Alrighty, well, I want to attempt to clarify something here. While I don't exactly agree with him, I did agree to play this. I really don't mind due, by in large, to the fact this is a one-shot deal. This is mostly just me trying to think of concepts that can work with the conditions being what they are.
Anyway, I do want to thank people for the tips, and thanks for the general concern. If this wasn't someone I know like I do and it wasn't a one-shot concept(apparently he is trying something), I'd have been on the same page as all of you; you know, the one where you don't play in that campaign.
For those interested, we convinced him to allow just general concept instead of picking most everything. So we just had to do level spread and character concept. I got by with a human rogue with the personality of a southern gentleman and a very high sense of honor(Huzzah for ambiguity). Turns out, he was having us roll 5d8 drop two. I've yet to build the whole character(it is way too late where I'm at), but the stats are as follows...
Str: 17
Dex: 23
Con: 17
Int: 19
Wis: 9 (glad I didn't go with cleric like I was kinda considering)
Cha: 22
The characters are coming in at level 10 and I'll be with rogue/ranger and a somewhat derpy cleric (not 9 Wis, but not great). I'm really unsure as to what he is actually trying, whether it is the d8s or something that we're actually going to be doing, but I suppose that will be discovered.
I realize it doesn't make sense and I have flat-out explained that to him, but his love of randomization of everything(and I can't emphasize everything enough) has thus far proven impossible to overcome.
@Guy Kilmore
I'm thoroughly amused by that concept and think I may actually try it. We tend to give each other hard times about things. For example, he believes I min/max and gives me crap about it and I give him crap about his randomization of everything. So, that option seems on par with a response he'd expect from me.
Anyway, back on track, odds are against him changing his declaration. I'm fine with attempting it because this is a one shot deal and I agreed to it. What I'm trying to figure out is what class/class combination will have the best chance of using unpredictable stats. Right now, I'm thinking my best option may be a rogue, because even if I end up ineffective in combat, I can still work it to be a face or skill monkey.
Ok, so my GM has asked me to make an character concept(levels, feats, the whole shebang), and after I have the basic idea down to roll the stats. Normally, it wouldn't be a huge issue, but he's insisted on using natural rolls. So the first rolled stat will be Str, second Dex, and so on.
The problem being, I like making character concepts and then optimizing that concept to be as viable as possible. For example, in 3.5, I wanted basically an elemental monk, and realizing the squishiness of that concept, buffed its AC and coated it in persistent defensive buffs.
Anyway, my hope is that you folks can help me come up with a concept or two that won't be potentially killed by natural rolls. I'm, thus far, drawing blanks, so any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
Of the planets that aren't Golarion, which do you like best and why?
Do you know how excited I am to be able to make a dinosaur race in a couple of months?
Finally, what do you think of the concept of a bone of one of the Runelords or simply a powerful un/dead spellcaster being found by the PCs and the bone they found tugs them towards the next bone as an AP? Personally, I like the concept at a glance, but I'm thinking it will only work for treasure driven PCs.
I'm going to throw another vote in for the alchemist. You can focus them on one thing, but they remain incredibly versatile. Also, you get to play a mad scientist if you so choose, and their PrC literally gives them another alignment, so it is like playing two characters.
Alternatively, taking the friends with half-brother a step further. Have him be the one who taught you, as J3C suggested, but he gets caught and ostracized by the elves for teaching their ways to a non-elf.
So, you set out to prove that your half-brother was not mistaken when he chose to train you. Thus, you still have the redemption-esque drive, but a lot of the broodiness is gone because you're doing it for your brother and not yourself.
I realize it isn't on your list, but my personal bias keeps yelling at me to throw it out there anyway. A ranger would make a decent choice for balancing the party, both in and out of combat. You can start combat at range, move in when the fight gets physical, and use your spells for various utility purposes that the other casters have run out of slots for. Not to mention, they have a good selection of skills that should prove useful and they're the best trackers in the game.
On to your actual list, Human Drunken Qinggong Master of Many Styles would make for an interesting choice, but in terms of most fleshed out, the Human Rogue Swashbuckler/Scout seems to be what you've put the most thought into.
The Arcane Archer is good for a 3 level dip especially if you're looking to play a ranged EK or something similar, but yes, by in large, it is better to grab an archetype and play a class straight through to 20.
To answer the OP's question, I'm not aware of any compilation of PrCs for comparison and quality analysis. You could, with a bit of searching, find something for each of the PrCs on an individual level.
Ok, I mostly just popped in to say thanks to Cosmo for the link. I'm going to use the owlbear out of it. Anyway, I should probably contribute something, so you could always just use one of the many online translators.
I like to go with English to Armenian for unique, meaningful names that no one suspects are anything less than original.
Hopefully I'm not too late on this one and I can solve the arcane caster problem. This is my first PbP, so I hope I can figure out the differences between PbP and a standard campaign quickly. Anyway, this is a re-imagining and development of an old NPC from my homebrew campaign.
1, 2, & 3
Character:
Kyra Femeral
Human Female
Sorcerer 1 (Rakshasa Bloodline)
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Statistics
Str: 8(-1) Dex: 14(+2) Con: 13(+1) Int: 12(+1) Wis: 10(+0) Cha: 20(+5)
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Movement: 30 ft.
Languages: Common, Infernal
Initiative: +8
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Skills (Those not listed have no ranks in them)
Bluff +9, Knowledge(arcana) +5, Spellcraft +5, Use Magic Device +9
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Feats
Eschew Materials, Improved Initiative, Toughness
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Traits (I can't really think of any that have direct relations to her crimes, but these to can be seen as nature developments of her backstory. If you have better suggestions, I'm open to them.)
Focused Mind, Reactionary
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Defense
HP: 10
AC: 12; touch: 12; flat-footed: 10
CMD: 11
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2
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Offense
BAB: +0
CMB: -1
Melee: Unarmed -1 (1d3-1/x2) non-lethal
Spells
Cantrips: (at will) Read Magic, Detect Magic, Light, Mending*, Prestidigitation (DC 15)
1st: (5/day) Charm Person, Color Spray (DC 16)
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Special Abilities
Silver Tongue (8/day)
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*Favored Class Bonus Spell
4 & 5
Backstory and Crime:
Kyra's parents, a pair of wizards dedicated to studying the soul and its relationship to magic (read: how alignment interacts with magic), never told her about her mother's encounter with a rakshasa, but they were delighted when she showed inherent magical talent at age six. She became the focus of their studies and experiments. Not all of the experiments were pleasant and there were often times when she was simply put in a room while one parent would use various scrolls on her while the other attempted to gleam her soul's reactions.
Kyra spent the next seven years under constant surveillance and experimentation. Eventually, she broke. She doesn't look at it that way, but when her father came in with her breakfast one morning, she began her revenge. After charming her father, she explained she needed to do it to break her mother's enchantment on him. She told him that she wasn't the only one being experimented on, and her mother had been secretly experimenting on him as well.
"Remember those nights when you wake up in a cold sweat?" she asked him, leaning in and lower her voice to a whisper, "Do you really believe they were just simple nightmares? She's been changing your notes as well to keep you behind. She needs to be punished. She needs to know that she's no longer in control. I could help," Kyra said, the last words sliding off her tongue in subtle, but curt manner.
"You're right," her father replied, almost trailing off before finishing his short statement.
With that, Kyra left her room of her own accord for the first time since a very young age. The euphoria she felt was nearly palpable, but she had a task to complete. Pulling her father's knife from its sheathe, she handed it to him. "You may need this," were the only words spoke on the journey through the house.
Her mother was studying her spellbook when they found her. She glanced up and asked, "Honey, why's Kyra with you?"
"Show her you're in charge!" Kyra nearly screamed as she forced her will upon her father. The fight was short. As Kyra's mother slumped to the ground, her father turned, covered in blood, to her. "You're weak father," was all he heard before she cast Color Spray on him.
With that she was out the door and into the world. After several minutes of shock as she looked at the world around her, she began screaming for help.
When the guards arrived, she told them that her father had gone crazy and attacked her mother. Eventually, they brought him out of the house and what Kyra saw before her was a broken man. The air of authority he had always had was gone now and was replaced with tears. He saw her as the guards hauled him by and between sobs, she heard him say, "Why? Kyra, why?"
That was the last time she saw her father, the guards discovered records of all the experiments her parents had been doing, but not before Kyra had stolen the useful ones. With those documents, she made her first contact with a devil and perhaps foolhardy signed a contract in service to Asmodeus in return for power and control.
Now thirteen, Kyra was placed in an orphanage where her life truly began to blossom. She quickly realized she could manipulate not only the other children, but the head of the orphanage as well. She loved it; the power and control, it was everything she could hope for, but it still felt like something was missing.
It would take years, but she eventually figured out what was missing. When a child, a girl roughly the age she was when she arrived, was adopted, and subsequently removed from her control, she decided that the girl would not escape her through simple adoption. She followed the girl to her new home, and that night she snuck into the girl's room and charmed the young orphan. "I'm here to help you," Kyra whispered as she crawled through the window, "I overheard your new parents talking, and they're planning on selling you off as a house slave. They've done this will several other orphans, and they're going to do it to you too. We have to stop them!"
The confused orphan seemed to ponder this for a moment, but Kyra forced her will on the girl as she'd done with so many others. Kyra handed the girl a dagger as she wrapped her arm around the child. They left the girl's room to find the adoptive parents relaxing in the main room. "What are you doing up, sweetheart?" the girl's new mother said without turning.
A Color Spray spell and screaming charge later, the re-orphaned girl was covered in blood and Kyra was smiling. She found what was missing. Leaning in close, she said to the girl, "I lied about everything." At which point, she cast Color Spray once more and turned to leave. Yes, there was a certain savor to be had by finding what a creature values most and manipulating it into destroying it themselves. Utterly breaking a creature was so much more satisfying than simply controlling them.
She got to the door only to discover that two guards had been on patrol and heard the commotion. Reacting more out of reflex than anything else, she attempted to cast Color Spray again, but it only worked on one of the guards. She was caught for the first time ever and it was infuriating.
In her cell, she sat brooding, plotting. They would not hold her. Asmodeus had promised her power and control, and she would have it. With his help, she would destroy this damned place and rebuild it according to her whims.
6
Favorite Villain:
I can't say that I have one villain who stands out as a favorite. I've seen so many, but one that has stood out (or at least is standing out now) is Johan Liebert from the manga/anime Monster. I'm really not all that interested in the concept of him being trained to be the perfect soldier, but is goal to be "the last one standing at the end of the world" is something I think few villains even dream of. He's unapologetically evil and often seems to do things simply for the destruction they cause. His methods range from complex and orchestrated plans for massacres to simple grab a gun and shoot.
Well, sir, I, as a respectable member of the badger race, disagree. Gnomes have always carried themselves with an infallible dignity with only tinges of humorous mischief. In fact, in all my time, I've only encounter one utterly crazy gnome and I believe that was by in large due to his tamperings with alchemy. For some reason he decided to dive head first into a dust digger's mouth to deliver a package of explosives, it worked, but the crazy bloke never left the creatures stomach. The whole thing was a horrible mess really.
Anyway, my point being, gnomes, in fact, do not suck. They are quite delightful, if misunderstood, denizens of the First World. I am curious as to why you hold them with such animosity though. Care to share?
So, I haven't had time to go through all the posts, and we're actually about to start session, thus my time is limited. Alrighty, straight to the point, I'd love to see the return of adventuring kits as presented in probably my favorite 3.5 book, Dungeonscape. Having the kits is really nice for those of us who liked to stock up on bunches of mundane items, but it was/is a real hassle to keep track of all of them. So, a bunch of kits makes it nice and simple when the GM asks where you got the 50 pieces of chalk you can say, "Oh, that's from my labyrinth kit, would you prefer I use my 500 feet of twine?"
