So I introduced my new group of players into Pathfinder by running them through Hollow's Last Hope and then wrote my very own adventure to overthrow the Mayor (which I'd love to sell on the cheap for others to enjoy, though not really sure how to go about that or the legality behind it).
Anyway, as a result my party began Strange Aeons at level 3.
At the start of the campaign they had no armour or weapons, so the first encounter with Scaen, even at level 3 was very tough for them, but they pulled through!
Next session it's highly likely they're going to be fighting Zandalus and The Tatterman.
I have a level 8 NPC running around and keeping an eye on them (little do they know, he's a friend from their past) and my game is very narrative driven, but as I have this NPC more as an observer right now (he only turned up because he'd not heard from his girlfriend - the Druid of the party, in 6 months) trying to piece together what's going on, he hasn't revealed who he is or even that he knows the party. The parties memory of his old self has appeared in many of their dreams and even as full bodied apparitions - A by-product of the dream situation, but his armour currently hides his features and he isn't able to see the shared dreams or apparitions of his past self.
As a side note: The party wanted me to have my own character and thankfully haven't realised this is the same guy they loved from Hollow's Last Hope. I've just dubbed him "Mysterious Man" and play him...mysteriously, but also evasive to a lot of their questions, only revealing what he knows when I want for narrative reasons. He dropped in through the sky from his Griffon, which is currently not around and knew the chances of getting out were slim.
That said, I have him as a fallback plan in case things go sour for the party, but with the focus mostly on the PC's, I've been thinking about how to make this encounter both frightening and a challenge to the party of 3.
So, what I've done is rolled a perception check for Zandalus to know when the party are near (which he passed), allowing him to have Bear's Endurance already in effect and then when The Tatterman appears, he comes in with 70HP and due to party level, I've replaced his ability to cast Dream with Deep Slumber. He's a Nightmare creature, not a Dream creature. Also, the experience shared between all 3 PC's will bump them up to level 6 in time for the next book.
That's it.
Is there anything else you'd recommend doing or do you have any further suggestions in general?
We're using Hero Points which I introduced after the Ranger kept going down in every combat of Hollow's Last Hope (and also due to the fact he said if his character dies he's no longer playing - putting me in an awkward position really), but the party consists of:
An Arcadian Human Ranger 5 (Guide)
An Ulfen Skinwalker (Were-Bear) Druid 3 (Nature Fang)/Fighter 1 (Unarmed)/Barbarian 1
A Mwangi Half-Elf Fighter 5 (Crossbowman modified for normal attacks, not readied actions)
The NPC is a Human Cavalier 5/Swashbuckler 2/Fighter 1 (Dragoon) with a Griffon Mount and a Mithral Double-Spear - Gimmick is fall damage with Boots of the Cat.
We're having fun though and as I modified Red Destiny and made some additional dream sequences, if you'd like me to post them I'd be happy to.
So very early in the campaign, the party unknowingly opened a can of worms by finding the key to Malfeshnekors prison, and considering how long the magic of Karzoug had been holding the beast, in my campaign I ruled that the key to the room broke the magical seal for as long as the doors to the room remained open. Long story short, the party were getting their arses handed to them and so, out of desperation they took the key back out of the double door, hoping to seal Malfeshnekor away once more.
This massively p****d the Greater Barghest off, who jumped over the party and through the closing doors, blocked two of the party members escape instead (the Cleric of Desna and Anti-Paladin Insinuator). It then tore through two of the party members, at which point the other two PC's abandoned their comrades and fled for their lives. Mal was onto their scent however, and with a bit of luck the two party members were able to make it up to the courtyard just one round ahead of Mal, and with a change in wind direction, the Greater Barghest misplaced their scent and followed it out of the complex altogether. At this point, it realised it was free and figured there would be plenty of food in the surrounding wilderness.
So, not only did half of the party abandon their comrades, they released this monstrosity upon the world. Heroic.
That aside, I've actually had Malfeshnekor crop up again from book 4 onwards and it wasn't until the Wendigo Siege that the party realised the big Wolf they kept seeing was in fact Malfeshnekor. What happened here was the Wendigo had just broken the walls of the Vekker Cabin down and was about to truly wreck the party, when Malfeshnekor who'd been following them this whole time leapt from the roof, lunged for the Wendigo's throat and tumbled through the snow as the two beasts took it in turns to try and rip each other apart.
Mal prevailed (he's currently level 16) and while his blood trailed through the snow, following the wounds he'd received, he made his way back to the party to say with a wicked, bloodied grin wide across his face; "A chance to stretch my legs...this one's on me, though I see only one of you remain...", before turning invisible once more as he left the party. This is because only one of the original party members remain at this point.
Now, however, the party are in Xin-Shalast and though they have no idea of his intentions, Mal is so enraged by the fact Karzoug imprisoned him for so long that he's helping the party reach the Runelord, so he can laugh and revel in the joy of Karzougs downfall.
What I have planned for next session is when the party presumably get their arses handed to them either from Ghlorofaex or Gamigin (who is likely to attack them very shortly after their encounter with the dragon), Mal is going to become visible as he grabs the only original surviving player character by the throat, and with a grin, demands his newly acquired Sihedron Ring. If the PC agrees, Mal will then take the ring and throw the PC across the floor, telling him to sort himself out before turning invisible once more and running off.
What he's actually doing though, is bounding straight for the Pinnacle of Avarice to take the Sihedron Rings from the four Wardens of the Wind, with the intention of returning to the five PC's with at least three of those rings.
Behind the scenes, he's so far made his way past the Spiders of Leng and successfully cast Charm Monster on one of the Four Wardens. Having "befriended" this one, he requested to borrow its Sihedron Ring, only the Giant explained that giving up his ring within the pulses of the Occlusion Field would result in his death, stating also that he was not permitted to leave the area. So, with a grin as wide as his face, Malfeshnekor had an idea - Making his presence known to the other three Wardens, with a successful diplomacy check, he explained that he is Karzoug's latest ally, and that he was instructed by Karzoug himself to approach them, raising his claw to show them his own Sihedron Ring.
My question now is, how can I get the rings to the PC's?
I had the idea of either somehow getting the Giants to turn on each other and reclaiming the rings from their corpse, or luring them away from their post and setting up an ambush for the Leng Spiders to take care of them, but I don't know how likely or believable either of these would be, so I've made this post for assistance and to hopefully pick your brains!
Also, yes - Malfeshnekor will be the parties ally in the final encounter, though for how long after they hopefully defeat Karzoug, I don't know.
Thanks for any help/advice!
This will include some spoilers as I mainly see this section as reference for GM's, so please stop reading if you're not a GM.
So my party will be returning to the Catacombs of Wrath next session and I'm in a bit of a bind.
Upon reading about The Scribbler, it appears the intent was to make it so he could dash in, attack once and dash back out of combat again, only his stats, feats or abilities don't really accommodate that. At least, not fully.
Sure he gets Dimension Door at will, but that doesn't allow him to cast it as a swift action. He has the Quicken Spell feat, but I don't actually know if you're allowed to modify "At-Will" spells with this, and so, assuming you can't, his combat actions would go something like this:
Surprise Round: Teleports to a PC casting DD (standard action) and can't do anything else that turn.
Round 1: If the party win initiative he eats a full round action quite possibly from all 3 members.
Round 2: There isn't one. He died incredibly fast due to action economy.
So, to rectify this, there are only two ways I see this working:
The 1st way
1. Swap Iron Will for Dimensional Agility
2. Swap Toughness for Dimensional Assault
This way he gets to teleport and attack, then on the following round will 5ft step and DD back out of there again.
The 2nd way
1. As GM, I rule he can Quicken his DD's, so he can Dimensional Door in and attack (full-round action with Dimensional Assault), then quickened DD out again whilst making a concentration check for casting defensively as usual.
Note: He can't 5ft step and then do it safely because Dimensional Assault counts as a charge.
This is the closest I can get his hit and run tactics to work, otherwise it's simply not possible.
The party can handle a lot. They consist of:
Goruk-Rei: An Anti-Paladin (Insinuator) who's currently insane after too many trips to the Abyss. He currently contacts Calistria for his powers. He died earlier in the campaign, but decided it was a good idea to use a Balor as his lacky to keep bringing him back to life. He's so far been revived 13 times after forcing the Balor to use his power to bring him back to life, lording the Balors true name over him. Only, the name he holds is the true name of a dead Balor and the Balor that's playing along is a Balor Lord that's slowly taking over his body with each revival. Goruk has 2 lives left and has no idea. He's level 12 with 2 Mythic Tiers and the only Divine magic that can effect him is that of his own (I made the God-Proof ability of Black Magga literal). He went toe to toe with Mokmurian alone, after the party had incurred the wrath of Mokmurian's army. It was a big spectacle and though Mokmurian beat him into unconsciousness, nobody had the ability to heal Mokmurian's bleeding (of which he had 29 every round due to Goruk's crit card), largely due to the fact Mokmurian narrowly escaped the party shortly before and the two Lamia Priestesses used all of their healing to heal him back up to full before meeting up with most of the other Giants within The Black Tower and marching down to his lair where the PC's awaited. Also, though he would have dropped from the bleed, or made a heal check after combat (he was trying to prove himself in front of his army), Arizar chucked a bomb at the back of his head during his gloat for KO'ing Goruk, at which point Conna and have of Mok's army turned on the other half. Goruk is linked strongly to the sin Wrath.
Arizar: A Beastmorph Alchemist who sometimes turns into an equivalent to the Cleric Beast in Bloodborne (he wanted to research his idea of the perfect form, which to him is an Emerald/Green Dragon, so I homebrewed this Beast as his failure concoction which he gets on a 7 as I modified his Unstable Mutagen to have an effect on a 7 and 8). It's incredibly strong, able to paralyze anything that comes into proximity of him (provided they can be paralyzed), at which point he simply coup de grace's the now helpless victims. This was not meant for him to have control over, is an entirely different personality made of pure rage and hunger, and it forces him to target the closest small or larger living creature, no matter who or what they are. He took out Undead Lamatar, Lucretia, Barl and Barl's Stone Giant bodyguard - the latter three in 3 rounds (while three other party members at the time were all polymorphed into Newts and Toads, luckily for them)....He's also the only remaining original hero of Sandpoint and though civilians see him as a hero, the way he fights is less than honourable. Though he's been rather charitable and offered financial aid to most in need of it (Sandpoint, Fort Rannick etc), he's an opportunist and likely onyl does this to empower his public image. He's linked strongly to the sin Pride. He's level 12 and has 1 Mythic Tier.
Lazarus: The Dual-Wielding, Switch-Hitting Rogue/Ranger of the party. He got onto the Paradise with a tattoo of the Sihedron on the back of his bald head. He died during my upscaled Feast of Ravenmoor module (which I ran before they got to the Storval Stairs) against an Avatar of Ghlaunder which I created. Naturally, he was being sent to K's pool of souls to empower the Runewell, but on his way, I had Desna intervene as it was her who released Ghlaunder by mistake and when he was brought back to life, his Sihedron tattoo was replaced with a blue butterfly and he's since been gifted with the ability to put any creature that steps within 5ft of him to sleep (lasting 1rd per level and only usable once per day), where he can then Dream Travel, taking the physical party members into the Dimension of Dreams to escape. I've also allowed him to use this ability to enter and leave the Dream Plane when the rest of the party is asleep to try and assassinate campaign specific targets. He came close to doing this to Mokmurian but thought it was too risky. He also went with the poisoner Archetype and to make poison actually useful, I allowed him to increase the DC of all poisons by a maximum of 10, so long as he makes the craft checks (this also works in reverse and can make some pretty poor poisons and ruining them altogether if rolling poorly). Lazarus isn't linked to any sin due to his actions, but is in fact strongly linked the virtue of Diligence. He doesn't yet have a Mythic Tier.
Of note: I got them to roll for their stats (4d6, drop lowest six times) and they've all ended up with 38-45pt buy, though I ruled at the start of the campaign they weren't to increase 18's during character creation, and anything less than an 8 gets re-rolled.
So some of you may have seen my previous thread a while back about a Half-Orc character called Goruk - He's an Anti-Paladin Insinuator of Nethys. The short of it is he was killed and cremated at Sandpoint shortly after the party dealt with Thistletop (they released you know who and half the party suffered immeasurably during the chase scene - I ruled the magic could indefinitely contain the creature, but as soon as the door is opened, the seal would be broken), but for whatever reason ended up in the Abyss rather than Limbo and/or Hell.
During his time spent there he ended up finding the true name of a Balor and has since been using that Balor to bring him back to life. Now, I haven't quite decided what he is anymore other than because his body was cremated, his actual soul is what manifests physically in the material plane now. If he dies too many times, it's possible he could suffer soul destruction but highly unlikely because I've been giving him powers every two deaths he suffers. Since Thistletop we're now at the end of book 3 and he's died 9 times (10 if you include the original), and little does he know, the Balor he's abusing is actually not the one he has the true name of.....that one died looooong ago. So now, every time he threatens to say the Balors real name, it plays along, bringing him back, but with each revival, a little more of its essence seeps into Goruks physically manifested body.
Even more interesting is the fact the Balor is messaging followers of Pharasma anonymously, telling her agents where he is so they can kill him over and over again for disrupting the balance of life and death, speeding up the process of full body takeover. He doesn't know most of this, but he's reached the point where he's received all boons he'll get as a PC (+4 Str, Con and Cha), as well as having grown a foot in height, his skin now blackened instead of the grey Half-Orc he was, with now grown and much sharper tusks (that were once filed) and a subtle red glow on his skin in direct sunlight. The voice inside his head hasn't quite formed yet....He has 6 deaths left before he dies one too many times and ends up fully stuck in the Abyss, with his soul somewhat divided - the physical side of it being controlled by a Balor Lord and the ethereal side being stuck in the Abyss with his identity still in tact. When this happens, he's likely going to be tougher to kill than the end boss and tbh I think I'm going to have to extend his lives from 15 to 20, else it'll probably be a TPK from one of their own before they've even reached the final book.
The trick to this is he has to find some kind of ritual guide hidden somewhere deep within the Abyss to partially regain control of his physical form, slightly weakening the balors grasp over him long enough so he can kill himself, killing the Balor along with it. He also sat in a pub in a flooded village, water 2 feet deep surrounding him, slit his own throat and respawned inside a legendary creature called a Black Magga. He killed it and I gave him a "god proof" ability. Due to that he can't ever be the target of any divine spells or abilities, unless they're his own abilities stemming from himself....this is a one man job.
I got him to roll a random dice (secretly to know what he'll return as after the stories conclusion and he rolled an Aasimar.....pretty funny).
Anyway, wandering through the Sanos Forest, the party found a derelict galleon of all things, with nothing left aboard aside from the remains of a long dead captain and some items/treasure the rest of the party found. This is where things then took a strange turn....
When the rest of the party climbed down from the Ship, Goruk decided to stay and rummage through the dead captains pockets. The party walked a little ways ahead (60ft or so) thinking Goruk would join them, but instead when they turned back, the ship was gone....along with their companion. Now, the ship's meant to disappear as the area is weird, mysterious, possibly haunted and close to the first world (land of the Fey), but there's no mention where it goes to as it's never meant to return again. So, I initially figured it had gone to the 1st world, only the description I gave on the spot was something like "stepping out onto the deck of the Galleon, you're in the middle of an ocean, floating in unfamiliar territory. The sea water is as black as night, the fog surrounding you is the same and the only thing that lights the sky is the brightly lit pure white moon."
Welcome to the Shadow Plane I guess!
So, I've been toying with some ideas but am a little stumped on where to go:
1. If he dies here, he dies full stop. The Shadow Plane and the Abyss aren't connected in the usual sense of the Abyss and Material Plane. He's out of reach of the Balor Lords power.
2. I was going to have this boat like some kind of creepy ghost story akin to the ships that go missing in the Bermuda triangle - It's been afloat, blipping in and out of dimensions and traveling for the best part of 100 years. You can never tell where it'll end up next or how long it'll remain in its current location for, but for this quest I wanted it to steer him to a port in the Shadow Plane, docking at the bottom of a massive Dracula/Castlevania typed Castle.
3. When he gets there, I wanted him to have some kind of encounter with Zon-Kuthonites, perhaps walking with them standing either side of him at ease, almost as if they were expecting him, as the rest of their group pray in front of the Zon-Kuthon altar. Only it's here I don't know what to do with him. Do they all try to convert him over to Zon-Kuthon who currently lives on the Shadow Plane, possibly even granting him a meeting with the Dark Lord? Or, do they try to kill him or have something more sinister planned for him? How does he get out and back to the material plane?
4. When he eventually leaves, considering the module set there, I was going to have him re-emerge not far from where the current party are (Turtleback Ferry) in a small town called Nidal. I also wanted to go with a Hellraiser theme/vibe, as Zon-Kuthonites are very much like the Cenobites!
P.s. I've also mentioned his backstory in case you all have any further fun suggestions for me to implement, but also to kind of serve as an understanding of his character to help in creating a sidequest very much appropriate for his character. He's a Scholar of the Ancient past, with a focus on Thassilonian history....and also a bit twisted and mad, more so since he's not been able to really die.
I guess I'm looking to pick your brains here, but I'm trying to build a Samurai to serve as an eventual member of the Sable Company Marines for Curse of the Crimson Throne.
The idea is he's a homeless Half-Elf kid who's just gotten over an addiction to shiver (Lamms fault). He's a bit of a street punk - Definitely a street urchin. He's lost a lot in his life, smokes and is incredibly reckless.
I'm going to start him out in the campaign with no gear and improved unarmed strike. The frustrating thing is, he essentially gets Diehard and Endurance with his resolve ability, but I need the actual feats for Stalwart and Improved Stalwart - I want his development to go from homeless, depressed, angst-ridden teenaged punk-bum to one of the finest Knights of Korvosa.
The focus for him should be high Damage Reduction and I'm using his Samurai class more akin to that of a Cavalier, treating the samurai side more as a fighting style, so he'll eventually be wearing medium or heavy armour. In short, I'm trying to make one tough SoaB.
I want him to go from an incredibly unrefined, non-caring, sensitive guy who means well to a shining example of a hero and Knight, so there needs to be a development of self-discipline. He was also inspired by Black Jack, so has a bit of an edgy attitude. I considered mixing Barbarian with Fighter, but the Samurai fighting style gives me a much better vibe.
Another issue is it takes about 8 feats to give him decent DR.
Ideally, I also need him to have Mounted Combat for his eventual Hippogriff mount (Dragoon is good for this, but I want to keep dipping into Fighter to a minimum).
The build I have for him currently is this:
Level 1: Fighter (Unbreakable)
Level 2 onwards: Samurai (Order of the Warrior)
Feats:
1. Improved Unarmed Strike (required for Crane Style)
3. Dodge (required for Crane Style)
5. Crane Style (necessary for the DR build)
7a. Crane Wing
7b. Power Attack
9. Crane Riposte
11. Stalwart
13a. Improved Stalwart
13b. Weapon Focus Katana
15. Critical Focus
17. Greater Weapon Focus: Katana
This gets him to about DR 15 against his challenges by level 17, but he can't do a lot else.
I recently made a topic asking for creative ways to deal with the below situation and you can see the result below. Any feedback is appreciated as usual, but I think I'm happy with the outcome.
So...
A player of mine had gone through three characters by the time we made it to the end of book 2, so I allowed him to come back from the dead in any way he saw fit. So when he came to me and said he'd obtained the true name of a Balor, I decided to work with it. This is his final Pathfinder game, before he moves over to 5E.
I decided the only thing powerful enough to bring him back would be a Balor Lord, and so, using the Balor Lord as his lapdog, every time he now dies, the Balor brings him back. Little does he know, the Balor Lord allowed him to obtain its true name and is working on a rather sinister plan itself.
On top of this, Goruks return from the grave has upset the natural order of life and death and as such, Pharasma is far from happy about it. He has just recently been visited by a Vanth (Psychopomp) who tried beckoning him over. I've worked it so through Pharasmas will, only he can see the Vanth, as they're intent on keeping their presence hidden from those they have no business with. It will only attack him while alone, but if he slays it, more and more will come, until he faces Pharasmas Herald herself. Adding to the dangers of this, the Balor Lord is actually the one guiding Pharasmas army behind the scenes. Via its loyal servants residing on the material plane, he's having them commune with Pharasma to give away Goruks location. Why? To speed up the process of possession of course, for every time Goruk dies, a little more of the Balor Lords essence seeps into his mortal body.
Notes regarding Goruk:
Note: To anyone reading this, Goruk is a NE Anti-Paladin (Insinuator).
- Area fills with static electricity.
- Floor goes black with thick, unnatural misty darkness.
- Goruk steps out from it anew (every time he dies, but see below).
Deaths:
2 deaths: The dark aura of the Abyss appears to have tainted your soul. You feel great joy when slaughtering your opponents and an oddly comforting level of anticipation when near death, like something wonderful is about to happen. You feel a lot more confident in your own abilities and have a permanent +4 to Charisma.
4 deaths: Something feels off about your body. It's like your bones don't fit properly, and your muscles are pulling hard against them. Permanent -1 to hit, +2 to damage.
6 deaths: You've grown a foot taller and weigh an extra 50 pounds. The previous -1 to hit and +2 damage is replaced with a permanent +4 to strength. Your filed tusks have also grown considerably.
8 deaths: Your skin has darkened in hue, appearing closer to black than grey, while under direct sunlight it glows red. Your aura of evil has grown into something awful. Animals avoid you and children cry in your passing. All non-evil creatures within 30ft of you take a -1 penalty to their saves, skills and attack rolls (this is a fear effect - DC 10 + Cha mod + Character level negates). Your Con permanently increases by 4.
10: Your dark vision improves to 120'. Sometimes you hear a voice, like something is talking inside your head. Your prolonged contact with pure darkness has caused you to suffer from light sensitivity.
11: The voice gets louder.
12: The voice gets louder still, and makes it hard to focus.
13: The voice makes it hard to hear your own thoughts.
14: The voice is one with you. It's like you're looking through somebody elses eyes. Your body feels sluggish. You take a -4 penalty to Dex and to all Reflex saves.
15. Goodbye Goruk - Make a DC34 Will Save (10 + Balor Lord Charisma Mod + Number of Deaths) or lose your body permanently. If Goruk makes this save, the DC increases by 1 with every future death.
Lost body: Your soul is banished to the Abyss. If you haven't already realised, the Balor Lord is now in possession of your body and is doing god knows what with it on the material plane. Calling its true name has no effect as it's now bound to your physical body in your stead. You are now considered an Evil Outsider and are no longer tethered to your body.
Going forward:
- You have one way to deal with this:
A side quest to claim an ancient text from within the Abyss, where you'd need to perform some kind of ritual to reverse the final stages of the Balors control over you. Through reading this, you realise the bond is far too deep and to permanently remove the link between yourself and the Balor Lord, you must kill yourself when whole in body once more, killing the Balor Lord with you.
- This gives the PC's one final fight after the BBEG of Rise of the Runelords (hopefully not before - don't abuse this for your own (and the parties) sake (player).
The final kicker:
Several years after the defeat of Goruk, either by his own hand or outside forces, a child struggles to sleep. All night long it can hear an unknown and yet familiar voice in its head; "Who....are....you?". "Who are....you?". "Who are you?". "WHO ARE YOU?". At that moment the child wakes up, aware of all past events that occurred during the course of the Rise of the Runelord campaign. Then the child spoke up, its face widening with a grin; " I...am Goruk-Rel!"
Roll a d10 (re-roll on a 10) to determine the race of this child:
Hey all, so I have an interesting and potentially fun thing for the community to go absolutely nuts with.
Without spoilers, I'm GM'ing Rise of the Runelords right now and having just worked their way through the caverns, my players are now in the Fort of book 3.
The Characters:
Lazarus - Human Rogue (Poisoner) 8
Notable features: Bald with a Sihedron Tattoo on the back of his head. He's keeping an eye on the party for the Lord-Mayor of Magnimar (Grobaras), following the recent attempted of Assassination of Grobaras himself, from one of Magnimars very own City Guards who joined the party before being taken away for execution. He also paid bail for Goruk who was imprisoned briefly for slapping their Lord-Mayor awake and then swinging at Grobaras' Guards for attempting to escort him off the premises. Wields two Shortswords, multiple daggers and a Longbow.
Goruk - Half-Orc Anti-Paladin (Insinuator) 8
Notable features: Doesn't like being touched, having been previously tortured. Studies and searches for Thassilonian magic/rituals. Isn't anyones lapdog. Does as he pleases and adventures with the party for his own selfish reasons. Wields Sword and Board.
Arizar - Half-Orc Alchemist (Beastmorph) 8
Notable features: Has absurd AC, took the unstable Mutagen, throws bombs and wields a Greataxe. More often than not, the group diplomat. Also the only character to still be alive from the start of the entire Adventure Path.
Aeron - Half-Orc Shoanti Savage Barbarian 8
Notable features: Skoan Quah tribe. Only fights out of necessity, not pleasure - A paficist by default. He believes he's human, is a 4th generation Half-Orc and has focused heavily on pass for human enough so that aside from his size (he's 6'10), he looks as human as any other. Wields a +2 Earth Breaker.
So, though this is not something written in the AP itself, a situation has come about. The player of Goruk had gone through three characters upon reaching the last quarter of RotRL's second book. Naturally, he was deflated by it all, so I said he could bring one of his previous characters back, so he actually gets to run with one of his concepts. He brought his Anti-Paladin back.
I ruled that for one reason or another he'd somehow escaped the Abyss and made his way back into the material plane. Naturally, the first thing he did was casually stroll up to the adventuring party after his original body was cremated in Sandpoint. Essentially, this is now his soul that has taken physical form in the real world.
Anyway, I homebrewed some extra abilities for him:
Hellish Mark:
Damage Reduction: 5 vs good, increasing by 5 every 5 levels thereafter.
Abyssal Flame:
At 6th level, you may willingly engulf your hand in red and black flame as a swift action. When touching a creature in this way, as a standard action you cause that creature to be shaken (DC of 10+character level+charisma mod fort negates) for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier. In addition, this touch drains a number of hit points equal to your charisma modifier. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier.
Unnatural Influence:
At 10th level, when you touch a creature with your Abyssal Flame ability, you may transfer any one condition you're currently suffering to that creature. They must make a Fortitude save equal to the original DC+your Charisma modifier or be stricken with that condition. In addition, when you drain hit points from a creature, you gain double the amount you normally would.
Essence of the Abyss:
At 14th level, when you touch a creature with your Abyssal Flame ability, you may substitute the HP drain to instead drain ability points from your target. This drain heals any ability damage you are currently suffering up to your Charisma modifier, as you siphon the very essence of your opponents soul into your own mortal vessel. Creatures touched in this way may make a Fortitude save equal to 10 + your character level & Charisma mod to avoid this altogether or suffer the ability damage penalties as normal. This can effect even those with immunity to fear.
So...
That in mind, I told the player this isn't a free life. He's not aware of this yet, but having upset the natural balance of the world through his own selfish means, Pharasma is not happy. Todays session had the first of her minions leave its natural plane - A Vanth Psychopomp found him when he was on low life. I roleplayed that only he could see it, but those within range would still be effected by its fear effect/aura. Naturally, they thought he was crazy talking to something out loud that wasn't there (to them at least).
It's gone away for now, but will be constantly stalking him and any time he's alone, it'll strike. If he takes that down, I'll send two more after him. If he takes that down, I'll send four more after him, capping at 8. I'll then change the type of Psychopomp that's after him until hopefully I get to send Pharasmas herald after him.
That's not all, though. I gave him some leeway as to how he returned to the natural world in the first place. He told me today that he acquired the name of a Balor and so long as he holds that name, he holds power over the Demon. I'm fine with this, so I decided to roll a dice behind the scenes - 1. It's a simple Balor. 2. It's a Balor Lord..... I rolled a 2.
So, though he's using the power of this creature to essentially be immortal right now, leaving Hell/The Abyss freely whenever he dies, eventually I'm going to have it that the Balor Lord is so done with him, Goruk will stop going to the Abyss altogether and just revive on the spot over and over again.
The main issues I have is power level wise, the Balor Lord is CR25. Goruk is level 8. The Balor can kill Goruk with ease, but should Goruk find another way back to life, the Balor knows his true name will no longer be safe. Naturally, the Balor Lord will be looking into things from the Abyss, researching ways to get out of this ordeal.
So, I ask you all - What can the Balor Lord do to ensure Goruks permanent death and get out of this deal? Is there anything even more creative you can think of based on what I've said about Goruks actions so far? Pharasma is now essentially warring against his existence behind the scenes.
If Goruk dies, his entire body will disappear every time now, as it goes back down to the Abyss. His physical body got cremated after all, so all that's left is his tainted soul returning in physical form.
Hopefully this is a fun one for you all. I see Goruk either becoming a Demon Lord himself or becoming immortal, forever defying Pharasmas will and making a ridiculous amount of enemies along the way. Please go nuts!
I can't really find much on this, but I have a question concerning the Titanic Rage feature of the Titan Mauler Barbarian Archetype.
Quote:
Titanic Rage (Su): At 14th level, a titan mauler may choose to gain the benefits of enlarge person when she enters a rage. While using titanic rage, she must spend 2 rounds of rage per round, and she becomes exhausted rather than fatigued when the rage ends. This ability replaces indomitable will.
1. Does this make me grow one size category, or do I stay the same size, but gain the benefits of Enlarge Person?
2. As it says you gain the benefits of Enlarge Person, would I only grab the +2 Strength, seeing as that's the only benefit outside of the size increase?
In short: I'm happy to go straight Barbarian, but really don't want my guy to physically grow through any kind of magic or class ability, so if he gains the strength increase, I'm happy, but I have no desire for him to grow in size. Jumping up a size category and remaining the same size would make little sense to him gaining an extra 5ft reach (as per the physical size increase).
The way I'm seeing the Archetype is that you can gain the benefits of Enlarge Person due to training and fighting all of your adventuring career against titanic foes, but you don't actually physically grow in size. So I'm just kind of trying to work out how it would work.
If I have to grow in size, I'm only going to have 12/13 levels Barbarian and go 4/5 levels Fighter instead. I'm making my own version of Guts from Berserk.
So today the PC's made it to the first level Basement and had a bit of a lacklustre encounter with Lyrie.
The Beastshaping Alchemist went into her room and instead of being met with hostility, was met with concern as to why he was down there.
When asked what she was doing, she replied half-heartedly, claiming she's studying away from the Goblins up top and would like her privacy and a good deal of peace and quiet, telling the PC's they should leave Thistletop if they know what's good for them.
Questioned as to what was through the secret door (currently hanging ajar, due to no alarm being raised), she told them only death awaits and when asked if it was her who'd kill them, she told them there are far worse things down there than her.
The Half-Orc Alchemist, along with the rest of the party accepted her wishes due to the lack of hostility and made their way through the corridor leading to area D11, but not before Lyrie closed the door behind them, wishing to avoid combat if possible.
Upon entering the Chapel of Lamashtu, two of the three current party members dealt with the Yeth Hounds with relative ease before making their way to the Prison. Slumped down, exhausted, malnourished and in nothing but a loincloth was a Half-Orc (replacement character for Rikter who died in the Howling Hole last session - Posted his death in the RotRL obituaries thread). The party found the key to the cells with little effort and did their best to heal the Half-Orc before moving on.
Heading back upstairs, the party made their way to the Armoury in the hopes of finding something helpful for the Half-Orc until he could reclaim his gear. Unknown to them however was Bruthazmus. Currently having a good old time with the three female Goblins, Bruthazmus overheard movement outside the door and after quick inspection of the cells, realised Gorul-Rél, the Half-Orc he'd been torturing for the past three weeks had escaped. Making his way back down the corridor to area D11, he caught the party returning back down the stairs and had his bow pointing straight at them.
Unable to resist the urge to grind the new Half-Orc's pride even further into the ground, he challenged the barely standing, exhausted man to a 1 on 1 honourable fight, knowing he was outnumbered. The Half-Orc accepted and with a cheeky buff from one of the other party members, engaged with the Bugbear.
Firing the first shot off from his bow, Bruthazmus backed up into the prison, giving himself some distance between he and Goruk-Rél. The Half-Orc, not falling for the plan, mocked him and readied an action around the corner of a wall, provoking Bru to drop his Bow and charge with his Heavy Flail. The fight quickly went sour for Goruk and as soon as he dropped, Bru had a feeling the rest of the party would get involved and so backed up back into the prison room again. The other Half-Orc (Arizar, the Beastshape Alchemist) went forwards but couldn't quite reach Bru, who immediately stepped out and smacked him upside the head with a Heavy Flail attack. The party Ranger/Rogue then got involved and ended up moving about the room to try to take the attention off of Arizar. Arizar eventually dropped and by this point, hearing the noise of fighting echoing down the corridors, along came Lyrié down the other corridor, opening the door to blast magic missiles at the tortured Half-Orc Goruk-Rél, complaining about the noise distracting her from her studies, before immediately dropping him again. This left Cora and Ashryn as the only two characters still up, so Cora, the Cleric of Desna healed, bringing Arizar and Goruk back to consciousness as Bru landed a heavy hit on Ashryn with his flail.
Catching his attention once more, Arizar was faced with Bruthazmus who once again smacked him to the ground, taking out Ashryn shortly after. Meanwhile, in D11, Cora was spending her curatives bringing Goruk back to consciousness, only for Lyrie to keep sending him into the negatives almost immediately.
Eventually Cora ran out of healing and ran down the corridor to fire her slingstaff off at Bruthazmus, dropping him. The only issue was with her channels, any small damage she'd dealt to Lyrie was healed (Cora didn't have selective channeling) and after taking several more magic missiles followed by a casting of Burning Hands (which I kindly chose to attack out of range of the currently unconscious PC's), eventually dropped as well.
This brings me to my current line of thinking.
What to do now?:
This brings me to my next point. Though generally if a party member dies, I'll leave them to it, a TPK at this point will cause problems with Aldern later on, making things lack any kind of impact.
Not only that, they didn't attack Lyrie on sight, so she's gone after them more out of anger and frustration than anything else and none of the characters are outright dead. They're all stable in their negatives, so, this is what I was very much considering on doing:
1. It makes little to no sense outright killing them when Nualia requires sacrifices to further ascend to Demonhood.
2. As such, I think it's best to have each party member imprisoned within the cells until Nualia decides to sacrifice them.
3. Bruthazmus, failing to dispatch the party (with Lyrie showing him up as the weaker character) would likely be made an example of and be the first character to be sacrificed to Lamashtu as punishment.
4. This would give the party a day, two at the most to try and break out and even then they'd need to find and reclaim their gear before taking on the rest of the dungeon.
5. Lyrie, more interested in her research than outright murdering the intruders (and unaware of anything happening to Tsuto, due to it being only a day later) would likely be rewarded for accomplishing this before going back to her research while Nualia grew ever closer to full transformation.
So, does this sound plausible to you? Would you do anything more with it and would you buff Nualia up even further considering what I have planned with Bruthazmus?
Anything you could add would be greatly appreciated! :)
This might be a very easy question to answer, but I wanted to get the Strength Subdomains of Ferocity and Resolve for my Fighter/Cleric later down the line, but at closer inspection they both replace a 6th level spell.
I've looked high and low but there don't appear to be any rules saying you can't take both and there's no ruling in regards to Subdomains sharing the same level replacement spells.
So, can I with this Pathfinder Society character take both the Ferocity and Resolve Subdomains, choosing which 6th level spell to replace between the two? Hero's Feast and Mass Bull's Strength are the two and I'd go with the Bull's Strength as he doubles as up front Fighter and Support.
I'm honestly just looking for the official ruling on this, because there is nothing to say you can or cannot do it, so I guess this is more a question for the Paizo team as I need my character to be 100% legal.
"In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law...? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control, even over his own will."
Your destiny and what awaits on the path ahead is all but a mystery to you, and yet your struggle to survive as you pursue your individual and personal goals provides enough drive to keep you grounded, paving way for whatever lies ahead.
Not too long ago, you all had that dream. The one with The Hawk of Light. It was a dream both vivid and surreal, though a dream all the same. From darkness, feathers fell, drifting through the darkness as the most beautiful beacons of light you could imagine. You felt no sense of time nor presence, not even of your own being. As the feathers fell, so did the bright light from above, clearing the darkness and making way for the Hawk of Light.
Gracefully gliding above was what could only be described as a pure white, yet almost featureless Eagle, soaring through the blackened void of nothingness. Was this a metaphor for life itself? To create something out of nothing is surely but a miracle. If the darkness represented the evil of man, then surely the white Hawk of Light represented the good of man and all that is Holy?
It was but a dream and that much is true, but was it just a dream or a foreboding for what's to come, serving a greater purpose beyond even human comprehension?
Not much is known about the true purpose of the dream, though you need not go far to hear others speaking of it. Many would keep to themselves, thinking it to be nothing more than superstitious nonsense, but with the recent Witch Trials carried out by The Holy See, others suspected foul play in the form of a curse, placed upon humanity by Witches as they left were forcibly pushed from this world into their transition to the next. Whether you talk about it or not, you find it curious that so many others shared their experience of the very dream you witnessed and perhaps you seek meaning behind it all, using it as yet another reason to travel, though maybe you don't care at all.
The One Hundred Year War had ended and though life itself has felt more peaceful than ever, since the night you had that dream, something has changed in the world around you, though you can't quite place your finger on it. Is it the air that's changed? How did the huge tree of life come to be, currently towering over what used to be the city of Windham? Since that dream it's as though the world itself has gone through some kind of transformation and through its beauty lay also the fear of the unknown, for what meaning could rest behind such events.
Though rumours have spread, all but one of you somehow avoided crossing paths with the Eastern invading Kushan and have heard little word of Windham's troubles, other than the fact Windham is no more. The very capital of Midland has fallen and seemingly not by the hand of the Kushan Empire, but a more formidable foe. You may find out who or what that is given time, but for now you are you. You have your goals and the path you walk is yours and yours alone.
Sebastian:
Two years have passed since the ordeal you faced back at your homestead and through travelling, you find yourself in the southern point of Midland, bordering the western side of the map. Night is near and so you follow the path you're on looking for somewhere to stay the night. As the sun sets beyond the horizon with each passing moment, you notice a two floored building jutting out from the woodland surrounding you. It's not too far ahead and as you approach, written on the swingboard are the words "Adelaide's Inn". Ignoring the stables to the side, you make your way in and find the place to be fairly spacious, with a good twelve or so tables on the ground floor. Currently there are only five tables free - One large round table in the centre, two in the back, one two-seater to the left and a corner booth by the window to the lower right corner. Several of the people look at you as you enter, but most ignore you, carrying on with their conversations. The place seems pleasant and popular enough and the Bartender looks at you with a welcoming smile as she serves one of the other men at the bar, central to the building.
Jura:
Two years later and still in search of a place to call home, you find yourself spending most of your evening in an establishment known only as "Adelaide's Inn". It's a fairly busy place, has two floors and twelve tables on the ground floor. Sitting at the bar, the bartender appears pleasant enough and seemingly runs the place alone. Now approaching night, she serves your favourite drink and then pauses as the front door swings open, giving off a welcoming smile above your head and towards the direction of the door.
Erin:
Having been travelling for a year and a half since leaving Misty Valley, your curious nature has taken you around the lower points of midland. Being more connected to the Astral Realm than any human you know, you've grown to understand that even for one such as yourself, it's not always safe to travel out in the open at night and find yourself looking down at a path below. Night has already fallen, but there's one establishment with many lights shining through the windows from within. Above the door it says "Adelaide's Inn". You fly down and peer through the window, with nothing but the violet glow of your very own fairy dust emanating light around you.
Rodrick:
With your memories of Edel taking their toll, you've been marching for a whole day in search of a place to rest. Having survived the ordeal back at St.Albion you've been on the road for about six months, confused and unsure where to go, with nobody to take your frustrations out on. In that time you've seen your share of spirits and odd entities, notably most active in the surrounding areas of your prior prison, St.Albion and in the direction of Windham. It unnerves you, but you've learned to act mostly oblivious to such sights, only encountering spirits when they've realised you can actually see them.
Thankfully, your hand has been a great aid in keeping your attention focused primarily on yourself. You've had more trouble with bandits and passers by who've caught glimpses of your appearance, but still feel uneasy travelling at night, even if you don't feel truly alone with the link you still share with your deceased wife Edel. Up ahead you can make out an establishment to the side of the path you currently travel. Upon closer inspection a swingboard sign above the door reads "Adelaide's Inn". To the right of the door is a tiny creature with a violet glow emanating from its body. Its skin is dark, but not black, more a pale white that looks to be permanently in shadow. Its wings, though small, appear leathery. It doesn't seem to be paying attention to you however as it peers through the Inn window, doused in light from within, seemingly entranced much like how a moth is attracted to light.
Izsha:
Chased through the surrounding woodlands and under dark skies by racist and despicably violent Mercenaries for the past hour or so, you find yourself facing south to a path with an establishment to the right of it. You can see the swingboard sign above and through your grasp of the Midland language read it as "Adelaide's Inn". You're far enough away to remain hidden under nightfall, but ahead you can make out a shadowed humanoid figure making his way to the front door of the Inn. Unsure of how far behind you the Mercenaries are, you feel a lot of pressure to get to somewhere safe and have travelled in midland long enough to know it's not safe to travel alone, especially not at night.
For all discussion relating to the campaign, please use this thread. If anyone would like to set up a google document page to make encounters easier when determining position on the battlefield, please do and I can give you the relevant information at each point.
As you level up, I'd also like you to post your progression in here (skills, spells, feats, class abilities etc - the normal stuff you get from leveling up) just so I can stay on top of things better and make sure everything fits in.
The gameplay thread should be up by next wednesday at the latest, but keep an eye on the campaign in case it goes up sooner.
I've put a lot of work into this and will continue to do so until you hopefully manage to complete it. The story is mostly driven from your characters (rather than focusing on the best one, I've focused on you as a group instead, which is why I've been adding to most of your stories, though for those of you who have had little changed to your stories, I've got a lot more going on behind the scenes) backgrounds and ambitions.
The campaign itself mostly consists of Humans (the most common enemy), Monstrous Humanoids and Aberrations, with little outside of that other than wildlife you find in the natural world.
Level 10 is the maximum level I'm wishing to accomplish with this, though with the way I'm running this, with or without magical equipment, you'll be incredibly strong and able fighters by this point.
Aside from that, I hope you all enjoy the campaign!
I have an idea for a Berserk campaign and before I plan too much for it, I wanted to gauge interest first.
It's going to be very player-centric and may only go up to level 10, but it's up to date with the story and set in Midland while Guts' party are at Skellig.
I'm leaning more towards descriptive combat than using something like roll20, so it will be very story driven, but what I'd like you all to do (those interested at least) is to make a backstory and the best one will be the drive for the main story, though you'll all get a chance to follow your own paths.
I'll need your characters hopes, dreams and ambitions listed, where you come from and anything else you think may add to things.
Maybe you want to investigate the World Tree, take a trip to Falconia or visit the Hill of Swords? Perhaps you've heard strange rumours of a nearby town or odd things happening in surrounding forests/areas. Maybe you didn't get the Hawk of Light vision in your dreams and are curious why others have a shared dream, or perhaps you did but don't know what it means as you live far from any main settlement?
Whatever the case, anything that fits within the world of Berserk is viable.
Character creation will be very limited in regards to race. I'm allowing Pixies (Berserk calls them Elves) and Humans only. This is because the setting itself is quite realistic (ignoring the monsters) and there's little reason for anything other than Humans to be the main race.
A party of five would be a nice number, so I'm going with that.
Point Buy: 25
Traits: 2 (no drawbacks, but the additional traits feat is allowed)
Each character gets Improved Unarmed Strike for free.
Playable Races: Human, Pixie (see below for homebrew Pixie race)
This is primarily set in Midland, so anything that isn't your standard Medieval character by appearance and/or fighting style should be explained in your backstory. Of note, no character should be related to any of the Manga characters. This is for story purposes as you'll start out mostly unaware of the world events currently going on within Berserk.
Wherever you're from, you may have caught wind of several things, but your own story must stem from your own characters dreams, goals and ambitions. This is also set mostly during the time Guts' party are in Skellig (Elf Island).
I'll be favouring non-magical characters over magical, but I do still want at least one magic user in the party and highly recommend anyone wanting to play a Pixie (Berserk calls them Elves) to focus in Magic, following the Pixie race I built below.
Pixie Race:
Fey - 2rp - low light vision
Fey Damage Resistance - 3rp - 5 vs cold iron
Flight (poor) - 6rp - 40ft flight speed, -4 fly checks
Tiny - 4rp
Slow speed (20ft) - -1rp
Human Heritage (+2 to any one score) - 0rp
Standard Language (common and sylvan) - 0rp
Spell-Like Ability, Lesser - 2rp - Fairy Dust: Can cast Cure Moderate Wounds 1/day as a Spell-like ability.
Tiny size = +2 Dex, -2 Str, +2 AC, +2 Attack, -2 CMB and CMD, +8 Stealth, natural reach of 0 so have to occupy enemy square to attack. Cannot benefit from AoO's.
16rp total
Rogue Knife Thrower Archetype:
Rogue: Knife Thrower Archetype
Whether afraid of close combat or just having a preference to range, you’ve discovered you have a natural gift for throwing light bladed weapons, striking true where you so desire.
Good Arm: Starting at first level, a Knife Thrower may throw light bladed melee weapons (limited to Dagger, Shuriken and Starknife only) an additional 5 feet for every five levels they possess. Additionally, their sneak attack range increases to match this also. This ability replaces Trapfinding.
Quick Fingers: You may draw each light thrown weapon (up to the maximum number this archetype allows you to hold) as a free action. This ability replaces your first Rogue Talent.
Sneak from Afar: A Knife Thrower focuses to deal sneak attack damage with thrown light weapons to such a degree that she can deal more sneak attack damage this way (at the expense of sneak attacks with other weapons). When she makes a sneak attack with a thrown dagger, shuriken or starknife, she uses d8s to roll sneak attack damage instead of d6s. For sneak attacks with all other weapons (including melee attacks with daggers, shuriken or starknives), she uses d4s instead. This ability is identical in all other ways to sneak attack, and supplements that ability.
Expert Thrower: At 3rd level, a Knife Thrower is so good at throwing light weapons she can now hold and throw two light weapons from each hand. She may hold and throw an additional light weapon from one of her hands for every five levels beyond this, to a maximum of +4 at 18th level. This ability replaces trap sense.
Feats that compliment this Archetype: Clustered Shots, Deadly Aim, Point-blank Shot, Precise Shot, Far Shot.
Feats incompatible with this Archetype: Improved Precise Shot, Manyshot, Pinpoint Targeting and Rapid Shot.
The following Classes are allowed:
Alchemist
Barbarian
Bard
Cavalier
Cleric (Variant channeler only to represent low magic of the world, unless playing a Pixie)
Druid
Fighter
Inquisitor
Monk (Martial Artist only)
Oracle
Paladin
Ranger - Best favoured enemy choices: Humanoid (Human), Aberrations and Monstrous Humanoids. Must be a non-magical Archetype.
Rogue
Samurai (need good reason as to why you're in Midland and not in your own country)
Sorcerer
Witch
Wizard
Homebrew ability:
Extra homebrew ability:
Insta-kill – Once per day + 1 for every six levels you possess (maximum 4), you may attempt to initiate an insta-kill. On a critical hit, whenever you cinematically describe a killing blow, there is a 10% chance your target can be instantly killed. You may activate this upon a critical threat, but if confirmation fails, your use is still expended for that day.
Extra Homebrew Feats:
Kill’em’all! – As Insta-kill except there is now a 30% chance your target can be instantly killed with a successful critical hit. Additionally, there is also a 10% chance to instantly kill a more formidable opponent. Critical confirmation is required. You must be at least level 6 before selecting this feat.
Revel in Death – As Insta-kill except there is now a 50% chance your target can be instantly killed with a successful critical hit. Additionally, there is now a 25% chance to instantly kill a more formidable opponent. Critical confirmation is required. You must be level 10 or higher and must have the Kill’em’all! feat before selecting this.
Bathe in Blood – You gain two extra uses of Insta-kill per day. This Feat may be taken multiple times, each time granting you two additional uses of Insta-kill per day.
Lastly, anyone wanting to create Apostles may do so and may be invited to roleplay their Apostle character later in the campaign.
I've been working on a homebrew campaign and have finished writing out the first chapter, but just wanted to get some feedback really.
The campaign will start out with the PC's all receiving a letter from someone unknown asking for their aid.
Their objective is to retrieve an ancient artefact (I know it's a little clichéd) that has been stolen from the one asking for their aid. Only when they retrieve it, it unleashes a terrible evil upon the world and this evil passes through each PC before escaping into the world.
Two mysterious figures appear and do try to stop this, but fail to do so and so, the start of the campaign has the PC's somewhat vilified and their mission will be to right the wrong they accidentally caused by helping the wrong guy.
I've planned a lot of cool things for this and not everyone will hate them, but the PC's will quickly discover they messed up and here's the kicker - Depending on their actions, one of them by the end of the campaign will likely become the embodiment of the evil that escaped into the world, while the rest of the party use their resources they've acquired over the course of the campaign to stop this.
If it goes down this way, the PC's will inevitably have to fight one of their own as the end boss. As the GM I wouldn't take control away from the player who may become the great evil, but it does mean the campaign will then have two endings. The first being the evil guy wins and the world is likely doomed (though it won't be black and white. The world will still likely function, only under the rule of a new evil - One of the PC's who slowly became corrupt and all powerful) and then the second is the party have to kill one of their own, are regretful of the outcome but ultimately save the world from a time of darkness.
As a GM, I don't like to be unfair on the players, don't get high on my ruling power and am fully aware for a campaign to run the players need to be alive, but this is where I'm wanting to take the story and just wanted some feedback, opinions and anything else you may want to contribute towards the idea.
I'd like to pick your roleplaying and GM'ing brains here please!
I'm looking for some advice on a viable Trickster typed Sorcerer.
To elaborate I may be playing a Legacy of Fire campaign IRL in the not so distant future and had this concept for a Sorcerer who could essentially teleport at will and cast annoying spells to hamper enemies.
I'd also like to be able to jump into combat for short periods of time, namely when I run out of spells.
I've been having trouble working out decent viable ways of doing this, but have come to the conclusion the best way I can accomplish this is by going the Mystic Theurge route.
Now I've never used a Prestige Class, but I'll just throw out what's on my mind with this right now.
So, I was thinking of going down this route:
Trait: Magical Knack (Sorcerer, to make up for losing 3 cl's, only losing 1)
Campaign Trait: Wand with 20 charges of Magic Missile
Race: Aasimar (Standard)
Main Feats: Angel Blood, Spell Focus and Greater (Enchantments) and Angel Wings
Class: Sorcerer - Crossblooded (Rakshasa and Fey) 1st 3 levels.
Class 2: Cleric (Travel (Trade) and Charm Domain) for levels 4, 5 and 6.
Class 3: 10 levels of Mystic Theurge.
Last levels: Back to Sorcerer.
Cleric Variant Channeling to Harm: Contracts/Oath
The idea is to use Dimensional Hop from the Travel Domain as it allows me to bounce around as a move action that doesn't provoke AoO's, cast evocation, trickster spells like Sleep, Entangle, Suggestion, Dominate Person etc, fly around with a natural fly speed by level 10 and use the proficiency from Cleric to fight with Martial Weapons.
The character is good aligned and only wants to Channel Harm to debuff the enemies, so effectively the DC would be harder for enemies to beat when casting things like Command, Suggestion, Hold Person etc. The +2 to Compulsion Spells from Fey compliments this and I'd use most of the Rakshasa Bloodline Powers.
Does this seem like a good mix or would it be terribly underpowered?
With Magical Knack I'd only lose 1CL as a Sorcerer, but obviously a few Spell levels.
Any help or feedback on this would be hugely appreciated!
Murder, criminal activity and anarchy thrive, and the town of Westcrown has become most notorious over these last few years. If that's not enough, Hellknight's patrol the streets, frequently marching from street to street raining justice down upon all those who oppose the House of Thrune!
The unrest is high, and the people of Westcrown are tired of the dictators that control their lives. Noble or commoner, neither are safe, for even stranger things are occurring behind closed doors.
At night nobody goes out. Why? Well, evidently not all's what it seems. Sightings have been reported of mysterious figures prowling through the dead of night. Local figures have claimed to have felt they were being watched as they peered out their windows to the moonlit skies. Some even go so far as to report knocking on their doors way past the witching hours, almost as if someone or something is beckoning them outside.
Regardless of this, it's clear that anyone foolish enough to be out past sundown are looking to live short lives, and with so few places lit up at night, there's little to do but remain inside, within the comfort of their own homes, unless of course it's their intention to become yet another local resident to disappear in the midst of night, never to be seen again!
Now, it's down to a small group of heroes to band together in unity as they form their very own resistance to make a stand, and discover the very secrets hidden within the Town of Westcrown.
Dictatorships? Oppression? Fear you say? NAY! It's time to grab the bull by the horns AND RECLAIM YOUR FREEDOM FROM THE TYRANNY THAT HOLDS YOU!!!
This will be my first time running a campaign on these boards, but I've decided to take on GM'ing as I like the idea of running Council of Thieves and am looking forward to choosing from the characters you all bring to the table!
To begin with, please download the Player's Guide from the Paizo store (it's free of charge and will give you a good idea of what to expect from this AP!).
What I expect: Reliability and general interest in playing a character that's made and tailored for this AP. I would also prefer at least one post per day (multiple would be better), as I prefer faster paced AP's. However, I myself have ever changing work patterns and will range from being able to post multiple times in one day, to updating once every couple of days, so if applying for this, I hope you can appreciate that, as I appreciate everyone has schedules and things that come up in their own lives.
Character Creation Guidelines - Please read carefully!
Stats: Roll 3d6 six times and if 7 or lower is rolled, that stat will remain a 7. I allow you to arrange your stats as you choose, but you must roleplay your stats as I prefer players who roleplay well over those who just want to optimise with dump stats.
Races: Aasimar, Elf, Half-Elf, Halfling, Human and Tiefling only.
Classes: Any, minus Monks (though I am allowing the Martial Artist Archetype), summoners, gunslingers, cavaliers and samurai's. I don't feel these classes to be a good fit for this AP and am on the fence with Alchemists.
Traits: 2 (1 campaign and 1 of your choosing).
Alignments: Only good aligned (NG, LG and CG) because your character should feel he/she wants to make a better living for himself and those within Westcrown - unless you like oppression and living under a fascist regime? ;)
Wealth: To be rolled.
HP: Rolled every level including level 1.
NO THIRD PARTY MATERIAL
Reasons for Race restrictions:
This campaign is about remaining anonymous to begin with. Dwarves are often loud, Half-Orc's cause attention and Gnomes usually excitedly let most things slip, so in this case I'd like a more professional, human oriented line up of characters as I feel it fits into the story better.
If you want to play a race not allowed, you must have a very good reason for me to consider your application.
Of Note:
I am quite a lenient GM and I like to do things sometimes that aren't necessarily in the rules (such as giving the PC's boon's or abilities unique to a campaign depending on what they wish to do with their character), so I feel this won't be a campaign for rules lawyers, and if you are one, it may be best if you don't apply to this as I have my own unique style where I follow most rules but like to experiment with others (such as swimming mechanics and things like addictions) while keeping true to the core mechanics of the game.
What I'd like from you all is a detailed reason as to why you're in Westcrown, what your personality is and what your backstory is.
I'm preparing myself for a barrage of applicants, so please don't give me pages and pages to read through. 3-5 paragraphs for a backstory will be sufficient, a bullet pointed description of your personality will be enough, and your reasoning for being in Westcrown should only be 1-2 paragraphs long.
I will also notify you if for any reason I need to stop running this campaign, but that would be very unlikely seeing as how I've gone through the process of reading a large chunk of the first book already, so I know how to set the mood properly, but life happens, so I wanted to mention this in advance.
Challenge: I will play encounters exactly as I feel they should be played, so expect a challenge!
Maps: I will do my best in making maps for you, but now imageshack charges for hosting, I'll either use roll20 for maps, or if one of the chosen players is kind enough to host via google docs (I haven't done that before), I'll email over images to that player so we can host an editable map online.
Deadline: I don't have a set deadline as of yet, but will most likely get started within the next week so for safety's sake, the deadline will be Tuesday night (the 4th March) at 6pm GMT (1pm EST) unless I decide to extend it.
You are in Absalom, the mighty City at the Center of the World,
and you’ve always longed to explore one of the countless ruins of
failed conquerors that litter the plains outside the city’s walls.
You’ve heard rumors that one of the sealed siege castles has
been laid open by a minor earthquake. Word on the street is
that no one has yet entered the tower, which folks are calling the
“Fallen Fortress.” What better way to start a life of excitement
and adventure than by exploring its long-abandoned, dusty
halls and perhaps claiming its ancient treasures?
For whatever reason, you've felt the recent rumbles from below. The ground trembled as the world quaked and now you've been tasked with exploring one of the many ruins located within the Cairnlands - In this case, a Castle.
Will you be able to discover what's inside and make it back alive, or will you fall afoul to the mysteries within?
I was once in a Savage World's conversion for this AP, but sadly the GM at the time stopped running it.
So, I'm just creating a thread here in hope that one of you many wandering GM's finds this and decides to run it!
This is also a good place for any potential players to express their interest.
Anyway, I present to you Elegad Espris under a 20pt buy ruleset.
He ignores the starting wealth (I don't want him to start with any money, armour or weapons whatsoever) and doesn't have Power Attack in his build. Interesting, but not silly.
level 1:
Name: Elegad Espris
Age: 24 (18 Human years)
Race: Half-Elf
Class: Fighter (Brawler/Unbreakable)
Level: 1
Residence: Old Korvosa - Shingles (unmapped rooftop community/homes/slums)
Personality: Uncaring Punk Smoker/Street child aspiring to one day fight alongside the Hippogriff riding Guard of Korvosa.
1a. Endurance
1b. Die Hard
1c. Improved Unarmed Strike
Gear: Tattered and torn clothes (shirt, trousers and boots grown out of)
Wealth: 0
Build:
Feats:
1a. Endurance
1b. Die Hard
1c. Improved Unarmed Strike
2. Combat Reflexes
3. Raging Vitality
5. Combat Expertise
7. Stalwart
9. Extra Rage Power
11. Bolstered Resilience
13. Extra Rage Power
15. Improved Stalwart
17. Extra Rage Power
So, in my Rise of the Runelord's campaign, both mine and my gf's characters had a Half-Elf they love, murdered. So, seeing a link here, although a coincidence I decided to create a side story that goes into detail on this rather despicable man and actually have him as the one responsible for the murders.
The Deceased:
One Human and one Half-Elf: Parents of the party Half-Elf Rogue/Magus, Tristan.
Syanna Wahl: Brik Wahl's now dead Half-Elf wife who was raped, murdered and stabbed with a note attached to the knife, signed "Drellton Rovah".
Drellton Rovah:
Drellton Rovah is a wealthy man who has his own place of operations based inside a Manor House not too dissimilar from the likes you'd find in movies such as Pride and Prejudice or The Woman in Black.
is a human man who hates all Half-Elves and any Human or Elf who sympathises with or birth's/looks after anyone of the Half-Elf race. He takes pride in his job of hunting down each and every Half-Elf he can discover and really feels he's doing the world a justice by ridding this race from the face of Golarion.
He's a relatively friendly and compassionate man who takes good care of all those he knows and works with, and to him, killing this race off is a necessity and something that would benefit mankind.
He feels the Human and Elven races should never mix together as they're too different to one another and instead of seeing Half-elves as one of the best looking species in Golarion, see's them as wretched beings that try to worm their way into society.
His two right hand men are two Halfling Rogue Thugs known only as Callous Gork and Ruthless Mork. Although mostly the same in skill, they do have a few minor differences and often like to compete with one another, but always work together. These two revel in death and despair and follow Drellton's requests without question.
Tristan, the PC who's parents were killed remembers Goblins being the ones responsible for his parents deaths, but the room was dark and when he was hiding under the bed, it was hard for him to really see who the murderer's were. The twist is that it was these two Halflings who quite often don Goblin Masks before making their kills. Drellton doesn't know why they do, only hearing recently of it himself, but he doesn't question it and feels that it's probably their idea of a fun, simple game.
Drellton Manor:
The grounds of a massive Manor lay behind a huge black and golden gate. To the left and right are nothing but hedges and in between are three marble steps that lead straight along a cobbled path and up to the front doors of this largely intimidating house.
To the left and right of the path are in fact two gigantic Mazes, with tall marble statues in the center of each. Additionally, there are multiple fountains, smaller statues and marble stands holding bird baths and Vase's on either side of this 200ft long straight path.
Upon entering the building, the lower floor has a red carpet leading from huge double front doors and up towards a staircase which spirals both to the left and right (similar to the grand staircase within the Titanic movie). There are many desks on the ground floor consisting of desk worker's constantly working around the clock to find out where all Half-elves, Half-Elf sympathisers and women pregnant with Half-elves so that Drellton and/or his two Halfling Henchmen Thugs can be sent out to rid the world of such atrocities.
The layout here is that of an old fashioned american police headquarter's, with desks to the left and right of the red carpet that leads from the front door, straight up to the stairs, passing Drellton's Personal Assistant's desk on the way up.
Upstairs is the main balcony (supported by marble pillars you'd find in the Roman Empire), several rooms consisting of a janitor's closet, Drellton's work area, living area and a room mainly used for storing weapons and armour reclaimed from victims that looked of any particular worth.
In the basement are cell's, torture devices such as a rack, an electric chair and an operating table.
Now, the stats of each character are as follows:
The Drellton Rovah:
Alignment: NE
Race: Human
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Level: 15
Class: Ranger
Favoured Enemy: Elf (+8 attack, damage, bluff, perception, sense motive and survival)
Favoured Enemy: Human (+2 attack, damage, bluff, perception, sense motive and survival)
Favoured Terrain: Urban (+4 initiative, perception, stealth and survival)
Favoured Terrain: Forest (+4 initiative, perception, stealth and survival)
Hunter's Bond: As a move action, grant allies 1/2 FE bonus for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom mod.
Quarry: +2 attack bonus, auto-confirm criticals. Once per day or one hour after target is slain.
Speed: 30ft, Initiative: 4 (8 in Favoured Terrains)
HP: 120
AC: 23, Touch: 14, Flat-Footed: 19
Str: 16
Dex: 18
Con: 12
Int: 13
Wis: 13
Cha: 14
BAB: 15
CMB: 18 (+2 to trip, +4 to disarm)
CMD: 32 (+2 vs trip, +4 vs disarm)
Fort: 12
Ref: 15
Will: 8
Trait: Elf Killer (same as Gnoll Killer but reflavoured) - +2 atk and dmg vs Elves.
1a. Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Elven Curve Blade
1b. Weapon Focus: Elven Curve Blade
2. Power Attack
3. Combat Expertise
5. Improved Disarm
6. Cleave
7. Greater Disarm
9. Improved Critical: Elven Curve Blade
10. Great Cleave (-2 AC this turn, but can attack every opponent within reach at full BAB)
11. Improved Trip
13. Combat Reflexes
14. Dreadful Carnage
Weapon: +1 Elf Bane, Speed, Elven Curve Blade (1d10 18-20x2, 4 attacks)
Equipment: +4 Belt of Incredible Dexterity, +1 int from Tome, Cloak of Resistance +2, Ring of Protection +3, Boots of Elvenkind, Brooch of Shielding, +3 Studded Leather Armour.
Callous Gork:
Class: Rogue Thug
Level: 12
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Sneak: 6d6
Ability: Uncanny Dodge - Cannot be Sneak Attacked
Equipment: +2 Studded Leather Armour, +1 Flaming Burst Shortsword, +1 Elf Bane Shortsword, +2 ring of protection.
Thug
Some criminals steal with finesse, their victims only discovering the crime when the rogue is long gone and the coin already spent. A thug, on the other hand, cares nothing for finesse.
Through both threat and violence, the thug gets what she wants by the promise of force, and has no problem making good on that promise as needed.
Frightening (Ex): Whenever a thug successfully uses Intimidate to demoralize a creature, the duration of the shaken condition is increased by 1 round. In addition, if the target is shaken for 4 or more rounds, the thug can instead decide to make the target frightened for 1 round.
This ability replaces trapfinding.
Brutal Beating (Ex): At 3rd level, whenever a thug deals sneak attack damage, she can choose to forgo 1d6 points of sneak attack damage to make the target sickened for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 her rogue level. This ability does not stack with itself—only the most recent duration applies. This ability replaces trap sense.
The party currently consists of 4 level 10's, so facing them against two level 12's who focus on one single enemy when they fight...and Drellton, a level 15 Ranger, I feel may result in their death.
What I'd like to get from you guys is more of an idea of what else I can include to make this side quest truly memorable, and what other items you'd suggest I should include into the home and workplace of a Half-Elf hater.
In the basement, do I have an executioner/trained torturer, or should that be Drellton's job? His two Halfling men do most of the hunting usually, and Drellton doesn't dirty his hands usually. He made an exception in the case of Brik Wahl's wife because oddly, he found himself strangely attracted to the woman, and not being able to deal with sullying himself in that way, pinned her to the ground, raped her, wrote a note addressed to Brik and then attached it to Syanna's body by stabbing it into her heart before rising to his feet and standing there, watching over her until she died.
I'm wondering if most of the worker's here are just civilian's. Should they all be happy working in this way? Are some working against their will? If the PC's get here, should they find allies in the place, or are all employee's there by choice, and are any combat trained?
The party currently consists of 4 level 10 characters:
Brik Wahl: Human Cleric and GMPC. Sometimes gets drunk off his face, acts funny and over the top and summons a White Celestial Lion to ride into battle at times. He's in Full Plate Armour and supports the party with the Strength (Ferocity) and Healing Domains. Alignment: CG
Deimos: A Tiefling Rogue/Ranger switch hitting poisoner who's literally been to hell and back. He's just getting to grips with his newly found hellish powers that allow him to see through shadows (as if they were windows) and create fire pillars that deal 1d6 points of damage for every two character levels he possesses. Sometimes his powers work, and other times they don't. Alignment: NE
Jackery Dortchment: An ex-bandit (Human) who joined the party to make the world a better place at his now deceased friend's request. However, his Bandit intentions remained and he's often found murdering and maiming anyone he feels like, yet for some reason likes the party and works with them to take out their enemies.....that is when he's not leaving the party to march on while he chops off live humans feet, shoving the limbs into their owner's mouths....or chopping off regenerating monsters arms, cutting holes in their stomachs and placing their arms inside them, only for the regen to kick in, holding their once attached limbs in place as the area around them heals. Last session he placed a troll's head inside the palms of its non-attached hands and arms, calling it "Art" before Deimos charred the creature to a blackened crisp. Alignment: CN
Tristan Dolore: A young Half-elf boy. Only 15 years of age, he see's Brik as friend, father figure and brother. Having strong control over electricity, he's the Magus of the group and Drellton's primary target. With a party such as this, he's found himself wanting to join in with Jackery's actions before Brik intervene's to keep him in check. He's also the Deputy Sheriff of Sandpoint. Alignment: LN
I'm not sure what I should do with Drellton's PA. I mean maybe she's a Half-Elf hater as well. Maybe she enjoys working with him to further his dreams, but then would she know what he did to Brik Wahl's wife? I doubt it...and would she approve? Again, I doubt it.
Should she be combat trained or just work there?
Should she be Drellton's eyes and ears and be able to cast "Find Quarry" to aid the man?
What would you add into the home of a Half-Elf hater?
Would rooms be warded in such a way that Half-Elves can't enter them or would rooms have magic that drains the energy of Half-Elves only or prevents them from leaving a room once entered?
What kind of treasure or secrets should be in this place?
Do I include an Executioner who dwell's in the basement? Feel free to create your own!
I really hope you guys take a liking to these ideas and can throw back a load of your own, so I can create something that will stick with my players for a long time to come!
So I'll be playing Skull and Shackles in the not too distant future and I wanted to have my character become a really badass Pirate Captain. One who has his own ideals and sense of morality and although not strictly evil, doesn't care if he carries out evil to reach his own ambitions.
The original concept for him was to have him as a Trickster. Someone who can teleport and confuse his enemies while using his surroundings and abilities to his advantage. Like Blackbeard's ability in Pirates of the Caribbean 4, I liked the idea of being able to animate rope but later realised Clerics could only animate objects, not rope.
So, the domains I've chosen have been the Trickery and Deception Subdomain, along with the Travel and Trade Subdomain to grant invisibility, teleportation and other handy abilities.
In addition to this however, he won't be wearing any armour (Pirates never did, and there's nothing suitable for pirates to wear other than long coats), so as this will massively reduce my chances of surviving the campaign, I decided I needed something else, so I figured I'd focus heavily on Necromancy while keeping the pirate traditions and fighting styles (power attack, cleave) firmly in place.
As opposed to Zombies, my focus is Skeletons, with the eventual goal to summon a Skeletal Dragon to do my bidding for me. Sadly skeletons can't fly, but the images brought with the description are worth it in my opinion.
Anyway, I was just hoping you could take a look at my multi-focused build and advise me on where I can improve things please?
I have a good understanding of most things within Pathfinder, but my strongest points are creating effective two-weapon wielder's, Barbarian's and magi.
Anyway, here's the build so far:
Name: Captain Cortez
Race: Human
Alignment: CN
Deity: Besmara
Okay, so I've read the rules based around being underwater and I've homebrewed a couple of things for my own game, but any further suggestions to improve underwater actions or combat are more than welcome.
* If you are carrying a weight of 60lb's or more, you can allow yourself to sink to the bottom. This works the same as falling, except you fall at half the speed you would above ground.
* If you make a swim check and surpass the score by 5, you don't need to make another check the following round, but will the round after.
* If you make a swim check and surpass the score by 10 or more, you don't need to make a swim check for a number of rounds equal to your Strength mod.
Now, I am undecided on one, but I'll state it anyway:
* If you make a swim check and surpass the score by 20 or more, you no longer need to make any further swim checks for the duration of time you continue to spend underwater, however this resets if you exit and re-enter the water.
So I run Rise of the Runelord's on most Sunday's and we're fairly far through now (about halfway), but the group I play with are more about roleplay than anything else.
They really love combat, but they love character interaction and surprises more, and as I'm the only one who knows the rules well, I give them free reign to do pretty much what they want, provided it doesn't break the game or make them too overpowered for their level.
As such, I don't play with negative levels, and I make several rules up on the spot so that I can keep management of everyone's characters to a minimal and still govern the game and simplify certain aspects.
If a Wizard wants to spend time researching a new spell and the player creates something fresh and imaginative and puts the time in (in game), I work with them. That's the same for if they invest time into inventing new weapons, items and all sorts.
So what I'm looking for are some interesting items, armour and shield typed protective wear, new weapons and new spells not featured in pathfinder so far. This is because I want to still add surprise items in for the Black Market stalls and other such areas.
These extra's can be experimental or just ideas you have in your head, but as the Paizo community, I'm asking for you guys to throw anything at me that you think may be cool, imaginative, exciting or game enhancing.
I've already decided that whatever spell's you can put on one item, you can put on any.
For example, instead of a cloak of resistance, you could see a ring of resistance turn up in Magnimar or Katapesh etc, so please go nuts, and you may even find with enough contribution, viable additions for your own game within this thread eventually. :)
I'm GM'ing a game of Rise of the Runelords. You won't find spoilers here and it's just advice I'd like so please don't move this into the rise of the runelords thread mods. :)
Okay, so I have a tiefling in the party. Had more specifically. He died a hirrible, horrible death today, getting chopped in half, then had his arm hacked off, then got stomped on.
Anyway, I've got an idea on how to bring him back, but this is where I need the help from you guys...
The main party are level 9 (mostly). The party consists of my GMPC (level 2 fighter/8 cleric - a drunken fighter cleric of Cayden), a Magus (level 3 Rogue/6 Magus), and the now dead Rogue (Rogue 5/Ranger 4) Tiefling.
The player of the Tiefling really wanted his character to have a very dark side, but having hung around mostly with the happy go lucky free spirited Paladin typed Fighter Cleric and the young Half-Elf Magus (of 15 half-elf years old), he grew a little warmer towards the party, but felt that his character should have been darker.
So anyway, now I have an opportunity here.
I think (unless you guys come up with something cooler) that now the Half-Elf has cried over his body after the Cleric convinced him to mourn later as it's dangerous where we are...that Deimos (the Tiefling) could end up in hell, so here's what I've got planned:
The party have moved onto the next area, Deimos' body can phase through the floor down into the depths of hell, where he'd have to succeed in travelling the 9 circles (floors) of hell, to come back as a stronger and darker character.
This is where I'm stuck. I need each floor to offer some kind of challenge or trial, and if he beats it, he's granted access to the next floor. Once he surpasses all challenges on all 9 floors, a portal can open up to wherever the party will be at that time.
I've already decided on what powers I'd like to grant him on his (if successful) return, but I'm not sure what kind of challenges to give him. I want it to be possible for just one character to accomplish.
Anyway, here are the powers I've decided to grant him as he escapes:
Column of Hellfire
- 1d6 per 4 character levels
- 20ft burst radius
- 1 per day
- 20% chance to set fire to things
- Good creatures damaged by it are shaken for 1d4 rounds
- Opens via designated area of portal
Shadow Phase
- At will
- 3 per day: Can travel between and see through shadows as if looking or climbing through a window
my PC's will likely be facing Xanesha this Sunday and I have a few problems.
1. I really like the characters, and more often than not end up doing things to save the PC's, as without players or characters, there's no game.
2. I want the fear of death to be ever present, but I want the PC's to have a good chance of surviving, but at the same time remaining fun for me, as I know it's my role to try and kill the PC's, so any advice here is welcome!
3. Xanesha has Charm Monster at Will, along with three uses of Deep Slumber per day, and 7 uses of Invisibility. Now, it seems a little harsh to do nothing but Charm the PC's, forcing them to attack one another with failed saves, and casting Deep Slumber just to full round action coup de grace seems harsh, as does going invisible to sneak attack constantly, but she's a BBEG, so surely it's in her nature to do all of these tactics?
Considering this, it seems unlikely any of the PC's will survive, so how should I go about this?
I made this thread originally for the Advice section of the forums, but figured the best place to actually get feedback is probably here. Mainly because I feel feedback from GM's of this AP would be most relevant!
I’m hoping to play Curse of the Crimson Throne soon, and I just wanted some feedback on this build that I’ve created.
The main focus is survivability, with feats and skills that stay true to his roots and back story.
I’ve not made a build like this before, and am using the Urban Barbarian Archetype to allow for him to be more of a calculative thinking knight, without the usual stereotypes of your common Barbarian.
Being poor, I’m having him start off with no wealth at all. This means he doesn’t have armour and doesn’t have any weapon or any items on him. To get around this, he will disarm and use the weapon from someone he first faces, with the intention to find and/or save up enough to get better equipment later, where he can make a living and a name for himself.
Although a Half-Elven Punk Smoker with a dark past, his personality should eventually grow into something positive and optimistic, strengthening his desire to protect those around him and giving him a knightly and honourable demeanour.
He wants to follow in Blackjack’s footsteps, except where Blackjack masked his appearance, Elegad wants everyone to see his identity, unafraid of the disadvantages that may bring.
Personality: Uncaring Punk Smoker/Street child
Potential Personality Growth: An honourable, knightly and diplomatic man who aspires to fight with the Hippogriff riding Guard of Korvosa.
Motivations: To follow in Blackjack's footsteps, only without a mask and with a purpose to show Half-Elves are just as capable as any other race, if not more when it comes to accomplishing tasks, and he aims to be a hero/symbol of hope to all others of his race, pushing his body, survival skills and streetwise talents to the limit, to ensure this is achieved.
Fort: 5 (10 to stabilise when dying)
Ref: 3
Will: 2 (4 vs enchantment spells and effects, immune to magical sleep)
BAB: 1
CMB: 3
CMD: 16
Traits:
Drug addict (Personal Addiction) - +1 Fortitude
Adopted - Heart of the Wilderness (Human)
Alternate Racial: Dual-Minded - +2 will saves
Skills:
Knowledge (Local): 2
Perception: 3
Survival*: 4
Feats:
1a. Endurance
1b. Die Hard
2. Improved Unarmed Strike
3. Combat Expertise
5. Extra Rage Power
7. Stalwart
9. Extra Rage Power
11. Improved Stalwart
13. Bolstered Resilience
15. Extra Rage Power
17. Extra Rage Power
This is my first draft of the story, but you should find that everything is interlinked in conjunction with the information given in the Player’s Guide. This means everything is spoiler free, as I have no actual knowledge of the campaign itself.
Back story (prepare for a massive read):
In 4683AR, a young and curious dark haired woman approached the Mierani Enclave. She was 18, petite in size and cute to look at, with assets many males would gawp over.
Her name was Talia.
With her arrival, Pereshial was overjoyed to have such a fine looking woman speak with him about "business". After weighing up his "staff", he spoke to the woman, suggesting one of his finest men for the act, of which she happily agreed to, wishing to discover the truth's of what she'd been told in full.
She couldn't have even begun to imagine the pleasures that awaited her that night, and planned to keep the meeting a secret. People tended to judge a lot, and she wanted to be free of the guilt and just live life in the moment.
The woman left as a happy customer and found herself returning to the broffle house. At first it was once every few months, then it grew more frequent, jumping from once a month to once a week, and even reached a point where she'd turn up once every few days.
It was all fun and games for her until she fell pregnant however.
Without the heart or option of abortion, 9 months passed and the woman (with the help of the enclave) gave birth to Elegad.
Elegad was born on the 17th Abadius, 4684AR. He had jet black hair, pale skin and when his eyelids first lifted, they revealed his aqua blue eyes. He was a beautiful baby boy, and one that any mother should have been proud of.
Worried about what others would think of her however, Talia had other things on her mind.
Behind closed doors and in secrecy, she breast fed and looked after her son for several months, but finally decided enough was enough. One night when the streets of Korvosa seemed quieter than normal, Talia wrapped a cloak around Elegad and herself, and concealed her identity.
As she walked down the street, under her Cloak was a sleeping Elegad. She didn't want to wake the boy, so in an attempt to not look too suspiscious, she briskly walked down neighbouring roads, avoiding the alley's for fear of death and misfortune, peering through each window she passed with quick glances.
It was in one of these houses that she spotted a woman - An aged human woman of about 70.
Seeing this as a good opportunity, Talia placed a pillow on the door step, wrapped Elegad up in some sheeting and then placed him on the pillow, with a note reading "His name is Elegad. I'm sorry."
Talia then knocked on the door, used the darkness of the night to hide, watching the house, hoping that the woman would take the newly born Half-Elf in, and thankfully for her, she did.
This allowed Talia to forget about her son for 12 years, but the elderly woman?
Her name was Esther and over this period, her and Elegad would grow to form a strong bond between one another.
Being the caring old woman that she was, Esther taught Elegad how to read and write, how to be diplomatic, and how to treat others with the courtesy and respect he would expect to receive himself. It was clear that if she didn't have a good upbringing herself, she was a very wise and knowledgeable lady. In addition to this, she also taught him mathematics and how to eat properly in front of guests.
She would feed him day and night without fail, even though she had little money herself, often reading him bedtime stories and telling him tales of the legendary Blackjack to help him drift off to sleep, or holding him through thunderstorms, making him feel safe after nightmares etc. She had all of the traits a good parent should, and yet before Elegad came along, she never had the chance to do all of this. You see, she wasn't gifted with the ability to have children.
Esther had a husband once. They met at the fishing docks at the ages of 17 and 20. Her husband, Derik, was the older of the two. He worked for a local fishery and was meant to be moving to Magnimar under his bosses instruction. Supposedly fishing businesses were booming, and it was a great season for catching all manner of exotic fish that weren't known in Korvosa.
By chance however, Esther worked as a fruit merchant, selling all of the finest and ripest fruits the nation had to offer.
Her job kept her moving about from place to place, but being a Korvosa run business, she never had to venture out too far with her wagon. Her routes were always planned through heavily guarded sectors of the city, so safety wasn't an issue, but it was through her job that she ended up in the fishing district, and for that she was thankful.
It wasn't before long that Esther and Derik took a fancy to one another. They were both hard working people and it was easy to see that they were both a little shy. Esther was the one to first initiate interest though. She didn't know this at the time, but Derik wouldn't have asked her to court him due to fear of rejection, and had they not met on that day, Derik would have agreed to travel to Magnimar, and they would have never gotten together.
After Esther expressed her interest to court the man, Derik took her out on a few fishing trips. He had little time off work, so had to see her more often than not, during his work hours.
At first he was overprotective of the girl, warning her of the dangers he faced on a daily basis, but eventually accepted that it was unnecessary to act in that manner and that they should just enjoy their time together.
The couple would often save up a months wage to go out on dates to upper class taverns, dining to candlelight and enjoying one anothers company. Throughout the years, Derik would do nice, romantic gestures for Esther, and Esther would do them in return. Sometimes she'd make him scarves and accessories for the cold winters ahead, while he would buy her clothes and victorian-esque items of Taldan fashion.
They were soul mates. They loved each other deeply and felt lost without one another, but like any good couple, they still had some problems.
At the ages of 29 and 32, the two thought it would be a good time to try for children. They tried for years, but it just wasn't happening. They both had a burning desire to bring up their own offspring, hoping to see a little of each of them in their future children, but it turned out Esther couldn't have kids.
Derik wouldn't speak to Esther for a while, thinking she just didn't want children and that Esther was doing things to jeopardise the idea. He would go out and drink heavily, only to return, eat dinner, say very little and go to bed before he had to wake up early the next morning for work again. This cycle repeated for about a year before the two decided they should break up.
Derik went back to the fishing company that he had now inherited (due to his boss not having any living relatives and passing away), and Esther opened up a Florist.
It wasn't before long however, that the two of them realised how much they missed each other, how the whole situation blew out of proportion and how they now regret the actions they took. As such, they got back together after about 6 months. Unlike most couples who move on after a split, relationships weren't on their mind. They have only been with one another and that's how they wanted it to remain.
After a little while, Esther took the time out to explain things to Derik.
Stating that the reason they can't have kids is because her body is not physically capable of such a thing. She isn't equipped with the right tools to give birth, and as such was ashamed to tell him. It was upsetting enough for her to be a woman and go through her time like any other woman, but to suffer from the fact it meant nothing, and to have a Doctor confirm such a thing was a horrendous ordeal for her. She just couldn't cope, and as she spoke further, she dropped to her knee's and sobbed, feeling like a waste of space and a poor excuse of a woman.
Derik said nothing, but crouched down beside her and wrapped his arms around her, looking to his side and secretly shedding some tears of his own. He had to comfort her. It was all he could do, and in time they would both accept that it just wasn't meant to be.
As the months went on, they rekindled their love, passion sprung back into their relationship and they eventually accepted this as just "one of those things".
A year after inheriting the Fishery, both Derik's Fishing business and Esther's Florist were bustling with activity, and as a result, they acquired their first house together.
They lived in this house for 20 years until one day like any other, Derik went to check on his stock at the Espris Fishery, only to find three thugs ransacking the place.
In shock, he called out to the men and asked what they were playing at, telling them to just take the money and leave. Only, they didn't want his money. They wanted his business gone so they could set up their own Fishery within the district.
The leader turned around and under his straw hat, grinned at Derik. Nobody discovered this, but that leader was Gaedren Lamm.
Without hesitation the two thugs accompanying Lamm fired a shot each from their crossbows. One hit Derik in the chest, while the other pierced through his leg, dropping him to his knee's. At first Derik was angry, but then when he realised there was no hope left, he decided the only thing he could do was to go out thinking about how great his life had been before this moment, and how meeting Esther was the greatest moment in his life.
With nothing but Lamm's grinning face to look at, Derik stared at the ground, continuing to think back on all of the wonderful feelings he had experienced. This was when the two thugs grabbed some rope (that was previously used to tye fishing boats to the dock yard), tied it into a noose and wrapped it around Derik's neck.
With tears running down his face, the two thugs threw the rope over a wooden beam above, and then placed it around Derik's neck before running with it, lifting him high into the air. Him dangling there wasn't enough for them though.
This was when Lamm wanted to try and make a big name for himself, and as such, he had the two thugs fire more crossbow bolts into the man, pinning him to the wall while he was still suffocating and struggling for his life.
"I love you Esther" were the words of Derik Espris' final breath, as he finally stopped struggling and was at last at peace from the ordeal he had to suffer.
The next morning, town guards were at the Fishery while Esther slept. Something was written on the wall next to Derik's body. It was poorly worded and looked as though it was hurriedly painted on, reading "Here we have a pin cushion. Take note lawmen, else you'll find more like this in the near future!"
Now, with such a well established business, most locals knew of Derik and Esther's residence (though thankfully not Lamm or any of the thugs around Korvosa, for they were always plotting behind the scenes, too busy to take note of anything foing on around them with common citizens), and so one of the city guards took it upon herself to deliver the mortifying news.
when Esther heard a knock on the door, she got up with a smile on her face, figuring Derik was just late home and had forgotten his keys. She went to to the door expecting to see Derik's face, but instead was greeted by a woman and her Hippogriff. The woman was a female Marine of the Sable Company. One who too had lost family and now takes it upon herself to watch over this neighbourhood in between shifts, in hope to find her little brother who was kidnapped several months back.
Esther took the news well and avoided newspapers for fear of what they had to say, still somewhat expecting Derik to come walking through the door each night. Three days later, the shock passed and Esther just dropped everything, sobbing on the carpet for hours and hours, heartbroken at the loss of her husband and soul mate, screaming for help and yet nobody came. She never found anyone else. She just wanted him by her side, and if that wasn't possible, wanted to rest eternally with him.
She was 53 when this happened, and for the next 17 years she lived as a hollow shell with nothing to look forward to in life. This was until she found Elegad on her doorstep.
Esther cared for the boy like she would have her own child, telling him of how she met her husband, what they did together, how she felt for him and the trials they both had to overcome. Inspired by the love and connection Derek and his adoptive mum had for one another, at the age 10, Elegad told Esther "I'm happy you found me. If my mummy didn't want me, I'm glad that I've been living with someone who did" and speaking like a true hero, he clenched his fist as the passion in his heart flowed out with the final part of his speech; "and from this day fourth, I choose to take on the name Elegad Espris! Your name will live on through me, so the two of you will always be remembered!"
The little boy laughed, and although Esther knew the boy had a big heart, she was also sad. Sad that she would soon have to tell him she won't be around for very much longer, and sad that Derik couldn't have been around to see this new living, breathing shimmering light of hope for the old woman.
Sadly only two years after this, and after 12 years of looking after the Half-Elf, Esther passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Realising he hadn't been woken up for breakfast, the young boy looked for the lady who had brought him up from a mere baby, and upon discovering her, although not knowing the meaning of this, Elegad would soon learn the harsh fear of death that sends a chill through every intelligent creature of Golarion.
With no way to pay bills, it wasn't long before the house was re-possessed.
El was thrown out onto the streets with no food, no water and no skills of survival. He was in the worst situation possible.
Through desperation, he tried to track down his birth mother, for you see, El has always been an intelligent boy, and it didn't take much digging to find out about Pereshial's business at the Mierani Enclave.
Although dangerous to travel alone (especially at the young age of 12, El travelled to the Enclave and asked around for more information. Normally a business would be surprised to see a kid walking around....especially a half-elf, but not this one.
Thankfully for Elegad, to make things easier, it was quite apparent who his mother and father were, as he looked a lot like them. He had similar hair and facial shape to that of his father and his eyes and nose looked similar to that of his mother.
Pereshial was a little evasive, reluctant to reveal the home address of such a valued customer, but the Elven man he would momentarily discover to be his dad pointed him in the right direction, wishing the child to bother her rather than he.
Upon receiving the address and name of his mother, Elegad knocked on her door. Talia, now at the age of 30 opened the door to see a small Half-Elf in front of her.
At first glance, she thought the boy in front of her was a mere human, looking for a place to stay, but as soon as the wind blew, she noticed his ears and then it dawned on her. Standing in front of her was the living embodiment of her taboo relationship, and as such, she was far from pleased to see that the boy had somehow managed to track her down.
When El explained who he was and that the woman he was staying with (Esther) had died, he asked in the politest way possible if he could stay with Talia. It was around dinner time and behind her were two small children (a boy and a girl) and a man (her husband) who was just serving dinner.
Her kids were chasing each other around the table, until one of them (the boy) realised that there was a small boy at the front door.
Calling out to his mother, he asked “who’s that boy you’re talking to? Can we make friends with him? He might be fun!”
Talia however, unsure on what to say, came across unnecessarily harsh with her response.
“It’s nobody. Just a kid needing somewhere to stay, but you two are enough to deal with as it is. You’ll have to play some other time.”
She tried to sound caring in her tone, but the awkwardness of this confrontation was clear.
Hurt by this, El began to cry. The feeling of hopelessness finally struck in and he couldn’t understand why she could happily bring two humans up, but refused to even accept his existence.
Overcome by emotion, Elegad proceeded to beg before realising it was rude and improper to do so. As such, he wiped the tears from his eyes and just stood there saying nothing.
Regardless of the distraught boy however, Talia, through fear of her husband discovering the truth of both becoming a mother at the age of 18, and her continued relation to Pereshial’s Elven “employee” (even to this day), she looked at the boy one last time, whispering “I’m sorry” before shutting the door in the 12 year olds face, leaving him alone outside, and feeling unwanted in the harsh environs of the city. He had no choice but to learn to fend for himself.
A week later, the Half-Elf was in a far less healthy state.
Although understanding the concept of right and wrong, El knew that he needed sustenance to survive. Food and water was essential to his survival, and although he was taught never to steal, the young boy made a promise and that promise was to carry the Espris name on, no matter what the cost. As such, dying wasn’t an option. He had to persevere, strengthen himself mentally and physically and sharpen his senses to ensure this was all possible.
He often snuck into churches, taking Holy Water while nobody was looking, to drink later on, using old containers, semi broken vials and used potions bottles that he had previously washed out in the Jeggare River.
Four years had passed since then, and now at the age of 16, the boy had gotten used to his new lifestyle. Well, a little.
Acquiring food and water where possible, El knew some weeks would offer more food than others, but that still didn’t stop him craving more.
His body needed a lot more nutrition than it was getting, and through his lack of sleep and constant worry of self security, survival was looking slim in the grand scheme of things.
Fortunately, a man introducing himself as Gaedren Lamm approached the boy, offering enough food and water to ensure a healthy survival. Jumping at the chance, El took the old man up on this offer and began to grow stronger and healthier as he was once before.
Unfortunately however, this was one of Gaedren’s ploys to get El working for him. After a few months had passed, Gaedren claimed that there wasn’t enough food to go around, due to all of the homeless children he was helping. As such, he told Elegad that if he would work for him as a delivery boy, the goods he delivers should earn enough penny to get things on the up again.
This of course was to give the Half-Elf false hope, turning him into a drug runner.
Two years went by and by this point, El knew Korvosa like the back of his hand. He knew all of the secret routes to remain undetected, knew all of the fastest routes and became an adept Shingle Runner.
Business was good. Everyone paid up for their goods and El profited. What the boy didn’t have however, was a home.
From his time spent with the old man, El grew close to Gaedren and saw him as a friend. In a strange sense, he saw Lamm as a heroic figure akin to Blackjack - A man helping the children of the streets and those in need. Sadly though, this wasn’t the case at all, and too many stories of the Korvosan hero had lead the boys mind astray.
One night, lamm approached the rooftop El lived on, and asked if he could spare a moment to speak with him. The boy agreed and over some friendly banter, Lamm told the boy to try some of this liquid he’d prepared.
When asked what it does, Lamm responded, claiming “it will make your dreams come true”. As such, Elegad made a wish and then downed the substance. Little did he know, this would result in his addiction to the drug.
Slowly craving the drug more and more, El’s priorities were skewed. Believing the illusions of the Shiver drug to be real, the poor naïve boy thought that he was getting all of the food and love he desired. In reality though, he was starving and slowly losing himself to the substance.
Lamm fed him enough to keep him alive, but the real purpose to this was to get the Half-Elf working for him for free, knowing that he’d break like any other man, woman or child, growing desperate enough to do anything for the falsities that Shiver promised.
This went on for 6 years before a series of events unfolded that would change the boys life forever.
Now at the age of 22, El was fully addicted. He couldn’t judge distances properly for the obstructions of hallucination, both from lack of health and the level of substance within his veins, and on one morning like any other, he misplaced his footing and fell from one of the rooftops he was taking residence upon.
Landing in the street some 30 feet below, the boy laid there unconscious. Luckily, a Half-Elven town guard passing by, discovered the boy and took him to one of the local priests. The priest was a Cleric of Sarenrae.
Though a long and arduous process, the Cleric was able to purge the boys body of all negative substances and bandaged the boy up for 6 months, so that he could fully recover from the injuries he had sustained.
The Cleric didn’t require a thank you from the boy, and it was a good thing too, as El’s mind was in an incredibly dark place.
He was depressed, lonely and although free of the toxin’s from the drug he was on, still felt compelled to go back onto the substance.
Over the next two years, El’s mind would put itself together once more, piece by piece, allowing for him to decipher what was real and what was not once again.
This allowed the maturing Half-Elf to gain a better understanding of what he had been through, and showed to him just how bad the consequences of his actions were.
He didn’t have many friends, and most of the faces he knew were now strange and unrecognisable to him.
Kids would approach him asking him for their fix. Adults would do the same, and when he said refused, he would often be battered up, sometimes knocked unconscious and occasionally worse.
At this point he was in two minds. Should he hate those who are reacting in this manner, or should he hate the man behind it? Gaedren Lamm.
Without a home, often without food and constantly in danger, the boy took up smoking and took on a carefree nature. If people had an issue with him, he’d now defend himself. To some he’d come across as passively aggressive, and now and again he’d get caught up in gang fights, beaten because of his now offensive attitude.
Bumps and bruises didn’t seem to bother him a huge amount, because although each injury hurt, nothing was as bad as the conditions he lived in, where each day he woke, death was present, people he delivered to would die from their addictions, and innocents were murdered.
This was his life though. He accepted it and just tried to survive, losing himself and forgetting about his once innocent younger self, through exposure to the dark nature surrounding him.
On one unexpected day, while traversing the City rooftops, El saw a familiar woman in trouble with a few Sczarni lads.
It appeared they wanted her wallet, and when she refused, they figured they may as well take advantage of the situation and grabbed her around the throat while the other two began to touch her inappropriately.
Disgusted, angsty and p***** off by this display, El, realising this was his mother….the woman who abandoned him twice before, decided that having birthed him, she at least deserved his protection on this one occasion.
Weighing up the situation and outnumbered three to one, the boy knew he had to use his brain to overcome that challenge in front of him.
Using his sharpened senses, he looked down towards the street and spotted something glistening. It was an empty bottle that had obviously fallen out a drunken fools hands. Realising that wouldn’t be enough however, Elegad spotted a drugged up Dwarf with a half empty syringe in his hand.
Acquiring it, the boy charged into combat. The Sczarni were very much unaware of his presence, allowing him to smash the bottle over the head of the man restraining his mother without a problem.
The second man pulled out a blade and approached the Half-Elf, missing his strike and allowing El to inject Shiver into his body, instantly knocking him out cold.
Then there was one left. This one seemed a little tougher than the rest and more of a bully. Focusing in hand to hand combat, he left Talia alone and focused his swings on the 24 year old Half-Elf. El took a fair few hits, able to dodge some, but not all.
The fight went on for a little while, but with one misplaced punch, the Half-Elf saw an opening and took it, flooring the Sczarni man in one powerful blow to the temple.
His mother was much more appreciative this time around, having realised who her saviour was if a little guilt ridden from the state the boy is now in.
The pale and gaunt boy, with his heavily bagged eyes just looked at his mother, seemingly without the soul, heart or passion he once had during their first confrontation, and when his mother thanked him, he cold heartedly replied with “my mother died a long time ago at the age of 84. She brought me up and taught me good manners, and yet I’m still out here in this s***hole, clearing up mess that others cause on a daily basis.”
Looking away, Elegad walked off 20 feet before turning around slightly and pointing at the woman. “Save your thanks. We’re done here.” Before turning around once more and disappearing off into the maze like streets beyond.
4708 Absolom Reckoning (current year) - Now, having to grow up fast sure made him mature in a lot of ways, but occasionally on days when he felt slightly better about himself, he’d climb to the highest rooftops, flick out a cig and smoke it, watching as the Sable Company Marines passed by overhead.
“One day” he said to himself. “One day that’ll be me up there. Or at least, my name shall be known for better or worse. I made a promise to my old lady and I’d better keep it!”
From that moment on, Elegad vowed to become a symbol of hope for the people, aiming to remove the negative stereotypes from his race, while defending the homeless and helpless from the evil’s within the region. It didn’t take much to realise that his first task should be to track down Lamm, putting an end to the crimes and suffering caused by the despicable man.
Key personality traits:
Dark personality
Smokes
Gets beaten up a fair bit/Can take a beating
Is street wise with good wits about him
Has a punk attitude
Wears clothes that are now too small for him (ripped and tattered)
Lacks personal hygiene and wealth, but washes in the river when nobody’s around
Barely has food or water
Cares about little/Is unmotivated
Stares at the sky on nice days, daydreaming about changing his life
Stares at the ground, hoping for a better future
Lives on Garrison Hill Shingles (rooftop slums)
Hates Gaedren and wants to atone for his crimes
Hits syringes from hands, telling people to stay off Shiver as it’ll kill them
Wants to be a Sable Company Marine
Wants to become a symbol of hope for Half-Elves, commoners and the unfortunate
Wants people to live without fear, using his life to ensure that
Secretly wants to make his adoptive mum (and dad who he never met) proud.
Hopes to give others a better childhood than he had.
P.S. It’s certainly a relief to finally have this finished, and I'd really appreciate it if anyone who's played or GM'd this AP could give me feedback on how good and relevant my character and plot hooks are.
Okay everyone, I’m hoping to play Curse of the Crimson Throne soon, and I just wanted some feedback on this build I’ve created.
The main focus is survivability, with feats and skills that stay true to his roots and back story.
I’ve not made a build like this before, and am using the Urban Barbarian Archetype to allow for him to be more of a calculative thinking knight, without the usual stereotypes of your common Barbarian.
Being poor, I’m having him start off with no wealth at all. This means he doesn’t have armour and doesn’t have any weapon or any items on him. To get around this, he will disarm and use the weapon from someone he first faces, with the intention to find and/or save up enough to get better equipment later, where he can make a living and a name for himself.
Although a Half-Elven Punk Smoker with a dark past, his personality should eventually grow into something positive and optimistic, strengthening his desire to protect those around him and giving him a knightly and honourable demeanour.
He wants to follow in Blackjack’s footsteps, except where Blackjack masked his appearance, Elegad wants everyone to see his identity, unafraid of the disadvantages that may bring.
Personality: Uncaring Punk Smoker/Street child
Potential Personality Growth: An honourable, knightly and diplomatic man who aspires to fight with the Hippogriff riding Guard of Korvosa.
Motivations: To follow in Blackjack's footsteps, only without a mask and with a purpose to show Half-Elves are just as capable as any other race, if not more when it comes to accomplishing tasks, and he aims to be a hero/symbol of hope to all others of his race, pushing his body, survival skills and streetwise talents to the limit, to ensure this is achieved.
Fort: 5 (10 to stabilise when dying)
Ref: 3
Will: 2 (4 vs enchantment spells and effects, immune to magical sleep)
BAB: 1
CMB: 3
CMD: 16
Traits:
Drug addict (Personal Addiction) - +1 Fortitude
Adopted - Heart of the Wilderness (Human)
Alternate Racial: Dual-Minded - +2 will saves
Skills:
Knowledge (Local): 2
Perception: 3
Survival*: 4
Feats:
1a. Endurance
1b. Die Hard
2. Improved Unarmed Strike
3. Combat Expertise
5. Extra Rage Power
7. Stalwart
9. Extra Rage Power
11. Improved Stalwart
13. Bolstered Resilience
15. Extra Rage Power
17. Extra Rage Power
This is my first draft of the story, but you should find that everything is interlinked in conjunction with the information given in the Player’s Guide. This means everything is spoiler free, as I have no actual knowledge of the campaign itself.
Back story (prepare for a massive read):
In 4683AR, a young and curious dark haired woman approached the Mierani Enclave. She was 18, petite in size and cute to look at, with assets many males would gawp over.
Her name was Talia.
With her arrival, Pereshial was overjoyed to have such a fine looking woman speak with him about "business". After weighing up his "staff", he spoke to the woman, suggesting one of his finest men for the act, of which she happily agreed to, wishing to discover the truth's of what she'd been told in full.
She couldn't have even begun to imagine the pleasures that awaited her that night, and planned to keep the meeting a secret. People tended to judge a lot, and she wanted to be free of the guilt and just live life in the moment.
The woman left as a happy customer and found herself returning to the broffle house. At first it was once every few months, then it grew more frequent, jumping from once a month to once a week, and even reached a point where she'd turn up once every few days.
It was all fun and games for her until she fell pregnant however.
Without the heart or option of abortion, 9 months passed and the woman (with the help of the enclave) gave birth to Elegad.
Elegad was born on the 17th Abadius, 4684AR. He had jet black hair, pale skin and when his eyelids first lifted, they revealed his aqua blue eyes. He was a beautiful baby boy, and one that any mother should have been proud of.
Worried about what others would think of her however, Talia had other things on her mind.
Behind closed doors and in secrecy, she breast fed and looked after her son for several months, but finally decided enough was enough. One night when the streets of Korvosa seemed quieter than normal, Talia wrapped a cloak around Elegad and herself, and concealed her identity.
As she walked down the street, under her Cloak was a sleeping Elegad. She didn't want to wake the boy, so in an attempt to not look too suspiscious, she briskly walked down neighbouring roads, avoiding the alley's for fear of death and misfortune, peering through each window she passed with quick glances.
It was in one of these houses that she spotted a woman - An aged human woman of about 70.
Seeing this as a good opportunity, Talia placed a pillow on the door step, wrapped Elegad up in some sheeting and then placed him on the pillow, with a note reading "His name is Elegad. I'm sorry."
Talia then knocked on the door, used the darkness of the night to hide, watching the house, hoping that the woman would take the newly born Half-Elf in, and thankfully for her, she did.
This allowed Talia to forget about her son for 12 years, but the elderly woman?
Her name was Esther and over this period, her and Elegad would grow to form a strong bond between one another.
Being the caring old woman that she was, Esther taught Elegad how to read and write, how to be diplomatic, and how to treat others with the courtesy and respect he would expect to receive himself. It was clear that if she didn't have a good upbringing herself, she was a very wise and knowledgeable lady. In addition to this, she also taught him mathematics and how to eat properly in front of guests.
She would feed him day and night without fail, even though she had little money herself, often reading him bedtime stories and telling him tales of the legendary Blackjack to help him drift off to sleep, or holding him through thunderstorms, making him feel safe after nightmares etc. She had all of the traits a good parent should, and yet before Elegad came along, she never had the chance to do all of this. You see, she wasn't gifted with the ability to have children.
Esther had a husband once. They met at the fishing docks at the ages of 17 and 20. Her husband, Derik, was the older of the two. He worked for a local fishery and was meant to be moving to Magnimar under his bosses instruction. Supposedly fishing businesses were booming, and it was a great season for catching all manner of exotic fish that weren't known in Korvosa.
By chance however, Esther worked as a fruit merchant, selling all of the finest and ripest fruits the nation had to offer.
Her job kept her moving about from place to place, but being a Korvosa run business, she never had to venture out too far with her wagon. Her routes were always planned through heavily guarded sectors of the city, so safety wasn't an issue, but it was through her job that she ended up in the fishing district, and for that she was thankful.
It wasn't before long that Esther and Derik took a fancy to one another. They were both hard working people and it was easy to see that they were both a little shy. Esther was the one to first initiate interest though. She didn't know this at the time, but Derik wouldn't have asked her to court him due to fear of rejection, and had they not met on that day, Derik would have agreed to travel to Magnimar, and they would have never gotten together.
After Esther expressed her interest to court the man, Derik took her out on a few fishing trips. He had little time off work, so had to see her more often than not, during his work hours.
At first he was overprotective of the girl, warning her of the dangers he faced on a daily basis, but eventually accepted that it was unnecessary to act in that manner and that they should just enjoy their time together.
The couple would often save up a months wage to go out on dates to upper class taverns, dining to candlelight and enjoying one anothers company. Throughout the years, Derik would do nice, romantic gestures for Esther, and Esther would do them in return. Sometimes she'd make him scarves and accessories for the cold winters ahead, while he would buy her clothes and victorian-esque items of Taldan fashion.
They were soul mates. They loved each other deeply and felt lost without one another, but like any good couple, they still had some problems.
At the ages of 29 and 32, the two thought it would be a good time to try for children. They tried for years, but it just wasn't happening. They both had a burning desire to bring up their own offspring, hoping to see a little of each of them in their future children, but it turned out Esther couldn't have kids.
Derik wouldn't speak to Esther for a while, thinking she just didn't want children and that Esther was doing things to jeopardise the idea. He would go out and drink heavily, only to return, eat dinner, say very little and go to bed before he had to wake up early the next morning for work again. This cycle repeated for about a year before the two decided they should break up.
Derik went back to the fishing company that he had now inherited (due to his boss not having any living relatives and passing away), and Esther opened up a Florist.
It wasn't before long however, that the two of them realised how much they missed each other, how the whole situation blew out of proportion and how they now regret the actions they took. As such, they got back together after about 6 months. Unlike most couples who move on after a split, relationships weren't on their mind. They have only been with one another and that's how they wanted it to remain.
After a little while, Esther took the time out to explain things to Derik.
Stating that the reason they can't have kids is because her body is not physically capable of such a thing. She isn't equipped with the right tools to give birth, and as such was ashamed to tell him. It was upsetting enough for her to be a woman and go through her time like any other woman, but to suffer from the fact it meant nothing, and to have a Doctor confirm such a thing was a horrendous ordeal for her. She just couldn't cope, and as she spoke further, she dropped to her knee's and sobbed, feeling like a waste of space and a poor excuse of a woman.
Derik said nothing, but crouched down beside her and wrapped his arms around her, looking to his side and secretly shedding some tears of his own. He had to comfort her. It was all he could do, and in time they would both accept that it just wasn't meant to be.
As the months went on, they rekindled their love, passion sprung back into their relationship and they eventually accepted this as just "one of those things".
A year after inheriting the Fishery, both Derik's Fishing business and Esther's Florist were bustling with activity, and as a result, they acquired their first house together.
They lived in this house for 20 years until one day like any other, Derik went to check on his stock at the Espris Fishery, only to find three thugs ransacking the place.
In shock, he called out to the men and asked what they were playing at, telling them to just take the money and leave. Only, they didn't want his money. They wanted his business gone so they could set up their own Fishery within the district.
The leader turned around and under his straw hat, grinned at Derik. Nobody discovered this, but that leader was Gaedren Lamm.
Without hesitation the two thugs accompanying Lamm fired a shot each from their crossbows. One hit Derik in the chest, while the other pierced through his leg, dropping him to his knee's. At first Derik was angry, but then when he realised there was no hope left, he decided the only thing he could do was to go out thinking about how great his life had been before this moment, and how meeting Esther was the greatest moment in his life.
With nothing but Lamm's grinning face to look at, Derik stared at the ground, continuing to think back on all of the wonderful feelings he had experienced. This was when the two thugs grabbed some rope (that was previously used to tye fishing boats to the dock yard), tied it into a noose and wrapped it around Derik's neck.
With tears running down his face, the two thugs threw the rope over a wooden beam above, and then placed it around Derik's neck before running with it, lifting him high into the air. Him dangling there wasn't enough for them though.
This was when Lamm wanted to try and make a big name for himself, and as such, he had the two thugs fire more crossbow bolts into the man, pinning him to the wall while he was still suffocating and struggling for his life.
"I love you Esther" were the words of Derik Espris' final breath, as he finally stopped struggling and was at last at peace from the ordeal he had to suffer.
The next morning, town guards were at the Fishery while Esther slept. Something was written on the wall next to Derik's body. It was poorly worded and looked as though it was hurriedly painted on, reading "Here we have a pin cushion. Take note lawmen, else you'll find more like this in the near future!"
Now, with such a well established business, most locals knew of Derik and Esther's residence (though thankfully not Lamm or any of the thugs around Korvosa, for they were always plotting behind the scenes, too busy to take note of anything foing on around them with common citizens), and so one of the city guards took it upon herself to deliver the mortifying news.
when Esther heard a knock on the door, she got up with a smile on her face, figuring Derik was just late home and had forgotten his keys. She went to to the door expecting to see Derik's face, but instead was greeted by a woman and her Hippogriff. The woman was a female Marine of the Sable Company. One who too had lost family and now takes it upon herself to watch over this neighbourhood in between shifts, in hope to find her little brother who was kidnapped several months back.
Esther took the news well and avoided newspapers for fear of what they had to say, still somewhat expecting Derik to come walking through the door each night. Three days later, the shock passed and Esther just dropped everything, sobbing on the carpet for hours and hours, heartbroken at the loss of her husband and soul mate, screaming for help and yet nobody came. She never found anyone else. She just wanted him by her side, and if that wasn't possible, wanted to rest eternally with him.
She was 53 when this happened, and for the next 17 years she lived as a hollow shell with nothing to look forward to in life. This was until she found Elegad on her doorstep.
Esther cared for the boy like she would have her own child, telling him of how she met her husband, what they did together, how she felt for him and the trials they both had to overcome. Inspired by the love and connection Derek and his adoptive mum had for one another, at the age 10, Elegad told Esther "I'm happy you found me. If my mummy didn't want me, I'm glad that I've been living with someone who did" and speaking like a true hero, he clenched his fist as the passion in his heart flowed out with the final part of his speech; "and from this day fourth, I choose to take on the name Elegad Espris! Your name will live on through me, so the two of you will always be remembered!"
The little boy laughed, and although Esther knew the boy had a big heart, she was also sad. Sad that she would soon have to tell him she won't be around for very much longer, and sad that Derik couldn't have been around to see this new living, breathing shimmering light of hope for the old woman.
Sadly only two years after this, and after 12 years of looking after the Half-Elf, Esther passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Realising he hadn't been woken up for breakfast, the young boy looked for the lady who had brought him up from a mere baby, and upon discovering her, although not knowing the meaning of this, Elegad would soon learn the harsh fear of death that sends a chill through every intelligent creature of Golarion.
With no way to pay bills, it wasn't long before the house was re-possessed.
El was thrown out onto the streets with no food, no water and no skills of survival. He was in the worst situation possible.
Through desperation, he tried to track down his birth mother, for you see, El has always been an intelligent boy, and it didn't take much digging to find out about Pereshial's business at the Mierani Enclave.
Although dangerous to travel alone (especially at the young age of 12, El travelled to the Enclave and asked around for more information. Normally a business would be surprised to see a kid walking around....especially a half-elf, but not this one.
Thankfully for Elegad, to make things easier, it was quite apparent who his mother and father were, as he looked a lot like them. He had similar hair and facial shape to that of his father and his eyes and nose looked similar to that of his mother.
Pereshial was a little evasive, reluctant to reveal the home address of such a valued customer, but the Elven man he would momentarily discover to be his dad pointed him in the right direction, wishing the child to bother her rather than he.
Upon receiving the address and name of his mother, Elegad knocked on her door. Talia, now at the age of 30 opened the door to see a small Half-Elf in front of her.
At first glance, she thought the boy in front of her was a mere human, looking for a place to stay, but as soon as the wind blew, she noticed his ears and then it dawned on her. Standing in front of her was the living embodiment of her taboo relationship, and as such, she was far from pleased to see that the boy had somehow managed to track her down.
When El explained who he was and that the woman he was staying with (Esther) had died, he asked in the politest way possible if he could stay with Talia. It was around dinner time and behind her were two small children (a boy and a girl) and a man (her husband) who was just serving dinner.
Her kids were chasing each other around the table, until one of them (the boy) realised that there was a small boy at the front door.
Calling out to his mother, he asked “who’s that boy you’re talking to? Can we make friends with him? He might be fun!”
Talia however, unsure on what to say, came across unnecessarily harsh with her response.
“It’s nobody. Just a kid needing somewhere to stay, but you two are enough to deal with as it is. You’ll have to play some other time.”
She tried to sound caring in her tone, but the awkwardness of this confrontation was clear.
Hurt by this, El began to cry. The feeling of hopelessness finally struck in and he couldn’t understand why she could happily bring two humans up, but refused to even accept his existence.
Overcome by emotion, Elegad proceeded to beg before realising it was rude and improper to do so. As such, he wiped the tears from his eyes and just stood there saying nothing.
Regardless of the distraught boy however, Talia, through fear of her husband discovering the truth of both becoming a mother at the age of 18, and her continued relation to Pereshial’s Elven “employee” (even to this day), she looked at the boy one last time, whispering “I’m sorry” before shutting the door in the 12 year olds face, leaving him alone outside, and feeling unwanted in the harsh environs of the city. He had no choice but to learn to fend for himself.
A week later, the Half-Elf was in a far less healthy state.
Although understanding the concept of right and wrong, El knew that he needed sustenance to survive. Food and water was essential to his survival, and although he was taught never to steal, the young boy made a promise and that promise was to carry the Espris name on, no matter what the cost. As such, dying wasn’t an option. He had to persevere, strengthen himself mentally and physically and sharpen his senses to ensure this was all possible.
He often snuck into churches, taking Holy Water while nobody was looking, to drink later on, using old containers, semi broken vials and used potions bottles that he had previously washed out in the Jeggare River.
Four years had passed since then, and now at the age of 16, the boy had gotten used to his new lifestyle. Well, a little.
Acquiring food and water where possible, El knew some weeks would offer more food than others, but that still didn’t stop him craving more.
His body needed a lot more nutrition than it was getting, and through his lack of sleep and constant worry of self security, survival was looking slim in the grand scheme of things.
Fortunately, a man introducing himself as Gaedren Lamm approached the boy, offering enough food and water to ensure a healthy survival. Jumping at the chance, El took the old man up on this offer and began to grow stronger and healthier as he was once before.
Unfortunately however, this was one of Gaedren’s ploys to get El working for him. After a few months had passed, Gaedren claimed that there wasn’t enough food to go around, due to all of the homeless children he was helping. As such, he told Elegad that if he would work for him as a delivery boy, the goods he delivers should earn enough penny to get things on the up again.
This of course was to give the Half-Elf false hope, turning him into a drug runner.
Two years went by and by this point, El knew Korvosa like the back of his hand. He knew all of the secret routes to remain undetected, knew all of the fastest routes and became an adept Shingle Runner.
Business was good. Everyone paid up for their goods and El profited. What the boy didn’t have however, was a home.
From his time spent with the old man, El grew close to Gaedren and saw him as a friend. In a strange sense, he saw Lamm as a heroic figure akin to Blackjack - A man helping the children of the streets and those in need. Sadly though, this wasn’t the case at all, and too many stories of the Korvosan hero had lead the boys mind astray.
One night, lamm approached the rooftop El lived on, and asked if he could spare a moment to speak with him. The boy agreed and over some friendly banter, Lamm told the boy to try some of this liquid he’d prepared.
When asked what it does, Lamm responded, claiming “it will make your dreams come true”. As such, Elegad made a wish and then downed the substance. Little did he know, this would result in his addiction to the drug.
Slowly craving the drug more and more, El’s priorities were skewed. Believing the illusions of the Shiver drug to be real, the poor naïve boy thought that he was getting all of the food and love he desired. In reality though, he was starving and slowly losing himself to the substance.
Lamm fed him enough to keep him alive, but the real purpose to this was to get the Half-Elf working for him for free, knowing that he’d break like any other man, woman or child, growing desperate enough to do anything for the falsities that Shiver promised.
This went on for 6 years before a series of events unfolded that would change the boys life forever.
Now at the age of 22, El was fully addicted. He couldn’t judge distances properly for the obstructions of hallucination, both from lack of health and the level of substance within his veins, and on one morning like any other, he misplaced his footing and fell from one of the rooftops he was taking residence upon.
Landing in the street some 30 feet below, the boy laid there unconscious. Luckily, a Half-Elven town guard passing by, discovered the boy and took him to one of the local priests. The priest was a Cleric of Sarenrae.
Though a long and arduous process, the Cleric was able to purge the boys body of all negative substances and bandaged the boy up for 6 months, so that he could fully recover from the injuries he had sustained.
The Cleric didn’t require a thank you from the boy, and it was a good thing too, as El’s mind was in an incredibly dark place.
He was depressed, lonely and although free of the toxin’s from the drug he was on, still felt compelled to go back onto the substance.
Over the next two years, El’s mind would put itself together once more, piece by piece, allowing for him to decipher what was real and what was not once again.
This allowed the maturing Half-Elf to gain a better understanding of what he had been through, and showed to him just how bad the consequences of his actions were.
He didn’t have many friends, and most of the faces he knew were now strange and unrecognisable to him.
Kids would approach him asking him for their fix. Adults would do the same, and when he said refused, he would often be battered up, sometimes knocked unconscious and occasionally worse.
At this point he was in two minds. Should he hate those who are reacting in this manner, or should he hate the man behind it? Gaedren Lamm.
Without a home, often without food and constantly in danger, the boy took up smoking and took on a carefree nature. If people had an issue with him, he’d now defend himself. To some he’d come across as passively aggressive, and now and again he’d get caught up in gang fights, beaten because of his now offensive attitude.
Bumps and bruises didn’t seem to bother him a huge amount, because although each injury hurt, nothing was as bad as the conditions he lived in, where each day he woke, death was present, people he delivered to would die from their addictions, and innocents were murdered.
This was his life though. He accepted it and just tried to survive, losing himself and forgetting about his once innocent younger self, through exposure to the dark nature surrounding him.
On one unexpected day, while traversing the City rooftops, El saw a familiar woman in trouble with a few Sczarni lads.
It appeared they wanted her wallet, and when she refused, they figured they may as well take advantage of the situation and grabbed her around the throat while the other two began to touch her inappropriately.
Disgusted, angsty and p***** off by this display, El, realising this was his mother….the woman who abandoned him twice before, decided that having birthed him, she at least deserved his protection on this one occasion.
Weighing up the situation and outnumbered three to one, the boy knew he had to use his brain to overcome that challenge in front of him.
Using his sharpened senses, he looked down towards the street and spotted something glistening. It was an empty bottle that had obviously fallen out a drunken fools hands. Realising that wouldn’t be enough however, Elegad spotted a drugged up Dwarf with a half empty syringe in his hand.
Acquiring it, the boy charged into combat. The Sczarni were very much unaware of his presence, allowing him to smash the bottle over the head of the man restraining his mother without a problem.
The second man pulled out a blade and approached the Half-Elf, missing his strike and allowing El to inject Shiver into his body, instantly knocking him out cold.
Then there was one left. This one seemed a little tougher than the rest and more of a bully. Focusing in hand to hand combat, he left Talia alone and focused his swings on the 24 year old Half-Elf. El took a fair few hits, able to dodge some, but not all.
The fight went on for a little while, but with one misplaced punch, the Half-Elf saw an opening and took it, flooring the Sczarni man in one powerful blow to the temple.
His mother was much more appreciative this time around, having realised who her saviour was if a little guilt ridden from the state the boy is now in.
The pale and gaunt boy, with his heavily bagged eyes just looked at his mother, seemingly without the soul, heart or passion he once had during their first confrontation, and when his mother thanked him, he cold heartedly replied with “my mother died a long time ago at the age of 84. She brought me up and taught me good manners, and yet I’m still out here in this s***hole, clearing up mess that others cause on a daily basis.”
Looking away, Elegad walked off 20 feet before turning around slightly and pointing at the woman. “Save your thanks. We’re done here.” Before turning around once more and disappearing off into the maze like streets beyond.
4708 Absolom Reckoning (current year) - Now, having to grow up fast sure made him mature in a lot of ways, but occasionally on days when he felt slightly better about himself, he’d climb to the highest rooftops, flick out a cig and smoke it, watching as the Sable Company Marines passed by overhead.
“One day” he said to himself. “One day that’ll be me up there. Or at least, my name shall be known for better or worse. I made a promise to my old lady and I’d better keep it!”
From that moment on, Elegad vowed to become a symbol of hope for the people, aiming to remove the negative stereotypes from his race, while defending the homeless and helpless from the evil’s within the region. It didn’t take much to realise that his first task should be to track down Lamm, putting an end to the crimes and suffering caused by the despicable man.
Key personality traits:
Dark personality
Smokes
Gets beaten up a fair bit/Can take a beating
Is street wise with good wits about him
Has a punk attitude
Wears clothes that are now too small for him (ripped and tattered)
Lacks personal hygiene and wealth, but washes in the river when nobody’s around
Barely has food or water
Cares about little/Is unmotivated
Stares at the sky on nice days, daydreaming about changing his life
Stares at the ground, hoping for a better future
Lives on Garrison Hill Shingles (rooftop slums)
Hates Gaedren and wants to atone for his crimes
Hits syringes from hands, telling people to stay off Shiver as it’ll kill them
Wants to be a Sable Company Marine
Wants to become a symbol of hope for Half-Elves, commoners and the unfortunate
Wants people to live without fear, using his life to ensure that
Secretly wants to make his adoptive mum (and dad who he never met) proud.
Hopes to give others a better childhood than he had.
P.S. It’s certainly a relief to finally have this finished, and I'd really appreciate it if anyone who's played or GM'd this AP could give me feedback on how good and relevant my character and plot hooks are.
So in my campaign, Nualia survived (PC's didn't coup de grace her...) and one player left the game, so I decided to use his character as a plot device to bring back Nualia for story purposes only.
Here's what I did with her:
Her items were looted, top part of her armour looted and she was heavily damaged (dropped to -1hp), but by a miracle she regained consciousness and escaped, feeling sick from her failure and angry from her defeat.
When one of the PC's left to find his home, although trailing blood everywhere, Nualia followed him and saw this as an opportunity to try to redeem herself and win back the favour of her God, Lamashtu.
She eventually had a showdown with the Barbarian, disarming him and killing him with his own hammer before heading to Foxglove Manor for aid, as she knew the owner had contacts within the brothers of seven.
However, it would seem the house' aura had ill effect on even this tough and cold hearted woman.
On the approach to Foxglove Manor:
As the PC's head along the narrow and treacherous path, the sky darkens, clouds form overhead and the bellowing of thunder can be heard from above.
PC's should roll DC15 Knowledge Nature to determine this isn't natural, especially as everywhere else is still broad daylight.
As the PC's walk past a signpost labelling the building "Foxglove Manor", a single fairly large Crow swoops over one of the characters and lands on the sign, blinking and twisting its head before making the "creugh" noise most Crows make.
As the group pass, the Crow just watches them, at which point it begins to rain.
It's not long until the PC's can see Foxglove Manor in the distance, as they navigate the corroding and precarious path, keeping away from the ledge from fear of plummeting to the jagged rocks below.
The path winds around to an opening where a silver haired woman (Nualia) is slumped to her knee's in the muddy path, head hanging down, hair bloodied and muddied, face concealed, with the only audible sound being her loud, heavy and slightly panicked breathing.
By her side and buried deep in the ground is the end of a familiar hammer, with the woman's right hand firmly resting on top of it.
If the PC's talk to her, she says nothing at the first two attempts, but on the third she screams at the top of her lungs in the face of the person closest to her, screaming "THE MISGIVINGS WILL TAKE YOU!" before dropping her head once more.
She then starts speaking with long pauses between each word, almost as if she's repeating commands.
Here you should explain whatever PC Aldern is obsessed with, and make it relevant to the actions in the fight between Nualia and the character targeted by Aldern's obsession.
"A boy." "A boy aided the man." "A boy." "A boy I fell in combat." "The Misgivings have plans." "Plans for the boy." "No Cleric can save you." "Your souls are his." "He has his way." "He always has his way." "The Skinsaw man is coming."
As Nualia finishes saying this, she looks up with panic in her face, eyes wide open, before speaking the last part in shock and with sincerity. "He's coming for you Tristan!" <-- Insert name of Aldern's Obsession here.
The woman then appears almost catatonic for a brief moment before standing up, running up to the most protective and compassionate PC and hugging him.
At this stage her personality jumps between good and bad, so this is good for roleplay within the party, but the figure she goes for should really be a good father figure.
Good - "Father, I love you Father! Please don't make me go to the Academy today! The boys call me horrid names and the girls pull my hair. Someone threw a stone at me yesterday. Please, Father I love you, but I don't want to be a Nun. I just want to be normal, working as a Librarian or Seamstress. Books excite me and teach me and the Taldan fashion is absolutely stunningly gorgeous! Can I have the dress I showed you? Please, please, please, please, please! You'd be the best!"
Straight after this, she switches to the bad and more mature personality your group will be used to, but feel free to jump before good and bad as you see fit, making up more dialogue if you want/plan to use this in your AP. :)
Bad - "You! You tried to kill me!"
Good - "Why did you hurt me?" she says with fear in her voice.
Bad - "Your friend followed me, so I killed him with his own hammer. Do you plan to kill me too?" she says while glaring at the party.
Good - Please don't hurt me again! I promise I'll do as you ask. Just please don't hurt me!" At this stage she begins to cry, panic and hyperventilate, but seems genuinely kind hearted, polite and well spoken.
Bad - "Why aren't you dead? DIE ALREADY!" she says as she reverts back to her evil state, it being quite clear that she's either lost the plot, has fallen mentally ill and/or has developed a split personality.
From here, I had my GMPC respond to her with "I don't do dying. I don't have time for it. Drinking and adventuring is my game. That and I'm to protect this little one here. The young Half-Elf who you almost killed. I too am lucky to be alive after your ferocious strike, as are you it would seem."
Nualia doesn't attack however, and instead collapses, seemingly due to her own mind being in pieces.
Currently, the PC's have just killed Aldern and are collecting their loot/seeing what they should do about the mould down below (Vorel). The NPC Ranger who was aiding them currently has Nualia handcuffed (courtesy of the 15 year old Half-Elf who Sheriff Hemlock adopted and deputised) outside and is holding the silver haired woman in custody, for the PC's to take to either Sandpoint or Magnimar. I'm not sure where I'm going with this yet, but I was thinking of having her sent to Habe's Sanatorium now that the place has been cleared. From here, she could either be helped enough to work with the party at a later date, or she forever remains catatonic in the padded cells she'll no doubt find herself in.
I also compiled a soundtrack for Nualia and each floor of Foxglove Manor, all with the sound effects of a thunderstorm in the background, which I've listed below:
So I was thinking of having her in her wounded condition, go back to hunt down the PC's in revenge, with one of the PC's of a player who no longer plays leaving the area, only to be tracked down and killed by the now somewhat psychotic woman.
This is when she heads to Aldern for help, as the Brothers of Seven could have told her to report to him in case anything goes wrong, or if she needs assistance.
At which point, the PC's find her waiting for them at the entrance/pathway to Foxglove Manor/The Misgivings. Only, she's half-naked (one of the PC's removed her armour when she was unconscious (on -1hp) at Thistletop, but through intervention, awoke and escaped, dishonoured and furious during the PC's battle against Malfeshnekor), bleeding heavily and is slumped to her knee's with the fallen PC's hammer (Earthbreaker) dug in the ground, head hanging down under the darkened sky of night, rain around her falling hard.
She'll then go on about how the PC's have dishonoured her, how nobody is there for her anymore, and will begin to cry out with rage as she stands and confronts them. However, being outside of Vorel's place, and having been there for a long time, she'll no doubt be fatigued and not only that, the madness of the haunts and Vorel's power would have reached her and given her a split personality. One of a helpless girl, reminding those of her younger years, and one of the rage ridden Lamashtu lover.
I feel this could be an interesting encounter before the troubles of the Manor find the PC's, and may offer a creepier atmosphere, turning even a strong character such as her, into a haunted and emotional wreck.
So, my question is, do any of you on here have anything you'd like to add to this/feel you can add anything that'll work and be better, or just have any suggestions in general?
So the remaining PC's of my Rise of the Runelord's Campaign find themselves in another Demi-Plane. When they come out, I have two PC's coming in to join them, but I wanted to create something fun for mine and my girlfriend's characters to take part in before the new players join, as they don't have their wealth by level in treasure (due to players dropping out/not being able to play anymore and still keeping their loot).
The "Contents to work with" section is what I need a bit of help/advice with, and here's what I'd like from those of you willing to help, please:
1. A list of treasures or unique items I can include in this module
2. A way inside the complex without detection
3. Three hellish creatures (similar level to Vargouilles) appropriate for 2 PC's
4. A build for an Elven Clonemaster Alchemist of around level 6 or 7 (I want him to be challenging but not an overwhelming threat)
----------------------------------------------------------
The short module:
----------------------------------------------------------
The PC's find themselves out of Sandpoint and out of Golarion in this module!
After killing a human alchemist dressed as Father Abadamas (Santa) around Abadamas (Christmas) time, a portal to another realm had been left open, and in order to close it and secure safety to the town of Sandpoint once more, the PC's must now enter this realm to close the portal from the inside once and for all!
As the adventure unfolds, the PC's find themselves in a bizarre plane, riddled with black, pointed crystalline spires that serve as this realms terrain. Gold veins run through every rock face, black asphalt forms the ground and blackish/grey storm clouds can be seen throughout. The sea here is of purple colouring and the rain that falls is green, with the land shrouded in what can only be described as permanent darkness (low-light vision can see ok).
In the distance, a very large Sundial can be seen, only at closer inspection it's some kind of facility, consisting of technology that nobody in Golarion would have ever witnessed in their life.
The grounds outside are protected by a red lasered fence that runs around the entire proximity of the facility. Unmanned towers with fixed floodlights beam with a bright light onto the grounds and out into the distant spires of the land.
How will the players enter this facility? Will they make it back to Sandpoint, or be forever lost to the abyss of a madman?
Voltrax the Unseen (An Elf afraid of his own mortality and now insane with power)
Hellish creatures:
1 Bulette
60 Otyugh's
37 Drider's
1d6 creatures get through, with 1d2 of the 6 arriving through in parts as the portal closes in on them.
Note:
The two PC's will only be fighting Voltrax. The Bulette is encased in a reinforced glass container, with a force field around it. When the PC removes whatever goody the stand holds for them, the force field drops and the Bulette breaks out 1d3 rounds later, chasing them and fighting the other creatures, as the place is being overrun.
Will have scares like creatures moving in the night, crawling up walls, skittering past in the distance. Have this complex abandoned, but then have alarms in place that trigger, causing a massive beam of red light to shine out across the demi-plane, alerting every creature/horror to their presence. The creatures will then climb through the laser grid fences and begin to over run the facility. This is when the two PC's have to find a keycard to deactivate lasers encasing an aritfact.
---------------------------------------------------------- Contents to work with: ----------------------------------------------------------
Along some of the walls are panels (they are keyboards and monitors, similar to what you'd see in NASA's control room)
1st floor - Has lots of storage: Crates, shipping containers and the like, with a stand at one end holding something powerful (not sure what), and what looks like a neverending abyss. This is where the Bulette is located.
2nd floor - Control panels, living quarters, prison cells, secret room with 3 alien/hellish creatures, a keycard and a treasure chest, Orb/Sphere for teleporting behind a laser protected field (can be opened with a jolt of electricity if keycard isn't found), Dark and Gloomy Throne Room with 20 capsules filled with all differently raced bodies lining the walls (10 on each side), with enemy Clone Master Alchemist; "Voltrax the Unseen".
3rd floor - Control deck, with one single chair and stairs leading up either side to a walkway that has a sheer drop to nothingness below it. This is where the portal will be.
----------------------------------------------------------
Removing the artifact and making their escape:
----------------------------------------------------------
As soon as this artifact is removed, an announcement repeats "WARNING! 3 minutes until total annihilation!", the ground begins to shake and the facility starts falling apart, as the plane begins to collapse in on itself.
The two PC's must then run to the top of the facility and place the ball into a spherical dip on the control deck, though the only way up is to enter the throne room and sit in the throne, which is pressure sensitive and will take PC's to the control room. As soon as they do this, the creatures break through, the windows show the outside of the complex warping, crumbling and disappearing into nothingness and the only way out is to open the portal by placing the ball into the spherical dip on the control panel.
The portal then opens up 5ft off of the walkway, and this is when the PC's arrive back in Golarion.
----------------------------------------------------------
Getting back to Sandpoint:
----------------------------------------------------------
Leaving the time zone:
Roll d% to see when and where you end up.
Time:
86-100 Sandpoint, seconds after leaving.
1-85 You don't end up in your timezone. Roll 1d6 to determine when you appear.
1. Seconds: Roll 1d6 and multiply it by 10
2. Minutes: Roll 1d6 and multiply it by 10
3. Hours: Roll 2d12
4. Days: Roll 1d8-1
5. Weeks: Roll 1d4
6. Months: Roll 1d12
Roll d% to determine where you appear.
Place:
1-25 Brinewall - Chance to run the module for two characters at level 5 and 6.
26-50 Magnimar - Nobody would remember Brik & Tristan but Sheriff Belor Hemlock here.
51-75 Riddleport - Brik Gambled here, has enemies/Tristan lived with a girl & her father.
76-100 Sandpoint - If arriving late, roleplay the disappearance of Brik and Tristan.
So I'm resuming my Rise of the Runelord's campaign now that people can play again (having to switch back to the 3.5 version as I was only borrowing the Anniversary Edition), and I noticed that although there's emphasis on area's on interest for the PC's to investigate, there isn't actually any mention of Brinewall in the books at all.
I haven't checked the rest, but if that's the case, has anyone actually made these into quests, or found suitable quests to use online, both in and at these locations?
Also, I know later on that the PC's will gain more powerful/awakened abilities (can't recall if it was their weapon only), but in addition to this, I thought it would be a nice idea to Gestalt all PC's around this stage near end game.
So any who are multi-classed for example at level 15, as say Rogue and Ranger with 7 levels Rogue and 8 levels Ranger, would be automatically bumped up to 15 levels Rogue and Ranger.
Maybe this is a crazy idea, but I'm playing with 3-4 characters (mine is included in this), and with how difficult it gets towards the end, I figured it'd be a nice reward for the players.
Alright, so we all know how annoying it is when we've spent a ton of time answering Pm's about our character and rolling well, as well as creating massively in depth details about character personality and back story.
So, I had the idea of creating a thread where instead of having our time wasted, GM's can scroll through a list of characters submitted and choose between them, rather than making players go through the recruitment process of possibly getting in, possibly not.
I've based this post on GM's who require rolls of 2d6+6 for each stat, and to start off, here is my character submission, which rolled 17, 17, 12, 10, 14, 13.
Every time I've rolled high like above, I've never been selected so I'm sure others have felt the same recurring disheartenment. Anyway, hopefully this will work and everyone will get the chance the deserve!
So if you're fighting an enemy who happens to be on a flying mount, if you throw a grappling hook (with rope attached) up to them, with the intention of pulling them from their mount, how would it work?
Let's say the enemy is 30 feet up and your grappling hook only has 10ft range increments.
At level 3 a Fighter has 3 BAB, so let's say I'm a Fighter with ok Dex (+3), I'd have a +6 to throw a Grappling Hook, but due to the range increments, I'd lose 4 of that ATK Bonus due to going two increments over what I should be.
So, ranged touch attack of +2.
Would they automatically gain the grappled position if this hit, and if they try to move away, being grappled, would they not automatically fall from their mount?
I don't know how this would work, but I'm fairly confident you can do it.
If you have a Masterwork or +1 Bow, do you then need to also purchase Masterwork or +1 Ammunition, or because the effect is already on the bow, will it carry through to the arrows?
I would have thought that masterwork or +1 Ammunition is used for those who don't yet have a Masterwork or +1 Bow.
I win initiative against a large guy who wields a large reach weapon, standing 30ft in front of me.
On my round, I ready an acrobatics action to move/dodge said enemies weapon swing and get myself up close to him on his attack.
I succeed. We've both had our turn so it's back to mine where I full attack up in his face.
Is this possible or does this break the rules, because usually attacks go against AC, but what I'm trying to do is use acrobatics to dodge the attack to get in close enough to pull off my attack.
What other ways are there around this?
I have a Gladiator I want to use who will be rolling around the arena a lot, avoiding charge attacks and blows with massive hammers or swords, by readying actions until there's an opening.
I'm well aware of the -2, -2 penalty with the Two-Weapon Fighting Feat, when making an attack with both weapons, but here's my question:
If you make a charge attack with both weapons in your hand (before you get the ability to attack with both under the TWW Archetype), but only attack with one, do you get your normal attack bonus, as opposed to the -2 penalty that comes with Dual Wielding? The same applies for if you choose to attack with one and not both weapons.
Secondly, do you still get the defensive TWW Archetype abilities for wielding two weapons if you attack with only one, but still have the second in your other hand?
So the Rise of the Runelord campaign I run has been on pause for a while now, as people haven't been able to play.
One of the players however had a bit of free time and wanted me to run some of the AP for them, so to not disrupt the main story, I continued where everyone left off but with a side quest that had an invisible portal open about 15 feet down and 10 foot forwards over the water, only accessible by jumping from the top of the old light.
How did they discover it? They killed the thing that came out of it (Anti-Santa, it was a christmas themed event).
Anyway, my GMPC Cleric (level 6) and her level 5 Magus are now in this dark and twisted world that mirrors their own in place. The entire landscape is made of sharp and jagged, black crystalised rock with gold veins running throughout, with purple water (caused by different chemicals mixing together) and green acid rain.
There's a building in the distance that looks like a giant sundial and well, I haven't fleshed things out yet, but the planet is desolate and the idea I had was the only way to close the portal would be from the inside.
How could they escape back to their own plane? What creatures would be appropriate to put in? What dangers could await them, and how weird or sci-fi can I make this?
Okay, so in my game I've decided when we play, it's always in real time.
Now, the last time we can play before Christmas is most likely to be this coming Friday (8th December), so I was going to make the date everyone's leaving Thistletop (we're playing Rise of the Runelords) to be the 24th Kuthona.
Anyway, what do you all feel would be an appropriate name for this festive event? I don't see Kuthonas Day as being a much celebrated thing really.
Also, I'm a little unsure on what events to include, seeing as the Swallowtail Festival was only a little while ago. However, I have created a Merchant Stall where there are 20 presents (decorated boxes) and for 400gp, each person can buy a box for themselves or a friend and some of the boxes have very very expensive items in (such as a Frost Brand sword, Mistmail, Celestial Armour), where as others have tindertwigs and empty vials.....This is a Black Market Dealer afterall. :p
Lots of drinking can be had and this may be a good time to make the whole town drunk in celebration.
Anyway, I was thinking of making a Corrupt Reindeer flying around with a sleigh full of presents. Riding this, could be some kind of undead guy with a beard, dressed in a Father Christmas outfit and the task for the heroes would be to save the towns presents.
I have a week to do this and am open to suggestions and builds for this encounter boss, but I wondered how I could lead up to this and how I could ultimately make the festive days fun!
There are 4 party members (including my GMPC)and they're all level 5 and just finishing Book 1 of Rise of the Runelords. :)
Thanks a lot!
Spoiler:
There's also a badly beaten up Nualia on the prowl.
So if you've seen my Orik and Lyrie thread, you'd see that I'm highly considering creating yet another plot within the campaign for those two characters, based around Choppers Isle.
However, Nualia (being my favourite BBEG so far) ignored one of my Players characters after knocking him unconscious (I didn't want to kill him) and went straight for the Half-Elf.
Through this entire time, right up until Nualia hit him, he tried to sympathise with her. He didn't want to kill her (neither did the downed Barbarian), explaining how he understood her and that he too was hated for his race (he's a 15 year old Half-Elf, not even an adult yet), constantly trying to redeem her, but she wouldn't have any of it.
Anyway, she hit him and in his defense, attacked in retaliation for 22 damage (Spellstrike, Shocking Grasp), sending her into a rage against him.
She hit him and it was hard.
With a BAB of 5, she placed her free clawed hand onto her Bastard Sword and hit with her two attacks, each at +10, 1d10+17.
Both attacks were devastatingly powerful, but the kid managed to live through it, just in time for the Sorcerer's summoned wolf to spawn behind Nualia and finish her off. Or so they thought...
After the encounter and not seeing any movement, they decided to take all of her belongings.
Tristan (the Half-Elf kid) has her +1 Bastard Sword and +1 Breastplate (wearing it over his chainshirt, so it looks cooler than showing a bare chest) now, leaving Nualia defenseless and supposedly dead.
Now I want Nualia to be incredibly memorable, so this is where things get interesting...
The party went off to fight Malfeshnekor and proved victorious, but didn't actually finish Nualia off. The wolf dropped her, but only to -2hp, so currently she's in the corridor just outside of the Observation Deck completely topless!
In my build I made her Cleric 4/Anti-Paladin 2 of Lamashtu, so she has pretty decent saves and with a +10 on her Fortitude Saves to stabilise and only needing to make a Save of 12, it'd be easy for her to accomplish this.
Anyway, with her loss of all dignity and pride for failing Lamashtu and losing her clothes (top half only), when the group go to leave, they'll find a blood trail from the spot she was at, leading back out the way they originally entered from.
She'll be moving at 6 squares every 1d4 rounds
When the group eventually catch up to her, she'll be talking to herself, devastated by everything and hysterically angered that Lamashtu has now deemed her worthless and has left her to die.
Now, this is where I'd like some input from you guys!
Do I have her using the walls as supports, as she marches fourth, clutching her belly (the Half-Elf re-opened her birthing wound scars), trailing blood across the floor and up the sides of the walls, spreading onto everything she makes contact with, through her sheer adrenaline fuelled rage.
Or
Do I have her normal personality start to shine through, almost as if she's coming out of a trance, disorientated and confused by her surroundings, with Desna finally giving her the chance she deserved for so long, regretting not helping before and trying to make a mense, realising that had she helped the poor girl, the devastation and loss of so many lives could have been prevented.
Or
Do I have Lamashtu give her one last chance, so she can go out with one final, big bang?
None of the party wanted her dead and felt sorry for the woman, so do I reward my party or do I still try to end them? If I should end them, read below:
To go out in fashion, I could have Nualia reach the top floor (while the party fight the Giant Hermit Crab and Shadows) and torch the place with the party still inside. Then, if the party manage to escape, as they get themselves to safety and look up, they would see a topless, beautiful Half-Angel woman emerge from the fires with a huge grin on her face.
I'm all out of ideas from here
I can see either of the above options working, but would like to put it to a vote to keep in character and keep with her theme (giving a true response to the situation of being beaten), but would very much like to keep in mind how much time and effort the party put into trying to redeem her, refusing to fight and preferring to talk, knowing that she was still going to attack them.
It was a nice change seeing my party trying to resolve things without violence, so that's why I feel I'd like to reward them, and if they did manage to redeem her, I could have Nualia go through rehab, regaining the personality of her past self and as she was always opposed to becoming a nun, have her instead become an adventurer, maybe even going so far as to having her aid the party in future encounters, having her cleansed of all Evil, switching her Class and Deity from Cleric of Lamashtu to maybe Desna (or Irori/Iomedae) and her Anti-Paladin levels to Paladin levels, shifting her alignment to Lawful Good.
Anyway, sorry for the colossal post, but I'm giving you guys a chance to have influence over my campaign and would really love to hear your ideas/feedback and choice from the above list of options!
Note: All of the options have been bolded for you.
So I've got a person coming in as a Ranger soon, joining my group in my Rise of the Runelord's Campaign.
They're playing a Ranger and this is a question I've been wondering about myself, but how much is it for Bane Arrows, how few can you get and how easily obtainable are they?
This would also help me for future characters, as I've always liked the idea of a Ranger who has Elf Bane, Human Bane, Demon Bane, Vampire Bane, Wolf Bane Arrows etc, but never knew how much a batch of 20, 50 or even 3 would cost.
I've read the magic weapon chart and have come to the conclusion that I think 50 Bane arrows cost 2000gp as it's a +1 Bonus cost and so 25 should cost 1000gp, while 5 should cost 200gp, meaning 1 should cost 40gp.
Alternatively, she could make her Bow Goblin Bane and the arrows fired from it would count as both Goblin Bane and the Bane of the arrow used, right? I'm also wondering if an Elf Bane Bow with a Human Bane Arrow would deal 4d6 of damage to a Half-Elf, or just mean you could choose which one came into effect?
Is this correct?
I just wanted to make sure I was doing things correctly really.
The player in question has 3,100gp left over at character creation, so I figured I'd guide her on what she could do with that extra cash. :)
Ok, so in my pc's encounter with Lyrie and Tsuto, following an escape with an almost TPK in the Glasswork's earlier (Goblins and PC vs another PC, Witch and Barbarian died as a result, other Barbarian PC got arrested for assisting Goblins and all that was left was my GMPC Cleric and Tristan, the Rogue/Magus), Tsuto made it back to Thistletop.
Last session, the new Barbarian (Aeron) burst into D15 and found Lyrie and Tsuto.
A talk broke out with Tsuto being incredibly smug and Lyrie just being cold and patronising/down talking to the party before Tristan, the only party member who knew Tsuto, ran in to attack them both.
What Happened?:
The fight took a very long time, with Tristan in reach of both this woman and Tsuto. Ajax (the Knife Master Rogue who dual wields Kukri's) came to help and pinned down the female Wizard with attacks, but not before she dstroyed Tristan's sword with a Shatter spell.
As this happened, Tristan was shocked (losing the stored Shocking Grasp and Arcane Point as Koruvus' blood red sword shattered into tiny pieces), moved back (5 foot step) and pulled out his less effective masterwork longsword. As Tsuto followed, Aeron smashed Tsuto in the face HARD (for 16 damage) and Ajax became the target of the Wizard's Ray of Enfeeblement Spell, taking 4 points of Strength Damage.
Knowing she was worse for wear, the Wizard turned herself invisible just before Tristan hit Tsuto with his sword, causing a massive surge of electricity to blast from his body, through his sword and straight through Tsuto, frying him (for 22 damage).
Now, with the Wizard successfully hiding (62 on Stealth) from the group, leading the party into false belief, making them think she had teleported away, she popped back out for an attack against Moth (the weakest member of the group - A Gnome who focuses in putting people to sleep, changing their skin colour and pranking things).
She missed.
This was when Aeron decided to grapple her, as Tristan wanted to take her in alive.
Some talking occurred and an agreement was met, where the Wizard (now known as Lyrie) would aid and accompany the party, so long as she could have the currently unoccupied and derelict house on a very small island just off of Sandpoint (Chopper Isle), to continue her studies and research.
You see, Lyrie hated the party for killing her love, Tsuto. However, Tsuto loved a woman called Nualia and they often had sex and didn't care if anyone found out. This made Lyrie resentful of Nualia too. Anyway, the party ended up finding themselves in a temple/church like room that was clearly used for sacrificial purposes before being jumped by two flying, hellish dog like creatures known as Yeth Hounds.
One Clawed Tristan incredibly hard whilst he and Ajax were panicked, but Aeron ended up killing one with the aid of Lyrie's Wand (42 Magic Missile Charges that fired two off at once for 2d4+2), whilst Tristan ended up running past the two Yeth Hounds (before Aeron and Lyrie killed one) and out of the room, with Ajax running over to Aeron and cowering. Lyrie ended up damaging the second one, but fell unconscious due to its attack on her. Aeron finished the second hound off and once the party had stopped panicking, they all decided to revive the Wizard.
As they went back to the original area on this floor, they decided to go to where they felt a draft coming from.
This draft lead to a cave, forcing the party into an encounter with a Tentamort. Tristan got stung by its barbed tentacle (but saved twice) and he and Ajax ended up killing it together, clearing the floor and finding a small bit of treasure on what looked to be an ex Goblin tribe leaders corpse, before heading back to the main hall again.
As they moved south, they found a Goblin Nursery with crying baby Goblins that tried to claw and snatch Tristan's hair. The party then found the bed chambers.
Lyrie entered one of these and said "ah, my ever burning torch. I don't want to leave that here". This was lead to be believed it was her room and the party even found Nualia's room, where Moth and Ajax decided to keep her silk bed sheets.
As they moved around, the party opened one last room and thankfully for them, Lyrie opened the door, because behind it was somebody she knew.
Confused as to why she was helping the party, this guy wondered what was going on and what the situation between he and Lyrie was. They greeted each other by simply stating each others name; "Orik." "Lyrie." "Why are you helping these people? You're a traitor to our cause." Lyrie replied with "I had a choice. Help them or die/be locked up forever. I chose the former and in exchange they promised to give me a house to live in that I've been interested in moving to for a while now, in order to continue my studies in peace." "Ok......" Orik said, "So, what's going on between us? Are we good or are we now to fight one another?" "That's up to you" said Lyrie before raising one eyebrow and explaining that she's about to head downstairs to help this group kill Nualia.
Unsure of what to do or say and shocked by the whole situation, Orik decided to go with the party. Why exactly though, they don't know, but he gave Lyrie an alluring look.
Now, with a party of 6, there was one last door to check.
Orik knocked on it whilst the party hid. Lyrie standing behind her. Shuffling could be heard from the other side of the door before a half dressed Bugbear answered the door. Orik stated that he and Lyrie needed to speak with him, referring to him as Bruthazmus.
As he left the room and approached them, Tristan and Ajax both failed their sneak attacks. Brut was not at all happy, raging and cursing at them, where he ran back in to grab his weapons.
As he did this, the party noticed 4 half naked goblin women, with a distinctly strong smell of sweat in the air. This was the room where the Goblin young were conceived....
With quick thinking, Moth put all but one of the Goblins in the room to sleep. Aeron ran in and smashed the only awake Goblin over the head, killing it in one swift blow with his Earth Breaker, before Tristan and Ajax joined in, coup de grace-ing everything left in the room (including Bruthazmus who also failed his save).
So, what do I do with Orik and Lyrie?
Lyrie has been a great help to the party and Orik is in love with her, but do I have them get together? Would she be interested in Orik now that Tsuto's dead? How fickle is she?
Would Orik and Lyrie turn on the party when they approach Nualia?
Would Orik and Lyrie continue helping the party due to Lyrie's jealousy of Nualia and Tsuto's past relationship? I know she won't be happy!
The way I see Lyrie is that although she's evil, she knows she's weak and no good in combat, so would far prefer to be left to her studies. I mean evil and good people live in Sandpoint and they don't all try to cause problems, so I think it's fine, but I wanted some advice please. :)
I don't know how to finish their part of the story, but Orik is Chaotic Neutral, so he could easily do either. Though I see him helping whoever would benefit him the most.
Looking through everything, it appears as though there isn't a Spell or Weapon that allows you to deal damage to an opponent and then gain that much damage back as HP.
Is this something that's wanted from future Paizo releases or something that should only be made as homebrew material by a GM?
It'd be a hugely effective weapon and to not make it a broken ability, it could either be a +4 bonus on a weapon or a level 8 or 9 Spell.
I'm just surprised it seems there's nothing like it, that's all.
It's quite likely that Carrion Crown is the next AP my GM will be running and as such, I've already made my character.
However, I'm unsure on what I should pick for my Favoured Enemy number 2. So far I have the following:
FE1: Undead
FE2:
FE3: Human
In the Player's Guide it says Aberrations would be a good choice, but my character is a Lone Wolf Fighter/Ranger (ha, the lone ranger...) who supports two deities (Pharasma and Iomedae) and actively hunts down the Undead and all that's evil. Aberrations however, don't seem like something this guy would actively pursue.
So, I was thinking; Is there a big enough presence of Demons or Devils in this AP to make it worth selecting my 2nd FE as either a Demon or Devil?
My character's a pretty dark soul.
He's a Noble with black, curly and wavey hair, an extremely pale face and crimson, blood red eyes. He's human, but has Demonic/Vampiric Heritage (Abyssal Bloodline from Eldritch Heritage) and is Neutral Good.
Anyway, due to his nature, he doesn't care to talk to or fight alongside anyone, so the campaign traits would make little sense to him, as would a Ranger's Animal Companion, but at the same time the Boon Companion is equally as useless to him, because he only has a +1 Wisdom (doesn't need many spells).
He does however go out of his way to protect the weak and innocent.
So, I was thinking of seeing whether or not instead of an Animal Companion, he could have the equivalent of a Wizard's Familiar, because I feel a Bird Companion/Familiar would be acceptable as it wouldn't be with him at all times and he could use it as a messenger bird.
The Bird I want in particular is a Raven.
Anyway, I just wanted to see some opinions on this and see how well the concept fits into this AP.
My character is called Lord Valdecree Strogart and he fights primarily with a Bastard Sword and Heavy Steel Shield, but has been seen carrying a huge Sword on his back (though nobody has ever seen him wield it).
His Shield bares the symbol of Pharasma and his jet black Armour bares the symbol of Iomedae.
He believes in Valor, Honour and Justice, but sees the Undead as abominations that should have never existed and despises them as much as he dislikes everything impure (not in the way you're thinking - a tainted heart/heart filled with evil) and has made it his personal goal to purge the lands of all Evil.
I know this is a strange Concept, but I've had this idea of a Switch Hitter, but not in the usual sense of the word.
"A dark figure wielding a Sword and Shield has been seen wandering the lands of Ustalav, battling Demons and Vampires without expression on his face.
There have been reports stating his shield is engraved with the symbol of Pharasma, whilst his armour presents the symbol of Iomedae.
Little is known about this figure, other than the fact he fights alone, Sword and Shield in hand, with a large Sword on his back which nobody has ever seen him use."
Level 1 Fighter:
Dark Warrior - Ranger/Fighter:
Name:
Class: Fighter - Two-Handed
Race: Human
Deity: Pharasma and Iomedae
Following Pharasma's ideals, he sees the Undead as monstrous mistakes that don't belong in this world, but believes in the honour, Justice and valor of Iomedae.
Alignment: NG
Level: 1
HP: 10
AC: 21, Touch: 13, Flat-Footed: 18
Speed: 20ft
Initiative: 3
Str: 16
Dex: 16
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 12
Cha: 13
BAB: 1
CMB: 4
CMD: 17
Fort: 2
Ref: 3
Will: 1 (3 vs Charm and Compulsion)
Traits:
Racial - Heart of the Wilderness
Character - Birthmark
Campaign - ??? (Currently undecided)
Combining the talents of both a Ranger and a Fighter, this guy can alternate freely between the more defensive stance of Sword and Shield fighting, to full offence with a large, two-handed Bastard Sword.
Add Favoured Enemy to the mix and you have a serious melee combatant to deal with.
If you use a Bastard Sword in your primary hand and a Shield with Shield Master in your Off-Hand, as a One Handed weapon in your primary hand doesn't effect two-weapon Fighting, would the attack routine be as follows:
-2 Sword, +0 Shield
Or, would it be -4 Sword, +0 Shield?
Option 1 seems to make the most sense to me, but I just wanted some clarification on this.
I'm making a Ranger/Fighter Switch Hitter, but not your average kind of Switch Hitter (he has no Bow).
Thanks!
Overred DM has not participated in any online campaigns.
