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Since this one is on the near horizon, I suppose it's time for my favorite kind of thread: what ideas are you fired up about for Outlaws of Alkenstar? We know it's an AP about being on the wrong side of the law, set in the City of Smog and the wild magic-scarred wastelands that surround it, so scoundrels, steampunks, and survivors all seem like ready fits, but I'd love to hear your specific pitches!
I’m a forever GM of course, but I can tell you what two of my players are thinking about!
My fiancé is planning a beleaguered saloon owner (Fighter who focuses on thrown weapons, reflavoring light hammers as frying pans) and my brother is thinking about delving into the wellspring mage archetype for a sorcerer given the volatility of magic in the Mana Wastes. Interested to see what the players guide says about how magic in Alkenstar works though!
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I've got a little party of characters for this, since I don't expect my group to be playing this one. I've posted about them before in another thread, but this feels like the place to mention them again.
Feliks was the child of a poor local woman and a Vourinoi elf father he's never met, growing up on the streets of Alkenstar as a charming thief; a heist gone wrong blew off his arm and nearly claimed his life, but a medicine-savvy priest of Brigh saved his life and gifted him a great prosthetic. Half-Elf Rogue, transmasc, thinks he's cute enough to get away with anything (he isn't).
Tink is that priest, a dwarf in semi-exile from Dongun Hold for their belief in a surface goddess, whose faith led them to open a prosthetics clinic for the City of Smog's poor. They dearly want to leave this life of adventure behind, but keep getting roped into Feliks's schemes and can't bear to ditch the young fool. Dwarf Cloistered Cleric of Brigh.
One such scheme - the theft of a Jistkan automaton from a local noble who purchased it illicitly - proved more ambitious than the duo could handle alone, and the only hired muscle they could afford was a wandering stranger by the name of Morgan Strange. Outcast from their clan in the Mana Wastes, they adopted the clothing and fighting style of a dead gunslinger they chanced upon, and relish the chance to build a new life with the profits of the group's time together. Fleshwarp Gunslinger.
Though challenging, the trio pulled off the robbery, helped in large part by the prize they had come to steal: though damaged and plagued with amnesia, the ancient construct used its devastating strength to crush the opposition and smash an exit. It feels a great loyalty to its liberators, and is content enough with the nickname Sledge, having fully forgotten it's human name. Automaton Barbarian (Giant Instinct - wields a massive hammer).
Feliks is eager to keep the group together, hopeful for big payouts, but he wonders in private if they might someday find the power to remake Alkenstar into a fairer place. Tink is mostly concerned with keeping themself and poor Tink alive, but has come to view Sledge as a kind of living testament to their goddess's brilliance. Strange is the loner of the bunch, but appreciates that they're all misfits of some sort. Sledge protects those who rescued it, happily following their orders.
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I'm curious to hear what Ancestries get shouted out in the Player's Guide for this one, as canon info on the region can be a little sparse. Alkenstar has humans and the Dongun Hold dwarves, of course, and I think it's been said that gnomes are drawn to the area as well. Fleshwarps live out in the Mana Wastes - but do they cross over to 'polite society?'
If Ghorans were playable, it might be fun to sneak one in here as some sort of weird plant desperado.
A Hobgoblin Inventor with the Clockfighter background. Yells smack at opponents while his construct whales on them.
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3 or 4 concepts just clicked into my head immediately for this one, and I'm not sure why!
First one I mentioned elsewhere on the forums, a Fleshwarp Monk with the Bullet Dancer archetype, following his own personal code of justice and self-perfection in defiance of the laws that serve only the rich and powerful, and who would other him as a mutant freak. Gun-wise their weapons of choice would be a brace of pistols with attached bayonets. Not sure which AP background fits the concept best, though...
Second is a Spellshot Gunslinger of yet-to-be-determined ancestry multiclassing into Wizard or Magus with a gunsword using the background from the Blythir College, favoring the gunsword, inspired by legends of heroes like the Knights of the Aeon Star, the followers of the Star Code, and Aroden's sword-binders, looking to avenge his unjust expulsion and combine sword, spell and firearm into a harmonious whole to fight for justice in Alkenstar!
The last one I can't claim credit for. It was cooked up by Teaxch on this Tumblr post, specifically the last one, First Shoots! An adorable, if somewhat noisy and naive Gourd Leshy Gunslinger with the Unexpected Sharpshooter archetype with a gun as big as they are who doesn't quite get all this vendetta and outlawry stuff the other PCs are going on about, but they're just happy to be here in the big city, and happy that they've made some new friends!
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A traveling Judge (the Circuit Judge background from GnG is wonderful) who made a few minor rulings enforcing claims against Ambrost Mugland. Not long after, they were approached by Anjelique Loveless and six armed shieldmarshals who presented a Letter of Resignation supposedly drafted under the authority of the Grand Duchy, and demanded a signature. The Judge refused to sign, and instead disappeared into Alkenstar's underbelly, plotting to continue doling out justice in a different way. Potential classes: Champion or Ranger.
A distraught adolescent who was born with innate magical abilities. After being ostracized by their family or tribe for either or a horrible accident, or simply for being different among a superstitious group, the youth fled to gain admission at Blythir College, hoping to research some method of utilizing the Mana Wastes' power to nullify magic to neutralize their gift (or curse, as they saw it.) This exploration into the natural capabilities of the minerals and compounds of the surrounding area led to the "explosive experiments" mentioned in the 'Inexplicably Expelled' Background from the Player's Guide. But they will finish their research, no matter the cost. Potential classes: Sorcerer or Oracle.
I /adore/ both of these, especially the first one. I’d love the second as a Fleshwarp, come into the city from the Wastes.