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This is a silly idea, but one that amuses me. How would you build H.P. Lovecraft?
Now, I know IRL the man himself was hardly what you'd call "adventurous", but since this is a fantasy game, we'll assume that I'm actually talking about a composite character of Lovecraft himself and the various protagonists of his literature. An "archetypical" Lovecraft, as it were. What would be the most important traits to represent, and how best to represent them and still be able to play the game?
Here are my thoughts so far:
Ranger
Pros: Favored Enemy: Aberration, Outsider(water); Favored Terrain: Urban, then later Swamp, and Track all add up to a character who seeks the truth and follows it to the source.
Cons: Neither Hunter's Bond really fits, and neither does divine spellcasting.
Bard
Pros: A good fit for a well-educated renaissance man who dabbles in the arcane and gets by on his guile. Lovecraft was a fiction writer, and bards are all artists in some form. Plus I can flavor his performances as chanting.
Cons: I just can't see Lovecraft inspiring courage in anybody.
Wizard
Pros: Fits the "tomes of eldritch lore" trope to a T. Doesn't use armor or weapons, and neither did Lovecraft's typical hero.
Cons: Magic in Lovecraft's world is something to be feared and ultimately consumed by, whereas Pathfinder wizards are in command of their magic. None of the wizard's spells really match what you'd expect a Lovecraftian occultist to do.
Human seems the most obvious choice. Gillman or Tiefling might make for poetic irony and a source of his motivation, as his fears would be an inescapable part of his identity. Similarly, Android would help explain his alienation from the biological world. If I did go Bard, Gnome becomes an option simply for the ability to cast Haunted Fey Aspect.
As far as I know, the only weapon commonly used by one of Lovecraft's heroes is a pistol. If guns are commonplace, a Ranger with archery style feats starts to look good. A dip into Gunslinger could also accomplish this.
If we're casting spells, I'd probably be looking at an odd mix of necromancy, conjuration (summoning), and divination. Picking one school and sticking with it is probably out.
I definitely want this character to have a decent selection of skills. Combat should not be this guy's first solution, but then again, none of the traditional social skills seem right to me either. Maybe a few Knowledges, Disable Device, Linguistics (and a satchel full of forged documents to do his Bluffing for him), Use Magic Device, or Survival?
Looking forward to any help I can get on this one!
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I was going to mention the Occultist, save that what I offered above is even more ideal.
Witch wouldn't be bad, either. Neither would Dreamspun Sorcerer.
Lol wizard also really isn't bad nor the music bloodline for sorcs and you just play it as all the stories are the mad ravings of an elder god piped into his skull. He talks a lot about how so much of his work is inspired by nightmares.
my first thought was a pathfinder chronicler... but there are a few 'thinker' types who collect the arcane lore and travel around getting legends... and of course in over their heads.
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Expert. With a fair amount of knowledge skills as part of the 8 class skills chosen for class skills with Oratory thrown in the mix.
The idea is to build a character that reflects the man, as opposed to building the adventurer he was not.
No lazarx, the idea was that "we'll assume that I'm actually talking about a composite character of Lovecraft himself and the various protagonists of his literature."
But I'd still go for expert!
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The idea is to build a character that reflects the man, as opposed to building the adventurer he was not.
Is it?
Because I was sure the idea was to "assume that I'm actually talking about a composite character of Lovecraft himself and the various protagonists of his literature".
If only there were some sort of, I don't know, "opening post" that imparted such useful information.
If only.
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As for the topic there is always, of course, the Investigator.
Though it is a HORRENDOUSLY BAD trade ("Why yes I would like to trade ALL my spellcasting and the ability to take Alchemist Discoveries, along with my ability to use poisons and resist them, my Trap Sense, AND my Swift Alchemy abilities for an ability that gives me an odd few SLAs with a 10 times longer casting time, a meh bonus to AC and saves, a save re-roll, and resistance to death effects and negative energy...all of which draw on the same small pool of uses" -No One Ever) the Spiritualist archetype is kinda thematic.
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Archivist Bard would definitely work. Investigator is also very appropriate to some of his protagonists, and a fun and effective class in its own right.
Of those I'd probably go Investigator just for the CoC RPG reference (and because it's a pretty close fit), but I could see going the other way. Both are really appropriate, though.
For Race, I'd go Human. The others you suggest could make sense, but human fits best.
In terms of skills, Disable Device, Knowledges, Linguistics, Perception, Stealth (to hide from all the monsters), Sense Motive (to feel the wrongness about certain people), Spellcraft, Survival, and Use Magic Device are all good. As is Profession (Author). You'd need a Trait for Survival, but all the others are on the Investigator list (and only Disable Device isn't on the Bard list).
In terms of build aside from skills, I'd say the whole world is different enough from the actual milieu of Lovecraft's work to go with a very different combat style, and suggest that a Dex-build with a sword cane or dagger, Weapon Finesse, and no other combat Feats (well, maybe Piranha Strike, and eventually grabbing Agile on the weapon) may be the way to go to properly represent a scholar who goes around with a weapon for protection.
If you went Empiricist you could easily go something like Str 10 Dex 16 Con 12 Int 18 Wis 12 Cha 7, and either skip social skills, or grab Studnt of Philosophy if you wanted a modicum of social acumen. And/or you could drop Wis lower to represent mental instability, with no bad effects except for Will Saves.
Archeologist bard seems to work well. Investigating ruins and old civilizations is what the archetype is based on. Performances don’t really seem to fit the character, but luck on the other hand fits very well. Sometimes the only reason the characters from the stories survived was through sheer luck.
Summoning focused Seeker Oracle of the Dark Tapestry who has no idea that he has been chosen as a vessel for terrible powers.
He is driven to learn and explore by an insatiable curiosity, but when things get dangerous he tends to run and hide, then watch, cowering, as awful monsters crawl out of the darkness and fight whatever is around.
He is in absolute denial that he has anything to do with any of it. He just thinks that this is the way the whole world is.
His skills would be Knowledges, Stealth, Disable Device and Linguistics. In combat the fluff would be that he is hiding. the mechanics would be that he is using stealth and summoning things.
Descriptions of summoned creatures would be reflavored to be unspeakable horrors.
As the truth of what he was becoming and the powers he had been chosen by became more and more obvious his sanity would get more tenuous, and eventually he would have the choice of embracing his nature or using his strange powers to try to defeat the things which had tainted him.
Which, of course, may just be another way of serving their purpose.
recommended adventure paths, Shattered Star or Carrion Hill.
the same concept could be done with a Master Summoner with the Trap finder trait from Mummy's Mask.
Grapple focused Serpentine eidolon with Burrow and size increases could be flavored as a terrible worm or leech that comes out of the ground and drags things under, or pops up to disgorge creatures from it's maw and then vanish below again,
the Summoner's Mark that shows up on HP when the Eidolon comes near could be the Elder Sign. I'd imagine he'd freak out a lot when it was pointed out that the mark on the worm creature was on his face too
Investigator or alchemist. Take cognatogen as soon as you are able for the frail aspect (and flavor it as the coffee that Lovecraft was addicted to). I really like the idea of making him a tiefling or gillman.
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Thanks again for all your help. I've actually been given an opportunity to build this character and take him for a spin through Kingmaker!
I decided to go Human Archaeologist, with a focus on skills, exploration, and magical dabbling. I loved that UC insanity feat (Glimpse Beyond), but the GM tells me that "evil outsiders, undead, and aberrations" aren't really a presence in Kingmaker, so it's not a good choice.
I took Deadmanwalking's advice about roguelike skills, and went Weapon Finesse along with a rapier. I'm also looking at Eldritch Heritage (Arcane), to cement the idea that he's the scion of a mysterious legacy. That also opens up the possibility of taking Improved Familar, which I could model after Brown Jenkin from The Dreams in the Witch-House.
I've never taken Eldritch Heritage or Improved Familiar before-- does anyone have any further advice? Any ideas on what sort of arcane mysteries I might keep my eyes out for in the Stolen Lands?
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Now we just need to build Tesla and Arthur Conan Doyle to have the ultimate weird fiction crime fighting team.
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This is a silly idea, but one that amuses me. How would you build H.P. Lovecraft?
Now, I know IRL the man himself was hardly what you'd call "adventurous", but since this is a fantasy game, we'll assume that I'm actually talking about a composite character of Lovecraft himself and the various protagonists of his literature. An "archetypical" Lovecraft, as it were. What would be the most important traits to represent, and how best to represent them and still be able to play the game?
Here are my thoughts so far:
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
Wait, ranger with Favored Enemy (aberration)? Shouldn't it be, like, Favored Enemy (non-Anglo human)?
Too much?
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This is a silly idea, but one that amuses me. How would you build H.P. Lovecraft?
Now, I know IRL the man himself was hardly what you'd call "adventurous", but since this is a fantasy game, we'll assume that I'm actually talking about a composite character of Lovecraft himself and the various protagonists of his literature. An "archetypical" Lovecraft, as it were. What would be the most important traits to represent, and how best to represent them and still be able to play the game?
Here are my thoughts so far:
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
Wait, ranger with Favored Enemy (aberration)? Shouldn't it be, like, Favored Enemy (non-Anglo human)?
Too much?
if you didn't bring it up I would've.
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He was very anti-semitic until he made Jewish friends, unless my memory fails me.
To be fair to Lovecraft, most everyone was grossly racist [and sexist] back then.
And I suggest a Wisdom of 2 or 4. And anything else that gives poor will saves. In Lovecraft scary shadows send you permanently mad.
For a lovecraftian themed lovecraft I would suggest oracle or cleric dark tapestry
Thanks again for all your help. I've actually been given an opportunity to build this character and take him for a spin through Kingmaker!
I decided to go Human Archaeologist, with a focus on skills, exploration, and magical dabbling. I loved that UC insanity feat (Glimpse Beyond), but the GM tells me that "evil outsiders, undead, and aberrations" aren't really a presence in Kingmaker, so it's not a good choice.
I took Deadmanwalking's advice about roguelike skills, and went Weapon Finesse along with a rapier. I'm also looking at Eldritch Heritage (Arcane), to cement the idea that he's the scion of a mysterious legacy. That also opens up the possibility of taking Improved Familar, which I could model after Brown Jenkin from The Dreams in the Witch-House.
I've never taken Eldritch Heritage or Improved Familiar before-- does anyone have any further advice? Any ideas on what sort of arcane mysteries I might keep my eyes out for in the Stolen Lands?
Evil outsiders, undead, and aberrations are not a running theme in Kingmaker, but when they all show up, and when they do they tend to be really nasty.
Heh. Brown Jenkin's actually a thing in Pathfinder (Ratlings!) but you need to be chaotic evil to get your very own.
Archeologist, investigator, or occultist all work for a Randolph Carter-ish Lovecraft. He was a powerful dreamer, after all...
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He was very anti-semitic until he made Jewish friends, unless my memory fails me.
Not to derail the thread, but a lot of people (Back then, and right now) is very anti-a-lot-of-things, until they really know someone of that group.
It's almost like if prejudice has something to do with judging or forming opinions before having complete and relevant information :)| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
This is a silly idea, but one that amuses me. How would you build H.P. Lovecraft?
Now, I know IRL the man himself was hardly what you'd call "adventurous", but since this is a fantasy game, we'll assume that I'm actually talking about a composite character of Lovecraft himself and the various protagonists of his literature. An "archetypical" Lovecraft, as it were. What would be the most important traits to represent, and how best to represent them and still be able to play the game?
Here are my thoughts so far:
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
Wait, ranger with Favored Enemy (aberration)? Shouldn't it be, like, Favored Enemy (non-Anglo human)?
Too much?
He took his friends paranoias and converted them to his own. Would aberration bloodline make people susceptible to favored enemy adjustments?
I made haunted into a defect so you could add it to members of any class.
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rmw8?Defects
Go to Defects.
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He was very anti-semitic until he made Jewish friends, unless my memory fails me.
To be fair to Lovecraft, most everyone was grossly racist [and sexist] back then.
And I suggest a Wisdom of 2 or 4. And anything else that gives poor will saves. In Lovecraft scary shadows send you permanently mad.
I've actually heard that even by the standards of his day he was off-puttingly xenophobic and Anglophilic. This is more reason that I'm proposing a build of "archetypical Lovecraft protagonist" more so than "Howard Phillip Lovecraft". Although some good-natured Brevic jingoism might be in the spirit of things as well.
I'd like to believe that all my favorite artists and writers didn't also do terrible things... but I'd also like to believe personality flaws are not a barrier to artistic talent and that a man's achievements can be celebrated independently of his failings.
My GM told me to use the "elite array" [15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10] for stats, so I can't really "dump" Wisdom. It will definitely be his lowest stat, though. If anybody knows of any feats or bard spells that lower your Will save for some benefit (or anything else that might do so), I'm all ears.
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It's not Paizo, but the 3.5 Archivist was pretty spot on as long as we're mixing in generous doses of his protagonists.
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A level 1 commoner in dire need of therapy and Prozac.
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He was very anti-semitic until he made Jewish friends, unless my memory fails me.
To be fair to Lovecraft, most everyone was grossly racist [and sexist] back then.
And I suggest a Wisdom of 2 or 4. And anything else that gives poor will saves. In Lovecraft scary shadows send you permanently mad.
As Silent Saturn said, Lovecraft was considered extremely racist even by the standards of his time.
He was very anti-semitic until he made Jewish friends, unless my memory fails me.To include his (ex)wife.
Lovecraft viewed his wife as "well assimilated".
Once again, however, Lovecraft's views were regarded as abnormal even among other racists.
