Shensen's page

Shensen is modeled after my favorite PC I've ever played, yes, so if that annoys anyone... there are far more Paizo products that are Shensen-free than are. Such as the Gatewalkers Adventure Path. ;-)

I am embarrassed that I missed the previous post was ten years ago, but never embarrassed to share my love of the silver city.

Don't be embarrassed! Just sing and play LOUDER to distract people more!

I'm sure we can still share some spoilers, just not as many. :)

One spoiler less than what you planned is technically "just not as many," right? ;-)

EDIT: It just dawned on me that Rovagug wrecked the Drow's whole everything, back in the ancient past. Y'know who hates Rovagug and loves redemption?

Bingo!

Awesome! I need something else to do for a change, and this will do nicely! It will be cool to see JJ play a character for a change as well.

Hopefully I'll be popular enough to earn enough hero points to stay ahead of the countless tavern ambushes I fear I'll be facing in this game!

Favored Enemy STAGE FRIGHT!

Just now noticed this thread, but I approve! Carry on!

Shensen wrote:

roguerouge wrote:

My players want to go down a list of names and ask who she knows. Was she around for the first Silver Ravens movement? Does she know Jackdaw? Was she a Silver Raven?

She knows Guttugger her pet dinosaur and Chuko, her former adventuring chum. She maybe knows that Jackdaw is in Castle Kintargo, because Barzillai Thrune told her that although he doesn't know its significance (SoS p. 9, 29). She established the Sarenrae sect in town and thus has some connection to the Shelynites sheltering its believers.

She's an elf, so her age is not an issue with all of this.

I wasn't in Kintargo at that time the first round of Silver Ravens were doing their thing... wasn't even born at that point in time. If I were or if I did, I woulda let you PCs know earlier! :-)

As for what I learned from Barzilai, as long as I can encourage the PCs to start hitting the targets of opportunity in the next adventure, that's what I'd know. NPCs like me are good sources of "quest giving" stuff to help focus a group of PCs who, all too often, get option paralysis and don't know which of the several quest threads to follow up on at any one time.

And I'm a half-elf, not an elf. Started out as a drow but that's a different story entirely.

In my golarion I pretty much leave out the Mary Sue backstory. That said, Chuko has been a huge favorite at my table and I expect the same from... you.

In my campaign, Tiarese carefully out your tongue and restored it to flesh in order to complete a ritual to come back as a greater banshee instead of a nemhain. She did eat it, yes. Gross. So you will be supernaturally silenced until they can put the witch down a second time.

That's fine, but don't be offended if in my campaign you get your tongue eaten as well. ;-)

And that said, if my "Mary Sue" background inspired you enough to inject your own creativity and passion into your version of the storyline, then I consider my background a success as well.

My players want to go down a list of names and ask who she knows. Was she around for the first Silver Ravens movement? Does she know Jackdaw? Was she a Silver Raven?

She knows Guttugger her pet dinosaur and Chuko, her former adventuring chum. She maybe knows that Jackdaw is in Castle Kintargo, because Barzillai Thrune told her that although he doesn't know its significance (SoS p. 9, 29). She established the Sarenrae sect in town and thus has some connection to the Shelynites sheltering its believers.

She's an elf, so her age is not an issue with all of this.

I wasn't in Kintargo at that time the first round of Silver Ravens were doing their thing... wasn't even born at that point in time. If I were or if I did, I woulda let you PCs know earlier! :-)

As for what I learned from Barzilai, as long as I can encourage the PCs to start hitting the targets of opportunity in the next adventure, that's what I'd know. NPCs like me are good sources of "quest giving" stuff to help focus a group of PCs who, all too often, get option paralysis and don't know which of the several quest threads to follow up on at any one time.

And I'm a half-elf, not an elf. Started out as a drow but that's a different story entirely.

Firebrands are the best. We're not just in own place, we're everywhere. And we look good doing what we're doing when we're there!

Tell us about your favorite character you’ve created and played as a PC!

That'd be Shensen, who you can read all about in Pathfinder #100, in addition to a few other places. She's the character I played the longest, from about 2nd or 3rd level (she was a replacement PC for a human wizard who got killed early in a campaign) all the way up to about 18th level, when I had to leave the campaign due to personality clashes with another player, alas.

Nice.

They're also sexy as hell.

Eeew... gross.

So about them Phistophilii...

They make excellent targets for slashes from burning scimitars. All those contracts! They go up like flash paper in a furnace when you burn them, and the look those devils get on their faces when their precious, precious words go up in smoke? Priceless.

Without going into spoilers, on what kind of frequency did Shensen perform at the Kintargo Opera House in the years leading to the events described in Hell's Rebels?

** spoiler omitted **...

Quite often. Once per season if I could finagle it, but I'd usually take one season off to go do adventure stuff or mess with the Thrunies. So... I guess 3 times a year on average.

AWESOME.

Also... Kings of Absalom needs to return!!!

Thanks, James! I originally wasn't sure how it worked at all, but typing up the question helped solidify what was going on with the mechanic. Glad to see I eventually figured it out.

By the way, one of my PCs is a Shensen fan, so she's heartbroken that she almost assuredly died during the collapse of her music shop. I plan on letting slip that the skeletons found there are almost assuredly not half-elven, so there's a chance she's alive...

YAY! Fans!

On a scale from 1 to NOPE NOPE NOPE how horrifying is this image?

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Shensen wrote:

Hayato Ken wrote:

Despite actually knowing the name is Shenmen, i still repeated the wrong one^^

Perhaps i should somehow connect Shensen to spiders in my game though :D

As long as it's not gorillas.

Nothing is impossible...especially not in the opera!

Well... gorillas SHOULD be impossible. World would be a better place without them.

Despite actually knowing the name is Shenmen, i still repeated the wrong one^^

Perhaps i should somehow connect Shensen to spiders in my game though :D

As long as it's not gorillas.

MMCJawa wrote:

also as a horror fan, a Tian Xia horror-themed campaign would be pretty awesome. It's not like the Paizo folks don't have a lot of inspirations to pull from, and it would be a pretty novel idea.

Horror game in Shensen, the Land of Spiders would be pretty great.

Eeew... there's SPIDERS IN ME? That IS horrifying!

Misroi wrote:

On a scale of 1-10, how awkward was the reunion between you and Shensen when you, Kyra, and the rest of the Hell's Rebels team rescued Shensen? If I recall from this thread, there was some history there.

It wasn't awkward at all! No way! Why would you think that? Not at all. It was fun. No awkwardness. Any of it. I mean none of it was awkward.

HA! Cute.

Is there anything more frightening than an angry gorilla?

No.

How does she talk? Proper or familiar or somewhere in between? How does she act towards people interested in Sarenrae? How does she act towards her fans? Is she the brains of the operation or its face or both? What are her major goals before the Night of Ashes? Did she have long term goals for the cult of Sarenrae and where was it heading?

More familiar and conversational. Formal talk is for stuffed shirts and Thrunies. Profanity is a useful tool. Do not be afraid to use it, but use it well if you do! I'm pro-Sarenrae enough that I got a tattoo of the sun on my forehead, so I tend to be pretty friendly toward others who worship her, and often am in awe of those who are wise enough to do so and cast spells as a result; that's impressive! I'd never be able to do that.

I adore my fans, but if they get all creepery and stalkery I don't hesitate to let them know or confront them about it.

I tend to be the face of the group, but do enjoy plotting as well. Why can't I be both?

My major goals before the Night of Ashes remain the same as after; to see Thrune end, to find out what they did with my mother, and to live deliciously.

I'd love it if a proper temple of Sarenrae would show up in town; my store and its basement are nowhere NEAR good enough for her. She needs a shiny cathedral in town!

Since Shensen was someone's PC at one point, could you please give us some tips for roleplaying her to the PCs during Hell's Rebels? I've read most of the available info on the character but some further insight from her player would be helpful.

What'cha wanna know? Be nice to your friends, destroy the enemy by making them YOUR friends (or by stabbing), be nice to dinosaurs, fear gorillas, and don't lose sight of the good in life!

Lady Docor's School For Girls is a good place for orphans, but beyond that, the temple of Shelyn is probably the best bet. There aren't any significantly huge orphanages in town, which is kind of a problem I've been, now and then, trying to get folks to fix. Kintargo's a great place to live, but now and then it's kind of hard to get us Kintargans to focus on problems. The opera house does indeed offer apprenticeships though, so that sounds like a great solution.

I guess Devil's Nursery is sort of an orphanage for tieflings, but it's also kind of a dangerous slum, so that might not be a great option either. Especially if you're not a tiefling. Probably not if you're an orphan.

AND! Love to hear that I've inspired others to go into the arts!!!

Shensen wrote:

...And yes, still an aquatic half-elf, but without the typical extra (and mostly optional) race swap outs for it, due to the sort of unusual way I ended up being an aquatic half elf...

Did the aboleths do it? ;)

Eew.

Nope.

The druids did, in this case.

There's no way an aboleth could pretend to be a druid, is there?

IS THERE?

I hope she'll be a CG Female Aquatic Half-Elf (Shoreborn) Fighter (Dawnflower Dervish) 4/Bard (Chelish Diva) 8! ^_^

Close... but not quite!

CG half-elf bard (Dawnflower dervish) 8/fighter 4. And yes, still an aquatic half-elf, but without the typical extra (and mostly optional) race swap outs for it, due to the sort of unusual way I ended up being an aquatic half elf...

Shensen wrote:

And while we're at it... what about your Absalom game? I've got secret societies to build there!

Aren't you lost in Kintargo or something?

I'm not lost at all. I'm just eager to figure out what I did to get to 12th level is all.

And while we're at it... what about your Absalom game? I've got secret societies to build there!

Anyone else can't wait to see the cover of AP #100 based on how f~*~ing cool Shensen's new avatar looks:-)

It looks even better than that! My scimitar's all fiery and scorchy!

I'd call all these desperate Thrunies cute if they weren't so creepy about how they went about doing things.

A question that might play into Hell's Rebels, since I'm catching up on things.

Shensen in the NPC guide is mentioned as collecting blackmail material on dozens of nobles, usually by seducing their sons and daughters. Okay, that's fine. Sort of like Mata Hari, Marthe Richard, Despina Storch, Amy Thorpe, Ethel Lee, and various others (I remember reading about an ambassador's wife who'd throw orgies and wild parties, and use them as cover to obtain blackmail material - name escapes me).

However, she's a public figure, and I can't imagine that what she does can forever remain a secret, especially if she gets around enough that a pattern emerges (even if the one she's currently seducing doesn't notice, people burned in the past are another thing).

Gathering blackmail material and the like is and should be dangerous, but at the same time, she has problems of her own. She's helped establish dozens of safe houses and hidden temples throughout Cheliax. This is coupled to expensive habits, and she's also described as quite prone to emotional outbursts and impulsive choices, as well as easily distracted. They're not exactly traits I would look for in that sort of job, based on how she's described. They fit one half of what she does (performances etc.), but not the other half.

Apologies if that went on for a while. So my questions sort of boil down to:

1) Has she had these problems with people finding out before? If she did, I assume she dealt with them?

2) How has she not made any mistakes of her own yet? If she has, how did she deal with them?

3) More importantly, who does she target? Looking for more specifics than "children of noble families" - what sort of profile does a target need for her to go after them?

1) Yup, and I did indeed deal with them.

2) I have, and I've dealt with them as well. It helps to have friends handy who can resurrect you if things go really bad.

3) Anyone who would damage the Chelish government when scandal does them in.

That all said... that was more stuff I got into a while back, before I "settled down" in Kintargo. What I'm doing now is a bit more subtle. And I might be getting in over my head even then ... You'll see soon enough!

APPROVED! Keep it up! Down with the Thrunies!

Looking for Shensen in the PRD, but they only list class levels, not names. Is she not in the PRD?

Edit: Found a pic and representation on Pathfinder wiki with her as a bard 8/ fighter 4 of saranrae?

==Aelryinth

Or... you could check my character profile for a little more info!

Oh, we get to meet Shensen in Hell's Rebels? Cool, I've heard the name over and over again but not actually familiar with her.

So if the unannounced project is coming out in the same time frame as Strange Aeons, around what time would you guess us audience might get to know what it is? Next PaizoCon?

Not only that... but she's the cover character for Pathfinder #100. I bought the original art for her from Wayne at Gen Con, and soon after I hit "Submit Post" here I'm off to the framing store to get her framed!

She's statted up in "NPC Guide" if you want a preview. Or just check out the avatar I used for this post, I guess!

I suspect we'll announce that other product before PaizoCon.

WOOO HOOOO!!!!

Ahem.

down with thrune

(BUT! If all things were neutral... I'd use the new art for Shensen as my avatar. Using it for my Shensen alias works just as well though!)

DOWN WITH THRUNE!

James Jacobs wrote:

Fourshadow wrote:

So which of this Adventure Path will detail Kintargo's Opera House? I love that bardic college I first saw in Inner Sea Magic and would love greater detail.

Part 3 has the most of it, but there are bits and pieces about the Opera House in part 1 and part 4 as well.

That said, it doesn't build upon the information given in Inner Sea Magic for the opera as a guild at all—in fact, the situation in the Kintargo Opera House for the first half of Hell's Rebels pretty much results in that guild being shut down. Hopefully some heroic PCs can help fix that!

Wow, you answered twice in two different threads and with additional info! Yippee! Thank you so much yet again.

And, as Set said, the show indeed MUST go on! Save Kintargo!

Indeed.

DOWN WITH THRUNE!!!

DOWN WITH THRUNE!!!!!

House of Thrune wrote:

All activity here is being recorded by our scribes.

And This why House Thrune will crush Kintago's little rebellion.

And it's why Lawful always wins over Chaotic....
Chaotic is the illiterate alignment.

Ha. Sure.

Lawful, on the other hand, is the alignment that's so afraid of the printed word that they spend vast amounts of resources at rewriting history, thinking that if they change the books, they change reality.

There's gonna be a DELIGHTFUL wake-up call coming Thrunie's way soon! Can't wait!!!

All I can say about the news of Hell's Rebels is...

I'll seeya all there, fighting the good fight against the Thrunies!

Why wouldn't he kill him? Don't you know how much XP an experienced paladin is worth!?

Come now... you don't have to kill something to earn it's XP. You just have to "defeat" it! And confronting a foe only to let him live counts as a defeat.

Quit trying to trick GMs into robbing us good Sarenites from our XP, you monster!!!! ;-)

I think there's a Thrunie about. Should I alert Shensen?

Already on it. Thanks, though!

The only reason something needs the amphibious trait is if they're aquatic and need to be able to walk around on land for long periods. Since I don't actually have the aquatic subtype... I don't get the amphibious trait that goes with it.

Alas.

Lem the Halfling wrote:

Stratagemini wrote:

Who is currently the most popular bard in Golarion?

Ahem...

Shensen? Lem moves around too much.

Yay!

baron arem heshvaun wrote:

Hobbun wrote:

baron arem heshvaun wrote:

Did you all read how he ended that blog?

Erik Mona: Showman extraordinaire.

You mean about him approving 24 more figures for the next set or how much better they look or both?

With but a few key strokes he has already laid the groundwork for the anticipation of the next set.

Now will there be 40 or 60 minis in that set is the question.

And my platinum says Lem will be one of them.

That's unusually nice of a Thrunie to say.

...wait, what are you planning to do to it?

I got your back, Lem, in case the Thrunies are tricking you...

Nope! Have not!

But I know someone who has! Although she doesn't really like me spreading the info around or telling folks about it.

Hush up, you!

What about Merisiel? Who would win then? Her or Shensen?

I would again! Merisiel's a pushover!

Zorro versus Shensen. WHO WOULD WIN?

I would; Zorro's a chump.

ulgulanoth wrote:

do you think Shensen would be willing to come out of a cake for entretainment purposes?

I have before, so... yup!

Wait... that was a gelatinous cube. Kinda the same thing, though, I guess.