Character concepts?

[keftiu]

Jawari Red-Eye had a harsh upbringing, doubly unlucky to be an orphan and one of the Quick, but escaped much of the worst one of the living might experience in Geb. His morbid temperament, occult gifts, and striking red eye are all part of a mysterious inheritance - Jawari never knew his parents, but is quite content to benefit from their gifts in this land of undead.

(Garundi Human with the Changeling (Moon May) Heritage, Bones Oracle. He's transmasc and quite handsome, if more than a little gaunt. He gets along better with the undead than other Quick - most of the living find him spooky.)

[keftiu]

Lizbet Dolingen came to Mechitar as a youth, her mother fleeing some unpleasantness in distant dismal Ustalav for a place more tolerant of her family's appetites. Lizbet's pale skin and fangs clearly reveal the vampiric mark of the Dolingen bloodline, but her confident and incessant Osiriani sounds like that of a lifelong native. She came to the Celebrants as a youth seeking distraction, hoping merely to enjoy the adoration of Geb's massive crowds, but has come to pursue both their political mission and their Urgathoan faith with some true sincerity.

(Varisian Human with the Dhampir Bloodline, Bard (Maestro Muse). I'm picturing an Ustalavic Barbie brat, a spoiled vampire heiress who plays dumber than she is. The Celebrants have her sing and dance in parades, which she adores.)

[Perpdepog]

I'm having difficulty coming up with a character who isn't a caster for this AP. I like casters, but all the characters I have played so far have been casters and I feel like I should try a martial.

[keftiu]

Perpdepog wrote:

I'm having difficulty coming up with a character who isn't a caster for this AP. I like casters, but all the characters I have played so far have been casters and I feel like I should try a martial.

Rogues and Investigators are both shouted out, and are martials I reach for often. Assassins, spies, thieves, and all other sorts of scoundrels do very well for themselves in the employ of the Blood Lords, and make good fits for skulking Vampires or secret-hungry Ghouls. The living need to have quick wits and quick reflexes to survive in a nation like Geb.

Could also always go for the dumb muscle route; Fighter, Barbarian, or Monk, as a Skeleton or Zombie who smashes whatever the boss points at. I have half a mind to ship my Skeleton Champion of Susumu and Ghoul Cleric of Fumeiyoshi over from Tian Xia.

[PossibleCabbage]

Perpdepog wrote:

I'm having difficulty coming up with a character who isn't a caster for this AP. I like casters, but all the characters I have played so far have been casters and I feel like I should try a martial.

I'm kind of the opposite here. Every character I come up with for Blood Lords is a martial, since when you're bereft of Magic power you're less ethically complicit in the whole thing- you can plausibly just be someone who is trying to survive in a truly horrific place. The best reason for anybody to be in Geb is "you were born there, and this is what you know."

Plus when I play casters in "you're not supposed to be a good person" stories, I end up with people who have truly loathsome personalities and are no fun to be around, so I'm trying to avoid that. Why be a deeply committed metaphysical solipsist with cosmic powers when you can just be a normal coward, bully, or hypocrite?

[Perpdepog]

OK, I'm gonna take a stab at a martial.

Hannan--known as Copper-Counter to their face, and Copperfinger behind their back--was good with money. They were very good with money. No matter how small the imbalance, how insignificant the mistake in a ledger, it was said that Hannan could pluck out the truth. Many believed it was due to their quick eye and quicker mind, but Hannan always attributed their success to a mixture of diligence and their quiet but ardent faith in the Argent Prince.
Perhaps it was that faith in Mammon that led them to make their mistake. After all, the Grasping One advocated collecting wealth and enriching oneself, didn't he? His teachings said nothing about how that wealth needed to be obtained, and what was a couple gold pieces in the grand scheme of things from beings who could buy and sell the city Hannan worked in ten times over?
As it happened, the cost for their scheme was sleepless nights, nightmares, and waking up in a sweat. What if they were caught? What if they were dragged away from their desk and remade into a more useful drudge that carried to and from the vaults as an example to the others? Eventually these worries and, yes, some guilt, gnawed away at Hannan to the point that they handed in their letter of resignation. To their shock, rather than being clapped in irons and sent to a reanimater's table, they were thanked, paid, and offered letters of reference wherever they should wish to go.
And that was when Hannan realized that the entire ordeal had been a test by their lord. The worry, the guilt, they had all been for nothing. Wealth and power did not come to those who balked or cowered. It came to those who bided their time, who watched and waited, and when the time came they took. Thankfully Hannan now had the perfect excuse to make their own fortunes out in the world, perhaps banding with other like-minded individuals who dreamed of one day being able to buy and sell cities, and who could use a quick eye and a quicker mind.

(LE Nonbinary human, possibly dhampir, investigator with the empiricism methodology, leaning more heavily into taking useful out-of-combat skills to float between being a party's knowledge base or face as necessary, and who likely fights with a stiletto pen in some capacity because I think they're cool. Also gave myself an out for picking up something like cleric or oracle dedications juuuuuuuuust in case I couldn't bring myself to totally reject casting after all.)

[keftiu]

I have rolled up my Dhampir Psychic in Pathbuilder and feel utter peace.

Reworked her to be the Propaganda Promoted Background from the Player's Guide - she's no Urgathoan, but wants to influence people, even if it does mean learning these stupid acrobatics routines.

[Virellius]

Amos Anpunefer was an Osiriani medic travelling with an ambitious mercenary company, seeking to cross the manawastes and make their name in Alkenstar. A manastorm of exceptional intensity hit the caravan, however, and caused irreparable damage if not immediate death to everyone... Except for Amos. Internally mutated beyond his former human ken but with his body mostly intact, and with his mind bereft of almost everything save for his medical knowledge, he did what he knew best: stitched flesh.

For what seemed like an eternity, he stitched. A good arm here, a perfect leg there... The worms dug holes and he followed their lead with his needle. After reassembling his crew as best he could, leaving macabre flesh-based mannequins scattered about their ruined campsite, he left in search of new flesh to fix.

His wandering brought him to Geb, a land they had only briefly stopped in, and he found his skills in high demand. The Reanimators needed skinstitchers, after all... Time passes, however, and Amos began to develop something of a folksy personality and a fondness for the mindless dead. After all, all they needed was a bit of tending and someone to look after them.

Becoming a farmhand was the greatest joy in Amos' new life. As something beyond human, but not quite dead, he found a kinship with the mindless farmers. It didn't hurt that he found he had a lingering connection to the natural world which, in his mind, lined up just fine. Zombies weren't alive, per se, but where he lives? They sure are natural, and the worms and bugs need something to eat too.

Now, Amos and his trusty steed Ol' Creakin' Jim, the zombified donkey, seek to make a better place in Geb for the lowly mindless farmhands, all the while ensuring the worms and flies get their fill too.

[keftiu]

Amos absolutely rocks. Well done for making someone freaky enough for the AP, but still somewhat sympathetic.

[keftiu]

Sepess claims to be a noble from Nemret Noktoria, the Darklands realm of the ghouls, but is little more than a selfish, conniving exile. A stint with the Tax Collector's Union mostly spent skimming off the top and an annoying habit of demeaning Geb as a surface backwater have won the crooked ghoul few friends, but his pathetic exterior masks a brilliant liar and a murderous strength. Political power is a path to greater comforts, pleasures, and security; doing what is demanded of him without getting too roughed up himself is fine, so long as his ego is massaged.

(NE Garundi Human Ghoul / Scoundrel Rogue / Coin Counter)

Rot-on-the-Vine was, like all too many of the Ghoran people, hunted despite a Nexian ban for the delicious flesh of their fruit. Hard experience forged them into a capable killer, relentless pursuit slowly driving Vine further into the inhospitable south. Realizing that they had less to fear from undead hungers than mortal ones, Vine made for the border of Geb and gladly took up mindless work with the Carters Consortium until their controversy broke. Bitterly gifted at the hunt, Vine's once-squandered talents now thrive as a political troubleshooter, enjoying the protection it offers.

(N Ghoran / Flurry Rogue / Able Carter)

Toss them together with Asya (Dhampir Silent Whisper Psychic, as a Propaganda Promoter) and Jawari Red-Eye (Changeling Bones Oracle, as a Construction Occultist) above, and you have a proper Blood Lords party! They've got a good mix of clever martials and occult magic that I think would thrive in this AP - but more importantly, they're fun to daydream about.

[keftiu]

Broken runes of Kols and Magrim decorate Stained Reikar, the blocky dwarven tattoos clearly marking the somber Kulenett's face as outcast by their people for breaking a taboo: practicing necromancy. They arrived one of Geb's great schools of dark magic with little more than the clothes on their back, but quickly proved an adept student, rising through the ranks and volunteering for shifts apprenticing with the Reanimators, stitching corpses used in the grain fields. Many of Reikar's instructors believe they will enjoy a long career as someone dependable, but forgettable, a trusty piece of the machine that is Geb's undying state.

And so none of them will suspect a thing. Reikar has damned their soul for the greater good, mastering the forbidden so that they can climb the ranks of political power and can shield the Kulenett from the worst of the nation's excesses. A grim face and swift hands hides a mind resolved to a duty that proves all-consuming; they refuse to fall without seeing their task through.

(LN Kulenett Dwarf / Necromancy Wizard / Corpse Stitcher)

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Goshdarnit, Keftiu, you gotta take a break from being so awesome at coming up with concepts! I just came up with a Kulennet-Wizard-spy-concept after reading the Impossible Lands book and then I come here and find you beat me to the punch! :P

[A Mite Excessive]

keftiu wrote:

Rot-on-the-Vine was, like all too many of the Ghoran people, hunted despite a Nexian ban for the delicious flesh of their fruit. Hard experience forged them into a capable killer, relentless pursuit slowly driving Vine further into the inhospitable south. Realizing that they had less to fear from undead hungers than mortal ones, Vine made for the border of Geb and gladly took up mindless work with the Carters Consortium until their controversy broke. Bitterly gifted at the hunt, Vine's once-squandered talents now thrive as a political troubleshooter, enjoying the protection it offers.

(N Ghoran / Flurry Rogue / Able Carter)

Do you mean Flurry Ranger?

[keftiu]

A Mite Excessive wrote:

keftiu wrote:

Rot-on-the-Vine was, like all too many of the Ghoran people, hunted despite a Nexian ban for the delicious flesh of their fruit. Hard experience forged them into a capable killer, relentless pursuit slowly driving Vine further into the inhospitable south. Realizing that they had less to fear from undead hungers than mortal ones, Vine made for the border of Geb and gladly took up mindless work with the Carters Consortium until their controversy broke. Bitterly gifted at the hunt, Vine's once-squandered talents now thrive as a political troubleshooter, enjoying the protection it offers.

(N Ghoran / Flurry Rogue / Able Carter)

Do you mean Flurry Ranger?

Sure did!

[A Mite Excessive]

Dhampir Investigator (Forensic) Corpse Stitcher. Concept of character straddling the line between life and undeath.

[A Mite Excessive]

Skeleton Gunslinger (Able Carter), used to ride shotgun for trips through the mana wastes. Name, Slim.

[Sagian]

Ghost catfolk called Ten.

[keftiu]

Sagian wrote:

Ghost catfolk called Ten.

Oh, that’s brilliant.

[Paulyhedron]

Originally had a Fleshwarp Rogue named Suture all ready to go, but new player to pf2 really wanted the rogue class, so I swapped out and cobbled together an ORC (yes for the announcement) fighter, named Dugo (Hungarian, means plug, cuz he's short see) Horsetooth with a pentiant for not seeing whats really going on around him, since he is not actively getting run out of the city, he tends to ignore the background. Works as a cart pusher, ended up in a group with three upper crust types and wondering why he got the invite.

Session one was last night and I only joined about 5 hrs pre game. Had a blast with it, good group.

[Habibi the Dancing Phycisist]

My Nidalese diplomat, Tyrant of Zon-Kuthon met his fate at lvl 8. Next character is a fluxwraith. Thaumaturge, but I'm putting class feats and free archtype feats into ghost and chronomancer archtypes.

Story goes that Tsunah, an azerketi was a paranolmal investigator and a scholar in Quantium. But when his investigations led to find a doorway to dimension of time, ritual failed in epic proportions and turned Tsunah into a fluxwraith. His tome implement is a journal, research notes, diary or novella depending on what timeline he chooses to be in the morning.

[lhudek]

trying to help someone who wants to play a shapeshifting druid in a build for this campaign.

Its being a bit rough

[Augusto Maux]

lhudek wrote:

trying to help someone who wants to play a shapeshifting druid in a build for this campaign.

Its being a bit rough

Hmm Geb is not big on orthodox druidism, but blight druids are a thing in Golarion and should be present in both Axan woods (nice setup for a changeling character!) and mana wastes (fleshwarp shapeshifters are cool!).

While undeath is tricky, Urgathoa is also about Gluttony, Disease and Decay. Wild druids certainly match the hunger aspect, and I can see a druid scholar of decay joining the blood lords.

[NoxiousMiasma]

Considering there's a big humble bundle for Blood Lords, I kinda want to bring this thread back.

Because I am often a contrarian about things, here's a druid: Fragrant Bloom of Rot is a fungal leshy druid, Untamed order (if that works out for the campaign, because Untamed's anathema is a bit strict). They resemble an octopus stinkhorn mushroom, and any form they take has some manner of visible fungal infection. They were formerly a familiar to a remote blight druid who worked with zombie construction of irrigation systems, and ended up becoming skilled as a corpse stitcher. After their master's death, they wandered Geb for a time, before ending up in Graydirge.

If untamed druid is inappropriate, maybe a grimspawn nephilim bones oracle? Just going all in on being creepy as heck (I kinda want them to have Quick-Dead Coalition sympathies and an actual set of moral principles? Possibly a follower of Arazni) Maybe, um... Morana Amadi, who enjoyed work as a carter, where few would stare at her blood-red skin, snakelike features, or vestigial spider legs, until the accusations of Pharasmin worship among the Carter's made it safer to seek alternate employment.

[Yakman]

I'll likely never play again - alas, permanent GM - but I was thinking a Skeleton [fodder] Amnesiac Witch [The Inscribed One]

Dim would be an OLD skeleton. One passed down from owner to owner since time immemorial. He's covered in inscriptions from various owners trading him back and forth. He's barely conscious.

But as he's leading the party to the farm, a famished, dead raven alights on his shoulder and... SOMETHING sparks him when the battle with the cow breaks out. He starts getting more articulate, more powerful, begins casting SPELLS?

He starts to remember, over the next 20 levels, his dark and terrible past, the vile crimes he committed, the bargain he made, and in the end, leaves the party never to return to Geb, but instead, to collect on his end of a deal struck before Earthfall...

[NoxiousMiasma]

I've got another character idea, for if I want the rest of the table to throw things at me (again). Ifrit Skeleton Investigator (potentially with Wizard Archetype), named Skullduggery Pleasant.