I would not recommend a large character. There a a lot of 5' corridors in your future. There are too many areas that are cramp enough for a half dozen medium-sized folk without someone taking up four squares.
I would not recommend a character from an evil race, or an evil character. The adventure presumes heroic play, with no real place for those who aren't interested in the welfare of Cauldron and its people. There will be a great deal of urban adventuring and social interaction with the citizens of cauldron. Those who gets along with folk will get a lot more out of this path than those who don't.
a friend of mine is going to begin DMing Shackled City very soon. As such I need to make a character for it.
I have a couple of ideas (having no clue as to any game content) that I would like to get an opinion on.1. a Half-Orc with the Half-Minotaur template. He would be a Large size and primarily a combo fighter/barbarian.
2. a Drow (perhaps) with the Shadow template on it. He would be a caster going towards being a Shadow Adept.
Franks advice is very sound though a half-orc/minotaur would make for some interesting roleplaying opportunities later.
The campaign is largely made of up of dungeons crawls, urbans investigations and social roleplay.
If you are choosing a race then half-orcs are not the most popular race within the city. The other standard races fit nicely particularly gnomes and dwarves who have a historical place within Cauldron. I'm not sure how a drow would be treated.
In terms of choosing a class - all the standard classes and their variants have a place but druids and rangers may have limited opportunities to shine. The urban variants of each would though.
Before you make any choice though ask your Dm for a background on Cauldron, its history and the organisations that fit within it. They may also have a few background character 'traits' you could adopt.
Good luck
Delvesdeep
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If you are choosing a race then half-orcs are not the most popular race within the city. The other standard races fit nicely particularly gnomes and dwarves who have a historical place within Cauldron. I'm not sure how a drow would be treated.
Having said that, I think there would be some interesting roleplaying situations and tactical options for a half orc at various points in the path, and your DM might be able to give you some interesting background ideas if you did want to go with a half orc.
A fighter or barbarian type character would have plenty of opportunities to shine in this AP.
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16
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If your DM is running the SCAP from the HC and you want to add something to your character ask about the trait options rather than adding on the minotaur template. There is a cool one in which one of your ancestors was a black dragon called wyrm-blooded. One of my PCs selected that trait and has been having a blast with it she was an orphanned dwarf and began the game with the reputation of the Demon of Lantern Street.
Just to give you an idea, I'm running this campaign with a two men party. One is a pure cleric of Ilmater (who replaces St Cuthbert in my Forgotten Realms version) and one is a melee type (dervish build). Both are human.
I'd say that the normal base races and characters with good alignment suit this adventure well. Diverting from that might create some trouble in motivating the PCs to go through the AP. So that is definitely something you should tell your players.
I've also found that healing is a big asset for a two men party, so you should definitely find a way to cover that.
Of course, whatever your players choose, you can add one or two NPCs to run with them for certain adventures to balance the party.
I'm curently running two different groups in SCAP. One of 6 and one of seven players. I've completed a third of the campaign to date (after 14 months of play and 25 sessions of five hours for each group !!).
Nobody went for a multi-class or a combo. One of the group is almost a short guys party (only one human and one elf) and the other one is exactly the reverse (only one gnome and one elf).
As far as I know all my players are fully satisfied by their choice. It allows them to mainly differentiate by role playing rather than by an exotic Character Sheet. The SCAP fits perfectly in that way.
I agree with some of my fellow DMs here to encourage you to not choose a too extreme / radical character. Definitely a tank can give a lot of help and pleasure as well. But be careful of the laws in town (which can be a killer for a barbarian role). Perhaps you can have a look on some paladin thing or some dwarven possibilities.
On the other end of the line, a wizard or a sorcerer will certainly be a viable choice. In my game, I have a gnome wizard in each group.
I think the DM has to manage the traits in the HC alone and without any intervention of the players. Some of these things should stay unknown and be revealed gradually to the player during the adventure IMHO.
But as usual your game is your DM world and your Character is your burden ;-)) Let's go for what you're pleased with first.
Be creative
In a four men party, a rogue would be great, in a two men party, it might just turn out to be a bit too 'light'. If you do choose a rogue with only two players, make sur you have a maxed 'use magic device' skill.
A rogue will have plenty of opportunities to shine. Especially since you very well may end up as the social one of the party with all of your skills. Your sneak attack ability will be usefull for the life of your character.
Just don't be the 1st into the room no mater how high your hide skill.
a friend of mine is going to begin DMing Shackled City very soon. As such I need to make a character for it.
I have a couple of ideas (having no clue as to any game content) that I would like to get an opinion on.1. a Half-Orc with the Half-Minotaur template. He would be a Large size and primarily a combo fighter/barbarian.
2. a Drow (perhaps) with the Shadow template on it. He would be a caster going towards being a Shadow Adept.
Also, make sure to check with your DM on what ECL you're allowed to start at. I'm not sure about the Half-Minotaur template, but I know that both Drow and the Shadow template add to a character's ECL, which means you'd be starting the campaign at > 1st level. Your DM may not approve.
A rogue will have plenty of opportunities to shine. Especially since you very well may end up as the social one of the party with all of your skills. Your sneak attack ability will be usefull for the life of your character.
Absolutely. The party rogue in my campaign has been the MVP so far.
Just don't be the 1st into the room no mater how high your hide skill.
Haha. That's the catalyst for the only death in our campaign to date. :)
Haha. That's the catalyst for the only death in our campaign to date. :)
2 deaths due to that so far here.
1st the rogue sneaks into the room with the dark one leader who, this day, had a better spot and hide and backstabbed her to -12.
2nd death "send the rogue in to draw the breath weapon. He has evasion and will take no damage."
turned out to be 80% chance of zero damage, 20% chance of instant death. He was 7 shades of popsicle if you know what I mean.
alright, after figuring out what the other players are planning and getting some info from my DM I have decided against the 1/2 Minotaur tank and the drow shadow adept.
Wise; any characters built with racial level adjustments are just so many wasted character sheets, in a Paizo adventure path. You'll need every bit of the BAB (or spellcaster level) you can get, as pointed out elsewhere (I'd also recommend that the "mage/?" lose the "/?" part).
