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Will there be grappling involved?I'm roleplaying the succubi teacher and I approve of this thread. Whole-heartedly.
Edit: I love all the ideas that have been offered! This is fantastic.
Now I have a better idea of what would work, but now I'm struck with indecision over the really great options you all recommended!
(Speaking of grappling, would a grapple based thing be possible?) :P
One possibility, as an option, is to allow the succubus the black blade but be something else (like, say, an archeologist bard). It's a bit "game-y" because she's gaining options that most don't have the option of, but you could fluff it as her loss of other abilities (summoning and the like) causing the black blade to physically manifest as a combination of her evil and the powers she is losing.
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Well, "Journal", "Set-up" - really whatever notes you have. This sounds intriguing.
Setup is thus:
Campaign Name: My life at Magic High
The premise is that for the children of adventurers that bear arcane talent can attend the mysterious "Echo Mirage Academy of the Arts", a school shrouded in mists and mystery, known to produce not only capable adventuring spellcasters, but also is known for having some of the most impressive illusionists and Enchanters in the world.
Tuition is ridiculously high: 120,000 Gold pieces a year. This cost covers all materials, room, board, equipment, material components, and even Five (5) resurrections with restoration at no additional costs to the student. The tuition doesn't have to be paid in gold; Parents can contribute valuable treasures, new spells, and especially crafted magical items. (Most students trained in the crafting feats tended to contribute over their share in magical items to the school with the specific purpose of aiding in school life and studies.)
Once enrolled, the school follows a year-round four semester system. Each semster is 2 1/2 months long, with a week between semesters (Except between 4th and 1st semesters of course). Those weeks usually have something big going on, which breaks down into:
First Semester
Summer Festival
Second Semester
Midterms
Third Semester
Inter-school competition
Fourth Semester
Finals
Spring Break
The inter-school competition is a series of events between students at Echo Mirage and the other four schools hidden throughout Golarion. Their exact location are also unknown, but are rumored to linger around certain countries. (Echo Mirage seems to favor Varisia for some reason)
Leveling up:
This was recently implemented but it seems to work in the setting structure. In order to preserve the feeling of immersion, I am breaking up leveling and sprinkling it over the course of the school year. They don't reach 'Level X' until they graduate from their current year, but levels are distributed like this:
Finish first semester> get next level class features/pet advancement
Finish second semester> get next level skill points/earned academic traits
Finish third semester> get next level hit dice/BAB
Finish fourth semester> get next level spellcasting/feats/earned academic traits, now officially next level.
****
Okay now on to the other fun stuff.
Basic rules:
Every character has to have some form of arcane spell they can demonstrate to qualify to enter the school.
Each student has 6 classes to take a day + 1 to 2 club meetings a week. There is room for students to take up to 8 classes for extra credits.
All classes are directly related to a particular skill (I.E. Spellcraft or Knowledge Arcana, the two MANDATORY classes of the school) but clubs could encompass a number of skills or even feats.
<Streamlining classes are easy. I just ask the players if their characters are being studious, just getting by, or slacking off. Studious will get them better grades, but they will have less opportunities for adventures and other nonacademic events. Just getting by is a good balance, but Slackers tend to have many more 'adventures', i.e. getting into trouble. I tell players I assume unless unless they tell me otherwise they will be following the same degree of study and the related event table.>
Students who use their free time to study and do not miss more than 2 or three classes a semester will get a floating +1 bonus to academic checks for that skill until the end of the school year. This stacks per semester and is handed out just before the end of semester event (So a student could have a +4 bonus on their finals if they study hard)
Additionally, students can get the opportunity to get textbooks from other graduates or even their parent's time at school which effectively are 'masterwork tools' for that class and provides a +2 bonus that would stack with their study bonuses.
Each class has tests during midterms and finals. Those tests are skill checks with the DC set by grade year. First year Midterm DC's are 10, and go up to 12 for the finals. Each year after that increases the base DC by 2. So a 4th Year Midterm DC is 16, with finals an 18.
Just passing the DC of the class for all tests gets you a "C" grade. Beating the test DC by 5 lands you a "B" and beating the DC by 10 gets you a very hard to accomplish "A"
See this seems hard but you can take 10 on the test unless it's a 'pop quiz' which has an element of speed involved which won't allow for taking ten. (unless they have the appropriate ability/talent of course)
So taking a first year with a skill point in a favored skill(meaning it's an area of interest/focus for the student) has a minimum +4 to the skill (1 + 3 favored bonus) not including relevant stats, which means you can get a C without having to do any studying. But if you studied AND you had good notes you could have an additional +6 to the roll, meaning you can get a 20 by taking 10, not including stat bonuses!
This puts you solidly on B territory.
Why is this all important? I have been implementing the Traits system to have a series of 'campaign traits' linked to specific academic achievements (or non academic ones for the misfits) that give small, but permanent stacking bonuses for the players.
One example that was completed was "Just in time... for class" which was related to a story arc involving the school's time magic going awry. When they completed the event the trait gave them a +1 enhancement bonus to initiative checks.
I am also reading up on the reputation/infamy rules from ultimate campaign and will be using the different clubs and faculty groups as 'factions' they could earn rep with. The Disciplinary Committee is a force that can not be ignored and will keep tabs on subjects that have infamy with them. (This ruling is not yet implemented but is on the way)
Additional to the normal school and predetirmined campaign story, I have a table of 'random school events' which I had gathered from suggestions by other forum goers. The table is set up much like a treasure table (% roll) in that there are three versions. The one with the most "Nothing happens" events are rolled for students who were studious. Middle ground for the ones getting by, and the most incident ladened table is for the slackers who are out getting into situations. (Rolled once per game session)
The end of the school terms will leave the characters at level 5, with potentially a dozen bonus traits, lots of backstory, and probably quite a bit of (School Issue) magic items to help them along their way. From that point I'm offering to let them start on a serious adventure or even starting at the beginning of an adventure path. (This seems somewhat balanced as they will all be arcane types and the level diff will at least improve survivability at low levels.)
All right... I think I've gotten everything but if you have any questions let me know, all right? :D
Interesting.
... As in "This is good" interesting?
Or "Ugh this is questionably bad" interesting? :P
This is very...unique.
I kid. This does sound legitly interesting—a good sight better than most high school roleplays I've seen. Not my thing, but I prefer my Pathfinder to have more violence. ;D
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True.
Though last game session three of the characters nearly died. One was stabbed in the back in the dorm commons room, where he was left for dead and only barely managed to stabilize at -6, another had been drained of Con by a dhampir and then the whole party got into a fight with other first years who had kidnapped a particularly well read student and were basically torturing him for the test answers. The magus character rolled three 1's in a row and managed to knock two players out of the fight not including him.
It was actually intense until the Arcanist started throwing force bolts around and managed to get them to "Back the #@$k down!"
So... School is as violent as the school conventions you're using lets you. You could run this like Harry Potter... or like the concept behind Ikkitousen (With or without the fan service, I suppose) where battles happened all the time.
Good, just didn't say more.Interesting.... As in "This is good" interesting?
Or "Ugh this is questionably bad" interesting? :P
It's all fine. It just seemed to make me want to know more. ;)
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Okay I know this is a little on the late end for this thread, but in the last game session the succubi ended up having to give two of the characters a 'sex education' crash course because they had been dancing around their attraction for each other and she was getting irritated at the flutter of emotions between the two.
There was detailed diagrams, props, and even a demonstration using her shape changing abilities. The male character failed his fort save and blacked out after suffering a high tension nose bleed, while the girl (the most innocent of the two) watched the two hour long train wreck with wide eyes and a full body blush. The succubi sent her back to her dorm after and promised to get the boy 'back into bed'. (She has not done anything to either of them, or made them do anything... but like Moxie from borderlands... she seems able to turn anything into an innuendo.)
The players loved it. It had been predicated by her having had gotten hungry and had been trying to explain 'the birds and the bees' to the school's android and getting nowhere when the girl asked what she was talking about, not actually ever having HAD the talk. It seemed almost like the character had set the course for me to run her through, and I had no choice but to follow it.
It was very well received. I further love this character's involvement in the group.
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Updates welcome!