in this way requires a successful melee touch attack and doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity. Undead do not receive a saving throw against this damage. Aura of Courage (Su): At 3rd level, a paladin is immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 10 feet of her gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability functions only while the paladin is conscious, not if she is unconscious or dead. Divine Health (Ex): At 3rd level, a paladin is immune to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases, including mummy rot. Mercy (Su): At 3rd level, and every three levels thereafter, a paladin can select one mercy. Each mercy adds an effect to the paladin's lay on hands ability. Whenever the paladin uses lay on hands to heal damage to one target, the target also receives the additional effects from all of the mercies possessed by the paladin. A mercy can remove a condition caused by a curse, disease, or poison without curing the affliction. Such conditions return after 1 hour unless the mercy actually removes the affliction that causes the condition. These abilities are cumulative. For example, a 12th-level paladin's lay on hands ability heals 6d6 points of damage and might also cure fatigued and exhausted conditions as well as removing diseases and neutralizing poisons. Once a condition or spell effect is chosen, it can't be changed. Shaken: The target is no longer shaken.
Channel Positive Energy (Su): When a paladin reaches 4th level, she gains the supernatural ability to channel positive energy like a cleric. Using this ability consumes two uses of her lay on hands ability. A paladin uses her level as her effective cleric level when channeling positive energy. This is a Charisma-based ability. Spells: Beginning at 4th level, a paladin gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells which are drawn from the paladin spell list presented in Spell Lists. A paladin must choose and prepare her spells in advance. To prepare or cast a spell, a paladin must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a paladin's spell is 10 + the spell level + the paladin's Charisma modifier. Like other spellcasters, a paladin can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Paladin. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Charisma score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells). When Table: Paladin indicates that the paladin gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Charisma score for that spell level. A paladin must spend 1 hour each day in quiet prayer and meditation to regain her daily allotment of spells. A paladin may prepare and cast any spell on the paladin spell list, provided that she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation. Through 3rd level, a paladin has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, her caster level is equal to her paladin level – 3. Bondless: A chosen one does not gain the divine bond class feature. Divine Emissary (Ex): At 1st level, a chosen one gains an emissary familiar, treating her paladin level as her wizard level for the purpose of this ability. Religious Mentor (Ex): The chosen one doesn’t gain Knowledge (religion) as a class skill. Delayed Grace (Su): A chosen one begins her adventuring career without fully understanding her true potential. She receives the smite evil ability at 2nd level and the divine grace ability at 4th level. This does not affect the rate at which she gains additional uses per day of smite evil, so she still gains her second use at 4th level, her third at 7th level, and so on. This ability alters divine grace and smite evil. Spells: A spiritualist casts psychic spells drawn from the spiritualist spell list. She can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time, assuming she has not yet used up her allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level. To learn or cast a spell, a spiritualist must have a Emotional Spellcasting: A fractured mind’s ability to cast spells is tied to the force of her own spirit rather than her connection to the spirit world. As a result, she uses her Charisma score rather than her Wisdom score to determine the highest spell level she can cast, the saving throw DCs of spells she casts, and her bonus spells per day. This ability alters spellcasting. Knacks: A spiritualist learns a number of knacks, or 0-level psychic spells, as noted on Table 1–10 under Spells Known. These spells are cast like any other spell, but they can be cast any number of times per day. Knacks prepared using another spell slot, because of metamagic feats applied to them, for example, consume spell slots as normal. Phantom: A spiritualist begins play with the aid of a powerful and versatile spirit entity called a phantom. The phantom forms a link with the spiritualist, who forever after can either harbor the creature within her consciousness . A phantom has the same alignment as the spiritualist, and it can speak all the languages its master can. A spiritualist can harbor her phantom in her consciousness. Merged Phantom: An exciter internalizes his phantom and merges it completely within his mind. He cannot fully manifest his phantom outside of his own body in incorporeal or ectoplasmic form. Emotional focus abilities that affect or require a manifested phantom are lost. This ability alters phantom and emotional focus. Shared Consciousness (Su): At 1st level, while a phantom is confined in a spiritualist’s consciousness, it grants the spiritualist the Skill Focus feat in two skills determined by the phantom’s emotional focus, unless the spiritualist already has Skill Focus in those skills. It also grants a +4 bonus on saving throws against all mind-affecting effects; at 12th level, this bonus increases to +8. Lastly, once per day, when the spiritualist fails a saving throw against a mind-affecting effect, as an immediate action she can shunt that effect into the phantom’s section of her consciousness instead. When she does so, she is not affected by the mind-affecting effect, but for the normal duration of that effect, the spiritualist loses the bonuses on saving throws against mind-affecting effects and the Skill Focus effects granted by her phantom, and can’t use this ability to shunt a mind-affecting effect into the phantom’s consciousness or manifest her phantom in any way. When a mind-affecting effect is shunted into the phantom’s consciousness, spells such as dispel magic and break enchantment can be cast on the spiritualist to end the effect’s duration as if the spiritualist were affected by the mind-affecting effect. Dedication: Either through a sense of love or the desire to finish some unfinished task, a phantom with this emotional focus has an undying devotion to something or someone in the world. It’s often the case that a phantom with this emotional focus has a strong familial tie with its spiritualist master. A dedication phantom most often appears as a strong and stern protector with a watchful gaze, and its service to its spiritualist is unwavering. These spirits exude auras of blue, or sometimes rose if their love for their spiritualist masters in life was great. Many times these auras manifest as a halo, giving these phantoms a divine appearance, no matter their actual alignment or opinions on matters of religion. Skills: The phantom gains a number of ranks in Diplomacy and Sense Motive equal to its number of Hit Dice. While confined in the spiritualist’s consciousness, the phantom grants the spiritualist Skill Focus in each of these skills. Iron Will: The phantom gains Iron Will as a bonus feat. Furthermore, when the phantom is within its master’s consciousness, it grants the benefits of Iron Will to its master if its master doesn’t have that feat. Rapture (Su): An exciter gains the ability to enter an ecstatic state in which he’s consumed and overwhelmed by his passions and driven into a fighting fury. This functions similarly to a bloodrager’s bloodrage, treating his spiritualist level as his bloodrager level, though he doesn’t qualify for feats or other elements that require rage or bloodrage. At 1st level, an exciter can enter a rapture for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + his Constitution modifier. Temporary increases to Constitution (such as those gained from the rapture or spells like bear’s endurance) don’t increase the total number of rounds that a exciter can rapture per day. The total number of rounds of rapture per day is renewed after resting for 8 hours, although these hours need not be consecutive. An exciter can enter a rapture as a free action. While in a rapture, an exciter gains a +4 morale bonus to his Strength and Constitution, as well as a +2 morale bonus on Will saves. In addition, he takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class. The increase to Constitution grants the exciter 2 hit points per Hit Die, but these disappear when the rapture ends and are not lost first like temporary hit points. While enraptured, an exciter cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration. An exciter can end his rapture as a free action. When the rapture ends, he’s fatigued for a number of rounds equal to twice the number of rounds spent in the rapture. An exciter cannot enter a new rapture while fatigued or exhausted, but can otherwise enter rapture multiple times during a single encounter or combat. If an exciter falls unconscious, his rapture immediately ends, placing him in peril of death. When entering a rapture, the exciter loses all other benefits from having his phantom confined in his consciousness (such as the Skill Focus feats and bonus against mind-affecting effects), but he can choose to exchange the normal +4 morale bonus to his Strength and Constitution scores normally gained from bloodrage for a +4 morale bonus to his Dexterity and Charisma scores or a +2 morale bonus to his Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma scores. In addition to the fatigue for ending a bloodrage, an exciter can’t enter a rapture again for 1 minute after ending his last rapture. This ability replaces a spiritualist’s ability to manifest his phantom and use emotional focus abilities that require a manifested phantom. Fast Movement (Ex): An exciter’s land speed is faster than normal for his race by 10 feet. This benefit applies only when he is wearing light armor, medium armor, or no armor and is not carrying a heavy load. This doesn’t stack with the barbarian ability of the same name. This ability replaces etheric tether. Defense Domain: Your faith is your greatest source of protection, and you can use that faith to defend others. In addition, you receive a +1 resistance bonus on saving throws. This bonus increases by 1 for every 5 levels you possess. Deflection Aura (Su): Once each day, you can emit a 20-foot aura for a number of rounds equal to your cleric level. Allies within the aura gain a +2 deflection bonus to AC and combat maneuver defense. Birthmark: You were born with a strange birthmark that looks very similar to the holy symbol of the god you chose to worship later in life. This birthmark can serve you as a divine focus for casting spells, and as a physical manifestation of your faith, and it increases your devotion to your god. You gain a +2 trait bonus on all saving throws against charm and compulsion effects. Savant: From a very young age, the ability to master performance types has come quite naturally to you. Choose a performance type (Strings). You gain a +2 trait bonus on all Perform checks made using that performance type. Perform is always a class skill for you. Familiar:
Dragoste NG Diminutive magical beast Emissary of Shelyn Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +5 --------------------
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Divine Guidance (Sp): An emissary can cast guidance at will. This replaces alertness. Improved Evasion (Ex): When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, a familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage even if the saving throw fails. Share Will (Su): Whenever an emissary or its master fails a saving throw against a mind-affecting effect that affects only one of them, the other can attempt the saving throw as well. If this second saving throw is a success, treat the original result as a success, and the emissary and its master can’t use this ability again for 24 hours. On a failure, both the emissary and its master suffer the effects of the failed saving throw, even if one of them wouldn’t ordinarily be a valid target. This replaces share spells. Empathic Link (Su): The master has an empathic link with his familiar to a 1 mile distance. The master can communicate empathically with the familiar, but cannot see through its eyes. Because of the link's limited nature, only general emotions can be shared. The master has the same connection to an item or place that his familiar does. Domain Influence (Sp or Su): At 3rd level, the emissary gains a spark of divine power from the deity its master worships. Choose one of that deity’s domains that grants a 1st-level domain power usable a number of times per day equal to 3 + the user’s Wisdom modifier. The emissary can use that power once per day. This replaces deliver touch spells. Bit of Luck (Sp): You can touch a willing creature as a standard action, giving it a bit of luck. For the next round, any time the target rolls a d20, he may roll twice and take the more favorable result. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier. Speak with Master (Ex): If the master is 5th level or higher, a familiar and the master can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication without magical help. Religious Mentor (Ex): The familiar’s sworn duty is to help train the chosen one for her future glory. The familiar is treated as having a number of ranks in Knowledge (religion) equal to the chosen one’s paladin level. Lay on Paws (Su): At 2nd level, a chosen one’s familiar is able to borrow some of her divine energy to heal itself and others. The familiar can use the chosen one’s lay on hands ability, including all of her mercies, but each such use consumes two uses of the paladin’s lay on hands ability. Starting at 4th level, the familiar can also channel positive energy, but each such use consumes four uses of the paladin’s lay on hands ability. This ability alters lay on hands and channel positive energy. I can also run a draft with my original stats, but still no magical items, to show how that compares, if there is an interest.
I note your concerns, and that's why I'm offering several ways to allay them. I want to bring my best to this party, and there are quite a few ways to do that. The bodyguard line is much more communal-defensive, for instance, if you would prefer that to straight-up tanking. I'll just keep those feats bookmarked, and again leave it to the GM's audit. --- I don't think I have made any truly gimmicky joke characters (yet), though I once floated a Monk named E. Puncher whose family was massacred by a group of monkeys and had forever sworn to take his revenge on all monkeys he found. He was supposed to be for a game heavily featuring monkeys, but we never ran it. More recently in a 2E game I had a Halfling Barbarian with the Giant Instinct who was a bouncer in a tavern catering to non-humans and had dreams of opening up his own legal business. He wielded a maul twice as tall as he was and could grow to Large size to wield it properly. He regularly broke the fourth wall as I cracked jokes in my best slow bass voice. My favorite moment of that game was when we literally stacked three halflings on top of each other in a trench coat to steal a waffle iron back from our rivals at the Temple of Cayden Cailean...and got away with it. I usually make skill-focused characters. My best skill monkey right now is Hadda, a Chronicler of Worlds/Studious Librarian bard who uses Intelligence for all bard abilities. She gets 14 skill ranks/level and between Orator and Scrivener's Versatility uses her +18 in Linguistics for Bluff, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Intimidate, and Sense Motive. If she ever meets Baba Yaga, she's going to try to lie to her just for fun. By that point, she'll probably have a +34 to Bluff and will use Glibness to boost that to +54. Should be a good time, if Baba Yaga doesn't kill her first.
Lia: if you want me to scale something back, I can. I posted these stats on Monday and asked for feedback, and unless I missed it you didn't say anything concrete between then and now. My impression when I first jumped into the thread was that this sort of tankability was what you were looking for. Was I mistaken? I already reduced my damage in return for higher AC. I could trade back the other way and reduce AC for higher damage. I could shuffle the stats around. I could take some other feats, like Antagonize or Change of Heart. I could go for the Bodyguard line of feats, including the Scarlet Rose Devotion. I'll also point out that two of the points of Shelyn's paladin code are:
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