Another way to think about it is that it does not say something like this:
"At 3rd level, you gain the bloodline arcana of your chosen bloodline".
Since nowhere does it specifically mention gaining the bloodline arcana, that means that you do not gain the bloodline arcana.
That is not what I said. I did not say it is separate from the Bloodline itself; I said it is separate, as in a different ability, from the Bloodline Powers.
A Bloodline consists of 1) a Class Skill, 2) Bonus Spells, 3) Bonus Feats, 4) a Bloodline Arcana, and 5) Bloodline Powers.
Just like the Sorcerer VMC does not grant a Class Skill and Bonus Spells, it also does not grant the Bloodline Arcana ability. What it does grant are one of the Bonus Feats at 11th level and, of course, the various Bloodline Powers. It also makes you count as having that Bloodline for purposes such as feats and prestige class prerequisites and such, or I think at least.
At the very least that is how I have read it from the start. I could be wrong.
And besides, I am hardly the GM, so it is not I who has final say on the matter anyway.
Edit: A brief search through the forums came up with these two threads, though I am not sure they actually offer anything too conclusive (there is a post by Mark Seifter in one of them):
DN clarified no Bloodline Arcana, I asked earlier up thread :-)
While DM clarification is pretty final on the matter, Id just like to get in my reasoning anyway.
Since nowhere does it specifically mention gaining the bloodline arcana, that means that you do not gain the bloodline arcana.
It doesnt, it does however simply say you choose a bloodline. Thats it. Not a bloodline with no class skill or a bloodline with no arcana. Just a bloodline. It then goes on to describe all the changes that are made to the bloodline, none of which reference skills or arcana.
Thats my take anyway.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program.
RAI on Sorcerer VMC is, I suspect, that you do not get the Arcana. That is how I am ruling it. For further clarification:
Select one sorcerer bloodline. You must have Skill focus in the class skill that bloodline grants to a sorcerer at 1st level (for example, Heal for the celestial bloodline). This bloodline cannot be a bloodline you already have. You gain the first-level bloodline power for the selected bloodline. For purposes of using that power, treat your sorcerer level as equal to your character level – 2, even if you have levels in sorcerer. You do not gain any of the other bloodline abilities.
Eldritch Heritage does not grant the Bloodline Arcana, and it also says to select one sorcerer bloodline. Since the Sorcerer VMC grants similar abilities, I believe the intent was to not grant the bloodline arcana. I suspect the intent is to specifically prevent Wizards from cherry picking the arcana from a Sorcerer bloodline to augment their abilities.
Plus Mark Seifter says that you do not gain the Bloodline Arcana at 1st level. I do, however, think it needs a FAQ or errata to clarify the issue. But then, so do a lot of Pathfinder rules.
I think you're still missing Background skills. Other than that, looks good.
@shadowtail24: Thank you for those, as well.
Don't forget you still need to provide specifics about your extortion crime, as well as the fate of your familiar.
Still mulling the extortion over, though probably tried to threaten the wrong people. Im thinking it could be fun if he is convicted of a crime he didnt even actually commit, even if he is deserving in general.
As for Gregor, the go to would be that he flew away when Bastian was caught and has followed him since at a distance, though I dont know how allowed that is. I mean they would be back together again right away if the cell has a window.
That is allowed for Gregor, although you will not see him again until after the prison break if you get in. You are supposed to be guilty of the crime you are convicted of, although if the story is interesting enough, I might be willing to let the specifics be a little different. Gotta be a good story, though.
... a Slag May (Annis-born Changeling) Bloodrager using the Hag Riven archetype ....
I had no idea Paizo had just put out a hag/witch/coven related supplement until I started Googling these terms from your character submission. Looks like I might need to get it as a Halloween present for myself, particularly if I wind up playing this character. Thanks for clueing me in!
I had updated Edman's back story to include his fall but seems the goblins got it. I will rewrite and put it on character sheet today.
@GM phntm888 - Removed Spellbook and Included spells still memorized.
m. Careful/wary dotting. Question for the GM: would you permit up to a 15 RP race build, a human-appearing offshoot?
Originally came up with Hel Blackfist as replacement for a WotW game; would enjoy playing her in such. The background might be a bit extreme, but I think it is somewhat necessary to explain how an initially good person can be turned into someone ... less than so. Human (or human offshoot, if allowed - see the bottom of the spoiler for a nested one which contains the racial build) unchained monk, using the Purple Duck Games version of the zen archer; not sure what the VMC would be, but probably either rogue or ranger. Suggestions from the peanut gallery are, of course, readily entertained.
Hel Blackfist Background, Motivation, Personality, (Possible Race):
The woman now known as Hel Blackfist has been through fire and hell already. At one time, she was a calm, quiet, courteous mouse of a girl in Matharyn; she followed her parents in their roles as librarians, she dressed primly, kept her head down, and was almost overwhelmingly socially maladroit and shy. Her father taught her other languages; her mother showed her the art of the bow, such as is fashionable for young ladies. One of the best things of her upbringing, though, was her chance to read fantastic, obscure, and even forbidden tracts, for though her parents were good Mitrans, they weren't that good of Mitrans; in their librarians' minds, knowledge, even evil knowledge, must be preserved, for without the knowledge of evil, what is good?
All this changed when a witch-hunter of the Fire Undying discovered their well-tended cache of forbidden tracts. She and her parents were put in chains, her parents tried as witches, the library seized as evidence of their 'evil'. Despite the priest's preference that all three of them be thrown on the pyre, the judge - a priest of the Beneficent Sun - decided that she was young enough to have not been tainted, and so decided that while her parents would be manacled and chained, the girl would be bound only in rope - bound inside their own library. And once the library and their belongings had been stripped of anything of exquisite worth, such as a few most precious illuminated Mitran books, or her mother's prized bow, the entirety of their life's work was set on fire around them, that they might watch its evil purified by the fire before they themselves were so purified.
No, smoke inhalation didn't kill them, at least not right away, for the library was (had been) a haven of light and knowledge, with windows high up so that the light of the god could bring light to the people; all sorts of good Mitran symbolism. Madly desperate to escape, however, the girl practically ripped the skin off her left hand and forearm in getting it free of the binding rope; while she could not free her parents (she tried), she did escape most of the flames' damage; only the already-damaged left hand was hurt worse than the rest, mostly first degree burns from dashing through the long tunnel of fire, with the torn flesh of her left hand and arm receiving second-degree superficial partial thickness burns.
While she would in time heal fully, even without any real scarring, the skin color on her left hand and forearm would come back in with a massive pigmentation change - black black black, ending only near the elbow in streakiness as it changed back to her normal pale coloration.
However, escaping the flames didn't mean escaping punishment, exactly; the fifteen-year-old was placed in watchful foster-care with a good but childless couple - a strict harridan of a woman who felt that to spare the rod was to spoil the child, giving lessons to the girl by day and lashing her for nearly any fault. The husband was, in his way, much worse; intimidated and deprived by his wife, his near-nightly sexual assaults upon his new charge taught her everything she never wanted to know about the hatred that lies in men. The only thing that prevented her from running away was the mark placed on her by the priests, which would help them re-capture her if she should flee - recapture and this time undoubtedly chain her to the stake before setting the fire. In exchange for their rehabilitation of the girl, they were given as collateral an item from her family, to be sold after her majority with the sale price given to the couple: her mother's bow and fifty perfect arrows.
For almost three years she suffered under their care, praying for someone, anyone to deliver her. For nearly three years, her strength of will, strength of body, speed of hand, and durability were unwittingly heightened by the cruel woman and the fornicating man. The wife made her perform menial tasks, then do them again if they didn't meet the woman's impossible expectations, 'assisted' only thrice weekly by a young woman a few years older than her who had been a prior ward of the couple. (The couple also hired a cook and assistant to prepare afternoon and evening meals, but the two lived elsewhere in the city.) And all too often, when the husband visited her bed late at night, she bruised her hands on that sturdy frame, or upon the stone of the wall, an apparently futile expression of pain and terror which would bear vengeful fruit.
She did her best to mouth the praises and platitudes of Mitra, to return to being the submissive mouse she'd been before the library pyre, but the example of the cowed maid who still returned to the couples' house served as a constant reminder of giving in. For three years, she carefully kept her rage and hatred hidden, stoking their fire, turning burning coal into blazing diamond and honing that diamond into a razor edge.
Came the day of her eighteenth birthday, the day of her majority. Before the Mitran priests, the pair proclaimed her a righteous woman, and the mark was removed from the girl. That night, as the man relaxed in his den after his wife went to their chill wedding bed, the girl came submissively to him in a diaphanous gown. Straddling him and taking him inside her was the perfect way to get close enough and distract him enough for the first blows of her stone-calloused fists to take him by surprise. His useless seed on her thigh and the blood from his smashed skull on her hands, she left him dead behind her.
Taking up her mother's bow, the valuable prize for which the couple had kept her for so long, Hel Blackhand walked upstairs and from point-blank range pinned the woman to the bed with her mother's arrows. The moment of shock gave her just enough time to stuff a stocking into the woman's mouth to muffle her screams before taking her time to kill the harpy - legs, arms, chest, mouth, and finally heart.
After pulling and cleaning the arrows, she calmly dragged the husband's body up to the bedroom, then cleaned herself up, put together what small portable valueables there was to take from the place, and got some sleep. Very early the next morning, she ambushed and throttled the emotionally-broken maid - "Putting her out of her misery," Hel would say if ever asked - and dragged her up to her own bed. She then set fires in her own room, the great room, and the couple's room, ensuring that the house would go up in flames, and locked the house up behind her. Enough of the evidence vanished in the subsequent blaze for it to be clear that the three members of the 'family' died due to the early-morning fire - the woman and herself in their sleep, the father having smashed his head in against the corner of a chest when he woke and panicked.
The facts being obvious, no further investigation was performed.
She disappeared into the warrens of Matharyn, soon trading her accuracy with a bow and her willingness to brutalize people for food, equipment, and privacy - and never, ever, ever for the company of men. She made examples of every man who laid hands upon her, and made corpses of those few who thought 'no' meant 'rape me later'. For the next couple of years, she lived in moderate squalor, a most low lifestyle but one that gave her what she most cherished: freedom to do what she needed to, when it needed to be done. She kept a strict regimen of basic habits - bath, working out to keep herself in shape and perhaps teach herself something new, practice with the bow, and ... certain other self-imposed dutes. Followed by a bath.
She gained a reputation for a sharp, biting wit, a keen discernment, a blazing hatred for lewd men and withering contempt for almost everyone else. It was said that she could blister a man's thoughts right out of his head with a well-timed and scornful critique of his form, failings, or intellect. Though she could have left the city at any time, Hel was a woman with a mission.
For almost two years, Hel watched as best she could the two people she blamed most for her predicament: the priest-judge of Mitra the Benificent Sun who placed her in the care of the couple, and the witch-hunter of the Fire Undying who set the entire thing in motion. She has tried to determine their habits, catalogue their preferences, identify their family, friends, and co-workers, sift for rumors of their duties, the people they offend, those who owe them debts.
Unfortunately, the witch-hunter noticed her during her spying, and managed to keep up with her during the subsequent pursuit; though she managed to put several arrows into him during the hellish early-morning cat-and-mouse chase across the wakening city, ruthlessly using civilians to block line-of-sight and absorb an arrow or two meant for her whenever it was necessary, Blackfist was brought to bay on the steps of the Temple of Mitra itself; a score or more of witnesses saw her fire a final arrow at the Mitran witch-hunter, clearly trying to slay him, but a 'merciful' spell by a cleric of the god laid her out.
Now she awaits sentencing for attempted murder.
Hel's only two regrets about the chase is that she hadn't managed to finalize her target, and that she's lost her mother's perfect weapon and arrows.
-------
At game start, Hel Blackfist is not a devotee of Asmodeus, nor is she ever likely to be a passionate one - but she respects and honors anyone who can create and carry out long-laid and extensive plots and plans. She may easily know or be known by anyone in Matharyn's criminal society; it is possible that anyone with a more upright background but with those underground contacts has used her as a 'forceful messenger' at some point.
She believes (not rightly, but still) in her heart that Mitrans lie as a matter of reflex, and couch everything in terms of how good and wonderful their torturous god is. She far prefers to tell the truth, but she recognizes that doing so - or be known to have taken an oath to always do so - increases the probability of exposure of her plans. However, her once-normally-fastidious nature - libraries, and librarians, can be very dusty, but good libraries are clean - has worsened over her years of living in slums into a near-obsessive/compulsive desire to be clean.
Hel has all too good of a knowledge of how nasty people really are; in addition to that perceptiveness, she is intelligent, relatively well-read, and has gained a sharp tongue with which to tear people into figurative shreds, but everything revolves around her incredible knack to notice what is out of place or doesn't belong, sense people's true intentions, and anticipate actions and reactions. However, her weakness is the fact that she pretty much bloody well hates all of the nasty sods, and that she simply can't keep her disgust and contempt from leaking into her interactions.
Let's face it, she isn't very fun at parties, and would be voted 'Most Likely to Cause A Brawl'.
As Azlant crumbled, a group of Azlanti interested more in things beyond this world somewhat withdrew from the empire. Semi-isolated in relation to the rest, when Azlant went off its weird merry way, fell, and all that, they managed to survive relatively unscathed. However, their survival came more as a result of peculiar relationships, and while their bloodlines may have been diluted less than most, these 'pure Azlanti' - their pronunciation of which has since led to the few who have interacted with them as calling them simply 'the Pyure' - tend towards being physically fit and extremely fast on their feet.
While their intellects have perhaps been reduced overall from their Azlanti forebears, and their self-imposed isolation has made them detached from the rest of the world, this has not come without benefits. Instead of delving into politics and conquering other 'lesser' people, the Pyure instead sought to understand the so-called 'long view', leading them to extensive interaction with natural and planar beings: demons, devils, and all sorts of celestials, as well as the First Folk (fae) and the Eastern kami spirits; this latter has dovetailed into an extensive study of dragon-kind, and an examination of the long-lived elves as a 'feasability study' (as it were) of the consequences of extended lifespans. Dealing with such beings has had something of a 'survival of the fleetest' effect on them, improving their mobility to almost double that of the standard human.
Such interaction leads, also, to interbreeding, though the Pyure have always been careful to 'blend' the bloodlines of such children back into their genome; they have, as a result, gained both an extended lifespan (using the half-elf line on the age charts for both starting age and aging effects), as well as developed a capacity to see in all sorts of darkness.
-------------------
Type: Humanoid (Human; 0 RP)
Size: Medium (0 RP)
Base Speed: Normal (0 RP)
Ability Score Modifiers: Advanced (+2 to Physical, +4 to Wisdom, -2 to Charisma; 4 RP)
Languages: Standard (Common, plus Azlanti native; Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Elven, Infernal, First Worlder, Sylvan)
Racial Traits:
. Feat and Skills: Flexible Bonus Feat (4 RP)
. Movement: Fast (x2, +20 to base movement, 3 RP)
. Senses: See in Darkness (4 RP)
-------------------
In actuality, Hel's parents were a couple who decided to start investigating the 'outside world' (i.e. the mundane one), taking on the personas of librarians to both collect information and gain access to people interested in gaining information, people they themselves would be able to subtly question. The witch-hunter's fanaticism perhaps becomes cued when he realizes that their daughter is not aging as fast as she should, and thus the problems began. His actions, however, might not be approved of, and so he acted swiftly. Though the town's officials believe her to have been eighteen (which is what her appearance suggests), she is actually twenty-five years old.
Not certain on the VMC possibility;
@Ouroboros - Just as a suggestion for VMC... maybe Barbarian? Your character seems to be driven by anger.
As another suggestion, just in case the DM turns down your race idea but you still want to preserve your "supernatural human" vibe, you could choose Oracle. Perhaps the Flame or Lore mysteries? Maybe Accursed curse?
Thanks for the suggestions; I think I'll (at least tentatively) go with ranger, and stick with straightforward human if the 'pyure' is turned down.
Hel Blackfist
Female human unchained zen archer monk 1/ranger* (Advanced Player's Guide, Pathfinder Unchained 14; Purple Duck Games Unchained Monk Archetypes)
LE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +8
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 14 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 Wis)
hp 11 (1d10+1)
Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +4
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +3 (1d6+1)
Special Attacks flurry of blows (unchained)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 18, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +3 (+5 dirty trick, +5 disarm, +5 grapple, +5 reposition, +5 steal, +5 trip); CMD 19 (21 vs. dirty trick, 21 vs. disarm, 21 vs. grapple, 21 vs. reposition, 21 vs. steal, 21 vs. trip)
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Deft Maneuvers, Dodge, Perfect Strike, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Unarmed Combatant
Traits attempted murder, bruising intellect, pragmatic activator
Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb +5, Escape Artist +6, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (history) +7, Knowledge (religion) +7, Perception +8, Profession (librarian) +8, Sense Motive +8, Stealth +6, Swim +5, Use Magic Device +4
Languages Celestial, Common, Elven, Infernal
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Deadly Aim -1/+2 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Deft Maneuvers You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when tripping.
Flurry of Blows (Unchained) (Ex) As full-round action, gain extra attacks with some weapons.
Perfect Strike (2d20, 1/day) When wielding a monk weapon, your attacks can be extremely precise.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
Unarmed Combatant Always considered armed, no attack of opportunity on grapple attempts.
Note that 'Unarmed Combatant' is inserted as a bonus feat, as the 'Feat Tax' 'The World is Square' house rule set transforms Improved Unarmed Strike, the monk's bonus feat has to be replaced.
Hel Blackfist
Female human (pyure) unchained zen archer monk 1/ranger* (Advanced Player's Guide, Pathfinder Unchained 14; Purple Duck Games Unchained Monk Archetypes)
LE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses see in darkness; Perception +8
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 18, touch 18, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 Wis)
hp 13 (1d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +4
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 50 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +4 (1d6+2)
Special Attacks flurry of blows (unchained)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 18, Cha 9
Base Atk +1; CMB +4 (+6 dirty trick, +6 disarm, +6 grapple, +6 reposition, +6 steal, +6 trip); CMD 21 (23 vs. dirty trick, 23 vs. disarm, 23 vs. grapple, 23 vs. reposition, 23 vs. steal, 23 vs. trip)
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Deft Maneuvers, Dodge, Perfect Strike, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Unarmed Combatant
Traits attempted murder, bruising intellect, pragmatic activator
Skills Acrobatics +7 (+15 to jump), Climb +6, Escape Artist +7, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (history) +7, Knowledge (religion) +7, Perception +8, Profession (librarian) +8, Sense Motive +8, Stealth +7, Use Magic Device +4
Languages Azlanti, Celestial, Common, Elven, Infernal
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Deadly Aim -1/+2 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Deft Maneuvers You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when tripping.
Flurry of Blows (Unchained) (Ex) As full-round action, gain extra attacks with some weapons.
Perfect Strike (2d20, 1/day) When wielding a monk weapon, your attacks can be extremely precise.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
See in Darkness See perfectly in darkness of any kind, including magical darkness.
Unarmed Combatant Always considered armed, no attack of opportunity on grapple attempts.
Note that 'Unarmed Combatant' is inserted as a bonus feat, as the 'Feat Tax' 'The World is Square' house rule set transforms Improved Unarmed Strike, the monk's bonus feat has to be replaced.
The woman now known as Hel Blackfist has been through fire and hell already. At one time, she was a calm, quiet, courteous mouse of a girl in Matharyn; she followed her parents in their roles as librarians, she dressed primly, kept her head down, and was almost overwhelmingly socially maladroit and shy. Her father taught her other languages; her mother showed her the art of the bow, such as is fashionable for young ladies. One of the best things of her upbringing, though, was her chance to read fantastic, obscure, and even forbidden tracts, for though her parents were good Mitrans, they weren't that good of Mitrans; in their librarians' minds, knowledge, even evil knowledge, must be preserved, for without the knowledge of evil, what is good?
All this changed when a witch-hunter of the Fire Undying discovered their well-tended cache of forbidden tracts. She and her parents were put in chains, her parents tried as witches, the library seized as evidence of their 'evil'. Despite the priest's preference that all three of them be thrown on the pyre, the judge - a priest of the Beneficent Sun - decided that she was young enough to have not been tainted, and so decided that while her parents would be manacled and chained, the girl would be bound only in rope - bound inside their own library. And once the library and their belongings had been stripped of anything of exquisite worth, such as a few most precious illuminated Mitran books, or her mother's prized bow, the entirety of their life's work was set on fire around them, that they might watch its evil purified by the fire before they themselves were so purified.
No, smoke inhalation didn't kill them, at least not right away, for the library was (had been) a haven of light and knowledge, with windows high up so that the light of the god could bring light to the people; all sorts of good Mitran symbolism. Madly desperate to escape, however, the girl practically ripped the skin off her left hand and forearm in getting it free of the binding rope; while she could not free her parents (she tried), she did escape most of the flames' damage; only the already-damaged left hand was hurt worse than the rest, mostly first degree burns from dashing through the long tunnel of fire, with the torn flesh of her left hand and arm receiving second-degree superficial partial thickness burns.
While she would in time heal fully, even without any real scarring, the skin color on her left hand and forearm would come back in with a massive pigmentation change - black black black, ending only near the elbow in streakiness as it changed back to her normal pale coloration.
However, escaping the flames didn't mean escaping punishment, exactly; the fifteen-year-old was placed in watchful foster-care with a good but childless couple - a strict harridan of a woman who felt that to spare the rod was to spoil the child, giving lessons to the girl by day and lashing her for nearly any fault. The husband was, in his way, much worse; intimidated and deprived by his wife, his near-nightly sexual assaults upon his new charge taught her everything she never wanted to know about the hatred that lies in men. The only thing that prevented her from running away was the mark placed on her by the priests, which would help them re-capture her if she should flee - recapture and this time undoubtedly chain her to the stake before setting the fire. In exchange for their rehabilitation of the girl, they were given as collateral an item from her family, to be sold after her majority with the sale price given to the couple: her mother's bow and fifty perfect arrows.
For almost three years she suffered under their care, praying for someone, anyone to deliver her. For nearly three years, her strength of will, strength of body, speed of hand, and durability were unwittingly heightened by the cruel woman and the fornicating man. The wife made her perform menial tasks, then do them again if they didn't meet the woman's impossible expectations, 'assisted' only thrice weekly by a young woman a few years older than her who had been a prior ward of the couple. (The couple also hired a cook and assistant to prepare afternoon and evening meals, but the two lived elsewhere in the city.) And all too often, when the husband visited her bed late at night, she bruised her hands on that sturdy frame, or upon the stone of the wall, an apparently futile expression of pain and terror which would bear vengeful fruit.
She did her best to mouth the praises and platitudes of Mitra, to return to being the submissive mouse she'd been before the library pyre, but the example of the cowed maid who still returned to the couples' house served as a constant reminder of giving in. For three years, she carefully kept her rage and hatred hidden, stoking their fire, turning burning coal into blazing diamond and honing that diamond into a razor edge.
Came the day of her eighteenth birthday, the day of her majority. Before the Mitran priests, the pair proclaimed her a righteous woman, and the mark was removed from the girl. That night, as the man relaxed in his den after his wife went to their chill wedding bed, the girl came submissively to him in a diaphanous gown. Straddling him and taking him inside her was the perfect way to get close enough and distract him enough for the first blows of her stone-calloused fists to take him by surprise. His useless seed on her thigh and the blood from his smashed skull on her hands, she left him dead behind her.
Taking up her mother's bow, the valuable prize for which the couple had kept her for so long, Hel Blackhand walked upstairs and from point-blank range pinned the woman to the bed with her mother's arrows. The moment of shock gave her just enough time to stuff a stocking into the woman's mouth to muffle her screams before taking her time to kill the harpy - legs, arms, chest, mouth, and finally heart.
After pulling and cleaning the arrows, she calmly dragged the husband's body up to the bedroom, then cleaned herself up, put together what small portable valueables there was to take from the place, and got some sleep. Very early the next morning, she ambushed and throttled the emotionally-broken maid - "Putting her out of her misery," Hel would say if ever asked - and dragged her up to her own bed. She then set fires in her own room, the great room, and the couple's room, ensuring that the house would go up in flames, and locked the house up behind her. Enough of the evidence vanished in the subsequent blaze for it to be clear that the three members of the 'family' died due to the early-morning fire - the woman and herself in their sleep, the father having smashed his head in against the corner of a chest when he woke and panicked.
The facts being obvious, no further investigation was performed.
She disappeared into the warrens of Matharyn, soon trading her accuracy with a bow and her willingness to brutalize people for food, equipment, and privacy - and never, ever, ever for the company of men. She made examples of every man who laid hands upon her, and made corpses of those few who thought 'no' meant 'rape me later'. For the next couple of years, she lived in moderate squalor, a most low lifestyle but one that gave her what she most cherished: freedom to do what she needed to, when it needed to be done. She kept a strict regimen of basic habits - bath, working out to keep herself in shape and perhaps teach herself something new, practice with the bow, and ... certain other self-imposed dutes. Followed by a bath.
She gained a reputation for a sharp, biting wit, a keen discernment, a blazing hatred for lewd men and withering contempt for almost everyone else. It was said that she could blister a man's thoughts right out of his head with a well-timed and scornful critique of his form, failings, or intellect. Though she could have left the city at any time, Hel was a woman with a mission.
For almost two years, Hel watched as best she could the two people she blamed most for her predicament: the priest-judge of Mitra the Benificent Sun who placed her in the care of the couple, and the witch-hunter of the Fire Undying who set the entire thing in motion. She has tried to determine their habits, catalogue their preferences, identify their family, friends, and co-workers, sift for rumors of their duties, the people they offend, those who owe them debts.
Unfortunately, the witch-hunter noticed her during her spying, and managed to keep up with her during the subsequent pursuit; though she managed to put several arrows into him during the hellish early-morning cat-and-mouse chase across the wakening city, ruthlessly using civilians to block line-of-sight and absorb an arrow or two meant for her whenever it was necessary, Blackfist was brought to bay on the steps of the Temple of Mitra itself; a score or more of witnesses saw her fire a final arrow at the Mitran witch-hunter, clearly trying to slay him, but a 'merciful' spell by a cleric of the god laid her out.
Now she awaits the execution of her sentence for attempted murder.
Hel's only two regrets about the chase is that she hadn't managed to finalize her target, and that she's lost her mother's perfect weapon and arrows.
-------
At game start, Hel Blackfist is not a devotee of Asmodeus, nor is she ever likely to be a passionate one - but she respects and honors anyone who can create and carry out long-laid and extensive plots and plans, and given the necessity to convert, she will quite willingly swear oath. She may easily know or be known by other PCs who may have been involved in Matharyn's criminal society; it is possible that anyone with a more upright background but with those underground contacts has used her as a 'forceful messenger' at some point.
She believes (not rightly, but still) in her heart that Mitrans lie as a matter of reflex, and couch everything in terms of how good and wonderful their torturous god is. She far prefers to tell the truth, but she recognizes that doing so - or be known to have taken an oath to always do so - increases the probability of exposure of her plans. However, her once-normally-fastidious nature - libraries, and librarians, can be very dusty, but good libraries are clean - has worsened over her years of living in slums into a near-obsessive/compulsive desire to be clean.
Hel has all too good of a knowledge of how nasty people really are; in addition to that perceptiveness, she is intelligent, relatively well-read, and has gained a sharp tongue with which to tear people into figurative shreds, but everything revolves around her incredible knack to notice what is out of place or doesn't belong, sense people's true intentions, and anticipate actions and reactions. However, her weakness is the fact that she pretty much bloody well hates all of the nasty sods, and that she simply can't keep her disgust and contempt from leaking into her interactions.
Let's face it, she isn't very fun at parties, and would be voted 'Most Likely to Cause A Brawl'.
As Azlant crumbled, a group of Azlanti interested more in things beyond this world somewhat withdrew from the empire. Semi-isolated in relation to the rest, when Azlant went off its weird merry way, fell, and all that, they managed to survive relatively unscathed. However, their survival came more as a result of peculiar relationships, and while their bloodlines may have been diluted less than most, these 'pure Azlanti' - their pronunciation of which has since led to the few who have interacted with them as calling them simply 'the Pyure' - tend towards being physically fit and extremely fast on their feet.
While their intellects have perhaps been reduced overall from their Azlanti forebears, and their self-imposed isolation has made them detached from the rest of the world, this has not come without benefits. Instead of delving into politics and conquering other 'lesser' people, the Pyure instead sought to understand the so-called 'long view', leading them to extensive interaction with natural and planar beings: demons, devils, and all sorts of celestials, as well as the First Folk (fae) and the Eastern kami spirits; this latter has dovetailed into an extensive study of dragon-kind, and an examination of the long-lived elves as a 'feasability study' (as it were) of the consequences of extended lifespans. Dealing with such beings has had something of a 'survival of the fleetest' effect on them, improving their mobility to almost double that of the standard human.
Such interaction leads, also, to interbreeding, though the Pyure have always been careful to 'blend' the bloodlines of such children back into their genome; they have, as a result, gained both an extended lifespan (using the half-elf line on the age charts for both starting age and aging effects), as well as developed a capacity to see in all sorts of darkness.
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Type: Humanoid (Human; 0 RP)
Size: Medium (0 RP)
Base Speed: Normal (0 RP)
Ability Score Modifiers: Advanced (+2 to Physical, +4 to Wisdom, -2 to Charisma; 4 RP)
Languages: Standard (Common, plus Azlanti native; Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Elven, Infernal, First Worlder, Sylvan)
Racial Traits:
. Feat and Skills: Flexible Bonus Feat (4 RP)
. Movement: Fast (x2, +20 to base movement, 3 RP)
. Senses: See in Darkness (4 RP)
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In actuality, Hel's parents were a couple who decided to start investigating the 'outside world' (i.e. the mundane one), taking on the personas of librarians to both collect information and gain access to people interested in gaining information, people they themselves would be able to subtly question. The witch-hunter's fanaticism perhaps becomes cued when he realizes that their daughter is not aging as fast as she should, and thus the problems began. His actions, however, might not be approved of, and so he acted swiftly. Though the town's officials believe her to have been eighteen (which is what her appearance suggests), she is actually twenty-five years old.
Good to see you! I hope everything's okay.
Is Purple Duck Games' Unchained Zen Archer available online somewhere? If not, I may need you to write it up for me so I can look over it.
I am disinclined to allow the Pyure human race in its current form. However, if you are willing to have it a little differently, I've got two options for you.
Option 1 is that we start with the base human, but we create a feat chain that slowly gives you the abilities of the Pyure human - like the Vampire chain that has been made available. The first feat would be, say, a 10 ft increase to movement speed and darkvision 30 ft, and we would go from there with further increases. With this version, you'll eventually get the abilities of the Pyure Human, sans the -2 to Charisma.
Option 2 is the lesser version of the Pyure human in the spoiler below. With this one, you'll get some of the abilities of the Pyure human, but not all of them.
Type: Humanoid (Human; 0 RP)
Size: Medium (0 RP)
Base Speed: Normal (30 ft; 0 RP)
Ability Score Modifiers: Standard (+2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Cha; 1 RP)
Languages: Linguist (Common plus Azlanti native; all other languages except Druidic or other secret languages; 1 RP)
Racial Traits:
-Feats and Skills: Flexible Bonus Feat (4 RP)
-Movement: Sprinter (+10 racial bonus to speed when using charge, run, or withdraw actions; 1 RP), Fast (x1, +10 to base movement, 1 RP)
-Senses: Darkvision 60 ft (2 RP)
Background and personality are pretty good. I would suggest moving the story from Matharyn to either Ghastenhall or Daveryn. Matharyn doesn't have much of a criminal element, especially an organized one (the city once went 6 months without a reported mugging). It's the seat of Mitran Orthodoxy and its citizens have all been raised to completely trust central authority, and that it is their civic duty to report wrongdoing.
Your call if you want to stick with Matharyn or not, though.
”You are hereby sentenced to death, the sentence to be carried out at Brandescar Prison three days hence.. May Mitra have mercy on your soul.” the magistrate said as he banged his gavel on his wooden desk. With that, the prisoner known as Cain Malibourne was escorted out of the courtroom. ”If only that patrol had been a few seconds later that old fool would be dead.” he thought to himself has the guards led him away to the donjon below.
Cain Malibourne, for that was the name he had taken, was born Gideon Hightower of House Hightower, small fiefdom in the north. The illegitimate son of the Baron’s youngest daughter and a mysterious stranger who had vanished as quietly as he had appeared. Gideon was born on one of the darkest of nights, as the moon was hidden by an eclipse as he was delivered. His birth had been a hard one and his mother did not survive the ordeal. The Mitran midwife who attended his birth crossed herself as she raised the child up and saw the unique pentagram pattern on the child’s shoulder.
Gideon was raised in his in his grandfather’s household until the age of 13 when, his obligation to him and his deceased daughter were fulfilled, his grandfather turned him out with nothing but the clothes on his back. Someone had once said that “Gossip flies on the swiftest of wings” and this exceptionally true as Gideon reached the local village. The villagers, having heard about his banishment and not wishing to upset their lord, turned their back on Gideon as well.
Alone and afraid Gideon left the village and the only home he’d ever known behind. As the evening sun was beginning to set Gideon arrived at a crossroads where sat an old, blind beggar shaking his bowl of coins crying out ” Alms for the needy.” Gideon thought to himself ” Why not? I’m in need” and he reached out to snatch a few of the coins. As he did so the beggars arm shot out and grabbed Gideon’s wrist in an iron grip ” Your Father has need of you.” he told the boy.
The old man led him to a burned and abandoned farmhouse not too far away. There in what had once been the kitchen the beggar opened a concealed trap door and led Gideon into the torchlight below. What he found underground was nothing short of amazing to him. Buried beneath the ruins were several rooms carved out of the rock itself, chief among them was a large room with several stone benches and what could only be a black basalt altar. An inverted pentagram, painted in red, dominates the rear wall. As Gideon stares at the symbol on the wall the birthmark on his shoulder begins to itch.
As Gideon stands there, unsure of what is happening, a man emerges from one of the side rooms. Dressed in robes of black and red he crosses the room with his hand extended ”Welcome, Gideon” he says with an enigmatic smile ”We’ve been expecting you”. For the next several hours the priest began explaining the circumstances of Gideon’s birth. Turns out that his father was a devil summoned from Hell to despoil his mother by one of his grandfather’s rivals so that he would gain an advantage in some nebulous business deals as well as embarrass the old man.
Although his “father” had returned to his place in Hell, the church of Asmodeus had not forgotten about his progeny. Sneaking agents into the family household they had managed to keep track of young Gideon as he was growing up, until the time that his grandfather turned him out. In fact, unbeknownst to Gideon, it was one of these agents who arranged for Gideon’s exile.
Years passed and Gideon, constantly moving between cells, grew up and became indoctrinated into the faith of Asmodeus. In each new “temple” he trained and studied until finally he returned to that abandoned farmhouse where his journey began. It was there that Gideon was given his mission for the church of Asmodeus, he was to assassinate the Cardinal of Ghastenhall. Second in power to the church of Mita, such a high profile death would rock the faithful to their core and spread doubt and fear among the clergy. But first, Gideon had his own mission. The townsfolk say that the Earl had died in his sleep and the heir to house Hightower never seemed to question his sudden accession.
His vendetta complete Gideon Hightower was no more and in his place stood Cain Malibourne. Cain spent the next several months worming his way into the Cardinal’s household watching and waiting for the time to strike. The moment came when the old man was wandering the halls of Ghastenhall cathedral alone and unguarded. Cain stepped from the shadows and struck the man from behind, knocking him to the ground. Cain had lifted his mace to finish the job when a patrol of church guards entered the hall. They rushed to the Cardinal’s defense and pummeled Cain unconscious before he could finish his mission.
He awoke, naked and chained to a wall. The birthmark upon his shoulder, his birthright from his father, was raw and bleeding from being burnt and branded beyond recognition. He was left in his dark, dank cell for what seemed like many days until he was hauled before the Magistrate to learn of his fate. Once the sentence was pronounced Cain returned, stoically, to his cell to await his transfer to Brandescar and his execution. He had failed and his death was the price of that failure.
@Cain Malibourne: Alright. Consider yourself complete.
I can easily move the background to Daveryn - that's the major exterior seaport, correct? If so, then absolutely; more trouble to get into, more people to get lost among.
Question - the pyure/vampire thing. How many feats are we talking, here? what I'm thinking/wondering about is whether or not those of us who are interested in them can take those as our (5-feat) VMC class, instead of needing to spend feats. If it's fewer feats, perhaps a 'nod' towards a class; I know I was pretty seriously eyeing Bardic Knowledge for the VMC, it's just that I have no honest use for the bardic performances, especially since Perform uses Charisma.
See PM for more on Pyure and Monk stuff.
May make Edman's VMC barbarian instead of fighter. Could play more in to his anger issues more than his martial skills. Sort of torn.
Any suggestions?
Evening everyone! Just found this and hoping I'm not too late for throwing a hat into the ring since the deadline isn't for a few more days yet. Since this seems like a perfect campaign for it, GM Phntm888, would there be any issue if I whipped up a future Diabolist and submitted it?
@TWO: I sent you a PM in response.
@Edman: The Barbarian VMC does have a good fit for your character’s background. Might be good.
@Kayne Rahl: Let’s limit it to one submission. I’ve got enough to consider :)
@Aruetii: Absolutely no problem. As you said, this is a great campaign for it.
Barbarian it is then.
Oh, awesome! I'll write something up then.
@GM - again re: the vampire feat chain. How many feats are we talking, here? what I'm thinking/wondering about is whether or not those of us who are interested in them can take those as our (5-feat) VMC class, instead of needing to spend feats. If it's fewer feats, perhaps a 'nod' towards a class; I know I was pretty seriously eyeing Bardic Knowledge for the VMC, it's just that I have no honest use for the bardic performances, especially since Perform uses Charisma.
So would the racial feat chain be acceptable as its own VMC, being effectively 5 feats long? Or perhaps with an add-on or two from a standard VMC?
All right, it has been a while since I've played Pathfinder and I seemed to have missed the introduction of VMCs with it. Would anyone have a good suggestions on what a good VMC would be for a Diabolist? I'm having trouble thinking of anything that would be exceptionally useful to me.
Thanks Kayne, I'll take a look at them. I didn't realize they released a new book of the damned and revised the Diabolist class so I need to go and take a look at it to see if I even still want to play it.
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My friend shared that guide with me, and I found it helpful in creating this character.
After thinking it over (and the Paizo website finally not being down), I've decided that I am not going to allow the Vampire feat line or similar to be taken in place of the VMC. The Undead feats or feats designed to replicate other archetypes will have to be taken as normal feats.
@Aruetii: If there is a class you would like to use for a VMC that does not have one, I will see if we can make a VMC for it.
@Phntm: Thanks, I think I'm going to go with Inquisitor. Makes sense from a story standpoint and some of the mechanical bonuses help what I want with the character. Wrote up his backstory, trying to condense it down now.
It says that I chose VMC Rogue but I was wondering if there was a chance of making either a Ninja, or changing the ability gotten at level 11, since I already get Evasion.
I looked at some other options, Sorcerer, Cleric, Oracle, but they all require charisma and Vatra doesn't have much of that.
Vatra of the Burning Fist
Appearance
Female Tiefling (Hellspawn) Monk (Brazen Disciple) 1 VMC Rogue
LE Medium Outsider (native)
Init +2; Senses Perception +7, dark vision 60ft.
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DEFENSE
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AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 13
HP 13
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +3
Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5
--------------------
OFFENSE
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Spd 40ft.
Melee Unarmed +5 (1d6)
Monk Abilities
Flurry of Blows as a full-attack action a monk can make an additional at their highest attack bonus.
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STATISTICS
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STR 16 (+3) | DEX 14 (+2) | CON 16 (+3) | Int 10 (+0)| Wis 16 (+3) | Cha 8 (-1)
Base Atk +1; CMB +4 (+5 grapple or disarm); CMD 19 (or 22)
Feats: Fiendish Façade (+5 bonus disguise as Human), Stunning Fist (stun opponent; fort save)
Traits: Kidnapping (+1 grapple and disarm), Bullied (+1 atk roll unarmed), Wanderlust (10ft overland spd)
Class Skills: Acrobatics +6, Bluff +3, Climb +3, Craft +0, Disguise +3 (+8 for human), Escape Artist +6, Intimidate -1, K.History, K.Planes, Perception +7, Perform, Profession, Sense Motive +5, Stealth +6
Adventuring Diplomacy +1, Disable Device +2, Fly +2, Heal +3, K.Arcana +0, K.Dungeoneering +0, K.Local +0, K.Nature +0, K.Religion +0, Ride, Spellcraft +0, Survival +3, Swim +3, Use Magic Device -1
Background Appraise +0, Artistry +0, Handle Animal -1, K.Engineering +0, K.Geograhpy +0, K.Nobility +0, Linguistics +1, Lore +0, Sleight of Hand +3
Languages: Common, Infernal, Ignan
Trackable Abilities
0/1 Stunning Fist
A fit, toned and slight young woman sits down at the fire place. Her red skin enhanced by the flame, making her white hair all the more obvious. It was thanks to the light that I could make out the shadows of two small horn-like bumps on her forehead.
So this is a Tiefling?
I had invited her here to hopefully learn more about her, her faith, and what she was. I knew I was taking a risk, but it would be worth it if my curiosity was sated.
“About me? Well, what can I say?” she shrugged and leaned back, taking up as much space as she could. Her body language was enough to tell that she was incredibly confident in herself, dominate, probably egotistical and arrogant, but it also revealed her years of training, and so she was right to be that way, I supposed.
“Since the moment I was born, I’ve had to fight for myself. My parents abandoned me to die only moments after I had been born, all because some trash up our family line f@&$ed a devil to get ahead. The glorious and almighty Mitra saw that reason enough for tarnished, sinful, new-born me to perish. Luckily, it was a more powerful God’s plan to see otherwise.
I was picked up by some of the last remaining worshipers of the Dark Prince, and raised to see that the world hadn’t always been so black and white, and that it could go back to the old ways.”
I nodded in agreement, Talingarde had indeed only been this way for a few generations. Before House Darius took power, many gods, even Asmodeus himself, were worshiped openly. He, and many other deities, were now outlawed, though none suffered the wrath of Mitra as those who followed the Prince of Hell. I didn’t even know any had survived the culling.
“As you could probably guess I was an… energetic child. I was angry at everything. The world, my parents, the stupid royals and their cruel god. How could anyone believe in judging someone before they can even talk. I felt like I wasn’t good enough for the Shining Lord, and took that out on everything I thought the Sun Dick would approve of.
Wasn’t too long before I got sent to a monastery. Sounds boring, right? But it was awesome. The discipline sucked, but when I saw where it could get me, I have never been so focused. I’m what they call a Brazen Disciple, I had to fool a fricking EFREETI to get accepted! It was so cool. I got into an elite class of monks and my parents left me to die. Can you imagine the looks on their faces. They’d be so sorry.
Please, don’t hurt us. We were only doing what Mitra wanted.
Please, don’t leave us here. We won’t survive the night.
“Ha! It’d be great. Oh, that’s me leaving them in the middle of nowhere, if you didn’t get that. Or their kids. Definitely any kids they have. Separate locations. Low survival chance. See if their god gets them out of it.”
She looks fondly off into nowhere, the same way someone would when recalling a pleasant dream.
“But, you know, that’s only if the opportunity presents itself. I mean, I have no clue who they are. So I just kind of destroy other families. Like a test of faith and love. My goal is just to make the kid as unappealing as possible, kind of like me, and then see if their god or family still love and help them.
To be honest, if I’ve caught them it’s clear that Mighty Mitra had better things to do. But seeing the parents reactions, the fear and uncertainty when their new and improved kid comes home.
My end goal? Bring back the churches, the duels, the slavery. Bring back the greys and neutrals. Bring down that pompous Markadian and his spoilt, self-righteous daughter. I mean, if you can’t stop a few rebels from taking power, it wasn’t truly yours in the first place. Power belongs to those who can keep it. And I’m going to cut hers right from that pretty face. That way, even if I fail, every time they look at their precious princess they will do so and see only the horror of my vengeance.
She leaned back, seemingly content with her answers.
“Thank you for your time, Miss… I’m sorry I never caught your name.”
She sighed and stood.
“I guess I can grant you that courtesy, I mean, it’s not as if you’ll be telling anyone.”
Before I could question what she meant, she rushed me and drove her fist into my stomach. I felt the air leave my body, bones crack and blood begin to fill my lungs.
“I am Vatra of the Burning Fist. If you wind up in Hell, let them know I look forward to our future contracts. And that you are the first of many.”
I collapse on the ground, and more people come into view, wearing the red and black of the church of Hell.
“Of course, we have questions of our own first. So I won’t be the one finishing the job. But, you know, that wouldn’t have had quite the impact.”
As I was carried off she gave me one last glance.
“Enjoy your stay. As for me, I have a date with a nobleman’s pretty little daughter. Practice makes perfect and all that. And I’m never late to practice.”
I would later learn from gossip that it didn’t go so well for Vatra, and that she was on her way to Branderscar Prison. It was the last thing I learnt on this plane, but it did offer some small comfort to know that her fate was no better than mine.
@Kayne I'm sure we can come to a nice equitable way to divvy up the world (You get the western hemisphere, I get the east, etc), or, y'know, power struggle until someone comes out on top.
Edit: Gonna work on the crunch, I came up with a 1081 word backstory so still working on condensing that to not make it an annoying read.
Are you a regular monk, or an Unchained Monk? Most of the numbers seem to make sense for Unchained, so I’m clarifying for my purposes.
Damage should be 1d6+3.
I’m having trouble working out your skills. Did you put a rank in Diplomacy? It says +1, but that might be a typo. If it is a typo, I’ve got it figured out.
Background looks good.
For a ninja VMC, I’ll swap you trapfinding for poison use, and evasion for light steps.
@Aruetii: If you write it, I will read the 1000 word backstory.
She is Unchained. Sorry for not putting it in, I'm used to it not being an option.
The +5 is for attack roll 1 BAB + 3 STR + 1 trait, but not damage. Though I'm not sure about the strength bonus as it says you're considered armed as a monk but not if you get the melee bonus associated.
The diplomacy +1 is that I get -1 CHA +2 racial trait (devil-spawn).
I'll take those trades.
I believe I've got all the crunch down for this. Now I don't remember if Racial Traits and Trait traits stack together, so if they don't I'll redo the skill calculations.
All right, here's the backstory that I came up for him.
In the end he returned to the tome back to its hiding spot, leaving it there for several days while he weighed telling his family about the book or not. After several days he finally relented and returned to the book, opening and taking the faintest peak inside of the Monograph. He thought that if there was anything truly bad in there he could tell his parents about it, so it was better to investigate first. While he couldn’t understand many the more esoteric concepts expressed in the Monograph some of the simpler concepts spoke to him. It left him wanting to learn more, and made him wonder why it was now forbidden to even read this book.
A few months after discovering the tome he discovered his proficiency for magic. Every year he would return home and visit his family, giving him a needed break from the constant education that he pursued on his pursuit to hone his arcane talents. With every visit he would return to his perch, and to the Monograph. Slowly but surely, he could comprehend aspects of the book that were beyond his understanding as a child, and the more he read the more he found himself agreeing with the lessons within. During his holidays he found himself slowly converting to the cause of Asmodeus, and he yearned to learn more.
When he returned to his pursuits he eventually found a book with the information he sought, though heavily censored. The tome spoke of the other kingdoms and nations of Golarion, beyond the seas of Talingarde. Within he could read of Cheliax, an evil nation opposed to nearly everything that Talingarde now stood for. It was in Cheliax that Sarvin found his purpose, and his drive. While worship of Asmodeus was now banned it was not always so, properly cultivated and revitalized Talingarde could rise to the prominence of Cheliax, perhaps surpass it. Talingarde would be made into something greater than it was now, wallowing in its righteous stagnation.
To achieve this goal, he focused on the Conjuration school, if he could not proper utilize the School he would have to find someone else within the kingdom who could, and there was no one he could trust with this yet. Even then he took more inspiration from the Monograph. He would need to persuade others back to the proper path, and convince them that Mitran worship had weakened them as a kingdom. Sarvin came out of his self-imposed shell, doing what he could to start making a web of favors and ‘friends’ he could later rely upon. Even if everything went perfectly this sort of work would take years, decades even.
In secret he began gathering every scrap of information he could when it came to call upon Outsiders. Due to the nature of the information he claimed that these would be for calling upon the agents of the Heavens and the denizens within. No one had any real reason to doubt him, so he could collect what he needed, save for the pertinent information on Devils and their ilk.
At the age of twenty he finished his studies as a Wizard, but was woefully short of his knowledge on dealing with Outsiders, especially Devils. He did not have the coin to travel outside of Talingarde’s borders, so he returned home and bid farewell to his family one more time, promising to repay the debt they incurred for his studies. To get enough coin to pay off the debt, to gather whatever scraps of devilish lore he could, and to find others who believed as he did he took to going through the cities and towns of Talingarde. He picked up whatever jobs he could solve with his minor control of arcane magic while searching for information that could help him, never staying in the same place for too long to stay ahead of inquisitors.
Over the next four years Sarvin wandered, and in his wanderings his belief in Asmodeus grew. The more he met the people of Talingarde the more he was assured that returning to the old ways was for the best. These people needed the order of Hell, it was only then that they could rival the greater kingdoms of the world. In his faith and inexperience, he grew arrogant and didn’t properly scrutinize the newest noble that he attempted to bring in to the fold for rebellion. The noble was overheard speaking of the plot by one of their servants, and of Sarvin’s involvement, it was only a short matter of time before he was taken to trial for sedition.
Fortunately, he was given some advanced warning about the impending arrest, he could secure both his now well-worn copy of the Monograph and his familiar from being caught alongside of him. When the time came for his arrest he went quietly and without any fuss, falsely believing that there wasn’t enough evidence to do any real damage to him. The investigators of Talingarde were more thorough than he believed though and eventually there was enough evidence of the web of sedition Sarvin weaved to thoroughly damn him in the eyes of the court. While the trial progressed only some of his family members could even afford to come to see it, and while initially they had faith in him their faith quickly faltered as the mountain of evidence began increasing. His only saving grace was that he had not yet tried converting them to Asmodeus, and revealing the grander designs. Since he merely organized and didn’t take part himself he was saved the fate of some of his other collaborators of being drawn and quartered, but he was still sent to Brandenscar all the same.
1. Amergin the Wise/Alias ad Tempus: Muirnur Stonefist, ? Male Duergar Monk (Gray Disciple) 1/Fighter [Slave-Taking]
2. Aruetii: Sarvin Wardroxan, LE Male Human Wizard (Infernal Binder) 1/Inquisitor [Sedition]
4. Cuan: TBD
5. Darkness Rising: Rigel Quicklingfay, LE Female Half-Elf Cleric (Asmodean Advocate) of Asmodeus 1/Antipaladin [Blasphemy; Bitten]
6. Deliverance: Bastian Kray, LE Male Human Wizard (Illusion, Mage of the Veil) 1/TBD [Extortion]
7. Dennis Harry/Storyteller Shadow: Amalrus Almuric, NE Male Human Wizard (Exploiter Wizard) 1/Sorcerer (Rakshasa) [Desecration]
8. derpdidruid: Aviaun Koski, NE Male Dhampir (Vetala-Born) Kineticist (Dark Elementalist) 1/Oracle [Kidnapping]
9. Diamondust: Demlin Tursei, LN Female Human Rogue (Unchained, Scout, Thug) 1/Inquisitor [Attempted Murder; Bitten]
10. F. Castor: Raevanis Dwin'Alir, NE Male Elf Fighter (Weapon Master) 1/Monk [Dueling unto Death; Bitten]
11. Fighting Chicken: Tatienne Talbot, LE Female Human (Chelaxian) Occultist 1/Bard [Blasphemy]
12. Ictoo: Aeron Carden, NE Male Human Alchemist (Beastmorph, Vivisectionist) 1/Ranger [Murder; Bitten]
13. Javell DeLeon: Morthos, LE Male Human Antipaladin (Knight of the Sepulcher, Tyrant) of Asmodeus 1/TBD [High Treason]
14. Kayne Rhal: Wraith Bonewalker, LE Male Tiefling (Daemon-Spawn) Wizard (Necromancy, Undead) 1/Sorcerer (Undead) [Grave Robbery]
15. Keep Calm and Carrion: Geborah, LE Female Changeling Cleric (Theologian) of Asmodeus 1/Witch [Arson]
16. Kevin O'Rourke 440: Gallen, LE Male Human Antipaladin (Tyrant) 1/Fighter [High Treason]
17. Kozaric: Edman Al'Roth, LN Male Human Paladin (Fallen) 1/Fighter [Murder]
18. leinathan: Dante Alighieri, LN Male Human Investigator (Psychic Detective) 1/Ranger [Heresy]
19. meloriel: Jezebel, NE Female Human Witch (Ley-Line Guardian) 1/Sorcerer [Murder]
20. Saashaa: Peter, NE Male Human Vigilante (Serial Killer) 1/Ranger [Murder]
21. Sapiens: Margarice, LE Female Human Soul Weaver (Dual Channeler) 1/Oracle (Bones) [Desecration]
22. Seth86: Mic'Mac, NE Male Ratfolk Alchemist (Plague Bringer) 1/Witch [Consorting with the Dark Powers (Witchcraft)]
23. Shadowtail24: Zuriel Wordbringer, LE Male Elf Monk (Maneuver Master, Monk of the Four Winds) 1/Wizard [Forgery]
24. SkaTalon: Cerrin Valo/Razer, NE Male Human Vigilante (Serial Killer) 1/Cavalier (Order of Vengeance) [Attempted Murder]
25. Tavarokk: Octavia Falco, NE Female Human Oracle (Seduction) of Ardad Lili 1/Rogue [Blasphemy]
26. Thackery Baxter J Thorington/Dragonofashandflame: Balam Kael, LE Male Human Antipaladin (Dread Vanguard, Lord of Darkness) of Asmodeus 1/Cavalier (Order of Vengeance) [Attempted Murder]
27. The Wyrm Ouroboros: Hel Blackfist, LE Female Human Monk (Unchained Zen Archer) 1/Ranger [Attempted Murder]
28. TheoreticallyYours: Vatra, LE Female Tiefling (Devil-Spawn) Monk (Brazen Disciple) 1/Rogue [Kidnapping]
29. Vanulf Wulfson: Cain Malibourne, LE Male Human Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) of Asmodeus 1/Sorcerer (Infernal) [Attempted Murder]
30. william Nightmoon: Valerian Whitewing, NE Female Tiefling (Demon-Spawn) Cleric (Hidden Priest) of Lamashtu 1/TBD [Consorting with the Dark Powers (Witchcraft)]
31. Zektolna: Wesh Meloi, LE Human Fighter 1/Barbarian [Murder]
Grumbaki: Inarus, LE Male Tiefling (Oni-Spawn) Monk (Unchained, Monk of the Mantis) 1/Oracle (Bones) [Piracy]
Tanner Nielsen: Tsura Vhiski, LE Female Human Oracle (Intrigue) of Asmodeus 1/Sorcerer (Rakshasa) [Fraud; Bitten]
Tulay Miller: Noir Sanguina, NE Female Dhampir Slayer (Cutthroat) 1/TBD [Attempted Murder]
A monk can apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.[/quote
The rule says you get your Strength bonus to damage, so 1d6+3 for your unarmed strike. Everything else looks good. You are complete.
I assume that your Specialized School is Conjuration. What are your opposition schools? In the event you decided to be a Universalist, I'm going to have to insist you specialize in Conjuration in order to take the Infernal Binder archetype.
You forgot your background skill points. Make sure you choose your background skills.
You seem short on first level spells. Don't forget that you get bonus spells per day for having a high Int, as well as one for your specialized school.
The alternate racial abilities do stack with the traits, so no problem there.
I need to know where the Monograph and your familiar are hidden. If they're in, say, Ghastenhall, you're going to be familiar-less for a while.
I think you need to get your backstory finished up in the profile. That or post it again here with the alias so it's all easily condensed into one place.
Anyway, I will try to get it done by the end of the deadline. If not, I will be bowing out. After all, you certainly have no lack of imaginative and interested potential players. Heck, you could probably run five to six tables with this many submissions.
:-)
I completely forgot to add spellcraft, have the right number of skills now including the background skills. (Bluff, Dip, Knowledge Arcane, Religion, & Planes, Perception, Sense Motive, & Spellcraft with History and Linguistics as background)
Yup, forgot about some of the spells.
As for the Monograph and Familiar, I'm not exceptionally well versed in this campaign so if you have a good suggestion for where they would be stashed I would really appreciate it.
We need a grave robber, I'm sure there's some necromancers we'll be able to sell the bodies to.
After quite a while I have finally friggen finished this guy to the best of my knowledge. His racial stuff is all listed, I added his background skills and here is his backstory. sorry it took so long, the site made me do the backstory over and I sorta lost a little motivation after that.
It was good for Aviaun's father that he took the precaution in the contract for his child's soul, for he truly did grow to hate him. The old vampire was abusive, neglectful and never once did he show care for Aviaun outside of his teaching. Aviaun boiled in this environment for a hundred odd years before finally working up what his father never thought he would. The courage to kill him.
One night while his father was recovering from a near fatal confrontation with vampire hunters, Aviaun put a stake through the bastards heart. He did as he knew to do to vampires, removing the head with glee and anointing it in holly water, permanently destroying the man he was once forced to call father. He took much of the mans treasure and set out to live a lavished life, hiding his heritage while he attended parties with the aristocracy. His upbringing proved quite useful at giving him a noble's mannerisms, making it extremely easy to blend in with his new crowd while at the same time indulging in his baser desires as a vampire-born creature.
He traveled from town to town, city to city, Wooing the girls wherever he went before taking their blood as they slept next to him. This all stopped however when Aviaun saw something that sparked the fire of him to do the only arguably good thing he'd done in his life. A nobleman's young daughter came from her room during her fathers party, she found him as Aviaun was chatting with him. She asked for nothing more than a glass of water, her father had none of it, he struck her for leaving her room during the party. Aviaun could tell that he was holding back from beating the poor girl by the way she shivered under the angry look in his eyes.
So, to put it plainly Aviaun waited for the party to end. Making sure to act good and drunk before asking the nobleman if he may stay in a guest room. Perhaps foolishly so he agree'd, making the job of spiriting the poor girl away in her sleep exceedingly simple. He didn't even have to kill a single guard.
After that Aviaun went by the alias Oloman. For the most part he ceased his debauched lifestyle, started going after easier, less exiting prey in the form of the poor and destitute and over all became about as good a person as a person with a barely satiable hunger for the blood of the living could be.
Of all things, it was sickly drunkard who fancied himself a duel against Aviaun because he refused to speak to the fool that got him caught. The man's death was quickly overshadowed when Samantha was taken in alongside him and discovered to be of noble blood. He was tried for he kidnapping and sent to Brandscar, while the girl... Samantha... was sent back home.
'Local' languages in the AP are Iraen, Norspik, Yutak, and Old Talirean. The last is a dead language, like Latin.
Also, just to keep us up to date ... ;)
Crimes Against The State
Arson: Geborah
Desertion: Cole Hale
Dueling Unto Death: Raevanis Dwin'Alir
Extortion: Bastian Kray
Forgery: Zuriel Wordbringer
Fraud:
High Theft:
High Treason: Morthos, Gallen
. . Sedition: Sarvin Wardroxan
Kidnapping: Aviaun Koski, Vatra
Murder: Aeron Carden, Edman Al'Roth, Jezebel, Peter, Wesh Meloi
. . Attempted: Demlin Tursei, Cerrin Valo (aka Razer), Balam Kael, Hel Blackfist, Cain Malibourne
Piracy:
Slave-Taking: Muirnir Stonefist
Slave Trading:
Crimes Against The Church
Blasphemy: Rigel Quicklingfay, Tatienne Talbot, Octavia Falco
Consorting with Dark Powers (Witchcraft): Mic'Mac, Valerian Whitewing
Desecration: Amalrus Almuric, Margarice
Grave Robbery: Wraith Bonewalker
Heresy: Dante Alighieri
Also, you may redirect Hel Blackfist's link here - this is updated with the agreed-upon pyure, language modifications since I found the 'local languages' above, and a change of VMC from ranger to wizard (divination).
A little update, with all the extra time we've been given.
I've updated my backstory adding more too it and just correcting some mistakes and such.
Stats seem ok, but I may look at them again if I get picked.
Does it close on the 31st ?
'Local' languages in the AP are Iraen, Norspik, Yutak, and Old Talirean. The last is a dead language, like Latin.
Iirc, at least the first three are local languages in the same fashion as Gaelic is a local language of UK, that is, spoken by aboriginal peoples from before the kingdom's emergence and mostly in native tribes nowadays.
@Local languages: Tavarokk has the right of it. If you’re going to speak one of the local languages, your backstory will have to justify how you learned it - they aren’t widely taught, and their relevance to the AP is minimal at best.
@Aviaun: Looks good. You’re complete.
@Wraith: Stick with grave robbery, it fits the character more.
@Hel Blackfist: Looks good. Make sure you explain how you learned Iraen.
@Aeron: It closes on the 31st At 11:59 PM EST.