Ok guys, thanks for the info. He's bladebound as well, so I forgot it would nix that progression too. Looks like that idea is scrapped; thanks for your time.
I have an odd rules question; I was thinking of picking up a couple levels of unbreakable fighter after 6 levels of Magus, and this is what I cannot figure out:
Arcane Pool (Su)
At 1st level, the magus gains a reservoir of mystical arcane energy that he can draw upon to fuel his powers and enhance his weapon. This arcane pool has a number of points equal to 1/2 his magus level (minimum 1) + his Intelligence modifier. The pool refreshes once per day when the magus prepares his spells. At 1st level, a magus can expend 1 point from his arcane pool as a swift action to grant any weapon he is holding a +1 enhancement bonus for 1 minute. For every four levels beyond 1st, the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +5 at 17th level. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon enhancement to a maximum of +5. Multiple uses of this ability do not stack with themselves.
Clearly, the number of points is based only on my magus level. But the enhancement...is it just magus level, or total character level? Seems like it's just total level, but I wanted to make sure before I went ahead with it.
I was hoping there might be something official somewhere that clarified this, but if not I'd love to hear your opinions and reasoning.
My mistake, I got confused by something else. I don't mean hide physical tracks in the ground, I meant something more like move impeding undergrowth out of the way so that you don't have hampered movement in forest or jungle, etc.
Another question for you, Stardust, while we wait. Summon elemental's description only provides for the standard elements (earth, air, fire, water). Would you allow the feat to work with plant shaping to summon something akin to treants or ents, depending on the level of the being summoned? Also, do you think it would be possible to use plant shaping to achieve something like trackless step, with a concentration-based duration?
In this game, you still add your level to arcana checks (trained and untrained). :) Hope that clarifies things. I hadn't had a chance to look over all the character sheets as I was waiting for the fourth... ;).
That is sweet, and possibly overpowering lol, but I won't complain! I'm going to butt in with Scranton's character creation in case I come up with something he likes, to let us get ready faster. Without further ado:
Dudly Doright
Stats:
[Yours] STR 3, DEX 0, CON 2, INT 0, WIS 1, CHA 0
[Try 1] STR 3, DEX 0, CON 3, INT -1, WIS -1, CHA 2
[Try 2] STR 3, DEX 0, CON 2, INT 0, WIS 0, CHA 1
#1 is someone who is really not too bright in his choices, leaping in before he looks, not really thinking beyond, "I SHOULD DO THIS!" without really analyzing the situation, who has a force of cheer and personality that draw like-minded people to him. Good people consider him well intentioned but impulsive, with his heart in the right place, but his brain gone off on holiday. #1 is the stereotypical muscle-bound do-gooder hero.
#2 is similar to #1, but has managed to hold onto his brain. He does what he thinks is best, but actually bothers to consider what is best most of the time. His example is a model that other good people can follow, but he's more busy with doing the right thing than recruiting people to his cause.
Alter Int for brainpower, Wisdom for foolishness, and Charisma for force or attractiveness of personality (or just good looks). Remember you start with 6 points, but you may subtract from a stat, and spread those extra points where you wish. No stat can be over +5 at the start, and generally unless your character is a ungodly terrible at something (my character is socially crippled), the lowest a stat will be is -2.
Dudly Darkknight
[Yours] STR 3, DEX 0, CON 2, INT 0, WIS 1, CHA 0
[Try 1] STR 2, DEX 0, CON 2, INT 1, WIS 2, CHA -1
[Try 1.5] STR 2, DEX 0, CON 3, INT 1, WIS 2, CHA -2
[Try 2] STR 3, DEX 0, CON 2, INT 1, WIS 1, CHA -1
Meet Dudley Darkknight, a far more internally complex character than Mr. Doright. #1 and 1.5 are only slightly different; this character has spent a good deal of time thinking about his convictions, and is driven to pursue them, but (depending on which CHA you pick) is differing levels of haughty or so self-assured on the outside that people consider him obnoxious or nasty, not noticing the doubt that holds him back on the inside. This character thinks he knows what is right. He is SURE of it. But something keeps getting in the way. Someone else arrives first to save the day; someone else does something wonderful for the same person Mr. Darkknight wanted to help, that he never would have thought of - or doesn't know how to do. Darkknight is a character who is both sustained and undermined by his convictions, a character in self-torment who lacks the balance and self-acceptance to fully devote himself to his goals.
#2 is a not-so-dark version, wherein the darkknight pursues his goals toward what he sees as good, without stopping to give people the time of day. He's a little haughty, but more so busy with doing what he thinks is the right thing, that he forgets to stop and see that other people on the way could use some help. He's the man who ignores the bandits plaguing the village, while he goes off to hunt the dragon that's not on a rampage yet - because it might cause massive destruction.
Darkknight is not Dorights archnemesis; they are not enemies at all. If the two were to meet, they might very well work on the same goal together. But on the way, Doright would stop to help people and Darkknight would envy his ease at doing the right thing. Doright would not notice the haughtiness that put people off, just saying that Darkknight was just hiding his feelings (or something of the sort). Doright would potentially startlingly and incongruously see directly to the heart of the matter, while being an idiot, while Darkknight would have to struggle internally and externally to accomplish the same.
The two are wildly different playstyles, let me know which you like (if either), and I'll put together some deeper details. I am willing to do this for both, if you like both and cannot decide. I will also make light backstory ideas for you, but I won't make a full history unless you want me to (you should do it, it will help you get in character more).
I could not edit my post fast enough; Conlan's untrained arcana are all +0. Megan's untrained arcana are Mind Touch +0, Psychic Shield +4, and Second Sight +4. Untrained arcana always have 0 ranks.
Stardust and scranford, if you don't mind, I'm going to brainstorm up a couple light backstories and stat sets for a knight in shining armor, easily editable. Feel free to scrap them. Scranford, I'll be making a Knight of the Sun with a light fill-in backstory that's as do-good as possible, and a Knight of Twilight who strives the utmost to do what seems (or he learned was) right, but keeps getting dragged down not by his own foolishness, but doubts about the correctness of his convictions. A little darker, more striving for good, but stuck in the gray areas. I hope you'll enjoy both suggestions, I'll get one in today for you.
So I missed this on first read-through: Rhy-bonded assumes it is a DMPC unless it is another PC, and it is always 2 levels lower than the PC (if it's not another player). Did you want to just override that anyway? Also, Conlan doesn't need the Rhy-bonded feat unless he's a PC, so if you assume control of him, I'll pick a different feat for him.
Edit: I was also wildly incorrect about my arcana; they are as follows:
Arcana:
4 Body Control (10)
5 Cold Shaping (10)
5 Earth Shaping (10)
5 Fire Shaping (10)
5 Light Shaping (10/20)
5 Manipulate Object (10)
5 Move Object (10)
5 Plant Shaping (10/20)
4 Psychic Shield
4 Second Sight (10/20)
5 Water Shaping (10/20)
5 Wind Shaping (10/20)
Wild talent, followed by shaping talent, results in 0 ranks, so just my relevant ability mods. These scores will not increase without arcane training. I should have known it was too ridiculously good to be true :)
I assumed a Rhy-bonded companion was effectively a DMPC with a backstory, and limited input allowed from the character who created him. Otherwise, I will end up roleplaying with myself significantly >.< rather than tossing in the odd note about Athos and Conlan.
On a side note, is there a way to flag a thread to alert you when a reply is made?
A general question for you, Stardust, on the Ritualist feat from the companion.
A) are you allowing this feat in your game, and b) what is to stop a player (ie, me) from creating a ritual for like...every situation? One minute healing rituals galore under specific kinds of trees (I realize this sounds stupid), which would end up providing a mechanical benefit of taking a 10 out of combat as if I had rolled a 20, and +2 to avoid gaining fatigue for casting? There would be nothing incurable at that point (I could take it at level 3, with a +10 Cure modifier).
Would you just rule something like one ritual per specific arcanum, per specific effect, etc? What are your thoughts on this?
I will go ahead with it having happened, but I will not work out the details unless you wish me to do so. However, I have a story-based question. Is there a lot of regular communication between outlying Rhydan and the Rhydan of Galasthin? If so, and you wish to write it into the story in some way, we can go right ahead and assume that one of the prominent pack members of the forest sent word to one of the leading Rhydan of the city (the Rhydan faction, please) when it became apparent that Athos and Conlan would be heading that way. I would prefer it if none of the Rhydan are aware of Athos' father's identity, however.
I will pass on making another character; perhaps later if it becomes important to me as a matter of character development for Athos, I will create him, but right now I have no interest. It's just more backstory flavor.
Out of curiosity, why would such a thing not occur between Vata and Rhydan?
A general question based on your conversion rules; when we level and it calls for a wealth check to gain wealth, will we be translating our money into wealth, rolling to see what we gain, and then converting that back into money?
Also,
@ Stardust::
Regarding my backstory, I picked up the Blue Rose companion, and saw a cool feat: self-shifting. I don't want to take the feat myself, but do you have a problem with one of my parents having been a Rhy-wolf shifter? That could be why I was in that village, and why that pack adopted me, as it were (and why he has golden eyes).
I'm going to call backstory prerogative (as if you can't override that) and say that his mother was the Rhy-wolf, and that she is dead, and also that my father does not know I exist, and none of the villagers know my heritage. If you want to work some way of me finding out about it during game, that's cool, but I'm not worried if it doesn't come up. Certain members of the pack are aware, but Conlan is not. At the moment, there's no reason for them to want or intend to tell me. (Feel free to make her some uber cool historical plot character :). And perhaps my father was a healer?)
@ Rica again, I found something else for you. Arcane focus applies to an entire talent, so it would be Arcane Focus (Shaping) for you. It's +1 to any shaping skill's DC when you use it on someone, whether water, cold, or something you learn later.
I wasn't particularly attached to the skills or feats for Aldins, I just thought I needed to choose a specific human background as one of the Vata'an. His origins aren't particularly important to me, as he is unaware of them, unless you wish to make them into a significant plot point later on for him to discover. Your favored skill selection is fine (I'm not going to bother redoing my skills, I'm satisfied as they are now, since the goal was to match his backstory; however, I am going to forgo the Sense Motive bonus you're suggesting, precisely because of his background. In fact, I intend to RP away his wisdom bonus when it comes to diplomacy, sense motive, and other social abilities when dealing with humanoids, because of his near total lack of humanoid contact. Rhydan interaction (whether in Galasthin or elsewhere) I will RP normally, and apply my stats normally. If you want to change the bonuses because of this, go ahead, but I'm fine just trashing the humanoid background stuff entirely, since it's unimportant to him character-wise.
If you don't want to do that, perhaps something more Rhydan-focused would be in order? He's spent something like 9 or 10 years (he's around 19ish now) basically living exclusively with Conlan wandering the borders and depths of the forest most of the time, so him not having human-y skills is in character barring the ones he went out of his way to learn (Heal). Everything else is basically real-world knowledge, and the odd book he stole/borrowed from the priest.
For everyone: My character is a young, skinny Vata'an boy, wild and unkempt, dressed in what looks to be surprisingly well made leathers. He is (mostly) clean, with the usual white Vata hair, and unusual golden eyes - like that you'd think his large Rhy-wolf companion would have - except the Rhy-wolf's eyes are blue. He looks wiry or sinewy in physique, seems easily startled, is extremely quiet, and looks somewhat underfed.
So here's what backstory I had so far, it's kind of rough, but I am still fleshing it out. For the others, please don't read, you'll find out some or all of it as the game progresses.
Spoiler:
Athos is still a young Vata'an, more wild than civilized. He hails from a small Aldean hamlet on the borders of plains and forest, with a larger than normal number of Rhydan roaming the area (but still not populous, by any means).
Athos is a natural Shaper, manifesting a multitude of abilities from a very young age. Unfortunately, the Aldean hamlet he was born in took a dim view of his abilities, not only because they were out of his control, but also because he was one of the naturally gifted Vata, and the local Aldeans had to struggle to obtain teaching for their gifted children, or send them far away to apprenticeships. They resented the ease with which his power came to him, and his foreign blood.
His gifts having made him outcast, Athos wandered the outskirts of the fields and a small ways into the forest, stealing or foraging what food he could as a child, and often going hungry. Perhaps the only person to show him kindness was the village priest, a devout man who believed in (your pick of local god). He would give Athos food and a warm place to sleep; his involvement in Athos' life would grow later on.
When Athos was ten or so, he wandered farther into the forest than he usually did (he was as leery of it as the villagers were, it being something of a forbidden place that the villagers feared, for reasons he didn't understand), because of some farmers from whom he'd stolen a midday snack. Lost, he tramped aimlessly through the undergrowth, making a great deal of noise, until he stumbled upon a clearing by sheer luck - where he saw, to his terror, surely the largest wolf in existence.
His fear got the better of him - and of his powers. He nearly set the clearing alight in his panic; but the wolf, a Rhy-dan guardian of the forest, sent to patrol by his pack, calmed him with soothing words projected directly into his mind, and a hearty wolfish grin and lolling tongue to set him at ease.
Soon after, the forest became more of a haven and a home to Athos than the little hamlet he'd grown up in. Conlan, the Rhy-wolf who'd found him trespassing, became his first and only friend; it was at Conlan's urging that Athos first began to master his gifts. The Rhydan, sadly knowing more of the world than even the boy, sent him back to the village priest's small library for what instruction he could obtain. He quickly learned to read and write, and after one disastrous occasion in which Athos nearly ruined a book and the priest yelled at him, made sure to care for the books that he took from the tiny library - usually without asking. The priest tried in vain to teach him the concept of asking for what he needed, but he had little respect for material possession, and even less respect for the other villagers.
Athos spent years with Conlan, practicing his abilities, eventually being introduced to the Rhydan's entire pack (though treated with respect, never truly welcomed as one of them), and to a few of the Rhy-horses of the plains and one or two lone Rhy-cats in the forest.
Athos has grown up mostly feral, educated as best the priest and Conlan could provide, but is horrendously inept at social interaction with non-Rhydan, for whom he has almost no respect - though he has yet to encounter another Vata. He is tremendously uncomfortable around humans, though he speaks basically every language he could learn, and is hesitant even among Rhydan; something akin to being the lowest member of the pack. Only Conlan treats him as an equal, and sometimes not if Athos does something especially stupid.
What little Athos possesses, he has made, or traded for with what he made. At Conlan's urging, he saved years of efforts worth of money from garments he sold, in order to buy the cryston and buckler he currently possesses (to what end he was entirely unsure, but he trusts Conlan completely). He marks little importance for wealth beyond using it to get what he needs without making people angry (and it took him a while to grasp that concept too). He has taken, since buying the cryston, to using it to stun small animals as a less fatiguing method of hunting dinner. To Conlan's credit, or perhaps Athos' extreme naivete, Athos does not really understand conflict from a human perspective. He understands vying for dominance, and hunting for survival, but not war for an ideal, or greed, or maliciousness.
From an entirely OOC perspective, Athos is incredibly naive and has some shatteringly disturbing things to learn about the world, as well as some wonders. Currently, Conlan has finally convinced Athos to go to the capital to experience life among his people (though Conlan hasn't explained what he means by 'his people' and Athos just assumes more Aldeans) and to obtain formal training in his innate Shaping and Healing talents. Despite his lack of real-world immersion, Athos is also a very intelligent and driven young man. He loves to understand and learn - but finds this difficult to do with people. He's also hyper-aware of being an outcast, and is very touchy and easily hurt by this, though he struggles never to show it.
Storywise, my goals for Athos are for him to experience the culture-shock of immersion in a large city, train, and move toward becoming something like a Rhydan emissary and mage protector of the forest near his original home. Conlan's developement I will leave entirely to you, with the last tidbit that the two are closer than brothers, and the love they bear for each other would cause them to tear the world apart to keep them safe. I'd recommend not killing Conlan, as it would probably render Athos unplayable, but kidnapping or magical illnesses or the like will result in Athos immediately trying his hardest to fix whatever the problem is - he doesn't have enough interest vested in anything else to care...yet.
Also, I have no idea yet why he's from that village in particular...but neither does he, so I might just leave that to you to weave into a plot twist. Here are more finalized stats for myself and my Rhydan companion:
[Race]
Vata'an: Medium, 30 ft, +2 to damage recovery checks, low-light vision, 1 free arcane talent
Aldin: Favored Skills - Diplomacy, Knowledge (Nobility), Language
Favored Feats - Fascinate, Jack of All Trades
[Statistics]
Str -2, Dex +2, Con +0, Int +5, Wis +4, Cha -3
Defense: 20 (5 Canny Defense, 2 Dex, 2 class bonus, 1 buckler), flat-footed 13, touch 19
Toughness: 15
Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +6
Base Atk +0, Wealth +2, Reputation +1
Cryston: +4 Nonlethal, +4 to hit, 500 ft range
[Arcana]
5 Body Control (10)
6 Cold Shaping (10)
6 Earth Shaping (10)
6 Fire Shaping (10)
6 Light Shaping (10/20)
6 Manipulate Object (10)
6 Move Object (10)
6 Plant Shaping (10/20)
5 Psychic Shield
5 Second Sight (10/20)
6 Water Shaping (10/20)
6 Wind Shaping (10/20)
______________________________________________
Conlan
Rhy-wolf Warrior, Light-aligned, Conviction 3
Calling: The Empress [Protection of Nature], Light Nature: Devoted, Shadow Nature: Pugnacious
[Race]
Rhy-Wolf: Medium, 50 ft, low-light vision, limited manipulation, cannot speak, no armor or weapon training, no wealth, +4 to survival when tracking by scent
Favored skills: Notice, Survival
Favored feats: Crippling strike, Rage, Surprise Attack, Weapon Focus (Bite)
[Statistics]
Str +1, Dex +5, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +0
Defense: 18 (5 dex, 3 class bonus), flat-footed 13, touch 18
Toughness: 19
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +0
Base Atk +1, Wealth +0, Reputation +0
Bite: +3 Lethal, +6 to hit, melee; Howl: +4 to intimidate for 1 round; Scent; Trip
I think I'll go through with it, I was looking to be bonded to a rhy-wolf. I'll make sure he's written into my backstory, and give a little background on the territory he and his pack come from too.
I have a question for you; I'm trying to make my Rhy-bonded companion, and I was wondering, I'm supposed to pick a class for him, right? Should I just ignore class starting feats like armor training, since he is a Rhydan? Also, I don't want to crash your party, but it looks like Rhydan wealth starts at 0 (base Rhydan stats, page 57).
Maybe I should just write an NPC into my backstory? The goal isn't to actually have like...a follower, it's just important backstory stuff. Perhaps a non-combat npc you control or something? I don't actually want to play a second character.
Seems like you can take a 10 or a 20 on a wealth roll. If you'll allow it, I'll start with a cryston, and a masterwork buckler. The funds, game-wise, would have come from saving up garments and proceeds from his leatherworking skill. This will reduce my wealth to +0. This is basically years of work, so these, and the clothes on his back (that he made himself) are all he owns.
My backstory will be incoming in the next day or two.
Like I said, you could always roll it for us either way. I don't mind, and if someone else does they could always speak up. My toughness becomes 15 under the current rule, if you are writing these down.
That scaling problem exists no matter which version of the equation you pick. I haven't really looked over weapon and damage rules yet, so I'll see if they deal with it, but honestly 10+bonus at first level seems like we'd just die really fast at level one if there were combat. Avoiding combat is better, yes, but dying instantly from one hit always sucks.
Also, assuming it's not too late, I'd like to alter my stats as follows: Str -2, Wis +4.
I typo'd my Will save earlier, it's +5. If you allow the change, my stats becoming the following:
Will save +6
Concentration +8, heal +8, Survival +8
5 Body Control
5 Psychic Shield
5 Second Sight
[Arcana]
4 Body Control
6 Cold Shaping
6 Earth Shaping
6 Fire Shaping
6 Light Shaping
6 Manipulate Object
6 Move Object
6 Plant Shaping
4 Psychic Shield
4 Second Sight
6 Water Shaping
6 Wind Shaping
All of these Arcana are untrained (Shaping is accessible through Wild Talent). Technically, he has access to Flesh Shaping and Sorcerer's Grasp as well. Equipment selection will be dependent on what wealth system we end up using.
Conversion of wealth to traditional rules might be a strong possibility.
damage roll is 1d20+bonus vs Toughness Rating of 10+bonus. Meaning that 50% of most damage rolls will be potentially fatal. A little more realistic that way, but what do you think?
Damage, from what I read, is based off the differential between the roll and the target. Seems like switching the math would potentially provide an extra +5 that wouldn't otherwise be there. Given that all classes start with +0-3 on their toughness, I'd guess it would be too lethal. I haven't played the system before, but I would hope they'd balanced the combat rules.
Character stats incoming inside like half an hour. I'll be PMing you my backstory, any relevant information can come up during play for the other PC's.
So with the toughness...how is that going to work out? Normally it's the toughness bonus +1d20 vs 15+ dmg, if you make it 10+bonus, what is the damage roll going to be like so that we don't get horribly wounded when/if we fight?
You could just roll the toughness roll for us if you wanted to save time while you were posting numbers for a fight. Character stats coming soon, still brainstorming backstory into fullness.
I also wanted to ask, how are we using wealth from PF?
Great. A couple questions, since I haven't used anything from Pathfinder before; what will my toughness modifier be as an adept (are you just using the saving throw mod +10 +feats)?
And since the skills function slightly differently for PF, how are you handling that for Adept feats (since all magic is based on a skill roll). Did you just want to treat all the Adept skills in which he has Arcane Training as Favored? So, base 2 skill points per level, plus one per int, max of HD in any given skill, and an automatic +3 for skills which Adept has favored/trained in magically?
Also, with your permission, I'd like to think about the Rhy-bonded feat.
Hiya. If this campaign still has space, and is still in the works, I may want to join. I've never played in a PBP before, but I love blue rose's freedom of character creation. I would likely be interested in playing an adept. Would that work with what you have written so far? If it does, I'll get to work on a character.
