Nidoran Duran's page

To whom it may concern,

-A

The Darkest Corners is a gothic horror/urban fantasy-styled adventure of my own design and several years' labour of love. A year ago, I ran this game until my apartment's roof caved in and then mold got discovered in our walls, and my living situation spiraled madly out of control from there (kind of hard to DM a game while couch surfing), but now I'm looking to hit this hard again, especially now that Occult Adventures is out and there is so much more goodness involved. Oddly enough and entirely by coincidence, the recruitment thread for the last one was posted a year to the day, which was extra eerie--spooky, almost--and after realizing that, I can't not go for this again.

The setting is, for all intents and purposes, Golarion, centered mainly out of Absalom, but with a few "updates". Nothing you need to worry about as far as understanding the setting goes, but consider this to take place within an unspecified number of years into the future, when Absalom has swelled far beyond its 'current' size and population, and become significantly more Victorian in aesthetic, to better fit the genres I'm going for. Gothic horror by gaslight, essentially. Within the shadows of Absalom hide secret cults and undead power players easily kept secret within the sprawling and bustling city, but whose crimes and manipulations have hard-hitting and very dire consequences.

You, the player, are somebody who knows that some things are not only problems in Ustalav. The veil has been lifted for you, in one way or another, and you are not only acutely aware of what lurks in the shadows, but you're in one way or another capable of stopping it. How this manifests is entirely up to you, but I have a thing about characters and their being on-theme and very neatly tied into a lot of the genres and ideas on display here. I'll explain this in greater detail with the character guidelines, but know that I will only be considering characters who have strong ties to the themes and sorts of enemies you'll b facing. Your character is someone hand-picked by a secret benefactor and asked to come and fight these things, and so your character should be someone who is in one way or another an asset to such a fight. More on that below.

Despite being the best at what you do, you'll still be facing difficult challenges, fighting powerful undead beings, secretive and deadly cults, mages who have mastered vile and forbidden forms of magic, and strange beasts who may not be undead but certainly fall deep into the category of "the unknown". I like to challenge my players, and so even though you'll b facing lowly ghouls and even common street thugs for one reason or another, the dangers lurking in the shadows will be sinister, and you will sometimes find yourself ekeing out a victory by the skin of your teeth. Otherwise, where's the horror?

Structurally, the campaign will have heavy investigative and intrigue bends to it, given the secretive nature of your mission and the need to investigate strange crimes and clues to hunt down the monsters in question. While "hunting" definitely accurately describes the fact you're going to be putting down plenty of monsters, characters built for out-of-combat purposes will have more than their fair chance to shine, and in fact characters specced to do nothing but hurt stuff may find themselves the ones forced to sit situations out. The game will take place largely in Absalom, with any travel to other locales being a currently very distant prospect.

Character Creation:
Crunch:
-5th level, to reflect your character's previous experiences and competency in their areas of expertise.
-25 point buy
-Max HP per level
-10,500 starting gold, per WBL
-Any non-evil alignment.
--Neutral clerics may not worship Evil-aligned deities. For all divine classes, I would suggest choosing a deity who has a clearly explainable link to connect why you are acting in their name on the specific goal in mind. Some, like Sarenrae, Iomedade, and obviously Pharasma, are easier sells than others, but if you have something in mind and you're not 100% sure, we can talk out how to spin that.
-Material from all official Paizo books is allowed, whereas no third-party material will be.
-All classes are allowed, as well as all Archetypes except for Synthesist Summoner. For Unchained classes, it's your choice on which versions to use, as per your tastes.
--Due to the Victorian setting of the game, Firearms are not only allowed, but will be using the Commonplace Firearms rules, which are as follows. "While still expensive and tricky to wield, early firearms are readily available. Instead of requiring the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat, all firearms are martial weapons. Early firearms and their ammunition cost 25% of the amounts listed in this book, but advanced firearms and their ammunition are still rare and cost the full price to purchase or craft."
--It's not by any means a must, but there are a lot of archetypes for classes that deal with very specific focuses on the undead and such. While for your average, regular game it's not an entirely smart choice to take, for this game, these archetypes provide both a palpable advantage and some interesting flavour for your character, so I would advise taking a look at those and seeing if any catch your fancy. Occult Adventures in particular has a whole bunch, and they're really neat.
--For the purposes of class features like Favored Enemy, some very strong choices would be Undead, Humanoid (Human), and Outsider (Evil).
-All Core, Featured, and Uncommon races are allowed, except for Drow and Svirfneblin.
--Tieflings do not need the Fiendish Heritage feat to access their variants. Both Aasimar and Tiefling may choose as many aesthetic effects from the table as they wish to diversify their character instead of rolling, if they wish. From the variant abilities table, they may choose any ability that does not provide +2 to an ability score, though if they choose to roll for the ability in-thread and get one, they may take it. If you choose to roll, you may make three rolls and choose your favorite of the three.
-Two traits, with the option to gain a third by taking a drawback. In addition, I will be writing a trait for each chosen player based on their backstory. The more vivid the backstory, the more likely I'll be able to find a good focus, so this is your mechanics-driven sweetener to go deep and detailed.
-A quick rundown of what your character can offer to a party in terms of their abilities, as well as a rough plan for where you see them developing, mechanically; will they be multiclassing or delving into any prestige classes, or staying the course?

Fluff:
-A written backstory, obviously, detailing your character's history, what their specialty is, and why they do it.
--For your 'hook', as I'm going to conveniently refer to it, you have a lot of freedom. It by no means has to be some manner of revenge story, although that's always a nice one. You could just as easily be a scholar studying in cults or seeking knowledge that should not be possessed by humans. A holy warrior who has found themselves tasked by their god with quelling the undead scourge. An alchemist who studies the undead in the pursuit of eternal life. There's so many different ways to go, but make sure that whatever it is, you have a strong and fully developed one, with some good backstory justification and a clear area of expertise you can point to.
--Weave a plot hook or five into your backstory, if at all possible, that can be explored and weaved into the game as we go.
--Separate to any plot hooks, state a goal for your character. Something they want to work toward or achieve that is within the scope of what one person in a city truly can. Your typical "vampires murdered my family" warrior obviously wants to kill vampires, but should also have a palpable, personal want for their life. Show me that. Give me a motivation to play on.
-A description of your character's physical appearance, as well as their personality.
-This is very weird and highly specific, probably won't actually mess with anybody's plans, but characters cannot have connections to the Pathfinder Society. This will all make sense in time.

Under no circumstances should your character be someone that you could just as easily slip into a game that has nothing to do with the undead. By all means, reclaim an alias or rework a topical Carrion Crown character or something if you've got one, but this should really be something where you're probably starting on a new character and building something meant for this game. I know it sucks to make something and fall for it only for it not to be picked up for a game, but I'm not going to be accepting characters that I feel aren't strongly tied to the themes. I know what I want, and am trying to be as up front as possible about that want so that you know what I am looking for before you start on anything, and hopefully this is fair enough warning. I will try and call tell you if your character is feeling weak in that department or if you're outright not actually giving what I'm asking for, but know that one of the main factors for party selection is going to be based on backstory strength, both in quality and in the thematic ties I'm seeking,

For house rules:
-I don't use a map, we are going 100% theater of the mind for this one. I'm not fond of fiddling with pieces, especially online, and I feel that there is more atmosphere to be had in being descriptive. I will convey everything necessary about an area and answer any questions, but maybe don't build something centered around AOOs or piece placement, because that will not work here.
-Encumbrance doesn't exist, so feel free to carry as much as you want to, up to some semblance of reason, and in that regard a size 1 Bag of Holding/Handy Haversack is all you would theoretically need. More pertinent is that you actually have a container to put stuff into.
-Due to the urban setting, you will not need to keep track of food and lodging unless you're traveling out of the city, in which case you will know about it and have time to amass resources as needed.
-I use group initiative, which I'll explain for those who don't know the workings of when the game gets going, but basically any single round of combat should be able to finish within 24 hours, speeding things up considerably from working in proper initiative order.
-In the interest of making certain enemies unique, I may flub/houserule/homebrew up elements exclusive to that enemy, like merging incompatible archetypes or changing spell lists. Certain players may not be fond of this decision and others may be weirded out when they see something that they know isn't right, so I feel it's fair to warn about this in advance.

I'm looking for people who can make one post per day and at least one on weekends. How long this thread stays open depends on sustained interest; if it peters out and everyone is finished their characters, I'll likely close earlier. If it gets sustained interest and people need time to finish their characters, I'll see about keeping it open longer. Let's say that for right now, Sunday February 7th is likely the close date, and anything earlier or even later will be announced 48 hours in advance of that.

To whom it may concern,

If you are willing to help, please make haste to The Gilded Unicorn in Absalom. It is one of the finest inns in the city, and within this envelope you will find the key to a room that has already been paid through the next month. Lay low there and await further correspondence. Discretion is vital. I promise a reward for your consideration of my offer that will make up for the travel and the mystery.

The letter finds you no matter where you are, no matter how far removed from anyone who knows your name. It's carried on the clanging wings of a clockwork carrier pidgeon, an odd piece of mechanical work that flutters by, drops the letter, and just as swiftly leaves before you can process any of what's happened, without any discernable means of actually navigating anything or finding you. But as you look back down at the letter, the least of your problems seem to be the nagivating ability of mail delivering constructs.

Whatever your reason, a sense of duty to answer this call for aid or mere curiosity about the intentionally vague wordings and postal capabilities you never knew possible, you find your way in front of The Gilded Unicorn nonetheless, and you can't say you're particularly stunned by what stands before you. "One of the finest inns in the city" seems rather average as far as inns go, intact and clean but hardly a lavish lap of luxury like the wording implied and like anyone would hope for. But at least you're not footing the bill for whatever you're about to get into.

The interior is a little bit nicer, still rather middle of the road as far as inns go, but the ground floor tavern is not only tidy, but composed in the middle of the afternoon, with a few scattered people sitting alone or in pairs at tables. It's quiet and peaceful, in a good enough part of town to not be flooded with mid-afternoon drunkards already causing far too much noise and chaos. A kindly old dwarven woman sits at the counter, alternating between looking to the door and looking at a log book opened up before her.

Just make your entrance, we'll move on once everyone's arrived.

Okay people, this is where you will congregate and discussify shit until we're all ready to start the game. Keep this thread open in a tab or something until then. Ask any questions you may have as far as things not listed here goes, and if you are new and don't know how to make your characters, I will help you via Skype. Use Myth-Weavers for your character sheet if you don't feel like formatting a text statblock by hand (although if you do, thank you), and put the link to that into your character profile, along with a spoiler block containing your backstory info shit for reference.

Build rules are as follows:
-25 point buy
-Starting level 3
-3,000 gold pieces starting wealth
-Two traits

Some house rules to note:
-No maps, gotta narrate everything
-Don't worry about carrying capacity; leave Strength at what you need it to be, and don't fret about having rations while being in the city.

Will field any other questions you have. Game starts when everyone is done.

Ignore this post, just setting up a game for friends.

It's would be a dingy grey day in Absalom where it not for the strange streaks of colour across the sky. The fourth time in two weeks it happened, and the citizens of Golarion's sprawling metropolis were no less confused or amazed by it than they were the first time. Aurora ribbons waved softly to and fro in the overcast sky for minutes at a time before dissipating, only to appear again, differently coloured and moving in new directions hours later. There was certainly unexplained weirdness afoot in the city, and it brings mind to the letter in your pocket.

It would have been a mark of insanity to follow a vague letter preaching nonsense about shadows and undeath, delivered by a clockwork carrier pidgeon. But there you are, standing before The Gilded Unicorn, an inn that while certainly not run down or broken, is a far cry from what the letter described as "one of the finest inns in town". A reputable place that in a metropolis like Absalom could have been much seedier, The Gilded Unicorn is an old building kept in good shape, with the afternoon drunkards stumbling out of it seeming on the classier end of the afternoon drunkard scale. Still, it doesn't do your hopes many favours, even if you're walking in regardless, holding onto the key that promised to be for a paid-for room.

The interior is the same as virtually every decently reputable inn/tavern combination in Golarion. Lots of wood that's tended to even if the shine has been taken off a little by repeated, endless use. Tables surrounded by chairs litter the spacious floor messily, like a handful of flowers strewn with little car for evenness so long as none were too close. A bannistered staircase that almost looks too nice for the establishment greets your right, leading upstairs, and right beside it as the bar.

There's sparse clientelle given the relatively early hour, leaving plenty of empty tables strewn across the spacious floor. Those who are there don't seem too sketchy or of ill repute; people staying at the inn enjoying lunch and the usual fare of tragic alcoholics drinking away their days. A matronly, plump dwarven woman whose smile hasn't been dashed by age tends the counter. A stage sits lavish and ready but without a performer. Occasionally, a grizzled, grey man whose scowl makes him look older than he is limped out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of stew or a plate of potatoes that the woman then calls for the orderer of as the cook walks right back to where he came from.

If this is all some grand setup or fraud, it's at least executed with a hint of subtlety.

If you have any last-minute questions or adjustments, make them now, because your character sheets will be finalized as of your first die roll.

To whom it may concern,

If you are willing to help, please make haste to The Gilded Unicorn in Absalom. It is one of the finest inns in the city, and within the envelope you will find the key to a room that has already been paid through the next month for. Lay low there and await further correspondence. Discretion is vital.

The Darkest Corners is a homebrew campaign of my own design. Life has interrupted my running it on this forum before, but in the past eight or so months since, I have been honing and tightening the focus on it, and I feel it's ready to go for another run. The idea is that your character is in one way or another an expert in the fields of the undead, demons/devils/daemons, or unknown and mysterious monsters. How exactly you roll with that idea is up to you, but it's vital that your character be on-theme for the idea, and in particular that they have at least one clear skill that would lead to them being sent the above letter. Some kind of an expert in something. You can decide what specifically it is, just have a reason to be recruited. "Caravan guard who once had to kill a vampire" isn't good enough.

Despite being the best at what you do, you'll still be facing difficult challenges, fighting powerful undead beings, secretive and deadly cults, mages who have mastered vile and forbidden forms of magic, and strange beasts who may not be undead but certainly fall deep into the category of "the unknown". I like to challenge my players, so for every encounter with a few street thugs in your way you're likely to face something out of your league that you'll eke out a win against by the skin of your teeth. Otherwise, where's the horror?

If it helps, here's kind of a general list of my influences when it comes to urban fantasy and the sorts of horror I'll be rolling in. Feel free to use them as a general idea of how to develop your character; homages and inspiration are never bad things for my derivative ass, though feel free to draw influence from outside of this list as well.

In terms of setting, the campaign will take place within Golarion, but there will be a few changes. Deities and locations will be intact just fine so that peoples' backstories and divine classes can flow as normal. Certain organizations may be different, and names of major nobility are out the window in favour of different ones, where convenient. While there's no year specified and it won't change too much on a mechanical level, I'd also like to note that on an aesthetic level, the setting will lean more toward a Victorian look and feel to it, since I feel personally it helps tonally with fantasy horror more than a normal medieval aesthetic does.

Structurally, the campaign will have a heavy investigative bent to it, with you having to solve mysteries while hunting down the monsters in question. While the word "hunting" is accurate in terms of there being a lot of combat to do, roleplay and puzzle-solving will be major elements as well, so characters built for out-of-combat purposes will have more than their fair chance to shine. The game will take place mostly in Absalom, but involve some travel to other cities on leads or clues, though generally you'll end up in other cities as a result. Due to the urban setting you will be doing very little dungeon crawling.

Character creation details:
-5th level, to reflect your character's previous experiences and competency in areas of expertise
-25 point buy
-Max HP per level
-10,500 starting gold, as per WBL
-Any non-evil alignment. Neutral clerics may not worship Evil-aligned deities.
-All classes allowed, including the Occult Adventures playtest material, but be aware of the downsides in using classes who don't have much feat or item support yet, and run the risk of being errata'd in the final product. All archetypes are allowed, except for Synthesist Summoner.
--The Commonplace Guns is in play to reflect the Victorian-ish element. All firearms are Martial Weapons, and early firearms and their ammunition cost 25% of the values listed values. "Modern Firearms" are not available.
--While by no means necessary, "on-topic" archetypes and class choices that deal with the game's subject matter interest me greatly, and can provide a lot of flavour and theme to a character.
--Common enemy types, for the purposes of class options like Favored Enemy, will include Undead, Humanoid (Human), and Outsider (Evil).
-All Core, Featured, and Uncommon races are allowed, save for Drow and Svirfneblin.
--Tieflings do not need the Fiendish Heritage feat to access their variants. Both Aasimar and Tiefling may choose as many aesthetic effects from the table as they wish to diversify their character instead of rolling, if they wish. From the variant abilities table, they may choose any ability that does not provide +2 to an ability score, though if they choose to roll for the ability and get one, they may take it.
-Two traits, with the option to gain a third by taking a drawback.
-All first party material is allowed. Third-party will be on a case-by-case basis, but must be available in some way for me to see. Psionics, Path of War, Godlings, and archetype packages are not allowed.
-A backstory, obviously, detailing your character, what they do, and why they do it. Please try to slip in some manner of plot hook that could potentially be explored over the course of the game, as well as a goal or two, if said plot hook doesn't necessarily tie into that end goal.
-A general rundown of what your character can offer to a party in terms of their abilities and focuses, as well as a rough plan for where you see them going down the line in terms of prestige classes or multiclassing.

I'm looking for people who can make one post per day and at least one on weekends. How long this thread stays open depends on sustained interest; if it peters out and everyone is finished their characters, I'll likely close earlier. But for the moment, let's say the deadline is Sunday. Final party will be 4-6 players, depending on balance and interest and other stuff.

Go for it. Gameplay thread is up. You can make any last-minute tweaks to your sheet up until your first die roll of the game.

The letters come as a surprise, their sad message of the demise of Professor Petros Lorrimor being plenty unexpected on its own, but the letters had more than that. Your presence is needed for his funeral, with notes left before his death insisting on your presence before he be buried, as well as your attendnce at the reading of his will--both of these events are to be put on hold without you, and the pressing urgency can hardly be ignored, even if it's a little peculir that you have a place in his will, given that you weren't quite close, lifelong friends. But who are you to ignore the final wishes of a dead man?

Ravengro is certainly not the smallest village, but its population of three hundred-odd certainly fit the stereotype of a paranoid Ustalavan village. Every set of eyes upon you as you arrive in the city seems untrusting, save for four others who appear foreign enough to also likely be outsiders. The five of you arrive very soon after one another, and are impatiently ushered toward the cemetary for the funeral service; the professor's body has been on ice for two and a half weeks in respect of his final wish no matter how inconvenient it is, and there is a desire to finish the job. Only one person seems thankul for your presence, a woman in her mid-twenties, with brown hair done up in a bun, wearing a conservative, dark red dress, introducing herself as Petros's daughter Kendra.

"Please forgive the urgency," she says as you gather at the entrance gate to The Restlands, a very finely made coffin sitting on the ground in wait. "It's not common in Ravengro to put off the services for this long, and there is some pressure on me to get it done now that you're here. When the funeral is over, you are welcome back to my home for a proper greeting and some much-deserved hospitality; I imagine your travels here have left you in need of that."

Only a small handful of villagers have joined you to pay their respects, many of them more than a little old themselves. Six handles line the coffin, three on each side, and there are few gathered who look to be in proper shape to carry it. Kendra looks uneasily at you, her expression apologetic. "I hate to ask anything physical of you given how fresh from the road you are, but could I trouble you for one more thing? We are in need of pall bearers."

As the alias name kind of implies, I like spooky undead shit, so I'd adore the opportunity to play Creepy Undead Shit: The Adventure Path. While I'd love to play it with my meatspace group, I feel like play-by-post lends itself more to the horror and roleplay of the matter than my riends will, so I turn to you, Paizo forums. I'd like to run a game of Carrion Crown that is heavy on the roleplay and soaks in all the horror and atmosphere, and am looking for a group who can help make that a reality.

Character Creation Guidelines:
-1st level
-20 point buy
-All official Paizo classes except for Gunslinger, and all archetypes except for Synthesist Summoner.
--Occult Adventures Playtest material is allowed, but know the risks of playing a class that may get heavily errata'd in July (we'll deal with it when we get there) and which currently has no equipment or feat support.
-All Core races, as well as Aasimar, Changeling, Dhampir, and Tiefling are allowed without question. Drow, Goblin, Hobgoblin, and Svirfneblin are banned. All other Featured and Uncommon races are allowed so long as you can make it work. As the player's guide states though, Ustalav is not a trusting or friendly place, so being visibly weird is not to your benefit.
-Two traits, one of which must come from the Carrion Crown Player's Guide. Your campaign trait is your connection to the Professor (read the guide in full to understand what's going on/expected of you), and thus should be worked into your backstory in some way.
-Average starting gold for your class
-No evil characters allowed
-Material from any official Paizo material is allowed.
-Third party material is banned.
-I am open to the refluffing or houseruling of matters, so feel free to ask.
-A backstory (preferably of several or more paragraphs), as well as a general idea of their personality, motivation, etc.
-A general rundown of your character, play-wise. What they can do is the meat of it, but if you're planning on multiclassing or prestige classing them, let me know that bit too. That way I have an idea of what we're getting into, balance-wise.

And a few notes about how I run games/DM stuff:
-I don't use maps. I prefer narrative combat, and especially in a horror game, it allows for more mood and atmosphere than moving pieces around a map.
-Unless you dump Strength, I'm pretty lax about carrying capacity, so don't fret too much about it.
-In addition to wanting some deep roleplay and real getting-into of the atmosphere, I intend to add small bits of side content where necessary. My love of monster myths and such mean there are a lot of goodies in various bestiaries that no game ever includes, and I'd like a chance to do so. If all you're looking to do is race to the end of the book, this is not the game for you.
-I'm looking for people who can make at least one post a day on weekdays, and once on the weekends. More is good, naturally, and I'm understanding about things. Life > RP.

Due to my adoration of the spooky shit going on, characters that have their own spooky shit going on are much adored. It's not necessary, but characters I can find plot hooks for and play on assorted fears of tend to be much more fun to run through, and getting into the spirit and gimmick of an AP is something I'm big on. Something to consider when kicking ideas around.

I'm not sure how big a party I'll be taking, but 4-6. As evidenced by the point buy, I'll be rebalancing and scaling up the encounters as needed to keep difficulty consistent, since walks through the park are kind of the antithesis of horror. Running Wrath of the Righteous for a bunch of optimizers has made me rather good at that. My recruitment will take party balance into account, but individual selections will be based largely on which characters take me the most. If you want to know how you can best make a character that interests me, see the above paragraph.

As the name kinda gives away, I'm really into creepy undead shit, and I'd love to sink my teeth into Carrion Crown. Online means a better opportunity to soak in the horror and roleplay things a little deeper, since the written word conveys horror much better than the spoken, I feel.

Unfortunately I've also been hit by the gestalt bug and, following the pausing of my superheroes game due to a vicious finals season that doesn't lend itself well to homebrewing adventures, I'm in need of a place to vent it. While I feel that I can play it such that the horror is intact (see below) I know the general consensus is that high powered games kinda remove all the real terror, so I'd like to see if my 'qualifications' are convincing enough, and that in general the interest is there before I make an undeletable thread that doesn't get enough interest due to eyerolling.

I'm currently running a meatspace Wrath of the Righteous table with six players, all of them rather good at optimizing, in a campaign already notorious for underestimating player power level and providing little challenge. Despite that, I've managed to get quite good at retooling even the random schlub encounters, to go from cakewalks where everyone goes into autopilot into tense tactical fights where people carefully think out their turns and hardly escape unscathed.

Due to that, I feel that I can mantain the gameplay horror aspect as well as the atmospheric one. Enemies with class levels will all be gestalt as well, and enemies without will be tweaked in some way, as well as encounter design in general. The added character versatility will be outweighed by the increase in difficulty to keep matters tense, especially when important enemies are given major overhauls to go beyond slapping some extra class features on there to become monsters in a much crunchier way.

But of course, if people feel that gestalt and roleplay-heavy horror don't click too well regardless, I'm fine with running the AP as written and non-gestalt. This is merely feeling things out for a couple days to see if I'm just way off base with general opinion. So, if you're interest in Carrion Crown, sound off and let me know which direction you'd rather so I can know where to go with the matter.

I'm looking to run some very derivative, very high-power superhero fun, and to give people who ponder the Pathfinder builds for fictional characters something to work with, using Golarion with a few key changes to adapt various important elements of the Marvel Universe over. I ran something very similar last spring before living situation issues forced me to stop down, but in bringing it back I'd like to tighten the focus away from "everything Marvel and DC" to purely Marvel, just to bring it all in.

To help achieve builds, we will be working with the gestalt rules. Even if we're going for high power and cheese, your enemies will not be pushovers, and of course the major threats you face will also be gestalt, for fairness. A pummelfest just wouldn't be fun, y'know?

Character Creation Guidelines:
-Any heroic character from Marvel comics, save for the following banned heroes, who I'm not allowing for reasons I will be vague about when asked:
--Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Hulk, Jean Grey, Nick Fury, Professor X, Red Hulk, The Punisher, pretty much any cosmic hero, and either heroic version of Venom (as tempting as recreating Venom: Circle of Four may be.)
-Gestalt. If you're not familiar with the rules, you can read them here.
-As is allowable by gestalt rules, you may substitute class levels on one side for an applicable template or to use a creature of CR 5 or lower.
-25 point buy
-Starting level is 5th
-Two traits
-Material from any applicable Paizo sourcebook is allowable.
-Third-party material is on a case-by-case basis. Anything that introduces entirely new subsystems, such as Path of War or Psionics, is disallowed. Beyond that, my biggest issue is being able to see it; if I have the book or it's on a site like D20PFSRD then I will be able to approve or deny it. If I can't, it's a flat "no".
-Any race under 20 RP.
--When I initially ran this, I allowed the use of a "race enhancer" system, to help people suit their build and concepts more tightly. Everybody gets ten additional race points for an extra point buy sort of thing. Using the rules for creating new races, you may modify your chosen race with the traits on the page, even without meeting the listed requirements.

You can also spend one point to "embed" a magical item inside of you. You still have to buy this item, but you will get the effect while no longer taking up a slot, and it cannot be removed, broken, or dispelled (although the plot monster may find some way to supress things if needed for drama's sake). Again, these have to be items that fit your character's canon powers. For instance, if you're making Martian Manhunter, you can embed a Hat of Disguise, allowing you to change shape and disguise yourself fluidly at will.

I'll allow allow custom abilities where needed, particularly for things not easily emulatable by anything else in the game.
-Everything can be refluffed. Everything. Want to run Thor as a cleric? He doesn't need to worship anything. Want to use the dwarf stats for him because of the bonus against giants? He doesn't have to be 5'0". I'm flexible as s!+# about this.
-10,500 starting wealth, as appropriate for 5th level characters.
-I'm flexible and willing to houserule a great deal of things to achieve the intended aim of a character, so feel free to ask about any changes or tweaks.
-Obviously, provide a background wherein you rewrite and refluff your character's origin story to fit the setting, replacing details like "science experiment" with magic and alchemy where required. I'll be taking background strength into consideration a great deal, actually; the ability to give a creative twist to fit the setting is a good asset that says good things about how you'll be playing the character. Along with the background, give me a rundown of their personality, in your mind.

On a note of morality and tone; killing is obviously more acceptable in this universe than it is in the universes of comic books. As a result, even characters notable for the golden rule will not be expecting to uphold it here, although making someone who has focus on nonlethal damage so that they don't have to just kill all the time is certainly a good way to go. However, I'm very much of the "superheroes are fun" camp. Complexity and conflict are good and can build deep characters, but endless brooding and angst are not. Broody necksnappiness is not something I'm keen on, and characters who just kill kill kill like The Punisher are also not really what I'm after. Look to the recent Marvel movies for the sort of thing I'm going for; superheroes are fun and good; Captain America isn't a dick, and at the end of the day the hero shows expression that aren't just scowls.

I will leave recruitment going for at least a week, since people not only have to make their characters, but also figure out how to. That means it might be open a couple days longer. As a giant f*&&ing nerd and with plenty of system knowledge I can certainly be of help in that department. Naturally, anyone who was in the original version of the game is welcome to return, though the DC folks will have to make different characters obviously. I don't know how big a party I'll take yet because obviously I don't even know how much interest there'll be, but when I do I'll be doing it based on a few factors, but how well they've redone the backstory is definitely one of them. Due to how well gestalt opens up different options, you can certainly try to apply with a character someone else has if you feel you have a different enough spin and build choice, but do know I won't be taking doubles.

Also I'm sorry about the Way of the Wicked thread; I did not mean to abandon it, my computer just kind of caught fire and I lost it, the monitor, the desk, and the router. 2014 has been kind of a disastrous year.

Too dangerous to live amongst the good people of Talingarde, they dragged you in chains before a magistrate and condemned you. They sent you to the worst prison in the land and there they forever marked you. They held you down and branded you with a runic F. You are forsaken. You won’t be at Branderscar Prison for long. Branderscar is only a holding pen. In three days – justice comes. In three days – everything ends.

No. No one has ever escaped from Branderscar Prison. This is where your story ends.

Way of the Wicked is an adventure path from Fire Mountain games where you play a group of evil characters, sentenced to death by the self-righteous and "noble", but you're given a chance to escape your fate and take up arms under a force serving the Prince of Hell, to fight back against the city that has wronged you, to burn it to cinders and reforge a new order from amidst the ashes of their glory.

I ran a PBP of this for a couple months over the spring, but some shitty life stuff got in the way and I had to step away from PBP for a while. I'd like to get back on this again, both due to my interest in seeing it play out, and as a counterpoint to the Wrath of the Righteous I'm running. Naturally, if anyone from my dead game is still kicking around they're welcome to reapply.

What is Talingarde?
Talingarde is the most virtuous, peaceful, noble nation in the world today. This land is ruled by King Markadian V called the Brave of House Darius. He has only one heir – the beautiful princess Bellinda. This benevolent monarchy is heavily intertwined with the hurch of Mitra, the Shining Lord.

You are from Talingarde. This is your home. You have lived here your entire life. And if they gave you half a chance, you would have your revenge on all of them.

Who is Mitra?
Mitra, the so-called Shining Lord, is the god of the sun, bravery, honor, justice, charity and other such pusillanimous rubbish. The Church of Mitra is the preeminent religion of Talingarde these days. The Knights of the Alerion, the elite warriors of Talingarde, are a Mitran order. The monks of St. Macarius, who travel the land healing the sick and the helping the needy, are also a Mitran order. The House of Darius, the royal family of Talingarde, are devout followers of Mitra. It wasn’t always this way. Before the Darians took over, Talingarde worshipped an entire pantheon of deities.

Preeminent among those deities was Asmodeus, Prince of Hell, Lord of Ambition and Order. Now it is forbidden to worship Asmodeus. To do so is to be condemned. The Mitrans destroyed all the Asmodean temples and burned his books and priests. There are no followers of Asmodeus anymore in Talingarde – at least none you know of. Devout Mitrans will not say the name Asmodeus. He is simply “The Fallen” or “The Enemy”.

How did they catch me?
You tell me. You must pick a crime (there is a list provided below) that you were condemned for. They are only two requirements – you got caught and you really did it. It’s not surprising that the Talireans (the people of Talingarde) caught you, though. Talingarde is a fiercely lawful and good society. Crime (especially heinous crime like yours) is not tolerated.

Character Creation Guidelines:
-Begin at level 1
-25 point buy
-All core races, as well as Catfolk, Dhampir, Fetchling, Orc, Tiefling, Kitsune, and Changeling.
-All classes except for Paladin allowed. All archetypes allowed.
--Antipaladins are changed to be Lawful Evil, and any chaos-related class abilities are changed to accomodate.
--Divine classes must be worshippers of Asmodeus. Your characters will be forced to swear fealty to Asmodeus fairly early on, which would in effect be turning on your deity if you worshipped anyone else.
-0 starting gold, and you begin with nothing.
--Classes with a familiar or animal companion will begin play without their animals. They may be presumed dead, or something can be worked out with me. We'll talk about it.
-Lawful Evil and Neutral Evil only. All alignment restrictions on classes other than Paladin will be waived due to these restrictions.
-The adventure as written does not include guns or Eastern weapons. Should someone really want to play a class that uses them, we'll talk about it. For now, gun tech level is set at nonexistant.
-2 traits, as well as a Crime Trait, listed below.
-Provide a written backstory explaining your character. This includes their life before capture, their personality, motivations, the details of their crime, and why they want to overthrow the forces of Good.
-A general plan for your character. Your eventual aim will be to overthrow the current order and instate your own authority, and everyone should have some idea of what part of that authority they would wish to be. Not everyone can be a ruler, but not everyone wants to be a ruler. A cleric may want to see every shrine in the city devoted to Mitra profaned and a grand monument to Asmodeus erected. A mage may wish to see forbidden knowledge and dark magic flourish. "Power" can mean a lot of things, and there much more creative and interesting goals in mind than being king.
-A run-down of your character, crunch-wise. Let me know what they bring to the party, where their focuses are, and if they'll be going into other classes over time.
--The book has a few suggestions for where to go, crunch-wise. While not necessary by any means, the book mentions the Assassin prestige class, Anti-Paladin, Sorcerers of the Infernal bloodline, a focus on devils for summoner characters, Alchemists, and Ncromancy specialists. Feel free to make characters that don't have these if you wish, it's not a requirement or something I'll be taking into account when making my choices. But if you were curious about what works or may have some goodies in store, it'd be these.
--The books also have steps that allow characters to eventually become vampires or liches. For vampirism in particular, it's a feat chain that can be started at first level to end at ninth. If you're interested in that, the information will be given and worked out. Lichdom is a much later-game, resource-oriented process, so no need for that right now.
-Material from any Paizo book where applicable (obviously nothing from Mythic) is acceptable.
-3rd party material will be on a case-by-case basis. Generally, my approval would be of feats, spells, archetypes, and classes; things that are specific to your character in use. Anything that is a full-fledged system and would have some sort of impact on others players (such as Path of War) is right out. No Psionics or Godlings.

The alignment restriction comes with good reason. Evil games can, in the wrong hands, very quickly devolve into sociopathic power fantasy. I've no interest in running a game of murderhobos, serial rapists, and brooding loners. Your characters are not to be sociopaths who stab first and ask questions never because they're too busy going off to find someone else to stab. I'm looking for principled villains with a goal, the foresight to see it through without doing idiotic things to ruin that goal, and motivation. The best villains are those who have a reason for it, and while not everyone needs some kind of tragic backstory, something as simple as "worships Asmodeus but has always had to do it in the shadows" is still infinitely more interesting than "because he likes killing people". You don't need to have a deep code of honour, but you do need to behave and work in a group. And most importantly, you have to be smart enough to follow orders. The last caveat comes from experience.

Recruitment will remain open for roughly a week. Maybe a little more because of how oddly positioned this is during the week, maybe a little less if the majority of applications come in on time. I'll be taking somewhere between 4-6 players, based on both party balance (so if you see four people already have Rangers, then maybe consider something else) and how much I like the applications.

Kenabres is not the most happy city in the world, but the approach of Armasse has brought up the spirits of a city that sits on the precipice of destruction. Tradtionally an opportunity for scholars and priests to come together and study the lessons of history from wars past, the holy day has in recent years become more about training commoners in weaponry, choosing squires, and ordaining priests. Jousting competitions, mock duels, battle reenactments, and other festival events provide the entire city with entertainment, and finds a glory in the dark history of the city and the Crusades that is rarely celebrated. Clerics give speeches and the songs on the tips of bards' tongues are of great heroes immortalized by time for their deeds at the edge of the worldwound.

You gather at Clydwell Plaza, just west of the city's massive cathedral, lucky enough to get good spots to observe the opening ceremonies at noon. Those of you who are lifelong citizens of the city know this to be the happiest time of year, and find a repreieve from the worries of your lives as you eagerly await the festivities to begin.

Dot or describe what you're doing.

Check in, discussify, coordinate any last-minute choices you may need to make. You have until your first die roll in the gameplay thread to make last-minute changes. Some minor rule thingies:
-I will roll initiative, and it'll be staggered. Anyone who moves before enemies will go. Then the enemies, who in most cases will share initiative. Then everyone can move. That way, turns have no excuse to go longer than 24 hours.
-If you'll be away from a computer or something, it's cool, life > RP, just let us know.
-Sometimes I will move forward after four or five people have posted, depending on what happens or how many characters actually have input to give.

Wrath of the Righteous is kind of everything I've wanted out of tabletop gaming ever. I ran two tables of it last spring on here, but real life issues got in the way early on in the summer and I found myself in pretty shitty living conditions. Said conditions are now significantly better and life is back on track, so I'd like to start a table of this again. (Obviously, any players from my old game who are still about are welcome to reapply.)

I'm currently running my meatspace group through the game, and while we're having fun with it, they're not a group that when put together really gets down to the roleplaying much; one member in particular won't even speak in-character. Problem is, I'm really fond of the NPCs in the game and would love a chance to do things with them. So, I would like to make this table a little more roleplay-heavy. Looking for people with well thought-out characters in mind, who wouldn't object to some heavy roleplay. Especially if you feel like getting into the business of redeeming NPCs, which is a big theme of the campaign that I would love to delve into. If your character deems somebody worthy of redemption and sponsors them, I'll expect you to see that redemption through and get into the roleplaying of helping somebody turn back to the light.

Wrath of the Righteous is the over the top, high power adventure path that belongs painted on the side of a panel van, and I'd rather like to play that to the hilt. I'm looking for the noble and heroic; orphans of war climbing their way out of the gutter to become legends, devout worshipers driven by belief that the divine has chosen them for a great task, skilled warriors in search of glory and the immortalization of their names in song. You're to play the destined heroes of light, so act like it. Brooding loners and the selfish anti-heroes have no place in how I'd like to run this campaign, sorry.

That's not to say you have to play the most uptight Lawful Good players imaginable. Darker methods and a desire to spill blood blood are by no means horrible and a sure way to rejection, but I'm seeking characters with good in their hearts and a willingness to do the right thing, rather than having to be coaxed into it by circumstance and the promise of some coin. There is a heavy theme of redemption runs through the campaign, so darker zealots who take no prisoners are perhaps not the wisest choice. There can definitely be dimension; a genuine redemption seeker looking to purge themselves of the horrible acts they've committed, or someone with a deeply personal stake in the crusades, in one way or another. Just, y'know, not "angry anti-hero maybe learns to love" as a long-term character goal. They should want to do good and have a reason to risk their lives against demons better than "for money".

Character creation details:
-20 point buy
-All classes except for Gunslinger, as well as all archetypes except Synthesist Summoner and the ones that give non-Gunslinger classes access to guns (such as Holy Gun)
--Divine spellcasters who get their powers from a specific deity
-All core races, as well as Aasimar and Tiefling. Less conventional races need a good reason for being in Kenabres.
--Divine spellcasters who get their powers from a specific deity (or anyone who takes the Touched by Divinity trait) must choose a Good-aligned deity. Iomedae, Desna, Torag, and Sarenrae are all strong choices, especially the latter given her affinity for redemption. That said, non-listed deities are just fine too. Those are just ones that fit better than others.
--Paladins may be of Neutral or Chaotic alignments so long as they are within one step of their deity.
--For Aasimar and Tiefling variant abilities, you may either roll for your ability, or pick one from the list. If you pick one yourself, you may not choose any of the +2 ability score entries. You may choose whatever and however many physical qualities as you'd like, given their lack of game impact. Fiendish Heritage is not a requirement for access variant Tieflings.
-All official Paizo material is on the table in terms of equipment, feats, spells, etc.
-Good-aligned characters only. You are the titular righteous and you should act like it.
-Max starting gold for your class
-Two traits
-No 3rd party material
-I tend to welcome houseruling and refluffing, so if there is something you'd like tweaked or reflavoured feel free to ask.
-Please provide a backstory, explaining your character's history, personality, and motivation, as well as a short rundown of your character's general gameplay roll, and any prestige classes you may be considering.

We'll be using narrative combat all the way, because handling maps in Play-by-Post is more trouble than I think is worth it. I don't track encumbrance, so as long as you're within reason I won't be tracking that, and you can run a low-Strength character stocked up with supplies just fine.

A somewhat vaguely spoilery note for people who've been through the first leg of book one about some changes I'll be making:

I'll be taking six characters, one from each Mythic Path, so we can get a varied group that has the full range of Mythic toys to play with. Despite grouping players by path, I will still be taking party balance into consideration in terms of roles being filled, though six players will give some definite leeway in that regard. The fact I have a meatspace table already one session into the second book means a lot of my rebalancing for six players is already in place and ready to go. I seek people capable of making at least one post per weekday, and one on weekends. Backstory is the strongest factor for me since, like I said, looking for people who'll roleplay, so writing a strong character is a must.

It's Monday morning, so let's say recruitment is tentatively open until Sunday evening, EST. Gives plenty of time for people to get their characters done, and for me to answer any questions people have.

I'm running two Wrath of the Righteous game, and between them I've lost players due to activity issues. As a result, I'm looking for replacements, as rebalancing the game for two six-player parties is a much easier and more consistent way of proceeding and I'd rather keep the number there so each group can have one player of each path.

Both groups are still on the first leg of the adventure. If you're familiar with the AP, click below to see.

The way I've recruited these games is built on both a balanced six-player party, and by taking one character from each of the Mythic paths. I'll be continuing that here.

Group one has:
Alexander Grayson, Human Wizard and future Archmage
Asmodea Jegarre, Human Paladin (tied to the Hellknight Order of the Godclaw and all of its associated deities) and future Champion
Sergeant Jackram Hughes, Human Ranger and future Guardian
Kyra Altreas, Aasimar (Angel-Blooded) Oracle of Iomedae and future Hierophant
Iolana Torilinni, Human Bard and future Trickster.

We're in need of a Marshal.

Group two has:
Aleister Sune, Tiefling Wizard (Conjurer, Teleportation Subschool) and future Archmage
Aeryx, Aasimar (Garuda-Blooded) Ranger (Infiltrator) and future Champion
Menedemus Aultor, Tiefling (Shackle-Born) Paladin (Hospitaler) of ???? (plot stuff) and future Guardian
Steave Rojerz (yes, a Captain Andoran), Half-Elf Ranger and future Marshal.
Leander Mulberry, Tiefling Rogue and future Trickster

We're losing our Hierophant.

Obviously, I'm recruiting not only by role but to lend balance to the party, so obviously group two needs a divine caster. Marshal is a much more vague, doable-by-many archetype, so the restrictions aren't too steep on that.

Character creation guidelines:
-20 point buy
-Everyone is still at level 1
-Three traits, including one from the Advanced Player's Guide. Because these tie to your Mythic Path, you have to
-Material from all official Paizo books is allowed, including the ACG playtest, and whatever obscure Player Companion book you feel like digging up.
-Third-party material is on a case-by-case basis; ask and I'll confirm or deny. Psionics are right out.
-Good-aligned characters only.
-All core races, as well as Aasimar and Tiefling, are accepted, no questions asked. Any other Featured or Uncommon race outside of that may need some explanation, but is certainly doable. Svirfneblin and Drow are off the table, as are Monstrous and custom races.
--For alternate heritages for Aasimar and Tiefling, you don't need to take the feat at creation to allow you to do so, you may just go for it. Also, you may select any of the alternate SLA table entries except for the +2 Mental stat ones without rolling, as well as picking out any aesthetic changes you feel like fit your character.
-All classes except for Antipaladin. Gunslingers are a maybe (see below). No Synthesist Summoners.
--Flavourful archetypes that fit the game are adored.
--Since the only role that really works for divine classes is Touched by Divinity, you must choose a Good-aligned deity, and can't play someone who worships a concept. Iomedae, Desna, Torag, and Sarenrae are all strong choices, especially the latter given her affinity for redemption.
-Max starting gold for your class.
-Gun tech level is an uncertainty. I don't know where to place it yet, since I can't tell if guns sort of ruins the idea I'm going for or not. That said, if you're looking to play a Holy Gun, don't; just lobby for Commonplace Guns so they count as Martial weapons under that rule and your normal Paladin can shoot things without having to be a failure of an archetype. I note this only in case guns are of interest to somebody; if nobody wants them, then we won't use them, as I don't believe the adventure has much of them at all.
-Backstory is a must. This shouldn't even go without saying.
-A short rundown of your character's rolls, both in and out of combat. If you'll be dipping or going into Prestige Classes, that's also good to share.
-If you have an already built character for the campaign from a previous game/application thread, but which runs off of different creation specifications, don't fret too much about changing it; if you get accepted, it's not too hard to redo point buy or tack on some extra equipment.
-I'm fine with houseruling things I seen reasonable, but I'm not keen on creating homebrew clusterf&$~s.

As for my general handling of certain rules/DMing style:
-No maps. I much prefer being cinematic with things than letting it all get bogged down, and I'll accomodate for that by explaining situations in enough detail that you can fill the map out in your heads just fine.
-Unless you're carrying a large, cumbersome object, or going way off the reservation, I don't track encumbrance, so don't worry too much about being two points over your Light Load because you wanted to get that extra bundle of arrows. Equip yourselves as well as you'd like; it's fine by me. I'm much more a stickler for "do you have sacks and stuff to carry things in". I won't penalize your low Strength Rogue for wanting to stock up on alchemical items.
-We'll work off of staggered initiative. Everyone rolls, and enemies usually on the same Init. Everyone in the party higher than the enemy moves, then the enemy, then everyone is free to post their move out of turn. This helps keep things flowing and allows to get through at least a round of combat a day, instead of having everyone wait, in which case it might take a few due to time zones and availability.
-I'm very, very open to house ruling certain things, so it's worth asking me if you'd like something to be tweaked or changed. The worst I can do is refuse.
-To keep pace, I usually advance the scene when only five people have posted if the sixth is lagging behind, unless their input is highly important, just to keep the game running. Spoilers allow for retroactive roleplaying just fine.

I'm looking for people who can generally maintain a rate of a post a day and one on the weekend. More is nice. I'm forgiving for when life gets in the way, but consistently missing days or going several combat rounds is not as readily acceptable.

I'll keep recruitment open for a few days. Maybe through the week. Depends on how things go. I'll be consulting the remaining members of the parties before making any final decisions at any rate, so recruitment will likely close maybe a day or two before selections.

Placeholder as f!!&.

Now open. We've got a few days before we start (although gameplay is live so you can dot it). If you have any last minute revisions, now's the time, otherwise just mingle a little. We're waiting on meatspace friend Fantomex player, but in the meantime you can figure out any backstory links if that seems like a good idea for your character, stuff like that.

There are some people who rise above titles like 'adventurer' or 'guardsman' to become something much greater than the common cut of folks who usually populate those fields. The potential for glory and deeds that bards will stumble over themselves to tell. They become heroes.

I'm looking to run some very derivative, very high power superhero fun, and to give all those people who ponder the Pathfinder builds for fictional characters something to work with. I'd like to run a superhero campaign set in the official Pathfinder world (with minor tweaks where needed), featuring versions of famous superheroes in all but name adapted into the setting. As noted below, this will be achieved through playing with gestalt rules, which will allow for high powered builds that let you get all the powers of a character that you need without multiclass dipping into uselessness. Obviously the game can't 100% emulate the power of someone like, say, Thor, at this level, but you can definitely get a facsimilie of it, and have fun roleplaying as that character nonetheless.

Also, while this looks like a high-power cheesefest, know that I'm not going to be throwing you up against threats for a normal CR 8 party. Your enemies will be strong too, and important villains will also be gestalt. This won't be a pummelfest because that's just not fun.

Character Creation Guidelines:
-Any character from Marvel or DC comics, save for the following banned heroes, are allowed, no matter how obscure they are.
The following are not allowed because they are planned as either a major NPC, or some other reason I'll be vague about. I may disallow others as they arise:
--Banned DC heroes: any of the New Gods, Booster Gold, Brainiac 5, Flex Mentallo, Superman, Swamp Thing
--Banned Marvel heroes: Doctor Strange, Hulk, Jean Grey, Nick Fury, Professor X, Reed Richards, The Punisher, Silver Surfer, and either heroic version of Venom (as tempting as it is to just build a party to run a campaign that is literally just Venom: Circle of Four)
-Gestalt. If you're not familiar with the rules, you can read them here.
-25 point buy
-Starting level is 8th
-Two traits
-Material from any official Paizo sourcebook is allowable, save for Mythic Adventures and Mythic Origins. Psionics have already been approved.
-Third party material is on a case-by-case basis. The biggest issue is my being able to see it; if I have the book or it's freely available on a site like D20PFSRD then I will be able to approve or deny it. If I can't, then it's a flat "no".
-Any race under 20 RP.
-Everything is allowed to be refluffed. Everything. Want to run Thor as a cleric? He doesn't need to worship anything. Want to use the dwarf stats for him because of the bonus against giants? He doesn't have to be 5'0". I'm flexible as shit about this.
-33,000 GP, as is appropriate for your level.
-You may take item creation feats and begin play with items crafted for yourself if you can succeed on a Take 10 roll.
-We're using a "race enhanancer" feature that I made up to get everyone's powersets to where they ought to be. Everybody gets ten additional race points for an extra point buy. You can't use these to just amass powers you like; they have to be things your hero actually uses. You can use these points to buy any of the traits, without meeting requirements, listed on this page.

You can also spend one point to "embed" a magical item inside of you. You still have to buy this item, but you will get the effect while no longer taking up a slot, and it cannot be removed, broken, or dispelled (although the plot monster may find some way to supress things if needed for drama's sake). Again, these have to be items that fit your character's canon powers. For instance, if you're making Martian Manhunter, you can embed a Hat of Disguise, allowing you to change shape and disguise yourself fluidly at will.

I'll allow allow custom abilities where needed, particularly for things not easily emulatable by anything else in the game.
-I'm flexible and willing to houserule a great deal of things to achieve the intended aim of a character, so feel free to ask about any changes or tweaks.
-Obviously, provide a background wherein you rewrite and refluff your character's origin story to fit the setting, replacing details like "science experiment" with magic and alchemy where required.

On a note of morality and tone; killing is obviously more acceptable in this universe than it is in the universes of comic books. As a result, even characters notable for the golden rule will not be expecting to uphold it here, although making someone who has focus on nonlethal damage so that they don't have to just kill all the time is certainly a good way to go. However, I'm very much of the "superheroes are fun" camp. Complexity and conflict are good and can build deep characters, but endless brooding and angst are not. Broody necksnappiness is not something I'm keen on, and characters who just kill kill kill like The Punisher are also not really what I'm after. Look to the recent Marvel movies for the sort of thing I'm going for; superheroes are fun and good; Captain America isn't a dick, and at the end of the day the hero shows expression that aren't just scowls.

The interest check thread ran for almost a week, and can be found here. A lot of people already have their builds fleshed out/mostly completed. Others just have vague ideas. I also have two meatspace friends interested who are in (one wants to run Gambit, the other is considering Fantomex last I asked), whom I can vouch for as solid players from my real life table. I don't know how party selection is going to go beyond that. I might make two parties, might just make one that's large. It depends on how many I really like and how things go.

Just because someone has an idea for a hero doesn't mean you can't try your own, different build and distinct take on it. Granted, I'll won't take more than one Captain Andoran (if I do), but feel free to try. And also to ask me for advice, because I am a giant f#~#ing comics nerd and retain a lot of system information, and am glad to help piece together how to recreate things properly, as are some of the other people who've been interested, by the looks of it.Recruitment will probably run through next weekend, to give people time to work out their concepts and build them. Gestalt is a pretty daunting thing to work with.

I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in a game wherein you'd play famous superheroes built and tweaked story-wise to fit into the world of Golarion. So, Hulk would maybe be an alchemist for whom things went terribly wrong, Batman's utility belt might be a Bag of Holding-esque item with considerably lower-tech gadgets, Thor might be (mechanically, at least) an Aasimar banished to the mortal world... Those sorts of things. They don't need to be perfect 1-1 representations of their powers, just true to the concept. Characters from both Marvel and DC would be doable, even dipping into the more obscure ones.

To achieve these builds without so much multiclassing that you'd be effectively useless, we'd be running gestalt. That way, you can dedicate one branch to getting all the stuff you need, and one to just leveling straight so you don't completely fall off. Round it out with 25 point buy, and you'd have some really strong characters worthy of the idea of a superhero. Of course, to compensate for how strong you are, you'll be fighting formidable threats in return, and naturally your arch nemesis will benefit from also being gestalt.

I'd be allowing third party material on a case-by-case basis and heavy houseruling to help things get closer to what they need to be. For starting level, I'm torn. I know at least 5 will let people start getting into their builds a little more, but it could start anywhere between 5-10 depending on where interest lies most.

For tone, I'm definitely of the "superheroes should be fun" camp. Complexity and conflict make good characters, but excessive brooding and angst to drag people down into lifeless husks or sociopaths is overplayed and kind of boring, frankly. The setting is much more lax on killing so you won't have to adhere to the golden rule (though characters who do and are built for nonlethal damage and disabling are certainly okay), let's not get into Punisher territory. More Marvel movieverse fun, less current DC movie broody necksnappiness.

So, I'm looking to see if there is sufficient interest in this to move forward on a recruitment thread. I'll field questions and suggestions through the thread, and we'll see where this goes.

Due to personal differences, my only recently begun Way of the Wicked game is short a cleric, and I'm now in need of a replacement. The party is most of the way through the very first adventure, and it's more of a prologue than anything. Campaign spoilers below.

Way of the Wicked is an adventure path from Fire Mountain games where you play a group of evil characters seeking to overthrow the righteous and good city of Talingarde, who worship the god Mitra. The general setup is that the party is a group of convicts who escape from a prison nobody has ever escaped from before to avoid execution and be drafted into a war, but your character will not be one of the branded prisoners. Instead, you'll be someone who's already devoted to the cause and joins the party to aid them.

Character creation details:
-25 point buy
-All races, but the more peculiar they are, the iffier it gets. There will be infiltration in the game that the particularly bizarre races will have a great deal of trouble with. Races that are able to disguise themselves or pass as closely to human as possible, such as Kitsune, are easier to jsutify, but goblins are unlikely to be accepted.
-Only Lawful Neutral, True Neutral, Lawful Evil, and Neutral Evil are allowed. Chaotic Evil is banned.
-I'm looking only for a full divine caster for the party. Clerics and Oracles are obviously the best bets for this, but if you can spin a Druid to be properly motivated, that is also okay.
-I very, very highly reccomend your character worships Asmodeus, because your boss is a high priest of Asmodeus and obviously that's very helpful. That said, if you can explain your way into the cleric of another god, it might work. Maybe.
-You begin at second level. Average WBL.
-You get an additional two skill points per level, reflecting that villains are usually better than heroes.
-3 traits, because your character was not an inmate of Branderscar prison.
-Provide a backstory, obviously. Show me some background and motivations, since your character has to actively want to overthrow the city, instead of being a desperate person recruited into the war.
-A general plan for your character. Your eventual aim will be to overthrow the current order and instate your own authority, and your character should have some idea as to what they want to be in this new order.
-Material from literally any applicable Paizo book is accepted. Any official splatbook is allowable if you've a trait or magic item in there you're after.
-3rd party material is on a case-by-case basis. The biggest issue is me being able to see it; if I have the book or if it's on a site somewhere like d20pfsrd then I can give my judgement on it, but if I can't, then I'm likely to just dismiss it.
-If you're considering a prestige class of some sort, that'd also be neat to know.

The party right now consists of an Antipaladin and Inquisitor of Asmodeus, a Wizard, a Summoner, and a class clusterf&~@ currently in Monk and likely to veer elsehwere as time goes on. Which is why I'm only accepted divine casters; we have our other bases covered.

Evil games can, in the wrong hands, very quickly devolve into sociopathic power fantasy. I've no interest in running a game of murderhobos, serial rapists, and brooding loners. Your character is not to be a sociopath who stabs first and asks questions never because they're too busy going off to find someone else to stab. I'm looking for principled villains with a goal, the foresight to see it through without doing idiotic things to ruin that goal, and motivation. The best villains are those who have a reason for it, and while not everyone needs some kind of tragic backstory, something as simple as "worships Asmodeus but has always had to do it in the shadows" is still infinitely more interesting than "because he likes killing people". You don't need to have a deep code of honour, but you do need to behave and work in a group.

Also a big note is that working in a group is huge. I'm looking for someone who plays Pathfinder as cooperative game so that the party can pull themselves up from nothing to become great villains. Cooperation, communication, and working together are huge. Backstabbing, lying, withholding information, and stealing from the party are huge "don't"s for me.

Looking for people who can at least make one post a day on weekdays and one post on the weekends. More is a plus. Recruitment will only be open for a few days, depending on either when applications dry up, or when the group is close to where the chosen character will come in.

Kenabres is not the most happy city in the world, but the approach of Armasse has brought up the spirits of a city that sits on the precipice of destruction. Tradtionally an opportunity for scholars and priests to come together and study the lessons of history from wars past, the holy day has in recent years become more about training commoners in weaponry, choosing squires, and ordaining priests. Jousting competitions, mock duels, battle reenactments, and other festival events provide the entire city with entertainment, and finds a glory in the dark history of the city and the Crusades that is rarely celebrated. Clerics give speeches and the songs on the tips of bards' tongues are of great heroes immortalized by time for their deeds at the edge of the worldwound.

You gather at Clydwell Plaza, just west of the city's massive cathedral, lucky enough to get good spots to observe the opening ceremonies at noon. Those of you who are lifelong citizens of the city know this to be the happiest time of year, and find a repreieve from the worries of your lives as you eagerly await the festivities to begin.

Either dot or just describe what your character is doing.

Kenabres is not the most happy city in the world, but the approach of Armasse has brought up the spirits of a city that sits on the precipice of destruction. Tradtionally an opportunity for scholars and priests to come together and study the lessons of history from wars past, the holy day has in recent years become more about training commoners in weaponry, choosing squires, and ordaining priests. Jousting competitions, mock duels, battle reenactments, and other festival events provide the entire city with entertainment, and finds a glory in the dark history of the city and the Crusades that is rarely celebrated. Clerics give speeches and the songs on the tips of bards' tongues are of great heroes immortalized by time for their deeds at the edge of the worldwound.

You gather at Clydwell Plaza, just west of the city's massive cathedral, lucky enough to get good spots to observe the opening ceremonies at noon. Those of you who are lifelong citizens of the city know this to be the happiest time of year, and find a repreieve from the worries of your lives as you eagerly await the festivities to begin.

Either describe what your character is doing, or leave a dot so it's in your campaigns tab and post later.

The party is as follows:

Archmage: Aleister Sune, Tiefling Wizard (Conjurer, Teleportation Subschool)
Champion:Aeryx, Aasimar Ranger (Infiltrator)
Guardian: Menedemus Aultor, Tiefling Paladin of "???"
Hierophant: Lisandra Elsinore, Human Cleric of Desna (Crusader)
Marshal: Steave Rojerz, Half-Elf Ranger
Trickster: Leander Mulberry, Tiefling Rogue

Gameplay will likely to live tomorrow. If you have any questions or seek house rules, now would be the time to ask.

Not open for recruitment, the group has already been decided. The following are to report to the discussion thread:

Aleister Sune
Aeryx
Menedemus Aultor
Lisandra Elsinore
Steave Rojerz
Leander Mulberry, Tiefling Rogue

The party:
Archmage: Alexander Grayson, Human Wizard
Champion: Amanda Mayweather. Tiefling Bloodrager
Guardian: Sergeant Jackram Hughes, Human Ranger
Hierophant: Kyra Altreas, Aasimar Oracle
Marshal: Asmodea Jegarre, Human Paladin
Trickster: Iolana Torilinni, Human Bard

We'll get gameplay rolling probably tomorrow night, so for now, just check in, and if you have any questions, house rule requests, etc. then now would be the time to ask.

With end-of-semester hell being so much less than I thought it would be, running three PBPs on here feels sort of casual (I'm sort of a junkie), so I'm looking for a fourth, and I've been trying to force this AP onto my real life group for months to no avail, so online it goes.

Wrath of the Righteous is the over the top, high power adventure path that belongs painted on the side of a panel van, and I'd rather like to play that to the hilt. I'm looking for the noble and heroic; orphans of war climbing their way out of the gutter to become legends, devout worshipers driven by belief that the divine has chosen them for a great task, skilled warriors in search of glory and the immortalization of their names in song. You're to play the destined heroes of light, so act like it. Brooding loners and the selfish anti-heroes have no place in how I'd like to run this campaign, sorry.

That's not to say you have to play the most uptight Lawful Good players imaginable. Darker methods and a desire to spill blood blood are by no means horrible and a sure way to rejection, but I'm seeking characters with good in their hearts and a willingness to do the right thing, rather than having to be coaxed into it by circumstance and the promise of some coin. There is a heavy theme of redemption runs through the campaign, so darker zealots who take no prisoners are perhaps not the wisest choice. There can definitely be dimension; a genuine redemption seeker looking to purge themselves of the horrible acts they've committed, or someone with a deeply personal stake in the crusades, in one way or another. Just, y'know, not "angry anti-hero maybe learns to love" as a long-term character goal. They should want to do good and have a reason to risk their lives against demons better than "for money".

Character Creation:
-20 Point Buy
-Material from all official Paizo books is allowed, including the Advanced Class Guide playtest, and of course whatever obscure Pathfinder Player Companion you feel like digging up.
-Three traits, one of which must be from the free player's guide. Choose wisely, as the bonus comes in distant second to the fact that your Mythic Path will be based on this trait. For the other two traits, they may be reflavoured as you wish. No drawbacks for a fourth trait.
-Good-aligned characters only.
-All core races accepted without question. Aasimar and Tiefling are accepted, no questions asked. Svirfneblin and Drow aren't allowed. Any other Featured or Uncommon race outside of that may need some explanation, but is certainly possible; just run it by me first. Monstrous and custom races are a flat no.
-All classes except obviously for Antipaladin. Gunslinger is a maybe; see below. All archetypes except for Synthesist.
--Flavourful archetypes that fit the theme of the game are adored.
--Divine spellcasters who get their powers from a specific deity (or anyone who takes the Touched by Divinity trait) must choose a Good-aligned deity. Iomeda, Desna, Torag, and Sarenrae are all strong choices, especially the latter given her affinity for redemption. That said, non-listed deities are just fine too. Those are just ones that fit better than others.
-Max starting gold for your class.
-3rd party stuff is on a case-by-case basis; if I have access to the thing in question I can confirm or deny it, but if I can't see it, then it's pretty much a guaranteed no.
--Psionics are right out.
-While I like to be fine about houseruling things, I'm not too keen on creating homebrew clusterf+@*s of features, so let's try to keep things mostly by the book.
-Gun tech level is an uncertainty. I don't know where to place it yet, since I can't tell if guns sort of ruins the idea I'm going for or not. That said, if you're looking to play a Holy Gun, don't; just lobby for Commonplace Guns so they count as Martial weapons under that rule and your normal Paladin can shoot things without having to be a failure of an archetype. I note this only in case guns are of interest to somebody; if nobody wants them, then we won't use them, as I don't believe the adventure has much of them at all.
-Obviously, backstory is a must. Explainign your character's personality and/or motivations are sweet boni that will totally make you look better in my eyes, and I may reward good backstory telling with a bonus trait of my own design.
-A short rundown of what your character's role is, and where you expect the build to go to in a general sense. If you're going to be dealing out tons of melee damage, be party face, a switch-hitter, heal, use utility spells... That sort of thing. If you intend to go into any prestige classes, that would also be neat to know.
-If you have an already built character for the campaign from a previous game/application thread, but which runs off of different creation specifications, don't fret too much about changing it; if you get accepted, it's not too hard to redo point buy or tack on some extra equipment.

As for my general handling of certain rules/style of running the game:
-No maps. I much prefer being cinematic with things than letting it all get bogged down, and I'll accomodate for that by explaining situations in enough detail that you can fill the map out in your heads just fine.
-Unless you're carrying a large, cumbersome object, or going way off the reservation, I don't track encumbrance, so don't worry too much about being two points over your Light Load because you wanted to get that extra bundle of arrows. Equip yourselves as well as you'd like; it's fine by me. I'm much more a stickler for "do you have sacks and stuff to carry things in". I won't penalize your low Strength Rogue for wanting to stock up on alchemical items.
-We'll work off of staggered initiative. Everyone rolls, and enemies usually on the same Init. Everyone in the party higher than the enemy moves, then the enemy, then everyone is free to post their move out of turn. This helps keep things flowing and allows to get through at least a round of combat a day, instead of having everyone wait, in which case it might take a few due to time zones and availability.
-I'm very, very open to house ruling certain things, so it's worth asking me if you'd like something to be tweaked or changed. The worst I can do is refuse.
-To keep pace, I usually advance the scene when only five people have posted if the sixth is lagging behind, unless their input is highly important, just to keep the game running. Spoilers allow for retroactive roleplaying just fine.

I'm probably looking for six characters; one for each Mythic Path, so that there's a chance for all of them to get toyed with and played in a party. Between the player count and the higher point buy, I'll be adjusting difficulty as the game goes on to accommodate for the easier time, complicating encounters or beefing them up to have 150% as many enemies (or more, if you prove too effective for your own good). I love high power games, but that doesn't mean it should be a breeze.

Looking for people who can generally maintain a rate of a post a day on weekdays. I'm forgiving for when life gets in the way and won't be too mad at someone for missing a day here and there, especially when given some warning. Weekend play is also much desired, but I understand that's not the easiest thing to do, but trying to get one post done each weekend is a plus.

I'll keep recruitment open for a week and a day; you'll probably have until Thursday evening to finish your application (or at least backstory, as that's what I'm judging based on more than just how you allocate your point buy). I'll be picking based on character, party balance, and taking one person of each Path, so obviously if you see one path is crammed while another has almost no competition, you may want to consider taking the easier shot at getting in.

I'll be around until then, answering questions and trying to give feedback/vague gestures of approval to applications.

Placeholder.

Okay guys settle in, finalize any build matters you have, talk out any matters like item crafting you feel need doing, and in a day or two we'll get gameplay rolling.

Too dangerous to live amongst the good people of Talingarde, they dragged you in chains before a magistrate and condemned you. They sent you to the worst prison in the land and there they forever marked you. They held you down and branded you with a runic F. You are forsaken. You won’t be at Branderscar Prison for long. Branderscar is only a holding pen. In three days – justice comes. In three days – everything ends.

No. No one has ever escaped from Branderscar Prison. This is where your story ends.

Way of the Wicked is an adventure path from Fire Mountain games where you play a group of evil characters, sentenced to death by the self-righteous and "noble", but you're given a chance to escape your fate and take up arms under a force serving the Prince of Hell, to fight back against the city that has wronged you, to burn it to cinders and reforge a new order from amidst the ashes of their glory.

What is Talingarde?
Talingarde is the most virtuous, peaceful, noble nation in the world today. This land is ruled by King Markadian V called the Brave of House Darius. He has only one heir – the beautiful princess Bellinda. This benevolent monarchy is heavily intertwined with the hurch of Mitra, the Shining Lord.

You are from Talingarde. This is your home. You have lived here your entire life. And if they gave you half a chance, you would have your revenge on all of them.

Who is Mitra?
Mitra, the so-called Shining Lord, is the god of the sun, bravery, honor, justice, charity and other such pusillanimous rubbish. The Church of Mitra is the preeminent religion of Talingarde these days. The Knights of the Alerion, the elite warriors of Talingarde, are a Mitran order. The monks of St. Macarius, who travel the land healing the sick and the helping the needy, are also a Mitran order. The House of Darius, the royal family of Talingarde, are devout followers of Mitra. It wasn’t always this way. Before the Darians took over, Talingarde worshipped an entire pantheon of deities.

Preeminent among those deities was Asmodeus, Prince of Hell, Lord of Ambition and Order. Now it is forbidden to worship Asmodeus. To do so is to be condemned. The Mitrans destroyed all the Asmodean temples and burned his books and priests. There are no followers of Asmodeus anymore in Talingarde – at least none you know of. Devout Mitrans will not say the name Asmodeus. He is simply “The Fallen” or “The Enemy”.

How did they catch me?
You tell us. You must pick a crime (there is a list provided below) that you were condemned for. They are only two requirements – you got caught and you really did it. It’s not surprising that the Talireans (the people of Talingarde) caught you, though. Talingarde is a fiercely lawful and good society. Crime (especially heinous crime like yours) is not tolerated.

Character creation details:
-25 Point Buy
-All races, but the more peculiar they are, the iffier it gets. All core races are acceptable without issue, but others will be on a case-by-case basis. There will be infiltration in the game that the particularly bizarre races will have a great deal of trouble with. Races that are able to disguise themselves or pass as closely to human as possible, such as Kitsune, are easier to justify, but goblins are unlikely to be accepted.
-Only Lawful Neutral, True Neutral, Lawful Evil, and Neutral Evil allowed. See below for why.
-All classes except for Paladin, which will of course be replaced by Antipaladin. All alignment restrictions on classes will be waived, allowing for all non-Paladin classes to be taken, due to the restrictions in place.
--Any alignment-specific features, such as an Anti-Paladin making their weapon Anarchic through Fiendish Boon, will be house ruled and shifted as needed.
--While not required, it's advised that divine classes play the worshippers of Asmodeus. Neutral characters are forbidden from worshipping good-aligned Gods.
--The adventure as written does not include guns. Should someone be very heavily interested in playing a Gunslinger, we will talk about establishing gun rules and revising it somehow, but until that comes up I won't make any changes.
-You begin with nothing. Classes that require a spellbook begin play with the spells they knew prior to incerceration memorized. Alchemists begin play with none of their extracts. Bonded objects and spell components are gone. Animal companions, familiars, and mounts are presumed captured or having had escaped, and have to be reunited with once you have escaped prison.
-2 traits, as well as a Crime (as listed below). Traits can be tweaked and refluffed as needed.
-Provide a written backstory explaining your character. This includes their life before capture, their personality, motivations, the details of their crime, and why they want to overthrow the forces of Good.
-A general plan for your character. Your eventual aim will be to overthrow the current order and instate your own authority, and everyone should have some idea of what part of that authority they would wish to be. Not everyone can be a ruler, but not everyone wants to be a ruler. A cleric may want to see every shrine in the city devoted to Mitra profaned and a grand monument to Asmodeus erected. A mage may wish to see forbidden knowledge and dark magic flourish. "Power" can mean a lot of things, and there much more creative and interesting goals in mind than being king.
-Material from any Paizo book where applicable (obviously nothing from Mythic) is acceptable.
-3rd party material will be on a case-by-case basis.
-If you intend to eventually endeavor into a prestige class such as Assassin, also note that.

The alignment restriction comes with good reason. Evil games can, in the wrong hands, very quickly devolve into sociopathic power fantasy. I've no interest in running a game of murderhobos, serial rapists, and brooding loners. Your characters are not to be sociopaths who stab first and ask questions never because they're too busy going off to find someone else to stab. I'm looking for principled villains with a goal, the foresight to see it through without doing idiotic things to ruin that goal, and motivation. The best villains are those who have a reason for it, and while not everyone needs some kind of tragic backstory, something as simple as "worships Asmodeus but has always had to do it in the shadows" is still infinitely more interesting than "because he likes killing people". You don't need to have a deep code of honour, but you do need to behave and work in a group.

Recruitment will remain open for roughly a week. Maybe a little more because of how oddly positioned this is during the week, maybe a little less if the majority of applications come in on time. I'll be taking somewhere between 4-6 players, based on both party balance (so if you see four people already have Rangers, then maybe consider something else) and how much I like the applications.

Placeholder as f+&*.

Opening the thread. Details and shit to come tomorrow afternoon. For now though, leave a dot, if you have any proposed houserulings on things or other questions, leave those too.

"It used to be that saying you saw a vampire would have you laughed at. That's the speak of superstitous, inbred folk of Ustalav; the kind who burn down their neighbor's house in the middle of the night screaming about cultists. Korvosa has changed though, and you'll no longer find people laughing at the villagers who, for their zeal, are at least active in defending themselves.

"We're too big to work like Lepistadt, and too corrupt to be trusted with that sort of self-policing. So much of our town guard is not prepared to handle these threats, and that is where we've need for you. You haven't lived in doubt like others have, and you've armed yourselves against these threats well before they made themselves known. You know what we're up against, and are the best people for the job of defeating them. This city needs you to protect it, and if you can't, then it will surely fall."

The Darkest Corners is a campaign drawing very heavy influences from the Urban Fantasy genre. Books like The Dresden Files and Iron Druid, shows like Supernatural or Sleepy Hollow, or comics like Hellboy and Hellblazer. Lots of hell involved. The usual adventuring party might run into the occasional vampire or necromancer, and treat them like any other enemy. This campaign will be a little different. You will play a group of people who specialise in some area of the art of hunting undead, demons, and strange creatures that most people don't know lie lurking in the shadows.

Maybe you're an academic who found their way into a very strange area of study. Or a holy warrior given an edict from your deity to fight a different sort of darkness. Perhaps a widow whose husband met death at the hands of an unspeakable creature, driving you to vengeance. Or, maybe you seek power and believe that in killing these beasts, you may gleam their secrets. Whatever your reason, you have gained some renown, and a few beleagured and desperate people of influence in Korvosa have called on you to aid them.

More than just kill these creatures, you will have to find them; investigate and hunt them down before you can slay them. In the process, you may uncover dark secrets about the city and the people in it.

This isn't quite a horror campaign, but there will be certain elements on that. The heavy emphasis will be on roleplay and intrigue. It will also be fairly high-power in terms of loot, and while I certainly compensate for that in the difficulty of enemies, it is something I like to be up-front about because some feel it diminishes any horror whatsoever.

I'm aiming for one post per day minimum from players. More is always really nice, but that's the baseline expectation. I'm forgiving about life getting in the way though. I'm on GMT -5, and will try to make sure that my eye is on the thread and that I am getting to things as quickly as possible.

Character creation:
Crunch
-I'm looking for characters who suit the setting and story elements we're going for. Because the party members have particular skills that have made them candidates for this elite group, they should be characters written around the idea, instead of just being an adventurer who happens to have killed a vampire one time.
-Characters begin at third level
-3,000 gold to start
-25 point buy
-Any race or class is acceptable. Even the weird ones, with a good reason. Archetypes are all open, and ones that compliment the campaign such as Dirge Bard or Yokai Hunter (Ranger) are adored.
-Any non-evil alignment. It's worth keeping in mind though that you may have to do some not-too-upstanding things, and so perhaps "that" kind of Lawful Good character isn't a great choice.
-All material printed by Paizo in any book is acceptable, though going way off the reservation might be worth asking. Third-party material is on a case-by-case basis, as I've seen some hilariously awful or just plain broken third party stuff. So, if you want a certain archetype or thing out of that, ask first.
-The campaign will have a lot of puzzle solving and investigating, which will include talking to people and looking for clues at crime scenes and such. In addition, there will be lots of intrigue, mystery, and politics in play. As such, charisma or intelligence-based characters with out-of-combat roles not only find use, but are necessary. Knowledges, charisma abilities, Survival, and such are all huge plusses. The vast bulk of the campaign will take place in a city, so building something like a Druid with lots of very nature-based spells might not be the best idea.

Fluff
-Since you're third level, your character should have something they've accomplished. Doesn't have to be big, but something notable enough to catch the attention of people. You've all been recruited for a reason, so let's see that reason. Doesn't have to be combat-oriented, either.
-I'm the sort of DM who gives certain extra bonuses rooted in backstory, so keep that in mind. The more vivid and rounded a character, the better I can see things to base these small boosts off of.

The Korvosa being used here is sort of an "in name only" one, and mostly for convenience since I have the book. Major elements and important people will definitely change, but setting it in such a fleshed-out location means that any locations and numbers are already in place and easily accessed.

I originally ran this in December of last year, before a catastrophic computer in mid-January. I'm looking to run the game again, with half of the original party returning, and the rest made up of newcomers out of this thread. They were just short of completing their first case when real life happened, so I'll give that a quick narration summary and wrap-up for the sake of tidiness. I'm currently waiting on one more response from the original group, but right now the party as it stands consists of:
-Laznist, Human Arcanist
-Ophelia Hale, Clockwork Automaton Archivist
-Walther, Half-Elf Inquisitor/Detective

I'm aiming for a party of six, and balance is going to be taken into consideration. That said, don't intentionally try to aim for a non-present role if you have a good idea. Depending on how many applicants there are and if I can find nine characters I rather like, I could run a second table of this starting from the beginning. That all depends on what happens and what response this gets, though, so I make no promises.

Recruitment will run at least through next weekend, so the current deadline is the evening of Sunday, March 30th.

The arrival of Arnasse has the entire city of Kenabres abuzz. The festival grows grander every year it seems, and the weary city finds escape in the lavish spectacle. For weeks, downcast eyes look up for the first time in months as the worries about the Crusade fade away momentarily. Traditionally a more scholarly day built around lessons of wars past and history, it has in recent decades become a public spectacle with mock duels and, most lavishly, jousting competitions.

You all gather at Clydwell plaza to enjoy the festivities, eager to join the rest of the city in losing themselves for a day and forgetting the awful things just outside the city walls. You went early, but it was worth it to get the good seats; it's now almost midday, and you sit near the cathedral's facade, arguably the best place in the city, as the jousters will meet directly in front of you in combat.

Once everyone's made an intro post, we'll move on.

Welcome to the game. Congratulations to those who made it. Please report in. Gameplay thread will be up tomorrow, and until you make your first post in there you have the opportunity to make any necessary last-minute changes to your build, items, or spells. Once you do post in Gameplay, your decisions will be locked. If you have any house rule hopes for your character, or to see where I'd fall on certain cloudy rules judgement, now is also a good time for this.

Couldn't talk my real-life group into playing this versus trying a different system entirely, and I have a huge itch to run this nonetheless. So, let's make this happen.

-20 point buy
-Two traits, one being a trait from the Wrath of the Righteous Player's Guide. Your non-campaign trait can be reflavoured if you want, as long as it doesn't appear to be blatant cheesing.
-Average starting gold
-Standard HP procedure of max at first level, roll every other.
-Any class except for Anti-Paladin is acceptable, and any archetype except Synthesist Summoner, including ACG playtest material.
-All races. Even the weird ones, given the desperation of the setting.
-All material in any Paizo book is acceptable, though if you're intending to go far off the reservation, might be worth asking first. Third-party stuff is likely not, but worst I can do is say 'no', so if you'd like to try, go for it. Stuff like Spell-less Ranger might be cool.
-Good-aligned characters only, to play up all the overblown, glorious good vs. evil elements of the story.

Recruitment runs through probably until Monday, but we'll only likely begin Thursday, since I imagine most people are going to have places to go the 24th and 25th. If needed, I might extend recruitment through to the end of next week, but we'll see how it goes.

I'm looking for people who can post at least once per day. Final party will be 4-6 people, depending on party balance and such, and if we can end up with a party exploring every Mythic path, that'd be awesome.

Toilday, Gozran 15th, 4701

It's a rather dreary afternoon, doing little to help the mood of the city. The initial shocks of the recent weeks' revelations have lifted, but things have not returned to normal, and there linger a multitude of moods throughout the city, none of them good. The phantom threats that hold the city ransom may not strike during the day, but fear is not a rational creature.

In The Heights, the half-elf councilman Valiel Domine sits beside the beleagured human captain of the East Shore watch, Alandre Burton. Valiel is a well-fed man, whose elven blood is not able to fully curb the physical repurcussions of his love of food. He's let his black hair out a little longer than he should, but its unkemptness is unable to detract from the image of a lavishly dressed politcian reveling in his fortune. By contrast, Alandre is a very simply-presented man with a heavy tan, his guard uniform covering up his bulky build, and his hat in his lap showed his very closely-shaved head of brown hair.

A week ago, their letters went out, asking the strangest group ever summoned to Valiel's home to meet on that day, just a hair past midday, which rapidly approched. The tea tray sits on the table where the two men sit patiently and wait, facing the six empty chairs before them. They worry that none of the people requested would arrive, or so few of them as to render the entire exercise pointless, despite the entire fate of the city resting upon the help they asked for.

Beside the tea tray sits a stack of papers, all of them files for unsolved cases in the captain's district alone. Their guests will not need proof of anything, they're sure, but perhaps the scale of the matter could appeal to them. If not, the contracts beside the stack hopefully will.

As each person arrives, they will fill the cup of tea and offer it to them, patiently assuring them that they will begin either when the meeting time officially begins, or when all of them have arrived.

Okay guys, congrats for making it this far, welcome to the party. Gameplay thread will be up later because lots of writing involved and I've got things to do this morning. This is where, if you have any last-minute changes to make to anything, now is the time to do so. Once you make your first post in the gameplay thread, you're committed to what's on your sheet.

Also, I'd like everyone to modify their race field to contain the following information, as suitable.

Race Class Level [HP X/X |AC: X, T: X, FF: X | Fort +X Ref +X Will +X | Perception +X, Init +X

That way I have quick references for the basic things. In addition, please make sure both your crunch and fluff are in your profiles.

As for the character-suited goodies:

Everyone please post your timezones when you report in. As said in the recruitment thread, it's expected you can generally make at least one post per day, and knowing when everyone is will help me figure things out. Also, roll your HP for second level in the thread. If it's lower than half, it becomes half. Only for this level though.

"It used to be that saying you saw a vampire would have you laughed at. That's the speak of superstitous, inbred folk of Ustalav; the kind who burn down their neighbor's house in the middle of the night screaming about cultists. Korvosa has changed though, and you'll no longer find people laughing at the villagers who, for their zeal, are at least active in defending themselves.

"We're too big to work like Lepistadt, and too corrupt to be trusted with that sort of self-policing. So much of our town guard is not prepared to handle these threats, and that is where we've need for you. You haven't lived in doubt like others have, and you've armed yourselves against these threats well before they made themselves known. You know what we're up against, and are the best people for the job of defeating them. This city needs you to protect it, and if you can't, then it will surely fall."

The Darkest Corners is a campaign drawing very heavy influences from the Urban Fantasy genre. Books like The Dresden Files and Iron Druid, shows like Supernatural or Sleepy Hollow, or comics like Hellboy and Hellblazer. Lots of hell involved. The usual adventuring party might run into the occasional vampire or necromancer, and treat them like any other enemy. This campaign will be a little different. You will play a group of people who specialise in some area of the art of hunting undead, demons, and strange creatures that most people don't know lie lurking in the shadows.

Maybe you're an academic who found their way into a very strange area of study. Or a holy warrior given an edict from your deity to fight a different sort of darkness. Perhaps a widow whose husband met death at the hands of an unspeakable creature, driving you to vengeance. Or, maybe you seek power and believe that in killing these beasts, you may gleam their secrets. Whatever your reason, you have gained some renown, and a few beleagured and desperate people of influence in Korvosa have called on you to aid them.

More than just kill these creatures, you will have to find them; investigate and hunt them down before you can slay them. In the process, you may uncover dark secrets about the city and the people in it.

This isn't quite a horror campaign, but there will be certain elements on that. The heavy emphasis will be on roleplay and intrigue. It will also be fairly high-power in terms of loot, and while I certainly compensate for that in the difficulty of enemies, it is something I like to be up-front about because some feel it diminishes any horror whatsoever.

I'm aiming for one post per day minimum from players. More is always really nice, but that's the baseline expectation. I'm forgiving about life getting in the way though. I'm on GMT -5, and will try to make sure that my eye is on the thread and that I am getting to things as quickly as possible.

Character creation:
Crunch
-I'm looking for characters who suit the setting and story elements we're going for. Because the party members have particular skills that have made them candidates for this elite group, they should be characters written around the idea, instead of just being an adventurer who happens to have killed a vampire one time.
-Characters begin at second level
-1,000 gold to start
-25 point buy
-Any race or class is acceptable. Even the weird ones, with a good reason. Archetypes are all open, and ones that compliment the campaign such as Dirge Bard or Yokai Hunter (Ranger) are adored.
-Any non-evil alignment. It's worth keeping in mind though that you may have to do some not-too-upstanding things, and so perhaps "that" kind of Lawful Good character isn't a great choice.
-All material printed by Paizo in any book is acceptable, though going way off the reservation might be worth asking. I'm allowing the Advanced Class playtest classes as well. Third-party material is on a case-by-case basis, as I've seen some hilariously awful or just plain broken third party stuff.
-The campaign will have a lot of puzzle solving and investigating, which will include talking to people and looking for clues at crime scenes and such. In addition, there will be lots of intrigue, mystery, and politics in play. As such, charisma or intelligence-based characters with out-of-combat roles not only find use, but are necessaary. Knowledges, charisma abilities, Survival, and such are all huge plusses. The vast bulk of the campaign will take place in a city, so building something like a Druid with lots of very nature-based spells might not be the best idea.

Fluff
-Since you're second level, your character should have something they've accomplished. Doesn't have to be big, but something notable enough to catch the attention of people. You've all been recruited for a reason, so let's see that reason. Doesn't have to be combat-oriented, either.
-I'd like for people to have one or several "supporting characters". These are relatives, friends, colleagues, informants, and so on. Especially good are characters who can provide some kind of in-game use; informants are definitely the clearest example of such.
-I'm the sort of DM who gives certain extra bonuses rooted in backstory, so keep that in mind. The more vivid and rounded a character, the better I can see things to base these small boosts off of.

The Korvosa being used here is sort of an "in name only" one. Major elements and important people will likely change, but setting it in such a fleshed-out location means that any locations and numbers are already in place and easily accessed.

Recruitment runs "until I say so", but I'll likely give a week for ideas to be fleshed out and crunch to be written up.I'm probably recruiting a party of six, and will take party balance into account. I'll do my best to keep up on any questions.

I've been having the urge to run a game like this for the past few months, but now that my real life group's coming close to wrapping up their current campaign, they're looking to move on to another system entirely, which means hopefully this idea will find some luck on the internet.

The core idea is that the party is a group of monster hunters, specialized in the craft of hunting things a little outside the scope of the usual adventuring party. Any idiot with a sword can kill a zombie, but they might not be able to track a vampire from a single alley crime scene. Think along the lines of various urban fantasy series, stuff like Supernatural or The Dresden Files. Instead of just following breadcrumps to a crypt with the word "HAUNTED" graffitied onto it, the party will have to do some investigating and thinking first. Yes there could be cultists, but it's not as simple as following one to their home and then breaking up a basement ritual. So, a more roleplay and adventuring-oriented campaign, where skill-oriented characters thrive and some puzzles lie in wait.

It would probably be centered mostly around a city, to provide contrast with Carrion Crown, which was very rural. I feel like it helps the investigative element more, since you can draw from that informants and characters who know the town better. Helps flesh it out. Trips to the surrounding areas could also happen, but I like the idea of building the city up as a developped backdrop to the hunting.

The reason I'm in pure interest check mode right now is because there's a lot of ideas in my head, but nothing concrete about the direction to take it in. I like the idea of vivid characters that fit in the setting in various ways, but I don't know quite where to put them. Even in terms of starting level I don't have much, since if I start at first level it excludes the chance for the idea of a redemption-seeking "good monster" sort, which is kind of standard for the genre. At the same time, I don't know if anyone is up for playing that sort of thing, in which case it's a bit of a moot point. So, if the idea appeals to you and evokes a vivid idea in your head of something that fits the idea, then by all means, post and we'll see where it goes. But generally, I'd definitely be looking for characters who fit the mold rather than characters who kill stuff and that stuff just happens to be spooky. And please, no crunch yet.

And for full disclosure on tone, while I'd definitely be gearing it up for some horror, I also tend toward rather high-powered games in terms of point buy or loot. It's offset by throwing strong enemies against the party in return, but some people feel that even if it's balanced, being strong ruins the element. Just wanted to throw that out there so that people who feel that way don't end up in a game that isn't really what they're looking for.

Interest runs pretty much until I've either decided to take a handful of ideas and roll with it, or open recruitment, probably in another thread.

It's an ill day for a funeral, overcast and gloomy, at any moment a sweep of heavy rains threatening to bombard the strange crowd gathered in Ravengro. Each time someone turns their head, they can spot some new freak standing out. The townsfolk stand together, away from the six strange visitors who don't match or even, in some cases, appear to be wholely human. Suspicious glances keep peering over toward the scattered folks.

Each of you have come from distant corners of Golarion to pay respects to Professor Petros Lorrimor, the recently deceased. To some, he was a friend. To others, a tutor. He sought the employ of some of you, and to study others. Each of you have kept in contact with him since crossing paths however many years ago, and find it strange that you've been called here. His body has been kept on ice for the time it's taken you all to arrive, and the ominous note of the letters you each received imply that there's a very good reason that you've been waited for.

The cleric in charge of the funeral proceedings is a very old man who hasn't had hair on his head for several deacdes, but has a disconcertingly visible few whiskrs emerging from his ear. His face is worn and wrinkled in such a way that his face looks scrunched up, and his voice is a low, slightly raspy drone. Beside him, a woman in a long red dress whose youth provides a stark contrast to his age. Kendra Lorrimor, the daughter of the professor and only survivor of the old man's legacy. His endless droning leaves you a moment to think about everything that's happened the past few days, and to reflect on the professor.

Alright guys, welcome to the game. Opening post for the gameplay thread will be a while, since I have to scurry home and deep clean my bedroom, so for now just get settled in here. Questions will be answered when possible.

Looking to run a Carrion Crown game, with about 5-ish PCs, to be played here on the Paizo forums.

Character Creation:
-Create a 1st level character, with full HP as standard.
-20 point buy. After racial modifiers, no stat can go below 7 or above 18.
-Two traits, with one coming from the Carrion Crown Player's Guide. I am open to retooling or reflavouring the traits if someone has a good background that suits the campaign, but doesn't fall into one of the given backgrounds.
-All classed and archetypes allowed.
-All races allowed, save for Drow Noble because no way I'm allowing that. Exotic races will need an excuse for being abroad, but races that have some link to the campaign's inspirations or setting are more than welcome.
-Material from all official Paizo books are on the table.
-Average starting gold for your class.
-Any non-evil alignments. Convincing me to allow an evil character is going to be a really hard sell and it's probably not worth the effort. That said, questionably-motivated characters of good or neutral alignments are okay.
-Please provide a solid background for your character. I intend to run a fairly roleplay-heavy game and really get into the campaign's fluff, so I'm looking for fleshed out characters, with backstories and personalities. I'm also showing heavy bias for characters who fit the tone of the campaign; characters who may be motivated by an encounter with dark creatures in their past, seek forbidden knowledge, or have dark secrets that may come to light in their time in Ustalav. Fluff-related archetypes are also appreciated, and overarching character motivations or aims are always amazing. I may reward depth before we begin play with little things; additional traits, bonus gold, a couple skill points... Give me something I like and I will not let it go unrewarded.
-Please read the Carrion Crown Player's Guide, not only for the traits but also the sections for your class and race, as well as any setting bits, so you know about the setting going in.

Rules/Expectations/Etc.:
-I'd like to get a rate of at least one post a day going. Weekends might be more lax if the chosen players can't do weekends nearly as reliably, but regular weekday posting is a must to move at a decent rate through the campaign. Being able to post multiple times a day is also good. Please leave your time zone in the thread as well, for logistical reasons. Mine is EST (GMT -5).
-As stated above, this game will lean more on the roleplay side of things. There's no sense in playing a horror campaign as a dungeon crawl with mood music. I'd prefer players willing to get into things, interacting with the townsfolk and letting their characters get caught up in the story rather than seeking the next thing to stab. Write out posts with some detail and personality to them, more than just a line of dialogue or "He stabs the dude." Enjoy the atmosphere a little.
-Please spoiler your background, crunch, and such things when posting in the thread, just so it doesn't stretch the page out and leave people with a lot to scroll through.
-I'm open to considering house ruling certain things, and will likely do so myself in certain areas. If there's a particular change you'd like made to the rules as written, feel free to ask.
-The final party will probably be 5, no more than six if I have trouble choosing or feel party balance is lacking. My selection process isn't too easy to quantify, but if you notice one category lacking in applicants, statistically speaking you've got a better shot at getting accepted.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I'll get to them as soon as I can. Recruitment will run through until either this coming Friday or Sunday, depending on how many apply and how quickly I get around to making my decisions.

I've been running Skull & Shackles for two sessions, as my first attempt at DMing. The group itself has only one player who's experienced, and four who aren't. I was hoping that their inexperience would be enough to offset the presence of a fifth player, and that I could always tweak the numbers up a little for enemy numbers to offset that.

Having played halfway through the third adventure in book one tonight, I've seen that it's really not as simple. Even with a bump in sailor numbers, they cleared the Man's Promise in nine turns and without taking a single point of damage among them. Lots of lucky crits, but it really showed a problem brewing.

They gotten up to the Grindylow cave when we called it a night, and they trivialized pretty much everything they came across there, too. Even when I doubled threw four Giant Frogs at them and had them grapple the party down, it didn't do very much to stop them. Even playing every monster at max HP didn't do much because there's too much DPS going around.

It's partly my fault, because they asked for help building their characters and what I ended up giving them were really good builds, but they've really picked up party tactics and their roles, and now are kind of threatening to turn the campaign into the easiest thing in the world.

Are there any areas I should be looking at for making the game a more difficult experience beyond just throwing numbers at them? That seems very boring, and with what they've been pulling out it feels like it would only draw combat out an extra round, round and a half to double up on enemies. Problem is, I have DMed precisely two sessions and don't know how far is too far on trying to tweak anything, so I'm hoping someone out there more experienced can give me some tips.

If it's any help, the party is:
-Stormborn Sorceror, the only character I didn't build because the player knows what he's doing
-Undine Cleric of Besmara
-Human TWF Rogue, who is responsible for dropping the Officer and Ankheg both in one hit.
-Human Monk who can also hit for unreasonable damage
-Human Ranger specialising with bows. Yep, high damage.

I'm playing in a real-life gestalt game, and experimenting with different ideas for what class to play. The bard half is a definite, because I've bard before to good reception and was asked into this group to play a charismatic skill monkey again. Due to the higher power level inherent in gestalt, and the fact most people are cheesing for very high-power stuff, I'm looking for a second class that will bring some damage-dealing capacity.

I settled on Sorceror because it's another charismatic spellcaster, which means less MAD issues. Draconic Sorceror/Dragon Disciple specifically because I want to be a damage dealer, both magically and directly. The bard side will be stacked with support spells like buffs and debuffs, since bard spells are best spent on support. Sorceror would be mostly stacked with damage spells, playing the blaster with some intermittent utility spells that seem too good to pass up that bards don't get.

So my question is, would this combination work in practice? Maybe not optimal, but can I at least expect to be a solid enough gestalt choice to not fall too far behind the rest?

EDIT: And any build advice would be cool. I've usually played ranged bards and only ever dabbled in sorceror, so I'm open to tips on where to go with them.