Obviously there are a lot of optimized builds and theorycrafting on messageboards and arguments over which class is better than which, but I'm just curious as to what awesome characters people are actually playing and enjoying in their games without having to compare and discuss the best way to minmax it out.
I'll go first. In addition to the PBP characters in my profile- after just hitting 3rd level (still need to pick spells, but he is otherwised leveled up for this weekend), here is Alphonse Zindelo; a naive, young (17 years old) Varisian enchanter with an acute fear of all things demonic. I'm having a blast portraying a 7 WIS, so Al finds himself duking it out in melee, TWFing without the feats, with his quartstaff (killed enemies with lucky criticals 3 times already this way). Pretending to be a monk on a small island off of Absolom, thus far he's back-flipped across chasms 20' wide and 60' deep, charged into battle on the back of a centaur through 500' of plains toward a tower full of archers, won drinking contests with gnome saliors, and bull rushed foes off cliffs, along with many other things he shouldn't be able to acomplish (but my d20 loves that 18+ on physical skill and ability checks), and has given himself delusions of granduer on account of his accomplishments (not bad considering he's the product of a 15 point point-buy). He's far from optimized, but I love him anyway, and am surprised as can be he's survived this long. He can even out bluff and diplomacy the party's bard (who joined when the druid bit the dust). I've decided to let him develop organically and haven't put much thought into him for than a level or so ahead at a time. *Shrugs*
Male Varisian Human Enchanter (neglected evocation and necromancy) 3
CN Medium Humanoid (Human)
Initiative +6 Senses Perception +3
Defense
Armor Class 12, Touch 12, Flatfooted 10
Combat Maneuver Defense 13
Hit Points 18 (3D6+6)
Fortitude +2 Reflex +5 Will +1
Offense
Speed 30'
Base Attack Bonus +1
Combat Maneuver Bonus +1
Dagger +1/+3 (1d4 P/s 19/X2) 10'
Quaterstaff +1 (1d6 B X2)
Statistics
Strength 10 +0 Dexterity 14 +2 Constitution 12 +1
Intelligence 17 +3 Wisdom 7 -2 Charisma 14 +2
Age: 17
Alternative Racial Trait(s): N/A
Carrying Capacity: Light 33, Medium 66, Heavy 100 (plus a masterwork backpack)
Feats: (H) Spell Focus Enchantment, (1) Greater Spell Focus Enchantment, (3) Improved Initiative, (B) Scribe Scroll, (B) Alertness
Language(s): Draconic, Giant, Goblin, Taldane (common), Varisian
School Power: Enchanting Smile +2, Dazing Touch 6/day
Skills: (6/level)
Bluff (3) +11
Diplomacy (3) +11
Knowledge Arcana (3) +9
Knowledge Local (1) +7
Knowledge Nature (1) +7
Knowledge Planes (1) +7
Perception (3) +3
Spellcraft (3) +9
Traits: Fast Talker (+1 Bluff, and Bluff is a class skill), World Traveler (+1 Diplomacy, and Diplomacy is a class skill)
Weight Carried: ~46.5 lbs (I've acculated enough stuff since the campaign began I need to have Al drop his pack at the start of combat to get rid of the ACP)
Armor Check Penalty: -0/-3 with encumbrance
Equipment:
Captain's Outfit (looted from a wrecked cargo ship), Quaterstaff, Dagger, Potion of Cat's Grace, Quickdraw Scroll Case (see below), Masterwork Backpack, Belt Pouch, Spell Component Pouch (spell focus items omitted from list), Beastspeaker Amulet (see below), Wand of Magic Missile CL 3 with 10 charges remaining
Backpack: Bedroll, 2x Peasant Rags, Spellbook (36/100 pages filled), 3x Torches, Waterskin
Belt Pouch: Flint and Steel, Masterwork Panpipes, Money (36 GP, 4 SP, and 6 CP), Smelling Salts
Quickdraw Scrollcase: A waterproof, springloaded scrollcase that holds up to 8 scrolls. As long as it is held in a hand at the start of a turn 1 scroll can be drawn per round as a free action. Currently loaded with all of my scrolls that I have left (2x Mage Armor, 1x Protection from Evil, 1x Obscuring Mist, 1x Silent Image)
Beastspeaker Amulet: A tribal necklace which grants Speak with Animals CL 2 2/day (the GM lets me diplomacy with animals while it is active, so huzah!)
Spellbook: All cantrips plus break, charm person, enlarge person, mage armor, memory lapse, obscuring mist, protection from evil, silen image, sleep, touch of the sea, true strike, and 2 yet to be chosen 2nd level spells
Total wealth? ~3575 GP, just a bit above the curve for a 3rd level character, though it isn't spread out in the manner I would most prefer, so perhaps it balances out.
I like this topic :) I'll contribute my current (and first) PF character... He's Karalo Mand, a 2nd-level human Wordcaster Sorcerer. He enjoys the freedom of wordspells compared to traditional ones, and he's the liar of the group with his +3 charisma modifier and trained ranks in Bluff and Intimidate (our group's paladin has Diplomacy to finish the trio). In fact, his Bluff seems to work all too well; we had to go retrieve a creature's hide from a group of baddies ensconced in a cave, and rather than fighting them, which was the DM's intent, I managed to convince them their superiors sent us to collect it :D It's a better story than that, but not strictly on topic...
Karalo is Ch. Good, and therefore doesn't really care how he gets the job done, as long as he gets it done. He's also frustrated that so far, he's been getting more damage from his morningstar rather than his wordspells... but that should change soon. He is of the Starsoul bloodline, and so is a keen astronomer, often waking in the middle of the night to gaze at the heavens. His padded armour/robes are made to match this; midnight blue with the occasional whitish/yellow point of light. He doesn't have any magical weapons yet, but I'm hoping the DM throws one my way eventually...
That's about it really... not had the chance to play him as much as I'd like, and only level 2 means the wordspells he can cast are a bit meh. Once he hits level 4 the fun begins...
I'm not playing PF with a PC right now because I'm running it.
But, not being a hard-core optimizer, my characters in 3.5 aren't exactly laser focused. I've got a cleric 4/fighter 6/high huntsman 2 (homegrown prestige class) who has a number of archer feats. I've also got a 6th level wizard specializing in making magic items and focusing on enchantment and abjuration spells. And my rogue 1/fighter 1 bouncer at the local inn (and with feats for improved unarmed strike and improved grapple) recently died in a TPK for which he was the last PC standing and nearly won the day (but ultimately failed when my die couldn't generate an attack roll above 6).
These all play in a kingmaker-esque campaign. The mid-level character is actually the cohort of another high level PC in the campaign and the low level character works for another mid-level PC.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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I play almost exclusively in PFS. Here are my active characters:
Cledwyn, Human Fighter. Just leveled to 6. He's a mostly-optimized (90%-ish?) disarm/trip fighter with a high AC.
J.J., Half-Elf Rogue. Only level 1 (I only play him alongside my seldom-gaming wife), so his optimization level is somewhat untested. I have high hopes, though. He's kind of an "action man", strong and fast with good athletic-type skills.
Dimitri, Human Druid. My first time with a druid. I'm using a domain instead of an AniComp (for less bookkeeping). I'm also kind of straddling magic and melee, but I think I'm doing a reasonable job of staying relevant. Level 2 at the moment, and eager to advance.
I also have a character in a homebrew PbP: Victor, a half-elf Bard 2/Unarmed Fighter 1. He's mostly a fun experiment for a silly game. He uses Versatile Performance and Snake Style in order to be able to spend an immediate action when attacked to roll Perform (Oratory) and treat the result as his AC against that attack. So at level 3, he's looking at setting his AC somewhere between 13 and 32 once per round. Seems fun. :)
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Well i got a decent skilled rogue thing going, i just roll crappy dice rolls LOL...and by the time I get in to deliver sneak attack the combat's over...meaning that yes I am enjoying the game, but feeling that it's about time this ability was errata'd, seriously i get the feeling that the only use of a rogue is Disable Device and use wands occsionally.....
Valyese Priori, N female human (Taldan) rogue (burglar) 4 met a rather unfortunate end last night against a troll who made a successful rend attack. Pathfinder RPG sandbox game set in Golarion, hopefully we can get her raised.
Alvirah Merrin, LN female human (Varisian) inquisitor of Andoletta 14. Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path, Pathfinder RPG. Sister to Sabina Merrin, queen's bodyguard, has spent the last several years in Cheliax, hiding her true faith from everybody else. Decided to return to her hometown of Korvosa after her sister stopped responding to her letters.
Astarte, A.I., Alpha Omega. Loves guns and high explosives. Has difficulty dealing with the meatbags, but compelled to protect her party member of all-wielders (the spellcasters of the Alpha Omega system).
Just recently ended a Pathfinder RPG Kingmaker Adventure Path game in which I played Mizrah, a female half-elf cleric 12 of Brigh. After some soul-searching (due to some unintentional alignment slips), she plane shifted to her goddess's home plane and pleaded with a kolyarut inevitable (Anakletos) to finish her task in Pitax.
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Orrick Stonejaw. Dwarven Monk for a campaign based loosely on the Corean Chronicles. Only got one game in on R&R leave. (3.5)
Sarma. Human Cleric of Illmater, also only got one game in during R&R. (3.5)
Auris Vector. Human Monk, wandering vagabond in Kirth Gersen's Aviona 'King's Guard' campaign. (KF)
Falandar Thornarrow. Elven Ranger, hero for hire in Kirth Gersen's Aviona 'Borderlands' campaign. (KF)
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Well i got a decent skilled rogue thing going, i just roll crappy dice rolls LOL...and by the time I get in to deliver sneak attack the combat's over...meaning that yes I am enjoying the game, but feeling that it's about time this ability was errata'd, seriously i get the feeling that the only use of a rogue is Disable Device and use wands occsionally.....
This makes me curious about your rogue and what you're trying to do with him. Mine doesn't do much with Disable Device and has no UMD, yet I dare to think he's a worthwhile character. Would you mind comparing notes?
STR 16 (14+2)
DEX 16
CON 15
INT 12
WIS 10
CHA 7
Level 1 Rogue (Swashbuckler)
Fights with a Longsword (prof granted by archetype) for 1d8+3 damage.
Uses a MWK buckler (non-prof means ACP is applied to attacks, but the ACP is zero) so that he can last a bit in melee.
Has the Toughness feat, so he has 14 HP at level 1 (putting FCB to HP). He'll have 43 HP at level 4 (stat bump goes to CON).
As soon as possible, he'll get a mithral breastplate. It counts as light for Evasion, and due to non-proficiency it would apply its ACP to attack rolls, but due to having an ACP of -1 and him having the Armor Expert trait, he'll suffer no ill effect.
So really, I built him more like a fighter, but with skills, sneak attack, evasion, and talents.
Speaking of talents: at level 2 he'll take the ninja trick that grants you a climb speed (+8 racial bonus to climb checks and can Take 10 even while threatened). My level 3 feat will be Weapon Focus (to make up for lower BAB), but after that I'll spend feats on extra talents to (nearly) ensure success on as many physical skills as possible.
That's Agent J.J. in a nutshell.
This thread took a little while to catch on. :)
I knew people had some fun and interesting characters.
Welp, in face to face campaigns we have:
Rylassa Kaelfara, a sun elven sorceress from Evermeet in the Forgotten Realms (CG Elf Starsoul Sorcerer 3). Informally exiled by her father who believed her to be an illegitimate child of her mother's, she has joined forces with her fellow students from the magic academy she attended in the Dales to investigate nefarious activities of the Cult of the Dragon.
and
Hratha Aleslinger, a former dwarven miner who befriended the people of the town of Kassen and joined other Kassenites for the annual Everflame ritual (guess what module we started with!). She and her friends are now an adventuring group traveling through the region and causing trouble whereever they go. She's the party's tank and survival expert. Her favorite activities are drinking and hitting things with her barstool. I don't remember the full build (GM keeps our character sheets) but I think she's NG Fighter 2/Ranger 1. Str 16 Dex 10 Con 15 Int 10 Wis 14 Cha 8 (I managed to roll worse than 15 point buy, I think). Feats are Caught Off Guard, Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush and... I think she should have one more but I can't remember what it is.
And in PBP I play
Jack Ciarathan, a half-elf caravan guard (CG Ranger 2) who traverses a homebrew tweaked Stolen Lands in Hymenopterix's take on the Kingmaker AP. Jack is a shy but sharp-eyed lad who's good at a bow, and excited about exploring territory that is far different from the desert wastes where he frequently traveled in his youth.
In PFS I have a musket-wielding dwarven gunslinger. She claims to be a former gunmarshal, but in reality grew up poor on the streets. The other PFS characters she runs with don't know anything about Alkenstar, so she probably won't be exposed for a while. She's CN and is happy to use violence (or threats thereof) to solve situations.
In the home-brewed-world game I GM, the characters are: Ifrit Bard, Aasimar Oracle, Half-Elf Rogue, Half-Elf Summoner and Half-Orc Samurai.
This is my character in our (doomed) RotRL campaign:
"Old Rolyn Bester was in search of a slave, someone to keep him company and someone to help him in the field. He bought the young half-orc girl, because she looked strong and that gleam in her eye bespoke of intelligence.
Rolyn named her Salora: Hope, in the language of his grandmother’s people. Within weeks he grew attached to the girl. Unlike others of her kind, she was very bright and asked questions from dawn till dusk. Soon Old Rolyn’s knowledge was at an end, a farmer only knows so much. So he bought her a book and then another.
The winter of Salora’s first blooding the demons came to the little farmstead. Rolyn locked her in the crawlspace beneath the floorboards and she witnessed helplessly as the monsters tore him apart.
Unlikely as it seems, Salora was found seven days later by a paladin of Iomedae and her cleric retinue. They were at once taken with the frightened girl and offered her to accompany them.
Salora travelled with them to Magnimar and entered the temple of the goddess. She took an oath to hunt down the demons that prey on the weak and the innocent. Her vendetta is fuelled by her orcish rage and her zeal to someday find the demons that killed her father.
Salora Bester is on her way to Sandpoint now, to pay her respects to the local clerus. Her travelling party was delayed by a small band of goblins. When she arrived in Sandpoint, she met with Hemlock. Salora can sympathise with the town’s anxiety and is eager to help rid the region of its goblin menace."
Salora Bester - CR 2
Female Varisian Half-orc Inquisitor of Iomedae 3
LN Medium Humanoid (Half-orc)
Initiative +5 Senses Perception +6
Defense
Armor Class 16, Touch 12, Flatfooted 14
Combat Maneuver Defense 16
Hit Points 26 (3D8+6)
Fortitude +6 Reflex +4 Will +5
Offense
Speed 30'
Base Attack Bonus +2
Combat Maneuver Bonus +4
+1 Longsword +5 (1d8 +3)
MW Composite Shortbow +5 (1d6 +2)
Shortbow w/DA (30') +5 (1d6 +5)
Statistics
Strength 14 +2 Dexterity 15 +2 Constitution 14 +2
Intelligence 12 +1 Wisdom 13 +1 Charisma 12 +1
Age: 21
Alternative Racial Trait(s): Sacred Tattoo
Feats: (1) Point Blank Shot, (3) Deadly Aim, (I) Law Domain, (I) Monster Lore, (I) Orisons, (I) Stern Gaze, (I) Judgment 1/day, (I) Detect Alignment, (I) Track, (I) Cunning Initiative, (I) Solo Tactics (Precise Strike)
Language(s): Taldane (common), Varisian, Abyssal
Domain Power: Touch of Law 4/day
Skills: (8/level)
Bluff +6
Climb +2(0)
Craft(bows) +5
Diplomacy +7
Heal +5
Intimidate +9
Knowledge Arcana +6(7)
Knowledge Planes +6(7)
Knowledge Religion +6(7)
Linguistics +2
Perception +6
Sense Motive +8
Stealth +2(0)
Survival +6(7)
Swim +2(0)
Trait: Reactionary (+2 to Initiative)
Equipment
Explorer's Outfit, Chainshirt, Longsword +1, Strong (2) MW Composite Shortbow, Backpack, Belt Pouch, Quiver (20 Arrows), Raincape, Wide-brimmed Hat, Holy Symbol, Buckler, Smoked Goggles
Backpack: Bedroll, Silk Rope (50 ft.), Waterskin, Soap, Manacles
Belt Pouch: Chalk, Whetstone, 21 gp
Spells Known
(0) Brand, Detect Magic, Disrupt Undead, Light, Read Magic, Resistance
(1) Bless, Cure Light Wounds, Protection from Evil, Shield of Faith
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I’ve got quite a few active Pathfinder characters at the moment, mostly in play by post games. I don’t tend to read up on optimisation, and the majority of people I game with don’t appear to be focused on it, so I’m not sure how ‘optimised’ they are, but I think they have decent builds ... I have fun with them anyway.
Tain Locus (LG male Chelaxian human paladin of Abadar 12) is my character for my face to face game, a highly modified version of the Cure of the Crimson Throne AP. Tain is a devout follower of Abadar but has become frustrated with his church and his quite the local chapter while he searches for a way to bring down the false queen Ileosa. Despite being good and honourable he has a temper that he finds hard to keep in check when it comes to dealing with injustice or insults to his beloved home city. He is a widower, but is in a tentative romance with the daughter of one of the other PCs.
Tain’s signature weapon is the heavy flail; he is the party’s principle melee combatant and is able to dish out a truly brutal amount of damage, his an insanely high AC and can take a lot of punishment. It helps that the characters in this campaign were built with 25 point buy, we are mostly above the curve for wealth by level and we play with action points.
Beldan Vale (CG male human rogue 14) is my character in Heathansson’s Greyhawk pbp. He’s a sly but good-hearted fellow. On the one hand he’s somewhat greedy, occasionally foul-mouthed and somewhat obsessed with sex, on the other hand he’s loyal, tries to do the right thing and uses his powers for good not evil.
I never set out to make a combat rogue, but Beldan definitely holds his own. He is very mobile and is pretty good at setting up sneak attacks, usually opening with a ranged sneak attack in the surprise and first rounds if he’s lucky, then flanking with one of the party’s melee people, aiming to get in multiple sneak attacks every second round or so. His +35 to stealth usually ensures he’s able to get around without being noticed by his enemies.
Elisile Starbrow (CG female elf ranger 1 / transmuter 6 / Eldritch Knight 2) is my character in Aubrey’s Rise of the Runelords pbp game. I didn’t really have a plan of progression when I created this character, and I have gone in several directions with her to fill gaps in the party as various characters left or joined (at one stage she was basically filling the ‘rogue’ roll). She’s sort of ended up being the group’s primary archer (but is not as good in that role as if I had created the character with that intention from the start), secondary mage, secondary sneak, tertiary melee combatant, tertiary skill monkey ... I think she holds her own though.
Lightbringer (LG male personality warforged paladin 6 / Exorcist of the Silver Flame 4). Character in Aubrey’s Eberron pbp campaign. Lots of fun to play (and it is a fun campaign), pretty good at what he does (one of several of the group’s melee heavy hitters, and backup healer) but definitely not optimised. Has become probably one of my favourite ever RPG characters.
Nathaniel Greenfellow (NG male human ranger (skirmisher) 3) is my character in Celestial Healer’s Ravenloft pbp (‘Thirst’). He’s driven, grim and obsessed, searching for his kidnapped (or dead) sister and the man who took her. I’m using the weapon and shield combat style from the APG (seems good so far) and the skirmisher archetype. I haven’t really noticed a big difference between the skirmisher and the standard ranger at this level (I haven’t missed the ability to use wands for example), it will be interesting to see once I start getting tricks (and miss out on spells) at higher levels.
Detressa Venci (N female Varisian human cleric of Pharasma 2). Character in James Keegan’s Kaer Maga pbp game. I deliberately created her as a ‘support’ type character ... I’m not sure she’s been quite as ‘supportive’ as I would have liked so far (she’s the party’s primary healer and we’ve already had one PC die on her watch), but we’ll see as she levels up.
Castiel of Fangwood (LG male Varisian human paladin (undead scourge) of Iomedae 3) is my character in Heathy’s Carrion Crown pbp. Yes, I like playing paladins! This one I set out to make more of a ‘traditional’ paladin than either of my other two paladin characters, and so far I’ve found he’s a bit vanilla.
Aldred of Augustana (NG male half elf bard 2) is my only active PFS character. I’ve never played a bard before, and still sort of wrapping my head around how to best go about it.
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I have many, but my recent fav(last night) is my goliath bear shamen in shackled city set in FR. The party entered a yuanti outpost. i had missed about 4 sessions so just refound them. There was lizrdmen straight ahead and I and the bard covered the flank. i was able to put a pit spell to block one passage. Next after taking damage from a fireball casting kobld and a fire belcher from another passage, moved and summoned a medium bear on top of caster. Than it was pure fun as i brought out 6 small augmented earth elementals in 1 spell to help take on belcher. We had 10 creatures teleported behind us so in 2 casting got 6 more elementals. supported by a bard and they kick butt.
Note on goliath druids is they can reduce earth types by one on summon lists, so small earth elem get moved to SN1. and being 6th level bear shaman can summon bears with standard action. than using hero points can recall a spell to convert to SN3.
We didnt do any RP, it was all battle as the whole complex came out to fight. Had 1 down, 1 dead and me close to dead at end.
I've got two characters I'm playing right now.
Roland <No last name given>: Lvl 6 fighter. Build concept is a Sword & Board defender of the weak (check out RogueEidolon's fighter optimisation guide and look for Defender of the Weak, it's a cool concept) in a pathfinderized version of Red Hand of Doom. Backstory is kinda bare-bones, but the amusing part is how I plan to roleplay him. Roland grew up wanting to be a soldier. He played in around in fake armor, fought a lot, typical generic stuff like that. He eventually grew up and became a soldier. The noble he worked for used the army Roland was in to commit some unsavory acts, so eventually Roland bought out his service and equipment, and left to become a mercenary. <insert generic fantasy nonsense that joins him up with current gaming group>. The way I'm planning to play him is inspired by my personal view of Roy Greenhilt from OOTS, Captain Kaff Tagon of Schlock Mercenary fame, and, more importantly, as many of The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries that I can make work in a fantasy setting as possible. Pushing towards LG leanings, but he will see any job he's agreed to through to completion. Not necessarily in the way the client hoped for (unless they are remarkably specific) but once he's accepted the retainer and started the job, he'll see it through. Also, he has a life goal of killing a chromatic dragon. (And not those pansy white dragons. Preferably a Red, but he'll settle for non-white chromatic or ANY dragon that tried to eat him first.)
Alexander Makarov Sibirkovich: Level 5 Paladin in a Kingmaker game. He's our country's diplomat (because they'd rather have the PC-turned-NPC bard as the king than the PC paladin, which I think is a bad idea, but eh). He grew up in Issia (northern Brevoy for those who don't know) and spent a lot of time in rough neighborhoods (which is basically most of Issia, since it IS home to the river pirates and all). Growing up in the area, he learned how to use his force of personality to get what he wanted, and what he wanted was to stop people form beating up himself and his friends. Eventually, he discovered religion, became a paladin, and kept on using his force of personality to problem solve. I enjoy playing this guy and trying to justify some of the actions I've taken. I swear that the only reason I haven't lost my paladin abilities is BECAUSE i'm part of our kingdom's rulers combined with my requirement to tell the truth. It has let me make some odd statements, negotiate truce's with Kobolds AND lizardfolk, and let me commandeer a horse that was locked up in at our tavern. He's been a blast to play. I just hope the tiefling spellslinger wizard in our party isn't actually evil and just hiding it due to a feat he took(long story; short version is look up the AP that has tiefling feats in it) or this is gonna get awkward.
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My current character is Hyporia Stardust (pseudo name, character's real name is Marina Derevenko). She's a NG Female Human Lore Oracle, with the Haunted curse. It's in a table-top every other week game.
When Marina was born, she was one of twins, the other who passed away during the birthing (her name was to be Irina). When she passed though their souls were torn apart and each given half the others. So while Hyporia lived a happy growing life, her twin sister was stuck in Pharasma's Boneyard, unable to move on with only half her soul. This has resulted in Irina becoming bitter and angry (aka NE) and attempts to take her sister's life many times while growing up. In the backstory she even is able to manifest to speak to Marina, but only to her.
Eventually Marina goes away with a pair of priests, a cleric of Desna and a cleric of Nethys. Between the two she learns she can control the strange abilities that Irina uses as well and how to supress her sister. She also learns that with the way things are now, the evil within Irina will Damn both their souls. To counter this and save both of them, Marina dedicates to the ideals of good [In a RP sense, she worships the entire pantheon of good]. She also pays homeage to Nethys for the guidance to control the split nature of her powers.
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Curse of the Crimson Throne
Jade Regent
Asira, LN Changeling Summoner 8
Found by a Varisian caravan, little Asira was fostered by several families. Despite her one red eye the old fortune teller could not find any fiendish influence in her past or present. But the Harrow did warn that her future would bring about an evil unknown since before Earthfall. As such, no family would permit her to take their name.
An outcast among outcasts, Asira took to imagining Friends. Her habit of bringing these 'imaginary' Friends to play with the other children did nothing to soften their attitudes. And others began to notice...
Meanwhile, on the outer planes a forgotten god plots her return to prominence on Golarion. But first she needs devotees, maybe a planar ally...
Asira's Friends grew more and more elaborate as a divine malevolence slowly twisted the girl's imaginings to fit godly desires. No longer summoning the tiny animals and amorphous blobs of a child's imaginations, her greatest Friend grew into a beautiful golden serpent with jade feathers. And everything changed the moment he spoke. She named him Veli and brought him back to the caravan to show her families. That was the day the caravan left her behind in Ustalav.
Now Asira knows better. She never lets anyone see that she has such a Friend unless Veli trusts them as much as her. He's grown since then. His golden scales have split revealing glowing green runes down his flank. His feathers have given way to great jade wings. He speaks proudly of the day when he'll have six wings like Mother Lissala.
Asira just hugs her Friend and listens to him as he talks about his wonderful Mother. She's never had a mother, not really. Lissala sounds pretty...
Two bards, a bardbarian, a barbarian, a divination wizard, a heavens oracle, a improvised weapon fighter, a witch, and a synthesist summoner.
Of them, I'd have to say the bardbarian is the most fun. Bards and barbarians are a close second.
I never get to be on the other side of the DM Screen, so I'll just list the characters my players are using in our current campaign, who are almost purposely unoptimized:
-Toothsucker Harj (Lawful-Neutral Male Half-Orc Warrior). Intellectual half-orc taken from his village by a crusader. His main stats are INT and DEX, focusing his skills around various types of knowledges, weaponcrafting, and acrobatics, lots and lots of acrobatics. He spends more time doing stylish jumps and quoting The Princess Bride and Syrio Florel (from A Song of Ice and Fire) than anything else.
-Francesca Augustina Rigoberta di Girolamo (Chaotic-Good Female Human Clockworker, modified version of the Clockworker Homebrew class created by DeadEnded at Giant in the Playground). Essentially, a young, female version of a crossbreed between Leonardo da Vinci and MacGyver, who seems quite keen in using her party members as the test subjects for her latest inventions. She's all Charisma and Intelect.
-Varthur von Wyvern, or as we like to call him, excuse my French, Ass von Douchebag (Lawful-Good Male Human Cavalier). An obsessive-compulsive knight from a noble family that dedicates most of his time to sneer on the provincial ways of everyone he meets, absolutely inept when it comes to actual fighting (seriously, he's a Cavalier with a STR score of 10 and 8 in CON. The reason was that he wanted to play a Rincewind equivalent of a knight) and quite the expert in getting the party in trouble by proclaiming "The Holy Mother Church would never allow such a thing. But I, the kind-hearted Varthur von Wyvern, in all my shining grace, bestow upon you the gift of forgiveness. You may now have the honour of kneeling before me so I may impose my merciful hand on you". He did that inside a dwarven tavern, after meticulously insulting their brewing capacibilites.
-Nash, the Fist (Chaotic-Neutral Male Human Sorcerer). This two-metre tall, big-as-a-closet individual was inspired by the Muscle Wizard. Everything he has is focused on what he calls "Arcane Fisticuffs", his primary stats being STR, CON and CHA (and the later wasn't even for spells, but to hit on the ladies. The spell bonus was deemed precisely that, a convenient bonus). All his spells are somehow dedicated to enhancing his fists. He fights barechested and sports a stylish moustache.
-Karl Dorotheus Idelphonsus Hyeronimus Albertus Gregorius Ignatius Parsipheus of Lonn (Lawful-Neutral Male Human Paladin of Vengeance, based around the paladin variants from 3.5 Unearthed Arcana). Probably the only character in the group that was built as per the traditional stats one would expect for his class, though how this ever gets to make any difference when most of his playtime is dedicated to proclaiming his long-lost love of dear Persephone is still elluding me. He is a walking Shakespeare play who dresses like Gabriel van Helsing.
-Friar Marius (Neutral-Good Human Summoner). A stocky, culinary connoisseur who among his class skills counts two different versions of Craft dedicated to food (Craft [Cooking] and Craft [Brewing]). Even though his class is Summoner, he is played as if the eidolon (who in this case is the spectral representation of Saint Dagobertus, a crusader who is said to have drowned in a river on his way to war, but still showed up two weeks later to defend his men, only to walk his way back to the river he died once the battle was over and bury himself down, saying "I am but a guest now. And it would be improper for me to extend my welcome for too long") was the actual character, with Friar Marius carrying the relics of Saint Dagobertus, who has returned once again to fend of the heathen who threaten the known world in the oncoming crusade. So when Saint Dagobertus isn't around, Friar Marius spends his time cooking for everyone.
All in all, a very entertaining cast to DM for, though I have to be extra-careful when balancing encounters.
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Just started playing recently, after a 20+ year absence from RPG's. I'm playing with two Pathfinder groups now.
Lithaniel "Lith" Lightfoot, 1st level neutral good halfling bard in an ongoing campaign set in the world of Greyhawk. When he was 9 years old, goblin marauders destroyed the halfling village where he was born and killed his family. He barely escaped, and was found by a merchant caravan that took pity on him and gave him a ride to their next major destination - the Free City of Greyhawk. He survived there by begging and singing on the streets for money, until his singing skill attracted the attention of a half-elf in the local Bard's Guild. She took him to the guild to be an apprentice, and acted as his mentor for the next 15 years. Now an adult, Lith decided to leave Greyhawk to see the world and use the various combat and magical skills he's learned to fight evil and help make the world a safer place.
My other character is "Mash", 2nd level human chaotic neutral barbarian in Pathfinder Society. His actual name is Reginald Bartholomew Brightsword VII, and he comes from a long line of paladins. From an early age, he enjoyed his combat and fighting training, but due to his lower than average brain power, he had trouble with the other training that was expected of him to become a paladin, and found the study of honor and the gods to be boring. He dealt with the mounting pressure from his family by bullying the other kids his age, earning the nickname "Mash" for his battle cry of "MASH CRUSH KILL DESTROY!!!" that he would yell when knocking down weaker children. As a young adult, he rebelled against his family by using his combat training to become a barbarian. His family had already enrolled him as a member of the Pathfinder Society, expecting him to eventually become a paladin like his father once he overcame the recklessness of his youth. So he used his Society membership as his ticket to freedom from his family's expectations, becoming a professional adventurer on his own.
I am the proud player of three seventh-level characters. You can see the character sheet here, as he is a PBP character.
Karek Kogan - NG Dwarf Barbarian (Breaker) 7. Pact Stone Pyramid.
He has a dislike and mistrust of spellcasters, but the party of spellcasters has done him well enough so far. He came to Osirion because he heard that his mother, an errant spellcaster, had been spotted there. He doesn't pay much attention to manners or personal hygeine, and he really hates elves, and common is his third language, but he's getting by well enough.
The other two characters are played on Maptools and Ventrilo with the old college gang.
William Jonas - CN Human Bard 6/Ranger (Trapper) 1. Dragon Guns, a homebrew game, studying the effects of the introduction of guns to a traditional fantasy setting.
This character started as a study to see just how many skill points I could dump into a character. Intelligence is his high score. He has every skill as a class skill, except Fly, and has at least one rank in the rest. He is middle-aged, so I gave him the flavor of a guy who has done just about everything. He even has ranks in a couple of craft skills (but I couldn't justify professions). I didn't have a good roleplaying focus until the first session of the game, when the Inquisitor, also middle-aged, finally cornered William, having sought him for years, Javert-style. I hope for lots of wacky hijinx to come.
Finally, there is
Jatembe - N Human Master Summoner 7. Serpent's Skull.
Jatembe is a Mwangi tribesman who was raised by druids. Master Summoner has proven to be about as crazy as it seems on paper, but I try not to overdo it. I keep the time I spend on my summons to a minimum, and I try to keep updated tokens of the things I like to summon. When he gets really angry, the bad guys generally find they have opened up a can of Earth Elemental. To make matters worse, he took Leadership, because the party needed an excuse to keep Jask around. While I generally have between 3-7 characters active in combat, it moves quickly if you pay attention.
Unfortunately the party wiped during a session that I, and by extention Alphonse, couldn't make it the game do to a scheduling conflict. The rest of the group decided to begin a new campaign afterward so it looks like Al has unfortunately retired before his time was up. He'll need to find a new game to join eventually, but is set aside for the time being.
For the next session (two weeks from today), I'll be bringing in my new character, Jaiyana, who also happens to be my first foray into the alchemist class, and the first elf I've played in many years. Now I just need to come up with a backstory for why she is in Varisia as opposed to Qadira.