Seer of Shadows's page

The recruitment is officially closed to new interest. I am roughly a third of the way through applications, which are taking a little more time to deconstruct due to me having to make up lost days at work. As such, if any revisions are to be made or a finalized version of a previously mentioned concept posted, those will still be considered until such a time as I complete this final review of each application and post my choices.

I may message some of you if there is still something that I need, whether a vital piece of statblock or background information.

Just checking in to make sure that Lionel's good to go and that I haven't forgotten anything?

Lionel seems good to go from a glance, although I may discover something missing once I reach him in my final lookover and statblock deconstruction for the character.

Likewise, anything further I needed for Alexander?

There is nothing that immediately comes to mind although, like I mentioned to Simeon, something may come up as I work through the applications a final time.

I have two things to note.

First, I am not and have never been religious in any way. I have studied European (and other) history and am familiar with Christianity, but probably less than a lot of people.

Second, the build listed below represents what I believe to be a fairly powerful version of this character. If selected, I will try my best to take a look at the other characters and bring the power level of this character in line with theirs. I have a few easy ways in mind to make this character both more and less powerful. Hope that’s ok.

Both of those are not an issue for this game.

In regards to the first, one does not need to have perfect knowledge of something in order to produce enjoyable content that pertains to it. A rather famous example of this as it pertains to Christianity is the quote Jules throws around in Pulp Fiction that was supposedly from Ezekiel 25:17; the version used in the movie is markedly different from the actual verse, but it really sold the scenes and character arc it was used in.

As for the second, there are always going to be differences in power between PCs. As long as one PC is not completely running the show, I don't see an issue with that disparity.

The Hollowed looks once more at Volgroruth, "There are many things that the little warlord may consider 'gods'... but it would be foolish to place it's faith in any of them.

The little warlord could doubtless find others it could classify as divine, but they are meaningless in Kisarta: fallen demigods long since divested of power... fiendish princes and primal fey... sacred beasts and beings of great power from many worlds, among others."

How are you feeling about that list of potential Othersouls? If you don't think it's important to have identified a specific creature for an Othersoul, I personally don't think there's a problem with leaving them unidentified. At least for now anyway. I was a bit concerned that there wouldn't be any suitable fey in the world, but it seems like there are.

I have been scouring books the last several days in an attempt to find a good match for you. I posted the day before yesterday, but it didn't stick apparently. To summarize my results, I skimmed through my physical collection and dug deep into my digital library. Out of several hundred fey monsters scattered across both first and third party bestiaries, only one matches your Othersoul's concept and how you portrayed it in that initial background post: the Chernobog from the Boreal Bestiary and Forest Kingdom Compendium by Legendary games.

It is classically demonic in appearance, hates divinity and takes pleasure in blasphemy and corruption, is evil to a fault, and has enough power where it could be used as an enemy later on, should you want to face it later as part of your character arc. Power-wise, it gets a lot of SLAs, can fire cursed thorns from its body that slowly kill those they are lodged in before turning them into ironbriar zombies, can smell divinity, and a host of other things.

More or less, yes. I've been hanging back waiting, as I don't really have an issue with people taking a little extra time to post if need be.

I am definitely flexible on appearance. I do imagine a melodious and demonic voice. I think it's fine for my character to think he's hearing the voice of Satan, and for it to actually be something pretty different.

Later on, I envision my character's cleric class features coming from their time as a Priest, and their Bloodrager features as coming from their Othersoul. The main Bloodrager features that I think should align thematically with the Othersoul are 1) the Abyssal and/or Infernal Bloodline 2) the Rage ability and 3) some Bloodrager spells. I was also thinking about selecting race point options that feel demonic.

That will definitely help me formulate a list of potential Othersouls that could fit the theme, as it eliminates the more 'brutish' fey with semi-fiendish countenances and personalities. I can have a list drafted up for you by, say, tomorrow. This list will include links to the actual monster entries in the Archives of Nethys or d20PFSRD when possible so that you can have a better reference point than a simple bullet point recitation of monster names from me.

Let me clarify what I'm asking about. If we build reasonably optimized characters, will combat become too easy and boring?

Combat will never be too easy or boring, at least in most cases. I am very adaptable as a GM and can scale up creatures when necessary. Creating monsters that are not just solid, but which also feel novel and engaging from a mechanical perspective, is a personal goal of mine in almost every game that I run.

That is indeed the question, isn't it? Being able to tell an enemy is dangerous, but just not how dangerous was something I found particularly thrilling in those years before I stepped up as a GM for my home table. This Hollowed not being something that you can identify in-game and reference out-of-game doubtless makes it a much more intimidating foe than if I just threw a devourer or dread vampire antipaladin at the group. It plays into and feeds on that fear of the unknown deep within the human psyche.

The monstrosity turns to Kiya and replies in its raspy, stilted voice, "We say it is the warrior of a dead god... because that is precisely what it is. Bane was long dead... as were the rest of the Dark Three, when we still walked Golarion and studied the multiverses that lay beyond the River of Souls. The would-be tyrant fell to Torm during the time of troubles... a victim of pride and vainglory. Though many timelines exist... and events play out differently... gods are woven too deeply and share a similar fate in each. It is... inevitable."

It pauses for a moment before narrowing its eyes and speaking once more, "The fate of all things is death, dissolution... and nothing- no god, nor mortal- can escape that fate. In Kisarta... rent from time and space... all things have met their final ends, though they have yet to be born."

What can only be a cruel smirk plays out on the creature's terrible maw as it focuses it's gaze upon Kiya intently, "But its goddess was never alive in the first place, was she?"

Rahlmaat asks her questions next and the Hollowed ceases it's sadistic smirk, "Therein lies the conundrum, little sphinx... it doesn't; it can't. All those burning drives that exist in mortal and immortal hearts alike that lead them to ruin... are exacerbated in timeless Kisarta. When death is an afterthought and no end is in sight... what do those living under the Pale Sun do but follow those desires... though they may lead to ruin?"

It pauses for a moment before continuing, "If it would avoid succumbing to it's own ruinous hunger... the little sphinx should take care which well of knowledge it drinks from and how deeply, lest it imbibe a future of dust... and become as we have. But it is a slave to it's nature as we were... is it not? It will delve into secrets dark and deep... uncaring and unafraid of danger and die over and over again, until it's heart is no more than dust and sand. Kisarta is a mirror, little sphinx... and those who cannot see themselves clearly are doomed."

I will move forward with character creation along the lines I outlined. I would like some ideas on possible Othersouls. I have a hard time imagining a character with a Bloodline and an Othersoul that are not intimately tied together, but maybe it is otherwise.

So I would like to pose a few questions in that case. Are you looking for an Othersoul with a traditionally demonic appearance and demeanor or are you more flexible with your vision? What sort of powers might you want from it later?

Another question I'm having as I look over the character creation rules is about power level. Because pathfinder is not a game with tightly balanced options, I find it important to try to match the power level expected for a given campaign. I want combat to be interesting and an engaging part of gameplay. Should we be trying to make strong characters with mostly powerful feats, spells, etc? This seems even more important to get right than usual, due to Gestalt, high point buy, racial bonuses, etc.

You needn't worry about having to completely optimize a character like you would for something like, say, a megadungeon akin to Rappan Athuk or the Slumbering Tsar. That said, this game will certainly have some challenging combat from time to time- especially later on- and some degree of optimization would be of benefit.

The Hollowed lets out a dry chuckle, "There are many things that can be said about Kisarta... and the Dominions that glimmer darkly beneath it's light. So many... tantalizing secrets, so many blasphemous truths... all beckoning so sweetly in the shadowed corners of this purgatory." The rasps that sit unnaturally in it's sentences seem to grow shorter as it speaks, "We thought ourselves a scholar... a seeker of truth who would devour all the knowledge of this world and we learned much in our time here. Yet it was we who were ultimately consumed... for Kisarta has a hunger all it's own that reflects what it sees like a mirror of deepest black. We would ask the little warlord and it's reticent companions... what it is they wish to learn from us, we who were once Ardian Adella? A single question each of the... delectable-smelling creatures may pose to us and have answered true. After that, we shall see whether they prove entertaining enough to grant reprieve... or whether we shall add a few more souls to our feast."

As Volgroruth speaks, the creature notices the group's presence and turns its head to look at them. Eyes black as the void gaze at everyone and reflect no light whatsoever, only a dire hunger and malicious will.

It slowly stands to a height of almost eight feet and pivots to face the former warlord, making no noise whatsoever, and it is then that a particularly horrific detail comes into view: no jaw exists on the creature's face and where it should be is the start of a gaping vertical maw that travels halfway down the creature's torso, lined with sharklike teeth stained with ichor. It's arms terminate into hands made as much of black mist as desiccated flesh and drip with the blood. Irregular sections of it's form seem to flicker in and out of existence, as if struggling against dissolution.

A cold voice echoes from the sinister maw in response to Volgroruth, "The little... warlord... would ask questions of a... Hollowed, a devourer of... souls?" A dark chuckle escapes from the monster, "How very... curious. Instead of fearing for it's life and leaving us to our... meal, it seeks knowledge... understanding. It has... entertained us, so we shall not devour it's soul... just yet. Speak then... warrior of a dead god... we shall give you an audience."

Also Rahlmaat, seeing as how I did not answer it earlier, the hallway you were in is roughly 15 foot wide, although the stone coffins would make maneuvering a bit difficult. The room the creature is in, however, is a good 50+ foot wide. It will be more clear once I put the maps up.

As promised, I am back to answer questions!

A big question hovering about in the air has been when I will close this recruitment since it was postponed and I have, at last, reached a decision: September 1st, which is roughly a week and a half away. That should give people sufficient time to finish up and ask me whatever questions are necessary so they can build their characters.

OK, I'm back and will work to finish up my character. His second side will be a Spheres of Guile Professional, if that's permitted.

SoG-wise, he'll be mostly focused on the Performance Sphere but also likely a bit of the Subterfuge sphere and maybe Body Control and/or Bluster. I think, if Professional class is OK, I'm not worried about other talents; if there are some you choose to ban, I can just swap. (Swapping class could work too, but would be better to know that up front.)

...

....Ooooooh, or maybe my non-Bard side will be a SoG Envoy instead, if that's allowed?

All non-Leadership-esque rules from Spheres of Guile have been hereby cleared for use, so feel free to use any of those.

Are othersouls always dry, or can they be some sort of demon? What about a fey with a demonic connection? I’m thinking that if there’s no demonic connection, it’s hard for me to like the flavor of an abyssal/infernal bloodline.

Maybe a fey could also be fine, but I really liked the idea of two natures that were in direct opposition to one another. Can easily come up with a different character concept.

Othersouls are always fey, but some fey have distinctly fiendish slants, such as the Redcaps, Ankou, Chernobogs (very demon-esque fey from a Legendary Games supplement), et cetera. I can propose some ideas, if you are interested.

Thank you everyone! I couldn't really ask for a better group of players, both in terms of your quality in-game with respect to your characters and how they roleplay, as well as outside of the game with how patient and understanding you've been you've been with me this past month.

Amn, are you still interested as well?

For brevity's sake, I will repost the details of what has been going on with me for the past week and a half, which I posted moments ago in my existing campaign.

I apologize for the long absence immediately after the router incident that had already led to me missing several days. It was highly unprofessional and extremely discourteous of me to vanish without so much as a word and that is on me. I will explain in the below paragraph exactly what was going on and, while it does not excuse my silence, hopefully it will shed some light on why I was absent at the very least.

My grandmother had some dental work done about a month and a half ago and, long story short, one of the teeth adjacent to the ones that were pulled abscessed to an extreme degree- to the point where the right side of her face, from earlobe to the top part of her neck- were swollen. She already had an infection before getting the dental work done and that served to make it much worse. She ended up developing a bone infection in her jawbone- specifically the body portion of the mandible- that led to a relatively small but still serious case of osteonecrosis and had to have emergency surgery done on that. Because some doctors in our area do not always give the best care and sometimes make very costly mistakes, I chose to stay with her and ensure that she was receiving the very best care she could, or, at the very least, not the worst. The surgery and her IV antibiotic drips have done their work and everything seems to have turned out about as well as it could have, given the circumstances. I returned home this Thursday but, after around a week or so of using the hospital couch in her room as a makeshift bed, promptly fell into a deep sleep not too long afterwards. Friday was spent catching up on various duties and obligations that had accumulated in the days I spent at the hospital with my grandmother. And that brings us to early this Saturday morning when I can, at last, take a moment to breathe easy and post.

That is the account of my absence from the 8th until today, for better or worse. I will be leaving very soon to get breakfast before I have to clock in this morning, but just know that I have not forgotten this recruitment, am still interested in running this game, and will return sometime this evening to answer your questions.

I apologize for the long absence immediately after the router incident that had already led to me missing several days. It was highly unprofessional and extremely discourteous of me to vanish without so much as a word and that is on me. I will explain in the below paragraph exactly what was going on and, while it does not excuse my silence, hopefully it will shed some light on why I was absent at the very least.

My grandmother had some dental work done about a month and a half ago and, long story short, one of the teeth adjacent to the ones that were pulled abscessed to an extreme degree, to the point where the right side of her face- from earlobe to the top part of her neck- were swollen. She already had an infection before getting the dental work done and that served to make it much worse. She ended up developing a bone infection in her jawbone- specifically the body portion of the mandible- that led to a relatively small but still serious case of osteonecrosis and had to have emergency surgery done on that. Because some doctors in our area do not always give the best care and sometimes make very costly mistakes, I chose to stay with her and ensure that she was receiving the very best care she could, or, at the very least, not the worst. The surgery and her IV antibiotic drips have done their work and everything seems to have turned out about as well as it could have, given the circumstances. I returned home this Thursday but, after around a week or so of using the hospital couch in her room as a makeshift bed, promptly fell into a deep sleep not too long afterwards. Friday was spent catching up on various duties and obligations that had accumulated in the days I spent at the hospital with my grandmother. And that brings us to early this Saturday morning when I can, at last, take a moment to breathe easy and post.

I would like to do a role call and make sure that all of you are willing to still play in this game despite the large number of absences that I have, shamefully, accumulated without a meaningful amount of communication to explain what exactly was going on. While I have quite clearly fallen behind on the standard of communication that was previously established in the recruitment and earlier portions of this campaign, I am very much still interested in serving as the GM for you all. Would you all still have me as your GM, despite my discourteous lack of communication?

Hey Seer, I wanted to let you know I'm going to be completely offline (no devices at all, let alone Internet) til Aug 13.

I've got the Bard (Sovereign Piper Spheres archetype) half of my gestalt done. I've done some pre-work on a SoG Professional for the other half, but will hold off on finalizing the rest til I know if SoG works well for you. Hopefully that timing will work out!

Understood. As for Spheres of Guile, consider at least the Performance sphere cleared for use.

Since Bronwyn and Straehan have taken point, I took the liberty of spoilering the information to show that they will gain the information first.

I'm holding off on progressing until Kiya decides what she wants to do with Daisy in this situation, as that may or may not have an impact on what comes next.

Kiya, the ceiling in the hallway you are in is roughly 30 ft. and has small artistic buttresses connecting to the top parts of the walls.

I'd never quite settled on Lysander's Wyld Shape, but had an idea: does it need to be a currently-extant species? As a man of learning, who's read every book he could find pretty much since he was a toddler, he'd be aware of much of the latest scientific finding on, for example, dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, saber-tooth tigers, etc. Could his Wyld Shape be something like that?

As long as the base is a real-world animal and you try to keep it from being too crazy- crazy being tyrannosaurus rex, pterodactyl, etc.- I don't have much of an issue with it.

Seer, originally you said we couldn't choose any racial traits from that pool of 13 points. However, could we take such traits, provided they only appear/benefit us when within the Twilight Realms?

I will be sticking with my original stance on that particular subject.

Also, would it be possible to gain more racial traits during gameplay at all?

I hadn't planned on it, no. It's an interesting idea though, so I may consider it.

On a personal note, I wouldn't hate it if you approved SoG, as I *might* take the Herbalism sphere if you did.

I will consider it although, as I mentioned to gyrfalcon in my last post, it may be a day or so before I go through the material and errata to make sure any issues were fixed.

I am as well! It certainly wasn't the worst event in recorded history, but it interfering with various things- my play-by-posts (this campaign and my fey-centric game recruitment) and my guild's Final Fantasy XIV raids in particular- was definitely troublesome enough where I felt a sense of relief upon getting it fixed.

Wish I'd seen this sooner; haven't checked the Recruitment forum in months since I was happy with the games I did have, but one of mine just ended. Is there still time for me to whip up a character for this or is the party pretty much locked in? The premise sounds super cool.

You should have enough time to complete a character, as I'm pushing the recruitment back about a week due to my router issues having messed with the tentative timeline that I had outlined.

The mental and physical +2s from ABP went into Cha and Dex, respectively. That would’ve put Dex over 24, so I dropped it back and bumped up my Int.

Fair enough. Just wanting to check for curiosity's sake.

I can't get over the idea of just like...a middle-aged goodwife with a brownie Othersoul that works at the estate. Or alternately her Othersoul could be something a bit more vicious so the "bleed" better justifies the violence inherent in a PC's lifestyle, but it just gets constantly more and more domestic over time.

I can't recall the name of it at the moment, but there is a 'house fey' in Pathfinder akin to the brownies of folklore, but with a vicious streak. If the exact bestiary entry comes to mind, I'll be sure to list it.

Na, mostly details that might haunt my fractured mind... Nothing major.

Just wanted to check and make sure, so as to not miss something major.

Honestly, if you're at all leaning toward banning it, I don't know if I want to dissuade you.

I think there's a bunch of vey fun stuff. And there ARE several published errata now. I think it's pretty stable/final...but there's a LOT to learn. If you're not thinking "Cool! Lemme learn this interesting new skills-based system!" you should prolly keep banning it.

That said, since you asked, I'd assume I'd lean heavily into the Performance sphere (especially, acting, but likely singing and dancing too...seeing as I'd be an actor from a comedic opera). My first thought was to do Bard (maybe Minstrel SOM archetype) + Professional (with Performance as my main Professional Method). I'd probably also take some Body Control, Bluster and Communication talents.

I'd still be learning the system at the same time as you were, and I'd be perfectly happy to make changes/corrections/house-rules as needed. I doubt it would be OP compared to the other builds around...but it *WOULD* involve a gob of new rules, which could be a burden on you if you're not excited to learn the new system.

100% your call. I haven't given thought to if/how I'd build the concept without SoG...but I can think about it, if that's better for you.

I can certainly give things another lookover for you, although I may not have a concrete answer for you until sometime tomorrow. Does that sound amenable?

I've been playing around with Wyld Shape ideas, too. At first I was thinking owl, but I wasn't sold on it and then I saw someone else was going for it so I decided that was as good a reason as any to think of something else. Right now I'm thinking leopard, with spots that look like stylized eyes. Eyes that seem to track and follow sights around them, both seen and unseen.

That seems really cool!

Cool! Maybe we could do something with, like, recipes for poisons, where Mary doesn't start with any unnatural (non-mundane) poisons in her possession, and no knowledge of how to make them, but once she finds one through the course of play she can subsequently synthesize doses of it with the tools in her Curio or something like that?

I could work with that, although we would need to handle those on a case-by-case basis given the huge disparity in poison power levels.

I purposely left it vague so that I could always fill in details later, like if she succeeds at a high Knowledge check she might suddenly recall having dissected a creature very similar to it. Likewise as a player I sort of shy away from thinking too carefully about what her vigilante identity might have done while it had possession of her body, because dread makes it much more frightening-- to know that something awful happened (or a spree of somethings) conveys what that part of her is capable of without needing to get into the specifics. It also will make it easier for me to play Mary's slow realization that she is a monster, and that ultimately she is helpless to stop herself. :)

I have some interesting angles I could play around with then.

I'll repost the explanation for my nigh-on-weeklong absence that I had posted in my Kisarta game. Because everyone is now several days behind thanks to my situation impeding the process of answering questions, the closing date is now a bit more flexible.

My apologies for the extensive delay. My router was having issues loading websites- it eventually reached the point of falling into loading loops for indefinite periods of time- and I had to take it back to the store to get it fixed; that process was complicated by the only person who could do advanced troubleshooting, the manager, was out of town. After nearly a week, he finally arrived back in town and it took all of ten minutes for him to get the router working again. All the manager told me after fixing the router was that it was a software glitch that occurred and was interfering with the process of sending and receiving data packets. So the situation has been resolved and posting should normalize once more to the usual five or so posts a week.

Now that I've explained why I've been absent and that I haven't been spirited away to the Twilight Worlds, it's time to answer questions.

Sounds great to me! I'm kind of tempted to say you don't even have to tell me what you pick, so it's as much a surprise to me as it will be to Alexander when it's revealed. :D

Since it has been a few days since our discussion on this, I was wondering if your stance was still the same? If so, I certainly have an idea in mind. If not, that's perfectly fine as well and I would love to see what you had in mind.

Hi! I'd initially had too much on my plate, but some have fallen off recently, and I just had a glad of inspiration: I realized this takes place during the height of Gilbert & Sullivan's career. Thinking maybe I'd play as a lead actor/singer from some of their recent shows at The Opera Comique in London. (Pirates of Penzance debuted in 1880, and The Mikado in 1885).

An interesting concept! I am actually somewhat familiar with Pirates of Penzance thanks to friend of mine, although it has been nigh-on a decade since then.

I haven't given too much thought to how to build such a troubadour, but I think there would be some delightful aspects of the Spheres of Guile Performance Sphere to play with...if it were allowed. I saw you said at the beginning it was banned and I'll happily respect that if you prefer, but figured I'd ask since it feels natural to the concept. I think at this point it's largely settled and the Spheres wiki is up to date with the latest errata, but if you'd still rather not I'm sure I can find other ways to build them.

My initial reason for banning Spheres of Guile was twofold: on the one hand, large swathes of the material seemed ill-suited to the campaign and, on the other, there were a few issues that cropped up during playtesting and I wanted errata to be released. As I haven't gone over any errata that has been released, I can't confirm whether or not the issues have been addressed.

I would like to pose two questions to you. First, what were you planning on doing with the Performance sphere? And second, has there been any major errata regarding it?

One more Q: "The form of any piece of Faerie Regalia may be changed at will, enabling a knight to change their greatsword into a longbow to target a fey dragon flying beyond the reach of their blade or to morph their full-plate into padded armor when they need to swim across a raging river."

^
Apologies if I missed it, but what kind of action is it to change the form of the weapon and/or armor?

I thought I had posted it, but apparently not based on my own search a moment ago. Changing the form of weapons and armor from the Faerie Regalia is a full-round action and both can be changed simultaneously.

Paddy O'Sullivan ready for inspection (mostly).

What remains that would qualify it as fully ready for inspection? Just wondering in case it is something major that would make a lookover less productive until finished.

I gave it a quick lookover and it's interesting that Paddy's Wyld Shape would invoke the imagery of the babd, as that's a fairly obscure bit of folklore. Props to you for including that neat detail.

I've made a few minor changes to Mary Adamson Anderson over the past few weeks, including a brief section about her Othersoul and her equipment. I'm hoping I've correctly interpreted the rules about material components as I applied them to poisons that she would like to synthesize with her alchemy tools once she gains the Regalia.

Also, I have to share: since I was recently in Edinburgh, I spent a delightful couple of hours in the university library researching the Edinburgh Seven and Mary in particular. I was unable to find a photograph or portrait, but the staff was extremely helpful and promised me that if I wrote to them once I got home they would continue my search much more thoroughly and scan and send to me anything they find. Something to look forward to if she is invited to join the game!

I'm sure that trip to Edinburgh was informative! It certainly sounds like you had a great time there.

I looked over Mary Adam Anderson and there are a few things I would like to touch on.

The ankou othersoul losing its taste for death and then playing 'games' with its targets that seem oddly reminiscent of old tales of the Grim Reaper is certainly ripe for exploitation down the line. Do you have any particular angles in mind with how you would like to see that played out?

Poisons are not material components and, as such, are not covered under the material component clause. That said, I might be willing to work with you on a way to incorporate some those into your Curio since poisons are integral to your character and it might not always be practical to visit the Goblin Markets or go out of your way to find and harvest appropriate monsters.

I'm quite interested in learning more about Mary's trips to that cabin, as that could provide a few interesting angles depending on the finer details of what went on there.

Going back through the thread, here are all the completed applications (so far) that I could find.

It looks like there's a lot of submissions that are close to being done, but I didn't see any posts that said they were ready. Apologies if I missed anyone!

Thanks for putting that list together!

Edit: Done. Made a couple of other minor changes (changed a trait, altered my point buy distribution slightly after ABP to keep within the max of 24 on any one score.).

Which ones were changed? The question is purely academic at this point since I have yet to do final reviews, so it's more to satisfy my curiosity than anything else.

My apologies for the extensive delay. My router was having issues loading websites- it eventually reached the point of falling into loading loops for indefinite periods of time- and I had to take it back to the store to get it fixed; that process was complicated by the only person who could do advanced troubleshooting, the manager, was out of town. After nearly a week, he finally arrived back in town and it took all of ten minutes for him to get the router working again. All the manager told me after fixing the router was that it was a software glitch that occurred and was interfering with the process of sending and receiving data packets. So the situation has been resolved and posting should normalize once more to the usual five or so posts a week.

Let's go with Svartalfar for the othersoul. I imagine them as being not exactly friendly rivals, but at least rivals who respect each other's abilities; Lysander the honorable duelist, and the svartalfar an honorless assassin for hire.

As for his code, let's say that he may never consume mustard, and that he must always be kind to dogs (this does not preclude him from defending himself against a dog which is actively attacking him).

Understood. The being kind to dogs portion of his code may prove interesting, depending on how far one can stretch the concept of a dog in this game.

I think I’ve settled on a giant owl as Lionel’s othersoul. A patient and extremely knowledgeable hunter that tries to learn all it can about it’s prey before atriking with stealth and precision is an extremely apt descriptor for both Lionel and the giant owl.

Giant Owls are magical beasts, are they not? Only fey, which include those on the extended list, can be up for consideration as Oversouls. Granted, you could easily give it the one of the various templates that change it's type to a fey, but I just wanted to point that out.

Hi again:

Is this magus arcana allowed?

Everything else is done, I'll link the character later today.

Song of Arcane Triumph is cleared for use.

I suppose what I'm looking for is a being who values learning and knowledge, but (being fey) whose focus and methodology differ from the scientifically-minded Alexander's.

I can look into some options for you, but it may take a day or so to trawl through my entire library and the various monster entries on the SRDs. Does that sound amenable to you?

Will do. But first, the Scion archetype of the Kineticist gives up several wild talents in order to become a Spherecaster. Can I give up some of my feats in order to keep the wild talents I would otherwise be giving up? Say, 2 feats? Seems reasonable, as diminished spellcasting only costs 1 feat and you lose quite a few spells with that feature.

No, I would rule that you only need to give up one.

Also, is there any Fire or Volcanic-themed Fey that could be my Othersoul?

There are quite a few fire themed fey and a few niche ones tied to volcanos. These include the Elanax, Fairymaid, and the Fire Nymph, among many others. There is a huge swathe of first and third party monsters that can match this description on d20pfsrd, so more information on what you are looking for could help narrow down a list of about 20-30 potential monsters.

Offsite maps it is then! I will post links in gameplay whenever they become relevant.

Also: Kiya and Volgroruth, what are your actions?

I would like to pose a question to you all, something that slipped my mind up until this point: are you all fine with going offsite for maps (and only maps), seeing as how I cannot embed map images here like I could elsewhere, or would you prefer to handle things in the 'theater of the mind'?

Hmmm, my my, don't we have quite a few characters already... and aren't they all so OLD hmmm? 30 years of age seems to be the minimum, but it looks lost most of our people seem to be 40 or 50s, maybe even older. My my, and we are going to leave all the fun to such oldies with their bad backs, fading vision and forgetful minds? That simply won't do.

We need someone young, someone fresh, someone passionate! We need someone say... 14-15 years of age to give this group of oldies that all too necessary drive, hmmm? A son of a house servant, someone that isn't so much as part of the ball, and simply helping out. Perhaps someone who likes listening to the stories of the adventures and journies the fine Ainsworths go on?

And we have quite a mix of classes as well. Monks and Barbarians for melee, rangers and Vigilantes for the gunplay, Fey Adepts and Alchemists for utility... but nothing quite to bring the bang to the table, so lets bring some firepower hmmm? Quite litterally~

Legendary Kineticist Scion (hopefully without giving up the Wild Talents?) on one side, Elementalist on the other side. Focusing on the Fire Element.

Because giving a young, hormonal, impulsive teenager the ability to set things on fire or create minor explosions with his mind at will, is not going to cause any troubles or issues whatsoever.

So I take it that your character would be an inhabitant of Waldenshire? If so, let me know if you have any questions about the village, the Ainsworth estate, etc.

Just to be sure, is there anything more that you need for Lysander? Don’t want to think I’m done then miss out because you thought I had never finished.

Unless I am mistaken, I don't believe you have definitively decided on an Othersoul- you were discussing an Ankou or Svartalfar last I recall- and I would like one 'feylike' addition to your code of conduct. To give an example of what I mean by the latter, some fey are unable to cross a line of salt, others might be unable to take hostile action against someone wearing a red ribbon, while others might be magically bound by their word and are cursed if they ever break it. It just needs to be something appropriately strange and feylike.

I will go over Lysander's statblock sometime later tonight or earlier tomorrow morning to make sure there are no omissions or glaring errors there, but right now it seems like the only two things you really need are a concrete Othersoul and that one addition to your code.

I was playing with the idea of some kind of fey raven being Alexander's Othersoul--perhaps an ancient and powerful raven that's been around long enough to inspire some legends. Perhaps its name would be Huginn. :D (If so its response to finding it had an Othersoul could be "Oh, not again")

There are quite a few options on the table there, as I can recall no less than three raven-like fey. Do you have any idea what you're looking for specifically in terms of powers or fluff?

would it be ok if i had a go at this

Feel free to create a submission for the game. There are still a few weeks remaining until the recruitment closes thanks to the extension I included a week or so ago.

Based on how everyone has posted, I'm operating under the assumption that Bronwyn and Volgroruth will enter first, followed by Straehan, Rahlmaat, and Kiya/Daisy. If this order is incorrect, please let me know. PCs will enter two at a time, considering that each of the double doors is large enough to accommodate a single person passing through it.

The iron hinges of the double doors creak ominously as Bronwyn and Volgroruth open them. As the doors open, the dry, stale air of a crypt rushes out to intermingle with the subtle sweetness of the rose bushes outside. The inside is lit with ensconced iron torches whose flames give off no smoke. Black marble floors and a vaulted ceiling lend the place a distinctly grandiose feel, almost like a miniature cathedral. The inside of the mausoleum is lined with rectangular stone coffins, or perhaps a better term would be sarcophagi, whose lids bear depictions of what is ostensibly their occupants: stately-looking knights. Engraved on the foot of each coffin is a nameplate depicting the name of the deceased, along with the title 'Rose Knight of Solamnia'. These rows continue on for a few hundred feet until visibility begins to fade, shrouded in darkness.

For those of us who are using SoP, can we use the weapon enchantment bonuses from ABP for implements instead? Ala the Enhances Armaments boon ?

It seems that a similar precedent has already been set based on what you linked, so I will allow it.

They come under Legendary Fighter but they seem somewhat optional. Are Minor Gloves of Dueling allowed?

Minor Gloves of Dueling are hereby cleared as legal Curio options.

What do you expect us to tell about our Othersoul? Physical description? Personality? Does the character and the Othersoul get to meet each other? Do they even know the other one exists? What kind of benefit/penalty, if any, does the Othersoul get from their connection?

All I really require is information on which type of being your Othersoul is, as I am perfectly fine with filling in the finer details myself at a later date. That said, if you plan on having it influence your character's personality in certain ways via potential personality bleed later on, more detail on the being's personality would be appreciated. If you want to draft up a small concept for the Othersoul and/or a role you may like to see it play in the future- ally, enemy, foil that undergoes a heel-face or face-heel turn, etc.- I am not opposed to that either, but just know that the concept may receive some creative input from myself.

Characters will have opportunities to meet their Othersouls later in the campaign and will recognize them on the spot when they do even though they do not really know anything about them, thanks to the connection they share. What form that meeting will take and what may happen as a result of it are things that will just have to play out later on. Some PCs may have an amicable encounter with their othersoul. Others may discover that their othersoul is antagonistic towards them for a number of different reasons. Yet others may find out that their othersoul is imprisoned or imperiled by some force and in potential need of rescue. In the rarest cases, an othersoul might even deceased, with the PC's connection to them still being intact because of the fact that fey who "die" to anything but cold iron or the most powerful of magics will eventually be reborn as a new fey, meaning their soul and the connection they have to their dreamwalker still survive in some form, even if they fey's former self doesn't.

Othersouls do not really know their Dreamwalkers exist until they meet them and that ignorance goes the other way around as well. When the two actually do meet, the realization dawns on both of them and their connection becomes immediately clear, as it will feel to both of them like looking into a mirror and each will feel a sense of nostalgia tied to something they came to possess as a result of their connection.

Speaking of which, Othersouls do get something from their connection with a Dreamwalker, although it is much less tangible: they become more "human", for better or worse. For most, this is nearly imperceptible and simply colors their fey nature by giving it more human elements. In a rare few though, the change is profound and they begin to behave more like humans as their soul cultivates that distinct and nebulous quality that only a human can possess, all as a result of their connection changing them on a fundamental level.

GM, how do you want to handle checking for traps? Bronwyn's going to be keeping an eye out for them. Should I roll Perception in every post, or will you roll for me when it's necessary? (Her Perception is +28 when locating traps due to trapfinding.)

I would prefer to roll to check for traps so as to keep things running smoothly. Do you have any objections to that? I can understand if you want to roll personally and will allow it if you ask, but feel that it's just easier to handle this way.

It seems as if there are a few things I need to add to the campaign info tab. I would suggest people read my replies in this post, as there is some fairly important information to be gleaned from them.

Dumb question, how are you handling material components? In addition, how are you pricing spells added through a spellbook? If you made the curio essentially a blessed book, would you price it at .5 the cost to scribe as accessing another spell book, as per the Arcane Magical Writing rules? Or would you rather be like "F#@$ it, you can trade the weapon enhancement bonus for full spell book," just to make life easier.

In addition, how would we handle material components? I presume making your curio disposable would be out of the question, so would spending 5x the cost of the component on the curio qualify? Or would you price it through something like Blood Money, where it drains a stat instead?

I thought I had material components covered under Curios, but it seems that was not transplanted into the final draft of the recruitment, my apologies. The way it will be handled is thusly: you may pay any amount from your Curio's GP pool and that will permanently cover the cost of any material components and casting foci of that value or less unless I rule them to be a special case, such as with the diamonds for a Wish spell.

As for extra spells, you can either pay for them out of the Curio's GP pool or you can use your suggestion of trading a weapon enhancement bonus (+1) for a full book's worth. I am fine with either.

* Are animal companion hit points the usual 1/2 (i.e. 5) per HD?

They will need to be a little sturdier in this game, so assume they have maximum HP per HD.

* I'd been kind of assuming that it would be fine for Alexander's housecat to transform into his tiger animal companion while in the Dreaming, is that fine?

That would be fine. Of course, it would be somewhat amusing if his housecat just grew to the size of a tiger and counted as one mechanically while it was in the Twilight Worlds as opposed to actually turning into one. It's ultimately up to you which direction you want to take it in though.

* I'm using the Scholar class with Small + Large Animal Training, so Midnight (his cat) will have aspects of both familiars and animal companions. Could she swap the usual cat familiar stealth bonus for a raven familiar's ability to speak one language? (Yes this is mostly so she can be snarky to *everyone* not just Alexander)

I would be willing to allow that, but the Mascot Familiar Archetype is able to do so as well, if you want to go that route.

* Speaking of the Scholar class, it uses both alchemical creations (flashbangs, Alchemy sphere stuff--I'm staying away from the banned abilities) and a healer's kit. Would I make an alchemy kit and a healer's kit part of my curio or regalia somehow?

I would rule that any class feature or skill that requires a kit, like the two you mentioned, enables you to magically create the requisite tools you need. Said tools disappear when they leave your close proximity just like your Faerie Regalia.

If I wanted to buy the samsaran racial trait Mystic Past Life with our bonus RP to get some more ice spells on my witch list, how much would that cost me? If you even allow it, that is.

Shards of the Past, which Mystic Past Life replace, is 4 RP if I recall. As with any other racial ability replacements, it will use the RP cost of the ability it replaces.

The mausoleum is roughly 120 ft. away from the group and the plaza between them and the edifice is empty of everything, save for the finished brick pavement. The double-hinged wooden doors, if opened, could easily allow two characters to walk in at a time. This information is there for anyone who wishes to have a tactical grasp of things, although it may not be necessary at this point in time.

You may, of course, make whatever rolls and/or preparations you wish before investigating. I will leave the finer details of how to handle that to you all; when you are ready to proceed, make an in-character notification here or post that you are ready in discussion and we shall commence the exploration!

Excellent! Then you may proceed in gameplay. I already have the relevant material created and on-hand for whatever you may find inside.

Speaking of the recruitment end date, what date did you have in mind? I have the pieces for my witch shifter, just pulling them all together.

Since there are still many people working on characters at the moment, I was considering August 5th as the deadline. That's not set in stone at the moment, however, and is just a guideline to give people a rough estimate of how long recruitment will stay open.

Ah yes, the ancient order of witch shifters. Organized to fight the plague of magical people who were always positioned inconveniently. When there's an old hag taking up two seats on a crowded train, we have the witch Shifters to get them to move over.

I guess I have Terry Pratchett on the brain.

I'm not going to lie, the idea of grim-looking inquisitor types going up to an old, grandmotherly witch taking up two seats on a train and doing the whole "Oi witch, you got a loicense fer those seats?!" bit and forcibly moving her a few inches over to one seat or the other made me chuckle more than I probably should have. Thanks for that!

What is your approach on fixed price properties like Adaptive? Do you consider it a fixed price payed with the Curio budget, or do you turn it into a +1 property?

Or, simply because we can generate a different Regalia weapon everytime and even shift it, are we able to virtually ignore a Str penalty for archery?

There are two answers to this question and I will detail them both below.

I will rule that general set-cost enhancements instead become cost-appropriate +x properties; special materials, however, are tied to Wyrdstones and they're currently unavailable.

As for Adaptive itself, there is no need for it since compound bow strength ratings can be shifted whenever you decide to change the weapon.

1) Should we include the ABP increases in our stats now, or only once we 'awaken' ?

Since the first really short section is completely narrative in nature and the first real encounter doesn't truly begin in earnest until you Awaken, you can go ahead and include ABP bonuses in your statblock. These will be, as with nearly everything statblock-related, completely out-of-character and meta-level since your characters do not possess any of those powers at the start of the game.

2) Do you have an outline for the GP increase of our Curio? It would be helpful to have an idea how much to roughly expect each level, so we can sort of plan ahead.

Ie, should I grab X item now to add my Curio, since we have 25k, or can I wait a level or two?

So the scaling is as follows:

Some levels may seem like the usual exponential increase rates are squashed and that is by design.

Can we either save some of our Curio fund for later levels(either the starting 25k or whatever we get each level thereafter) or could we buy off part of a more expensive item over a few levels?

Eg, if I wanted to add a 40k item to my Curio, could I spent 10k out of my fund over the next 4 levels?

You can save money from your Curio's current pool for later acquisitions. Unless the item in question is a scaling item, you cannot pay for part of an item's abilities in multiple installments; you can note that you are setting aside X amount for so many levels until you pay off a certain ability, but you do not actually gain any of that item's power until you pay the full amount unless, of course, the item in question is a scaling magic item.

All right, I have a background now:

I think Alexander could turn out to be quite fun. His first interactions with the supernatural should prove priceless.

A) Suppose you've got something like the Elemental bloodline, which allows you to change a spell from one element to another. For example, Acid Splash turned into cold. Now we've got an alchemical reagent, an acid vial, which allows Acid Splash to do +1 damage. Would it still work? Would it rather be wiser to assume the reagent should change, maybe using Liquid Ice?

I think it would depend on the specific interactions. In the example that you mentioned, I believe the acid vial counts as a Focus for the spell if I remember the official ruling correctly. That means the damage boost it provides is made part and parcel to the spell itself, so it gets transmuted into cold when the overall damage is converted. There are some other interactions I can think of where this might not be the case, so I believe my ruling is going to be 'ask and see beforehand on each new interaction so I can rule on them individually'.

B) So we get our regalia when we dreamwalk. Do we have to pay for it? What if I want a mithral armour, e.g.?

You do not have to pay for weapons and armor granted via Faerie Regalia. As for special materials, that is covered in part by Wyrdstones in-game as some of them can change your weapon and armor's fundamental nature when fused, although you will need to wait until you have access to those.

I am withdrawing, too much on my plate as I may take over a game as GM.

That is understandable. If you change your mind before the recruitment ends, feel free to make a submission.

It seems like a few people want to explore the mausoleum. Is everyone down for that?

May I request the following martial tradition? My character is very much not a "I pick up a sword and stab someone" type, but more the supportive active type:

> Words break bones This tradition is basically a modified scholar tradition
Equipment Sphere: Unarmored Training Either this or switching it back to staff training
Gladiator Sphere Something for the offensive mix, allowing her to do similar things, similar to alchemy sphere
Warleader Sphere something supportive, similar to the scout sphere
Variable: 1 talent from either Gladiator or Warleader sphere.

That martial tradition is fine with me.

Secondly, this one focused on vancian to magic transperancy- Do racial CL boosts from vancian casting schools apply to their directly corresponding sphere's caster level (Divination to Divination and Enchantment to Mind?) What about racial DC boosts?

Racial boosts to Vancian school CLs or spell DCs do not apply to their corresponding Spheres. I'm fairly certain that was an official ruling from the publisher, but I don't have the reference on hand.

Can we select alternate racial traits if the base trait is priced in the RP system?

I will allow that.

I've got an idea brewing for a Japanese immigrant- an immediate relation of Saigo Takamori, gone overseas to duck the consequences of losing the Satsuma Rebellion. The time is right for a general surge in interest in Japanese culture- this is the period of The Mikado and Japnonisme. Powerwise, her Othersoul would be a Jorogumo and she would be an Incanter | Hedgewitch (Martial Hedgewitch, Charlatanism)/Hive with the magical end of things heavily focused on a subtle, flexible and dangerous Conjuration-sphere Swarm Companion, with a side order of being a social skill monkey and a Fencing-sphere swordswoman.

Ah, so she's a relative of the 'Last Samurai'? Very interesting!

Given that the pool of possibles already includes an Arab and a Pole, though, I'm a little worried that you'll be reluctant to consider more than one or two world travelers in sleepy Waldenshire. Are you OK with the Ainsworths being super-cosmopolitan types with a circle of friends which would probably see them shunned in even a pretty damn tolerant 1870s English hamlet?

The Ainsworths are very cosmopolitan in attitude and associate freely with anyone so long as they are not of a particularly villainous disposition. And in Waldenshire, where the Ainsworths are adored, anyone who is their guest will be treated with respect. That's not to say that everyone in Waldenshire is as open and accepting as the Ainsworths, because a few certainly aren't, but they're willing to at least give the PCs due respect as one of their lord and lady's guests.

I’ve been thinking the last couple of days about how a lot of old royalty traced their lineage to deities; all of the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms traced their royal houses’s lineage to Odin, for example, and as societies became Christian they often began to trace ancestry from Israelite kings (especially David), and thereby to Adam & Eve (not deities, but you get the picture). Many Greco-Roman families likewise traced their ancestries to their Gods; the kings of Sparta were reputably descended from Hercules, Julius Caesar claimed descent (through Aeneas) from Venus. The Victorians were actually really into these historical fiction genealogies. Seriously considering submitting a character who is conscious and proud of his descent from Odin (or Zeus, or whoever). Of course, the story would’ve gotten a bit twisted in the telling, the “deity” having been some powerful Fey entity, who perhaps was using the human stories as a guise. But that feels like a good way for a character to suddenly develop 8 levels of magic, without having attended wizard college or whatever. I just need to figure out which deity/deities I want to focus on and which classes best represent that. And what kind of Fey was doing the pretending.

All powers initially come from the PC's status as Dreamwalkers- although their own capabilities and proclivities may have had some bearing on which ones they gain once Awakened- so there is no need to justify any abilities they may have. At a basic level it's no different than what happens in isekai stories, where an Earthling gets transported to another world and gains powers by virtue of something other than hard work. Refining those powers and gaining existing ones is another story.

That said, "divine" ancestry is fine from a flavor perspective, emphasis on the quotations since there are no perceivable gods as people might recognize them in this setting. There are certainly many options out there that I could suggest for said fey ancestry though.

Ideas:

As much as I like Lovecraftian stories and themes, this game is focused on both the fey and the themes surrounding them. Mythos concepts are not something that can easily be introduced without subsuming everything else and I wouldn't want to dilute the atmosphere that I'm going for by including them. Nonetheless, thank you for the suggestions.

I have been convinced to take a second look at this recruitment, and I'm kicking around some ideas. :D Playing around with the idea of someone who graduated with a math or physics degree from a prestigious university, got roped in to helping a friend "with a few things for his new company" because he needed someone "with a head for maths", who is now ten years later miserable in his position of making sure the company doesn't do anything stupid in spite of how much money he's gotten from it. Who will, one day soon, be very irritated at how he's now in a world where his cat can talk (thinking of a class that has a familiar, which turns out to be his cat getting caught up in his Awakening) and he can summon fire with a wave of his hands which completely invalidates everything he's ever learned about thermodynamics.

The notion of a hyper-intelligent individual who is prickly about the fact that many of the hard laws of science he spent years researching being shattered in mere moments before his very eyes is undeniably charming.

Interesting. GM, how do you feel about multiple submissions? With this new info I may rework my character…but it might be simpler to start from scratch and submit another.

It would always be safe to assume that I have no objections to people making multiple submissions in any game of mine. Whether that ends up being practical for applicants is another matter entirely, but I would encourage people to make characters to their heart's content as time and drive permit.

Okay, A Psychopomp, Peri for the Othersoul. And I think Farouq will be a wizened old Arab man with a plethora of occult knowledge. He has studied various religions and practices and is currently looking over a variety of Egyptian artifacts and other African and Middle eastern artifacts brought to him.

Do you have your sights set on a particular psychopomp yet?

There are a few things I would like to touch on that may be something of note to applicants. These will be added to the campaign info tab as usual.

While only creatures of the Fey type may be selected as Othersouls, there are certain creatures who have been changed to that type for this game and, thus, are possible Othersouls for players to select. They keep whatever subtypes they have, but their typing changes to Fey and fall under one of the fey categories listed in the Faerie Ring book, which I will mention below. Be aware that, although some creatures like Linnorms and the Tane may have existing ties to the fey, their natures and themes are sufficiently different as to not warrant a full-on reclassification as Fey.

I made one omission when talking about the tristalt side that you can purchase with feats; the 'lite' verson for 12 feats also grants you the skill list of that class in addition to the class features, but does not gestalt the actual skill points.

One more thing of note is the removal of racial requirements on archetypes, feats, prestige classes, and such so long as you would otherwise meet the requirements. So you can take the Stonelord archetype for Paladin despite not being a Dwarf, for example.

1) Whereabouts is Waldenshire? Might help to have a rough idea to know where it's located.

So if you pull up North York Moors National Park on Google Maps and squint at the dark green area of the park, it will look kind of like a crescent. Waldenshire is located slightly southeast of the inner part of that crescent near what is now the yellow line for the interstate. I toyed with history a little bit for this, I will admit, but it fits fairly well with the environment I had in mind. I couldn't dig up anything that quite fit the vision I had in mind and so just had to alter things to some degree.

2) You mentioned that the supernatural exists, but the vast majority of humanity is unaware of them. You also said that overly extraordinary events, like what happened in 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' haven't occurred.

However, without too many spoilers, have the various supernatural entities shaped history at all? Is there any significant events that might have had different outcomes or been altered at all due to the supernatural?

Obviously, none of our PCs would know any of this, but depending on your answers, it might affect our pasts. Again, I'm not asking for major spoilers, so if said answers are only spoiler territory, I'm okay with not knowing.

Some supernatural entities have been at the center of major events and historical records twisted into legends and folklore. The history and tales of this version of Earth are nearly identical to that of our Earth, but the hidden details on how these things went down may cleave closer to the folklore, legends, and mythology surrounding them than the more rational explanations from our Earth.

For example, Daji, AKA the fox spirit known as Tamamo-no-Mae, really did sow chaos in noble courts across Japan and contribute to the downfall of the Shang Dynasty in China by corrupting King Zhou.

Camelot did exist. Part of the reason why it is disregarded as a mere legend is partly because of the Dementing, but I can't say more than that as of right now.

Witches not referring to the class here actually did practice magic, although the Church mistakenly categorized them as diabolists who sold their souls for magic instead of an offshoot of humanity who passed their mystical powers down an unbroken matriarchal line. Lumping in ordinary, magicless human herbalists, folk healers, and various other dissidents and pariahs into the various witch hunts and Inquisitions certainly muddied the waters from a historical perspective.

Queen Mebd of Connacht had supernatural ties that I don't want to spoil overmuch and her influence on Irish history is deeper than her already recorded deeds, with connections to the hero Lugh who slew the Fomorian King Balor, as well as a fey sovereign from the Twilight Worlds.

The Erlkonig was not just a myth turned into a Lied, but a historical event in this version of Earth and the real reason why peasants across Europe had so many deep-rooted superstitions about children being spirited away to the lands of the fey. The actual events of the Erlkonig's dark rampage across Europe may have been lost to the mists of time, but that doesn't change that it happened in this fictional Earth's history.

I don't want to get into specifics, but every living soul in Roanoke Colony vanishing without a trace most definitely has supernatural ties in this fictional iteration of Earth, albeit ties that have nothing to do with the fey.

Auspicious Tattoo

Is it fine to assume the character could have gotten such a tattoo while in the army in Egypt and South Africa?

The tattoo itself, yes, but not the mystic power that comes from it. As I mentioned prior in the recruitment, PCs will not have any extraordinary powers at the campaign's start; those will be gained shortly after the game starts after they awaken as dreamwalkers.

Sorry, another one.

The Legendary Fighter (which, if I am not mistaken, is pre-approved) states at the beginning of the Archetypes section that all existing archetypes for fighter should be compatible, and gives some directives on how to do it (seems easy).

Should I assume an archetype like Runesinger is available with the Legendary Fighter, then?

That is a fair assumption to make and I approve it.

I've been doing some digging, and have figured out my PCs birth date:

Aug 13th, 1859, the night of the longest lunar eclipse in the entire 1800s!

Also, roughly 9 months prior is Dec. Conceived on the Winter Solstice(in Stonehenge, no less, lol), born during the above lunar eclipse!

This would make her about 27 at game start.

That is certainly a confluence of interesting astrological happenstances and, after some looking into it, looks plausible enough. Impressive research on your part!

I apologize for not replying yesterday; I was out of town for much of the day and posting from a phone can be troublesome, so the decision was made to wait until today to post something substantial.

Could we possibly burn a feat to skip an ability requirement of another feat? Maybe limiting it to only happening once, if you feel like?

As long as the ability score requirement is no higher than 14, I would be amenable to that. Anything higher than that is not permissible because there are a small number of feats out there with high ability score requirements and similarly very powerful effects.

@Seer: How might your tristalt option interact with Prestige Classes, if at all? I kind of want to add Sleepless Detective to my Brawler//Investigator, but not badly enough to take actual levels in it lol

This requires a bipartite answer.

If you are referring to the full tristalt option- that is, the one that costs the most feats- then you can take prestige classes with it as normal. Be aware that means you must still qualify for the prestige class to be able to take it at an appropriate level.

If you are referring to the semi-tristalt option- that is, the one that costs less feats but only gives you class features- then I would rule that prestige classes cannot be gained through such. My sole reason for this particular judgement is because some prestige classes have power levels designed from the ground-up for characters at or above tenth level and allowing access to those at a much earlier level can prove troublesome to manage even with a GM used to more powerful characters.

I will probably give this a few more days to play out and then get things moving along in earnest. Does that sound amenable to everyone?

Few story spoilers I don't want to give away just yet, will send some story ideas as far as her background/othersoul to you, Seer.

I didn't receive any private messages, so did it get eaten by the website? Either way, feel free to send the details of her background and othersoul whenever it's convenient for you as there is still plenty of time left before the recruitment closes.

(1) If an archetype has two features that are always a package deal (In this case, Poison Lore and Poison Resistance on Investigator), would those be allowed to be considered one feature for the feat buyback rule?

In corner cases such as that and similar ones like Evasion/Improved Evasion, I would be willing to rule yes, but that it's a three-feat cost.

(2) Secondly, Ritual Casting. I mentioned it, but I want to know what level of scope and access to Ritual Casting, if any, I should expect as an advanced magic system. Ritual Casting grants limited access to Vancian Casting (Essentially preparing spells for 1-4 SP), but further limitations are on you- Are they limited to vancian spell lists? Are they unbound by vancian spell lists? Are they much more limited to vancian spell lists?

So with rituals, I will not just limit them to vancian spell lists, but anything beyond those will need to be cleared in advance and are subject to my approval.

(3) Do you have any issues with the Mind sphere? Will any of the NPCs we'll be facing against be immune by default?

I have no issues with the Mind sphere. Some NPCs and creatures will be resistant or even immune to mind-affecting effects, but it's not going to be anywhere near a universal trend, certainly not enough of one to discourage one from investing into the sphere.

(4) How do you feel about the following advanced talents: Sensitive Divinations, and Heroism,, and The High Priestess. Permitted, not permitted, altered, and so on.

All of those are cleared for use as-is with no need for alterations.

O think I may make him an older Muslim man, who lived in India and has done various things for a variety of religions Hindu, Bhuddism, Catholisism, Judaism,Islam,Paganism, Voodoo. He is older and has come to be a sort of sage for the Occult having sought the secrets of the Divines secrets

Would he originally be from the Ottomon Empire?

Hmm, victorian era England?

My current idea is a female Polish exile, who in the dream suddenly awakens to be some type of charismatic cavalier (big question about the order though)/spell warrior (skald archetype, loses a lot of flexibility but automatically benefits the party without stopping spellcasting), themed after the winged Hussars.

By the Winged Hussars, you are referring to the cavalry unit from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th to 18th centuries, correct?

I am greatly enjoying these interactions in the gameplay thread!

Since Drow Sign isn't auto translated, could I make a linguistics check to decipher it? Vol speaks both Drow and Undercommon.

I believe that is something you can do anyway, although I will allow it even if it technically isn't.