RP / Faction advice requested


Pathfinder Society

Sovereign Court 1/5

I have a fun concept (at least for me) but I am having some trouble inserting him into PFS.

I really enjoyed the Before the Dawn scenarios and I started envisioning this character shortly after playing them; but, then I gave up tabletop gaming for a couple years. I would like to play an Angazhan-worshipping half-Mwangi/half-orc from the Expanse. He'd be a Beast/Fiend Totem Barbarian with probably a level of Cleric for that sexy Enlarge Person ability from the Growth Subdomain.

He'd be an outcast from his tribe of course. I figured his mother might have been ordered to abandon him due to his bestial appearance. Maybe she was accused of lying with something particularly unsavory like a Nalfeshnee. That could be used to explain his general appearance: hairy, claws, demonic horns. I also might describe his Rage as more of a possession by his fiendish progenitor. He could have been raised by hermit or a wandering shaman who believes him to be an earthly incarnation of Angazhan.

I also thought it might be fun to play him like the Goliaths from Borderlands 2. He'd be generally dumb and lumbering most of the time, but when he raged he'd become more well-spoken. Obviously I wouldn't have him attack his allies like they do in the game, but dropping your weapons and hulking out on the nearest thing would be enjoyable.

So you can see that I have a pretty good handle on what and why he is, but how the heck do I get him out of the jungle? Any suggestions on an intro mod? What faction would work?

Grand Lodge 2/5 RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Pretend the Shadow Lodge is paying him to test the Society's racism level?

Sovereign Court 1/5

What are you talking about?

Grand Lodge 2/5 RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

The Shadow Lodge is kind of the watchdog of the Society - Grandmaster Torch doesn't trust the Decemvirate, feels they often put agents into unnecessarily dangerous situations, and he wants agents to inform him if they feel mistreated. As such, maybe he recruited your monstrous-looking PC into the Society to see how the Society would react.

Just an idea.

5/5 5/55/55/5

He could have been picked up by some pathfinders on a mission. Given all the weirdos they work with they'd probably be the first people that didn't freak out at your characters appearance and choice of deity.

He tagged along, proved to be useful at bashing stuff, the pathfinders gave him a an application and a ticket to absolom.

Silver Crusade 4/5

Getting him out of the jungle is easy. You already said he's an outcast, so he went wandering, trying to find his place in the world. Somewhere along the way, he met some Pathfinders who thought his fighting skills could come in handy and recruited him, as BigNorseWolf said.

There's a few factions he could fit well with. If he chooses to embrace his fiendish heritage, he could go Chelish. If he feels downtrodden and wants to help fight for the forces of good, then he could help the Andoran or Silver Crusade factions. If he just wants to focus on helping his fellows in the field, then Shadow Lodge would work for him. If he just wants to avoid the faction infighting altogether and remain loyal to the Society as a whole, then Grand Lodge. And Sczarni would work well if you just want to go "muscle for hire" as a borderline evil goon.

1/5

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He wakes up one day encased in a wooden box, some judicous rage later he's standing amongst a pile of flinders in the Blakros Museum...

...convoluted in-jokes aside, you could make pretty much any faction work, and similarly any "escape" story...

Maybe he:
-decided to seek fame and fortune across the sea
-befriended some tomb-robbers (Pathfinders) and accompianied them across the water
-maybe he was captured by unscrupulous Pathfinders (Szarni) and taken back to be shown off in the circus
etc.

4/5

I don't know what area you're in, but I've not seen any racial issues in our PFS groups. (Our area hosts PaizoCon, so we tend to have a high percentage of players with funky-race boons.)

I mean, there's a lot of snark and teasing--elves are androgynous, gnomes are crazy, dwarves drink a lot, various human ethnic groups conform to various ethnic stereotypes--but we've not run into any issues like "I refuse to go on a mission with the Tiefling" or "How did let a half-orc with the Bestial trait into the Society?"

We have more issues with conflicting goals and belief systems. Our (unofficial) Bellflower halflings always keep a wary eye on the Cheliax faction members, but the general assumption is that if the Pathfinder Society trusts the odd-character-out, everyone else in the party will go along with it (at least grudgingly).

If the character starts doing foolish things that will endanger the party, expect someone to slap him and tell him to shape up.

Liberty's Edge 4/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, California—Los Angeles (South Bay)

Possibly, some of the different factions might see the character as a recruit. Pathfinders will cooperate with a lot of different people. (I would advise getting a hat of disguise for the character, though. Not everyone outside of the Society will be so understanding.)

As the Shadow Lodge has been mentioned, here are some thoughts on a few other factions.

Andoran: As the rights of sentients are important, this could work. It could go against type, but remember the Empyreal Lord Ragathiel whose father is the archdevil Dispater.

Silver Crusade: Similar, but no politics.

Cheliax: Tieflings are not generally treated well in Cheliax, and anyting with a demon taint on it would be looked at warily.

Grand Lodge: All about the mission.

Sczarni: All about the side deal.

Qadira: Commerce above all else.

Lantern Lodge: Few cultural ties.

Osirion: The glory of the restored Osirion empire is paramount. Still, the Ruby Prince works with outsiders, elementals for the most part.

Taldor: To me, this is kind of a weird fit. There is a kind of emphasis on style and restoring the Empire to its glory days.

5/5 5/55/55/5

If he wants to be a cleric of Angazhan he's going to have to be chaotic neutral.

That will make silver crusade a bit if a stretch.

Andorans would probably be a little more accepting. The character could possibly think that a slave needs at least a chance to prove their own strength: You break them out, hand them a weapon and point them at the slave owner. If they can win their way to freedom then they deserve it.

Scarzini would happily welcome such an enforcer flexing their muscle.

cheliax: bad fit. Order! at any cost is pretty much the complete opposite of a chaotic evil ape deity based on an individuals strength

Taldor would be a bad fit, if funny. A hulking knuckle dragger in the latest foppy hat would either go horribly or very, very well with no room in the middle ground.

Silver Crusade 4/5

While I agree with the last two posts that Taldor would be a weird fit, this sort of thing can work, but it would take some effort. My CN half crazed gnome sorcerer is from Taldor. He was actually born in the fae forests in northern Taldor, and discovered the aristocracy when he left the forest to go exploring. He plays along with their noble maneuverings and stuff because he finds it amusing. The squabbling of Taldor nobles is like reality TV to him.

I know that really doesn't fit with the original poster's character, but it's an example of how a PC can believe exactly the opposite of their faction, as long as they have a reason to "play along".

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