Feel free to discuss ideas and character concepts for now! I will compile all the creation info here again so that it's all in one area!
I'd like to play a Summoner with VMC Oracle of the Dark Tapestry.
The essential backstory is that the character would be a former petty thief (complete with lock picking and trap finding skills), who stole something from a museum exhibit which was about to open somewhere (Magnamar or Riddleport would work).
The item was something like the puzzle box from Hellraiser. When it was opened, it connected the thief to powers beyond his understanding. Whatever the puzzle box connected him to drove him to the brink of madness, and he ended up in the Asylum.
So at the start of the game he's in the asylum by choice. He's on the edge of insanity, half convinced it is all in his head.
The key element that makes the idea work is that whatever Great Old One or Outer God he's connected to is completely ambivalent to his existence. He can use it's power because it just doesn't care, and might not even notice. The summoned creatures obey him because they think he's some kind of servant or avatar of his dark patron (which, really, he is whether he knows or likes it).
I don't know which dark powers are at play in Strange Aeons, so the exact nature of his patron is up to you. I'd prefer it was a patron directly tied into the plot so that the character has lots of motivations built into the story.
As the character progresses he'll learn more about what is happening to him, and gain more control over his powers, but in the process he'll have to confront the fact that he might be becoming a monster himself.
The player's guide isn't out yet... there'll probably be traits in it related to why you're in the asylum, and what sort of mental malady you have.
What kinds of races and classes would you prefer we select from? Is there a range of alignments that you would prefer?
Okay so here will be the tentative creation guidelines (I may tweak them a little once the AP is released just to get an idea if anything needs to be changed).
- 20 point buy.
- All Paizo classes and archetypes are okay.
- Variant Multiclass from Unchained is approved.
- All Paizo races are available, though some of the crazier ones like kasatha, strix, etc may need to be reviewed.
- All alignments are available, but all PCs must be willing to work together (in other words... No disruptive PCs!)
- Three Paizo traits (One of which must be a Campaign trait from the Player's Guide).
- One Drawback can be chosen to gain a fourth trait, but know that any Drawbacks will come into play.
- Background skills from Unchained will be utilized.
- Additional rules from the Horror Adventures book will be utilized upon its release, I will provide more information on that once I know more!
Any other questions please let me know!!
Posting the bare bones of my character here to mark the thread.
Just checking in. Will have more up about my character tonight.
Very excited to see what you guys come up with!
So I was thinking of playing an Archivist Bard. He's a fairly callous and distrustful man at this point, but he doesn't easily shy away from the truth of situations.
One such treasure was an old tome that described a group of individuals that followed macabre and strange rituals, as well as having graphic and detailed drawings of things that were beyond the original authors description. Rather than being repulsed by the knowledge and images, Draft found himself strangely fascinated with it and began to actively seek out more information regarding cults like these. To supplement this, for several years he took up accounting and artistry to aid his family in his pursuits, but also to slowly accumulate a stash of funds for himself.
Slowly at first but with time his fascination bore fruits, and not all of them good. His family acknowledged his growing skills, but noted his attitude had taken on a hardened and callous nature to others as well. His writings and paintings took on a darkened nature and he began adding unnecessarily graphic detail to his works. Dead bodies were nothing to gawk at any longer and he no longer had much in the way of empathy for others. Hoping the world might distract him and change his attitude they sent him abroad.
Now free to seek out his pursuits he began seeking the dark knowledge and painting the inscriptions with vigor, hoping to attract attention of others with similar mindsets.
The attention he soon garnered was not that of fascination or interest but of ire and disdain from authoritative figures in both the artist community and with local vendors. When he investigated the cause of this he was met with the cold shoulder and told that his paintings were too disturbing for the masses.
When he blatantly refused and left in anger, he was publicly banished from libraries and the scholarly community in general, he was then told to give up this line of interests. He began to wonder what they were afraid of in his studies, for clearly this was no regular level of response.
Knowing there was more to this story, he began a line of questioning into the methods of the artistic and scholarly leadership, using his new found infamy to garner far more attention. But before he was able to ever gain any real kind of momentum, he found himself hounded by unseen assailants that destroyed his works and his tools. He tried several times to restart his ventures until one night while meeting with a like minded informant in a tavern, he was finally attacked by the thugs directly.
"You're causing a disturbance among the folk. Maybe a few years removed ought to do you some good. Give you some perspective." Outmatched, he and his compatriot were soon overtaken and he later found himself awakening inside the Asylum.
At the moment, I'm considering a Spiritualist. I have a few backup ideas, but I don't want to play a rogue this time around.
I'll be doing the disarming traps and picking locks thing.
Very much enjoying what I'm seeing thus far!!!
Just finished the background for Carter.
Carter looks great! I particularly enjoyed the links to photos to help fully understand his backstory! Looking forward to seeing what the other bring forward.
Draft and Carter both look fantastic, in fact. I wish Paizo would release the AP Guide already....
So I don't know how viable it will be, and I would never really do this with any other character, but due to the background I drew up for Draft would you say that having the Rich Parents trait to be a viable choice for this campaign given where we're starting?
Until the players guide comes out, I'm not sure we'll have an answer to that question. If we are starting as inmates though, I'm betting we won't have any of our gear at first. I'd imagine we'll find it early on. That's usually how prison break scenarios work.
Yeah that one would be a difficult answer without the AP or even th Guide being out yet. If you want to assume and take that trait for now I would be completely fine with that choice, Patrick. I'm pretty sure DH has the right of it, I'm assuming you all will basically find your gear sometime during the first part of the AP.
I just picked up my pdf of Horror Adventures and reading through it! So very, very excited... Is that wrong? I will definitely be utilizing some of the options presented in the books such as Corruptions and the like, including the new Fear system! For those of you that do not have access to the book feel to ask any questions here or PM me. I will also add the specifics to such things in the Campaign section once I decide exactly what I plan on using. Also, only 3 1/2 weeks until the release of In Search of Sanity (Book 1)! Depending on how busy I will be around the release, I'm thinking a tentative recruitment/start date around mid-to-late September. That should give me enough time to fully digest the first book and prep for the new rules. Also, that will give you folks sometime to read through the AP Guide and finalize your PCs.
Sounds good. Looking forward to seeing the players guide.
I am as well, TreasureFox! Also, after reading the Sanity rules, I think I will concoct either a homebrew Trait or Feat to allow martial types the ability to utilize their Constitution ability score in place of one of their mental abilities for their Sanity score and for their Sanity Edge. I feel it's a little ridiculous that martial types really get those hose with those rules as is...
I've seen discussion about allowing bonuses to fear saves to add to sanity scores. I don't know how the system works, but the argument was that fighters Bravery would make them better at resisting insanity. Same with people when they are within range of a Paladin's aura of courage.
That's actually a very good point, DH. I will have to look back through it again to make sure I did not miss that! If not, I will look at enacting that! Basically the way Insanity works is you take the sum of all your mental stats and that is your maximum sanity score. You then take your highest mental stat and that counts as your Sanity Edge.
Gotcha. Sounds like an interesting system. I'll read more on it when it hits the SRD.
Hmm, in that case halflings have a decent edge in those regards. What with their racial save bonuses to all saves and further save bonus against fear.
Okay, so looks like the SA Guide should be released in a week or so! I posted my tentative creation guidelines under the Campaign tab. I'd like you all to look over them and let me know if you have any concerns, questions, or suggestions!
Is there still a place for me in this? Not sure how many people we have.
Is there still a place for me in this? Not sure how many people we have.
Of course! So far only two have officially stated they will be joining (Zirren/Caine from my other game). I know you, Bella, and Ruhk all mentioned interest and all have a dedicated spot should you decide to join!
*EDIT*
I added just a little more information to the Disclaimer section of the Recruitment info in the Campaign thread!
I is Belladonna. I'm just not ready to submit a character until the player's guide is out. I'm picky like that.
Excellent! I wasn't sure if you had explicitly stated you wanted to join. I am glad to have you all around for this one. It's nice knowing that you have good, dedicated players! Very much looking forward to what you all send my way!
I, too, will make a character when the players guide drops.
Awesome! Also, according to the most recent Blog post the SA Guide should be released very soon. No specific date, but the hint seemed to indicate within a few days I imagine.
The Players Guide will be out some time this week.
Crosses fingers
Crosses fingers
Same... The wait for 8/31 is killing me. Must. Haves. Mythos. Goodies.
Also, for some flavor... and to answer DH's question much earlier, the main deity focus of the AP will be Hastur (The King in Yellow).
And another tidbit that was leaked, it seems the amnesia the PCs are suffering from at the beginning of the AP is quiet substantial... So be prepared for that...
Hmm, what sort of amnesia? Is this retrograde amnesia, where we don't recall anything leading up to the point of us "reawakening", but will still have our basic motor skills and be able to function normally? In which case, this will start off with a bit of rediscovery of the world in general.
Or is it more of a generalized amnesia? Where our character don't remember who we are or really anything about ourselves, including how we got to where we are, but can remember facts and knowledge and possibly even knowing who other people are. Which will have a bit of self discovery and experimentation.
I remember hearing that we've completely forgotten what has transpired within the last couple months, but I can't be sure of that.
Player's Guide is live!!!!! Here!
Woot!
Carter is done. Driven by Guilt is his campaign trait.
I'll give him a more thorough look tomorrow, but the cursory glance over looks good.
only glanced through so far, but so far so good
I tried downloading the PDF but the computer I was using is having some issues with that.
Would anyone who has access to the PDF mind posting all the campaign traits here?
I'll have to double check that doesn't violate any Copyright laws first, but given that its a free download I don't believe it does. If you still have issues getting it downloaded, let me know!
Also, given what we know so far I'm thinking about removing the free Story Feat from Character Creation guidelines as it doesn't quite fit the theme of having (from what I can gather without having the first portion of the adventure) extensive to total amnesia. I'll likely consider handing out a free Story feat a little later into the adventure as PCs begin to regain their memories more. For now, assume you don't get the free Story feat for now, but I'll advise if that changes once I get the first volume on the 31st!
Also, feel free to toss any questions my way that you may have! Looking forward to seeing more PCs.
Roger dat. I'll start working on some ideas today
Current ideas:
- A meek Gnome who flies into a barbaric rage when met with a threat
- A paladin who constantly hears the voice of his God
- An oracle who is just an ordinary guy, but is constantly subjected to the unknown
Those all sound like great fun, TF!
Also, given that your PCs will wake up with very limited knowledge, Carter's abilities sound like they are going to be amazingly creepy inside this asylum. "Oh look that crazy person is trying to harm us---OH DEAR GOD WHAT IS THE THING AND WHY IS IT RIPPING OFF THAT CRAZY PERSON'S FACE! RUUUUUUUNNNN!!!!!" lol
^ that's pretty much exactly what I'm going for. :)
Fox, I have a proposition for you-
Carter's backstory is that he was an antiquities smuggler. He used to essentially steal rare archeological finds to sell them to collectors. His descent into madness started when he stole the wrong artifact and released/made contact with some eldritch force. In my head, Carter had a small crew that worked with him during his heists. What if your "regular guy" was part of that team, and has become an Oracle because of contact with an entity related to Carter's ill-fated heist?
Your mysterious patron could be the same entity as the one related to Carter's artifact, a rival entity, or a benevolent force trying to stop whatever has been set in motion.
Since "normal guy constantly subjected to weirdness" is kind of what Carter is about too, at least at the beginning. I thought it would be fun for is to have a backstory tie as well. We wouldn't remember any of it at first, but it would be fun to discover.
What do you think?
Sounds interesting, DH. I'll think on it for a while and let you know.
In the event some wants to make a psychic caster for this AP, I"m going to implement a Houserule that allows them the ability to still cast while under Fear effects since it will come up with frequency in the game. I'm thinking either allowing a Concentration check equal to casting defensively and granting a bonus to the check if they devote additional time (AKA actions) to the casting. Or perhaps looking into allowing them to ignore certain levels of fear for casting purposes. I do not want to dissuade anyone from playing a psychic caster in this game if they really want to!
Thanks DH, but I think I'm going to go with a different idea of mine.