Sotharal is essentially ready. I haven't done traits, since I am waiting for the campaign traits. I will also probably expand on the 'religion' section of her profile once the player's guide comes out.
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Sotharal would have been a cleric if she were able to. I guess that means we'd have decent contrast in a group together (not that I expect to get in XD).
It's not clear from what they've posted whether Golarion-natives would have heard of these gods prior to the adventure starting. In my case, Sotharal's family has a long tradition as followers of Torag, and I doubt she would be willing to give up such a following easily. Of course there is no reason she couldn't pay reverence to another god in addition to Torag. Just from the information in the kickstarter update, Alrenjae, Idniskow, and to a lesser extent Haymot Steel-Arm appear to fit her. I'll have to wait until I see the player's guide/other further information.
Yea, I initially planned her story with a shadow patron in mind, and wrote around that.
Ultimately I think I'll stick with keeping Sotharal the way she is now: with a shadow patron.
I present Sotharal version 2.0. The key changes are
--Her Zweihander Training and Armament Shield class features (allowing the use of her axe as a shield) are now a family tradition, taught to Sotharal by her uncle. --Sotharal's relationship to her patron has been updated and clarified based on previous comments. While not reflected in my profile currently, I am considering altering her patron to either Ancestors or Light. If I change it to ancestors, then in her backstory when she is attacked by shadows, she would momentarily see an outline of a spirit dwarf destroying the shadows, while if I changed it to light, the shadows would be destroyed in a blinding flash of light (obviously). Aside from the minor visual change in that one scene, her patron source is not something Sotharal would be aware of at the beginning of the campaign. However, it may affect how she develops down the road, and could meaningfully change the 'tone' of the whole witch/patron relationship. What are your thoughts, GM Rednal?
@Sotharal: If the other dwarves didn't use their weapons in a defensive manner, how did your character learn to do so? Most martial traditions are taught as styles - having a unique, untaught style would be exceedingly rare, and most people who'd do that at all would probably do little else with their time. Hmm, I said that most other dwarves use their weapons for offense (since they are, ya know, weapons), but maybe the person who trained Sotharal was also a warder? Maybe it was her uncle or another relative who taught her? That would mean I should write another NPC into her backstory, which I will do over the next couple days. Thanks for the advice:) In addition, if she's both afraid of shadows and watched them kill her friends, why would she accept power from a shadow-aligned patron instead of refusing it? Kith and kin tend to be very important to dwarves, and I'm not sure why she'd ally with one even if it did destroy the others (which, from another point of view, could turn out to be like pledging loyalty to a devil just because it saved you from a demon). When I wrote that Sotharal is afraid of shadows, I primarily meant the creature (which probably means she is at least somewhat afraid of other incorporeal undead, too). Shadows (the real thing, not the creature) scare her to a lesser extent, because they remind her of the creature. Her primary reasons for 'accepting' her patron are1. It saved her life, and possibly her soul... wait, is Golarion one of those campaign settings where turning undead corrupts or destroys the soul/spirit of the original person? If so, maybe it claimed to have 'cleansed' the souls of her comrades.[ooc] 2. Her patron claimed that she would help Sotharal help her clan and country. Maybe the patron is lying, maybe not, but Sotharal is doing what she believes is in the best interest of her people. 3. She doesn't actually know her patron is a 'shadow' patron. She didn't choose a patron the way a cleric chooses a god to follow, and she doesn't have the metagame knowledge to know that 'shadow' is the name of the patron theme she has. As a first level character, she does not yet have any powers which vary by patron. The only powers she has been granted by her patron so far are her familiar (nothing shadow-focused about it), cantrips, and first level spells. As far as I know, there are no shadow 0th level spells on the witch list, and only one shadow first level spell on the witch list (based on a search of 1001 spells and d20pfsrd.com). The one shadow spell at 1st level is not one she has learned. As far as Sotharal knows, she does not have, nor will she ever have, shadow-based powers. That was intentional on my part. As I imagine it, Sotharal didn't pick her 1st level spells known, her patron did. If her patron had given her, say, Shadow Weapon as a starting spell, Sotharal might have been afraid to use it. Instead, she gets only non-shadow spells to start. The patron bonus spells don't reveal their shadowy nature until much later (4th level for Darkness, and eighth level for the first real [Shadow] spell). She won't find out her patron focuses on shadow magic until after coming to accept her power source. It is possible that Sotharal is being manipulated by her patron towards purposes she wouldn't like. Her patron purports to be helping Sotharal help her family and country, but what does the patron get out of this deal? I left it open for you as the GM to mess with during the game. Finally, I will note that it is quite possible a wise, well-informed person would be more suspicious of an unknowable witch patron, given the circumstances Sotharal was in. But Sotharal is not wise. She has below average wisdom for a dwarf...maybe I could adjust her ability scores to give her a 9 wisdom to make that even clearer. I will revise my profile to make the points I made in this post clearer. Again, I greatly appreciate your feedback.
GM Rednal, do you have comments on my backstory (it's in my profile)?
Okay, I'm always hesitant to call anything I write 'done', but I think Sotharal's story is at the point where it is ready to be reviewed, so that I know what to improve on. I sort of hinted that her patron knows more of what is going to happen than she does, though I left it open for GM use and interpretation. I haven't done traits, since I was waiting for the campaign traits to come out. I haven't done equipment, either--I want to focus on the story. I tried to fit in explanations for how she learned each skill. I'm not sure whether those explanations made the backstory better, or whether they just made it seem forced, though.
I'm still here, but not done yet. Life has been getting in the way of completing my profile. I hope to finish in the next several days, at which point I'll submit Sotharal for review. In the mean time, with 25 days to go, we are closing in on 250 backers.
Okay, the crunch for Sotharal is mostly done--at least all the choices are there, though I haven't actually written down the calculation of AC/CMB/CMD. The outline of Sotharal's backstory and goals are done, but there is a substantial amount of room left to expand. I plan on working how she got each extra language into her backstory (I already know how, I just haven't written it up yet) sometime this week. Subsequently, I will probably expand on her mentality and personality. GM Rednal, what do you think so far (you didn't respond to my previous post)?
I suspect the confusion is that monkeygod is asking about the beta version of the revised pact magic occultist, as opposed to the original pact magic occultist, and wasn't thinking at all about the occult adventures occultist:)
Okay, I am recycling an unused alias. Unfortunately, the name 'Sotharal' does not sound particularly dwarven...if needed I can change it, though I don't want to make a new alias until/unless I am actually accepted into the game, to avoid more unused aliases piling up. As for the Witchknight... why do you want them to go on this adventure? The characters have basically no idea where they're going, much less any specific reason to go there - and inquisitor types are usually very job-focused. They have every reason to stay and very little cause to go exploring - how are you going to work with that? (<- This is me asking questions of your concept, as I said I would in the first post. ^^) I initially thought this character would have a greater focus on wisdom than intelligence, which was the primary reason behind requesting an inquisitor archetype. However, upon revising my character's story, I realized I was mistaken, and that intelligence is more likely her focus. Hence, I retract my request for the witchknight archetype, and am using only pre-approved content. Obviously, there is a fair amount left for me to do (in addition to the mechanics, which I can do pretty fast). I can add more to her goals and motivations, or detail 'background' NPCs she has met prior to the adventure starting. If there are any significant holes or issues in her backstory as it stands now, though, please let me know! I sort of implied that her patron has some idea of what is coming in the AP, even though my character doesn't.
Congratulations to those selected!
Sotharal bowed her head.
Sotharal nodded.
Congrats to those who were chosen!
Sotharal waited calmly. She hoped that whatever mysterious power had granted her her magic would give her the strength to be chosen for this grand adventure into the Worldwound.
Eastern time zone.
Just so everyone knows...the 1st book recommends that the PC's go from level 1-6. This is going to be one heck of a ride. Great, I love higher level play:) Also: While I already posted my backstory and character sheet, I did not include any mention of the campaign traits from the player's guide. This is because my character concept is flexible enough to allow any of three different campaign traits, and I thought it would be best to pick the campaign trait that fits best with the rest of the party. If selected, I will pick one of these based on who else is chosen, Alternatively, if one of these options fills a hole in other submitted characters, you (the DM) can choose one. You could sort of view this as three separate submissions which differ only in one trait selection and a small backstory adjustment.
Riftwarden Orphan:
The backstory given in my profile already has Sotharal's parents killed, so the only change that needs to be made is for Sotharal to have a magical rune on her body. Alternatively, the rune formed at the same time she got her power. Exposed to Awfulness:
If Sotharal is given the Stolen Fury trait, then her parents were killed not by ordinary murderers, but by a rampaging demon. The demon also thought it killed her, but she survived after lying in a coma for awhile. Stolen Fury: If Sotharal is given the Exposed to Awfulness trait, then her parents were killed not by ordinary murderers, but by a rampaging demon. The demon kidnapped Sotharal and used her in part of an evil ritual. Whatever foul effect the ritual had on her, it may have been part of the reason that the Aeons decided to invest witch power in her.
Okay, here's what I have:
backstory:
Many centuries ago, Sotharal's parents became tired of the traditions of the elves. They decided to abandon Kyonin and live among humans. In Absalom, they had their only daughter, Sotharal.
Although her parents were content, Sotharal slowly grew tired of her home town. Her childhood friends quickly grew old and died, and she had trouble finding new ones among the humans. Sotharal longed to explore the world outside of the great city. On a dark night in the middle of spring, her house was attacked in the middle of the night by a band of thieves. Sotharal managed to stay hidden underneath her bed. Her parents, on the other hand, were caught, bound, and carried off by the thieves, who probably sold them into slavery. Knowing she could not remain at home, Sotharal resolved to leave Absalom, and wander from town to town. For then, she hoped, she would never stay in one place long enough to become too attached to its residents, and thus she would avoid the pain of human friends dying too soon. While traveling, Sotharal encountered a strange glowing light. Curious, she approached, and was greeted with an enormous blinding flash of light, followed by a burst of utter darkness. When the darkness cleared, a small lizard-like creature stood beside her . Scared, she rushed to a temple as soon as she reached the next down. A few divination spells assured her that the creature following her, and the power it granted her, were not inherently Evil. They were not, however, Good. What was the thing that gave her power? Although she doesn't know it, that was a powerful Aeon, and Sotharal is part of the Aeons' plan to preserve balance in the universe...by destroying demons of the worldwound. (at 7th level, I plan to take Improved Familiar: Paracletus). Eventually, her travels took her to Kenabres. Upon entering, Sotharal felt a ping through her Empathetic Link with her familiar--it gave her the idea to volunteer in the crusades. Goals:
Sotharal's goals are simple:
First, she desires to understand her own power. Second, she wants to find closure on the status of her parents. Finally, Sotharal continues to have a strong desire to explore unknown parts of the world. It is this desire which leads her to adventure. Campaign Traits:
Riftwarden Orphan:
The backstory given above already has Sotharal's parents killed, so the only change that needs to be made is for Sotharal to have a magical rune on her body. Alternatively, the rune formed at the same time she got her power. Exposed to Awfulness:
If Sotharal is given the Stolen Fury trait, then her parents were killed not by ordinary murderers, but by a rampaging demon. The demon also thought it killed her, but she survived after lying in a coma for awhile. Stolen Fury: If Sotharal is given the Exposed to Awfulness trait, then her parents were killed not by ordinary murderers, but by a rampaging demon. The demon kidnapped Sotharal and used her in part of an evil ritual. Whatever foul effect the ritual had on her, it may have been part of the reason that the Aeons decided to invest witch power in her.
I haven't gotten it, but...CR 27 demon lords?!? I'm excited:)
Cyril, I don't have Faiths...is that material on the PRD? Any specific companion? The VC who told you that may have been referring to PFS use. One thing the pfsrd does which the prd does not is include sidebars liking to relevant FAQs or forum posts by the developers. This can make it easier, since if you just look at the prd it isn't always clear if there is a relevant FAQ. HOWEVER, the VC you talked to might have been referring to the fact that PFS does not consider forum posts by the developers to be "official." So if you see a clarification in a sidebar on the pfsrd, check to see where the link goes. If it goes to Paizo's official FAQ, then it is RAW. If it goes to a forum post by James Jacobs or SKR, then it is a helpful clarification that DMs can consider, but doesn't count for PFS.Those are all in the sidebars, though.
I'm going to submit Sotharal:
Backstory:
Spoiler:
Many centuries ago, Sotharal's parents became tired of the traditions of the elves. They decided to abandon Kyonin and live among humans. In Absalom, they had their only daughter, Sotharal.
Although her parents were content, Sotharal slowly grew tired of her home town. Her childhood friends quickly grew old and died, and she had trouble finding new ones among the humans. Sotharal longed to explore the world outside of the great city. On a dark night in the middle of spring, her house was attacked in the middle of the night by a band of thieves. Sotharal managed to stay hidden underneath her bed. Her parents, on the other hand, were caught, bound, and carried off by the thieves, who probably sold them into slavery. Knowing she could not remain at home, Sotharal resolved to leave Absalom, and wander from town to town. For then, she hoped, she would never stay in one place long enough to become too attached to its residents, and thus she would avoid the pain of human friends dying too soon. While traveling, Sotharal encountered a strange glowing light. Curious, she approached, and was greeted with an enormous blinding flash of light, followed by a burst of utter darkness. When the darkness cleared, a small lizard-like creature stood beside her . Scared, she rushed to a temple as soon as she reached the next down. A few divination spells assured her that the creature following her, and the power it granted her, were not inherently Evil. They were not, however, Good. What was the thing that gave her power? Although she doesn't know it, that was a powerful Aeon, and Sotharal is part of the Aeons' plan to preserve balance in the universe...by destroying demons of the worldwound. (at 7th level, I plan to take Improved Familiar: Paracletus). Eventually, her travels took her to Kenabres. Upon entering, Sotharal felt a ping through her Empathetic Link with her familiar--it gave her the idea to volunteer in the crusades. Goals: Spoiler: Sotharal's goals are simple:
First, she desires to understand her own power. Second, she wants to find closure on the status of her parents. Finally, Sotharal continues to have a strong desire to explore unknown parts of the world. It is this desire which leads her to adventure. |