Sounds interesting! I've never played this module before.
What is your experience with roleplaying games and, in particular, the play-by-post format
I played Pathfinder in a face-to-face group for about 7 years (alternating as DM and player), and I've been active on these forums for about 5, both as a player and a DM.
What is your favourite character class
I tend to the leather-armor classes; rogue, ranger, druid, bard. Druid probably tops my list.
What is your favourite race
Human for mechanics, elf for fluff, but I've played most of the core races at least once.
What do you expect from this game
A good time! Heroic PCs with interesting dynamics, a world to play in, monsters to fight, and natural 1s at exactly the wrong moment.
A brief writing example (a character background, an original story, a post in another gameplay thread)
I'll follow up soon with a link to some of my posts here. My style tends to be a little shorter than some on the boards; I don't usually post more than a paragraph or three.
High Concept: reformed Thieves' Guild member
Trouble: Can't leave well enough alone
Aspects:
Pillar of Sandpoint (he's well respected in town, known as reliable, etc)
Acolyte of Desna (part of how he got to 'reformed')
Basically, after fleeing the Night Scales under...not the best of terms, he wandered for a while before settling in Sandpoint. The local priest helped him settle in, and now he's part of the town - has a small shop, helps out around the town, married a local woman a couple years back. (He also - very, very quietly - works to keep the Scales from setting up any operations nearby.)
Guess I'll go first :p My working concept is "reformed Thieves' Guild member" - used to be part of a guild in a nearby big city, left the guild under not the best of terms, and escaped to Sandpoint.
Dotting for interest. I'm initially thinking about a tiefling kineticist/tbd - the "tiefling" bit being 'what if the scion didn't escape the oni untouched?'
Dotting for interest. I was initially thinking about a reformed rogue, but I see you already have one of those submitted :p I'll do some more reading and see what comes to mind.
Here's my submission. Still have a bit of gold to spend, and haven't created an alias yet - I'll do that if I'm accepted.
Corrin
Corinn stands 5'8", with a sturdy build and an easy smile. His typical outfit is well worn traveling clothes, dyed green and tan. His brown hair is kept short, but otherwise largely untamed. He's everyone's friend, but his trusting attitude means he's easily taken advantage of.
Corrin's mother, Caitlin, is a druid, a liason between their hometown and several of the neighboring tribes. She's brought him with her on her journeys for years (ever since she left eight year old Corrin at home for a month, and discovered he'd started tinkering with steam engines. Caitlin has a dim view of industry, to put it mildly.) His father and two sisters run a fishing boat back home.
All the traveling means Corrin has friends scattered across the region. Tevin and Devin, sons of a barbarian chieftain, enjoy Corrin's descriptions of technological marvels. In another clan, three of the elders insist Corrin call them Baba (grandmother). He's the best juvenile archer on the shores of Black, and has the trophies to prove it (as well as three separate rivals who've sworn to best him this coming summer).
Crunch:
Corrin
Level 1 Human Warrior
Str 18
Dex 20 (18+2 racial)
Con 16
Int 17
Wis 18
Cha 17
BAB +1
Ref +5 (+5 stat +0 base)
Fort +5 (+3 stat +2 base)
Will +4 (+4 stat +0 base)
Human:
Bonus feat
Skilled
VMC: fighter
Traits:
Magical Knack (+2 caster level, capped at HD)
Reactionary (+2 initiative)
Armor expert (reduce ACP by 1)
Drawback: family ties (When a family member makes a request of you, you must fulfill that request or take a –2 penalty on all Wisdom– and Charisma-based ability checks and skill checks until you either do what was requested or succeed at a DC 20 Will saving throw, which you can attempt once per day at the start of each day. You can’t take this drawback if you have no family. If you ever lose your family or lose contact with your family, exchange this drawback for the Doubt drawback.)
Dotting for interest. Initial concept would be an apprentice liason between the town and one or more of the nearby tribes. His parent/mentor travels between the two, probably one of the druids mentioned in the campaign background. He's trying to decide which society he really belongs in.
Crunch/party role would be archer and limited support. I'll flesh that out if the concept is approved and once I see the dice rolls, but probably something like expert into ranger.
Racial: Sacred Tattoo (+1 luck all saves, +1 more from fate's favored)
Darkvision 60'
Pariah: +2 saves vs emotion and fear, -2 Bluff, Diplomacy, Sense Motive (replaced intimidating)
Unflinching Valor: +2 saves vs fear, +1 CMD vs Grapple
No objections. I checked the site out at one point, most of the games there seemed to have a much higher posting rate than I can manage and I couldn't figure out if there was an equivalent of the "recruiting" forum/thread, but if we're migrating this game there neither of those will be a problem.
Looking at the party composition... Skald doesn't really make a lot of sense without friendly melee types who can benefit from the rage. Unless Rorek's going to roll a front liner (or one of the casters is summon-happy), it might make sense for me to stat up someone else, maybe a Slayer if we need a rogue and a front liner.
Haven't created an alias yet, but here's the stats for Krusk, half orc Skald. He's a melee type and offers some solid party wide buffs while he's smashing faces in.
Basic backstory concept is that his parents disappeared when he was very young. A family of elves adopted him, and he's realized that he won't be around to see his siblings grow up without some serious life extending or time altering magic. A deep dungeon where time doesn't work right sounds like a great place to start looking...
Crunch:
Krusk
Level 1 half orc totemic skald
Str 16
Dex 12
Con 12
Int 12
Wis 9
Cha 14
HP 9
Initiative +3 (+2 trait, +1 Dex)
Attack: Greatsword +3/19-20, 2d6+3
AC 14 (Studded leather +3, Dex +1)
Reflex +3 (+0C+1S+2L)
Fort +5 (+2C+1S+2L)
Will +3 (+2C-1S+2L)
Languages: Common, Orc, Draconic
Proficiencies: All simple/martial weapons, light and medium armor, non-tower shields (no spell failure)
Class:
Proficiencies
Bardic Knowledge: +1/2 Skald level (min 1) to all knowledge checks; may make untrained checks.
Inspired Rage: +2 Str/Con, +1 Will, -1 AC
Scribe Scroll feat (substituted for Extra Performance)
Favored Class: 1 raging song round
Gear (77 lb for medium load, 105 gp):
Greatsword (50gp, 8lb)
Studded leather (25gp, 20lb)
Skald's kit (37 gp, 47.5lb)
This kit includes a backpack, a bedroll, a belt pouch, a common musical instrument, a flint and steel, an iron pot, a mess kit, a mirror, rope, soap, a spell component pouch, torches (10), trail rations (5 days), and a waterskin.
I'd potentially be interested. I know the Pathfinder rules pretty well, but I'm less familiar with the details of Golarion - so I can't, for example, tell you the difference between the various groups of dwarves mentioned in the OP.
I've been playing on the boards for a while. My posts do tend to run on the shorter side, so this would be something of a stretching-my-limits exercise for me - one I'm definitely interested in, however! A multi-paragraph post every couple of days should be doable.
As far as a character....hmm. What about a priestess of Torag, religious leader of a small clan of dwarves somewhere far from their homeland? She's older, a traditionalist, trying to keep their group together and maintain the traditional dwarven ways.
If that sounds interesting, I can flesh things out over the weekend.
Party Role: As a Skald, Krusk would be a front liner, providing buffs to the party's melee contingent, swinging a greatsword along with them, along with some buff and utility spellcasting. Can also be a face as needed.
Character Concept:
Krusk is a native of Nirmathas. He grew up in Tamran, a child of half orc parents who had settled there. His parents made enough to keep them all fed, but not much more than that. He spent his time listening to any bard, troubador, or performer who came through with heroic tales.
On reaching adulthood, he signed up with the Chernasardo rangers; his knack for capturing his comrades' deeds in poetry and song is helping him make quick friends, and the magic he's learned to put into his songs is handy once the time for stealth has passed.
Player Experience:
I've played and run Pathfinder since the initial playtest, mostly custom scenarios with a home group. It's been a few years since I've played heavily. I know the core rules quite well, the later splats less so.
I've been active on these forums for a few years now; had one game of Dungeon World (my Belym alias) that ran for three years, and a bunch of others that have been shorter.
I'm on the forums at least once basically every day.
How would you feel about a Skald in the front-liner role? By himself, he's probably not enough, but if the druid and/or cleric are melee oriented, he'd be a pretty hefty force multiplier.
A half orc, lightly armored but with a large sword strapped to his back, makes his way through the crowd, having a heated discussion with the elven girl accompanying him. "No, you can't join me. We've talked about this! You're too young, and you're not skilled enough yet. Plus, mom and dad forbade it." He pauses by a vendor, buying a pair of candied apples and handing one to his sister. Turning, his eye falls on the group of apparent warriors nearby. He approaches and asks, " Begging your pardon, but are any of you interested in the Golden Shield's pairs tourney? I'm signed up, but find myself in need of a partner." From behind him, the elven girl says "I told you, I'll be your partner!" The half orc ignores her.
And updated crunch (replaced Weapon Familiarity with City Raised, added the background skill points, and picked up a Skald's Kit. That leaves me overspent by 7 gp; if that's a problem I'll ditch the instrument from the kit.)
Krusk the Skald:
Krusk
Level 1 half orc skald
Str 16
Dex 12
Con 13
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 14
HP 9
Attack: Greatsword +3/19-20, 2d6+3
AC 14 (Studded leather +3, Dex +1)
Reflex +3 (+0C+1S+2L)
Fort +5 (+2C+1S+2L)
Will +4 (+2C+2L)
Languages: Common, Orc, Elvish
Proficiencies: All simple/martial weapons, light and medium armor, non-tower shields (no spell failure)
Class:
Proficiencies
Bardic Knowledge: +1/2 Skald level (min 1) to all knowledge checks; may make untrained checks.
Inspired Rage: +2 Str/Con, +1 Will, -1 AC
Scribe Scroll feat (substituted for Extra Performance)
Favored Class: 1 raging song round
Gear (77 lb for medium load, 105 gp):
Greatsword (50gp, 8lb)
Studded leather (25gp, 20lb)
Skald's kit (37 gp, 47.5lb)
This kit includes a backpack, a bedroll, a belt pouch, a common musical instrument, a flint and steel, an iron pot, a mess kitUE, a mirror, rope, soap, a spell component pouch, torches (10), trail rations (5 days), and a waterskin.
For the prestige class, I'm still eyeing Evangelist of Irori, or Furious Guardian.
And, since I read the player's guide a while back, I think that's a wrap. Let me know if you see anything else that needs fixing or have any questions.
Alright, here's the 10-minute background for Krusk:
Background:
Ten minute background:
Five Things:
Krusk's general dislike for demons after a life in Kenabres was sharpened to hatred when he found out they were responsible for his parents' demise.
Krusk is close with his adopted elven family, especially his "big" sister (who has a few decades on him, but is much less mature due to the differences in lifespan).
Krusk is spoiling to join the fight against the demons, but has yet to be accepted by any group mounting an expedition.
Krusk channels magic through the rhythms and words of poetry - primarily works about the prior crusades.
Krusk blames the Riftwardens for his parents' death, as well as the demons.
Two goals:
Discover the details of his parents' fate
Defeat a demon captain in single combat, or some other feat worthy of his own poem
Known secret:
Liesa, Krusk's "little" sister, confided to him that she was trying to join up with a group that goes treasure hunting in the demon controlled areas. What she doesn't know is that Krusk convinced that group's leader that it'd be a really bad idea to let her actually come along.
Hidden secret:
His parents were betrayed by someone that led to (or at least contributed to) their death, not related to the demons. (E.g. a quartermaster who was providing substandard gear and pocketing the savings)
Two friends:
Liesa, Krusk's adoptive sister. She's the elven equivalent of a 12-year-old, and has been for as long as Krusk can remember. Energetic, nimble, a troublemaker, and (for an elf) impulsive.
Jolan, monk of Irori. A librarian, he's helped Krusk with his research as well as his martial training.
One rival:
Helvor, dwarven Riftwarden. He's the one who placed Krusk with his adoptive family, kept an eye on him over the years, and tried to recruit him to the Riftwardens not long ago. Helvor's brusque attitude, and assumption that of course Kelar would join the Riftwardens, caused them to nearly come to blows.
Three Memories:
Krusk was fourteen. Liesa proposed another of her adventures, but this one was crazier than normal - she actually wanted to go into demon controlled territory, just for fun. At ten, Krusk would've gone ahead. At twelve, he'd have declined, but couldn't have stopped her. But this time, he actually managed to convince her it was a bad idea... And she listened. This was when Krusk realized he was effectively the older brother now.
A recounting of The Luminous Death of Paladin Joquin to a demon-fighting training class, when Krusk actually began glowing. This was the first time his magic manifested.
Helvor. He'd checked in on Krusk from time to time growing up, always just as "a friend of your [adopted] parents". When Krusk turned 15, Helvor showed up and said (almost word-for-word), "Your parents were Riftwardens. You bear the mark. It's time for you to join us. I'll tell you about their final mission on the way." Kelar lashed out, punching him and accusing him of lying, and hurling every epithet he could think of.
I'm happy to tweak, discuss, or flesh out anything if you have questions!
Sorry, holiday week has been completely nuts. I'll have the 10-minute background up for Krusk early tomorrow hopefully, and should hit the discussion thread later tomorrow.
Alright, initial crunch for Krusk. Still working on finishing out the backstory, and still have a few things to pick (mostly gear). As a minor crunchy request: Greater Skald's Vigor requires 10 ranks in Perform(Sing). Could I use Oratory instead?
Also: is Crafting a thing/can I use the PFS swap of Scribe Scroll for Extra Performance?
Racial:
+2 Str
Intimidating (+2 racial to Intimidate)
Sacred Tattoo (+1 luck on all saves, replaces Orc Ferocity)
Weapon Familiarity (Proficiency with greataxes, falchions; all orc weapons are martial)
Darkvision 60'
Orc Blooded (counts as orc and human)
Krusk is a lifelong resident of Kenabres. After his parents' disappearance, the Riftwardens left him with a foster family...of elves. It's a little weird, since his older sister is still just a kid and will be for another few decades, even though Krusk has been on his own for a few years now. Still, he's close with his foster family, especially his sister Liesa.
When he found out the reason behind his parents' disappearance, the general animosity towards demons most Kenabreans feel became sharpened in Krusk. He immersed himself in the history of the Worldwound and the crusades, and discovered he could bring forth magic from the old poems of and about crusaders past. The more he read, the more his determination to fight the demons sharpened.
The Riftwardens tried to recruit him when he reached adulthood. It...did not go well. Krusk blamed the group for his parents' death, and had been nursing that grudge for years. The agent they sent was arrogant, and assumed Krusk would just go along - after all, he had the Mark! They didn't quite come to blows, but it was close.
This covers about half of the ten minute background... Still deciding on a few things, most notably a deity to favor.
