Our RotRL campaign is taking a hiatus this week while our DM and another player are in Seattle. I'm cooking up a one-shot adventure using pre-gen, 10th level Pathfinder characters. My five players will have the opportunity to pick from 10 characters, one of each class (excluding paladin, for reasons that will be fairly obvious) and each will have a male and a female name, depending on which gender they choose.
The scenario is this: The PCs are all prisoners in Nidal, slated for execution. In this case, that means transport to Ridwan where the Zon-Kuthonites can practice their sadistic rituals on the characters; execution may take a very, very long time...
However, a member of the Umbral Court has other plans. These people are perfect for a suicide mission in order to recover certain relics needed for an obscure ritual. If they succeed, then their sentences will instead be exile from Nidal. At this point, a free pass out of the dark country will be all they want. (Old grognards may recognize this hook from the old 1e Ghost Tower of Inverness...)
Each character will have a background sheet explaining their general motivations and the reason why they have been imprisoned and sentenced to death. So my question for you: What have these poor souls done to deserve such a fate? The roster is as follows:
Barek, CN Kellid barbarian from the Land of the Mammoth Lords (no female version of this one)
Galadon/Euphemi, CG Taldan bard from Galt
Devor/Kifah, LN Half-orc cleric of Pharasma from the Shackles
Tengluki/Trig, NG Gnome druid
Irakli/Maddela, LE Half-elf fighter from Varisia
Gendo/Reika, LG Tian monk from Absalom
Kaleb/Bellis, CG Halfling ranger from Andoran
Variel/Opara, CG Elf rogue from the River Kingdoms
Igmar/Torra, N Dwarf sorcerer (earth bloodline) from the Mindspin Mountains
Pavo/Pavanna CN Chelaxian illusionist from Cheliax
I've already got a few ideas for some of them, but I'd like to see what bubbles up from the primordial generative ooze that is the Paizo community.
Yeah, I was tired and posted it in the wrong forum, but I figured at least one Paizonian would have had time to waste on this... *grumble*
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What have these poor souls done to deserve such a fate? The roster is as follows:
Barek, CN Kellid barbarian from the Land of the Mammoth Lords (no female version of this one)
Galadon/Euphemi, CG Taldan bard from Galt
Devor/Kifah, LN Half-orc cleric of Pharasma from the Shackles
Tengluki/Trig, NG Gnome druid
Irakli/Maddela, LE Half-elf fighter from Varisia
Gendo/Reika, LG Tian monk from Absalom
Kaleb/Bellis, CG Halfling ranger from Andoran
Variel/Opara, CG Elf rogue from the River Kingdoms
Igmar/Torra, N Dwarf sorcerer (earth bloodline) from the Mindspin Mountains
Pavo/Pavanna CN Chelaxian illusionist from Cheliax
I've already got a few ideas for some of them, but I'd like to see what bubbles up from the primordial generative ooze that is the Paizo...
First off this sounds like a blast! It also sounds like a perfect setup for the movie Pitch Black! If you haven't seen it, its awesome. Vin Diesel at his mightest. You might want to take some inspiration from that and not make everyone a prisoner, then slam them with a disaster that forces them to retrieve/deal with the relics to survive/escape. Or not. Just riffin'.
Here are a few quick noodles. Feel free to tell me they are poo.
Barek, CN Kellid barbarian from the Land of the Mammoth Lords (no female version of this one) He got caught colluding with orcs to sell baby mammoths to the Katapeshi for resale and entertainment in Absalom
Galadon/Euphemi, CG Taldan bard from Galt He wrote a song about a powerful political figure in Galt. And his noble, inbred wife. And their low-IQ lazy son. Bad idea. The noble has connections to Katapeshi and likes to buy baby mammoths for his zoo.
Devor/Kifah, LN Half-orc cleric of Pharasma from the Shackles
Hmmm...not much coming to me. How about prophesised the death of a noble's relative or pet, looking to extort money for "averting" the prophecy. S/he thought it wouldn't come true (prophecy being what it is), but it did.
Tengluki/Trig, NG Gnome druid Isn't being a gnome druid enough? Believes imprisoning animals is slavery. This didn't fly even in Andoran. Caught freeing a baby mammoth, aka stealing it.
Irakli/Maddela, LE Half-elf fighter from Varisia
In a blind rage, violated a sacred marriage dance when a man/woman s/he thought was theirs, married another. Perhaps murdered either the bride or the groom.
Gendo/Reika, LG Tian monk from Absalom
Crossed the pathfinder society somehow. Keep the why's and wherefores a secret. Tie the secret into the monk's silent shame and the fact that s/he is no longer a monk. They did something chaotic in a passion like break a law to save an orphan. Or attack one, depending on how your game flows.
Kaleb/Bellis, CG Halfling ranger from Andoran
Caught freeing slaves in Absalom. Sentenced to life on a galley. Escaped. Caught again. Seething to escape again!
OR caught keeping a slave s/he was supposed to free!
Variel/Opara, CG Elf rogue from the River Kingdoms
Any thievery will do. I'll pass on this one as I can't recall the River Kingdoms well.
Igmar/Torra, N Dwarf sorcerer (earth bloodline) from the Mindspin Mountains
Some violation of dwarfishness. Thought it'd be a great joke to shave off his drunken clan chiefs beard? Nothing coming to me. Sorry.
Pavo/Pavanna CN Chelaxian illusionist from Cheliax
Doesn't believe in slavery. Caught freeing a slave. Puts the Andoran and Chelaxian on opposite sides of hte usual issue.
Some of thats a tad gonzo and none too well interlinked, but maybe it'll get a few juices flowing.
Good luck!
I've seen Pitch Black and I'm with you. However, for this one I think I'll have them all be prisoners. I'm thinking having the party divided into camps will end up worse than every man for themselves when it comes to forcing them to realize they have to work together. (Plus, the quest spell they'll have on them should give them the proper urge to cooperate.)
That's a great start, and I got a few good chuckles out of them, thanks. However, I suppose I should have made clear that, despite where they happen to be from, they were arrested and sentenced to execution in Nidal, so the reasons will be tied to that country. Granted, it is a LE country that worships Zon-Kuthon, so there is probably a lot that will get you the death penalty...I just want to make it interesting so they'll have a vested interest in the characters from the start.
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Random thoughts (which may or may not duplicate the ones upthread, which I didn't really read...).
Barek, CN Kellid barbarian from the Land of the Mammoth Lords (no female version of this one)
in town as a caravan-guard, after being thrown out of his homeland because of his violent temper, which led to him striking his father, and being disowned. Once again, his temper got the best of him, and after a night of spending his caravan coin at a house of ill repute, he violently attacked a pleasure-wench, who, in the fashion of Nidal, attempted to 'enhance the experience' by striking him with a whip. A dozen minders and pimp's thugs fell before him, and a half-dozen guards, before a black-robed Cleric of Zon-Kuthon, annoyed at having his own pleasures interrupted in the ruckus, felled him with some foul enchantment.
Galadon/Euphemi, CG Taldan bard from Galt
made the mistake of talking about the Galtan uprisings in a tavern (he fled to avoid being beheaded, being the bastard son of a family that fell out of favor and went to guillotine), and was promptly reported to sinister black-clad 'secret police' for attempting to instigate Galtan style unrest.
Devor/Kifah, LN Half-orc cleric of Pharasma from the Shackles
traveling on a merchant ship that was declared to be 'pirates' captured in Nidalese waters (it was en route to Korvosa, and, freakishly enough, on a legitimate mission of trade), and accused of piracy, spying on Nidalese concerns (it sailed too close to the coast during a storm), etc.
Tengluki/Trig, NG Gnome druid
this curious little gnome got into an argument with a Nidalese pain-priest about the nature of cruelty, which started as a polite disagreement about the cruelty of nature, and degenerated fairly quickly, as the occasionally clueless and dismissive gnome failed to recall how seriously some Clerics take their religious tenets. Unsurprisingly, a charge of heresy results in the death penalty in Nidal...
Irakli/Maddela, LE Half-elf fighter from Varisia
born to a forsaken father, dallying with a Varisian soothsayer, your mother performed a harrowing the month after your birth, and then promptly attempted to drown you, so horrified was she by the destiny she saw for her dark-eyed infant. A shocked relative saved you, but your mother died in the fight. Raised by surly grandparents who blamed you for the death of their beautiful daughter, you hate everyone, but especially your Varisian 'kin' and their scarf-tossing gypsy ways and the dissipated elven race whose watery blood flows in your veins. Your crime? Working as a mercenary guardsman in the city guard, enjoying the cruel honesty of the Nidalese way of life, you fell victim to frightened co-workers, as your spectacular successes threatened their own ambitions, and they felt that an outsider like you didn't deserve the positions and honors you were earning with your ruthless practicality. The irony would be that you, the most evil of the captives, where framed for treason, and didn't actually do anything worse than being 'too good' at being bad...
Gendo/Reika, LG Tian monk from Absalom
you have told others that you travelled barefoot and alone across the Crown of the World, and speak often of exotic customs that make no sense, and quote proverbs of ancient wisdom. All of these things you make up on the spot, as you are the child of a Tien prostitute from Absalom and an unknown father (whose likeness you bear not at all, making you appear fullblood Tien). What little you actually know of Tian (such as the language) you learned from your mother, who was at least literate, if no scholar of exotic eastern ways. Sometimes the stories you tell contradict each other, but you act all inscrutable, and talk about how the Tao that is known is not the same as the Tao that is written, which seems to quell any suspicions about your 'ancient foreign wisdom.' You learned the arts of the monastary at a temple to Irori, mostly populated by natives, with a smattering of Vudrani, and, not unsurprisingly, known more about Vudra than Tian. You made the mistake of lecturing a slaver about the virtues of mercy and compassion, and 'causing a disturbance' as various local citizens stopped to listen. A horribly untimely (and uncharacteristic) bit of honesty landed you the death sentence, as you freely admitted to the advocate that you found slavery to be abhorrent, and hoped to end the practice...
Kaleb/Bellis, CG Halfling ranger from Andoran
you've never been a fan of close combat, and have always been the master of sneaking up on your brothers and peppering them with thown stones and padded arrows. And now you use these arts on the border skirmishes of Andoran, happily skulking through the wilderness raining death down upon those who threaten the cause of freedom, or whatever rubbish the true believers rant about. You just hoist an ale and nod when they start with all that freedom stuff, because you could really care, so long as you get to do what you love, sneak up on the bad-guys and pepper then with arrows. Captured by Chelaxians, you were sold to the Nidalese as a slave, with a dozen others, and, incensed at being shackled, you broke free at least three times, but got yourself captured once again, lingering behind to attempt to free others, as your empathic nature came out of nowhere and got you in trouble. And so, death sentence, for not one, but three jail-breaks.
Variel/Opara, CG Elf rogue from the River Kingdoms
thrown out of more insignificant human kingdoms than you can remember, Nidal seems to take your petty thievery a bit more seriously than the various River Kingdoms. Generally, you expect to outlive any sort of punishment these fluttering mortals come up with, but execution sounds dreadfully final... Don't these humans realize that an elven life is worth a dozen human lives?
Igmar/Torra, N Dwarf sorcerer (earth bloodline) from the Mindspin Mountains
you were sent as part of an ambassadorial mission from your people, and the lot of you have been accused of espionage. To be fair, you may actually have been spying on some Nidalese officials, but it wasn't to gain any sort of advantage in business, merely to meet with a Nidalese functionary with whom you were having an affair. Your skulking about on these secret rendezvous endangered the entire dwarven ambassadorial party, and so you confessed to seeking a political advantange, much to the surprise of your friends, who were banished from Nidal, while you were sent to the dungeons, to wait for death.
Pavo/Pavanna CN Chelaxian illusionist from Cheliax
simply everyone in Cheliax is enamored with the arts of conjuration and devil-binding, and you, difficult as always, marching to another drum, practiced instead the arts of illusion, allowing you to pretend to be a conjurer, to impress gullible countrymen, while studying your own families preferred arcane arts. You came to Nidal to wrest however you could the secrets of shadow magic said to be known to the locals, only to discover that such secrets are considered *state* secrets, and that disguising yourself as a local shadow-mage and attempting to make off with rare texts of shadow magic from the Fane of the Black Iron Mask is a capital offense...
Good...I'm liking these. Interesting that both of you have the same angle on the halfling ranger. I'm liking the liberator idea, especially without the high ideals. The illusionist idea is also appealing; I was drawing a blank on that background.
The barbarian storyline is pretty close to what I'd had going, ditto with the elf (though the haughtiness was more directed towards a former mentor.) I'm thinking that the dwarf background would work fine.
Nice stuff, Set.
Still...I'm tempted to work a mammoth smuggling operation in somewhere...
Moved to Pathfinder General
Moved to Pathfinder General
Wasn't that the forum I posted it in originally? =/