So, I'll run the campaign, my friend will play the only pc (we've been deserted!), the npcs will sort of act as the missing rest of the party. Should work, right? They're always around...
So my player will end up playing whatever tickles his fancy the most at the moment, but if I were to give him some advice about a race/class/archetype combo that would really shine in this campaign, and not necessarily from the mechanical point of view, but from the thematic and narrative ones - the perfect protagonist for this story - what would it be in your mind?
Sort of like, Luke was a great protagonist for SW because Darth Vader was actually his dad (SPOILER ALERT!!!). Also it was all about the Force, and he became a better and better Jedi with time. And he was allied to the rebels. And the brother of Leia, the chief of the rebels. See what I mean?
To carry the analogy further, Ameiko is Leia, Sandru is Han, Shalelu and Koya are... Chewbie? Hey, it's been a long time! Anyways - who could be the Luke Skywalker of this story? Something that ties in with the themes, scenarios, npcs, monsters, situations presented... of course do propose more than one idea if you have them.
C'mon guys & gals, gimme some help. I'm running so many APs I almost don't have time to read the modules ;)
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The Star Warsiness of Jade Regent is actually pretty apt.
My suggestion: Your Player should be Ameiko's sibling, older if he wants to be heir to Minkai, younger if he wants a bit more freedom in putting his sister on the throne.
Thematic choices:
Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Tiefling (Oni-Blooded), Aasimar (Kami-blooded),
Monk
Summoner with Kami Eidolon
Medium (Kami)
Spiritualist (Channeling the spirit of the Amatatsu Seal)
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My suggestion: Your Player should be Ameiko's sibling, older if he wants to be heir to Minkai, younger if he wants a bit more freedom in putting his sister on the throne.
Seconded and doubled (or even by Ameiko themselves, or fulfil Ameiko's role and write her out). I've GMed solo-player Jade Regent, and the biggest stumbling block to the plot was why Ameiko kept deferring to the player's opinion (because otherwise it's an NPC driving the decision points).
Near anything can be made to fit, but a Monk, Geisha-Bard or a Samurai-esqe Fighter reconnecting with his lost heritage can be fun. But there's also a lot of fun to be had in completely inappropriate - a Varisian druid is such a fish out of water that the culture of Tian Xia looks very alien indeed, which is interesting to explore.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The Star Warsiness of Jade Regent is actually pretty apt.
My suggestion: Your Player should be Ameiko's sibling, older if he wants to be heir to Minkai, younger if he wants a bit more freedom in putting his sister on the throne.
Thematic choices:
Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Tiefling (Oni-Blooded), Aasimar (Kami-blooded),Monk
Summoner with Kami Eidolon
Medium (Kami)
Spiritualist (Channeling the spirit of the Amatatsu Seal)
Nice!!
So, Mei's sibling. That would be cool. I also figure someone in love with her might help, but blood is thicker than water.
Oni-blooded tiefling would sure be interesting and thematically appropriate. Human would be natural if they're the child of Lonjiku and Atsui. Half-elf would be an illegittimate child like Tsuto, as would a half-orc (although I can hardly imagine Atsui having a relationship with an orc or half-orc too - too many lovers... and I'd rather leave out non-consensual relationships, the cliché is a little too widespread...).
Kami-blooded aasimar?... huh... I remember something like a half-protean girl running around the site, being played by one of the devs I think... let me check... Hah! Todd Stewart was mentioning a ganzi arcanist named Il'setsya, so protean-blooded are ganzi (valkyries, hundun and other ancestors and background events could result in one too)... the axiomites create aphorites, although not sexually... mmm, here's something, vine leshy are created by druids channeling a nature spirit (like a kami) into plant matter via ritual - that's the closest I found to a kami-blooded character... of course this could at most be Mei's *adopted* sibling. I'm thinking someone like Groot! XD I don't think it would look *a lot* like him, but a little perhaps, sure!
Summoner with kami eidolon would be pretty damn awesome... monk would definitely work, a student of the fighting techniques of the Kaijitsus' ancestors (need to brush off my knowledge of Minkaian martial arts)... a kami medium, hah, that's cool! And they have ofuda and shikigami, too! The only problem might be that afaik there are practically no kami in Varisia, so I'm not sure the concept would work very well as long as Tian-Xia isn't reached... of course multiclassing into it would be pretty wicked if my player is interested! And they're a very interesting class, so versatile...
And a spiritualist channeling the spirit of the seal... wait, isn't that an occultist? Or do you mean Amatatsu Rokuro's phantom, I haven't read that far... the seal should do for a conjuration implement, summoning dragon-like beasties and taking care of them, a little like the kami summoner in role, although these classes in which the character themselves doen't do a lot, ceding the spotlight to eidolons or summons instead, would probably not feel attractive to a lone player...
Still an ancestral aspirant occultist might be interesting, and a synthesist summoner would solve the spotlight problem - they'd *wear* the kami! X)
This is all eminently cool stuff, Dudemeister, thank you so frigging much, it's really inspiring! I'll go check if I find something about Minkaian unarmed martial arts for a monk, just in case, and then I'll mail my friend with some of these very neat ideas! Thank you so much!
My suggestion: Your Player should be Ameiko's sibling, older if he wants to be heir to Minkai, younger if he wants a bit more freedom in putting his sister on the throne.Seconded and doubled (or even by Ameiko themselves, or fulfil Ameiko's role and write her out). I've GMed solo-player Jade Regent, and the biggest stumbling block to the plot was why Ameiko kept deferring to the player's opinion (because otherwise it's an NPC driving the decision points).
Near anything can be made to fit, but a Monk, Geisha-Bard or a Samurai-esqe Fighter reconnecting with his lost heritage can be fun. But there's also a lot of fun to be had in completely inappropriate - a Varisian druid is such a fish out of water that the culture of Tian Xia looks very alien indeed, which is interesting to explore.
No, I really like Mei and I'd rather she'd be there herself... as for why she defers to the pc's plans and wishes, honestly there might be as many reasons as pcs. She could simply see them as wiser, feel a debt of gratitude, trust their expertise, be in love with them... she could even not be totally subservient, y'know, she has her opinions too ;)
You've gm-ed JR one-on-one? Jinx!! XD How did it work out without having a full party and instead using the npcs for that?
Geisha bard would be another way to reconnect with the family's roots, as samurai/ronin or monk would... good stuff! More inspiration for my friend, will need to fill him in! Thank you Reverse!
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The Star Warsiness of Jade Regent is actually pretty apt.
My suggestion: Your Player should be Ameiko's sibling, older if he wants to be heir to Minkai, younger if he wants a bit more freedom in putting his sister on the throne.
Thematic choices:
Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Tiefling (Oni-Blooded), Aasimar (Kami-blooded),Monk
Summoner with Kami Eidolon
Medium (Kami)
Spiritualist (Channeling the spirit of the Amatatsu Seal)Nice!!
So, Mei's sibling. That would be cool. I also figure someone in love with her might help, but blood is thicker than water.
Oni-blooded tiefling would sure be interesting and thematically appropriate. Human would be natural if they're the child of Lonjiku and Atsui. Half-elf would be an illegittimate child like Tsuto, as would a half-orc (although I can hardly imagine Atsui having a relationship with an orc or half-orc too - too many lovers... and I'd rather leave out non-consensual relationships, the cliché is a little too widespread...).
Maybe Lonjiku had a retaliatory fling with an Elf or with an Orc woman (if so definitely introduce that character as an NPC into the caravan to reveal their secret relationship later in the campaign. I did this with a half-elf in my caravan, who is the illegitimate son of Lonjiku and Shalelu).
Whoops I forgot Kami-Blooded Aasimar isn't an official thing. Here's what I use for my JR Game:
As Aasimar except:
Ability score changes: +2 Con, +2 Wis
Alternate Skill Modifiers: Handle Animal, Knowledge (History)
Alternate Spell-Like Ability: Forest Friend
Cute, but honestly, what sense does a kami-blooded aasimar make? Afaik kami aren't celestials, they're nature spirits. It'd be like having a manitu-blooded aasimar, or a nymph-blooded aasimar. Nope, I prefer the vine leshy (I AM GROOT! XD ) if the idea appeals to my friend (I don't think it does).
Anyways I told him about all these options, and also the very pressing need of being either Mei's sibling (preferably younger, so max 21 in 4711... little too young for his tastes I'd guess), or have some other manner of relationship with her. Of course the other 3 npcs would be okay too, but Mei would really scratch the itch.
I think the player really would like to roll a tiefling witch or sorcerer or even oracle though, he's had this particular character in mind for a long time. I know he really wants to, so as long as he gives me a good fat link with one of the npcs I'm willing, but I did tell him there's a lot of other APs (which I fully intend to run when we get the whole group back together) where tieflings are even more thematically appropriate, and perhaps he might play a ki-less monk or even a brawler, we'll see.
Not like I'm in a huge hurry, I need to prep pretty hard for this.
Maybe Lonjiku had a retaliatory fling with an Elf or with an Orc woman (if so definitely introduce that character as an NPC into the caravan to reveal their secret relationship later in the campaign. I did this with a half-elf in my caravan, who is the illegitimate son of Lonjiku and Shalelu).The Star Warsiness of Jade Regent is actually pretty apt.
My suggestion: Your Player should be Ameiko's sibling, older if he wants to be heir to Minkai, younger if he wants a bit more freedom in putting his sister on the throne.
Thematic choices:
Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Tiefling (Oni-Blooded), Aasimar (Kami-blooded),Monk
Summoner with Kami Eidolon
Medium (Kami)
Spiritualist (Channeling the spirit of the Amatatsu Seal)Nice!!
So, Mei's sibling. That would be cool. I also figure someone in love with her might help, but blood is thicker than water.
Oni-blooded tiefling would sure be interesting and thematically appropriate. Human would be natural if they're the child of Lonjiku and Atsui. Half-elf would be an illegittimate child like Tsuto, as would a half-orc (although I can hardly imagine Atsui having a relationship with an orc or half-orc too - too many lovers... and I'd rather leave out non-consensual relationships, the cliché is a little too widespread...).
LONJIKU & SHALELU! HEAR HEAR!! XD
How Shalelu ended up in bed with that abusive d$**$ead I'll never understand ;)
Mmm, it's a possibility, sure. My player doesn't usually like half-orcs and half-elves, I must say. His favored ancestries include human, human, human, dwarf, tiefling... probably dhampir and some other grimdark stuff. His main character in Doomsday Dawn is a cleric of Gorum with fighter archetype, essentially a warpriest, just to convey how grimdark he is. He also likes goblins, b/c they're friggin' crazy and disquieting. But he's very human-focused for some reason.
