So I've been tussling with two character concepts fora CC game.
The first, would be a simple fighter or gunslinger.
It's not OMG op for the campaign, but I find it extremely heroic for some dude that has learned the art of blade to stand against a wave of terror and darkness with not but blade and skill. Or an inventor putting his life and invention on the line to protect others.
The other concept is, while slightly leas heroic, more potential for an easier game. He would be a Cleric, likely Sarenrea. He had experiences with haunts when he was younger and actually managed to get a haunt to move on as a kid. He always maintains an air of hope and happiness even if he is suffocating inside because "he has to give others hope".
Mechanics wise.
The fighter would likely be a two handed/switch hitter with a falchion. Or a lore master maneuver specialist.
The cleric would be a roaming excorsict and focus on buffs/healing/channels with some minor combat options.
Suggestions? Thoughts on builds or which would fit better? Never played CC but I heard its undead heavy and rather 'gothic" in style.
If you want a switch hitter style build, you may want to consider going Ranger; those prerequisite-less style feats are great. You also have a nice benefit there of knowing what favorite enemy you should take. The extra skill points and minor casting also help you have more out of combat utility than if you had gone Fighter base.
As far as archetypes, I usually consider Woodland Skirmisher / Spirit Ranger together to be best overall as more spells is always good (eventually when it means more Instant Enemy at later levels), but Ranger also has Corpse Hunter.
Switch-hitter Fighter is totally viable, but it's better pulled off with thrown weapons due to allowing Weapon Training to stack.
That being said, Slayer or Ranger would fit in very well. They make it work faster and the good Reflex saves are actually VERY useful. If you go Ranger, you could take one of the archetypes that removes spellcasting - for example, Ilsurian Ranger is meant for longsword + bow combat style, removes spellcasting and can be geared towards destroying undead, demons and whatnot since it keeps Favored Enemy. For the Slayer, the Grave Warden archetype is pretty damn amazing for this campaign. Trust me on this one :P
I wouldn't recommend Clerics for Carrion Crown - it's a bit too on the nose and removes a lot of the fun which is the scary environment itself.
That being said, the Roaming Exorcist archetype is also perfectly tailored for this adventure.
Oh, and if you wanted to mix both, you could be a Paladin with the Ghost Hunter + Tempered Champion archetypes. You'd get a bit of blade and valor + a bit of exorcism. No switch-hitting though.
So a optimistic and cheerful (on the outside) cleric wouldn't be the way to go for the AP? Alright, I'll likely go with the outcast/warrior-Ranger thing.
Ok, so, which of these backgrounds fits better or seems more interesting for the AP
Cleric:
Cedric was born and raised in Ustalov, however he grew to be an odd child. Quite contrary to most in Ustalov the dour and desperate mood never seemed to catch on Cedric. Even into his late teens he was always smiling, always full of energy and trying to have fun. Indeed whever he went was easy to tell as the normally dour and moody folk of Ustalov appeared slightly happier, some, dare I say, even smiled whole whole-heartedly. Whenever people would ask him how he always stayed in such a good mood he simply replied with "because I want to be". At the age of 18 he still had not acquired a trade or job and many people were starting to view the once happy lad as merely lazy. He never thought so, he simply replied that "he Hadn't found something he loved yet" to the increasing worry and anger of his parents. It was this that brought about the first time Cedric had cried since he was a babe.
One night while he was arguing with his father about getting a trade to support himself the argument became heated, well, the father slowly became furious and worked himself into a rage from his frustrations. Alas, the mans health had been fading from years of hard work as a lumberman and his heart had a heart attack from the rush. When his father died a couple minutes after Cedric blamed himself. For once, the cold, icy grip of despair grasp his heart and he couldn't shake it off. He fled to his and his sisters room and cried half the night. The next few days Cedric wore nothing but a frown of despair as the funeral was carried out. Then, when they entered there home two days after the death, with Cedric's smile still gone, a sense of foreboding came over them. Cold chills would blow about the room and strange noises were heard. The local priest could not say what was the cause, and so reluctantly called upon an old acquaintance. A one professor Lorrimar. But not two days after the message was sent objects began hovering, flinging about. So they had to abandon the house, and even with his fathers good standings as a merchant and with money enough to pay rent no one would let them stay or even come in for fear of the haunting affecting their homes as well.
So for two days they slept in a tent, Cedric began to grow angry at the people of the town. He began to blame them for his predicament. He thought the only reason his father had begun to say anything about his lack of skills or job was because of the talk the other townsfolk had begun. Then, he blamed them for his mothers sickness, forcing her to sleep in a tent. His despair slowly ebbed to rage and against better judgement marched back to his home just several hours before the priest lead Lorrimar there as well. When the Priest and Lorrimar got there the house was alife with a whirling wind, a pot was thrown out a window and Lorrimar knew instantly what it was. When he began to move towards the door suddenly everything stopped, and became quiet. As they stood slightly shocked stillness for several seconds Cedric opened the door. He was crying, at first they thought he was injured, but once they got close they realized he was also smiling, a vibrant beam of a smile. Lorrimar was impressed. This boy had just quelled what he had assumed to be a rather high level Haunt. He offered the lad a chance to work with him in solving other situations as this. Cedric Thought about it for a moment, and asked about his mother and sister. Lorrimar laughed at the lads worry, not mockingly, but because he enjoyed the care and love of the thought. He promised they would be fine, and put up well as well, free of charge to his pay. So Cedric studied under Lorrimar for a time, and worked with him as a secondary insight on things. lorrimar asked the lad how he had destroyed the Haunt in his home. Cedric looked away, keeping his smile faintly, and merely replied "I, finished a talk. Just, somehow made things right..."
During their travels Lorrimar also noted, with both appreciation, and a tinge of worry. That Cedric rarely showed signs of frustration or despair, and never, not even when sleeping let his smile fade. When he asked the lad why he always smiled and why he was always in such a good mood. Cedric Replied.
"Because it's less painful, because I want to be happy, and... Because I have to be, for all the other people that can't or couldn't be...."
ranger/fighter:
Daniel never knew his father. His father had died long ago, his mother was, to say the least, an outcast in Ustalov. She was different, she had golden eyes, silvery markings and fiery red hair, put simply she was beautiful, especially to Daniel’s late father. The only thing Daniel had to remember his father was a shield, a steel kite shield larger than he was as a child. It had spikes on the center in the shape of some symbol. His mother always told him that his father had been a brave, strong man, that he often protected the towns in the area with this very shield even if they did shun him. Daniel grew up hearing tales of how his father defeated undead, beasts, even dreadful vampires and how whenever he entered town many of the folk would lock themselves in their homes, save the inn keeper, and a fellow named lorrimar. He would be able to purchase the necessities they needed from these fine folk that knew of his work and of his mother.
Eventually she said Lorrimar contacted Daniel’s father about working together on something. It wasn’t long after that that Daniel’s father never returned; only his shield and armor was brought back, polished and clean. Lorrimar would often visit the family after that, bringing food and other things. It wasn’t a bad life, Daniel would often play outside with his father’s shield, pretending to bash the ‘bad guys’ when he wasn’t helping his mother tend the small farm outside their cottage. Alas, it wasn’t to last, one dark stormy night when Daniel was 14 his small house was attacked by several undead. The zombies bashed the door in as he and his mother were sitting at the table near the fire. Daniel stood frozen in fear at the sight of the creatures. He stood by as he watched his mother kill one with a blazing torch. He continued to stare as another 3 brought her down and slowly, bloodily, killed her. He stood staring for what seemed like hours as the creatures tore at his mother when finally something snapped. He grabbed his father’s shield and bashed one of the beasts heads to pulp, the other two turned on him, ones claw bouncing off his shield, the others drawing a deep gash across the side of his face. Daniel backed up slowly, the creatures strikes slamming into the shield. Daniel grew scared, he was gonna die. Then something welled up in him again, as it had before. He threw himself and his shield into the zombies pushing them back, he brought the shield around and used its edge to slice clean through one of the zombie's neck. He then picked up the burning torch his mother had dropped and shoved it down the last zombies throat, knocking him into the fire pit scattering blazing logs all about.
Daniel stood outside the burning house, staring at the flames. Saying a last farewell to his mother as she, and his childhood, burned. It was while Daniel stood there that Lorrimar ran to the place. Panting he asked Daniel what had happened. Daniel told him, in a voice devoid of feeling. The Prof. sat and listened with a deep sad expression on his face. Daniel ended his story with one sentence.
I hate the townsfolk, if they weren’t so paranoid, if they weren’t so ignorant, moma would be alive. I hope they all burn.
The prof. Grew worried at that last statement. He took Daniel back to his home and cared for him for a week, the gash on his face at been bad, it would leave a large scar there for the rest of Daniel’s life. It was here that the prof. tried a way of turning the boy’s rage away from the townsfolk, it was cruel, but he had faith in the boy.
You know, if you had been stronger like your father, those zombies wouldn’t have been any problem. You need to be stronger.
For a month the prof. assaulted Daniel with phrases like this. And Daniel agreed. He needed to be stronger, he would never let someone he loved die in front of him again. Eventually the Prof. Managed to contact an old friend of Daniel’s father. A ranger in the forests north of here, he would take the young man in, teach him what he could, and hopefully instill in him the same morals that Daniel’s father held so dear. As a whole, it would be successful. The lad wouldn’t learn about any weapon he couldn’t use with his father’s shield in the end save the bow. Many of the morals his father had held were passed to the child. But Daniel always struggled with ignorance, particularly that of the folk of Ustalov. He would always find himself asking if they deserved to be protected, why he shouldn’t leave them to their fate. Why had his father been so stalwart in protecting them? He understood fighting evil, protecting the people of the world against its dark encroaches. He understood, and accepted that in so doing, he himself would likely come to be labeled a monster and feared or distrusted. He could handle that, but the pure xenophobic culture of Ustalov always wore on the lad. The burning cottage, a seared image in his mind, always flickering its way back into his mind, haunting him, reminding him of the cost of his weakness, and the of a closed, and xenophobic mind.
A cleric definitely works. Pharasma, Desna and Iomedae are more typical in Ustalav and the vicinity, but you can take Sarenrae as a patron as well, her cult tends to go around a lot. I am generally not the biggest fan of the roaming exorcist archetype as haunts tend to come up fairly rarely in most games, but Carrion Crown does have a fair few. You can do fairly well at it.
