This AP promises a plunge into dwarven history and Darklands peril, and so demands some very unique heroes for its run. I know we’re a few months out from a Player’s Guide still, but I’d love to hear who folks bring to this one!
I’m really curious about the potential place of Orc PCs. I’d even bend canon to allow a Dwarf Half-Orc at my table! It’s just a shame we don’t have Drow or Rivethun (Shamans) yet…
This AP promises a plunge into dwarven history and Darklands peril, and so demands some very unique heroes for its run. I know we’re a few months out from a Player’s Guide still, but I’d love to hear who folks bring to this one!
I’m really curious about the potential place of Orc PCs. I’d even bend canon to allow a Dwarf Half-Orc at my table! It’s just a shame we don’t have Drow or Rivethun (Shamans) yet…
I had some (un-themed) character ideas, but it looks like at least one of them will probably need to be changed...
The halfling beastkin (reptilian) barbarian (dragon instinct) going into dragon disciple, human/half-orc magus (starlit span) going into gunslinger and wizard (see here for the basic early progression), and lizardfolk (changeling/Virga May) psychic (wandering reverie, tangible dream) going into rogue can probably be tweaked with minimal effort. Probably need to add a dwarf; maybe cleric or (with Rage of Elements expected to be out the same month) kineticist...
I think an Ifrit Dwarf can basically pass for an Azer, and there's a population of Azer refugees in Highhelm established in canon; that's one very fun angle on a Kineticist with some combination of Earth, Fire, and Metal Elements. If you wanted to make the most of-the-moment PC imaginable, that's probably it.
I was considering dwarf/ifrit or /oread for the dwarf kineticist, honestly. I'm still undecided how much I want to emphasize the Darklands theme.
For a dwarf cleric, if I go that route, I'm still thinking about whether to go with Torag, one of the other dwarven deities, an elemental lord, or another choice (Brigh, an empyreal lord, etc.). Many of the character details should align with the deity a cleric worships, IMO.
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I got a character concept ready to go with this AP (and a GM's permission)!
The youngest of the three Oreflame brothers, sons of a dwarven father and an elven mother, he was always closest to his mother, and she taught him many elven secrets of herbalism and a love of nature. But his father loved him too, and instilled in him a love of hard work and a good drink, even if he preferred soil to stone, and mead to ale.
His appreciation for the natural world blossomed into acceptance by a local druidic order. Soon, however, he found himself chafing against their beliefs about what constituted natural and unnatural. He felt that the tilled field and tended orchard were just as natural as the wild forest or prairie. While he was never outright scorned for these beliefs, his circle of druids spoke with him less and less, leaving him to his own devices. This suited him fine, as this allowed him time to help local farmers develop sustainable agricultural practices to help their farms remain as harmonius with nature as possible while not encroaching on it, as well as indulge his own personal hobbies of alchemy, apiculture and brewing, taking the fruits of vine, field and tree and using them to make delicious beers, wines, ciders and meads, some even developing restorative or even magical powers!
He'd seen his two older brothers go off on adventures and become great heroes, and began to feel a wanderlust of his own build. An invitation to Highhelm to share some of his best brews at a prestigious storytelling festival seemed almost like fate, an opportunity to gain some small amount of fame for himself as well as get more in touch with his dwarven heritage. Maybe he'd have a story of his own to be proud of once it was over!
(The two brothers mentioned earlier are other PCs I'm workshopping for the Age of Ashes and Gatewalkers APs!)
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I’d even bend canon to allow a Dwarf Half-Orc at my table! It’s just a shame we don’t have Drow or Rivethun (Shamans) yet…
No bending needed, it turns out - the Remaster is opening up Half-Elves and Half-Orcs, as well as giving them in-setting names!
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A Cavern Elf Ranger, wise in the dangers of the Darklands and quietly faithful to the Redeemer Queen.
No reason :p
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A Cavern Elf Ranger, wise in the dangers of the Darklands and quietly faithful to the Redeemer Queen.
No reason :p
Will they dual-wield Scimitars? /jk
In all seriousness, thinking something similar. Got an idea for a Cavern Elf Witch using the Chaos Patron from Witches+, slowly learning to come out of the demonic worship in which they were raised.
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A Cavern Elf Ranger, wise in the dangers of the Darklands and quietly faithful to the Redeemer Queen.
No reason :p
Will they dual-wield Scimitars? /jk
In all seriousness, thinking something similar. Got an idea for a Cavern Elf Witch using the Chaos Patron from Witches+, slowly learning to come out of the demonic worship in which they were raised.
Our lavender-eyed friend was a big part of my introduction to fantasy; playing a shameless knockoff after all these years could honestly be a ton of fun.
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My PFS Champion of Torag has always been a Cavern elf adopted by dwarves. That he came back with the sole survivor of an encounter between a dwarven exploration squad and an encampment of slender demon-worshippers and that his adopted father took extreme care of hiding his skin tone, including through burns, and to cut his white hair as soon as some appeared to spare him the worst of some dwarves' xenophobia has nothing to do with IP that will not be anymore.
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A Cavern Elf Ranger, wise in the dangers of the Darklands and quietly faithful to the Redeemer Queen.
No reason :p
…okay, but hear me out: they take the Chronoskimmer archetype and Dubious Knowledge, someone who flickers out of reality because they remember a very different Darklands.
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For this one, I'll definitely want to play a dwarf and of course, a lot depends on the Player's Guide. I'm leaning towards one of these concepts.
The Troubleshooter- A Dwarf Rogue, proud local of a family/clan in good standing. He is not a thief. He is a trouble shooter. Do you wish your security tested? He'll test it for a fair wage. Your guards need trainng in alertness? He'll try to sneak by them. Are your locks good enough to confound a burgular? Well, he'll test them for you. Ever honest and overboard in all his dealings, he is a consumate professional. Just don't call him a thief. It's down right insulting!
Fell in with a tall crowd- A dwarf fighter, but that's about all that's traditional about him. The poor guy was raised in a big Andoran city by the sea. He had his head filled with all sorts of human nonsense. He prefers rather undwarven weapons. He talks about democracy as if it worked! Dear Torag, he even talks about shaving his beard! Oh, and he follows them human gods with their wishy washy ideas... like Sarenrae and so forth! Well I should say. Putting their foot down, his family sends him back to the 'homeland' of the Five Kings Mountains so he can understand the value of the heritage he so causually appears to be throwing away!
The Genealogist on the hunt- Class likely a wizard. He studies family histories and heraldries, not just his own, but of others. It's a calling as much as a job, and as a trusted scholar he takes great joy in researching such and preserving the history of dwarves of all sorts. Unfortunately for him, he's stumbled onto some old writings that indicate one of his ancestors was not just less than honorable, but a traitor! He could bury this , but it eats at him. He has to know. So he'll go to the Darklands and back to uncover the secrets of the Quest for the Sky's history, and if need be, his own family's shame though he surely hopes what he'll find will prove his ancestoral innocence.
So far my concept for a solo game is an Anvil Dwarf Champion (Paladin of the Dwarven Pantheon)//Summoner with the Miner background with his eidolon being a biblically accurate ophanim that he can eventually ride for a minute at a time.
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I have thought it would be fun to play another player's character's brother/sister and a family of dwarves seems like a good chance to try this. That is: build almost the exact same character as the next player. Two in my group have said they would absolutely hate it. Three thought it a cool idea, but I can see where it would bother some people.
Instead I want to build the exact same character but play an occultist instead of the class they choose. The implement choice will be based on their class choice (melee/wizard/cleric will be weapon/wand/regalia for examples.)
Or (because I am GM for Gatewalkers-not a player) take the same class but all class feats used for the deviant abilities feats. Hopefully I have a GM willing to consider these.
Personality wise, shy with a side of hero-worship. They would often look up to their other sibling and hate to steal their thunder.
Of course the player's guide might spark something better, I try to use the background from there because it feels more connected to the campaign or me.
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This AP has a lot of traditional western fantasy themes- something that the rest of my family would probably prefer given they’re more into LotR and (unlike myself) fairly stereotypical, North American Christians. I suspect one sister would build an ‘Elven princeling’ ambassador to the dwarves; another would probably go Halfling rogue or Halfling paladin or something like that. I’ll probably go Dwarf paladin or cleric of Torag just to maintain the theme in case nobody else goes dwarf. I’m hoping that at least one or two other family members also choose dwarf as well so that a good number of pc’s are dwarves so as to not pull from the fantasy-realism of the AP.
I love odd-gods and deep cuts admittedly, so Torag wouldn’t normally be my first choice. I could also see myself playing as a pahmet Dwarf cleric of Anubis or some other Lawful earth deity. Or perhaps a dwarven cleric or paladin of a goodly elemental or empyreal lord of earth.
Contrastingly an ice- or fire (think coal) themed-dwarf from the crown of the World could also be fun.
Contrastingly an ice- or fire (think coal) themed-dwarf from the crown of the World could also be fun.Play an Osciliating Wave Psychic and you could be BOTH!
Never tried psychic. Closest I ever got was a Spiritualist from Pathfinder 1e, and even then the only similarities were their spellcasting type as the spiritualist is more like a summoner I suppose.
Usually I play as rogues, paladins, clerics, and druids. My PF1e society character was a Planar Sneak.
I wouldn’t mind being a Kineticist once I get RoE. Maybe I’ll try that.
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A Cavern Elf Ranger, wise in the dangers of the Darklands and quietly faithful to the Redeemer Queen.
No reason :p
Will they dual-wield Scimitars? /jk
In all seriousness, thinking something similar. Got an idea for a Cavern Elf Witch using the Chaos Patron from Witches+, slowly learning to come out of the demonic worship in which they were raised.
i brought this up to my players as something I was looking at... one player asked if they wanted to play a drow if I'd be cool with that... they didn't know about the 2E remaster, so I explained that...
Now that I've heard more about it, I would 100% let him play a drow. But like... he's the last one. Escaped from XXXX and he's the only known survivor. Looking for his people? Just trying to make his own way? Seeking revenge on XXX?
I think that would be a pretty cool character concept.
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Darnit I just got another idea that may be better than my druid/Alchemist!
An ambitious little kobold who idolizes Ziplutivni, the emissary from Darathyxl who was the first kobold to sit on Highhelm's council. She wants to do something similar, but as a representative of koboldkind within Highhelm rather than the tax collector of a distant dragon. She sees how kobolds have integrated into dwarven clans in places like Cloudspire, and wants to do the same in Highhelm by impressing the dwarven aristocracy and making a name for herself in the city's politics, so she can secure a seat of power and begin advancing her kobold-immigration agenda. Good-intentioned and noble-of-spirit, but also endearingly haughty as only a kobold can be. In short, a smol dragon friend who is doing her best!
Classwise she'd probably lean towards something charismatic like a Rogue, a Bard or a Sorcerer...
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A Cavern Elf Ranger, wise in the dangers of the Darklands and quietly faithful to the Redeemer Queen.
No reason :p
Will they dual-wield Scimitars? /jk
In all seriousness, thinking something similar. Got an idea for a Cavern Elf Witch using the Chaos Patron from Witches+, slowly learning to come out of the demonic worship in which they were raised.
i brought this up to my players as something I was looking at... one player asked if they wanted to play a drow if I'd be cool with that... they didn't know about the 2E remaster, so I explained that...
Now that I've heard more about it, I would 100% let him play a drow. But like... he's the last one. Escaped from XXXX and he's the only known survivor. Looking for his people? Just trying to make his own way? Seeking revenge on XXX?
I think that would be a pretty cool character concept.
He could also have traveled to the canon Golarion setting from another where drows were a thing. But, in this reality, his kin have never existed as far as he can tell. What will he do with this complete freedom ?
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Having looked over the Player's Guide at the available backgrounds, I'm thinking I may have to reconsider my druid/alchemist brewer concept.
The backgrounds are heckin' evocative, don't get me wrong, but none of them really fit in to the concept of a slightly elfy dwarf who straddles the line between civilized and wild plants and brews alcoholic beverages apart from maybe Clan Associate by saying his dwarven father is related to Clan Tolorr somehow, or Dedicated Delver, but the problem with that one is it implies the character likes to hang out in the Darklands, and this character was kind of meant to prefer having the sun on his face as he frolics through barley-fields and apple-orchards.
I may have to switch him out for one of his brothers and roleplay him in Gatewalkers instead...
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Peeking at these Backgrounds, my gut instinct for a party is...
-Naari Dwarf Pyrokineticist (likely dabbling in Earth or Metal later on), drawing on the lore in Bestiary 3 about a group of Azer refugees living beneath Highhelm. She's a Dedicated Delver, expertise hard-won in her people's escape from servitude; though dwarven history doesn't mean a ton to her personally, this work is a way to pay back Highhelm's generosity.
-Orc Ranger, born to an infamous exile from Belkzen and raised in the city of Urglin. Denied power and respect among his own people, he's instead looking for renewed legitimacy with their ancient enemies, a Child of Notoriety from slightly further afield than the AP probably expects. An Orc hero at the heart of this quest is sure to go down in history!
-Kobold Barbarian, child of Mbe'ke diplomats in the Mwangi Expanse (an unplayed PFS character of mine). She's on loan from Cloudspire as a Clan Associate; few expect the little Kobold to be fluent in dwarven dialects and traditions (albeit with a Mwangi accent), and fewer still know she's a bodyguard with the fury of a cloud dragon in her heart.
-Dwarf Shaman (we can only hope for a Gen Con playtest!), a proud young rivethun who dearly wants to see the "proper balance" of dwarven spirituality restored. I'm inclined to make her a member of Clan Tolorr herself; being an Eclectic Scholar might have made her slightly unpopular, however.
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That's a concept I've had rolling around in my head for a few years too: I was inspired by Kingdom of the Dwarfs by Robb Walsh and BEAUTIFULLY illustrated by David Wenzel, especially the section on "singing swords," where the dwarf bladesmiths would "tune" the swords they made to "ring" at specific pitches when they struck and chiseled grooves and holes in the blade so they'd "whistle" or "moan" an accompaniment as they were swung, creating an elegiac melody of battle that struck FEAR into the hearts of the wielder's enemies and was key to the "magic" of dwarf-forged swords!
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That's a concept I've had rolling around in my head for a few years too: I was inspired by Kingdom of the Dwarfs by Robb Walsh and BEAUTIFULLY illustrated by David Wenzel, especially the section on "singing swords," where the dwarf bladesmiths would "tune" the swords they made to "ring" at specific pitches when they struck and chiseled grooves and holes in the blade so they'd "whistle" or "moan" an accompaniment as they were swung, creating an elegiac melody of battle that struck FEAR into the hearts of the wielder's enemies and was key to the "magic" of dwarf-forged swords!
I grew up with that book! I loved it so much that when I found out that it was picked up by Tuttle Publishing, I brought in a couple of copies for the Bookstore that I run!
EDIT: Sorry, it is IDW Publishing now!
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So I was toying with some thoughts, and I want to see a Metallurgist focus for Alchemist then make one for this AP... There is nothing like that in the Lost Omens book for Dwarves, is there?
Metal kineticist MC maybe ?
Or a Metal Kineticist with Alchemist MC.
I do not have Rage of Elements, so I cannot assess how viable it could be, but it seems quite on theme.
Do not know about the Highhelm book though.
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Highhelm doesn't really contain class features like that except for the Stalwart Defender archetype, unfortunately. And from what I've heard of Rage of Elements, the majority of its class space is devoted to the Kineticist and its multiclass archetype, with the Elemental Instinct for Barbarians and updates to the Elementalist archetype on the side.
I was considering dwarf/ifrit or /oread for the dwarf kineticist, honestly. I'm still undecided how much I want to emphasize the Darklands theme.
After reviewing the published kineticist in Rage of Elements, along with the information in the Player's Guide, I think I'm settling on dwarf/oread (Fortify Shield at 5th) with the Clan Associate background for the kineticist (dual gate - Earth, Metal; Metal Carapace, Stepping Stones) and taking Weapon Infusion at 1st. Probably Versatile Blasts at 2nd and Plate in Treasure at 4th or 5th (with Expand the Portal for Gate's Threshold) to add electricity, poison, and various metals (cold iron, silver, etc.) to the elemental blast options.
So I was toying with some thoughts, and I want to see a Metallurgist focus for Alchemist then make one for this AP... There is nothing like that in the Lost Omens book for Dwarves, is there?Metal kineticist MC maybe ?
Or a Metal Kineticist with Alchemist MC.
I do not have Rage of Elements, so I cannot assess how viable it could be, but it seems quite on theme.
Metal kineticist with multiclassed alchemist (bomber?) would probably work pretty well.
So…to follow up and without spoilers…
How is it so far?