INTRODUCTION
With my Star Wars game winding down, I've decided to start a Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign. However, as I do with all my campaigns, I will likely heavily change it to suit my particular needs. The biggest change is that I want the entire campaign to be urban and set in Korvosa. (As printed, about a third of the AP takes place in a non-urban setting far removed from Korvosa.) I will incorporate several elements from Council of Thrones in their place. As a result, there will be more devils and demons in this campaign (sort of how Kingmaker has a heavy fey focus and Carrion Crown has lots of undead).
STYLE
Please take the time to review my current campaigns and see if they are a match for your style. I am a fairly demanding DM, expecting quite a bit from my players but giving just as much in return. My Carrion Crown campaign is a dark and atmospheric story, suffocating the players with a sense of dread and unease. My Kingmaker campaign is one of gritty day-to-day struggle and epic grandeur. As you can see, both are fairly lengthy so far (649 and 2326 posts, respectively). My campaigns tend to be heavy with dialogue, disagreement, and debate. If you can spend a few hundred posts arguing about the nature of good and evil, the existence and source of the gods, and other such heady topics, this may by the campaign for you!
Please also take a moment to review my previous recruitments: Here and here. These threads will shed some light onto my recruitment style and what sort of characters might get the spot. One thing that I can promise is that I will give every person who applies a fair shake. I will ask a lot of questions and try to help develop your ideas.
I tend not to level up remarkably quickly. My goal is to level up every 1000 posts or so, which has worked out remarkably well in both those campaigns. I give out experience based on combat and roleplaying, working out to about half-and-half. I award experience individually, though there is also a shared pool of roleplaying experience that gets distributed amongst all the players. I have a big spreadsheet for my campaigns.
CAMPAIGN DETAILS
As for the campaign itself: unlike the AP as written, I plan on a more sandbox, Kingmaker-esque style with the PCs involved in a secret rebellion against the slow corruption that seems to be taking over Korvosa. In the last few years, as the aged King Eodred II's health has waned, things have gotten worse in the city. The government is far more repressive than it used to be, though there is some debate as to the reason for this. Eodred's young wife, Queen Ileosa, has an appetite for luxury that is slowly draining the city dry. The criminal underworld preys on the city's populace while engaging in internal power struggles. When designing your character submission, try to include a reason that your PC would want to join a rebellion or is dissatisfied with the status quo.
One of the primary drivers of this campaign is going to be issues of class and race. Inequality and discrimination will be talked about. There won't be easy answers or simple solutions, but I do expect these issues to play a big role in tensions in the city.
CHARACTER CREATION
I will be using 20 point buy, with a bonus of 2 points for having one non-neutral alignment axis and 3 points for having two. (Thus, N gets 20; LN, NE, CN, NG get 22, LG, LE, CE, CG get 23.) I do not like dump stats; any dump stat will have to include in-game justification for why this is the case. Anything from the Core Rulebook, Advanced Player's Guide, and Ultimate Magic are fair game. Other Paizo sources may be included with approval. We'll start at level 1. I don't necessarily need statblocks if you don't want to create one, but I won't object of you make one. (In some cases, I may ask some questions about what your build may look like.) I don't mind a well-designed character, but I don't care for ridiculous optimization. (Don't take ranks in Profession: Basket-Weaving just to show how unoptimized you are.) You can have two traits, as per normal characters, but don't pick anything from the Council of Thieves or Curse of the Crimson Throne Player's Guides. (Namely because you are not in Westcrown, and Gaedren Lamm is a rather flimsy motivation, in my opinion.)
The party will have 6 members. I will select them based on potential for interesting dynamics and diversity. I will hopefully select each individual both on how interesting their story is and how they will contribute to the party as a whole. Keep that in mind as you design your characters. If you overlap too much with another player, you are probably in direct competition. (I may suggest that one of you change something, as what happened when two players in Kingmaker both wanted to play human male clerics of Abadar. One of them went Inquisitor, and his character is now staggeringly complex. And probably a sociopath, but you'll have to read the Kingmaker thread for that.)
If you have no prior posting experience, that's fine. Everyone started like that at some point. I may ask for a writing sample. One of my best players in my Kingmaker campaign had no posts when he applied, and I don't regret for a second giving him the spot. Unlike my Carrion Crown game, I'm actually going to focus on finding new players. As Alexander Kilcoyne mentioned in another recruitment, there are so many talented posters that it isn't fair to only ever cater to the same group of players. Thus bring on the applications. I tend to get a whole flood for three days, then almost nothing afterwards, so I'll open this recruitment up until June 30th. Take your time to craft a really good application! The more you immerse your character in Golarion, the better. I'll be sure to ask a large number of questions to make sure that your character gets the best opportunity to get chosen that I can give you. Good luck, everybody!
What irony! The DM who inspired me to get into PbP decides to start up a game, very soon after I start DM'ing the same campaign myself!
I would have really loved to try out for one of your games, but I suppose I'll have to wait for the next one, however far into the future that'll be.
Sweet, another chance to get into a Barcas game. Dotting mainly, and I will be posting my character later.
This is a summoner I have been working on for awhile....
He is not finished yet is a work in progress, is designed for this to be his first and only summoner level......
I am open to feed-back. ;)
Duke - It's going to be different from the AP as written. While some elements will remain, enough will change that you won't be spoiled even if you've played the campaign before.
Well, in that case, I'll go ahead and throw my hat into the ring! I'll have something up later today, I think.
Perhaps I should rename the thread 'Kingmaker of Korvosa'. That's the aim I'm going for, but with an urban setting rather than taming the wild.
I've always enjoyed Urban campaigns, and the whole building things up from Kingmaker is interesting.
I've been playing around a bit with playinga Tengu from the Bestiary, and an Urban Campaign is a good venue for that. Of course, that does require the Dm's aproval.
I would like to submit the following:
Name: Hana Ogawa
Race: Human, Tian
Class: Cleric of Desna (will multi-class into acrobat rogue)
Alignment: CG
Stat Block: Probably 10, 17, 12, 12, 16, 12 (racial included)
Appearance: Hana, whose name means flower, is a petite girl of Tian-Min heritage. She has long, straight black hair, usually tied up to keep it out of the way. She has a very pretty face, which she doesn't hide behind too much makeup, instead letting her natural beauty do the work. Her eyes are a vibrant violet, a very odd color in Avistan.
Backstory: Hana's parents were travelers and worshipers of Desna, and on their travels across Tian to Avistan they gave birth to Hana. Eventually they settled down in Magnimar, which is where Hana grew up. As a child growing up, she involved herself in acrobatics and tumbling, performing on the street for crowds wherever and whenever she could. She also took part in some frowned upon activities, namely pickpocketing the more wealthy folk in town. She still had a conscience, and only stole from those she knew were well off, and she always gave the money she received from such activities to beggars, destitute street performers, and orphanages.
Like her parents, Hana was a devout follower of the teachings of Desna. After a particularly good street performance, a cleric of Desna noticed Hana praying under the starlight. He watched her for a few moments, and when she finished her prayers, he introduced himself to her. Soon after, Hana found herself an acolyte of the local Church of Desna and her pickpocketing came to a stop. It didn't take long for her to become a full cleric of the Church of Desna.
As a cleric, Hana didn't have time to perform on the streets any longer. It wasn't long before she decided to embrace even more of her deity's ideals, namely travel. Hana left Magnimar to travel for a bit, ending up in Korvosa. There she decided to stop and perform on the streets again, hoping to make some coin before moving on. However, Korvosa is a very different place than Magnimar. Through her performances she learned of how things in the city have taken a turn for the worse. The government has become more oppressive and the people nervous. Her devotion to Desna surfaced once again. The people of Korvosa were too caught up in the problems with their government to be truly free. Hana decided to stay and find a way to help.
Where This is Going: Hana is likely only going to take her first level in cleric (Travel and Luck), with the rest to be taken in rogue using the Acrobat archetype. She'll probably end up two-weapon fighting with starknives, tumbling to get to a good flanking position when she can. This is an experimental build that may very well end up being not-so-good, but I thought it was an interesting idea.
Let me know if you would like some more information. I'm open to any ideas on how to flesh this character out to make her more interesting and real.
Edit: I should note that Hana, being of Tian heritage, will likely find it much more difficult in Korvosa than in Magnimar. However, this doesn't discourage her from trying to help. She will be appalled at the racial discrimination, but will likely come to learn that even she herself unknowingly discriminates and touts stereotypes about other races. I'm hoping that as I play her, some of this will develop.
I'd like to toss my hat in, if you don't mind.
I'm looking at making a Halfling Barbarian (Elemental Kin Archetype) -- I'm updating the Profile now and will flesh it all out as I go.
Basically, he's a Magnamar-area halfing (and so, used to freedom) who came to Korvosa and worked on the docks, and doesn't much care for the way Halflings are treated here.
I'm thinking a Human urban ranger (or plain fighter with an officer build), that is a member of the Korvosan Guard. He is LN and a purist, as in has no problems with elves or orcs for what they are, but he can't stand half-breeds. At least he knows what to expect from an elf or orc, but once you mix them they think they can just do whatever they please.
I will put together a profile shortly.
EDIT: Oooh, or make him either Half-orc or Half-elf with the pass for human, and doesn't know he's mixed. Then go sorcerer, and grab like fey bloodline or orc bloodline. Yes that's what I'm doing.
Half-breed hating half-breed urban ranger in the korvosan guard that doesn't know his heritage until he develops sorcerer bloodline of his unknown half.
I'm probably going to restart the thread tonight to make it clearer that this is Curse of the Crimson Throne in a Kingmaker style with elements of Council of Thieves thrown in. Kingmaker needs to be in the title. It's probably closer in spirit to KM than CotCT, except for the setting.
Interesting. I have a few ideas. I'll will consider this should I decide on any of them.
I offer Narnel Falerathon for your consideration.
CN Rogue, Sniper Archetype.
Stat Block: 14, 18, 12, 12, 10, 12
I will Hero Lab a profile later.
While Narnel was born and raised in the Kyonin Forest, he was forced from the elven homeland by those who could see through his fascade of benevolence to the deeper seeded self-interest that possessed his thoughts. While some may have viewed his personality as free-spirited, others perceived it for what it really was - selfishness and narcassistic behavior. However, his banishment did not occur until after he learned the skills and received extensive training in the use of his Composite Long Bow and Rapier from the elven rangers of the Kyonin.
Maeltheron quickly found a home in Absalom, and while he enjoyed the fruits of the enormous city, he desired a smaller settlement with a similar level of mercantile activity. After spending a few years at sea searching for a new home, he found himself in the ports of Korvosa. The city called to him, and it was time to leave the high seas to ply his trade of deceit and surgical archery all in the name of gold and fame!
Wouldn't you know it, as I was putting the final tweaks on this character, somebody else submitted an elven sniper! Oh well, I'll submit anyway.
Here is Elrith, AWOL sniper from the Mierani Defence Force. It's been months since her last kill, and she craves that feeling of control, of taking a life through a perfectly planned arrow. She knows the cardinal rule of snipers, however: the assassin does not choose the target herself, so she needs a group where her skills can be used.
Over the course of the campaign, Elrith will start to get fuzzy on that cardinal rule, however, as she starts a downward plunge away from her CN beginnings. I haven't yet decided if she will actively seek out levels in the assassin prestige class, or just flirt with the idea.
DM Barcas is a phenomenal GM!
In fact I love urban campaigns so much I may submit a character... If DMBarcas is okay with that.
As promised - the profile for Narnel!
Pruitt is a work in progress.
He is a hometown Korvosan. He loves his city, and is proud to be a member of the guard. He hates to see mismanagemnet and corruption ruin what he loves. He also hates those dirty half-breeds, and their foul mixed blood. You can trust an orc to be violent, you can trust an elf to be snobbish, but you can't trust those darn mixes further than you can throw them.
His disdain was groomed into him from his father, a retired member of the Korvosan Guard himself. His mother, according to his father, was a no good wench that tricked his father and then ran off after Pruitt was born. Pruitt doesn't know that his mother was an elven emmisary, or that he is even Half-elven. His father hid the truth from him, and filled him with his own hatred.
Pruitt has very fine features, a gift from his mother's side, but sometimes it's better if he doesn't say anything depending on who he's dealing with. He knows he can use his looks to get what he wants.
The background will expound more, this is just a summary.
Race: Human (Chelaxian)
Class: Rogue (Spy)
Alignment: CG
Statistics: Str 12, Dex 18 (16+2), Con 12, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 14
Luca is the third son, and fourth child of the lord of House Jeggare. His eldest brother is a serious man, who likes Lucadeno well, the second child, his sister was always his favourite sibling, and the middle brother is a strong warrior, a knight bearing the Jeggare name with pride. Luca's claims in House Jeggare have always been meager, and his father's eternal dissapproval and faint dislike for his youngest son have earned him no favors or honors within his House.
Still he is a Jeggare, and he works hard to keep his name unsullied, and House proud and strong. With a brother to fight, and a second to run the docks and count ledgers, Luca set himself to finding a different way to contribute to his house as a boy. He learned to watch and listen. He learned to hear the smallfolk and servants talk, and saw them when other highborn lords didn't notice them. He learned when to blend in and when to stand out. Luca learned to find out things for his older brother, and heir to the house, who had always loved him far more than his father had. Luca became the eyes and ears of Jeggare, and fell in with the House's butler, who also served as his lord's spymaster and Master of Information.
Luca has grown tall and thin, with a shock of curled auburn hair and a vaguely elven frame reminiscent of their distant 'uncle', the famed Varian. More than that though, he has learned the art of wearing faces, be it that of clean-shaven and courteous Lord Lucadeno Jeggare, or rough and tumble criminal informant Luca the Gull, or many beggars and unseen poor around the city.
Yet his live is no longer fulfilled by serving his House. The politics of Korvosa are treacherous, and Luca's sister has been struck with curse that leaves her catatonic and abed, all of the families fortune unable to purchase a cure to her curse. Luca has his suspicions about the culprits, prime among them the Arkonas, and he has begun to deal with all sorts of uncouth and criminal scum, beleiving the Arkonas have some link to the criminal underworld of the city. He seeks the truth of the attack on his sister. He seeks vengenace.
But Luca is not sated with those goals alone, for he seeks a third thing. Justice for the poor people he spends so much time among. The young lord has seen the suffering in the alleys and the pain and humiliation heaped needlessly on the people. He wants to stop the vicious infighting of the nobility, and blunt the oppresions of the crown, so that the peasantry need not suffer for the shadow wars and coin of the wealthy.
Double read the entry post... Missed the desire for new folken the first time!
New players is a really good idea! Curse you all for your luck!
New recruitment post is up! Everyone migrate over there! It is far more clear on what exactly this campaign's going to be about.
Go go go! Once you've made the switch onto that thread, I'll offer my initial feedback.