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Inspired by Ravingdork's 1st edition emporium, I present to you my work on characters. Inspiration, quick NPCs, and any other use you can think of, go ahead.
Here's the index for my emporium
My opening four are:
The Trickster Thief, an Elven Rogue who dabbles in sorcerous power. As the "v1" in the title implies, I intend a few more builds along the lines of this, dipping into the other spell pools. It starts at level 1 (just a thief), then grows in arcane power as it levels. (1, 5, 10, 15, 20)
The Stout Defender, a Dwarven soldier. Rather than make multiple builds for for different weapons, I included stats for each of these. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
The Thug, just a shady human of malign intentions. (1, 4, 7)
The Cleansing Flame Priest, a Half-Elf Cloistered Cleric of Sarenrae, who starts as a healer who can defend the temple, then grows into a powerful force, both on the battlefield and in politics. This build assumes it's Easy for them to activate a Staff of Fire - Sarenrae gives half the spells in the staff to her followers, and they DO have the Fire Domain, after all. (3, 8, 13)
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I also welcome suggestions for better organization, both on the index and in individual characters. I will also consider requests for what to prioritize next.
Enjoy!
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Very nice! They are well organized. Thanks for making them available.
Thanks for the support, BellyBeard!
I've now added the Crusader, a holy paladin of Iomedae, suitable for guarding temples or caravans, or taking the fight out into the field as either a commander or an adventurer. (4, 8, 13)
It's really cool how you've sort of managed to get them to fit in the 1st Edition stat block format. I gave it a try initially, but it didn't really work out for me.
Are these built as, and meant to be used as, PCs or NPCs? Either way, do you intend to rebuild them as NPCs once we have proper guidelines/rules on building monsters/NPCs in 2nd Edition?
As an aside, I don't mind other people having their own threads for their characters and such (the more inspiration we can put out into the world the better), but do you think you could change the thread name so people don't confuse our respective threads with one another? Maybe something like "james014Aura's NPC Gallery" or something like that?
I'm not sure if I'm able to change the title. As for their use: npcs mainly, but also valid pcs. I have no desire to utilize asymmetric rules, so I'll not rebuild them, nor build any other, using such rules (which I regard as cheating). If we get something like elite/basic arrays, I might use those.
I'm not sure if I'm able to change the title.
Looks like you missed the "easy edit window." You can generally edit a post (and thread title) within 1 hour of creating it. After that it gets locked in. At this point, you'll need to contact Customer Service or a forum moderator to change it for you.
As for their use: npcs mainly, but also valid pcs. I have no desire to utilize asymmetric rules, so I'll not rebuild them, nor build any other, using such rules (which I regard as cheating). If we get something like elite/basic arrays, I might use those.
That may limit their utility as NPCs for some groups, especially if they don't have the time to convert them properly. If nothing else though, they will still be great for getting ideas and concepts across.
Fortunately, if the asymmetrical rules end up being as easy as the rest of 2nd Edition, then I suspect it won't be too hard for GMs pulling from your gallery to convert things as needed for their games.
Thank you so much for starting this thread! I can't wait to see what kinds of ideas you come up with.
regarding the asymmetric rules: My philosophy is that if it's a valid race to play, then (barring plot reasons, etc) a player should be able to pick up the NPC and use it (aka, promote an allied NPC to PC if their old PC dies). Starfinder, for example, violated this rule so hard I don't play it. As it is, it looks like the NPCs in the Bestiary sorta-correspond to things the players can do and are just simplified, so I'm just gritting my teeth there.
It's not like my builds are invalid for use as NPCs. They can be plopped right in, using the powers they have. After all, level X is supposed to mean level X, unlike in pf1e, where CR was something of a joke in my group. *cough*one-rounded a demon lord at level 18ish*cough*. If monsters are supposed to be more accurate at the cost of armor class, then okay: these builds mean slightly longer fights.
Anyway, here's a Boomsinger, a Charhide Goblin Fey Sorcerer MCD Bard. At level 9, they're moderately foolish for a caster, and not that diplomatic for a sorcerer or bard. A musician/artist at heart, but their erratic personality means they get a bad start on that. At 18, they've learned a bit, and aren't the sort you want to convince to leave, anymore. They also get much better at their previously passable but unremarkable artistic skill.
Upcoming plans: Temple Guards (Monks), and a Necromancer.
If people have builds that go here as NPCs, then go ahead and post them here; I'll credit you on my document by the link to the build.
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I have no desire to utilize asymmetric rules, so I'll not rebuild them, nor build any other, using such rules (which I regard as cheating).Then you are stuck in old ways. NPCs will likely follow monster building rules in this edition, which have already been stated to not use the full PC generation and level-up procedures.
I wish you good luck with your endeavor.
The devs have explicitly confirmed that you can build NPCs using PC rules in PF2. (So PF2 is different from Starfinder in this respect.) You can, of course, also build NPCs using the streamlined monster creation rules that will be coming out. But you’re not required or expected to do so — it’s just a way to save you some time.
TLDR: Using these characters as NPCs is totally kosher.
The devs have explicitly confirmed that you can build NPCs using PC rules in PF2. (So PF2 is different from Starfinder in this respect.) You can, of course, also build NPCs using the streamlined monster creation rules that will be coming out. But you’re not required or expected to do so — it’s just a way to save you some time.
Source?
The devs have explicitly confirmed that you can build NPCs using PC rules in PF2. (So PF2 is different from Starfinder in this respect.) You can, of course, also build NPCs using the streamlined monster creation rules that will be coming out. But you’re not required or expected to do so — it’s just a way to save you some time.Source?
Sure thing. Here’s a post by Mark Seifter confirming this.
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Thanks!
Reminder that I posted a Boomsinger in a very small link in a big post. It's also on the main page, linke to in the first.
This one was a real pain to make: The Arch-Necromancer, a warpriest of Urgathoa with some bonus loot, because they're meant as an end-boss. Yes, that's TWO caster multiclasses, wizard and sorcerer (functionally identical to Bard, though) for an archmage to bring the pain! I tried to make sure lower-level spells known don't care about scaling. This deadly war mage can cast a variety of destruction, or can drink a mutagen looted from an alchemist to bring tremendous melee pain with their vorpal scythe.
I'll probably avoid caster multiclasses for a while. Those are a pain to design.
I also added some Basic Crafter's Books to multiple NPCs for some smithing potential. The level 1 Thug and the level 4 Crusader do NOT have them due to bulk concerns (and wealth, in one case, IIRC).
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So I heard Monks are the most maneuverable of combatants. Yes, these guys know quite a few tricks with maneuvers. I've added the Temple Guard, a human monk at levels 3, 7, and 11.
Trying to mostly post these at least two at a time, now, so as not to spam this:
Forest Guard, Woodland Elf Flurry Ranger. Levels 2, 8, and 14. A skilled scout or guard, a veteran of all woodlands, or a near-master of ranged combat? Take your pick! Good general-purpose combatant for campaigns involving the Elves.
Storm Rider, a Nomadic Halfling Storm Druid. Levels 6 and 13. They travel the land, following the storms. Communities that honor nature may find relief from their troubles, while despoilers may find their cities and towns drawing further ire, this time from whoever this Druid works with. Also A powerful ally, if befriended.
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Storm Rider, a Nomadic Halfling Storm Druid. Levels 6 and 13. They travel the land, following the storms. Communities that honor nature may find relief from their troubles, while despoilers may find their cities and towns drawing further ire, this time from whoever this Druid works with. Also A powerful ally, if befriended.
I'm beginning to think I really like characters who are basically "lots of power in a small unsuspecting package."
For clarification on that topic, I don't mind the existence of other rules.
PF1E here:
Monsters with racial hit dice had lower CRs than they had hit dice. This meant their effective levels were noted to be weaker than class levels, so they got more to compensate. There were rules for starting as a monster (which one of my campaigns DOES do; monsters with racial HD valid for players, that is). And those rules were mostly consistent with leveling up a monster with class levels, for both player and NPC. That was good, albeit time-consuming.
NPCs with lower CR than level, but only class levels. They had a weaker point buy value and lower gear, and the lower CR represented that. NPCs given PC wealth and 20 point buy got their level as their CR. That the gear losses (and weaker powers from NPC clsses) were worth even less than the rules indicated was a balance issue, not any other sort. I can live with that, and the rest of it is fine by me.
The big thing is, I feel that NPCs with any playable ancestry should, after discounting special plot-based powers, always be buildable by a player (competence of the build at what it tries to do notwithstanding), and always, in the event of a PC death, be able to be picked up and run by a player until next session when they have a new PC (or keep the allied NPC as their new PC).
Hi everyone. It's come to my attention the Arch-Necromancer had it's sharing settings set poorly. Sorry to everyone in the past half a week or so who asked for access - I didn't see it in my emails until now for some reason. I've set it to link viewing, and have now reviewed the other link sharing settings for the rest of my pages.
Since I'm here, I've added the Noble - a courtier, a minor noble officer, a leader, or some form of monarch? Versatile Human Scoundrel Rogue, 1, 4, 7, 11, 15.
Hi, this lives. Building Wizards is hard.
Adventurous Transmuter. Half-Elf Transmuter 1, 4, 9, 13, 18. They advance from a fledgling Pathfinder to an experience adventurer, then a powerful adventurer, then to a demigod of battle, a mighty spellslinger. Then they reach 18 and it just gets absurd.