Oh, some very interesting ideas there! I'm fondest of the ideas that go with the Kitsune and the Awakened Fox ideas.
Given how much work has been going into the Terexaltherin/dwilhelmi's gnome pairing that's still my first choice, but one of those two would definitely be my second choice.
Here's a collection of pitches tuned to what people have been thinking of.
Excellently done! You have the right idea!
@Lost Voice Would you mind if I were working on concepts for two different pairings simultaneously? What more would you like to see on my concept for Terexaltherin? A build? More background?
@ArthurDent Do you have any preference between the Kitsune/Kumiho and Awakened Fox/Scavenger of the Gods ideas? I could give more details on either or both if you'd like to start working on something with me.
@dwilhelmi Do we want to start talking about how our characters met and what their relationship looks like in more detail?
@Lost Voice Would you mind if I were working on concepts for two different pairings simultaneously? What more would you like to see on my concept for Terexaltherin? A build? More background?
The concept seems solid, any more and we'd be hashing out crunch, which is not necessary at this point. As for the pairings, provided you are not using the same character in either pairing, and are capable of managing a post for either pairing should you be picked, I have no problem.
I could certainly handle two new characters at once at present, provided there are no further drastic changes to life as I know it. I'll see if ArthurDent here has a preference between the two vulpine ideas (or see if I can narrow it down myself) and start working on the second idea.
Thinking it over, the God-Eating-Fox And Their Priestess idea seems to yield ideas mostly oriented towards mutual-incomprehensibility dialogue comedy and visual/body-language comedy, which is interesting but hard to make the core of a PbP. Might make a amusing manga one-shot ('I Want To Snuggle Kami-Sama!'?), but I can't see how to make it gameable.
The Exorcist And Their Kitsune seems to have more dramatic meat to it, more potential for long-term relationship-building and interesting plot hooks for fantasy adventuring. Which of the Monkey King/Tang Sanzang, Simon and River Tam, or Edward and Alphonse Elric ideas strikes you as having the most potential?
Well, I was assuming that scavenging from the gods would give my fox the ability to speak, so it wouldn't have been all body language (in fact she would have been quite manipulative and demanding)... but I'm perfectly happy with the corrupted kitsune idea.
I guess I'm leaning more towards the Elric brothers flavor... thinking something along the lines of, my character wouldn't listen to the clan elders saying "Don't go in the spooky evil ruins" and dragged you along to explore the spooky evil ruins... at which point he of course accidentally released an ancient evil that tried to possess him. Your character managed to pull him out before said ancient evil could fully possess him.
But, the close call left him with his terrible secret hunger... as well as greatly expanded shapeshifting powers (he'll be a Shifter). Since that time the two have secretly tried to find a cure for his condition, perhaps while discovering there's been other consequences to their youthful exploration.
One thing I do want to do with the idea is that the best way he's found to supress his hunger... is to eat. While normal food doesn't make the hunger for thinking beings' livers and lungs and whatnot go away, the clash between his physically full belly and the terrible supernatural hunger gives him just enough purchase to keep hold on his morality.
Sound like something we could work with?
Yes, definitely.
The question of setting now becomes important, since that will strongly influence exactly what kind of spooky evil ruins/magical catastrophes are available to find.
Eberron has plenty of such gribblies: the Quori of the Dreaming Dark, the mad scheming daelkyr imprisoned underground. The Mournland, too, though that's less reflective of the Eastern nature of the idea.
Golarion's Tian Xia has some possibilities...we could have been kids under the misrule of the elder kraken in Wanshou, driven to some act of desperation in the hole of overthrowing them. Failed-state Shenmen would offer similar motivation to meddle in things beyond our ken. On a less easterly note, there's Ustav, the Worldwound...Numeria, even, your transformation could be as much technological as it is magical. Maybe that's why it's difficult to fix.
I'm less familiar with the Realms, though I could likely make it work if you've got an area in mind. Krynn I know not at all.
There's Dark Sun...various dark sorts of expirimentation/magical waste left by the depradations of the sorceror-kings...
Hmmm, setting, setting... I think I'll have to mull over what setting I'd prefer for a bit. I've been pretty much entirely staying in Golarion the last few years so I'll have to dig back through my memory for other possibilities.
Thinking over things... Tian Xia could actually work well. Specifically I'm thinking of the Forest of Spirits--we could be from one of the small villages along the Spirit Road, and the ruin could be something similar to the House of Withered Blossoms, a place of imprisonment for nearly-forgotten evils.
So I'm envisioning a Forgeborn Bladewalker who doesn't know who created her or why, what her previous life might have been, and is largely unaware of what to expect from the world around her. She's quickly learned that her abilities seem to be suited to killing things in a variety of ways, but doesn't have any particular drive to do so just on it's own.
The race assumes psionics are in play, but I'm not going to make that assumption. Unless we establish for some reason that psionics are a thing then it makes about as much sense to have magic be the source of her animation. I also envision the character being more one of a kind rather than having a society of Forgeborn to connect with, though perhaps one will be discovered as we go and she'll learn about what's happening there. I don't expect to do anything with the Wild Talent Feat unless maybe it could be used to provide a couple extra spell points instead of power points once the Warp Sphere kicks in at level 2.
Other than self discovery I wouldn't have a driving character arc to start with, so pairing with just about anyone should be viable should someone be interested.
Oh, yes, @GM... since I'm making two characters, should I do a second stat roll for the second one or use the same for both?
Oh, yes, @GM... since I'm making two characters, should I do a second stat roll for the second one or use the same for both?
Go for a second roll. Further differentiation is good.
->13
->11
->14
->11
->14
->9
Meh, not having a lot of luck with my rolled stats, are I?
Well, this kitsune is supposed to be corrupted anyway...
** spoiler omitted **
Had an interesting build pop in my head if anyone wants to partner with a dwarf cook/smith.
This could easily be a character that I could partner with. Is there any sort of goal that your character might have for which they'd need to hire a mercenary assistant? Especially if you've got a strong moral compass of some sort, that could be something that would help my character evolve over time from the bluntly honest, though otherwise largely amoral neutral state I envision she'd start with. Given that I wouldn't even need to eat, the cook aspect could lead to fairly accessible story/growth options.
@Almonihah
What are you thinking in terms of mechanical niche for your kumiho/kitsune? Something castery and tricksy with an illusion and maybe a lifedrainey focus, something physical with a red-in-tooth-and-claw emphasis on an appetite for flesh, a mix?
EDIT: If the GM will let us and if it works for your concept, I'll offer to trade you my stat rolls for yours. You having more raw power would kind of make sense, given where our concepts are going.
4d6->13
4d6->11
4d6->14
4d6->11
4d6->14
4d6->9Meh, not having a lot of luck with my rolled stats, are I?
Well, this kitsune is supposed to be corrupted anyway...
What's that, you say? You want to make a Bargain?
I'm thinking my Kitsune would be a Shifter, going Alteration/Life with the Lycanthropic/Regenerate drawbacks so he'd have that kind of shapeshifting-monster feel to him. Kinda debating on how much he'd be hesitating to use his power...
...so speaking of bargains. :D Since my Kitsune (I'm thinking of Kichiro for the name) is supposed to be somehow corrupted by whatever our pair uncovered in the forbidden ruins, I'd been playing with his casting tradition involving some kind of customized blend of Addictive Casting, Innate Curse (Hunger), and Madness Mantra to make it feel like drawing on his magic makes it increasingly hard to resist the urge to rip open the nearest thinking being and devour their vital organs. But perhaps instead of trying to hack it together with a casting tradition, we could just agree on some mechanics for his corruption in return for some better stats than the rather disappointing ones I rolled.
I'd also been playing around with the idea of tweaking his racial stat bonuses to reflect how he's been twisted into something more monstrous.
Honestly, that casting-tradition hack looks pretty good to me. And, again, I've got an animist-Shinto-through-Spiritualism-Hedgewitch thing going that doesn't require nearly as much in the way of stats as a Shifter does: can we trade stat spreads, @The Lost Voice?
Can we trade stat spreads？
A burden shared is a burden halved, would this be pre- or post-Bargain?
I also agree that the casting tradition looks really good. You should use that regardless of whether or not you Bargain.
Hmmm... if I trade for that stat spread, that would work fairly well. If I'm going for that casting tradition and trading for that stat spread I'm not sure I need a bargain.
Would you permit me to switch my racial bonuses around to reflect my character's corruption? I'm thinking +2 Str, +2 Int, -2 Wis--whatever happened to him made him stronger in both body and mind, but the constant effort of fighting against his darker impulses distracts him and makes him more vulnerable to other mental assaults. Maybe also trade the racial +2 to acrobatics for a +2 to perception, to reflect his senses being sharpened (to somewhat make up for the Wisdom penalty when a predatory being would have sharp senses)?
Do bear in mind, that this is like... part of a Bargain.(sortakindalike).
The stat-switch, that is. You're taking something created of someone else, and using it for your gain.
That said, I will have to say "No" on the juggling of racial bonuses, as the character was not raised under that hunger. Similarly for the casting tradition. The tradition was created under the influence, which presumably was when the power twisted what they had started to learn— being level one, I will not say that they had not learned a lot, but by comparison to level twenty(hypothetically), there is a breadth of use that has not been discovered.
So that said, if you take stats other than what you yourself rolled, that's an alteration to what you once had. Thus, external influence, ergo "Bargain". A lesser degree, perhaps, but I'm also not aiming to make any Bargains antagonistic, simply... "Motivating".
No side-stepping the consequences of a bargain.
So, in summation:
- Re-roll and accept a Full Bargain.
- Take their rolls and share their fate.
You wish to change what you have been given, it comes with a price. The question— and the drama/development/crux– is whether or not you think it is worth paying.
Proposed:
Zorblag/Tam Gurak
Ongoing:
Almonihah/Arthur Dent
Dwilhelmi/Almonhah
I have seen everyone else that did roll or post in this thread. I do remind you that:
• You do not need to construct the crunch yet.
• A partner is preferable. Do not let the open exchange of the others in this thread deter you, they're building ideas.
• A roll and pitch is enough to start.
A few more days left, and I will close recruitment to review and decide. I intend to run two tables.
If you are still willing to run three on a table, Ryke Corollary Sextant also reached out to me about partnering up.
Would Tam/Zorblog/Ryke work?
@Tam Gurak, do you know what Ryke was thinking of for character concept? I'm fine with submitting a team of three, and hammering out some story details for almost anything once I know what it might be.
He was looking at Armiger as well, but I don't know if he had build.
Our rough story was former military, Tam being a camp cook, Ryke being...a quartermaster or, comically, the camp blacksmith, I think.
Expanding a little on that--After military time, the drinking (and eating) buddies stayed friends wandering from town to town fighting and marketing their talents for work.
Hmm, I've been playing around with Armiger building and it's really fun, but if he was set on that I could do something else. Or we could both go armiger and have a very martial group I suppose. We'd certainly be adaptable for martial situations in that case.
Let me think about who might complement the two of you if I was to make a change. Would you think someone who enlists the two of you for help or someone who had a connection from before?
Also, did you have any thoughts about settings? My forgeborn could work anywhere so long as we add the lore to a world. I'm pretty open to ideas!
I do believe that Ryze Corollary Sextant is out. At least, I recieved a message giving notice of such.
I'm hoping the draw of a good team of three ready to work on some fun ideas will help bring them back!
@The Lost Voice, I went silent on Ry for a few days and he thought I had lost interest. He's in if you're willing to take us on.
Zorblag, he also came back with this amendment on class and backstory.
Tam was the camp cook (Blackmisth-Iron Chef)
Ryke was the camp medic (Scholar)
Zorblag was the camp smith or quartermaster type fellow (Armiger)
Yes, I could make that work. I'd probably keep the same general backstory, but have my awakening happen a while ago. A natural killer with no idea what she's supposed to be doing needs to find a place? Why not try a military force of some sort. She'll be fairly high intelligence, cares (or at least knows) a lot about equipment, and wouldn't be distracted by the typical vices of other soldiers, so working her way up to quartermaster would certainly have been feasible. When Tam and Ryke left the service for whatever reason (perhaps our unit disbanded? maybe after a rout or because peace was declared or our captain retired and sent everyone on their ways?) she would have been happy to tag along if they'd take her as she knows them and trusts them in a pinch.
Do we have a preference for setting? It could really be anywhere that conflict is typical.
Do bear in mind, that this is like... part of a Bargain.(sortakindalike).
The stat-switch, that is. You're taking something created of someone else, and using it for your gain.
Ah, I misunderstood. I guess I interpreted your "Pre-or-post bargain" question to mean that the swap was not, itself, a bargain, but I understand now.
I definitely need better stats for Kichiro. The stats I rolled only give a total bonus of +4, which I think even the CRB recommends you re-roll if you get that low. There's not going to be much worry about him going berserk if he's only just barely more dangerous than a farmer with a pitchfork.
My one concern with a bargain is that I'm already making life very interesting and complicated for him through his casting tradition (and may voluntarily ask to make it more complicated--I was debating if using the Corruption mechanics from Horror Adventures would make sense for the longer-term issues he's having), and I'd be worried the consequences of a bargain would either dilute that or make it so difficult to do anything without negative consequences that it'd be unplayable. (I guess if it felt that way I could ease up a bit on his casting tradition issues) What sort of things would a full or shared bargain entail?
Story-wise, it does occur to me that the pair might have been desperate enough to seek... 'unusual' help in keeping Kichiro's corruption from controlling/consuming him. Perhaps the bargain could be some kind of counterbalance. But with consequences of its own.
Hmmm... it occurs to me that a powerful Protean could be an, er, 'interesting' patron for a shapeshifter. And it has good 'is this worse than what we're trying to fix?' potential.
I definitely need better stats for Kichiro. The stats I rolled only give a total bonus of +4, which I think even the CRB recommends you re-roll if you get that low. There's not going to be much worry about him going berserk if he's only just barely more dangerous than a farmer with a pitchfork.
My one concern with a bargain is that I'm already making life very interesting and complicated for him through his casting tradition (and may voluntarily ask to make it more complicated--I was debating if using the Corruption mechanics from Horror Adventures would make sense for the longer-term issues he's having), and I'd be worried the consequences of a bargain would either dilute that or make it so difficult to do anything without negative consequences that it'd be unplayable. (I guess if it felt that way I could ease up a bit on his casting tradition issues) What sort of things would a full or shared bargain entail?
So, focusing specifically on Kichiro:
What if the current stat rolls are the end result of the corruption settling in after it integrated? Perhaps surviving the Consumption means that they need to consume others to bring their stats up to the (hypothetical) re-roll? Does taking the stat-swap mean you consumed some part of your partner? How does that work for them? Can the corruption be suppressed?I do admit that you are doing a lot of the work in making it difficult for yourself— in fact, you're doing a lot of the work I would have done, so don't be too hard on yourself.
The question for right now is where to differentiate the concept of "Corrupted Kitsune Flesh-Eater" story-wise and mechanically? Do set the base concept to your satisfaction, but the re-roll implies a Bargain, so don't unnecessarily over-complicate the character.
Now, if you feel it fits, go right ahead. "Rule of Cool", and all that.
Hmmm... interesting questions. I'll mull on them for a bit. @ArthurDent, any opinions or thoughts?
Okay, so some elements I was thinking on overnight:
* His hunger has an odd specificity--he *only* hungers for the vital organs of thinking beings (heart, liver, lungs, those kinds of things). So I'm thinking his berserk state from Madness Mantra prioritizes creatures that are sentient--call it Int 6 or above? Thinking beings without vital organs probably annoy his hunger in some fashion.
* The reason I was thinking of using the Corruption mechanics is because, while the casting tradition I'm thinking of does a good job as giving him a feeling of danger from drawing on his magic, it doesn't really provide a 'this problem is getting worse with time' feel, which I think something like the Corruption mechanics could feed into. There's not really an extant Corruption that works for him, though, so it'd either have to be a custom one or maybe we could just use parts of the Corruption rules without making it exactly like a Corruption by the rules, if that makes sense.
* I do want him to be able to suppress his horror hunger by means of overeating normal food--or maybe 'normal' food, maybe he eats a lot of liver and monkey brains and so forth. This would open up the possibility of storylines about being unexpectedly cut off from resupply (or of someone stealing his 'snack bag') making it much more likely he'll succumb to his hunger. Perhaps spending a full round eating something would let him re-roll a Will save against his hunger or something?
* It'd also be interesting for ArthurDent's character to somehow be able to help Kichiro suppress his hunger. Not sure how I'd want that to work.
Hmmm... putting some of these ideas together... while I kind of like the idea of Kichiro having taken something from his brother/partner/whatever we decide the relationship is, the specificity of his hunger makes it unlikely that's a survivable experience. Maybe he could go for a full-on bargain? Perhaps after the experience in the ruins our characters thought that whatever they'd done to rescue Kichiro from the thing that had almost taken him had fully worked. Perhaps they returned to a normal life for a few days or weeks.
But then, something happened. Kichiro was alone with someone in a field, found himself overwhelmed with a terrifying hunger, and the next thing he knew he was covered in blood and the person's chest was ripped open, their lungs missing. Or maybe our characters were sent into the woods to gather fallen wood, they ran across a weak sort of kami, and Kichiro went berserk and tore it open.
Whatever the case, Kichiro found out he was most definitely *not* okay, he's eaten someone, and Kichiro is now wanted in their hometown or hunted by vengeful kami. To his horror he's discovered that he's grown stronger since his terrible feast... and he can feel that every feast will make him stronger yet, but also make the Hunger worse. (If we go the Corruption route it might mean he's already had to roll to avoid advancing a stage, since I'd imagine filling his Hunger would be what forces that roll)
Not 100% on that being the way I want to go, but it seems like it has possibilities. Thoughts?
By the way... what happens if someone takes a Bargain and then gets a *worse* roll the second time?
As the intent is improvement, I'd probably set a flat modifier to all the stats. Chains of rolls might get cumbersome.
All right, sounds reasonable. Does what I've proposed sound good as a 'bargain'? @ArthurDent, any preference on whether we're (or at least Kichiro) wanted by humans or kami?
All right, sounds reasonable. Does what I've proposed sound good as a 'bargain'?
It is enough to go for a re-roll, certainly, or to take Arthur's re-roll, depending on how you want to go about it.
Tam/Zorb/Ryke: You still have no world mentioned in which this is taking place, and I do not really recall much beyond the starting concepts of "post-campaign drifting squadmates".
Zorblag has done a fair job of giving the idea some color, but I don't think either of you have talked about your characters much beyond the initial couple of posts.
Dwilhelmi, you've got the concept pretty solidly, not much (if anything) needed on your end.
Arthur, I've not seen much about your Exorcist beyond the idea and the re-roll. However, that's understandable, since the Kitsune is the (more)complex one.
•That said, the first table is going to be Dwilhelmi and Alimonhah's pseudodragon. Discussion thread here
So a couple potential worlds/settings might include:
Golarion: We're arriving in Osirion as treasure hunters, hoping to find our fortue in long lost tombs. Maybe with some sort of official sanction, maybe not. It could start in Sothis or maybe somewhere smaller and more remote. I don't know the setting particularly well, but that my character wouldn't anyhow.
Krynn: We were involved in the tail end of the War of the Lance, but now that it's ended our unit has disbanded and we're heading our own way. Perhaps we've found a village that's being besieged by hobgoblins and are hired to protect them (vaguely along the lines of the Seven Samurai.) This story could clearly work just about anywhere and with any reason that we've left whatever army we were a part of.
If either Ryke or Tam has some quest that would be a central part to their character I'd be happy to build a story around that as well.
Never had a chance to visit Osirion on an adventure. Mwangi Expanse is as close as I've ever been. Could be a good place to uncover some gold. And who knows, might be that I'm distantly related to some of them Pahmets.
Huzzah! I've posted over there now, definitely thinking on Terexaltherin, but also still thinking of Kichiro here. :D
I think, given how he's come by his extra strength, that a re-roll would be most thematically appropriate. Here goes...
->9
->10
->15
->9
->11
->5
...
...
...Wow. That's, that's... that's impressive how horrible of a roll that is. I felt fairly confident I could get something at least a little better on a reroll, but I have very definitively been proven wrong.
...So, ah, how to handle this now?
OK, let's plan on Osirion then. Would Ryke have any reason in character to go there over anywhere else to hunt for treasure? Sounds like Tam might be interested in heritage which could be a reason. I don't know that I'm expecting any links to how I was created, though there could easily be something related to it from long, long ago.
Exceptional! Go ahead and add +4 to those stats or your previous, whichever is better.
I know, right? What are the odds I could roll worse every time? XD Not to mention *so much* worse. I think that's the firs time I've had a negative total modifier on a stat roll...
Given that the first stat roll at least had a positive total modifier I'll definitely be going with it. Is that a +4 to each stat or a +4 divided up as I wish? (I suspect I know which one it is, but I can hope, right? :D)
Flat bonus to all. My test roll for you was barely any better. You are cursed.
Wow. XD I will certainly take that! It will definitely make Kichiro feel like he's more dangerous thanks to what happened to him. Perfect for tempting him with more, right?
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Of course you wouldn't. :D