The band of adventurers traveled merrily to their next destination, spending the night in the Blue Ogre inn. It was a quaint, typical sort of place with good drinks and warm food. There, they heard rumors of the Elemental Forge hidden in a cavern nearby. The locals said this artifact could bind the elements together to create powerful magics but no one who entered the cavern had ever come back. Occasionally, bizzarre earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and forest fires plagued the area. But the locals put up with it, assuming that was simply their lot in life. But one old man in the corner shook his head. "No siree. It's gettin' worse. Somethin's happenin' with the Forge, I tell ya!"
Hey all,
I'm looking to run a classic dungeon crawl. Start at a tavern, clear the dungeon, beat the boss, get the loot, come back to the tavern. This is intended to be short and sweet.
Setting:
This is an intentionally classic (i.e. generic) Pathfinder setting. This nation is ruled by a king, inhabited mostly by humans, has a temperate climate, and tends to worship the standard Golarion pantheon.
Character creation rules:
Level 6
20 point buy
Standard wealth by level
Two traits
Background skills
Full hit die at level 1. Half of hit die max+1 for subsequent levels.
Races: Core
Classes: See below
Item creation feats and crafting ahead of time for self and party allowed
Backstory: Doesn't need to be long but should be interesting, flavorful, and give me an idea of who your character is, what motivates them, and what kind of interactions they're likely to have with the party. A good backstory will also make it clear why a character cares about the crisis surrounding the Elemental Forge.
Since this is just a short fun dungeon crawl, I’m looking for a specific mix of classes/party roles:
Arcane caster: Played by an arcanist.
Divine caster: Played by an oracle.
Skills/traps: Played by an inquisitor
Fighter-type role: Played by a Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin, UC monk, Ranger, Cavalier, or Samurai
These are the roles to be filled by applicants. Recruitment will be closed on November 29th, 5 pm EST unless revision of that date is required.
Dungeon crawl format:
There will be four main combat encounters in four main chambers before you reach the boss fight at the end. The boss will be a level 10 NPC with 4 minions of CR 5 each on a dynamic terrain. I expect this to be somewhat challenging and potentially deadly but I don’t intend to make it excruciatingly difficult. There will be traps (distributed in a reasonable, non-brutal way to avoid slowdown of gameplay), puzzles, and loot along the way. Unlike a normal dungeon crawl, it won’t be completely up to you when the next fight starts. Neither the monsters nor the dungeon itself is dumb enough to sit and wait to be slain.
Expectations:
Everyone should post at least 1/weekday and 1/weekend unless they let me know that a certain time is bad for them. If this doesn’t sound like the kind of thing you already like to do, this game probably isn’t for you. Posts (in general, not every single one) should involve reaction to what is happening or other characters are doing, internal monologue, flavorful description, and a hook or push that moves the action forward.
Terrible example:
Wizarding Tom casts haste.
Good example:
Wizarding Tom reaches quickly for a pouch at his belt and pulls out a small black shaving. This had better help or we're done for... That minotaur looks angry! C'mon now... focus... focus... The root glows brightly as power surges into Tom and his allies. Invigorated, he calls out to Barbarian Bog "Tear him a new one, Bob!"
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Couple of questions, and an observation: first, AFAIK no inquisitor archetypes get trapfinding, so even if they have disable device as a class skill from a trait they can't deal with magic traps. Was that deliberate? Second, would you expect the same level of detail the tenth time Wizarding Tom casts haste? And the observation: licorice root is actually brown or light tan ;-).
1. Trap finder trait allows disarming magical traps.
2. No Wizarding Tom doesn't have to provide the same level of detail every time but surely something is going on in the fight, yes? He should provide at least two sentences, which isn't asking a lot, imo.
3. :)
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1. That's a campaign trait, from the Mummy's Mask AP, and as a rule most GMs don't offer the option of taking campaign traits outside of their origin. If you're going to allow them, you should say so. (Also note that there's a reason most GMs don't offer the option; you may want to consider banning the WotR traits, e.g., and there are a few others that are kind of overpowered.)
2. Have you thought about how you're going to enforce that?
any restrictions on alignment and race?
Because I have a NE Goblin Oracle (there's a hilarious goblin-only curse) that focusses on summoning and support that I'm desperate to play.
He joined an adventuring party, because he's quite weak on his own and secretly insecure about it. He needs reliable, non-evil allies to protect him, even if it means playing the good guy from time to time. He doesn't have to mean it, right? For the same reason he loves summoning strange creatures that do the dirty work and will buff them and his allies to better protect him on his path to power.
I fully support your expectations and I am a very active player. (see my aliases Thomas, Garidan and Astrapios)
1. Yes campaign traits will be allowed in general with exceptions as they come up.
2. I don't intend to enforce it, only encourage it. I'm telling players what kind of game I want. I will provide short descriptions like this and select players that seem more likely to provide them themselves. In addition, there will be occasional circumstance bonuses for well-described actions beyond what a terse description will get.
Ellioti: I'm fine with evil that is a good team player to complete the crawl. I did say core races as I'm trying to cultivate a somewhat more classic feel here. I would potentially allow a goblin oracle but it would have a slight disadvantage in competition for the oracle slot due to the non-core race.
Hi, I'm expressing interest. I'm envisioning a dwarven (or maybe human Ulfen) inquisitor of Torag who is investigating the Elemental Forge in case it's something that should be under the control of Torag's ministry.
The non-standard traps/skills role is appealing. I'll get a PC statted up soon.
Are there any restrictions about archetypes? I only ask because it seems like you have specific ideas about classes and roles for this party.
Sounds good! No restrictions on paizo archetypes.
Stauntram Uthuan, Stonelord Paladin of Torag might well be appropriate!
He is a stern man and a fierce defender of dwarven values but incredibly fair-minded. He will gladly fight and smith alongside others who he shares goals with and isn't actively opposed to. If they can past his gruff manners.
He has spent his time before the inn smashing up a band of orc raiders and has a mighty thirst for good ale!
Questions:
1. Are drawbacks allowed?
2. Will there be any downtime? I don't get that impression but checking anyway. I'll be taking craft/professions skills regardless.
Ah gotta love a good stonelord. Looks interesting.
1. You can take a drawback for RP reasons but it doesn't grant a third trait. I find that most of the time this just allows players to take a third trait, especially in a short adventure where many drawbacks won't have time to matter.
2. There's downtime ahead of the adventure in which you can craft equipment for yourself. There will be very little downtime during the adventure.
1. Righteous Indignation seems appropriate, trait or no. Stauntram is not going to show mercy to outright enemies.
2. Would that just be for flavour or would it have mechanical/cost effects? I almost never use crafting rules in D&D/PF so I'm not familiar with how crafting starting gear normally works.
My notion is that Stauntram knows smithing, and has made weapons and armour, but not necessarily enchanted them himself.
3. Does DR/Adamantine from Stonelord's Heartstone class feature stack with DR from adamantine armour?
1. I like it!
2. You can craft non-magical, mwk weapons and armor for 1/3 market price.
3. Pretty sure it doesn't stack.
So far we have applicants interested in the Oracle role, the Inquisitor role, and the full-bab role. Still looking for an arcanist but plenty of time.
I'm happy to offer said discount to other PCs if that's fine. Say at various points they might have allied, if not necessarily for a while.
4.Would discount apply to the mwk component of magic weapons and armour?
4. That's an interesting question which I've not dug into before as generally I just craft wondrous items. It seems that the cost of a magic weapon or piece of armor = base item cost + masterwork cost + enhancement cost. So your craft skill would save you 2/3 of the first two terms. I've no problem with crafting for other PCs. You can write your backgrounds as if you've known each other for a little while.
Well this looks pretty interesting :)
I could not really commit to a long term game but a short campaign should be just fine!
I don't yet know what I would build but a first thought is some sort of master weaponsmith who covets the aquisition of those Elemental Mastery skills.
Or possibly some sort of weapons generalist? Someone who is capable of wielding whatever weapon he may happen on?
Side note, at this point anything I attempt to build will probably be stepping on the toes of something already built, so sorry in advance :/
Anyways! Time to start brainstorming! >:D
2. No Wizarding Tom doesn't have to provide the same level of detail every time but surely something is going on in the fight, yes? He should provide at least two sentences, which isn't asking a lot, imo.2. Have you thought about how you're going to enforce that?
Why do you have to enforce flavour text?
I’ll be your Arcanist. Give me until tonight to put something together
Awesome.
Well this looks pretty interesting :)
I could not really commit to a long term game but a short(ish) campaign should be just fine!
I don't yet know what I would build but a first thought is some sort of master weaponsmith who covets the aquisition of those Elemental Mastery skills.
Or possibly some sort of weapons generalist? Someone who is capable of wielding whatever weapon he may happen on? (And also very likely a weapons kleptomaniac... >_>)Side note, at this point anything I attempt to build will probably be stepping on the toes of something already built, so sorry in advance :/
Anyways! Time to start brainstorming! >:D
Sounds good. Yes it's intentionally going to be quite short. Five combats unless you try to find a troll to beat up or something. XD I don't know if I'd worry about toe-stepping as everyone knows recruitments often have multiple applications.
Why do you have to enforce flavour text?
I think you realized this reading the comments but I don't intend to enforce flavor text. That's just what I'm asking for and encouraging.
Hi, I'm expressing interest. I'm envisioning a dwarven (or maybe human Ulfen) inquisitor of Torag who is investigating the Elemental Forge in case it's something that should be under the control of Torag's ministry.
The non-standard traps/skills role is appealing. I'll get a PC statted up soon.
Checking in to say that I should have this guy rolled up by Wednesday.
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A fellow servant of Torag is pretty easy to justify fighting alongside! :)
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Here is the preliminary build and background for my Arcanist, Martel Wyvernjack:
Martel was born and raised in a sleepy little village somewhere. He never went to any arcane academy, but rather apprenticed at a young age with a reclusive old wizard who looked after the countryside where Martel's village lay. When he came of age, he set out to gain more worldly experience, and fell in with a band of adventurers.
He seeks to gain power, mainly to protect the weak and innocent, and to one day return home and take over for the old wizard who trained him.
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Martel Wyvernjack
Male human (Taldan) arcanist (school savant) 6 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 8, 78, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 145)
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +8; Senses Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+1 deflection, +2 Dex)
hp 44 (6d6+18)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +6
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 wyroot (2 life points) quarterstaff +5 (1d6+2)
Special Attacks arcane reservoir (3/9), arcanist exploit (potent magic[ACG]), consume spells
Arcanist (School Savant) Spells Prepared (CL 6th; concentration +11)
. . 3rd (3/day)—haste, slow (DC 20)
. . 2nd (5/day)—aboleth's lung[ARG] (DC 19), bull's strength, knock
. . 1st (6/day)—enlarge person (DC 18), expeditious retreat, feather fall, mage armor, true strike
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, jolt[UM], light, mage hand, mending, open/close (DC 17), read magic
. . Opposition Schools Illusion, Necromancy
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 20, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 17
Feats Greater Spell Focus (transmutation), Improved Initiative, Spell Focus (transmutation), Toughness
Traits reactionary, transmuter of korada
Skills Appraise +10, Craft (alchemy) +14, Fly +10, Knowledge (arcana) +14, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +13, Knowledge (engineering) +9, Knowledge (geography) +9, Knowledge (history) +9, Knowledge (local) +13, Knowledge (nature) +13, Knowledge (nobility) +9, Knowledge (planes) +13, Knowledge (religion) +13, Perception +6, Spellcraft +14, Use Magic Device +10
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Sylvan
SQ augment, opposition schools (illusion, necromancy), physical enhancement (+2), specialized school (enhancement[APG])
Combat Gear wand of magic missile; Other Gear +1 wyroot (2 life points) quarterstaff, cloak of resistance +1, headband of vast intelligence +2, ring of protection +1, versatile vest, arcanist starting spellbook, 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Reservoir +2 DC or CL (9/day) (Su) Pool of points fuel exploits, or can expend to add +2 CL or DC while cast spell.
Augment (+2 ability or +2 AC, 3 rounds, 8/day) (Sp) Grant either +2 to an ability score or +2 natural armor by touch.
Consume Spells (1/day) (Su) As a move action, expend a spell slot to add its spell levels to arcane reservoir.
Enhancement Associated School: Transmutation
Greater Spell Focus (Transmutation) +1 to the Save DC of spells from one school.
Illusion You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Illusion school.
Necromancy You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Necromancy school.
Physical Enhancement +2 (Dexterity) (Su) When preparing spells, chosen physical attribute gains enhancement bonus.
Spell Focus (Transmutation) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Edit:tweaks
Sounds good, Toragites.
Looks good, MattZ.
I really want to fill the orace role. Primarily with the goblin posted before.
But generally speaking, lvl 6 is an aweful spot for the oracle class as it gets its best revelations at 7th :(
Yeah it's never going to be a perfect level for all four classes. I just wanted the oracle and arcanaist to have 3rd level spells. Hopefully you're still interested but it's obviously up to you.
Hi, my dwarven inquisitor of Torag is nearly done. I just have to finish skills and equipment.
We have family in town for American Thanksgiving, so that's taken up more of my free time than I expected.
GM, you said that race selection is core only, but I want to point out that I took an alternate racial trait from a non-core source (both the APG and the ARG). If this isn't okay, I have no problem switching it back.
Lorekeeper: Dwarves keep extensive records about their history and the world around them. Dwarves with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on Knowledge (history) checks that pertain to dwarves or their enemies. They can make such skill checks untrained. This racial trait replaces greed.
*********
Background: Kaalul "Kaal" Bazt's family had every intention of raising him to be a respectable, devout dwarven warrior. But he became known for obsessing over threats to the dwarven community that nobody could see. This outlook earned him few friends, but his persistent wariness only enabled him to learn to work alone, learning skills that most dwarven warriors don't concern themselves with.
Until the day many of those unseen threats became visible, and Kaalul's skills were suddenly in high demand, despite his constant and surly I-told-you-so attitude.
Description: Kaalul has a fiery red beard and presumably the same color head of hair underneath his horned helmet. Few take the time to look too closely, wary of meeting his persistent scowl.
*********
I'm envisioning this PC as the driving force for why the party now finds themselves in the Blue Ogre Inn. As I said in my first post, he wants to investigate the Elemental Forge to make sure it's not in the wrong hands, and he's asked the rest of the party to explore the nearby cavern to that end. However, if this is problematic for the adventure's story or for any of the other players, it's not crucial that he's the reason they're there.
Sounds great, Andostre! I like the reason he wants to push toward the plot hook. Also, non-core traits, etc are fine. Just core races.
I like that notion very much also!
I aim to get equipment finished either tomorrow or Saturday.
My character is done. I took advantage of Stauntram's crafting capabilities for Kaal's weapon, armor, and shield, but I didn't factor that saving into the enchantments.
Current gear (needs adjusting):
Dorn-Degar +2 7817
Mwk Cold Iron Cestus 207
Tatami-Do +1 1333
Traveler's Any-Tool 250
Boots of the earth 5000
Handy Haversack 2000
16607
So need to cut 607g or adjust.
Edit: Adjusted skills to include both craft armour and craft weapons.
Quick note: I'm unclear if Ellioti is actually submitting his oracle to play, or if this campaign is still looking for an oracle.
Please submit. My interest is quite low currently
Ok thanks for clarifying, Ellioti. Seems like we're still looking for an oracle. If anyone knows someone who'd be interested in playing that class, feel free to invite them over.
Sorry for the Thanksgiving slowdown. Was a bit more than I expected.
Sounds great, Rinaldo. There are still several days until the deadline so no need to rush tonight.
Understandable, Rinaldo.
Sounds good, Saasha!
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HP : 63
AC 12; TAC 12; FFAC 11
Fort +6 , Ref +3 , Will +4
Str 8, Dex 12, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 18
Bluff +10, Diplomacy +13, Heal +3, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Sleight of Hand +7
Feats
Fey Foundling, Selective Channel, Quick Channel
SQ
Channel (3d6)(5/day), Channel (3d6)(5day), Life Link
Traits
Sun-Blessed, Child of the Streets
Racial Traits
Illusion Resistance ,Vivacious, Fey Thoughts, Bond to the Land, Fey Magic
Fizzbizzner Thistletop is a wanderer. He wanders a little bit because he wants to, and a lot a bit because he is eventually run out of everywhere he ends up.
Haha! Great.
All: It's the 28th. Please post in with a completed alias today or tomorrow. Perhaps it was already completed but it would be helpful for me to get to see it.
Here's what I'm seeing as submitted or near-submitted:
Arcane caster: Martel Wyvernjack (needs to create alias)
Divine caster: Fizzbizzner Thistletop (needs to finish build and create alias)
Skills/traps: Kaalul Bazt (completed)
Fighter-type role: Stauntram Uthuan (maybe completed? There was a note about finishing gear.)
Gobo Horde also expressed interest, but I don't see a PC from him, yet.
It looks like we know what the party will be, assuming people finish up their builds in the next day or two. Gameplay has been opened, just for a dot for now.
Yeah, I've to revise gear tomorrow.
Has anyone taken crafting feats, just to confirm?
I was waiting to see yea or nay.
Not I
Nope
No worries. You can all take discount on mundane weapon and armour costs btw.
And we're underway.