I was thinking about a Hurling Barbarian. The big hairy chested sort of fellow who would find the smallest person on the crew, give him a mighty pat on the back, say 'I like you. You're crazier than I am', and then proceed to row for one half of the Trireme single handedly. He'd be pretty good with the ol' javelin too.
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Ah.
So here's what's going to happen.
You're going to get what you get from being human. On top of that, whoever your godly parent is? They will give you another +2 to your choice of a couple of stats (Zeus's children will be able to throw it in Strength, Constitution or Charisma. Aphrodite will be only Constitution or Charisma. Hermes will get Dexterity, Intelligence or Charisma. Etc...).
Beyond that, your godly parent will provide access to a bloodline. This will be a modified version of Sorcerer bloodlines. Generally they're modified so that you get certain powers sooner to offset the lack of full casters. Some bloodlines are pretty much straight from the book, minus the modified progression (Children of Poseidon just get the Aquatic bloodline), whereas others will be combinations of several powers.
These are all racial abilities. So, I'm kind of already doing that :p
Sounds superb, I can't wait :D
Interested. I have always favored Greek mythology....creation guidelines?
Or did i miss them?
Ok. I found it...
Seeing as they are bonus racial abilities and sea-faring will be involved, the aquatic isn't bad. But it doesn't really fit the character if I can't get something more Earthshaker or Tamer of Horses related. The greek god's portfolio's are weird.
This sounds really cool. I'll think on a concept.
Considering maybe a son of Hephaestus. Sounds like a shoe-in for Str+ and the Impossible Bloodline in this case.
Actually question on the Bloodlines: Will some of the Arcana be swapped out? Seeing as the majority of them have something to do with spellcasting.
Not sure on class. Barbarian might fit, but I'm not a fan of what Unchained did to the class. Maybe straight Fighter.
Hmm. The general way I've seen things like this run is by specifying a maximum caster level. (Example: mid-casting world means nobody can be above a 2/3 caster, so bards/maguses become "sorcerer" classes while inquisitors/warpriests are "high priests"; lowest-casting limits to 1/2 casters, and means bloodrangers are "sorcerers" while rangers/paladins are "priests," etc.)
The challenge to limiting magic to only 1/2 casters is that you lose out on a fair amount of class diversity, and there's just sort of less party roles to fill (plus, a paladin becomes pretty much essential if you want to ever heal anyone's wounds). It's workable, either by allowing other classes with nerfed casting (Spheres of Power is probably the best 3pp system I've seen for easily scaling down magic, or just limited spell lists), because there are some things you can do with a skald, archetype bard, hunter or inquisitor that really don't require spellcasting at all. (And there are fighter options, etc. that mimic some of this somewhat, but it requires extra player knowledge).
Also, what are your thoughts on occult classes? Kineticist seems too magical for the setting, though it's not a caster. And medium (especially storyteller or spirit dancer) might fit interestingly with the general concept of Greek oracles, though mediums can sometimes act as 2/3 casters.
GM, what do you think about using Oracle's Curses (or modified versions thereof) for the flaws? Lame, for instance, would seem to fit extremely well with a scion of Hephaestus, who was himself famously lame. Likewise, Choleric would go well with a scion of Ares or perhaps Heracles, and so on.
[how about an Amazon warrior?]
East, from the dusty plains where the horses of Helios, with bronze hoofs
Lead their master's chariot each morning past the marble pillars of Dawn
From Samatia, land of song and many cattle, land of the daughters of Otrera
Came Hypiates, Penthesilea's daughter, boar-hunter, queen-slayer.
Not yet had her mother crossed the Scamander to windy Troy, where swift-footed Achilles
Would send her shade down to Hades. The will of Father Zeus had not yet come to pass.
Yet bad omens had driven Hypiates from her homeland, searching for those who could read
The tangles skeins of the fates. Just as when a hunter, early in the morning,
The dew on the grass wetting his boots, bends low, his bow of yew slung over his shoulder
And reads the signs in the earth of passing game, the print of the deer, the hare's track
And knows which paths to take to the secret places where the beasts dwell, deep in the forest
Even so did Penthesilea's daughter seek to read the signs of her fate
And know the will of merciless fortune, whom even the gods fear.
And at last, far-striding Hypiates came came to a place where some others were gathered...
I have settled on a cavalier but research of the time period shows no mention of cavalry used in war until after the conflict with Persia. Then its Phillip II and his son Alexander of Macedon who really popularize and exploit the usefulness of cavalry. Do I have this right? This will be a time period before cavalry is a thing?
I have settled on a cavalier but research of the time period shows no mention of cavalry used in war until after the conflict with Persia. Then its Phillip II and his son Alexander of Macedon who really popularize and exploit the usefulness of cavalry. Do I have this right? This will be a time period before cavalry is a thing?
A Minoan riding a bull? An Arcadian from Mount Erymanthos riding a giant boar? Someone from the Cyclades riding one of the giant rams of the Cyclopes? A descendent of Bellerophon?
Cavalier gets a horse. It was going to be a Hetairoi cause my main base of knowledge for Ancient Greece was Age of Mythology. So I picked a unit and added fluff from there. But Hetairoi are from Phillip II's reign which is after the Greco-Persian War. Any other "horse" cultures in that time beyond Persia? Might still be able to come up with something for that though.
Cavalier gets a horse. It was going to be a Hetairoi cause my main base of knowledge for Ancient Greece was Age of Mythology. So I picked a unit and added fluff from there. But Hetairoi are from Phillip II's reign which is after the Greco-Persian War. Any other "horse" cultures in that time beyond Persia? Might still be able to come up with something for that though.
Didn't the GM say we are pre Trojan War? So we are about 900 years before Philip II and his hetairoi. There were horse cultures further east at this time Hector was famously 'tamer of horses' but we're in pre-history, so you can pretty much make up what you like.
Wait... do we have the creation guidelines already?
Seems like interest is there! I'm not going to tell folks to throw together characters just yet.
I think I'm leaning away from allowing spell casting classes that give spells at first level. Magic in Ancient Greece is extraordinarily rare. I do feel that occultist might be thematically appropriate a la Orpheus with his lyre but that's not the feel I want for the game. I will likely allow access to spell casting classes later in the game.
There's still quite a lot I need to throw together on my end. Though if people want to start throwing together basics;
Leaning towards 20 point buy.
Will only have Humans available.
Each human will choose a Bloodline that will add a further +2 to an attribute as well as a suite of powers.
Minmaxing discouraged.
Will have custom campaign traits and drawbacks.
Three traits one of which must be one of the included traits. One drawback which must be from the included list (representing fatal flaws).
Max HP per level.
Theatre of the mind.
Modified Automatic Bonus Progression.
Will want full backgrounds and ten-minute backgrounds.
Character ties to other players in backgrounds welcome.
Will be set pre-fall of Troy.
Swimming, climbing and sailing will come up.
Will modify skill points per level for certain classes.
Pre-emptive allowed class list- Barbarian (unchained variant), fighter, cavalier, paladin, ranger, rogue (unchained variant), bloodrager, brawler, slayer, swashbuckler. I might change my mind and add more but that's what I'm leaning towards.
Not all archetypes appropriate. Ask before building.
Sort of. The GM isn't done with the custom rules so this is just to give us an idea of what to expect.
Well, yes, I guess we can begin working with that, thank you :)
So...what's the word here?
The gm said he'd need between one and two weeks, so I guess he's on it.
So...what's the word here?
The DM should be back soon, I believe he was moving and occupied with that for a few weeks.
I am very interested in this campaign. Have you seen the Rogue Genius Godling classes? They would fit well in this campaign. I played one on my friend's Greek campaign.
@all interested;
I recently moved, so my time is limited. New city, new home, new job, while shebang. This is still on my list but I don't have time to work on it currently. I'll try to have something up in a couple of weeks though!
Take your time. I'm actually interested in this. Thinking of an Amazon/Spartan scion of Aphrodite.
Yeah, this sounds like this campaign is worth the wait!
Cool. Take all the time you need, RL comes first. Good of you to let us know.
So what are Boons that each God grants?
I think that's one of the items that the DM will be working on over the next few weeks :-)
Sort of. The GM isn't done with the custom rules so this is just to give us an idea of what to expect.Seems like interest is there! I'm not going to tell folks to throw together characters just yet.
I think I'm leaning away from allowing spell casting classes that give spells at first level. Magic in Ancient Greece is extraordinarily rare. I do feel that occultist might be thematically appropriate a la Orpheus with his lyre but that's not the feel I want for the game. I will likely allow access to spell casting classes later in the game.
There's still quite a lot I need to throw together on my end. Though if people want to start throwing together basics;
Leaning towards 20 point buy.
Will only have Humans available.
Each human will choose a Bloodline that will add a further +2 to an attribute as well as a suite of powers.
Minmaxing discouraged.
Will have custom campaign traits and drawbacks.
Three traits one of which must be one of the included traits. One drawback which must be from the included list (representing fatal flaws).
Max HP per level.
Theatre of the mind.
Modified Automatic Bonus Progression.
Will want full backgrounds and ten-minute backgrounds.
Character ties to other players in backgrounds welcome.
Will be set pre-fall of Troy.
Swimming, climbing and sailing will come up.
Will modify skill points per level for certain classes.
Pre-emptive allowed class list- Barbarian (unchained variant), fighter, cavalier, paladin, ranger, rogue (unchained variant), bloodrager, brawler, slayer, swashbuckler. I might change my mind and add more but that's what I'm leaning towards.
Not all archetypes appropriate. Ask before building.
Thanks Zayne, very helpful post!
I am thinking a child of Ares, God of War - a Slayer or a Bloodrager.
Thinking of an Amazon beast rider cavalier who is a child of Aphrodite but was raised by Pan.
I'll have to let this one go, in too many games as it is!
Very very hard dot interest in this one....
Any chance there's an option for an Antaeus-like character? I've a personal love of grappling/wrestling, and kinda fell in love with the idea of an Antaeus PC (wound up playing one in an X-men game years ago). Probably a brawler for this one, Grabbing style most definitely.
Anyone heard from the gm?