Lady Platypus's page

Dungeon Magazine #122 has a D&D 3.5 adventure called Root of Evil that is a dungeon in a sentient demonic tree that is taking over a city.

That sounds pretty cool! I'll check it out, thanks!

I would read The Angry GM's articles "Why Mazes Suck" and "Why Traps Suck". Valuable stuff.

I'll give it a read, but I think I know where it's going with it. To be honest, I don't like mazes either (where the objective is just to find the exit), but dungeon crawling works differently.

My setting has a demi-plane that is essentially the world in Orcs Must Die, where the boss creature (whoever wears the helm major artifact) can reshape the plane, turn it into a deadly maze and add various traps to it. This demiplane has rifts/portals that can lead to various destinations that are otherwise hard or impossible to get to.

It sounds... complicated. How are players supposed to push on if the enemy can reshape the dungeon at will?

I second The Mystara Mega dungeon. There is also a few 100 yard a hex maps with a lot of different terrain that would be perfect for a Fortnite type game on the The Piazza. Go to Vaults of Pandius.

Look for the 1 mile hex mapping thread on the Piazza under Mystara.

Fortnite pathfinder mix? I'll pass...

There's also The Lost City of Barakus and Rappan Athuk from Frog God Games. You can probably still get the PF 1e edition of both and they have huge, old-school mega dungeons.

Also I love adding planar exits and demi planes to mega dungeons. I started doing that in 3e after I read an article in a Dungeon magazine about healing in the dungeon. One solution they had was that the PCs open a door and find themselves in some kind of Norse-themed feasting hall. Here they dine with other heroes, make merry and drink themselves into a stupor; when they awake they're back in the dungeon, the door just opens to an empty room, but they're fully healed and feel as if they've just eaten a full meal and rested for 8 hours.

I'll look it up! And I love the Valhalla feast idea!

Possible fun sites for a "dungeon"[...]

Holy moly those are A LOT of ideas! I'm definitely going to use some of these in the future!

I highly recommend the Kostakep mega-dungeon from Threshold, the Mystara fanzine.

I'll have to read it through, but at a first glance it seems interesting. Thanks!

Seems like the Undermountain would be a heaven for your players.

A dungeon that constantly shifts and changes its layout so that the path behind you doesn't even lead to where you came from, and the path in front of you could go anywhere.You can only escape if you are lucky... or just as mad as the mad wizard who built it.

Undermountain is great, and would work fine but one of my player is actually preparing to master it for another group, so he has an extensive knowledge of it that might lead to it being less fun for him. But I guess I could take some things from it and make my own!

Your ship was sucked into a whirlpool, now you're trying to find your way out of the inside of the hollow world/a labyrinth of partially submerged caverns/the inside of a humongous creature.

I like that, the submerged parts could make for a nice twist the usual cave exploration, and it would also allow me to use some aquatic creatures we usually ignore...

I'm not sure I follow. These sound like adventure sites, rather than campaign settings. Is that what you're going for?

How about an abandoned/haunted castle on the back of a giant turtle, or that's somehow walking around in it's own right? Maybe the local lord needs some foolhardy types to look into it since it wandered onto his land.

Yes, adventure sites probably describes it better, my mistake. I considered an abandoned manor or castle, but it still gave them a chance of simply going elsewhere to buy supplies or find something else to do. By placing it on a giant turtle, or on some other limited space, it solves that problem nicely!

I think the idea is the game will end when the 'dungeon' is finished/escaped.

Exactly! Dungeon crawlers usually work like that, and both me and my party seem to enjoy it. That's why I'm looking for a way to add a twist to it, making it less monotonous.

Hello everyone!
After a long break, I'm back to the drawing board for my next campaign.
I'm looking for ideas on which kinds of settings could work for a dungeon crawling campaign.

So far we have tried the following settings:
- Classic dungeon: one main entrance, filled with traps and monsters, and a large treasure hidden deep inside.
- Large cave network: no exits, natural dangers and monsters, mapping it was their motive to explore, and allowed for some social encounters with other races who had built tribes and encampments in that same cave network.
- [Starfinder] Damaged space station: they spawned outside of it, found a breach and got inside to find themselves in what was an orbiting prison. Automated defences and escaped prisoners were the main enemy, and finding a way to get out of there alive (by restoring the escape pods and landing on the nearby planet) was their main objective.

All of those worked just fine, and they had a blast playing it (even tho they all died in the cave one due to some poor choices).
They thrive in confined environment, where exploration is a big part of the game and resources are somewhat limited (can't just go back to town and buy more).
So here I am, looking for ideas on which other settings could work for this kind of campaign.

At first I thought at some kind of maze, but that would be frustrating after a while. Another thing I considered is the inside of a humongous creature, most likely a dead one; it would be fun to adapt monsters and dangers based on which part of the body they are in...

What do you think? Any cool ideas?

The DM just informed us he's changing game system, switching to 5e. So thanks everyone for your advice, but I'll have to kinda star over with that.

I will still take note of all your advices, and try to fit them as I can in that system. Thanks and sorry for wasting your time!

Forgive my lack of replying, I was trying to figure out some details. As of this moment, this is how the party wants to play it out:

- Lawful neutral: we are going to write our own 'code' and follow it. Laws outside of the Code won't matter to us, and we plan on doing whatever will be advantageous to us: that means crime is an option, but not the only option. We chose Neutral because we don't feel like being good, but we don't plan on being psychos or full blown evil guys for the sake of it. If it's convenient, we will help a poor fella, just like we would kill a damsel if within our best interests.

- On the move: we don't plan on staying too long in one place. We plan on moving around to keep our options open, and be able to run if things gets too heated. That means we want to be able to live off the land, navigate the wilds, and craft what we can.

- Secretive: we want to keep our real identity a secret, and have a good cover identity for when we need it. Any 'fake' identity that could give us access to places or people would be extremely valuable to us.

- Party comp: While we all plan on being able to fight, we kinda have split roles between the three of us. We have one 'full damage' guy (maybe gunslinger or ranger?), one going as the 'face' (maybe vigilante?), and me going on a 'support' role (skills and utility).
I'm not 100% sure yet, but I think the DM is going to give us all firearm proficiency due to the setting. I don't think he really wants us to run around with swords and crossbows

- The Plan: the plan is to slowly get power over the region. We plan on taking it through politics rather than force, but always in a criminal way. Gaining favours, bribing officials, gaining followers and intimidating the rest. One of us will probably have to get Leadership, or something; we will have to get a gang together for that.

Speaking of my role, I'm considering the Alchemist, with Chirurgeon archetype. Being INT based gives me some good skill points to put on crafts, Knowledge Nature and Survival are great for wilderness, while bombs and mutagens give me some fighting power. The archetype replaces poison stuff with the ability to give my healing extracts to others, and later on some other healing stuff. The Chirurgeon also gives me that Frontier Doctor feel I liked, and a perfect cover identity if I need one, with access to important people and holding some other people's lives in my hands. Btw we are all Humans.

I don't know my ability scores yet, but I'm hoping for something between 14-16 on INT, which gives me 5 or 6 (4+INT) skills to put points in. Once I've taken Heal, Nature, and Survival, I'm considering Crafts: Alchemy for sure and a second one I can't decide.
I'm fairly sure someone else is going to have gunsmithing, so what could be helpful? Alchemy already gives me poisons, drugs, and such.

I could use ideas on how to make the build for future levels, or how to make it more 'far-westy' with whatever comes to mind. What items should be 'must have' for a frontier doctor? Any suggestion on how to better role-play it?

I've also just been told some 3pp materials will be allowed. If you have any suggestion, I can show it to the DM and see if it's allowed.

A kineticist using aether for their element uses random objects or debris as projectiles, could definitely choose cards or coins...could be an old west version of Gambit from the X-men.

I'll look into that, thanks!

What does your GM think of the Mountain Men, or is this strictly "Cowboy"?

I think it would work too. What do you have in mind?

You want an order of the Penitent cavalier!!! It has a mount, and a pretty nifty ability at level two where if you have rope handy, you can skip the pinning step in a grapple and just tie them up, without the usual -10 penalty. Pretty cowboy-ish, if I do say so.

Nice! I'm taking note of it, could be a fun character!

Get your dexterity up. Way up, because any armor that doesn't work versus Touch is going to be utter junk outside of the odd bear attack.

Lady Platypus wrote:

I don't want a full gunslinger build.

Don't worry; there's no longer any reason to be one past 5th anyway. It was Nerf-sledged pretty good.

Good tip, I hadn't thought about it. I've read something about the nerf, I guess dex to damage is all I would need if I go that way. 5 levels is still a big 'dip', but I guess I could work with it.

It isn't too hard to cowboy up any class.

Paladin: the ultimate 'White Hat' cowboy.

Preacher could be a bard, or a cleric, or an inquisitor.

Faith Healer could be a cleric, oracle, kinetisist, sorcerer, or any class with the Healing Hands feat. Equally good as a Doctor.

Alchemist: Indian Shaman, crotchety old miner throwing dynamite and drinking home brewed moonshine, eastern greenhorn chemist, snake oil seller (could also be a Druid with Druidic Herbalist).

Monk/brawler: Chinaman that walked away from the railroad crews, professional boxer, man who prefers to settle matters with his fists.

Wizard/Sorcerer/any caster really: Occult Investigator, Teacher, Natural Scientist, Voodoo Practitioner, Gambler (especially with a Harrow deck), mad scientist, Holy Man, Stage Magician.

To be honest, my first though was a Gunslinger: Mysterious Stranger. The archetype has an authentic Clint Eastwood feel to it.

I'm liking the ideas around Alchemist a lot, I'll look more into those too.

The singing cowboy with his guitar is a common trope. Lassoing cattle is a fun image. Zorro is arguably an old west character. A soldier coming out to the frontier to escape reminders of what he saw in the war.

Speaking of lassoing, is there a way to make a good character build based on it? It could be interesting, capturing instead of killing (or doing both).

With farmer, you're probably right. Though they tend to be in the wilderness or country already and have to deal with problems heading to and from town. Ranchers could be leading cattle drives or herding animals long distances and having to hunt down strays, fight off rustlers and predators, and deal with locals that don't like outsiders tearing up their lands grazing their herds as they pass by.

Surveyors have to travel the wilderness, find passes or slopes for roads or railroads. Also investigating mineral composition for mining and locating fresh water sources for future work camps and rail supply points as well as logging lumber types and availability. They're likely to have to deal with land owners or native tribes and are could be responsible for setting the diplomatic tone for the next settlers or work crew coming by.

Obviously some things will depend on the campaign and its scope itself. Whether it's focused mainly on one location, like North Fork in The Rifleman, or if it ranges across the frontier, like the cattle drive in Rawhide.

It makes sense. I don't know much about the location yet, the Master is very secretive about it. How would you go, class wise, if you had to make a surveyor? It comes to mind the Horizon Walker, but that's a class I never really understood how to make effective

Here is a list of classic western character types I found...most of them would be pretty easy to adapt into quite a few class options.

That's a lot of roles! I see plenty of gunslinger kind of builds there, and a bunch of unadventurous one, but there is a few that sound like they could work.

The hunter trapper and the frontier doctor seem both very interesting, just like the preacher man and the gambler. Any thoughts on which classes could work best for those?
I imagine the trapper as a ranger maybe, and the preacher as a cleric, but not sure about the doctor and gambler. It would be cool if the doctor wasn't just a magic healer, and the gambler not just a rogue. Is there some way to make cards or coins a good weapon?

Wouldn't simple working people like farmer/ranchers or surveyor just keep at their jobs? Why would they leave a safe income to risk their lives in the wilds?

I like the preacher idea, it could be very interesting! I also like the native guide, but I'm not sure if we can be natives or if they're like another faction well encounter.

Personally, I would suggest to a new DM to only allow core races and classes. Pathfinder already has enough rules by core, no need to add complications on your first try.

Even if you want to allow more things than just core, I wouldn't allow firearms for example (no gunslinger except for the crossbow archetype one). They make creating encounters just harder, because of they hit on touch AC.

Spiritualist would be another ban I would suggest to a new DM; the potential of their ghost is huge, and it can really screw up your plans if they use it well.
Easy example, using it for scouting after every door: now your ambush failed, the trap set up behind the door is revealed, or the gelatinous cube waiting for them on the other side is no longer a real threat because they know he's there as soon as they open the door.

Of course there are ways to counter those things too, but as a new DM it's just another headache you can easily avoid by reducing their options.

I'm the first one that likes to have access to ALL published material, but I'd rather be limited than see the campaign go to hell because of it.

If you really want to be "a wall" for your party, you should look into Golden Legionnaire. You can build around a reach weapon and preventing enemies from passing you at all. Even with low dmg output, they couldn't ignore you because you wouldn't let them to reach the rest of the party (as long as they are melee).

Hellooooooooooo! :)
I will soon take part to a campaign set in an old west setting. I'm looking for ideas and suggestions on interesting characters and builds.
We can use any class, as long as we give it a 'cowboy'-flavour. Also we are all required to be able to use advanced firearms. I don't want a full gunslinger build.
I'm not very familiar with the Wild West, other than Indians and cowboys. What other kind of characters would make sense as adventures?

Hello!
As a master I'm always looking for new complex NPCs to introduce in my campaign. While I like making them up myself, it takes a lot of time to properly make a character that feels real (not just the random merchant with no name).

While game like Pathfinder offer a lot of pre-generated complex NPCs, Starfinder doesn't have that yet. You have some tools to help you build them, but you can't just grab one at the ready.

So this is what I thought: wouldn't it be nice if we made a thread where everyone contributes by making some NPCs?

Anything works, even home-brew abilities or races (as long as you write it's HB).

If you guys are interested, let me know and we'll start making them up! Or be the first to post one :)

I see a problem with Pharasma [...]

I would consider replacing her with / changing her to a Death-Deity that is actually the one responsible for the "second chance" undead, the one to whom all those prayers/rituals are directed. They would still abhor whatever other undead exist---those that didn't rise with the deity's own blessing. If this deity is [still] the deity of birth as well, the "second chance" undead could be referred to as the Reborn.

While I'm thinking of deities and clerics, here's a random one: maybe clerics and paladins can't become "second chance" undead because when they die, their deity (by hypothesis) snatches their soul to their bosom and won't give it back. That means there are some inherently undead-free but not inherently anti-undead institutions. Whether to make the death-deity's clergy an exception should be given some thought, and might depend on whether the PCs are supposed to be followers/clerics/paladins of the death-deity or are fighting for undead rights for some other reason---you certainly want the PCs able to come back once, at least.

If things like vampires and liches exist, clerics and paladins could still become those, because the soul doesn't leave the body at any point in that process so their deity doesn't have a chance to grab it.

I'll consider making up a new deity, or at least involve a major deity in the process of creating undead.

I like the idea of clerics and paladins not being able to be raised. I'm not sure about them becoming vampires or liches, I'll have to think about it.

I would make having a soul a prerequisite for a "second chance."

Seems fair to me.

Are you sure resurrection magics exist? It might be more interesting if undeath is the only way to come back.

I'm sure about it, but it will be a lot harder to achieve. It will only involve divine intervention, and be very expensive. I'm thinking something about requiring multiple souls to get one back, or someones's willingly sacrificing their souls for it.

Ok, then any "leper colonies" have to be staffed by a small nearby group of the living, probably clergy of whatever deity give second chances. That means there'll be witnesses if crusaders wipe out the undead... unless they're bloodthirsty enough to kill the staff too. But that would definitely be murder, no matter what country they're in.

Yes, undead will always need the livings, which is the main reason they haven't raised against them so far.

Are you sure about that? I'd think an intact undead (or one wearing clothes over its gaping wounds) wearing the proper makeup and faking breathing (or wearing loose clothes) could pass for living, as long as their presence doesn't immediately sicken everybody.

Well they could try to hide it, but I see it more like a stealth thing (hoods, and such) rather than a real disguise check. They still wouldn't have a pulse, so it's easy for someone who knows a bit about undead to check them. They are also vulnerable to holy water, so clerics could just use a few drops on them to see if they have a reaction or not.

Keep it simple. Say that a brief daily prayer to the deity responsible for second-chance undead (Pharasma replacement or otherwise) protects you from their direct effects, though it doesn't protect your property, family, etc. Then the undead must still be kept away from animals and small children, who can't pray, but can be safely interacted with by anyone older. Unless they refuse to say the daily prayer on principle, of course.

I love the prayer idea! Thanks!

There are optional rules for removing alignment from the game if you're interested, see here.

Interesting, thank you!

So many good ideas!

For the sake of more originality I would make the newfound undead [...]

I'm thinking about adding the Undead template to whatever the NPC was in life. The only custom thing will be some sort of "death aura", that will slowly release negative energy to everything around them.

A great enemy are paladins and clerics of Pharasma as it states that that god specifically hates undead as they are unnatural.

I'll make sure to give it a look! They could be the most violent group of those against the Undead!

Im also curious as to how you will handle other undead, such as vampires, grave knights etc due to them being inherently evil and intelligent however you could just simply not have them.

I still have to think about it. Dave Justus's suggestion might work well for it.

Last question is can people only pray for other intelligent beings? What if someones pet dies, could they pray to bring them back?

That's a good question. I guess they could, but the animal mind might not be able to handle it very well. It would be risky to have an undead dog for example.

For a minority undead population, I suggest that the rituals are more difficult/costly the longer they've been undead, and/or that neither the rituals nor anything else repairs damage the undead take after being raised, so the older ones are kinda falling apart from accumulated damage and might not want to stay around indefinitely.

That could work well. Turning someone into undead would make it a temporary fix to have them back, not a long term solution (unlike resurrection).

Do the undead-maintenance rites require the participation of living persons, or are the undead potentially self-sufficient?

I would say they do require living people, both for the ritual and for protection.

How about a zealous Angel of some sort decides that the negative energy is a scourge; those that follow this angel are given a message.

[...]
Then yeah, maybe life-oriented things like Treants and whatnot don't appreciate the undead either.

Sure, both "good" beings and life-oriented ones work well. They could also have different reasons to hate the Undead, leading to multiple enemy factions that deal with them in different ways.

Also, consider people who are just not happy about the undead also causing unrest. Possibly attacking undead in the street. There can be "no-go" zones for undead simply due to being extremely unwelcome.

That's surely going to be a thing, especially in smaller villages where the "undead rights" are often not granted.

You might consider going with 3 types of undead. [...]

I'm not sure about the Mindless ones, but I do like the Evil Masters idea!

You might look at the real world struggle for gay rights for interesting parallels. I'm not saying that gays are like undead that cause ecological damage, but whatever your opinion on gay rights, it is obvious that the gay rights movement has had considerable success in gaining rights...

I was thinking about something that resembles racial segregation, since it's an aspect of yourself you can't hide in any way. I'll have to write a "bill of rights" for them, in order to see what they can and can't do in society.

If a child's parents are killed in accident and one returns, will the child (infant of very young) be returned to them? Placed with a caregiver that may potentially (though unintentionally) drain their life/kill them slowly with negative energy.

Good question. Assuming the child has a way to pay for the ritual, I guess he would be left with a living relative, if there is one, and the Undead parent can live with them too. If there is no relative, a guardian will be appointed.

I might have to change something so that the Undead don't have a decay effect on people. I'm fine with withering plants and making animals sick, but it's hard to explain why people would keep them around if they get sick or depressed...
There could be a cheap amulet or ring that protects you from it? Or a spell cast on the entire village, that prevents that from happening, but if you go outside you're not protected anymore?

As long as you let your players know that you're customising monster abilities, it should be fine.

Players rely on old campaigns like a character relies on tales and stories he heard in his life. You might not have Knowledge Religion, but you might still know a vampire can't suffer sunlight, or a ghost can go through walls.

Telling them your plan to change it, makes them rely less on those information, and think more before acting on possibly-wrong intel.

Another good thing you could do, is making up new names, or different physical description:
"In front of you stands a creature. At first glance it looks like a Ghoul, but you quickly notice a third eye on his forehead. Roll Knowledge Religion to see if you know more"
-Roll high enough:
"You've seen a drawing of such creature before, while looking to the church's archives. You recall its name as 'Ghoulas'. The few notes you can recall told about his ability to see magical power as a light aura"
-Roll too low:
"You don't recall seeing or hearing about it, but you're pretty sure Ghouls don't generally have 3 eyes..."

Something along those lines should give them a pretty good idea that what they are going to fight is based on the Ghoul monster, but with a custom twist. That way they might still consider it undead, but won't act exclusively on the Ghoul stats.

YES! That's exactly what I'm looking for, thank you!!!

I'm loving your ideas, especially the legal aspect of it. It will make the entire thing feel more realistic, and I can already see a bunch of scenarios when it comes up...

Yes, the "second chance" undead are all intelligent as they were in life. I guess it would make sense them being the only undead around, avoiding me some troubles.

For the alignment thing, I was mostly concerned about it because if a player raises undead with a spell, I kinda need to know what alignment that spell is. But I guess I could go with neutral, and then based on their actions with it assign it an alignment.

I could consider them a minority, it could work well.

That's a nice idea! Instead of a cult operating in the shadows, one that has a very real facade, but with an illegal twist behind it. I like it!

I have an idea and I need your help to develop it further.

I want to build a campaign where my players are the heroes who fight FOR the undead scourge, instead of against it. They will begin in a part of the world where undead are common, and fight against people and creatures that want to get rid of it.

So far nothing new, right? Here's the twist.
My undead will not be the monsters that kill anything in sight and have no feelings. I want them to be real people, blessed by the scourge that is giving them a second chance at life.

Imagine a family that lost their kid. Now imagine that kid being brought back through necromancy. He'll look a little different, but he's still their kid. They will still love him, and he will still love them.
To these people, undead are family members, neighbours, friends.

In other words, I want to make Undead feel more human, while still being controversial.

To make things more interesting, and give their enemies a stronger reason to fight them, undead will have a downside: they are brought into the world through negative energy, and that energy slowly fades from them, affecting what's around them.
Plants will slowly wither, animals might develop diseases, and people's mood and health will be affected. To keep the undead "alive", they will need to replenish this energy inside them through religious rituals, which brings more negative energy in the world.

That is the real reason some people are fighting it. It's not about them being "unnatural", it's about the negative energy being poured into the world to keep them.

Assuming bringing someone back is not something everyone can afford, and since I don't want only rich undead, I'm thinking it could work sort of like a lottery. People prey at the temple and leave offers to the gods, in exchange sometimes one of their wishes is granted and a loved one is brought back as an undead.

A few issues I'm having are the following:
- How to deal with unintelligent undead. How are they considered by the population? They still used to be their families...
- How common should being raised as undead be? What percentage of the population should be undead?
- What would make a good enemy? A secret cult kept alive in abandoned churches or cellars, that fights them guerrilla-style? An entire different nation that sends crusades against them? An alliance between life-oriented creatures? Or what else?
- Is necromancy good for bringing them back to their loved ones, or is it evil for bringing in more negative energy that will (in time) cause more harm to the world than good?

Any suggestion?

Hello! Here's a little game to do together.
Our goal will be creating a massive dungeon, with each user's reply being the description of a single room and what's inside it.
I'll begin describing the first room. The user after me will describe one of the rooms connected to it, and so on.

To make things easier, I ask everyone to follow this simple template:

Room # - Name:
- Room Size (grid squares [top to bottom] x [left to right], or more specific if not rectangular shaped)
- Room description (doors, secret passages, columns, obstacles/forniture etc...)
- Hazards (monsters, traps, dangerous effects)
- Treasures (generic or specific, up to you)
- Other info (anything you'd like to add)

Every door is named as Door_Room#Letter to distinguish them. This way it's easier to understand the next user which door crossed and described. Same goes with traps or other items that can be affect other rooms.

At the end write what's left to describe for the next users. I'd suggest taking the spot with a short message saying which door you plan to do, and then edit the message with the full description to avoid multiple people describing the same room.

I'll start:
The adventures find themselves in front of the dungeon. In front of them, a huge round door has been blast open from the outside, allowing them to easily get through.

Room 1 - Entrance:
- 8x6
- The room is lit by a beam of sunlight coming through the broken door. No other light source is visible inside. At the center of the room, a Large (2x2) bronze statue representing a hand holding a globe grabs the attention of whoever comes inside. At a closer look, the globe shows geographical landmarks drawn on it, as a planet would. Two closed metal doors (Door_1A and Door_1B) are visible on the east wall, each sized for a Medium creature. On the opposite side of the room, on the west wall, a larger door (Door_1C) has been welded shut.
- The room is safe. A silent alarm (Trap_1A), made with an optical sensor hidden in the ruined door, is triggered when they first step into the dungeon.
- The room holds no loot, other than scrap metal from the door.
- If the players check the floor by the entrance, they notices what's left of whatever used to be written on the floor: "WEL E T EN FAC TY". The writing must have been ruined either by time or by the door's explosion.

Room Map:

XXXXXX
DXXXXX
XXXXXX
XXSSXD
XXSSXD
XXXXXX
DXXXXX
XXEEXX

D = Door
E = Entrance
S = Statue
Undescribed rooms: Door_1A, Door_1B, Door_1C
Unused tools: Trap_1A

I like the idea of mixing them up. I would just have to make sure they are balanced, I wouldn't want them feeling overshadowed by another player if he has a stronger undead race

I'm not sure yet.
On one side, I'd like them to be something powerful, because it would fit nicely the idea of them being more important than common zombies and such, and I'm sure they would like it a lot.
On the other, undead template already gives them plenty of stuff, and I wouldn't want to give them too much power, making common monsters too weak for them...

Any suggestion?

It sounds like the characters would all be evil. Are your players down for this? Do you think they can handle it?

I was thinking a Lawful-Evil alignment for them. It would make sense to me, given they are like "high ranking officers" in a sort-of evil kingdom.

I don’t think you need to start them at level 5 or higher. It could be that they begin at level 1 and must regain the power they once had. There should be additional undead emtombed, so one of them can awaken that when one of the characters is robbed of its undead life force.

True, their levelling up could be them slowly gaining back their former powers. Love the idea of other bodies, thanks!

A long term plot hook could be an evil wizard who gets first introduced to the group by kidnapping the slumbering boss. The party is revived from their stasis to rescue the boss before he gets bound into a contract to serve the wizard.

I like the idea of another evil guy being the "real" enemy, while the forces of good would be more of an hazard. The wizard of sorts could be a good idea, but in case they start at low level I wouldn't put them against him immediately; it would make no sense for a wizard, powerful enough to bound the boss, to flee.

What kind of monster the boss is becomes really important. Goals should be tied to what kind of monster it is. A Lich will want to secure its safety, privacy, information, and will want to continue its research. A Demon will want to carve a bloody path through the region and lord over it. A Devil will want to rule a well ordered society under his thumb. Preferably from a position of strength, but being able to usurp a kingdom is just as good. A Dragon will more likely want to increase its horde and fame. A Vampire...umm...that could be anything. But very likely controlling a major population center from which it can feed. Maybe create a new brood...or not.

Surely the kind of boss will change a lot the plot. The idea behind it is something that was defeated in the past, and either banished or somehow trapped; that would allow for the "awakening" of it at the beginning. I'd guess that rules out Dragons (but I like the idea so I'll probably add it as a possible ally).

Hello!
I'd like to know if any of you did something similar, having the players as the monsters.

I'm thinking about starting a new campaign, with a little twist: I'd like my heroes to be a group of undead awakened from their hibernating status.

The idea behind it is something of the sort: a group of adventures (NPCs) goes into some ruins and while exploring it awakens an ancient evil being (lich, demon, or whatever). With him, his loyal generals get awakened too (my players), who will instantly have to fight the adventurers.

Once the fight is resolved, they find themselves in a place they don't recognise. They will eventually figure out their corpses were moved from their original fortress, and are now in a long abandoned dungeon.

Given the long "stasis", their boss (the demon or whatevs) doesn't have all its power yet, so it's up to them to help him regain his power and try to keep his return a secret as long as they can (to avoid an army to march there immediately to wipe them out again. They could also try to improve their current lair if they wish.

So while their boss will take the role of "main quest giver", I'm having some issues finding actual quests that would make sense.

A few ideas for quests I had are:
- Finding a way to gain allies within other monster races. Could be done by diplomacy (maybe with a side quest), or by brute force.
- Clearing an area of their lair from mindless monsters (e.g. oozes), or from unintelligent monsters (that could maybe be tamed if they try)
- Stealing supplies (weapons, tools, building materials) from nearby villages, without getting caught. Even better if they plant evidence to point to someone else.

The idea is to spend the first part of the campaign to reinforce their base and raise an army, in order to then unleash chaos on the land once they are strong enough to fight the kingdom's guards. Realistically, if a weakened demon would attack a few villages, the king would send an army of paladins to death with him before he gets too powerful.

So what would you have them do? Given their status, they will probably start around lvl 5 or higher.

Let's begin by saying I know it all sounds too good to be true. Our GM is very generous with rewards, but this sounds like too much even for him. I'm prepared to the idea of getting another curse or stuff like that... but my character wouldn't think that way. After all the royals need us!

On the one hand you might not get anything you do not ask for, but on the other hand by not asking for anything you might get more than you would have asked for.

We tried to ask for future favours, that's the first thing that came to our minds, but they said no. They wanted us to be too specific on the kind of favour to make it worth it.

"Demands"? (raises an eyebrow) I would look up the "goose that laid the golden egg" and other fables about greed.

What level is your party?
Party makeup (class and characters)?
Why are you the "best chance they have to save the city, and probably the kingdom, from annihilation"?
What is the mission?
What kind of campaign has the dm been running? (uban, heavy roleplay, dungen crawls, politics...)

I'm saying demands because we are not from that kingdom and we could just leave if none of them are met. We are willing to give something up, but we are risking our lives and none of us is GOOD. So the reward is the main reason for us to accept this quest.

- We are a low level party, but this is supposed to be the "main quest" of the campaign, something that will last a long time, not just a couple of sessions.
- We have a fighter, bard, monk, ranger and wizard in the group.
- The mission is to get rid of an undead scourge and the lich that created it
- Two reasons: the world is low-magic, as in magic has been lost and it is still taught in few places. Other than magical creatures, only a bunch of people can wield magic, and our party has a few of them.
Second, we already have the lich's phylactery and a bunch of informations we are not willing to share for free. So if we are not "the only chance", we surely are their best one.

The campaign so far has involved lots of exploration, combat and puzzles. Other than the capital city, we haven't spent much time in urban areas, and we barely saw dungeons. Most of the time we are out in the wilderness fighting monsters and solving clues.

As for the other suggestions, I don't think we committed any crime while in this specific kingdom...

To own and operate a guild officially commissioned by the crown to liaison between upcoming adventurers and the nobility/authority of the kingdom.

A plot of fertile land large enough to build and support a small community, with unrestricted access to fresh, running water that will still be with the kingdom's security and trade network.

A concrete contract ensuring the party, and any future offspring of the party, have access to the best education, magical schooling, military training, and healthcare possible.

And to upgrade the current gear of the party, everything from artisan tools and backpacks made masterwork. Weapons made from Mithral or Adamantine or Whipwood and enchanted to match what we have now. Same with armor.

I like these ideas! It shows a lot of foresight, I'll make sure to include them.

Whatever we need to accomplish the mission, and a bit of luck besides.

That's included in the gold we get to spend immediately. Plus most of it we already have.

I would ask the kingdom for a small bit of land to mark as your own, and form your own kingdom. Would require a willing GM though.

I like the idea, but I'm not sure they would allow us to declare our land as an independent kingdom. The GM probably will allow it, but with the obvious consequence of the king's army trying to retake it by force if we want independence.

Me and my party are in a quite sweet position where we can make a list of "demands" to the king of the city.
Putting it simply, we are the best chance they have to save the city, and probably the kingdom, from annihilation. Before the mission begins, we are writing down a list of things we want in exchange for our help.

So far we have:
- A new national holiday named after us, to celebrate our future achievements.
- A large manor, just outside the capital, to call home.
- Unrestricted access to all knowledge places, such as arcane academies or libraries.
- A monthly payment (nothing gamebreakinig) to sustain our basic expenses.
- Becoming nobles, with a title high enough to be more important than most other nobles (except for the crown's family).
- A bunch of gold to spend immediately, and access to special shops and discounts.

PS. We already tried to get the crown for ourselves, but that's not going to happen.

I was thinking of adding some kind of exotic pet / mount, but I have no clue what would be good to ask for (dragons are too much of a cliche)

What would you ask for?

Perfectly clear, thank you so much!

That means my character is still alive, just dying... but the fight is over, so I can get help from my party ;) Thanks again

THANK YOU!

Hello.
I'm having a hard time understanding the rules about death. This is what happened.
My character was hit when down to 1 HP and 0 SP. The hit was for a total of 19 damage.

I have "Enhanced Resistance Kinetic" feat, meaning I have a DR equal to my BAB which is currently 5. That brings the damage down to 14 points, which leaves me with a negative score of -13.

I know they removed the "equal to negative CON" thing to know if you instantly die. But I can't find how it works now. All I find tells me when I reach 0 HP, not what happens if I have plenty of negative points. My RP score is 7.

So, am I dead? Do I subtract those 7 RP from the damage I took? Can you still die instantly from a hit strong enough?

If I'm not dead, what happens now? If I got it right, I spend half my RP to stabilise, and then 1 more RP to "wake up" (with 1 HP).

Thanks for the help

Hi. I'm looking for SciFi tokens to use on our Roll20 campaign, especially for Starfinder creatures such as those we find in the Alien Codex. Does anyone know where to find some good ones? What do you use on your games?

To be more specific, I'm looking for Nuar, Skittermander, Vesk, and Kasatha. But at this point any token would help, since the DM will for sure need some as enemies and NPCs.

Free tokens would be better, but at this point we are considering buying some if we see something interesting enough.

I wish we were talented enough to draw our own tokens, but we are not...

PS. With "Tokens" I'm not talking about the circular ones with the portraits inside. Those are easy to make. I'm looking for top-view ones, such as Devin's (for example).

Maybe a large corporation is paying you to steal it from another company, because they have the means to hack it with a bit of time. So it's easier to take the entire thing and give it to them, so they can deal with the security measures.

Or maybe you just want to screw up with the owner. His entire life is in that thing, so even just stealing it is enough.

Maybe you know it has valuable informations on it, and you sell it locked on the black market. It's not your problem to unlock it, it's the buyer that will have to deal with it.

As for low tier computers, I'd say mostly for thinkering with it and making something else out of it. They might be low value, but free is always free.

That's what I thought. I'm going to talk with the GM about it, but I wanted some other opinions first.
Thanks!

Hi,
I noticed something interesting while reading into powered armor:

... The cockpit of powered armor is too small to fit a person wearing heavy armor. If you're wearing light armor while in powered armor, you gain the higher of the EAC bonuses and the higher of the KAC bonuses between the two suits of armor, and you take the worse maximum Dexterity bonus and armor check penalty. ...

It doesn't say anything about upgrades. So let's make an example.

I get a "Battle Harness" powered armor (1 slot) with the "Exit Pod" upgrade. While in that armor, I'm also wearing a Estex Suit I (2 slots) with "Infrared Sensors" and "Electrostatic Field mk 1".

Do I get all three bonuses? Do I only get "Exit Pod"? Or do I get both "Exit Pod" and "Infrared Sensors", while only getting the resistance bonus from "Electrostatic Field mk1" (not getting the 1d6 Electricity damage if someone touches or attacks me with melee weapons, since they don't technically get in contact with it)?

I think it's safe to assume that some upgrades wouldn't work on the light armor if I'm also using the powered one, such as Jetpack or Jump Jets for example.

Hmm, I'll think about sniper rifles then.

Is your gm letting you use items from alien archive?

We are using Alien Archive for races mostly. Some items will be allowed, others won't (unless we slaughter the monster it comes from). What did you have in mind?

I don't have much of a choice. I'm only proficient in small arms, and I'm not sure it's worth for an Envoy to get proficiency feats, is it?

I'll check those guns out, thanks

Yes, the 19 is due to an 18 in CHA +1 with the level 5 ability increase.

Everyone in the party rolled the stats, we followed what it said on the core book in alternative methods.

I didn't think about the recharging stations. Any suggestions on equip?

Hello.
I'm trying to build a Skittermander Envoy (Idol) for a new campaign, and I need your help. I have only 1 short experience in Starfinder so far, so I can use all the tips you got.

The character is going to be level 5, with 12.000 credits to spend on Tier 6 (or lower) items.

My stats have been rolled, and I've added all racial, theme and adjustment bonuses, ending up with the following:

STR 8
DEX 17
CON 12
INT 18
WIS 10
CHA 19

That gives me great social skills (and play of others) and allows me to be good at ranged combat too.

I'm thinking Dispiriting Taunt, Inspiring Boost and Quick Dispiriting Taunt as Envoy Improvisations. Skill Expertise will be on Bluff and a skill TBD. As for the Expertise Talent, I'm thinking Convincing Liar.

What I really need your help with is feats and equipment.

My first thought was to get quick draw, but I'm not sure if it works with all 6 arms at once. And even if it did, here comes my big question: is there a way to shoot with more than 2 weapons at once (at my lvl)? It would be super cool to shoot 6 guns at once, even with the penalties associated with the usual TWF (-4) or even more. It wouldn't be a ever-round-action, just a cool thing to do every once in a while. All I could find is Fusillade, which is great but expensive as hell (1 entire mag * 6 = a lot of money every time I use it)

Even if I took those two, which I'm not sure about, it leaves me another feat.

As for equip, I'm really undecided. What kind of weapon (small arms) is more effective in your opinion? Should I go with all equal weapons (easy to deal with and to find ammos), or should all weapons deal a different kind of damage?
Other than armor and weapons, which items you found the most useful?

Thanks for the help

I see, guess I'll put Handy Haversack on the shopping list then!

Dazzling display is actually a good idea. I will have a ton of ranks in Intimidate (or equivalent Perform via versatile performance), plus my CHA will be at least a +4.

That's great! I'm split between going with a whip myself, which opens some cool tricks if I spend on it, or with a flying blade, which is something I've always loved and never had a chance to use (and I believe would fit perfectly with dazzling display).

I'll get an 18 on both INT and CHA by level 8. I can get the following stats:
STR: 10 DEX: 14 CON: 10 INT: 18 WIS: 10 CHA: 18

By making a middle-aged character, I can get:
STR 11-1 [age] = 10
DEX 13+2 [race] -1 [age] = 14
CON 11-1 [age] = 10
INT 15+1 [age] +1 [lvl 4] +1 [lvl 8] = 18
WIS 11-2 [race] +1 [age] = 10
CHA 15 +2[race] +1 [age] = 18

At 12 and 16 I'll up CHA to a full 20.

Alternatively I could go with a total 12 CON and 8 WIS, but I don't really like having a -1 on will saves even if they are my stronger ones... What do you think? Is that 1HP/lvl worth it?

I've decided to go with the Tiefling varian Rakshasa-Spawn (Beastbrood, because it has nice bonuses and the tail can come in handy!

The spelling feat seems great, it fits perfectly my idea! I'm not sure it works with seamless performance though, since it seem like another kind of performance (and I can't keep two performances up at the same time)

I was looking at the Masked Performer, but it's not what I'm looking for. He focuses on one persona, doesn't get anything for other disguises. Also it loses a few nice things from bard (bardic knowledge, versatile performance) in exchange for very little in my opinion.

Why is the handy haversack better?

Hello!
I'm trying to build a working character out of the concept of an actor, one of those travelling with other entertainers from town to town. As any great performer, he will look for trouble and will always pick a risky great gesture over a safer but boring approach.

But first things first: the "rules".
I want to make an 8th level character, and study its build up to level 16 (or even 20, but I doubt I'll get that far). He will begin with a 20 point buy, and fewer golds than the standard amount (around 20k). Paizo only.

A few important things he will have to do:
- Be great at fooling people (lie, disguise, forge documents and such)
- Be able to charm people, either with words or spells
- Be able to attack without being too obvious, possibly during a performance (thinking throwing poisoned darts or something similar; also thinking sword cane would be great). An alternative would be taking some weapon with the perform special ability, which would also be great.

The role of this character in combat will be marginal; he will have healing spells and wands, some buffs and some ways to control or incapacitate enemies. He will be at the center of attention not thanks to huge damage with his sword or enormous fireballs raining all over, but because of the role-play behind each of his actions.

Races:
I know the Human is always a great option, due to his free feat. But they are also boring as hell.
Here's a few classes I'm thinking could work:

- Tiefling varian Rakshasa-Spawn (Beastbrood): stats are great (+2 DEX +2 CHA, -2 WIS), disguise and sense motive bonuses come in handy, and detect thoughts as a spell like ability is not bad. Also, I could get prehensile tail, which is awesome.

- Drow: again great stats (+2 DEX, +2 CHA, -2 CON), poison use can really help (I'm thinking throwing poisonous darts while performing, or stabbing someone while dancing), and some other nice things.

- Aasimar variant Peri-Blooded (Emberkin): perfect stats (+2 CHA +2 INT), could get Truespeaker which is a nice alternate trait and pyrotechnics is not bad for performing. Not really sure about it.

Based on which class I take, the Point Buy would change. My objective is to have high CHA and INT. STR will be my main dump stat.
Assuming I'll take Drow or Tiefling, I'll have a +2 DEX +2 CHA, and putting a 12 on either CON or WIS to counter the -2, I'll end up with this: STR: 7 DEX: 14 CON: 10 INT: 16 WIS: 10 CHA: 18. At this point I can either add 2 points (from lvl 4 and 8) to CHA, going to a full 20, or to INT, for a nice 18 (since skills will be my most important contribution to the party). What do you think?

Classes:

- Bard is a must, of course. I've been looking at archetypes, but i'm not truly satisfied by what I could find. The Busker is the only one that got my attention, because stunts would let me go one step further in my performances, and fit the idea of the dare chaser. Street performer is not really worth it mechanically, and daredevil sounds nice but I would lose my inspire courage, which is something I'd prefer to keep as a backup.

- Investigator is interesting, being able to take both the Infiltrator and Sleuth archetypes. I would lose alchemy (not interested), poison stuff (which is a shame, but I can still use poisons), and I would gain great advantages on disguise and a luck pool for some cool dares. I'm not really interested in the studied strikes and such, so I could do with just 2 levels in investigator; i could get a third just to get a talent (Underworld inspiration would help, just like some rogue talents)

- Swashbuckler: I believe he really fits the concept, but I'm not sure it's a great idea mechanically. First, it would add to the luck pool, which is nice. As for archetypes, the Inspired Blade would give me a ton of Panache, but that's pretty much it... I'm not sure about it, and it would probably only fit one level to gain the first deeds (3 levels would be better, but I would be too much behind on bard).

Feats:
At the beginning, assuming I'm not taking human, I have 4 feats. I am considering taking an exotic weapon proficiency, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. I COULD get heirloom weapon as a trait, to go around the proficiency, but it's really risky; i've lost my heirloom weapon in the past, and it SUCKS.

Skill focus is always an option, and I would have plenty of skill to choose from. Extra performance can be an option.

I'm not an expert on "strange" feats, so I ask for your help finding feats that let me do stuff that I can't do now, not just empower what I already have.

Traits:
I have no clue yet. There are plenty good ones, and I guess I'll probably use them to fix some small issues after the rest of the build is done.

Magic Items and Equipment
Sleeves of many garments are cheap and awesome. Hat of disguise is another kinda cheap item I can easily get my hands on.
After that, I'm lost. Which way should I go? Spending money on magic weapons seems silly, but if I take an exotic weapon then I doubt I'll ever find one to replace it with. Magic armour? maybe, but I'd rather spend the money to get a +2 on a stat...
Bag of holdings is something I will truly need; i'll have to keep items to change my appearance, and with my great 7 in STR, I can't live without one.
Other good items?

I'd like to have your input, and hear what you think would be good to get and what I should definitely forget about. I can't promise I will, but I'd like to hear your opinion.

I will try to make a more in depth build (up to level 16), only after I have a solid base at level 8.

Thanks in advance for the tips!

Ok, this is getting out of hand.

As for the Crimes vs Civil Offences, it just a matter of speaking.
What I intended is committing a crime = breaking a law. It can be a petty crime, such as disrespecting a guard or stealing an apple, or a serious crime such as murdering or torturing someone.

Of course each place will have his own laws, so what is and what isn't a crime will change depending on where we are.

My "90%..." example included everything, even speeding. Where I live speed limits are not enforced as much as in the US, so people usually go way above the limits unless they know there is a cop nearby or one of those machines that catch you if you speed. I'm not saying that 90% of the people would kill someone of course!

Back to the main topic:
My examples might have given you a wrong idea. Our group is NOT full of criminals, and usually we do not commit crimes. We haven't stolen stuff from a single merchant yet (or anyone, unless you consider looting a dungeon stealing from the monsters), nor have killed innocents and so on. The only borderline-evil act we have done is "kidnapping" a person in her own house. To be more specific, we were looking for her partner (because of a bounty on his head), and she caught us in their home; so we tied her arms and forced her to bring us to his hiding post (without physically hurting her). He escaped, but we got the stolen goods, so we brought her to the guards and gave them all the stolen stuff.

My examples, admittedly some bad ones, are just hypothetical stuff that might or might not happen in the future. We are not leaning towards evil acts, but nobody can say what will happen in the future, especially if someone dies and rolls in a new character.

Again, thanks for being willing to bear with me!

Thanks everyone for the tips.

A few things:
1. non violent crimes are not necessarily evil, and might even be good in some rare occasions. A few examples: beating up a criminal can be a neutral or even good act if he was going to hurt some innocents; stealing is evil if you ruin the life of someone, but if you snatch a few gold pieces from a rich merchant, his life won't change a bit, so it's neutral (and you could even make it good if those money were from a criminal and go to a good cause); if you forge a document to get in a building, or similar, nobody is getting hurt, so it's a neutral action at worse (again, or even good if it's to help someone). And so on.

2. I don't agree with the guy in the video. People are not LG usually. Take us for example: we don't commit crimes not because we believe firmly in the law, but because we fear the consequences. If we were sure we didn't get caught, 90% of the people here would commit some crime...

3. The DM doesn't allow non-LG paladins, so that's not an option :(

4. I really enjoy GM Rednal code of conduct, thanks for sharing it!

5. Bob bob bob, we have very different views. If even lying is an evil act, then the paladin should bash his party all day long, becoming a very annoying character to be around. As I said in point 1, many crimes can have different shades, depending on why you are committing it and who is the "victim". An evil lord deserves all its coming to him. We don't plan on robbing a poor beggar, but we might steal a few potions if we can't afford them... Nobody plans on him to do it, but we don't want him to call the guards either if he knows it, or even complain all the time. I know it will depend on how he plays, but that's another story.

Said so, thanks everyone for the tips! I'll have my friend read it before we start playing!

Hello! I need your advice on the following topic.
A friend of mine is building a Paladin (Oathbound, charity); as usual, he's going Lawful Good, but we would like to find a way to make it less "annoying" for the party.

In other words, we are looking for ideas on how to justify actions (both made by him or the party members in his presence) that usually fall under the Neutral or even Chaotic spectrum (No evil acts).

Since the Lawful aspect of an alignment is quite open to interpretation (a lot more than Good), it's not impossible to "cheat" your way out of it, without actually changing alignment.

So which ways would you use to "transform" non-lawful acts (such as non-violent crimes) into lawful (good) ones?
Would you write a "code of conduct" yourself, instead of simply abiding the law of the land (or a specific order's code), and if so which points would you add to it?
How would you convince the paladin that what you did doesn't go against his code?

Any tip is appreciated!

I was looking for something a bit more specific. Of course everyone benefits by being able to carry more items, but are there some "hidden" bonuses?

For example, what happens if you carry two tower shields? I know the AC bonus doesn't stack, but would you be able to gain cover on two sides at once?

What happens if you grapple with all four arms, instead of just two? Do you get some bonus to your grapple check?

Do you get any bonus to skill, such as climb? It should be easier to climb (or at least harder to lose grip) when you have 3 or 4 arms, shouldn't it?

Would you be able to use oversized 2H weapons? Since an oversized weapons goes from light to 1H, and from 1H to 2H, would a 2H go to 3/4H?

And so on...

I wasn't aware of the Kasatha, thanks for the suggestion.

I'm not trying to build an OP character for a campaign. I was mostly curious about it's potential.

As far as I know Forewarned doesn't prevent you from being surprised. You can always act in surprise rounds, but those who act before you still hit on flat-footed.

Not sure what the 2 bonus feats have to do with my question, but I wouldn't give it either. Being a quadruped gives you bonuses to speed and carry capabilities already, so why giving you two entire feats?

Hello!
I was looking into race creation, and noticed you can build a character with up to 4 arms. That's better than the alchemist discovery, because you can actually use it to gain multiple attacks from my understanding.

So I began wondering, which classes and builds would benefit the most by having multiple arms?

I did look at gestalt, and it doesn't work for a simple reason: this is supposed to be a two player's character. Gestalt are great, but while you get 2 classes and all the best stuff, you still have the default actions at your disposal: 1 swift action, 1 move action, 1 standard action. There is no way for two player to share a gestalt character without taking turns (they couldn't act on the same turn)

If I apply the gestalt rules to my concept, I fear it would end up to be much stronger than two separate characters.

I completely agree with Rhaleroad. You gave him the chance to do most of this stuff, without stopping him.

This is one of the reasons many DM prohibit Evil alignments: people don't know the difference between an Evil character and a dumb psychopath.

CN characters COULD work with a Paladin if they are willing to do a lot of stuff without being seen. Pretending to leave an offering on the alter, while actually taking something of more value. Pretending to be a good fella by offering some food to a beggar, but having it poisoned with something that takes a while to kill him (so that the Paladin sees you do a "good action", which is an evil one in reality). And so on...
Clearly your friend is not into that kind of gameplay, so it doesn't work.

And whatever "He believed" doesn't really matter. You are the DM, you make the rules. Even the player handbook says that the rules are just there to help, but the DM has unlimited power over it.

I'm glad to see the party woke up and left him behind. Now, you can either kick him from the table, or give him a seconda chance forcing him with a non evil alignment. See how he behaves, and if he creates problems you just take him out OOC. No need for explanations, he will just vanish like if he was an illusion.

I like the rolls idea, it might work!

Traits and Drawbacks are of secondary importance for now.

No additional arms, the build has to be as similar to the original Cho'Gall as possible.

I've looked into the Eidolon, and I think it could work if it was one player commanding everything. But since we want to be two players in the same body, one would end up playing the Eidolon with its limits; I don't see it happening...

Thanks for the tips!

Did you ever think that it could be also your fault?

I've dealt with problematic players multiple times, and I can tell you that if you want to stop them, you can. So while his initial behaviour is his own fault, the fact that he keeps pulling this crap is also your fault.

Here's a few way to approach the situation:

1. THE "EASY WAY OUT": since talking to him OOC didn't get results, just kick him out of the group. Be honest, and tell him that while you enjoy his friendship IRL, he's behaving like an ass in game.

2. THE "ABDUCTION" Simply take out his character. He could be actually kidnapped, or just get killed, or when arrested given death penalty or life sentence. There are plenty of ways to take him out without hurting the rest of the party.

3. THE "AN EYE FOR AN EYE": he makes your life (and your players) a living hell? Do the same. Put him against impossible odds. Get him constantly arrested by guards, spending time in jail while the party can play through town; have him contract a very rare disease with an impossible saving throw, something that hits his most important stats; have him cursed by a deity, so that he has to re-roll any successful attack or skill check; do stuff like that, making the game terrible for him unless he changes behaviour. He starts behaving? Good! His reputation will go up, so won't be constantly arrested. Maybe he finds the cure. Maybe the deity lifts the curse because he repents.

4. THE "OPPENHEIMER": "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds". As a DM, you are above everything else; with a snap of your fingers even deities can die. Since the party doesn't seem like it's doing anything to stop him, but yet complains about him, punish them all. TPK can seem a harsh solution, but it's still one. Maybe make one or two of them survive, but other players die often puts things in a different prospective.

5. THE "BYE BYE": he causes troubles, but without big consequences. Next time, have the consequences be so massive that the party's only choice is to leave him behind. If the party actually hates how he behaves, they won't go towards sure death if they can simply abandon him. Take your deity example: the god himself could have intervened, forcing the party to either fight the divine, or let the god smite their "friend".

And so on... Those are just ideas, some harsher than others, to deal with him. But if you let him get away with everything, he has no reason to stop. Taking away his powers (hitting his stats, or actually taking away spells and such with some exploit) and wealth can often change a player's behaviour.

Any DM should always have some ruling about what he accepts and what not. Saying NO to a player is always an option, but it has to be thought trough. Many DM don't allow delicate topics such as torture or assaults. Other don't let players turn against each other, from stealing from a fellow member to trying to hit them or kill them in their sleep. Everyone has his "NO" moment, even if you try to allow everything there will always be something you will say NO to. So start saying no to him.

As a DM, I punish players if they ruin the game for the rest of the party. As a player I'm more limited, which is why I blame my DM if he doesn't do anything solid to stop him.

From your examples, it seems like you let him get away with anything. He gets arrested? Oh, he'll just get out if he promises not to break the rules (which he will, both because the player is a jerk and because the character is CE). He curses a deity in their own temples? Oh well, someone will get upset, but no biggie.
PUNISH HIM. You don't want.to kill him? Fine, cut off one of his limbs as a punishment; or his tongue. Have him cursed by the deity. DO SOMETHING.

We did think about taking the best saves, but it would be much stronger than the average player. I guess an average could work.

Twice the points is too much, it allows for too high scores... Take a standard 15 point buy, would get them to a 30 point buy, which allows for huge scores on all stats. Maybe going just one step higher (+5 points) would be enough? Or two at best (+10)

I do like the idea of a special feat for that, great suggestion!