|
(I actually wrote this all up last week, and it never made it to the boards...)
So, in the interest of adding more back-story to more closely integrate my players' characters into the game, I came up with the following. I don't know how closely it will end up matching with what Paizo ends up developing, or if I've missed some history somewhere.
As is noted in PF#1, the people of Thassilon ultimately descended from two castes into the Shoanti and Varisian peoples. The Shoanti descended from the militia caste. While the providers were less content with the Runelords, I decided that there was at least one individual from the militia caste who fought actively against the Runelords, and against Karzoug in particular. He wielded a weapon specifically crafted to be a counter to the magic of greed. With the fall of Thassilon, and the seclusion of the Runelords, it was decided by this hero and his allies that the weapon needed to be hidden, to prevent the remaining allies of Karzoug from hunting it down and destroying it, keeping it safe for another to wield against the power of greed when Karzoug returned.
This weapon, a greataxe, was magically cased within a shell, making it look for all intents and purposes as a normal, mundane axe, and then it was further enchanted to avoid all detection of magic. The axe was tied to Karzoug's magic itself, and went dormant with Karzoug's slumber......
On to modern day Varisia and the Rise of the Runelords campaign. One of my players is a Shoanti from the axe clan. (Can you see where this is going?) He does indeed wield a greataxe (yes, *the* axe). The player himself has been hoping to find a magical greataxe, even if it meant buying one in Magnimar (they've only just made it there). Prior to their reaching Magnimar, he began having dreams, specifically ones where he finds himself in a forge, looking at the furnace. The smith points to the furnace, and he throws his axe into the fires. He's been having this same recurring dream for some time. He didn't know what the dreams meant, but it seemed pretty silly to throw a perfectly good axe into the fire.
I should note, my player has on his own gone a ways to help "define" the Shoanti themselves, imagining them as a bit of a hybrid between vikings and native Americans.
Upon reaching Magnimar, he sought to track down a Shoanti shaman who could help him interpret this dream and tell him what it meant. I decided that any Shoanti in a human population center, even a small one like Sandpoint, would need a pretty significant reason for being there long-term. As such, I came up with the following NPC:
Lvl 7 Diviner (Evocation)
Hp: 33 (12)
AC: 12
S 11
D 14 (10)
C 12 (8)
I 18
W 15 (11)
Ch 13 (9)
Equipment: Dagger, Shoanti clothing, various bottles of alcohol.
Feats/abilities:
Summon familiar, scribe scroll, spell mastery (identify, detect magic, read magic), spell focus(divination), extend spell, spell mastery(detect thoughts, dream sense, dream seeking), brew potion
Skills:
Concentration: 9
Craft(alchemy): 8
Decipher Script: 9
Knowledge(Arcana): 8
Knowledge(Shoanti history): 9
Knowledge(Geography): 4
Knowledge(Nature): 4
Knowledge(Local): 3
Profession(fortune-teller): 3
Spellcraft: 7
Spells Known:
0-level
Acid Splash
Arcane Mark
Daze
Detect Magic
Detect Poison
Disrupt Undead
Ghost Sound
Mage Hand
Mending
Message
Open/Close
Prestidigitation
Read Magic
Resistance
Touch of Fatigue
1st-level
Alarm
Comprehend Languages
Detect Secret Doors
Detect Undead
Identify
Nystul's Magic Aura
Obscuring Mist
Shield
Summon Monster I
Expeditious Retreat
2nd-level
Detect Thoughts
Locate Object
Misdirection
Dream Sense*
Summon Monster II
3rd-level
Arcane Sight
Clairaudience/Clarivoyance
Dream Seeking*
4th-level
Detect Scrying
Scrying
New Spells
Background:
Brontus Crowmourne is a wizard living in the city of Magnimar. Small and sickly while young, he overcame A number of illnesses and injuries amongst the rough and hardy Shoanti, but showed natural intelligence and insight, so was apprenticed to one of the Shamans of his tribe, the Tamiir-Quah of the Stony Mountains. The remainder of his youth and young adult life were spent learning the shamanic ways of the tribe elders, and was particularly proficient with divination. In time, he was initiated as a full shaman of the tribe, and many were the individuals who came to him for advisement and wisdom.
Sadly, his role within the tribe, with some influence from fate, was to be his undoing within the tribe. Crowmourne gave advisement to the son of a member of the tribe who was of very high standing, Tallis Rocmane. He told the son that he would do well to not try to follow in his father's footsteps, that his strengths lie elsewhere. The son took this to mean that he was ill suited to ever lead the tribe, as his own father aspired to, and took it as a great insult. This "insult" festered over time, unknown to Crownmourne.
Not long ago, Crowmourne began to see signs within the dreams and visions of his people. These were indications of something old awakening, something major about to occur in Varisia, but what he couldn't tell. He became worried that the the stone giants to the Southeast were soon to be a threat. During a tribal meeting, he brought his concerns to voice, informing the now tribe-leader Rocmane of his suspicions. Rocmane's son, still holding his grudge against Crownmourne took this opportunity to get even, twisting his words to make them seem an insult to the tribe leader, questioning his ability to lead and his ability to determine what was a threat to the tribe and what wasn't. He questioned why he had never mentioned these things to the chief in the past, or to the previous chief. Caught completely off guard by this accusation, Crowmourne had no defense against the verbal assault, and the chief did indeed take offense at the shaman's words, exiling him from the tribe.
Crowmoune took his leave of the tribe, hurt, bitter, disillusioned, and wandered for a time, not knowing where to go. He knew he couldn't do anything about the giants, and his attempts to discern the nature of the threat were unsuccessful. Eventually his wanderings took him to the city of Magnimar. Here he had only his abilities and his knowledge to make his way, neither of which were in high demand in a city like Magnimar. He knew he couldn't leave and join another tribe, the tribes being naturally wary of outsiders to their tribe, and what could he tell them about his separation from his tribe, really?
He was only able to find lodging in one of the poorest areas of town, Rag's End. Here, he began performing minor divinations and fortune-tellings for the locals, making enough to keep his lodging, as well as his new vise - the bottle. Crowmourne's separation from his tribe, his inability to determine what is going on, and his out-of-place feeling in the city all combined to lead him to drink. Over time he has fully succombed to his addiction, passing his few sober times making his meager living, the rest of the time inebriated, or unconscious. While suffering from this addiction, Crowmourne's ability scores have been duly adjusted. Should he be somehow helped to recover from his addiction, in time, his scores will recover to their original state.
The spells listed:
Dream Sense
Divination [Mind Affecting]
Level: Brd 2, Knowledge 2, Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, F/DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 30 ft.
Area: Cone-shaped emanation
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 min./level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: No
You detect dreams taking place. You cannot tell what is taking place within any given dream, only that a dream is taking place. You can tell the individuals within the area of affect who are dreaming and who are not.
Arcane Focus: A dream catcher with a lens made of partially-molten sand fixed to the center through which the caster peers.
Dream Seeking
Divination [Mind Affecting]
Level: Brd 3, Knowledge 3, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, M, F/DF
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: 10 ft.
Area: Cone-shaped emanation
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 min./level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: No
You can project yourself into the dream being experienced by another mind. Upon completion of casting, you enter a dreamlike state, projecting your mind into the mind of a single dreaming entity (Dream Sense can detect a that a dream is being experienced). If no dream is being experienced by a creature in range, the spell can be maintained by concentrating. Once a dream begins, you will immediately join the dream.
A willing subject needs not make a save. An unknowing or unwilling entity will unconsciously attempt to resist. If the save is failed, or the subject is willing, you will appear in the dream as well, either replacing a character who would otherwise have appeared in the dream, or joining the character within the dream at their side. The caster will be able to recognize the character they replace on sight outside the dream. The dreamer will be able to "see" the caster within their dream, and will recognize them on sight outside the dream (or within the dream if the caster is know to them).
Once within the dream, the caster may not take any conscious part in the dream itself, other than fulfilling the role that would have otherwise been fulfilled in their absence. The caster will experience the entirety of the dream that takes place during the duration of the spell. The caster cannot experience any negative effects from the dream, even if they are fulfilling a role where they are "killed." They will remain in the role of the slain entity, but still view the dream from that state.
Arcane Material Component: 5gp worth of Shoanti dream herbs, consisting of various incense, mushrooms, and alchemical substances.
Arcane Focus: A dream catcher with a lens made of partially-molten sand fixed to the center through which the caster peers.
My player tracked this guy down, and of course found him almost unconscious drunk. He managed to sober him up, at least temporarily. After much coaxing and such, he convinced him to help him. He proceeded to track down the materials he needed for the seeking, and submitted to the casting. This time, in the dream, the smith appeared as the shaman, and when he cast the axe into the fires this time, he also heard a loud battle cry in a language he didn't understand, but whose tone seemed very much like a Shoanti battle cry. He then continued to sleep.
The even piqued the shaman's curiosity a bit, and he spent the rest of my player's character's slumber studying the axe itself, but he couldn't tell much more. Upon his awakening, he told him that the dream itself was a sending, almost certainly from the axe itself. Since he couldn't sense or determine any other meaning, he suggested taking the dream literally.
The player hired time in a forge in order to try, skeptical. Once prepared, he cast the axe into flames. As soon as it landed, he once again heard the battle cry in his head, but also sensed a strong sense of contentment, and urging. He stoked the fires hotter, with the smith's help, and took the furnace to the point where the stones themselves began to glow. The axe itself was shining with the heat, the enchantments, and the outer shell sloughed off, revealing an new weapon entirely, slightly smaller, but of far greater quality, mithril, and etched with positive Thassilonian runes.
The axe itself will function something like a runeforged weapon, but it is not borne of sin, and was crafted in direct opposition to Karzoug's transmutation magic. It will have a +1 enhancement bonus for every full 5 character levels, will absorb one harmful transmutation per day per full 5 character levels, and I'm still contemplating some other effects which may come into being as it awakens with Karzoug. It will be empathic. I suspect it will be actively hostile to any runeforged weapons which it comes into contact with which are based upon the transmutation magic of greed. If Karzoug dies, it will lose much of its magic, being tied to Karzoug himself.
Much of this information and back-story, as well as the history of Thassilon, I intend for the NPC above to be the conduit for. I want this character and his rehabilitation to be a side story to go along with the adventure path itself. I figured I'd throw this out here for constructive criticism and suggestions, possibly for feedback from Paizo if they feel like it, and for folks to make use of themselves if they so choose.