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Flykiller here with my Android Ranger. Being constructed, I'd imagine he wouldn't mind getting some fancy cybersurgery :)
Hello all,
So, I've decided to try and run this AP as PbP on these boards, but with a slight twist. I'd like to make the characters stand out in comparison with the usual evil creatures/NPCs. I want to make their commitment to evil so deep and intrinsic, that the good guys will have no second thoughts about defeating them. To that end, I have come up with nothing more original than having each PC being consumed by one of the seven deadly sins. What follows are the house rules I've come up with to reflect that corruption mechanically. Please take a look at them and leave feedback if you think they are bad in some way. Each sin has a boon and a penalty, and they are meant to weaken the characters in some way to make up for the large party. Here goes: Pride:
Boon: You find inspiration in succeeding against impossible odds. Any time you roll a natural 20 or confirm a critical hit, you gain +1 to attack rolls, damage rolls, skill checks and ability checks for one round. Penalty: You feel devastated when you fail to overcome a challenge. Any time you roll a natural 1, you are sickened for the next round. Greed:
Boon: you find pleasure in hoarding valuable objects, even ones you can't find use for. So long as you wear purely decorative jewelry, clothing, or other adornments worth at least 5% of your WBL, you gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC and a +1 morale bonus on saving throws. Penalty: you cannot bear parting with your possessions. You are sickened for 1 round whenever you consume or give away an object worth at least 1% of WBL. If such an object is broken or taken from you by someone, you are forced to try and attack the offender in melee for 1 round. Lust:
Boon: you can project your lustful urges upon others. You gain a +2 on charisma-based checks when dealing with anyone who could potentially be attracted to you in any way. In addition, you gain the domain powers of the Lust domain as if you were a cleric of your level, based on your highest mental score. Penalty: your impulse control leaves much to be desired. You are vulnerable to mind-affecting effects. Whenever an effect grants a Will save, roll twice and take the worst result. Envy:
Boon: you rejoice when you see others brought down. Any time an ally or an enemy rolls a natural 1, you gain +1 to attack rolls, damage rolls, skill checks and ability checks for one round. Penalty: the success of others fills you with loathing. Any time an ally or an enemy confirms a critical hit or rolls a natural 20, you are sickened for the next round. Gluttony:
Boon: you possess an uncanny ability to consume quickly and rapaciously. You gain accelerated drinker and fortified drinker traits. Penalty: normal-sized morsels always leave you hungry for the second helping. Treat normal food and drink, as well as any consumable, as a drug that causes a normal addiction. Eating double portion of the meal or using two identical consumables in a row prevents the effect. Using a different consumable resets the effect. Wrath:
Boon: death and suffering of others empowers you. Whenever you deliver a killing blow, confirm a crit, deal ability damage, bleed or precision damage, you gain the effects of rage as the spell using your character level as the caster level. Penalty: you cannot stay calm under stress. Whenever you are unable to attack an enemy in combat, you are confused for one round. Sloth:
Boon: you excel at making others do your bidding. You gain +1 to caster level of conjuration and enchantment spells, and +2 to Charisma-based checks when bargaining or directing controlled creatures. You also gain an extra Will save against any spells that force you to perform actions against your will, including ones that normally don't allow saves. Penalty: exertion finds you much quicker than normal. Whenever you do a full-round action, or move and standard action in the same round, you are fatigued. If you are already fatigued, you become exhausted. If you are already exhausted, you become stunned. Spending a round doing nothing but free actions makes you immune to this effect for 1 round. Spending two rounds doing nothing but free actions cures one step of the condition. In addition, you automatically fail saves to become fatigued or exhausted. Once I gather some feedback and refine this idea (or dump it altogether), I'll open a proper recruitment thread.
This is a recruitment for a campaign in progress, so some words about that first.
Adventure synopsis:
The city of Westcrown is dying. Since being stripped of its station as the capital of Cheliax, the wealth and prestige of the city has gradually slipped away, leaving the desperate people to fend for themselves in a city beset by criminals, a corrupt nobility, and a shadowy curse. Can the PCs fight back against champions of both the law and the criminal world? About the party:
The party is currently still at the start of the game, trying to escape the chase by the authorities, and the new joiners will rendez-vous with them at the safe house. The party currently has 3 characters:
I would like to accept two more characters, which would cover the arcane and skill roles between themselves. I don’t necessarily expect a full caster and a rogue; I will be looking at how well any two characters fit together and to the party. Obviously, the current players will also have their say in the decision. Now, what I mostly ask from you as a player, is a reasonably tolerant attitude towards fumbles which I am inevitably going to make as a novice DM. I will do my best to avoid getting in over my and the players’ heads with misguided creativity, but at the same time I’ll try not to regard the AP text as a holy scripture. I don’t like hard deadlines for recruitment; I will set the deadline to a couple of days after I make my first few picks. With all of the preamble out of the way, here are the character creation guidelines: 20 point buy, 1st level.
I’m not going to expressly forbid ninjas and samurai since we already have a gunslinger, but in case you feel the need to submit one, I will pay special attention to how well the background places that character into the setting. To my mind, Westcrown is loosely based on early Renaissance Italian city-states. Additionally, as you are going to start as recent inductees into the Children of Westcrown underground vigilante resistance cell, I would like your background to mention one deed your character has done that gave Arael (the resistance cell’s leader) the reason to seek you out and make you join their ranks. The deed should be suitably low-key for a first-level character.
Roman gratefully accepts the mouth-watering breakfast, then shrugs. "Call me superstitious, but I know how religion works from the inside; I know that omens and portents do exist and can matter. Anyway, for now, knowing that Janiven is looking into the matter gives me comfort. We should concentrate on the immediate task we have. Byron, did Rizzardo provide you with the directions to the goblin king hideout? And then the shadow beast challenge still stands, I believe."
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