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I am on another forum that doesn't quite seem to get that the Trench Fighter archetype in Rasputin Must Die! is clearly intended for 20th century soldiers. I made a joke to a friend that if someone asked me for that, I would say "Okay, you can be a Trench Fighter. But you have to be a Russian soldier. You speak Russian. Nothing else."
Then I was thinking... a conscripted Russian WWII-era soldier, teleported to a fantasy world? That would be awesome! So I ran with the concept. The immediate concern is that the rules, as written, don't allow for this, not completely. So I came up with this trait, roughly analogues to a campaign trait:
Soviet Soldier: You are not of Golarion, but from far beyond; 20th century Earth. You treat all firearms as simple weapons, and start with Russian as your language. However, you may only begin play understanding Earth languages, though if you have an Intelligence score higher than 11, you may elect to not start with bonus languages, and you instead may instead learn a language without taking a rank in Linguistics every time he gains a level, up to his intelligence bonus. You can communicate in a rough fashion using Sense Motive and body language. You never needed to craft your own firearms or ammunition, until now: you may not start play with Gunsmithing as a feat, but may take it at a later level. Even with Gunsmithing, you may not reproduce your equipment without also having the Craft Technological Arms and Armor feat. You may use the feat to craft other firearms and ammunition as per the feat, at the GM's discretion.
In addition, you have been outfitted with special equipment: a Mosin-Nagant M1891 rifle, a socket bayonet, Russian infantry uniform (counts as quilted cloth), a greatcoat and ushanka (counts as cold weather gear), a gasmask with 5 cartridges, 2 M1914 concussion grenades, Nagant M1895 revolver, a backpack, a canteen, a weeks worth of trail rations, and 34 metal cartridges, including two stripper clips. You may begin with up to 30 GP worth of gear, at the GM's discretion.
It's a bit generous on the gear, being 1680 gold pieces and 5 silver pieces; however, if you apply the Guns Everywhere rule, the ammunition and gun prices go down (I think they have not been applied already, since guns in Golarion are artificially inflated and handcrafted, and Russian weapons would be mass-produced in a factory. The adjusted 20th century gear is a slightly more reasonable 411.5 gp. Still expensive, but well within bounds for a trait (Rich Parents).
Any other suggestions? Comments? Accusations of insanity?
Hell, sounds more like an archetype. Or an outright pregen. :P
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Maybe; I just thought a campaign trait would be the best mechanical way to represent the idea. Plus, there are several ways it could go; the character I am envisioning starts off with a copy of The Hobbit in Russian and read pulp novels before being shipped off to Stalingrad, where he mysteriously disappeared. So he's not as ignorant as he appears.
Neat.
It's just a lot more "invasive" than most traits. Most traits do little things like "+2 to initiative", not "here's your gear, fighting style, roleplaying persona (because that's what 'I can only speak Russian!' will be for a while) and a handy ability on the side."
Well Molthune in Golarion is kinda sorta Russia. You could argue that since their languages are Common and Varisian, that Varisian being a 'gypsy-esque' racial language would have parallels in Eastern European/Western European dialects, you could say he starts with a 'dialect' of Varisian.
Just my 2 coppers.
Well, since in Rasputin Must Die!, the soldiers speak Russian, appropriately. I know its a fantasy setting, but it would make no logical sense if a language on a completely different world was a dialect of another language.
It's been done in some fantasy settings before where there is 'overlap' and stuff.
It sounds a bit much for a trait which as others have said are less character defining. With a bit of rewriting it could be a story feat, perhaps with the Gunsmithing and ability to speak common as the reward part upon completion?
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It sounds a bit much for a trait which as others have said are less character defining. With a bit of rewriting it could be a story feat, perhaps with the Gunsmithing and ability to speak common as the reward part upon completion?
Didn't think of that; it could also provide some sort of bonus/penalty for the more fantastical things on Golarion. I'll get on that.
The background of how this PC got to Golarion can solve some of the language problems. If you build on RoW you can say that he's related to Baba Yaga in some fashion: grandmother was a witch, etc, and she used to sing to the spirits in an eldritch tongue (=Skald). She gave him a charm that would protect him in battle...by shifting him to Golarion.