That GM Guy!'s page

Well, hello everyone and welcome to the recruitment for my Broken Earth campaign, a post-apocalyptic romp through the northern reaches of the USA, as well as the southern portions of Canada!

To give you an idea about what this campaign is, it is a free-range sandbox with amazing roleplay, fast and brutal combat, the struggle against the environment, numerous existential questions, cool loot, AND a bit of kingdom building (Community Building).

Does that sufficiently intrigue everyone? If so, check out the Campaign Information tab to get an idea of the setting and stuff. I'm sure that you will find it interesting!

Now, before I begin the whole character creation spiel, let me run a few of things by you regarding the story:

1. You begin in whichever community you choose. Yes, this will make it more work on my part in the early game, but it will give you all a feel for the setting and make things much more organic with the roleplaying aspects.

2. You will need to have some reason to go to/be in Minnesota, for that is where the party meets up and is where a lot of awesome stuff is. If you cannot think of a reason why your character would be in Minnesota, I can help you figure out a reason, if that is all that is stopping you from completing your character.

3. Like most post-apocalyptic RPGs, Broken Earth can be pretty grim... like favorite NPC cut up and eaten by cannibalistic tribals grim. I don't oversaturate these types of campaigns with the material, but neither do I exclude it if it comes up. So you must be ok with rare bouts of grimdark material.

As far as slotted players, only Sir Awesomesauce McSnazzlepants is slotted. He is playing a grim survivalist type who belongs to The Revealed and is a man of deep convictions with a deadly aim and a razor sharp mind, though not much in the way of social skills.

So, without further ado, here is character creation!

CHARACTER CREATION

Starting Level: 3

Race: Human, Freak, Simian, or Synth

Classes: Barbarian (Lose or reflavor all SU Rage Powers), Bard (Lose spellcasting and the ability to make the Bardic Performance of suggestion, but gain full BAB and an extra number of Bardic Performance uses per day equal to your CHA modifier), Fighter, Monk (Replaces Abundant Step, and Diamond Soul with Bonus Feats. Timeless Body no longer halts the appearance of aging, but otherwise functions normally. Perfect Self just grants DR 7/-), Ranger (Use the Spell-less Ranger variant listed on the SRD), Rogue (Lose all access to SU Rogue Talents or Advanced Talents), Alchemist (All abilities become EX and are reflavored as science), Cavalier, Gunslinger, Inquisitor (Loses Spells and Domains, but gains full BAB), Ninja (See Rogue, but applies to Tricks and Master Tricks), Samurai, Brawler, Hunter (Loses Spells and Raise Companion, but gains full BAB), Investigator (See Alchemist for information on Formulae), Slayer (See Rogue for changes), and Swashbuckler.
3PP Classes that are legal include: Machinesmith (With all references of magic removed) and all Psionics classes. If you have any questions about me allowing or disallowing another 3PP class, feel free to post as much!

HP: Maximum for every HD.

Traits: 2, none of which deal with magic.

Backgrounds: Doctor, Engineer, Historian, Hunter, Mercenary, Scavenger, Survivalist, Tribal. You pick your background based on your STORY, not what looks like the juiciest Perks.

Starting Community: See Campaign Information Tab

Starting Wealth: Special (Don't worry about this, there will be a 'select your equipment' type event at the game's inception.).

EQUIPMENT: If someone can create a spreadsheet on a shareable document for your tired GM, I will set about putting together a massive list for you all of available weapons and armor. I will also list basic equipment later, like glowrods, hazmat suits, and such.

Discuss things here!

DOT!

DOT!

Discuss things here!

Hello and welcome to the recruitment for Curse of the Coral Throne, an aquatic reimagining of Curse of the Crimson Throne! Before we get into the specifics of character creation, let me tell you about the setting itself.

THE SETTING

Oseanarra, named for the ancient Azlanti word for the ocean, is a city ancient beyond measure. Formerly part of the Azlanti Archipelago, the city once known as Ierisintrivaniis (Sacred Fountains) was a wondrous city of stone and precious metals that lay on a lush, beautiful island. When the Starstone fell and all of Azlant sank beneath the waves, a powerful priest of Gozreh whose name is lost to the depths of history, beseeched his god to spare the people of the city. Gozreh listened and transformed the people of the city into forms that could survive beneath the waves.

More than ten millennia have passed since then and Oseanarra has since turned into a thriving hub of the ocean, the stone city containing thousands upon thousands of citizens from all corners of the oceans and seas of Golarion. The city has since grown over the countless years since it fell beneath the waves.

The city proper is the massive stone city once known as Ierisintivaniis, though most just call it The Midlands. The Midlands is filled with the middle class and many business establishments, almost all of which reside within the ancient stone structures. A massive temple to Gozreh, formed out of a giant spiral sea shell the size of a cathedral from the surface, lies within the district, as does temples to most of Golarion’s other deities.

The Thellassic Spire, located in the north part of the Midlands, is the largest school of the arcane arts in all the seas, dwarfing the Acadamae Arcane of Korvosa in sheer size. The conch-like spire of the main building is the highest point in Oceanarra, apart from the city’s castle. The mages who choose to live and learn here, learning secrets from etched pearl tablets covered in arcane shorthand, are well-respected in the city, for they have used their magic to reconstruct the city after its fall construct the other districts, as well as the castle. Not only that, but the magic of the Spire sends pulses of magic out occasionally, causing natural predators to become uneasy and shy away from the city.

Old Oseanarra, where the survivors once lived while they repaired the damage of the city after it sunk beneath the waves, lies in a great sea cave a few hundred feet southwest of the city. Old Oseanarra is a fairly massive place, filled with hundreds of ‘houses’ carved into the sides of the inner portion of the sea cave, with its numerous tunnels functioning as ‘streets’. Only the poor live within Old Oseanarra, though that number has climbed dramatically in recent years.

The Grey Tunnels, a system of tunnels below the city, serve as catacombs for the inhabitants of the city. The tunnels are constantly expanded to accommodate for every death by the priests and priestesses of Pharasma. The Tunnels are an eerie place, continually cast in shadow, lit only with pale green orbs of light. In the nooks cut into the walls, there exist the remains of the dead, preserved by a permanent gentle repose effect, floating gently in their nooks.

The Wrecks are a series of shipwrecks that lie across some of the roofs in the southwestern portion of the Midlands. The inhabitants are only barely better off than the inhabitants of Old Oseanarra, primarily because many of those living in The Wrecks are sneak-thieves and scavengers.

East Pelagia is located in the eastern portion of Oseanarra and is home to the old military families who have gained knighthoods and noble title. The houses are built from fine stone found throughout the surrounding environment and often feature bladed crenellations.
North Pelagia is located in the northern part of Oseanarra and is home to both the original inhabitants of the city. It has some of the finest homes of the old city.

The Road of Prosperity- The noble district is located on a long road, seemingly made out of mother-of-pearl and raised from the surrounding stone and sand (For in the deeps, a road is merely a formality, one that the original inhabitants made to make themselves feel more comfortable,), leading from North Pelagia to Castle Oseanarra. The homes are made out of marble and fine metals.

Castle Oseanarra- Once the Road of Prosperity reaches the end of a massive trench, it continues on and winds up towards a shining castle of golden crystal, mother of pearl, marble, and jewels, Castle Oseanarra. The seat of all power in Oseanarra, it floats above the seemingly bottomless trench by powerful magic.

BEGINNING OF THE CAMPAIGN

In the millennia since Oseanarra fell below the waves, the city has maintained a cohesion unseen anywhere else on Golarion. Recent times, however, have been hard on the city. Filled with thousands of citizens, resources are drawn a bit thin and some of the poorest families do not always get a meal a day. King Eodrid Coral-Helm has married one of the Sea Elves, who are viewed in a negative light due to their haughty, proud nature. The Gillmen have driven the Undines from their native lands so that Oseanarra could expand even further, igniting racial tensions there. Crime is on the rise and whispers of a war with the Sahuagin have swept through the city. The nobles have fallen into utter decadence and spend more time indulging in exotic narcotics and sexual excess than they are trying to help unite the city. It is a dark time, and one that King Eodrid is ill-equipped to deal with, for he has fallen ill with a wasting sickness which defies all attempts at healing. His young Sea Elf wife, Iliossa, tries to keep the kingdom from falling apart, but her efforts have so far just slowed the decline of the empire.

But all this is far from your mind, for you have a bone to pick with Gaedren the Hook, a Gillman criminal. What he has taken from you is unknown, but you have vowed to see him brought to justice, if not at the hands of the Waveguard, then at your own. [/ooc]

Look up the Curse of the Crimson Throne Player’s Guide for more information on Gaedren and potential plot hooks for your characters.

CHARACTER CREATION

Starting Level: 1

Race: Any aquatic race from Paizo, such as Gillmen, Merfolk, Sea Elves, ect., are available. All of the races from the Cerulean Seas books are allowed as well. If you know of any good 3PP races, I might allow those as well.

Classes: All Paizo classes are allowed and all of those from Cerulean Seas are allowed as well. Other classes will need to be run by me, but most are fine.
EDIT: Psionics and Path of War are also automatically allowed!

Ability Scores: Ability scores will be purchased using a 20 point buy, with the popular 1-1 purchase method, which is to say: all scores start at 10, before racial modifiers, and each point you put into an ability score raises it by a single point. You may, if you so desire, take up to 2 points from an ability score, gaining a similar number of points.

HP: Max per HD. In a campaign beneath the waves, you need all the HP that you can handle.

Skill Points: You get a bonus skill point at each level, which is automatically put into Swim.

Feats: You get a Bonus Feat at 1st level.

Wealth: You get 750 Shells (GP) worth of equipment.

Traits: You get a basic Trait, a Campaign Trait from the Curse of the Crimson Throne Player’s Guide and, if you take a Drawback, you may select another Trait.

Exactly as the title asks, I am curious as to how many people would be down for a Fallout/Wasteland/Gamma World/After the Bomb-style campaign set almost 100 years after a nuclear war.

The campaign will be very Kingmaker-esque, with a hex map provided, so that PCs can forge their own path through the wasted lands.

I will be providing new equipment for PC use, as well as explaining how radiation poisoning works in this campaign. There are full-auto weapons available, as well as burst-fire weapons, so all you fellow gun freaks out there, rejoice! You can finally have your Barbarian shoulder an AR-15 and go to town on mutated critters!

The available races for play would be Human, Freak (Basically a Fallout Ghoul,), Synth (Android-like Cyborgs, sort of like Ash from Alien,), and Simian (Think Rise of the Planet of the Apes: intelligent primates who escaped from the ruined testing labs and subsequently bred a race of sentient, if still slightly below average intelligent, primates,). I MAY allow for other options, if they make sense within the context of the campaign.

As for classes, no magic classes will be allowed, period. Now things like Alchemist lose the supernatural, magical fluff, but remain the same mechanically. Full casters, however, are unplayable. Psionics will be allowed for those who desire to play a caster type character and do not want the Machinesmith or similar classes. Psions are vanishingly rare, however, so be forewarned of that regarding fluff when building one, if you go that route. Most supernatural abilities in non-caster classes can be refluffed, so don't be discouraged!

You will have the option of allowing your PC to start out with Mutations. In taking a Mutation, however, you also must take a Flaw, from a provided list, to balance it out.

Also, each PC will begin by picking a Background, which grants a list of Perks, almost like Fallout. At each level, PCs gain a new Perk, chosen from their Background list. The available backgrounds include most that you would expect from a post-apocalyptic campaign: Pre-War Historian, Doctor, Tribal, Mercenary, ect. If there is enough interest and I create the recruitment thread, I will put up a list for people to peruse.

Well, I think that covers the basics of what I was going to discuss in the interest check.

I do have one question, however. Which of the areas listed below appeal to everyone regarding the starting campaign area?

1. The Great Northern Expanse- This includes the northern states of the USA, as well as southern portions of Canada. A relatively diverse area and one of the few that are less likely to have you dying of dehydration or starvation early in the campaign.

2. The Mojave- The classic setting for post-apocalypse scenarios, but also the most desolate and deadly of them all, likely to kill you by dehydration and hunger before any mutants or raiders can get to you.

If you feel those are not interesting enough, make a suggestion! I have a lot of hex maps already made for the first three, but I am willing to let you post an alternate suggestions.