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New to PFS, so thought I'd ask here.
What would be a good choice of faction for a big, dumb, chaotic neutral barbarian who just likes hitting things with his greataxe? We're talking about a guy whose day job is listed as "thug". Seriously, he just likes a good fight, and he's not good enough at math to know (or care) who's the highest bidder. He just wants to work for the faction that's most likely to send him to hit things, rather than asking him to be sneaky or subtle. But he does have intimidate trained as a class skill, just in case he needs to be "personable".
New to PFS, so thought I'd ask here.
What would be a good choice of faction for a big, dumb, chaotic neutral barbarian who just likes hitting things with his greataxe? We're talking about a guy whose day job is listed as "thug". Seriously, he just likes a good fight, and he's not good enough at math to know (or care) who's the highest bidder. He just wants to work for the faction that's most likely to send him to hit things, rather than asking him to be sneaky or subtle. But he does have intimidate trained as a class skill, just in case he needs to be "personable".
Sounds like Sczarni material to me.
Sczarni could have a lot of rogue-like faction missions. Look up Shadow Lodge and Andoran.
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Sczarni could have a lot of rogue-like faction missions. Look up Shadow Lodge and Andoran.
Really? That was kinda my worry with picking Sczarni, but I figured Shadow Lodge would have sneaky missions, too. And Andoran seemed too good and noble at first glance for my character.
I was actually looking at Qadira. Their description says stuff about ruthlessly dominating trade competitors, which sounds more like it would be done by killing people than being sneaky, so that would work for me. Or I could just be way off base about how they work. Like I said, I'm new around here.
Or maybe I'll just stick with the Grand Lodge. As long as the Society keeps sending my guy out to kill monsters, he's pretty happy. So I could see him just going with the flow of the main organization and not getting involved in the faction infighting.
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One of the reasons for faction missions is to help give reason that PFS OP doesn't descend into roll-play instead of role-play. You can't ever ENSURE it doesn't happen, but they're there to make non-combat skills useful from time to time.
Diplomacy is a skill relied upon across the board, and very often. Notably (imo) Grand Lodge, Andoran
Theivery style skills are notably used by pre-Dalsine affair Taldor, Qadira, Scarnzi
Depending on your GM, he may or may not allow skill substitution when it comes to faction missions, so it does pay to be more broadly skilled in PFS OP than in a typical home game.
That being said, probably between 1/3 to 1/2 of your missions (regardless of faction) can be done w/o any skill check being made at all.
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One of the reasons for faction missions is to help give reason that PFS OP doesn't descend into roll-play instead of role-play. You can't ever ENSURE it doesn't happen, but they're there to make non-combat skills useful from time to time.
Diplomacy is a skill relied upon across the board, and very often. Notably (imo) Grand Lodge, Andoran
Theivery style skills are notably used by pre-Dalsine affair Taldor, Qadira, Scarnzi
Depending on your GM, he may or may not allow skill substitution when it comes to faction missions, so it does pay to be more broadly skilled in PFS OP than in a typical home game.
That being said, probably between 1/3 to 1/2 of your missions (regardless of faction) can be done w/o any skill check being made at all.
While I see your point, there's a reason barbarians get intimidate as a class skill, but not diplomacy or stealth.
I do role play quite a bit with any character - more than most players, I think. I saw a breakdown once of player types in RPGs, and I think I fit into the "actor" category.
But in this case, I'm intentionally playing a stereotypical big, dumb barbarian who doesn't know the meaning of the word "subtle". Literally, if someone used the word "subtle" in front of him, he'd probably stop to ask what it means. That's my role playing.
But that's also why I'm having a problem finding a faction for this guy. He's just not the type to take up a cause or get involved in political infighting, and the only things he's good at are intimidating people and slicing things open. If I was playing my bard or 4th edition halfling thief in Pathfinder Society, there are several factions that would fit their personalities with no problem.
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something to consider is why is a big dumb brute who only knows how to thump things even a member of the pathfinders organization in the first place? (and say, not an enforcer for some city's thieves' guild or a mercenary or so on)
whatever hook you come up with can probably be easily expanded upon to find a faction (I'd agree with the suggestions of scarnzi or shadow lodge if intimidate is going to be your go-to skill)
And Andoran seemed too good and noble at first glance for my character.
I made a half-orc barbarian that had bloodlust as well. He started out Shadow Lodge since they would make sure the Grand Lodge didn't kill him. But then I met the faction head for Andoran in the First Steps series. My barbarian got into a yelling match with him and at the end of the series he switched to Andoran to 'show that Andoran pig how a real warrior fights'.
You don't have to agree with someones stance to support them in it. It all comes down to the roleplay.
I was actually looking at Qadira.
From what I've seen Qadira has a lot of acquiring trade documents (thieving) and discussing trade agreements with NPCs (diplo). Not as much killing as I'd like. My half-orc fighter switched to Shadow Lodge.
Theivery style skills are notably used by pre-Dalsine affair Taldor, Qadira, Scarnzi.
Osirion seems to have a good bit too. Mostly tomb-raiding skills.
there's a reason barbarians get intimidate as a class skill, but not diplomacy or stealth.
The problem with this is that most faction leaders want to maintain good ties with the people you are talking to. If you read the description of Intimidate it said that a short time after you use it the NPCs attitude drops to unfriendly. That meet cause unwanted problems for your faction.
All in all, if you don't care about non-combat, then faction matters little. Grand Lodge might be a good choice, but still expect to get weird requests.
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something to consider is why is a big dumb brute who only knows how to thump things even a member of the pathfinders organization in the first place? (and say, not an enforcer for some city's thieves' guild or a mercenary or so on)
whatever hook you come up with can probably be easily expanded upon to find a faction (I'd agree with the suggestions of scarnzi or shadow lodge if intimidate is going to be your go-to skill)
Oddly, enough my back story does cover that, and includes a specific reason not to join the Silver Crusade, but nothing about which faction I should join. Here's the character description I wrote up. I think some of you might find it amusing.
About Mash
Me Mash. Me barbarian. Me like killin stuff with big axe. After first mission, me use reward money to buy masterwork greataxe, cause me appreciate detailed subtleties of fine dwarven craftsmanship.
History:
Reginald Bartholomew Brightsword VII comes from a long line of paladins. He has 6 older sisters, and by the time he was born, his father had almost given up on producing a male heir to carry on the family tradition.
As a child, he was trained in the ways of combat, honor, and worship of the good and lawful gods. With his physical prowess and below average mental acuity, he excelled at the combat training, but had trouble with the other areas of study. He dealt with the pressure of his family's expectations and seemingly unnecessary rules of honor by becoming a bully to the other kids his age. He earned the nickname "Mash" for shouting his battle cry of "MASH CRUSH KILL DESTROY!!!" whenever he beat other children into the ground.
As a young adult of 16, he rebelled against his family, using the combat training of his youth to strike out on his own as a barbarian. His family had already enrolled him as a member of the Pathfinder Society, expecting him to join his father in the Silver Crusade once he outgrew the recklessness of youth and became a paladin. So Mash took advantage of that membership to begin his career as a hired adventurer.
Mash truly enjoys fighting, and playing up the stereotype of the big, dumb barbarian, such as talking in short phrases and referring to himself as "me" instead of "I". But his intelligence and wisdom are only slightly below average, so he's not quite as stupid as he pretends to be. Years of not living up to his family's expectations taught him that it's better to be underestimated than overestimated.
I made a half-orc barbarian that had bloodlust as well. He started out Shadow Lodge since they would make sure the Grand Lodge didn't kill him. But then I met the faction head for Andoran in the First Steps series. My barbarian got into a yelling match with him and at the end of the series he switched to Andoran to 'show that Andoran pig how a real warrior fights'.
You don't have to agree with someones stance to support them in it. It all comes down to the roleplay.
:lol: Now that's the type of thing I could see my character doing.
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For what you want, I think Grand Lodge might be your best bet. You are right after all; if the barbarian isn't interested in faction politics he's just going to do his job and stay out of it all.
But you can still expect to get missions that require skills that are sub-optimal for your character. How I've always looked at faction missions is, the faction is using the member that happens to be available. Ideally they would like the best person for the job, but what they get is the second best (or third best, or fourth...) because that happens to be the Pathfinder available.
And personally, I usually enjoy role-playing the faction missions I am less suited for, than the ones that should be a lock for me. My Andoran cleric of Iomedae usually gets missions that suit him, but he isn't sneaky or particularly diplomatic. So those missions can be good for a bit of fun.
In the end, I'd suggest you pick the faction you like the most, and accept you will have "interesting" missions regardless. Tends to make for more fun, imo.
cause me appreciate detailed subtleties of fine dwarven craftsmanship
Thought he didn't know the meaning of the word 'subtle'. :P
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cause me appreciate detailed subtleties of fine dwarven craftsmanshipThought he didn't know the meaning of the word 'subtle'. :P
Heh. Yeah, I forgot I included that in there. That was my way of ironically playing up the "not quite as stupid as he pretends to be" angle.
I plan on doing stuff like that every once in a while in game, too. The entire group will think he's a complete idiot, and every once in a while, he'll say something that's smarter than they expect. Not that he's a genius or anything - I dumped his int and wis to 8 so I could throw more points into strength. But the personality he usually shows the world would be more in line with int and wis stats in the 3-5 range.
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Your character is rebelling against his family and trying to develop his own personality apart from his Father's plans for him. Considering this and his somewhat "noble roots", alliance with the Andoran faction would give him the ability to stir up rebellion against the establishment. Likewise, the Shadow Lodge could be looked upon as being rebelling against the system.
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Your character is rebelling against his family and trying to develop his own personality apart from his Father's plans for him. Considering this and his somewhat "noble roots", alliance with the Andoran faction would give him the ability to stir up rebellion against the establishment. Likewise, the Shadow Lodge could be looked upon as being rebelling against the system.
At the same time taldor might be looked at as escaping to join the military, and cheliax's venture captain definitely enjoys giving pain.
