About LoramLoram
Strength 22 [+6] Constitution 18 [+4] Wisdom 16 [+3]
----------------------------------------------------------------- Defense: Energy AC 30, Kinetic AC 33 [DR 10]
Combat Maneuver AC 41
Stamina Points 120
Fort +11 (+7 Base + 4 CON)
----------------------------------------------------------------- Offense: Initiative +12 (DEX + Feat + Class); Senses Darkvision 60’ (Armor Upgrade); Perception +5 Normal Speed 40 ft.
Base Attack Bonus +10, Melee Attack +16, Ranged Attack +14, Thrown Attack +16 Melee Attacks:
Ranged Attacks:
Notes May take a charge attack with no penalties as a standard action, can substitute a bull rush for the melee attack at the end of the charge [Blitz Style]; as a move action, spend 1 RP to regain 3d6+10 SP [Keep Fighting]; may fire a ranged weapon at the beginning of combat to gain a +2 bonus to next melee against the foe struck [Opening Volley]; may strike two adjacent foes at full BaB with a standard action if the first target is struck, gaining a -2 penalty to AC until the beginning of next action [Cleave]; may take a guarded step as a reaction to maintain close distance to a target that takes the same action [Step Up]; if struck by a ranged attack or spell, may spend 1 RP as a reaction with a similar type weapon (kinetic or energy) to make an attack roll at a +5 bonus - if result is higher than attack roll that struck you, the attack is deflected [Deflect Projectiles]; as a move action (1x/day), may use one of the following feat abilities for 1 minute (gain 5’ reach, with a penalty of -2 to AC; reroll miss due to concealment, no penalties for blind condition; no penalties for moving up to 20’ in difficult terrain, including guarded step) [Adaptive Fighting] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Abilities: Racial Kasathas can move through nonmagical difficult terrain in deserts, hills, and mountains at their normal speed. Their four arms allow them to wield and hold up to four hands’ worth of weapons and equipment, though this does not increase the number of attacks they can make during combat. Kasathas receive a +2 racial bonus to Culture checks and a +2 racial bonus to Acrobatics and Athletics checks.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Feats: Improved Initiative You gain a +4 bonus to initiative checks. [1st Level]
----------------------------------------------------------------- Skills:
Acrobatics +5 (+7 to stop/climb in zero-g) [+4 DEX, -3 ACP, +2 Theme +2 Racial +2 Clothing (to stop/climb in zero-g)]
Languages: Common, Kasatha, Brethedan, Shirren, Castrovelian (Lashunta) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gear: Lashunta Ringwear IV Armor (+16 EAC, +18 KAC, +4 Max DEX, -3 ACP, -5 ft Speed, 4 Upgrade Slots [3 used - Backup Generator, Jump Jets (Battery Capacity: 20, Usage: 2 charges/move action), Infrared Sensors]) [Bulk 3, L x2]
Total Bulk: 9 (or 12 with backpack) [Unencumbered]
Credits Remaining: 55 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Background: Born on the worldship Idari into a typical Kasathas home, Loram’s parents were dedicated to the usual manufacturing and historical pursuits that often occupied the minds of many of that noble race - though Loram proved himself different from his kind at very early age. Although he was interested in history as befitted a typical Kasathas, the young Loram became obsessed with learning everything he could about the mysterious Witchwyrds, the enigmatic race of planar wanderers that warned the denizens of the Kasathas homeworld about their planet’s imminent demise due to the dying red star that their world orbited. Though the Kasathas migration to Akiton didn’t work out as originally planned, it fascinated Loram to think of an entire world being saved by a small group of space travelers. What was their motivation? Who were they, exactly? Because of their physical similarity, it appeared to many that the Kasathas were descended from that race of planar travelers, but how deep was that connection? And how did the Kasathas come to settle on their doomed planet while the Witchwyrds travelled on, if their races truly were connected? It was during his Tempering that Loram decided to learn what he could of the progenitors of his race. Though learning about the physical sciences was not easy for the young Kasathas, he threw himself into his studies as he traveled to Verces, Diaspora, Absalom Station and other planets of the Pact Worlds. Loram also trained hard to become strong and quick, as well as proficient in a great variety of weaponry and armor. He soon found that he had an aptitude for it as well, and over the many years of traveling from planet to planet in search of any sign or word of the elusive Witchwyrds, he drew upon his martial training many times, for space travel was difficult and dangerous between worlds. From the coordinated raiding parties of space pirates to the insane race of goblins that tried to waylay whatever ships they might run across. There were also many perils to be faced upon the surface of the planets that he visited, and though many of the inhabitants he encountered were peaceful or at least non-violent, there were just as many if not more that were hostile and dangerous - from the undead ghouls and wraiths of Eox to the evil drow of Apostae. Though Loram didn’t consider himself a mercenary, he often used his fighting prowess to assist others, especially if they were willing to trade bits of planetary or spacefaring knowledge in exchange for his service. Strange coin for a hired soldier, but to Loram that reward is more valuable than either credits or gold. And though Loram has not uncovered much in the way of lore or other clues that might help him find the Witchwyrds, the Kasathas soldier has unwittingly found a new obsession: the wonder and the thrill of discovering new worlds and races that he had never heard of, nor even dreamed existed. In his contemplative moments, Loram has often though that perhaps it is this which is the secret to the existence of the Witchwyrds. Perhaps they too find that it is the journey itself that is the true reason of one’s place among the stars, and not the destination. Gameplay Notes:
[dice=Attack (Forward) particle beam]1d20 + 14[/dice][dice=Damage DRR]8d6[/dice] [dice=Attack (Forward) heavy antimatter missile launcher]1d20 + 14[/dice][dice=Damage DRR]10d10[/dice] [dice=Attack (Turret) gravity gun]1d20 + 14[/dice][dice=Damage DRR]6d6[/dice] [dice=Attack (Turret) heavy laser net]1d20 + 14[/dice][dice=Damage DRR]5d6[/dice] Fire At Will! (PUSH): You can fire any two starship weapons, regardless of arc. Each is made at a -2 penalty. Shoot: You can fire a single starship weapon. If you use a turret weapon, it can target a ship in any arc. Broadside (PUSH | costs 1 resolve]: You can fire all weapons mounted in a single arc, including turret-mounted weapons. Each attack suffers a -2 penalty.
GM Notes:
I hope that Loram’s background is enough to satisfy your curiosity so far as his motivations and character. I see his alignment as Lawful Neutral in that he’s not out to fight for the greater good, but rather for his own interests in pursuing his obsession. However, he is not lacking in empathy for those who come to him, and will occasionally assist even when he is not compensated, especially if that help involves exploring a new planet or area of space that he has not yet explored. With regards to the mechanics of his build, he began as a STR 18, DEX 10, CON 15, INT 8, WIS 12, CHA 10 character. The two ability point boosts went to STR, DEX, CON and WIS, boosting each of those scores to 20, 14, 18 and 16 respectively. Further enhancements came by way of the two Mk 1 Personal Upgrades (+2 to STR and CON) and the Mk 2 Personal Upgrade (+4 to DEX). The spacefarer theme is self-evident from his background, and though his low INT gives him a very limited skill point pool to give him ranks, I put the majority of them to Survival and Athletics (tough soldier, obviously) and a few to Culture (as befitting his race), Medicine (all soldiers should at least know how to slap a bandage on a wound!), Physical Science (again, his theme) and Piloting (soldiers and spacefarers both should know the basics on how to drive vehicles, after all). Being a spacefarer, and facing innumerable dangers, the soldier class seemed like a good bet. Perhaps not a military trained soldier, but he’s naturally gifted with great strength and enhanced dexterity, so learning how to use weapons came naturally to him - with a bit of training of course. I envision Loram as a strike hard and quick sort of warrior, so took the Blitz fighting style, and I like the fact that he can hold a ranged heavy weapon in his second set of arms, so I took the Hit-and-Run fighting style as the secondary to at least gain the Opening Volley feat. My plan is to have Loram have the rifle ready in two hands, as well as the taclash and sword in his other two hands when going into danger, using a blast from the rifle as the opening volley then charging in to battle, ready to use the rifle at need, or either of his melee weapons as opportunity and need presents. The taclash will be used to cause havoc with its magical entangling effect (only once per day, though), or to trip or disarm a foe as well as to deflect kinetic projectiles as needed, while he can use his doshko to deflect energy projectiles. The plasma sword will of course be his usual go-to weapon to cause damage. I can see opportunities when making full attacks to use the taclash to trip an opponent and then striking with the sword, gaining bonuses for attacking a prone foe. For feats, again I envision Loram as being naturally very strong and hearty, training those qualities even further as he advanced his career and gaining quickness (boosted by the enhancement) as well as an eye for taking advantage of tactical situation as he matured as a soldier, so I went with several feats that capitalized on this. Note that the feats section above gives a clear outline of what level it was chosen, just to make sure that he had the needed prerequisites at that time, but here is a synopsis of my reasoning for the choices. Improved Initiative from the start, and Lightning Reflexes to boost his low Reflex saves were two obvious choices for this particular build. Cleave was also a no-brainer for a melee type, but I chose to not take Great Cleave, as I didn’t want to be tempted to drain his RP too fast, when I took another feat that would utilize those (and it seems wise for a front line warrior to save a few RP in reserve). Toughness was also an obvious choice for a front line warrior, and the other abilities it grants (basically Endurance feat rolled into Toughness from Pathfinder!) seemed a good choice for a spacefarer theme character that explores new planets that might not be hospitable. I liked the Step Up feat to keep my opponents in melee range, even if they’d rather not be, and the Step Up and Strike feat just didn’t seem worth it, when there were other better feats to choose from. Weapon Focus and Versatile Focus are obvious choices for a soldier, and I liked the Enhanced Resistance (Kinetic) feat to give him some added toughness against monsters that would deal kinetic damage, as well as pirates and others who might use kinetic damage weapons - dangers I envisioned Loram as facing many times over his career. Deflect Projectiles seemed a good one as well, and this is the only feat that uses RP, so I plan to use it as much as I need to when I’m getting shot at by those that don’t dare close in to fight with me. Lastly, I really liked the Adaptive Fighting feat. This one is a reflection of abilities that Loram has used during his career occasionally, but aren’t ingrained into his reflexes and training like the others. From a metagaming standpoint, these feats seem valuable in certain circumstances, but aren’t likely to come up with great frequency (though of course, I could be wrong!) Lunge will grant him extra reach as needed, Blind-Fight if concealment is a factor (I’m hoping his darkvision upgrade to his armor will do the trick most of the time), and lastly Nimble Moves, for when difficult terrain makes things problematic, and would allow him to use Step Up in situations where he otherwise wouldn’t be able to do so. Purchasing gear offered the most difficult choices during character creation. I wasn’t sure how many credits we had to spend, so I went with the 66,000 credits on the WBL table and figured I could scale back if you’d like. And did I spend nearly every credit! The ability enhancements were key to boosting those stats as much as possible, and accounted for 9,300 of his funds. I obviously wanted him well-armored and took an armor that gave him use of his +4 DEX in the Lashunta Ringwear IV. I thought of scaling back my DEX boost and taking the Vesk armor of similar level, but given that Kasathas aren’t terribly fond of Vesk, I didn’t really want him wearing Vesk-crafted armor, so I paid a bit extra for the Lashunta-made armor and the extra +1 boost to DEX to take advantage of the Max DEX that armor has to offer. I had to scale back on the armor upgrades I’d originally chosen to accommodate this decision and stuck with only the jump jets (for brief flight ability) a backup generator (to power his weapon, the jump jets as well as his personal comm unit), and the infrared sensors to give Loram darkvision (which could come in handy, I figured) to bring the cost of armor up to 30,400 credits total. That left me a bit more than 26k to spend on weapons and equipment, which I figured could work. I debated between a two-handed weapon or two one-handed weapons, and decided I liked the variety of options he would have while wielding a plasma sword and a kinetic, fusion-powered tacklash, in addition to the tactical reaction cannon that would give him opportunities for ranged attack (and the opening salvo!) – those weapons combining to a total of 21,010 credits. The last 5k+ was used to purchase a few grenades, a couple of healing serums, a Ring of Resistance Mk 1, batteries for all the powered items, rifle ammo, a hygiene kit (just because…), environmental clothes, binders (in case we need to take someone prisoner), some titanium cable (can’t do without the 50’ rope!), and a backpack with camping supplies (8-man tent, 16 R2Es, a set of regular clothes, a flashlight and a lantern, all of which cost 5,285 credits, leaving Loram with a grand total of 5 credits remaining from the 66k allowance I started with! Again though, let me know if I should scale things back. The equipment doesn’t seem particularly overpowered though, as the highest level items are no greater than his own level (much less +1 or even +2), so I’m hoping it’ll all look good to you. I’m really looking forward to this game, having many years of play-by-post experience on a D&D board I created with several others about fifteen years ago. I’m very patient when it comes to this style of gaming, though I’m hoping we get a group that posts fairly frequently so we can move the adventure along at a decent rate. On my own board, some folks wait days between posts, whereas I’m usually checking obsessively every hour or so to see if anyone’s posted something! Also excited about the character build itself. I don’t usually go with soldiers, but it seemed like an open opportunity from what I’ve seen posted in the recruitment thread and went for it. But in developing Loram, I’m now quite intrigued to see how this particular build works out. |
