MPCampbell's page

Avid role player, father and EMT looking for a Pathfinder game in the Marietta/Kennesaw area. Having played for about 35 years, I make fully fleshed-out characters with detailed histories. I am well-versed in the rules, very creative and extremely organized so that my turn lengths are reasonable. I'm happy to provide past characters I've made for games have an extensive history on the PBP area of these boards.

M Campbell
Marietta, GA

I found this trait on the d20PFSRD, which claims that it comes from Dragon Empires Primer.

1) Is this trait legal
2) I have the Dragon Empires Primer and it's not there

This feat gives a +1 trait bonus to hit when flanking and that seems really good for rogues, summoners, spiritualist, druids and rangers.

Anyone know if the feat is legal and where it's from?

I am excited about this. Thanks so much. I just finished my character pic so I am getting it all together.

Samantha Cossette.

Thank you for reading. I would like some advice for a PFS spiritualist.

This character is heavily concept driven but I still want to be effective. I plan to go with Rule of Cool where visuals are concerned as long as the crunch is RAW. I'm sure that's confusing so maybe this will help.

Gwendolyn Cossette is a 12 year old girl in gothic lolita attire with a tragic background of abuse. Her phantom is a giant dullahan in armor with a greatsword. The phantom will spend most of it's time in her subconscious, only coming out during stressful periods.

Choice 1: Standard or Broken Mind

The dullahan could represent the bitterness and betrayal she feels at having been so wronged and that she has walled away in her subconscious. [Broken Mind]

The dullahan could also represent a rogue psychopomp that has decided to get revenge on her behalf. [Standard]

Both ideas are cool so I have no preference for one over the other.

I would like for her to melee beside the dullahan in combat. However, I am not factoring her age into her crunch whatsoever. This makes her a medium humanoid with standard human stats. I plan to give her a high strength/con, etc to represent a kind of brutal, lunatic power.

Choice 2: Multiclass or Not

I could multiclass her with a martial class to have access to greatsword and giant hammers. This would look really cool on the miniature I am making and would improve her damage. I am certain, however, that I do not want to put her in medium/heavy armor as I don't want to ruin her gothic lolita look. Multi-classes would then need to be something that doesn't rely on armor. [Multiclass]

I could keep her straight spiritualist and use a giant scythe. I don't know if she'd be effective with it, but I could throw the vast majority of my feats at that weapon style. [No Multiclass]

Neither of these questions really affect the character I see in my mind and so are pure crunch. I've no doubt that the character sounds kind of crazy but I'm currently working on her character sketch in Photoshop as well as a custom mini for her. I am very happy where both are going and am certain she will be awesome.

Thank you for your help!

M Campbell
Atlanta, GA

I would just like to confirm - No murderhobos.

Can we be dark and evilly, assuming we are not murderhobos? Could I be the god of deceit? cheating on your spouse? tormenting kittens?

Would you be open to another Witch or Oracle? What is their current focus? I am interested in a necromancer but could go cleric if you want some variety in classes. Multiple witches do work well together however. 8)

I agree with you on this unfortunately. RAW doesn't seem very workable unless you've got a lot of money laying around that you really don't want.

I have been trying to roll an effective "golemancer" type and came across Ravingdork's Obrist Lang.

I think the rules for wearing constructs are clear, but I don't think I understand the benefit. There also seem to be some aspects uncovered.

1. Do you need to be proficient in armor to wear a construct as armor?
2. What armor type does it count as, medium? Can you make a light suit?
3. Do you get the benefit of its damage resistance? Its natural armor?
4. Can we assume that you cannot wear armor under it?
5. Is it affected separately by AoE spells?
6. Can it be targeted separately from it's wearer by spells or attacks?
7. Does its inability to take indirect action keep you from using its modes of movement?
8. Do you get the use of any of its ability scores?
9. Can I assume that it could be enchanted, upping both its AC and yours when wearing it?

This concept seems relatively popular, but I'm having a little trouble understanding its benefit vs its cost.

Benefit: Damage Resistance that can be scaled pretty high
Benefit: You can step out of it to have your own flanking buddy
Benefit: Utilizing its movement mode would be a benefit
Benefit: Getting DR on a wizard would be a benefit if you don't need proficiency

Disadvantage: You'll need to remove it early in combat because you're severely hampered if it's destroyed on you
Disadvantage: It takes three feats to have a suit at a reasonable level
Disadvantage: Creation is very expensive - you must make the construct and pay an additional 35,000 gp - I think. Obrist Lang by Ravingdork is the only premade character I've really seen with this concept, but I'm confused over its cost. The cost is listed as 5k gp. What happened to the 35k listed in the SRD? Does it not apply?
Disadvantage: Once it's removed, you are left unarmored

Unfortunately, RD is not available to answer questions. Please help show me what I'm missing. 8)

@Esmerelda/MPCampbell: Which perform does Esme have? I noticed you took a rank in it but didn't say what type of perform skill it was. Also I think you have a minor typo in that you say you are carrying 101 lbs of gear.

Esme has Perform: Strings for her violin. I didn't specify it because she's got it in her picture. 8)

Esme's violin in strictly roleplaying but I've still put some effort into her being able to play it well. I've always considered it kind of lame to say, "My character plays the violin but I only put one skill point into it."

I'll take care of the weight issue sometime soon. I think she's carrying 38 pounds, which leaves her lightly encumbered even without using her hair.

Esme has been updated to your system and can be found here.

I have cut the file size down to 1.5MB so downloading it should be easy. I'll update her profile once the party is finalized.

I'm looking forward to the results about who will fill out the group and I'm sure the game is going to be tons of fun. 8)

Str: 8
Dex: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Con: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Int: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Wis: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Wis: 18

I have been trying to roll an effective "golemancer" type and came across Obrist Lang. I have a few questions for you if you don't mind.

I think the rules for wearing constructs are clear, but I don't think I understand the benefit. There also seem to be some aspects uncovered.

1. Do you need to be proficient in armor to wear a construct as armor?
2. What armor type does it count as?
3. Do you get the benefit of its DR? Its NA?
4. Can we assume that you cannot wear armor under it?
5. Is it affected separately by AoE spells?
6. Can it be targeted separately from it's wearer by spells or attacks?
7. Does its inability to take indirect action keep you from using its modes of movement?
8. Do you get the use of any of its ability scores?

This character seems relatively popular, but I'm having a little trouble understanding its benefit vs its cost.

Benefit: Damage Resistance that can be scaled pretty high
Benefit: You can step out of it to have your own flanking buddy
Benefit: Utilizing its movement mode would be a benefit
Benefit: Getting DR on a wizard would be a benefit if you don't need proficiency

Disadvantage: You'll need to remove it early in combat because you're severely hampered if it's destroyed on you
Disadvantage: It takes three feats to have a suit at a reasonable level
Disadvantage: Creation is very expensive - you must make the construct and pay an additional 35,000 gp
Disadvantage: Once it's removed, you are left unarmored

I keep wanting to make a golem based character but keep running up against cost:benefit problems and this seems to be one of the worst cases. I'd love to make an arcane mechanik the way you used to be able to in Iron Kingdoms, but I'm not sure this is the way to do it.

Please help show me what I'm missing. 8)

PS: I like your characters a lot and am happy to share some of mine with you if you are interested. Since yours constitute an NPC codex of sorts, I think it would be very beneficial to have a small section on the bottom explaining how they are best used and what kind of encounters are good for them. If many of them already have this, my apologies.

Is there a relatively easy place to get the Player's Guide?

I'm down for dwarves or drow but probably prefer drow. I'll submit a character for either however.

Lynching

The attached character history ends a few years before the adventure. There is another half that explains how Esme knows Professor Lorrimor and what it means that she is at his funeral.

Esme is actively hunted by the Pharasmin Penitence for the murder of one of their Witchfinder Generals. She will be burned if caught.

According to her character history, she is unlikely to be lynched however because of the fear the common folk of Ulastav have for witches and hags. Esme's mother was a hag of such renown that crossing her was unthinkable, and while Esme is only a first level witch, rural Ulastav commoners are ignorant of that fact.

I put a lot of research into Esme's background with the CC Player's Guide, Inner Sea Guide and Rule of Fear - the Ulastav Gazetteer. I ran Ravenloft as a GM for 20+ years and gothic horror is where my primary interest in gaming lies.

I didn't make Esme a changeling the way I might make a character an elf or a dwarf. Her history is a very loaded subject which I usually assume will bring both weal and woe.

You're right about them hanging spooky things in Ulastav though, when they can. Most of the time they're too afraid to however - until the Penitence gets them worked up enough to pass around the torches and pitchforks. 8)

PS: thanks for the compliment on the sheet. It's actually one of my first ones and so is much simpler than the ones I make today. I make character packets now instead of character sheets. The run anywhere from 4-8 pages and include a lot more art and information. This one is four pages, but the character background is shorter than it should be.

I am very interested in this game and would like to run one character by you, and then find out whether the crunch on another will be a deal-breaker.

Character 1: Esmerelda Proust

Character 2: The Shadowknight

Once I have a good idea of what you're looking for, and what you will accept, I'll tailor my character to your game. I simply don't want to spend a few hours going in the wrong direction.

Thanks for reading!

This is an Ogre Warpriest that I am flavoring as an Oni/Ogre Mage. I know you didn't want this many RPs and I can remake the character as a tiefling, but then he's not very Oni-like.

Let me know what you think. Ogre is from Adv Race Guide, Warpriest is from Adv Class Guide Playtest.

This is an Ogre Warpriest I've made. The Ogre is straight out of Adv Race Guide and doesn't have racial hit die. The Warpriest is right out of the Advanced Class Guide Playtest, which is free to get on paizo.com.

Yakamo Hideori fought in the Battle of the Forest of Spirits during Chun Ye's brief attempt to annex the resource rich area. A famed samurai, Hide was cut down by archers after being surrounded by Oni spirit cavalry. Barely alive, his body lay upon the field for over six hours as the battle continued. The effluvia and viscera of the dead deeply infected his wounds and guaranteed his death regardless of healing or magic.

Hide was found later that night after the Oni had carried the day. On the brink of death, his soul hung beside the border of Pharasma's realm, known as the Shadowlands in Tian Jya. There, it was captured by an Oni Fleshweaver. Using a soultube (Ultimate Equipment), the famed samuri's soul was captured and put into the body of an oni chosen for sacrifice by the oni general.

Hide was released the next day to wander the world unfettered, until such time that he realizes there is no place for him outside of the Forest of Spirits. Immortal, the most powerful oni are in no hurry to retrieve their newest slave, preferring to have his strength, skills and spirit intact.

In the twenty years since then, Yakama no Oni has wandered throughout Golarion. Two years ago he crossed into Avistan by means of the northern route in Rostland. He currently wanders, a lost soul, searching for a reason to avoid the Forest of Spirits but afraid he won't be able to find one.

@Campbell: To be honest, I'm not sure how a body-hopper/shapechanger will fit with my theme, but a strong background or character can get me behind it. Go for it, or if you want to submit something more conservative, do that too.

I'm a medical student and have finals all next week and you will probably have made a decision by then. I can't build three character backstories during finals week. If you find you're interested enough to pursue the characters, let me know which you prefer and I'll see what I can do.

I make very strong characters that I put a great deal of effort into. While I do not have the time to work up three characters right now, you can see some of my other characters here: Ravana, Shen Hua, Alhandra.

If you do start a game, please start a new thread or something indicating such so that I can pick it out. If not, please send me a PM and I'll make a submission.

I have finals all next week, a week off, and then we are moving back to the States from the Caribbean. I'd like to play at higher levels and wouldn't want to miss it.

@Campbell: Nice work. I'll consider all submissions, though it seems your monster is one that possesses other bodies. Is that right?

Doppelganger copies other bodies

Three different mechanisms for one concept.

1. Doppelganger - Use Beast-, Dragon-, Giant Form spells for stats just like Wild Shape
2. Intellect Devourer - Upgrade bodies based on what we find/kill
3. Brain in a Jar - An animated Magic Jar spell

Is there a problem with the switching bodies concept? I thought it was a clever way to level a monster. If it's not what you're interested in, let me know why so I can either submit another monster or move on and look for another game.

Please find my submission here. I think it fits with your vision and is an idea I've had for a while.

I explain the crunch in the attachment and will work out background, etc if you are interested in it. I can come up with ways to make all of them human at one time or another, so that is not a concern for me.

Thank you for your consideration.

I would really like a KM bit any AP with enough down time to make golems is fine with me.

What's a golemancer???

Any spellcasting class who makes golems. 8)

I have a golemancer I'm dying to get into a Kingmaker at 5th level.

I made some sample constructs yesterday. They are pretty straight-forward and somewhat reasonably priced. I think the character is a go if selected. I'm thinking a Wild Wild West vibe to the character - kind of a light-hearted adventurer rather than an angsty one.

I've been playing a RoW since it was released and we are now level 2. It would be nice to play something a little higher, for a change. Some of my character ideas kick in at 7-8th level. That looks to be three years down the line at PBP rates.

I'm happy with the character. There are a couple of ways to heal constructs. That wasn't really what I was meaning to start a conversation on however, so I think I must have been typing too quickly.

What I was asking was if Wicked-Raygun was interested in working with me to use the Pathfinder rules to play a character built around making constructs.

I've looked at the matter quite a bit over the last few months. Most of the rules are fairly clear cut. Some of them are a little confusing and I don't know how any of them balance. I may come across rules that need to be interpreted and if so, I want to ask the GM if that is okay ahead of time.

I am not looking to use any 3rd party products or make up any new rules. There are plenty of rules out there.

I made test version of the character as a straight magus, as a metal oracle, as an artifice cleric as well as an alchemist, surprisingly the worst class at making constructs.

I made test versions with halflings, gnomes, tieflings and even the Android, an official Paizo race. I went with halfling as they seemed closest to what you were looking for in your world.

I'm not looking to make up new spells or rules right now and don't need anything interpreted right now. I was only really asking if you were willing to work with me somewhere down the line if it was necessary. Pathfinder does have a system for making new spells, magic items, effects, whatever and I just wanted to see if you were open to that kind of thing, if it becomes necessary somewhere down the line.

Some players are completely story driven and love to play it by ear. Some players like old school Fighters, Mages, Healers and Elfs and want to stick to vanilla right out of the Core Rulebook. I personally am somewhere in the middle and so just wanted to find out what kind of play you were interested in doing.

I don't want to be difficult. I hate being difficult. I just like to be creative and have fun. 8)

I kind of want to stick to Paizo specific material, MPCampbell. I've had really bad experiences integrating third-party 3.5 stuff. They tend to mix like two un-mixy things -- that explode. Granted that was as much the fault of the particular player who did it being a bit of Poopy Head. But still, it's an uncomfortable precedent.

But GM Fanguar's idea for a steampunk golem that works off the Summoner could work with no problem. I'm cool with goofing with flavor stuff, so long as mechanically it works.

So, MPCampbell, if you can submit a way it could more or less work within Paizo framework, I'll definitely consider it.

I don't understand. I didn't mention 3rd party material. I did mention researching new spells, which you can do in Pathfinder based off the spellcraft skill. The spells I would eventually be interested in would be "Cure Light Wounds" that repairs an object for 1d8 hit points and the related chain of spells.

I'm not looking at complicated 3rd party stuff. Everything I've listed is in the SRD at d20pfsrd.com.

I sent a personal message to DM Pendin Fust discussing this very issue as I am also very worried about Ravana.

I did a lot of research on Sarkoris, Mendev and the Crusades when making Ravana. She is a Sarkoris survivor, kidnapped as a child and then enslaved in the abyss where time runs differently. Once she escaped/was released, she fled to the city above us, but was then run out by the descendants of her people - the Kellid.

She fled to Mendev where she fell in with a group of evil druids that fight to save their country from the Crusaders. Despite sharing a common skillset and outlook on nature, she doesn't share their hatred of the Crusaders the way she hates the demons and the Kellid, but she doesn't really like them either. They are foreigners. They don't belong here.

So that is Ravana. Her character history is extremely detailed and online where it's easy to find.

I wanted to play her at a crossroads in her life - unhappy with everything/everyone and trying to find her path in the middle of the apocalypse.

I did not assume that we needed to want to join the crusades when I made my character and that is not something she is interested in at all. She could possibly be brought around to wanting to work with them, but would need to be convinced instead of pushed, which she is being now.

So, you're right, Ravana has no motivation to stay with the group once we reach the surface. Our exchange in the Mongrelmen city actually drove her further away from wanting to work with the Crusaders rather than closer.

There is no way to know what you're in for when making a character for an AP. I make the character I am interested in playing and then submit it, assuming she will not be selected if she's a bad fit. So far, Ravana is a really bad fit but I don't know if that will change or stay the same.

I must stress that Ravana is simply a character, she's not me and doesn't represent my personality at all. I assume the same is true for all of your characters, although that may not actually be the case. This would be a great campaign for my Fey Paladin from RoW, and it's kind of ironic, because her campaign is way too dark for her, with her being a paladin in what seems to be a neutral/evil group. Still, it has been fun playing her resistance to the cutthroat tactics of the group she is with and we've all had fun.

Will we have fun in WotR with Ravana? I hope so. I'd rather make a different character than continue to play her if were just headed for a bunch of conflict however. There is a lot more to Mendev than the Crusades and the native Kellid do not like the Crusaders much at all. If you haven't read the background from some of the other books, you might want to check it all out.

Female Gunslinger 1
Caitlynn Holland
NG Small Female Halfling / Humanoid (Halfling)
Init +3; Senses Perception +6, Keen Senses

==DEFENSE==
AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+3 armor, +3 dex, +1 size)
hp 10 (1d10)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +0
Armor Studded Leather, Light
Defensive Abilities Adaptable Luck (PFARG 62)

==OFFENSE==
Spd 20 ft/x4
Ranged Musket +5 (1d10) 20/x4 Misfire 1-2 (5 ft)

==STATISTICS==
Str 8, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 12
BAB +1, CMB -1, CMD +12
Feats Armor Proficiency (LIGHT) (PFCR 118), Gunsmithing (PFUC 103), Point-Blank Shot (PFCR 131), Rapid Reload () (PFCR 132)
Skills Craft (alchemy) +7, Craft (armor) +9, Craft (firearms) +7, Knowledge (arcana) +4, Knowledge (engineering) +7, Knowledge (local) +7, Linguistics +4, Perception +6, Spellcraft +4
SQ Practicality (PFAPG 21)
MC Deeds (PFUC 10 - 12), Gunsmith (PFUC 9), Gunsmith (PFUC 50), Musket Rapid Reloader (PFUC 51)
Traits Magical Knack (Magic) (PFAPG 329), Rostlander (Campaign: Kingmaker) (PFAP: KgMr PG 12)
Languages Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Goblin, Halfling, Thassilonian

Unfortunately, her first level is a one level dip into Gunslinger. Her 10 level plan would be:

1. Gunslinger (Musket Master)
2. Wizard (Spellslinger)
3. Wizard (Spellslinger)
4. Wizard (Spellslinger)
5. Wizard (Spellslinger)
6. Wizard (Spellslinger)
7. Eldritch Knight
8. Eldritch Knight
9. Eldritch Knight
10.Eldritch Knight

Class concept is a wizard who makes constructs (mostly terra cotta soldiers), magic weapons, armor and other items. My goal with her around 8th level or so is to make a large construct that she uses as a mount/firing platform. This is a simply horrible picture, but I don't have time to draw one right now and it gives across the basic idea. I'm an artist and so the final pictures will be cool, I simply have finals in 2 weeks and can't draw one right now.

Personality: She's going to be a kind of hyper-adventurous halfling out to see the world, carve her name in history and have as much fun as she can along the way. She sees everything as a chance to build something bigger, better and cooler.

Background: There is no clear role for non-humans in the Kingmaker campaign, and the campaign traits don't really leave much room for them. She is a young halfling genius from a relatively rich merchant family in Restov. By using family connections, she will wrangle a late invitation to the stolen lands where she hopes to make her mark on history.

Her family are upper middle class merchants, not particularly political, but influential enough that the nobility do them small, easy favors to keep them happy while paying taxes. She has no dark skeletons in her past or burning secrets she doesn't want to let out.

I am looking for a game where the DM will work with me in places where the rules are somewhat vague. I'd like to base the character around making items and golems but have never tried that type of character before. I'd like to use the discovering spells concept to rediscover the 3.5 spells that let wizards repair constructs. I plan to fund many of her golem making activities by making/selling magic items back in Restov, but I think that fits with the Ultimate Campaign system Kingmaker shares. I have a premonition that I may have to fill in rules where they don't exist right now, and so will need a GM that is open to RAI and helping me find the right balance.

Anyway, that's the character. I look forward to hearing back from you.

I have a character I am working on that needs a home with a GM interested in working with me on making constructs/golems/clockworks. Please let me know if this character/topic interests you.

Anyway, that's the character. I look forward to hearing back from you.

I am not worried about off-line dice rolling as I see us in a partnership rather than a competitive role. It's just not something I worry about.

I'm obviously still here and checking this thread regularly.

I am interested in playing a golemancer character and I think Kingmaker is where I need to do it.

I am in the process of making the character and would like to know if you are interested before I put a packet together.

My character concept is a spellslinger who uses a rifle at low levels and hopes to begin making constructs around 6th level or so. Her golems will eventually look like large "clanks", kind of like the goblin buzzsaw robots from WoW.

This character is mostly a support caster and will be focused on making magic items and the constructs. The class will be Wizard, Archtype Spellslinger and race will probably be gnome or halfling.

Beastmorph and Vivisectionist, out of curiosity why did you choose those?

This is my character Meriwen, an alchemist. She is a wood elf from the Mielani Forest in norther Varissia. The daughter of a drow hunter and a military engineer, she serves as a scout for the city of Crying Leaf.

A brief history, two character pictures and her complete character sheet can be found here.

If I remember correctly, we were given 1000 gold, 1 mw weapon and 1 +1 weapon. I cashed in the mw weapon for 300 gold to take a non-magical mithril chain shirt and a mw alchemy kit (200 gold). If this is a problem, I can make her crossbow masterwork and get rid of the armor.

I've posted an idea I'd like to do with her race in the character packet, so please check that out if you can.

Thank you for your consideration.

I'd like to know what the cultures of each area are like. Are the European? Middle Eastern? Tropical? Once I have that information I could look at making a character.

/stamp

/bump

If you are reading this and don't already follow the thread and use this sheet.

Perception check. Roll it nao!!!

I used to love this program, now I'm mostly frustrated. It's not really Excel 2013/365 compatible and crashes on me constantly. Every character I make will crash sooner or later, so I save constantly (a 5-10 minute process) and pray it doesn't crash while saving, which it does 50% of the time.

It is absolutely everything I could want in Pathfinder and I absolutely love it, but the crashing is just about killing it. If someone could update it to the current version of Excel, I would kowtow to them ten times.

I dated a girl named Charity from South Carolina. Now I'm from Atlanta, and had no trouble understanding her, but my parents couldn't understand half of what she said.

Seems that they don't really have southern accents in Florida anymore.

Thank you for the pic. My condolences to anyone who didn't make it in.

I just finished my 8 hour test and I'm beat. I'll be checking in again tomorrow.

I decided to drop my submission due to it being incomplete and not wanting to try to edge out these fine folks. Best of luck to everyone!

Aren't you the one that started the whole idea? 8)

I didn't dump con because nobody will be turned into a vampire for a while. Actually, I don't know that my character has any interest in being a vampire at all. If we need to take feats to become undead, either my DCs will be too low for my spells to stick consistently (I skip Spell Focus) or 9+ HD monsters will resist them (I skill Spell Penetration).

Becoming a vampire could be cool and all, but I'm not planning on it. I think dumping Con when making a character is pretty crazy.

Where are these awesome character sheets coming from MPCambell, did you make them?

I was in advertising and design for twenty years before medical school. I used to teach Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash. While I no longer do that professionally, I still find it easy for other hobbies.

It is curious how we have so many arcanist as so few bards, rogues and divine casters

I initially made my character as a cleric but pulled back because:

1) I did not want Asmodeus for this concept and was afraid to pick a god that didn't exist in the other world

2) I wanted to make a fetchling and they take a -2 penalty to wisdom.

3) I made the merfolk version as an Oracle to get access to Black Blood for character reasons. When I ditched worms, I no longer needed Black Blood.

While I can come up with quite a few Bard concepts, I must admit that they never really interest me. I used to love the 3.5 Beguiler, but haven't tried a bard like concept since we went to 3.75.

Here is a different kind of idea. It has the same flavor as above, but completely different crunch than the brain in a jar. It does use the multiple hosts, but in a limited way:

This would be my character and these would be my minions.

Beheaded are all CR 1-3 and so anytime I had enough stockpiled, I could add a head of any kind of monster we find. We could require that I use a head with similar fluff if I want to use one of the special (farting, flaming, etc) heads. An example would be that we kill/find a medusa and I turn it into a grabbing head.

Or maybe not. I'm just tossing ideas out there. I'm still perfectly fine playing something very similar to one of the stock ideas.

Brain in a Jar Concerns

I understand what you are saying about the safety of the jar at home.

I actually had the opposite thoughts, so I must have misunderstood. I'd thought there was a kind of PVP element to the game, and so the brain in a jar is actually more dangerous as anyone can walk in with a spanner and break it. This isn't much of a danger if I don't have to worry about the other players.

Regarding synergy, that is certainly going to be a problem if we team up because we will synergize with each other. Some of us will take support type monsters, relying on others to keep us alive, so I'd kind of anticipate that. Others of us will also probably try to take potentially immortal monsters such as trolls.

Looking through the monster manual last night, I came across the template for Ectoplasmic Creature and thought that had some potential as a way to get bodies. I also came across Beheaded again and thought that could be fun.

It's all good though. I can come up with cool ideas no matter what restrictions are placed and so am not really worried about crunch.

I'm interested in this and want to bounce an idea off you.

Could I be a "brain in beaker" who doesn't actually merge with his host at all, but stays at home and possesses them long range. The brain would need to be defended, but maybe could possess multiple creatures totaling a certain CR? I could toss together a more specific prospectus if you find this interesting.

If that doesn't interest you, I'll probably be interested in one of the more conventional aspects already mentioned - a possessing ghost, a collection of clockworks or something similar.

I could also be interested in a constantly body hopping creature like in the movie Fallen with Denzel Washington. That creature had to physically touch you and you got a will save against possession. If you make it, he can't possess you, but if his host dies, he can possess anyone within X yards without them getting a save.

Actually, the two concepts could go together pretty well. A body hopping brain in a jar.

Current List of Submissions by class:

Nikita Vicci - a fetishist, madame and deviant

While I always try to build unique characters, I have been doing it for a long time and so also build them to be as effective as possible. I am therefore accustomed to my IRL DM worrying about one aspect or another of them being overpowered. Over the years, I've kind of learned to step back from them at that point, setting them aside to bring out at another time and with another group.

If Ghilanna turns out to be very effective, worries of merfolk being overpowered will rise again. If she is underpowered, I will always wonder if she'd have been more fun if left RAW. Neither outcome is really desirable and so once I realized that GM Blinding Light's (GMBL) concerns were extensive, I prepared another character. I hope that doesn't cause any difficulty.

I am still willing to play Ghilanna with the stats GMBL has recommended. I think they are fair and I'm not really that worried about stats anyway. I'm also willing to play Nikita, who I've grown somewhat attached to in the last two days. They are essentially the same character despite being different races and classes. Both are evil shadow-based necromancers seeking personal power. One is associated with neothelids and the other with kytons (devils), but I think those details will quickly fall aside as the plot begins.

Nikita is now completed and constitutes my submission, assuming GMBL does not wish me to revive Ghilanna. Ultimately, it is his call.

Nikita is pretty dark, extremely nasty and edging right up to that PG-13/R rating line. While her story leaves little to the imagination, this is the writing style I plan to continue. Everyone here should be able to easily read between the lines and in the end, I honestly do not care to write explicit vulgarity. I can't say that I'd be comfortable with my mother reading her back-story, but then, I'm probably not alone on that.

I wish the best for everyone applying to the game. I finished a brutal 2 hour final exam in Clinical Medicine today and so will be able to check the forums a little bit more often than I could in the last week. I still have an EIGHT hour exam coming up Sunday, but the game will not have started by then...fortunately. 8)

This is a fetchling alternative to half-worm Ghilanna. She's changed completely, only the name has remained the same to protect the guilty.

This is Nikita Vicci, a twenty year old woman captured by the worshipers of Zon Kuthon at the age of six and sold to the Kyton on the Plane of Shadow. I've written her early history and as I have a midterm tomorrow morning, I will write her recent history sometime tomorrow night. Her recent history will include her crime and incarceration.

She has no loyalties to anyone other than herself so that is not a worry. She is also 100% RAW with no reskinning. I think she would make a great addition to a group and would work well with others.

As I've said before, I see her as the spy type, collecting secrets and blackmailing figures of power. I intend for her to be a minionmancer focusing on shadows and illusions.

I hope that you like her.

This is a fetchling alternative to half-worm Ghilanna. She's changed completely, only the name has remained the same to protect the guilty.

She's now a witch but still the same type of character - shadows and minionmancy. A dedicated caster, I don't know that she will go the undead route as she needs quite a few feats for spells.

I have not written her background yet and just want to get your approval of the race and crunch.

I see her as a spider sitting in the center of a web of lies and deceit. She prefers to operate from the shadows, manipulating others to get what she wants. Her crime will almost certainly be some form of blackmail or conspiracy, probably against the clergy. I'm thinking I may make her a drow from the plane of shadow, but I may change that once I start writing as I usually give the character free reign to become anything they like.

This character is 100% RAW and I haven't needed to reskin anything the way I did with the merfolk.

I hope that you like Ghilanna as a witch and are okay with a fetchling and don't mind them as a race. They are very flavorful and match my desire for this character to be sneaky.

Lastly, I swapped my Int and Cha scores when I changed classes. It was a straight swap, no other ability scores were touched.

Drow ae the quintessential Evil Race. It's not done to death so much as, the most fitting ever always. Kinda like humans, it's just the most common of races for that type of campaign.

You are no doubt correct on this. That's kind of what I meant however - they are the quintessential evil race. I prefer something different that no one else has really done before so I can make it mine.

In this respect, I don't see Drow as the equivalent of humans in the evil races. Rather, they are the equivalent of elves - way out of proportion as PCs compared to their numbers in the campaign world. 8)

PS: Naturally, anyone can take any class/race and "make it their own." I'm not meaning to be snooty or judgmental here. I'm simply saying that it is almost always worthwhile to make something new rather than falling back on the tried and true. There's just something extra fun about it, at least for me.