Cheliax is specifically racist to halflings, elves and tieflings.
Pretty much everyone is racist to orcs, goblinoids, gnolls, etc. ('monster' races, even non-evil ones like lizardfolk) but that might be more survival sense than racism, since a fair percentage of them will eat you as soon as talk to you.
Even if a specific country isn't racist to one or more core PC races, doesn't mean that you couldn't have racist individuals or regions.
If it serves the story, a Lumber Consortium influenced community in Andoran could be not just anti-fey, but anti-gnome and anti-elf, because of their connections to the fey / claims to the ancestral elven woodlands (which they want to be 'free' to pillage and exploit).
Why does Cheliax not like tieflings? They mainly worship Asmodeus so I would think at least devil-born tieflings would be accepted.
Tieflings in Cheliax are especially not accepted, and probably have it worse than halflings, as tieflings tend to be used in the worst possible forced labor, experimented on, thrown into ghettos... Cheliax likes to pretend that the contract Thrune has with Asmodeus puts humans firmly in charge, and they don't like to have evidence to the contrary, which tieflings are, just by existing. Throw in some extra crazy rhetoric, and a philosophy that worships strict hierarchies, tieflings end up at the bottom.
Hell's Vengeance (if I have the name right, the second Chelish AP - the evil AP)
You got the name right, but it's the third Chelish AP.
In any case, I would recommend doing a timeskip, skipping to Book 6 (which is awesome, and pretty much everything they said they want), leveling up the characters and gearing them up to WBL standard for that level by fiat. While doing a quick cut scene style telling of what roughly would happen for the characters to get to that point.
I know it's not usually done this way, but I'd really like to see them tackle Book 6.
Oh, I don't think anything of it. If anything, she's an Azlanti embryo or something silly, which would explain why there was a level 11 Bard in a Tribe being ruled by a Bard of lower level(although I guess NH's machinations made the Radiant Muse way more powerful).
Radiant Muse would still outlevel an 11th level bard, even without NH's intervention.
Hmmm. Azlanti as a race have +2 to all ability scores, but that would mean that Narlock was built on 4 points... When calculating her ability scores as a normal human (+2 to Cha) then it fits 15 points buy.
That's only for ancient Azlanti, last of which was Aroden (barring GM fiat for whatever plot reason). Human(Azlanti) is an ethnicity, much like Human(Ulfen). It only gives an extra language (Azlanti, obviously) and an excuse to have purple eyes with a roleplay requirement for mononymy (aka, having just one name).
At first, because we were too lazy to mess around in Hero Labs, NobodysHome and I agreed that Narlock would be Azlanti since she was a native of the Sacred Serpent and they were in Saventh-Yhi. Would she actually be considered Azlanti?
Only as far as anybody else who is still around is considered Azlanti. Nobody born in the modern era of Golarion would have the wild bonuses that the ancients had. They are the cool precursors, creatures of legend. After all, we're talking about a civilization destroyed 10k years ago. By comparison, the Great Pyramid is less than half as old.
So no, she wouldn't be even be much more Azlanti than the morlocks you met.
Spoiler:
Morlocks there are direct descendants of an Azlanti garrison that got trapped underground during Earthfall, 10k years ago.
Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam, aka Turkish Star Wars is a hilariously generic adventure film. It would have been a better choice.
By hilariously generic, I mean a guy who watched this at a party where I was watching this left for a 10 minute phone call, and, coming back, he tried to guess what happened by the weird stuff that was going on on the screen. He was wrong about the number of monsters in a particular scene.
Okay, this should really be either a cursed item or a GM plot device. 82,000 gp for a Portable Hole(20,000gp, for comparison numbers) that... opens a temporary gate to a random world, planet, or plane, and if it's moved, it's another random location. Added 'bonus'... it goes both ways... Never seen this one.
Only shows up in an AP as a plot device.
Spoiler:
In Council of Thieves, devils from the 4th (IIRC) layer of Hell use it as a portal to the 4th layer of Hell. The text states that it's the only viable destination for that particular portal.
So, yes, GM plot device. Easy way of justifying a minor invasion of evil outsiders.
We already have an instance in the Serpent's Skull AP of an actual god having stats. And the PCs actually annihilating that god is on the table.
This actually isn't true. The enemy in question is an avatar of a God, not the god itself. The god even specifically lives after that encounter, they PCs just stop the threat of him returning anytime soon.
Not quiet. He is fully killable (though the knowledge of how to do it isn't just given to the PCs). It's more that his divine essence continues working and granting powers to priests unless he is finished off.
As far as I am aware the only canon method it is mentioned that he tries to use to extend his life is the Sun Orchid Elixir
But surely he can't rely on winning that auction all the time (another fascinating piece of lore by the way since it is implied that this is a blind auction where the bids can be in any format, not just gold pieces)
He needs to win once every couple of decades, if my recollection of how the elixir works is correct. But he's also competing against newcomers and others at the auction.
Lanathar wrote:
- Philosophers Stone - would work through most usual interpretations of the legend but not mechanically in the PF rules. (Although as the Sun Orchid Elixir is also a 20th level alchemist ability it is arguably connected)
Thuvian alchemist PRC can have an equivalent for personal use at level 15. Not that that helps Razmir.
Lanathar wrote:
- Bargain with a Devil/outsider
There's an NPC in Hell Unleashed with a contract with Asmodeus personally granting her eternal youth.
Another possible route would be to serve a demon lord, who can transform followers into half-fiends (which already grants immortality), and then full demons (but not those more powerful than the original being).
He's not going to do that because he's passing himself off as a god, so won't serve another, but, with another level, and enough villainy in service to a demon lord, he could, by RAW, become a Balor with 20 levels of Wizard, which sounds a bit gamebreaking.
Lanathar wrote:
- Becoming a Lich (either of these he would have done by now if that was his aim)
He might consider this if he starts to get desperate, he does have the resources of an entire country, so he should be able to arrange everything at a short notice.
It's even worse. Nobody's been monitoring him. His ninja "tricks" have indeed been taken; they're just a who's-who of, "What's useless now?"
Lvl 2: Finesse Rogue
Lvl 4: Fast Stealth
Lvl 6: Bonus Feat
Lvl 8: Fast Tumble
Lvl 10: Acrobatics Master
So, "I run around like a chicken with my head cut off, and I can do it while hiding".
Not exactly a high-DPS selection.
And the feats?
Dodge, Improved Initiative, Jaguar Strike, Piranha Strike, Stealthy, Toughness, and Two-Weapon Fighting.
Again, a bit mish-mash that means... nothing.
I may allow a rebuild. What a mess!
If they do leave him in this room alone, you won't need to worry about a rebuild - he'll have a whole new character to play with... Heck, even if the party doesn't leave him alone, have the bush devil make him target #1 ( he's in melee after all). That should do it, call it a mercy killing...
I, for one, am curious to see the next useless character.
Yes, I'm imagining the pile of dead bards from The Gamers 2, to head off the obvious question.
Giving her Hellfire Breath as breath weapon instead of the normal electricity if you're making her a DD would make sense, given her infernal connections.
Also, maybe Handmaiden devils would work better than Erinyeses.
They were talking about Curse of the Crimson Throne, not Hell's Rebels.
Hell's Rebels was mentioned by taks back there.
Rysky wrote:
Edit: your edit makes me think you knew that, but I'm unaware of any involvement Ileosa had with the Order of the Torrent.
She has none, which is part of the point. Order of the Torrent is a Hellknight order for which providing the city with a hero makes sense. I was mainly thinking how to work it in. Just an idea, even if it doesnt get used.
Spoiler:
My idea is that the older, full Hellknight of the Torrent would be sent to find the seneschal, while an armiger accompanies him for training, being given a task to find a missing child (which gets him together with the PCs at the start) while the full Hellknight generally fails at his task, but is on hand to initiate the younger PC, witness the obligatory duel with a Devil, etc. Would make a good jedi/padawan type of relationship.
This makes some sense because the Hellknights of the Torrent often go around independently trying to save kidnap victims and such. It is a predominantly lawful good order, after all.
Order of the Torrent is LG, and their job is finding missing persons. They also have a particular grudge against the main villain (it's in the basic backstory of the AP, so not a spoiler), so they're flexible, at least in the terms of the AP.
Order of the Nail is LN (though I don't see how), their job is the elimination of all nomads. Not the nicest crowd.
Spoiler:
They also have no stake in any of this whatsoever.
Edit: now that I think about it, an Order of the Torrent armiger accompanied by an older Hellknight supervising him might work, especially if he starts on a missing child case to get his feet wet, so to speak.
Shapeshifters were covered before, but outsiders capable of possessing people don't get enough attention. Things like Invidiak, aka Shadow Demon, or Bdellavritra - the Belier Devil. Especially if you treat them as changing the personality of the possessed if they stay in a person for a long time.
One of these could really wreak havoc in something like Kingmaker.
How about a Tiefling Fiendish Vessel archetype Cleric. He must have the alignment of the patron (Mephistophles to me screams perfect choice for this AP), but gets Channel Evil instead of normal channel, which heals evil creatures and harms good creatures automatically, but does 1d4 instead of 1d6 (still, you don't have to chose if you're healing or harming, just be Evil and you'll heal).
You also get a free familiar at 3rd level (imp/cacodaemon/quasit).
*There was a kid in PFS who chose the worst spells for his level 1 Wizard. Not having an effective Wizard in the party caused a TPK.
How much weight do you expect a lvl 1 wizard to carry? Anything beyond some knowledge rolls is gravy from a lvl 1 wizard.
I have an under-optimized Wizard, but at the start of the 1st level I could Color Spray twice (with arcane bond), possibly ending a fair chunk of encounters in a typical PFS scenario (almost) single-handedly, as well as having Mage Armor for myself, Light to light dark caverns and some more utility stuff. That's not counting additional attacks from hand of the apprentice. For a typical PFS adventure, that's usually enough.
10 rounds of Enlarge Person on the barbarian can be helpful as well.
On the flip side, you do see this exact sort of "weirdly opposed, yet synergistic." concept in a number of fictional works - especially fantasy anime with Western themes, weirdly.
The idea of hoisting both the power of light and darkness as complementary powers with opposed adherents instead of powers that weaken each other.
Being touched by both the Vorlons and the Shadows in Babylon 5 came to mind.
It's just not always that easy to cherry-pick ways to experience a god's way, for example a homocidal killer who worships Pharama but kills purely for the thrill (it could happen, but he/she would be misguided and proper Pharasmins would make it known, I believe) so I wanted to be sure if cherry-picking with Lamashtu would fit alright.
A serial killer could certainly work within Pharasma's philosophy, as she is the goddess of fate, so someone determining if people should live or die by a coin flip, for example, would work very well. I think Anton Chigurh would be a fair shot at making a Pharasmin serial killer. Remember, Pharasma will give spells to NE followers.
A level in wizard could give your barbarian several useful things, especially the ability to use wands with wizard spells, without resorting to UMD.
My thinking is the same. Enlarge person and true strike are very tempting first level spells here, and their combination with them being used by a barbarian would be something interesting to see. Plus scrolls.
Clerics also have some stuff that are useful to barbarians, but without the spell fail chance.
Also, Nethys for rage + MAGIC POWEEEER! The idea was to play the character close to the barbarian stereotype, with the exception of a degree of mastery of magic (to be acquired through adventuring).
I'll have to look into the alchemist and investigator options.
EDIT: And what I find the *most* worrisome is that virtually none of the damage Zakiyya did to the party came from her extra levels. The Ethereal Jaunts, Teleports, telepathy, Dominates, and Suggestions are all base succubus stuff. So it's a CR 7 critter pwning a party of seven 11th-level characters.
As Zakiyya would say, "It's all in how you move..."
A Succubus' spell-like abilities are CL12, so she's a more powerful caster than anybody in the party just from base abilities already (a base Succubus is already a more powerful caster than wizards when they get the ability to summon her through Summon Monster). She's flinging fairly powerful spells around: Suggestion is 3nd level, Dominate is 5th, unused Charm Monster is 4th, Greater Teleport and Ethereal Jaunt are 7th level. Really, it's not so strange.
Oh, speaking of killing PCs, Zakiyya has now absorbed about 200 (two hundred) levels from various victims. Anyone have any kind of guess how many levels that translates to for her?
(I took a stab, and the rebuilt Zakiyya is... nasty...)
Lillend azatas are close enough. The only thing I would change is giving them shapechange so they can blend into societies and subtly influence poets and artists without them knowing. Plus,it's easier to inspire when you can change into anything.
There's nothing stopping you from swapping out one of the 2nd level Bard spells Lilends get with Alter Self as a GM.
I also find it weird that a good-aligned arcane caster that wants long-term aid from an angel has to yank them from the Upper Planes against their will and trap them in a circle smaller than your average solitary confinement cell to do so.
Well, I generally got the sense that they don't. You just need to convince them that the job on Prime Material will do more good than what they had going at the time, or give them enough resources for whatever they normally do to make it worth their while (the second should work on Evil outsiders, usually).
One thing that's usually not mentioned about Norgorber is that he's the only evil god who offers something resembling a half-decent afterlife (be a mobster in Axiom (that last part is cause for concern, though)).
Ragathiel - he seems to be the most interesting of the bunch for reasons others have touched upon.
Neutral Good:
Saranrae - covers both benevolence, healing, mercy, as well as delivering asskicking when needed (kill them fast so they don't suffer is still considered mercy).
Chaotic Good:
Desna - because of astronomy and freedom, has a kind of knowledge seeking covered.
Neutral:
Nethys - because magic matters. I also find it funny that he's the only god crazy enough to actually hang out in the Malestrom, while the CN gods mostly have their domains set aside in Elysium.
Chaotic Neutral:
It's hard to pick a favorite in this category, because, while I'm most inclined to play a character of this alignment, it is unlikely I would ever play a worshiper of CN gods, outside of specific circumstances where Gorum would be the most likely pick.
Lawful Evil:
Barbatos - from the player perspective because a secretive suspected eldritch abomination with followers that are as secretive knowledge hoarders is something that's not an obvious pick, but simply screams potential.
Asmodeus - from general perspective, because Zon-Kuthon is a bit too Emo. Offers a lot as the god that villains serve.
Neutral Evil:
Another category where it's hard to pick, I could go with either Norgorber, Urgathoa or Szuriel.
[spoiler=Chaotic Evil]Lamashtu - from the GM perspective, perfect choice if you want to inject that creepy horror vibe to something.
Dagon - from the player perspective. Almost Cthulhu, but has some advantages that you can only get from Demon Lords.
In fairness, Death's Heretic (and a few other things) makes it pretty clear that Pharasma and the Inevitables in question only start caring a few centuries down the line, and even then mostly only under certain circumstances. It's not living a long time they really object to, but the possibility of someone never dying. A few extra centuries is...
There are a few Runelords, and ex-Runelords, that would like to say hello :)
Some of them have managed to persist for more than ten thousand years without the Immortality discovery.
I'm pretty sure suspended animation is not counted on your 'clock'.
Still, Karzoug's statblock mentions hit +3 bonuses to mental stats that are there due to living beyond venerable age in his "Immortal (ex)" special ability, implying that he went far beyond "his time" anyway. This would imply that the wizard discovery does allow one to not die from old age, and likely is a variant of the Immortality discovery.
Next, there's been times he's made things very hard for the party. Killing people we need and turning them into zombies, he burned down an orphanage because he thought it would please Urgathoa (I'm not even kidding), etc.
Yes, that's horrible, he should have saved the orphans as offerings to summoned Vulnudaemons. Really, not good, not good at all...
By my understanding, this is the AP where you play the villains "liberating" an orphanage from paladins in order to feed the toddlers there to soul eating Vulnudaemons (their favorite sacrifice), while the martial characters play soccer with the heads of older children to unwind.
I understand cutting it for story Cohesion and not having the Abdar Church get behind things. I dunno, I guess I thought it might have deserved a mention in the "Suggested religions for Players" in the players guide. Maybe as a way to play a paladin and still be a revolutionary. I can most certainly see a paladin of Abdar working with the silver ravens to overthrow Thrune.
Again... Abadar is a LAWFUL deity. He wasn't really mentioned in the "suggested religions" specifically because of that. His faith is not super appropriate for Hell's Rebels. You can certainly play a worshiper of Abadar in the campaign, but it's akin to playing a druid in an all urban campaign or a pirate in a campaign that never goes to sea or a barbarian in a high-diplomacy at court campaign. It's gonna feel awkward at times, and as such, it's not a good suggestion, and as such was not included in the "suggested religions."
IMO, Abadaran Paladins are pretty much a "little good" force. While Iomedeans watch over the prison of a Lich that tried to kill all living things several times so far, Abadarans are watching trade caravans. While Iomedeans are crusading against the demonic hordes, Abadarans are trying to sort out trade disputes. And while Iomedeans are crusading against the unjust Thrune rule, it makes sense for Abadarans to oppose arbitrary laws that impede trade (also, mass murder and arson kinda sound like crimes, and the prime suspect is kinda obvious).
If we go by medieval logic, trying to get the BBEG to accept the Silver Raven's legal jurisdiction to stand trial, or die (that used to be a legal outcome of pressuring someone to accept a legal jurisdiction (and the pressuring would be literal, with stones stacked on someone until they accepted jurisdiction, or died, I suppose you can have an earth elemental use the BBEG as a seat in Pathfinder...)), would be a natural objective of an Abadaran paladin. A by the book medieval legal action would look kinda weird by modern standards, but certainly sounds like it could be fun in-game.
Battles against high-level dragons became as complex, difficult to run, optimization-sensitive and potentially punishing for PCs as battles against high-level spellcasters.
They often are high level spellcasters, especially red dragons, who are full 9th level casters (blues and greens go up to 8th level spells, black dragons 7th level, whites 6th level) as great wyrms.
Metalic dragons are all full casters, and all of the lawful metalics are shapeshifters.
I already mentioned Codex Draconis, they have stat blocks for every age category, based on the statblocks on d20pfsrd.com, with several variant versions (often some focusing on brawn, some on spelcasting or crafting (if you want to have a weird shopkeeper)). Minions and tactics are often suggested. It would be easy to make a campaign based on going up against one of the major ones.
The one for black dragons has a version of great wyrm that is simple to run, but effective, as well as one that is highly optimized, but has more confusing options.
They got pretty creative with white dragons.
It also has advice on running dragons more effectively. Treasure on some of them is more gear than normal treasure.
If the noble in question is a second son, cleric would fit with historical flavor. Rogue in peaceful times, but more of a fighter class (Cavalier or Paladin) if the times are not peaceful (seeking opportunities in war).
If you're looking for Roman style nobility, Bard with focus on Perform (Oratory) rather than music would fit.
Codex Draconis books have some good advice on preparation (which would vary from one kind of dragon to another (a Red wouldn't prepare like a Blue, etc.)), along with multiple builds for every age category.
They do have a theme about certain age categories (when they're old enough to be fairly rich and powerful, but not old enough to be able to match high level parties) when dragons get a bit paranoid and get rid of their horde in exchange for gear, and Ioun Stone crowns are cool...
That sounds a bit like Zyphus, he's never plotting any big evil, although the plots are typically murderous, given that the "accidents" are supposed to be lethal, but he's never about absolute power or widespread mayhem.
One thing nobody mentioned yet about the arcane bond on a weapon is that you might end up rendered powerless by social customs.
There's a story with that. My first PFS character, a wizard, I decided against a familiar, mainly because I didn't want to deal with yet another set of stats. A free +1 weapon right at the start looked inviting, so I went with a quarterstaff.
So, we go on an adventure to a land where horrible things happen very often. We go to an audience with a potentially hostile local noble and we have to disarm at the gate.
Me: This is my walking stick, I need it for walking.
Guard gives a dubious look...
Our Gorumite Cleric (holding up his greatsword): This is also a walking stick, us Gorumites like them large, metallic and sharp.
Our Ranger (with his bow): This is a walking stick, we Elves like them wooden with this bit of string.
A guy who looks suspiciously like Grima Wormtongue walks in on us and makes sure we have nothing.
So don't pick a weapon, ring is the best (and if you want to be always ready, Eschew Materials with Spell Mastery for critical spells).
For a cleric of Asmodeus, a self-centered lawyer who made the wrong contract with the rebels, and now has no choice but to see that the rebellion succeeds, just so that he could use a loophole in the Asmodean Monograph to save his skin.
He would naturally provide every advice on how to be as law abiding rebels as possible. "You mustn't spill blood, hit them with the mace, so they die from internal injuries instead!"
With a contract to fulfill, nothing will be in his way. An Asmodean must never ever break a contract. Wealth and power would be a nice bonus.
Edit: Calistra, Cayden Calian or Ragathiel, for what I'd actually play.
Calistra, because she'd be in favor of a little revenge, Ragatihel for similar reasons, Cayden Calian because of his dedication to freedom, also, summoning Thais in the endgame would be cool.
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