About Norman J. SmithJust a normal human, folks. Move along. Move along. (More coming.) . . . . . . FORMATTING AND INFORMATION SUBJECT TO CHANGE, BELOW . IGNORE 'STAVEON' INFORMATION AT PRESENT . . . FIX TRAITS, LANGUAGES, AND CLASS FEATURES IN 'STATISTICS' . FAVORED CLASS BENEFIT IS SPELLS KNOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Campaign Conceits:
All Bard abilities run off of intelligence
Perform (oratory) runs off of Intelligence Will saves key off of charisma Free rank in Knowledge (local) (b) Combat Expertise; Power Attack Action points: Cha modifier plus 1/4 level; trade 2:1 for Hero point (max = CHA mod);
- Gain an Improved/Greater Combat Maneuver, Weapon Focus, Armor Proficiency, 1/2 a metamagic feat, or Weapon Proficiency feat at level 1, 3, 6, and every 3 levels thereafter. At level one, you may choose to gain Weapon Finesse as your level one feat. Alternatively, if you posses Two Weapon Fighting, gain a feat with that as a prerequisite instead of an improved combat maneuver feat (You must meet the prerequisite for the feat, however). - When you crit, you may make a skill check, ability check, or combat maneuver in place of dealing extra damage. - Failing a skill check by 5 or less will have something interesting happen instead of merely failing - You can increase the "Level" of your called shot by taking a -5 penalty. From Called Shot, to Critical shot, then to Debilitating Blow. - You have the standard Wealth by level. - Having Item Creation feats or a certain craft skill grants you an extra 2500 gp to spend on items you can craft, though you must be able to craft them while taking ten. - Everyone gains one versatile performance, rather than multiple.
- Everyone gains Ensemble as a bonus feat. - Keep in mind, I’m looking for characters, and not stat blocks- You should have a fairly decent backstory, or decent roleplay. - Speaking of which, I have ALSO made a thread for you to play your characters while you wait for the deadline to come. I look forward to what is in there. - You gain gain a +1 bonus on any d20 roll by making a DC 20 perform check, increasing by 1 for every 10 you beat the DC by. - Campaign Traits: Bard of Fantasy, Impurity of Salt, Fairy Godmother, or Destined Swordbearer? Quote:
. . . . . . . Aliases:
- Alvin the Baker: a young man who creates great pies and has a gabby mouth, but listens to anyone who needs to talk
- Berish the Tinker: a kind of idiot savant who listens well and has a shocking ability with machines - Corvin Longbottom: a kind of arrogant but charming misfit who is stuck with low-paying jobs (when he gets around to doing them), but who acts like a genuine debutante - Daryn ir'Frey: a haughty, exclusive singer who is known for his talent and arrogance, but still possessed of a kind (if better-than-thou) spirit - Edward Dufrain: a yokel and drifter from Ireland who's convinced he's related to the English nobility, but has surprisingly courtly manners - Francis Beauchamp: a young and earnest man who takes low-paying jobs, but does an incredible job at them; humble, hard-worker, and nice; loves kids - Gregory Dame, P.I.: a known investigator and clever correspondent for the local constabulary, though mostly valued for (appearing) slightly less competent than the Fuzz, and willing to let all the glory go to them. - Henry Talentsworth VIII, the Orator: a talented orator who is requested for his abilities to speak well and clearly, as well as his persuasive turn. Exclusive and reclusive, one must ask his agents to contact him, as he is never contacted directly himself. He often uses young Francis Beauchamp to take messages to him, as the latter has a proven track record of trustworthiness. - Iquo of Vornlaw: a strange and accented foreigner, Iquo is a man obsessed with honor, station, and caste. Lacks understanding of many local customs, but has lots of bizarre and interesting stories from his home country "in the East" and thus is always a pleasant oddity, receiving many invitations to parties as a result. Getting near to retirement, as Iquo has been around for a while. - Jacques Le'Grange: a "retired" (very, very early - suspiciously so) French official who, for reasons undisclosed, came to London for said retirement. It's whispered that his corruption is deep, and his connections to various crime syndicates even deeper. Who he is remains a mystery, but thugs, gangs, and villains occasionally come to him to help them "disappear" - he has a stunningly successful track record so far, though, of course, they are occasionally seen later by former comrades, if only briefly. Disguise! :D - Kingsley: little is known of Kingsley, save his name and his merry temperament... and his surprising knowledge of the criminal underground. Kind, patient, willing to listen unjudgementally, Kingsley is the friend to all who lack friends, regardless of their current legal status. Privacy guaranteed. - Limey Longears: a surprisingly loquacious individual with propensity to listen to all sorts of things and know exactly what he shouldn't. He's called "Longears" because of his knowledge of things he should know (having overheard all sorts of juicy tidbits), and because of his long, dangling earrings. - Many McFly: a common laborer who rarely talks, always does what he's told (no matter what), and works hard. He listens, and sometimes grunts, rarely speaking a word. - Norman Smith: a totally normal guy. Like, you could meet him anywhere, really. - Ortiz Miguel: a weird Spaniard who seems alternately down on his luck or flooded with wealth, depending on the month, week, and even day of the week. Odd but mostly pleasant, he is a definite foreigner, and not one people are really interested in getting to know. . . . . . . .
Defense
Offense
Statistics
Background:
Panting, the young man collapsed into the street.
- Fear. Pain. Terror. - He looked around wildly, frightened - no, terrified. But... terrified of what? he thinks. There were terrible things, awful things, out there in the dark. His eyes clearly penetrated the gloom, but only functioned so far. Where... where am I?, he wandered, in panic. Exhaustion, but not sleepiness. Terror, but unfocused and unnamed. Confusion, but clarity of thought. Aching, but not hungry. Who... who am I?, he thought, even as a new terror began creeping into this thoughts. It was gone. All of it. His past, his history, his life. It vanished, like so much vapor in a foggy night. His clothes were rags, and his memory wasn't even that: it was gone entirely. He began running again. And he didn't stop until dawn. Around five decades ago
Gary'd claimed to be "nearly thirty" when he'd found the ragged, confused, eternally-lost young man. Now he could easily pass for sixty. What a difference a decade of hard living in the slums had made on him... a difference that didn't even seem to touch his so-called "ward." The young man stared at Gary, wondering what it meant. Who he was. Gary'd never asked for his name, which was good, because, he couldn't have come up with one at the time, if his life depended on it. Occasionally, as it happened, others would. He'd respond as he'd been taught by Gary: "No one." It became a kind of pseudo-name for him among some of those that squatted close by. "Noone" they called him. It would do, he supposed. Gary, of course, had a pet name for him, when others asked. "Oh, that's my lost son!" he'd call. It was a joke, and meant to make the others laugh. Gary, of course, laughed too. But the young man knew he only laughed on the outside. On the inside, Gary was always extremely sad. But Gary never explained the joke, and "no one" wasn't really anyone to ask, now, was he? As Gary explained: some people ended up in the slums by chance, some by birth, some by fate, and some few by purpose. No one really knew who was there and why, and it was better that way: don't go poking into pasts you'd rather not know about, as the saying goes. Despite the mystery, Gary had always been there for him. Had been the one constant - the one "rock" that he'd counted on. It was comforting, really. "Hey. Hey, my Lost Son." Gary said. The young man scooted closer. Gary was clearly feeling introspective tonight. "Hey. Hey. I'm... I'm not much've a f'ther..." he started. "That's 'nough o' tha'" the young man cut him off. Gary was clearly drunk. It was a cold night, after all. Most people had to do what they could to keep warm, though it never bothered the young boy. "Hey. No's'not." Gary broke in. "Not th's t'me." he says. "G'tta... gotta t'll y'... 'M... I'm na- not much've... not much of a father..." he started. Huh. He was making an effort to enunciate. The young man wondered what was the big deal. This wasn't a particularly special thing, as far as he knew. Just a normal winter night. Gary closed his eyes. "B't... b't... but I wan'd... wanted t'- to say... I... I l've... I love you, boy. Th-th'nks... thanks... f'r... f'r bein'... my boy." What? What was this? Gary opened his eyes, and chuckled at the young man's obvious confusion. "Y'... you replaced... my dead son for me. Y'r an angel. A God-blessed angel. Y'... y'... you saved me. Fr'm- from myself. An' my own despair. Thank you. N'... now... go... live... make friends... have a... good... life. S'rry... sorry t'-to keep you... so-so-so... so long..." Gary said it smiling. Crying, too for some reason. He leaned back, closed his eyes, and fell asleep. So the young man cuddled him to help keep him warm and did so as well. It wasn't until the next day that he realized that Gary'd passed away sometime very shortly thereafter. It would be the first death of someone close to him. Around two decades ago
He listened for quiet in his own mind... but didn't find it. Even in this time, his fears began kicking up, haunting him. He hadn't had a dream in almost fifteen years. They were terrifying. He'd never quite understood what people meant by "good dreams" - he'd never experienced such things himself. Gremlin - not his birth name, but that meant little - was no one important - not really, at least, not according to the normal standards of the city. He died from a fever. A common fever. That he got after being viciously stabbed for all five coppers he had to his name. The young-looking man's eyes narrowed with cold fury. No one would ever look for Gremlin's killer. Gremlin was too "unimportant" and, a much worse sin, too poor. No one stood for justice for these people. No more. He'd made his contacts: as "Aaron" and "Jacques", he'd made quite a few underground contacts, in fact. He could talk to a few of his darker ones to learn what he needed. Justice would be done. And perhaps, if he convinced people the 'Coppers were heroes, the 'Yard might actually become so. Over a decade ago
"Iquo" was a new alias - an oddly-accented "foreigner" with a weird stories and plenty of reasons to be invited to parties as a result. The human stain he was currently laughing with was none other than "Master" Terigold Ryebank. Cretin. Thief. He'd been a thorn in the side of the poor for years, giving them seemingly "good" loan rates, but hiding the truth in the sub-clauses. Most people didn't care - after all, if it's only poor people, they're not important - but what most people thought didn't matter. He needed to help. Ryebank was arrogant, stupid, and, like most such greedy fools, impatient. All that needed to happen was a little patience to wait until he made a stupid mistake and crossed someone he shouldn't have. While Ryebank had tried to pin it on some poverty-stricken schlub, the poor man's innocence was proven by "Logan, Independent Detective" earlier this afternoon (though Ryebank, naturally, was unaware of this), and now, under the laughing, sycophantic behavior of "Iquo", the weak-willed Ryebank had slowly become ever-more-intoxicated, until coaxed to share his own "funny stories"... and specifically a very funny story that just implicated him in the robbery of a very wealthy merchant. As the shock rippled through the nearby party-goers, the hostess took the hand of the foreign "Iquo" trying to explain, "Oh, no, no, dear, it's not funny at all. That's a serious crime!" As "Iquo", of course, he pretended to have a language barrier and thus be slow to understand. "Oh! Oh, my!" he said, pretending to catch on, at last, "Oh, that is bad!" he says. He gives his best hurt and confused look at Ryebank, who was sputtering failed excuses. The law quickly came and dragged the terrified man away. His poverty stricken victims could rest easy, as the robbery - and subsequent fraud - means that all of his contracts will be under review, and thus, legally, all of his victims will be compensated. Such a simple trick - getting an idiotic fool to drunkenly confess a crime at little too loudly - and so very effective at making the world a better place. He had to do that, you see. If he didn't... if he didn't... than who was he? Appearance:
Most commonly, he looks unobtrusive, unknown, and uninteresting. Generally with brown hair and brown eyes, plus a flare for whatever happens to be going on around him.
His true appearance is quite different, however: the glint of burning gold and purple create his irises; his hair has an almost preternatural hue of auburn. His skin pale, almost to the point of being an albino. Class Abilities:
- A Quiet Word (Ex): (2/day) A mastermind's reputation precedes him. At 1st level, once per day a mastermind can spend 10 minutes preparing an ally to make a single Diplomacy or Intimidate check (mastermind's choice when preparing the ally) within the next 24-hour period at the mastermind's behest. This skill check uses the mastermind's skill ranks instead of the ally's. The mastermind's affected ally still uses its own ability bonus for the check. Furthermore, when a mastermind uses this ability, he can expend one use of inspiration to give the ally use of the inspiration die when making the check. At 3rd level, a mastermind can use this ability an additional time each day, and the number of times he can use this ability per day increases by 1 for every third level thereafter. Multiple uses of this ability on the same ally grant that ally the benefit on additional Diplomacy or Intimidate checks. - Bardic Knowledge (Ex) A bard adds half his class level (minimum 1) to all Knowledge skill checks and may make all Knowledge skill checks untrained. - Bardic Performance (standard action): A bard is trained to use the Perform skill to create magical effects on those around him, including himself if desired. He can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + his Charisma modifier. At each level after 1st a bard can use bardic performance for 2 additional rounds per day. Each round, the bard can produce any one of the types of bardic performance that he has mastered, as indicated by his level. Starting a bardic performance is a standard action, but it can be maintained each round as a free action. Changing a bardic performance from one effect to another requires the bard to stop the previous performance and start a new one as a standard action. A bardic performance cannot be disrupted, but it ends immediately if the bard is killed, paralyzed, stunned, knocked unconscious, or otherwise prevented from taking a free action to maintain it each round. A bard cannot have more than one bardic performance in effect at one time.
- Canptrips: Bard's learn a number of cantrips, or 0-level spells, as noted on Table: Bard Spells Known under "Spells Known." These spells are cast like any other spell, but they do not consume any slots and may be used again. - Ceaseless Observation (Ex): An empiricist's ability to notice the minutiae of almost everything that happens around him allows him to make shrewd and insightful calculations about people and even inanimate objects. At 2nd level, an empiricist uses his Intelligence modifier instead of the skill's typical ability for all Disable Device, Perception, Sense Motive, and Use Magic Device checks. He can also use his Intelligence modifier instead of Charisma on any Diplomacy checks made to gather information. - Deeds: Sleuths spend luck points to accomplish deeds. Most deeds grant a sleuth some momentary bonus or effect, but there are some that provide longer-lasting effects. Some deeds stay in effect as long as a sleuth has at least 1 luck point.
- Inspiration (mastermind's) (Ex): An investigator is beyond knowledgeable and skilled—he also possesses keen powers of observation and deduction that far surpass the abilities of others. An investigator typically uses these powers to aid in their investigations, but can also use these flashes of inspiration in other situations. An investigator has the ability to augment skill checks and ability checks through his brilliant inspiration. The investigator has an inspiration pool equal to 1/2 his investigator level + his Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). An investigator's inspiration pool refreshes each day, typically after he gets a restful night's sleep. As a free action, he can expend one use of inspiration from his pool to add 1d6 to the result of that check, including any on which he takes 10 or 20. This choice is made after the check is rolled and before the results are revealed. An investigator can only use inspiration once per check or roll. The investigator can use inspiration on any Diplomacy, Intimidate, Knowledge, Linguistics, or Spellcraft skill checks without expending a use of inspiration, provided he's trained in the skill*. Inspiration can also be used on attack rolls and saving throws, at the cost of expending two uses of inspiration each time from the investigator's pool. In the case of saving throws, using inspiration is an immediate action rather than a free action.
- Investigator Talents (Ex) or (Su): At 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, an investigator gains an investigator talent. Except where otherwise noted, each investigator talent can only be selected once.
- Jack of all Trades (Ex): An archivist can use any skill, even if the skill normally requires him to be trained. At 11th level, he considers all skills to be class skills, and at 17th level he can take 10 on any skill check, even if it is not normally allowed. Folded Keen Recollection into this, as it does nothing that this does not already do. - Lore Master (Ex): An archivist becomes a master of lore and can take 10 on any Knowledge skill check that he has ranks in. A bard can choose not to take 10 and can instead roll normally. An archivist may take 20 on Knowledge checks once per day, plus once per six levels beyond 2nd. - Magic Lore (Ex): An archivist gains a bonus on Spellcraft checks to identify magic items or decipher scrolls equal to half his bard level and may take 10 on such checks. An archivist can use Disable Device to disarm magical traps as per a rogue’s trapfinding ability and gains a +4 bonus on saves against magical traps, language-dependent effects, and symbols, glyphs, and magical writings of any kind. - Sleuth's Luck (Ex): A sleuth gains a fluctuating pool of luck, measuring her ability to get out of scrapes. At the start of each day, a sleuth has a number of luck points equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 1). Her luck goes up or down throughout the day, but usually cannot go higher than her Charisma modifier (minimum 1), though feats, magic items, and spells that grant either grit or panache points can also grant a sleuth luck points equal to the amount of grit or panache they grant. A sleuth spends luck to accomplish deeds (see below), and regains luck in the following ways.
- Studied Combat (Ex): With a keen eye and calculating mind, an investigator can assess the mettle of his opponent to take advantage of gaps in talent and training. At 4th level, an investigator can use a move action to study a single enemy that he can see. Upon doing so, he adds 1/2 his investigator level as an insight bonus on melee attack rolls and as a bonus on damage rolls against the creature. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to his Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) or until he deals damage with a studied strike, whichever comes first. The bonus on damage rolls is precision damage, and is not multiplied on a critical hit. An investigator can only have one target of studied combat at a time, and once a creature has become the target of an investigator's studied combat, he cannot become the target of the same investigator's studied combat again for 24 hours unless the investigator expends one use of inspiration when taking the move action to use this ability. - Studied Strike (Ex) (+1d6) An investigator can choose to make a studied strike against the target of his studied combat as a free action, upon successfully hitting his studied target with a melee attack, to deal additional damage. The damage is 1d6 at 4th level, and increases by 1d6 for every 2 levels thereafter (to a maximum of 9d6 at 20th level). The damage of studied strike is precision damage and is not multiplied on a critical hit; creatures that are immune to sneak attacks are also immune to studied strike. If the investigator's attack used a weapon that deals nonlethal damage (like a sap, whip, or an unarmed strike), he may choose to have the additional damage from studied strike be nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage. If the investigator chose to make an attack with a lethal weapon instead deal nonlethal damage (with the usual –4 penalty), the studied strike damage may also deal nonlethal damage. The investigator must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. An investigator cannot use studied strike against a creature with concealment. - Versatile Performance (Ex): A bard can choose one type of Perform skill; he can use his bonus in that skill in place of his bonus in associated skills. When substituting in this way, the bard uses his total Perform skill bonus, including class skill bonus, in place of its associated skill's bonus, whether or not he has ranks in that skill or if it is a class skill. The type of Perform Noone chose and its associated skills are: Oratory (Diplomacy, Sense Motive). Feats:
Traits:
Gear:
Pendant of Everwatch: (sustenance), (constant) crafter's fortune, cultural adaptation, (command word) shadow weapon, (1/day) keep watch Intelligent Item: INT 12, WIS 10, CHA 10; Ego: +5 - common, one other language - empathy; light (as a torch, on or off at will) - special purpose: "serve and honor it's maker's interests and desires" - other traits: secretive Cost: 6,305 [cost: 500 (intelligent); 500 (INT 12); 1885 ( "sustenance"; 1250g*1.5 for extra ability+10 g for hiring spellcasting services); 550 g (1/day, command word keep watch; 360*1.5 for extra ability+10 g for hiring spellcasting services); 1510 (constant cultural adaptation; 1500+10 g for hiring spellcasting); 1360 (command word shadow weapon, 900*1.5 for extra ability+10 g for hiring spellcasting)] Bracelet of the Hidden: (1/day) aura of the unremarkable, (1/3 days) magic aura
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